First,
@neroden has addressed the maintenance concern for as long as I can remember. His passion is deep and as straightforward as I have found.
While I do not own near the shares that Neroden does, my first thousand shares was converted from Shell Oil, almost one for one shortly after my father (passed) turned one third of his pyramid over to me. I had also bought 100 shares during the initial offering. I have been environmentally aware of the doom and gloom since holes were discovered in our ozone layer, and spent a month of officer basic at Fort Sill, OK (not really okay - dry humor) in 113 degree weather ~ lived to talk about it. My pregnant wife ran to California to be with her parents, you know it as the land of the Valley Girls
Most do not remember, and that is okay, I commanded the very first multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) battery (Field Artillery) in Europe the summer of 1983. My entire life I have fought against elitist primarily because I am academically challenged, height challenged and what I affectionately refer to as a quiet leader. I have almost always succeeded where elitist can point officers (academy children) failed to venture. The introduction of MLRS rocket system was designed to scare the combat boots off the russians while introducing technology at its finest. There you go, I had the first ever GPS (fit in the back of a Jeep), first rocket system since WW II, newest fuel tanker ~ this one battery had the fire power of three 8” battalions and each launcher was under the command of a Staff Sergeant (E-6). Did I mention we had our own WiFi intranet; not internet. Oh, and while completing the officer advanced course, I completed my masters; created/fielded a manual driven war game designed to teach leadership the tactics of MLRS, and was in command of the battery while it moved through cohort training. The European theater was indecisive and changed our final destination within weeks of our arrival in Germany. Everything that could go wrong with the assembly, deployment and training did, did, and did again. Our new to the army system HUMMERs were not off the assembly line yet, so we got new and used jeeps instead. Unannounced unit drug testing was initiated a month before we were to deploy. I had fourteen enlisted, and noncommissioned soldiers caught in that sting. I took responsibility for them and fielded the unit anyway. No housing was available for families as we landed, the motor pool was being remodeled and every officer and enlisted soldier of our parent battalion hated us to the core. Our new weapon system was going to replace them within ten years, and they took their fear/hate out on us. The hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for the success of my battery went to fix a sagging European Army instead of locks and tents for my troops. I thank my god, none of my men suffered frostbite the first winter. As an individual I survived that fielding from hell, and was personally selected as a captain, by the European Commander, to bump a Major on orders from the army command and general staff college, to become the S-3 Operations Officer of the second MLRS battalion in Europe. My wife and two rug rats took the hit, but I lived my life, my way. My wife and I are completing forty-five years in December, and we are completing a two weeks visit with our GrandPups (my affectionate referral to the two grandchildren) now, and their rescued black lab Brandi (she was deemed a failure as a hunting dog). Our daughter and our son-in-law are celebrating ten years on an Alaskan cruise. Our son, well I only hope he forgave me as his father and is with me spiritually ~ god knows I need all the help I can get. He told me one day while jumping on the couch, “go back to the field daddy.”:-(
Yes, you are right, no one gives a tinkers darn about my story or life, and justifiably so ~ we are all to damned busy with our own lives that are way more important. But in the end, this is Tesla and Elon we are talking about!
As a newly minted butter bar (2d Lieutenant), it was hammered into my head during my initial Field Artillery schooling that communications was a four way street, and failure to communicate, no not the movie quote; was and would always be my failure ~ mine and mine alone. We had to maintain communication with the guy in front, to our right, to our left, and behind us, always, always, and always. If commo went down it was our responsibility to troubleshoot and repair to the point of having communication once again.
Tesla is the only thing out there that is worth saving. If you know my call sign of MajorBS49, you can read between the lines. From my short story above you can glimpse the hell both Tesla and Elon are in today and have been from the day they went public.
We just replaced our 2017 Model X with a 2Q19; same exact model. The GrandPups figured it out when trying to close the falcon wings
Same license too ~ another story in Tesla communications. Our Key Fobs began to repeatedly fail roughly a year ago. In the beginning the communication was good, I could call in and talk to a human within short order. Near the tipping point to replace, communication was no longer 5-by (clear communication), so we opted to replace. Stock was down, and if it did collapse, well we were betting on a new car holding out longer and having the newest technologies for that time and place. Rational? Probably not. But in my world, yes.
Folks, I have fallen off the rails a number of times (even here) over my first seventy years, and will a few more times during my last thirty. Tesla, and Elon have rebounded each time from bad news. At the same time I want
@neroden to bring out all the dirt! Because Tesla/Elon must resolve the problem and not do so in a vacuum. Remember, not all ships turn on a dime ~ and I am an army guy
When we took our first X in for a fix, the service experience was as I would expect as an owner of our first car that cost four times our first home purchase in Fullerton, CA in 1975 +/-. The service discussed experience desired again here will undoubtedly cost money to fix/repair the public point of view. Tesla and Elon have been, in my perfect world, unfairly abused over money. So, expect the cost of repairing this to be high. Expect the bears to eat my lunch, Elon will stop them by dinner or the oatmeal for breakfast will be cold.
Talk of outsourcing seems out of character for Tesla/Elon.
Tesla/Elon is my last line of defense. My grandchildren (GrandPups) are at stake
There is no better technologically advanced car on the road, bar none ~ my wife looked before we replaced our Model X. I cannot wait to replace my new Tacoma with a Model T (Tesla Truck) ~ period. Oh, and bought another 130 TSLA shares the other day; yes this morning (Thursday) will hurt, but then there is tomorrow (Friday), or next week
Well, hope this makes sense and is grammatically correct ~ tend to make my biggest mistakes writing when I should be fast or slow to sleep
If you do not like what I have said, well that is okay too
Laughter is okay as well
I have to laugh at myself to get back to something like reality
