OT: General OT Thread #43 - Fugu Appreciation Thread

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Wabit

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May 23, 2016
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hey wabit sorry to hear about your car troubles. did you have a fun vaca? hit any good beach bars? cheers!

We stayed on Anna Marie Island; which is very pretty. It's a sea turtle nesting area so the beaches are "no fun" places: no beer, fires, grills, dogs, food, etc allowed, just playing in the water and sitting in the sun. We did see dolphins, manatees, and sea turtles while on the beach, so that was neat. I even watched some sea turtles hatch and wander off into the Gulf at dark o'clock in the am.

The best bar I found was off one of the fishing piers ($1.50 a beer, and $5/hr pole rental); the girls fished and I drank beer supervised.

We hit up a few of the local fresh caught fish joints along the water, good eats for sure. There was this Sunday brunch at a pirate themed joint in Ybor that was great: all you can drink champagne/juice, a huge selection of foods, and a dj.

I had a lot of fun at the Rays game: sat right next to the pressbox, cozy (small) stadium, entertaining (but not quality) baseball, free soda refills, and the wife got a foul ball.

I spent a lot of time with my new dog (a totally awesome red heeler) lounging around the pool/napping at the place we stayed at. The no AC in the Durango was somewhat of a blessing. The in-laws Jeep only seats 5 and there we 6 of us, so I got out of a bunch of the "family activities". :D
 

Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
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Are there any cheap places to park near the entrance to the Hockey Lodge at the X? I always end up parking near Cossetta and walking all the way down. I think the RiverCenter ramp is closed for a while still. It's the not the worst thing in the world to walk that far, just annoying.
 

BigT2002

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Dec 6, 2006
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Are there any cheap places to park near the entrance to the Hockey Lodge at the X? I always end up parking near Cossetta and walking all the way down. I think the RiverCenter ramp is closed for a while still. It's the not the worst thing in the world to walk that far, just annoying.

Ryan Lot possibly?
 

tomgilbertfan

#WhyBother
Jun 22, 2008
16,024
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Minnesota
I'm pretty liberal and support universal healthcare in theory, but my experiences with MNsure make me second guess that. Called Ucare last week to unenroll since I have insurance through my employer now, they said to call MNsure at X number. Call X number, they are closed at 4 (called at 4:15). Wait until today to call since I work during their phone hours normally, call phone X, on hold for 25 minutes, they say I need to talk to Y department, get transferred and wait for 25 minutes, get through to Y and they say I need to call Z to unenroll. Call Z only to get a message saying they close at 330, I called at 3:35 after nearly an hour on hold. My god I just want to unenroll.
 

Wabit

Registered User
May 23, 2016
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I voted today (WI's partisan primary) simply because the polling place is one my morning dog walk route and there was no line. I could say I'm really interested in politics and was doing my civic duty, but really I just wanted a sticker. They don't give out stickers anymore, just hand stamps. :cry:
 

TaLoN

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May 30, 2010
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I voted today (WI's partisan primary) simply because the polling place is one my morning dog walk route and there was no line. I could say I'm really interested in politics and was doing my civic duty, but really I just wanted a sticker. They don't give out stickers anymore, just hand stamps. :cry:
The stickers only happen in November.
 

SupremeNachos

Registered User
Dec 6, 2011
3,130
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Minnesota
I'm pretty liberal and support universal healthcare in theory, but my experiences with MNsure make me second guess that. Called Ucare last week to unenroll since I have insurance through my employer now, they said to call MNsure at X number. Call X number, they are closed at 4 (called at 4:15). Wait until today to call since I work during their phone hours normally, call phone X, on hold for 25 minutes, they say I need to talk to Y department, get transferred and wait for 25 minutes, get through to Y and they say I need to call Z to unenroll. Call Z only to get a message saying they close at 330, I called at 3:35 after nearly an hour on hold. My god I just want to unenroll.
You know that even with Universal care this would still be a problem. It's one of the reasons I left a gov funded job for the private sector.
 

BigT2002

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Dec 6, 2006
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94 Eastbound heading from Rogers to Maple Grove has been a death trap the last 2 days. Yesterday was the semi killing 1 and airlifting another 1 (and shutting down the interstate for 4 hours). Today was a major rollover almost at the exact same spot.

I'll be taking back roads for awhile I think!
 

SupremeNachos

Registered User
Dec 6, 2011
3,130
792
Minnesota
94 Eastbound heading from Rogers to Maple Grove has been a death trap the last 2 days. Yesterday was the semi killing 1 and airlifting another 1 (and shutting down the interstate for 4 hours). Today was a major rollover almost at the exact same spot.

I'll be taking back roads for awhile I think!
I don't understand how some of these crashes happen during bumper to bumper. The amount of length you need to reach the speeds that cause these types of wrecks seems to appear out of nowhere.
 

TaLoN

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I don't understand how some of these crashes happen during bumper to bumper. The amount of length you need to reach the speeds that cause these types of wrecks seems to appear out of nowhere.
I don't think these are happening when it's bumper to bumper though. The speeds involved suggest freer flowing traffic, but still busy traffic.
 

SupremeNachos

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Dec 6, 2011
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Minnesota
I don't think these are happening when it's bumper to bumper though. The speeds involved suggest freer flowing traffic, but still busy traffic.
It's just that stretch of road is bumper to bumper starting at 740ish. Regardless more people need to realize just because you are in a vehicle that does not mean you are safe. Cars are one of the deadliest things we have in this country compared to every nondisease. I did landscaping for a few years during college summers and had to drive 350-450 trucks. I got into several accidents during that career and non of them were caused by myself. Having a guy in a nice BMW ride your ass only to crash into your trailer because he doesn't understand simple physics is both hilarious and maddening.
 

BigT2002

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Dec 6, 2006
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It's just that stretch of road is bumper to bumper starting at 740ish. Regardless more people need to realize just because you are in a vehicle that does not mean you are safe. Cars are one of the deadliest things we have in this country compared to every nondisease. I did landscaping for a few years during college summers and had to drive 350-450 trucks. I got into several accidents during that career and non of them were caused by myself. Having a guy in a nice BMW ride your ass only to crash into your trailer because he doesn't understand simple physics is both hilarious and maddening.

Which in lies the problem for that specific area in my opinion. Many trucks and other motorist get in the left lane and go below 70. Not to mention in general I swear Minnesotans are not capable of maintaining 70MPH as a speed (let alone ND drivers). so then those who want to drive like a-holes start to bob-and-weave through traffic. And then boom...rear end someone. Or worse. Drive someone right off the road/hit their side because they don't see them.
 

Wild11MN

First round losers
May 28, 2013
13,201
1,992
MN
Considering going to the "Da Beauty League" championship game tomorrow in Edina. Can't beat NHL-ish hockey in a small rink for $10 when it's 20 mins away.
Gone a few times in previous years. I've always enjoyed it. Just got to know what to expect.
 

SupremeNachos

Registered User
Dec 6, 2011
3,130
792
Minnesota
Which in lies the problem for that specific area in my opinion. Many trucks and other motorist get in the left lane and go below 70. Not to mention in general I swear Minnesotans are not capable of maintaining 70MPH as a speed (let alone ND drivers). so then those who want to drive like a-holes start to bob-and-weave through traffic. And then boom...rear end someone. Or worse. Drive someone right off the road/hit their side because they don't see them.
It's not just MN that has this problem. Texas and OK raised their speed limits on freeways and country highways to 80 and all that did is make people go 100. I'm still on the fence when it comes to self driving cars but this is an issue that would be fixed with them. No more old ladies going 20mph below the limit and no more fastnfurious wannabes going 20 over.
 

StealthClobber

A Digital Frontier.
Feb 7, 2013
7,439
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Minnetonka, MN
Texas and OK raised their speed limits on freeways and country highways to 80 and all that did is make people go 100.

That's not quite right. There are some highways in Texas that are over 75 mph, but not all of them. The only one I ever saw was SH130 outside of Austin, 85 mph speed limit. And yeah I pretty much drove 95 the whole way down it.

In the greater Houston area, the speed limits on urban freeways max out at 65 before you get out to the country where it ups to 75. On the 65 bits, if you're not going 70-80, you're holding up traffic. People regularly go 80.
 

TaLoN

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May 30, 2010
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It's not just MN that has this problem. Texas and OK raised their speed limits on freeways and country highways to 80 and all that did is make people go 100. I'm still on the fence when it comes to self driving cars but this is an issue that would be fixed with them. No more old ladies going 20mph below the limit and no more fastnfurious wannabes going 20 over.
Most ofthe problem gets solved if people respect the slower traffic keep right rules. If someone is coming up behind you and you're in the left lane, move over and let them pass.

Free flowing traffic is safer at ANY speed vs traffic bottled up at the speed limit.
 

DANOZ28

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May 22, 2012
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nearest bar MN
i doubt the highway patrol would agree. while plenty of us could safely drive at a higher speed theres always some yahoo idiot nascar wanna be that ruins it. back in the 80's when the limit was 55 i had a t-shirt with boxes to check raise the speed limit to 65; 75 ; warp 6.
 

StealthClobber

A Digital Frontier.
Feb 7, 2013
7,439
166
Minnetonka, MN
Just got back from Da Beauty League final. Was fun watching Brock Boeser play. He scored BIC's go-ahead goal by batting it out of mid air (at least that's what it looked like, I was sitting on the glass at the other end of the ice).

Stalock was pretty good for BIC too. We should get that guy on the Wild. :sarcasm:
 
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