Who Watches the Watchmen (Our Chit Chat Thread)

Cienciano

The tesla interior is the bit that gets me. I really hate touch screen controls in cars

Wibbs

They're the "future" C. They're much cheaper and faster to make than old style knobs and buttons and can be scaled up or throttled back across a range. So one platform can cover all bases. The dash on a Tesla will be significantly cheaper and faster to produce and react to market changes than a dash in a similar level Audi. It's got almost nothing to do with being for the driver. Plus for most controls and settings they're set once, twice if two people share a car. It can be complexity for complexity's sake.

Cyclingtourist

Ryath wrote: »

Better at taking pics days but only managed a few tours in Ireland since.

Cycle touring in Ireland isn't going to be encouraged with guides like this UK one.

:pac:

cnocbui

Fitz II wrote: »

I like to leave at least one glaring mistake in evrey post for you to correct Wibbs, and you never failed me yet.

Too many paddy spec EV;s out there, when you drive a nice one everything is right with the world. Same with ICE cars and watches

Here is mine having a drink of electrons (7 euro for 280km and 0-100kmph in 3.2 seconds) , you have to name them when you take delivery and mine is "Blusain Bolt". My previous car cost 90 euro for the same range on petrol and was a second slower and far less responsive, for my use case I am defo polluting less, the environmental cost of manufacturing a new car allowing.


Wait till they get to Mars, something I hope to see in my lifetime...it will be intollerable.

My ex doesn't like the EV tech or the cost. And if she cared about CO2, she would know that lies are being told in order to make EVs look good. She's more into intellectual pursuits than neck snapping accelleration. Though back in the day, I did persuade her to get a Fiat X19, and she absolutely adored it.

An EV takes double the amount of CO2 to produce vs an ICE. Given the generation mix for electricity in Ireland, an EV's lifetime CO2 system cost advantage over an ICE is negligable to negative. This idea they are saving the planet is a nonsense.

I would much rather get a current model Civic Type R, than a Tesla M3P. In the UK, you can buy the former and the cost saving buys enough petrol to drive you out past the moon.

Cienciano

Wibbs wrote: »

They're the "future" C. They're much cheaper and faster to make than old style knobs and buttons and can be scaled up or throttled back across a range. So one platform can cover all bases. The dash on a Tesla will be significantly cheaper and faster to produce and react to market changes than a dash in a similar level Audi. It's got almost nothing to do with being for the driver. Plus for most controls and settings they're set once, twice if two people share a car. It can be complexity for complexity's sake.

Oh yeah, I know were stuck with them and I fully understand the reasons. That makes it more annoying. Funny that the S is supposed to performance and had an interface that zero real sports/racing/track car should ever use. Straight line speed has always been an American thing, Europe always valued handling. I think road layout has a lot to do with it.

Wibbs

cnocbui wrote: »

She's more into intellectual pursuits than neck snapping accelleration.

I reckon that the fantastic acceleration of EV's, even "slow" ones like Leafs* is a huge draw for many drivers. It's easy to demonstrate and do and experience for even the most hamfisted and footed driver. Myself included. Anybody can drive in a straight line. Cornering and handling ability is far harder to judge unless someone can actually drive and in many cases you need to be doing dangerous speeds to do it. That neck snapping stuff is a big and easy sell. I used to think it was just Americans who got the horn for that, what with their long history of drag racing as a thing(huge engines and suspension setups by Isambard Kingdom Brunel that made them fall over in bends), but it's just as big a draw and feature pretty much everywhere.

A while back I watched a youtube vid on a lad and a helluva driver taking a Model 3 Performance around the Nurburgring and he said the power was great and unlike not so long ago with Teslas the motor and car had no problems with going into limp mode or any of that, so there are great improvements year on year. However he noted the the brakes and suspension were - his actual term - dangerously bad. Massive brake fade and the suspension was woolly as feck and couldn't handle camber changes understeering all over the place. I'd reckon a lot of that is the weight. It's a lot easier to rotate and brake a lower mass. Even more recently I watched another 'Ring video I think from the same chap driving a modified Model 3 and it was an absolute rocketship. Huuuuge brakes and fettled third party suspension. Chalk and cheese compared to the standard. Though as is always the case that kinda setup is not going to be great in 99.999% of actual real world driving.

I'd agree with much of your exes take on the "green" aspect of things. It can be hard to quantify the actual CO2 and other environmental footprint of any car in production and use as it depends on how far down the rabbit hole you go, and it's a deep rabbit hole indeed, but yeah it would also be my opinion that the "green" stuff is marginal. Especially when it's plugged into(no pun) our increasingly consumerist model. An EV should last for many decades and with less maintenance input compared to an ICE for a load of reasons, but that's feck all use if we're stuck with the PCP swapping out a new car every 5 years for new, almost like we're hiring "newness". EV's may even accelerate that because of the nature of their rapid improvements and gadgets with every product cycle.





*I've had a couple of traffic light drags with Leafs, cos I is a child and they easily get a car length ahead of me, but then get reeled in and shown what tail lights look like. That said with any other ICE car in that shopping/runabout segment I'd not even think of breaking sweat or adding wear to my clutch.

cnocbui

The EV reliability thing is a bit bogus, if you ask me. Unkle's 2014 P85 has had to have a new battery pack, tyre pressure sensors, wiper (I think?), MCU - he himeslf jokes his car will soon be 100% new parts.

The older I get, the more inclined I am towards appreciating the libertairian viewpoint. How about we just stop the unintended consequences inviting coercion from above, which led us to an 85% diesel fleet, and just let people decide for themselves what they want to do. We need to change the irish flag - I propose a white background with a big green hammer and an orange sickle

Thirdfox

Ah shure - wouldn't it be an orange hammer (molten hot from beating iron at the anvil) and green sickle (cutting fresh grass)?

I'm much less libertairian than yourself ... regulation with teeth and then allow market forces/capitalism to work. If we placed a commercial value on non-polluted air or biodiversity/forest maintenance then the markets will react to the most "profitable" outcome. Instead it's tragedy of the commons and we have trash piles floating in the pacific ocean bigger than entire countries - https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

cnocbui

Thirdfox wrote: »

Ah shure - wouldn't it be an orange hammer (molten hot from beating iron at the anvil) and green sickle (cutting fresh grass)?

I'm much less libertairian than yourself ... regulation with teeth and then allow market forces/capitalism to work. If we placed a commercial value on non-polluted air or biodiversity/forest maintenance then the markets will react to the most "profitable" outcome. Instead it's tragedy of the commons and we have trash piles floating in the pacific ocean bigger than entire countries - https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

Ireland is a socialist country. My plan is to leave you to it. In terms of topic, I hope my watch shows the passage of the least amount of time possible before my aim is realised.

Fitz II

Anyway back to watches wearing the VC today, was mixing cement all morning (damn thats hard graft) and good to shower and get a watch back on.

Wibbs

cnocbui wrote: »

The EV reliability thing is a bit bogus, if you ask me. Unkle's 2014 P85 has had to have a new battery pack, tyre pressure sensors, wiper (I think?), MCU - he himeslf jokes his car will soon be 100% new parts.

Well there is the increasing complexity and the need for product turnover too. They could make an EV last decades, but it's not something the market wants to see so... Look how long an airliner can last in service, getting updates and refits as it goes. Decades, because it's good for the market. Hell there are still a few DC3's in the air working for a living.

The older I get, the more inclined I am towards appreciating the libertairian viewpoint.

I went the opposite way C. I would be a social "libertarian" in the sense of do what you like so long as it doesn't impact others or society negatively. Though tbh I always found libertarianism of the US kind well dodgy on a few levels. A fantasy land that would quite quickly turn into a horror, an I'm alright Jack philosophy and in some a sociopathy masquerading as a politic. And wider human nature shows it to be a politic on the margins. It's pretty much a given that when societies throughout history become richer they fire more and more resources at social type spending. Why? Because it works out better for the societies overall. Of the American kind I reckon Christopher Hitchens summed it up for me when he said he found it rather quaint that there exists a movement like libertarianism in the US that thinks Americans aren't selfish enough.

Thirdfox

Fitz II wrote: »

Anyway back to watches wearing the VC today, was mixing cement all morning (damn thats hard graft) and good to shower and get a watch back on.

Building cement or teeth cement (is there such a thing?)

No showering with the watch? Tsk tsk... :pac:

James Bond Junior

I recognise the yellow M4 in the background!

Wibbs

Thirdfox wrote: »

Building cement or teeth cement (is there such a thing?)

Maybe Fitz is building cement from teeth? :eek: But yeah mixing cement is graft alright.

No showering with the watch? Tsk tsk... :pac:

I'd feel weird having a shower wearing a watch tbh.

Hi, I know nothing about watches, but I saw a Seiko on HUKD/Amazon a while ago that had an orange face, and I really liked the look of it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seiko-Analogue-Automatic-Stainless-SRPD59K1/dp/B07WGMTVRL/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=seiko+orange&qid=1615738666&s=watch&sr=1-1

It was about £180, reduced from £250 and I was ready to pull the trigger, but I read a few reviews, it seems that it isn't a great watch and that it would be worth spending a bit more to get a decent one, and in particular, one from Seiko's Prospex range. That led me to a similar looking one, the SRPC07, which is apparently a reissue of their original Samurai model, and which is an exclusive to Amazon in the USA. It was available there for $350, reduced from the RRP of $525, so I ordered it today, with delivery due next Friday 17th. All in, including VAT, duty and delivery it cost me €385. I know that it is not really a bargain, as they rarely go for the RRP, but I am happy with the purchase as I really like the looks of it and it gets decent reviews. Be interested to know what you guys think. Thanks.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0788THC7S/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Wibbs

Good choice there Dobby. Much better than the first pick.

Cienciano

Wibbs wrote: »

Well there is the increasing complexity and the need for product turnover too. They could make an EV last decades, but it's not something the market wants to see so... Look how long an airliner can last in service, getting updates and refits as it goes. Decades, because it's good for the market. Hell there are still a few DC3's in the air working for a living.

Oh yeah, this is another bugbear of mine. People buying a new car every few years and pretending environmental reasons is a factor. I have people I work with who'll get annoyed if a sheet of paper goes in the wrong bin but think nothing of changing their car every few years. I've no problem with people changing cars. Just stop pretending it's for environmental reasons

C0N0R

Thirdfox wrote: »

Building cement or teeth cement (is there such a thing?)

No showering with the watch? Tsk tsk... :pac:

Reminds me of the time I tried to fix my braces with balsa cement, orthodontist was not impressed. He also had a gorgeous e46 m3 at the time

Thirdfox

I'm thinking of this Mr Bean dentist cement (at around 3:47 mark - though the whole thing is worth watching in full I think ) Anyone spot what watch he's wearing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0cZK1c0wpE

athlone573

Dobbytoes wrote: »

Hi, I know nothing about watches...

Great choice, another Seiko Samurai owner on the forum, an Orange one even!

With the short lug to lug distance I find it very comfortable to wear

Plus its a "proper" dive watch with 200m of water resistance!

Roycropper63

@dobby
recently bought a samauri padi and i think the orange version is stunning!
am interested to hear what you think when it arrives and the cost landed etc by pm if you dont want to answer on open forum
thanks

Wibbs

Wibbs wrote: »

Good choice there Dobby. Much better than the first pick.

athlone573 wrote: »

Great choice, another Seiko Samurai owner on the forum, an Orange one even!

With the short lug to lug distance I find it very comfortable to wear

Plus its a "proper" dive watch with 200m of water resistance!

Roycropper63 wrote: »

@dobby
recently bought a samauri padi and i think the orange version is stunning!
am interested to hear what you think when it arrives and the cost landed etc by pm if you dont want to answer on open forum
thanks

Thanks guys. I'll update and post pictures when it arrives. I paid a couple of dollars extra for the fast delivery, and it is expected to arrive on Friday. I am expecting it to cost €387 in total, as Amazon add on the appropriate taxes ($85). They haven't deducted anything from my card yet, so I will confirm that also. I could have got it delivered to a relative in the States, and then got it forwarded, but for the sake of the extra few quid, I decided to just do it properly with Amazon.

I really like the look of the orange dial myself, and it was that colour on their cheaper model on Amazon UK that started me on the trail that ended up with this purchase. This particular model is an Amazon exclusive. There is anoter model number that comes with a spare rubber strap, but I couldn't find that anywhere.

I have just started wearing a watch again, and am currently wearing a cheap Skagen that I picked up a good few years ago, which isn't too bad looking, but this will be my first proper watch since the Seiko I had many, many years ago that had a digital calendar built in which let you check a date from up to a hundred years ago. That was quite the novelty at the time, which will tell you how long ago that was!

unkel

cnocbui wrote: »

The EV reliability thing is a bit bogus, if you ask me. Unkle's 2014 P85 has had to have a new battery pack, tyre pressure sensors, wiper (I think?), MCU - he himeslf jokes his car will soon be 100% new parts.

Teslas have poor build quality. Not on a par with the quality we have come to appreciate from German cars and Korean cars (some Japanese cars not so much so anymore these days, particularly when it comes to engines - but anyway ICE are very quickly going the way of the dodo). Things have improved an awful lot over the last few years and look particularly good for cars not built in the USA. Mine is an early Tesla, so not so good. Plenty of problems with these cars.

My car is 7 years old. Have it just over a year now and have another full year bumper to bumper warranty left. What other second hand 6 year old car can you buy that gives you 2 years full warranty?

We had a major power outage in Lucan this evening, lasting nearly 3 hours. I powered the house from my car and called in to my neighbours, to see if they had any emergency needs for AC power. My car, fully charged, can power the essential needs in my house for several weeks.

Cyrus

unkel wrote: »

We had a major power outage in Lucan this evening, lasting nearly 3 hours. I powered the house from my car and called in to my neighbours, to see if they had any emergency needs for AC power. My car, fully charged, can power the essential needs in my house for several weeks.

off topic but how does that work ?

Fitz II

Cyrus wrote: »

off topic but how does that work ?

The Electric car owner, generates a smugness field of tremendous power, the Tesla cars have a AS/DS (alternating to direct smugness) converter that allows the owner to power external batteries and home appliances via a Type 3 cable inserted into the owner and car. and then directly to the fuse board of the house. Its only Model S owners can avail of this feature, as Leaf, Model3 and Kona owners are simply not smug enough although future over the air updates may change that.

Wibbs

Fitz, you utter prick. I've just snorted tea all over my keyboard. My sinuses have rarely felt so clear, though I'll have to ask Thirdfox on his methods of cleaning keyboards.

Wibbs

I'm actually picturing a direct smugness convertor. :pac: One of my neighbours has been an early adopter of EV's, went from hybrids to a leaf and a mark 2 leaf and has a Model 3 on order. And fair enough, but yeah he's an odd mix of very nerdy accountant with OCD and a level of smug that is off the charts. Just on EV's mind, in every other way he'd be one of the least smug chaps you could ever hope to meet. One reason he gave me for his love of EV's was he has a near pathological hatred for the smell of fuel and hated using petrol pumps. Long before the pandemic he'd be wearing gloves at the local petrol station when filling up his hybrid back in the day. He doesn't like using public charge points either. Then again he's told me he's rarely used one. Charges at home and 90% of his driving with be suburban and urban so...

Fitz II

Wibbs wrote: »

One reason he gave me for his love of EV's was he has a near pathological hatred for the smell of fuel and hated using petrol pumps. Long before the pandemic he'd be wearing gloves at the local petrol station when filling up his hybrid back in the day.

Before Covid took my sense of smell Petrol was my #1 favourite smell....as a EV owner these days my favourite smell is that of my own farts.

Thirdfox

Wibbs wrote: »

Fitz, you utter prick. I've just snorted tea all over my keyboard. My sinuses have rarely felt so clear, though I'll have to ask Thirdfox on his methods of cleaning keyboards.

If you don't often clean keyboards I'd shudder to think what you'd find under yours - break out the black lights for when Wibbs was searching for vintage WWI trench watches :pac:

Wibbs

I hit them with a can of air every so often. That's on my Macbooks. Though I deliberately use 2014-16 examples as the later ones have completely shíte keyboards. Loads of failures. Then again IMHO Apple have gone rapidly downhill on their laptops over the last few years(the latest A1 Air is nice enough) Some aspects of their engineering beggar belief. Like placing moisture vulnerable components close to openings or having the backlight power circuit(loads of volts) sitting right beside the processor power circuit. :rolleyes:

I've taken apart and cleaned a few desktop keyboards and the gunk in some... :eek:, though taking apart laptops... Luckily I'm not allergic to anything or I'd need an epi pen for such times.