(S)Trolling

Recently I noticed that there was a new hand-painted crosswalk on College Ave. just south of 6th St in front of Alexander Hall. It said (S)troll. This is a place where pedestrians love to jaywalk. I don't necessarily disapprove of jaywalking, but if you do so, I believe that traffic has the right-of-way. Since College Ave. is a frustrating drive during change of classes at Pomona College anyway, an additional pedestrian crossing is quite unwelcome to motorists. Most often I try to use College Ave. between classes, if I can remember when that is.

Turns out that this crossing was a prank, and the colleges blocked the break in the hedges to prevent jaywalkers, and yesterday crews painted over the graffiti. According to the Courier, officials found the spray paint can and are dusting it for fingerprints.

Everything Old is New Again

Well, maybe not everything, but in this season of buying new things, we have recently put some effort into things that we are not ready to give up for a newer model.

On Sunday while at a stoplight, we noticed billows of steam coming from under our trusty 1998 Camry's hood. The diagnosis was that we needed a new radiator. Tuesday morning the car went in, and Tuesday afternoon the car came out all happy, only $300 later.

My 4-year-old MacBook laptop started frustrating me with how slowly it was running. H reinstalled the operating system and now it runs much better. Then he took it into the Mac dealer to replace the cracked outer casing which was still under warranty. They must have cleaned up the keyboard, as well, and this old computer feels much better (for free!). I like using the slightly older OS because it runs some of the software that the new Mountain Lion system does not run.

Continuing on the computer front, while on jury duty on Monday, H had plenty of time to do some quality internet searching. He was able to solve the problem of previously mentioned Mountain Lion OS not running the printer driver to our old inkjet Canon printer. We like this printer, and now we can continue using it.

So, no new printer, laptop, or car under the Christmas tree, and no old printer, laptop and car needing a new home or heading toward a landfill....

Random Friday Photo

I saw this cute Audi TT at the Tioga Gas Mart in June. I've never had an obsession for a sports car, but this one appeals to me, just on looks alone. That does not mean that I actually want one. I think I would have a hard time getting up out of the car since it is so low to the ground. However, I look for them when I'm out and delight in their cuteness.

Random Friday Photo

Apparently you can take Driver's Ed in a Mini Cooper these days.  Sweet.

Fear Allayed!

Ever since, well for a long, long time, I have had a fear of heights. This expresses itself in a fear of being too near a ledge, fear of flying, and a fear of driving on scary mountain roads. For a number of years now, whenever we drive down the Tioga Pass Road from Yosemite to Lee Vining, I will sit in the back seat behind the driver and either close my eyes or look out the window that doesn't look down over the edge.  This is one steep slope on a narrow road.

This year, I took this photo as we ascended the pass and started thinking to myself.  "I don't really have to be afraid of this road anymore."  So, upon driving down from Tuoloumne this time, I sat in the passenger seat and kept my eyes open the whole time.  AND I WAS NOT AFRAID!

I cannot say why this time was any different.  I know that I while I am still quite unsettled by air turbulence, I have convinced myself that it is okay to fly, especially when it gets me places I really want to go.  I do not have any advice for anyone else trying to overcome fears such as these, but I have to say that it is greatly freeing to have fewer worries!

A Little Road Reading

The bulk of our driving time to Yosemite was spent along US 395. And although north of Ridgecrest the scenery starts to improve, it IS still 5 1/2 hours of car time. One way. H came home with the great idea that we download Tina Fey's newest book, Bossypants, to listen to. Unable to find it quickly 1) for download 2) for less than some large sum of money 3) at the library, I scanned what actually WAS available at the library and came home with The Lost City of Z by David Grann on a mere 8 CDs.  Deadly Obsession in the Amazon?  I'm in!  

After about 3 CDs, I asked H if he thought we'd EVER get to the Amazon, and although we were tempted to skip ahead, we listened to the whole thing (being a captive audience and all).  The author has thoroughly researched the (many) expeditions of Col. Percy Fawcett (lots of maggots and anacondas) through the jungles, and I felt as though he didn't need to include every single detail he discovered.

The part of the book that put me off the most was the parallel story of the author's own journey to trace Fawcett's disappearance (I don't think that's a spoiler - we know going in that Fawcett never returned from his final trip.) Grann's recounting of his own research is a yawner, and the most interesting part of the whole book is tacked on in the last chapter - what exactly we now know about the ancient civilizations in the Amazon (El Dorado/The City of Z).

While not in the car, I had time to finish up another yawner of a book - Kindred by Octavia Butler.  Butler was a black woman science fiction writer with numerous awards, and I had been wanting to read something of hers for a few years now.  Let's just say that in this book, time travel is merely a device to move characters around, and it is unclear as to the reason for the time travel.  That is, I wouldn't call this science fiction, but more of a historical fiction with bland prose and mostly undeveloped characters.

Near Repeat Conundrum

Remember back last month when we had a little incident at Lowe's?  Grill too big to fit in the back of our Camry?

You'd think we'd have learned our lesson, but perhaps not.

Without much of a plan yesterday, Memorial Day holiday, we set off to do a few things, and while out and about thought we would stop by Lowe's to look at patio chairs.  The ones we bought at Target last year, made out of plastic, seem to crack at will.

Let's just look and see what they have, we told ourselves.

While looking at some chairs, Leila and her husband just happened to walk by and casually say, "Sorry we didn't bring the pickup today (ha, ha!)."  No problem, I replied.  We are sure to be able to fit a few chairs in the back seat of our car.

Moments later, another set of friends walk in and we told them that we were about to put these six chairs into our car.  They looked dubious and said that they had brought their truck, and they would be happy to help us out.  No worries, I said.

We wheeled the chairs out to the parking lot, and soon we thought, worries...  Better go get the O'Neills!

Since this blog post is getting way longer than it has any right to be, the short ending to the story is that although I went back in to find the O'Neills, the chairs managed to fit into the back seat of the Camry, and now they are happily sitting on our patio.

Should our next car be bigger?

Grill Logistics

Conundrum.  Find a new grill at Lowe's.  Try to put it in the backseat of a 1998 Toyota Camry.  Look befuddled.

Solution.  A friend walks up in the parking lot and says, "I have my pickup truck.  Do you want me to drive that grill home for you?"  Yes, please!  Thanks, Lelia!

Cell Phones While Driving

Just for the record, I took this picture while stopped at a red light, and I put down the camera long before the light changed.  (I often have my camera easily available.)  If you click on the photo, you will see that Michael D. Myers, lawyer from Rancho, is talking on his cell phone while driving (having just turned from Foothill onto Indian Hill).  While sitting at this spot (and other spots, as well), I often see people chatting away while driving, and it makes me nervous.  I really hope they don't hit me or anyone else down the road.

Friday Night Fun

Isn't this how everyone wants to spend the beginning of their weekend?  Changing a car battery in the Costco parking lot - so much fun.

At least
1) we didn't have any place we had to go tonight
2) Costco carries batteries
3) I have a husband who is capable of coming to my rescue

Wheels When You Want Them

Our second car is a Zipcar.  On occasion when we need to have two cars, one of us will rent one by the hour.  On Saturday I had a meeting in Redlands when H had to be in Placentia for an umpire meeting.  Here is a pic of my fun ride - a blue Ford Focus.

One thing about this car, when you hit about 76 mph, the dashboard makes a little sound and flashes a warning that the vehicle is reaching its maximum speed.  Gee, I wonder how I found that out?

Smogging

Every summer we pay our car registration and every other summer we have to have a smog check.  As H mentioned, it's not the most fun thing to do, but we are glad that the state of California does it so that our air is not so horrendous as it was when we moved here 25 years ago.

Anyway, this time I used yelp to find out a good "test only" station, and turns out that the car wash place on Foothill in Upland that my mom likes, has a test only station behind it (you really have to know it's there and follow the tiny signs pointing the way behind the car wash).  If you go to their site, you can get a coupon for a free car wash with a smog test, so $40 and 1 hour later (it was a particularly busy day since the state has been holding on to registration renewals until the budget passed, so the guy said it would be busy for a month or so) we had an all-clear on the car and a clean one, to boot!  (Maybe next time we'll head next door to EZ Take-Out Burger and get a 99-cent breakfast burrito...)

A Nearly New Car

As our trusty '98 Camry encroaches upon 100K miles, Hal thought it was a good idea to have a little overhaul. So, we had the struts replaced, the radiator hoses replaced, the brake fluid flushed and exchanged, the wheels aligned, the engine serviced, timing belt adjusted, and a general tune up (new air filter, fuel filter, PCV valve, spark plug, distributor cap, plug wires).

The car drives more quietly and smoothly. We had not noticed before how old it was feeling. So, hence we need no new car.

However, I wonder what the auto shop guys are buying with their small fortune! Boat payment?