Chit Chat Thread for the week of June 9th 2008

I have been using it for years now. Enjoying the money that I save on computing (no pirating necessary). I can get most of the hardware for free or next to nothing from other people upgrading their computers. Then I just download a new version of Linux, and I am up and running for next to nothing. Yeah, I don't usually get top notch hardware this way, but it is more than adequate for my needs. That's my 2 cents. I have no problems using windows, and I think there is a place for it... just not for my home use.

The article does not say that the GPS gave them wrong directions. It says the road was treacherous and they got stuck and disabled their car. I don't see what a GPS could have done differently, just based on the article.

Was the road unpaved and the avoidance of unpaved roads turned on but failed to avoid it? Did they turn down the road anyway and it recalculated and started using it? Or was this just a typical scenic mountain winding road with switchbacks in a state park and they just lost control of the car and ran off the road and got stuck?

Too many questions and not enough answers about what really happened.

Snow just north and also west of Boise yesterday morning.

What unit do you have? I will assume a Nuvi.

This straight from Garmin!

[caption Text]
The NuVi has few vestiges of an off road/hiking/marine GPS unit. It is strictly designed as a Car Navigator with a pedestrian capability similar to QUEST models.. Track back, compass page for Off Road routes, and related hiking/marine features are NOT available in NuVi. The unit has an OFF ROAD mode but basically it just gives you a line from A to B if you put in a destination in off road mode. The destination still has to be a POI or an address. There is no way to put in a lon/lat directly into the unit but you can "point" to a location and have that "point" be entered as a destination.

Bob

I used to clip time off the ETA shown on my nüvi. Now I'm always running later than what it estimates.

Today, I watched the ETA tick away the time while I got stuck at a traffic light.

Ah, I miss small towns.

I-80 between Des Moines & the Quad Cities. Going to be detoured around flooding in at least one area on that stretch.

We're having a "500 year" flood event....too bad we're not getting any ticket revenue...just rebuilding costs.

Is there anything we as a community can send to your community? We are one hell of a big group and there should be something we can do to help, the power is in numbers.

Start by praying for these people.

anyone have any ideas?

Bob

Donations to the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and similar organizations will help them help others...

• Westbound: The detour begins at U.S. 61 in the Quad Cities. It continues north on U.S. 61 to U.S. 20/Dubuque. Then west on U.S. 20 to Interstate 35. Then south on Interstate 35 to Interstate 80 in Des Moines.

• Eastbound: The detour begins at Interstate 35 in Des Moines. It continues north on Interstate 35 to U.S. 20, then east on U.S. 20 to U.S. 61 at Dubuque. The detour then travels south on U.S. 61 to Interstate 80 at the Quad Cities.

This detour includes approximately 110 miles of out-of-distance travel. Changeable message signs are presently being activated to begin redirecting traffic on the detour route.

Local traffic will still be allowed to use Interstate 80, including its entrances and exits, between exit 137 (Interstate 35 interchange in Des Moines) and exit 265 (Atalissa interchange), and between the Iowa/Illinois border and exit 267 (Iowa 38 interchange). Traffic will not be permitted between the 265 and 267 exits.

They'll choke!

that would be nice

To all you fathers out there.

Check. Blood donation like a clockwork. It helps me keep my blood pressure low

Goodwill instead, but check. They got all of my old-but-in-decent-shape clothes and small appliances. I cleaned out my cluttered kitchen and closet.

I added Susan G. Komen to my personal list. Colorado has a pink ribbon license plate, but it doesn't seem like the extra fee goes to any research foundation.

to all you folk out there

paraskevidekatriaphobia, NOT....

Born on a Friday the 13th.

My comment was geared more toward the folks getting stuck in the desert. My Nuvi not having a compass was beside the point. If ALL GPSr had a compass, most people would be able to find the closest road, assuming they weren't past half way through the desert.

Or even it it's not....

But it's not until September.

No rush, just want to get there.

Gas prices will keep rising. $200 per barrel is not far off. If things continue this way, in the next few years we might have to buy a gallon of gas for $100. Sounds far fetched, but might happen. If that happens, there should be more GPSrs for bikes, bikers and walkers. Many would work from home, emails and Internet would be of greater importance. Of course, there would still be a few cars on the road. SUVs would be in Museums. There would be more camels and horses on the roads.
By that time, we would be right back to where we started from.

Long distance travel has only been a popular phenomenom for the last 50-60 years. An anomaly brought about by cheap oil and post-war prosperity. 100 years ago almost everyone stayed within 25 miles of home. Only 3 generations got the benefit of cheap oil.

Looks like things are going full circle in a century !

Let's hope we aren't paying $4.50 or more per gallon by July 4th.

Bob

$4.79 for regular.... Cheap is $4.59...

My dog's name is Sparky also! I thought it was such a GREAT name for a little miniature schnauzer.

Hey all, just spent the last 3 or 4 days in Hungary, and I've got 2 more weeks to enjoy it. Staying in Kesckemet which is about 45 minutes outside of Budapest. Wish I hadn't forgotten my GPS at home

All aboard for the Adirondacks, riding in our climate controlled coaches, or take in the fresh, clean air in our open car, through remote forests, past sparkling rivers, over bridges, tranquil ponds and streams, into the magnificent beauty of the six million acre Adirondack Park. Become a witness of nature's beauty and look out for the many animals and birds along the routes.

Relive the golden age of railroading, a time when wealthy entrepreneurs like Vanderbilt, Carnegie, J.P. Morgan and Collis P. Huntington built fabulous wilderness estates in the heart of the Adirondacks. The Adirondacks played host to the rich and famous on their way to these Great Camps.

Our train adventures offer many different scenic excursions departing from Utica's Union Station, Thendara Station near Old Forge, Saranac Lake Union Depot and Lake Placid Station in the beautiful Olympic Village of Lake Placid, New York. There are also many "Special Trains" which include fabulous productions such as murder mysteries and train robberies and of course a magical trip with Santa to the North Pole on The POLAR EXPRESS™.

http://www.adirondackrr.com/

To all you fathers out there.... And to the mothers also...

Auggie,

I know I've not ridden the train you are talking about, but I have ridden the Amtrak Adirondack train from Montreal to NYC 6 times.

The trip is one of the most beautiful trips I've taken. The scenery is breathtaking from Lake Champlain to the picturesque small towns to following the Hudson River into NYC. The trip is very memorable.

I list it as # 3 on my top 10 Amtrak/VIA routes/Sections:

1. California Zephyr - Denver to Grand Junction Co and Reno NV to Auburn Ca.
2. Empire Builder - Through the Northern Rockies and Glacier National Park.
3: Adirondacks - Montreal to NYC
4. Coast Starlight - LA to Paso Robles Sacramento to Seattle.
5 Cascades- Seattle to Vancouver BC
6. The Canadian - Vancouver to Toronto
7. Southwest Chief - Through New Mexico and Arizona
8. Sunset Limited - Through the deserts of West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California.
9. Pennsylvanian - Pittsburgh to Harrisburg PA.
10 Crescent - through Georgia and Alabama

If you look at the Amtrak schedules for these routes you will see a lot the the areas I mention are traveled through after dark.

But that is the beauty of traveling Amtrak!! If you travel enough with Amtrak and with all the delays (even some up to 12 or more hours) you get a chance to see all the sections that are nornaly traveled at night now are traveled during the day!!!!

Such a wonderful train system!!!!!

Being I am retired and not really in a big hurry. The main reason to travel is sightseeing and visiting my brothers and sisters scattered across the US.

My normal trip to visit all goes somewhat like this:

1. Amtrak Bus-Louisville to Indianapolis
2. Amtrak Hooosier State/Cardinal-Indianapolis to Chicago
3. Amtrak Capitol Limited-Chicago to Pittsburgh
4. Amtrak Pennsylvanian-Pittsburgh to Lancaster PA - Brother
5. Amtrak Pennsylvanian- Lancaster to Philadelphia
6. Amtrak Crescent- Philadelphia to New Orleans
7 Amtrak Sunset Limited- New Orleans to Houston-Sister
8. Amtrak Sunset Limited-Houston to Los Angeles
9. Southwest Chief- Los Angeles to Albuquerque-2 Sisters.
9 Amtrak Southwest Chief- Albuquerque to Galesburg IL
10. Amtrak California Zephyr-Galesburg Il. to Reno-Brother
11 Amtrak California Zephyr-Reno to Chicago
12 Amtrak Hoosier State/Cardinal- Chicago to Indianapolis
13. Amtrak Bus-Indianapolis to Louisville Ky

This itinerary changes a lot when I add some more sightseeing destinations. I use a lot of the NORTH AMERICAN RAIL PASSES that last up to 30 days. More bang for the buck or more sights for the eyes!!

One thing I have learned in traveling with Amtrak is to make sure to book a overnight in all locations where I have to make a train change. That way I don't miss my connections even with all the delays.

Got this in an email - if it helps anyone save some money at the pumps then it was worth it!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold.

Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal and service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look you will see that the trigger has 3 stages: low, middle, and high.

You should be pumping on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL.

The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom."

Disclaimer: While I can not attest to the veracity of the above, if you read it thoroughly it does make sense.

Mike

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/gastips.asp

hi everyone...and happy father's day to all you dads out there!

i just bought my first gps this week and this site seems like a pretty cool resource. cheers :]

I have my windmill!

blah...

make sure not to see that zohan movie....bad bad bad

I'll be sure to buy the DVD when it comes out - NOT!

And Mercury will be out of retrograde, but Neptune is still in retrograde.... Yikes ... and so is Jupiter , I hope the wheels stay on the trolley... If the Earth goes off its axis one more time, I'm going to scream....

Happy Monday to all