THAT was funny. Thank you. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
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THAT was funny. Thank you. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
Beautiful!! One of the more quotable :p and family friendly bits:Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
"Whoo-hoo Seattle, the sun is out! Let's discuss a few things before you fumble with swapping the unused ski rack for the unused bike rack on the Subaru.
So yes, you've noticed the sun is out, and hey!- maybe it would be cool to to some bike riding. Let's keep in mind that the sun came out of all 600,000 of us, so for the most part, you're not the only one who noticed. Please remember that when you walk into my shop on a bright, sunny Saturday morning. It will save you from looking like a complete twit that huffs "Why are there so many people here?"
Are we all on the same page now about it being sunny outside? Have we all figured out that we're not the only clever people that feel sunny days are good for bike riding? Great. I want to kiss all of you on your forehead for sharing this moment with me. Put your vitamin D starved fingers in mine, and we'll move on together to some pointers that will make life easier.
SOME POINTERS FOR THE PHONE:
.......
-I really do need to see your bike to know what is wrong with it. You've already figured out that when you car makes a noise, the mechanic needs to see it. When your TV goes blank, a technician needs to see it. I can tell you, if there is one thing I've learned from you ******** squirrels, it's that "doesn't shift right" means your bike could need a slight cable adjustment, or you might just need to stop backing into it with the Subaru. Bring it in, I'll let you know for sure."
Dear? Does everyone there have a Subaru? Will I have to get one too?
You mean this?Quote:
Originally Posted by KnottedYet
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best...192150038.html
Yes that :cool: He does have quite the vocabulary for this family board. Dealing with vitamin D deprived cyclists would do that to a mechanic. ;)
I always thought it was spelled Douchebag, but perhaps it's spelled differently in Seattle.
Yes, everyone. Everyone. The Seattle hospitals give them out to all the newborns, along with the diaper bag and the Infamil coupons. Subaru dealers hang out on every corner, pushing their wares. Adolescents taking their tests at the DMV will automatically fail if they show up in a Ford or Chrysler.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trek420
You can share mine....
oh wah. I can't access Best of Craigslist from my office !
We had a subaru once. One of the first in Seattle. It was a great little car.
Then they got expensive and the dealer got snotty so we switched to other brands...
I had two Subarus and I'd have another if I hadn't got tired of 24 mpg.
I understand how tough it is to make a fuel-efficient AWD vehicle, but it doesn't seem like Subaru is even trying. :(
Last year only 2 car companies were up, all of the others lost money. Subaru was up 3% (which doesn't sound like much?) and MINI was up 30%.
Get a MINI ;)
Then again, since I sold my truck, I haven't been backpacking because I can't bring myself ot drive my MINI down the forest service roads that generally lead to good hiking trails.
Anybody know of a reliable, cheap, 4 or AWD used vehicle I could keep to drive 2/month to go for hikes?
I love love love my MINI.
Yes, Douchebag is the eastern spelling. You know, like Mr.Coddington Douchebag of Brookline, the baked-bean scion?Quote:
Originally Posted by jobob
Well, needing the AWD is what keeps me from having a car that gets better mileage. No amount of gas savings will enable me to get up my street and driveway of 10-15% grades in snow and sheer ice. Plus the downhill descent controller thing helps too. Of course, I am a snow driving wimp, given that I had to learn to do this when i was 37 years old.
I guess now I know why my son traded in the Ford Focus we bought him for a Subaru; while he doesn't live in Seattle, he *is* in California...
Don't feel bad. At least they plow and treat the roads in your part of the country. AWD doesn't get you very far in Seattle when it snows.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
lol NO KIDDING!Quote:
Originally Posted by jocelynlf
I've been told that Seattle'ites have collective short term memory loss and forget how to drive in snow. It snows yearly but rarely and not long or hard. Whenever it does the city does a unified :confused: :eek: :confused: :eek: spins around, skids, falls over in confusion.Quote:
Originally Posted by jocelynlf
Or is that an exageration? :)
it's an exaggeration.
A lot of years we don't get enough snow in Seattle for the entire winter to cover the ground white once.
We get good snow every 5-6 years. (I'm not talking about way out there where your old lady lives - they definitely get more snow)
My sons got enough snow to play in maybe 3 times in their entire childhoods, we took pictures each time.
I'll trust that that's an exaggeration for Seattle, but that's EXACTLY how they behave in the Washington, DC metro area.
I don't think it matters where you live. Over the summer, the collective always forgets how to drive in the snow or rain.
At least here in Deschutes County you can take a skid car class and learn how to drive donuts legally. Woohoo!
Yes, they do a pretty good job of plowing and treating the roads here, but if you saw my driveway and how it is totally frozen over for about 2 months, on and off, that becomes irrelevant. We have a guy plow it, but the ice forms from the lack of sun and the constant melting and thawing every day.
AWD does help. I once drove home from work in a blizzard, before the driveway had been plowed. I went right through about 13 inches of snow, up the hill... in a sedan, not an SUV.
I spent a few winters on the east coast before coming to Seattle, and quickly learned that it is a mistake to drive even with light snow or ice -- stuff that east coasters scoff at.
East coast roads get plowed, and they spread sand or other stuff on the roads to help your tires grab onto something. Your ability to drive in that kind of weather depends on those roads being treated.
Not realizing that treating the roads made such a big difference, and feeling confident from my experiences of east coast winters, I tried driving after a light snow during my first winter in Seattle and skidded all over the place. Thankfully did not damage my car or anyone else's.
A lot of people dealt with this past year's unusual amount of snow by putting chains on their tires. I think it's not so much an "amnesia" problem as it is that it is very unusual to get that kind of weather, so it's not a skill you work on. And why would you, if it's only like that for at most a day at a time?
Back in the day before AWD, my mom's big Buick station wagon was AWESOME at getting up snow-blocked hills like that!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
Trust me. In Northern California, we'd have a dry summer and the first rain meant tons of accidents on the oily roads.Quote:
Originally Posted by jocelynlf
Here in Bend, same thing when the first snow arrives. It's insane when it's the same weather pattern year after year.
It's best to avoid driving on the first snow days and let everyone bang up each others cars and save yours. And here they don't plow unless the storm drops 4 inches so you can get quite a bit of snow if you get just a few inches every day, day after day. 2 winters ago, we had ridges so deep I was plowing them down with my Isuzu Trooper. Good thing was we were skiing from the driveway!
Surprisingly, it even happens here in Norway where snow-condition driving classes are an obligatory part of driver education (whheeeee! great fun spinning and sliding around on an oil-and-soap-slicked track!). Nevertheless, first day of snow (or supercooled rain that freezes on contact! :eek:) there is always traffic chaos somewhere or other in town; always a driver or two or three who's postponed putting on winter tires until the last minute and then doesn't have time that morning, not to mention long-haul truckers from down on the Continent who don't even own winter tires or chains and who wind up jack-knifed and blocking the freeways here and there. But by day 2 we've got our act together for the rest of the winter ... pretty much ... including stopping long-haul truckers at the borders to check that their vehicles are appropriately "shod" for winter.Quote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
As for AWD, yes, we've got that now and it's great, but some cars do fine without. Some are heavy tanks that plow their way through. Some light-weighters seem to float on top yet keep their grip if the tires are good enough. Our old Renault 4 was a champ at getting through snow drifts, axel-deep Spring thaw mud, whatever. I think it was the independent front suspension and FWD that did it. The car seemed to just elbow its way up out of stuff one front wheel at a time. When we did our slick-conditions driving class, DH and I, even the instructor couldn't get our FWD Opel something (compact stationwagon) to do a front end skid, not even when he picked up speed and snapped on the handbrake, while another family's Mazda stationw was all over the road no matter how they tried to pull out of their skids. Some cars just handle better than others. So as for what car to drive in Seattle ... it might pay to ask the AAA how different models perform on the skid-class tracks.
Hah.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duck on Wheels
Just another simple, sensible thing you have in Europe.... :rolleyes:
In the USA, many road race tracks offer driving schools on off weekends - but "many" is a relative term, since there are few road race tracks at all in the USA - and they are all sponsored. So you drive the track's cars, all the same, and it's not possible to compare different makes and models.
It's the exact opposite in Auckland :rolleyes: For a city that endures days of crappy weather, drivers have no idea how to handle the roads when it rains. Same in Perth...OOO it's raining..what shall we dooooooo :rolleyes:
When Ian was in Edmonton with me, he learnt very quickly how to drive in -30C! He did univ in Christchurch which does get a bit cold but nothing like Edmonton.
I do remember the side street we lived on in Edm & it was rarely plowed. I think i biked back then & would normally have to walk my bike down the street through really big ruts hoping that it hadn't melted much that day. :rolleyes:
How much more can I take?
Stress, I mean. On the one hand, I got 7 of 11 things on my to do list done. I just haven't written down the other 100.
blah. I need a drink.
BTW, this is what I'm doing (click on regional tournaments) ssyb.com
Karen
So, I'm watching TV tonight and I see a commercial for this -
this apparently isn't a joke :eek:
http://www.chiaobama.com/
but, I don't know where else to put it except under "humor" bad humor.
OMGosh!
I hate to admit it, but I'm so glad that Bonnie explained that the second word's origins come from Eulogy - I was completely confused as to what the woman meant.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Karen,
I think everyone can relate to that feeling of never getting even close to the end of one's To Do list. It can be overwhelming.
Treat yourself to a little break, which can make you come back all refreshed and more energetic.
Hope you feel a bit better today.
OMG:eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by TsPoet
Anything that sells...I guess.
Is there like a chiapope?:confused:
No, but there is Cheesus :)
Zen,
Where to you find this stuff????!!!!!!!!!:eek:
That is so funny. Thanks so much, I needed that. I have been having such a stressful and miserable work week that I needed the laugh. I can always count on you Zen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zen
At least I'm good for something :o
6,721 posts and probably two have contained actual useful information :D
I love that. EVERYTHING you post is useful information. :D:D:DQuote:
Originally Posted by Zen
Using treats, photographer Ellen van Deelen trained her pet rats to pose just so:
http://www.dagbladet.no/2009/07/24/m...usikk/7338031/
I wonder if she trained them to actually play the instruments too, and if so, what those miniature instruments sound like :rolleyes:. Yeah, the text is in Norwegian, but just click on the numbers under the top photo to flip your way through the slide show. The last pic is especially cute, and I love the whiskers on the saxophonist :p
Looks like some of those rats were having a hard time resisting chewing on the instruments. :p
And chewing on the lamb and the kitten is just... yuk! (sorry - there's been a story running around the news wires for a couple of days about a baby about 100 miles from me who may lose her foot due to rat and chihuahua bites :( - the parents have been arrested - who was complaining about pitbulls?).
Now, rats chewing on Cheezus would probably get the photographer arrested in many countries. :rolleyes:
Ok, when I hear the name bonnie all I can think of is Pulp Fiction & the Bonnie situation...:o
Zen-i love the links you post & would like to know your secret..
Oh Those Rats Were Hilarious!!!!! I can't read the article (duh) could you tell us more about what it says?
OK, write this down.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycanuck
The secret is...too much free time!
I am a font of useless information.