2004 Acura

I own an older Acura. It has 265,000 km on it, and there are a lot of little things wrong with it. But it's paid for, and is super reliable, and still very peppy!

I got it back from the shop this morning. It spent the night there getting the snow tires taken off, getting an oil change, and getting new struts. An expensive visit to the shop, but expected when you drive as much as I do, and own an older car. The shop washed it for me, so I thought I would snap a picture of it.

Hit and Run

Coming back from grocery shopping, stopped at the light to turn left, and someone rear-ended us. Not hard. But enough to cause a bit of damage to the bumper of hubby's car. The worst part of it -- the guy took off. Hit and Run. And we didn't get a license plate.
Sometimes I wonder about people...

Tesla

I found the only Tesla I can afford to buy. I wouldn't be able to fit in it (I think it was made for a 3 year old). But it's only $900.

Parking job

I went to the mall at lunchtime today. The parking there is decidedly less busy than it was over the December holidays. But I still decided to park where I normally do... way down on the lowest level. As I was driving in, I noticed this one car parked way over there: like a million miles away from everyone else, and a million miles from the door...

But, I guess when you own a Maserati, you can park wherever you like...

Personally, if I owned this car, I'd probably park exactly where he did.

Model X

My brother-in-law rented a Model X to drive around this weekend...

Complete with gull-wing doors, and room for 7 passengers...

We went out for dinner for his birthday, so he picked us up and then let me drive it to the restaurant! It was so cool! Actually, for part of the drive, it drove me -- I enabled that self driving feature (or autopilot) and the car actually drove itself. Until I freaked out, and took control back again! It was an experience for sure, and makes me want one even more than I did before.

what?

I take pictures of everything. Between my old point and shoot camera, my iPhone, my iPad, and my wonderful Canon digital camera -- well, let's just say, I take a lot of pics.
So, when I thought about buying a new car, I went searching for a pic of my current Acura. Guess what? Not a single pic! I combed through all my digital files, and could not find one pic anywhere! Even on my blog!! WTF?

Car trouble

My car broke down. My "super reliable goes everywhere I go and is never home 2004 Acura with 230,000 km on it" broke down. I had it towed to the shop, and hubby picked me up there. I'm pretty sure it just needs a new alternator. I didn't get home from work until really late though. And now, I'm thinking about buying a new car.

Bucket List Items

I got to cross something else off my bucket list!
I got the opportunity to drive a Tesla!

Thanks to my brother-in-law, who won a rental for 2 days. He chose the Tesla, and let me take it for a spin.

All I can say is Wow! It was amazing. There is nothing like driving a $100,000 car, and there is nothing like the Tesla. Problem is -- I now want one more than I did before!

my car and weather predictions

Yesterday, I took my car in to get my snow tires on. I also got an oil change, and ended up having to do the back brakes too. But, it was the snow tires that I needed. I took a look at the long range forecast recently, and was shocked to see this...

I don't want to be in that rush of people on Dec 8th all trying to get their snow tires on all at the same time. And even though there is no guarantees that it will snow then, I would still rather be prepared now.

Ways to beat a long commute

So those that know me, know that I have a long commute to work and back every day. I spend (on average) 2 1/2 to 3 hours a day in the car. My favourite way to pass the time is to listen to audio books. I don't usually listen to fiction books - I tend to prefer non-fiction or short story type books. So, when the neighbour lady gave me a copy of Stuart McLean Vinyl Café (the New Stories), I found a new obsession...

The stories are each about 1/2 hour long -- perfect for the drive home! So, I listen to one story every night on the way home. They are funny, and thought provoking. My Grandma was a great story teller, so I think that's why I'm so fond of his stories. Then, I found the Christmas version at Chapters, and bought that too.

So, between the two Vinyl Café collections and my Christmas music CDs, I'm good to go until after New Years.

car booboo

Hubby got rear ended tonight on his way home from work. His car now has a big booboo on the passenger side, back quarter panel. The tail lights are broken, and the back end of his car is smashed in. But, the good thing is that it's still driveable, and he's not hurt at all.

I hate when that happens

My car broke down!!
I started up the car this morning, and it was running really rough, and misfiring, and the check engine light came on.
My car -- my super reliable Acura TSX -- is sick!
However, I called BCAA, and had it towed to the local mechanic. It is there now, and it is doing better. And it's nothing too serious, or costly.
And after all is said and done, it did mean that I got a day working from home. So, I shouldn't really complain too much. I haven't worked from home for a while now, and it was quite nice. It's very quiet here, so it's very relaxing.
Well, it would have been relaxing if I didn't spend half the day worrying about my car!

I spoiled myself -- but it's ok -- it was my Birthday

The story of the tires...
Yesterday was my birthday, and I decided to drop my car off at the dealership to get some work done, and in turn, have my sister pick me up and spend the day with her. It worked out great. We got lots of running around done, and went for Dim Sum for lunch.
Meanwhile, my car cost me a lot more than I thought it would. But, there was a problem. I had them put the snow tires on my car. My snow tires are mounted on some of the ugliest black rims you've ever seen. So, I had gone to Canadian Tire and put some cheap hub caps on the tires. That made it look somewhat better...

But the shop couldn't find the spring for one of the rims. Which means I only had 3 tires that looked OK, and one that was really ugly. THEN... when I was driving home, I noticed a really bad squeaking noise from the front tires. I kind of freaked out. So, I called hubby, and told him I was going to head to our local tire shop to have them check out the tires. I was worried that the dealership might have messed something up.

It turned out to be the stupid cheap hubcaps. Once those were taken off, the noise went away. But, the tires looked so ugly. So the tire shop gave me a quote on some new rims. And so, being my birthday an all, I decided to go ahead and buy new rims...

I am so happy with the results! I don't have to worry about cheap hubcaps falling off anymore, or worry about them making weird loud squeaky noises. But, it was an expensive birthday!!

Hubby's new ride

Bye Bye old truck...

Hello new SUV (well, not NEW... but new to us!)

 

My car does what?

When I came back from a work trip recently, hubby turns to me and says, "Your car has a restrictor thingy in it, that stops things from going too fast when you max out the revs on the car".
Now, he didn't really say that. But, something like it. Car talk. Of which I know nothing about.
All I heard was RESTRICTOR and MAX, and realized that if he's maxing out the car (no matter what it is), and maxed it out so much that he found some kind of restrictor that I know nothing about... well, I simply don't want to hear about it! It is MY car after all.
Then I saw this on the internet...

I'm not an over protective dad by any stretch of the imagination, but I can totally see where this guy is coming from.

Moving Photographer

I tried to take pictures of the full moon last week while I was driving home from work.
1) pictures of the moon don't really turn out if you are in a moving car, and

2) taking pictures of the moon while driving isn't such a great idea

Thankfully, I put the camera away before I got myself into trouble...
:-)

cars

When I was in Louisiana, I rented a car. The company gave me one of these...

It was a 2011 or 2012 Hyundai Sonata. I was actually really impressed with the vehicle.
At home, I drive an Acura TSX. But, the Sonata was actually a nice car to drive. Roomy and spacious, with a ton of little nooks and crannies to store things in the dash (those kinds of things are important for women). A huge trunk, so my luggage fit in it no problem. Great handling. Easy to park, with a tighter turning radius than my Acura, despite the fact that it was a larger (and longer) vehicle.

I don't necessarily want to get rid of my Acura anytime soon. I just bought it 1 1/2 years ago. But, I did hear that Hyundai has now come out with a Sonata Hybrid. One of the things I need to consider in the next couple of years, is my commute to work. With the amount I drive now, I may have to consider a hybrid soon. And while in the past I would have only looked at the Toyota hybrids... well now, I may look at a Hyundai.

Grandma's new ride

My Grandmother bought a new car this week. That's right. My 86 year old Grandmother, who is "dying" of lung cancer sold her clunky oversized diesel Mercedes, and went out and bought one of these...

It's a PT Cruiser. Hers is a 2006 model. In candy-apple red.
Gotta love her!

Welcome Mr. Winter

Well, we got our first taste of winter this weekend.

On Friday night, it snowed. Not a lot. Just a dusting in our neighbourhood. Although, it was worse in some other areas of the Lower Mainland. It started Friday afternoon.

By Saturday morning, everything was covered in a light blanket of white.

I am so thankful I got snow tires on the car! Saturday morning was a big sale at Michael's, and I wanted to pick up a couple of things for the kids for Christmas. The main roads were pretty much cleared by the time I left, but I didn't even have problems on the side streets.

white on the way

The weather forecast is calling for snow this week, as early as tonight!

Well, snow mixed with rain. But, still! It's snow.
Why am I so excited about it?
Well, I just had brand new snow tires put on my car yesterday! Yup! Bring it on Mother Nature. I'm prepared!!