Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[Silver Raven]

5 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Oopsy, yes it was 1989.  I was at Kaiser Santa Teresa getting a prescription filled.  When it hit, I jammed myself into the doorway (with about six other people) and sprained my thumb.  I got out to my car and turned on the radio.  They said the Bay Bridge collapsed!  Never in my wildest dreams could that event have happened.  I never drove it again, either.

My parents and sisters were in their homes in the Bay Area.  I was in Virginia, on a job assignment, and we were all huddled around a tiny portable tv to see the World Series.  When the quake hit, I called to check up on them and I was able to call them from Virginia, but they couldn't reach each other.

[Prevailing Wind]

23 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

I don't know if they still do, but the Chesapeake Bridge used to have a service where they would meet your car at one end of the bridge and drive you across to the other side.

They have that service at the Delaware Memorial Bridge, too. I never thought about being freaked out by a bridge until I saw that. I LOVE the CBBT, but don't get to travel that way often. The first time I crossed the DMB, I had the windows rolled down and was screaming, "WHOoooHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" the whole way. It was a joyous thing for me. The New Jersey Turnpike, however, was not. I was annoyed that the exit numbers are sequential and have nothing to do with the mile markers.

I will admit to being a little shaky in the tunnels of the Chesapeake, but the best tunnel was when I was heading southbound and they had closed the northbound lane for a semi to go through the tunnel, also southbound. I had no idea how long they were gonna let us SB people continue before stopping us, too, to let the truck go through unhindered by other traffic, but being able to go through the tunnel with no oncoming traffic was super!

[Annber03]

That 1989 earthquake is one of the earliest things I can recall seeing on TV. I have vague memories of seeing clips of the damage on the news when I was little. 

3 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I think everyone who's gone through public school in the U.S. has seen film of the Tacoma Bridge collapse.

I don't know if I saw it in school specifically, but ohhhhhh, yes, I do know that footage indeed. Frightening stuff. 

Edited March 5, 2018 by Annber03

[riley702]

4 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

I think everyone who's gone through public school in the U.S. has seen film of the Tacoma Bridge collapse.

Is that the infamous "Galloping Gertie"?

[Browncoat]

45 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

The New Jersey Turnpike, however, was not. I was annoyed that the exit numbers are sequential and have nothing to do with the mile markers.

I haaaated that about my road trip to Maine a couple of years ago!  The whole northeast is like that, and it was so very annoying not to know how far I was from my exit.  In all fairness, it used to be like that in Virginia, but they wised up decades ago and changed it so the exit numbers correspond to the closest mile marker.

[bilgistic]

I blame y'all for sending me down the rabbit hole to watch scary bridge videos yesterday.

The scariest bridge I've ever crossed is the Cooper River Bridge going into Charleston. It's "only" 1.8 miles, but I hate bridges, even short ones over creeks.

Kent Island Express is the service (one of the services?) that drives people over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

[Brattinella]

2 hours ago, riley702 said:

Is that the infamous "Galloping Gertie"?

That's what my Dad used to call it.

[Bort]

Just curious... those of you with bridge phobias: how do you feel about roller coasters?

I love bridges, I think they're beautiful, I love going over them. I also love roller coasters.

[Annber03]

I don't mind roller coasters, but I refuse to go on any that go upside down. 

[bilgistic]

I've ridden only a few roller coasters in my life. I went to Carowinds several times (it's like a Six Flags; it's on the border of NC and SC) in my youth and rode a few, but was always scared of the upside-down coasters.

I also went to Disney World and Busch Gardens as a kid, and rode the rides and coasters. I have done the upside-down rides a handful of times, but I didn't really like it. I also used to go to the fair when it came to my hometown annually and rode the janky rides. I'm queasy just thinking about that huge swinging boat ride.

The last time I went to Carowinds was when I was in college or shortly thereafter. I went with my sister, mom, half-sister and former stepmother. I got an instant migraine after riding a "standing" coaster, and I was done with theme parks and rides after that.

The older I got, the more I worried about how well the rides were assembled/maintained, and that overrode my very mild thrill-seeking side. I remember standing in lines for the rides and looking at the construction of the rides. I was making sure every bolt was secure and there was no rust.

The difference for me is that (most) coasters aren't over water, and I can choose not to ride them. Also, by the time I was old enough to realize, "riding something that can hurtle me into the air is probably a stupid idea", I was no longer going to theme parks and fairs. I was driving by then and that became a focus of my anxiety, along with college, work, etc.

[Bort]

2 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

I'm queasy just thinking about that huge swinging boat ride.

That. I love the roller coasters that roll me upside down, but that swinging ride will totally make me blow chunks. That's a motion sickness thing for me, though, it's not an anxiety.

I've lived around water all my life and it pretty much goes with the territory of having to traverse large bridges all the time, I just never got any anxiety about them. This is one I used to have to commute over every day:

[Bastet]

I love bridges, and had no idea so many people were uncomfortable driving across them (my mom doesn't like driving across those that are quite high up, but I'd never heard anyone else talk about it).  If we had a "scary" one here in Los Angeles, I'd pick up some extra bucks driving people across.

I always loved roller coasters, and spent most of my teenage years with a season pass to Magic Mountain, but I haven't been on one in probably 15 years (amusement parks seem a young person's thing to me, and spending what is now a crazy sum of money to spend the day in a crowd definitely does not appeal); my middle-aged inner ear might object.

[Browncoat]

I love roller coasters, but I’m white-knuckling it all the way. I didn’t like coasters until I was, oh, late teens, I guess, when they started having the over-the-shoulder harnesses instead of just the lap bars.  I was frighfully thin back in the day (don’t be mad — I just had one of those metabolisms), and always felt like I was going to fall out with the lap bar.  It just never seemed tight enough.

[Silver Raven]

2 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I don't mind roller coasters, but I refuse to go on any that go upside down. 

I won't do upside down roller coasters because I'm always afraid my glasses will fall off.

[mmecorday]

Quote

Just curious... those of you with bridge phobias: how do you feel about roller coasters?

I cannot stand bridges or roller coasters. When I go to an amusement park, I stick to the carnival-type rides like the swings, the bumper cars and the scrambler. The only roller coaster I could ever tolerate was The Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, but it's been dismantled and replaced with another fright ride. Sad, really.

[Bort]

34 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

I won't do upside down roller coasters because I'm always afraid my glasses will fall off.

I would stick my glasses in my pocket. Now I don't worry about it, I got LASIK.

[Silver Raven]

15 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

I would stick my glasses in my pocket. Now I don't worry about it, I got LASIK.

But, they could fall out of my pocket.

Even assuming I was wearing a shirt with pockets.

[Bort]

3 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

But, they could fall out of my pocket.

Even assuming I was wearing a shirt with pockets.

I put them in my front pants pocket.

[Moose135]

I don't have a problem driving over bridges - I've done the Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel, my biggest  problem was it dumps you off onto 40 miles of two-lane road in Delaware.  I'm not so fond of foot bridges that move - the bridge on Grandfather Mountain in NC is an example, if you're familiar.

I was never big into roller coasters growing up, but have done a bunch over the years, including the old wooden Cyclone in Coney Island a few years back.  My thing with roller coasters is this, though - I've flown formation aerobatics in supersonic aircraft, so roller coasters seem a little tame in comparison.

[Tunia]

10 hours ago, Browncoat said:

I haaaated that about my road trip to Maine a couple of years ago!  The whole northeast is like that, and it was so very annoying not to know how far I was from my exit.  In all fairness, it used to be like that in Virginia, but they wised up decades ago and changed it so the exit numbers correspond to the closest mile marker.

This is currently undergoing change in the northeast to the mile-marker system.  Most states will carry both sign designations for the first year of change - the mile-marker sign will be the primary one with "Old Exit #XX" attached to it.  In RI, for example, the changeover is to be complete by 2019.  The first time I drove on such a roadway, I was completely thrown out of whack!  Change doesn't come easy.

[smittykins]

The year before my late husband and I were married,  we went to Darien Lake theme park in western New York(back when it was a Six Flags property).  They had two roller coasters at the time, the Viper and the Predator. He extracted a promise that I would go on each once, and I honored it.  IIRC, the Predator is more of a classic roller coaster that doesn't go upside down, so that was slightly less odious.  Somewhere, there's a picture of us on the Viper and I'm clearly thinking "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

[Browncoat]

@Moose135, I have fond memories of standing on one side of that bridge at Grandfather Mountain, waiting for my entire family to cross over and back.

@mmecorday, once upon a time I worked at that Busch Gardens, and I made a special trip back to ride the Wolf over and over just before the ride closed.  I think I spent about half a day on that ride — just like when it first opened.

[mojoween]

1 hour ago, smittykins said:

The year before my late husband and I were married,  we went to Darien Lake theme park in western New York(back when it was a Six Flags property).  They had two roller coasters at the time, the Viper and the Predator. He extracted a promise that I would go on each once, and I honored it.  IIRC, the Predator is more of a classic roller coaster that doesn't go upside down, so that was slightly less odious.  Somewhere, there's a picture of us on the Viper and I'm clearly thinking "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

The Predator is the best roller coaster in history.  

The first time I rode The Viper I was 11 and I was terrified.  My dad said he couldn’t even enjoy the experience because he thought I was going to literally hyperventilate and die.  As I got older I started to love it.

I love roller coasters and bridges.  There is one bridge in a town nearby over a state route, and if you are stopped at the light at the right area, you can feel the bridge shudder from the weight of the cars going the other direction.  It’s awesome.

Of course, when flying, I think the more turbulence the better, so perhaps my judgment can’t be trusted.

@ABay mentioned swimming places when younger that as an adult you’re like “nope” and I feel that way about the Oneida River.  I seriously cannot believe we swam in that hellpit in the 80’s.

My completely irrational fear is walking over storm grates.  I blame Stephen King for that.  At Bass Pro there is a huge one that the only way to not step on it is to have someone hold the door open so I can leap over it.  I’m not even ashamed at how ridiculous that looks (see again, poor judgment).

[Prevailing Wind]

Quote

In all fairness, it used to be like that in Virginia, but they wised up decades ago and changed it so the exit numbers correspond to the closest mile marker.

Georgia changed to the mile marker system sometime around Y2K.

I refused to go on that footbridge on Grandfather Mountain. My dad, who lost his inner ear in WWII and had NO balance, and I stayed on terra firma & watched my mom frolic across the bridge & back. She & my brother were also the ones that climbed the fire towers, while Pop & I stood below and watched. And laughed at them the next day when their thighs hurt.

The Cooper River (new) bridge doesn't bother me, but the old, rickety, wooden bridge was scary to me only because it wasn't solid wood across; it was just a pair of planked "tracks" for your wheels and I was afraid of slipping off them, not slipping off the bridge itself.

HATE roller coasters.  A few years ago, my brother & SIL moved to Charlotte, near Carowinds. Joe would use the tall coaster as a landmark to find his way home until he learned all the streets.

One of the scariest bridges I've crossed was a railroad bridge in Edwards, MS. It's the steepest bridge I've ever been on and I couldn't see anything but sky when I got to the top. Our cars are so aerodynamic anymore, you can't see the damn hood in the first place and then, when you can't see any road before you, you feel like Columbus' fourth ship, going over the edge of the world. Once I crested the bridge, it felt like I was going straight down into the ground. It was very disorienting.

Once I was driving over the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami. It has no drawbridges; all the bridges were built high enough that ships/boats could go under them without the need to stop traffic. I was on one of those bridges and the wind, coming from the north, blew my wee VW Beetle from the left into the right lane. Fortunately, there was no other traffic around me. That was a definite YIKES moment.

I love ferries. I'm so old, I remember the ferry to Sanibel Island, before Florida built that causeway and ruined the charm of Sanibel/Captiva. I had a great time on the Cape May-Lewes ferry. I think I may come across a ferry during my road trip this year. I've seen it mentioned on the map and I'll be in the vicinity, so I'll probably go out of my just to take the ferry.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

I love ferries. I'm so old, I remember the ferry to Sanibel Island, before Florida built that causeway and ruined the charm of Sanibel/Captiva. I had a great time on the Cape May-Lewes ferry. I think I may come across a ferry during my road trip this year. I've seen it mentioned on the map and I'll be in the vicinity, so I'll probably go out of my just to take the ferry.

Go to Washington state. They have a massive ferry system running around the Puget Sound area, some of them are so big, they have restaurants inside. Granted, these are usually the commuter ferries for people who live on the islands and go to Seattle for work and the restaurants are McDonalds and Starbucks...

[riley702]

6 hours ago, mojoween said:

I love roller coasters and bridges.  There is one bridge in a town nearby over a state route, and if you are stopped at the light at the right area, you can feel the bridge shudder from the weight of the cars going the other direction.  It’s awesome.

Of course, when flying, I think the more turbulence the better, so perhaps my judgment can’t be trusted.

Me, too. I either hold my glasses on during the big drops or use one of those cords that go around the back of your head to hold them on. And love the loop-the-loop ones, especially. The only coaster I didn't like whipped from side to side and hammered my head against the side pads. I lost one earring and both posts had gouged bloody holes behind my ears. I tried so hard to keep my head to one side and physically couldn't.

The first time I flew, I was absolutely fascinated that the tip of the wing was vibrating up and down. Then noticed the lady beside me white-knuckled. When she saw my arched eyebrows, she informed me it wasn't supposed to be doing that. Okay, then.

[Annber03]

52 minutes ago, riley702 said:

The first time I flew, I was absolutely fascinated that the tip of the wing was vibrating up and down. Then noticed the lady beside me white-knuckled. When she saw my arched eyebrows, she informed me it wasn't supposed to be doing that. Okay, then.

LOL, oh, dear :p.

I sympathize with that woman. I'm not all that keen on flying, either-had a crappy flight experience when I was a teenager, when flying back home (I'd been in California visiting relatives). Ever since then the thought of flying has made me kinda...ehhhhh. Which is a shame, because my flight out to California was fine. 

[Browncoat]

I love flying, though I always get just a tad nervous for take-offs and landings.

I read something earlier today about this new roller coaster at Silver Dollar City in Branson -- the cars spin!  It also has loops and launches and I honestly can't decide if I would like it or not.  Mind you, the likelihood of my going to Branson isn't very high, but still.  Y'all need to look it up.

I also love ferries.  I was on one once, going from mainland Scotland to the Orkneys, and the water was a bit rough.  It didn't get worrisome until we all started hearing these alarms.  Before we started to panic, we looked at the crew, and they seemed just as puzzled, so we figured we weren't sinking, and then we all realized that the boat was rocking enough to set off the car alarms of the cars in the hold.  It was a fun ride.  The Stena line ferries from Scotland to Ireland are really nice, too.  One of my favorite small ferries is the one across the James River at Jamestown, VA.  Sometimes eagles will hang out on the channel markers and just watch the boat traffic.

[Moose135]

2 hours ago, riley702 said:

The first time I flew, I was absolutely fascinated that the tip of the wing was vibrating up and down. Then noticed the lady beside me white-knuckled. When she saw my arched eyebrows, she informed me it wasn't supposed to be doing that. Okay, then.

The wing tips will usually flex when flying, especially on take off when the wings start generating lift to take the weight of the aircraft.  The new Boeing 787 wings, made of composites, will flex about 10 feet from neutral when flying.  It's completely normal.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Moose135

[Silver Raven]

Try driving in San Francisco some time.  Some of the streets are so steep, when you get to the top of the hill your car is facing directly up at the sky, you can't see the street ahead of you.  And when the light changes and you accelerate, you have to be quick to get off the brake and onto the accelerator to avoid sliding backwards.

[riley702]

So, she was just a weenie?

[bilgistic]

19 minutes ago, Silver Raven said:

Try driving in San Francisco some time.  Some of the streets are so steep, when you get to the top of the hill your car is facing directly up at the sky, you can't see the street ahead of you.  And when the light changes and you accelerate, you have to be quick to get off the brake and onto the accelerator to avoid sliding backwards.

I have skill enough to be able to do that when driving my manual transmission car. It involves using the hand brake at the same time. *flicks imaginary dust off shoulder*

[Brattinella]

Some of the streets in San Francisco don't have sidewalks, they have steps.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

The Stena line ferries from Scotland to Ireland are really nice, too.

My motion sickness is at its worst on water, but when I wanted to get from Scotland to Northern Ireland, it seemed stupid to buy a plane ticket from Glasgow to Belfast when Stena's high-speed ferry was available if I just took the train down to Stranraer (it goes out of Cairnryan now, I believe), so I took my drugs and gave it a try.  Crossing that North Channel was fine, but I'd never, ever do that Dublin-Liverpool route (or even Dublin-Holyhead) across the Irish Sea.

[Bort]

1 hour ago, riley702 said:

So, she was just a weenie?

A mis-informed weenie. Before someone else beat me to it, I was also about to comment that wings are supposed to flex. They have to or the stress would break them right off.

[ebk57]

I have no problems on bridges.  The Sunshine Skyway from St Pete to Bradenton and Sarasota is lovely!  Also built high enough so boats can pass.  Can't wait to get there in a couple of weeks for Spring Training!

Roller coasters, otoh... not a chance.  We went to Kings Dominion on a work picnic one summer and my co-workers lied to me and told me this ride wasn't like a roller coaster at all.  And, of course, Mr ebk did nothing to correct them.  I was not happy.  (I'd tell you which ride it was, but I've put all the ugly details out of my head!).

I actually love the Staten Island Ferry.  You can see the lovely skyline of NY, and the lovely Lady Liberty...and it's free! Why pay for an expensive harbor cruise!!

[SuprSuprElevated]

14 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Try driving in San Francisco some time.  Some of the streets are so steep, when you get to the top of the hill your car is facing directly up at the sky, you can't see the street ahead of you.  And when the light changes and you accelerate, you have to be quick to get off the brake and onto the accelerator to avoid sliding backwards.

This gave me anxiety just reading it.  I have a recurring dream nightmare about driving my car and suddenly I'm flying off of a road like you describe, like I was in a slingshot, flying through the air.  It's horrible.

[Prevailing Wind]

15 hours ago, Bastet said:

My motion sickness is at its worst on water,

Have you tried those "Sea-Bands" ? The stretchy wrist bands with a little nub that hits a certain pressure point that reduces motion sickness? I've worn them on some ferries and most of the time on the cruise I took in 92. One of the violinists in the ship's string quartet was wearing them, too. They really do work.  https://www.target.com/p/seaband-nausea-relief-accupressure-wristbands-1-pair-colors-may-vary/-/A-15115907?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Health+Beauty+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Health+Beauty_Top Performers&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=c&location=9010770&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIndWgvK_a2QIVRJ7ACh0oWwLyEAQYASABEgLyhPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

[AuntieL]

Oooh, thank you for the tip on the motion sickness bands.  I'm going to try them.  I can't sit in the back of a car and even sometimes on the passenger side (one reason why I'm always the designated driver) and the couple of times I was on a ferry I had to be outside the whole time (and as long as I was outside I enjoyed it).  But I decided to bite the bullet and go on a river boat cruise down the Rhine at the end of the month so I've begun researching motion sickness stuff.  Bridges don't bother me, I've always lived near water (rivers growing up and bays now); not fond of tunnels.  Driving from South Jersey where I live now to Pittsburgh to visit relatives, there are 4 tunnels. Fingers crossed, never got stuck in one yet.  

[xaxat]

18 hours ago, Brattinella said:

Some of the streets in San Francisco don't have sidewalks, they have steps.

In Pittsburgh, they adopted a system of having a road going up a hill until it becomes to steep. At the end of the road there are stairs, with the name of the street, to the top of the hill where the road continues on with the same name. 

It's different now, but back when there were only paper maps, it was quite confusing to out of towners. 

[Bastet]

9 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Have you tried those "Sea-Bands" ? The stretchy wrist bands with a little nub that hits a certain pressure point that reduces motion sickness?

Yeah, I wore those for the first time on that ferry to Belfast.  I was also drugged, so I have no idea how much they worked on their own. 

[mmecorday]

I just opened my newspaper and inside was an advertisement for Macy's ONE.DAY.SALE!

[mojoween]

It’s Easter Bunny time!

The ... bulge ... in that suit cracks me up.  Especially seeing how Mookie is mashing down on it.

[friendperidot]

I guess I can't count on Geico because I don't talk baby talk to my dogs. I do a high pitched voice to one to get him to come in the house when he doesn't want to, but my words are just regular words and I have no idea why the high pitch stuff works when nothing else does, but who am I to argue with success? It's just "come on, you can do it, come on Blackie, come on!" Food, any food, works for the other one. 

[peacheslatour]

I must admit to baby talking to my little girl but to to the little boy cat. Don't know why.

[smittykins]

Today I signed papers for an ADA-compliant apartment in a new complex in my area.  The shower is HUMONGOUS! And there's a dishwasher, which my current place doesn't have(the kitchen sink doesn't even have a sprayer). I admittedly have mixed feelings--moving is such a pain in the ass--but this is probably for the best. 

[mojoween]

We can’t have a built-in dishwasher but last November after going to the emergency room for the third time in 16 years for stitches we got a portable dishwasher.  Other than being a little noisy, I can’t imagine how I ever lived without one.  It has made me very lazy though.

[funky-rat]

3 hours ago, mojoween said:

We can’t have a built-in dishwasher but last November after going to the emergency room for the third time in 16 years for stitches we got a portable dishwasher.  Other than being a little noisy, I can’t imagine how I ever lived without one.  It has made me very lazy though.

I considered a countertop model when we moved, but I didn't have a place to put it that I wouldn't have had to move it constantly, and I would have had to unscrew the end of my faucet and put an adapter on every time I wanted to use it (my faucet has one of those bell shaped ends on it, and it's too large for the coupler).  So I just do them by hand, but I said the next house we get WILL have a dishwasher.  I currently don't have any space to keep a portable, or I would have one.

[bilgistic]

5 hours ago, mojoween said:

We can’t have a built-in dishwasher but last November after going to the emergency room for the third time in 16 years for stitches we got a portable dishwasher.  Other than being a little noisy, I can’t imagine how I ever lived without one.  It has made me very lazy though.

We had one when I was growing up. My friends were so perplexed at what it was and how it worked.

My parents sold it (probably the replacement for the one from 30 years ago) a couple years ago to a guy who brought an old Buick or some such to pick it up. My mom took and sent me a picture of him attempting to load it into the trunk. I don't know how he made it work, but he did.

Mom does her and my dad's dishes by hand now. I refuse to hand wash and must have a dishwasher. Just the cats' dishes alone (wet food several times a day) generate three times the dishes I use.

[peacheslatour]

We have a portable dishwasher that we got when our son was a baby. Still works like a champ.