Thanks! It's a dream come true car-wise.
I've always loved Vettes and the last one I drove, a C5 Z06, has been my dream car for a long time. It would never do as an only car but I always wanted one eventually. Well, the new Gen6 Camaro SS 1LE is basically a C7 Grand Sport for 1/2 the price and are currently available for under $40k. It was a financial stretch but I had good equity in my last car and it was giving me some issues so I traded it in. It's my only car but I have a set of Michelin performance snow tires and the car has an ice and snow mode + a computer controlled locking rear diff.
I hope more people look into the new Camaros as they are amazing... better chassis than pretty much anything except maybe the new Alfa Giulia, better motor vs the Euro car's turbos and faster lap times than all but the most $$ cars offered by any German brand. Apparently Chevy wants to keep this a secret as I have seen little to no promotion and unless you keep up with enthusiast news you'd never know. At current discounted prices (for the remaining '18s and probably '19s as the new styling didn't go over well) they are a deal imo.
Anyways, the Camaro will allow me to have fun on a track or AutoX without a large financial outlay or risk. They are covered under warranty for track use.
Wind Turbines are getting to be fairly mature compared to decades ago... a lot of modern design is about how to get the most out of them in varying wind, as they do shut down if the wind is too weak or too strong. Their EROEI, or energy return on energy invested, is getting better all the time too. Also, power electronics to get them to easily interface with the grid they are powering was advancing quickly when I worked on them. The new model under development had a nacelle floor that was completely packed with film capacitors... they helped drive the development of very large, high voltage, low-esr film caps that would make for excellent tube amp power supply caps.
Sometimes I wonder if I should have just kept on with the auto shop. I'd definitely be better off financially... But it's hard work, hard on your body, you get exposed to harmful substances pretty much every day... I know too many mechanics that have issues with migraines or other stuff that are likely related to exposure to chemicals. After a while I just wanted to do something else, and it was time to either expand into a new shop, or not... For better or worse, I decided to go back to school. I hope your friend Steve stays healthy and is able to enjoy a long, leisurely retirement!
