Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

Michaell

houdini1 said:

stever said:

You don't decrease traffic by building new roads. It's a law somewhere, like Moore's Law.

Fundamental law of road congestion (journalistsresource.org)

That is a very honest and interesting article. To sum up, it says that if you build new roads the traffic will increase to fill those new roads, so building new roads are useless in preventing congestion.

I wonder if anyone ever did a study like this on taxes and spending. If they did, I am sure that they would come up with the same conclusion. Give the gov. an extra windfall dollar and they will spend two...then scream they have to raise taxes to make up for the deficit.

@houdini1‌ - agreed. New roads just spread the pain. Read "The Power Broker" - a biography of Robert Moses. He built many of the parkways, bridges and tunnels in the greater NY area over a 40 year period from the 1920's to the 1960's. The book almost serves as history of transportation development in NY for that time period. There was a point in the 1950's where a clear decision was available - invest the extra money from the tolls into new road infrastructure or build up the public transit system. They went with the roads.

stever

houdini1 said:

I wonder if anyone ever did a study like this on taxes and spending. If they did, I am sure that they would come up with the same conclusion. Give the gov. an extra windfall dollar and they will spend two...then scream they have to raise taxes to make up for the deficit.

Heh, nice work of connecting the dots - kind of like how most people wind up spending everything they make, no matter how their income grows or shrinks.

On another note, all the bike path hate reminds me of the discourse when I lived in Anchorage in the 80s and the push was on to build them. After a year or so after the first ones were built, a lot of the old guys who opposed them begin writing letters to the editor saying that they were wrong. Turns out that they started having heart attacks and discovered that walking near the road wasn't much fun, but the doctor's orders were to walk. The bike paths were perfect. A couple of more years down the road and people noticed that access to a bike path helped your house sell better, even more so if it meant your kiddo could get to school on them.

Now there's over 120 miles of paved trails and they are a big tourist attaction per TripAdviser.

ab348

stever said:

You don't decrease traffic by building new roads. It's a law somewhere, like Moore's Law.

Fundamental law of road congestion (journalistsresource.org)

Not so fast, there.

That is the most misused argument going. While there may be some truth to what it describes in certain circumstances, anti-car people use it every time there is a project proposed to widen a road or build a new one to service a new development.

The reality is that development causes traffic, not the roads. The real issue is how you locate new development, what kind of development you allow, and whether there are other options for travel like rail or good bus service.

stever

The development won't come until the infrastructure is in place. Put in sewer and water, and boom - subdivision. The developers are loathe to pay for it, although many places require just that. Ditto roads.

dino001

So I guess we should ask young people to stay at home with their parents, prohibit any kind of moving, especially to newer and bigger homes. Most those "friends of ...", "save our ..." anti-road, anti-new home associations should change their names to "I was here first, no bleeping newcomers". This would at least be honest.

What should we do with all these new people? Prohibit reproduction? Take their cars away? Seems like it would be so great if not for those people.

abacomike

dino001 said:

So I guess we should ask young people to stay at home with their parents, prohibit any kind of moving, especially to newer and bigger homes. Most those "friends of ...", "save our ..." anti-road, anti-new home associations should change their names to "I was here first, no bleeping newcomers". This would at least be honest. What should we do with all these new people? Prohibit reproduction? Take their cars away? Seems like it would be so great if not for those people.

We must remember that the heaviest users of the Interstates are the trucks.  They do most of the wear and tear on our roads due to their extreme weight.  When I see these double semis on the roads and fully loaded dump-trucks and concrete mixers, I cringe at the thought of the wear these vehicles cause.  I believe they pay a tariff to use the roads, but I could be wrong.

boomchek

stever said:

The development won't come until the infrastructure is in place. Put in sewer and water, and boom - subdivision. The developers are loathe to pay for it, although many places require just that. Ditto roads.

That's not always the case. In many Vancouver communities, blocks of older single family homes are bought out, torn down, and in their place developers stuff the land with condos, townhomes and highrises.

When a city block with 20 single family houses gets redeveloped into 3 highrises all of a sudden you end up with 1000+ residents living in the same space where 100 might have been before it creates a ton of congestion, especially when roads aren't widened, and rapid transit is years away from catching up to serve increased population.

That's one of the reasons that living farther away in the suburbs makes more sense because it's less congested, and less expensive to live.

robr2

boomchek said:

stever said:

The development won't come until the infrastructure is in place. Put in sewer and water, and boom - subdivision. The developers are loathe to pay for it, although many places require just that. Ditto roads.

That's not always the case. In many Vancouver communities, blocks of older single family homes are bought out, torn down, and in their place developers stuff the land with condos, townhomes and highrises.

When a city block with 20 single family houses gets redeveloped into 3 highrises all of a sudden you end up with 1000+ residents living in the same space where 100 might have been before it creates a ton of congestion, especially when roads aren't widened, and rapid transit is years away from catching up to serve increased population.

That's one of the reasons that living farther away in the suburbs makes more sense because it's less congested, and less expensive to live.

Unless of course development takes transportation into account. In Boston proper, new multi-family mid and high rise developments are being built with a minimum of parking spaces with the blessing of the city. What led to this is that the city has seen a growth in population but a drop in automobile registrations. The people moving into these developments want to be close to public transportation, bike sharing and Zip Car. They live, work and play in the city. They don't need or want a car. If they do need one for something, they rent.

stickguy

road widening makes sense if the bottleneck is already there and "institutionalized". they just finished expanding the NJ Turnpike to eliminate "the merge". used to be a horrible experience most of the time. Now, traffic just moves. And it really isn't generating any more traffic, since the cars were pretty much already on it.

but, there are lots of areas where houses appeared out in the country, long before the roads were put in to handle it. Sometimes they come later!

I do buy into the theory that new roads will bring development/traffic, but that assumes you basically build a highway into the wilderness (slight exaggeration there). If the people are already there, and you plan correctly, you largely will just eliminate bottlenecks and take traffic off local back streets.

fezo

They have been using that theory on the Hudson River crossings into NYC. Last they added anything was 1957 - the third tube of the Lincoln Tunnel and the lower lanes on the George Washington Bridge. Since then nothing new and each year gets crazier getting in and out.

OTOH - every time they expand the Parkway or the Turnpike it seems like they get more traffic.

Meanwhile in the span of a few days Costco went from $1.75 to $1.85.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

Well, no discharge out of the hospital today.  I am on the 6th floor of the hospital and my window faces south.  I looked out the window an hour ago and saw my car parked in a handicapped spot in the ER entrance downstairs.  At least I can check on it now when I get antsy for my get-away.

They diagnosed me with acute bronchitis caused by some bacterial infection in my lungs.  It was not viral in nature.  So they give me solumedrin through my IV twice a day and the levaquin once a day IV.  Both medications cause my blood sugar sky high.  Still in the 280-320 range which is pretty high.

i might be able to get out of here tomorrow.  I've had enough of hospitals since October to last me a lifetime.

Thanks for all your well-wishes.

I feel sorry for you Mike. It seems like you can't catch a break.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

Well, no discharge out of the hospital today.  I am on the 6th floor of the hospital and my window faces south.  I looked out the window an hour ago and saw my car parked in a handicapped spot in the ER entrance downstairs.  At least I can check on it now when I get antsy for my get-away.

They diagnosed me with acute bronchitis caused by some bacterial infection in my lungs.  It was not viral in nature.  So they give me solumedrin through my IV twice a day and the levaquin once a day IV.  Both medications cause my blood sugar sky high.  Still in the 280-320 range which is pretty high.

i might be able to get out of here tomorrow.  I've had enough of hospitals since October to last me a lifetime.

Thanks for all your well-wishes.

I feel sorry for you Mike. It seems like you can't catch a break.

Nope, no breaks for me.  Still in the hospital.  Maybe tomorrow I can get out of here.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

farmer, what ever happened with the Eclipse? I'm pretty sure you still have it, but did you ever get anyone interested or any offers? Did you take it to a Carmax or some sort of dealer for a buy bid?

Still have it. CL was a bust, not even one call. The Eclipse has been sitting in the garage collecting dust and avoiding salt. The dealer where I drove the Mustang said he'd do $9500 on trade so there's that possibility. Seeing that I was underwhelmed with the test drive I don't know where it will lead. I've been kind of distracted from car shopping lately with various illnesses, surgeries and a lot of money flowing out keeping my kid's (and my) old cars repaired.

Week after next is a school vacation so if I get a sunny day I might go shopping again. It's very liberating when you don't NEED to buy.

abacomike

oldfarmer50 said:

farmer, what ever happened with the Eclipse? I'm pretty sure you still have it, but did you ever get anyone interested or any offers? Did you take it to a Carmax or some sort of dealer for a buy bid?

Still have it. CL was a bust, not even one call. The Eclipse has been sitting in the garage collecting dust and avoiding salt. The dealer where I drove the Mustang said he'd do $9500 on trade so there's that possibility. Seeing that I was underwhelmed with the test drive I don't know where it will lead. I've been kind of distracted from car shopping lately with various illnesses, surgeries and a lot of money flowing out keeping my kid's (and my) old cars repaired. Week after next is a school vacation so if I get a sunny day I might go shopping again. It's very liberating when you don't NEED to buy.

Sorry to hear about the health issues.  Hope everything is OK with you and the family.

oldfarmer50

stever said:

graphicguy said:

stever....what you're asking for is FREE energy. It's out there...wind, solar, water. If you're willing to pay an upfront charge to harness it (and you can), it costs next to nothing.

No free lunch there either. Storage is the issue. You got potholes? Everyone is dependent on a power grid that's inefficient and also needs big time maintenance and is a big target. The grid needs to go away (maybe a city-wide one would be okay, I'd prefer ones limited to neighborhoods). Meanwhile we've all conserved so much the utilities are screaming for rate increases and surcharges on solar users. Kind of like how pols want to do a per mile tax since we aren't burning enough gas to pay for the road building.

Our off-grid friends are visiting tonight. Love their house but they don't have a dishwasher or a microwave. They could get more panels but their battery room is about maxed out.

Their storage batteries are Rolls btw. But no relation to Rolls Royce afaik, even though they use a similar script in their logo. They are made in Nova Scotia however.

Neighborhood grids? That's what Edison planned with his DC electric system. Westinghouse spoiled it all with his AC system which could transmit power over longer distances making large remote power generation competitive.

Now they're talking about mini-nuke plants which would be much safer (no meltdowns) and make neighborhood power possible again.

I always look at the huge flat roofs of the local Walmart as a great place to install solar. Just think how much collection potential is available from all the big box stores in this country.

If only it didn't cost 25 cents per kWh.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

farmer, what ever happened with the Eclipse? I'm pretty sure you still have it, but did you ever get anyone interested or any offers? Did you take it to a Carmax or some sort of dealer for a buy bid?

Still have it. CL was a bust, not even one call. The Eclipse has been sitting in the garage collecting dust and avoiding salt. The dealer where I drove the Mustang said he'd do $9500 on trade so there's that possibility. Seeing that I was underwhelmed with the test drive I don't know where it will lead. I've been kind of distracted from car shopping lately with various illnesses, surgeries and a lot of money flowing out keeping my kid's (and my) old cars repaired.

Week after next is a school vacation so if I get a sunny day I might go shopping again. It's very liberating when you don't NEED to buy.

Sorry to hear about the health issues.  Hope everything is OK with you and the family.

No, nothing serious. Just the usual colds and such. Wife's eye surgery went perfectly. My only problem is getting fat from inactivity.

bwia

When I posted the article suggesting that the government should raise gas taxes to reduce carbon emissions frankly I didn't expect such a reaction. We are all auto drivers and enthusiasts and in most instances responsible for polluting the environment. A gas tax (user tax) is not a permanent solution but it is a move in the right direction. Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society and unless the tax is onerous or confiscatory it is a trade-off for quality of life versus government spending.

By the way government spending is not a bad thing. A dollar spent has the same economic impact regardless of who spent it--government, business or individuals.

graphicguy

bwia said:

When I posted the article suggesting that the government should raise gas taxes to reduce carbon emissions frankly I didn't expect such a reaction. We are all auto drivers and enthusiasts and in most instances responsible for polluting the environment. A gas tax (user tax) is not a permanent solution but it is a move in the right direction. Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society and unless the tax is onerous or confiscatory it is a trade-off for quality of life versus government spending.

By the way government spending is not a bad thing. A dollar spent has the same economic impact regardless of who spent it--government, business or individuals.

bwia....we're going to have to disagree. Taxes have never been well received, regardless of the reason. So, don't know how they make us a civilized society. Matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that those who live on the edge, paycheck to paycheck, would beg to differ with you regarding how their quality of life would be better with high gas taxes. Their quality of life would certainly be worse.

Given that the current gas taxes aren't entirely used to maintain our infrastructure, and there is a tremendous amont of waste and corruption associated with construction contracts that fund the highways and byways they're supposed to help maintain, I'd consider the current taxes onerous. And you want to add more to that?

As far as higher gas taxes somehow affecting emmisions, try as I might, I can't make that connection. Truth is, the reduction in emissions so far has been tremendous. It will continue with electrics, hybirds, and it looks like Honda has some Hydrogen cars in the road now. In short, we've got that covered without adding onerous new taxes.

imidazol97

post said:

raise gas taxes to reduce carbon emissions frankly I didn't expect such a reaction. We are all auto drivers and enthusiasts and in most instances responsible for polluting the environment. A gas tax (user tax) is not a permanent solution but it is a move in the right direction.

I have to disagree that there's a need tor educe carbon emissions, especially on the backs of the little people who own automobiles. If there's a need to reduce carbon emissions, start with the jets, private and public, flying around our world. However, the carbon emissions sounds like the unproven global warming theorists at work.

If there's a need for more gas tax to actually rebuild roads and bridges, then that rather than a mythical global warming should be the direct use of a tax. Nevertheless, I believe accountability for the 30% of gasoline taxes being spent other tahn on road and bridge maintenance needs to be invoked, and the current tax should all be directed to its original stated purpose by state and federal governments. Furthermore I'd be in favor of taxes on vehicles which don't pay a gasoline tax of normal user amounts such as EV and propane powered vehicles.

Most selling is done by trying to scare folks. Whether it's the need for home insurance on appliances to avoid getting a $1200 bill for replacing your hot water heater in the middle of the night (WJR radio ad) or the ad to scare folks into thinking they have to "replace" the Brent Spence I-75/I-71 bridge in Cincinnati because it's "dangerous," that's the method of selling global warming as unproven science "fact." BTW, the Brent Spence bridge affect people because it's crowded part of the day, but it hardly neither is going to fall into the river nor is it going to be replaced. They just want to build a toll bridge next to it--more taxes. But a billboard was put up to scare people more about the bridge crowded for a few hours out of a whole day.

Scare people into paying more taxes for gasoline, which isn't being used for roads and bridges totally but is being used for social programs such as walking or bike trails and so on. But then the government has the exra money and of course there are donors and supporters to pay back, so the governing folks use that money for their own agrandizement.

The closer money stays to home, the more impact the voters can have on the politicians. A tax going to DC is political tooling for reelection; a tax going to the local village/city/metro can be watched more closely.



http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/02/04/brent-spence-group-billboard/22891255/

PS This bridge sign duplicates the same colors on the same billboard used for road information during construction. So the advertisement came under fire for trying to infer it's a sign put up by the government responsible for the road by the pro toll group.

The accompanying comments indicate the reaction of the public over this contentious issue. Makes interesting reading.
AND the color of the sign has been changed according to news reports so it doesn't duplicate the road sign colors.

graphicguy

Imid....all very good points. BTW, being in the area myself, there was talk that the Brent Spence Bridge billboard was funded, at least in part, by one of the contractors who would be the project lead on rebuilding the bridge. So, it's not like there aren't some financial incentives involved. So much for public safety being the major concern.

Not to belabor the point regarding car emissions, but it confounds me how some think they can actually change the weather. The earth has been going thorugh weather changes, sometimes quite severe, since it's inception. We think we can change that? Kind of arrogant.

Speaking of "green cars", I got a mailer from Nissan yesterday. If I want, I can get a Leaf with $3,500 cash direct from Nissan and 0% financing. Not in the market, but kind of interesting.

stever

We "fixed" the ozone hole by reducing CFC use. (wikipedia)

Back to cars, please take a minute to visit this poll:

What stage of the car buying process are you in right now?

imidazol97

stever said:

We "
What stage of the car buying process are you in right now?

The poll is missing at least one bullet:shopping cars for potential replacement in future that's farther out than "months."
I have a 2003 leSabre with 200K miles and have a Cobalt son drives who may soon decide to have a different car after he starts new job. Kind of shopping with both in mind.

#1 I could end up with a Cobalt which I really like to drive.
#2 I could end up with a vehicle for me and he keeps Cobalt.
#3 I could end up with both great running cars that I have.

graphicguy

stever said:

We "fixed" the ozone hole by reducing CFC use. (wikipedia)

Back to cars, please take a minute to visit this poll:

What stage of the car buying process are you in right now?

No...I fixed the ozone. Yes, I'm that omnipotent. Sorry Stever....couldn't resist.

I think you need to add some questions to the survey....

Do you buy a car if you pass a dealership and simultaneiously have your checkbook with you?

Have you ever been invited to a sales person's (or any offspring of your sales person's) Wedding, Bat Mitzvah, Christening, etc?

Does your sales person have your phone number on speed dial?

Did you ever wake up one morning and have no intention of buying a car, but drove home with a new car anyway?

Have you received "special offers" from every car manufacturer selling cars in North America?

stickguy

Plus an option for "start shopping on the way home from dealer with your new car for your next car"

stever

Looks like we'll have to revisit the poll - this one was specifically for some in-house data stuff so I don't think it going to be further tweaked. Some of those would get quite a few hits here and over on CCBA....

(and thanks for dumping the hairspray, @graphicguy )

imidazol97

stever said:

(and thanks for dumping the hairspray, @graphicguy )

I think I helped with the ozone "hole" when I gave up Silly String.

houdini1

stever said:

We "fixed" the ozone hole by reducing CFC use. (wikipedia)

Back to cars, please take a minute to visit this poll:

What stage of the car buying process are you in right now?

I did a rain dance once and made it rain. Of course I can't prove it, but you can't disprove it either, so you will just have to take my word on it if you don't want to be labeled a denier. That's what passes as the scientific method these days.

stever

Better fall in line - I'm armed and loaded.
-

driver100

Interesting comments....all I know is they keep building new roads in Florida and they keep getting filled up. It is getting harder and harder to get any where these days.

On another different subject, my SIL who thinks she is the worlds greatest shopper wanted us to buy an Edenpure room heater.......she ordered one today and normally they are $499, but if you order by midnight today you get it for $99.


It is an Edenpure Heater.

When I hear, order by midnight I think this sounds like a scam.

So, I check out amazon and it gets 2.5 stars out of 5. More people gave it one star than any other number up to 5.

One reviewer tears the Edenpure product to shreds with his review;
REVIEW BY TRAPEZE

Consumers Report said it was number 20 of 20 heaters tested.
It is put out by SCI, a multi-level marketing company, so is sold by many vendors on sites like amazon.
You can buy a much better heater for under $60.

Amazing how people get taken in so easily............................

imidazol97

driver100 said:

It is an Edenpure Heater.

When I hear, order by midnight I think this sounds like a scam.

Consumers Report said it was number 20 of 20 heaters tested.
It is put out by SCI, a multi-level marketing company, so is sold by many vendors on sites like amazon.
You can buy a much better heater for under $60.

Amazing how people get taken in so easily............................

The name, Edenpure, sounds familiar. I think those electric plug in heaters were sold in this area in newspaper ads, full page, where they were built by the "Amish." Therefore they were better. Many Amish homes in Ohio don't have electricity so it's odd they're building electric heaters. But at least they're not affecting the ozone hole. :grin
The ads showed pictures of a horse drawn wagon with a heater on the back supposedly being taken to be delivered to the lucky customer. So my post includes transportation sort of like cars. :grin

Here's a blog discussion. Lots of fun reading especially the one where "fusion" is claimed as how the electric heater makes heat.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

driver100 said:

It is an Edenpure Heater.

When I hear, order by midnight I think this sounds like a scam.

Consumers Report said it was number 20 of 20 heaters tested.
It is put out by SCI, a multi-level marketing company, so is sold by many vendors on sites like amazon.
You can buy a much better heater for under $60.

Amazing how people get taken in so easily............................

The name, Edenpure, sounds familiar. I think those electric plug in heaters were sold in this area in newspaper ads, full page, where they were built by the "Amish." Therefore they were better. Many Amish homes in Ohio don't have electricity so it's odd they're building electric heaters. But at least they're not affecting the ozone hole. :grin
The ads showed pictures of a horse drawn wagon with a heater on the back supposedly being taken to be delivered to the lucky customer. So my post includes transportation sort of like cars. :grin

Here's a blog discussion. Lots of fun reading especially the one where "fusion" is claimed as how the electric heater makes heat.

There is a similar scam and it was called an Amish Heater. They only called it an Amish Heater because people presume the Amish are honest. In this one you got a heater for free, but you had to pay $300 for a wooden fireplace, that was made by Amish people.
AMISH HEATER SCAM

Imid...post the Blog about "Fusion".

ab348

imidazol97 said:

stever said:

(and thanks for dumping the hairspray, @graphicguy )

I think I helped with the ozone "hole" when I gave up Silly String.

I think I would rather have a hole in my ozone and still be able to get/use R12.

driver100

Oh Geez....I write about the Edenpure heaters and there are ads appearing for them just above!

stickguy

the internet. it knows and sees EVERYTHING.

ray80

driver100 said:

Oh Geez....I write about the Edenpure heaters and there are ads appearing for them just above!

See that all the time here and there, have to be careful and not mis-type things also, lest you see things you never wanted to see

stever

And here's yet another "beg" - get your name up in lights. Wonder what ads this will cause to pop up.

If you have purchased a new car that costs more than you can afford, a reporter would like to hear from you. Please send your daytime contact info to pr@edmunds.com no later than 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET Tuesday, 2/10/15.

driver100

ray80 said:

driver100 said:

Oh Geez....I write about the Edenpure heaters and there are ads appearing for them just above!

See that all the time here and there, have to be careful and not mis-type things also, lest you see things you never wanted to see

Yeh, especially if my wife just happens to be walking by.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

Interesting comments....all I know is they keep building new roads in Florida and they keep getting filled up. It is getting harder and harder to get any where these days.

On another different subject, my SIL who thinks she is the worlds greatest shopper wanted us to buy an Edenpure room heater.......she ordered one today and normally they are $499, but if you order by midnight today you get it for $99.


It is an Edenpure Heater.

When I hear, order by midnight I think this sounds like a scam.

So, I check out amazon and it gets 2.5 stars out of 5. More people gave it one star than any other number up to 5.

One reviewer tears the Edenpure product to shreds with his review;
REVIEW BY TRAPEZE

Consumers Report said it was number 20 of 20 heaters tested.
It is put out by SCI, a multi-level marketing company, so is sold by many vendors on sites like amazon.
You can buy a much better heater for under $60.

Amazing how people get taken in so easily............................

You have hit on one of my pet peeves.

The amount of heat an electric heater puts out is dependent upon only one thing...the amount of electric input. Your typical household socket puts out about 1500 watts of energy. Since electric heaters are nearly 100% efficient this translates to about 5000 btu of heat. NO heater can put out any more. Not if powered by quatrz, not if built by the Amish not if enclosed in a pretty case...none.

The $20 Walmart heater puts out just as much heat as the $500 TV special. It's the laws of thermodynamics and physics.

The only advantage that can be achieved is through better fans but they are blowing the EXACT same amount of heat around.

imidazol97

driver100 said:

Here's a blog discussion. Lots of fun reading especially the one where "fusion" is claimed as how the electric heater makes heat.

There is a similar scam and it was called an Amish Heater. They only called it an Amish Heater because people presume the Amish are honest. In this one you got a heater for free, but you had to pay $300 for a wooden fireplace, that was made by Amish people.
AMISH HEATER SCAM

Imid...post the Blog about "Fusion".

Here's the link to the blog about the EdenPure that I failed to post earlier. I'm sorry.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/dayton-oh/T24APAPL0GQA4RUMI

abacomike

Well, still have not been released from the hospital.  Maybe tomorrow - who knows?  Been here about 6 days so far.  I just don't feel that much better.  My blood sugars are off the charts as are some kidney and liver functions.  This infection is sure playing havoc with just about every organ in my body - especially my lungs.

Michaell

abacomike said:

Well, still have not been released from the hospital.  Maybe tomorrow - who knows?  Been here about 6 days so far.  I just don't feel that much better.  My blood sugars are off the charts as are some kidney and liver functions.  This infection is sure playing havoc with just about every organ in my body - especially my lungs.

Mike – so sorry to hear that you're still in the hospital. I'm happy to report that both of my parents are now home. Mom came home yesterday, and dad came home today.

abacomike

Michaell said:

abacomike said:

Well, still have not been released from the hospital.  Maybe tomorrow - who knows?  Been here about 6 days so far.  I just don't feel that much better.  My blood sugars are off the charts as are some kidney and liver functions.  This infection is sure playing havoc with just about every organ in my body - especially my lungs.

Mike – so sorry to hear that you're still in the hospital. I'm happy to report that both of my parents are now home. Mom came home yesterday, and dad came home today.

Good news!  I am sure you are relieved they are home.  

Sandman6472

Got my new tablet today by UPS. Got it from HSN, Home Shoping Network, a place I've neve shopped before. A 10" one with a case that has a keyboard in it, a Vista Land unit, which I'm really starting to like...just glad my oldest stopped over to set it up and to also put my screen protector on the new smartphone. Very handy to have techy kids when the parent is so technically chllenged!! Sometimes one doesn't want to sit at the desk to use the desktop or even want to use the Mac...this tabletis the best of both and uses the wifi cconnection here at the house...or anywhere where one can get wifi coverage. I am very happy here right now with my new toys!!!

The Sandman

stickguy

I have a tablet (ipad) and love it. great to take when I go away and don't want to drag my laptop to get internet access. I can't deal with much internet on my phone (certainly not posting anywhere!). I keep it on my desk (in the home office) for when I want to go "work off line on line" during the day! You can probably tell when I am using that because my typos go way up, and my posts are shorter!

imidazol97

Mike, When you finally get out of that hospital maybe you'll want
an Amish heater to warm your home on those chilly Florida mornings.

Heat surge. Hybrid thermic. Internal mini-furnace. All terms used in one company's ad.

The description does admit the heater comes from China. Notice the Amish don't like to
have their photo taken. And the use of Amish symbols is rampant on the whole site.
Note the buggy in one picture on the site.
https://www.heatsurge.com/

I'm not sure why the site needs to load in encrypted transfer (httpS:).
Any thoughts?

The "How it works" page is priceless. I found the link on Physics Forum to this
particular site. I haven't read copy this slick at lying even in some political campaigns.
E.g., Edison Testing Labs? Never heard of it.



"
How It Works

Hybrid-Thermic™ heat is like bringing home the warmth of the sun. It heats quickly and evenly while staying cool to the touch.

Heat Surge Hybrid-Thermic heat technology safely heats a room faster and more effectively than typical space heaters. That’s because it uses the same kind of heat energy as the sun, the far infrared rays of the light spectrum. Though invisible, this heat energy can be felt every day when standing in the sunshine. This new advanced heating system warms more than just the air, it heats objects like furniture, walls and people for a warm and comfortable home.

The Heat Surge miracle heater is a work of engineering genius from the China coast, so advanced you simply plug it into any standard wall outlet. It uses about as much energy per hour to run as most coffee makers.

Mini-Glo Technology

Yet, it produces an amazing 4606 BTU’s on the high setting. An on-board Powerful hi-tech heat turbine silently forces hot air out into the room so you feel the bone soothing heat instantly. It even has certification of Edison Testing Labs coveted ETL listing and comes with a 30-day Money Back Guarantee less shipping.

Plus, the efficiency of the heating unit is now enhanced with an advanced new thermostat control that maintains better room temperature over time and keeps you comfortable by only using the advanced heating elements when they are needed. This saves you even more on your energy bills.

These miracle fireplaces have what’s being called the “Fireless Flame” technology that gives you the peaceful flicker of a real fire but without any flames, fumes, smells, ashes or mess. Everyone is getting them because they require no chimney and no vent. You just plug them in.

The Fireless Flame looks so real it fools everybody but there is no real fire. That makes it safe to the touch. It’s where the kids will play and the cat and dog will sleep.

Heat Surge is one of the nation’s leaders in mobile, home heating. We pride ourselves in providing high quality products that meet national safety standards. The heating unit used in all Heat Surge fireplaces has been inspected and approved by UL.

abacomike

Today might be release day.  Pulmonary doctor said he thinks I can go home today. Now I need to be cleared for release by the internist, the endocrinologist and the admitting doctor.  Could be an 8 hour siege, but well worth it.  I don't want to be in a hospital for the rest of my life - but the way my life has gone.,,.

abacomike

Very cool this morning - 55 degrees at sunrise.  Supposed to get to 70 late this afternoon.  I wore shorts here but with a warm sweatshirt so I should be warm enough.

We haven't had a need for heat in our apartment for years, so one of those space heaters would be a waste of money.

jpp75

@abacomike‌

Hope you get to go home today.

I remember a friend of mine in West Palm rented a house that didn't even have heat, I was shocked to see it but she survived with no problems.

fushigi

imidazol97 said:

I'm not sure why the site needs to load in encrypted transfer (httpS:).
Any thoughts?

(IT Security professional here)

That's a good thing, actually. I wish more sites would do all of their traffic, not just their shopping carts & login pages, over https.

When you view a page over SSL that means that your browser has received a certificate from the web server. Public web servers typically use certificates from Certificate Authorities such as Go Daddy, GeoTrust, and Network Solutions. For general internet browsing, this means you can trust that the site is legitimate and your session has not been hijacked or redirected to a malicious entity. (Of course a site being legitimate doesn't mean the company behind it is ethical )

It also means data exchanged (both directions) between your browser & the web server is encrypted. So anyone using a sniffer - hackers, the NSA, etc. - can't see whats being sent.

SSL is good for privacy as well as security.

As an aside, in the old days web servers couldn't handle that much SSL traffic because the encryption overhead took a lot of CPU power. Nowadays CPU power is abundant and there are SSL accelerator appliances that companies commonly deploy in front of a web server farm. SSL overhead is now barely a consideration.

oldfarmer50

abacomike said:

Very cool this morning - 55 degrees at sunrise.  Supposed to get to 70 late this afternoon.  I wore shorts here but with a warm sweatshirt so I should be warm enough.

We haven't had a need for heat in our apartment for years, so one of those space heaters would be a waste of money.

That's it, rub it in the faces of us poor souls suffering at 20 degrees with a 3 day snow snow storm looming.

Glad you might get sprung.

I'm getting to the point where I'd rather be sick in Florida than well in NY.