So is betting everything you own on the roll of a dice. Some are more likely to happen and some are more remote. I go for the low hanging fruit first.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

OTOH, that girl could make a cheap date. Go to a good steakhouse, he gets the meat, she gets the grass. 2 fed for the price of 1.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I may not agree with her taste in restaurants ... but if she's recommending, she might be interested in going. Especially if she just "happened to walk by" when you were there -- did she know you were going? Next time: "This new blah-blah-blah just opened up on Centre St...." "Would you like to go try it out at lunch?"

If you work in a place where people normally go out for lunch, no one other than you two need to even know unless you're stupid and blabber about it to everyone.

Bwa. Hah. Hah.

Btw, what is the "Y"?

spdrun: No, it was just a coincidence that she came to the restauramnt while I was there. It's on her way home and she drops by there weekly for take-out. It's a Thai vegan place. Food is pretty good but, like most vegan places, a total rip. And the portions are small too. Anyeway, she stopped by our table to say hello, and my female friend, who is very socialable, asked her what she got and stuff like that.

Yeah, I've thought about asking her if she'd like to try a vegan place, but I'm not sure if it's appropriate yet. She has suggested a few other places, and one she mentioned but haven't been there yet I actually went just so I could report back to her. Also got a menu for her

Nah, I wouldn't take her to a place and then ordered a meat dish. She probably wouldn't mind, but women like guys who are considerate!

Yeah, come to think of it, a casual lunch doesn't sound harmful...but I have to get over the fact that she's my superior. I really have to know if we are at that "friend" level to do it.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I got a hybrid because of her...well, I was gonna get a new car and the choices were an S2000, Audi TT (first gen), and 97-00 SL500, then I considered the Prius II (which she drives) and that led to my discovery of the first-gen Honda Insight--a better hybrid in terms of high mpg. I would have gotten the Insight regardless after reading about it, but wanting to impress her was just a bonus.

And going back to the environment, my Insight gets ridiculous mpg that I have to lower the numbers when people ask what I'm getting for fear that they may think I'm lying.

Never dined at the "Y"? Never heard of being a "cunning linguist"? Where have you been living all these years? Deep in some Asian Forrest or is it Siberia?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Appropriate? It's lunch, not a room in a sleazebag motel that rents by the hour for Allah's sake. I've had lunch with people whom I didn't even *know.* (Literally, if you're eating alone in a crowded restaurant, it's not uncommon for people to ask to join you, and start talking. With varying levels of interesting-ness.)

See above: she's a *human being.* Just like you. Who happens to work for the same entity that you do. Fortunately, because you met her. Unfortunately because it represents a very minor conflict of interest (compared to what a major conflict would be). But that's life -- nothing is ever 100% black nor white.

And stop hinting at what you feel by your choices of cars or restaurants. Hinting works ... if you're a girl. Problem is that you're a dude, so you need to just get over yourself and have lunch with her.

The law is an evolving thing. Some that is lawful today will be outlawed, and some vicey versa.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

No argument on that BUT that it could change in your favor tomorrow is NO excuse to exceed it today. You can't do something today and justify that tomorrow, it could be legal, or is that your excuse when you get into trouble? "Yes I know today 65 in the 40 is illegal but I heard from my cousin on the board that they are thinking of changing it to 65 next month so I get a pass today."

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Really depends on the law. Was Rosa Parks wrong in sitting at the front of the bus? How about Mr. Scopes for teaching evil-lution? Or even Col von Stauffenberg? I like to think that there's a higher law as well as laws made by humans.

from the number of posts you have regarding the one that got away, I would say you are unlucky.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Couple years back, I was watching an ITV documentary on global warming/climate change. One of the people they interviewed was one of the co-founders of Greenpeace, who left the organization (in his words) because of it's increasingly radicalized ideas.

I posted a link to said documentary in one of the threads on GW/CC.

He said that as time went on, and society at large put most of their basic ideas into common practice - ie, clean air, clean water, emissions controls on vehicle, protecting endangered species, serious attempts at alternative energy - many members of the organization feared they were becoming irrelevant, and felt they had to come up with increasingly radical positions/causes to "keep their name in the headlines" and keep the public support/contributions flowing from the younger generations.

One issue he disagreed with, for common sense reasons, was a proposal to ban chlorine. He said he simply asked them "How in the hell can you ban one of the naturally occurring elements on the Periodic Table?"

Another issue he disagreed with had very dark implications - the proposal that the "ideal" human population for having minimal impact on the environment, while continuing the species, was around 200 million people worldwide - the reduction from the nearly 7 billion present population to be achieved by forced euthanasia, forced sterilization, and "other" means as necessary.

IOW, those backing this proposal had decided that human beings themselves were the problem, that Gaia/Mother Earth took precedence over human life, and she/it should be protected at all costs by reducing the human population drastically, apparently with the "chosen enlightened few" left to carry on.

That, along with his disagreement with them over the use of nuclear power, were the straws that broke the camel's back and caused him to leave the organization.

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Just say "NO" to Ethanol - Drive Diesel

Mitchell Oates
Mooresville, NC
'87 300D 212K miles
'87 300D 151K miles - R.I.P. 12/08
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD 67K miles
Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club

I used to correspond with that guy on a forestry listserv. His name will come to me eventually. In my opinion, he sold his soul to the forestry industry, having become a paid consultant and promoter of industrial ag forestry. He uses his former association as a point of argument: "I used to be a nut but now I'm sane, which means what I now promote is sane" kind of thing. He carefully ignores or minimizes or avoids any science that doesn't promote his masters' management plans.

It's been several years since I engaged him on this issue so he may have moved on.

My own belief is that we are on a long-term downward slide of nutrient depletion of the forests due to over-harvest through short-term rotation. I believe the correlative/circumstantial evidence is available and compelling, but is not yet definitive and probably won't be for some time. It's expensive, painstaking research.

My opinion.

One can be lucky in some ways and unlucky in others. Speaking for myself, I choose to concentrate on the areas where I'm not lucky -- G-d helps those who help themselves, and Mr. Frosty should go help himself. Complaining online about situations that he has the power to change, but not making any move to change them, is not constructive.

I am sure thar for every Rosa Parks there are 5 people who will use that for an excuse for their actions. Tim Mcvey also thought he would be serving the greater good as with Hitler. So who decides if this is the one "depends" case or nott?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Better than making a destructive move that is also stupid.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow