An Update in General

I've been busy lately, but not here exactly. I started two new blogs that more adequately address some of my desires for outlet of late.

The first was Pushing Wool, a place where I do my part to hinder or help the larger coordinated efforts to pull the wool over our collective eyes. Having been trained throughout my life to be suspicious and look for ulterior motives, I feel well equipped to address these issues. I know there are many other worthy places to look for such illumination, but I think most of them have either jumped the shark and/or been swallowed by the gigantic loom of lies and misinformation.

The second blog, which I just kicked off a few days ago, was something I had been considering for a long time. It wasn't until somebody came out and said I should write for one of the beloved car magazines, that I really considered giving my own thoughts on the topic more than just lip service (because I really can talk about cars all day long). Once given the nudge, I was determined to give it a name both clever and self-centered enough to meet or exceed the standards set by my other blogs. I finally came up with Autogotistical Carpinions.

In the process of becoming inspired on the spot for topics about which to blather on about (see?), I've been trying to utilize any possible tools at hand to make it easier to keep track of my thoughts for expounding upon later. I'm now using Remember The Milk for that purpose, via Jott or by SMS via Twitter when I'm on the go. When I organize my task inbox later, the blog ideas get filtered into their own list, which you can see the contents of in the sidebar of this blog and both of the new blogs. This was my first attempt at using the news feed from a list of reminders. I like the fact that you can make some of the static blog content a little more dynamic without too much babysitting.

So that's what I've been up to. Keep an eye out for more from each blog. I'll probably be adding a news feed for each blog on the other, for a little cross-promotional action.

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Flockin' A, man!

I was really excited to see that Flock's latest version supports Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and Picasa Web Albums, but when it came down to using them, it really isn't happening much yet.

I like having my Picasa hosted pictures in Flock's Media Bar, but I don't really need the photo uploading capabilities because, oddly enough, I use Picasa's software locally on my computers to manage my photo albums.

The method for logging in and checking for unread email seems a little buggy still, so I removed the email button from the toolbar and stashed the icon for the Gmail Manager firefox extension there instead. Previews are better, and I can do more with it.

The one email related feature that does work now is the Share this Link button. Enough said.

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Comcast DVR Kicked to the Curb. TiVo HD has arrived!!

It was inevitable, really. We were trying to hold out as long as possible, but our Comcast supplied DVR finally had to go. It had been generally misbehaving on a regular basis for a long time, taking way too long to respond to commands from the remote control. After blatantly missing an American Idol episode, we knew it's time was up. I called Comcast and the person I spoke to was very sympathetic and suggested I take the DVR directly to the local office to get the trade-in faster. After hanging up the phone (how much longer will that phrase be used?), it was decided that we would replace the malfunctioning box in two days.

On that day, I had an idea. There had been some sales on TiVo HDs of late at our local mini-sized Best Buys. Why not pick up a CableCARD or two instead of a replacement DVR (which still won't be able to keep from recording the same episodes of A Daily Show with John Stewart and The Colbert Report 4 times a day!!) and buy a TiVo to solve our DVR problems?

So we got our second Tivo.

And we love it, just like we did our first one before we lost reception on our DirecTiVo.

We are still breaking ourselves in, trying to get the accustomed to the new features, but it really is nice. Thanks, TiVo. It's good to be home!

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Bad Troubleshooting Gone Right...

The LHS is running again, thanks to a decent bit of weather I was able to accelerate the resurrection process. Yippeeee!!!!!

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The Fated Revenge of Complementary Thinking

This is what I was going to do:  I was going to write a little about how nicely mannered our 1995 Chrysler LHS has been through the course of our owning it for almost 5 years.

What happened this morning:  I got in the car to go pick up my children from Granny's house, and it refused to start.  Doh!!  I'm writing this while waiting for a friend to arrive to try to help jump the beast.

The Story I was going to tell: We started looking for another car once when we learned that our son was on the way.  The main family car at the time was a not-too-reliable Chevy Caprice 9C1.  The car had its moments, but was not all that fun to take into the shop.  While the Caprice had plenty of room inside, it was apparent that having two six-footers in front was going to make it hard to carry a toddler and baby in the back.  It was plenty wide, but could use a little bit more in the length department.  Our daughter's carrier snuggled nicely between the seat backs of the front seats when installed in the middle of the back seat, and we weren't going to have that option with two occupants back there.

Our search began, and over the course of a few months of combing through Autotrader's web site, and examining interior specifications of everything I could think of, I noticed a car that was slowly dropping in price as it continued to go unsold.  It didn't have a lot of miles for its age.  The interior was quite cavernous, with legroom everywhere, and it had a (queue the ray of light!) sunroof.  The first problem we noticed was that the display didn't work on the stereo.  Okay, we thought, we would probably be replacing that with an newer unit, so that gives us haggle room.  The next thing was the climate control system.  Somehow it was stuck on max heat.  We went home later and thought it over, inadvertently leaving my Sting CD in the unlit CD player.  We called later to say we would like to buy it, and found out that it was actually owned by a broker who was a good bit closer to where we lived, and that it had been taken back there to replace the stereo (Bye-bye, Sting!).  We made the trip out there, and started talking about what it needed, and what we would pay.  From the continual price drops, no doubt due to some of the flaws previously noted, and the dealer's inability to get the display to work on another stereo, we got a pretty nice deal on a quite luxurious car.

After that it was our primary family car, and while there were some problems with the transmission leaking, a freak coolant issue, and letting it go too long without changing the timing belt, the car has been fairly dependable with regular use.  It has never stranded us on the freeway, which the Caprice did a number of times, and is usually up to whatever task put before it.

The standout feature for me this week, was looking back at how very capable it is in slick conditions.  I don't think I've been in a more capable car with a single axle propelling it.

A few winters back, my father and brother were visiting with Dad's RV, being followed close behind by my step-mother in the Suzuki Sidekick tow-vehicle.  While step-mom was on her way, a big storm hit, and made what is usually an uneventful trip into something a little more scary.  Somewhere between the directions my dad gave her and the weather, my step-mom took a wrong turn and while she had made it to within 10 miles of my home, we didn't want to risk any further problems.  My dad and I headed out in the LHS to find her.  The tires were VERY bald, and the traction control was kicking in every time we started after a stop, but it took the conditions well and never lost its composure.  In the aftermath of this same storm, we agreed to shuttle my brother back home so that my dad could go further north to avoid the storm in the big rig.  That was a real nail biter, as the car was driving on ice during the whole trip.

Earlier this week, I took the kids down to the Oregon Coast to celebrate New Year's.  I had planned on leaving in the wee hours of the morning, which turned out to be a good thing, because we drove on ice ALL the way from Olympia down to Tillamook.  The car seems ideally balanced for traveling like this.

If only it weren't so scared of high winds!!!

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