CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: betarhoalphadelta on February 05, 2025, 03:42:41 PM
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Ok so the premise is pretty simple.
We've all heard about technologies or product features that we think "who would ever need THAT?"
And then suddenly you have it, and you think to yourself "how did I ever NOT have this???"
For example:
Rain-sensing windshield wipers: I mean, this is ridiculous, right? I mean, we already had intermittent wipers with multiple interval settings, a constant regular speed wiper setting, and a constant high speed wiper setting. Why would I need my windshield wipers to automatically sense rain... I've got two eyes. They sense rain just fine.
Fast forward to having it... And when you have that sort of intermittent misting sort of precipitation that isn't coming fast enough to even sit on the lowest intermittent setting, you start realizing that is wiping too often and you're getting that annoying wiper blade sound because the windshield is too dry and it's probably wearing out your wipers prematurely. Or you have rain that's very intermittent and you have to constantly swap between the various intermittent settings, always trying to find that *perfect* interval to not let the windshield get too covered in drops but not end up with that annoying wiper blade sound because it's too fast.
Now, I don't even think about it. And I realize how annoying it was to deal with manually, only because now I don't have to.
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Ahhh....the rain sensing wiper. Perfect call on this one.
I could add in a few more car improvements that I wouldn't want to live without now.
Remote start --- may be even better than the wipers. Cold as heck, frost on the window -- no problemo. Start it up from the comfort of your nice, warm home, or workplace.....with no fear of the keys being in it, and someone stealing it. Come out to a toasty vehicle and take off.
Heated steering wheel. Maybe not a big deal for the Yanks, -- they probably all wear gloves. Not us southerners, though. The heated steering wheel....NICE.
Auto headlights. Never worry again about -- Are they on?? -- either at night when they need to be on, or if you've forgotten to turn them off and you're now in for a dead battery.
Back up / 360 camera -- never again worry about running over the kids bicycles, or pulling in too far over the line of a parking spot.
Technically, I don't think I ever thought of these ideas a silly, but just never conceived of them.
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Remote start --- may be even better than the wipers. Cold as heck, frost on the window -- no problemo. Start it up from the comfort of your nice, warm home, or workplace.....with no fear of the keys being in it, and someone stealing it. Come out to a toasty vehicle and take off.
The first vehicle we had this in was a truck we plowed snow with. It was stored near my apartment but mind you that my apartment at the time was a second floor apartment with an outdoor staircase so if I needed to plow it was never wroth it to go start the truck early because I needed boots, gloves, and a heavy coat just to start it and by the time I had all that on I was ready to go.
Once I got remote start, when I needed to plow I woke up at zero-dark-thirty, started the truck in my boxer shorts from the comfort of my apartment, THEN got ready to go out in the snow and by the time I got to the truck it was warm and ready to go.
Heated steering wheel. Maybe not a big deal for the Yanks, -- they probably all wear gloves. Not us southerners, though. The heated steering wheel....NICE.
As a cold-weather Yank, I'm going to disagree. I usually don't wear gloves for just running to/from the car unless it is literally below zero so I almost never have them on and even when I do I don't want them on for driving especially now that we have touchscreens that I can't use with gloves. Honestly, if I had to choose between a heated seat and a heated steering wheel, I'd pick the heated steering wheel without hesitation.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of auto-wipers and auto-headlights. I'm IN the car anyway so they don't save me any time. I don't feel like it is a big deal to reach down and flip the wipers on/off as needed or turn on/off the headlights.
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For me it is Auto GPS.
When my brother graduated from college in 2003 my dad and I went together and spent $400 to buy him one of what were, at the time, VERY new Garmin GPS units. We bought it for him because he was never very good at directions. I was ALWAYS good at directions, Orienteering was one of my major strengths in Boy Scouts, and I always kinda liked paper maps so at the time I thought "I'd never want one of these". Then I traveled with one and oh boy I wouldn't want to travel without one again.
There is one major downside to GPS. When I was first out of Ohio State (so circa 1997-2001) I worked a job where we visited client sites most days. I had no GPS so I looked up the directions in advance and typically printed a MapQuest (or whatever) map to take along. The funny thing is that if you asked me today to drive to one of those client sites, I could still do it because when you are working from a map and you know that you need to turn left on "Main Street" then turn right on "Fifth Avenue", you LEARN where you are.
There are places I have been literally dozens of times with GPS guiding me that I'd still be shaky on getting to without GPS because you don't actually LEARN the directions when you just turn left when the lady inside the box says to turn left and turn right when she says too turn right.
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Yeah, my older sister was terrible with directions, and I've always been extremely good with them. I recall her and her friends when they got their license trying to go to the mall, and they got lost. This, by the way, is the mall that they'd all been to dozens of times, and a car full of teenaged girls were lost. So she called me, her 13 year old brother, from a pay phone, and I asked a few questions, figured out where they were, and gave her directions :57:
I do agree that the GPS does make us lazy sometimes. However I can say that it's always been my goal despite having it to learn the area well enough to get around without it. I always felt good to travel to someplace like Denver, after multiple trips, and visit multiple customer sites and only pull out the cellphone/GPS if I was going somewhere I hadn't previously been.
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Another one, to get us off of cars...
A refrigerator feature that chimes if the door is left open.
I never thought I'd need that...
...and then I had kids!
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More history with GPS.
The absolute best kind of boat to have is a friend's boat, LoL.
Several of my friends had boats and in our 20's we would frequently go to Put-in-Bay (big party all summer in Lake Erie).
We were young so we typically had to work all day on Friday and we didn't have the cash for a marina so we were trailering and frequently launching after dark. That made the trip from Mazurik (public boat ramp) to South Bass Island (Put-in-Bay) a nightmare. There is a shoal off the East end of South Bass so, pre GPS we had to follow roughly the route I traced on the attached screenshot. Basically keep Kelleys to your starboard and go until you are WELL past South Bass then turn to port and head straight in.
The downside was that this was WAY out of our way. We were almost going to Canada, eh! Actually, sometimes we DID go to Canada to get Molson from Peelee Island.
In daylight you just go around or through (there is a small channel) the shoal but at night we couldn't see.
My buddy bought a Marine GPS sometime in the late 90's and I remember going out with him to test it. The directions claimed that it was accurate to 100' but we were astounded to learn that it was WAY more accurate than that. You could literally see which slip you were in, so that is accuracy an order of magnitude greater than the manufacturer claimed.
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Bone-conduction headsets.
I only heard about them a while back, but I kinda did think, "Why?" I have a few pairs of wireless ear buds, what's the point?
Now that I have a pair, it's amazing. I didn't know how useful it would be, not to mention just plain cool, to be able to listen to something that nobody else can hear and so doesn't bother them, all while retaining all the sound of the room around me, so that I don't feel disconnected or cut off from the environment like I do with traditional ear buds.
I keep a pair of both at work. Ear buds for video-calls when I want the ambient noise of co-workers blocked out, and the bone conduction set for if I just want music in the background, or I'm doing training videos or youtube or something but still want to hear if somebody is trying to get my attention or just starts talking to me. I take them to the break room during lunch and entertain myself with podcasts, but I don't have to remove anything from my ears when people walk in and talk to me.
I wonder now how I did without them.
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I hate ear buds, I don't know if I have weird ear holes or what, but they all range from mildly uncomfortable, to painful. Instead I rock the old school Walkman-style headphones. They're available wireless, now.
(https://i.imgur.com/szWea5l.png)
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Another one, to get us off of cars...
A refrigerator feature that chimes if the door is left open.
I never thought I'd need that...
...and then I had kids!
I liked it, but then I realized I'd be happier just not knowing it was open. I'd rather, as my dad would put it, refrigerate the house
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I hate ear buds, I don't know if I have weird ear holes or what, but they all range from mildly uncomfortable, to painful. Instead I rock the old school Walkman-style headphones. They're available wireless, now.
(https://i.imgur.com/szWea5l.png)
weirdly, the only earbuds that work for me are the original ones. they don't make them anymore shaped that way, and the new ones fall out. mine broke, and my wife said she thought she had hers somewhere, and I found them buried in a box of cords. they are my most prized possession now
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I remember reading an article in an actual newspaper that Apple was introducing the iPad. I even joked to my wife that we kept trying to make phones smaller, and somehow they were going to trick people into buying a phone that was bigger
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Back to cars again. You won’t find someone who enjoys the art of driving and having a performance car more than me.
But yesterday I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to and from Orlando for business in moderately heavy traffic. My AMG has self driving feature. it’s awesome. Just set the cruise and sit back and relax it’s very polite too. It does not tailgate or cut off drivers or speed or anything. it asks you to touch the steering wheel every three or four minutes to make sure you’re awake but other than that, and turning the turn signal, if you want to change lanes, it’s fun as hell
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For me it is Auto GPS.
When my brother graduated from college in 2003 my dad and I went together and spent $400 to buy him one of what were, at the time, VERY new Garmin GPS units. We bought it for him because he was never very good at directions. I was ALWAYS good at directions, Orienteering was one of my major strengths in Boy Scouts, and I always kinda liked paper maps so at the time I thought "I'd never want one of these". Then I traveled with one and oh boy I wouldn't want to travel without one again.
This,I've went up to Ontario/Quebec on fishing trips over 20X and never got lost.But then after using stand-alone car GPS navigators,yup - with up to date reports on accidents/weather/alternative routes features that's definately helpful
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Back to cars again. You won’t find someone who enjoys the art of driving and having a performance car more than me.
But yesterday I had to drive 2 1/2 hours to and from Orlando for business in moderately heavy traffic. My AMG has self driving feature. it’s awesome. Just set the cruise and sit back and relax it’s very polite too. It does not tailgate or cut off drivers or speed or anything. it asks you to touch the steering wheel every three or four minutes to make sure you’re awake but other than that, and turning the turn signal, if you want to change lanes, it’s fun as hell
Wonder if this on board technology can be hacked or the possibility of it breaking down. Since one can't sue the components that a driver uses in the event of a serious accident they come after you. That opens up a whole other can of worms, but the idea is good maybe even practical sure as hell would take some getting use to though. Or maybe even replacing the thrill itself
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(https://i.imgur.com/debV8Fv.png)
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Ditto on heated steering wheel.
Heated seats are good too, but nothing beats cooler seats. Especially here in the south, after you’ve been out and about on a 95 degree day. It really cuts down on what I call swamp butt.
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Backup cam and phone GPS.
Also wireless earbuds.
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Bone-conduction headsets.
I only heard about them a while back, but I kinda did think, "Why?" I have a few pairs of wireless ear buds, what's the point?
Now that I have a pair, it's amazing. I didn't know how useful it would be, not to mention just plain cool, to be able to listen to something that nobody else can hear and so doesn't bother them, all while retaining all the sound of the room around me, so that I don't feel disconnected or cut off from the environment like I do with traditional ear buds.
I keep a pair of both at work. Ear buds for video-calls when I want the ambient noise of co-workers blocked out, and the bone conduction set for if I just want music in the background, or I'm doing training videos or youtube or something but still want to hear if somebody is trying to get my attention or just starts talking to me. I take them to the break room during lunch and entertain myself with podcasts, but I don't have to remove anything from my ears when people walk in and talk to me.
I wonder now how I did without them.
I want to try those!
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We've all heard about technologies or product features that we think "who would ever need THAT?"
And then suddenly you have it, and you think to yourself "how did I ever NOT have this???"
In keeping with cars, it's simple enough technology, but upgrading to a new Mazda in 2018 included a built-in back up warning system that beeps before I have the chance to back into a pedestrian or vehicle passing behind. The best is the wide-view camera at license plate level. Without having to contort around, I get a much better visual of what's going on before backing up, which is ironic given the warning at the bottom of the screen - Please check surroundings for safety. Not only is my awareness improved, but I have a lot easier time parking both in terms of aligning my car between the parking lines but also in seeing how close I can reasonably back up against a wall or adjacent car along the curb.
(https://i.imgur.com/FrS82Hb.png)
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In keeping with cars, it's simple enough technology, but upgrading to a new Mazda in 2018 included a built-in back up warning system that beeps before I have the chance to back into a pedestrian or vehicle passing behind. The best is the wide-view camera at license plate level. Without having to contort around, I get a much better visual of what's going on before backing up, which is ironic given the warning at the bottom of the screen - Please check surroundings for safety. Not only is my awareness improved, but I have a lot easier time parking both in terms of aligning my car between the parking lines but also in seeing how close I can reasonably back up against a wall or adjacent car along the curb.
(https://i.imgur.com/FrS82Hb.png)
It is great.
One issue -- I've had the displeasure of renting a car fairly recently that had no back up camera. Guess what? I'd damn near forgotten how to survive without it. I had to open a outdated folder deep in the recesses of my brain to get'er done. I didn't realize how dependent I had become on the camera.
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It is great.
One issue -- I've had the displeasure of renting a car fairly recently that had no back up camera. Guess what? I'd damn near forgotten how to survive without it. I had to open a outdated folder deep in the recesses of my brain to get'er done. I didn't realize how dependent I had become on the camera.
Interesting. My car has the camera and the alarms as well, and in the nine years I've had it I have never really used it.
The lane assist is interesting. When I move lanes, the steering wheel vibrates like I'm on a rumble strip. This doesn't happen if you use a turn signal. An alarm goes off if there is a car near you too.
The first time I drove down here from Chicago, I was apparently tired. An alarm went off and the dash message told me to take a break. Must be looking at my eyes, I guess. So, we stopped and had a Big Mac and coffee.
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Interesting. My car has the camera and the alarms as well, and in the nine years I've had it I have never really used it.
The lane assist is interesting. When I move lanes, the steering wheel vibrates like I'm on a rumble strip. This doesn't happen if you use a turn signal. An alarm goes off if there is a car near you too.
The first time I drove down here from Chicago, I was apparently tired. An alarm went off and the dash message told me to take a break. Must be looking at my eyes, I guess. So, we stopped and had a Big Mac and coffee.
Yeah, my wife's car does all that crap. It'll tell you to take a break 5 minutes into takeoff. LOL
The one feature I cannot stand is the auto brake sensor ??? Crash detector ??? whatever it is called.
When we first got it, I was buzzing down the road at 45 mph, and a car in front of me put on their blinker for a right turn onto a side street. I start braking, anticipating the turn -- then going to get back on the gas -- because I possess hand eye coordination. Well, my damn car slams on the brakes for me, damn near giving me whiplash, and a heart attack, and pissing me off royally. I was able to adjust the distance setting, and it happens less frequently now.
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The auto brake can be annoying for sure. But down here I wish everyone had it because the drivers suck, in general.
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I want to try those!
I have to say, if you're using them to listen to music, and you're an audiophile like I am, they aren't the best. The technology hasn't yet figured out how to do low-end to my liking, and thus I find the bass range a little lacking.
However, there are many situations in which listening to music that isn't EQ'd to my perfect liking is still fine and much better than no music at all. And they're great for podcasts, videos, even Zoom/Teams calls, etc.
I have the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2, I think is what they're called, and I'm really happy with them.
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Interesting. My car has the camera and the alarms as well, and in the nine years I've had it I have never really used it.
The lane assist is interesting. When I move lanes, the steering wheel vibrates like I'm on a rumble strip. This doesn't happen if you use a turn signal. An alarm goes off if there is a car near you too.
The first time I drove down here from Chicago, I was apparently tired. An alarm went off and the dash message told me to take a break. Must be looking at my eyes, I guess. So, we stopped and had a Big Mac and coffee.
This is why my friend's car and I don't get along. All the alerts and shit while I'm driving quickly and efficiently. The vehicle acts like I'm a nutjob, but I'm not. I swear.
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The first time I drove down here from Chicago, I was apparently tired. An alarm went off and the dash message told me to take a break. Must be looking at my eyes, I guess. So, we stopped and had a Big Mac and coffee.
It's based on time spent without turning the car off.
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the rental Kia Sorento freaked out WAY too much driving in San Fran
I didn't take the time to see if I could disable that crap
I was thinkin for buyin a new pickup but if all that crap is standard for safety, I'll just drive my 2015
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It's based on time spent without turning the car off.
re-dickerous
the stoopid Kia had that
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Pay at the pump, duh.
No more dealing with lottery and cigarette people.
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Pay at the pump, duh.
No more dealing with lottery and cigarette people.
The only downside is that we actually pay more for gas because of it.
In the old days gas stations usually priced their actual gas to break even or sometimes even lose at little money on the CC transactions. They did this because the fuel was what is known in retail as a "loss leader". They could lose a little money on the fuel because it got customers in the door and then a lot of those customers would buy VERY high profit-margin items at checkout.
Today gas stations know that the vast majority of their customers are going to pay with a card at the pump and never set foot in the store so they price their gas to make money even after paying the CC fees.
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It's based on time spent without turning the car off.
I don't think so. I've had it happen after 20 minutes.
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Today gas stations know that the vast majority of their customers are going to pay with a card at the pump and never set foot in the store so they price their gas to make money even after paying the CC fees.
what do you consider "vast"
I usually don't go in, unless I use the restroom but, I feel I'm in the minority
back in the very early 80's I worked as a pump jockey on the drive
I pumped gas and took money
Folks didn't even have to get outta the vehicle
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what do you consider "vast"
I usually don't go in, unless I use the restroom but, I feel I'm in the minority
back in the very early 80's I worked as a pump jockey on the drive
I pumped gas and took money
Folks didn't even have to get outta the vehicle
(https://i.imgur.com/ajzTq17.jpeg)
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yup, I checked oil, washed windshields, added wiper fluid, put air in tires
even run to the counter to retrieve cigarettes or a candy bar
once in a great while I'd get a 25 cent or 50 cent tip
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I had no idea you grew up in Mayberry.
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perfect living
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what do you consider "vast"
I usually don't go in, unless I use the restroom but, I feel I'm in the minority
back in the very early 80's I worked as a pump jockey on the drive
I pumped gas and took money
Folks didn't even have to get outta the vehicle
About 95%. Fairly vast.
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I'm surprised
maybe rural Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota is different than national
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I'm surprised
maybe rural Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota is different than national
It's sure different than Memphis. I have a personal carry at the ready at every stop for gas.
And, I damn sure ain't going in.
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can't imagine living like that
I can imagine moving away from that type of shithole
of course, I imagine moving away from this winter weather - and don't git'R done
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I don't think so. I've had it happen after 20 minutes.
Maybe it thought that you were on a road like this.
(https://thetravelbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/most-dangeours-roads-in-world-sichuan-tibet-highway-1160x771.jpg)
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can't imagine living like that
I can imagine moving away from that type of shithole
of course, I imagine moving away from this winter weather - and don't git'R done
It's much easier to get up and go BEFORE you lay down any roots. My roots were laid before Memphis turned into the crime riddled dump that is has become. It had it's charms in the 80's and 90's. Now I live about 30 minutes north of Memphis in a bordering county.
My sons were smart enough to get gone, and moved to Salt Lake City, at 23, and 18.
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It's much easier to get up and go BEFORE you lay down any roots. My roots were laid before Memphis turned into the crime riddled dump that is has become. It had it's charms in the 80's and 90's. Now I live about 30 minutes north of Memphis in a bordering county.
My mom lives in on the east side of Memphis, in Bartlett. Seems like a pretty nice area when I visit. There are parts of Memphis I've been through that I was glad to be going through, and not to.
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My mom lives in on the east side of Memphis, in Bartlett. Seems like a pretty nice area when I visit. There are parts of Memphis I've been through that I was glad to be going through, and not to.
I am a Bartlett High graduate. Just moved from Bartlett 4 years ago to my new home in Atoka -- Tipton County.
Small world.
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Is downtown Memphis a no-go?
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Is downtown Memphis a no-go?
Pretty much. You have to picks your spots.
I have done it all over the years, so I no longer go. It's not worth the risk to me.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/dozens-gathered-marching-down-beale-street-to-stop-violence-in-memphis/article_231f86fc-46f3-11ef-be97-43e790e18bc4.html
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My wife long before we met did a trip to TN with two of her girlfriends. One portion was Memphis (Graceland, Beale St and the whole bit obv). They ended up going to a BBQ joint that was just across the railroad tracks, and they immediately sorta realized they'd found "the wrong side of the tracks".
A bunch of late 20s [maybe early 30s?] lily white girls from California.
But they were fine. They're from Long Beach, CA. I think it was the people in Memphis that were worried :57:
(Not true obviously. They ate their BBQ and then headed straight back to where the hotel was. They know what side of Long Beach you don't go to after dark, and immediately realized this was that part of Memphis.)
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Maybe it thought that you were on a road like this.
[img width=500 height=331.989]https://thetravelbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/most-dangeours-roads-in-world-sichuan-tibet-highway-1160x771.jpg[/img]
Bear tooth highway?
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My wife long before we met did a trip to TN with two of her girlfriends. One portion was Memphis (Graceland, Beale St and the whole bit obv). They ended up going to a BBQ joint that was just across the railroad tracks, and they immediately sorta realized they'd found "the wrong side of the tracks".
A bunch of late 20s [maybe early 30s?] lily white girls from California.
But they were fine. They're from Long Beach, CA. I think it was the people in Memphis that were worried :57:
(Not true obviously. They ate their BBQ and then headed straight back to where the hotel was. They know what side of Long Beach you don't go to after dark, and immediately realized this was that part of Memphis.)
BBQ is probably better on that side of the tracks, tbh.
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BBQ is probably better on that side of the tracks, tbh.
It surely is.
I always say that if you are going for BBQ and you are greeted by a Maitre D', you are in the wrong place. If they are cooking it out front on rusty barrels that look like they were reclaimed 50 years ago, that will be good BBQ.
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The Hyundai has a switch that holds the car at a light without holding the brake. I find it remarkably convenient. I'd like it turned on all the time, but can't apparently.
I once eschewed power windows and seats and automatic transmissions and "all wheel drive" and fancy radio thingees and auto dimming lights and whatever else, now I have them. I did like power steering and brakes.
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Good BBQ pits should be made from all new cold rolled steel, not pipe or barrels. Those burn out/rust out fast.
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the Kia rental would shut off at stoplights
sometimes.........
it was random, I didn't care for it.
certainly didn't shut off when put into "park" which would seem more appropriate .
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The M-B has an "ECO" button on it. I shut it off when I start the car. The most violent thing you can do to any engine is start it.
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Ours turns off when I stop, but it's imperceptible then and when it restarts. I would barely know it happened unless I listened carefully or looked at the EV light on the dash. It's quite well done. I wish I could learn more about how that drive train is integrated.
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The Cadillac had vented seats which didn't do much, I thought, but my wife wanted it in our new car, so it has it, and surprisngly to me, it does a nice job when it's warmish. The steering wheel warmer is a thing I wish I had in Cincy but didn't until 2005.
I was fascinated with CDs when they came out, now they are nearly obsolete. Some folks have gone back to vinyl.
I was given Netflix for Christmas and rewatched better call saul, but haven't found anything else that I watch past 46 minutes.
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I could use a steering wheel warmer this week