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White Christmas - 18 degrees


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Snow...........What a beautiful sight on Christmas morning. Here in the central valley of California its about 33 degrees and dense fog. Maybe 250 ft. visibility, and not worthy of of photograph. One of the heaters in the house decided not to work on Christmas. I'll delay the service call till tomorrow. It's been said hindsight is 20-20, and I am looking forward to having 2020 behind me.  I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

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10 hours ago, John Haggard said:

12 inches at the cabin 

Hocking Hills Ohio area.

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3 minutes ago, Pduggs said:

 

Beautiful. Nice looking house too. I’m from Michigan and would rather see pictures of snow. I’ve lived in it too long. 

Edited by Pduggs
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No snow here at Disney World.  Definitely chilly for here though.  Merry Christmas 

20201225_194218.jpg

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20 hours ago, Dennis H said:

64 degrees under sunny skies in Mesa Arizona. No snow. 🤥 Can't shovel sunshine......Dennis

I've been to the Phoenix area for work several times, usually in Jan-Feb, and the weather there is awesome at that time.

I did have to go out there once in July though, and walking outside was like walking into an oven. 🥵

We'd go to dinner and leave the car running in the parking lot just to keep it cool. LOL

Beautiful pictures guys. 
We had a dusting of snow/sleet here in central VA.

I'd much rather see pictures of snow than the real thing. 😉

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Guest Ray Davis
6 minutes ago, dl_racing427 said:

I've been to the Phoenix area for work several times, usually in Jan-Feb, and the weather there is awesome at that time.

I did have to go out there once in July though, and walking outside was like walking into an oven. 🥵

We'd go to dinner and leave the car running in the parking lot just to keep it cool. LOL

We have a Chevy Equinox that we tow sometime and it has remote start   So when we have our dog with us we leave it running but it shuts off after about 15 min so we    try to sit where we can see the car, that way I can restart it with my remote.  Got to keep the doggie cool 

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20 minutes ago, Ray Davis said:

We have a Chevy Equinox that we tow sometime and it has remote start   So when we have our dog with us we leave it running but it shuts off after about 15 min so we    try to sit where we can see the car, that way I can restart it with my remote.  Got to keep the doggie cool 

My rental had a fob instead of a key.  You could get out and lock the doors with it running, and it would run as long as you were away. 👌

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20 hours ago, Ray Davis said:

We have a Chevy Equinox that we tow sometime and it has remote start   So when we have our dog with us we leave it running but it shuts off after about 15 min so we    try to sit where we can see the car, that way I can restart it with my remote.  Got to keep the doggie cool 

Ray,

We carry an extra key for our GM vehicles and leave the vehicle running with the key in the ignition. You lock the doors but when you close the driver's door it will unlock so we use the extra key to lock it and then unlock it when we return. On the Ford vehicles we have owned you just leave the engine running and close the doors. Then press the two bottom buttons on the keypad at the same time and all the doors lock. When returning to the vehicle we used the combination to unlock it. I don't like the push button start and avoided it when we purchased the Chevy Sonic. My wife's Ford Cmax does not have a key or keypad and has the push button start. On her car you leave the engine running and close the door. If no one is in the driver's seat it blows the horn but will still let you lock the doors with the FOB or the sensor on the door handle. It does not work well for keeping the dogs cool when idling because it is a hybrid. That is why we never set it up to tow behind the coach.

 

Edited by Bob Nodine
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Guest Ray Davis
2 hours ago, Bob Nodine said:

Ray,

We carry an extra key for our GM vehicles and leave the vehicle running with the key in the ignition. You lock the doors but when you close the driver's door it will unlock so we use the extra key to lock it and then unlock it when we return. On the Ford vehicles we have owned you just leave the engine running and close the doors. Then press the two bottom buttons on the keypad at the same time and all the doors lock. When returning to the vehicle we used the combination to unlock it. I don't like the push button start and avoided it when we purchased the Chevy Sonic. My wife's Ford Cmax does not have a key or keypad and has the push button start. On her car you leave the engine running and close the door. If no one is in the driver's seat it blows the horn but will still let you lock the doors with the FOB or the sensor on the door handle. It does not work well for keeping the dogs cool when idling because it is a hybrid. That is why we never set it up to tow behind the coach.

 

Bob,

That's a great tip, I'll experiment with mine.   Maybe we can take a trip before long,  I hope so.   It seems to get a little harder to get away the older I get.  I can't imagine why, and it has nothing to do with this thread.  I'm rambling,  maybe that should be my handle.  Do we have handles anymore?  There I go again !!!

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17 hours ago, Ray Davis said:

Bob,

That's a great tip, I'll experiment with mine.   Maybe we can take a trip before long,  I hope so.   It seems to get a little harder to get away the older I get.  I can't imagine why, and it has nothing to do with this thread.  I'm rambling,  maybe that should be my handle.  Do we have handles anymore?  There I go again !!!

Ray, I think handles are in my future but they are in my waist area!🙂.

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22 hours ago, Bob Nodine said:

Ray,

We carry an extra key for our GM vehicles and leave the vehicle running with the key in the ignition. You lock the doors but when you close the driver's door it will unlock so we use the extra key to lock it and then unlock it when we return. On the Ford vehicles we have owned you just leave the engine running and close the doors. Then press the two bottom buttons on the keypad at the same time and all the doors lock. When returning to the vehicle we used the combination to unlock it. I don't like the push button start and avoided it when we purchased the Chevy Sonic. My wife's Ford Cmax does not have a key or keypad and has the push button start. On her car you leave the engine running and close the door. If no one is in the driver's seat it blows the horn but will still let you lock the doors with the FOB or the sensor on the door handle. It does not work well for keeping the dogs cool when idling because it is a hybrid. That is why we never set it up to tow behind the coach.

 

I'd think the hybrid would be better for keeping the interior cool more efficiently.
Isn't the A/C compressor electric?  That should allow the A/C to keep running until the batteries pull down to a certain point, then the engine could start to boost them back up quickly and the cycle could repeat.

When I was in China last year, many of the vehicles were hybrid or totally electric, and they could sit nearly silently with the A/C blowing cold, which was actually pretty cool. (Pun intended) LOL

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On 12/28/2020 at 5:42 AM, dl_racing427 said:

I'd think the hybrid would be better for keeping the interior cool more efficiently.
Isn't the A/C compressor electric?  That should allow the A/C to keep running until the batteries pull down to a certain point, then the engine could start to boost them back up quickly and the cycle could repeat.

When I was in China last year, many of the vehicles were hybrid or totally electric, and they could sit nearly silently with the A/C blowing cold, which was actually pretty cool. (Pun intended) LOL

In the case of the Ford Cmax I don't think it has anything to do capability. The Cmax does not even do a decent job of charging a cellphone unless you are driving. I believe it all stems around the software that is programmed to conserve battery power. My wife often complains about the car not charging her cellphone. I am assuming that if no one is seated in the vehicle and the air conditioner is operating the software overrides the commanded temperature and reduces the fan speed to conserve battery charge.

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3 hours ago, Bob Nodine said:

In the case of the Ford Cmax I don't think it has anything to do capability. The Cmax does not even do a decent job of charging a cellphone unless you are driving. I believe it all stems around the software that is programmed to conserve battery power. My wife often complains about the car not charging her cellphone. I am assuming that if no one is seated in the vehicle and the air conditioner is operating the software overrides the commanded temperature and reduces the fan speed to conserve battery charge.

Wow.  I'd have thought things like that would be selectable by the driver, ie: prioritize heating/cooling over battery level or fuel consumption, at least until the fuel tank gets below a minimum reserve level.

I can't stand when items that could obviously be safely controlled by the user, are instead locked by the software "engineers". SMH
Biggest examples on most new cars are traction and stability control that keep turning themselves on, and those damned automatic braking systems.

Also, the start/stop and variable displacement garbage is annoying as well.

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18 hours ago, dl_racing427 said:

Wow.  I'd have thought things like that would be selectable by the driver, ie: prioritize heating/cooling over battery level or fuel consumption, at least until the fuel tank gets below a minimum reserve level.

I can't stand when items that could obviously be safely controlled by the user, are instead locked by the software "engineers". SMH
Biggest examples on most new cars are traction and stability control that keep turning themselves on, and those damned automatic braking systems.

Also, the start/stop and variable displacement garbage is annoying as well.

Actually I did not think to look and see if there are any choices that the owner can make for things like the 12 volt outlet.

We have a Chevy Silverado with the 5.3 that adjust the number of cylinders based on the demanded power. It works fine and you never notice it but I understand when GM first introduced it there were problems.

My son is part owner of a Chevy dealership and drives a different demo each month. He chooses to drive the Silverado when inventory allows and has driven many over the years. The recent ones he has been driving have the auto stop/start feature. He tells me you can turn it off if desired but he seems to like it. He has often remarked about how each new generation is quieter than the previous and says the new one with the 8 speed transmission is very quiet. I have yet to ride in one but have no doubt it is very quiet compared to our 2013. You can definitely hear the engine in ours.

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On 12/29/2020 at 9:53 AM, dl_racing427 said:

... I can't stand when items that could obviously be safely controlled by the user, are instead locked by the software "engineers". SMH
Biggest examples on most new cars are traction and stability control that keep turning themselves on, and those damned automatic braking systems.

 

Right?!?!!?!? What's up with that danged automatic traction control BS??? Every time I turn it off and try to slide into a ditch, it turns itself back on and prevents the car from spinning out of control and rolling onto the roof. Last year the wife squarely tagged a big fallen rock, instantly blew a tire and the dang German POS didn't even veer off and smash into the hillside, much less flip over, like God intended.

Oh, how I long for the good ol' days... cars of the '70s and '80s when any sharp maneuver would cause the car to fishtail back and forth uncontrollably until the car finally spins, landing high-centered on a median. 😉 Ah, yes... that was truly a better era.

And don't get me started about automatic braking systems... every time I try and give the car in front a little 'love tap' the electronic nannies step in and spoil my fun. 🤬

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3 hours ago, wamcneil said:

Right?!?!!?!? What's up with that danged automatic traction control BS??? Every time I turn it off and try to slide into a ditch, it turns itself back on and prevents the car from spinning out of control and rolling onto the roof. Last year the wife squarely tagged a big fallen rock, instantly blew a tire and the dang German POS didn't even veer off and smash into the hillside, much less flip over, like God intended.

Oh, how I long for the good ol' days... cars of the '70s and '80s when any sharp maneuver would cause the car to fishtail back and forth uncontrollably until the car finally spins, landing high-centered on a median. 😉 Ah, yes... that was truly a better era.

And don't get me started about automatic braking systems... every time I try and give the car in front a little 'love tap' the electronic nannies step in and spoil my fun. 🤬

Not all of us are minimally competent drivers. 
There are situations where stability control and ABS interfere with my ability to put the vehicle where I want it to go.  I can still control a vehicle when it is sliding sideways, but when it just refuses to turn because the ASC thinks it might spin, there's not much the driver can do except hit whatever they're trying to avoid.
There are also situations where I INTEND to push another vehicle, and I do NOT want some electronic nanny second-guessing my intentions.

Imagine being blocked by someone intent on harming or killing you, and your vehicle's nanny systems preventing you from taking appropriate action to neutralize the threat and make an escape path.  😧

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Walter,

There are definitely bad people out there.  Look at what happened this summer with the liberals rioting in the major cities.
Failing to be prepared can be very bad for you and your family.

Happy New Year everyone.  Hopefully this year won't be even worse than the last.

Edited by dl_racing427
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I bet Walter loves Apple and how he's "free" to use his iPhone how he sees fit. I think it's wonderful that we no longer have to actually think for ourselves and be responsible for our own actions. Letting the government and big tech control our lives has really made 2020 enjoyable. Thank God we can type this stuff as my mask blocks any sort of real conversation....just my observation....Dennis

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