lavransson

lavransson t1_jbkvtje wrote

Reply to comment by 8valvegrowl in Breakfast spots in Chittenden Co but not BTV by MathGeekVT

I checked the Family Table website just now and it says "We are open Thursday through Monday at 4:00 PM for dinner."

I went for dinner there a month ago. They were pretty full. The meal was amazing, way better than I was expecting. Definitely a step above "diner food."

Looks pretty good inside after the long closing during remodeling.

2

lavransson OP t1_j9p5imp wrote

Reply to comment by chefsteev in Turn around time for Vermont Non-Driver ID? Need one for 18 year very soon to get on a airline flight. Can you get one in a day or two? by lavransson

Thank you. We tried yesterday, can't get us one right away, it has to be mailed. They gave her a temporary but that's basically a print-out with a B&W photo on it. It's technically not valid for anything but driving.

Next, they went to BTV and asked the TSA person if that was acceptable, and got a "not really but if you bring other things like a RX prescription, a debit card, they might let you in." Ooof. Not very confidence-inspiring.

1

lavransson OP t1_j9kw4wo wrote

Reply to comment by PuddleCrank in Turn around time for Vermont Non-Driver ID? Need one for 18 year very soon to get on a airline flight. Can you get one in a day or two? by lavransson

Thanks, good tip. They are going to the DMV this afternoon, hoping to replace the non-photo learner's permit with one that has a photo, or whatever else they might recommend given the time constraints. I don't think it's possible to get a Real ID expedited but perhaps you can get a non-Real ID learners permit with photo. We shall see. I think this qualifies under TSA's rule:

>Driver's licenses or other state photo identity cards issued by Department of Motor Vehicles (or equivalent)

I have heard a few tips from you and others about the workarounds for lost and stolen, etc., but I am wary of doing this. We are going to be a family of 4 traveling together and if one of us gets stuck, it will be a mess 😧 Travel is hard enough already.

2

lavransson OP t1_j9k8anm wrote

Reply to comment by BudsKind802 in Turn around time for Vermont Non-Driver ID? Need one for 18 year very soon to get on a airline flight. Can you get one in a day or two? by lavransson

Thank you, I did consider that but what I'm seeing is that "emergency" requests require planned international travel, and still have a 72-hour turn around. Since this is for a domestic flight, I didn't think she would qualify. But perhaps we can do the Canadian hotel reservation like you said. Thanks for the tip!

1

lavransson t1_j56r4op wrote

Reply to comment by reinhart_menken in Out of stater driving in Vermont by reinhart_menken

Yeah, it sucks to buy tires for one trip, but if you might be able to sell them afterwards perhaps?

Again, I described getting snow tires as insurance against sliding off the road and possibly doing great damage to your vehicle, yourself and possibly others. Just add this in as another cost of your trip.

Hope you have a great trip.

2

lavransson t1_j56alle wrote

Reply to comment by mmartino03 in Out of stater driving in Vermont by reinhart_menken

Thanks, I am mostly laughing at myself.

I was able to get up the hill in the morning, the road was pretty clear, but going down at night was terrifying. It got warm in the afternoon, enough to melt some snow, then the melt got frozen later on when I drove down, so it was like ice skating downhill.

So, I joined the chorus of people advising the OP to get appropriate tires, especially if he's going to Bolton!

2

lavransson t1_j5675pn wrote

Reply to Out of stater driving in Vermont by reinhart_menken

Just want to say, one of the scariest moments in my life was driving down the Bolton access road on an icy day in the dark with my minivan that had regular tires on it. I was probably taking it 5 mph at points, and I'm sure the line of Vermonters behind me were cursing this Flatlander. This is the windy road that leads from the main road up to the Bolton ski resort. This was when I was living in Virginia (ironically) and visiting my relatives in Vermont and took a day to go snowboarding at Bolton.

Now that I live in Vermont, like many others I have two sets of tires, one for the several months of summer and one for the half-year long winters. The winter tires also have studs. And I have an AWD vehicle now.

So, I would encourage you to get studded snow tires. Think of it as an insurance policy. It will cost you $500 but that's cheaper than your insurance deductible. And good luck getting your car repaired in Vermont. You know the old joke about being able to pick 2 things out of "good, cheap and fast"? If you want auto body work in Vermont in winter, you'll can probably get "good" but don't expect cheap or fast.

BTW, I suspect your Matrix is front-wheel drive, not rear wheel drive, but I could be wrong.

1

lavransson t1_j3x1iw1 wrote

Reply to comment by Oeslian in PSA: 4-Way Stand-Offs. “You go first.” “No, you go first.” “I’ll wait.” “No, you go, I’ll wait.” by Unique-Public-8594

I'm from the Washington DC area originally, and when I first lived in Vermont I thought the drivers were better. I do still prefer driving and living in Vermont by miles.

But like you, I'm noticing that Vermont drivers do pull out in front of you more. I was taught, "If you turn from a side road into a main road and cause the driver behind you to brake, then you should not have pulled out, you should have waited (or accelerated faster)." Many drivers in Vermont don't do this.

I also see a surprising number of red light runners, more than in DC (per capita). I am not sure why this is, but I figure it's two things: people thinking, (1) "There's hardly anyone out here on the roads, what difference does it make?" and (2) "There a less than 1% chance of a police officer being around, so I'm just going to run this light."

5

lavransson t1_j3c639a wrote

Reply to Back-up Generator for Entire House by ReadBonny

Sorry if I'm threadjacking, but I have a tangential question.

I have a 7,500w portable generator that can run gasoline or liquid propane gas (LPG). My house has an external receptacle for a generator that hooks up to the main panel and we have a manual transfer switch to switch off the utility company power and use the generator power. We have an AUX panel that is hooked up to the essential functions: oil burner, well pump, septic system pump, fridge, and a few receptacles in the house.

I also have a 120-lbs LPG tank that I use to power my kitchen range/oven and only that one appliance. We get LPG delivered from a local fuel company (Patterson Fuel) and I am pretty sure they own the tank as it was there when we bought the house years ago and we keep using that same company for LPG deliveries.

We are thinking of switching to an electric kitchen range/oven which would mean we no longer need the LPG. Does anyone know if the fuel company would let us continue to use the LPG tank for our generator? We only lose power once or twice a year at most (so far) so there could be stretches where we don't use any LPG at all. As such, we'd hardly be worth the company having as a customer.

Presumably we'd need to ask Patterson to install an attachment to the existing LPG tank that we could then hook up to our generator.

I'd love to be able to use LPG instead of regular gasoline as this would be more convenient and easier to manage.

Thanks for any tips.

1

lavransson t1_j3c3s2h wrote

Reply to comment by EscapedAlcatraz in Back-up Generator for Entire House by ReadBonny

Also, is it safe and practical to transport a 100 lb tank? I’m reading that this weighs 170 lbs when full and should only be transported upright. So you’d need a pickup truck and a way to keep it secure. And 2+ strong people on both ends of the trip to load and unload.

1