Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

You are not the only one in here with cold buns today.

I just got back home a little while ago. Mrs. j and I went to see 3 of our 4 grandsons play hockey today. Those ice rinks are not heated and the benches are pretty cool so I use my sissy blanket to keep my buns off of the surface of the benches. I'm not the only one that does this either. While that may help my buns, the rest of me is still in a refrigerator. I never realized how tough a grandparent has to be to sit through 3 hockey games in one day. But I pretty much knew what I was in for when we left to go to the games earlier in the day.

As for your wedding, some people want to make a statement that will not and cannot be forgotten. The comfort of their guests is secondary. Hopefully the drinks afterward warmed you up and the food was HOT.

jmonroe

snakeweasel

jmonroe said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

You are not the only one in here with cold buns today. I just got back home a little while ago. Mrs. j and I went to see 3 of our 4 grandsons play hockey today. Those ice rinks are not heated and the benches are pretty cool so I use my sissy blanket to keep my buns off of the surface of the benches. I'm not the only one that does this either. While that may help my buns, the rest of me is still in a refrigerator. I never realized how tough a grandparent has to be to sit through 3 hockey games in one day. But I pretty much knew what I was in for when we left to go to the games earlier in the day. As for your wedding, some people want to make a statement that will not and cannot be forgotten. The comfort of their guests is secondary. Hopefully the drinks afterward warmed you up and the food was HOT. jmonroe

Yes the drinks afterwards are great, food will be a little later. As for drinks, am I the only guy left that drinks his whiskey straight? everyone seems to be drinking all mixed drinks. tLTE mind me later to tell you about my dress.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

You are not the only one in here with cold buns today.

I just got back home a little while ago. Mrs. j and I went to see 3 of our 4 grandsons play hockey today. Those ice rinks are not heated and the benches are pretty cool so I use my sissy blanket to keep my buns off of the surface of the benches. I'm not the only one that does this either. While that may help my buns, the rest of me is still in a refrigerator. I never realized how tough a grandparent has to be to sit through 3 hockey games in one day. But I pretty much knew what I was in for when we left to go to the games earlier in the day.

As for your wedding, some people want to make a statement that will not and cannot be forgotten. The comfort of their guests is secondary. Hopefully the drinks afterward warmed you up and the food was HOT.

jmonroe

Yes the drinks afterwards are great, food will be a little later. As for drinks, am I the only guy left that drinks his whiskey straight? everyone seems to be drinking all mixed drinks. tLTE mind me later to tell you about my dress.

You wore a dress! I guess some people like cold weather...good thing it is a warmer than usual November. Maybe they got a cheaper rate. It could have been one of those weddings in Jamaica or Mexico where you are expected to go to be a guest in order to make a wedding the couple will fondly remember.

driver100

Went to see the Jack Reacher movie....reviews aren't great so wasn't expecting much. The kid who sold the tickets said we shouldn't bother seeing the movie, because it wasn't very good (does his employer know he gives out mini reviews). He also mentioned it was a bad week because of the election ??????? Does every one have to have an opinion on everything these days.

The movie is a great action movie and it actually has some cleverness to the plot, plus plenty of fun lines and Tom Cruise was perfect as Jack, except he isn't 6'4" or whatever he is in the books.

On the way back from Bradenton we were on a wide road, 3 lanes in each direction. I had to be in the left lane because that is the side where the turning lanes are to get onto I-75 going North. I am in the left lane and I see in my rearview mirror a big Dodge Ram following a little close. I kept up with traffic but left extra space in front because of the Ram behind me. We come to a stoplight and I leave about half a car length in front of me, but the guy on a power trip in the Ram is about 3 inches from my back bumper. The light changes and I take off a little slow with my 140 hp VW, and the Ram guy goes to the right of me, speeds by 2 more cars in the left lane, then cuts into the leftlane....and then speeds up into the double left turn lane to get to I-75 Noth. In the left turnlane there is a little Mitsubishi, so Mr Big in the Ram goes to the outside left turnlane, and stops for the light. I am behind the Mitsu and the Ram guy is ready to gun it when the light turns green, because he will want to cut in front of the Mitsu. The light turns green, the little Mitsu takes off and the Ram had to fall in behind the Mitsu....but of course had to ride the Mitsu guys bumper onto the highway. ILMAO

oldfarmer50

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

If it's an open bar you won't feel the cold in short order.

Oh I read down farther and I think I see your problem....when you wear a dress you have to wear panties too or your...ahem...parts...will get cold.

houdini1

We got fooled into going to see "The best sci-fi movie of the decade" 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, whatever that means. "Arrival". I suppose the critics like it, but I would give it a 5 on a 10 scale. I won't give anything away, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe our expectations were too high as it was compared favorably to "2001: A Space Odyssey".

jmonroe

snakeweasel said:

jmonroe said:

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

You are not the only one in here with cold buns today.

I just got back home a little while ago. Mrs. j and I went to see 3 of our 4 grandsons play hockey today. Those ice rinks are not heated and the benches are pretty cool so I use my sissy blanket to keep my buns off of the surface of the benches. I'm not the only one that does this either. While that may help my buns, the rest of me is still in a refrigerator. I never realized how tough a grandparent has to be to sit through 3 hockey games in one day. But I pretty much knew what I was in for when we left to go to the games earlier in the day.

As for your wedding, some people want to make a statement that will not and cannot be forgotten. The comfort of their guests is secondary. Hopefully the drinks afterward warmed you up and the food was HOT.

jmonroe

Yes the drinks afterwards are great, food will be a little later. As for drinks, am I the only guy left that drinks his whiskey straight? everyone seems to be drinking all mixed drinks. tLTE mind me later to tell you about my dress.

Your dress should be adjusted a little bit...we can see you have a "runner".

jmonroe

explorerx4

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

Went to see the Jack Reacher movie....reviews aren't great so wasn't expecting much. The kid who sold the tickets said we shouldn't bother seeing the movie, because it wasn't very good (does his employer know he gives out mini reviews). He also mentioned it was a bad week because of the election ??????? Does every one have to have an opinion on everything these days.

The movie is a great action movie and it actually has some cleverness to the plot, plus plenty of fun lines and Tom Cruise was perfect as Jack, except he isn't 6'4" or whatever he is in the books.

On the way back from Bradenton we were on a wide road, 3 lanes in each direction. I had to be in the left lane because that is the side where the turning lanes are to get onto I-75 going North. I am in the left lane and I see in my rearview mirror a big Dodge Ram following a little close. I kept up with traffic but left extra space in front because of the Ram behind me. We come to a stoplight and I leave about half a car length in front of me, but the guy on a power trip in the Ram is about 3 inches from my back bumper. The light changes and I take off a little slow with my 140 hp VW, and the Ram guy goes to the right of me, speeds by 2 more cars in the left lane, then cuts into the leftlane....and then speeds up into the double left turn lane to get to I-75 Noth. In the left turnlane there is a little Mitsubishi, so Mr Big in the Ram goes to the outside left turnlane, and stops for the light. I am behind the Mitsu and the Ram guy is ready to gun it when the light turns green, because he will want to cut in front of the Mitsu. The light turns green, the little Mitsu takes off and the Ram had to fall in behind the Mitsu....but of course had to ride the Mitsu guys bumper onto the highway. ILMAO

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Florida is one of the highest "road rage" incident states.

It sounds like when you go back to get your new MB you should park it in the garage and find out how much one of those garbage trucks are going for today. It might be nice to dish it out for a change.

jmonroe

houdini1

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

Went to see the Jack Reacher movie....reviews aren't great so wasn't expecting much. The kid who sold the tickets said we shouldn't bother seeing the movie, because it wasn't very good (does his employer know he gives out mini reviews). He also mentioned it was a bad week because of the election ??????? Does every one have to have an opinion on everything these days.

The movie is a great action movie and it actually has some cleverness to the plot, plus plenty of fun lines and Tom Cruise was perfect as Jack, except he isn't 6'4" or whatever he is in the books.

On the way back from Bradenton we were on a wide road, 3 lanes in each direction. I had to be in the left lane because that is the side where the turning lanes are to get onto I-75 going North. I am in the left lane and I see in my rearview mirror a big Dodge Ram following a little close. I kept up with traffic but left extra space in front because of the Ram behind me. We come to a stoplight and I leave about half a car length in front of me, but the guy on a power trip in the Ram is about 3 inches from my back bumper. The light changes and I take off a little slow with my 140 hp VW, and the Ram guy goes to the right of me, speeds by 2 more cars in the left lane, then cuts into the leftlane....and then speeds up into the double left turn lane to get to I-75 Noth. In the left turnlane there is a little Mitsubishi, so Mr Big in the Ram goes to the outside left turnlane, and stops for the light. I am behind the Mitsu and the Ram guy is ready to gun it when the light turns green, because he will want to cut in front of the Mitsu. The light turns green, the little Mitsu takes off and the Ram had to fall in behind the Mitsu....but of course had to ride the Mitsu guys bumper onto the highway. ILMAO

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Florida is one of the highest "road rage" incident states.

It sounds like when you go back to get your new MB you should park it in the garage and find out how much one of those garbage trucks are going for today. It might be nice to dish it out for a change.

jmonroe

Driving is pretty bad everywhere...but, I don't think it gets worse than Florida. I have no idea what it is...maybe the drinking water, but driving here is an experience.

There was a report on CBS News Friday that there is a shortage of truck drivers, so there are now over 350,000 truck drivers over the age of 70. Some are in their 80s and a few in their 90s. There is no limit. I feel like I am taking my life into jeopardy every time I get in the car!

driver100

houdini1 said:

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

Jack Reacher gets a 37% and a 50% on rottentomatoes. I like RT for movie reviews, but you have to read between the lines. Most people want to go to a movie to be entertained, we don't need anything too deep or too depressing. Movie reviewers are looking for different things than most of us. Some of the worst movies are one's that got great reviews, some of the best got terrible reviews. Jack Reacher was entertaining and it is impossible to fall asleep during this movie, and that says more than it being an esoteric masterpiece.

roadburner

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

We wen't to an outdoor wedding in late October in KY. Rainy and cold. Miserable.

jipster

• http://www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/inflatable-snake-costume-1.jpg
  

Snakie didn't wear a dress, he wore one of these.

driver100

jipster said:

• http://www.thegreenhead.com/imgs/inflatable-snake-costume-1.jpg
  

Snakie didn't wear a dress, he wore one of these.

That was cute....how did you find that picture?

btw....one good way to tell if it was a good movie...you feel better when you leave the show than when you went in.

Michaell

Wife and I watched a couple of good movies from the comfort of our home yesterday.

First was "My Name is Doris" with Sally Field - cute movie, you forget what an amazing actor she is.

Second was a film from New Zealand called "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" - mostly a native cast, but Sam Neill was in it. Great cinematography, and an interesting story. Kind of a silly car chase towards the end - was fun to see some Holden police cars, and a copy of the indestructible Top Gear Toyota Hilux diesel was featured.

oldfarmer50

Thought roadburner would get a kick out of this:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a29116/this-dealer-sells-brand-new-727-hp-supercharged-mustangs-for-40000/

driver100

Michaell said:

Wife and I watched a couple of good movies from the comfort of our home yesterday.

First was "My Name is Doris" with Sally Field - cute movie, you forget what an amazing actor she is.

Second was a film from New Zealand called "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" - mostly a native cast, but Sam Neill was in it. Great cinematography, and an interesting story.

Saw both movies and they were both entertaining and different.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

Thought roadburner would get a kick out of this:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a29116/this-dealer-sells-brand-new-727-hp-supercharged-mustangs-for-40000/

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Thought roadburner would get a kick out of this:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a29116/this-dealer-sells-brand-new-727-hp-supercharged-mustangs-for-40000/

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

Why bother upgrading? At that price I could probably trade my '15 in on that '16 beast and only pay $10-12k difference.

houdini1

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

Thought roadburner would get a kick out of this:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/news/a29116/this-dealer-sells-brand-new-727-hp-supercharged-mustangs-for-40000/

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

Why bother upgrading? At that price I could probably trade my '15 in on that '16 beast and only pay $10-12k difference.

I guess 700 HP would cover up all sorts of other deficiencies...or not.

explorerx4

Did you hear about the kids that stole3 Hellcat Challengers? Not one of them made it even a mile.

ab348

driver100 said:

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

I guess part of the way they keep the price low is fitting them with those black winter wheels.

snakeweasel

jmonroe said:

If someone suggested a story like that to Hollywood it would have been rejected for being to corny.

jmonroe

Reminds me of the story about the movie "Gladiator" They wanted to have signs that were advertisements featuring the gladiators promoting various products. It was rejected based on the belief that people would think it a parody on modern day athletes being spokespersons in advertising.

However it would have been totally historically accurate.

snakeweasel

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

If it's an open bar you won't feel the cold in short order.

Oh I read down farther and I think I see your problem....when you wear a dress you have to wear panties too or your...ahem...parts...will get cold.

I knew that posting that to this peanut gallery was wrong as soon as I hit "post comment".

Here is the thing, the bride was my wife's niece. My wife is Filipino so most of the brides family is Filipino. The national dress of the Philippines is call a barong (see picture below) and is worn for formal occasions including weddings. So the brides father, one of her uncles and myself wore one for the wedding. At the cocktail hour between the ceremony and the dinner I explained what it was to many of the guest of the groom.

snakeweasel

houdini1 said:

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

So they are trying to create a snob appeal in regards to the movie where people can claim a bit of superiority of those who didn't like it as much as they did.

snakeweasel

roadburner said:

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

We wen't to an outdoor wedding in late October in KY. Rainy and cold. Miserable.

It gets worse, the brides sister is getting married next November and is looking for an outside ceremony.

She say it's because fall is so beautiful, but here in the Midwest you never know what you will get weather wise.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

I guess part of the way they keep the price low is fitting them with those black winter wheels.

I was at the market today and I saw a Buick Lucerne with those black wheels. A vinyl top would have looked better.

imidazol97

snakeweasel said:

rried next November and is looking for an outside ceremony.

She say it's because fall is so beautiful, but here in the Midwest you never know what you will get weather wise.

I frequent car shows and cruise ins. This is the first year I went to a cruise-in in November--Columbus.
That was last weekend, and there was one this weekend I should have gone to, also in Columbus not too far from Schmidts Sausage House. Unusually warm here.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

If it's an open bar you won't feel the cold in short order.

Oh I read down farther and I think I see your problem....when you wear a dress you have to wear panties too or your...ahem...parts...will get cold.

I knew that posting that to this peanut gallery was wrong as soon as I hit "post comment".

Here is the thing, the bride was my wife's niece. My wife is Filipino so most of the brides family is Filipino. The national dress of the Philippines is call a barong (see picture below) and is worn for formal occasions including weddings. So the brides father, one of her uncles and myself wore one for the wedding. At the cocktail hour between the ceremony and the dinner I explained what it was to many of the guest of the groom.

And you were cold because you don't wear underwear underneath....like a kilt?

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

ab348 said:

driver100 said:

You should get a kick out of it...maybe they can upgrade your Mustang too!

I guess part of the way they keep the price low is fitting them with those black winter wheels.

I was at the market today and I saw a Buick Lucerne with those black wheels. A vinyl top would have looked better.

A Buick with black racing wheels.......isn't that an oxymoron?

ab348

driver100 said:

A Buick with black racing wheels.......isn't that an oxymoron?

Not an OXYmoron; an OWNERmoron.

ab348

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

houdini1

snakeweasel said:

houdini1 said:

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

So they are trying to create a snob appeal in regards to the movie where people can claim a bit of superiority of those who didn't like it as much as they did.

You get it snake !!

driver100

So they are trying to create a snob appeal in regards to the movie where people can claim a bit of superiority of those who didn't like it as much as they did.

You get it snake !!

Even though A Space Odyssey got great reviews I felt it was the same thing. I didn't get it...not intellectual enough. I tried to ask an usher what it all meant.

Most reviews rave about it, but I agree with this one;
A small sphere of intellectuals will feel that Kubrick has said something, simply because one expected him to say something. ... Most moviegoers will only wish that Mr. Kubrick would come back down to earth.

fezo

Hey, folks. Checking in and will try to get in at least daily again. Lots going on and the election was a huge distraction and giving me agita. Worse now but I'll bet it would have been if it went the other way. I'll leave politics at that.

Oldest daughter who has an inherited depression (through my mom's great grandmother to my grandfather to my mom to me to Jill. Jill got the worst of it and anyone who has dealt with a serious depression problem knows that while the illness is quite real that each patient is different. Unlike when I needed the transplant it isn't a you have a, you need b type of situation. Struggled with it for years, would have good periods and then really low, hollow periods. Finally devoted really two years on nothing but recovery. Might have been less time but some of these "professionals" are only in it for the paycheck. She finally got the right combination of people and got advanced enough that they sent her to school to be a peer counselor, that is the first rung on the ladder to early intervention and her first step on the ladder to becoming a therapist which is her goal. Took maybe 10 years out of her life but my physical ills took better than 20 useful years out of mine (the very large majority of which I worked through) so she gets the idea that you can only go from where you are so for the first time since she was a little kid I have her fully back.

My second daughter, Michelle, inherited some of that but has always been functioning well.

Third and fourth daughters (the "twins") are just fine and dandy. Carrie has it not at all and since Claire is adopted she's a genetic crapshoot that seems to have turned out insanely well.

Good having Jill back. Makes me feel more complete.

I'm definitely having retirement issues. Still with the compromised immune system so there's things I can't do and other than the fast that we need a bit more money short term no desire to go back. Still working it out.

I date back to 1996 or 7 here at Edmunds and until October of 2011 was working disables the whole time andposting in between clients who showed up strictly randomly. Some days I had a ton of work (THAT was near impossible) and some days hardly anyone showed. Then I was in almost every topic.

I'll admit Facebook has been a distraction as well.

Still trying to put pieces together which is coming along. Should tick off a couple of bucket list items that I've had long before the term was started in the coming year. Want to drive the perimeter of Lake Superior (my donor has expressed interest in coming for a portion of that; he shares the fascination. The other is seeing a total eclipse of the sun which has been on my list since age 12 when we went all the way to Maine and get clouded out on the day. Have a room in Marion, IL booked, but that plan might alter depending on what I get done between now and August 21. Nashville is in the path of totality and if I get enough new stuff going I might go down and try to pitch songs. Have a friend right in town. I don't know his living arrangements but a possible free place to crash. Several people here have a pretty short trip to the path of totality - you can google solar eclipse 2017 and there's scads of sites including maps of the path. I remember that it crosses southern Illinois, parts pf Kentucky and Tennessee and exits out South Carolina but there's more than that. If I'm going to go blind I might as well do it with a solar eclipse....

sda

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

Funny you should say that about Buicks. Around 1988 the woman I was dating and I decided to drive to the mountains near Lake Lure (where the forest fire is currently) and have lunch and hike. At every turn it seemed we would get behind a slow poke, and what we they driving?? A Buick, and in all but one case, a LeSabre. It got to the point where we would both laugh and say "it's a Buick"! I think Toyota does indeed wear that honor now.

stickguy

Good luck fez. You certainly have had to deal with a lot of stuff, but as always, just gotta keeping chugging and make best of what you got.

Mr_Shiftright

snakeweasel said:

I am at a wedding and I would like to know who in their right mind has an outdoors sunset cerimony in Chicago in the middle of November. 

Man it's cold here.

Who in their right mind is even IN Chicago in November?

Mr_Shiftright

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

Jack Reacher gets a 37% and a 50% on rottentomatoes. I like RT for movie reviews, but you have to read between the lines. Most people want to go to a movie to be entertained, we don't need anything too deep or too depressing. Movie reviewers are looking for different things than most of us. Some of the worst movies are one's that got great reviews, some of the best got terrible reviews. Jack Reacher was entertaining and it is impossible to fall asleep during this movie, and that says more than it being an esoteric masterpiece.

I dunno, RT user reviews are usually pretty tolerant and forgiving. If you get only 50% from users, that screams out "RENT IT LATER!" to me.

driver100

stickguy said:

Good luck fez. You certainly have had to deal with a lot of stuff, but as always, just gotta keeping chugging and make best of what you got.

+1

driver100

sda said:

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

At every turn it seemed we would get behind a slow poke, and what we they driving?? A Buick, and in all but one case, a LeSabre. It got to the point where we would both laugh and say "it's a Buick"! I think Toyota does indeed wear that honor now.

I play a game, sometimes with my wife, as I come up to pass a Buick I say I bet the driver of this next car is over 70, and 80% of the time I am right. 10% of the time I am sure its some 70 year old's child (late in life child) or grandchild. Older people who switch from Buicks to Asian makes almost always go to Toyotas....Camry, Corolla or Avalon.

driver100

Mr_Shiftright said:

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

explorerx4 said:

@Snakewweasel,
A few years ago, my kids got me a Birthday present which was an outdoor hockey game in Chicago in January.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, it was sunny.

@Houdini,
A couple of movies I was disappointed in due to the original hype, but like a lot since then are I am Legend and Skyfall.

I agree about those also. Arrival was supposed to appeal to those with high intelligence and a cerebral nature, so I guess that tells you something about me.

Jack Reacher gets a 37% and a 50% on rottentomatoes. I like RT for movie reviews, but you have to read between the lines. Most people want to go to a movie to be entertained, we don't need anything too deep or too depressing. Movie reviewers are looking for different things than most of us. Some of the worst movies are one's that got great reviews, some of the best got terrible reviews. Jack Reacher was entertaining and it is impossible to fall asleep during this movie, and that says more than it being an esoteric masterpiece.

I dunno, RT user reviews are usually pretty tolerant and forgiving. If you get only 50% from users, that screams out "RENT IT LATER!" to me.

I agree, I think the user reviews are usually more accurate than the pros. In this case though, about 5 people I know said they saw the movie and they liked it. That is almost a better test for me....when 4 or 5 people with similar taste like a movie that is a really good sign.

I also take into account young people like movies that are very different than what I would like. I prefer movies that could happen or seem close to plausable. Because of that I like a lot of movies based on true stories. I also like some cleverness and originality. Jack Reacher had most of these elements, though some of the fighting scenes were a little over the top.

Mr_Shiftright

I think it's easier, though, to be fooled by good reviews than by bad ones. My reasoning is that people might tend to over-rate a movie because of the hype or star power, but people don't tend to under-rate movies so much. If you go under 50%, you know the film has problems.

jmonroe

driver100 said:

sda said:

ab348 said:

Speaking of Buicks, for years the feeling was that if you were being held up on a 2-lane by someone driving 10 or 20 under the speed limit, the culprit would be driving a Buick. But I think we can retire that now, because I am certain that the Buick has been replaced by a Toyota, generally a Corolla. I was out for a drive today and saw at least 3 instances of Corollas, both current-gen and previous-gen, dawdling along and holding up traffic. Not the first time recently either. They seem to be the "last car" of choice for many octogenarians. It is uncanny.

At every turn it seemed we would get behind a slow poke, and what we they driving?? A Buick, and in all but one case, a LeSabre. It got to the point where we would both laugh and say "it's a Buick"! I think Toyota does indeed wear that honor now.

I play a game, sometimes with my wife, as I come up to pass a Buick I say I bet the driver of this next car is over 70, and 80% of the time I am right. 10% of the time I am sure its some 70 year old's child (late in life child) or grandchild. Older people who switch from Buicks to Asian makes almost always go to Toyotas....Camry, Corolla or Avalon.

Thanks for not including Hyundai on that list.

That would have definitely made me go full luxo with my next purchase.

jmonroe

tifighter

nyccarguy said:

@tifighter - what's life like with the Soul EV?

I really like the car. Had a Leaf before, but the Soul feels a lot more spacious inside despite being a foot shorter. Consistent 100 mile range, heated wheel front and rear seats, ventilated front seats, huge panoramic roof, Carplay, etc. It is not a penalty box. As far as the electric part goes, it is very smooth and quiet, obviously. We have low electric rates here (hydro for the win); 100 miles of charge costs about $2.00. So 1000 miles per month, the national driving average, would be $20. We happen to have solar too, but that's another story.

I won't go back to a car without some kind of plug at this point.

oldfarmer50

fezo said:

Hey, folks. Checking in and will try to get in at least daily again. Lots going on and the election was a huge distraction and giving me agita. Worse now but I'll bet it would have been if it went the other way. I'll leave politics at that.

Oldest daughter who has an inherited depression (through my mom's great grandmother to my grandfather to my mom to me to Jill. Jill got the worst of it and anyone who has dealt with a serious depression problem knows that while the illness is quite real that each patient is different. Unlike when I needed the transplant it isn't a you have a, you need b type of situation. Struggled with it for years, would have good periods and then really low, hollow periods. Finally devoted really two years on nothing but recovery. Might have been less time but some of these "professionals" are only in it for the paycheck. She finally got the right combination of people and got advanced enough that they sent her to school to be a peer counselor, that is the first rung on the ladder to early intervention and her first step on the ladder to becoming a therapist which is her goal. Took maybe 10 years out of her life but my physical ills took better than 20 useful years out of mine (the very large majority of which I worked through) so she gets the idea that you can only go from where you are so for the first time since she was a little kid I have her fully back.

My second daughter, Michelle, inherited some of that but has always been functioning well.

Third and fourth daughters (the "twins") are just fine and dandy. Carrie has it not at all and since Claire is adopted she's a genetic crapshoot that seems to have turned out insanely well.

Good having Jill back. Makes me feel more complete.

I'm definitely having retirement issues. Still with the compromised immune system so there's things I can't do and other than the fast that we need a bit more money short term no desire to go back. Still working it out.

I date back to 1996 or 7 here at Edmunds and until October of 2011 was working disables the whole time andposting in between clients who showed up strictly randomly. Some days I had a ton of work (THAT was near impossible) and some days hardly anyone showed. Then I was in almost every topic.

I'll admit Facebook has been a distraction as well.

Still trying to put pieces together which is coming along. Should tick off a couple of bucket list items that I've had long before the term was started in the coming year. Want to drive the perimeter of Lake Superior (my donor has expressed interest in coming for a portion of that; he shares the fascination. The other is seeing a total eclipse of the sun which has been on my list since age 12 when we went all the way to Maine and get clouded out on the day. Have a room in Marion, IL booked, but that plan might alter depending on what I get done between now and August 21. Nashville is in the path of totality and if I get enough new stuff going I might go down and try to pitch songs. Have a friend right in town. I don't know his living arrangements but a possible free place to crash. Several people here have a pretty short trip to the path of totality - you can google solar eclipse 2017 and there's scads of sites including maps of the path. I remember that it crosses southern Illinois, parts pf Kentucky and Tennessee and exits out South Carolina but there's more than that. If I'm going to go blind I might as well do it with a solar eclipse....

Good for you, I'm glad for your daughter. As the parent of a kid on the autism spectrum who has depression, extreme social phobia and OCD, I understand how tough it is to have a suffering child.

You should do all your bucket list items.

roadburner

fezo said:

Hey, folks. Checking in and will try to get in at least daily again. Lots going on and the election was a huge distraction and giving me agita. Worse now but I'll bet it would have been if it went the other way. I'll leave politics at that.

Oldest daughter who has an inherited depression (through my mom's great grandmother to my grandfather to my mom to me to Jill. Jill got the worst of it and anyone who has dealt with a serious depression problem knows that while the illness is quite real that each patient is different. Unlike when I needed the transplant it isn't a you have a, you need b type of situation. Struggled with it for years, would have good periods and then really low, hollow periods. Finally devoted really two years on nothing but recovery. Might have been less time but some of these "professionals" are only in it for the paycheck. She finally got the right combination of people and got advanced enough that they sent her to school to be a peer counselor, that is the first rung on the ladder to early intervention and her first step on the ladder to becoming a therapist which is her goal. Took maybe 10 years out of her life but my physical ills took better than 20 useful years out of mine (the very large majority of which I worked through) so she gets the idea that you can only go from where you are so for the first time since she was a little kid I have her fully back.

My second daughter, Michelle, inherited some of that but has always been functioning well.

Third and fourth daughters (the "twins") are just fine and dandy. Carrie has it not at all and since Claire is adopted she's a genetic crapshoot that seems to have turned out insanely well.

Good having Jill back. Makes me feel more complete.

I'm definitely having retirement issues. Still with the compromised immune system so there's things I can't do and other than the fast that we need a bit more money short term no desire to go back. Still working it out.

I date back to 1996 or 7 here at Edmunds and until October of 2011 was working disables the whole time andposting in between clients who showed up strictly randomly. Some days I had a ton of work (THAT was near impossible) and some days hardly anyone showed. Then I was in almost every topic.

I'll admit Facebook has been a distraction as well.

Still trying to put pieces together which is coming along. Should tick off a couple of bucket list items that I've had long before the term was started in the coming year. Want to drive the perimeter of Lake Superior (my donor has expressed interest in coming for a portion of that; he shares the fascination. The other is seeing a total eclipse of the sun which has been on my list since age 12 when we went all the way to Maine and get clouded out on the day. Have a room in Marion, IL booked, but that plan might alter depending on what I get done between now and August 21. Nashville is in the path of totality and if I get enough new stuff going I might go down and try to pitch songs. Have a friend right in town. I don't know his living arrangements but a possible free place to crash. Several people here have a pretty short trip to the path of totality - you can google solar eclipse 2017 and there's scads of sites including maps of the path. I remember that it crosses southern Illinois, parts pf Kentucky and Tennessee and exits out South Carolina but there's more than that. If I'm going to go blind I might as well do it with a solar eclipse....

Hang in there- you deserve some peace, relaxation, and commercial success.

berri

You can't chart life; life charts you. So do those things you want now.

PF_Flyer

My car went into the body shop for my deer run in this morning, so I went and go my rental. (a story in itself) I reserved a full-size, expecting an Altima, but OF COURSE, somehow no full sized were available (See: Seinfeld for lack of understanding of the term "reservation"). Given the choice between a sub-compact at a lower price, or an SUV at the same price as the full size, I have a Nissan Rogue for a couple of days.

Best part is that it's black, and I don't have to wash it