Speedy's Cafe - General Chat about anything you like!

[J.P.]

Not exactly a selling argument.

[Fantasy Lover]

So there was Eurovision recently, Portugal won with this song

[Arcadia]

:( I'm not allowed to see that video. Do you think it should have won?

[Pseudonym]

I tend to steer clear of the Eurovision, I can't handle all the weirdness. We always come close to last anyway. Plus there's the whole thing of it being a bit of a popularity contest with each country voting for their friends (which explains why we're so often close to last).

[Pseudonym]

The internet has failed me this week. I hate talking on the phone, so if there's an option of contacting someone via the interwebs that's usually what I'll do. But this week I've emailed three separate scrap yards about taking my old car, and my current car insurance company, and not one of them have got back to me. 

[Doe]

The best song in the Eurovision is Hey Mama and Occidentali's Karma.

 

Funny

[Carol the Dabbler]

The internet has failed me this week. I hate talking on the phone, so if there's an option of contacting someone via the interwebs that's usually what I'll do. But this week I've emailed three separate scrap yards about taking my old car, and my current car insurance company, and not one of them have got back to me. 

 

Hey, it's only Thursday!  :D

[Van Buren Supernova]

What I learn from life, the more you need a service from a company, the less contactable they are.

Bank is notorious in that, when you don't need it, they chase after you to offer you money to borrow.

But when you really need it, they act cool and force you to prove to them that you have money first before they lend you.

 

 

Eh... is it true that in America, McDonald is never farther than 115 miles away from anywhere?

I read it somewhere.

 

So, if you are lost, you only need to walk to one direction for 115 miles to enjoy a burger?

It's a long walk, but better than lost forever! :P

[SherlockedCAMPer]

I beg to differ on the 115 miles only because it's approximately 119 miles from Grand Portage, MN to the nearest McDonald's. That's by road, by boat it might actually be less but only because the state curves around Lake Superior.

[Arcadia]

Around here, it's more like every 15 miles. No, scratch that, about every 1.5 miles. Or so it seems. There's a lot of them.

 

I remember how excited people were when the little mountain town I used to live in got it's first McDonald's. Before that, the nearest one was probably around 115 miles. But that was literally decades ago; it's hard to imagine anywhere on the East Coast of these United States that's considered that remote anymore. 

[Pseudonym]

115 miles isn't that close imho. I can't see it being true though, what about places where the terrain makes it unlikely - deserts or mountains? And if you take Alaska into account it's obviously not going to be true.

[Pseudonym]

Ha, I just went to the library to rent Dr Strange, and the librarian slightly overly calmly asked if I was a BC fan to which I overly calmly answered yes. It was the kind of calm, on both sides, that could have dissolved into squeeing at the drop of a hat. Wonder whether it was just the DVD or whether I look the type? Perhaps it was the I <3 BC tattooed on my forehead. ;)

[Carol the Dabbler]

Maybe the distance between McDonald's location averages 115 miles.  I'd find that perfectly believable.  As you say, northern/interior Alaska can't have all that many.  You might be surprised about the mountain and desert areas out west, though -- there are tons of little towns (and I do mean teeny little towns), especially along the major roads.  So there'd probably be one at least every few hundred miles.

 

 

 

115 miles isn't that close imho.

 

Spoken like a true European!  ;)

[Pseudonym]

I dread to think how many are around here, they are everywhere.

 

Are there many wind farms in your neck of the woods? They are sprouting up everywhere here, I actually don't mind them, more pleasant to look at than a power station.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

We have wind farms scattered through the US as well as standalone turbines (I live near 2 of the latter). The only draw back is that there is no bird safe screen on them so looking at the base of the turbine in the morning is not very pleasant.

[Doe]

My country's windmill is that

 

 

Very old... from 18th century

 

It's highly spritis to look Pseud. Why don't you love?

[Pseudonym]

Sorry Doe, I don't understand...?

I like your windmills, they look very cool.

 

Eurgh, never thought about the birds!

[Doe]

Sorry Pseud. I guess, I didn't understand.

 

I thought You didn't like windmills...

 

So sorry.

[Pseudonym]

Ah I see. The ones we have are pretty futuristic if anything, turbines rather than windmills, but I like both. I'm always impressed how huge they are. 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

What I find amazing is seeing a big truck go by with a blade for one of those windmills. Just one blade out of the three. And it must be at least 50 feet (15 meters) long, quite possibly longer.

[Arcadia]

Where I used to live in North Carolina is where NASA tested one of the prototypes of those things (because of the consistent wind on top of that particular mountain.) We thought it looked pretty cool, but they quickly discovered one problem ... the "whump whump whump" sound of the blades as they went around quickly became very annoying. I wonder if they fixed that problem, or just put the things where "no one" can hear them?

 

As far as I know, we don't have any wind farms here in Virginia. :(

[Pseudonym]

I drive past three groupings every day, about five or so bunched together, and they are all right on top of mountains where there are no houses. The best for nabbing wind and preventing complaints of noise pollution.

The next big thing here is a huge tidal lagoon they are planning to build which will generate hydro electric power without the need for a dam.

[Carol the Dabbler]

There's a huge (well, biggest I've ever seen, anyhow) array of windmills in northwestern Indiana, visible from Interstate 65 between Indianapolis and Chicago.  Dunno how many, must be at least a hundred, and there may be more that aren't visible from the road.

 

Added:  Here it is.

[SherlockedCAMPer]

The turbine about 10 minutes from my house is on the edge of a residential area. The other one that's 20 minutes away is on the backside of a retail development shortly before the residential area.

[Arcadia]

And is the noise from them a problem?

 

I've heard that before about what they do to birds. Always a downside to everything, dang it. Equivalent exchange, phoo on you!