Stijn!!

[flipper35]

We are home. 3300 miles, 30mpg average and 63 hours in the car. All according to the trip meter.

Drove home from Rochester NY yesterday.

I noticed we are a nation of really bad drivers. Some are worse drivers with the SuperCruise, Autopilot and what not. Every on ramp the cars would slide over to the right to get to the white line and follow it back into the lane. If it were one car I would blame the driver, but several GM and Tesla vehicles were doing it.

I also noticed that parts of New York and Massachusetts seem to pave over whatever was there and call it good.

[GH85Carrera]

Every time I do a road trip, I wish we had a stricter driver's license process. More like Germany, or some European countries. I see lots of totally clueless drivers every time. Going down one long mountain pass, a Suburban, full of people and luggage, was riding his brakes all the way down the hill. They were literally smoking near the bottom of the pass. I suspect his brake fluid was boiled, and he was of course firmly planted in the left lane.

Unlike your trip, mine was in the very low population areas of the desert and often there was no sign of other cars. My GPS normally has a list of possible gas stations or possible stops for food or restrooms. There were long periods that was just empty, as it was more than an hour to the next sign of civilization. I sure would not want to be out there with the low fuel light on, or in an electric car looking for a place to charge.

I remember when we drove through upstate NY. Like most people, my mental picture of New York is a giant NYC. Upstate has rolling hills and lots of trees, and very little traffic. Still the next town exit was close, and civilization was always close by.

[flipper35]

When we were in SW Texas there were periods of no cell service for 20-30 minutes at a time. We made sure to fill up before traversing that area. The van also has the tow package so better brakes and engine braking algorithm. Will hold lower gears longer in the mountains.

I can somewhat see the advantage of an EV. 500 miles in the van is a long time for a bladder to fill up with coffee on the go. Usually the Miles to Empty reported between 550 and 580 when we filled up. We got hungry before the van did.

Found some good hole in the wall local places, found some not so good. Still don't like lobster, even though it was fresh Maine lobster. Who puts anything but poached eggs on Eggs Benedict?

[Porsche-poor]

Less than two weeks I can inspect your German drivers for myself.

[Porsche-poor]

Morning all. Last night was no fun. This type II crap is for the birds. Something in dinner last night did not agree with me and the Blood sugar was way to high again. Won't be eating that again.

[GH85Carrera]

That sucks David.

We had our first 100 degree day for 2023 yesterday. The average is 11 days per year above 100. In the 1930s during the dust bowl days the records are still intact of the longest streaks of 100+ days and very little rain. I can't imagine how they survived it with no electricity for most people back then, and air conditioning was even more scarce.

[Porsche-poor]

yuck no 100 degree days for me. Looking like Germany might hit 80 and have a few rainy days. Might be a nice vacation for a change.

[GH85Carrera]

I went to see my regular doctor last week to get the stitches out and my regular checkup. He is trying to see how many of his doctor buddies he can keep busy I think. He set up an referral to a cardiologist, and saw it had been 5 years since my colonoscopy, so I get to go do that next month as well. Oh goodie!

At least the colonoscopy is a doctor I have seen in the past, so no new doctor. The cardiologist is a new to me doctor, and a woman. My first ever woman doctor. She looks fairly young, so she will not retire on me at least.

When I was young, I always wanted to go see the grey haired Marcus Welby types. Now that I am a geezer, I prefer the Doogie Howser, age doctors. I hate having to train a new and different doctor all the time.

[GH85Carrera]

Both my Elky and the 911 have flat tappet engines. I use what used to be called Brad Penn oil in both engines. The Elky gets 10-30 and the 911 gets 20-50. My local source is 35 miles away, so a 70 mile trip to get oil. I can order it from Amazon and have it delivered to my door.

I changed the oil on the 911 recurrently and needed more. I ordered a case, and it was charged to my card, then declared undeliverable, and the money was refunded. I click the link that said the money was refunded, and ordered it again. Magically it was delivered the second time, but it cost 4 bucks more for the 12 bottles. I know someone paid the credit card company the fees to charge it, and refund the money, and that was way more than the 4 bucks.

Whatever, I got the refund, and then the oil and a new charge, so I am fine. I just wonder if any human looks at the sale, and realizes how stupid it was to pay the CC card fees three times to get a few extra bucks from the sale, and come out in the hole. It would have been smarter to just sell it at the first price. Not my money, so I don't care.

[Porsche-poor]

Morning all. Yeah you wonder how many companies have practices like this out there.

[Outback Porsche]

Morning,

We’re on our way home from our Malta history lesson and currently at DBX. Just had a surprising moment at the dunny. If you happen to get yourself out of alignment on the dunny seat, the dunny does an auto flush coz it thinks you’re not there anymore. End result is you end up teabaging yourself!

[GH85Carrera]

Jeff, yuck!

[Porsche-poor]

Morning all. That does not sound like a great way to end the vacation.

[GH85Carrera]

We have a regular client that has the same three areas flown each year. This year, they want it photographed on a Saturday, so the parking lots will have the fewest cars. They can count the spaces, and look for damage, and when people look at it, wow, look how much parking they have!

Evidently there is something happening on Sundays as well as the regular work week, so Saturdays are what they want. And of course, tomorrow is the day. I asked when do we get the official "GO" after our bid, and the purchasing department was dragging their feet.

I finally go the PO so it is a go, now just lots of paperwork. I have to fill out some long form because I am going to go onto their property to deliver the prints. Ah well, bureaucracy in action.

[GH85Carrera]

Golly Windows 11 is wonderful!

My computer was acting weird, so I did a restart. It had been weeks since I have rebooted. If came up, but no internet. WFT???

Ok, I open up the "new and improved" network manager, and lo and behold, the computer can't connect with WiFi. Well of course not, I don't use WiFi and the antenna on the computer is not even attached. It also has two different 1 GB network cards with a Cat 6 cable going from the card, right to the router!

It changed which of the two cards I use and tried a different connection. All on its own.

So I killed WiFi, as I ain't gonna use WiFi when I have Cat6 direct to the router. I had to fight with some configurations, and finally I was back on line. What a total pain.

I can't imagine some geek at Microsoft thinking yea, WiFi is what everyone uses, and no one would want to use a much faster Cat6 cable.

I played with the WiFi connection when I first put the system together. It was 1/2 the speed at best of a direct cable. The router is just 6 feet away, why use a radio signal when the electrons can flow faster down a nice copper wire? I tried a bridge connection with the two cards, and it made no improvement at all. So I use just one, and ignore the second one.

[GH85Carrera]

I am all ready to go mow the yard, and we had some crazy heavy dew overnight. It is currently at 78% humidity, so it is not drying up very fast. I will wait another 30 minutes and then go mow regardless. It will be a hot one.

[Porsche-poor]

Morning all. Five more work days till vacation. A vacation which is turning into an uphill battle.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Porsche-poor

Morning all. Five more work days till vacation. A vacation which is turning into an uphill battle.

So like the Griswold's vacations?

[Porsche-poor]

Worse it involves a long flight going East from here.

[flipper35]

Better than a short flight west!