I’m taking July off. Paternity leave for the brain or something.
miscellany
Archived Posts from this Category
Thu, 12 Jun 2008
As we left our company meeting downtown this morning, I merged onto the interstate with an ease I am unaccustomed to in the Odyssey. Something felt a little funny, but I couldn’t tell what, and I had to watch the other vehicles… (and keep up with the in-car conversation, too, of course!) But it definitely was peppier than usual. Once I was safely on the interstate, I glanced at my speedometer to find my speed and happened to glance at my tach.
Needle straight up.
5500 rpm. 55 mph.
The highest this engine has ever revved. Not good.
I let off the gas for it to shift, and it didn’t. I began running a mental checklist to try and pinpoint the problem. It was kind of amazing that for all its revving the engine didn’t sound very loud ~ a good thing, I suppose. But what could be wrong?
Then on my instrument panel, I noticed the little numeral two highlighted.
You know, between the ‘D’ and the ‘1′…
Thu, 29 May 2008
Today we had a lunch meeting downtown, so as is usual, I ran the carpool. This is the first out-of-office meeting since the Odyssey, so I took six co-workers down with me, and brought five back. (Yeah, it was a rough meeting.)
One of the things that attracted me to the Honda minivan was the Consumer Reports review that said that of all people movers, it was the closest thing to a sport sedan. They were right.
And it’s hard not to show off. Some days, spreadsheet driving doesn’t win out.
Sat, 17 May 2008
One of our morning errands today was to stop at the car wash. After we had finished, we were driving away, and my oldest (4-years-old next month) says, “Papa, motorcycles can’t go through the car wash.”
“Why not?” I rejoined.
“Because they don’t have windows and would get soap on the person.”
“That’s very true.”
“And bicycles and tricycles can’t either.”
<pause>
“And airplanes can’t go through the car wash either, because it would break them into pieces!”
Sat, 12 Apr 2008
It has been quite an adventure to prepare our budget for a 50% increase in family members, and the biggest factor in this economic adventure has been the Odyssey acquisition. I did quite a bit of research and shopping around, considering many different options, both new and used.
Of my favorite picks, including our eventual purchase as well as the Pilot, Expedition, Sienna, and Outlook, I felt the Odyssey ranked a distinct fourth in looks, while posting second in cost, driving comfort, driving agility, mileage, and family room. It reminded me a little of a political race I was involved in once that involved three candidates and three counties. One candidate placed second in all three counties. And he won the race because the candidate that won two of the counties placed a very distant third in the other county.
After much research and prayer, we received what we felt was specific direction in favor of the Honda minivan. And we are very happy both with it and with our dealership, which I would recommend to anyone for either new or used vehicles.
So, now we have our Honda and are enjoying it very much. And this past week, I received a very positive surprise. Ever since I bought my first car, I have kept a spreadsheet on each gas tank fill-up. I have since lost the one for the first car, but still have all the others. On my Sonata last year, we filled the tank 35 times, and averaged 20.2 miles per gallon. Well, last Tuesday I filled up the Odyssey for the first time, and I got 18.9 mpg on the first tank. Not bad at all!
One caveat: my Sonata was a sport sedan, and I drove it like one. Since purchasing the minivan, I have changed my work schedule to avoid rush hour, and adopted a very gentle driving method. I brake evenly, and rarely cross 2500 rpm. I go the speed limit on the interstate in my pre-rush-hour commutes. Do I enjoy this? No, not really. I was actually a little disappointed to learn the improved results from my activities. But I don’t plan to change, as the pocketbook wins this little debate. I call my new style “spreadsheet driving.”
I can’t wait until it’s paid off and I can get a little commuter car…
Thu, 10 Apr 2008
It’s not good to go to sleep while driving (which I have not done lately).
It’s not good to blog while very tired (which I haven’t done lately, either, until now).
Great observations to resume in this space very shortly, we hope.
Wed, 2 Apr 2008
And now for some positive news: Mapquest now has a new feature! When you run a set of directions, next to each piece of the journey is an “avoid” option. Click on that, and it removes that road from your set of options, and recalculates the directions without taking you on that road. Pretty nifty!
Fri, 28 Mar 2008
As my countless faithful readers know, the World’s Number One Traffic Blog has been silent for a twenty entire days, resuming yesterday.
Twenty days is the specified period alloted to obtain a new chariot for the trafficKingdom. And a new chariot we have obtained.
Out with the (not very) old. In with the new.
It’s odd to think that just five years ago this month, I was thinking about loading all my worldly possessions into a sedan to move across the country for employment and marriage. Now I can’t even fit my whole family in a sedan. And I will definitely miss the sport sedan. But as minivans go, the Odyssey is really cool.
That’s right, a cool minivan. So there.
Sun, 2 Mar 2008
Amazing. Regular commute on Friday. Lots of errands on Saturday. Church and a friend’s house on Sunday.
No lunatic sightings. None. If this keeps up, this blog will go out of business!
I would be a much happier driver, however.
Wed, 27 Feb 2008
So my wife had her doctor’s appointment yesterday afternoon to check on the baby and stuff, and she’s been a little concerned about it due to winter precipitation. She’s never really driven in snow and ice. Around the time her appointment should have been ending, I’m walking down the hallway at work, to find myself enveloped in the following whirlwind series of events:
<Jazz music sounds from cell phone, I look down to see it’s her calling in>
Me: Hey.
Her: Hey… were you still planning to take the car to the dealer on Saturday to get it serviced?
[Uh oh, she's been in an accident.] Um, yeah, why?
Good… maybe you should see if you can trade it in…
[Now, how is that going to help?!] Um, sure… is everything okay? I mean, is…
Well, I think we should get a minivan.
[Whew. She's fine. But why this urge? I knew pregnant women had cravings, but this is a little odd.]
Well, okay, sure. I can check on that.
<pause>
Wait…!
Yeah.
Are you…?
It’s a boy AND a girl.
<Here I am seen reaching for a nearby wall to steady myself, my knees weak, my eyes watering a little. Wow.>
So, I get to teach four people how to drive properly. The world will be a better place.
