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Two of my favorite things (Early Intel Mac edition).
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Chuckle, LOL. 😀
Yes, there are buses. All of us have payment cards for the bus, although my kids are now using it the most. But, at least in this particular area, the routes do not run north/south and south/north. They only run east/west and west/east (depending on if you are on the north or south side of the street).
We live between two major E/W, W/E streets. Starbucks is on the street to the south of us. And since the buses don't run that direction it's either walk, ride a bike or call an Uber.
I'm not calling an Uber for what is essentially a five minute trip there by car, and then a five minute trip back. I'll walk. The grocery store and the pharmacy are all in the same area that SB is.
I do have a bike and at some point I'll start using that. But yeah, Phoenix (like almost every other major American city) is car-centric. The East Valley has light rail. But I live in the far West Valley. And it's the East Valley that gets all the good stuff, not us poor step-children in the WV! 😀
TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
Fair enough. I should've asked whether there's a limited bus service. 😀
The image came to mind of you in a secluded location with no bus service and forced to walk for a good distance to reach places because I've been in that situation whilst living in the Caribbean and seeing as I can't drive, it's a major reason why I don't spend more time out there because it's a serious hindrance to getting around, so that's something that I'll have to address.
Walking is always good exercise - so too is cycling. Do you think that you'll maintain both after the car issue is resolved?
If we hadn't moved out here 25+ years ago, it would be likely that we'd be fairly screwed right now. The area we used to live in in California has expanded and a lot of stuff has come in. But in California, you drive for work - unless maybe if you live in Los Angeles or the Valley there. And in that area where we lived, we would have been stuck because the larger communities with the jobs and major businesses were 25-50 minutes away in either direction. Basically, it was rural when I grew up there, and it's just a small town now with limited transportation if you do not own a car.
Fortunately, we live here. And being within walking distance of things was ONE of the reasons we moved here. And for the last 25+ years, everything has just expanded. Our house was built in 2007. It wasn't built yet when we moved here in 2000. There was a field next to our community when we moved in. A couple years later a developer dropped in small rental units into that field. It's an entirely separate community of it's own. So, I'm totally grateful that the area is expanding. Just wish the city government would fund certain projects it currently seems to have no interest in. But then, we don't live downtown either - where the city council actually meets.
I'm not seeing the car issue being resolved any time soon, and we seem to be doing okay without it. But if someone gave me a car tomorrow, I'm pretty sure walking and riding would probably go back to where they were before this.
Leo14671
macrumors member
I really want a silver 30" apple cinima display. Steady on the hunt to hopefully find a nice one locally. I just love the silver bezels thats why the early 2008 MacBook Pro is my favorite with the silver keyboard.
This should be updated I guess…
First, (you guessed it) Venti Flat White and Mac…
Second…the update.
So, I get a call in November from my boss. He wants me back at work because what I'm going to be doing is changing. There is a raise involved but the problem is that I have no car.
A deal is made, money is advanced and now we have a car.. We've paid about half of it back in cash and there will (eventually I guess) be deductions out of my paycheck. So far, that hasn't happened yet.
Anyway…2009 Ford Flex, about 172K miles when we bought it. V6. It's got issues, but it goes forward and it goes back and it handles the freeways just fine.
Since we got it, I've had one blowout on the freeway (bad tire). Both rear tires were bad, they got replaced. Fortunately there was no rim damage. A week later, I'm on my way to pick up my wife and the oil light on the engine comes on. I get it to Walmart and start dropping in oil. Then I notice that the oil is coming right out as fast as I pour it in!
By this time, I've re-established our AAA membership so I get a tow home, then follow up in the morning with a tow to a garage. They replace the oil filter and put 6qts of oil back in the engine.
Turns out that whomever had the car before used an oil filter for a Kia on this car. It's a FORD! They didn't even get the make right. So what happened is that the filter eventually just blew out and all the engine oil came out!
No engine damage. I cannot imagine what COULD have happened if this had been on the freeway at 70mph!
PS. The red car behind the Flex is the Sentra with the bad transmission.
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Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
Man that is a blessing, Erik. I am very happy your car didn't get totaled because of a garage error - nice looking ride btw. I've always thought the ford flex had a pleasing line/design to them. AAA is an awesome service. Tows by themselves can be hundreds of dollars on their own.
When I had the tire blowout it was 6:30am. I was fortunate enough to take refuge in the parking lot of a specialty hospital. I was also fortunate I'd been paid that day because the AAA membership had lapsed 6 months prior. I paid it, but as it turns out they require you to wait 48 hours before using it. So I called. I got charged an additional amount, but they sent a truck.
So, by the time the oil filter incident happened I'd already had the service back for a week. I suspect it was someone who did their own oil change and not a shop, but I have no idea. At this point we've had the car for almost two months so not really positive on the history.
We got it from a guy who flips cars, a friend of an Uber driver who'd given my wife his number. From the paperwork that they seemed to have missed taking out of the car it seems it was originally sold in Chicago. It's the SE model, but it had Remote Start installed at some point. Eventually, I'll have to track down a remote for it.
The main problem is that it needs new cats and O2 sensors. Not as expensive as $8k for a new transmission on the Sentra, but still plenty expensive. It needs some other superficial parts replaced (tailights, fascia, headrests, a new center console lid, etc) and I need to get the TPMS system fixed too. I am also told (by a garage that inspected it) that all the motor mounts are blown. Not sure how true that is, but that's going to be an expense too if true.
Lastly, because of where it came from it's got rust. Not bad, but will eventually need to be addressed.
I can't complain. Like I said, it goes forwards and backwards and handles the freeways fine. The cats are the priority though, when the money comes for that.
But it IS a cool car. I've always wanted one. It drives real nice and having a V6 is very cool.
PS. We have AAA Premier. Once…long ago we got stuck at Chiriaco Summit halfway between Blythe and Indio. My parents were able to get the car towed from there to their house because they had AAA Premier. About a 78 mile tow.
Premier used to cover a 300 mile tow. It's 400 miles now, but split into two types. 1x200mi tow once a year and 2x100mi tows. At the time I originally got it (2009) there were regular trips between my house and my parents house and the distance between the two is roughly 400 miles. So, a safety net. I know I can pretty much get the car (and us) home since we don't really go anywhere.
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TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
I like your new car! 😀
A very cool car.
The Ford Flex (to my knowledge) isn't available in the UK so I've never seen it on our roads but it bears an uncanny resemblance to older models of the Range Rover vehicles.
Thank goodness that you had a lucky break with the filter issue!
I hope that you have many years of happy motoring ahead with the Flex. 🙂
Thanks!
My wife likes and has always liked Volvos, particularly the station wagons (er, estate wagon or shooting brake to you 🙂 ) and as it turns out the Flex was designed by a Volvo designer when Ford owned Volvo.
Having been a passenger in three of my parents old Volvos as a kid, I'm not so much a fan of Volvos. But I do like the stying on the Flex.
Hey Eyoungren,
You know what I found recently is that for some reason I seem to find great coffee bean deals at Safeway. I don’t know why, but I very often find heavy discounts, buy 1 get 1 free deals, or close outs really cheap. It just seems like a great place to check out coffee prices, at least here in Washington State. Maybe where you live as well? 🤷
☕️
You know what I found recently is that for some reason I seem to find great coffee bean deals at Safeway. I don’t know why, but I very often find heavy discounts, buy 1 get 1 free deals, or close outs really cheap. It just seems like a great place to check out coffee prices, at least here in Washington State. Maybe where you live as well? 🤷
☕️
I have reason to be at Albertsons from time to time and Albertsons and Safeway are the same company. So, usually when I'm there I'll check out what they have for coffee. I've had a Safeway customer card since 2000 (its on my phone) and that's honored at all Albertson's. If there is a deal and I need coffee I'll get it.
Bashas' (a local grocer) used to have Wide Awake coffee, which is the stuff I use for my wife's coffee on days that she works. But they stopped carrying it. Fortunately Amazon came to the rescue. I also check Bashas' whenever I'm there.
Also, I think by now you can just call me Erik. That's the 'E' in eyoungren. 😉
☕️
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This morning (what's left of it), Echoes of the End (Enhanced Edition, Platinum) playthrough (not me, it's a YT video of someone else who played the game), web browsing and Ice Pilots on the TV.
Coffee is Amazon's brand, Solimo - Dark Roast. These are K-Cups and the coffee is pretty good. We discovered them when the old car broke and we started to rely on Amazon for grocery delivery. You can get a 24-count pack for under $12.
Coffee is Amazon's brand, Solimo - Dark Roast. These are K-Cups and the coffee is pretty good. We discovered them when the old car broke and we started to rely on Amazon for grocery delivery. You can get a 24-count pack for under $12.
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This one is a little different…
I have always liked the Twilight Zone, since I was a little kid. Therein was a concept that I also discovered with the Blair Witch Project movie.
About a week ago, I was able to put a name to that feeling: Liminal space.
Liminal space apparently got a big boost around COVID. Which is when the Backrooms blew up. The Backrooms are a liminal space that exists outside of reality, like taking a wrong turn and ending up in the Twilight Zone.
Above is the picture that started the whole Backrooms thing. There will be a movie about the Backrooms released this month.
The original, below, was posted online some time in the early 00s.
You can visit actually, although the actual 'room' in the photo no longer exists. It's an RC car racetrack now. John's Hobbies at 807 Oregon St in Oshkosh WI.
Photo comes from a set on a CD that internet sleuths found and recovered.
So, liminal spaces (like the Backrooms) and my 2009 Mac Pro - two things I love. 😀
I have always liked the Twilight Zone, since I was a little kid. Therein was a concept that I also discovered with the Blair Witch Project movie.
About a week ago, I was able to put a name to that feeling: Liminal space.
Liminal space apparently got a big boost around COVID. Which is when the Backrooms blew up. The Backrooms are a liminal space that exists outside of reality, like taking a wrong turn and ending up in the Twilight Zone.
Above is the picture that started the whole Backrooms thing. There will be a movie about the Backrooms released this month.
The original, below, was posted online some time in the early 00s.
You can visit actually, although the actual 'room' in the photo no longer exists. It's an RC car racetrack now. John's Hobbies at 807 Oregon St in Oshkosh WI.
Photo comes from a set on a CD that internet sleuths found and recovered.
So, liminal spaces (like the Backrooms) and my 2009 Mac Pro - two things I love. 😀
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So…new to me chair. Someone down the street threw this out. I can only assume it's because of the tears, because it's otherwise comfortable and fully functional. And most importantly, it doesn't lean!
And here's the kicker about this chair…
I cannot imagine what this chair might have cost new.
Replaces the leaning tower of Pisa that was my old chair.
And here's the kicker about this chair…
I cannot imagine what this chair might have cost new.
Replaces the leaning tower of Pisa that was my old chair.
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
A leaning chair? Not a problem--just lean your body in the opposite direction when sitting! LOL
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
I'd guess the tears were the reason, too. Or maybe just one of those "I want someting new" or "this doesn't fit what I want now." Or...
No matter. The important thing is that you got a good find!
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
I (finally) got around to digging out an espresso machine I've had collecting dust. It's some old Krups. I'm not sure how good it was, new--I got it used--but it's good enough to use a pump. I have in deep storage another Krups that my mother had that was entry point, with only a boiler to generate pressure. I had another Krups that was between the two. I can't remember this for sure, so I might be wrong, but I think it had a pump, but only for one function (probably espresso, but not frothing?). As I say, I can't remember...it's been a long time since I used that.
The machine I got out needed some cleaning. One piece is missing (part of the drip tray--I hope the missing part turns up, but if it doesn't, I can improvise). More annoying is that the lid for the water compartment hinge is broken on one side.
Otherwise, it seems to be OK. I'm not sure how much I'll use it. I did a trial run, and it does remind me that this is not the most convenient way to make coffee... I was happy to find that soy milk seems to froth up OK. (I've gone dairy free since the last time I used this or any other espresso machine.)
My mother used her machine occasionally--a weekend evening treat and the like. I probably would do the same.
The machine I got out needed some cleaning. One piece is missing (part of the drip tray--I hope the missing part turns up, but if it doesn't, I can improvise). More annoying is that the lid for the water compartment hinge is broken on one side.
Otherwise, it seems to be OK. I'm not sure how much I'll use it. I did a trial run, and it does remind me that this is not the most convenient way to make coffee... I was happy to find that soy milk seems to froth up OK. (I've gone dairy free since the last time I used this or any other espresso machine.)
My mother used her machine occasionally--a weekend evening treat and the like. I probably would do the same.
My wife introduced me to coffee in the mid-90s. At the time, I had no clue that there was anything beyond the decaf Sanka my dad used to drink. She had a Krups too, one of those small boxes with the milk frother extender. For about ten years you could find the same type in almost every Goodwill in America. Anyway, it didn't work very well. She said there was some sort of problem with it.
We bought another to try again years later and that's pretty much when I began to appreciate baristas and their skill. An awful lot is involved just to get the machine to generate a few ounces of 'espresso' and froth the milk. And the cleanup is frustrating.
Well, it's not the mid-90s, early 00s or mid-00s anymore (we're well beyond that now) and there are lots of brands that can practically do it all for you, make it simple, and reduce the workload. But of course, for all that you gotta pay. They don't come cheap.
Which is why I'm still dropping in at Starbucks, LOL. People complain about the high cost of an espresso based drink, but you know - I've never been trained on how to make a Flat White. And I don't have the equipment because it cost $$$. I sure wouldn't pay the price I pay for a Flat White if I was the one making it!
Just my (long) comment on all that. Hope your machine works and you get some great coffee from it!
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
That was probably what my mother had. My mother's dated to the early 1990s (bought new).
Today's hot kitchen item, tomorrow's Goodwill find!
I don't think I ever used my mother's, but I know she was happy. It was a step up past another cheap espresso machine with frothing milk. In fact, that was the reason she bought the Krups.
At some point, I'd like to dig that machine out and try it...
Her Krups had unusual attachment--the steam tube had a black rubber thing at the end, with a second tube coming out. Supposedly, this helped with frothing. I'm guessing air would get sucked in that second tube, and somehow it delievered better frothing than you could otherwise get from a cheap boiler machine.
Indeed. I've sort of missed the idea of espresso drinks, but I can understand why I didn't use the machine for so long: the effort involved.
As I said in my earlier post, my mother's was pretty much a weekend special treat. And I can't say for sure after 30 years, but I'd guess her usage dropped as time went by. At first, it was a new toy, and a challenge to try to get something like a restaurant where we liked having lunch. But once results were OK, it probably became more of a holiday/special occasion thing.
She didn't do Starbucks--this was before Starbucks was so common, I think--but even with the Krups, she probably drank espresso drinks--both that restaurant and a coffee bar at the mall, where we'd get our coffee each week.
Thanks!
It seemed to work with the two rounds I've tried so far. I'm not getting the results I want, but it's A) been a long time since I used this (or any) machine, and B) I think part of the problem is getting the right coffee. I got a small supply of something that I thought would work from the bulk bean bin, but it wasn't that fresh and the grinder there ground too coarsely. I got better results with my regular coffee (currently Safeway Signature), even though it's not ideal grind. Next step: getting a coffee grinder in service again...
Incidentally, my mother's first Krups product was a coffee grinder, gotten when I was in 7th grade for Christmas. I think that was the first time I probably saw the Krups name. That set off a string of German coffee purchases: a Melitta drip maker (maybe a year later?), a Braun drip pot (when I was in 11th grade--the Melitta broke down, and she raced out to get the Braun before my father could buy a cheap mass market product at KMart. Then that Krups espresso machine.
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
Pour over. 😉
Hope it's good. I haven't had any issues with the Safeway Signature Select brand yet - although I don't get it often.
WriteNow
macrumors 6502a
I should have said pour-over in my post above...
I guess I was thinking I wanted to make the style very clear, since they make a variety, including a model that comes with a multi-cup carafe.
The pour-over style I mostly used in the past was a design that would sit on one's cup. It had 2 sections--one to hold coffee (with permanent mesh filter) and a top section for the water. I think the top section slowed the water and helped distribute it over the coffee. This style worked well, with little fuss. I got one as a "when I just want one cup" maker...but there were periods when I'd use one of these for all my coffee. It wans't as convenient as auto drip, but it wasn't the hassle of a Melitta (or espresso machine).
I guess I was thinking I wanted to make the style very clear, since they make a variety, including a model that comes with a multi-cup carafe.
The pour-over style I mostly used in the past was a design that would sit on one's cup. It had 2 sections--one to hold coffee (with permanent mesh filter) and a top section for the water. I think the top section slowed the water and helped distribute it over the coffee. This style worked well, with little fuss. I got one as a "when I just want one cup" maker...but there were periods when I'd use one of these for all my coffee. It wans't as convenient as auto drip, but it wasn't the hassle of a Melitta (or espresso machine).