Whatever's Left

I've seen it before, but never captured it on video. 

Worst. Car. Design. Flaw.  ....well at least since the Corvair, or Pontiac Aztec. 

I'm not even going to spell it out for you all.  IF you can't figure it out, you'll just have to trust me. 

Song by: Snow Patrol

Sucker

Yes, another Musk post.  Sorry. 

P.T. Barnum said there was a sucker born every minute.   ......and I'm not even talking about all the undergrads on the 6th floor of the stacks at OSU's main library. 

Tesla Cybertruck - or RoboCop on wheels - is now like four years behind schedule. 

Hardly newsworthy. On any levels. 

But the price is a bit higher than anticipated. And by 'anticipated' I mean, stated in 2019 when they announced it. 

$20,000 more. 

$40,000 more, if you want it in 2024. 

The original price was to be at the $40,000 mark. No longer.   Tesla blames Covid, supply chain and inflation.  As much as things have increased in the recent future, I don't think it's been a 50% increase in items. 

And even if it did - 100% increase due to timing? 

I think we can still echo Elon's words from ysterday:  "Go. Fuck. Yourself."

I mean, I loved the press a few months back about the AR gun that shot into the panels and didn't penetrate the vehicle (or something like that).  But you know what it does pierce?  Windows. And driver's heads. 

It's like kevlar vests cops wear. Yeah, great, if someone doesn't point a gun to your temple. 

I have an acquaintance who will swear up and down about his Tesla. And he got it well after everyone knew what a dick Musk was.  He says it's the car not the man.  Except the car makes the man money or helps provide a platform for his hate and stupidity. 

He tried brushing me off. So I opted to push further. His husband is a person of colour. I pointed out that it's an open fact that in Tesla factories, black workers are almost forced to sit together at lunch at a place the white workers call "monkey island". 

Say it's a problem of the supervior, manager or HR, but honestly the buck stops with Musk. If you want to be the big boy, you have to wear big boy pants. So, where antisemitism might not affect my "friend" (he's not), I thought I'd toss a little racism in there too. 

He was unswayed. 

He is the first to make fun of the cult of BLOTUS.  He's just joined a different cult. But both are derived by power and hate. In that order, even. The hate was always there. The power makes them able to flaunt it, seemingly with little repercussion. 

Song by: Tori Amos

Crash

You might know we moved a little over three years ago. Not far from our old house. Just due to where I sometimes run, or where we sometimes drive to take the dog for a hike, we drive past it. 

The house sat on a corner lot, so we don't really drive into the old hood ever (or much), but we still got a view of the house or lot - depending on the time of year and if things were greened in. 

As it turns out they finally started construction on their new house, on our former lot. 

Yesterday, I went past the house twice. Now, when I drive, I notice little that isn't the road. When 710 is with me he'll point things out that I can't possibly see due to driving. Still, on my a.m. drive to my run, I think I would have noticed something had it been there at that time. 

Fast forward six hours.......the two of us with Shep, we round the bend and see......

A lady sitting on a chair, on the sidewalk, talking on a cell, while a car sits up on the hill in the trees. 

If you've been reading this here blog for any amount of time, you'll know that yard was a magnet for car wrecks. 90% of them didn't seem to have drivers. The cars would crash and then immediately abandoned. And those are only the ones we knew about when we were home. How many others were there to which we were unaware?

The only thing new to this scenario, of course, is the chair and person. 

It took us such by surprise, and honestly, I didn't see the car, that we circled around and went back again, and 710 filmed. 

Naturally, I somewhat back storied the entire thing.  Well, parts. 

First off, it turns out the card would have gone through part of our yard, but settled about 10 feet into our former neighbor's hill. 

The angle though. We cannot figure out how it got to where it is. And clearly the po-po had been there, as there is police tape around the site.  That's a new feature.  Well........that and the lady / chair. 

In all our accidents, there was never  police tape. Hell, so many times the cops never showed up. And a tow truck was always close behind. 

I'm not sure if the lady thought the car was going to be looted, so someone dropped off a chair so she could sit while she waited for Mr. Tow Truck? 

I am truly thankful we no longer live there dealing with that kind of stuff.  It's kind of sad I'm writing about this when it is no longer our place or problem. 

Song by: Dave Matthews Band

Have Love Will Travel

In the mornings, I usually pack my gym bag with fruit.  Cherries. Blueberries. Grapes and a Banana.

I usually don't have all of them, but a combo of 2-3. Sometimes all. 

All but the banana go in my bag. The second I put a banana in any enclosed area, it goes over-ripe in a matter of minutes it seems. Add to that, a locker!, and well, I may as well toss it. 

Two days ago I did take one IN my gym bag. And left it there, as I forgot to fish it out to actually eat. I found it on my way home and oddly it was in decent shape. Not brown. Not squishy. Alrighty!

Knowing if I brought into the house, I'd forget to take it the next morning, I left it on top of my car. Of course, I'd see it and grab it to go. 

Except I didn't. 

After workout, I got to my office and went, "oh crap!".  Of course, I figured it was some crow's meal after it hit the pavement and got run over by an number of other commuters. 

Fast forward 12 hours (or more), and I get home from work and exit my car.  

There is the nanner. Exactly where I left it 24 hours earlier. 

Apparently I am a very safe driver. Or that sucker held on for dear life. 

It now sits in the kitchen, awaiting to be eaten this morning.  

Song by: the Sonics 

Speeding

I can't say I'm happy, but I can't say I didn't deserve it either. 

87 in a 70. 

Sure, Han Solo can do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, but you go a measly 17 miles over the speed limit and you get fined $140 !!!

Still, 87 mph is fast. Even on a turnpike. Even a mostly empty one (at the time). 

I'll set it up a bit:  5-6 miles of one lane traffic. Everyone BUT the truck in front of me was going the posted, but slower, 55 mph.  Due to said truck, we were doing 40. 

So when the construction ended, Blobby opened up that throttle and took off. 

710 uses Waze and I'd say 95% of the time, the other Wazers have notified us of police who are near. Not so this time. 

G-d love him, the patrol guy probably heard my expletive even with my windows up. He had to see the brake lights. And he started to even pull out before I passed him. THAT is how fast I was going. 

I knew it was going to happen. 710 knew it was going to happen. State Trooper Brigham definitely knew it was going to happen. 

He was very kind and courteous. While I wouldn't say he gave me an out, he gave me an opportunity to give an excuse why I was going so fast. 

I suppose I could have said I had to poop, but I had just passed a rest area. I just copped to say: "I wasn't really paying attention".  He ran what he needed to and came back with my ticket and fine. 

That all said, it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad. My last ticket, 39 in a 35, cost me $10 more than what I was paying here. If you break it down by mph over the limit, I got quite the bargain. 

All of this did not put a damper on our weekend in Chicago.  But 710 drove the last hour of our trip. 

Song by: the Go-Go's 

Love Buzz

I'll just say it: I'm NOT in the market for a new car.  

I. Am. Not. 

However........if I were...........

It might just be Buzz.......the new all electric VW microbus. Actually it's called ID Buzz. 

We buried electric in our backyard and are now all set up to have a 220 in our gay-rage. We know, at one point, we will go electric. 

The two questions are: when? and who first? 

Ok, there are way more questions. 

My problem with electric is still the distance - or lack of - and the ability to charge, where and how long. 

200-300 miles seems ok, but it won't get me to DC, NYC or most destinations without a stop for a few hours. Allegedly, Buzz can charge from 5 to 80% in 30 minutes. I love those stats. Why not how long it takes to 100%?  Is that last 20% four more hours or something? 

Polestar, which is the electric arm of Volvo has their car that goes all of 200 miles. I have two issues with that. If you're a company that only makes electric, you'd better have something that no company that sells gas, hybrid and electric doesn't.  It goes only 200 (at least Buzz goes 250!) and one model starts at $155,000.   Starts at. 

There is no price point on Buzz, but you gotta figure it's at least half that cost. 

Still, VW is true-ish to the microbus. The tires will be under / behind the driver. It will come in two-tones. The battery will be in the back, like the engine used to be. 

As it turns out, I don't need a new car. I'm fine with my current one (coming up on four years in May). And as it turns out, Buzz won't be available in the States until 2024.  

Who knows by then what our needs will be. 

Song by: Nirvana

Bad Day

I'm not necessarily one who abhors change. I am sure I don't feel rigid.  I'm also 91% sure other people would disagree with me on this. 

That's on them. 

I have one true pet peeve, and that's being late. For the most part, I don't mind if others are late (well, to a degree), but I hate being late. 

A former COO I worked with, who was military all the way, would say 'if you're on time, you're late'. I'm not sure I'm that bad, but I got his gist. 

So yesterday, I was hosting a 07:00 webinar, but it was still 06:25 and I was still at home. I still had to take out the garbage, etc. 

710 was a love when I asked him to do it. 

The problem arose when both "our" cars were out of the garage. Over the weekend, a skunk sprayed the outside of the garage and everything inside smelled, including his car. "My" car was a loaner from the dealer, as mine is actually being fixed. 

The loaner is just slightly bigger than my current one. It turns out - size does matter. 

With 710's car out, I had less maneuvering room - which pitted house against car. 

The house won. 

I know you think that white is the reverse light. It is / was not. It had red plastic all around it. Had. Past tense. What you don't see is the scrape on the car too.  Fuck me gently with a chainsaw, Heather. 

But.........I wasn't late. I was just cranky the rest of the day. 

This served me well to deal with people who needed, let's say to be dealt with a firmer hand. 

However, the joke was on me. Upon getting to the loaner in the parking garage, I had a ticket. The car was not displaying my hang tag from the rear view mirror, as I left it my actual car.  Mind you - there have been dozens of times over the last five years where that thing isn't hanging and not one ticket. 

Granted, I can appeal this, and no doubt "win", but it was just the cherry to the day. I actually did laugh. Sure, it was an evil henchman laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. 

Then after the dog walk, there was this. 

Honestly, I almost never drink during the week, but it seemed to call for it.  ....and I answered that call. 

I'll deal with the car dealer later this week. 

Song by: R.E.M.

Automobile

Ahhhhh......new car smell.  Is there anything better?

My 17 month car search is finally over.

I hate to say I regretted buying my Mercedes a few month after purchase, but I did. As the old knight guarding the grail might have said to me, "you chose poorly".

....and I did.

Driving it could be fun - sporty and all. It turns out, I just am not the sporty type. I think I'm all about safe and reliable.  I fight against that because it sounds like I'm boring - which, truth be told, I might be.

So literally 17 months ago I started looking. I didn't "need" a car, so there was no rush. Clearly. I drove them all.  Honda. Acura. BMW. Subaru. VW. Volvo.   Ok - I drove some of them. Obvi, I missed a lot of other dealers.

I liked something about all of them. And the CRV would have been a logical choice except out of 100 - their bluetooth and audio system ranked a 16!!!!  Connectivity was poor according to the reviews and the sound even worse.  Acura was out for the same reason, as both cars were built on the same platform and at the same plant.

It really came down to the Audi, Subaru and a last minute contender - the Volvo. As much as I'd like to make the choice with my head, that isn't always the way. Both Subaru and Volvo are extremely safe. Both Volvo and Audi are a bit pricier than the Subaru.....but both sport a few nicer options.

There is a heart aspect to car selection - at least with me. And I loved my Volvo from three cars past. I was in 'like' but not love with the car at which I was looking, but not enough that I couldn't just walk away if needed.  I like cars - I don't really love them.

There are two Volvo dealers here in the 216. I made sure they both knew they were competing for my business. The previous dealer I used was still in play, but this isn't really a time for true loyalty - though it plays a part. The second dealership had THE car I wanted - colour and options - but to say the salesman and sales manager were beyond bad would be a huge understatement. I would relay the emails and phone calls to 710 who was just aghast at their comments - as was I.

I pushed them a bit but opted not to rat them out - until I had a car in my hands, from either dealer.

As it came down to it, I went to go look at a car from the first dealership I thought I wanted. It was fine and all. Then the sales manager told me of another car coming in two weeks.  I put a fully refundable deposit down sight unseen.

Most cars have black or blonde seats. Both are perfectly serviceable, though dirty Petey or Shep paws make the blond difficult to clean. Black is hotter.  What I wanted.....and what I got was a little different.

Oxide Red.

It's odd, but this totally makes the car. My first exterior colour choice was white, but that wasn't available until late July and it was missing some options. This one is silver. I realized the exterior colour means less to me, as I'm in the car and can only see part of the hood. But the interior is sweet!

I'm not used to all the gadgets. Part of the dash is like an iPad. You really cannot use it while driving, which is a blessing and curse. You would crash fiddling with stuff.  But the back headrests fold down at the touch of a button - or a voice command.  There are voice commands for most everything, so you don't have to fool with touching stuff while in motion.

The steering wheel can be heated - which is great here in CLE for seven months of the year.  One of the key fobs is different - as it is probably for parents to have their kids use, as it tracks certain things parents can watch. A little 1984, but kids with cars are assholes mostly. I know this, having been one.

A phone app will start my car remotely. Great for really hot or cold day so the heat or air come on before I'm there. It has a self park function that I doubt I'll ever use...I don't trust that. Ditto with a button so you can take your foot off the brake while at a light.

Best yet - it has a charging pad for the phone. No wires. And it makes sure I put the phone on it away from use / distraction when I drive.

I do fear the new car smell will wear off sooner than later, since I stake a sometimes stale-smelling down around town.   BTW..........he got his first ride yesterday.

We had to cover his seats with a Mr. Dog.  I have no idea what girl dogs would use.

I think he likes being up a little higher.


Oh - and the car isn't all about the gadgets, it is a really really nice ride. And not that I care (wink wink), but it's fast.  Sometimes, you don't even realize you're going 82.   Honest.


...now it's time to draft a letter to that pain-in-the-ass dealership as to why they didn't get the business of mine they didn't really seem to want.



Song by: John Prine

Selling the Drama

So, I dipped my toe into the car-buying waters. 

I still don't want to take the plunge. In theory, I don't have to. I've always been far too impulsive with my car purchases, so I'm trying not to make mistakes this time.....should it even come to fruition. 

My car is perfectly serviceable, but I went out on a limb buying a Mercedes I eventually don't even like that much. 710 would be happy to see it go just for the sound system, which he thinks is bad. 

Me? You've ready about MB's foibles in some repairs they had to do and their lack of customer service - not by just a "luxury" car brand, but by any car brand. I've heard Fearsome say similar things via my comment section and I see where he's coming from. 

Still, the car runs, so I don't have to ditch it. 

So right now, there is zero pressure. 

.....and that said, the car buying process still sucks. 

So far, I have built a number of cars on-line. If I could virtually test drive them and truly see what they looked like without the help of pretty photography, I'd never step foot in a dealership. 

I have so far been to two dealerships. One car I really like - that has good reviews. One car I've read good reviews on, but of which I know little else, though there seem to be many in the employee parking garage.  This doesn't bode well for that car. I don't want one that everyone has. 

Yesterday though, for compare and contrast measures mostly. 

I headed into a Mazda dealer. I've never been one - a dealer or their car. Meh. 

The car had some good features. Some were just sub-par (sound system). The pick-up could be better. But it was a more than decent price. 

But oy - the salesman. 

I'll cut to the end and work back.  I called 710 after the test drive and said: "I believe if he stopped talking he might die". 

Honest. To. g-d.  The man would NOT shut up. 

While he knew my current car had lane assist, he fully - and I mean fully - explained it to me. The electric positioning seat......I now know that it goes forwards, backwards, up, down and tilts. Just like every other car since 2001. 

Oh - and the car just doesn't come in red.  No. It comes in Blue. White. Black. Silver.    ....and here is how I turn up the sound the radio. 

Naturally, he told me that the car has intermittent wipers..........after we finished the test drive in the sporadic rain......while the wipers went intermittently for the entire trip. 

He also told me how he had worked at Jaguar, Lexus, Land Rover and BMW.  Poor guy can't keep a job..................wonder why. 

I will say this:  I felt bad for him after the drive. He insisted in dragging me over and introducing me to his manager. He led with why I'm there and how he told me all about the car and took me on a test drive.....and......and.......and.....

I felt he might have had to be proving himself to his boss, possibly to keep his job. It all seemed so desperate. 

That's not enough for me to go back there.....even if I opt for that car. I'll find another dealership. 

That manager though - he set me up.  "Some people find car buying a bad experience", said he. While I didn't say "you're darn tootin'", I may as well have, because that would have been the nice version. 

Song by: Live

Life for Rent

I am finally getting around having my car fixed from the crash-bang-boom that happened two months ago.

I was lazy and didn't jump right on it. The car was all very driveable, so why rush it?

I don't think it helped that I only somewhat like my car. It was great for a test drive, but the more I live with it, the more I think "meh".  ....and it's not great in snow.

The collision place had to provide the rental. It is 4-5 days, so what do I really care? It's taking me to work and back........and that's it. You're talking to a guy who with work travel, has rented hundreds of cars. There is no thrill. And as it turns out, they all use the same rancid-smelling cleaning solution between each customer.

As they wrapped up the paperwork, the guy goes, "you have your choice of a Santa Fe....a Mini Cooper or a....."  

Mini Cooper please!, I said, I sad.

I don't know why all the excitement from me, other than it was one of the few cars I haven't driven and kind of always wanted to.

Winnie - I named it Winnie, as in Winnie Cooper - has some pep. But I'm not a fan overall. It's loud, the sound system isn't intuitive and it smells. So much so, that in 30 degree temps, I drive with the window down.

That said: it's new and different. It has power and tons of headroom. Oddly enough, I don't have that in the Benz.



Song by: Dido

Pull Up to the Bumper

Well crap.

Maybe this just the way to end the year.

Yesterday we had our first big storm. I had gone to bed at 23:00 the night before with not one flake fallen.

I woke at 04:15 not being able to see a thing out the window. As it turns out there was already 6" on the ground and it was still coming down and heavily.

I love snows like that - - when I don't have to go out anywhere. But alas, I did.

While I don't work far from work, there was no walking this one, though I probably should have.

Work crews cleared the major street somewhat after 05:00, and every school, community center, and church activity was cancelled by 05:30, so the roads were somewhat clear because everyone was trying to figure out to do with their kids and such.

Really it was not the snow that kept me from walking, it was the subzero temps that were the problem. The wind was just brutal.

I made the decision to take the 'safe' route in. The preferred way has a much steeper hill that is a down slope. That's not such a big deal, except that at the bottom, people park their cars on the curve right before a light. It's just a recipe for disaster. And that road, I can guarantee was not plowed - which probably its saving grace.

I find the semi-plowed roads to be much more slick and dangerous.

So, I went a different route. Slight hill, but nothing major. And a cross-through street that can be heavily traveled, which I thought to be a good idea. I did consider a longer route that would be a more flat, heavily traveled way, but figured - 'nah - it's early (06:35), no one will be out'.

My real thought was to work from home, but assumed many people would call in so someone would have to be there.  Ironically, not one person called in. They were late, but they were there.

Still - I made the turn onto the cut through and there was about 300 feet of stopped cars. The light sequence sucks, along with the weather. No biggie. And I was smart enough to stop a good car length away from the car ahead of me.

I listened in driver's ed.

Apparently the guy behind me did not.

I'm sitting there, minding my own business, and not looking in the rearview mirror - because, why would I need to at a stand-still?

The putz rams right into me. Sonofabitch!

Not what I needed or wanted.  It was cold, snowy, dark and fuck.......now this.

It looks like I will be getting estimates on a new bumper.




Song by: Grace Jones

License to Thrill

As I rapidly approach senior citizenship, clearly I'm losing track of things. Nothing big - well, depending on who you ask - but just some points in time where 710 said we did x, y and z and I don't remember any of it.

I mean, he's going back years or even decades.

For anyone else you'd be like, "yeah, but that's years or decades ago". My friends will tell you I remember stuff, minutiae even, from any point in time. So, this might be a little blip, but one of those things to watch out for as I slip into dementia. Slowly, but surely.

Three days ago, I get a postcard from the BMV, telling me I'm more than 30 days late to renew my driver's license.

Huh?

I've {almost} never missed something like this. But sure enough, I was 42 days overdue.

Since it was just 42 days, it wasn't a biggie. Had it been six months, I'd have to take both the written and driving portions of the driver's test all over again. Plus some kind of monetary penalty.

As it was, I just needed $25.75 and to pass an eye test - which was actually more difficult than it should have been. But I need a new prescription. I haven't forgotten about that - I've just been lazy about that.

Speaking of the eye exam - lord, that was tough. The blinking lights were fine, but focusing on what I was supposed to read was challenging, at least for one eye.

And the questions they ask. Honestly, they are new or I am truly not remembering these things:

Do you need contacts or glasses to drive?  Besides you just saw me eke through an eye test. Yes.
Have you always been a resident of Ohio?  Who cares. I have an OH license and just renewing it.
Outstanding warrants, or license suspended?  Wouldn't you have at least the latter in your computer?
Are you currently addicted to alcohol or prescription medication?  Even if I were, I wouldn't answer the question while tying to get a license to operate heavy machinery.

As you can see, those stories of the jam-packed BMV are tall tales. The last few times I've gone there has been almost no one. Though except for the license, most everything you can do on-line, so maybe that's the reason.

So, I got my license, but I laughed when reviewing the information that said my hair was 'brown'.

The woman corrected it, saying they now have a setting for 'bald'.

So...................there's that.

And now it's official.  I'm bald.



Song by: Billy Idol

Mercedes Boy (Extended Dance Remix)

I'm annoyed.

...and while that could just be my everyday state of mine - to which my amigos will gladly attest - this time it is more specific.

For the second time in 17 months - nay, the second time in seven months (!!!) - basically the power on my car just failed. The first time was last August.

The entire scenario is a repeat from August: Minimal to no power in the car - while starting from a light or stop sign, the unhelpful service 'girl' who said she could take me on Thursday (this was Monday), and the indignant Blobby who - in much nicer words - told her to 'fuck off'.

"Well 'your' service rep isn't back until 3p, so......"  (I have A service rep?)  "Honey, (I says to her, I says), I'm on my way in now, so you can get a vehicle ready for me and explain the issue to him when he finally gets back."

"Ummm......ok."

Damn right it was ok.

I had the same service guy (who miraculously was there at 12:30p - not 3p - when I pulled in) with the same lame ass excuse about the service letter that they had received on this problem. Again, since it wasn't a "safety issue", the owners of the vehicles are not informed. I still argue that losing power while driving or at a major intersection IS a safety issue.

Again, I'm very unimpressed with Mercedes Benz's customer service. I assumed (ass / you / me) that being who they pretended to be that they'd be superior.  WRONG.

And you know, to add insult to injury, they had no little bottles of water w the MB logo on them. JFC - this is called 'service'????

I got the loaner, and unlike last time when I got the GLK - which I only think I liked until I got my car back - this time I got the C300.

Slightly longer and wider than my car, it drives soooooo much nicer.

Mine is sporty and meant to be lower, louder and a tighter drive. This was like riding on a cloud. And that's not a bad way to go. The car was nicely appointed (though the wheels were f'ugly) and I was truly digging the ride.

But now the car has not only a knob for navigating stuff (which I thought I'd hate, but kind of like), but it has an actual fucking track pad.

I can change .mp4 tracks or the radio with a swipe of my finger. And let me tell you, I figured that out about 2 hours before I could find the volume control or how the a/c / heat worked.

Like the GLK, the C300 is about $11-12k above what I paid for my car. I'm not sure I'm willing to go that high.

....and I'm really not paying that much for the shitty service MB has provided so far.  (btw, I'm STILL waiting for the sales guy to call my insurance company, like he said he'd do, to let them know of my new purchase. I'm also STILL waiting for him to come program the car with my garage door codes.)

Even with my Infiniti, when the car needed serviced, they brought me the new car and took mine back with them - and reversed the process when the job was complete. I've gotten no such offers from Mercedes of Bedford (that's right, I'm calling them out!).

So once again, it was the computer and the accelerator, though this time they didn't have to replace everything, though they did have to replace like 13 pins in the accelerator.  Yeah - I don't know what that means either.

No apology for inconvenience, though I suppose to say 'sorry' would imply fault with these folks. But I was in no mood to say 'thanks' or 'no problem' either.

I am so waiting to get my after-service survey from MB. I won't hold back (I know, shocking - right?), though it is doubtful they'll follow-up with a dissatisfied customer, if history has shown me anything with this brand.

It sucks too, because I really wanted to like them, because I really like(d) my car.


Did I mention I was annoyed?




Song by: Pebbles   (and no, I don't really have this song, let alone the 12" single)

Mercedes Boy

This isn't my Mercedes.

Well it is, for a few more hours. It's a loaner.

My fairly new car (9 months old) is already in for repair. Can you believe it?

The oil light came on, which in of itself is not a big deal.....until I started thinking about it. Nine months with about 8,000 miles on it and the oil is low?

I went through two Izuzus, one Jeep, one Volvo and a Infiniti without ever ever ever having to put a drop of oil into it between regular maintenance.

Don't get me started on the unreadable Mercedes dipstick. I could be full or not have a drop in it and I'm not sure you could tell. Horrible design.

So I put half a quart in, and there was no change to the warning light.

But that's hardly why it is in the shop. The day before and the next, for a while, every single electronic safety feature failed, lighting up my dashboard like a christmas tree.

On top of that, I would say at dead stops, the car lost 80% of its power. Eventually it would get up to speed, but very very slowly. The cars behind Blobby were not amused. Nor was Blobby. How they didn't run into me is a minor miracle.

So, I call MB and let me tell you, so far, I'm very very unimpressed with their customer service.

I expect when you buy that level of car, even if it is the cheapest model - like mine - you expect a certain level of service. So far......no. In theory, I'm still waiting for them to come out and program my garage door opener or call my insurance agent to tell them I purchased a new car..................nine months ago.

Yes, I did both those things, but they said they would and I haven't heard 'boo' from them since.

So after 187 telephone rings before they picked up - give or take 151 - they were oh so nice to say...."I think we can get you in at the end of the week....".  To which I reply, "well, I'm driving to you now, so be prepared and you'll be providing a loaner."  Of course, they then said, after being on hold for 7 minutes, "we can get you in at 1:30p."   Really!?

The intake guy was ok, but not great. He said that my car, two weeks after picking it up, had a letter sent about an electronics update. I said I didn't receive such a notice and he said I wouldn't because it wasn't a safety issue.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

I finally said, "losing power to your car seems like a safety issue to me.".  He thought for a second and agreed with me.

At least he laughed when I told him my loaner had better be an S Class.

But I got the GLX - and you know, I'm kind of sorry I didn't spend the extra ten grand for a used one. Yeah, I could never afford the new one. I'm not sure I could afford a used one either.

The interior set-up is almost identical to mine - save the radio/navigation display - but it sits higher, which I forgot how much I like. And even though mine has power, this one has power!  It seems to eat gas like a mo-fo though, but I've been doing a lot of driving these last few days.

I get my car back later today. Honestly, they had to replace a bunch of electronics and the accelerator.

Did I mention this car is nine months old?

I totally forgot to ask about the oil. I'm not sure if I was low or if it was just an electronic malfunction. Nor did they offer. I'll find out later today.



Song by: Pebbles

Slip Slidin' Away

...and here it is, Saturday evening and I thought I'd have nothing to blog about.

The plan (isn't there always a plan?) was go to the movies, but after a yoga class that turned out to be a crappy barre one, a questionable lunch and snow and freezing rain, we opted to call it a day and go home and snuggle with the animules.

I was thinking that a Shopping with Blobby segment was coming your way today. But the blogging powers-that-be had other plans.

We are about 18 days short of a year since the last (known) car came into our yard.

I say "known" because it's impossible to monitor this 24/7.

Last week, I know there was an accident a few hundred feet further down from the usual crash site(s), but that car hit the cement (say like Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies) wall and broke through the new fence the city had just put up. But they weren't really in danger of coming into the yard.

I didn't even bother to walk down to check on them. The ambulance was pulling up at the same time, so I figured they had it covered.  Even worse - I didn't bother to take a picture. What's become of me???

But like most accidents here, it isn't what you hear, but what you don't. The change of noise in the traffic pattern is what signals that something is wrong. I never even heard the ambulance or fire engines this time. Or saw the lights.

We did walk out this time, but not even to the street level. We stood above in our snow-covered ground cover, looking down upon the two cars.

The one you see in the picture - well I don't know about that whole thing.  It is unclear (ha!)  if the small circle on the windshield was the amount of visibility they had (you'll have to click to enlarge) or if it just iced over after the driver got hauled away (by cop or ambulance).

The other car, not seen in the photo, looked fine from our angle, but we're guessing it was t-boned....the driver was still inside that car....texting.

And while I mentioned the snow and freezing rain and the title of this implies there was slipping and / or sliding, I don't know there was any of that going on. The tracks look dead-on of someone not even attempting to make a turn, and coming over one cement island that had a 5" curb, then across another lane of traffic.

Oddly, the t-bone thing doesn't surprise me at all. I've been waiting for it to happen for years, though I hoped thought there'd be a lot more trauma and wreckage.

Funnily, the biggest concern came from an elderly neighbor who called, a little bent out of shape that all the traffic was being diverted down our street (as they could no longer go down the hill) - even though he was just sitting in his living room watching the cars drive past.

Like I've said previously, I expect nothing to be done about this curve until someone loses their life.  ...and maybe not even then.

Well.....until next time.............    Stay tuned.



Song by: Paul Simon

Ticket

Oh well - I have my third ticket. Speeding ticket, that is.

Three tickets in five years.  Or three tickets in 34 years, depending on how you view it. Yes, I never got a speeding ticket in the first 29 years of driving.

44 in a 35. I won't know the damage is for a few days. They'll post the ticket on the city site and I'll find out how much I owe. Last time it was $150.

The officer asked if there was any reason I might have been traveling that fast. I didn't have a good fake reason. Needed to poop really bad? Thought it was a 45mph zone? Headed to the hospital?

I still have my hospital ID badges. In theory I could use them to say I was heading to the hospital and the rumour out there is the po-po let off the hook for that. I suppose I could just leave those IDs in my car "in case". My friend Jeremy did that, but they followed him down to the hospital to make sure that is where he was going. He wasn't - but he made the trek, for show.

And for the record, the cop wasn't even remotely hot. Gay male porn has lied to us......again. I've heard.


Song by: Big Audio Dynamite

Monty Got a Raw Deal

Just this one last car post and then I swear I'm done.  ...and it's not even really about the car I got.

As I was auto-shopping, I found a few things I did not know regarding the art of the deal. I'm sure there are quite a few more I know zero about and I'm sure I probably could have gotten a better deal. Possibly.

The problem with a first year model that has just been released (I couldn't even test drive one more than two weeks before ordering mine), is that the car is in demand, it is near the end of year and all allotments are spoken for, so......you might not get much of a deal.

First off, after initial contact with the salesman, I did all contact via email.  A lot less stress....and you get everything in writing.

But at the beginning of this process there were a few things of which I did not know in terms of getting a better deal:

United Airlines
If you're a Platinum member you get a $500 credit.  I'm a Platinum member. Other airlines might have similar programs.

AAA
You can get unspecified discounts (though about the same $500).  I"m a AAA member.

Costco
They have a car buying service. If you're a member, they can do the deal for you. I'm a Costco member.  Sam's Club or BJs (hehehe...I said BJ) might have a similar program as well.

Employer
There are also certain employers who strike deals with certain dealerships - always ask. Two of my former employers did and they weren't chump change - $1000 off a car.  It pays to ask.

There is also the website called TrueCar.  You can build your car on-line through them (not the auto website) and they will give you the MSRP and the discounted rate.

Here's the confusing part (in case you're not already confused).  AAA and United both use the TrueCar site to compare costs as well.  BUT...........yes, there is a big but...........the discounts are different they're just using the same platform so you still have to build your cars accordingly.

Of course, the Costco one sounded the best to me. Before I engaged them too much, I built the car on-line from the printout the dealer had already given me so I knew their MSRP and every detail / add-on with the corresponding car.

BONUS:  the difference in Costco's prices was almost $2500 in my favour.  It seemed almost too good to be true..........because...............

I did call Costco to get the paperwork going and was laid out with some sad facts:  not ever dealer participates.  there were no Ohio Mercedes dealerships participating.  the closest one was in Illinois.

But for $2500, I could take a $169 Southwest ride and drive it back - right???

Well yes.  And no.  It turns out that the Costco price difference is "an average"for that certain car, but not necessarily a locked-in price. The IL dealer gave me - get this - $160 off the MSRP.  One-hundred and sixty fucking dollars.

So, if going by "average" for that car, and this dealer is only giving $160, shouldn't another dealer be giving like $4900 off so it would make up the "average"?   ...and we all know that no one was giving almost $5000 off of any car price.

Fuck it.  It was a nice try and it probably works with other cars and certain dealers, but just not for me this time.

Still - none of these deals are anything most dealers will tell you. I have no other idea what organizations I belong to that could have aided me in a purchase.  And it turns out I couldn't use the AAA and the United.  Damn.

Still, $500 isn't chump change. I took it and I still made other deals, which were readily accepted.  Too readily actually.  I wonder how farther  I could have gone before they said 'no'.  I mean, they took my offer, plus the $500, plus my last two lease payments on the G37x.   ....and no push back at all.

710 says, 'hey, they want to sell you the car', but they had waiting lists until December - they didn't have to sell this to me.

I think I got a good deal, but is there anyway to really know?



Song by:  REM

Mercedes Benz

Well - I did it.  I got my new car:  the Mercedes CLA.

Yes, it's the new one, the "entry" level model for the brand, but I'm ok with that.  More than ok.

It's smaller than my Infinit, both in length and height, but I'll live.

There are so few times there is anyone in my car other than 710 and Petey - neither of which needs extended leg room.

I was going back and forth between the Kia Cadenza and the Volkswagen Passat - both of which had excellent leg room for passengers, even if my seat was all the way back. Not so much with the CLA, but for those short trips, I can move up.

Gadgets galore. Maybe too much so. There is lots of toggling to get from one thing to the next - it will surely be the death of me if I need to do something while I drive.

But even with the screen between the two front seats, almost everything can be displayed on the dash right in front of my eyes - from radio / iPod stuff to the turn-by-turn directions of the navigation system.

To be honest, I didn't really need the nav system - the iPhone does just fine, but it came with. It turns out, I didn't need the frickin' iPod hook-up either, as the vehicle comes with bluetooth audio.  Yup, wirelessly playing your iPhone music through the stereo.  Granted, you can't charge it without the hook-up, but you can get that adapter at Apple for $39.....which is a LOT cheaper.

I'm guessing more and more new cars will have bluetooth audio. But fewer car companies are charging for iPod hook up (though VW you have to get a higher level model to even have it as an option!).

I actually need few options on my car:  seat heaters is a must.  It's Cleveland and most of our year is Winter.  The iPod adapter, I thought I needed.  But for this car, I did want the lane assist.  It tells you if you're clear or not to change lanes, as it gauges how close other autos are to you. Normally I'd say 'no' to this, but the line of sight in this car isn't all it could be.

My model came with that warning if you're too close to a car in front of you and keeps you at a distance.  That's never been an issue for me.  There is no rear camera, which is ok, as I never trusted that in the first place, but I will miss the back up sensors that would give me a warning if I got to close to running over Timmy.

It has voice activated navigation, which is good, though if like Infiniti it could never understand a word I said.  But unlike the G37x, it does not have voice command for the phone - which is ok, since it never understood a thing I said.  This issue is able to be worked around with the help of Siri.  She'll dial my numbers through voice activation (and she gets me!) and the phone will play through bluetooth.

I get six months of XM radio, which if history repeats itself, I will continue. I also get six months of MB's version of On-Star, though this one will not just send out emergency vehicles or basic roadside assistance if need be, but they will make hotel and restaurant reservations as you drive.

Does Panera take reservations?  If not, I see no reason to keep that feature after six months.

But the sound on the stereo is superb. I can't say that about the Bose audio system on the Infiniti. I always felt I was losing my hearing (more so than normal) when trying to listen to anything. The G37x was fun to drive, but more often than not, I saw 60-75 year old men driving it, and that's exactly what I felt like when I was behind the wheel.

While entry level, the CLA has some power.  I like that.  Don't get me wrong, so did the Kia and Passast, but the MB was actually cheaper than the base model of the Kia at which I was looking. And in the big scheme of things, it wasn't that much more than the VW.

Honestly, I was leaning towards the VW until I had dinner with the cousins a few weeks back. They (mostly the females) highly encouraged me towards the Mercedes.  By the end of the meal, they had even picked out the colour of which they thought I should get.

They might be disappointed once I send the picture of the car.  I didn't go for the standard Mercedes colouring:  black, white, silver or grey.  710's car is black, so can't have two of those. I just got rid of a silver liquid platinum car.  White looked good, but they were back-ordered until December, which meant either waiting, or there'd be a bunch of them on the road.  I opted for one in stock:  Arctic Blue.

Here's the joke.  The car has been in the garage for a week, but I finally drove it yesterday for the first time (other than home from the dealer).   Hey!  My lease wasn't up on the Infiniti and why put wear and tear on my new automobile (say that last word like Long Duck Dong!) until I had to.

While I had another two weeks on the lease, I didn't want to carry insurance on both, so I got it inspected - zero damage, thank you! - and turned it back in yesterday.  Of course there was damage, but the inspector came out in that storm and some scratches and dings were hidden by melting snow and the 30 minute scheduled inspection took all of eight minutes. He wasn't invested, and I got off the hook. BONUS!

So now it comes down to naming the car.

Traditionally, there is alliteration that is involved.  Pteri Toyota.  Viggo Volvo.  and so on.  I broke tradition with the Infiniti, as Rebecca aptly named him Buzz (think about it!).

My first thought was to name this one Ruehl, but 710 doesn't like that much.  I know I'm not naming it Pebbles (THINK about it you 80's-going-to-gay-bars-boys).  710 liked the German Jew name of Morry...though the car was actually built in Budapest.

I'm willing to take suggestions.

Oh and just for the record, Peter has already been in the car.

He was out in the garage as we programmed the garage door openers and did some radio pre-sets.



Song by: Janis Joplin

Searching

It's that time - shopping for cars.

I love it and I hate it.

I love it because, I've always been fond of automobiles. I was that kid who could tell you what ever car make and model was. I mean, not in that Marisa Tomei way, in My Cousin Vinnie.

Mind you, when I was a kid, there really weren't foreign car companies - at least that were prevalent. Sure, I knew MG and Jaguar, but other than that, it was the Big 3.  I had a fondness for Pontiac, Buick and well....if we have to go with Ford / Mercury, I focused only on Mustang and Cougars.

I grew out of that and now, there are plenty of makes / models of which I have never heard. Still, getting the annual Consumer Report Auto Guide is like porn to me.  But now I'm more of a grown-up about it and really look at what is and is not recommended and why.  I comb over every page even when I'm not in the market for a car.

...and I've never lost my love for driving either. I like being in the car and doing the actual driving.

But I hate the buying process. I don't even want to test drive the fuckers, let alone walk in and deal with the SALESMAN (you have to scream that last word like Pee Wee).

I mean, I kind of swooned a bit over my last sales guy, but not so much with any of these.  And even the last guy, whom I did buy the car from, became a nuisance. Always friendly, but forever trying to get me to upsell to another car and stay in the Infiniti family.  It has only gotten worse as my lease is winding down.  Seriously - three to four calls per week and another two to three letters in the same time frame.

Even if I wanted another Infiniti, which I don't, they've done enough stalking to make me run in the other direction.

Yet, time is running out. I've put off the process as long as I could, but I've started looking and test driving cars - and building them, and others, on-line.

Hell, I'm leaning on getting a Kia, just because the dealer threw me the key and told me to bring it back shiny side up. What a joy not having to take a drive with a schmuck in the back seat, prattling on about "the features".

Most of the sales guys weren't horrid. Yeah, they have the same patter, the same crappy jokes. But there's always "the one".  Skeevy and at least one wants to know if I'm married.  Of course, they mean "to a woman".  I always throw them when I say I am, but to a man.  Sure, I could leave it at "yes, I am", but I don't.

Each time, they say "that's great!", and then jump right into a story about their girlfriend / fiancee. Calm down guys, you're safe. Not everyone wants you.

So, yeah, I've waited till the last possible minute (ok, a month), but I have it narrowed down, I think, to 5-6 possibilities. I'm thinking I'll narrow it down further by this weekend and then just make a selection.

It's just a car.



Song by: Cyndi Lauper

Life for Rent

As much as I travel, I can count on one finger - for business - how often I have had trouble with rental car companies.

Sure, they jack the price around with so many taxes that the quoted prices per day or per week is nothing like the final bill, but that's to be expected.

I'm talking about having available cars.  Only once in Sacramento did this happen to me.

Now, in personal travel where I need a car, it seems to be much more frequent.  Granted the 'n' in that type of scenario is very low, so the percentage then becomes high.

My last personal car rental was a year ago in Boston.  They didn't haven't the reservation.  When they did kind of find it - it seems someone had not only typed over the reservation, but most of my personal profile information, which seemed quite scary.  It didn't seem that an alternate identity was using the credit card on file, but it wouldn't have taken much for that to happen.

So imagine my surprise that this year - in Boston - that I get to Hertz and my name isn't on the Gold board. The idea is to get your name from said board and just go to your car avoiding the inside of the rental agency.

No such luck.

I joined what was 5-6 others whose name was not on the board.  Soon there were another 10 behind me.  Fudge.  But I didn't say fudge.

Mind you - there was no one at the Gold counter.....for 5-7 minutes.  I would have bolted too if I were the one who had to convey to member after member that there was a glitch.  The 95 degree temps just added to the frustration of everyone in the cramped office.

With each customer, the customer service rep would go to a back office and disappear for at least five minutes. I finally got a laugh out of all waiting when I said, "WHAT is behind that door????"

I was dying to know why my name - and a dozen others - wasn't on the board, but to be honest, those fuckers hold all the power, so I said nothing and took my upgrade of a car and got the hell out of Dodge.

Now, since I am a huge fan of pop culture, all I could do was stand in that sweltering hole of an office and smile to myself thinking of a scene from Seinfeld.

Except for Jerry's car being downgraded and mine being upgraded, they were eerily similar.






Song by:  Dido