Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

venture · October 2018

jmonroe1 said:

venture said:

stickguy said:
my LG has the same top load cartridge. I think it is about 6 months when it asks for a new one. I usually reset it and do it the next time. I know when it really needs it when the water stops flowing out normally.

I buy them in bulk through discount filters (I think it is called) online. When they have a big discount. I think the last time I paid $50 something for 6, and they included a 10 pack of magic erasers which was nice.
$50 for 6? Holy cow. The ones for my refrigerator are over $50 each.
I told you how to fix that. :@

jmonroe

I forget.

imidazol97 · October 2018

I buy the Whirlpool exact model (now an updated model number) from someone on Ebay. I think I had bought earlier ones from Amazon, but their prices on almost everything have gone up, along with their dynamic pricing where the more interest in something there is, the higher the price goes.

jmonroe1 · October 2018

venture said:

jmonroe1 said:

venture said:

stickguy said:
my LG has the same top load cartridge. I think it is about 6 months when it asks for a new one. I usually reset it and do it the next time. I know when it really needs it when the water stops flowing out normally.

I buy them in bulk through discount filters (I think it is called) online. When they have a big discount. I think the last time I paid $50 something for 6, and they included a 10 pack of magic erasers which was nice.
$50 for 6? Holy cow. The ones for my refrigerator are over $50 each.
I told you how to fix that. :@

jmonroe
I forget.

Tough sh**.

jmonroe

imidazol97 · October 2018

Has anyone done touchup on appliance paints?

Friend has Whirlpool glasstop stove in biscuit. Above the over vent at the back black streaks had formed in the paint. Someone tried to rub it off an the paint came off in a 1/8 x 3/8 in strip. She actually would like to cover over the black streaked area completely with some kind of touch up. Spray with appliance enamel?

I told her I could touch up the small area where the paint stripped loose. My experience with appliance touchup is it dries quickly and unevenly. Requires multiple coats and drying time between to build up to thickness of the factory paint.

Are there people who do appliance touchup like the ReversiDent or paintless dent remover guys for autos?

dino001 · October 2018

imidazol97 said:
I buy the Whirlpool exact model (now an updated model number) from someone on Ebay. I think I had bought earlier ones from Amazon, but their prices on almost everything have gone up, along with their dynamic pricing where the more interest in something there is, the higher the price goes.

You noticed that, too? Sometimes I catch Amazon (including Prime items) at prices that can be completely off (i.e. ripoff), like 5-10 times street price. This wasn't happening before. To be fair, it's usually not their own price, but their "Marketplace" vendor. It usually involves some packaging, like say it's a sponge, 3-pack. Normal price say 5 bucks. Somebody may be trying to sell it for 25 bucks, just because there is also a 5-pack bundle of 3-packs sold for those 25 bucks. You have to be quite careful. I wonder why they allow it. Tricks like that usually don't end well as they can really undermine long-term confidence, if you find out you got ripped off, even if it's something small.

Another trick I see them doing often is to roll the shipping cost into the unit price and have it marked then as "free Prime shipping". Not so free - if an item is 20 bucks at a store, shipping is 5 bucks, "Prime free shipping" item is sold at 25 bucks, no savings. The idea of Prime was you get it really included in the price, especially if you buy more stuff at a time, the shipping cost grows usually much slower than the price of the merchandise. If they can't provide real free shipping, they should say so and add it to the bill as a separate item, based on the box size. When it's rolled into a unit price, the value proposition is really diminished.

imidazol97 · October 2018

Their textbook pricing used to be competitive. Now it's odd, but the new books my son needs for classes in a technical field are much more expensive at Amazon. The only advantage is the in stock availability and the quick shipping. I had some problems with Ebay book suppliers. And even some in Amazon's other sources, used and new.

Often the identical book in International Edition is available much cheaper. Have to double check ABE to determine the ISBN number is actually for same book as US ISBN.

If there's time I get great service on exact ISBN books from charities around the country that sell in the extra listings on Amazon. Goodwill of Florida, e.g.. Some of them offer expedited shipping for a fair charge. My son doesn't get book notifications from the individuals teaching the classes until close to the start date, so often I'm in a rush picking them up for him.

This all might be right up @driver100's alley.

snakeweasel · October 2018

graphicguy said:
I’m not a NASCAR aficionado, but my understanding is when NASCAR started, they were truly cars you could buy off the showroom floor and then you modified to make it go faster. Obviously, this car is not that. I know they have rules, but I don’t know what they are. None of the ones I saw resembled anything you could buy at a dealership, outside of badging and the shape of the body. All I know, the one I drove was nowhere near streetable.

When NASCAR started it was moonshine runners testing their cars and skills against each other.

stickguy · October 2018

my daughter, especially the last 2 years, had a number of classes where she only got the online version (an access code). Really did not end up spending that much on text books for her, and she mostly just rented anyway.

her brother, an engineer (and graduated 5 years ago), some of his book costs made your eyes water. he was just at the beginning of when you could rent I think.

abacomike · October 2018

How effective are these water filters in refrigerators in purifying the water? I have often wondered about that as I replace my filter once every 6 months.

I used to avoid drinking tap water because of the frequent warnings we get down here in South Florida about contamination of drinking water for one reason or another. Most of our water comes from deep aquifers which are numerous here - wells are quite deep and with all the rain we get each year, those aquifers have significant water reserves.

Is there any research out there that rates the effectiveness of purifying water by these water filters? I buy “Every Drop” water filters made by Whirlpool for about $20 each.

I used to drink huge amounts of Diet Coke, but now I buy “Crystal Light” grape drink and mix up a couple of gallons of the drink using water from the fridge and keep them cold. No more Diet Coke!

stickguy · October 2018

Mike, I have no clue. But can't hurt. May not really have health benefits, but should have some improvement to taste. especially for ice cubes.

graphicguy · October 2018

The water filter in my LG fridge claims it removes lead, fluoride, mercury, and a bunch of other stuff. But, I live in Butler County Ohio, who is supposed to have the best water in the country.

Of course, if you have an older house with lead pipes, a fridge water filter is probably a good idea.

All that said, as a kid I drank water from a variety of sources....hoses, creeks, some questionable water fountains that were rusty. To my knowledge, I’m no worse for the wear.

We drink tap water around here.

Save Flint, MI but I sometimes wonder if the water quality scares are sourced from the soft drink companies who sell bottled water.

oldfarmer50 · October 2018

qbrozen said:

oldfarmer50 said:

qbrozen said:

graphicguy said:
I had lunch with a friend/colleague yesterday. He has a 3 year old 370Z that has a lease which is expiring. He said he wouldn’t mind replacing it with a Nismo. But, he said he can’t find another new Z anywhere in the city, let alone a Nismo. He was wondering if Nissan is getting ready to either dump the model or replace it with something totally new.

Gotta admit, his looked a whole lot like the one I was shopping for in 2004. I know they updated the engine (3.5 to 3.7). Aside from that, not many changes over the last 14-15 years from what I could tell.
overall shape is the same, but the details are quite different. I actually prefer the old look of the 350.
The Z has improved somewhat. In 2008 it boasted only about 25 more hp than my lowly Eclipse (289 vs 263) but last time I checked it was well over 300 hp. Ican only assume they improved the ride, which in 2008 was like being dragged over rocks in a bag.

Actually, it went up to 300hp in 2006 and 306 in 2007. By the 2008 models you are comparing, the 350z had the Eclipse by more than half a second in acceleration, and of course there was no contest when it came to turns given the Eclipse's FWD.

I never thought the ride harsh at all, but maybe it got worse after my 2005.

It actually only went up to 300 for the manual tranny. The auto which I was cross shopping was 287, which is what I was misremembering.. As I think back I started looking at the Eclipse when the new version came out in 2006. Took me 2 years to pull the trigger (shades of iluv).

xwesx · October 2018

Hey, GG... I went on my first FLX ride last night: Just under nine miles in about 25 minutes, over quite hilly terrain.

It was fantastic; I'm really looking forward to commuting on this thing! Thanks for the recommendation.

driver100 · October 2018

imidazol97 said:

Their textbook pricing used to be competitive. Now it's odd, but the new books my son needs for classes in a technical field are much more expensive at Amazon. The only advantage is the in stock availability and the quick shipping. I had some problems with Ebay book suppliers. And even some in Amazon's other sources, used and new.

Often the identical book in International Edition is available much cheaper. Have to double check ABE to determine the ISBN number is actually for same book as US ISBN.

If there's time I get great service on exact ISBN books from charities around the country that sell in the extra listings on Amazon. Goodwill of Florida, e.g.. Some of them offer expedited shipping for a fair charge. My son doesn't get book notifications from the individuals teaching the classes until close to the start date, so often I'm in a rush picking them up for him.

This all might be right up @driver100's alley.

Imid, not really.....textbooks are a whole different game. I was into mass market paperbacks....like bestsellers and children's books.

I will say, like Dino was questioning....sometimes some idiot will try to sell a normal book you could find somewhere (like abebooks) for $3, and the guy will want $150 for it. Often it is because he has only one and he figures if someone really wants it bad enough they will pay that much for it. I don't think it happens very often that someone wants it that badly.

driver100 · October 2018

abacomike said:
How effective are these water filters in refrigerators in purifying the water? I have often wondered about that as I replace my filter once every 6 months.

I used to avoid drinking tap water because of the frequent warnings we get down here in South Florida about contamination of drinking water for one reason or another. Most of our water comes from deep aquifers which are numerous here - wells are quite deep and with all the rain we get each year, those aquifers have significant water reserves.

Is there any research out there that rates the effectiveness of purifying water by these water filters? I buy “Every Drop” water filters made by Whirlpool for about $20 each.

I used to drink huge amounts of Diet Coke, but now I buy “Crystal Light” grape drink and mix up a couple of gallons of the drink using water from the fridge and keep them cold. No more Diet Coke!

If the water don't kill you the Crystal Light will.

qbrozen · October 2018

oldfarmer50 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

I had lunch with a friend/colleague yesterday. He has a 3 year old 370Z that has a lease which is expiring. He said he wouldn’t mind replacing it with a Nismo. But, he said he can’t find another new Z anywhere in the city, let alone a Nismo. He was wondering if Nissan is getting ready to either dump the model or replace it with something totally new. Gotta admit, his looked a whole lot like the one I was shopping for in 2004. I know they updated the engine (3.5 to 3.7). Aside from that, not many changes over the last 14-15 years from what I could tell.
overall shape is the same, but the details are quite different. I actually prefer the old look of the 350.
The Z has improved somewhat. In 2008 it boasted only about 25 more hp than my lowly Eclipse (289 vs 263) but last time I checked it was well over 300 hp. Ican only assume they improved the ride, which in 2008 was like being dragged over rocks in a bag.

Actually, it went up to 300hp in 2006 and 306 in 2007. By the 2008 models you are comparing, the 350z had the Eclipse by more than half a second in acceleration, and of course there was no contest when it came to turns given the Eclipse's FWD.

I never thought the ride harsh at all, but maybe it got worse after my 2005.
It actually only went up to 300 for the manual tranny. The auto which I was cross shopping was 287, which is what I was misremembering.. As I think back I started looking at the Eclipse when the new version came out in 2006. Took me 2 years to pull the trigger (shades of iluv).

Lower HP and an auto. Double the crime.

driver100 · October 2018

Safest thing to drink is beer...it comes from the best streams and water sources, it is filtered and pasteurized. If you are in a strange country and don't trust the water....get a can of beer.
I tend to think the Diet Coke is better for you than tap water or Crystal Light..........the water is probably pure and the acid in the Coke will kill most germs.

fintail · October 2018

And then he gets the joy of selling unwanted books for pennies on the dollar mere months after purchase - I remember those days. Best book story was a study guide that if purchased, actually gave many hints about exam questions, and would definitely help for a better grade. The author was the course professor. Nice income stream there.

imidazol97 said:

Their textbook pricing used to be competitive. Now it's odd, but the new books my son needs for classes in a technical field are much more expensive at Amazon.
This all might be right up @driver100's alley.

dino001 · October 2018

The textbook market is another ripe for either disription, or heavy government regulation. It completely blows my mind blowing to me how deplorable are tactics of the textbook publishers. “New editions” of same 50-year-old book, changed a few numbers in the homework problems and you have to buy current edition. Professors and schools complicit in this thievery, too lazy to do their own homework assignments, so they force on the students purchasing 150 dollar hardcover 18th edition, while 10 dollar 5th paperback would do the same job, if not for those stupid homework problems. Zero incentive and will to lower the cost. My school in Poland published cheap paperback script books by our professors, sometimes in form of typewritten notes. We learned just the same. Here they would spend millions on stadiums or gym facilities. It’s nauseating. What’s sad, is the parents buy in this crap, not the actual education.

cdnpinhead · October 2018

And yet, it works. "Higher education" is a massive racket supported by the college loan system. It's good to be old at this point. I think the whole thing is a house of cards, but the good news is that I don't have to pay for it and won't be around long enough to see the results.

stickguy · October 2018

I am glad that my youngest has now graduated. sending large amounts of money to colleges for many years, gets old quick.

she has some loans to pay off, but not an exorbitant amount. Enough to have skin in the game, but not so much she can't have a life!

fintail · October 2018

That's the danger, in a way, when it breeds an anti-intellectual push. Then we get fake news and alternative facts. Here we are.

cdnpinhead said:
And yet, it works. "Higher education" is a massive racket supported by the college loan system. It's good to be old at this point. I think the whole thing is a house of cards, but the good news is that I don't have to pay for it and won't be around long enough to see the results.

fintail · October 2018

Not just the parents, those not lucky enough to be born into such family incomes get to pay for it themselves with jobs that pay a relatively lower wage than ever, and the most loans in history.

dino001 said:
. Here they would spend millions on stadiums or gym facilities. It’s nauseating. What’s sad, is the parents buy in this crap, not the actual education.

andres3 · October 2018

henryn said:

iluvmysephia1 said:

Thanks for the tip, abacomike! We just had DirecTV (we're repeat customers) installed yesterday mainly to get a free year of NFL Sunday Ticket. That opens up many new and different viewing opportunities for us.
Mike ( @abacomike) was talking about a series on Netflix, nothing to do with DirecTV. And Mike, I have had that experience before with binge watching a series on Netflix. The most recent was "Stranger Things", a great show if you've never watched it.

andres3 said:

No, this is a receiver I was using just fine for 3.5 years, and all of a sudden, the digital circuits when haywire.

I've isolated it to the digital processing.
Onkyo home theater receivers have a known problem with the "hmdi board". No sound will pass through any of the hdmi inputs until the receiver warms up. My Onkyo was several years old when it developed this problem. I have adapted (for the moment) by letting the receiver stay on continuously (volume all the way down).

The fix for the Onkyo costs $280 out of warranty. I've been looking on Craigslist for an alternate solution.

I have been called OCD by some people, but realistically, there are often workaround, everything doesn’t have to be perfect all of the time.

On my Kubota ZTR mower the charging circuit has stopped working. Not an easy fix, involves pulling the engine. I have discovered that I can use the mower for around 2 months at a time (around 45 minutes per week) before I need to charge the battery.

This reminds me of the time I had to manually direct-connect the battery to the cooling fan at the front of the '92 Civic. The fan worked, but either the sensors or switches telling the fan to turn itself on did not.

andres3 · October 2018

So I've been away for awhile.

I think I mentioned I traded the Kia with my wife for the Alltrack to become my commuter car.

I put lightweight wheels and Pilot Sport All Season 3+ tires on it in 225/50R17 size. Keeps the off road ability while handling like a GTI now.

I also stage 1 tuned the 1.8T and I take back everything negative I've ever said about this engine. I could embarrass stock GTI's now. APR claims 250+ HP and I believe them. Does require 91 now though. There was an option for an 87 tune, but then what's the point of that?

Regarding the Michelin tires, they've always been a premier tire maker and priced accordingly, however, my feeling is they are a company in its prime right now. They are hitting home runs and leap frogging on the R&D side improving upon their own product before that product even leaves the #1 spot in reviews.

I got another ticket. It wasn't speed related which will irk @snakeweasel as he claimed I never talked about non-speeding related citations on Edmunds.

This one was for an exit I never take off the freeway but on this particularly morning commute I just had to go off the beaten path. Well, multiple SD PD where waiting two blocks down the road for cars turning right without coming to a complete stop after exiting 15N. No, I kidd, thats what I thought they were up to! Actually, the ticket was for making a right turn on a red light because I failed to notice the new shiny signs that said that wasn't allowed anymore. Silly me, I was paying attention to traffic conditions instead of the stupid signs, and violated no ones right of way, but the sign can apparently tell me when a right turn is safe or not better than I can as a present human driver with eyeballs on scene.

This will be a good one for the cheap lawyer to fight. "Sign Violation."

This was when I first started driving the Alltrack. I open the glove box to get the papers out and right on top sat my wife's recent WARNING ticket from the same SDPD. He immediately recognized what it was. Any chance I had of a warning was gone immediately. However, I believe those multiple stops (car before me, car right after me) and multiple officers just hanging out on the sidewalk (motorcycles not on the road but behind the sidewalk) reeked of a revenue generating morning.

28firefighter · October 2018

Looks like you and your bride have something in common.

xwesx · October 2018

andres3 said:
This was when I first started driving the Alltrack. I open the glove box to get the papers out and right on top sat my wife's recent WARNING ticket from the same SDPD. He immediately recognized what it was. Any chance I had of a warning was gone immediately. However, I believe those multiple stops (car before me, car right after me) and multiple officers just hanging out on the sidewalk (motorcycles not on the road but behind the sidewalk) reeked of a revenue generating morning.

Well, darn. Too bad she didn't think to mention THAT one. Hahahaha.

We have a few intersections where there are signs saying "no U-turn" or "no right on red" or some such. Usually the no rights are on those intersections with terrible visibility or those with multiple right turn lanes. For some reason, people forget that part in driver manual that traveling through an intersection on red is allowable only when not crossing a lane of travel and unless otherwise posted. In other words, left on red from a one-way street to another is okay, just as right on red is okay. However, right on red from the second of two right lanes (counting toward the left, or center, of the road) is not okay.

While they usually get away with such shenanigans (and, it is fairly rampant), sometimes the police monitor those locations to educate drivers on the correct use of these intersections.

We also have these odd left turn signals that were recently installed all over the area. For intersections with dedicated left signal ROW, they will turn green with the other lights red. Then, instead of turning flashing yellow, they go from solid yellow to red for about three seconds before going back to flashing yellow. In the meantime, the "go straight" lights turn to green when the arrows turn to red. It's really odd - the answer to a question nobody asked.

I treat them like I always have (e.g., yield on green), but it wouldn't surprise me if I was pulled over at some point for "running a red light" during that brief three-second interval when the light is that color.

snakeweasel · October 2018

andres3 said:

I got another ticket. It wasn't speed related which will irk @snakeweasel as he claimed I never talked about non-speeding related citations on Edmunds.

Nope doesn't irk me the key word there is talked which is past tense. At the time I said that I could not recollect a time you talked about getting a ticket that wasn't speed related. I then invited you you to show me where you did, you have yet to do so.

You didn't irk me, you validated me.

snakeweasel · October 2018

xwesx said:
We also have these odd left turn signals that were recently installed all over the area. For intersections with dedicated left signal ROW, they will turn green with the other lights red. Then, instead of turning flashing yellow, they go from solid yellow to red for about three seconds before going back to flashing yellow. In the meantime, the "go straight" lights turn to green when the arrows turn to red. It's really odd - the answer to a question nobody asked. I treat them like I always have (e.g., yield on green), but it wouldn't surprise me if I was pulled over at some point for "running a red light" during that brief three-second interval when the light is that color.

I hate those blinking yellow turn arrows, the guy who developed them should be shot and his house burned down.

snakeweasel · October 2018

Happy birthday Larry Feinberg.

abacomike · October 2018

driver100 said:

How effective are these water filters in refrigerators in purifying the water? I have often wondered about that as I replace my filter once every 6 months.

I used to avoid drinking tap water because of the frequent warnings we get down here in South Florida about contamination of drinking water for one reason or another. Most of our water comes from deep aquifers which are numerous here - wells are quite deep and with all the rain we get each year, those aquifers have significant water reserves.

Is there any research out there that rates the effectiveness of purifying water by these water filters? I buy “Every Drop” water filters made by Whirlpool for about $20 each.

I used to drink huge amounts of Diet Coke, but now I buy “Crystal Light” grape drink and mix up a couple of gallons of the drink using water from the fridge and keep them cold. No more Diet Coke!
If the water don't kill you the Crystal Light will.

When you’re a diabetic, you are quite limited in what you can drink due to sugar being an ingredient in most drinkable liquids except for water. I was never able to enjoy the taste of water - but when I walk, I always take a bottle of water with me for hydration.

What I do notice about the water filter in the fridge is that the odor of chlorine is not detectable. It also does not have the same after-taste.

venture · October 2018

I had another one of those money exchange situations yesterday.

I bought a belt for my wife at Kohl's that came to $26. I gave the girl two 20s and a one dollar bill. She told me I didn't need the one dollar bill and tried to give it back to me 2 or 3 times. I told her to just enter it and see what happens.

abacomike · October 2018

venture said:

I had another one of those money exchange situations yesterday. I bought a belt for my wife at Kohl's that came to $26. I gave the girl two 20s and a one dollar bill. She told me I didn't need the one dollar bill and tried to give it back to me 2 or 3 times. I told her to just enter it and see what happens.

If anyone truly believes we are doing a good job educating the children of the 21st century, then that individual has his/her kids in a private school or a “magnet” public school.

It’s not just math - it’s writing/language arts, civics, history - but we sure do teach kids how to rebel against authority.

I can hardly read anything my grandchildren write (none of them know cursive) but give them a keyboard and a word processing program and “magic” takes place accurately and logically.

Today’s kids do not know how the US or State governments operate - how laws are enacted - or even who their US Senator or Representative is. But ask them who Mark Zuckerberg is and they know.

When I retired from public school administration back in 1990, my school was teaching kids how to live and survive in their society. Today, they are not generally taught those survival skills properly or sufficiently - reading, writing and math and civics.

qbrozen · October 2018

From my perspective, school is much tougher now than when I was in it. My 7th grader is working on math and reading books that were high school curriculum for me. My 3rd grader is doing middle school math. Worse, really, because it isn't just middle school math, he is also expected, in writing, to explain the rules and use the terminology behind the math. I was NEVER asked to do such a thing in school.

houdini2 · October 2018

Education is like a lot of other things. A good teacher definitely helps, but don't depend on someone else for your education, take responsibility and educate yourself as best you can. Personal experience is usually the best teacher, but as we all know, we usually acquire experience right after we needed it.

graphicguy · October 2018

xwesx said:
Hey, GG... I went on my first FLX ride last night: Just under nine miles in about 25 minutes, over quite hilly terrain.

It was fantastic; I'm really looking forward to commuting on this thing! Thanks for the recommendation.

Great....glad you like it. It really is a new, different, and fun mode of transportation. I use mine more for leisure (especially around here as the leaves turn). Good company, building a good product.

For those who are unaware, we’re referring to an electric bicycle.

graphicguy · October 2018

@abacomike ....saw this review and thought of you....

https://www.cnet.com/google-amp/reviews/2019-toyota-avalon-review/

abacomike · October 2018

houdini2 said:

Education is like a lot of other things. A good teacher definitely helps, but don't depend on someone else for your education, take responsibility and educate yourself as best you can. Personal experience is usually the best teacher, but as we all know, we usually acquire experience right after we needed it.

Actually, successful adults, in general, had caring and nurturing parents who insisted that they succeed in school and were actively engaged in their education. The home environment was conducive to this goal.

My mother was very gifted and was able to work with both my brother and me in math and civics as well as writing/grammar. I owe what I have achieved in life to her and to a great college/master’s degree program.

stickguy · October 2018

Mike, those are survival skills these days. Times do change! Back in the 70s, old timers complained that kids weren’t learning to use a slide rule, that’s to new fangled calculators. My kids went to public school. They spent plenty of time reading and learning math. One thing I do think needs more time on is actually life skills (what credit is, compound interest, etc.). I guess that’s what parents are for! I spent a lot of time (still do) explains that kind of stuff to my kids, because I should.

They get government classes. Of course, that’s all theory at this point. It no longer works at all like it was designed to, and teachers would get fired for teaching current reality. But, there are still many younger people out protesting (not always sure what, but out there!). A lot do feel disenfranchised, but in most cases, they are, so hard to blame them.

It is a lot different world than it was when I was in school, that is for sure. But that does not necessarily mean it is worse.

graphicguy · October 2018

abacomike said:

houdini2 said:

Education is like a lot of other things. A good teacher definitely helps, but don't depend on someone else for your education, take responsibility and educate yourself as best you can. Personal experience is usually the best teacher, but as we all know, we usually acquire experience right after we needed it.

Actually, successful adults, in general, had caring and nurturing parents who insisted that they succeed in school and were actively engaged in their education. The home environment was conducive to this goal.

My mother was very gifted and was able to work with both my brother and me in math and civics as well as writing/grammar. I owe what I have achieved in life to her and to a great college/master’s degree program.

School today, regardless of whether Primary, Secondary or College, is indeed much more difficult. I graduated in the ‘80s with a Computer Science Degree. My son graduated 5 years ago with a Computer Scenece Degree. He would ask me for help with his coursework, and I was at a loss (embarrassingly).

Granted, my experience trumped his course work. But, still..........

fintail · October 2018

There was a distracted driver-related fatality at an intersection near me last year, so the city reacted and made the intersection no right on red, along with changing the light sequence. Much of it is moot, as I see right on red at the intersection daily - literally zero enforcement. Still chasing that speed bogeyman and little else. I feel very protected.

I like normal blinking yellow turn arrows - my city moved to them at many intersections several years ago. They help with congestion. But a few had to be rolled back to normal sequencing, as the diverse and incompetent driving skill in the area couldn't figure it out, and there were several cases of "drivers" breezing through a blinking yellow turn arrow and striking the oncoming car which had right of way. Dumbing down a notch, that's how we roll.

That green-red-yellow thing sounds very non-intuitive, and I would love to see one of the "engineers" justify it, especially from an end user standpoint.

xwesx said:

We have a few intersections where there are signs saying "no U-turn" or "no right on red" or some such. Usually the no rights are on those intersections with terrible visibility or those with multiple right turn lanes. For some reason, people forget that part in driver manual that traveling through an intersection on red is allowable only when not crossing a lane of travel and unless otherwise posted. In other words, left on red from a one-way street to another is okay, just as right on red is okay. However, right on red from the second of two right lanes (counting toward the left, or center, of the road) is not okay.

While they usually get away with such shenanigans (and, it is fairly rampant), sometimes the police monitor those locations to educate drivers on the correct use of these intersections.

We also have these odd left turn signals that were recently installed all over the area. For intersections with dedicated left signal ROW, they will turn green with the other lights red. Then, instead of turning flashing yellow, they go from solid yellow to red for about three seconds before going back to flashing yellow. In the meantime, the "go straight" lights turn to green when the arrows turn to red. It's really odd - the answer to a question nobody asked.

I treat them like I always have (e.g., yield on green), but it wouldn't surprise me if I was pulled over at some point for "running a red light" during that brief three-second interval when the light is that color.

roadburner · October 2018

abacomike said:

If anyone truly believes we are doing a good job educating the children of the 21st century, then that individual has his/her kids in a private school or a “magnet” public school

In Kentucky the legislature has been shoveling money into public schools since 1990, when the Kentucky Education Reform Act was passed- all with little to no improvement in the quality of education. We sent our son to a private school; it was illuminating to learn how many of my sons's classmates were the children of public school teachers...

fintail · October 2018

Seeing prior generations grumble about "kids today" (sarcastic quotes) is always amusing. Moan groan get off my lawn!

Especially funny that the same complaints were made 50 years ago when the young people were rightfully rebelling against often malevolent, hypocritical, and irresponsible "authority". Now those once-young people are the authority, are no more competent than those they replaced, but have the same complaints when the youth of today see through the facade.

As the world changed from 1918 to 1968, it has changed from 1968 to 2018. Coding is more valued than cursive. Civics in terms of government seems hopelessly broken. I think it's a harder (much more competitive) world for young people just starting out than it was when things were great, too. I'll wager math and hard science are much deeper for students now. And I won't even get into the cost of education, transport, healthcare, and basic living expenses relative to the pay of usually menial jobs held by younger people. Even compared to when I was a fresh graduate less than 20 years ago, it's a tougher row to hoe today, and I won't begrudge young people for not being deferential.

abacomike said:

If anyone truly believes we are doing a good job educating the children of the 21st century, then that individual has his/her kids in a private school or a “magnet” public school.

It’s not just math - it’s writing/language arts, civics, history - but we sure do teach kids how to rebel against authority.

I can hardly read anything my grandchildren write (none of them know cursive) but give them a keyboard and a word processing program and “magic” takes place accurately and logically.

Today’s kids do not know how the US or State governments operate - how laws are enacted - or even who their US Senator or Representative is. But ask them who Mark Zuckerberg is and they know.

When I retired from public school administration back in 1990, my school was teaching kids how to live and survive in their society. Today, they are not generally taught those survival skills properly or sufficiently - reading, writing and math and civics.

houdini2 · October 2018

roadburner said:

abacomike said:

If anyone truly believes we are doing a good job educating the children of the 21st century, then that individual has his/her kids in a private school or a “magnet” public school
In Kentucky the legislature has been shoveling money into public schools since 1990, when the Kentucky Education Reform Act was passed- all with little to no improvement in the quality of education. We sent our son to a private school; it was illuminating to learn how many of my sons's classmates were the children of public school teachers...

Even though there are still some individually excellent teachers in public schools, a good private school is the only choice in today's education system.

imidazol97 · October 2018

College costs are overly high because of the many people being paid huge salaries to teach one class 2 hours a week and sit and pontificate on how basket weaving works or on how they could change our Constitution and government to make this country different or studying something bearing the name "Studies."

On the other hand I saw a tall building for the physics department at OSU which was offices and labs for professors who were doing research into many, many things. Some of which generate patents or income for OSU, along with the idea of having qualified folks on staff to teach some classes. Same for the engineering and other sciences. One of my son's room mates was working for a professor doing research into cancer. He spent a summer in India at a job related to that research.

fintail · October 2018

Yeah, it would be a shame for students to see that some other countries do some things better, and want to think about it. The student loan industry buying its way into business, and no doubt a top heavy pension system can't have anything to do with increasing costs. It's those evil jerks thinking about how things might be better.

Regarding public schools, it depends on where you are. Several areas in this region anyway have quite highly regarded public schools. Those areas tend to be affluent, but not always prohibitively so. I understand it may not be so easy in areas with lesser development.

houdini2 · October 2018

abacomike said:

houdini2 said:

Education is like a lot of other things. A good teacher definitely helps, but don't depend on someone else for your education, take responsibility and educate yourself as best you can. Personal experience is usually the best teacher, but as we all know, we usually acquire experience right after we needed it.

Actually, successful adults, in general, had caring and nurturing parents who insisted that they succeed in school and were actively engaged in their education. The home environment was conducive to this goal.

My mother was very gifted and was able to work with both my brother and me in math and civics as well as writing/grammar. I owe what I have achieved in life to her and to a great college/master’s degree program.

Good parents are always a plus. Mine instilled all the basics: honesty, hard work, good hygiene, The Golden Rule, and provided a good learning atmosphere, etc.

roadburner · October 2018

houdini2 said:

Even though there are still some individually excellent teachers in public schools, a good private school is the only choice in today's education system.

I agree.

imidazol97 · October 2018

fintail said:
The student loan industry buying its way into business, and no doubt a top heavy pension system can't have anything to do with increasing costs.

Pensions are a great part of it in Ohio. But that's along with the high benefits cost for all of them. The student loan business has been abused but it has enabled colleges to raise their rack rates without losing population.

fintail said:
Regarding public schools, it depends on where you are. Several areas in this region anyway have quite highly regarded public schools. Those areas tend to be affluent, but not always prohibitively so. I understand it may not be so easy in areas with lesser development.

We are in an area where we were able to direct our last son through the courses where he took advanced or AP courses. His Civics class was not standard: they actually were learning government to compete among statewide groups--a little like mock trial does. Son was able to compete in group of 4 on a topic where each took a part againt another school. The judges were various Ohio government officials and his included the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. She actually had a dialogue with him over his part of the argument on the topic. I was stunned that he was keeping up with her.

He had 2 years of AP Physics. One of AP chem. Missed on 4th AP English because it was a terrible class and he opted for 2nd year of physics due to schedule conflict so he had Advanced English 12th. Our school is typical of the schools that haven't been debased in our area. Some have had to cow tow to lesser standards. State testing shows the deficiencies after a few years. Son received acceptance from The Ohio State University within 10 days of early application--they base it on data of student as well as school reputation for prepared students.

We have private and religious schools in our area that are deficient. They have trouble getting and keeping qualified teachers. We have charter schools that are woefully deficient for the most part.

Nothing replaces a public school that is still doing its job. But the big unions have turned many schools into their own schools with goals that don't fit most of the community.

xwesx · October 2018

graphicguy said:
Good company, building a good product.

For those who are unaware, we’re referring to an electric bicycle.

Speaking of the company, yes, their customer service is top-notch! Turns out that one of their reps grew up in Glennallen, Alaska, which is a tiny little blip-on-the-map at the junction of the Glenn and Richardson highways. So, that was a fun revelation; beyond that, however, they were willing to hold the bike for a full month prior to shipping it out to my brother's place in Oregon. That saved him from having to store it for a long while, and saved me a substantial shipping charge to Alaska. Plus, their inventory was extremely low (and likely still is), so she worked with me to make the purchase work within the timeline I had available.

Then, upon opening the bike, I found that there was a part broken on the handlebars. I sent a couple photos and relayed the situation, and they shipped out a replacement part the next day!

It is perhaps a little sad, but I find that service like that is becoming a rather rare commodity.

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