Inserted Update: I will have some words (promise to refrain from naughty words), about my earlier decision to give the finger to the Oil and Gas Industry by buying an Electric Vehicle. A paragraph or two, so try to wade through the initial paragraphs/subjects and then see the diatribe about the EV markets.
Well, here we are, the first of June and May is in the rear view mirror. I have been 82 for several weeks, my surgery has been sort of mitigated (pains have subsided quite a bit), and we are starting to make some progress on the settling in for our new condo home. We signed a contract for rental of storage space from the CubeSmart company and have made a couple of trips to put the plethora of boxes, plastic tubs and misc items that we will not need for a bit, into the storage facility Nice to see the carpet and walls in the guest bedroom/Harvey’s soon to be office work area. Yea ME!
Still have to worry about the health situation brought about with the bladder cancer and the newly discovered prostate cancer. Lots of trips for therapy for the edema swelling of my lower legs, and many tests to judge the status of the prostate cancer. But hey, I am upright and breathing, I can still type on my computer keyboards and can still drive my car so what’s not to like huh?
My bride, Charlotte traveled to Denver, Colorado (actually a suburb of Denver known as Aurora), on the 14th of May and she returned from her APA Congress sessions in Colorado on Saturday the 20th, it was so good to have her home. She spent the week at the APA Congress in the Rocky Mountain Gaylord Hotel and Conference Center. She conducted two seminars at the APA’s request and from all indications they were very successful, in fact when she was having her evening dinner after her last seminar, a lady stopped by her table to let her know just how much she enjoyed Char’s presentations. That would make a body feel pretty good huh?
Think I am a little bit proud of this lady who married me? You betcha.
We finally found a person to do some minor repairs and installations in our condo. We had started to despair of every locating a “handyman” to do several things that we found after we got moved in. You just know that is always the way, right?
Anyway, we laid out a task list for the gentleman, including leveling our kitchen stove (the former folk had it uneven, leaning toward the back and the difference was almost an inch from front to back. When frying eggs for our breakfast, I would put three eggs in our large skillet and very quickly they slid backwards to become one large egg, requiring me to separate them as they solidified later. We had several other things to work out, and our contractor person just submitted his proposal for costs, very reasonable pricing by the way. So in a few days, we will have all the necessary material in the condo and he can start to correct these problems.
Okay, now about the EV. As I stated in this area and on Facebook, I am tired of being shafted by the Oil and Gas industry every few years as they jack up the price of their fuel, both gasoline and diesel, at the retail pumps. As I have stated many many times over the years, people can point to all sorts of areas as the reason for fuel price increasing and every darn one of them is WRONG. Fuel prices go up and down at the manipulations of the oil and gas industry executives. Yeah I know, the Oil and Gas apologists try to put the entire blame on market impacts, well I call BS on that diversionary load of horse manure. These crooks sit in their big corner offices and decide it is time to increase the net profits and to pad the pockets of their big shareholders (not you and me), so they start playing with the price of fuels. Oh first they play the game of some crisis or other reason for creating a “shortage” and that is the “reason” for their increasing the price of a gallon of gasoline or diesel. Usually they raise the price very high, then after a period of screwing the driving public, the drop the price a penny or two, then a bit more and finally they are below the price point they are aiming for. So the price stays relatively low for a few days, then back up they go until the executives feel they have brainwashed the driving public enough to have the prices settle in to the costs they were shooting for in the first damn place.
This last time, when they used the pandemic, supply line impacts and the war between Ukraine and Russia to jack prices up sky high. In some places they hit 6 dollars or more. Of course they pretended it was such a hardship in delivery that caused the price to jump. And our right wingers in Congress went along with the ruse. We spent weeks being screwed by millions of dollars a month that flowed directly into the pockets and bank accounts of the oil and gas industry.
So, this old codger had been evaluating the evolving electric vehicle market, still not convinced that this was a good alternative to my little 4 cylinder Buick SUV. Then when it became more obvious that this time the criminals in the big offices of Exxon, Shell, BP, etc. were not going to reduce the prices of fuel anytime soon, I began to seriously consider trading our most favorite vehicle for a GM electric vehicle. Of course at the time, the Bolt EUV was the only thing I considered because it was reasonably priced, had very good distance numbers on a charge, and was a GM with my OnStar system. (We will never buy any car that is not OnStar capable). We decided to wait until the 2023s were out and more readily available and we were also looking at the relocation from Newport News back up to Alexandria. But the idea of a new Bolt electric vehicle was still very much in the forefront of my mind.
Then yesterday, I read an article that GM was going to stop production of the Bolt EV and EUV with this 2023 model year. There would be no 2024 version. DRAT! As I read the article the replacement was identified as the Chevy Equinox SUV which would be targeted at the customers who would have been looking for the Bolt. The Equinox would be the same size as the current gas powered ICE vehicle but would be powered by the General Motors Ultium platform. This platform was designed as such as to be the platform for ALL future GM electric vehicles, from the Caddy, to the Hummer, and then all the other GM products destined to transfer from gas/diesel to electric power.
So, even though I believe Ms. Mary (GM CEO) and her executive class have totally screwed the pooch with the death of the Bolt, I will still consider the aspect of purchasing a Chevy Equinox EV SUV when they become available for purchase. And I have informed our local GM dealers who sell Chevy of my interest and a check for a new 2024 Chevy Equinox electric SUV. Now, aren’t you impressed with this old man’s brilliance? Yeah, thought not!
My condo neighbor (we were sitting in the lobby library), asked why I wanted to wait when a Tesla store was nearby and I could have one of those. When I stopped laughing, I told him that if that egomaniacal asshat Elon Musk were giving the damn things away I still wouldn’t want one. Because by driving one and using his charging stations, I would still be putting money in his pocket and I would rather throw the money into the Potomac than let a single penny of my money go into his bank. Despise? Oh yeah, I would dance the Snoopy Dance of Joy down Constitution Avenue in downtown DC if the USA got smart and deported that fascist scumbag.
Anyway, so for now, we will keep on driving our Blue Baby Buick and wait to see what GM has up their sleeves (other than their arm), for the driving public. I would much rather see an electric version of my Buick Envision SUV come out and would happily wait until it was available. But believe this folks, as sure as God made little green apples, this old man will move away from the gasoline and diesel dependence on the corrupt thieves in the oil and gas industry as soon as a good GM vehicle becomes available, but I will stick with my sweetheart car, Buick Envision until that time.
Misty Lady Thought and Comment 