Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
New Patriots?
No, Washington has been bad for decades.

stickguy

A 65” would be a big upgrade for us if you decide to give it away to get rid of it!

ronsteve

qbrozen said:

Sorry, but I’ve nowhere else to rant about this. The Giants were absolutely ROBBED last night. Putting aside the bad calls and non-calls throughout the game, the last 10 secs alone took the win away and handed it to Washington. First the officials stop the clock for Washington, who was out of timeouts, with 9 secs left to review a play that nobody had any doubt on nor was questioning. Field goal is missed and team is all sad THEN a flag is thrown for an infraction that DID NOT happen! I happen to be recording it for my son and have looked it over and it is pretty darned obvious the ball was snapped before the defender even got his hand off the ground. This game was an appalling display of officiating. Is Washington the new Patriots or what?

The review didn't make a difference. Washington was on the ball ready to clock it.

The offside call was close. Maybe a break for Washington, but not an obvious one. Just because the announcers didn't notice the flag until after the kick went no-good doesn't mean the official didn't throw it when the infraction happened. Though the "in the secondary" comment gives me pause, not that we ever see where or when the flag actually comes in.

And weren't the announcers also talking about 11 points the Giants left out there?

That's my neutral $.02

qbrozen

Yup, they were. Although I think their insistence that Sheppard "dropped the pass" is pretty harsh. That ball was overthrown. I was shocked he even got a hand on it. The holding call that killed the TD was fair. There was, however, an imbalance of PI calls, IMHO. The only call I think was a mistake in the Giants favor was the roughing passer call.

On the offside, Washington was leaving the field. The kicker was dejected and they were patting him on the head before the flag. We didn't see it thrown on TV, but watching their reactions seems pretty damning to me. Nobody on the line was pointing, as they usually do. The only player that seemed to indicate anything was the QB on the sideline. I believe it was not until his protest that someone threw a flag. The defender absolutely "twitched" first, but his hand did not even leave the ground until the ball did.

I'm fairly impartial (I think). My son often gets mad at me for agreeing with calls against his team or pointing out things they get away with. lol.

roadburner

@tjc78 said:

@roadburner said:
My wife and I went to Homearama(the local home show) tonight. As usual I was instructed not to comment on the quality(or lack thereof) of what passes for home theater installations. She needn't have worried; this year Homearama was held in a development which is comprised of three level homes spaced less than 10-20 feet apart. I'm not antisocial, but that is WAY too close for me. There were no home theater installs to speak of, I suspect a result of the proximity of the homes to each other. A few homes had awful sounding flush mount speakers in the ceiling, and that was about it.
The fad in most of the houses was to put a flat screen in virtually every room- but in each case they were too small for the seating distance, they were mounted too high on the wall, and they were hardly high-end models- even though the homes were all priced in the $1,000,000 range.
Meh.

The 65” in our family room is too small. It also has no sound bar or anything, so it really only get used for the news.

If we want to watch a movie we either use the TV in our bedroom which is a 65 with a nice sound bar, sub and rear speakers or the theater room. You get spoiled by that for sure. My 7 year old will go down there by himself and watch something. Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

During the winter I would like to do some upgrades. All new surround speakers and maybe a new Atmos receiver.

I might eventually upgrade my main system with an Atmos receiver and speakers, but right now I’m very happy with both systems. Moving the Kuro to the downstairs system has made it just about perfect, although it it doesn’t have the volume or extension of the main system.

abacomike

@qbrozen said:
Sorry, but I’ve nowhere else to rant about this. The Giants were absolutely ROBBED last night. Putting aside the bad calls and non-calls throughout the game, the last 10 secs alone took the win away and handed it to Washington. First the officials stop the clock for Washington, who was out of timeouts, with 9 secs left to review a play that nobody had any doubt on nor was questioning. Field goal is missed and team is all sad THEN a flag is thrown for an infraction that DID NOT happen! I happen to be recording it for my son and have looked it over and it is pretty darned obvious the ball was snapped before the defender even got his hand off the ground. This game was an appalling display of officiating. Is Washington the new Patriots or what?

OUCH!!! 🤓

abacomike

@ab348 said:
Not sure I understand why you need a soundbar if you are listening via headphones?

So Sandy can aggravate his loving wife if the need ever arises! 😜🤪🤓

laurasdada

Heading to Hoboken for the weekend; pray for my safe return...

Re: Patriots. Yes, 20 years of the fix is in...

tjc78

@roadburner said:

@tjc78 said:

@roadburner said:
My wife and I went to Homearama(the local home show) tonight. As usual I was instructed not to comment on the quality(or lack thereof) of what passes for home theater installations. She needn't have worried; this year Homearama was held in a development which is comprised of three level homes spaced less than 10-20 feet apart. I'm not antisocial, but that is WAY too close for me. There were no home theater installs to speak of, I suspect a result of the proximity of the homes to each other. A few homes had awful sounding flush mount speakers in the ceiling, and that was about it.
The fad in most of the houses was to put a flat screen in virtually every room- but in each case they were too small for the seating distance, they were mounted too high on the wall, and they were hardly high-end models- even though the homes were all priced in the $1,000,000 range.
Meh.

The 65” in our family room is too small. It also has no sound bar or anything, so it really only get used for the news.

If we want to watch a movie we either use the TV in our bedroom which is a 65 with a nice sound bar, sub and rear speakers or the theater room. You get spoiled by that for sure. My 7 year old will go down there by himself and watch something. Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

During the winter I would like to do some upgrades. All new surround speakers and maybe a new Atmos receiver.

I might eventually upgrade my main system with an Atmos receiver and speakers, but right now I’m very happy with both systems. Moving the Kuro to the downstairs system has made it just about perfect, although it it doesn’t have the volume or extension of the main system.

Atmos isn’t a must, but I want to add 2 more surrounds. I currently have my surrounds on stands and they aren’t high enough. I just haven’t had time to run the wires up the wall. I figured I’ll just do all four at once.

Maybe that is phase 1 and then phase 2 will be a new receiver and add Atmos speakers. Unsure if I want to go with two in ceiling speakers or go with the upfiring units that sit on top of the front speakers.

tjc78

@Sandman6472 said:
Looking to get a sound bar for our Samsung. The wife mostly works from home and likes it quiet. I've already got the Bose blue tooth headphones so need a relatively inexpensive sound bar so I can listen through my headphones when we're both home during the day. Hopefully I'll find one that's simple to plug in and go. Like things easy when it comes to electronics now, those days of the big sound systems are over for us.

Our bedroom setup is a Samsung as is the TV. Just a few HDMI cables and integrates well. One remote for volume and the bar turns off and on with the TV.

It sounds good. It is perfect for a bedroom system, but not a full theater experience.

explorerx4

Seems like an obvious call from this replay.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1438710225444302849

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@driver100,
Those 'Things' are probably worth as much as any of your cars.
https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/volkswagen/thing/2503264.html

No accounting for taste. Imagine, $30k for a German military scout car.

stickguy

Is that worse than $50k for a US WWII scout car?

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Is that worse than $50k for a US WWII scout car?

Well, there’s always some value to being on the winning side.

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

A 65” would be a big upgrade for us if you decide to give it away to get rid of it!

Ask a few of his neighbors to regularly check the curb for you every week.

jmonroe

tjc78

@jmonroe1 said:
Ask a few of his neighbors to regularly check the curb for you every week.

jmonroe

Y’all are crazy.

qbrozen

explorerx4 said:

Seems like an obvious call from this replay.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1438710225444302849

Because you can't see the center's hands from that.

Here is what the ref in the secondary should have seen. Like I said, defender moves first, but that's not a penalty. It doesn't matter until he crosses the line of scrimmage. Clearly, the ball is on the move before that happens. Now, I'm not saying a mistake can't be made in real-time, but ... damn, dude!

SET

Defender lifts head, his shadow has not moved, and you can see center's elbows have started bending (given gap around helmet)

Defenders fingers and ball off the ground at same time

explorerx4

@qbrozen,
You can see looking at 97's hands that he is already in the neutral zone.
Compare the where the hands on the player to the right are.

qbrozen

explorerx4 said:

@qbrozen,
You can see looking at 97's hands that he is already in the neutral zone.
Compare the where the hands on the player to the right are.

not sure what you mean. Center moves, that's enough. He could have moved more than his head in pic 2 and he'd still be in the right since the center is moving his arms. Hard to show without moving video, but I've flipped frame by frame back and forth to see it. Only reason to call it is because he actually moves first, but, again, that's not an infraction. Knee-jerk reaction by the ref, at best, IMHO. If nobody on the line points it out, you know something is wrong.

kyfdx

@qbrozen He is stating that the defender lined up offsides.

abacomike

@qbrozen said:
not sure what you mean. Center moves, that's enough. He could have moved more than his head in pic 2 and he'd still be in the right since the center is moving his arms. Hard to show without moving video, but I've flipped frame by frame back and forth to see it. Only reason to call it is because he actually moves first, but, again, that's not an infraction. Knee-jerk reaction by the ref, at best, IMHO. If nobody on the line points it out, you know something is wrong.

Getting all excited over something that cannot be changed is a waste of energy and brain usage. The call is so close that in real time, many refs would miss it. On slo-mo replay, it’s still a close call.

These refs and field judges are just human beings who happen to have a wealth of knowledge and experience in pro football officiating - but they are still human beings with who possess the same eyes as we do.

I am a quasi Giant fan, but if it happened to Miami, I would be upset for 5 minutes - but after that I am just your average football fan.

ab348

I think that the fact that the Giants personnel and coaches did not pitch a fit indicates that they realized it was a penalty.

All that aside, it was a heckuva game regardless of which way it turned out. One of the more entertaining ones I've seen in a while.

I read the game story on The Athletic this AM and the reader comments afterward were pretty silent on the penalty call itself. However, much like NY Mets fans, several were already calling for wholesale player changes and firings of the coaching/management staff. NY sports team fans are certainly unique in that regard.

qbrozen

ab348 said:

I think that the fact that the Giants personnel and coaches did not pitch a fit indicates that they realized it was a penalty.

I didn't get to see their reactions. There was a lot the producer(s) chose not to show.

kyfdx said:

@qbrozen He is stating that the defender lined up offsides.

I was thinking maybe he meant that, but that is a different call. That is "lined up in the neutral zone."

abacomike said:

Getting all excited over something that cannot be changed is a waste of energy and brain usage. The call is so close that in real time, many refs would miss it. On slo-mo replay, it’s still a close call.

Nobody's excited. I didn't lose any sleep. I'm an Eagles fan.
And I already stated those things you point out.

ab348 said:

However, much like NY Mets fans, several were already calling for wholesale player changes and firings of the coaching/management staff. NY sports team fans are certainly unique in that regard.

My son and I were complaining about Jones after week 1. But last night had a number of highlights. He made a number of good throws, was connecting with Shepard much more, and didn't take as many hits, nor lose/give up the ball. Barkley was looking better. Not sure why they kept sending him up the middle so much when they were beating the defense on the outside much more often. Oh well. It was a better team this week than last, by a very large margin.

BTW, I had to make sure I wasn't inventing this. lol. The CBS sports writer published this: "Did Lawrence actually jump offsides? From a certain angle, the Giants defensive tackle may have timed the snap well."

As the offending player said, "the refs are gonna call what they're gonna call... I just gotta do better."

ab348

Quote from Dexter Lawrence, the Giants player flagged for being offside at the end of the game:

“That’s on me," he said. "I gotta be more disciplined in that time at the end of the game right there in a critical situation. That’s why I’m on the field. It was unfortunate it had to happen then, and he missed it. I just gotta do better.”

qbrozen

ab348 said:

Quote from Dexter Lawrence, the Giants player flagged for being offside at the end of the game:

“That’s on me," he said. "I gotta be more disciplined in that time at the end of the game right there in a critical situation. That’s why I’m on the field. It was unfortunate it had to happen then, and he missed it. I just gotta do better.”

I just edited the post above with some of that.

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

Seems like an obvious call from this replay.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1438710225444302849

They almost always call the defensive player off sides on plays like that. The defensive player is allowed to move but he can’t jump into the “neutral zone”. That play was border line about jumping into the “neutral zone” but like I said the close calls usually go against the defense.

FWIW, I’ll never understand why a defensive player even thinks about trying to get the jump on the snap when it’s a long field goal attempt like that one was. The odds of blocking the kick are never very good but the odds of being called offsides are much greater when you get antsy.

jmonroe

tjc78

It’s five o’clock at the Jersey shore. Time to hydrate!

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

It’s five o’clock at the Jersey shore. Time to hydrate!

If you get that hand out of there I could do it.

Just couldn’t resist rubbing it in could you?

jmonroe

snakeweasel

benjaminh said:

Joined Costco soon after I got my first car that needed premium. Last fill-up with premium at Coscto was 2.99 a gallon, which is about the same price as regular non-Tier 1 gas at other local stations. Plus with the Costco card you get a rebate of 4% on gas, which brings the price per gallon down to 2.88—which is actually less than regular costs near me. The good and the bad of that is I feel I can drive as much as I want to and not worry about it, and so I take drives just for fun almost everyday, which is a large part of why there's already 48,000 miles on my car that's only a little more than three years old.

The problem i have with the Costco's around here is 1.) there is none that are convenient for me and 2.) there always seems to be a line waiting to fill up at the pumps. So it gets to be a little bit of a hassle to fill up at Costco. Now since we usually use midgrade in the BMW and Costco only has RUG and PUG the price delta doesn't make it worth the trip and since the bike only takes just under 2.5 gallons when I fill it up the volume doesn't make it worth the trip. So with the Sonata would be the only reason to go fill up at Costco but as I said it's not close enough to make it worth the trip.

snakeweasel

andres3 said:

fintail said:

Come to the PNW, you'll have no issues. I usually have my car in economy setting for highway drives, and never have a problem merging, as most here do it at about 40 mph, so if there's someone in front of you, have fun. The upshifts and throttle response in that mode make the car seem velvety smooth. I don't think I've ever used Sport+

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:

It's a mystery to me why a "sport" setting on a car that's only driven on mostly urban, always flat and straight roads would make a difference.

Guess it's sour grapes.

I live in a urban area but sometimes I have to enter a busy highway....SPORT MODE let's me do it easier and safer.

I'd have used Sport+ by the time the engine warmed up during the test drive! I'd be way too curious not to have "tried it."

Some recent model Audi owners claim the ZF-8 speed now used by Audi is just about "as good" as the DSG "after" you "tune it."

So translated the ZF-8 Speed is a bad transmission that needs to be fixed by the owner.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:

$2.87 and $3.19 a gallon at Costco this morning for RUG and PUG respectively.

From the reading I have done recently, ⛽️ gasoline prices are expected to rise in the coming months. This puts a catalyst on inflation - more so than on many other causes of inflation. Add this to tremendous price increases on food and automobiles and it would appear that the Fed is going to have to take some action to curb these heavy increases on inflation.

Once inflation gets rolling it’s hard to stop. Just ask Jimmy Carter.

It's easy to stop inflation, just stop printing money. The hard thing is getting the politicians to shut off the spigot.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

Sorry guys, I couldn't post much, we were in Victoria B.C. visiting children/grandchildren and it is hard to work using my tablet....and with a busy schedule.
On Tuesday I took the Sea Otter to Vancouver to see my daughter. It takes about 50 minutes...here is a pix from the seaplane;

I was supposed to return at 3 p.m. but the clouds were thick so they put me on the 4 p.m.flight. At 3:30 you could tell the clouds weren't getting better so they told me to check Helijet helicopters, they use different instruments. They had one seat left on the last flight out at 6:30.

At 6 they said the clouds in Vancouver were too thick, so they took us on a bus to the airport - a 45 minute ride. We waited until 2 air ambulances took off and then they took the 12 of us in the helicopter. We couldn't land in Victoria, we had to go to the airport because they had much better landing instrumentation to land there. The first 80% of the trip was in pure white clouds...couldn't see a thing. The last 20% of the 40 minute trip looked like this:

The helicopter was brand new. The pilot gave us a little package and I asked if they were mints. He said they were ear plugs because of the noise. Those helicopters are constantly vibrating. I should have been back by 4 p.m., got back at 9 p.m.
Like I always say to MrsD100 who loves to travel.....The joys of travelling.

Sounds like you would have gotten back faster if you swam.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

roadburner said:

@dino001 said:

Has anybody bought a car these days? This should be a good story...

I’m hoping M2C prices moderate. I’m also considering a G42 M240i RWD if sunroof delete is an option. I also would look at a 400Z but I suspect prices will also remain crazy for some time.

A coworker told a story today of how his friend was looking at a Kia K5 (Optima replacement) and was told there was a $2k ADM because they had to pay for “chips”. The baloney that is being peddled could fill a deli.

Wait, are you saying that before all of this they were getting the chips for free? Who would have thunk it?

Sandman6472

Our television isn't a smart one so need the sound bar with blue tooth that my Bose headphones can connect to. Not everyone in here has a smart t v!

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

Is that worse than $50k for a US WWII scout car?

Well consider that when the US made a civilian version of their WWII military scout car it sold well for several decades. When the Germans made a civilian version of their WWII military scout car it flopped.

snakeweasel

tjc78 said:

It’s five o’clock at the Jersey shore. Time to hydrate!

Make mine neat.

tjc78

@snakeweasel said:
Make mine neat.

It’s an Old Fashioned with Buffalo Trace and orange bitters.

andres3

snakeweasel said:

andres3 said:

fintail said:

Come to the PNW, you'll have no issues. I usually have my car in economy setting for highway drives, and never have a problem merging, as most here do it at about 40 mph, so if there's someone in front of you, have fun. The upshifts and throttle response in that mode make the car seem velvety smooth. I don't think I've ever used Sport+

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:

It's a mystery to me why a "sport" setting on a car that's only driven on mostly urban, always flat and straight roads would make a difference.

Guess it's sour grapes.

I live in a urban area but sometimes I have to enter a busy highway....SPORT MODE let's me do it easier and safer.

I'd have used Sport+ by the time the engine warmed up during the test drive! I'd be way too curious not to have "tried it."

Some recent model Audi owners claim the ZF-8 speed now used by Audi is just about "as good" as the DSG "after" you "tune it."

So translated the ZF-8 Speed is a bad transmission that needs to be fixed by the owner.

Huh? That's pretty harsh. The ZF-8 is OK even with mediocre tuning. BMW is said to have better stock tuning than Audi on it. "Bad" is a strong word.

I'd reserve bad for CVT transmissions, and the Neon's 3-speed invented in the 60's and used in a '95 model.

snakeweasel

tjc78 said:

@snakeweasel said:

Make mine neat.

It’s an Old Fashioned with Buffalo Trace and orange bitters.

Yeah, make mine neat, just whiskey and none of the other junk.

stickguy

I assume that is the new place in WW already? That was quick.

andres3

Been shopping receivers..... sad to say in order to get one with a good amp section you are spending $4K and up.

Denon's flagship costs 1,500 more to get the 5 year warranty which my last Denon could have used making it a necessity. The fact you have to spend $1,500 for a 2 year extension on warranty is enough to scare me away for good. That's $750/year of use to make sure you don't get an expensive heavy paper weight right after the 3-year mark.

That brings it to ROTEL's magnificent Japanese engineered masterpiece "surround amplified processor" since it doesn't have a tuner and costs $5K. ARCAM is the UK equivalent at $4k or $6K.

Yamaha has a good one but it's stuck in the "chip shortage" mode.

I think when it comes to electronics, I'm going with Japan over UK. Also, the Rotel is superior in pretty much every specification, including weight.

Receivers are like boxing; weight class matters. Until a manufacturer starts putting rocks or lead shielding in their amp, I'm going with weight being one of the most important specs when it comes to sound quality.

You only live once.....

qbrozen

@jmonroe1 said:
FWIW, I’ll never understand why a defensive player even thinks about trying to get the jump on the snap when it’s a long field goal attempt like that one was. The odds of blocking the kick are never very good but the odds of being called offsides are much greater when you get antsy.

jmonroe

Totally true. Was dumb to even move.

ab348

Obligatory post whenever an Old Fashioned is mentioned:

https://youtu.be/i415QwSj0Og

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

@snakeweasel said:

Make mine neat.

It’s an Old Fashioned with Buffalo Trace and orange bitters.

I’ll have a Harvey Wallbanger, please.

snakeweasel

@ab348 said:
Obligatory post whenever an Old Fashioned is mentioned:

https://youtu.be/i415QwSj0Og

I am going out for dinner with the wife. in honor of Mr. Backus I just might get an old fashion.

tjc78

@stickguy said:
I assume that is the new place in WW already? That was quick.

Yes. We settled on the 30th. Sold some furniture and brought in some of our own. Just need to work on some decor. Maybe new countertops in the spring.

Hit up Cape May Wicker and got our surf board bar and coffee table.

stickguy

those are cute. Enjoy the place! Should have good beach weather this weekend too.

qbrozen

@tjc78 said:

@stickguy said:
I assume that is the new place in WW already? That was quick.

Yes. We settled on the 30th. Sold some furniture and brought in some of our own. Just need to work on some decor. Maybe new countertops in the spring.

Hit up Cape May Wicker and got our surf board bar and coffee table.

Love the coffee table.
Still planning on closing 10/1 on ours. Everything is ahead of schedule. I asked if we could close sooner but the lawyer said they don’t normally do that.

stickguy

I finally got the bank to finish processing our HELOC. Our old one got closed when we refinanced last December and I like to have one. Now as soon as they send us the checkbook, I can go down to the BMW dealer and just write a check for a new 3 series!

Or use it for a DP on a new build house if we find one we like.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

Sorry guys, I couldn't post much, we were in Victoria B.C. visiting children/grandchildren and it is hard to work using my tablet....and with a busy schedule.
On Tuesday I took the Sea Otter to Vancouver to see my daughter. It takes about 50 minutes...here is a pix from the seaplane;

I was supposed to return at 3 p.m. but the clouds were thick so they put me on the 4 p.m.flight. At 3:30 you could tell the clouds weren't getting better so they told me to check Helijet helicopters, they use different instruments. They had one seat left on the last flight out at 6:30.

At 6 they said the clouds in Vancouver were too thick, so they took us on a bus to the airport - a 45 minute ride. We waited until 2 air ambulances took off and then they took the 12 of us in the helicopter. We couldn't land in Victoria, we had to go to the airport because they had much better landing instrumentation to land there. The first 80% of the trip was in pure white clouds...couldn't see a thing. The last 20% of the 40 minute trip looked like this:

The helicopter was brand new. The pilot gave us a little package and I asked if they were mints. He said they were ear plugs because of the noise. Those helicopters are constantly vibrating. I should have been back by 4 p.m., got back at 9 p.m.
Like I always say to MrsD100 who loves to travel.....The joys of travelling.

Sounds like you would have gotten back faster if you swam.

I thought about it!