- 09:19 Joyful thanks to
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
awa55 for fixing our car stereo (and dome lights, clicker, etc.) yesterday!!
Mo and I sang along to the radio all the way home.
LadyBug's Witchy Hat: I did this for Children's Illustrator's October theme over at deviantArt. Fun to sketch, easy to paint. Yeah, yeah, I was lazy, I was coloring (this is what I call it if I have outlines to fill in, unlike what I was after with "Stone Window", say). Watercolors on some rather cheap watercolor paper. Letting the paint do the work, more though -- I can see it in the intensity of the colors.
I had a thought about my "too many layers" comment the other day. I think if I either used more transparent paint in them or perhaps let them dry slightly less, they wouldn't seem so obvious to me.
Also unrelated to "LadyBug", I'd like to give a shout-out to Marianne over at Enchanted Folk, for giving me some really terrific technique-feedback the other day. Go see her Etsy shop and all that, if you have a moment.
I need to organize and plan this whole art thing. Coordinate the marketing, if you will. In, ya know, my spare time.
Back to work. Good music today.
- sounds like:http://www.pandora.com/stations/d8e0918f3ef228bbc58061aadbc0200de7c5e7241f96d370
After weeks of piles, I found my desk!
Ahem. This doesn't mean I got any projects that were on them finished, only that things are either filed, organized, or put away in some useful (I hope) way.
The list, while no longer represented by so many stacks, is still ridiculously long. What's with me? Too many interesting things to pursue, I suppose!
And I'm making progress on some paintings I started months ago, and finishing up another 2 family newsletters (both from last year but it turned out that not skipping time worked better for the flow of these than skipping to now-ish).
Was efficient at work yesterday, though my invoicing is again in Great Need of Doing.
But it's sisterE's birthday today, so that's enough for now: me and MonkeyBoy are gonna arrange for cake. Excavator cake, in fact (a plan he and E cooked up).
Oooh, sorry, that wasn't on purpose.
Plus Granddad is up!
(All this clean up on only one cup of coffee! Time for more... )
(Then maybe I'll make a list. For amusement value only, of course. Your amusement, I mean.)
Ahem. This doesn't mean I got any projects that were on them finished, only that things are either filed, organized, or put away in some useful (I hope) way.
The list, while no longer represented by so many stacks, is still ridiculously long. What's with me? Too many interesting things to pursue, I suppose!
And I'm making progress on some paintings I started months ago, and finishing up another 2 family newsletters (both from last year but it turned out that not skipping time worked better for the flow of these than skipping to now-ish).
Was efficient at work yesterday, though my invoicing is again in Great Need of Doing.
But it's sisterE's birthday today, so that's enough for now: me and MonkeyBoy are gonna arrange for cake. Excavator cake, in fact (a plan he and E cooked up).
Oooh, sorry, that wasn't on purpose.
Plus Granddad is up!
(All this clean up on only one cup of coffee! Time for more... )
(Then maybe I'll make a list. For amusement value only, of course. Your amusement, I mean.)
So I went into the attic this morning, to collect things I could give to my sister/her baby (due in a month or so). I'd kept stuff for this reason, or in case we had another.
It then occurred to me I could give things also to J (9 months) and L (5 or 7 months) and if I checked, maybe E (2 years) also.
And that MonkeyBoy was growing out of stuff and I should find his next sizes in the hand-me-downs.
That was HOURS ago.
I've got: 2 small bags for J, 1 for L, about 4 boxes for my sister, 2 old-fashioned air plane gift/carry-on sizes to give away/consign, and more pants for MonkeyBoy than I think we've ever had at once.
The attic is tidier.
Still, it's almost 7 p.m., so I think the STUFF is winning...
It then occurred to me I could give things also to J (9 months) and L (5 or 7 months) and if I checked, maybe E (2 years) also.
And that MonkeyBoy was growing out of stuff and I should find his next sizes in the hand-me-downs.
That was HOURS ago.
I've got: 2 small bags for J, 1 for L, about 4 boxes for my sister, 2 old-fashioned air plane gift/carry-on sizes to give away/consign, and more pants for MonkeyBoy than I think we've ever had at once.
The attic is tidier.
Still, it's almost 7 p.m., so I think the STUFF is winning...
A very belated and delighted thank you to bcy475 for the B&N gift card. In a surprise move, I spent it on music: Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon. Listening to it again -- I listened to the LP often in high school -- I can see now how some of my reactions to songs then percolated into attitudes and choices in my life later. Very cool. And odd to realize how much I was affected (or perhaps just had other things reinforced) by music -- I'm not a very musically inclined person. Makes you wonder about how what we choose as our inputs affects, changes, shapes us ...
bcy475 for the B&N gift card. In a surprise move, I spent it on music: Joni Mitchell's Ladies of the Canyon. Listening to it again -- I listened to the LP often in high school -- I can see now how some of my reactions to songs then percolated into attitudes and choices in my life later. Very cool. And odd to realize how much I was affected (or perhaps just had other things reinforced) by music -- I'm not a very musically inclined person. Makes you wonder about how what we choose as our inputs affects, changes, shapes us ...Solvent. Yeah, right.
After about 7 years, the bearing's going on our washer. This changes how the bearing presses on the drum of the machine, which changes how the drum seals itself. (Am I impressed by this design aspect?) In short: more washing leads to less bearing leads to less sealed leads to more water on the floor and possibly under and around the floor leads to need for new tiling UNLESS
we either replace the bearing (i.e. replace the bearing + drum assembly, which is essentially the washer without the casing) OR buy a new washer
strangely, these are about the same amount of money -- $600, roughly.
One thing I hate (besides not [yet/without a lot of extra work] having the money to hand to do either one) is that this took TWO technician calls to determine, and both times they guy (different guys) told me basically if I didn't decide something NOW, I couldn't have the nice credit. The first time, the guy offered me a warranty THAT day, up to several years long (up to $600, although maybe I could've gotten a year long one) but I'd have to pay NOW (or rather, then) or it would cost more. A today's guy said that if I decided NOW to repair it, he could credit the service fee toward a repair, but that I might not be able to get this credit if say, I decided $600 was something I needed to talk over with my husband. *sigh*
I suppose I should've bought the extended warranty for a year or two (not the full $600 bit) from the first guy.
Y'know, this reminds me of the issue with the spring and the well (starts in Jan 04 .. drilled in July of 04). Gods I hope this isn't like that.
ETA: Sort of interesting when the parts diagram doesn't actually list an item called "bearing" which is what is ostensibly wearing out. Not that I really think it's all that reasonable to fix it ourselves (though worth the time to look into, certainly).
side note: MonkeyBoy is having a Very Long Nap. Good heavens. Three hours?!?!
After about 7 years, the bearing's going on our washer. This changes how the bearing presses on the drum of the machine, which changes how the drum seals itself. (Am I impressed by this design aspect?) In short: more washing leads to less bearing leads to less sealed leads to more water on the floor and possibly under and around the floor leads to need for new tiling UNLESS
we either replace the bearing (i.e. replace the bearing + drum assembly, which is essentially the washer without the casing) OR buy a new washer
strangely, these are about the same amount of money -- $600, roughly.
One thing I hate (besides not [yet/without a lot of extra work] having the money to hand to do either one) is that this took TWO technician calls to determine, and both times they guy (different guys) told me basically if I didn't decide something NOW, I couldn't have the nice credit. The first time, the guy offered me a warranty THAT day, up to several years long (up to $600, although maybe I could've gotten a year long one) but I'd have to pay NOW (or rather, then) or it would cost more. A today's guy said that if I decided NOW to repair it, he could credit the service fee toward a repair, but that I might not be able to get this credit if say, I decided $600 was something I needed to talk over with my husband. *sigh*
I suppose I should've bought the extended warranty for a year or two (not the full $600 bit) from the first guy.
Y'know, this reminds me of the issue with the spring and the well (starts in Jan 04 .. drilled in July of 04). Gods I hope this isn't like that.
ETA: Sort of interesting when the parts diagram doesn't actually list an item called "bearing" which is what is ostensibly wearing out. Not that I really think it's all that reasonable to fix it ourselves (though worth the time to look into, certainly).
side note: MonkeyBoy is having a Very Long Nap. Good heavens. Three hours?!?!
We drove 2 more Matrixes today: the one with the silly wheels (and ick, some door dents that must be fixed), and then a super-basic version. The super basic version was ruled out, partly on the toddler-plus-non-locking windows = bad news for things stayin in car, partly on the transmission feeling uneven.
I think now we're considering a Subie Outback (for too much than we want to spend) and the silly-size wheel Matrix (good price, and might negotiate down). Subie is at a dealer (being sold by a not-quite relative) and the Matrix is a private seller (med student going away to residency). Private seller reminds me of my college roomie *grins*.
I think we'd be good in both cases. The Matrix is FWD, not AWD, but significantly cheaper to both buy and fuel. The Subie has 71,000 and the Toyota 59,000 miles.
In true geekery, I built myself a spreadsheet by which to compare purchase price, mileage, estimate cost to fuel from now to 200,000 miles, estimate length I'd own the car (assuming 200,000 again), and average cost (based on purchase and fuel) for that length of time. Super simple model (gas at $3.50/gal, for example, no doubt too low), with iffy assumptions (yes, the Legacy Outbacks will go to 200K, but will the others?). But useful for comparisions. Couldn't factor in later-life maintenance/repair, unfortunately, because I just don't know.
The Versa was the cheapest per year, but already ruled out. Both of today's Matrixes (I want to write Matrices!) are int eh lowest cost tier. Hm....
I really appreciate your comments from the other day:
R-- VW wasn't in the running based on driving my dad's; hadn't really thought about/don't know jack about Saturn. Maybe I should be looking into that. I'm just about ready to quit looking and pick, though. Hm.
J-- The Fit was too small, and the Scion might also be. Can't recall; maybe's it's the "we want to drive it to 200,000 miles" aspect that ruled it out? I think that was part of our hesitation over the Pontiac Vibe (has AWD also, same size essentially as Matix; in fact, is about half a Toyota -- body isn't, engine is, maybe drivetrain is Toyota's also? ). We ruled out the Dodge Caliber based on a swath of "not as good as..." reviews at ePinions and Consumer Reports and CarTalk. (A great relief to me as well, because I hated the name of the car.)
M-- Having maintained 2 Subie Legacies now (this is the second), I agree that the post-150,000 miles maintenance is ... tedious to deal with, at best. How can a car that feels so solid even when it's broken need so much work? But it does... In our case, the Legacy Outbacks are the much-more-money upfront as well, as compared to the Matrixes (we've mostly been shopping around Burlington; I called over to Montpelier and we checked out a car in Swanton). Financially, this puts the Toyotas up (i.e. better choice), though switching to a lighter-weight FWD after ...um... 10 years in the wonderfully solid AWD might be a bit iffy for me at first (at least I'm doing it in the summer). I borrowed a Tercel AWD wagon after losing my Nissan truck to black ice, and it was fabulous that winter/spring, yes. But a long time ago. A friend of mine had a Nissan wagon about then as well; if I'd found one of those, I might never have moved into the Legacy.
I think now we're considering a Subie Outback (for too much than we want to spend) and the silly-size wheel Matrix (good price, and might negotiate down). Subie is at a dealer (being sold by a not-quite relative) and the Matrix is a private seller (med student going away to residency). Private seller reminds me of my college roomie *grins*.
I think we'd be good in both cases. The Matrix is FWD, not AWD, but significantly cheaper to both buy and fuel. The Subie has 71,000 and the Toyota 59,000 miles.
In true geekery, I built myself a spreadsheet by which to compare purchase price, mileage, estimate cost to fuel from now to 200,000 miles, estimate length I'd own the car (assuming 200,000 again), and average cost (based on purchase and fuel) for that length of time. Super simple model (gas at $3.50/gal, for example, no doubt too low), with iffy assumptions (yes, the Legacy Outbacks will go to 200K, but will the others?). But useful for comparisions. Couldn't factor in later-life maintenance/repair, unfortunately, because I just don't know.
The Versa was the cheapest per year, but already ruled out. Both of today's Matrixes (I want to write Matrices!) are int eh lowest cost tier. Hm....
I really appreciate your comments from the other day:
R-- VW wasn't in the running based on driving my dad's; hadn't really thought about/don't know jack about Saturn. Maybe I should be looking into that. I'm just about ready to quit looking and pick, though. Hm.
J-- The Fit was too small, and the Scion might also be. Can't recall; maybe's it's the "we want to drive it to 200,000 miles" aspect that ruled it out? I think that was part of our hesitation over the Pontiac Vibe (has AWD also, same size essentially as Matix; in fact, is about half a Toyota -- body isn't, engine is, maybe drivetrain is Toyota's also? ). We ruled out the Dodge Caliber based on a swath of "not as good as..." reviews at ePinions and Consumer Reports and CarTalk. (A great relief to me as well, because I hated the name of the car.)
M-- Having maintained 2 Subie Legacies now (this is the second), I agree that the post-150,000 miles maintenance is ... tedious to deal with, at best. How can a car that feels so solid even when it's broken need so much work? But it does... In our case, the Legacy Outbacks are the much-more-money upfront as well, as compared to the Matrixes (we've mostly been shopping around Burlington; I called over to Montpelier and we checked out a car in Swanton). Financially, this puts the Toyotas up (i.e. better choice), though switching to a lighter-weight FWD after ...um... 10 years in the wonderfully solid AWD might be a bit iffy for me at first (at least I'm doing it in the summer). I borrowed a Tercel AWD wagon after losing my Nissan truck to black ice, and it was fabulous that winter/spring, yes. But a long time ago. A friend of mine had a Nissan wagon about then as well; if I'd found one of those, I might never have moved into the Legacy.
My car -- a 1996 Subaru Legacy Outback wagon -- needs a minimum of $1100 work. It's trade-in/sale value is somewhere between $500 and $1500 (yeah, right). It has 212,000 miles on it.
Why don't I want another Legacy Outback? They've got room, AWD, reliability (well, if you don't keep them as long as I do), there are tons around, and really, it seems to be more car for the money than the Toyota Matrix, which I do want, despite it having some things I'm concerned about (its AWD has issues and is in fact not being manufactured in the recent models) in general, and the specific ones we can find as well (generally too high a price, also various odd things like silly larger wheel size or sucky customer service or automatic transmissions).
We've been looking at and driving cars a LOT this week, not to mention calling around to see what's available, reading/researching online.... We were out from 10-5 today, just car shopping... yargh... what a way to spend my hubby's vacation...
In my daydreams? A Toyota Prius with AWD. But there ain't no sich thing (and I don't want, let alone could afford, a Toyota Hybrid Highlander)...
In our this-is-reasonable price range? A '00 Subaru Forester. *sigh*
I've talked (er, test-driven) myself out of the incredibly charming and wonderfully efficient Nissan Versa. It's just... there's just too much snow for me in that car. (My hubby would probably be fine, but a) I drive more hills more often, and b) he's a better driver.) Well, and it's new (read: too much money by, oh, maybe a factor of 2).
I just don't want anything bigger than the Outback, or less efficient; apparently I want something that drives as comfortably (to me) as will last as long, while being smaller, more efficient, more reliable/durable, and cheaper. And the Impreza is too small for the dog (who is, admittedly, 10½, and a Berner), at least, as long as I have the car seat too.
I just want a good car that fits what I schlepp and how/where I drive (dirt and/or hills) for something less than I make a year (OK, so I'm not working much, but...). How come that seems to be too much to ask?
Heeeelllllppp...
Why don't I want another Legacy Outback? They've got room, AWD, reliability (well, if you don't keep them as long as I do), there are tons around, and really, it seems to be more car for the money than the Toyota Matrix, which I do want, despite it having some things I'm concerned about (its AWD has issues and is in fact not being manufactured in the recent models) in general, and the specific ones we can find as well (generally too high a price, also various odd things like silly larger wheel size or sucky customer service or automatic transmissions).
We've been looking at and driving cars a LOT this week, not to mention calling around to see what's available, reading/researching online.... We were out from 10-5 today, just car shopping... yargh... what a way to spend my hubby's vacation...
In my daydreams? A Toyota Prius with AWD. But there ain't no sich thing (and I don't want, let alone could afford, a Toyota Hybrid Highlander)...
In our this-is-reasonable price range? A '00 Subaru Forester. *sigh*
I've talked (er, test-driven) myself out of the incredibly charming and wonderfully efficient Nissan Versa. It's just... there's just too much snow for me in that car. (My hubby would probably be fine, but a) I drive more hills more often, and b) he's a better driver.) Well, and it's new (read: too much money by, oh, maybe a factor of 2).
I just don't want anything bigger than the Outback, or less efficient; apparently I want something that drives as comfortably (to me) as will last as long, while being smaller, more efficient, more reliable/durable, and cheaper. And the Impreza is too small for the dog (who is, admittedly, 10½, and a Berner), at least, as long as I have the car seat too.
I just want a good car that fits what I schlepp and how/where I drive (dirt and/or hills) for something less than I make a year (OK, so I'm not working much, but...). How come that seems to be too much to ask?
Heeeelllllppp...
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