Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

xwesx

But, seriously.... you guys have to check out this new freak intersection we have in Fairbanks. I've gone through it a few times, and I still can't figure it out! Aside from taking a long time to get to where you want to go, I just don't see the advantage to it. LOL

fintail

Are there under/overpasses or does it all meet at grade?

I've been through a diverging diamond in WA, it's weird but it seems to work fine. In my area, too many still have troubles with roundabouts.

stickguy

we had one of our freak warm days in the winter the since last night. Broke 50 today. Had to take advantage so took a "long lunch" (though I was on at midnight last night catching up on stuff) and got both cars washed. The Acura was particularly dirty since we took it on a trip Saturday that started with slightly icy roads so heavily treated. Coated in black grit and grime. The Maverick was only somewhat salty from Christmas travel. Both both got a turn on the driveway, fully washed, and I crawled around on the ground to get underneath with the hose. Pretty sure I did a good job getting the underside sprayed off. They didn't seem worse for wear. Hopefully I can avoid driveway on salt or brine again this year.

xwesx

fintail said:

Are there under/overpasses or does it all meet at grade?

I've been through a diverging diamond in WA, it's weird but it seems to work fine. In my area, too many still have troubles with roundabouts.

No, it is all at grade. The intersection itself is straight through only, and then there are a bunch of wrapping lanes that take you around to the left after you pass the road you want in order to make a right turn onto it. It is both odd and pointless.... time consuming.... crazy. And, Fairbanks, which is icy so much.

It takes one intersection and turns it into a dozen or so. Maybe more..... I'd have to count them all. But, there are lights everywhere. /facepalm

sb55

They are supposed to build the first diverging diamond in Vermont under I-89 in Colchester. They took all of summer 2023 prepping the infrastructure and moving utilities. Then in 2024, nothing happened. There was recently an article that VTrans doesn't have a contractor to build it. WTF! How could they start it and not know how it would finish? So now what? Stupid.........

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

How about the SPUI at exit 6 of the Northway?

I tried to locate that on Street View (it's exit 6 off I-87) but even that seems allergic to it as it dumps your view back underneath the overpass the moment you reach the top of the ramps. I think it is one of those diverging diamond monstrosities from what I could see, but with precious little in the way of signage.

I don't think of it as anything but a normal interchange. the only oddity is instead of coming up the offramp straight and making a 90 degree left, you coming in at an angle and go around a curve to get on the other road. Makes it quicker if you make the light, and easier for both directions to go at the same time (heading opposite ways on the cross road). But it is still fully signaled, unlike a traffic circle.

It’s called a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and yes it’s not a roundabout in the usual sense. It funnels traffic from all directions through a single point which can confuse the first time user much like those illustrations of other odd roundabouts. When that one was built there were a number of crashes and near misses when people got confused and ended up driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic.

ab348

Are there traffic signals there? If so, can you really call it an interchange?

jmonroe1

sb55 said:

They are supposed to build the first diverging diamond in Vermont under I-89 in Colchester. They took all of summer 2023 prepping the infrastructure and moving utilities. Then in 2024, nothing happened. There was recently an article that VTrans doesn't have a contractor to build it. WTF! How could they start it and not know how it would finish? So now what? Stupid.........

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That’s government for you.

It’s a good thing they aren’t transplant surgeons. Like have the patient prepped and ready then finding out nobody ordered the organ. Only governments can do this and get away with it. More than likely because it ain’t their money, it’s yours.

jmonroe

28firefighter

Happy Hanukkah to me. Scored both of these at a discount at my regular QFC. Been looking for a while.

driver100

xwesx said:

But, seriously.... you guys have to check out this new freak intersection we have in Fairbanks. I've gone through it a few times, and I still can't figure it out! Aside from taking a long time to get to where you want to go, I just don't see the advantage to it. LOL

The advantage are:
*There is a lot of vacant land to work with
*If it is cold and icy you have longer distances to skid and try to clear hitting another car, cars skid off the road easier if it is a sharp curve,
*The governors son-in-law probably got the contract, longer means more money for building it.

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

Happy Hanukkah to me. Scored both of these at a discount at my regular QFC. Been looking for a while.

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I’ve never had that stuff. But what’s the advantage of the bottle on the right being unfiltered? I’m sure you don’t have to chew it but why?

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

oldfarmer50 said:

stickguy said:

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

How about the SPUI at exit 6 of the Northway?

I tried to locate that on Street View (it's exit 6 off I-87) but even that seems allergic to it as it dumps your view back underneath the overpass the moment you reach the top of the ramps. I think it is one of those diverging diamond monstrosities from what I could see, but with precious little in the way of signage.

I don't think of it as anything but a normal interchange. the only oddity is instead of coming up the offramp straight and making a 90 degree left, you coming in at an angle and go around a curve to get on the other road. Makes it quicker if you make the light, and easier for both directions to go at the same time (heading opposite ways on the cross road). But it is still fully signaled, unlike a traffic circle.

It’s called a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and yes it’s not a roundabout in the usual sense. It funnels traffic from all directions through a single point which can confuse the first time user much like those illustrations of other odd roundabouts. When that one was built there were a number of crashes and near misses when people got confused and ended up driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic.

Yeah, there are signals all over the place and that’s part of the problem. People get confused as to which signal is theirs and for which direction. Next time you visit your kid in Troy take rt. 2 to the Latham circle and continue straight. Give it a whirl.

snakeweasel

@explorerx4 said:
Was windy here last night. Someone got an unwelcome visitor.
At least it didn't hit one of the windows or the truck that was parked in the driveway last night.

Don't tell me it fell on some lady and now that ladies sister and some brat are fighting over her shoes.

snakeweasel

@oldfarmer50 said:
It’s called a single point urban interchange (SPUI) and yes it’s not a roundabout in the usual sense. It funnels traffic from all directions through a single point which can confuse the first time user much like those illustrations of other odd roundabouts. When that one was built there were a number of crashes and near misses when people got confused and ended up driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic.

We have them here and truth be told I really haven't had much of an issue with them.

driver100

stickguy

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

28firefighter

@jmonroe1 means it isn’t diluted with water or filtered to remove sediment from the aging process. Different flavor profile and mouth feel.

laurasdada

stickguy said:

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

Yeah, but in worthless Canadian years...

laurasdada

And speaking of Canada, I've ended '24 by giving my retirement notice to my Canadian employer. 27 mutually beneficial years; I'm fairly sure the company will continue on as if I had never been there.

Mixed emotions, it wasn't an easy decision surprisingly. But come May 1, I am a man of leisure (until the better 7/8ths finds out!).

What have I done!?

Happiest of New Year's to y'all. May 2025 be the best year yet.

stickguy

congrats. I wish I was joining you. but at this point will probably be 2 years from now we do the same thing. Longer if the stock market keeps tanking!

my wife is seriously considering going to reduced (60 or 80% hours) this upcoming spring. Make it easier on her, and let her help out with the upcoming grandchild! we don't really need the money (not all of it at least) so sounds like a nice way to ease into it!

driver100

laurasdada said:

stickguy said:

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

Yeah, but in worthless Canadian years...

You won't be saying that when we become the 51st State!

tjc78

@28firefighter said:

Happy Hanukkah to me. Scored both of these at a discount at my regular QFC. Been looking for a while.

Yes! It’s so good. I had some of my buddy’s on Thanksgiving. I told him I was taking it with me lol

I’m gonna dig into the Weller 12 I opened Christmas Eve. I was gonna open the Stagg but that will wait for another special occasion

Happy New Year everyone!

laurasdada

stickguy said:

congrats. I wish I was joining you. but at this point will probably be 2 years from now we do the same thing. Longer if the stock market keeps tanking!

my wife is seriously considering going to reduced (60 or 80% hours) this upcoming spring. Make it easier on her, and let her help out with the upcoming grandchild! we don't really need the money (not all of it at least) so sounds like a nice way to ease into it!

I think I'm a few years older, so your time's a'comin...
And a stock market Santa rally would have given me a bit warmer and fuzzier feeling as I exit the minimum wage + paycheck world. But it's been a good couple of years, so I can and will complain.

laurasdada

driver100 said:

laurasdada said:

stickguy said:

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

Yeah, but in worthless Canadian years...

You won't be saying that when we become the 51st State!

I thought Greenland was to be the 51st?

roadburner

I'm out on January 5th. Thanks to my first assistant, she heard of a surprise retirement party being planned and made sure it was nixed. I hope she succeded, or I will NOT be happy.

corvette

stickguy said:

congrats. I wish I was joining you. but at this point will probably be 2 years from now we do the same thing. Longer if the stock market keeps tanking!

I hit a milestone earlier this year, but regressed in the past week or so. Oh, well, the year-end reports I run still look pretty darn good overall.

stickguy

I have not updated my spreadsheet lately to see if we stayed over the last big milestone we passed. Probably since last time I looked was probably back around when we moved.

Not that it really matters too much. if we stay until the intended date (65) I don't intend to touch any of the retirement portfolio until RMDs kick in. so time to rebound!

stickguy

roadburner said:

I'm out on January 5th. Thanks to my first assistant, she heard of a surprise retirement party being planned and made sure it was nixed. I hope she succeded, or I will NOT be happy.

I wish I would get a party. Free food and drinks, maybe a present? sign me up! Sadly, being a remote worker 2,000 miles from the home office, I might get sent a gift card to take the wife out to dinner. But I would take that too!

kyfdx

I have nothing bad to say about retirement.

jmonroe1

28firefighter said:

@jmonroe1 means it isn’t diluted with water or filtered to remove sediment from the aging process. Different flavor profile and mouth feel.

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That’s too solid of a drink for me. Sounds like it is a little gritty. I like my hard stuff the old fashioned way. I guess that means filtered.

Happy New Year to y’all.

jmonroe

ab348

roadburner said:

I'm out on January 5th. Thanks to my first assistant, she heard of a surprise retirement party being planned and made sure it was nixed. I hope she succeded, or I will NOT be happy.

Well, they may be making plans to celebrate your departure just among themselves…

jmonroe1

stickguy said:

congrats. I wish I was joining you. but at this point will probably be 2 years from now we do the same thing. Longer if the stock market keeps tanking!

my wife is seriously considering going to reduced (60 or 80% hours) this upcoming spring. Make it easier on her, and let her help out with the upcoming grandchild! we don't really need the money (not all of it at least) so sounds like a nice way to ease into it!

————————————————
Well, if you’re like most folks who saved and saved for that day (and I’m sure you have), you should be OK. But if you’re like me, and so far I’m doing fine, you’ll probably never have way too much.

jmonroe

qbrozen

@laurasdada said:
And speaking of Canada, I've ended '24 by giving my retirement notice to my Canadian employer. 27 mutually beneficial years; I'm fairly sure the company will continue on as if I had never been there.

Mixed emotions, it wasn't an easy decision surprisingly. But come May 1, I am a man of leisure (until the better 7/8ths finds out!).

What have I done!?

Happiest of New Year's to y'all. May 2025 be the best year yet.

I’m jealous.

That is mighty lengthy notice.

stickguy

retirement is a lot easier if you have fixed income that covers your living expenses without having to draw down retirement portfolio, and that can be a back-up plan.

jmonroe1

kyfdx said:

I have nothing bad to say about retirement.

————————————————
Same here and since it will be 10 years in February 2025, I hope it’s not too early to say that.

jmonroe

explorerx4

Our 5 year old grandson wanted to celebrate the New Year, so we all put on party hats and got our noisemakers ready for 7PM and watched Big Ben hit midnight in London on tv.
Cheers and Happy New Year everyone.

jmonroe1

explorerx4 said:

Our 5 year old grandson wanted to celebrate the New Year, so we all put on party hats and got our noisemakers ready for 7PM and watched Big Ben hit midnight in London on tv.
Cheers and Happy New Year everyone.

————————————————
You won’t be able to get away with that much longer and when that day comes, you’re gonna wish you never pulled that on him.

jmonroe

corvette

My late grandparents used to always watch the ball in Times Square drop on live TV (11:00 PM in their time zone). They celebrated with "punch" (a scoop of sherbet [which was always pronounced "sherbert"] in Ginger Ale).

jmonroe1

corvette said:

My late grandparents used to always watch the ball in Times Square drop on live TV (11:00 PM in their time zone). They celebrated with "punch" (a scoop of sherbet [which was always pronounced "sherbert"] in Ginger Ale).

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That’s the way I always heard it pronounced too. In fact I still say it like that today. Too late to change now.

jmonroe

oldfarmer50

laurasdada said:

And speaking of Canada, I've ended '24 by giving my retirement notice to my Canadian employer. 27 mutually beneficial years; I'm fairly sure the company will continue on as if I had never been there.

Mixed emotions, it wasn't an easy decision surprisingly. But come May 1, I am a man of leisure (until the better 7/8ths finds out!).

What have I done!?

Happiest of New Year's to y'all. May 2025 be the best year yet.

I know where you can get a really neat retirement job and the best part is you make slightly over minimum wage.🤣🤣

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

laurasdada said:

stickguy said:

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

Yeah, but in worthless Canadian years...

You won't be saying that when we become the 51st State!

We have a NYC politician who wants a bunch of northeastern states to join Canada out of spite for losing the election so I guess it will all even out.😳

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

laurasdada said:

stickguy said:

Wow. It's new years in Canada too?

Yeah, but in worthless Canadian years...

You won't be saying that when we become the 51st State!

We have a NYC politician who wants a bunch of northeastern states to join Canada out of spite for losing the election so I guess it will all even out.😳

They can have Quebec...the rest of Canada would like to unload them. One of their top political parties wants them to separate from Canada. We pay their salaries and they take more than they give, but they want to go on their own, and we wouldn't mind one bit.

laurasdada

I've been a diligent saver (IRA, 401k, HSA) the many past years, so I think theoretically I/we should be financially okey dokey (I still hear my Fido advisor telling me to stop saving, start spending! And rolling his eyes over RMDs, sorry I saved!). But I've always been a worrier about such things; I think I know why but that's between me and my legion of psychoanalysts!

So, my boss knows, and HR knows. Just figuring out when to tell co-workers... In person Town Hall meeting in Toronto later in the month, but not for this guy! Guess I should tell 'em before then.

And, for the every New Year's Day in a row, baby new year did not leave a new car with a big red bow in my driveway.

kyfdx

My local watering hole is offering 2 oz. pours of this for $20. 🤔
I’m not a bourbon drinker, so no idea if that’s a good price in a bar.

snakeweasel

laurasdada said:

And speaking of Canada, I've ended '24 by giving my retirement notice to my Canadian employer. 27 mutually beneficial years; I'm fairly sure the company will continue on as if I had never been there.

Mixed emotions, it wasn't an easy decision surprisingly. But come May 1, I am a man of leisure (until the better 7/8ths finds out!).

What have I done!?

Happiest of New Year's to y'all. May 2025 be the best year yet.

And a very happy New Years to you too.

I have 35 more months for me to go.

snakeweasel

jmonroe1 said:

explorerx4 said:

Our 5 year old grandson wanted to celebrate the New Year, so we all put on party hats and got our noisemakers ready for 7PM and watched Big Ben hit midnight in London on tv.
Cheers and Happy New Year everyone.

————————————————
You won’t be able to get away with that much longer and when that day comes, you’re gonna wish you never pulled that on him.

jmonroe

My parents pulled that on us when I was young. We would watch the ball drop in Times Square yell happy new years and then off to bed. Unfortunately being just south of Chicago it was 11 PM when they sent us to bed.

stickguy

My wife is hung up on the “but if we retire we won’t be getting paid” panic too. Can’t grasp the concept of fixed income and drawing a “salary” off your portfolio. And I know when the time comes she really won’t want to dip into that for something special (or at all!)

oldfarmer50

laurasdada said:

I've been a diligent saver (IRA, 401k, HSA) the many past years, so I think theoretically I/we should be financially okey dokey (I still hear my Fido advisor telling me to stop saving, start spending! And rolling his eyes over RMDs, sorry I saved!). But I've always been a worrier about such things; I think I know why but that's between me and my legion of psychoanalysts!

So, my boss knows, and HR knows. Just figuring out when to tell co-workers... In person Town Hall meeting in Toronto later in the month, but not for this guy! Guess I should tell 'em before then.

And, for the every New Year's Day in a row, baby new year did not leave a new car with a big red bow in my driveway.

I know with the 401k I have with Enterprise I don’t have to do RMDs as long as I’m still employed. If you were to do a retirement job would that work for you even with a 401k from a previous employer?

Maybe one of our tax experts can clarify.

kyfdx

oldfarmer50 said:

laurasdada said:

I've been a diligent saver (IRA, 401k, HSA) the many past years, so I think theoretically I/we should be financially okey dokey (I still hear my Fido advisor telling me to stop saving, start spending! And rolling his eyes over RMDs, sorry I saved!). But I've always been a worrier about such things; I think I know why but that's between me and my legion of psychoanalysts!

So, my boss knows, and HR knows. Just figuring out when to tell co-workers... In person Town Hall meeting in Toronto later in the month, but not for this guy! Guess I should tell 'em before then.

And, for the every New Year's Day in a row, baby new year did not leave a new car with a big red bow in my driveway.

I know with the 401k I have with Enterprise I don’t have to do RMDs as long as I’m still employed. If you were to do a retirement job would that work for you even with a 401k from a previous employer?

Nope...

driver100

snakeweasel said:

laurasdada said:

And speaking of Canada, I've ended '24 by giving my retirement notice to my Canadian employer. 27 mutually beneficial years; I'm fairly sure the company will continue on as if I had never been there.

Mixed emotions, it wasn't an easy decision surprisingly. But come May 1, I am a man of leisure (until the better 7/8ths finds out!).

What have I done!?

Happiest of New Year's to y'all. May 2025 be the best year yet.

And a very happy New Years to you too.

I have 35 more months for me to go.

...but, who's counting