timble

“A Supposedly Fun Thing I Will Never Do Again”

Tim Humphreys — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 20:09:07 +0000

So the post name is a title of a book by David Foster Wallace that Laurie had read a couple months back about his experience on a cruise. While the sentiment does not quite relate to our time in Hawaii I could not help myself from using it. That said I am not going to complain about a Hawaiian vacation we really had a good time but the experience did reinforce what we already knew which is that we are neither beach nor resort people, especially me since I can not sit still that long and just relax. Resorts have there perks but I for one do not like the Hotel California; island unto itself, once you enter you can never leave feel of the places and as for beaches we are far to pale, or transluecent as I like to say, to spend to much time there.

Now onto the highlights, good and bad, of the trip:

We arrived in Honolulu late Monday morning so when we got to the Hotel Renew in Waikiki the room was not ready but since it is just a couple blocks from the beach we changed clothes, went for a run then out into the water to cool off. As the cool refreshing waves washed up over my legs I realized that my cellphone was still in my pocket and pulled it out just in time to watch the screen spastically flash on and off before it went dead for good. I cracked open the back to see the damage and for the all of ten seconds that it was in the water it was extensive with all the metal componants turned either black or green with a crusty white shell. Salt water plus electric current is really not good for copper contacts.

The next day we got up early and went to Pearl Harbor to visit the Arizona Memorial which if you can look past the noisy and disrespectful throngs of tourist it could serve its stated purpose of being a memorial to the men who died. The National Park Service takes too many people over and when you arrive the memorial is full of the people waiting to leave from the previous tour. Unless it is something you just have to check off your list like many of the people there I would suggest against going. We also watched a movie on what led Japan to attack us at Pearl Harbor, best exhibit there, and went through the USS Bowfin with its accompanying museum.

The best site we saw while in Honolulu was hands down the Ioloni Palace which has an amazingly beautiful interior but unfortunately I only could take photos of the exterior. In the picture that you see below you can see the windows but it is hard to judge the size, they are three panel windows that are at least nine feet tall where you could walk through them as if they were doors if you put up the lower two sashes. That really is just a side note to the true artistry of the interior wood working, done in a local wood and unlike anything I have ever seen before.

Laurie and I normally stay together during our adventures in foreign lands but when I wanted to go out in a catamaran and do some snorkeling so we split ways since she is most definitely a land lover. The catamaran I was on was the Maita’i and the crew was really great, plus the equipment we used for snorkeling was well maintained and of good quality. The trip out to go snorkeling was definitely one of those instances that going in the off season really paid off since the catamaran could handle 30 people but there were only six of us which meant you could get up and move about the boat a little bit more and when in the water you could feel like it was just you and the sea creatures in the great big ocean. There is a family of sea turtles at the reef that they took us to and swimming along side them is really fantastic and a little unnerving at the same time. At one point a sea turtle came from underneath a coral shelf and started to surface from right below me, I did not see it at first since with the mask you get tunnel vision. When I finally saw him coming at me I really had to scurry to get out of the way in time, you are not suppose to touch the turtles for one and I did not want to find out how he would react upon a collision.

After the snorkeling was done we sailed up and down the cost a bit while having lunch and it is great being underway with just the wind propelling you along. Catamarans can really pick up speed if you take them at the right angle to the wind and the crew did hit that sweet spot a couple times but like on all sailboats when doing it right you are going to get bounced around and a little wet so they held back for the most part and just took us for a smooth ride.

While I was out on the open water getting a solid red “tan”, even with SPF 50, Laurie was having an adventure herself trying to get around via the bus to some more out of the way locations. We tend to forgo getting a car if at all possible while traveling because of the added cost and hassle and usually its works out fine, mostly because we typically travel to urban areas with good mass transit. In Honolulu they have a pretty extensive bus system which for getting to most places that a local or tourist is most likely to go it is great and inexpensive. The further away from the coast you go the less frequent the buses which can make for some long and annoying waits. Laurie went up to The Contemporary Art Museum specifically to see a David Hockney exhibit, which ended up being closed suspiciously for building maintenance but getting there took two buses. When she exited the first bus and went to locate the stop for the second the bus she wanted went flying past. After some searching she still could not find the bus stop so she called the transit authority only to be told another bus would not be coming by for another hour at which point she hailed a cab.

After her misadventure up in the hills of Honolulu and my swimming with the fishes we meet at the Bishop Museum. Now remember I no longer have a cell because of the earlier mishap so we had to specify a time and hope everything worked, so dependent on those little electronic gadgets we are. Makes me wonder how anything got done before there were telephones in every house and business.

The Bishop Museum is combination astronomy, science, Oceania and Hawaiian history Museum. The science museum is a whole lot of fun for the kid in all of us but the room that blew them all away is the Hawaiian Hall which is a three story atrium filled with artifacts from Hawaii’s past, natural and historic. This is also where we learned a little bit more about the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement. Yes, that is correct some Hawaiians want to cut ties with the US which however misguided, their economy is to strongly dependent on tourist from the mainland, is completely understandable since Sanford B. Dole, yes as in Dole Pineapple, overthrew a sovereign government in the 1890′s. If you want to know more go to Wikipedia and look up the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement.

The second part of our trip was spent on the island of Hawai’i, more commonly known as the Big Island which is very much an apt description. Landing at Kona International Airport is like landing on a different planet or maybe what one might imagine a post-apocalyptic earth would look like with its black wasteland spreading out for miles. The eastside of the island where we stayed would be barren even if it was not covered in lava rock since the climate is that of a desert.

Though in this desert some resorts have imposed their will and created green oases with golf courses, waterfalls and lagoons out along the coast for us travelers. We stayed at Hilton Waikoloa Village which was just over the top and not in a good way with its tram and gondola system that ran between the not that far apart buildings and its 70′seque decor throughout. For the most part a hotel is just where I sleep and in this case use the pool to cool off after a morning run but what really galled me about this place was the morning breakfast buffet. Laurie really wanted to get macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup, which along with tropical fruit galore were suppose to be unavoidably everywhere which we did not find to be the case. We had sat down and ordered coffee while we perused the menu just to find that they do not have what we want and that the prices are just outrageous at $28/per person for the buffet. The kicker was that if you put one item, even cereal or friking oatmeal, plus a drink you easily surpass the cost of the buffet. So we finished our coffee, $18, and started out our day in hopes that we could pick something up in Waimea which is 40 minutes away. Through the isolation of the resort from all other humanity they have made it so that you will spend most if not all your time and money without leaving the compound. I knew that is how it was going to be, I am not sure why I was still so caught of guard. The lucky thing was that after leaving we had a great breakfast complete with pan-fried spam and Portuguese sausage served over rice at Hawaiian Style Cafe, which we later found out from our ATV guides that it was the place to eat like a local.

Speaking of the ATV guides they were really great and informative about what we were seeing plus the tour we took through RidetheRim went through a Eucalyptus forest, stopped off for us to have a swim below a waterfall and had some great vistas of the Waipi’o valley which no other ATV tour has rights to at the moment. It seems to be a small operation which is great because you will never have to feel crowded during the tour. I realize a couple times here the text has read like an advertisement but I just what the businesses/organizations/locations that I really enjoyed patronizing deserve nothing less then my praise. The picture below is of the 1,200 foot tall Hi’ilawe Falls which is at the rear of the valley and just a stunning sight even at this distance.

Something I had skipped over was Pololu Beach which we visited on the day that we arrived on the Big Island. It can be accessed by driving to the end of 270, which comes to an end little abruptly, and then hiking down a steep trail to the beach. Not sure I would swim there since there is a substantial undertow and every wave comes in carrying some large stones but it is worth it to be on a beautiful black sand beach all by yourself. Supposedly, the trail continues on to an even more remote beach which is more swimming friendly but that was up and over a very daunting mountain. Maybe if we had more time but we had reservations at Roy’s and that was a meal we were not going to miss. I have a thing about going back and eating at the same place two days in a row but Roy’s is that good, plus they change their menu daily on the Big Island location and weekly at the Honolulu one.

The last full day we had in Hawaii was spent going around to the other side of the island to Hilo and then up to Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park. In Hilo we went to the weekly farmers market and picked up some treats to eat while hiking including; lychees and poi tamales (not sure what they are actually called). After gathering our supplies we headed up to the park which again I completely forgot to account for the change in temperature because of elevation so we were under dressed especially when walking in the shade. Knowing once I get moving I would be fine I gave Laurie my jacket so that she would not be chilled and we headed off on a loop around the rim of the Kilauea Iki Crater and then back through the basin. From the picture it is hard to judge scale but the trail across the middle of the crater is 2.4 miles long, so it is like walking loops around the largest mall parking lot. While it may look smooth and most of it was the first mile was through very jagged and sharp lava stones jutting up at all angles. It is something else to be walking on top of an active volcano which is still cooling off from its 1959 eruption evidenced by the steam jets and smoldering piles of debris you pass along the way.

While we did not see active lava at the bottom of Kilauea Iki Crater we did see some later that evening from the end of HI-130 or rather where the mountain had reclaimed the land, houses and roads as its own once again. We had to wait till it got dark to really see much because the glow of the molten lava is hard if not impossible to see during the light of day. Even before the sun went done you could tell what you were seeing from the plumes of smoke coming off the land and spire of steam coming out of the ocean, neither of which they will let you get that close. One thing I was not expecting to see was the crazy people who have decided to build on top of this lava field that is only a decade or two old, living out past where the road ends.

Even with my choice of post title I think I would go again or at least go for another vacation in an island location and overall it was a really good vacation.

Washington, DC

Tim Humphreys — Sat, 15 May 2010 04:26:03 +0000

Back in February Laurie and I were going to end up in DC, her traveling for work with me tagging along to take advantage of the free accommodations and see the sights. Of course it just so happened that was the same week that DC got slammed with enough snow that even a town in Maine would be shut down for at least an afternoon. Luckily enough our flight got canceled and we were able to get a full refund, because even if we had made it we would not have been able to do anything.

Fast forward a couple months and Laurie again had to go to DC again for work and this time the weather cooperated. I had not been in Washington since the post Junior High trip back in the summer of ’93 during which the tour group was more likely to drop us off at a Mall, with clothing stores, then The Mall, with museums.

Being that Laurie was working I really hit the ground running, much to the detriment of my poor feet, and crammed in a large number of sights; Alexandria, Renwick Gallery, Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Botanical Garden, the Presidential Memorials (Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, FDR), the War Memorials (Vietnam, Korean, WWII), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, National Building Museum, Library of Congress, Holocaust Museum, Freer Gallery, Air and Space Museum, American Art Museum, Portrait Gallery, National Gallery of Art (East and West Buildings) and finally the International Spy Museum.

Needless to say I do not need to go back for another 15 or more years

The surprise standout of the trip was the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, which is an attractive building from the outside but is truly stunning once you make it into the atrium, see the picture on the left. And as an added bonus the exhibits are really well done. It had not even made my schedule of sites to see rather it was on the secondary “if there is time swing by” section of the itinerary. Only wish I had planned for more time there since I would have liked to utilize the reading room by finding something for the librarian to pickup from the stacks. They have all sorts of one of a kind books, prints, photographs, recordings, etc etc.

We will be off to Hawaii, our true vacation this year, before we know it and I will have to let you know how that goes, I am keeping my fingers crossed that there is no snow storms to hinder those plans.

Adventures in Woodworking

Tim Humphreys — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:54:03 +0000

For some time I have wanted to try to build a piece of furniture but with the lack of space to have a shop I figured it was just never going to happen. Lately though with my lack of creative outlet I decided it was worth a try to make it work by creating a “mobile” shop that I can pull out of my storage unit in the basement of my condominium.

This has made me have to rethink what I can honestly expect to do and what it takes to do woodworking, specifically the tools. For instance the mainstay of most shops is a tablesaw which is the go-to stationary tool of probably 95% of home woodworking shops which I just do not have room to store or use. Plus when cutting sheets of plywood I would need another set of hands unless I have an outfeed table for which again I have no room. So the solution has come in the form of a track saw system. After looking around I decided on getting the EZ Smart Guide from EurekaZone Inc., silly bit of naming I know, instead of a Festool or similar brand. This was for a couple reasons; 1.) Cost 2.)Adaptability 3.)American made 4.)Works with any circular saw and can be adapted to work with routers, planners and over tools.

There has been a big learning curve not just because this system is new to me but woodworking as a whole is something I have done very little. I did start to take a class which I later left or was asked to leave, but that is something for a later post. The first place I had problems was getting a good square edge which is the one thing you want in woodworking and to some extent this is still a problem. Along with the track for the saw I also got repeaters and sliding square, see the website to see what I am talking about: http://eurekazone.com/. The repeaters are going to come in handy when I start cutting the plywood but I have found them difficult to work with when cutting the 1×6 birch that I have been cutting to length and then ripping to size. While cutting to length I have been using the sliding square which should allow me work quickly and confidently knowing it will be a square cut but I find it comes out of square far to easily. The act of positioning the wood and the track quite often for me has knocked the square out of square which can truly be infuriating. I have taken to treating it with kids gloves but the track and the square act like levers so it does not take much pressure to exert tremendous force upon the screw tightened connection.

The rip cuts brought their own issues with the track saw since they are significantly smaller in width then the track itself. The track has clamps which you use from the underside which hold your work piece in place but when this is done with smaller pieces they have a tendency to make the rip cut a slight bevel instead of perpendicular to the face of the wood. I found that if I clamped a piece of wood behind the work piece and clamped them both down with a scrap piece going across them both it would pull it back to square.

I find that working this way is much slower then more traditional methods but I do not have the room, so for now this is it. Though I might find over time that I get faster and find better ways to work with the EZ Smart system or get more components and build a power table with the Bridge. It seems odd to think about getting more parts when I have had problems with what I have but I can see how much better things would work for me if I did “upgrade”. Though every time the square gets out of square I definitely reconsider why I am doing it this way. Ok enough about the tools, what am I building?

“What’s he building in there…

I’ll tell you one thing he’s not building a playhouse for the children

What’s he building in there?”

-Tom Waits “What’s he building in there?”

So the first thing I am buildings is a nightstand or rather a pair of nightstands. The wall upon which our bed is located is not really all that long and so the nightstands we have now either hang past where we would like or sit at an odd angle so we want to have two narrow nightstands so everything sits nicely. Now I have kept my eyes open for something that would fit the bill for quite sometime and seen nothing that will work so I am going to build my own.

The Design:

So lets take a look at what I have gotten done so far:

Awakening

Tim Humphreys — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:17:22 +0000

Being awoken by the commotion after the 2am bar closing is not an uncommon thing for us Thursday, sometimes Wednesday, through Saturday and neither are screams of “HELP” from drunks who think calling wolf is the peak of comic genius. So when I initially was startled out of unconsciousness by someone yelling “STOP, HELP!!” I simply turned over and pulled the covers tighter about my shoulders. Not until the words “I am backing away now just let me go” did I realized that someone might truly be in need of help, so I grabbed my phone and went to the window. From my vantage point all that could be seen was a cab with the driver door ajar, at which point I dialed 911. This scene gave two options as to what was going on since I could still not see the people involved but only hear the grunts of a struggle, either the cabdriver was getting robbed or some tool was trying to run out on his bill and the cabbie was not having it. Just as I hung up the phone I finally got to see the people involved as one guy bolted for the cab, got in and locked the doors while the other guy chased after him. He was too slow and once he realized that he was shut out he booked for the corner and took off running north. In an odd turn of events it appeared that it was the passenger, from now on to be referred to as The Tool, that had locked himself into the cab for protection, he was wearing a sport coat and jeans plus he sounded drunk when we could hear him speak later. So it was the cabbie who took off leaving his car behind which led us to believe it was not his medallion and/or he had no green card.

Either way he was long gone and missed all the excitement as one of Chicago’s finest came barreling down out street the wrong way with lights flashing and two other unmarked cars blocked the other end of the street. At this point The Tool got out of the car and started jogging towards the cops while yelling incoherently at which point the cops grabbed him, threw him onto the hood and cuffed his hands behind his back. I admire this approach cuff everyone, figure what is going on later. So The Tool starts screaming over and over “he bit my f*&king finger off man!! My f*&king finger” and so the cop grabs his hands, still cuffed behind The Tools back, twisting them into view and counts his digits. With all ten there and no blood to justify his rantings I think everyone, except the The Tool, was a little disappointed. In an attempt to get a better view I walked into the bedroom but by the time I got there all the cars including the cab where being driven away. Needless to say I was completely shocked and how quickly the scene had dissipated.

While staring at the now empty street I watched in amusement as a steady stream of cabs came driving by, stopping at the end of our block, getting out, looking around in confusion and then driving away.

3:13:42

Tim Humphreys — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:01:52 +0000

The triathlon took me 3 hours 13 minutes and 42 seconds which is a whole 29 seconds slower then I did it back in 2005. Honestly I am very disappointed with my performance in this race, specifically in the swim. This time around I really worked hard on my weakness in the water and in the pool I went from someone who could barely do a length of freestyle to being able to swim a non-stop mile. So when I got in the water on race day and could barely manage more then a couple yards of freestyle before flipping over in defeat, it did not make for a good start. I have plenty of excuses for why I could not manage to swim that day; could not sleep the night before, freezing water, sick to my stomach but mostly I had just not properly become accustom to swimming in open water. It took me nearly an hour to finish the swim, by comparison the same distance was taking me 40 minutes at the pool. My calves cramped pretty badly about 100 yards from the swim finish which did not help matters either.The rest of the race went fine once I was out of the water with me doing about the same on the bike while I cut almost 8 minutes from my run, even with my calves being tense from cramping. Even though I think I could do better I have no plans on ever doing another triathlon. Even the reasoning I used when I signed up, it will make me work out, seems ridiculous since I would have worked out even without the triathlon looming overhead, maybe not nearly as much but adequate for keeping in shape. So here and now I pledge to never make the mistake of signing up to swim, bike & run a triathlon ever again.

The Cloud is Lifting

Tim Humphreys — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:26:03 +0000

Illinois is set to be 19^th state to have a smoking ban in public places and I can not be happier. SB0500 goes into effect on January 1^st, 2008 and I can not wait to go to a tavern without having to breathe toxic air just to get drink or hang out with friends. Of course this is going to mean that near the entrances we will have to wade through a death cloud, though smokers are not suppose to be within 15’ of entry doors.

Now I do have friends that are not going to be rejoicing at the passage of this bill but it has not made smoking illegal, this is not a prohibition on cigarettes. Many smoker’s rights groups make this fight a matter of their civil liberties but this is just not the case. This law is just making it harder for smokers to contaminate the air that everyone must breathe. Smoke to your lungs content in private just not in public places where your bad choice has become everyone’s bad choice.

Chicago Tribune Article

No Authority

Tim Humphreys — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:52:18 +0000

So many things I mean to do, plan to do but never get around to. For this blog I have started numerous post but never completed them partly because I do not schedule or set aside the time to do them, additionally, when the topics deal with world events I get stuck questioning “By what authority can I write on subjects outside of my daily life?” Of course there would not be much blogging if people were not willing to write endlessly about topics they do not have any particular deep knowledge. Yesterday is dead, God Indifferent, Turning Green – Part 1 and Whitecollar Death Sentence are the names of just a few of the post I have been meaning to write. Almost have to write them now that I have made their existence known.

Eugene, OR?

Tim Humphreys — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:43:20 +0000

So a comment received from somebody named Seiji, weird name for a Mexican, suggested that Eugen, OR is the true Springfield from the Simpsons. Citing the founder statue on the campus of the University of Oregon (Go!?! Beavers?) in Eugene’s resemblance to the statue of Jedediah Springfield on the Simpsons as proof. So lets see the pictures:

From the images above you can see a similarity but I think that would be the case with any depiction of a Daniel Boone like character. Since Matt Groening is from the northwestern United States it does seem probable that the scenes depicted in the Simpons bear a certain similarity in appearance but I think they idea that Springfield is wholly based on one real place completely unlikely.

Going to Springfield

Tim Humphreys — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:07:42 +0000

Rarely do I head to the theater to see a movie any more, especially with Netflix delivering dvds directly to my home, but I am really excited about “The Simpsons Movie“. Heard on NPR that Springfield, Illinois lost the bid to premier the movie to Springfield, Vermont of all places. For many fanatics the question of which Springfield this fictional family resides I think this choosing of Vermont is as close to an answer they can ever hope. Went to the Simpsons promotional site for the movie and tried my hand at making my likeness as a Simpsons character and you can see the result below.

NDE 1562

Tim Humphreys — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:30:30 +0000

Near Death Experience #1562

Now I am going to start off by saying there are a number of things I could and should have done differently.

While riding home from work someone tried to kill me with there 2+ ton SUV. Now when I say tried to kill me I don’t mean the all to common occurrence of; someone pulling into my lane without looking, turning without a signaling, opening their door and then looking dazed when I have to dodge into traffic or slam on my brakes. It was none of those forgivable incidents rather I had pissed this guy off enough that he felt taking my life was proper punishment for cutting him off.

I have been riding my bike to work for a good two months or so and already have put 300 miles on the odometer. Yesterday was really no different other then the roads being a little wet from a recent downpour. Heading along my normal route, working my way between the parked cars and traffic while riding behind a fellow biker that I want to pass before the next light so I can get up to my normal speed. There is a gap in traffic and I look over my shoulder see a vehicle about a car length back as I pass the guy . HOOOOOOOOONK

Knowing what I know now, that the guy behind the wheel of this particular big black SUV is in dire need of an anger management course, I would not have done what follows.

There was plenty of room not only between my back wheel and his front bumper but also in the overall width of the lane which even while passing I was not taking up all that much room, though I guess when you drive such a large behemoth all traffic lanes must feel so minuscule. So I pull fully into his lane for all of fifteen seconds while on our way to the stoplight that is no more then 50 yards ahead. Seemingly after making my point I pull back over into my lane and start to slow up since there is a red light ahead. He on the otherhand guns his engine for 10 yards before having to slam on his brakes in order keep from driving into the car in front of him that is already stopped at the redlight.

Shaking my head and thinking to myself this guy is nuts when the light changes and I am off, at this point I think my encounter with this fellow is done.

In my mind I am already back in my normal routine trying to time the lights so I do not have to stop or put my foot down. I make the next light but can tell I am going to hit the next light so I slacken my pace. Almost to the cross walk and the black SUV is back and before I even know what is going on the guy behind the wheel is out of his vehicle and yelling at me; “You want to fuck with me asshole… do you want to fight asshole?”

I am just looking at him dazed thinking, he can not be serious. Why would anyone fight over something so trivial. Knowing though that he is more then serious I decide I need to get some distance from this guy and I look right to see if any cars are coming and I blow the light and race done the street trying to get some speed before he gets a chance to catch up.

Peddling faster I find myself vainly hoping that he has headed towards the highway rather then follow me but I know this is not true because I can hear the roar of his engine and screeching tires somewhere behind me. I have made a couple turns and hopefully gotten some space but the road up ahead is looking deathly vacant like main street at high noon and I know if he is still back there he is going to have room to catch up.

Already I am thinking I need to get off this road but before I get a chance is he up next to me. Yelling again this time through his open window “Can’t go fast enough, asshole. Not going to be able to run away from me, asshole.” This whole time he is yelling at me the gap between him and the parked cars keeps getting tighter as he makes small jerky motions with is truck in my direction. I look over at him as he looks back up the road and I get a gut feeling for what he is going to do next and I slam on the brakes as he veers hard over towards me blocking my path almost completely.

He starts to get out of his truck practically before it has completely come to a stop and I want to yell at him “You’re driving a lethal weapon, you even touch me and thats ‘attempted murder’ you psychopath!!”, but all the comes out is “Back the fuck off!!” as I spit over my shoulder onto his hood.

Now that was a particularly stupid move but thankfully my next maneuver was a little more thought out.

Up ahead I see my way out and jog between two parks car up onto the sidewalk. I need to get somewhere with more traffic so I use a east-west street to get over to LaSalle where I know there is going to be plenty of traffic to bog this guy down.

Once over into the relative safety of staled traffic I feel a small bit of relief but I am not taking any chances and I crank even faster down the narrow passage between stopped cars. After a little while I feel confident that if he did follow me he is a couple lights back not moving with the rest of the cars and I slow up to take a breather on the last couple blocks before home.

Hopefully I have learned a little something from the experience such as: don’t taunt the cars because even a Geo Metro is a tank compared to my little aluminum 2-wheeler and guys driving big SUVs are exactly what I have always thought.