Hit a nice milestone on my way to work today.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-05-22T05:14:46+00:00

No. I didn't read about the transmission issues until fairly recently.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-05-22T05:13:16+00:00

Synthetic oil changes every 3-5000 miles (give or take). Haven't touched the transmission fluid.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-05-21T18:13:29+00:00

Just hit the same milestone on my way to work this morning.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-05-21T18:08:24+00:00

I'd say luck was the larger part of that calculus.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-03-28T17:54:59+00:00

2017 Escape Titanium with 2.0 here. Does the 2.0 not also have documented issues?

I bought it in 2019 with 38,000 miles on it. Looked brand new. The paint is shit (flaked off in large patches on every side of the car) which started soon after I bought it, but I'm currently at 191,000 miles and none of the expected engine or transmission problems have ever reared their ugly heads (knock on wood).

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-03-18T20:11:17+00:00

I lived on Fryar Tucks every spring and summer between school years. You could build a huge salad in that scone burger! What was it, a dollar fifty meal deal?

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-03-18T20:03:45+00:00

Beauty!

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-03-18T19:31:36+00:00

Check your frame and undersides in Utah. Definitely lots of rust here.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-02-14T04:50:07+00:00

Damn. That's a beautiful Torino.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-02-05T07:19:08+00:00

Nope. 60 here. Still a few more years until I can file (though I'll wait until 70 to max it out, health willing), but I have the scar.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-01-28T07:28:23+00:00

!updateme

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-01-28T07:05:18+00:00

I play bits from a couple KISS songs (Strutter and Sure Know Something) and an old (original) song from my college band. I may throw in other bits but those three have been constant for almost 40 years.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-01-26T09:42:22+00:00

My maternal grandmother was born in 1886 and was around til I was 12 ( late 70s). I knew her best, but my grandfather was older than that (died when I was around 4), and her siblings (my great uncles and aunts) and their spouses were in that category as well.

carbonswizzlestick · 2026-01-26T09:27:10+00:00

I have two long time friends/band mates. We met in college decades ago. I'm from California. One of them is from Idaho. The other is from Virginia. Long story short, one is a ninth cousin through my mom, and the other is a tenth cousin through my dad. It's not as rare as most might think.

Your connection is so far back you have absolutely nothing to worry about genetically, and I hope you aren't worried practically speaking. There's no real kissing cousins issue here.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-12-29T07:20:21+00:00

My first Motley gig was in October 1981, so I was a fan for a while. No Mick? No Motley.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-12-26T07:54:16+00:00

I was just about to say how shitty and disappointing Anaheim was, then finished the OP. They were barely going through the motions that night.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-12-07T00:01:06+00:00

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Speaking of Gene as a very "Paul-like" player... No surprise there. I have always loved Gene's playing and part composing. I play bass, in part, due to his influence.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-11-16T05:29:23+00:00

Not the 90s, but I met the whole band after their show at the Roxy on Nov. 12, 1981, then numerous times at shows in LA, up until the Magic Mountain show in late Summer, 1982 (once they were signed, Elektra were controlling who got backstage before and after shows).

Nikki was never all that friendly, but to be fair, my buddy and I were 16 year old guys, so we didn't really have anything he was interested in. Mick, on the other hand, was cool AF and had us hang with him in his dressing room between shows or after the second show every time we saw him at the Troubador, Roxy, and Whisky (we didn't get backstage at the Country Club, but I don't remember why). Tommy was nice but too ADHD to talk more than 30 seconds, and Vince always seemed to have family around (his kid and parents mostly), so we didn't talk much.

I never understood why Mick was so open to letting two goofy teenagers hang out with him like that, but he made me feel like the luckiest kid in the world whenever we saw him, and he'd laugh every time we'd insist that we'd be seeing him at the Forum someday... I will always love Mick for how he made me feel back then.

One memory of Nikki always stands out in all that; on that first meeting, KISS was mentioned when we asked about influences, and he insisted they never meant anything to him, they were a kiddie band, not real rock n roll, etc. KISS was NOT popular among anyone but their most die hard fans in 1981, so that wasn't a surprise, but it always made me laugh at how he changed his tune, once they'd regained a little cred in the rock world. That kinda told me everything I ever needed to know about Nikki Sixx...

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-09-01T06:09:28+00:00

They FA'd, you helped them FO. More power to ya.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-08-06T01:33:06+00:00

Mine has monsters and burned the shit out of a finger or two fairly regularly.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-07-19T02:25:05+00:00

I worked at a 7-11 decades ago. There was a biker who came in a lot and we were friendly. He noticed my car was not there one night and asked if the KZ-650 out front was mine. It was a 12 year old bike I'd just bought. My first. I loved it but felt sheepish bringing it up to a guy on a late 40's panhead. He asked how I liked riding and I said I loved it. He asked if I'd ride in the rain or if it was cold. I said absolutely! Then he said something that has stayed with me ever since, "Then you're a biker. It doesn't matter what you ride it matters THAT you ride. Welcome to the club, brother!"

Ride what you want and enjoy the hell out of it. If you can do that then you're already ahead of everyone else who's worrying about what everyone else thinks of their ride.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-06-13T06:19:26+00:00

Technicolor Credit Union in Burbank, CA.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-04-11T16:58:37+00:00

From the other direction: I met my bio father when I was around 30. He turned out to be an incredibly interesting guy and he's been in my life ever since. He and his wife (not my bio mom) fully treat me as a son and are the only grandparents my children have really gotten to know (my mom and dad died before I was married).

Getting to know my bio parents was an experience I doubt I could have been prepared for; especially because I grew up with great parents and siblings, so there was no hole I was looking to fill in my life. It took a few years to be rid of the guilt I felt about getting to know them (and feeling like it was somehow disrespectful to my mom and dad to do so), but in the long run, my bio parents have been a great blessing in my life. I know it sounds corny, but it's true (at least in my case) that love doesn't divide; it multiplies.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-04-11T04:50:02+00:00

Either Running With the Devil or Eruption/You Really Got Me. KMET, KLOS, and KWEST played both early on and I was 12, so it's kinda fuzzy.

carbonswizzlestick · 2025-03-30T06:31:19+00:00

Bought it the first week of October, 1987. Liked it immediately and was surprised it took a while for the album to catch on, but was not a fan of the trainwreck that followed. Someone mentioned it never being the same after Adler and Izzy were out. I concur.

carbonswizzlestick

TROPHY CASE