TheFluff posted:

ask jpl how they managed to do a powered landing first try on another planet

but no tho, blowing up prototypes is necessary in order how to learn things you see

refleks posted:

i might be dumb eurotrash but i actually like the name Voltswagen.

if they just decided from the start to brand all their electrics with that, split it from the ICE cars and maybe spicy up the VW with a lightning bolt or some poo poo...

Silver Alicorn posted:

https://twitter.com/vogon/status/1377014387051876353?s=21

I’m still lolling at all the spacex apologia

Sagebrush posted:

he's just rediscovering all the rocketry lessons from the 1950s like how Tesla is gradually rediscovering all the mass production lessons from the 1920s.

We call it innovation

PCjr sidecar posted:

tbf be sure to ask them to convert imperial to metric at the same time

Lead out in cuffs posted:

Um, the car maker that was literally founded by Nazis (and has effectively distanced itself from that) probably doesn't need lightning bolts in its logos.

Xakura posted:

Don't know what kind of sick burn you think you're making, but it was lockheed martin that read the specs wrong, and supplied thrust in imperial units.

TheFluff posted:

ask jpl how they managed to do a powered landing first try on another planet

but no tho, blowing up prototypes is necessary in order how to learn things you see

Jonny 290 posted:

normal and good to immediately book your first repair appointment upon taking delivery of a brand new car

hobbesmaster posted:

i mean I had to do this for my Subaru... for one issue I would’ve never seen

EIDE Van Hagar posted:

six ligma manufacturing

Iron Crowned posted:

Tesla would never do a recall

Sagebrush posted:

i mean i assume these are the same people who take delivery of their new android phone and immediately jailbreak and wipe it to install Bugless_Beast_putinEdition

Xakura posted:

Don't know what kind of sick burn you think you're making, but it was lockheed martin that read the specs wrong, and supplied thrust in imperial units.

Mr. Nice! posted:

except the one they were forced to do because the ecu eventually gets to a point where it cannot be written to and the entire car bricks.

PCjr sidecar posted:

its more about the sick burn they didn’t make

NoneMoreNegative posted:

https://twitter.com/partnardy/status/1377052163751485441?s=20

Iron Crowned posted:

My initial Pixel 3a had to be returned immediately because the screen decided to act like I was pressing poo poo perpetually, making it unusable, but it only took like two days to get a fully functional replacement.

refleks posted:

i might be dumb eurotrash but i actually like the name Voltswagen.

if they just decided from the start to brand all their electrics with that, split it from the ICE cars and maybe spicy up the VW with a lightning bolt or some poo poo...

PCjr sidecar posted:

its more about the sick burn they didn’t make

The Bemidji Pioneer posted:

Mississippi River adventure: Couple build raft for a journey
Written By: Pioneer staff reports
May. 23, 2009

"It's lovely to live on a raft," said Huckleberry Finn in Mark Twain's classic novel of a trip down the Mississippi River.

Veruschka and Zelda Xox (pronounced "Zocks") will learn the truth of that expression this summer when they launch their 12-foot-by-20-foot houseboat-raft in Minneapolis for a run to New Orleans.

Zelda, 21, a former student at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, and Veruschka, 23, a former student of the Montreal Center for Alexander Technique, have set up their boatyard in the driveway of Al and Cate Belleveau's home north of Bemidji.

Veruschka and Zelda are friends of Caleb Belleveau, a student at Concordia University-Montreal. When Veruschka talked with Caleb about his desire to build a boat for a Mississippi River cruise, Caleb mentioned that his folks live near the headwaters of the Mississippi. Al Belleveau was open to the idea of guests and boatbuilding, so the couple arrived and began construction about one month ago.

Zelda said they arrived in the middle of the night and were amazed the next morning to see the Belleveaus' property full of sculptures, some by Al and Caleb and some resting from their stint in the Bemidji Sculpture Walk.

"What did they expect Caleb's place to look like?" Al said.

"I didn't know what to expect, but I'm really impressed," Veruschka said. "His dad is so prolific and very open to have us here."

Zelda said she has wanted to live on the water ever since she was 3 or 4.

"My grandfather instilled in me I've got to live on a houseboat," she said.

Neither Veruschka nor Zelda could think of who first proposed building the boat and making the trip.

"It was a mutual product of both of us wanting to live on a boat," Veruschka said. "I don't feel like either of us proposed it."

Zelda said the Velvet Glove name for the raft came from one of her favorite books by Daniel Clowes.

They have decorated the sides of the raft with surreal paintings of imaginary animals.

"We wanted to be a little scary so people wouldn't bother us," Zelda said.

However, Veruschka said, from his research, people along the river are fairly benign and accepting of travelers.

He said he also has corresponded with various people who have made similar journeys to find out how long to expect their trip to take. He said there really is no answer to that as the rafters will determine their own pace - whether to motor straight through, stop for sightseeing or take off weekends to avoid heavy recreational traffic.

"They said, 'It's your trip,'" he said.

When completed, the Velvet Glove will be furnished with living quarters, camp stove and a steering mechanism attached by cables to an outboard motor and a trolling motor for added push. The couple also plan to take along a few chickens and ducks as egg suppliers.

They won't launch from the headwaters or Lake Bemidji because of several dams between here and the first locks. The raft is too big to portage. So, they are looking to rent or borrow a pontoon trailer to truck the Velvet Glove to Minneapolis. Anyone interested in the project or who would like to loan a trailer should call the Belleveaus at LOL-LMAO

Minneapolis Star-Tribune posted:

This boat don't float
Dreaming of a Huck Finn-style adventure on the Mississippi, a young couple are instead afoul of the law.
By LORA PABST
June 26, 2009

Claire Boucher and William Gratz had their sights set on the southern reaches of the Mississippi River when they packed their chickens, a sewing machine and 20 pounds of potatoes into a houseboat they crafted from scratch.

Calling themselves Veruschka and Zelda Xox, river names worthy of the grand adventure they envisioned, the young couple pushed off from the riverbank in north Minneapolis the first week of June.

But their journey ended only a few miles downstream after engine trouble and a three-week tangle with the cops. The Minneapolis park police trailed them from river bank to river bank, as Boucher and Gratz tried to get their boat in working order, often tying up to trees and hopping ashore to gather supplies from Craigslist and hardware stores.

Now their vessel, the "Velvet Glove Cast in Iron," is marooned in the Minneapolis impound lot. The chickens were seized by animal control, and Boucher, 21, and Gratz, 23, have abandoned their hope of reliving the enduring tradition of river lore.

"Even though it's sad this happened, it's still an adventure," Boucher said.

The trouble began, as it often does, with a sudden twist of fate and an encounter with the law.

Boucher, who's from Vancouver, B.C., and Gratz, from Tennessee, met at school in Montreal. The idea for the river journey was hatched last fall. After months of Internet research, they made the 25-hour trip to Bemidji, Minn., where a friend allowed them to build the boat on his property. For more than a month, they toiled over the engineering of the 20-foot boat to make sure it floated. They installed accordion folding doors, glass windows, pink shutters and painted murals in black, white and red paint of fantastical creatures on the sides. Strangers gave them bikes, a mattress and the sewing machine (powered by on-board batteries). They got a copy of Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," which neither of them had read.

"I always wanted to live on a boat," Boucher said. "We both wanted to go south and live on it when we got to New Orleans."

They hauled it to north Minneapolis and shoved off from land the first week of June. Moments later, their engine began to sputter and gurgle. They made it to the other side of the river and tied the boat to a tree, determined to repair the motor and be on their way again in a few days.

They were awakened one morning by Minneapolis park police officer Rob Mooney tapping the side of their boat with a stick. Mooney gave them until the next Tuesday to gather life jackets, paddles and other supplies, despite a Minneapolis park ordinance forbidding boats from tying up to any tree, shrub or post in a park without a permit. The officer said the couple never told him about their engine trouble.

"I love the idea of the Tom Sawyer adventure," Mooney said. "The problem is it's not 1883. You can't do that anymore. You have to follow the rules."

When Mooney returned a week later and saw Boucher and Gratz's chickens grazing and signs of camping, they were given citations for camping and alcohol consumption in the park and told to move along.

"We were just trying to get our act together so we could get out of the Twin Cities," Gratz said. "We didn't want to float down the river out of control."

The next leg of their journey was much more precarious. After entering the channel without a working motor, they began to drift toward rocks jutting out of the water. Surrounded by caution signs, they frantically pushed away from the danger using sticks. They reached an island north of the Lowry Bridge.

The island seemed to be a haven for canoes and other boats, they said, so they set up camp and made plans to resume their search for a working motor over the next week. Swimming was the only way to reach the river bank, so several times a day they would jump in the water and bring back tools wrapped in plastic bags.

Fate of the journey uncertain

The tranquility of the island didn't last long. This time, the Hennepin County Sheriff Office's water patrol showed up and told all of the boaters to leave by that evening in advance of the Lowry Bridge demolition on Sunday. Another boat towed the Velvet Glove Cast in Iron to Boom Island, where the final showdown would take place.

Mooney said when he spotted the houseboat there, he'd had enough.

"I personally allowed them for a couple weeks to try to solve the problem on their own," he said. "It was clear that they couldn't get it done."

The city loaded the houseboat onto a flatbed trailer and took it away.

On Thursday, Boucher and Gratz took a city bus to the impound lot to retrieve whatever they could carry from the boat. They searched for a jar of wild rice so they could make dinner for the strangers who are letting the couple stay with them for a few nights.

The couple say they can't afford to fix the minor damage from the towing or have the boat hauled back to the river. They're planning to continue their trip south by bus. The chickens can't be reclaimed without a Minneapolis address and permit, so they will be sent to a chicken farm. Its fate uncertain, the Velvet Glove Cast in Iron rests next to burned-up and smashed car carcasses.

Boucher and Gratz still have a few people rooting for them.

"I would love for them to go," Mooney said. "I hope they do it."

PCjr sidecar posted:

its more about the sick burn they didn’t make

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

"I would love for them to go," Mooney said. "I hope they do it."

Mr. Nice! posted:

except the one they were forced to do because the ecu eventually gets to a point where it cannot be written to and the entire car bricks.

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

Vincent Van Goatse posted:

Eeyo posted:

that boat was tiny, how were they supposed to keep chickens on the drat thing?