OT - NO POLITICS A Hazy Shade of Winter

[Alicat]

AJ on Ch. 5 says the storm moves in around 3:30 and the Route 2 area will start as heavy snow.

 

[GordonHowe]

when I first went for my test, I started the car and backed right into a truck

i failed

Thanks for the chuckle. ^

Hey, I failed my test twice.

Driving on the highway makes me very nervous.

After years of living in MA, my MI license lapsed.

In 1999, I went to Drivers Ed. with a bunch of bratty teens in Winthrop, where I lived at the time. Written test, road test. I passed, which was a minor victory for me.

Still don't own a car and for the most part glad of it.

 

[Ladyfan]

Thanks for the chuckle. ^

Hey, I failed my test twice.

Driving on the highway makes me very nervous.

After years of living in MA, my MI license lapsed.

In 1999, I went to Drivers Ed. with a bunch of bratty teens in Winthrop, where I lived at the time. Written test, road test. I passed, which was a minor victory for me.

Still don't own a car and for the most part glad of it.

If you live in a city a car is a huge expense and not having one may make sense. Where I live a car is a necessity.

 

[TD Charlie]

Wrote up a big long, and far too deep post about driving, and my love/hate with it these days. Deleted it. But it was nice to get it out.

Life is fragile.

 

[Bruinaura]

I guess we can give credit for actually having a car. A good portion of the younger generation doesn't even bother getting a driver's license. (Yells at cloud - "Get your license!!!")

My niece is 22. Still doesn't have a license. Even after her grandfather flat out gave her a car.

Boggles my mind. But she has zero ambition about, well.... anything. Doesn't even have a job. Or a high school education or GED. Or even a SSN. Or plans to get any of that. Apparently is planning to live at home with her dad forever and let him support her.

Anyway, I agree.... get your license! You never know what life will bring your way. I know a couple, the husband recently had issues with seizures and state law prohibits him from driving for six months. The wife never had a driver license. They have several kids, none of whom are old enough to drive. Guess what the wife had to do, while trying to take care of husband and kids... go get her license.

 

[Ladyfan]

My niece is 22. Still doesn't have a license. Even after her grandfather flat out gave her a car.

Boggles my mind. But she has zero ambition about, well.... anything. Doesn't even have a job. Or a high school education or GED. Or even a SSN. Or plans to get any of that. Apparently is planning to live at home with her dad forever and let him support her.

Anyway, I agree.... get your license! You never know what life will bring your way. I know a couple, the husband recently had issues with seizures and state law prohibits him from driving for six months. The wife never had a driver license. They have several kids, none of whom are old enough to drive. Guess what the wife had to do, while trying to take care of husband and kids... go get her license.

Yikes. Tell your niece to get off her ass and get a job. Her parents should try tough love.

 

[Bruinaura]

Back in the 1980s my brother went to get his license. The DMV had a course you had to drive through in the back of the parking lot where you had to do a three point turn, parallel park, all that stuff.

My brother did it all flawlessly in my dad's 1978 Plymouth tank. No small feat in that beast lol. The tester was pleased, said okay, just go pull over there and park. He was so excited, he blew through the stop sign at the end of the course and the guy failed him.

Guess what I was very careful not to do when I tested....lol

 

[Bruinaura]

Yikes. Tell your niece to get off her ass and get a job. Her parents should try tough love.

She is well aware of my opinion (and that of several others) on her situation. But her dad will never be the tough love guy. Her mom died in 2016.

Nothing I can do when her situation is being enabled. And she's an adult. But one day the realities of life are going to hit her and it's not going to be pretty.

 

[Ladyfan]

She is well aware of my opinion (and that of several others) on her situation. But her dad will never be the tough love guy. Her mom died in 2016.

Nothing I can do when her situation is being enabled. And she's an adult. But one day the realities of life are going to hit her and it's not going to be pretty.

That is tough. The longer she takes to get into the real world the tougher it will be.

I was lucky with my kid. She works hard. I brought her up to me independent but maybe went overboard.

I will never have to worry about her being able to take care of herself.

 

[McGarnagle]

With the expansion of rideshare services and if full self driving vehicles become functional, I have to wonder if in 10-15 years, teenagers getting their licenses will be the exception rather than the norm. Driver's Ed is expensive, you have to log an absurd amount of hours in practice before getting the license, then a car, insurance, etc. Not to mention that teens are the most dangerous drivers and have more accidents per capita than any other group. It just stands to reason to me that it'll be more affordable and safer for everyone involved if they just take an uber or a FSD Tesla taxi to work or school or the store or wherever they go. Particularly if those services get subsidized a little for public safety and environmental reasons.

 

[Fenway]

It was a much-needed upgrade for riders of the MBTA’s 71 and 73 buses: a bench to rest on at the stop on Mt. Auburn Street near the intersection with Sparks Street.

So why did residents start complaining almost as soon as it was installed late last year?
Because, as it turns out, Cambridge installed the bench backward, directly facing the green hedge on the other side of the sidewalk rather than toward the street and the approaching buses on their way to Belmont or Watertown.

If the bus pulls up to the curb right to where the stop is marked by a pole, riders have to shimmy their way between the back of the bench and the bus to make it to the door.
Oops, said the city.

Cambridge spokesperson Jeremy Warnick says the Cambridge transportation department plans to relocate the bench so that it faces the street with its back near the hedge once there’s a break in winter storms.

 

[McGarnagle]

my main hobby is baking, this year I have made a commitment to learning how to decorate those cakes and improving my comfort level with pastries. No clue why, I always feel intimidated when trying to make my own dough and from what I`ve read online, if you feel intimidated, the finished product will show it.

Thinking of taking a class or two on decorating and pastry making. I love to bake, Mrs. Odaat on the other hand does not, she`s a terrific cook, I look after the desserts

I've been getting into baking lately too. I watched this season on Great British Bakeoff or whatever it's called on Netflix and now I think I can make macarons or whatever.

If I worked from home I'd make bread all the time, but I don't have time to do all the stretch and folds and second proofs and whatever, so it's really just holidays and the occasional weekend when I bake something.

I love cooking though and follow a number of good youtube channels to learn the fundamentals of cooking, including one that did a multi-part series on how to emulate a real New York Pizza at home, which I've tried once and think I could get right with some practice.

 

[GordonHowe]

With the expansion of rideshare services and if full self driving vehicles become functional, I have to wonder if in 10-15 years, teenagers getting their licenses will be the exception rather than the norm. Driver's Ed is expensive, you have to log an absurd amount of hours in practice before getting the license, then a car, insurance, etc. Not to mention that teens are the most dangerous drivers and have more accidents per capita than any other group. It just stands to reason to me that it'll be more affordable and safer for everyone involved if they just take an uber or a FSD Tesla taxi to work or school or the store or wherever they go. Particularly if those services get subsidized a little for public safety and environmental reasons.

Here's a question: Leaving Elon Musk entirely to one side, which is difficult to do, would anyone on this board trust their life to a driverless car?

Not me.

View attachment 799504​

It was a much-needed upgrade for riders of the MBTA’s 71 and 73 buses: a bench to rest on at the stop on Mt. Auburn Street near the intersection with Sparks Street.

So why did residents start complaining almost as soon as it was installed late last year?
Because, as it turns out, Cambridge installed the bench backward, directly facing the green hedge on the other side of the sidewalk rather than toward the street and the approaching buses on their way to Belmont or Watertown.

If the bus pulls up to the curb right to where the stop is marked by a pole, riders have to shimmy their way between the back of the bench and the bus to make it to the door.
Oops, said the city.

Cambridge spokesperson Jeremy Warnick says the Cambridge transportation department plans to relocate the bench so that it faces the street with its back near the hedge once there’s a break in winter storms.

I was going to post this but forgot. That's my bus from Watertown to Cambridge.

 

[jgatie]

Back in the 1980s my brother went to get his license. The DMV had a course you had to drive through in the back of the parking lot where you had to do a three point turn, parallel park, all that stuff.

My brother did it all flawlessly in my dad's 1978 Plymouth tank. No small feat in that beast lol. The tester was pleased, said okay, just go pull over there and park. He was so excited, he blew through the stop sign at the end of the course and the guy failed him.

Guess what I was very careful not to do when I tested....lol

I've told this one before. I took my driver's test at the old RMV barracks in Quincy. My Driver's Ed instructor drove me and 3 other students to the test. She snarkily told us one student flunks per carload, and since I was a notoriously bad student, she predicted it would be me.

When we got to the barracks, I took the wheel, she was in back, and the RMV cop got in the passenger seat. I looked over, and saw he was the father of a kid I'd played hockey with since I was 5. He said "Hi Jeff! Go ahead and pull out." My test consisted of one trip around the block. No parallel park, no highway, no nothing. He had the "Passed" boxes checked before we hit the first turn. The teacher just glared at me the rest of the day.

 

[caz16]

I finally ordered a Turkish lamp, I had been eyeing them for a while. The pictures don't do it justice, the blues are so gorgeous and the patterns it makes on the walls are amazing. It actually came from Turkey, not China....lol It is very relaxing to bask in.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

Tickets to Portugal booked! 4/15 to 4/29. First Two week vacation since getting married.

I usually open a Credit Card to get the bonus when I plan a vacation BUT I have only used travel cards, not airline cards. NEVER AGAIN with the airline cards. I pre-paid my electric bill $2500 to get the 60,000 bonus miles, checked dates when I could get one ticket free. Booked three tickets for the family, went to book my tickets.... f***ing return flight doubled in miles. (Probably from me!) BUT I couldn't just pay the difference, they wanted me to buy miles. I was able to get a small credit but I could have just picked a cheaper flight. I guess I am not the travel hacking master I thought I was! And I wont have an electric bill for a year

 

[smithformeragent]

Invented new swear words while changing the headlight in my wife’s SUV.

Then I went to watch last night’s Bruins game on DVR and the batteries in the remote were dead. Of course we didn’t have any, so I ventured out.

Figured I’d stop for an ice cream while I was out and of course they were closed. I went to turn around and it snowed so much in the 15 minutes that I was out that my car almost went sliding off the road.

Now I’m sitting in the couch, watching last night’s game that I know they’re going to lose, without ice cream.

 

[Morris Wanchuk]

Invented new swear words while changing the headlight in my wife’s SUV.

Then I went to watch last night’s Bruins game on DVR and the batteries in the remote were dead. Of course we didn’t have any, so I ventured out.

Figured I’d stop for an ice cream while I was out and of course they were closed. I went to turn around and it snowed so much in the 15 minutes that I was out that my car almost went sliding off the road.

Now I’m sitting in the couch, watching last night’s game that I know they’re going to lose, without ice cream.

Oh man, changing headlights puts your fingers in this weird configuration that they were they have no strength to do anything. Its like salad fingers changing a lightbulb.

 

[smithformeragent]

Oh man, changing headlights puts your fingers in this weird configuration that they were they have no strength to do anything. Its like salad fingers changing a lightbulb.

Yep and the way it’s designed, you can’t get any leverage on the passenger side because the hood rod ends up directly in the way.

 

[eightspokedb]

AJ on Ch. 5 says the storm moves in around 3:30 and the Route 2 area will start as heavy snow.

The Cave is getting walloped....6-8 inches of wet heavy snow with a lot of wind.....

I will probably hunker down...

 

[Alicat]

The sub pump in the wall of my apartment has been going for the last 3 hours (it’s automatic). No water in the apartment thankfully just flickering power every time it goes off.

Please send a lot of caffeine.

 

[DarrenBanks56]

Yep and the way it’s designed, you can’t get any leverage on the passenger side because the hood rod ends up directly in the way.

thats when i miss my old 03 tacoma. changing everything was so easy

 

[NeelyDan]

I finally ordered a Turkish lamp, I had been eyeing them for a while. The pictures don't do it justice, the blues are so gorgeous and the patterns it makes on the walls are amazing. It actually came from Turkey, not China....lol It is very relaxing to bask in.



View attachment 799554

Where can I find one?

 

[Sheppy]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph we’ve got -53 this morning.

 

[Ladyfan]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph we’ve got -53 this morning.

It is warm enough here (Southern NH) for the foot of snow to start melting.

-53 is too cold for me.