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Go to first message Go back 20 messages Messages 7871 - 7890 out of 8160 Go forward 20 messages Go to most recent message
7871. concerned - 3/4/2012 10:00:11 PM

...used car....

7872. Wombat - 3/4/2012 10:12:59 PM

iiibbb,

Where trucks go, diesel is available. In August, I drove from the DC-area out to southern Indiana and back by way of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York State, and Connecticut. I had no problem finding diesel. I would have thought the used market on VW diesels is nonexistent. My car gets 40-50 mpg highways; 30-40 mpg suburban driving.

7873. iiibbb - 3/4/2012 10:17:41 PM

It's not non-existent, but there are no deals. Although I found an 8-yr old one for $6500 (probably because it's a manual - which I want). I don't quite have that cash yet... we've been struggling with my unemployment and only just getting back on our feet.

7874. thoughtful - 3/5/2012 2:32:02 PM

If you're dealing with snow, it's all wheel drive or nothing, IMO. Even tho it means sacrificing some mileage....you get 0 miles to gallon once a car is totalled.

7875. iiibbb - 3/5/2012 3:37:28 PM

There is a saying in my line of work... AWD just gets you further into the woods before you get stuck.

It can be extended to... it has you driving in conditions you probably shouldn't.

Front Wheel drive with appropriate tires is quite manageable in the snow. My wife is a AWD person and used to say the same thing when we met... then we had a bad ice storm and she got her car stuck high-centering it on an ice berm. I pulled it off with my FWD car.

You can also have all the traction and stopping power in the world, but you car will still be totaled by the moron with bald tires and a RWD truck.

7876. iiibbb - 3/5/2012 3:46:43 PM

This stuff never gets old

7877. thoughtful - 3/5/2012 3:56:20 PM

Well, my experience is the opposite. I used to have a lot of hills between me and work, and more times than not, FW drive cars were stuck on the hills, but my subaru got me past them nicely.

I am not a fan of 4 wd as I lost control once because the wheels grab differently and i was shot back and forth across the road in the truck...another time hubby was going up a hill nicely and suddenly did a 180 in the truck. So I'm much more leery of 4wd.

7878. iiibbb - 3/5/2012 4:31:36 PM

Using your head is still >>> Drivetrain


The modern computer assisted stability control are pretty impressive. We bought a Subaru Forester last year and we had to take it up a muddy field. It did it when several older 4WD couldn't do it.

It just depends.

I put snow tires on my car for the first time this winter and I was amazed at the difference on ice.

7879. Jenerator - 3/8/2012 8:55:27 PM

How many of you are going to be purchasing the iPad3?

7880. arkymalarky - 3/9/2012 12:58:26 AM

I'm a droid girl and Stan's school just got him an ipad2. We got our SIL one for Christmas, so I don't know who's getting one. Are you?

7881. iiibbb - 3/9/2012 5:25:43 AM

no.. agree with kindle ad... I can get a kindle and an android for the price of a ipad.

7882. thoughtful - 3/9/2012 2:00:29 PM

I have an ipad2 and it's fabulous as it is...I think I'll skip a gen or 2 before I reinvest. So often the upgrades do not provide quantum improvements....or at least quantum enough for me to notice....

7883. wabbit - 3/9/2012 9:03:19 PM

My 1979 Subaru Brat was by far the best snow car I've ever owned. Never got stuck, never slid, never went out of control. And that was before Subaru started using the viscous linkage set-up, I had to manually put the car into 4WD.

When I lived in the Catskills and had a Subaru Legacy SW, I got studded tires for the winter months, which make a huge difference on ice. Ice trumps all, 4-wheel drive won't help much.

7884. Jenerator - 3/10/2012 12:01:01 AM

Arky, I might get an iPad3 - we'll see. :-)

7885. arkymalarky - 3/10/2012 12:42:23 AM

Cool! It looks like the screen is amazing.

7886. iiibbb - 3/18/2012 5:03:56 AM

7887. vonKreedon - 4/12/2012 7:02:57 PM

Check out this terrifying infographic. It's a complicated infographic, so it takes a bit of time to grok, but then...



P.S.: I really like the Smithsonian Magazine, so many fascinating articles about all sorts of things.

7888. vonKreedon - 4/12/2012 9:15:53 PM

I sort of hate the idea of adding further complexity to the above infographic, but I would like to see a couple more lines:
- Global renewable energy production
- Global metal recycling

7889. arkymalarky - 4/14/2012 11:09:09 PM

This new satellite internet is fantastic. First good internet we've ever had here. It's as fast as broadband at work. Hope it stays that way.

7890. concerned - 4/16/2012 9:18:04 PM

Re. 7887 -

Interesting graphic, but I suspect its premise is outdated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the economic collapse it predicts is predicated on mankind's using up all of one or more critical available resources by 2030 or something like that, resulting in mass starvation and war.

Well, now we're 40% of the way to 2030 past the farthest extrapolation shown on the graph, and there now is no imminent fear that an economic collapse will be caused in the forseeable future due to an insuperable lack of natural resources.

What looks like more probable causes of economic collapse now, IMO although more localized in scope today (such as with the EC PIIGS) are widespread demographic shifts coupled with increasingly irresponsible governmental spending and social policies. So eventual war is still a possibility; not so much starvation.

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