Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

oldfarmer50

cdnpinhead said:

The carriage trade is alive and well. . .and posting.

I've stayed in Motel 6 (gasp!) when it still cost something in the vicinity of $6. It was actually $6.95, and if you wanted to use the TV in the room it was an extra 25 or 50 cents to get the key to unlock it.

I've also stayed in mind-blowing (at least to me -- see above) lodgings in places all over the world, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Frankfort, Israel, Spain and others.

What I want in a lodging is 1) decent air conditioning, 2) a bed without bugs, 3) decent internet, 4) a reasonably clean bathroom, and some assurance I'll get through the night without someone killing me. A low bar for sure, but it's served me well over the decades. The old Canadian Railroad Hotels (Bessborough, etc.) were great, and I've stayed in any number of fleabag-looking motels that turned out to be just fine.

YMMV

Hotel management can make a big difference. Years ago I took my wife along on a cross state business trip and we stayed at The Motel on the Mountain near Horse Heads NY. We weren’t expecting much but the food at the restaurant was phenomenal, the rooms were clean but basic and the view from the mountain was very nice. We vowed to make another stop there if we were ever in the area.

A few years later we had the opportunity to stay there again and were very disappointed. The food was sub McDonalds quality, the rooms looked unkempt and there was some clown revving up a motorcycle all night. Totally different experience.

BTW, the Clarion hotel across the street from our company office has become a welfare hotel. I guess that’s desirable since it’s only a block from the jail.

explorerx4

#sda,
In my much older Mustang, I started getting an airbag fault.
The car is so old, it would flash a light sequence.
Long story short, the airbag sensor would not initialize due to a low battery.
Once i charged it up, it went away.
You might want to look around online to see if there are any other solutions.

Michaell

@oldfarmer50 - we went to Sedona and stayed at a B&B. The reviews were great and our stay was fantastic.

Return trip a couple of years later and found out the place had been sold. Not nearly the pleasant experience that we had the first time.

I don’t travel much any more but do prefer Marriott properties if the rates are reasonable.

abacomike

@kyfdx said:
Not many people have experienced a total eclipse. If it weren't close by, I probably wouldn't worry about it, but too good to pass up.

When I lived in the Chicago western suburbs back in the 1970’s, we had experienced a TOTAL eclipse of the sun. I was teaching at the time in the school near where I lived so I took my entire class out during science class to observe it in totality after we made protective shields for each student. Had 20+ parents with me making sure the kids were holding the shields over their eyes. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

As for how dark it got outside, it resembled twilight time in the evening.

abacomike

@oldfarmer50 said:
I just filled up at Sam’s Club since today they are 25-30 cents lower than surrounding stations. $3.24 RUG.

Couple of things I notice:

Credit card only which I’m not a fan of since I’m a cash for gas guy.

They hit your credit card with a $1 test charge to see if it’s valid as they sell you the gas. Is that routine? I wouldn’t know because, you know, cash guy.

They have a $50 limit and then the pump shuts off. That’s frustrating since my truck has a 26 gallon tank.

Yes, Farmer, it is quite normal to see a test charge of $1.00 followed by a $1.00 credit on your credit card, especially if you don’t normally use the card at that gas station.

snakeweasel

@sda said:
Yesterday when I went to do the weekly fill-up on the TL I noticed the Airbag light glowing. Not good. When I returned home, I asked my daughter about it. She said she meant to tell me but forgot. This morning I took it to the Honda dealer. They diagnosed it as the passenger seat sensor giving the issue and said to take it to Acura, they couldn't fix it. I just got a call from the Acura service department, and they gave me a preliminary estimate of $630! I am going to drop it off later this afternoon so they can diagnose it and confirm what is needed. If it ends up being more than the $630, it may be time to cut bait. Honda didn't charge me to diagnose the issue, Acura $87, but that is waived if we do the repair.

Simple solution: don't hit anything.

snakeweasel

@cdnpinhead said:

What I want in a lodging is...some assurance I'll get through the night without someone killing me.

So far so good.

explorerx4

@sda,
Here' some info on the airbag light. I think rhe wiring picture is generic.
https://www.wheelsjoint.com/acura-tl-airbag-light-is-on-causes-and-how-to-reset/

jmonroe1

cdnpinhead said:

The carriage trade is alive and well. . .and posting.

I've stayed in Motel 6 (gasp!) when it still cost something in the vicinity of $6. It was actually $6.95, and if you wanted to use the TV in the room it was an extra 25 or 50 cents to get the key to unlock it.

I've also stayed in mind-blowing (at least to me -- see above) lodgings in places all over the world, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Frankfort, Israel, Spain and others.

What I want in a lodging is 1) decent air conditioning, 2) a bed without bugs, 3) decent internet, 4) a reasonably clean bathroom, and some assurance I'll get through the night without someone killing me. A low bar for sure, but it's served me well over the decades. The old Canadian Railroad Hotels (Bessborough, etc.) were great, and I've stayed in any number of fleabag-looking motels that turned out to be just fine.

YMMV

————————————————
I agree that you don’t have to go overboard to get a nice room. As long as it’s clean and the bed isn’t worn out I’m happy for a one night stand. But if I’m going to be there for a week I like more space.

I was never disappointed with any Embassy Suites I stayed at and their complementary breakfast was surprisingly good and so was their free happy 2 hours everyday. A guy could get spoiled after doing that a few times. Even Mrs. was impressed when she accompanied me on a business trip to Oxnard CA in the late 80’s when we stayed at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Resort.

I didn’t particularly like traveling but an Embassy Suites took some of the bite out of it.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

@oldfarmer50 - we went to Sedona and stayed at a B&B. The reviews were great and our stay was fantastic.

Return trip a couple of years later and found out the place had been sold. Not nearly the pleasant experience that we had the first time.

I don’t travel much any more but do prefer Marriott properties if the rates are reasonable.

The fanciest hotel (if you can even call it that) we ever stayed at was the Hilton Sunset Key in Key West. Private bungalows on an island with free yacht services included. We never wanted to leave. Close second was a hotel on the beach at Waikiki.

For most of my corporate business life I never cared about hotel amenities. As someone said, just a bed without bugs and where I won’t be killed in my sleep.

oldfarmer50

If we get sent north on April 8th the forecast looks good, clear skies. They must be expecting a mob of people in Burlington because the bosses were texting us all day begging for volunteers to work up there on Saturday. I assume they will be collecting cars to stage at the airport for the anticipated demand.

I’m beginning to think being sent there might be a mistake as I don’t know if 4 minutes of eclipse is worth 4 hours of traffic jams trying to get home.

ab348

You need to be careful in my part of the world when selecting a hotel - perhaps it is the same in many other cities. Here, the homeless problem hit a few years ago and the people in tents on public property became a big problem. That was exacerbated here by our city government offering them amenities, which apparently attracted those from other areas to congregate here. It quickly got out of control.

Since there is no problem that a government agency cannot make worse, the response here was to rent hundreds of hotel rooms for these people to get them out of the parks. One of the locations was a newish downtown hotel that had yet to build a clientele and had lots of vacancies. They put them in there mixed in with some paying guests. You can imagine what happened next. It was not good and the reviews by those paying customers of their experience were horrific. Eventually the money ran out and those people were evicted as the hotel had to do a complete reboot/repair/deep clean to try to rebuild their reputation.

But then, as the problem got worse, the government took over an entire Doubletree hotel that had just been renovated but was struggling to attract guests. The result was equally bad and is still going on. They had to take the Doubletree signage down because tourists were showing up looking for rooms and were shocked by what they found when they walked in, unawares. At this stage I wonder if it will ever be reopened as a hotel as the damage inside is reportedly pretty bad.

tjc78

I feel bad for the hotel owners. They figure take the money but it never ends well.

snakeweasel

@oldfarmer50 said:
If we get sent north on April 8th the forecast looks good, clear skies. They must be expecting a mob of people in Burlington because the bosses were texting us all day begging for volunteers to work up there on Saturday. I assume they will be collecting cars to stage at the airport for the anticipated demand.

I’m beginning to think being sent there might be a mistake as I don’t know if 4 minutes of eclipse is worth 4 hours of traffic jams trying to get home.

There is a rest area on the Interstate on the way home for me that's well within the area of totality. I am thinking of viewing it there then bugging out as soon as I can and beat a lot of the traffic jams.

kyfdx

snakeweasel said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

If we get sent north on April 8th the forecast looks good, clear skies. They must be expecting a mob of people in Burlington because the bosses were texting us all day begging for volunteers to work up there on Saturday. I assume they will be collecting cars to stage at the airport for the anticipated demand.

I’m beginning to think being sent there might be a mistake as I don’t know if 4 minutes of eclipse is worth 4 hours of traffic jams trying to get home.

There is a rest area on the Interstate on the way home for me that's well within the area of totality. I am thinking of viewing it there then bugging out as soon as I can and beat a lot of the traffic jams.

Better get there early. It will definitely be full

snakeweasel

@kyfdx said:
Better get there early. It will definitely be full

I am planning on an early start. If full I'll just hang out at the nearest Wally World.

imidazol97

An accident yesterday had a Volvo hitting a Pacifica van carrying 4 older gentlemen, 77 and 66 for one, at Boeing Drive and Terminal Drive at our airport, a 25 mph zone. Driver was fleeing from an accident on I70 where he had hit another car.

Enterprise and two other rentals have large holding lots on that drive. My first thought was that these 4 drivers were going out to retrieve cars at 2:30 pm or so.
Results were that 4 died, 3 from that van initially dead.

ab348

Very sad. The story I found said that all 4 deaths were from the Pacifica. The Volvo driver who caused it and survived was reportedly impaired.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

An accident yesterday had a Volvo hitting a Pacifica van carrying 4 older gentlemen, 77 and 66 for one, at Boeing Drive and Terminal Drive at our airport, a 25 mph zone. Driver was fleeing from an accident on I70 where he had hit another car.

Enterprise and two other rentals have large holding lots on that drive. My first thought was that these 4 drivers were going out to retrieve cars at 2:30 pm or so.
Results were that 4 died, 3 from that van initially dead.

Definitely fits the profile. What city, what airport?

Albany airport is no stranger to that kind mayhem. One day while we were on one side of the airport a guy driving a stolen car on the other side was fleeing from a robbery at Macy’s. He drove through the airport fence, across the runway and through the fence on the other side before they caught him.

imidazol97

Dayton, Oh in Vandalia, oh

DAY is airport

Whio.com article titled 4 dead. I can't figure out how to link on smart phone.
My smart phone is smarter than I am, LOL

roadburner

The nicest hotel that I ever stayed in was in Miami when I covered the US launch of the E93 3er. The room rate was $890/night with BMW picking up the tab.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

Dayton, Oh in Vandalia, oh

DAY is airport

Whio.com article titled 4 dead. I can't figure out how to link on smart phone.

My smart phone is smarter than I am, LOL

Here's the story I found: https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/just-in-serious-accident-on-airport-road-entrance-under-investigation/SXPBDDRFH5CM7E4WPHWRGPROLU/

imidazol97

Because the group was in a Pacifica and some had talked about Enterprise havine Pacificae as their rentals, I wondered...
The husband of friends of ours used to work at Enterprise until about a year ago. I asked his wife if he did known any of the folks as drivers. But he's in poor health and I don't think his wife wants to ask him anything in case he did know them.
Driving in a 25-mph area (the terminal builing dome is in the picture in the background) I suspect they didn't have seatbelts in place. So sad.

Saturday saw an accident where a 33-year old driving on interstate went off left side, hit a small post metal pole and then a drainage low spot where the front of the car dug in and bounced up and the car flipped. No seat belt. She was expelled. Fatal.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

Because the group was in a Pacifica and some had talked about Enterprise havine Pacificae as their rentals, I wondered...
The husband of friends of ours used to work at Enterprise until about a year ago. I asked his wife if he did known any of the folks as drivers. But he's in poor health and I don't think his wife wants to ask him anything in case he did know them.
Driving in a 25-mph area (the terminal builing dome is in the picture in the background) I suspect they didn't have seatbelts in place. So sad.

Saturday saw an accident where a 33-year old driving on interstate went off left side, hit a small post metal pole and then a drainage low spot where the front of the car dug in and bounced up and the car flipped. No seat belt. She was expelled. Fatal.

Yeah, Pacificas are what we use as chase vehicles. Passenger vans if there is a large group. The ages would be typical. I can’t imagine what 4 old guys would be doing in a van together at the airport otherwise. The news reports are frustratingly vague.

I’ll have to ask the boss on Thursday.

mjfloyd1

Interesting crash here 3/24/24. Tesla at “high rate of speed” hit embankment and went airborne and hit top of tree. 25 yr old driver killed. Ugh

https://bloomingtonian.com/2024/04/01/tesla-that-killed-driver-was-airborne-during-high-speed-collision/

explorerx4

About a month ago my wife asked if we should buy tickets to the womens BB Final 4, which is in nearby Cleveland.
My answer was 'No' because UConn had no shot to make it and do we really want to see LSU or South Carolina(have seen them before) or whatever other team we don't care about watching?
Boy, was I wrong.
Despite all the injuries, they only dress 8 players, I underestimated how good they are defensively and how mentally tough they are, too, my bad.
Their next game against Iowa is right now a minimum $500 a person to go to the game.
If it gets cheaper as the game approaches we might try to go.

qbrozen

@mjfloyd1 said:
Interesting crash here 3/24/24. Tesla at “high rate of speed” hit embankment and went airborne and hit top of tree. 25 yr old driver killed. Ugh

https://bloomingtonian.com/2024/04/01/tesla-that-killed-driver-was-airborne-during-high-speed-collision/

I refuse to read the article past the first sentence. That is deplorable writing.

“ A gray 2022 Tesla killed its driver ”

Really? Will it be tried as an adult? It is only 2-3 yrs old but that’s a serious crime.

laurasdada

Agreed. After the Duke win, I applauded their grit and determination. But, given the lack of depth and a general tired/ragged appearance in that game, I thought that would be their last win.
But... Geno and Paige...
Wow, could my alma mater stand atop both the Men's and Women's when the dust settles?
Perhaps, rabbit, perhaps.

mjfloyd1

kyfdx said:

snakeweasel said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

If we get sent north on April 8th the forecast looks good, clear skies. They must be expecting a mob of people in Burlington because the bosses were texting us all day begging for volunteers to work up there on Saturday. I assume they will be collecting cars to stage at the airport for the anticipated demand.

I’m beginning to think being sent there might be a mistake as I don’t know if 4 minutes of eclipse is worth 4 hours of traffic jams trying to get home.

There is a rest area on the Interstate on the way home for me that's well within the area of totality. I am thinking of viewing it there then bugging out as soon as I can and beat a lot of the traffic jams.

Better get there early. It will definitely be full

By columbus?

mjfloyd1

qbrozen said:

@mjfloyd1 said:

Interesting crash here 3/24/24. Tesla at “high rate of speed” hit embankment and went airborne and hit top of tree. 25 yr old driver killed. Ugh

https://bloomingtonian.com/2024/04/01/tesla-that-killed-driver-was-airborne-during-high-speed-collision/

I refuse to read the article past the first sentence. That is deplorable writing.

“ A gray 2022 Tesla killed its driver ”

Really? Will it be tried as an adult? It is only 2-3 yrs old but that’s a serious crime.

Ummm ok. Cool story bro😎

Apparently others have been ripping him on Facebook and he is not amused. He is providing free information.

I actually may or may not have had his wife as a patient several times. Tracheal stenosis maybe or maybe not . RIP maybe or maybe not.

explorerx4

Certainly sounds like that 'writer' made a not so great career decision.

28firefighter

My find of the year so far at my local QFC. One of my favorite bourbons.

mjfloyd1

explorerx4 said:

Certainly sounds like that 'writer' made a not so great career decision.

Perhaps some Grace may be in order. Maybe a single dad who wrote a story at 2 am without proper proof reading?

I know I’m not always perfect - not even close to perfect

explorerx4

@mjflyod1,
You posted the story to get the ball rolling.

mjfloyd1

There is no ball to roll. It was a story about an accident. It’s horrible that a 25 yr old died.

What’s a flyod anyway😂 - see no one is perfect

explorerx4

@mjfloyd1,
It wasn't directed at you.

qbrozen

Not a proofreading problem. We’re not talking about a typo. In this litigious society where there is this constant need to pass blame onto the tools rather than the user, writing that as your lead is a major offense.

He may not have meant it that way and is just a poor writer. I didn’t know he worked pro bono, so I can accept that if that’s the case. Certainly better than thinking he actually blames the car. Those other excuses he wrote on facebook don’t help, though. The story was put out a week after the incident, so it wasn’t like there was a sudden rush.

mjfloyd1

He forgot the word “crash” after Tesla.

I don’t know when he wrote it or when he put it on facebook but clearly the article states that the driver was driving at a high rate of speed, hit and embankment and went airborne where the car hit the top of a tree.

It didn’t end well.

snakeweasel

@mjfloyd1 said:
By columbus?

Well if you consider 350 miles close then yes. This is in Southern Illinois close to...well there isn't many well known towns down there.

mjfloyd1

I meant Columbus IN

There aren’t many well known towns but I grew up near there and wife is from Lawrencevill IL so I’m more familiar than most.

Flat Rock, Sumner, St Francisville (purple head bridge over the Wabash),etc

snakeweasel

@mjfloyd1 said:
I meant Columbus IN

There aren’t many well known towns but I grew up near there and wife is from Lawrencevill IL so I’m more familiar than most.

Flat Rock, Sumner, St Francisville (purple head bridge over the Wabash),etc

Well that's even closer, about 190 miles. It's near Rend Lake.

imidazol97

The 4 killed in Dayton airport property accident were Enterprise workers.
Today's newspaper:

Four employees with Enterprise Mobility were killed in the second crash near the entrance to the airport terminal, the Ohio State Patrol reported.

"We are horrified and deeply saddened by the crash that occurred near Dayton International Airport yesterday. We are heartbroken this event resulted in the loss of four Enterprise Mobility team members and injuries to another. We mourn with our team, the family and friends of those impacted by the tragedy," the company said in a statement.

mjfloyd1

@snakeweasel said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
I meant Columbus IN

There aren’t many well known towns but I grew up near there and wife is from Lawrencevill IL so I’m more familiar than most.

Flat Rock, Sumner, St Francisville (purple head bridge over the Wabash),etc

Well that's even closer, about 190 miles. It's near Rend Lake.

Close-ish to garden of the gods

snakeweasel

@mjfloyd1 said:

@snakeweasel said:

@mjfloyd1 said:
I meant Columbus IN

There aren’t many well known towns but I grew up near there and wife is from Lawrencevill IL so I’m more familiar than most.

Flat Rock, Sumner, St Francisville (purple head bridge over the Wabash),etc

Well that's even closer, about 190 miles. It's near Rend Lake.

Close-ish to garden of the gods

I'm guessing almost an hour and a half away.

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

The 4 killed in Dayton airport property accident were Enterprise workers.
Today's newspaper:

Four employees with Enterprise Mobility were killed in the second crash near the entrance to the airport terminal, the Ohio State Patrol reported.

"We are horrified and deeply saddened by the crash that occurred near Dayton International Airport yesterday. We are heartbroken this event resulted in the loss of four Enterprise Mobility team members and injuries to another. We mourn with our team, the family and friends of those impacted by the tragedy," the company said in a statement.

Boy, that hit’s too close to home.

You wouldn’t have a link to that report would you? Google is totally useless. Never mind, I finally found a source.

https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/just-in-serious-accident-on-airport-road-entrance-under-investigation/SXPBDDRFH5CM7E4WPHWRGPROLU/

oldfarmer50

You eclipse peepers my want to re-confirm your reservations:

https://youtu.be/xnZUTZnBfyQ?si=1jbq8vSzoYxLko6d

tjc78

@28firefighter said:
My find of the year so far at my local QFC. One of my favorite bourbons.

Good find! In NJ you’ll never find it anywhere near retail

stickguy

Happy BD Bradd!

venture

My son and his wife and boys were here over Easter. On Easter Sunday they took the boys to a park where my son found Jesus.

explorerx4

With him smiling and wearing the cross on Easter, I guess that's his way of saying "How do you like me now?"