Smoke on the water....
Jul. 28th, 2010 06:46 pmI was driving home and about 7 miles up ahead on the curve I see smoke. I hope it isn't the beginnings of a wildfire.
Then the traffic stops:

( what's up ahead? )
I hope they get it under control and out quickly.
Then the traffic stops:

( what's up ahead? )
I hope they get it under control and out quickly.
Lulz at the auto parts store.
May. 14th, 2010 08:30 pmSo I was driving home and my check oil light came on. So I stopped at the local auto parts store and checked my oil level. Almost gone. This is the second time this has happened, and there have been no dripping oil spots under my car, so I must be slowly burning oil. The engine has 150,000 miles on it, so it's not too much of a shock. But it is a Prius. When I get back from Chicago I'll have Toyota check it out.
Anyway, so I am at the auto parts store, and I'm standing next to my car waiting for the first quart to sink down so I can check the oil level. This man pulls up in a minivan and starts to go in the store, but then he sees me standing there waiting, and he comes over to me. He looks sort of like Fez from That 70s Show and he says,
"Are you ok? Is something wrong with your car?"
I replied that yes, it was low on oil and I'm slowly adding some.
"Do you need any help with anything? Can I help you?"
I replied, no, I think I have it under control.
"Oh, ok....WOW! You're really on the ball! Are you sure you don't need my help?"
I smiled and said I'm cool. He finally went inside.
Yes, I need help because of course I'm a helpless woman who just stares at her engine wondering how these little metal things work.
Geesh.
He was nice enough, but seriously, a woman alone at the auto parts store just brings out the Tim Allen in men.
Anyway, I'm going to check my oil every Monday from now on. I'll keep a quart in my car.
Anyway, so I am at the auto parts store, and I'm standing next to my car waiting for the first quart to sink down so I can check the oil level. This man pulls up in a minivan and starts to go in the store, but then he sees me standing there waiting, and he comes over to me. He looks sort of like Fez from That 70s Show and he says,
"Are you ok? Is something wrong with your car?"
I replied that yes, it was low on oil and I'm slowly adding some.
"Do you need any help with anything? Can I help you?"
I replied, no, I think I have it under control.
"Oh, ok....WOW! You're really on the ball! Are you sure you don't need my help?"
I smiled and said I'm cool. He finally went inside.
Yes, I need help because of course I'm a helpless woman who just stares at her engine wondering how these little metal things work.
Geesh.
He was nice enough, but seriously, a woman alone at the auto parts store just brings out the Tim Allen in men.
Anyway, I'm going to check my oil every Monday from now on. I'll keep a quart in my car.
sonofabitch
May. 13th, 2010 02:39 pmI get in my car last night here at the office to go home, take off my sun shade and look what's underneath it! A huge fucking crack in my windshield! I have no idea how it got there, but this windshield is only a year old, after I replaced the last windshield from a huge crack.
Fuck. I don't have $350 to spend right now. Fuckers.

Fuck. I don't have $350 to spend right now. Fuckers.

So I was driving my 53 mile drive to work this morning, and a thought came to me as it often does while I'm in drive time traffic; cars are weird. We humans have figured out how to make little self-contained hard bubbles that move fast. And it's amazing how we humans seem to be pre-disposed to make these things go without much incident. So we move around in these little bubbles at high speeds and very rarely crash. Isn't it a weird concept to think about?
5 years, 150,000 miles.
Apr. 22nd, 2010 08:42 amI love my car!

( clicky for the milestone! )
I figure that by the time I pay it off next year I'll be close to 185,000 miles. I have to say, it's a good car. It just runs and runs, gets about 45 mpg out here (56 in LA) and I haven't been in any recall except the floor mats. Thank you, little Prius, for being a good car to me.

( clicky for the milestone! )
I figure that by the time I pay it off next year I'll be close to 185,000 miles. I have to say, it's a good car. It just runs and runs, gets about 45 mpg out here (56 in LA) and I haven't been in any recall except the floor mats. Thank you, little Prius, for being a good car to me.
Woz is awesome, "Just reboot your Prius!"
Mar. 5th, 2010 09:26 pmApple co-founder Wozniak shirks off Prius glitch

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on Friday held firm to his love for Prius cars despite what he suspects is a Toyota software problem behind sudden spikes in acceleration.
"I love my Prius," Wozniak said during on-stage banter with AT&T Tech Channel's Hugh Thompson during a geek talk show at the closing of an RSA computer security conference here.
"It's just like all the other gadgets we have... Everything today has a computer in it, so everything will fail."
Wozniak said he has bought nine Prius cars and even drove one from the Silicon Valley city of San Jose to San Francisco that day.
He said he conducted his own tests of Prius acceleration, taking his car to an open stretch of highway at dusk and then incrementally notching up the speed using the cruise control mechanism.
At "some number over 72" the car accelerated and kept picking up speed, Wozniak said.
"I wanted to see how high it would go," Wozniak said. "It wound up being unlimited so I hit the brake. The problem had to be in the software."
Wozniak advised treating cars like any other computer-based mechanisms by shutting them down at signs of trouble and then restarting them to essentially reboot systems.
"We who work in computers know there are all kinds of little failures," Wozniak said. "I love Toyota; I'm going to buy more of them. I think it is not unsafe."
His remarks came as key US lawmakers looking into Toyota's problems with deadly spikes in speed asked the company for documents backing up its position that electronic defects were not to blame.
Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak, top Democrats on a key House committee looking into the Japanese auto giant's woes, made the request in a letter to the embattled company's top US executive.
"We do not understand the basis for Toyota's repeated assertions that it is 'confident' there are no electronic defects contributing to incidents of sudden unintended acceleration," they wrote.
The lawmakers' letter to Toyota Motor Sales USA president James Lentz said the firm has yet to share documents conclusively documenting its position that such flaws are not behind speed surges blamed for some 50 US deaths.
They also sought detailed quarterly reports on claims of sudden unintended acceleration and detailed information on the installation of brake override systems designed to slow vehicles and on so-called 'black-box' data from cars and trucks involved in accidents.
The Japanese giant recalled more than eight million cars worldwide to repair accelerator and brake defects.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100306/tc_afp/usitinternetautosoftwaretoyotawozniak_20100306005830

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on Friday held firm to his love for Prius cars despite what he suspects is a Toyota software problem behind sudden spikes in acceleration.
"I love my Prius," Wozniak said during on-stage banter with AT&T Tech Channel's Hugh Thompson during a geek talk show at the closing of an RSA computer security conference here.
"It's just like all the other gadgets we have... Everything today has a computer in it, so everything will fail."
Wozniak said he has bought nine Prius cars and even drove one from the Silicon Valley city of San Jose to San Francisco that day.
He said he conducted his own tests of Prius acceleration, taking his car to an open stretch of highway at dusk and then incrementally notching up the speed using the cruise control mechanism.
At "some number over 72" the car accelerated and kept picking up speed, Wozniak said.
"I wanted to see how high it would go," Wozniak said. "It wound up being unlimited so I hit the brake. The problem had to be in the software."
Wozniak advised treating cars like any other computer-based mechanisms by shutting them down at signs of trouble and then restarting them to essentially reboot systems.
"We who work in computers know there are all kinds of little failures," Wozniak said. "I love Toyota; I'm going to buy more of them. I think it is not unsafe."
His remarks came as key US lawmakers looking into Toyota's problems with deadly spikes in speed asked the company for documents backing up its position that electronic defects were not to blame.
Representatives Henry Waxman and Bart Stupak, top Democrats on a key House committee looking into the Japanese auto giant's woes, made the request in a letter to the embattled company's top US executive.
"We do not understand the basis for Toyota's repeated assertions that it is 'confident' there are no electronic defects contributing to incidents of sudden unintended acceleration," they wrote.
The lawmakers' letter to Toyota Motor Sales USA president James Lentz said the firm has yet to share documents conclusively documenting its position that such flaws are not behind speed surges blamed for some 50 US deaths.
They also sought detailed quarterly reports on claims of sudden unintended acceleration and detailed information on the installation of brake override systems designed to slow vehicles and on so-called 'black-box' data from cars and trucks involved in accidents.
The Japanese giant recalled more than eight million cars worldwide to repair accelerator and brake defects.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100306/tc_afp/usitinternetautosoftwaretoyotawozniak_20100306005830
Brrrr.....
Dec. 8th, 2009 08:31 amIt got down to 28 degrees last night. When I was trying to eat my breakfast this morning at the computer, I could see my breath.
I was running late as it was, and I get out to my car and it is crusted with ice. And I don't have an ice scraper. So I had to wait about 6 minutes for the defroster to get going enough to melt the ice on my windshield.
I know some of you tougher/insane/stupid people live where it snows, but this is too much cold for me.
I was running late as it was, and I get out to my car and it is crusted with ice. And I don't have an ice scraper. So I had to wait about 6 minutes for the defroster to get going enough to melt the ice on my windshield.
I know some of you tougher/insane/stupid people live where it snows, but this is too much cold for me.