Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jmonroe1

venture said:

ab348 said:

Hope you bought eclipse glasses for your phone camera. Supposedly it can fry the sensor inside it.

I bought 10 pairs of glasses on Amazon for around $8 and they came with a cell phone camera cover thingy.

It got a little dark and cooler here. We were only at about 85% to 90% it looked like. There is a housing project near the baseball field and all their photocell lights were on.

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When I was a kid in grade school I remember seeing a partial eclipse and being warned about not looking at it without something that would shade your eyes but being told that sun glasses weren’t good enough. So, our science teacher showed us how to hold a piece of glass over a smoking candle until the glass was almost black. The trick was finding a piece of glass. Fortunately my Dad found a piece in the basement from a window that I broke with a baseball a few years earlier.

jmonroe

Michaell

@jmonroe1 said:
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Almost nothing at all in the Burgh area. If all the hype didn’t say we would experience some eclipse effect, I would never have thought it wasn’t just another cloud passing by.

BTW, how cool was it? While watching TV they said some areas experienced a temperature drop of around 20 degrees F over a relatively short period of time.

jmonroe

20 degrees? Pshaw. We’ve had several occasions here in CO where the ambient temp has fallen 30 or 40 degrees inside of an hour.

It’s almost like you can see the little blue line on the weather map moving in your direction.

mjfloyd1

@jmonroe1 said:
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Almost nothing at all in the Burgh area. If all the hype didn’t say we would experience some eclipse effect, I would never have thought it wasn’t just another cloud passing by.

BTW, how cool was it? While watching TV they said some areas experienced a temperature drop of around 20 degrees F over a relatively short period of time.

jmonroe

Temp dropped 8-10 degrees here

explorerx4

We were one of the 100% areas.
Got dark quickly and streetlights came on.
Temp definitely dropped, noticeable because I was wearing a tshirt.
I tried taking progressive pictures but they didn't work out.
People having party's were cheering and sending up fireworks.

ab348

We were supposedly in an 80%-85% zone so it didn’t get dark here. It did get strange-looking outside, not exactly like sunset but with noticeably diminished light. Lucy the cat began behaving strangely inside, and birds outdoors were flying around and some were squawking loudly while it went on.

snakeweasel

@ab348 said:
Hope you bought eclipse glasses for your phone camera. Supposedly it can fry the sensor inside it.

Yes I did. I got an extra pair and I took out one on the lenses and covered the lens with it.

venture

ab348 said:

We were supposedly in an 80%-85% zone so it didn’t get dark here. It did get strange-looking outside, not exactly like sunset but with noticeably diminished light. Lucy the cat began behaving strangely inside, and birds outdoors were flying around and some were squawking loudly while it went on.

Same here. The first part - not about Lucy.

snakeweasel

@explorerx4 said:
I just wore my regular sunglasses during the full eclipse.
There was an orange kind of small sphere or dot poking out the lower left.
Some said it was a solar flare and some said called it 'The Engagement Ring'.
We went down to the playground with the grandkids and someone had a Sun playlist for musical accompaniment.

We also saw the orange light. I think it may be what they call Bailey Beads which is sunlight coming through valleys on the moon just before and/or just after full eclipse.

snakeweasel

@jmonroe1 said:
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Almost nothing at all in the Burgh area. If all the hype didn’t say we would experience some eclipse effect, I would never have thought it wasn’t just another cloud passing by.

BTW, how cool was it? While watching TV they said some areas experienced a temperature drop of around 20 degrees F over a relatively short period of time.

jmonroe

We all noticed a drop on temperature maybe 15 to 20 minutes into the eclipse. It wasn't much just barely noticeable.

snakeweasel

This is how dark it got for us under the full eclipse, it was near Salem, IL at 2:02PM.

kyfdx

mjfloyd1 said:

This is weird but cool

Traffic going was non-existent (we left early, and didn't need to)

Going home was mostly okay... about 30 minutes extra, then hit a 4 mile stretch that took an hour.

90 minutes up, 3.5 hours home

kyfdx

mjfloyd1 said:

Anyone playing the Pink Floyd song Eclipse from the Dark side of the moon album?

Black Hole Sun from Soundgarden.

kyfdx

99% in my area, but we drove about 90 miles to be within 3 miles of the centerline. We were blessed with clear skies overhead.

kyfdx

With about 98% coverage, I was thinking... this really isn't going to get very dark. But, when it clicked over to full eclipse, it was like the lights going off. Not night-time dark, but very dark.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

mjfloyd1 said:

This is weird but cool

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Almost nothing at all in the Burgh area. If all the hype didn’t say we would experience some eclipse effect, I would never have thought it wasn’t just another cloud passing by.

BTW, how cool was it? While watching TV they said some areas experienced a temperature drop of around 20 degrees F over a relatively short period of time.

jmonroe

In Albany we got about 96% at the airport but just as the eclipse started heavy clouds rolled in and spoiled it somewhat. I’m glad we didn’t get sent north today. One crew went as far as Glens Falls and said the traffic on I-87 was a nightmare.

driver100

We're about 40 miles from Niagara Falls which was right on the path, it looked like the middle of the night.
Traffic was overwhelming, almost 1 million people were heading to the Niagara area......hotel rooms were going for $500 to $1000 a night.

laurasdada

Didn't really take note as I was workin' for a livin'. What I did note was that several of the management team were out in the afternoon, hmmm...

Went to a local casual restaurant for $6.99 burger night (had the Vermont Cheddar burger. Yum) and parked at the near Hilton Garden Inn. Four charging stations, I've had mixed luck with them. Plugged in, nothing. Waved my Chargepoint card and voila, the (L2) flood gates opened! But, on the CP app, noted not part of their network. And, my credit card has yet to show a charge, so another free tank of electricity for me! Gotta next find those free gas stations.

imidazol97

We were about 25 miles from centerline. Got dark llike late dusk. Wife was watching
through glasses from our patio. I was trimming down ornamental grasses as it hit
total. Strange. But not exciting enough to drive a few miles to the centerline for me from
where we are.

Maybe in 2044 or the next one? LOL

ab348

Dropped the ATS off at the dealer for service this AM and got a cab home. The cabbie had the radio on and I heard the two morning drive hosts talking about the eclipse. They said they were hearing from listeners who said they felt dizzy or headaches during the event (remember, it only got a little bit dim here , not dark) and that a number of listeners had reported in that they felt ill today, so were taking sick days. Jeebus.

jmonroe1

imidazol97 said:

We were about 25 miles from centerline. Got dark llike late dusk. Wife was watching
through glasses from our patio. I was trimming down ornamental grasses as it hit
total. Strange. But not exciting enough to drive a few miles to the centerline for me from
where we are.

Maybe in 2044 or the next one? LOL

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I heard the one in 2044 is already being booked up so I’m going to the next one.

jmonroe

jmonroe1

ab348 said:

Dropped the ATS off at the dealer for service this AM and got a cab home. The cabbie had the radio on and I heard the two morning drive hosts talking about the eclipse. They said they were hearing from listeners who said they felt dizzy or headaches during the event (remember, it only got a little bit dim here , not dark) and that a number of listeners had reported in that they felt ill today, so were taking sick days. Jeebus.

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I’d like to see the look on their boss’s faces when they said that. If I were their boss that would be reason enough to get a pink slip.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

Dropped the ATS off at the dealer for service this AM and got a cab home. The cabbie had the radio on and I heard the two morning drive hosts talking about the eclipse. They said they were hearing from listeners who said they felt dizzy or headaches during the event (remember, it only got a little bit dim here , not dark) and that a number of listeners had reported in that they felt ill today, so were taking sick days. Jeebus.

One rumor going around was that looking at the eclipse would make you go insane. Another said that during the eclipse the CERN supercollider in Switzerland would be turned on to create a portal to somewhere…..hell? …..another universe?…….Chick-fil-A? Who knows?

tjc78

@ab348 said:
Dropped the ATS off at the dealer for service this AM and got a cab home. The cabbie had the radio on and I heard the two morning drive hosts talking about the eclipse. They said they were hearing from listeners who said they felt dizzy or headaches during the event (remember, it only got a little bit dim here , not dark) and that a number of listeners had reported in that they felt ill today, so were taking sick days. Jeebus.

Lol they felt ill because they were hungover from the partying

imidazol97

We heard for days about traffic problems expected due to eclipse watchers returning to _somewhere_.

But we decided to make a run down toward Cincinnati to a Lowes to get more of a plant that only
that store seems to get--we had been there Sunday. Checked google traffic. Not bad in the Dayton urban decay area. Left home. 4 car pileup from those drivers who don't believe in slowing down to construction area speeds when lanes are narrowed and moved to side of interstate. Bypassed that using trademarked paths braving the city streets.

Then south-of-town at a shopping/entertainment/business center another interstate feeds on and some southbound traffic feeds on. 20 minutes delay. All those folks who drove up to west central Ohio to see a longer total eclipse finally met in a 4:30 pm crunch.

Saw lots of out-of-state license plates.

Saw a Manitoba plate on car today heading west on I70. I don't even know where that is in Canada, but I doubt they were here for the eclipse. LOL

Michaell

imidazol97 said:

We heard for days about traffic problems expected due to eclipse watchers returning to _somewhere_.

But we decided to make a run down toward Cincinnati to a Lowes to get more of a plant that only
that store seems to get--we had been there Sunday. Checked google traffic. Not bad in the Dayton urban decay area. Left home. 4 car pileup from those drivers who don't believe in slowing down to construction area speeds when lanes are narrowed and moved to side of interstate. Bypassed that using trademarked paths braving the city streets.

Then south-of-town at a shopping/entertainment/business center another interstate feeds on and some southbound traffic feeds on. 20 minutes delay. All those folks who drove up to west central Ohio to see a longer total eclipse finally met in a 4:30 pm crunch.

Saw lots of out-of-state license plates.

Saw a Manitoba plate on car today heading west on I70. I don't even know where that is in Canada, but I doubt they were here for the eclipse. LOL

Manitoba is the Kansas / Iowa of Canada....

snakeweasel

my only traffic issue going home was two small areas of construction. The first one was just some work along the side which slowed traffic but the other one was a nightmare. They are working on the interchange of I 57 and I 74 and the normal ramps were closed so you had to get of one interstate to take some back roads to get pn the other interstate. Wouldn't you know that getting off I 57 there was a shortish ramp that ended at a stoplight which backed up traffic trying to change interstates for miles. Once I got past that I 57 was very clear.

venture

snakeweasel said:

my only traffic issue going home was two small areas of construction. The first one was just some work along the side which slowed traffic but the other one was a nightmare. They are working on the interchange of I 57 and I 74 and the normal ramps were closed so you had to get of one interstate to take some back roads to get pn the other interstate. Wouldn't you know that getting off I 57 there was a shortish ramp that ended at a stoplight which backed up traffic trying to change interstates for miles. Once I got past that I 57 was very clear.

If anybody cared, they would have had someone there to direct traffic.

mjfloyd1

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

kyfdx

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

I would have guessed Tibetan.

laurasdada

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

Open a BBQ restaurant?

oldfarmer50

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

I would never have picked Mongolia if I was looking for a thriving club scene.

mjfloyd1

kyfdx said:

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

I would have guessed Tibetan.

There is a Tibetan Monestery here. Used to be two.

mjfloyd1

laurasdada said:

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

Open a BBQ restaurant?

😂

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

kyfdx said:

mjfloyd1 said:

I learned an interesting fact from a patient today. Apparently Indiana University is the only college in the US where you can get a degree in Mongolian Studies. This of course begs the question of what exactly you would do with that…

https://iaunrc.indiana.edu/opportunities/languages/mongolian.html#:~:text=Mongolian language study at IU,interesting region in Central Eurasia.

I would have guessed Tibetan.

There is a Tibetan Monestery here. Used to be two.

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Which answers the question of why would anyone want to get into a dying art?

jmonroe

mjfloyd1

I suspect the answer is teach Mongolian studies at IU or become a waiter/waitress. Perhaps some combination of the two

jmonroe1

mjfloyd1 said:

I suspect the answer is teach Mongolian studies at IU or become a waiter/waitress. Perhaps some combination of the two

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Why not a used car salesman? Or don’t you think they’d stoop that low.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

Oh oh, now I’ve done it. I was low on cash so I used my credit card at the supermarket and now I’m getting spam calls on my cell phone from Los Angeles. The CIA has found me!😢

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh oh, now I’ve done it. I was low on cash so I used my credit card at the supermarket and now I’m getting spam calls on my cell phone from Los Angeles. The CIA has found me!😢

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You might try returning the groceries. That otta confuse them.

jmonroe

ab348

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh oh, now I’ve done it. I was low on cash so I used my credit card at the supermarket and now I’m getting spam calls on my cell phone from Los Angeles. The CIA has found me!😢

That’s all your fault for giving the credit card company your cell number. Everyone knows to give them a disconnected landline number to let the fraudsters run up thousands of dollars on your account undetected until the postman delivers your statement.

jmonroe1

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Oh oh, now I’ve done it. I was low on cash so I used my credit card at the supermarket and now I’m getting spam calls on my cell phone from Los Angeles. The CIA has found me!😢

That’s all your fault for giving the credit card company your cell number. Everyone knows to give them a disconnected landline number to let the fraudsters run up thousands of dollars on your account undetected until the postman delivers your statement.

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I still say my way is better.

jmonroe

nyccarguy

I’m very proud of my son. He calmly called me on his way home from school to tell me that he thinks he has a flat tire. He said the dash showed his right rear tire was at 18 psi & dropping. I’m off today, so was able to spring into action and meet him at the rest area where he pulled into. I got there and told him to open up the owners manual to see where the jacking points were and where the tools were. He started following the instructions and did everything himself. I just showed up for moral support.

jmonroe1

nyccarguy said:

I’m very proud of my son. He calmly called me on his way home from school to tell me that he thinks he has a flat tire. He said the dash showed his right rear tire was at 18 psi & dropping. I’m off today, so was able to spring into action and meet him at the rest area where he pulled into. I got there and told him to open up the owners manual to see where the jacking points were and where the tools were. He started following the instructions and did everything himself. I just showed up for moral support.

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Way to go dad. Let the kid do the heavy lifting. FWIW, I wouldn’t want to lift that tire either.

BTW, what are you doing on this site?

jmonroe

stickguy

I hope he torqued it on!

tjc78

That’s awesome! Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.

Hoping the tire can be plugged!!

nyccarguy

@jmonroe1 said:
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Way to go dad. Let the kid do the heavy lifting. FWIW, I wouldn’t want to lift that tire either.

BTW, what are you doing on this site?

jmonroe

Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone I started following here again! It’s been a minute:)

ab348

We’re you able to spot the puncture?

driver100

tjc78 said:

That’s awesome! Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty.

Hoping the tire can be plugged!!

....or know how to call AAA.

imidazol97

I want to say how proud you should be of him and of the job you've done parenting. Great work.

roadburner

<

nyccarguy said:

I’m very proud of my son. He calmly called me on his way home from school to tell me that he thinks he has a flat tire. He said the dash showed his right rear tire was at 18 psi & dropping. I’m off today, so was able to spring into action and meet him at the rest area where he pulled into. I got there and told him to open up the owners manual to see where the jacking points were and where the tools were. He started following the instructions and did everything himself. I just showed up for moral support.

Good for you! Teaching your son that he doesn't have to live in fear of not having a functional cell phone. My son always helped me switch my car's tires over from summer to winter and vice versa.

abacomike

I test drove a 2024 VW Atlas the other day. Why? Because my upright walker does not fit into my trunk - I have friends put it in the back seat of my car. Thus, I have no room in the car for more than 1 passenger in the front seat. Thus, I felt that by getting a large SUV, I could put the walker in the rear and have at least 2 or 3 seats in the rear for passengers.

The one I drove was their top-of-the-line with captains chairs in the front for driver and front passenger. I drove the 4 cylinder version which was quite peppy and had sufficient acceleration for entry onto the Turnpike or I-95. I drove surprisingly smooth for a large SUV. Steering was outstanding as was the stability of the vehicle. I didn't bother too much with the various buttons and knobs as I was more interested or concerned about comfort for my back.

Unfortunately, the drivers seat (drove both versions with and without captains chairs) was too stiff and hurt my back sufficiently that I could not consider buying one. The pricing was where I wanted to be - $56,000+ was the MSRP and with incentives, you could get it for about 49,000 with 1.9% financing for up to 48 months, which was great. But I just couldn't take the pain and discomfort of the seats.

I've driven the Genesis GV80 but there were no incentives for rebates or interest on a purchase - MSRP was close to $70,000 which was much more than I was willing to spend. But the driver's seat was very comfortable.

Just thought you guys would be interested in my report on the Atlas.