Entertainment on long drives

"JRapp: now as good as new again" (jrapp)
04/26/2016 at 16:37 • Filed to: None

So almost weekly, I drive (alone) between Portland and Seattle. Sometimes during rush hour, so it’s roughly 4 hours there, 4 hours back.

I’ve been going through Audiobooks like a madman. Generally the free ones from the library using OverDrive. I’ve listened to some Podcasts, mostly from TWiT. Music burned to DVDs from my personal collection, or streaming from DI.fm or TuneIn.

What do you fellow Opponauts listen to on lone long drives?

Here’s an obscure vehicle for your time:

DISCUSSION (38)

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:41

I wish I drove more. I just put on the radio for my daily 10 minute commute.

Ash78, voting early and often > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:42

Standup comedy on Pandora (which is about the only thing Pandora is still good for). A few stations or playlists on Amazon Prime. I mostly stream since my job has unlimited data on the phone. I also listen to a lot of sermons on an app called OnePlace that aggregates all the best syndicated pastors from around the world. Basically anything that keeps me from having to read.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:43

I just use the radio or listen to a podcast (Usually UCS) for my relatively short commute.

Mercedes Streeter > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:44

I listen to The Young Turks, the Untitled Car Show, NPR’s CarTalk, and whatever music I’m addicted to at that current time.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:46

Super eurobeat. 234 main release volumes and counting . Have fun. Now if you’ll excuse me, I am running in the 90s.

*INITIAL D DRIFTING INTENSIFIES!*

lone_liberal > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest.
04/26/2016 at 16:51

I doubt that you’d want that drive as it’s a lot more “standing still in traffic” than “driving”.

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:51

Radio comedy/satire on the BBC iPlayer normally, but Podcasts also if I can be bothered to pre-download them on Podkicker.

JRapp: now as good as new again > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
04/26/2016 at 16:52

No, wait, don’t go... tell me more. Is this stuff steamable from somewhere?

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > lone_liberal
04/26/2016 at 16:52

I guess. Maybe just a longer distance of what I already do through the country side.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Ash78, voting early and often
04/26/2016 at 16:54

Yea I’m grandfathered in on Sprints unlimited 4G as well. May need to reinstall Pandora and check this out. I had uninstalled it because all my stations got stale after a while..

Opposite Locksmith > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 16:58

I take a 4 hour bus ride to Austin and back every weekend I feel ya

JRapp: now as good as new again > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30
04/26/2016 at 16:59

I’d love to get the BBC iPlayer in the US. I want to listen to the BBC1 Essential Mixes, among other things. It seems to be geo-restricted the last time I checked though. Let’s say I manage to get my hands on the APK, are the streams still restricted to the UK?

Autohaus Derp > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:02

You can get podcasts, and if you are a Spotify user they usually publish many of the playlists on the relevant DJ’s channel page - for example, hottest records in the world etc

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:05

I would imagine so, it is for licence fee payers only therefore UK only. That said, there’s quite a few ways to circumvent the TV iPlayer geo-restriction policies, so I see no reason why the same couldn’t be done on mobile for the radio version (there’s two different apps). Even if you were only able to set up proxies on WiFi rather than 3/4g, the app allows you to download the show so you can grab what you want before you drive and listen data plan free.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:22

Music, NPR, stand up comedy, books on tape, ect.. between XM, spotify, Pandora I never run out of ways to stay entertained.

OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:25

The Smoking Tire has been getting me by on my weekly trips to Nashville/ Birmingham. Worth a listen and a laugh.

JRapp: now as good as new again > lone_liberal
04/26/2016 at 17:30

I usually drive up at night, so that drive is actually fairly enjoyable if it’s not raining (this is Oregon/Washington we’re talking about here, that’s a big if).

The drive back down though I usually start around 3 PM’ish, so I hit rush hour as soon as I get on I5 by Southcenter. And yes, that’s stop and go for a couple of hours until it opens up again near Tumwater. This drive is not enjoyable.

thebigbossyboss > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:34

For a month I commuted weekly between Edmonton AB, and Prince George BC. Over 8 hours each way. The last time I did it I was in a moving truck and there are no radio stations for about 200-300 kms. So when all I had as FM transmitter....I didn't listen to anything.

lone_liberal > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 17:38

Since I live on the dry side of Washington I’ve only done that drive once. I was on vacation and was going from Depoe Bay to Seattle. We managed to miss Portland traffic but hit traffic around Olympia. It got really bad around JBLM. It opened right up once we got close to Seattle, though.

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome
04/26/2016 at 17:46

Yea I’ve been debating on activating my XM agin. Did the free demo, and the sound quality was much better than Sirius in my last car. I just don’t know if it’s worth it for the 5 out of the 100+ stations that are any good.

And I don’t have Spotify either. Thought about that, but I don’t like going to my phone for much while driving. Same goes for Pandora, as well as DI.fm and TuneIn that I already use.

JRapp: now as good as new again > thebigbossyboss
04/26/2016 at 17:51

Ouch! 3 hours of nothing but moving truck engine noise and tire hum? That’s brutal.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 18:45

I use about 12 stations of my xm. but since I have sprint I loose service a lot and FM is just not an option for me when I can’t listen to Spotify.

Also with new phones who has to touch them? Gesture and voice control man. I have mine mounted on my dash I can change songs with out ever touching the thing!

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome
04/26/2016 at 18:47

Sprint for the I5 corridor between Portland and Seattle is great for me. Pair that with grandfathered unlimited data... that’s why I’ve been listening to DI.fm or TuneIn.. I just kind of want to diversify my options.

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 18:49

Why would you scald my eyes with the hideous Russo Baltique?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 18:55

I don’t know who streams eurobeat, but maybe there’s some eurodance stations that might. I don’t know if there;s a podcast or not. I literally bought albums of the stuff lol.

JRapp: now as good as new again > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
04/26/2016 at 19:09

Yea I was asking more alone the lines of this specific collection. DI.fm does have a Eurodance station or few.

JRapp: now as good as new again > dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford
04/26/2016 at 19:15

Sorry. The original Russo-Balt is one of the only cars I know of that has history in the Baltics.. and me being from the region originally... I felt that I should post something close to home.. perhaps this would have been a better choice?

Kinja'd!!!

thebigbossyboss > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 22:21

Yeah. It’s really far without radios or really anything. In that stretch once I was driving late at night. I passed two vehicles going the other way in an hour.

Alex Zapata > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/26/2016 at 23:39

I once had to go from Guadalajara to Tepic without an Aux cable on a Nissan March; about three hours mostly without any radio signal (even AM signal) funner than you might think.

I made a lot of plans, resolved some problems that I had waiting for me and sang to myself (while I don’t think I am the greatest singer I do sound good to myself and that is a blessing) eventually the road trip ended and I was just slightly more insane than when it started.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/27/2016 at 08:31

you know sprints unlimited isn’t grandfathered in.. they just offer that. but I’m jealous out coverage is, meh at best out east. but it’s getting better all the time!

Nauraushaun > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/28/2016 at 07:29

That car is disgusting.

I really like music. But that only lasts for so long before it wears thin. 8 hours might chew through everything good.

I’ve been listening to the Game of Thrones audiobooks while running and they’re fantastic.

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome
04/28/2016 at 18:30

No. Unlimited 4G is grandfathered. What they offer now is 4G to a point, and 2G after that..

Edit: it seems they may have brought the unlimited 4G back with some other restrictions on roaming that I don’t have.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/28/2016 at 18:32

oh weird, I didn’t realize that. I could have sworn it was still unlimited. thank god I’m grandfathered then because I use a fuck ton of data

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome
04/28/2016 at 18:38

See my edit to the above. I went a way for a while, and it seems it’s now back but a little different.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/28/2016 at 18:45

Kinja'd!!!

This is this billing cycle with 4 days left. Haha. I get 2gb roaming as well, which is good.

JRapp: now as good as new again > itschrome
04/28/2016 at 21:30

Ooh... I’ve been good this time around:

Still a week left though.

JRapp: now as good as new again > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/28/2016 at 21:33

Not this crap again. Kinja doesn’t post my pictures, and then doesn’t let me edit my post either...

Anyways, I’m currently only at like 3.5GB, but previous months I’ve been anywhere from like 5 to 9, only dipping below 4 last August a prior.

itschrome > JRapp: now as good as new again
04/29/2016 at 08:44

nice. yeah I dunno the last time i was below 6gb a month, whats even more impressive is I spend most of my time on wifi!

we are definitely in the 1% of data users that’s for sure.