Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jipster · July 2019

This one would have been a good question for ole Shifty. But, the a/c in my 2008 Mercury Mariner suddenly stopped cooling. Tried a little bit of the A/C Pro Refrigerant (I know....a lot of people say don't do it), but the pressure would rise to red and then shut the compressor off. It would repeat this cycle every couple of seconds. Have an appointment Tuesday at Goodyear to have them look at it. I'm guessing condenser $$$. Anybody have a less expensive guess?

jipster · July 2019

I saved about $120 putting an interior door handle on my son's Mercury Milan. Got the part for $20 off Amazon. I initially couldn't get a couple of those clips to pop off the door panel. Cost me about 15 extra minutes as I was afraid of damaging the thing. Otherwise a 20 minute job. Well, throw in another 15 minutes as I had to hunt down a T-20 Torx driver. ;-)

jipster · July 2019

thebean said:
Regarding free stuff from the dealer, when I bought my Accord, the dealer made a big deal of “free wiper inserts as long as you own your car”. Two and a half years in, when I was in for an oil change, I asked them to throw on a new pair of inserts (only my second free pair). They said the program had been discontinued. When I got home, I wrote an email to the dealership GM expressing my dismay. The head of service responded with an email grandfathering me back into the program. Every time I need a new pair of inserts (at least 18 months between changes), I have to pull up the email and show the service advisor. I asked that they put it in their computer, but of course that’s “not possible”. As far as washes, when I get my car serviced there, I specifically tell them not to wash it as it adds at least 30 minutes to the service and is a half-a** job. You have to be careful what free stuff you want to avail yourself of, I think.

Sounds like my "free" lifetime tire rotation when I bought tires from the Hyundai delaership. Nothing is written down on the sales.slip, so I say something to the service advisor. She says it's in "the system", and most down "free lifetime rotation" and initials the invoice. Well, next time I go in that service advisor had quit, and the new one says she can't find anything in the computer . They have me the first one or two rotations, after that I just stopped asking as they would give me the old stink eye.

abacomike · July 2019

pensfan83 said:

PF_Flyer said:
Everyone have a good 4th? It's been pretty hot and VERY humid in these parts. Makes you want to take a drive with MAX AC on
The humidity is obnoxious. I like to do my running outside but the past 3 days it's been awful, even at 7AM.

That’s what it’s like down here, but for 6+ months a year.

@oldfarmer50:

I hope for cloudy days here in South Florida - if the sun comes out after all the rain we’ve had, it would be a sauna out there, but without the cedar wood walls, floors and roofs. You could cut the air with a machete! 😩🤪

qbrozen · July 2019

jipster said:
This one would have been a good question for ole Shifty. But, the a/c in my 2008 Mercury Mariner suddenly stopped cooling. Tried a little bit of the A/C Pro Refrigerant (I know....a lot of people say don't do it), but the pressure would rise to red and then shut the compressor off. It would repeat this cycle every couple of seconds. Have an appointment Tuesday at Goodyear to have them look at it. I'm guessing condenser $$$. Anybody have a less expensive guess?

Considering that, of all the possibilities, compressor is the most expensive, yes, I have less expensive suggestions: fuse, switch, sensor, dryer, condensor, fan.
;b

abacomike · July 2019

Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

stickguy said:
daughter arrived home so we hashed out floor options. decided to go ahead and get the vinyl product, and take a shot at it. so next weekend, looks like the 2 of us are going to see how good we are at a DIY flooring system. One of the click together deals, but a waterproof vinyl engineered product. Should be pretty simple. make sure old floor is smooth, roll out the underlayment and tape the seams, then start snapping pieces into place until you are done. Years ago I did that with a wood product in our dining room, and it was pretty easy. this is a smaller room and won't require 2 layers of plywood first. I think we can just use the underlayment roll, then the floor. if so, super easy. The baseboards are already removed, which was probably the worst part of the job!

I can't wait until they finally move in, and all the rush to get stuff done is over!

I sure hope she appreciates what you are doing for her. I couldn’t think of not helping my kids with whatever they need but it’s nice when they're grateful. It makes me sad to think how many young people have to tackle life without the assistance of an older generation.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

jipster said:
This one would have been a good question for ole Shifty. But, the a/c in my 2008 Mercury Mariner suddenly stopped cooling. Tried a little bit of the A/C Pro Refrigerant (I know....a lot of people say don't do it), but the pressure would rise to red and then shut the compressor off. It would repeat this cycle every couple of seconds. Have an appointment Tuesday at Goodyear to have them look at it. I'm guessing condenser $$$. Anybody have a less expensive guess?

Must be a Mercury trait to have the compressor (you know what) the bed just as the hot weather hits. That’s what finally did my son’s Sable in at only 103k miles. With his, it was the compressor clutch. Might have been rebuildable but I was done throwing money at it.

My local Goodyear or other chain store would be the last place I’d take a car for repair if I didn’t know exactly what needed to be fixed. Don’t you have a go-to guy independent? If the compressor is cycling and the refrigerant is full it could be a stuck blend door. (Also a Mercury trait) If you used the heat recently the door could be stuck and won’t open to let cool air flow.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

abacomike said:

pensfan83 said:

PF_Flyer said:
Everyone have a good 4th? It's been pretty hot and VERY humid in these parts. Makes you want to take a drive with MAX AC on
The humidity is obnoxious. I like to do my running outside but the past 3 days it's been awful, even at 7AM.
That’s what it’s like down here, but for 6+ months a year.

@oldfarmer50:

I hope for cloudy days here in South Florida - if the sun comes out after all the rain we’ve had, it would be a sauna out there, but without the cedar wood walls, floors and roofs. You could cut the air with a machete! 😩🤪

We had a taste of that here yesterday, high humidity-high temperatures with zero breeze. Around noon we had a downpour which got everybody wet and then the sun came out and steamed us to death. Reminded me of waiting in line at Disney 🌎 in August. Finally a cold front came through last night with more downpours but cooler temps.

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

abacomike said:
Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀

You wear underwear when walking around the house? Well la de da, aren’t you fancy.🤷‍♀️🤴👀 (forgive the emojis, the emotorcons are out again)

imidazol97 · July 2019

I thought that, but hesitated to post it! LOL

My emoticons work just fine. Can't post picts and can modify profile.

On another note:
I can post internet picts (life is good):

https://mp4media.gannett-cdn.com/28911775001/28911775001_6055211044001_6055207749001-vs.jpg?pubId=28911775001&quality=10

Some of the runoff bourbon will reach the Ohio River via the Kentucky River. What a waste of good bourbon.

https://mp4media.gannett-cdn.com/28911775001/28911775001_6055211044001_6055207749001-vs.jpg?pubId=28911775001&quality=10

omarman · July 2019

Samuel Burl Kinison a former Pentecostal preacher had a different approach to dealing with an unwanted (female) house mate. Do everything at home which she will hate and no matter how much complaining she does just keep right on doing it. Finally she will tearfully break the news that she just can't live like this anymore and then she will leave you!

But instead of walking around in underwear you could mix and match something from the "Please don't wear" choices:

woodyww · July 2019

driver100 said:

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?

Yeah. I've watched a fair amount of MLB baseball in my life. Trying to get a hit against a great pitcher--even what passes for an "OK" pitcher in the MLB--I can't imagine. Sometimes the fielding seems the most impressive to me (depending). Those guys are athletes at a very high level.

Women's World Cup on Live, right now--the USA Women's football (soccer) team--they're some of the best athletes I've seen, in any sport.

snakeweasel · July 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!

I am not sure about that list, I would say that there are many things harder than hitting a baseball. Keeping with baseball how about a pitcher getting an immaculate inning (9 pitches resulting in 9 strikes).

The Iditarod requires at times to race through blinding snowstorms or sub zero weather at times far away from any help.

snakeweasel · July 2019

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?

Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.

snakeweasel · July 2019

qbrozen said:
Rank of difficulty varies from person to person. A top-ranked racecar driver might find it impossible to hit a major league fastball, for example.

So, likewise, observers would be impressed by different skills depending on their own skillset.

Actually I think the hardest thing to do in sports is to bring a championship to San Diego.

snakeweasel · July 2019

jipster said:
This one would have been a good question for ole Shifty. But, the a/c in my 2008 Mercury Mariner suddenly stopped cooling. Tried a little bit of the A/C Pro Refrigerant (I know....a lot of people say don't do it), but the pressure would rise to red and then shut the compressor off. It would repeat this cycle every couple of seconds. Have an appointment Tuesday at Goodyear to have them look at it. I'm guessing condenser $$$. Anybody have a less expensive guess?

A less expensive option would be to ditch Goodyear and find a good respectable indy shop.

snakeweasel · July 2019

imidazol97 said:
I thought that, but hesitated to post it! LOL
My emoticons work just fine. Can't post picts and can modify profile.

On another note:
I can post internet picts (life is good):

https://mp4media.gannett-cdn.com/28911775001/28911775001_6055211044001_6055207749001-vs.jpg?pubId=28911775001&quality=10

Some of the runoff bourbon will reach the Ohio River via the Kentucky River. What a waste of good bourbon.

https://mp4media.gannett-cdn.com/28911775001/28911775001_6055211044001_6055207749001-vs.jpg?pubId=28911775001&quality=10

Waste of good bourbon? Tell that to the fish.

suydam · July 2019

@abacomike — I would not co-sign a lease. How old is your daughter? Her actions sound young-ish. I’d be more lenient if she was 20 than 30. I would also not allow pets in the house if you are allergic. You have major health problems and she should know that. So whaddya gonna do? Ask her to board the cats, and allow her to stay till she earns enough for a rental deposit. One month max. Also, you have to set some boundaries while she is there. You are being generous and it’s your house. From earlier posts I know you really resent being walked on but rarely tell people your expectations (I’m thinking dinners where you’ve treated people). This is a good time to practice that!

dino001 · July 2019

Congrats US Women team. Good game, good performance. This was first women’s soccer game I ever watched full from start to end. It was enjoyable. The ball surely moves slower than men’s and the general tactics are a bit dated in comparison, closer to how I remember the men’s game in 70s and 80s. It probably matches best physical strength of the players, their general speed and stamina. But 70s and early 80s were actually good times and the game was fun to watch back then, as it was much more open. Men’s game today is so athletic and possession oriented, it turns into hundreds of short passes in the midfield without making much progress, basically waiting to catch the other team on having somebody out of position. Women’s game is about moving forward at first opportunity, as there is so much more space left. Anyway, it definitely is NOT boring.

Americans dominated, but the Dutch goalkeeper was just great, basically conceding only once from the field, out of many chances (penalty has such odds that nobody can blame a goalkeeper for anything). Kept them in the game. Dutch ran out of gas and will 15 minutes before the end, second goal just took it away from them.

jipster · July 2019

qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

jipster · July 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:
Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀
You wear underwear when walking around the house? Well la de da, aren’t you fancy.🤷‍♀️🤴👀 (forgive the emojis, the emotorcons are out again)

Don't knock it till you've tried it. Just keep those blinds closed so the neighbors don't have a heart attack. ;-)

abacomike · July 2019

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:
Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀
You wear underwear when walking around the house? Well la de da, aren’t you fancy.🤷‍♀️🤴👀 (forgive the emojis, the emotorcons are out again)
Don't knock it till you've tried it. Just keep those blinds closed so the neighbors don't have a heart attack. ;-)

My windows all have a tint shield that blocks nosy people from looking into my condo from the catwalk. But once the sun sets, all the blinds have to be closed.😜

oldfarmer50 · July 2019

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.

driver100 · July 2019

woodyww said:

driver100 said:

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Yeah. I've watched a fair amount of MLB baseball in my life. Trying to get a hit against a great pitcher--even what passes for an "OK" pitcher in the MLB--I can't imagine. Sometimes the fielding seems the most impressive to me (depending). Those guys are athletes at a very high level.

Women's World Cup on Live, right now--the USA Women's football (soccer) team--they're some of the best athletes I've seen, in any sport.

I don't usually watch soccer but I watched that game and really enjoyed it. They are great athletes......and the U.S. won in a nicely played game. The way they play I wonder if they will be able to walk when they are 40?

Most high level sports would be hard for an average person to do. Like Malcom Gladwell says, you have to do something for 100000 hours to get really good at it. I have a feeling stickguy is going to become fantastic at doing renos at this rate.

houdini2 · July 2019

abacomike said:

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:
Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀
You wear underwear when walking around the house? Well la de da, aren’t you fancy.🤷‍♀️🤴👀 (forgive the emojis, the emotorcons are out again)
Don't knock it till you've tried it. Just keep those blinds closed so the neighbors don't have a heart attack. ;-)
My windows all have a tint shield that blocks nosy people from looking into my condo from the catwalk. But once the sun sets, all the blinds have to be closed.😜

Catwalk ! No wonder you have these bouts with your health !

abacomike · July 2019

houdini2 said:

abacomike said:

jipster said:

oldfarmer50 said:

abacomike said:
Well, my daughter is scheduled to arrive here this coming Friday with her 🐱 🐈 ! She will have to temporarily move into my condo because she has not found an apartment due to her poor credit rating. I told her I refuse to co-sign a lease with/for her for a ton of reasons.

But....I would suspect that as she and her 🐱 🐈 live here for weeks/months, I will end up caving in just to have my sanity back. I am so used to peace and quiet and privacy (like walking around the condo in my underwear) 🤪😜 that it will force me to co-sign a lease. She will have me by my proverbials, so to speak.

I love her - but from a distance. Those 3 days she was here last month for the job interview was like living with my parents when I was a kid (Dad do this, do that, don’t bother me, I don’t like what you have to eat...) - and she didn’t even have her cat. I am allergic to cat hair - but that didn’t seem to deter her trek here to my condo.

Now I know what being incarcerated in a prison is going to be like. Thank the Lord she will be working 8 hours a day. 😀
You wear underwear when walking around the house? Well la de da, aren’t you fancy.🤷‍♀️🤴👀 (forgive the emojis, the emotorcons are out again)
Don't knock it till you've tried it. Just keep those blinds closed so the neighbors don't have a heart attack. ;-)
My windows all have a tint shield that blocks nosy people from looking into my condo from the catwalk. But once the sun sets, all the blinds have to be closed.😜
Catwalk ! No wonder you have these bouts with your health !

A “catwalk” is probably an imprecise term for the walkway that connects all apartments from the stairs and the elevator just outside each condo unit. I wish there was a better term since you know I am allergic to 🐈 🐱! 🤪

driver100 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.

Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.

abacomike · July 2019

The Geek Squad from BestBuy was here yesterday and installed my new 50” Vizio 4K smart TV. Great picture and the colors are stupendous.

I am supposed to receive a credit voucher by UPS Tuesday for the full purchase price + tax and installation per my extended warranty. I did not take out an extended warranty on the new one - it was just too much hassle to get this done for $159.00. Vizio has a 1-year warranty. They also have lifetime technical support - they will work you through problems not associated with the warranty - someone you can speak to no matter how old the TV is.

driver100 · July 2019

suydam said:
@abacomike — I would not co-sign a lease. How old is your daughter? Her actions sound young-ish. I’d be more lenient if she was 20 than 30. I would also not allow pets in the house if you are allergic. You have major health problems and she should know that. So whaddya gonna do? Ask her to board the cats, and allow her to stay till she earns enough for a rental deposit. One month max. Also, you have to set some boundaries while she is there. You are being generous and it’s your house. From earlier posts I know you really resent being walked on but rarely tell people your expectations (I’m thinking dinners where you’ve treated people). This is a good time to practice that!

+1
Another, this could only happen to Mike story.

I believe in tough love when it comes to kids. You can take her in....for a limited time. But cosigning could lead to real problems down the road, and if she hasn't been responsible so far what is going to change that? That is all you need, to be paying for another apartment. Why can't she share a place with other people....until she can get her life in order?

snakeweasel · July 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.

Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.

abacomike · July 2019

driver100 said:

suydam said:
@abacomike — I would not co-sign a lease. How old is your daughter? Her actions sound young-ish. I’d be more lenient if she was 20 than 30. I would also not allow pets in the house if you are allergic. You have major health problems and she should know that. So whaddya gonna do? Ask her to board the cats, and allow her to stay till she earns enough for a rental deposit. One month max. Also, you have to set some boundaries while she is there. You are being generous and it’s your house. From earlier posts I know you really resent being walked on but rarely tell people your expectations (I’m thinking dinners where you’ve treated people). This is a good time to practice that!
+1
Another, this could only happen to Mike story.

I believe in tough love when it comes to kids. You can take her in....for a limited time. But cosigning could lead to real problems down the road, and if she hasn't been responsible so far what is going to change that? That is all you need, to be paying for another apartment. Why can't she share a place with other people....until she can get her life in order?

She doesn’t know anyone down here. Her male friend lives up in Jupiter - too far from her new workplace. I am only 15-20 minutes away from her new job.

I agree, driver, that she is not a very financially responsible person - just like her brother (my son). I always try to do the right things for both of them - they just don’t always work out for the best.

driver100 · July 2019

abacomike said:
The Geek Squad from BestBuy was here yesterday and installed my new 50” Vizio 4K smart TV. Great picture and the colors are stupendous.

They also have lifetime technical support - they will work you through problems not associated with the warranty - someone you can speak to no matter how old the TV is.

I have used their technical support, should be called technical lack of support - try to get rid of you so they can keep their jobs.........hope you never have to use it. But, you were lucky you bought the extended warranty the first time, hope the new TV gives you many years of trouble free service - because if you have to call their customer service, you will say you would rather spend 6 hours with an insurance salesman than do that.

driver100 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.

The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.

driver100 · July 2019

abacomike said:

driver100 said:

suydam said:
@abacomike — I would not co-sign a lease. How old is your daughter? Her actions sound young-ish. I’d be more lenient if she was 20 than 30. I would also not allow pets in the house if you are allergic. You have major health problems and she should know that. So whaddya gonna do? Ask her to board the cats, and allow her to stay till she earns enough for a rental deposit. One month max. Also, you have to set some boundaries while she is there. You are being generous and it’s your house. From earlier posts I know you really resent being walked on but rarely tell people your expectations (I’m thinking dinners where you’ve treated people). This is a good time to practice that!
+1
Another, this could only happen to Mike story.

I believe in tough love when it comes to kids. You can take her in....for a limited time. But cosigning could lead to real problems down the road, and if she hasn't been responsible so far what is going to change that? That is all you need, to be paying for another apartment. Why can't she share a place with other people....until she can get her life in order?
She doesn’t know anyone down here. Her male friend lives up in Jupiter - too far from her new workplace. I am only 15-20 minutes away from her new job.

I agree, driver, that she is not a very financially responsible person - just like her brother (my son). I always try to do the right things for both of them - they just don’t always work out for the best.

I have no doubt you try to do the right thing for your children Mike. But, a financially irresponsible person will not change if you are supporting them. You can help them to some degree of course, but, you have to set limits. She has to live within her means too....if she can't get a lease on an apartment due to bad credit maybe she has to share an apartment or house with other people, until she proves she can manage on her own. One day you won't be there to help....she isn't going to learn unless you lay down some guidelines now. 30 days to stay with you, then she has to find a way to manage on her own. If you give her last months rent consider it a gift, don't expect it back. Giving money isn't going to cure the problem.....time for tough love! Set boundaries and goals.

jipster · July 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.

Oh... well... the ole Jip likes to save money. Generally speaking, I was thinking dealerships bill at about $110 an hour, chains around $80 and indies around $60. Goodyear is only a couple miles away, use mainly for their $24 oil changes. But yeah, with 4 vehicles now under my care, finding a good indie would be a good idea.

dino001 · July 2019

When I hear somebody saying they “have a bad credit”, unless it’s due to a serious medical debt from real emergency, I hear me “paying bills as an optional activity to me”. String sense of entitlement and no real concept of obligation. Many times it involves high level of entitlement and a great story about adverse circumstances, from a**le boss, to checks lost in the mail, to some high priority expenses that had to be taken care of before paying for electricity. I know it’s harsh and judgmental and I would not presume to know all the facts, but I heard too many stories and they are unfortunately too similar.

BTW, I also found there is no straight connection between the parenting and the person’s attitude toward money and obligations. Same parents can produce siblings with vastly different adults, as individuals will derive their own response to the same facts. Say, parents are responsible and demand same: one kid obliges and another rebels and does the opposite. Say parents are slackers, one kid things that’s the way it should be, another swears he’ll never be late on anything in their life. You never know.

jipster · July 2019

Well, I got some.pretty good recommendations, for a nearby independent mechanic, from my H.O.A forum people. About six positive recommendations, and one "I think they may have ripped me off".
An 85% approval rating. Not bad.

stickguy · July 2019

for those following along with the "house rehab on the fly" saga, more progress today. Got the last of the baseboards off (what a pain that was, but I do now own a nifty trim removal tool!). Kitchen/LR/DR/hall all repainted (sadly 1st color was a fail, so 2nd coat was a color change, and will require a 2nd coat of that later this week). Also got a new light switch to go with the replacement light fixture in the hall I installed yesterday (old one was on a dimmer for some unknown reason, and new bulbs did not enjoy that). planned out new layout of the closet shelving, but ran out of steam for putting that in.

on the floor front, she accepted the fact that it had to happen. We went to floor and decor, and found a good looking option. so $250 later there are 5 boxes of flooring in the dining room, waiting to be installed next weekend. I am sure that will be fun. First need to move out the fridge, then the nasty job yanking up the old crap. then dealing with the small area damaged by the (BEEP) cats, and painting the whole subfloor with Kilz. That will be the pain in the backside, time consuming part. The floor install will be the quick part. 1x2 vinyl snap and click planks, 100% waterproof. a much better choice for the kitchen than cheap engineered wood that absorbs water (and cat pee). The old stuff is so nasty, no matter how bad a job we do, it has to look a billion times better!

snakeweasel · July 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.

Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit

snakeweasel · July 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.

Last time I went to Firestone was for a brake job. They told me I needed new pads. rotors, tie rods replaced and a few other things costing big bucks. I took it to my regular guy and told him what Firestone say and his reply was "Yeah, no." All he said I needed was new pads and have the rotors turned. I stay away from Firestone.

driver100 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit

Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat

snakeweasel · July 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit
Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat

You didn't just go there did you?

Michaell · July 2019

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit
Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat

I doubt anyone who could pitch at 110 MPH would be worried about civilians like us. Fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB is 105 MPH.

And, we're starting to get into the definition of what "is" is.

Learned today that the players in an average soccer match run about 7 miles total. Plus all the coordination of their legs, feet and bodies, and I have a new respect for them.

snakeweasel · July 2019

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit
Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat
I doubt anyone who could pitch at 110 MPH would be worried about civilians like us. Fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB is 105 MPH.

And, we're starting to get into the definition of what "is" is.

Learned today that the players in an average soccer match run about 7 miles total. Plus all the coordination of their legs, feet and bodies, and I have a new respect for them.

The fastest recorded speed is 105.1 but that may be on the high side as there may be issues with the radar guns used. Guinness records the fastest at just under 101. Even if not you most likely not see a pitch much faster than that. The forces required to propel a ball at speeds any greater than we see now are greater than the arm can withstand. If any pitcher ever threw a 110 MPH fastball it would likely end his career.

jipster · July 2019

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.
Last time I went to Firestone was for a brake job. They told me I needed new pads. rotors, tie rods replaced and a few other things costing big bucks. I took it to my regular guy and told him what Firestone say and his reply was "Yeah, no." All he said I needed was new pads and have the rotors turned. I stay away from Firestone.

Not that much more $ for new rotors, as opposed to just having them turned.

driver100 · July 2019

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit
Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat
I doubt anyone who could pitch at 110 MPH would be worried about civilians like us. Fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB is 105 MPH.

And, we're starting to get into the definition of what "is" is.

Learned today that the players in an average soccer match run about 7 miles total. Plus all the coordination of their legs, feet and bodies, and I have a new respect for them.

After watching the soccer game I have a lot of respect for soccer players too. And, note this;
Penalty kicks are taken from a distance of 12 yards away from the goal. The strongest shooters can kick at speeds of up to 80 mph. This means that the ball reaches the goal line in 500 milliseconds. A goalkeeper takes 600 milliseconds to move from the center of the 24-foot-wide goal to one of the posts.

Hitting a baseball traveling 100 mph would be hard, but doing a header with a soccer ball going 80 mph really impresses me.

driver100 · July 2019

jipster said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.
Last time I went to Firestone was for a brake job. They told me I needed new pads. rotors, tie rods replaced and a few other things costing big bucks. I took it to my regular guy and told him what Firestone say and his reply was "Yeah, no." All he said I needed was new pads and have the rotors turned. I stay away from Firestone.
Not that much more $ for new rotors, as opposed to just having them turned.

The cost of labor to turn them is more than the cost of buying new ones....a lot of things are like that these days.....like the cost of fixing a computer or TV.

driver100 · July 2019

snakeweasel said:

Michaell said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

houdini2 said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

thebean said:
Does anyone follow the Tour de France bike race, which starts tomorrow? I think it’s the most difficult event in sports. Three weeks of relentless pain and pressure. The lovely Mrs Bean loves to watch it also, primarily for the scenery in France and surrounding areas. I look forward to it every year.
I usually dont follow it. Bike racing is a tough sport due to it requiring a consistent high level of effort to be of any good at it.

However I would say the Iditarod would be the most difficult event in sports due to the fact that you are racing through some of the most unforgiving remote areas in weather that can be brutal.
Not sure what an Iditarod is but the hardest thing to do in sports is to hit a baseball. If you measure the distance from the pitchers hand to the strike zone the ball is in the strike zone faster than you can think and react, so hitter has to be practically swinging by the time the ball leaves the pitchers hand.
Yet baseballs get hit all the time.

The Iditarod is a 1,000 mile dog sledding race from just north of Anchorage to Nome in Alaska.
Lots of lists on this topic, basically the same, no mention of Iditarod. Here is the basic list;
10. The Downhill (Skiiing)
9. Saving a Penalty Kick
8. Tour De France
7. Running a Marathon
6. Landing a Quad (Ice skating)
5. Returning a Serve
4. Hitting a long straight tee shot
3. Pole Vaulting
2. Race Car Driving
1. Hitting a Baseball

Maybe Iditarod is the hardest sport for dogs!
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard. Hitting a grand slam off a major league pitcher would make the list. Concerning your list, item #4. Hitting a long straight drive is one of the easier things to do in golf. Making a hole in one is much harder to do, and involves some luck. Probably the hardest thing to do in golf is to consistently "shoot your age". Being so far off on these items makes your entire list suspect.
Simply hitting a baseball is not that hard! Oh yeh;
In .1 second, the ball has traveled twelve feet as the batter locates the ball out from the pitcher’s hand. It takes another .07 of a second for the batter to recognize speed, movement, and trajectory. By now, the ball has traveled another ten feet, and it will require .017 of a second for the brain and body to work harmoniously when swinging. This leaves just .09 of a second for the batter to decide to swing or not. The slightest hesitation could be the difference between a home run and a swinging strike.

And that is just part of the exercise. Another aspect is swinging with the right trajectory. Swinging with too steep of a downward trajectory will result in a ground ball. Swinging with too much of an uppercut will result in a pop-up. David Kagan, physics professor at California State University-Chico, plotted all 586 home runs during April 2009 of the MLB season. The plot shows trajectory versus exit velocity off the bat. Kagan found that the average home run was launched at an angle of 29 ± 5 degrees at a speed of 101 ± 4 miles per hour (Kagan). There is not much room for error when swinging with the appropriate trajectory for hitting a home run. In addition, the trajectory at which you must swing varies from pitch-to-pitch. Thus, finding the right path at which to swing is quite difficult since there is not one given trajectory for every pitch under the sun.

It is a miracle that someone can hit a home run. And a good batting average is hitting once every 3 times!

And you think anyone can hit a baseball?
Hitting once every 3 times is dependent on what you call hitting the ball. One in three tries is good only if you only count making it to base on a hit ball. Add those balls that are hit fair but are not considered hits due to a fly ball being caught or the batter being picked of at a base and the rate of getting a hit gets to be around what? 50 percent? Add in the hits that are foul balls but do go forward from the batter and the rate goes up even more. On baseball balls get hit all the time.
Balls get hit but it only counts if it ends up on the playing field or a home run. The others are really misses.
About the Iditarod, for one thing I think we are talking about mainstream sports, 99% of the people wouldn't know what an Iditarod is (even my windows program underlines the word as misspelled). But aside from that, it sounds like the things you do can be done by most people....although not done well. Probably only a tiny fraction of people could actually hit a baseball thrown by a professional pitcher. Look at the timeline....you need to judge where to hit the ball in a fraction of a second.
I have seen a few lists of the hardest thing to do in sports, and hitting a baseball was #1 on every list.
Only counts if it gets in the infield? Are we talking on out getting a hit in baseball or hitting a baseball? they are 2 different things.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to "hit a baseball".......but not hit a foul ball, not hit it so it hits the ump, not hit it so it just nicks your bat, but to hit a ball that is in play. This was calculated by taking scientific factors into consideration, speed of the ball, distance ball travels, amount of time brain has to react.
Hit a baseball means bat makes contact with the baseball. That is the definition of "hit" it is different from getting a base hit
Snake...the last time I played baseball was a fun softball game about 15 years ago. The ball was pitched and probably traveled at 15 mph.
I would like to see you stand at the plate, have a professional pitcher throw a fastball at 110 mph, and watch you try to make any kind of contact with the bat
I doubt anyone who could pitch at 110 MPH would be worried about civilians like us. Fastest recorded pitch speed in MLB is 105 MPH.

And, we're starting to get into the definition of what "is" is.

Learned today that the players in an average soccer match run about 7 miles total. Plus all the coordination of their legs, feet and bodies, and I have a new respect for them.
The fastest recorded speed is 105.1 but that may be on the high side as there may be issues with the radar guns used. Guinness records the fastest at just under 101. Even if not you most likely not see a pitch much faster than that. The forces required to propel a ball at speeds any greater than we see now are greater than the arm can withstand. If any pitcher ever threw a 110 MPH fastball it would likely end his career.

OK, I'd like to see you in the batter's box hitting a baseball travelling at 85 mph

snakeweasel · July 2019

jipster said:

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

jipster said:
qbrozen - Would be nice if it were just a fuse. Looked in the owners manual... a lot (8) of possibilities. I'll check them out when I get the chance.

Oldfarmer- Haven't had an independent in about 8 years. I would think even Goodyear would be able to diagnose and repair an a/c problem. Doesn't seem like it would be that difficult. Just went out and altered between the a/c.and heat, sounded as if the blend door was.moving.

Snake- Well, there is an independent that a few people in my HOA web site have mentioned. May check them out.

It’s not that they can’t diagnose a problem it’s what they charge to fix it. I went to Firestone for a flat. They told me my lower control arm bushings we shot. I looked at them and yeah they were right. Estimate was over a thousand. Took it to my indie guy and he fixed them for under $500. They get a commission to upsell you as well so there’s always a story at the end of your visit.

I have an indie guy for general mechanics, transmissions, body work and AC work. I like to think I’m carrying a whole bunch of small businesses.
Last time I went to Firestone was for a brake job. They told me I needed new pads. rotors, tie rods replaced and a few other things costing big bucks. I took it to my regular guy and told him what Firestone say and his reply was "Yeah, no." All he said I needed was new pads and have the rotors turned. I stay away from Firestone.
Not that much more $ for new rotors, as opposed to just having them turned.

While I do believe that's the case now, but this was in the early 80's and things were a little different back then. Rotors were a bit more pricey back then.

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