Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

laurasdada

We're off to Savannah, GA in November. Any recommendations?
I'm sure we'll drive up to Charleston.

suydam

That’s good to know as we will be driving through there again in October. I did like Flagstaff and we had a good meal there. Ditto Albuquerque. Winslow, though . . . We also had fun in Tucumcari, where we stayed in one of the old Route 66 motels. Plus it’s fun to say you’ve been there, per the song.
I guess I am thinking of large stretches of eastern California and Arizona till you get to and through Winslow. Not a lot of places to stop. Even gas stations are in short supply.

stickguy

laurasdada said:

We're off to Savannah, GA in November. Any recommendations?
I'm sure we'll drive up to Charleston.

never been to Savannah but it is a place I want to go someday. Wife and I did a long weekend in Charleston a few years ago and loved it. Did a really fun harbor cruise. and other stuff. ate a lot. and something we found surprisingly cool was the tea plantation (one of our favorite things we did down there).

https://www.visit-historic-charleston.com/charleston-tea-plantation.html

kyfdx

suydam said:

That’s good to know as we will be driving through there again in October. I did like Flagstaff and we had a good meal there. Ditto Albuquerque. Winslow, though . . . We also had fun in Tucumcari, where we stayed in one of the old Route 66 motels. Plus it’s fun to say you’ve been there, per the song. I guess I am thinking of large stretches of eastern California and Arizona till you get to and through Winslow. Not a lot of places to stop. Even gas stations are in short supply.

Tehachapi and Tonapah, next?

oldfarmer50

Hey stickguy:

The Saratoga Auto Museum is having an EV ride&drive event this Saturday Aug. 3rd. If you were interested in that type of vehicle here’s your chance to try them out.

sb55

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣


@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

stickguy

@kyfdx said:
Tehachapi and Tonapah, next?

Take the back roads so you don’t get weighed.

stickguy

@oldfarmer50 said:
Hey stickguy:

The Saratoga Auto Museum is having an EV ride&drive event this Saturday Aug. 3rd. If you were interested in that type of vehicle here’s your chance to try them out.

Thanks. I’ll look it up. Might not be able to go because we will be down your way (proctors matinee tickets).

stickguy

I just looked at my Allstate auto policy renewal (sneaky when they just deduct from your account and you don’t get paper in the mail). They were cheap in the homeowners I just switched to the new house but car really shot up. I need to shop this package next cycle!

Maybe it’s time for the AARP stuff (Hartford?). We are old enough!

explorerx4

When my auto/homeowners renewed last time, my premium went up quite a bit.
I compared the new and old policy documents and my bundling discount fell off, so had it reintated.

oldfarmer50

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣


@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣

@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫
————————————————
I remember when you told that story and you even provided a pic. I guess that guy ain’t there anymore.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣

@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫
————————————————
I remember when you told that story and you even provided a pic. I guess that guy ain’t there anymore.

jmonroe

The cheap guy died years ago but the car wash guy is still there:

Sandman6472

Don't get it that some older folks are so cheap! It's sad really that they feel they have the right to make a big deal about it or load up on free stuff because it's free. Embarrassing in so many ways and I'd never ever do another meal with them. I just don't get it!!!

suydam

100%. I always say, what are you waiting for?

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣

@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫

————————————————
I remember when you told that story and you even provided a pic. I guess that guy ain’t there anymore.

jmonroe

The cheap guy died years ago but the car wash guy is still there:


————————————————
Since the car wash guy is still there ask him how fast he was going to ram that piece of unistrut through the van?

BTW, what does it take to get canned from Enterprise? Maybe employment with Enterprise has all the security of being appointed a Federal Supreme Court judge.

jmonroe

venture

I saw a guy driving a red Miata with the top down today. It got me to thinking. I think that's the first Miata I've seen in a long time.

ab348

Oddly enough, I see Miatas here pretty often despite us only having a few months of convertible weather each year. Older ones too since most of them are in storage much of the time. Would probably see even more of them if Mazda offered a better selection of decent colors.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣

@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫

————————————————
I remember when you told that story and you even provided a pic. I guess that guy ain’t there anymore.

jmonroe

The cheap guy died years ago but the car wash guy is still there:


————————————————
Since the car wash guy is still there ask him how fast he was going to ram that piece of unistrut through the van?

BTW, what does it take to get canned from Enterprise? Maybe employment with Enterprise has all the security of being appointed a Federal Supreme Court judge.

jmonroe

If you lie to them about your misadventures they will can you. Also I guess if the market changes so somebody can replace you. Believe it or not there aren’t that many retirees who are willing to work 12 hour days and drive 600-700 miles.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sb55 said:

We were near Burlington VT yesterday and as we drove through Ferrisburgh we passed a Cheese store and restaurant. Some of the real old timers remembered a time when they had stopped there for lunch and one of their crew was so cheap that instead of ordering a meal, he gathered up a plate full of free cheese samples and sat down with them. He went back and got refills, including some to take with him.

Finally the manager came over and asked if he was enjoying the food. He responded that he was. The managed said that was good because he never wanted to see him in the restaurant ever again. Needless to say the rest of the crew was mortified.😣

@oldfarmer50
Gee. I live up here in Vermont. What cheese store has a restaurant? Is it Dakin? If it is, I didn't know that they have a restaurant.

Yep, Dankin. I’ve never been in the place but I guess they had something in there when this story occurred. These tales get told among the crews like old ghost stories. Like: “Remember when so and so drove the high top van through the car wash and blew it up”?😫😫😫

————————————————
I remember when you told that story and you even provided a pic. I guess that guy ain’t there anymore.

jmonroe

The cheap guy died years ago but the car wash guy is still there:

————————————————
Since the car wash guy is still there ask him how fast he was going to ram that piece of unistrut through the van?

BTW, what does it take to get canned from Enterprise? Maybe employment with Enterprise has all the security of being appointed a Federal Supreme Court judge.

jmonroe

If you lie to them about your misadventures they will can you. Also I guess if the market changes so somebody can replace you. Believe it or not there aren’t that many retirees who are willing to work 12 hour days and drive 600-700 miles.
————————————————
I’m definitely in that group. Either one of those would do it for me.

jmonroe

Sandman6472

Looking like we're going to feel some impact from that disturbance in the Atlantic as the days go on. It seems to be moving in a more west/northwest track right now and heading for the gulf. Looks to be eventually going over Cuba and then into the gulf waters if things keep on their current track. Our weather shows only rain for Monday through Wednesday right now but again, still a bit to early to be 100% sure. Just hope it doesn't gain enough strength to become a hurricane...we can deal with some wind and rain if need be.

stickguy

got another project knocked off. Finally found a workbench I liked (after a lot of searching on Amazon) at Harbor freight and picked it up Tuesday, and put it together last night. Not that easy by myself and took a few hours, but came out nice and got it put into place tonight with the wife's help. Now I can get more things put away. This is for the basement, since I relocated the one from the last basement to the new garage. Baby steps to eventually getting the place organized!

gutters go on tomorrow morning. Next week the stamped concrete patio and stone steps go in the back. That is going to make a huge difference.

qbrozen

Recovering in hospital tonight. Surgeon wound up getting back up and didn’t get to me until 3:30. Said mine turned out to be a PITA, so it took a full 4 hours. They woke me at 8:30pm and, after a couple of hours, but me in a room upstairs. Gotta do an X-ray on the morn before they’ll let me go.

stickguy

sounds like a long painful day. And being a hospital, if you do manage to fall asleep they will immediately wake you up.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

Recovering in hospital tonight. Surgeon wound up getting back up and didn’t get to me until 3:30. Said mine turned out to be a PITA, so it took a full 4 hours. They woke me at 8:30pm and, after a couple of hours, but me in a room upstairs. Gotta do an X-ray on the morn before they’ll let me go.

————————————————
We all hope you’ll feel better in the morning and you can go home. Tell us more tomorrow.

Good luck.

jmonroe

tjc78

Feel better soon Q!

qbrozen

And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

sda

@qbrozen said:
And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

How horrible. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

28firefighter

They’ll probably just monitor you and it’ll resolve on its own. But my guess is you won’t be going home today.

jmonroe1

qbrozen said:

And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

————————————————-
WOW, I guess the only good thing about this is it wasn’t bad enough to require emergency surgery.

Hang in there, we’re pulling for you.

jmonroe

suydam

Hope you get outta there as soon as it’s safe!

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

Brutal! Just what you needed in addition to the original problem!

driver100

Good luck @qbrozen When I worked for the major book publisher one of our books was called The Medical Heretic. Mendelsohn explained how hospitals were one of the most dangerous places to be...people around who have diseases and viruses, lots of water systems are a breeding ground for bacteria and germs and when the hospitals were closed in Israel because of a strike, fewer people died.

suydam

That said, when I was lucky enough to receive a kidney transplant I thought all (well, mostly all) the folks at my hospital were amazing people. There’s a saying going around Facebook now and then — not all superheroes wear capes. Certainly applies to those folks. Still, one never wants to stay longer than necessary.

I hope whatever problems you are having resolve and you are out of there quickly!

roadburner

qbrozen said:

And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

Prayers that it is all resolved quickly.

nyccarguy

@roadburner said:
Prayers that it is all resolved quickly.

+1 Sorry to hear about this turn of events @qbrozen .

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Recovering in hospital tonight. Surgeon wound up getting back up and didn’t get to me until 3:30. Said mine turned out to be a PITA, so it took a full 4 hours. They woke me at 8:30pm and, after a couple of hours, but me in a room upstairs. Gotta do an X-ray on the morn before they’ll let me go.

It’s amazing how little time they keep you in the hospital these days. When I had a hernia repair a few years ago they let me go as soon as I could stand up and get dressed. I always wondered if it was because of advances in surgical technique or cheap insurance companies.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

Well you don’t expect him to cut his golf game short, do you?😧😧😧

nyccarguy

@oldfarmer50 said:
It’s amazing how little time they keep you in the hospital these days. When I had a hernia repair a few years ago they let me go as soon as I could stand up and get dressed. I always wondered if it was because of advances in surgical technique or cheap insurance companies.

Modern medicine is controlled by the cheap insurance companies and extremely profitable pharmaceutical giants. There are many amazing doctors out there. The way insurance companies are allowed to run hospitals and medical practices is a crime. I don’t have a better solution, but there has to be one.

ab348

nyccarguy said:

@oldfarmer50 said:

It’s amazing how little time they keep you in the hospital these days. When I had a hernia repair a few years ago they let me go as soon as I could stand up and get dressed. I always wondered if it was because of advances in surgical technique or cheap insurance companies.

Modern medicine is controlled by the cheap insurance companies and extremely profitable pharmaceutical giants. There are many amazing doctors out there. The way insurance companies are allowed to run hospitals and medical practices is a crime. I don’t have a better solution, but there has to be one.

Don’t get sent to hospital in Canada then.

ab348

qbrozen said:

And this is why hospitals are the worst thing for your health. Doc wound up damaging a lung yesterday (causing pneumothorax; aka, collapsed lung, albeit partial). X-ray today shows it has gotten worse over night. I don’t yet know what they are going to do about it but I’m back on oxygen for now waiting for doc to come in this afternoon.

Damn, QB! I can relate. In ‘09 after my open heart procedure I was sent home after 5 days and wasn’t in great shape. Somehow over the next few weeks my chest began filling with fluid, cause “unknown”, leading to a collapsed lung. They readmitted me to drain out the fluid and in the process wounded my chest wall causing more internal bleeding. I was in there for 3 weeks with a chest tube draining the mess they made and severely anemic for weeks afterward. Hope your recovery goes better than mine.

tjc78

I’m > @nyccarguy said:

@oldfarmer50 said:
It’s amazing how little time they keep you in the hospital these days. When I had a hernia repair a few years ago they let me go as soon as I could stand up and get dressed. I always wondered if it was because of advances in surgical technique or cheap insurance companies.

Modern medicine is controlled by the cheap insurance companies and extremely profitable pharmaceutical giants. There are many amazing doctors out there. The way insurance companies are allowed to run hospitals and medical practices is a crime. I don’t have a better solution, but there has to be one.

A very close friend of mine is very well respected specialist. He has some stories that have completely changed my outlook on medicine, insurance etc.

explorerx4

One of my BIL's is a doctor. He complains about how little Medicare pays.
The MSRP on my monthly infusions is just under 21K. Medicare price is just over 3K and 80% is covered. My supplement covers the other 20%.
My BIL not an Oncologist. My first one was great. Maybe I feel like the subsequent ones aren't because there isn't much for them to do.
Pwesonally, I think by him choosing the best therapy for me, experimental at the time but approved by the time I started it, it was kind of a miracle.
The literature I got said that almost 90% of the participants were still alive one year after completion.
My guess is my PCP is under a lot more pressure but he is great, too. He takes very good care of me.

stickguy

discussions about the health care industry and outrageous costs? Just like I was still at work!

stickguy

made some more progress on the to-do list. finally set up the old basement TV so I could have something to watch while I was assembling shelves. Took way too long since I had to work around a fully dead Sharp remote. Somehow I got the old fire stick back up and running and logged into Hulu, and thankfully it works the basics of the TV (on/off and volume). If not, would have been more money down the drain to buy a new set that I would use 2x a year. this one is 13 YO already so can't say it owes us much. It was the main family room set for 11 years (until we moved in 2022) so has lots of hours on it. Still has a really good picture though so happy to keep it on the stick, since we stream now anyway.

stickguy

got 2 more of the metal shelves (4' wide, 6' high) put together after my TV adventures. that makes 3 of the 5 I bought. Got the process down so no need to look at directions any more and they go quick. Will finish up the last 2 this weekend then we can finally start putting stuff away down here.

28firefighter

Two stories:
First, I too am on monthly infusions that run $21k list. I think insurance pays a negotiated rate of $12k for the medication, nurse time, etc. My work insurance is very good and I hit my out of pocket max pretty quickly - thankfully the out of pocket is covered by the pharma company’s co pay assist program.

They’re moving me to a self-injectable pen moving forward and you’d think insurance would be thrilled at less hospital time for infusions. Nope. They fought my doc tooth and nail and eventually approved it.

Second, about 7 years ago I contracted an infection that my doctor’s misdiagnosed and spread throughout my body (see medication above that suppressed my immune system). I spent 3 weeks in intensive care, actually died, came back and eventually made it back to full health. I was discharged to a $1.3 million bill that insurance negotiated down to $275k and ultimately was 100% covered.

Healthcare quality is wildly uneven, insurance coverage is a dumpster fire, and if you don’t know what you’re doing you’re toast.

nyccarguy

@tjc78 said:
I’m > @nyccarguy said:

@oldfarmer50 said:
It’s amazing how little time they keep you in the hospital these days. When I had a hernia repair a few years ago they let me go as soon as I could stand up and get dressed. I always wondered if it was because of advances in surgical technique or cheap insurance companies.

Modern medicine is controlled by the cheap insurance companies and extremely profitable pharmaceutical giants. There are many amazing doctors out there. The way insurance companies are allowed to run hospitals and medical practices is a crime. I don’t have a better solution, but there has to be one.

A very close friend of mine is very well respected specialist. He has some stories that have completely changed my outlook on medicine, insurance etc.

I’m friendly with our pediatrician. His wife is the Wicked Witch of The West, but that’s besides the point. He explained to me how convoluted medical billing is and how his practice gets paid by insurance companies. It’s eye opening to say the least.

nyccarguy

@28firefighter said:
Two stories:
First, I too am on monthly infusions that run $21k list. I think insurance pays a negotiated rate of $12k for the medication, nurse time, etc. My work insurance is very good and I hit my out of pocket max pretty quickly - thankfully the out of pocket is covered by the pharma company’s co pay assist program.

They’re moving me to a self-injectable pen moving forward and you’d think insurance would be thrilled at less hospital time for infusions. Nope. They fought my doc tooth and nail and eventually approved it.

Second, about 7 years ago I contracted an infection that my doctor’s misdiagnosed and spread throughout my body (see medication above that suppressed my immune system). I spent 3 weeks in intensive care, actually died, came back and eventually made it back to full health. **I was discharged to a $1.3 million bill that insurance negotiated down to $275k and ultimately was 100% covered. **

Healthcare quality is wildly uneven, insurance coverage is a dumpster fire, and if you don’t know what you’re doing you’re toast.

“I was discharged to a $1.3 million bill that insurance negotiated down to $275k and ultimately was 100% covered.”

The hospital got to write off $1,025,000 as a loss on their taxes the following year.

kyfdx

The only good thing about getting older is Medicare with a supplement. I'm out about $250/year OOP, above the premiums.

If a doctor orders an MRI, I get it. Compared to private, company paid insurance, it's a godsend.