Innocent Bystanders

Some Pics of Dave July 24, 2022

I just put up a page of DinTX pics that I had from various sources. Most are from 2009. The page is password-protected, the password being the nickname of IB, each word capitalized, no spaces.

If you have posting privileges here (and who doesn’t?), feel free to add pics of your own.

No No No No NO July 22, 2022

It is with great, great sadness, and no little confusion about cosmic justice, that I’m forced to report the passing of one of the major authors at this site, DaveinTexas, this past Wednesday. I have no information concerning the circumstances or arrangements [Update: Link to the funeral home included at the bottom of the post].

Dave was a prolific author here through 2017, after which work demands unfortunately took him away from blogging. He wrote almost 500 posts here, his last post being in 2019 (“A Veteran Laid to Rest“),

One of his earliest (2006) efforts was a video he made of “The History of the Innocent Bystanders,” where you can still enjoy listening to him try not to giggle as he fabulates with abandon.

And, of course, who can forget his epic “Crap Tree” post, which was posted here almost every year since he wrote it.

I suck at eulogies, which is why I usually asked Dave to write them. He always came through brilliantly. He had a natural gift for expressing heartfelt empathy without being smarmy. He was an amazing combination of irreverent humor and genuine caring. And bass playing.

As usual I’m at a complete loss, and now I don’t have Dave to turn to.

Sorry, Dave – you deserve far, far better.

Link to the funeral home site.

Ugly Demise July 20, 2022

Adding insult to injury (or, in this case, death):

A former Russian biathlon star-turned pilot and two wealthy Russian tourists on a £4,250 sightseeing trip were killed in a helicopter crash on Saturday, before being dragged away and gnawed by bears, according to reports.

My dad once had a surgery and my brother asked him how he was doing. “I feel like I’ve been eaten by wolves and sh*t off a cliff,” was his reply.

I think “I feel like I crashed in a helicopter and got eaten by bears” conveys the same sort of sentiment.

Buttigieg Tries His Hand at Cherry-Picking July 20, 2022

Pete Buttigieg, who exposes his incompetence weekly (which is actually far less often than his superiors in the administration), thinks he scores a point on Rep. Scott Perry:

“I think it’s fair to say that even you have implied that [consumers] should buy an electric vehicle and absolve themselves” of that cost, Perry told Buttigieg. “Just looking at Kelley Blue Book, the price of an EV is about $55,000,” he added.

Buttigieg responded: “First of all, I want to be clear, nobody I know, certainly not me, thinks that all, or even most Americans, can easily afford electric vehicles.”

“That said, I’m struck by this $55,000 number that keeps going around,” Buttigieg said.

“I knew this might come up, so I just pulled a few of the latest prices: A Chevy Bolt, so an American-made, 2022 EV, is $26,595,” he told Perry.

Going to the Chevy website, here are the starting prices for their electric vehicles (pictures here and below taken from their site):

Those are 2022 prices, which are higher than Buttigieg’s number because last month Chevy announced that their 2023 price would be lower by $5K. [Sad that Pete is relying on future prices to assuage the pain consumers are feeling right now.] Either way, let’s compare to Chevy’s low-end gas-powered options.

The Spark and the Bolt EV have very similar bodies, but the Spark is half of even Buttigieg’s discounted price.

Of course, neither the Bolt nor the Spark are among the best-selling cars/trucks/SUVs in America (here are the top 25 for 2021). Why? Because they have limited space and few features. They are cars that work well for people with short commutes and a lot of city driving, but they’re not the best choice for a family car, for instance.

This is why we compare averages, Mr. Buttigieg, instead of cherry-picking the cheapest car and pretending that it represents a valid solution for all American consumers.

Neanderthals and Zermatism II July 13, 2022

More evidence that Szukalski may have been right:

Some of Us Are Part-Neanderthal, And It Could Affect How You Process Medicines