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I was supposed to go to a car show yesterday. It is put on by one of the nearby churches and is a fund raiser for a food bank. They have been doing it for 7-8 years and it had over 400 cars last year with everything from Model T's to Lambos. The NTOC usually has 8-10 cars there. I stepped outside about 6:00 AM and the temp was about 38 degrees. I said not way I am going. I have a couple rules about car shows. (1.) if it ain't fun, I am not going and (2.) if I am not comfortable driving there with the top down, I am not going. Both rules applied yesterday. It barely got into the low 40's yesterday. I really feel for the church because the show raises a lot of money for the food pantry. If I had gone I would probably be laying in bed sick and not typing this. My wife and I are headed over to Arlington today to the monthly meeting of the NTOC. In a week moment I agreed to serve as treasurer for the next 2 years.
I hope all of your have a nice Sunday. Thanks for accepting me on this thread. I am enjoying it and look forward to it each day.
Glenn I'm glad you're here. A weak moment? Try being president of the club for 6 years because no one else will do it.
I'm a big list maker. I have a list in each car what I spend on gas, what the mileage is, how much it is a gallon, etc. Today I've been figuring up averages for the Cruze. When I got it a year and a half ago, it averaged 46mpg. Now it averages 30. That's a drastic hit. I mentioned before it had slipped but I had no idea it was this much. Now, I don't take it on long trips as much as I had been, but losing 16mpg is unacceptable. It doesn't idle poorly, it doesn't smoke, and I don't beat it to death. Any ideas why this is?
Got my mess from yesterday cleaned up, got some laundry going, on to bigger and better things. The sky is the limit. Although, with the clouds that limit is probably 2000 feet.
Busy day. At Morning was my friends name-giving to his child. Then back to home, heat sauna and wash yourself. Then it was F1 time. Furious again, why in the **** it always happens to Kimi even hes not involved to it a bit
Need to calm down..... Hmph. Ill go sleep. Lets see tomorrow, have a day.
Actually the trip started on March 20th and ended on April 20th. But I started the beard on Feb 1st. This was all last year, which was a unusually warm spring. Good thing, we never would have been able to do it this year- too cold. We camped all but 10 days in a 2002 Ford conversion van. Of the 10 days not in van, 2 were at motels and 8 were with relatives. Went around the country- 10,700 miles. I highly recommend it.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Good morning everyone,
Got the new puter setup in the new workstation and added all the peripherals. For some stupid reason the AV kept blocking the wireless connection to the printer. I had to use my phone to figure out how to set the firewall exceptions to allow it but I'm not liking the new anti virus program at all. Anyone have Bitdefender? It came with the puter but I want to uninstall it and use Trend Micro.
The ford world men's curling is wrapped up and it turned out as I figured. Niklas Edin from Sweden won the gold medal. Good for him, that's his third gold but not sure how long he'll be playing as he has multiple surgeries in the off season.
Glenn, yeah car shows in the cold are usually no shows IMO. You made the right call.
Mike, are the numbers for highway or combined driving? I agree that a 16 mpg drop is a lot. How many miles on the clock?
Jim, so how did the masters turn out? I gotta admit I didn't tune it in at all.
Spoda get above 0 today so should be some melting going on. Enjoy your day.
Rain. Wet and muddy. It's going to be inside stuff today, too bad.
Allan the car is a year and a half old and has 17000 miles on it. I just do a combined average but most of the driving is highway. I refigured my math and it still comes out the same. Perhaps it's software, like VW, it's designed to do this so I trade it in.
Saw a couple more guys than usual at the Awful house today. Since it's raining no one was in a hurry so we just sat and jawed. Ran over to the eye place and made an appointment for an exam when I left.
Hope everyone's week starts out good. Tiger and I will be holding down the fort. Have a good day everyone.
Good Morning to all. I hope everybody has a good day and a good week. The weather has improved here after a crummy weekend. The sun is shining and it is supposed to get up to 69 today and in the 80's by Thursday. I am attaching a picture of my parking meter I put together last week. It is nothing fancy but it was kind of fun to build and I have less than 30 bucks in it. Besides it gave me a reason to play with my Mig welder. I have a long way to go in my Meg welding skills. It is not as easy as the videos show. I don't know why this picture turned. I actually rotated it 90 degrees the other way and it still came out like this. Sorry guys.
Was busy today, did fix sauna, and did alot outside jobs now that snow has melted well.
Now it rains heavily, but it was shining day earlier, t-shirt weather already here ( t-shirt weather for me is anything over +5c )
redoldsman - looks nice at the picture. About MIG and MMA -machines, there is one very simple truth. Best machines make disastrous welders look like professionals; ie the more money you put to your machine, the better weld you make even you wouldnt know anything about welding. Ive been eyeing for myself one particular Telwin MMA-welder, i like them ( MMA-welders) due to versatility. Gonna buy it this summer
Okay, gonna head to do something, or then just sit at Computer since it rains. Have a day!
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
First post using the new puter. I gotta say it's a lot nicer than the old one and MUCH quieter. I can't even hear it running. Must be that new technology. I thought the wireless might be a little complicated but apparently not so. I'm starting to think I could learn some new tricks. The new keyboard isn't exactly like the old Microsoft ergonomic one, but the wave design is almost the same as far as finger and hand placement. I couldn't ever use the keyboards like the laptops and flat keyboards use, mostly cuz I've been using this style for over 40 years. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Mike, I'm a bit confused. I'm guessing you bought a 2016 Cruze? I looked up the average MPG ratings for them, with and without AT. They all are rated at around 29-33 MPG. Strange that you were getting 47 when it was new and it dropped that much. At the same time I can appreciate your comment. When our low Saturn was new it would deliver up to 58MPG on the highway at 60mph. I took it in for servicing as per the warranty requirements. A tech made some 'tweaks' to the transmission which is electronic and I don't know what he did but after that highway miles dropped to 47/gal. I was pissed. Overall though I can't complain much because the car still delivers over 30 mpg in the city, which is hard to do. My son's new Malibu is rated for 48 MPG highway, and he'll be testing that next week on a road trip. Around town in the cold it gets around 28 MPG.
Just wondering if maybe the air filter or fuel filter might be clogged a bit? Or perhaps one of the O2 sensors may be giving the ECM wrong information and running a little rich. Maybe Clint can chime in and offer some comments. I'd love to know what the problem is because I had given some thought to picking up a Cruze or Malibu myself. They seem to be better build than the past and I'm impressed with how quiet they are inside.
Hey Jouni, Having fun sitting at the computer??
Still getting used to Windows 10 but here ya go Glenn.
Allan you're right. I dug out the Monroney label and it says combined mpg is 33. City 29 and highway 41. So I'm right in the ballpark. But that doesn't negate the fact that it was doing much better in the beginning, and I've been using the same math the whole time. It's very puzzling. Yes this is a '16 Cruze with a 6 speed.
Maybe it is just me. My Fiat started out at 46 and when I sold it was at 38. What in the world? My head is going to explode trying to figure this out.
Haven't done jack $hit today. Rain is off and on and I crawled back in bed for an hour before lunch. I need to do something, it's the last day off.
Thanks Allan. I put off the Windows 10 on my home computer until we got it in the office (that was back when I used to work). It is just different but once you get used to it, it is ok.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Originally Posted by slantflat
....the Monroney label and it says combined mpg is 33. City 29 and highway 41. So I'm right in the ballpark. But that doesn't negate the fact that it was doing much better in the beginning, and I've been using the same math the whole time. It's very puzzling.
I agree with you Mike, it doesn't make a lick of sense. Your temps down there are conducive to excellent running temps and I doubt the air filter even has any dirt in it. Like you say, It's really weird. My Sonata is going on 11 years old now and I've had it since 2010. It still gives exactly the same performance and fuel economy it did when I got it. I wonder.... are you using any E85 fuel? I know the Malibu is a Flex fuel vehicle but we don't run ethanol blends in it or the Sonata.
Originally Posted by redoldsman
...I put off the Windows 10 on my home computer until we got it in the office......It is just different but once you get used to it, it is ok.
hahahaha Glenn, I'm still working on that. I just went through a help session with the puter store that sold me this thing. I was trying to load my Microsoft Home Office software and the stupid auto run wouldn't auto run. I had to jump through hoops to find where to give it a kick in the **** to load the programs. Like you said though, give it some time. BTW I love the new ASUS monitor. It's really vivid and crisp, mostly because it's a gaming monitor I think but it will never get that kind of use unless my son decides to install some games on this new puter. It will handle it ok as it's an i7-700 quad processor with 2TB of memory. I thought about upgrading to SSD drive, but I don't need blazing speed to type
Just got back from the car wash. It wasn't busy so in/out in about 15 minutes and the car looks nice and shiny. I heard that shiny cars go faster
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
I know, they're great aren't they?? Now you know why I wanted to get them. Mebbe you could see em as a BD present.... JK Sorry to hear your game didn't go well. Ok, I'll take a stab since you say it was goat game. How about 47/48?
But sad, another family coming that lost their child to opiods, I swear this is an epidemic. About 24 % of the people buried in my cemetery are kids that died for this
The other day, I was speaking with a counselor that told me that since pot has become legal in so many states, the Mexican Cartel are shipping in opiods to keep up their profits
Beautiful out there.. Sun is shining, snow is melting. Our boy really likes to sleep outside now that its t-shirt weather there Sleeps long and well.
And they called me today from work, 20.4 friday, is my first day! YAY!!!!
Today me, beer, sausages and sauna celebrate it all 4 together
Stopped to visit there, doing food currently. Good steaks coming.. Yum..
Allan R - What are you gonna follow now that Ford-opens ended? Golf?
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Good morning everyone,
Cool start to the day, and the weather dude (now that Nicola boom boom has been gone for a long time) finally says "Get ready for more snow". WTH??? Yup tonight and tomorrow is 70% chance of accumulating more white $hit. And I just finished washing the cars....
Jim, opiods are definitely getting a lot of attention but they aren't really new to the scene. I'm sorry to hear that a large number of your clients are young and they'll never get the chance to realize what life is really about. Remember back to the 60's and 70's? We had our own opiod crisis back then but really no one gave a rats damn about recognizing it as a crisis. Different society, different reaction I guess. I haven't read that about the cartels, but it wouldn't surprise me.
Jouni - Yes the Ford World series is over, and so is TSN's broadcast schedule for curling this year, BUT Sportsnet and Pintys continues with another 2 tournaments in the Grand Slam of Curling. One starts this Thursday. It's called the Players Challenge. ( https://www.sportsnet.ca/curling/eig...-championship/ ) and then the last event is the Champions Cup which is being held in Calgary - about a 3 hour drive from here. Last year I spent the week in Calgary and went to all the games. I will settle for watching from the comfort of my easy chair this time. After that I'm praying the weather will warm up enough to start doing things outside for a change. There's lots to do.
Love this new puter and keyboard. Still hate the antivirus. Maybe today I'll go shopping for a new chair. Enjoy your day!
The weather is improving here. It is cool this morning but the sun is shining and it will probably be up in the 70's today. I have a few admin things to do today. I have to call the social security office and try and get mine and my wifes Medicare premiums back down. The jack wagons increased both of our premiums about $50 each per month due to my income last year. I will refrain from getting on my soapbox and going on a rant about the increase. I called yesterday and the wait time was 55 minutes. I have to call Frontier Communications back and discontinue my land line and lower my cable bill. I find myself looking at everything since I retired. Save $40 here and $60 there and you have a $100 a month savings. I purchased a Line Link from T-Mobile that will enable me to keep my same phone number and get the land line over the internet. It cost $30 plus their setup fee so all in was less than $60. There is no monthly cost. We will see how it works. We meet with my Edward Jones rep today to discuss our investments and what changes we may need now that I am retired.
Jamesbo that is tough seeing a young life like that lost. That will never stop but it will not slow down until somebody has the kahonies to stop that stuff at the source.
Okay- was at sauna when supervisor called almost at panic that come tomorrow to sign the contract, and start at thursday So there goes the 20th day- i had a hunch about this
He told that we are so overloaded currently that we need to start asap
Every year- same thing, no matter the Company
Same goes at end of the season- suddenly they realise that winter is here soon, and we still have plenty of work to do
So, great sauna - 2,5 hours, alot of beer, great end of vacation- money, here i come! See you at Christmas
I've been having problems getting into my email and to this forum, gave up yesterday, and then unplugged modem and plugged it back in, seemed to work. This morning tv pic froze up, so I did the same with the cable box, and it rebooted. Screen froze up on computer 10 minutes ago, changed batteries in the mouse, no effect, shut CPU off and on, seems to be working ok again. I don't know if it's the computer (8 year old Dell), or my Comcast. Jim i don't know how to respond to the opiod crisis, a damn shame that so many young people lose their life over it, but as Allan pointed out, ain't nothing new. I had a co worker that lost five friends to drugs back in the 70's. Education and common sense seem to be in short supply concerning opiods. Mike, glad that you got the package, they sent me two sets, apparently to make up for their shipping snafu at no charge. Jouni, have at it, I hate to see you wasting your life away sitting in a sauna, drinking beer, and eating sausages!
Dan you sound like me. I have trouble with technology all the time. Cycling power doesn't always help. I never found anything wrong with the old way of doing things.
Allan the Cruzer isn't a flex fuel vehicle. Well, mine isn't anyway. It's the standard 4 cylinder turbo. Wish it wasn't a turbo.
Got an email from the guy who's been working on my truck. He's finally done and the bill, though sizeable, isn't as much as I had feared. Now all I have to do is find someone who will give me a ride up to his place(hour plus from here) so I can retrieve it. Or as the military types say, recover it.
Tis Monday. Not looking forward to any of it. If my week is anywhere near as nice as last week I'll be happy. I already know there's a guy trying to make trouble over a plane I didn't get fixed last week. Who knows, maybe I can deflect him and he can rant about all the people who didn't fix it all weekend.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Jouni - Congrats (??) on the new season starting earlier than anticipated. I think it will be good for you since you seem to be a work hound. Might as well earn all the $$$ you can while you're young and have the opportunity. Just remember though that in another 4 years or so when your young un is starting to take interest in sports or whatever that it will be a good role model image and persona to be there and guide him. I think he'll like curling so IMO you should look into that for your next off season
Dan - I seriously doubt it's your computer or modems, nor the batteries in your mouse. It sounds more like it's an issue with your SP. If your computer is 8 years old I'm guessing you're running Windows 7 or an upgrade? If it was working fine prior it should be working fine now. I suspect it's something to do with the feed. Have you done a speed test to see if you're getting what you pay for? https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...AlsQ_B0IoAEwDQ
Edit:
Mike - Isn't the Turbo the one with more power? If I lived closer I'd be happy to help you recover the deuce.
Last edited by Allan R; April 10th, 2018 at 04:06 PM.
Might be the cable Allan, about 2 hours ago I tried to watch my local ABC network for news & weather, and it said that it was not available, and then it automatically jumped to another network, a half hour later it was available again. I do like Dell, but if it's on it's last leg, what is a good replacement? I have no idea anymore on what's out there, Acer? Allan, results for speedtest: ping, 24millieseconds, download: 85.69Mbps (seems good), upload: 12.29Mbps. your opinion?
Last edited by 1969w3155; April 10th, 2018 at 04:32 PM.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
The new computer I just bought is Acer. I wasn't sure about that either so I enlisted the help of some of my computer nerd friends. They are gamers too and build their own units. However for off the shelf and home use like I use they recommended the Acer as it's a good brand with a solid reputation.
I've bought ASUS and HP in the past. Some problems with the ASUS but very little with the HP. I'm sure that no matter what you look at in the market there's an offering that will suit your needs and budget. One thing I was cautioned to stay away from was the AMD products as they tend to overheat a lot and that apparently reduces their life span. Go with Intel technology - it's top notch. Mine is Intel I7-7700 which is close to the top of the food chain now. The other thing you can do is upgrade to SSD (Solid State Drive) which is blazing fast. Works like a charm especially if you use your computer for streaming video. I don't, but my setup will handle video no problem.
If you suspect the cable, tell your SP you aren't happy, and document the issue so you have a record of when it happened, the specific issue(s). I've had sporadic problems with my Optic TV service (it's high end). The SP is Telus and they've worked with me for the past 5 months to remedy the problem. They also acknowledged I'm not an isolated case, but they've had better response from me and it's detailed as to the problems. I think they're using me as a test case to resolve the problem in general. So far they've replaced the modem 2 times, pvr once, wifi boxes 3 times, and hooked up my feed to different lines from the main connections down the street. It's much better than it was but I'm still monitoring it and giving them feedback. There's only so many technicians I'm going to allow to come out and invade the house to fix this though. So far there have been no less than 8 of them. Honestly, for the first 2 years of service it was like heaven. Or as Jim would appreciate - like winning The Masters with a hole in one at every par 3, and eagles at every other hole.
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Good morning everyone,
The weather dude was spot on which is sad. Luckily it's only about an inch of the white stuff.
My FB account got hacked apparently. It's been sending out greetings on Messenger to my friends list. I notified FB and made account changes including changing the password. Pisses me off that this electronic age is hostage to hackers.
Jim, ya know how to double clutch? I can only imagine what it's like to drive a deuce. In the meantime enjoy driving the lawn tractor around. The grass must be growing like weeds with all the rain you get.
Went to Costco yesterday so you know what that means....also went to the market for other supplies that we don't need 100 lbs worth. My wallet is feeling a little bare today. Also filled up the car at a bargain of $1.11/L ($4.20/gal). This just sucks.
It is another beautiful day here with a nice cool morning. Not much going on today. I have to go to the bank and open a checking account for the NTOC since in am now the treasurer. I opened the PO box yesterday. Later I will download TurboTax and work on my taxes. I know I will have to write a check, it is just a matter of how big it is. Man I hate doing that. We met with our Edward Jones broker yesterday and planned out the retirement withdrawals. If I only live to 90 I think I will be okay.
Glenn, love your parking meter. Sounds like you have the same set up as wife and I do on your retirement, we're also w/Edward Jones. It seems uncomfortable taking money out doesn't it? I agree with you on saving dollars on the small stuff it all adds up. I think a penny saved is much more than a penny earned.... cuz of taxes!
Allan, my co worker down the street had the same problem (same cable co.) so, probably the Xfinity X1, but we had tree trimmers come through yesterday and Monday, cutting trees down or trimming those near the power companies wires, they took two small trees out of my yard, and several more down the block, so that may have something to do with it. OK, concerning getting Mike's deuce an a half home, let Rose Kennedy in her black dress drive the damn thing. Oh, and a P.S. we vote on the contract Friday, no strike which is GOOD.
Beautiful out. Gonna be nice tonight. Looks like it will be 5o'clock ending time for work for the next little while. Don't know what the instigation was, but the foreman sent out a two page email that included no one goes home before 5. All the leads had their own addendums to add but none of them would say what prompted it or what the email actually said. So like most of the crew said, out goes the anchor.
Evidently today is Pet Day. I've always contended that I don't have a pet, I have a companion, and he has me.
Jamesbo you may need to drive home. It's been so long since I've driven that truck I've forgotten how.
The dogmobile is within 100 miles of 100,000. It had 88+ when I bought it a year ago, wouldn't have thought I put that many miles on it. Though it's been to Florida countless times, no doubt racking it up.
And time for Night 2. Hope everyone had a good Hump Day. Have a good evening.
Thanks Greg. The parking meter was kind of fun. We went down to Bastrop, Texas last November for the Veterans Day Show which we have done the last three years. There are a number of us from the NTOC that attend the show and usually win the club award. My wife and I and three other couples went a day early. We made a trip out to LaGrange the day before the show started. You might remember LaGrange was the home of the famous Chicken Ranch and ZZ Top had a song called LaGrange. We were knocking around in some antique and junk shops and I found this old parking meter and gave $27 for it. I cleaned it up and painted it with some argent silver paint and clear coated it and it turned out just right. Edward Jones has done a really good job for us. It does make me a little nervous thinking about taking money out but then that is what it is for. After meeting with our broker I felt better about it. If I live too long I may just be a homeless old veteran some day.
Another beautiful day, It's a shame I gotta go get another hole lazered in my other eyeball
There's also a LaGrange, Ga [where my mother was from] In the center of town is a statue of General Lafayette . Ha anyone [other than me] ever wondered why the good general would choose to name his farm "The Farm"?
Location: Edmonton, AB. And "I am Can 'eh' jun - eh"
Posts: 24,525
Good morning everyone,
Yay, the melting has started. It's long overdue and temps this weekend are spoda climb to around the high 40s. Today is also the start of yet ANOTHER (did that for Jim's benefit) curling tourney. This one is the Players Challenge. Hmm, interesting that it shares the same title as a Golf event. Nevertheless, I'll be watching and hoping. It would be nice to see Niklas Edin win this one too!
Jim - what's arrogant about naming the farm "The Farm"? I don't get it. Wishing you the best on your other eye surgery today. Did the last one improved your vision any?
Glenn - unfortunately that's the way of the world nowadays. When I first retired I admit to spending a little recklessly buying things that I now don't use all that often. It takes some time to really adjust to the different income level. It's been almost 7 years for me now and I've made that adjustment. I too look for value and necessity in my purchases.
Dan - Good luck with the contract vote tomorrow. I would imagine you've had sufficient time to review the terms. It would be nice to hear that all the workers needs and benefits were properly addressed and life could go back to normal.
Running a bit late, so time to go shoot up then have brekkie. Have a great day everyone.
Jim, I did not know there was a LaGrange, Georgia. The one in Texas is probably a little more famous due to the move The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It is a pretty small town. Hope the eye thing goes well.
Allan, I have been working on expenses last week and this week. I dealt with the cable company yesterday. I am getting rid of the land line and using one of T-Mobiles LineLink
devices to get the phone over the internet. I will probably then drop cable and go to an Amazon Firestick.
Weather is looking pretty good today but I have to download TurboTax and get my taxes done and see how big of check I have to write. I hate it. I am going to a little parking let gathering this afternoon with the Olds. It is nearby and they have it every Thursday afternoon. When I was working I never got home in time to make it. Another advantage of being retired. Hope all you boys enjoy your day.
April 8th, 2018, 09:32 AM
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I swear this is an epidemic. About 24 % of the people buried in my cemetery are kids that died for this
