One ice sculpture, reporting for duty, SIR!
[sub]And I’ll only charge $2,000, too[/sub]
In re: driving and snow.
New York State. We get snow. 16 inches+ three times last winter. I used to live at the bottom of a hill, three quarters of a mile long, with a bend in the first hundred yards, with a bit of a angle to it. Hudson River Valley, you know.
Front wheel drive, decent size tires, and careful driving take care of most of it. I don’t need anything better than my all-weather Goodyear Eagles to drive in weather that leaves some stupid people in SUVs sideways in ditches.
(The snow is not good to brake on. Respect the snow. Respect the black ice.)
Oh.
The most important thing not to scrimp on.
Training yourself. I’ve taken the Skip Barber defensive driving course a few times. Learned something new every time. But no, if you know your car, you can do just fine in the worst weather. Pretty much any car post -86 (Taurus, revival of the American Automobile) is better than what was out there in the 1970s in snow, which is better than what we had in the 50s in snow, which is when we needed snow tires and chains. Radials, got to love you.
I remember last winter. Remember that snowstorm in January? I drove thru that snowstorm for 10 hours 
my tires really counted on that trip, i only went in the ditch once.
I live in NB, Canada. For the most part, snow tires are VERY important here. Studded are even better. (FTR, I live in a rural area and drive a lot, so I can understand city dwellers keeping all-seasons on)
Things not to save money on:
Camera lenses But then I’m a camera geek. Don’t mind me.
Theatre tickets If you’re gonna go, splurge on the front of the first balcony or the orchestra. You’ll never see or hear anything from the back of the third balcony.
Diamonds A one carat solitaire from Kay Jewellers for $699? Please. It’s brown fer chrissakes. And that cubic isn’t fooling anyone.
Surgery Heeeey everybody! It’s Dr. Nick!
sigh
Yes, I read the post above mine. :rolleyes:
It was a joke. When the title of the thread is “Yes, I know it is more expensive. YES, I KNOW.” I thought it would be kind of obvious. I suppose I shouldn’t have taken that for granted. I guess I have to start using the 
just to make sure everyone understands that it was in jest.
Now, back to the thread…
Diamonds? I’m sorry, but ethical isses aside… you have now traded a sum X of money for… rock. Pretty rock. For more sum Z, you can get other rock!
I still see them as primitive versions of Hallmark cards.
Still, your choice… your money… but you know, they’re not forever. They’re fighting a losing battle for scarcity.
Of course, your perspective varies by position and location. If you really like diamonds, then they’re worth it. (I like hematite, myself. Like solid mercury)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again -
I can not stand that one frickin’ mouse button…
Bingo. The Eagles (or comparable from other companies) aren’t precisely cheap, but that’s the lowest level of tire you’ll ever see me buy. You’d be appalled at the number of cars I see wearing “Fred’s Tire Company” or retreads, or with no tread left… No need to buy megawhammodyne tires, but don’t go cheap, either. And keep the d*mn things in good shape, properly inflated, and so on!
And big-time ditto on the driving skills, black ice, and snow. Nothing quite like seeing an expensive SUV in the ditch with a busted front suspension, 'cause the driver thought that SUVs are magic. I see them every winter…
It was obvious to me, bernse.
Heh. Thanks.
Yeah – the home user doesn’t have access to a staff of IT folks to do periodic maintenance, update software, backup data, or handle user problems. That’s why the greater reliability of Macs make them better for home environments.
“To make a long story short, I bought [my iMac] just before Thanksgiving, set it up, and have never looked back. I have enjoyed using my iMac more than any of the four previous Intel PCs I have owned. I can’t believe how much easier it is to work with, both in the OS and in applications. Things run much smoother and consistently across different programs. Everything works on my iMac.”
–Steven Kelly
“Everyone who asks me winds up buying Macs. Brother creates colorful presentations. Dad keeps all his business records in Filemaker Pro. Friend ‘runs his entire business’ on it. The kicker is, none of these people know diddly about computers! … These people are getting work done. They don’t want to spend an entire weekend installing a new peripheral. They don’t enjoy discussing ‘Windows Registry’ or ‘SYSTEM.INI’ or CLSIDs at cocktail parties.”
–John Galt
So get a two-button, scroll-wheel optical mouse already, gee. Just a fin.
Other stuff where “it’s worth it” for me:
Not just TP, but all paper products. I hate cheap-ass paper towels that fall apart as soon as they get wet. Scratchy tissues make me look like Tip O’Neill. And don’t you love those paper plates where you use a stack of five and still end up with pizza grease on your jeans?
Body wash. Since I am the very model of the Chelsea Homosexual, I spend far too much time at the Kiehl’s home base on Third Avenue and 13th Street. I know full damn well that I’m paying for image, but y’know, their Tea Tree Oil body wash is the best damn stuff I’ve ever smelled. And you only need a tiny amount, so the litre I bought in March will probably last until next summer.
Lube. Eros Super Concentrated is it. Nothing, not even AstroGlide, compares.
Birkenstocks. Finally broke down and bought a pair this past spring. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. A friend of mine asked me if I have lesbian feet. Guess so.
Another vote for kitchen utensils, specifically a pepper mill. I know I would gladly trade a chunk of land for a peppercorn, and I went through a couple of cheap mills (including a Pepper Ball[sup]TM[/sup]) before turning to - Peugeot. Yeah, same Peugeot. Weird, huh? Knives are also key. Global are my weakness.
I like clothes. (Australian designers and in particular young, up-and-coming Australian designers.) I like supporting local industry and buying clothes that aren’t made on the assembly line (yet). This means that clothes tend to cost $$$$$$ (:() <== hee hee! On preview, these look like pigtails! ==> (:)) Sometimes I get shit from friends, but in the end, when I see something I really like, I buy it and don’t regret it for a second. It’s my purchase and my money - and I damn well know how to spend my own money.
I introduced someone who does third level tech support for Mac to the mysteries of the third button/Scroll Wheel a few months ago.
He now officially worships me.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by rjung *
**
Yes…
But who is John Galt?
rjung, I intended my statement to be neutral with respect to the relative value of a Mac vs. PC, since I have extremely limited experience with Macs. I was just pointing out that a study based on corporate workstation rollouts is not necessarily translatable to the home user, and a definitive statement that Macs cost less than PC’s is therefore invalid.
That said, I will state my complete agreement with E-Sabbath and Venoma on the tire thing. I remember that snowstorm last January, I was stuck smack dab in the middle of it. I spent about 12hrs on the road, most of it stopped in traffic in Connecticut. They got about 24 inches that night… My little Honda Civic with Michelin Rainhandlers was as surefooted as a mountain goat through all of that ice and snow. With crappy tires, I could’ve been in the ditch with a whole lot of other people.
Oh, and on preview, that quote was rjung’s not mine.
That’s funny - a lot of men have given me to understand that skimpy underpants are a GOOD thing.
There’s no skimping on the old family recipe.
Oh baby, oh baby! No truer words were spoken…
A regular user.
You know, “the rest of us.”
(Well, more like “them,” since I’m a certified full-blooded college-educated computer geek. But you get my point. )