What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

Whenever I go back to KS to visit family, my mother gives me her car to use for the duration. I hate, hate, hate that it has push buttons on the dash for the gear selection. You ain't rocking that thing out if you get in a minor stuck situation. I can't imagine the pull tabs are any better than push buttons.

OTOH, it is kind of cool that when you hit the stop engine button in Mom's car, it will automatically put itself into park (not that that is the suggested way - just something my mom found out by accident).

 

I'm not a fan either. Having to choose between the two, I'd rather the dial shift such as some rams have over push (or pull) buttons.

Mind you, many huge commercial trucks with automatics have push button shift, and have for many years before it became common in cars and such. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like a lever.

 

Those aren’t true automatic transmissions either

they are automated manual transmissions.

 

Those electronic push buttons are designed for the mental capacity of the same people who camp in the left lane.

 

Light mowing again today.

 

Snuck out for 1.5 hours of fishing this morning. Didn't catch anything but had a great time throwing the fly rod around.

 

Worked on the reception desk and cabinets this morning before work. Everything except the drawer boxes is fabricated, everything is sanded, and finish is about 1/3 done. Sanding hickory smells great, but it sure does take a long time.

After this project is done I have a pantry cherry pantry cabinet to build. After that I get to actually build something for myself...I have a 2" thick slab of figured walnut I'm going to make a desk out of. Been looking forward to this for years now.

 

Pictures of figured walnut slabs always appreciated. Just sayin.

 

New Mill

 

I'm aware of that, and a lot of people sure do hate them. I was just playing devil's advocate for the reliability and ergonomics of push button shifters.

I also know even many lever shifts these days are connected to an electric gismo rather than mechanical cables, be it an automated transmission or a true automatic. But at least they retain the "traditional" look and feel. It's just what I'm used to of course, but I have to admit something seems odd about a vehicle interior without some kind of a gear lever.

 

Absolutely beautiful slabs

 

they get a bad rap because people don’t take the time to learn how to drive them or set them up correctly in the ecm.

I had to do a considerable about of adjustments to mine and changing my habits vs a manual.

these transmissions need an entirely different mentality.

you don’t drive the engine, you drive the transmission.

I had to change my foot feed for the throttle and the shifting parameters to get it to work like it should.

how it came from the factory and how the prior owner had it setup about drove me insane.

even my mechanic who set the parameters was amazed at what we changed and how much of a difference it made in performance.

 

Fair enough. I guess when you're just a paid driver, you can only adjust your driving as best you can, but if you're an owner-operator you have a little more freedom to play with the truck itself. And some people will only ever want an old school manual, but those are certainly dying out fast now, in vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

I don't know to what degree that could be improved, but the most common complaint I hear about automatic semis is not their habits on the road, but that you can't feather the clutch when backing into a dock, and wind up having to hit it harder than you'd like, causing a little damage to the trailer over time.

Most of the semi drivers we deal with (who are hourly company drivers) have still managed to hang on to their manuals till now, but most likely the next time their truck is replaced, it'll be an automatic.

Very rarely see a straight truck with a manual anymore.

 

Speaking of docks, the spring is snapped off on my loading door at work. Can't lift it a hairline. I have a second door, but it has no ramp. ( = loading by hand)

 

One of this morning's headlines:

 

Are spitballs legal in MLB?

 

That’s sucks.

 

More underground plumbing. Hydrant had an unplanned disassembly.