We were going to go to the fitness center by bus this morning, but we kept having one delay after another. When we finally were ready we decided to drive instead. Because of the snow we decided to take the SUV which has more aggressive winter tires.
When I was on the main street approaching a stop sign, I put on the brakes well in advance. Da-da-da went the ABS. I stopped without entering the intersection. I drove down a hill and up a hill keeping my speed at about 20mph. Nobody caught up to me.
When I got to the next stop sign, I wondered about continuing. When I got to the third stop sign two blocks before a major downhill, I decided discretion was the better part of valor. I turned around and headed back home.
When I got to the last stop sign near our house, I approached it carefully because I knew downhill traffic would be coming to my left. Sure enough, a driver couldn’t stop and went right on through the intersection. If I hadn’t waited, we would have been T-boned!
As we approached our final turn I had a tailgater! Plus an illegally parked car on the side street was across the street from a legally parked car, a street that is barely three-cars wide.
The skid control did go into action before I went between them, but I was going straight as I passed them.
Finally, we pulled into our garage and hunkered down with some coffee.
We do think we’ll walk out to the corner restaurant for lunch, crossing the street only when we see no cars coming.
Showing posts with label SUV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SUV. Show all posts
Monday, November 10, 2014
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Lucky us! Carrying pickup cargo in an SUV
In one of this season's heavy snows, one of the branches of the arborvitae in our front yard became badly bent and never recovered. It is too high for us to reach and so we planned to bring back our 14-ft. pruning pole from our cabin.
When we had the pickup truck, this would not have been a problem. Collapsed, the pruning pole would fit in the bed on the diagonal. Now that we have a Trailblazer SUV, no way would it fit.
I took off the saw blade and put it on the back bumper. I pulled apart the two poles and the shorter one fit on the diagonal behind the front seats. The longer one ran the length of the SUV and between the front seats without interfering with the shift lever. Once I got that done I could put in the rest of the gear in the back.
We stopped at a supermarket on our way back. As I opened up the hatch to put the groceries in, I saw the saw blade still on the back bumper! It was slightly stuck to the bumper because of dampness; but still, that it stayed put for 45 miles with a few bounces including over railroad tracks is something to marvel at.
When we had the pickup truck, this would not have been a problem. Collapsed, the pruning pole would fit in the bed on the diagonal. Now that we have a Trailblazer SUV, no way would it fit.
I took off the saw blade and put it on the back bumper. I pulled apart the two poles and the shorter one fit on the diagonal behind the front seats. The longer one ran the length of the SUV and between the front seats without interfering with the shift lever. Once I got that done I could put in the rest of the gear in the back.
We stopped at a supermarket on our way back. As I opened up the hatch to put the groceries in, I saw the saw blade still on the back bumper! It was slightly stuck to the bumper because of dampness; but still, that it stayed put for 45 miles with a few bounces including over railroad tracks is something to marvel at.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Piano, piano, pieno!
This is the title of a book I saw a few weeks ago in the Duluth Public Library. At first I thought it was a typo and the book was about music. Then I realized what it really meant. Slow, slow, full! It was a book about the slow food movement. Eat slowly, enjoy what you eat, and be truly satisfied.
Today has been a mix of troppo di fare and basta cosí. Too much to do and it suffices so.
We set out for our cabin in our newly purchased used SUV. As soon as we backed out of the garage I noticed two warning lights on. Panic! These lights weren't on when we brought the vehicle home from the dealer. Somebody else was coming down the alley and so we went to the side street and pulled over.
My wife figured out that one light meant the rear door was open. I got out and closed it properly. The light went off but the other was still on. I figured out that it meant we had low tire pressure. Since we were going to stop to fill the tank, I'd check then.
When I pulled up to the air pump I noticed that the left front tire was really down. When I put the tire gauge to it, nothing registered. I filled it up to the appropriate pressure and checked the warning light. It was still on. I checked the other three tires and a couple needed a couple of pounds. I filled them but the warning light was still on!
I drove over to the gas pump and filled the tank. When I pulled away, the low tire warning light was off but now we had two warning lights that the stability gizmos were not working. Oh great! Do we have to call the dealer already? Oh, but we had gone over a muddy road construction area. Probably the vehicle didn't like the difference in traction among the wheels.
We drove up to our next stop, a lawn and garden store. I wanted to check on the price of a chipper that a friend had bought and was very satisfied with. I found that it was a quarter of the price I had expected and how long it would take to ship. I wasn't ready to buy it today, but I was also curious about a weed whip on wheels.
Surprise! They had three in stock and on sale. Well, how can any guy resist another guy toy? I whipped out my credit card and said I'll take it, plus a chain saw wheel for woody stuff.
We had just enough room in the SUV for it to fit in. Off we went to our cabin. Surprise again! All the warning lights were off!
But, I forgot the USB/FM transmitter for my iPod. We would have to settle for Minnesota Public Radio.
The next little problem was getting the cruise control to work properly. By the third stop sign I had it working the way I wanted. Surprise again! Despite what the manual implies, I can come to a complete stop and have it resume back to the previous speed.
The only blip for the rest of the trip was a straight-line speeder who passed us and then went ten miles per hour slower than I wanted through the curves by Pequaywan Inn.
We unloaded our vehicle just before lunch and wondered how the weather was going to be. There were only about five jobs I wanted to do outside. Do I play with my new toy or take on some other task?
After lunch it was iffy. There would be a misty rain, no rain, a fine-drop rain, and then… I opted for using the new weed whip that would work on wet grass. I won't bore you with the details of the joy and frustration of using it. Suffice to say, I got a lot of high grass and other growth cut over quite a bigger area than I expected.
Two sessions with the weed whip got me to the cocktail hour. I had a bottle of beer and then went for a walk. Oh, no! More work! Tomorrow I'll have to use the chain saw to clear trees that fell across the path. But it was still a delight, seeing our spruce that were growing taller, the large number of birch and red maple that were coming along, and just being out in the fresh, rain-washed air.
Back in the cabin for another beer before dinner. My wife prepared a dinner of barbecued pork, garlic potatoes, fresh beets, and home-made bread. And of course we had to drink some wine with it. And some more wine. It is amazing how easy it is to drink one half-glass after another. I was feeling very much piano, piano, and non pieno. There was still a little dessert my wife had bought at the coffee shop to go with our home-brewed coffee.
My gosh! Where did I get the energy to write all this? Maybe it was Wagner's gift to his wife Cosima on public radio, the Minnesota Orchestra with Osmo Vänska.
I do know I don't have much energy to practice my own singing and despite going slow, I won't have the patience for a slow internet connection. If this is posted on Friday night, I'll consider it a major achievement.
Basta cosí!
Today has been a mix of troppo di fare and basta cosí. Too much to do and it suffices so.
We set out for our cabin in our newly purchased used SUV. As soon as we backed out of the garage I noticed two warning lights on. Panic! These lights weren't on when we brought the vehicle home from the dealer. Somebody else was coming down the alley and so we went to the side street and pulled over.
My wife figured out that one light meant the rear door was open. I got out and closed it properly. The light went off but the other was still on. I figured out that it meant we had low tire pressure. Since we were going to stop to fill the tank, I'd check then.
When I pulled up to the air pump I noticed that the left front tire was really down. When I put the tire gauge to it, nothing registered. I filled it up to the appropriate pressure and checked the warning light. It was still on. I checked the other three tires and a couple needed a couple of pounds. I filled them but the warning light was still on!
I drove over to the gas pump and filled the tank. When I pulled away, the low tire warning light was off but now we had two warning lights that the stability gizmos were not working. Oh great! Do we have to call the dealer already? Oh, but we had gone over a muddy road construction area. Probably the vehicle didn't like the difference in traction among the wheels.
We drove up to our next stop, a lawn and garden store. I wanted to check on the price of a chipper that a friend had bought and was very satisfied with. I found that it was a quarter of the price I had expected and how long it would take to ship. I wasn't ready to buy it today, but I was also curious about a weed whip on wheels.
Surprise! They had three in stock and on sale. Well, how can any guy resist another guy toy? I whipped out my credit card and said I'll take it, plus a chain saw wheel for woody stuff.
We had just enough room in the SUV for it to fit in. Off we went to our cabin. Surprise again! All the warning lights were off!
But, I forgot the USB/FM transmitter for my iPod. We would have to settle for Minnesota Public Radio.
The next little problem was getting the cruise control to work properly. By the third stop sign I had it working the way I wanted. Surprise again! Despite what the manual implies, I can come to a complete stop and have it resume back to the previous speed.
The only blip for the rest of the trip was a straight-line speeder who passed us and then went ten miles per hour slower than I wanted through the curves by Pequaywan Inn.
We unloaded our vehicle just before lunch and wondered how the weather was going to be. There were only about five jobs I wanted to do outside. Do I play with my new toy or take on some other task?
After lunch it was iffy. There would be a misty rain, no rain, a fine-drop rain, and then… I opted for using the new weed whip that would work on wet grass. I won't bore you with the details of the joy and frustration of using it. Suffice to say, I got a lot of high grass and other growth cut over quite a bigger area than I expected.
Two sessions with the weed whip got me to the cocktail hour. I had a bottle of beer and then went for a walk. Oh, no! More work! Tomorrow I'll have to use the chain saw to clear trees that fell across the path. But it was still a delight, seeing our spruce that were growing taller, the large number of birch and red maple that were coming along, and just being out in the fresh, rain-washed air.
Back in the cabin for another beer before dinner. My wife prepared a dinner of barbecued pork, garlic potatoes, fresh beets, and home-made bread. And of course we had to drink some wine with it. And some more wine. It is amazing how easy it is to drink one half-glass after another. I was feeling very much piano, piano, and non pieno. There was still a little dessert my wife had bought at the coffee shop to go with our home-brewed coffee.
My gosh! Where did I get the energy to write all this? Maybe it was Wagner's gift to his wife Cosima on public radio, the Minnesota Orchestra with Osmo Vänska.
I do know I don't have much energy to practice my own singing and despite going slow, I won't have the patience for a slow internet connection. If this is posted on Friday night, I'll consider it a major achievement.
Basta cosí!
Monday, September 28, 2009
There are sales people and there are sales people
I'm getting too stiff to crawl around in the back of a pickup with a topper and some of our yard equipment doesn't quite fit. So, I've been lusting after a cargo van to replace our truck.
A cargo van has a lower floor and thus a relative higher ceiling, plus a side access door. Problem is that new ones cost in the high 20s and used ones are as scarce as Stanley Steamers. Apparently many owners run them until they're useless.
Almost all of them come with a V-8, larger than we need, and only front-wheel drive. Both Chevrolet and Ford made smaller cargo vans but have discontinued them.
I talked to one sales representative and all he wanted to do was have me sign on the dotted line to commit to buy a cargo van that he didn't have in stock. Hey, I'd like to drive one first. Also he didn't seem to be interested in discussing any alternatives such as a minivan or an SUV, new or used. He seemed to be high-pressuring me as if his job depended on that particular sale.
So, I got on the good old Internet and found my own alternatives. I did find that the above dealer didn't have many alternatives. I found another dealer who had a couple of Chevrolet HHRs, so-called crossovers, with less than 38,000 miles for less than 14,000 dollars. I also found that the HHRs were rated about average by J.D. Powers. However, they seemed to have sufficient cargo space for us.
Unfortunately, they only had front-wheel drive and no trailer hitches. We would want a trailer to haul yard equipment from our house or cabin to the service shop.
The best news is that the sales person that sold us our truck thirteen years ago was now at that dealer. He had given us a better trade-in than any other dealer had offered. Plus he let us try a couple of vehicles. It was one of the most pleasant auto sales experiences we had had.
Today I called him and told him that we remembered him from thirteen years ago. Of course, he didn't remember us after how many other hundreds of customers. However, he was pleased and grateful that we had remembered him.
I told him what we were interested in and our range of choices. We set up a visit with him this afternoon.
We sat and chatted for a lot. We told stories, he told stories. We raised questions and observations about various cars; he responded with answers and his own observations. It was if we had all the time in the world.
He had the keys to a few cars on his desk. He brought an 2008 HHR with less than 38,000 miles on it around to the front and gave us the keys to it. The HHR is an "ugly" thing like the Chrysler PT Cruiser; in fact, both were designed by the same man.
The best thing about it was that the back seats folded down to provide a uniformly flat, impermeable surface. Just the thing for placing almost anything on, no matter how dirty or greasy. We drove it a couple of miles and were quite comfortable with it. However, it didn't have four-wheel or all-wheel drive and no trailer hitch.
We looked at a 2008 Saturn Vue. It had mileage in the high twenties, price in the high teens, and all-wheel drive. When we folded down the seats we found the surface was all cloth. What a mess we'll make of that. We didn't even drive it.
We next looked at a 2008 Chevy Trailblazer. It had mileage in the high thirties, price in the mid-teens, four-wheel drive, and a trailer hitch. It also had a cloth cargo surface. However, the cargo surface was larger than the other two. We took it out for a spin. It was responsive and comfortable. Although it had an on-the-floor automatic shift lever, the indicator was on the instrument panel. The HHR had it on the floor, a bit of a distraction.
We decided that the Trailblazer would suit our needs best and said we would take it.
The next step was evaluating our truck. The trade-in offer was $2500, better than what I had seen after filling out an online form.
We asked some more questions, told some more stories, and filled out some preliminary papers. As we are changing our insurance company tomorrow, we didn't want to close until tomorrow afternoon. The sales person said he was busy with some other things and asked if we could wait until Wednesday. We agreed.
Although the afternoon was a pleasant experience, I came home exhausted and wanted only to sit in front of the fireplace. It was as if a great weight of expectations and conflicting concerns had been lifted off my shoulders.
I do have to conclude with a small plug. If you have a conflicting automotive wish list and are uncertain about your choices, be sure to see Dean Melbostad at Luther Family Chevrolet in Duluth (actually Hermantown). No pressure, lots of answers.
A cargo van has a lower floor and thus a relative higher ceiling, plus a side access door. Problem is that new ones cost in the high 20s and used ones are as scarce as Stanley Steamers. Apparently many owners run them until they're useless.
Almost all of them come with a V-8, larger than we need, and only front-wheel drive. Both Chevrolet and Ford made smaller cargo vans but have discontinued them.
I talked to one sales representative and all he wanted to do was have me sign on the dotted line to commit to buy a cargo van that he didn't have in stock. Hey, I'd like to drive one first. Also he didn't seem to be interested in discussing any alternatives such as a minivan or an SUV, new or used. He seemed to be high-pressuring me as if his job depended on that particular sale.
So, I got on the good old Internet and found my own alternatives. I did find that the above dealer didn't have many alternatives. I found another dealer who had a couple of Chevrolet HHRs, so-called crossovers, with less than 38,000 miles for less than 14,000 dollars. I also found that the HHRs were rated about average by J.D. Powers. However, they seemed to have sufficient cargo space for us.
Unfortunately, they only had front-wheel drive and no trailer hitches. We would want a trailer to haul yard equipment from our house or cabin to the service shop.
The best news is that the sales person that sold us our truck thirteen years ago was now at that dealer. He had given us a better trade-in than any other dealer had offered. Plus he let us try a couple of vehicles. It was one of the most pleasant auto sales experiences we had had.
Today I called him and told him that we remembered him from thirteen years ago. Of course, he didn't remember us after how many other hundreds of customers. However, he was pleased and grateful that we had remembered him.
I told him what we were interested in and our range of choices. We set up a visit with him this afternoon.
We sat and chatted for a lot. We told stories, he told stories. We raised questions and observations about various cars; he responded with answers and his own observations. It was if we had all the time in the world.
He had the keys to a few cars on his desk. He brought an 2008 HHR with less than 38,000 miles on it around to the front and gave us the keys to it. The HHR is an "ugly" thing like the Chrysler PT Cruiser; in fact, both were designed by the same man.
The best thing about it was that the back seats folded down to provide a uniformly flat, impermeable surface. Just the thing for placing almost anything on, no matter how dirty or greasy. We drove it a couple of miles and were quite comfortable with it. However, it didn't have four-wheel or all-wheel drive and no trailer hitch.
We looked at a 2008 Saturn Vue. It had mileage in the high twenties, price in the high teens, and all-wheel drive. When we folded down the seats we found the surface was all cloth. What a mess we'll make of that. We didn't even drive it.
We next looked at a 2008 Chevy Trailblazer. It had mileage in the high thirties, price in the mid-teens, four-wheel drive, and a trailer hitch. It also had a cloth cargo surface. However, the cargo surface was larger than the other two. We took it out for a spin. It was responsive and comfortable. Although it had an on-the-floor automatic shift lever, the indicator was on the instrument panel. The HHR had it on the floor, a bit of a distraction.
We decided that the Trailblazer would suit our needs best and said we would take it.
The next step was evaluating our truck. The trade-in offer was $2500, better than what I had seen after filling out an online form.
We asked some more questions, told some more stories, and filled out some preliminary papers. As we are changing our insurance company tomorrow, we didn't want to close until tomorrow afternoon. The sales person said he was busy with some other things and asked if we could wait until Wednesday. We agreed.
Although the afternoon was a pleasant experience, I came home exhausted and wanted only to sit in front of the fireplace. It was as if a great weight of expectations and conflicting concerns had been lifted off my shoulders.
I do have to conclude with a small plug. If you have a conflicting automotive wish list and are uncertain about your choices, be sure to see Dean Melbostad at Luther Family Chevrolet in Duluth (actually Hermantown). No pressure, lots of answers.
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