Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

abacomike

stickguy said:

great news on your son Mike. sometimes miracles do happen, if you take a shot at them.

Without any doubt!  All the prayers sent on Justin's behalf by all you great guys here made the big difference.

nyccarguy

Fantastic news Mike!

abacomike

nyccarguy said:

Fantastic news Mike!

Yes!  Most definitely.  There was a time last year when I first heard about his malignant tumor that I felt I was about to lose my son.  But that was not in God's plans.

The success rate of radiation therapy on malignant brain tumors is not very high - but thanks to a great radiological oncologist, proton radiation and God's will, he has raised those success stats a bit.

Thanks Bradd.

venture

abacomike said:

nyccarguy said:

Fantastic news Mike!

Yes!  Most definitely.  There was a time last year when I first heard about his malignant tumor that I felt I was about to lose my son.  But that was not in God's plans.

The success rate of radiation therapy on malignant brain tumors is not very high - but thanks to a great radiological oncologist, proton radiation and God's will, he has raised those success stats a bit.

Thanks Bradd.

Wow. Great news Mike. You could tell you were very distraught over the news when you first heard - and rightfully so.

driver100

abacomike said:

We have all 3 locally - Sam's Club, Costco and BJ's.  I really don't enjoy going to Costco because they are so jammed all the time.  If I go early when they open - jammed!  Noontime - jammed! 3:00 PM - jammed.  Unfortunately, they are landlocked in their present location and have no room to expand parking.  The problem is finding a parking space.

Gasoline is not a problem since they open very early and stay open late.  But the store itself is like downtown Manhattan at rush hour - just awful.

Costco being so crowded brought to mind this Yogi Berra quote:

*"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

Good news about your son....you must be really happy!

verdugo

fezo said:

The odd thing with Costco is when this goes down they won't accept Master Card - just Visa. That is pretty unusual.

Sam's will only accept Master Card. They won't accept Visa or American Express.

fezo

Driver beat me to it with the "Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." I know Yogi gets credit for that line but I remember it from Gracie Allen.

Mike, that is fantastic news. There are always cases like this where one wins against the odds. Certainly give God credit here but another vote for seeking out the good doctors. It's why I'm still here.

We're coming up on three years since the transplant. I was up at Sloan Kettering yesterday. Still things that have to improve but all going well. If I only get a normal immune system up (the current one works but when they test the numbers are not great) then I can not work by choice instead of being forced into it.

henryn

Great news, Mike. Truly great.

nyccarguy

Hey guys. I just wanted to extend an invitation to all of you who I consider my friends here and also on CCBA: If any of you plan on travelling to New York this spring or summer and would like to see the 27 time world series champion New York Yankees play, please let me know. I have season tickets through my company and it would be my honor to send someone (and a guest) to a game.

robr2

Thank you Bradd. I'd love to see $54 million dollars platooning at first base!!

laurasdada

Great news, Mike!

My Costco isn't too bad weekdays. But, weekends? Fuggedaboutit!

Bradd, magnanimous offer! Even to a fan of the 3 time in the last 10 years World Series champs Boston Red Sox? Also, a Mets fan?

stickguy

Well, as a Mets fan, I assume he is offering because even Yankee fans don't want to watch the team this year!

driver100

robr2 said:

Thank you Bradd. I'd love to see $54 million dollars platooning at first base!!

What a nice offer NYC. Probably won't be able to take you up on it......but the offer is much appreciated.

roadburner

abacomike said:

Got a call from my son.  He had a complete body scan and a multitude of blood panels and tests last week.  His oncologist told him his white blood count is nearing normal ranges and the body MRI showed no evidence of the tumor in his brain nor any sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

A true miracle story that I pray continues for the rest of his life.

I am so glad to know our prayers have been answered!!!

fezo

Bradd, count me in. I'm a Mets fan but grew up in Yankee Stadium (not to be confused with that place that is calling itself Yankee Stadium now) when they were the only show in town. Back when there was still the possibility of getting a seat behind a post.

I will also admit to liking the Red Sox... enough so that I was just a touch conflicted in 1986 but not really. I was at the Bill Buckner game.

ab348

nyccarguy said:

Hey guys. I just wanted to extend an invitation to all of you who I consider my friends here and also on CCBA: If any of you plan on travelling to New York this spring or summer and would like to see the 27 time world series champion New York Yankees play, please let me know. I have season tickets through my company and it would be my honor to send someone (and a guest) to a game.

Wow, that's very generous but I have an important question: does the offer still apply even if you're a Mets fan like me?

stever

Just leave your "Elaine Benes" baseball cap at home.

jmonroe

"Got a call from my son.  He had a complete body scan and a multitude of blood panels and tests last week.  His oncologist told him his white blood count is nearing normal ranges and the body MRI showed no evidence of the tumor in his brain nor any sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

A true miracle story that I pray continues for the rest of his life".

Mike,

I just got back in here and I see this about your son. Very happy that I came back in time to see this and that he has gotten a good report !

This is the best news we've had in here since 'Fez' got the news that he is on the mend.

I hope this post works since I feel like a newbie all over again. I can't remember how to bring in quotes from the OP. I guess that's the price I have to pay for ducking out soooo long.

Be sure to pass on my well wishes to your son.

jmonroe

fezo

Hey! jmonroe! Great to see you back again!

nyccarguy

Hey! @jmonroe! WELCOME BACK!

nyccarguy

Ha! I'm glad all of the METS fans are coming out of the woodwork. I had 4 sales reps I deal with specifically call me today and ask if I saw their guys wipe the floor with my Yankees.

roadburner

Ditto!

driver100

nyccarguy said:

Ha! I'm glad all of the METS fans are coming out of the woodwork. I had 4 sales reps I deal with specifically call me today and ask if I saw their guys wipe the floor with my Yankees.

lol

driver100

JMonroe.......nice to have you ba

jmonroe said:

"Got a call from my son.  He had a complete body scan and a multitude of blood panels and tests last week.  His oncologist told him his white blood count is nearing normal ranges and the body MRI showed no evidence of the tumor in his brain nor any sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

A true miracle story that I pray continues for the rest of his life".

Mike,

I just got back in here and I see this about your son. Very happy that I came back in time to see this and that he has gotten a good report !

This is the best news we've had in here since 'Fez' got the news that he is on the mend.

I hope this post works since I feel like a newbie all over again. I can't remember how to bring in quotes from the OP. I guess that's the price I have to pay for ducking out soooo long.

Be sure to pass on my well wishes to your son.

jmonroe





ck

jmonroe said:

"Got a call from my son.  He had a complete body scan and a multitude of blood panels and tests last week.  His oncologist told him his white blood count is nearing normal ranges and the body MRI showed no evidence of the tumor in his brain nor any sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

A true miracle story that I pray continues for the rest of his life".

Mike,

I just got back in here and I see this about your son. Very happy that I came back in time to see this and that he has gotten a good report !

This is the best news we've had in here since 'Fez' got the news that he is on the mend.

I hope this post works since I feel like a newbie all over again. I can't remember how to bring in quotes from the OP. I guess that's the price I have to pay for ducking out soooo long.

Be sure to pass on my well wishes to your son.

jmonroe





JMonroe nice to have you back....we have often wondered where you went.

When you want to respond to a post look for the word "quote" below the post.....go on it.

In the comment box start writing about 2 rows down from the last word you see.

How is the Gennie these days? And, your other car (Suburu I think )?

abacomike

jmonroe said:

"Got a call from my son.  He had a complete body scan and a multitude of blood panels and tests last week.  His oncologist told him his white blood count is nearing normal ranges and the body MRI showed no evidence of the tumor in his brain nor any sign that the cancer has spread to other parts of his body.

A true miracle story that I pray continues for the rest of his life".

Mike,

I just got back in here and I see this about your son. Very happy that I came back in time to see this and that he has gotten a good report !

This is the best news we've had in here since 'Fez' got the news that he is on the mend.

I hope this post works since I feel like a newbie all over again. I can't remember how to bring in quotes from the OP. I guess that's the price I have to pay for ducking out soooo long.

Be sure to pass on my well wishes to your son.

jmonroe





Well "ain't" you a sight for sore eyes. I've missed your posts sooooooo much, jmonroe. Your dry and "wry" sense of humor was always refreshing.

Thanks so much for your kind thoughts as well as all the kind thoughts and words expressed by our family of posters here. Yes, he went through an awful lot for 8 months or so, but the news is mostly wonderful. He has some short-term memory problems due to the high dosages of proton radiation, but I'll take that over anything else.

What have you been doing with yourself, jmonroe? You must have almost a year's worth of stories for us. I'll just sit back and read your "catch-up" posts for a week or so. Tell us what's been going on!

cdnpinhead

. . .when they were the only show in town.

The Brooklyn Dodgers had already left?

stickguy

question for the experts.

what is the best free on-line downloadable anti-virus/firewall protection (for a windows PC).

I just have my basic laptop (running windows 7) and have been using the free, comcast-supplied Norton package. But it seems that the free trial expired, and no way I am paying for that.

I know there are a bunch of freebies. but can anyone recommend a particularly good one that won’t bog the system down, but that does a good job protecting?

abacomike

Just an update on Sears, our upcoming delivery of our new Kenmore side-by-side refrigerator, and an interesting slant on pricing and credits.

As I mentioned yesterday or the day before, our 25 year old GE side-by-side refrigerator began to limp and sputter a little over the past week. So we were up to Sears, bought a Kenmore 22.6 side-by-side fridge. In order to save $69 for delivery and set-up, Dad opened a Sears Credit Card account and they waived that charge. Then, there will be a $10.00 credit on our first purchase as a reward so most of the $15.00 fee for taking the old fridge back out with them when they come is covered. We paid $1357.00 including tax. I went home, looked up the Kenmore we bought, and it's online for $1099 with free shipping, etc. So I called the salesman and he said he would credit us for $107 plus tax. That didn't sound like enough, I said to myself.

So this morning, I went back to the store with my Dad and spoke with the manager. It seems the $1099 price was a special for "Friends and Family" for Sunday, from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. But Sears in Boca closes at 6:00 PM. I guess there were some complaints, so they extended the sale on that unit for one day. We were lucky we decided to buy yesterday and even luckier that they extended the one day sale. So he issued Dad a credit for $207.00. So the net cost, OTD, including tax, delivery, set-up and hauling away the old fridge is now $1180.84 on a Kenmore Refrigerator that originally sold for $1599. Big difference, that's for sure.

This Kenmore unit was manufactured by LG, from what the manager told me this morning. It received 4 stars out of 5 stars in the ratings. I've always liked Kenmore products, so let's see if this one will last half as long as the old GE did. I'd be thrilled with that.

henryn

I use Symantec Endpoint, provided by my employer. Roughly the same protection as Norton, different interface.

I was under the impression that the comcast supplied Norton package was supposed to be good for more than just one year. Have you tired uninstalling, then downloading and re-installing from comcast?

abacomike

Continuing on with my saga today - since we were up north to go to Sears this morning, I decided to stop off at my dealership in Delray Beach to get a car wash. As I'm pulling out of the dealership, I notice that my main NAV screen is frozen with the image of a map. When I press Radio, or NAV or Weather, etc., the screen does not change. I called my tech guy at he dealership and he said it sounds like it needs a "reset". I remember this happened once to one of my cars a few years ago which required them to reset the system. So I went into the "system settings" and found the "reset" tab and pressed that with my controller mouse. Sure enough, it resumed in the normal state which means the reset was necessary. But when you reset the Command System, it deletes all settings. So I spent about half and hour this afternoon resetting everything including daylight savings time for the clock, pre-sets for AM, FM, and Satellite Radio, base and treble settings for radio, CD's, Bluetooth Audio and iPod Audio, and reconnect the iPhone as the Bluetooth phone for the car. Along with many other settings I probably haven't thought about yet.

Bless all the technology in these cars today - they are bound to get quirks in them from time to time.

jayrider

One thing about refrigerators that I learned the hard way, is clean the coils at least once a year. They are on the bottom -- get a coil brush and keep them clean.

imidazol97

jmonroe said:

I hope this post works since I feel like a newbie all over again. I can't remember how to bring in quotes from the OP. I guess that's the price I have to pay for ducking out soooo long.

Is that really you? Welcome back.

robr2

stickguy said:

question for the experts.

what is the best free on-line downloadable anti-virus/firewall protection (for a windows PC).

I just have my basic laptop (running windows 7) and have been using the free, comcast-supplied Norton package. But it seems that the free trial expired, and no way I am paying for that.

I know there are a bunch of freebies. but can anyone recommend a particularly good one that won’t bog the system down, but that does a good job protecting?

I've used AVG as a freebie before. AFAIK, it works.

fezo

cdnpinhead said:

. . .when they were the only show in town.

The Brooklyn Dodgers had already left?

Yep. For four years there was no National League baseball in New York. Those were the dark days. Of course back then there was no DH so the Yankees were completely watchable.

fezo

nyccarguy said:

Ha! I'm glad all of the METS fans are coming out of the woodwork. I had 4 sales reps I deal with specifically call me today and ask if I saw their guys wipe the floor with my Yankees.

Saved me from saying it. Was sorry to see your guy get banged up as he did on the inside the park home run (as fun a play as there is in baseball but this one hardly counted as had the centerfielder not gotten hurt on the play it would have only been a triple; that said triples are special) but I see they check his head and found nothing in it so I guess that worked out.

stickguy

Thanks for virus input. I thought it was free forever through Comcast. turns out, it is. Something must have glitched. I went back to the Comcast site and just downloaded again, and seems to be working fine.

Mike, on your freeze, I assume you turned off the car entirely, and turned it back on first? Always the first thing to try before getting more drastic! Very annoying to you to lose all the other settings that way.

qbrozen

stick - I use Avast on all my machines.

abacomike

stickguy said:

Thanks for virus input. I thought it was free forever through Comcast. turns out, it is. Something must have glitched. I went back to the Comcast site and just downloaded again, and seems to be working fine. Mike, on your freeze, I assume you turned off the car entirely, and turned it back on first? Always the first thing to try before getting more drastic! Very annoying to you to lose all the other settings that way.

Yes, I parked, turned off the ignition, left the car, locked the car and then went back into the car 3 minutes later.  That did not solve the problem.  But the reset worked perfectly - just had to enter and save all the settings.

The tech guy told me that it happens occasionally in all the MERCEDES models.  This is the second time it's happened to one of my cars in 9 years - not a terrible problem.

driver100

qbrozen said:

stick - I use Avast on all my machines.

Me too and that's the one our expert IT guy recommends.

mako1a

I agree on Avast as that's what my computer guy put on my Toshiba (8.1 OS) after asking him for the best AV he could get. He also installed Malwarebytes as a supplement and they work very well together. He built the machine and put in a solid state drive right out of the box. Wow, did that ever speed things up! Boots up in 44 seconds. Shuts down in 12 seconds.

[Deleted User]

abacomike said:

Bless all the technology in these cars today - they are bound to get quirks in them from time to time.

I'm an advocate for all the new safety systems that have the option to take control of throttle, braking, and even steering in some cases. That said, there's a dark side that scares me, that being the glitches you just ran into with the nav unit. What if that glitch happened to a brake-by-wire system? Or an intentional hack of the throttle by a nutcase with a laptop?

Auto manufacturers are very good with quality control, but the more complex our cars become the more failures we'll see, and, frankly, the manufacturers are pretty naive about the threat of hack attempts.

stever

If anyone knows of any "youngsters" that fit either of these requests, please send them our way. Thanks!

If you are under 35 and don't have your drivers' license because driving-related costs are too high for your budget at present, please email PR@edmunds.com before Monday, March 30. 2015 to be interviewed.

If you are under 35 and recently bought a car to accommodate your growing family, please email PR@edmunds.com before Monday, March 30. 2015 to be interviewed.

abacomike

tyguy said:

Bless all the technology in these cars today - they are bound to get quirks in them from time to time.

I'm an advocate for all the new safety systems that have the option to take control of throttle, braking, and even steering in some cases. That said, there's a dark side that scares me, that being the glitches you just ran into with the nav unit. What if that glitch happened to a brake-by-wire system? Or an intentional hack of the throttle by a nutcase with a laptop? Auto manufacturers are very good with quality control, but the more complex our cars become the more failures we'll see, and, frankly, the manufacturers are pretty naive about the threat of hack attempts.

I am also intrigued by what's available in today's automobiles in terms of technology and safety.  

This is the first car I have ever owned that has "active steering" while in cruise control.  It actually keeps the car centered in the lane by using radar, cameras and infrared sensors - the car's steering wheel moves itself even around slight curves in the highway.  It also has "active lane keeping and active blind spot monitors.  If the car begins to move toward the lane marker, the car brakes the opposite side of the car and ensures you do not swerve into a lane with a car in it - it prevents you from moving into that lane.

Along with active steering, when cruise is engaged, the car matches the speed of a car in front of you (I set it to 100 feet) and applies brakes to slow or even stop the car if I don't take precautions within 1 second. 

The sensors also monitor cross traffic and pedestrian traffic and will stop the car from hitting another car crossing an intersection or a pedestrian crossing behind the car when moving backwards.

It also has that active park assist - car parks itself but we don't have parallel parking around here - I would never use it anyway.  But I do like the 360 degree cameras.  When I pull headlong into a parking space, it measures the positioning of the car in the spot so you can adjust the parking process to make sure you don't pull into a spot crooked.

Do I need "ALL" of these features - absolutely not.  I would never order many of the packages that Mercedes built this car with - but this was a replacement car they built for me, so it just has everything.

I refuse to become so dependent on the technology that I expect the car to keep me from hitting something or someone.  I maintain control of the car.  Most of these systems can be disabled in the settings screens.

But it is an amazing, technologically advanced car.

abacomike

I just received my first email from Sears about the Friday delivery of the new fridge.  They sent me the measurements and after measuring the front door, I called them to tell them that the doorway is too narrow to get the new fridge in.  The delivery specialist told me not to worry - they will remove the front door.  I said it will fit through the opening if the front door is removed.

I guess they are used to doing this stuff!

robr2

Yes they are. I remember the delivery crew with my first side by side behemoth. They two wheeled it up to the front steps. It was unboxed and the doors removed. A large strap was put under it and then one guy lifted in onto his back. He walked up the 5 steps into the house and across the living room to reach the kitchen.

abacomike

robr2 said:

Yes they are. I remember the delivery crew with my first side by side behemoth. They two wheeled it up to the front steps. It was unboxed and the doors removed. A large strap was put under it and then one guy lifted in onto his back. He walked up the 5 steps into the house and across the living room to reach the kitchen.

OUCH!!!

fezo

Interesting delivery story. A bunch of years ago I bought a front load washing machine from Sears. They came to deliver it and said the door would have to be removed to put it in the laundry room. It wasn't a great machine and after a few years gave up the ghost. Bought a Samsung - one of those top loaders that's built like a front loader - no agitator. When the Lowes guys came to deliver it they were easily able to get the Kenmore out of there without having to remove the door. They did also say before trying that they could take the door off is necessary. The Sears guys said it had to be done then left me high and dry. Had toget a guy to remove the door and then later put it back.

abacomike

fezo said:

Interesting delivery story. A bunch of years ago I bought a front load washing machine from Sears. They came to deliver it and said the door would have to be removed to put it in the laundry room. It wasn't a great machine and after a few years gave up the ghost. Bought a Samsung - one of those top loaders that's built like a front loader - no agitator. When the Lowes guys came to deliver it they were easily able to get the Kenmore out of there without having to remove the door. They did also say before trying that they could take the door off is necessary. The Sears guys said it had to be done then left me high and dry. Had toget a guy to remove the door and then later put it back.

According to the Sears delivery department, the delivery guys remove the door and then replace it.  I hope they come equipped with clamps and copper tubing and saddle valves.  I have no idea where the water shut off valve is.  I think it's under the sink but the fridge is on the opposite side of the kitchen.

And I thought buying a refrigerator was easy!!!  I didn't even think about getting the thing through the door or the water supply for the ice maker and dispenser.  Good grief!

driver100

tyguy said:

abacomike said:

Bless all the technology in these cars today - they are bound to get quirks in them from time to time.

That said, there's a dark side that scares me, that being the glitches you just ran into with the nav unit. What if that glitch happened to a brake-by-wire system? Or an intentional hack of the throttle by a nutcase with a laptop?

Just wondering....if I use the automatic parking feature and my car hits another car while backing in who is responsible? I have the feature but forget how to use it....and don't know if I would want to use it. I have parallel parked about 6 times since I got the car in November, but did it myself.

robr2

driver100 said:

tyguy said:

abacomike said:

Bless all the technology in these cars today - they are bound to get quirks in them from time to time.

That said, there's a dark side that scares me, that being the glitches you just ran into with the nav unit. What if that glitch happened to a brake-by-wire system? Or an intentional hack of the throttle by a nutcase with a laptop?

Just wondering....if I use the automatic parking feature and my car hits another car while backing in who is responsible? I have the feature but forget how to use it....and don't know if I would want to use it. I have parallel parked about 6 times since I got the car in November, but did it myself.

Most likely you. You still have to be aware and in control of you vehicle.