mdchaney

mdchaney t1_ja8emzg wrote

I have to explain to people all the time there is no "in the back" for the most part. The fresh areas (dairy, meat, produce, bakery, deli) *might* have something out of customer sight that hasn't been shelved yet, but if they're out of a can of soup you'll have to wait until a truck brings another. People imagine that a grocery store has some huge stock room in the back that they use to replenish the shelves, but that's just not the case. If an item is on sale they might keep some extras around, but other than that what you see is what you get.

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mdchaney t1_ja876q8 wrote

To add to this - the old Volkswagen 4 cylinder engines put out around 55HP. Your normal modern car is 200HP and up. That engine was in the Beetle as well as the microbus. Neither vehicle was a barn burner, but could eventually get up to 60MPH. But after you got to that speed it would be fine. I used to also drive a 1980 Ford Mustang with a 6 cylinder engine that put out around 90HP. The post-muscle-car era had some pretty anemic engines, but we got around.

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mdchaney t1_j9u18x4 wrote

There's a story here. Ruby Falls is inside Lookout Mountain, and at the base of the mountain there's a big cave by the Tennessee River. Right now, it's beside the railroad tracks that run between I-24 and the mountain. The original plan was to build a shaft from up on the mountain to that lower cave so they could open it for tourism. They started drilling the shaft and barely nicked the cave where Ruby Falls is. I think the hole was about a foot in diameter. But air pressure differences made air blow out of it so they realized it was a sizable cave system. After exploring that cave and finding the waterfall they realized that was going to be the cave to tour. I think the elevator actually goes all the way to the other cave.

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mdchaney t1_j9u0o02 wrote

I recommend you visit them some day. Ruby Falls is a bit overdone - they have lights and all that to spice up the waterfall, but it's still one of those things that is just amazing to look at. Rock City is just a really nice garden with great views. There's also the Incline Railway, railroad museum, and a bunch of nice stuff in downtown Chattanooga. It's an old-school tourist trap, but the touristy stuff tends to be classy. We went there on vacation 45 years ago when I was a kid, and my wife and I still go there some since we're a couple of hours away (living in another tourist trap).

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mdchaney t1_itqvmhc wrote

Starlink will really help a lot of that. In my area (middle TN) the electric utility has partnered with a telecom company to run fiber to their entire service area. That is opening up a lot of somewhat rural areas to gig up/down, which is a game-changer.

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