The Last Day of Summer

Sunflowers: Took this yesterday to show I've got nothing against sunflowers.  :-)

Yesterday was the last day of Summer where I live. It was a glorious day: A cold front with a high-pressure system behind it came through in the morning, and when I went for my walk it was 65°F (18°C) and dry—right now it's below 50% humidity for the first time since I started walking.

There were people everywhere on Labor Day Monday. Bunches of cars clustered around houses where gatherings were being held, downtown buzzing with traffic, all the restaurants that remained open jammed. And then, Tuesday morning: everyone vanishes. Back to school, back to work, back to year-'round homes scattered all over the East or Florida. Things get quiet fast. At the end of October it will get even quieter—the last of the Summer people will have made themselves scarce by then.

The season is always over faster than you can believe.

Carjat: By the way, if you got curious about Étienne Carjat after Sunday's post, you can find some caricatures and some photographs by him on eBay and Abebooks. A guy on Abebooks is selling what were most likely pages from Carjat's book. A few people have asked for a link to a good book of Carjat's work: there isn't one, at least to my knowledge. There might be one in French.

EV downturn? There isn't one of those either, actually. All the brands except Tesla and VW saw gains in Q1 2024. Here are the numbers, from GreenCars:

1. Tesla: 135,928 units year to date, down 8.6%
2. Ford: 21,507 units year to date, up a whopping 60%
3. Hyundai: 13,654 units year to date, up 79%
4. BMW: 11,369 units year to date, up 66%
5. Kia: 11,239 units year to date, up 85%
6. Rivian: 10,632 units, up 30%
7. Mercedes-Benz: 9,822 units, up 54%
8. Chevrolet: 9,119 units, up 56%
9. Volkswagen: 6,585 units, down 32%
10. Cadillac: 5,939 units

VW lost because it discontinued the e-Golf in Q1 2023 and hasn't gotten the replacement to market yet. As for Tesla, surely some of those other companies' increases come at Tesla's expense. InsideEVs adds that Tesla is "...navigating some Tesla-specific problems, like its aging vehicle lineup, lack of a sub-$35,000 offering, and [a] loudmouth CEO."

Meanwhile, there's this. The takeaway, if you don't want to follow the link: "...sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids, and EVs hit new highs in the first quarter of 2024. Hybrid vehicles were the big winner, with sales more than doubling, and owners becoming even more loyal." A worrisome tendency across all automobiles—gas powered too—is a lack of affordable options.

Howard Bond: A memorial exhibit of his work will be at Darkroom Revelations Gallery in Indianapolis, Indiana, this coming weekend.

The exhibit, with 30 of Howard's prints, will be open on Friday, Sept. 6, from 6–9 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 7, from 1–4 p.m. Viewings can also be arranged by appointment.

Darkroom Revelations is managed by Tom Potter, Gayle Moore and Nancy Frass, who were friends and students of Bond and are themselves accomplished photographers in large format film and digital. The gallery is located in the Circle City Industrial Complex, 1125 Brookside Ave., Indianapolis. (Thanks to Eric Schoch for this.)

Walking: By the way, I'll leave this to you (because why would I presume otherwise), but I've done a little digging, and, as best as I can tell, 6,000–8,000 steps a day is optimum for people 65 and older, which includes moi. It's what I shoot for, anyway. I actually enjoy it, and it definitely does make me feel better the rest of the time.

Now it's time to get out into the weather!*

Mike

*UPDATE: I walked 7,627 steps, minus however many I walked around the house this morning. But I worked up to this very slowly, and if I don't feel good once I'm out, I don't push it.

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Comments

[James Weekes]

There are three carjat books on Amazon.fr

[robert e]

This has been a lovely stretch of weather in the northeast US, and I hope your readers elsewhere are as lucky.

The Q2 new car sales numbers are essentially more of the same, as this headline helpfully summarizes: "New Vehicle Sales, Q2: EVs Surge YoY, Except Tesla. Stellantis Drops to #6 for First Time, behind Honda. GM & Ford ICE Vehicles Dip YoY, but their EVs Spike. Prices Drop"

https://wolfstreet.com/2024/07/03/new-vehicle-sales-q2-evs-surge-yoy-except-at-tesla-stellantis-drops-to-6-behind-honda-first-time-ever-gm-ford-ice-vehicles-dip-yoy-but-their-evs-spike/

But this is still missing some June data due to the dealer software hack.

[Speed]

Microsoft Copilot tell us, "The number of steps in a mile can vary based on your height, stride length, and walking speed. On average, it takes about 2,000 to 2,500 steps to walk a mile."

So, Mike is walking somewhere between three and four miles a day. Congratulations -- good job.

I used to run. Then I bicycled. Now I walk -- and I meet many more interesting people than I ever met on a bicycle.

[Kye Wood]

Working from home is incredibly difficult. Being your own boss rates a close second.

Throw in procrastination tendencies and you've just won the trifecta of burdens.

Mike. Take a moment to acknowledge the accomplishment of overcoming all three, for years, to still be here. That takes grit.

[Keith]

I have to admit to reading your EV related posts with a horrified fascination. My strategy for cars has been to buy a practical car new and drive till the wheels fall off. That worked for the 75 Lemans, the 83 Accord (best car ever!), the 95 Carvan, 04 Accord, and now the 16 Fit. I hope we can keep driving the Fit for many more years, because I totally do not want to buy a new car. They are full of stuff I don't want. I nearly wet myself the first time a rented car tried to stay in the lane instead of letting me dodge a pothole. I can totally see myself being the old geezer wandering onto the car lot and asking for the oldest car. It shouldn't surprise you that my favourite camera was made in the late 70s, and is totally manual. I'd totally buy that 83 Accord again if it showed up as a new car again.

[DB]

Hi Mike,

What’s the reason for subtracting the steps “around the house this morning?”

[I just don't know how many there were. That was the number of the steps on my phone when I got back from my walk. --Mike]

[Chris Nicholls]

EV sales trends is interesting. What's happening in the heavy industries (heavy goods transport, mining, agriculture)? I suspect that diesel will rule for a few more decades.

[Dean Johnston]

Hi.

> 6,000–8,000 steps a day is optimum for people 65 and older,
> which includes moi.

Not quite me, but close.

I have osteoarthritis in both knees. Walking hurts. Recently I spent three weeks in London and Paris, and was really worried beforehand about all the lying I would do.*

Turns out 1: it was a lot. According to my watch, I was doing anywhere between 14,000 and 20,000 steps a day. Seemed to be about 18,000 steps most days.

Turns out 2: my knees stopped hurting.

Turns out 3: immediately after this Euro jaunt, I went on holiday somewhere else (currently the start of the second week of four) and being much, much more lethargic, my knees hurt again.

Hmm...

Cheers,
Dean
* I think that was some sort of auto-correction event - left it in cos it seems funny. Meant "walking" of course...

[Wolfgang Lonien]

> "6,000–8,000 steps a day is optimum for people 65 and older"

I think I've read the same study, or a similar one (from Poland IIRC). So that's what I started with as well when I bought a small step counter in January this year. Before that I used 'paseo', an open source app for Android phones, but that one also counted steps while driving the car over somewhat bumpy roads.

I raised my steps to 10,000 end of January, and since then didn't miss that goal, which is challenging at times, just because of life & circumstances (like when visiting someone for a couple of days). For today: 9410 and counting...

[Allan Ostling]

f/22 and be there?

[Sean]

After VW’s emissions scandal, I’m not sure why anybody would trust them ever again

It’s great to hear you’re enjoying walking, as there are few things better for you, and if I lived in the Finger Lakes, I wouldn’t need much persuasion to get in my walking shoes — embrace your good fortune!

[André Moreau]

Printed and Epub copies of Carjat's book are available here: https://www.fnac.com/ia4713751/Etienne-Carjat

These were scanned from originals by the BNF (Bibliothèque nationale de France) and printed by Hachette Éditions.

[John Krumm]

I like this part of summer not-summer. Not quite fall. Call it summer's end, that two to three week period between Labor Day and Fall. Around Duluth, on Lake Superior, still mostly green, but cooler, better light, more browns and other colors in the grass and undergrowth, berries and apples, and still plenty of flowers.

[robert e]

@Chris Nicholls: AFAICT it's early days but moving quickly. I don't know that diesel will "rule" for decades more, but it will linger. Aside from range and cost of entry (for now) EVs have too many advantages re worksites, worker productivity, communities, compliance, carbon targets, etc.

https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2024/trends-in-heavy-electric-vehicles

https://www.agweb.com/news/machinery/new-machinery/future-electric-farm-equipment

[JTK]

I really do Like the Sunflowers, Vincent. Er sorry, I mean Mike...

[Sean]

I would subtract steps around the home, as home steps are usually more of a potter-about than a purposeful walk.

[Patrick Perez]

Mike, you might consider a fitness tracker such as a Fitbit Charge, or an Apple Watch SE. I made the switch to Apple last year, and I use the Watch to keep me focused. It has three activity rings that measure different things. Move, which is general activity, Excercise, which is specific activites (I use it for Outdoor Walks), and Stand, which measures how many hours that you stand for at least one minute (meant to help prevent thrombosis, one assumes. It isn't counting how long you are standing, just that you do it at least once an hour).

The wearer sets their target goals, to fit their needs.

I got serious about 'closing all three rings' each day on April 1 this year. Last Sunday was the first time I failed to close all three. At 5 PM, it told me 'just take a brisk 29 minute walk to meet your exercise target!' One missed day was OK for me. I clearly needed it. Since April, my A1C has been much better controlled, and my blood pressure is back to normal. Funny that doing something, anything really, can have a major impact.

Fitbit also has similar goal tracking and the devices are less obtrusive and get close to 1 week battery life, at lower cost. I prefer the Apple, but Fitbit is best of the non-smartwatch health trackers (as opposed to fitness-oriented smartwatches, in a whole different world).

And one more feature that might be meaningful to you, at your age (hey, I'm right behind you, no judgement) is fall detection on the Apple Watch. Sends a distress message if it detects you fell down (and don't respond to a query if you're OK).

Patrick

[Timothy Auger]

I’m 77. I average around 6500 steps daily. After about 8000 in one go, my joints and back start complaining. Yesterday on an organized walk, I did over 16,000. By the time I got home, I’d really had enough. This morning everything was fine. I’m quite convinced that it pays to keep moving. My parents stopped moving at 70, and the effects were very obvious.

[Rich]

My iPhone tells me that I’m averaging about 6,400 steps a day. I know, not enough, especially as I’m retired. However I tend to walk when I can meet up with friends and enjoy the company. On Tuesday I did about 25k steps and then another 7,500 on Wednesday to ease my stiff legs! Today was a sofa day.

I have a 13 year old VW Golf and, living where I do in suburban London with excellent train and bus services, I hardly use it. My average annual mileage is c.5,000 so I’m hoping that this will be my last car as I’m sure it’s good for another 100k miles, which will probably take me 20 years to accumulate.

[hugh crawford]

We used to grow sunflowers on our farm It was always fun to sit on the roof of the pickup, parked on the east side of an 80 acre sunflower field just after sunup and watch all the sunflowers turn around from west to south and then east in a few minutes.

I always planed to do a time lapse of it but never got around to it because it was always there, then it wasn’t.

[oharritz]

Re. the picture of Sunflowers...
I tried many attempts, but got nothing like this.
I guess its the soft (shaded?) light with the gentle progression to out-of-focus. And then its topped off with the blue sky.
I really like it! (thumbs-up).