The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: NHSparky on March 15, 2009, 07:02:10 AM
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30 degrees, on the way to 54!!!
Have lots of seed starter kits in the garage. Also have FOUR new bushes (two blackberry, one raspberry, one blueberry) and a bunch of strawberry plants ready for planting, along with tomatoes, beans, onions, zuchinni, and herbs. Problem is, frosts can hit until late next month and I don't want to do transplanting INSIDE. Probably wait a week or two.
No plans aside from possibly going to Portsmouth and window-shopping for televisions. My downstairs tv (42" LCD) died in January, and the repair guy is coming out next week. (No, it's not under warranty--2 years and 1 month when it died.) Assuming the worst that he 1--can't fix it, 2--costs too much to reasonably fix, I want to know ahead of time what I might pay for what I want. And no, I'm not "upgrading". I'm going cheap this time. I've got all the wall mounting done, all the cables run. I just want a cable-ready television where I can plug in and go, assuming the repairman can't fix mine.
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It's still dark at my house. Darn DST.
46 currently. 68 predicted. Not raining for the first time since Wednesday.
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In the mid 30's right now, with a high in the mid 40's. No sun yet, but I hope to see it later in the day. Rained most of last night. Finally feeling better today, so I'm optimistic.
Might take the girl child out and teach her to drive a standard, :bolt:
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High 50's low 60's today. And sunny.
I am firmly convinced that it is a trick designed to lull us so that the next snow storm snaps pur will and drives us over the edge.
I got about 9 solid hours of sleep and am having some coffee and breakfast before checking out of the hotel here and heading home.
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Might take the girl child out and teach her to drive a standard, :bolt:
Warn us before you take her out, m'kay? Teens and stick shifts after 1980. Never a pretty combination.
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Warn us before you take her out, m'kay? Teens and stick shifts after 1980. Never a pretty combination.
Um, I learned how to drive a stick as a teen, in 1983....
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Um, I learned how to drive a stick as a teen, in 1983....
I learned to operate a manual transmission as a teen. My boss told me get in and drive the (20') bobtail or get lost. I was split-shifting in no time.
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I learned to operate a manual transmission as a teen. My boss told me get in and drive the (20') bobtail or get lost. I was split-shifting in no time.
I also had to learn on the fly as a teen. Working for a body shop in high school, the boss dropped me off to pick up a car from a frame shop. I got in and seen it was a stick! It did die once trying to get out of the tight parking lot...but next thing I knew, I was pulling out onto a busy street with no trouble.
But being a "farm kid" I had already used clutches on tractors and motorcycles, so it came pretty natural once I overcame my initial fear.
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Good Morning, today will be a great day.
I have to help a business owner for a couple hours, might call my mom and ask her if she wants to walk over to the resturant with me for brunch and todays high will be 80.
There are still many law enforcement members from around the world running a relay race through our town, headed to Vegas...that is one bid darn up hill trip....last year the winning team, made it from Baker, CA to Las Vegas, NV on FOOT in 17 hours....I would need 17 days. :rotf: It's great seeing the signs on the follow vehicles seeing where the teams are for. These folks are the best of the best in law enforcement and are all heros to me! :cheersmate: I pray that they all have a safe race.
http://bakervegas.com/
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52 and rainy here.....pretty much what it's been the last 5 days....
Went to 7:30 Mass this morning, IHOP and then Lowe's and we were home by 10:15! Have been catching up on here....and thinking about curling up with a book and reading for a while.....UT's playing in the SEC championship at 1.
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Um, I learned how to drive a stick as a teen, in 1983....
Wow, you must be old. I didn't learn till '85. :-)
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Wow, you must be old. I didn't learn till '85. :-)
:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:
I learned in '77.
I was 24.
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:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:
I learned in '77.
I was 24.
:-)
The good news is that you still look like you are 35. :cheersmate:
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:-)
The good news is that you still look like you are 35. :cheersmate:
that was sooooo smooth!
thank you, sir!!!
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Wow, you must be old. I didn't learn till '85. :-)
I learned just a couple years ago when I bought my dream car :D (but I wasn't a teen ;-) )
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Learned how to drive a stick shift when I got my license at 24.
HOME! :yahoo:
Enjoying my first fresh ground cuppa joe since Friday.
Happiness is. :)
Also I am going to hook up with my best bud tonight and we are (Finally) going to see Watchmen!!!1111
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I learned last month. :p
'nuther fun day at work.
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She did suprisingly well her first time with a stick. I'm fairly impressed. She has a couple issues I need to break her of, but give her a bit more practice time and she should be fine. She is able to get her license a week from Saturday....ack.
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I learned last month. :p
'nuther fun day at work.
:-)
I opened all the windows, fell asleep, and just woke up from a FOUR hour nap!
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:-)
I opened all the windows, fell asleep, and just woke up from a FOUR hour nap!
I woulda done that on my day off yesterday, but I had a bunch of stuff to do. Didn't get to sleep until 4am.
There's always Tuesday.
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I've been practicing a bit with my Mazda 6's manual shift mode. I know its not the same, but I think it will prepare me for the real deal one of these days, if my parents' neighbor finally finds some time off to let me behind the wheel of his Porsche 911(he promised he'd teach me, given how smooth the car shifts, in his opinion... he thinks that might make it easier for me). For now, I'm stuck with a Tiptronic type of transmission.
My trip to Atlanta didn't exactly end well. I was up late last night, watching Zoolander. After the movie ended, I went downstairs, and discovered my mom doing some searching on my stepdad's cellphone. Let me put it this way... he has a lady "friend." He's apparently been cheating on my mom since October of last year. I stayed up with my mom and cried with her for awhile, talking about the past and other topics, wishing my first stepdad was still alive (he was "the one" in her eyes, and mine too, as I considered him my dad more than my real one, and God took him away from us :( ). I had a hard time leaving this morning, and didn't bother to tell my stepdad goodbye. He called out to me, but I refused to answer. f***ing asshole! Sorry, I'll end the rant there for now...
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My trip to Atlanta didn't exactly end well.
I'm sorry. It's an awful feeling when it happens to you. :(
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After the movie ended, I went downstairs, and discovered my mom doing some searching on my stepdad's cellphone. Let me put it this way... he has a lady "friend." He's apparently been cheating on my mom since October of last year. I stayed up with my mom and cried with her for awhile, talking about the past and other topics, wishing my first stepdad was still alive (he was "the one" in her eyes, and mine too, as I considered him my dad more than my real one, and God took him away from us :( ). I had a hard time leaving this morning, and didn't bother to tell my stepdad goodbye. He called out to me, but I refused to answer. f***ing asshole! Sorry, I'll end the rant there for now...
I'm so sorry to hear this.
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Aside from figuring out what gears to pick for your driving style (leadfoot vs. stingy fuel-miser), the hardest part for me is how to take off on a hill without stalling, revving the engine to death, or rolling into the car behind you. I'm getting the hang of it, but I'm scared to death I'm going to get rear-ended.
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Aside from figuring out what gears to pick for your driving style (leadfoot vs. stingy fuel-miser), the hardest part for me is how to take off on a hill without stalling, revving the engine to death, or rolling into the car behind you. I'm getting the hang of it, but I'm scared to death I'm going to get rear-ended.
Ya gotta learn to coordinate the hand brake and the clutch.
When you can feel the car straining , slowly let off the handbrake , while taking your foot off the clutch and giving it more gas.
I've driven one automatic vehicle in all my life, and I didn't like it.
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Ya gotta learn to coordinate the hand brake and the clutch.
When you can feel the car straining , slowly let off the handbrake , while taking your foot off the clutch and giving it more gas.
I've driven one automatic vehicle in all my life, and I didn't like it.
My hand brake doesn't work too well. There are some very steep hills around here.
The pedals are close enough I can press the brake and gas pedals at the same time. You have to roll your foot off one pedal and on to the other while using the clutch to keep the car from rolling back. I've made the mistake of over-revving the engine a few times but if I keep half an eye on the car in front and half an eye on the tach, I'm okay.
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My hand brake doesn't work too well. There are some very steep hills around here.
The pedals are close enough I can press the brake and gas pedals at the same time. You have to roll your foot off one pedal and on to the other while using the clutch to keep the car from rolling back. I've made the mistake of over-revving the engine a few times but if I keep half an eye on the car in front and half an eye on the tach, I'm okay.
Taking off, especially uphill can be a little bit of a trick.
You just have to find that sweet spot between easing off the clutch and giving it gas at the same time...pretty soon you wont even use the break pedal at idle!
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My hand brake doesn't work too well. There are some very steep hills around here.
The pedals are close enough I can press the brake and gas pedals at the same time. You have to roll your foot off one pedal and on to the other while using the clutch to keep the car from rolling back. I've made the mistake of over-revving the engine a few times but if I keep half an eye on the car in front and half an eye on the tach, I'm okay.
I'll admit that I don't enjoy driving on hills. They kind of suck :(
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I try to keep some forward inertia and plan my stops so I'm not stuck on the upside of a hill if I can help it. And I finally got my driver seat adjusted just right. Fits like a glove and I don't slide around in my seat anymore. (http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6623/manual.gif)
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Taking off, especially uphill can be a little bit of a trick.
You just have to find that sweet spot between easing off the clutch and giving it gas at the same time...pretty soon you wont even use the break pedal at idle!
Yeah that's pretty much right...
There's lots of steep hills around here, and by steep I mean 4 wheel drive low ratio, 1st gear close to redline to get up.
The handbrake is what I use...bring the clutch out and the RPM up until you feel it start to push against the brake , then slowly let the brake off while further pulling out the clutch and bringing up the RPM.
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The handbrake is what I use...bring the clutch out and the RPM up until you feel it start to push against the brake , then slowly let the brake off while further pulling out the clutch and bringing up the RPM.
I must need to check mine because it doesn't work worth a damn on more than a 2° slope.
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I'll admit that I don't enjoy driving on hills. They kind of suck :(
What are you driving? :)
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I try to keep some forward inertia and plan my stops so I'm not stuck on the upside of a hill if I can help it. And I finally got my driver seat adjusted just right. Fits like a glove and I don't slide around in my seat anymore. (http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/6623/manual.gif)
When you can maintain position on a hill with only the clutch and accelerator, you'll have mastered driving a manual.
It happens that I stall on really steep hills every now and again, usually because I don't have enough RPM to keep the turbo spinning hard enough to give that boost the engine needs.
I stalled pulling a 16 foot boat on trailer up a pretty much unformed road, It couldn't been been much less than a 45degree incline, handbrake saved me from an expensive ride into the creek 1000 feet below.
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What are you driving? :)
A mini cooper :) I love driving it, but hills still scare me :p
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I must need to check mine because it doesn't work worth a damn on more than a 2° slope.
Be careful, as the cable could be rusty and lock your brakes up...I would make sure it works properly before trying this on the road!!!
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Be careful, as the cable could be rusty and lock your brakes up...I would make sure it works properly before trying this on the road!!!
I rarely use it. I know my brakes need work... new hoses and the parking brake. I don't think that was something that Mel replaced because they feel mushy like my motorcycle does with the original brake lines, even with the new calipers I put on earlier.
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Yeah that's pretty much right...
There's lots of steep hills around here, and by steep I mean 4 wheel drive low ratio, 1st gear close to redline to get up.
The handbrake is what I use...bring the clutch out and the RPM up until you feel it start to push against the brake , then slowly let the brake off while further pulling out the clutch and bringing up the RPM.
Wow, sounds like very steep hills. The last time I used 4WD low was in snow, never up a hill!
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A mini cooper :) I love driving it, but hills still scare me :p
Stick or auto? :popcorn:
Looks like a fun little car, but I don't get to drive many new cars.
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Stick or auto? :popcorn:
Looks like a fun little car, but I don't get to drive many new cars.
Stick, which is why I'm not terrible fond of steep hills ;)
It is very fun to drive. :D
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Wow, sounds like very steep hills. The last time I used 4WD low as in snow, never up a hill!
My brother has a 3-speed Chevy with an under-drive gear and a big rear end. It doesn't like hills if you want to do more than 5mph. The Nissan 5-speed has similar ratios as the Borg-Warner T5 and the 280ZX has a 3.90 differential.
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Stick, which is why I'm not terrible fond of steep hills ;)
It is very fun to drive. :D
They are :-)
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Wow, sounds like very steep hills. The last time I used 4WD low as in snow, never up a hill!
I use 4 low regularly in soft sand , thick deep mud , and on steep hills.
Of course I will note that I do a lot of off-road driving - 20K of 40K km on my odometer was on unsealed roads and back tracks.
All the best fishing, fossicking and hunting grounds are often accessed by roads that are accessed by roads that all but the most enthusiastic adventurer will look at and say "screw this".
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I use 4 low regularly in soft sand , thick deep mud , and on steep hills.
Of course I will note that I do a lot of off-road driving - 20K of 40K km on my odometer was on unsealed roads and back tracks.
All the best fishing, fossicking and hunting grounds are often accessed by roads that are accessed by roads that all but the most enthusiastic adventurer will look at and say "screw this".
Sounds like a great place to live!