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  • #91
    On-board GPS is a damned useful tool for those of us with little sense of direction and no familiarity with the surrounding area. Particularly the updated ones that feed in live traffic information and tell me exactly which lanes to be in when the road is about to diverge. I like to have printed directions, too, but plans change. Maps are always useful but I can't look at them while I am driving and I don't always trust my navigator.

    My current car has a lot of bells and whistles, but the one I like the best is the back-up camera. Just a hell of a lot easier for me than guessing where exactly the back of the car is.

    Overall, though, I hate driving. Living life in a car is just no fun at all.
    "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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    • #92
      Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
      Overall, though, I hate driving. Living life in a car is just no fun at all.
      I've managed to break free of car dependency. Restrict work to metros, and walk, use bicycle sharing ($75/year) for Mpls and St Paul, and for suburbs, use buses, light rail, commuter rail, and as a last resort and only when needed, use Lyft.

      Even the furthest dispatches in the metro, take the express bus to get as close as possible, then hire a Lyft in the rare event it's needed for just the last hop. Overall, far less expensive than car ownership. There's also plenty of time to read my sci-fi books on the buses and trains.

      If there's only rush hour bus service, in the case of outer suburbs, keep occupied enjoying local amenities and relax until evening rush hour bus service starts. Things to do could be catching a movie at a local theater, read a book by the river in a park having brought a bagged lunch, or check out a local restaurant. Many dispatches, depending on how quickly the work gets done, end up being half a day of work, and half a day of vacation.

      Living as close as possible to the city center is a necessity though. This approach would be completely non-viable with a residence in the suburbs. Minneapolis ain't Rome, but all roads in every direction I need to go lead there.

      I actually had my license suspended by the Commonwealth of Virginia for two years. I'd sold my car in Philadelphia, cancelled my car insurance, went to India, returned to the US, then found out some time later the Virginia DMV had the honest, yet mistaken perception I was 1) still living in Virginia for two years after I'd left and 2) that I'd spent two years driving around Virginia as an uninsured motorist.

      I eventually found myself back in Minneapolis without a car, and decided to just stay car-free.

      I'll eventually get an 80s GM A-Body Sedan and garage it 50 weeks a year in a rural area that is car-friendly, but being forced for all practical purposes go car-free due to a bureaucratic mistake was a blessing in disguise.

      On top of two attempted grand theft autos, cops that didn't care, multiple acts of vandalism, tickets, tows, and the sheer expense of keeping and maintaining a vehicle in the city, having gotten my license suspended by a state I didn't live in, for a car I didn't own anymore, for an offense of which I was deemed guilty until proven innocent (uninsured motorist), was the final straw.

      Honestly though, I feel I'm better off for it. Silver linings and all. I also naturally get a lot more exercise being car-free as well.
      Last edited by Ironduke; 19 Jun 18,, 02:40.
      "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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      • #93
        Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
        When I drive long distance, I memorize the highways and roads I need to drive on, the mile/exit numbers, and so on. I get a full tank of gas, clean the windows, headlights/taillights, all fluids checked, tire pressure checked. Then I go into what I call "Autobahn Mode". Precision driving, relying on memorization from the map, no distractions, no cell phone, no screens, 70s/80s rock on the radio, energy drinks (if needed) and my e-cigarette to keep me alert.

        Same here sans the e-cigarette and the only energy drink is a cup of coffee. I think you also rely on where north, south, east and west are when needed. I'm always surprised by how many can't say where those are when plopped down in the middle of somewhere. Always look back at being a Boy Scout and the one thing I learned to use was a compass and reading it.

        However, I can't go car free. Fortunately my office is 15 miles from home and is usually a 25 minute drive. Weekends I don't drive in the west direction which is the "all roads point to San Francisco" direction. Instead get into one of the old cars and head north east to quite two lane highways for a pleasant drive. Took a nice and surprising test drive last night between 8-9 pm in the 73 Dodge. Got tired of the now finicky early Mopar electronic ignition and made up and rewired the car for a GM HEI ignition. Whoa, now we are talking!
        Last edited by tbm3fan; 18 Jun 18,, 17:31.

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        • #94
          Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
          I think you also rely on where north, south, east and west are when needed.
          Over here we only put city names that a road leads to on the signs - no such fancy thing as cardinal directions. I do have a map along when i do longer trips (within Europe) by car, but realistically never need it except maybe to figure out how to bypass toll roads.

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          • #95
            I see that its a difference in how I "do" trips and some of you.

            I always want to explore off the Interstate stuff and I always want to sample local food.

            We did a straight shot to San Antonio, The trip back was more relaxed. Although I didn't get to go to the USS Texas (roads flooded due to outer bands of Hurricane) There is no way I'm going to be within 100 miles of Austin Tx and not shoot up there for BBQ and listen to some Texas blues. Or ride by New Orleans and not eat some local cajun food. While in San Antonio I found the best hole in the wall Greek restaurant. When we got to P-Cola, I remembered the name of a hobby shop that I wanted to visit. All done with no problem because of the Nav System.

            Or the other day when I had to go to Destin for an Audiologist appt. Found a really good Korean restaurant maybe 5 blocks away

            The Nav System is my second favorite thing. I agree with GVChamp about the backup camera
            Last edited by Gun Grape; 19 Jun 18,, 01:13.

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            • #96
              Exploring is fun, but I prefer to either hike or walk around a city. I'll enjoy scenic driving with my wife occasionally, but I usually have a place to be. Cars are just stressful.

              The big win with my new job is having a 20-25 minute commute. Which apparently is the American average, but is basically living right next to work in Chicagoland. We have some people that commute down from Kenosha in Wisconsin, which is just insane to me.
              "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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              • #97
                One new tech item I find that I vastly prefer over old tech is an electric toothbrush.

                I've got an Oral-B by Braun. I've yet to have any cavities that have breached the dental enamel, and the electric toothbrush is doing a great job in postponing that. It does a much better job than an ordinary toothbrush did.

                I reckon I'll have to get a gold crowns on a couple of my molars in the coming years though. That's one area where I'll skip the new tech (porcelain/ceramic crown) and go for the old tech (gold).

                One recommendation I can make to anyone who has ant problems (the food pest variety) that's old school and costs practically nothing. Don't buy ant traps or insecticide, or even call an exterminator. Make simple syrup (sugar, water) and add in a little Borax. Strategically place them around the house in shallow dishes.

                Most ants will get trapped and drown in it, and the ones who make it back to the nest will feed the poison to all the other ants and the queen. You can get a 100% kill rate with <$1 worth of this solution.

                You can find Borax in the laundry section in a box. It can also be used instead of bleach for laundry, and as far as I know, it's color safe.

                When one buys insecticides, ant traps, and hires an exterminator for ants, like Tom Petty once said, someone's trying to see how much you'll pay for what you used to get for (almost) free.
                Last edited by Ironduke; 19 Jun 18,, 05:28.
                "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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                • #98
                  Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                  I see that its a difference in how I "do" trips and some of you.

                  I always want to explore off the Interstate stuff and I always want to sample local food.
                  If you're slow-poking it and taking your sweet time, I can see where you're coming from.

                  Most of my driving in the last several years has been Point A to Point B type driving. What you're doing in your car though, exploring, taking your time, enjoying the local scene, I also do this in my personal life, sans car.

                  If I don't have anywhere I need to be or anybody to meet, I just randomly do things and go places, whatever I happen to feel like from minute to minute. I never know when I leave the house where I'll end up going, who I'll meet, or what I'll end up doing. Everything I do on my off days is almost always completely unplanned.

                  I also used to do this when I owned a car (sans GPS), and will when I get my Pontiac 6000 back.

                  I actually used to enjoy getting lost if I'm not on a strict schedule. One time I missed my exit when I first moved to the DC area, and drove the entire 495 loop until I eventually came upon the exit I'd missed. The first time I drove into the District, I got lost for four hours and just decided to roll with it and keep driving until I recognized where I needed to go.

                  I probably spent about 100 hours or so driving around the DC area in this fashion, kind of getting lost on purpose and exploring.
                  Last edited by Ironduke; 19 Jun 18,, 03:17.
                  "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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                  • #99
                    Originally posted by Double Edge View Post
                    And then there is this chrome book thing. Everything goes in the cloud, until some enterprising hacker figures a way to get in and compromise everything. Local storage over cloud though granted this is debatable depending on scale. I'm speaking only for the personal level
                    Personally, I do 256-bit full disk encryption on my laptop. Once my hard drive is decrypted and Windows is loaded, all of my personal files are on a 256-bit encrypted partition, so it is 256-bit within 256-bit.

                    I have two personal files on the encrypted partition. A copy of a professional license, and my resume. If somebody hacked my computer, it would be like that time Geraldo Rivera opened up Al Capone's Vaults.

                    Best practice for information security is to not create the information in the first place if possible, and don't keep it any longer than one needs it. All other files that come into existence on my computer are deleted as soon as they no longer serve any purpose. Which usually ranges from minutes to days, at most.
                    Last edited by Ironduke; 19 Jun 18,, 04:48.
                    "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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                    • Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
                      Exploring is fun, but I prefer to either hike or walk around a city. I'll enjoy scenic driving with my wife occasionally, but I usually have a place to be. Cars are just stressful.

                      The big win with my new job is having a 20-25 minute commute. Which apparently is the American average, but is basically living right next to work in Chicagoland. We have some people that commute down from Kenosha in Wisconsin, which is just insane to me.
                      Is that equivalent to the everyday slog people do from the Central Valley, up the Altamont Pass, along US 580 to US 680 or US80 and then finish up in Silicon Valley somewhere? That is a 2 hour drive each way at the moment for many and will only get worse. The genius of tech companies ALL wanting to be in the South Bay region but where there is a huge lack of affordable housing forcing everybody to make that commute.

                      Now Google wants to build an office in downtown San Jose to employ 20,000 people. Already no housing for any of them so Google says it will put some in. Problem is it will barely make a dent in the 20,000 employees and being in the South Bay the prices won't really be affordable. However, city fathers think it is a great idea to bring more jobs to the city. Not that they need them. Obviously what the employees need to endure is of no big concern in regional planning.

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                      • Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
                        Is that equivalent to the everyday slog people do from the Central Valley, up the Altamont Pass, along US 580 to US 680 or US80 and then finish up in Silicon Valley somewhere? That is a 2 hour drive each way at the moment for many and will only get worse. The genius of tech companies ALL wanting to be in the South Bay region but where there is a huge lack of affordable housing forcing everybody to make that commute.

                        Now Google wants to build an office in downtown San Jose to employ 20,000 people. Already no housing for any of them so Google says it will put some in. Problem is it will barely make a dent in the 20,000 employees and being in the South Bay the prices won't really be affordable. However, city fathers think it is a great idea to bring more jobs to the city. Not that they need them. Obviously what the employees need to endure is of no big concern in regional planning.

                        Nope, we're not anywhere near that bad on this front. I'd say most people here have an average commute between 45 minutes and an hour (each way). My commute heading down into the city was about 1.5 hours door-to-door, mostly because I was using the train instead of driving. Driving might save time, but it'd be 10x the frustration.

                        We're pretty good about construction in Chicago, way better than the whole San Jose MSA. $500k budget will get you a nice home in a nice area, no question about it.

                        On the topic of old tech being better than new tech: I do like my reel mower. I have a pretty small lawn, but the reel mower is light as a feather and takes up almost no space in the garage. It can be hung up along with the shovels and the rakes. Plus, it makes no noise and requires virtually no maintenance, and it always, always, always starts!
                        "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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                        • Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
                          Driving might save time, but it'd be 10x the frustration.
                          By public transport i currently need 30 minutes to get to work, door to door for 15 miles, including a 5-minute layover. Going by car i'd be able to beat that only if i was driving in the middle of the night, conveniently forgetting speed limits (and the three fixed radar traps along the route...) and probably running a few red lights. And that's before i've found a parking spot at work. And probably not possible at the moment anyway due to rather major construction works on the highway - replacing a bridge over a railway line, and the 300 trains passing under there have priority in closure plans over the 65,000 cars passing above.

                          90% of people at my work commute in from at most the range where they can exactly be at work in 30 minutes from a nearby public transport stop, regardless whether they use public transport or their car; about one-third live within 15 minutes.

                          Originally posted by GVChamp View Post
                          We're pretty good about construction in Chicago, way better than the whole San Jose MSA. $500k budget will get you a nice home in a nice area, no question about it.
                          A 500k (USD) budget around here gets you a new built 1200-1600 sq ft house within the above 30-min commuting range, although usually in some suburb where you'll need a car for about anything.

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                          • 30 minutes end to end wouldn't work here unless you're within, say, 7 or 8 miles, and both places are right on the transit stop. 30 minutes would cover my walking time. :/

                            We're also pretty heavily decentralized, so for me, going to the city was a 25 mile adventure. A really common commute is Naperville to downtown Chicago, which is 35ish miles. I think that's the most used regional train route in Chicago, actually. For the most part, the highways are faster, especially since posted speed limits are not adhered to (if traffic permits). Parking is painful, though, and expensive.

                            A lot of us just stick to the suburbs, but a lot of companies are moving into the city, so we'll see if that holds. More companies are moving towards Work From Home, which makes a lot more sense than daily commuting to begin with...

                            The other problem that picky upper middle class Americans run into is that living in a prosperous suburb means your kids go to the good public school automatically, whereas living in the city means private schooling or trying to test into one of the good magnets. You pay for this in property taxes, which run something like 2.3-2.5% of your house values (as opposed to 1.8% in the city limits). So couples starting to have kids will frequently move to the suburbs to get into one of the suburban school districts.
                            Last edited by GVChamp; 19 Jun 18,, 17:54.
                            "The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood"-Otto Von Bismarck

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                            • On my last hunt, I nearly strangled the idiot who brought his cell phone instead of a compass because the GPS was better. Gotta give to him though, he learned real fast how to read the trail to get to and from the camp.
                              Chimo

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                              • Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
                                Personally, I do 256-bit full disk encryption on my laptop. Once my hard drive is decrypted and Windows is loaded, all of my personal files are on a 256-bit encrypted partition, so it is 256-bit within 256-bit.

                                I have two personal files on the encrypted partition. A copy of a professional license, and my resume. If somebody hacked my computer, it would be like that time Geraldo Rivera opened up Al Capone's Vaults.

                                Best practice for information security is to not create the information in the first place if possible, and don't keep it any longer than one needs it. All other files that come into existence on my computer are deleted as soon as they no longer serve any purpose. Which usually ranges from minutes to days, at most.
                                What encryption applications do you use? Please PM me if you can't reply here. Free applications I suppose.
                                Politicians are elected to serve...far too many don't see it that way - Albany Rifles! || Loyalty to country always. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it - Mark Twain! || I am a far left millennial!

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