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It’s too sad to even dwell on for folks my age. Back around 1977 or so I went to a local corporate headquarters and saw reel to reel computer servers and the first internet. Folks there were communicating with other locations of the same business. It was clean. Only business and maybe a little social content. Example:It was SuperBlow - super bowl- time and the Minnesota Vikings were playing the Pittsburg Steelers. And I was, through the adult working there able to “speak” with the folks at the company’s PA location - they of course wanted the Steelers to win. It was all just green letters in a black screen. But nobody was disrespectful and nobody tried to sell anything to anyone. There’s too much to talk about. And everything Rick mentioned I’d also thought about. It goes well beyond what Rick mentioned as well. The phones are invasive, detective, and capable of things that’ll scare the crap out of us. Hence my opening line above. Read the input on sites like phys.org and read between the lines. Great scientific input there from actual developers, research scientists, etc etc But also don’t forget to let your kind wonder - NOT wander when you see it termed “may help one day”, “may be the answer to...” , and similar. You can often easily see the real reasons such products or systems are developed and it ain’t for our well being kids. Best of luck to all going forward. ok let’s get back to our cars. Don’t need more anchors tied to my heart.

Had a new T-belt and pulley in stock. I hit the yard for the T-Belt cover rear sections. Man I hate folks who don't do good maintenance. In the yard, the Drivers cam bolt was way over torques. 3' 1/2" breaker bar to get it off. I used the old t-belt in the yard to wrap it around the pulley and tie it to the frame. Nuts. Then when I uplled the water pump off the legacy, they had used a paper gasket. Hour later the flange was ready for the new Subaru metal gasket and water pump. Oil pump changed as the two lower t-belt cover tabs for the bolts were broken off. More poor maintenance. New Cam seals today and it should be back together. Good coolant system flush. It had the dirty dirty dirty coolant for sure. She should be back on the road.

Pan dented?

The phone tracks things you don't even realize it's tracking. Here's an example - in China so called "payday loan" apps are very popular. These apps determine your credit worthiness by all the usual metrics - your "credit score", your employment status, and all that normal stuff we think of when we think of getting a loan. But they track other things because they are a phone app - one of which I guarantee you haven't considered is the "state of charge history" of your phone's battery. You see they have found that people who regularly charge their phone's battery at nearly the same time and location are more "credit worthy" than those that have more sporadic charging amounts, times, and locations. You can extrapolate from this example how much information your devices track and you can see that there is NO END to the uses that your "provider" will find for said information. Imagine all the metrics they are looking at that you haven't considered or don't even realize exist?!?! In terms of your modern connected Subaru - what do you suppose they do with your digitally enhanced, recorded and function-fit fuel level data stream? Anyone?!? Sadly it's nigh impossible to get completely away from it. The best practice seems to be to abstain as much as possible from these "technologies". In reality they provide little in terms of actual benefit to the user other than entertainment and a good book will provide more than these devices could ever hope to offer. Reading and Doing (in that order) are two of my most important goals. I credit those two habits with virtually all of my success in business, mechanics, electronics, software development, etc, etc. Watching TikTok videos, playing with "friends" on social media, and being subjected to incessant advertising is for those that will end up giving ME their money for the privilege of having my knowledge and power fix their IOT junk and reconnect them to their drug habit or their wage slavery. GD

It’s a Brave New 1984.

As a former software engineer that was, once upon a time, asked to implement SDK's for fingerprint scanners, and "facial recognition" among other insidious invasive hardware/software (circa ~Y2K), I can 100% inform you that any internet connected device is PRIMARILY used to sell product. What product you ask? Your data is the product. Where you go, what you do (how long you spend there) and any other habits that can be gleaned from the sensors connected to your vehicle. It's an ongoing revenue stream from hundreds of thousands of vehicles willingly purchased and happily connected to the IOF (Internet of Things) and reporting everything it can back to the mothership. This data is collected, processed, and used against you to sell you more products and services that you never knew you needed..... GD

Update Twin turbo engine out, wiring out. Forester wiring out in 2 hours, engine out and in brumby. Made a A frame type engine lifter on wheels with a electric hoist. So easy to put engine in and out. Just finishing wiring Should be easy now single turbo and manual wiring. And now we can tune it too. Thanks doc

Weighing my options for a Weber swap. The ea82 carb seems to be down on power and has decided to no longer want to idle when cold. No obvious vacuum leaks but I haven't had time to look more closely. Also, when was the last time you saw an 88 towing a 68? I had to get rid of our 360 shell because we are planning a long distance move and didn't want to haul it with us. I gave it to my boss who is into micro cars and will do something with it. Still very happy with this car. It does every thing I ask. Commute, plow, tow, and get us out into the woods.