marmota_b

I've been waiting for summer for my eye appointment so I can get a ride so I can get my eyes dilated. (There's not enough time after work.) Then I realized staff development day is a week from today. I amazingly got an appointment for an easy day to miss at work.

Within a few months of getting these glasses my eyes got worse. The previous prescription only lasted a few months too. Ugh. Stabilize, eyes!

I'm so excited for the appointment. I'm so jealous of people who can just see.

Another day in 2025, another protest.

Random boring car observations after driving to the California border to get lottery tickets.

1. I have to turn off the feature where it locks your wheel and turns off at a light. The start up noise is unsettling and I don't like having no control of the wheel.

2. Things that are harder than a stick shift, keeping an even speed. You can't just get to the speed you want and it stays. It slows down. Smoothly taking tight corners. I'll learn, but the the clutch smooths it out. Stopping. Braking is fine, but I haven't mastered the actual stop without a little whiplash.

2. Easier. So far just stopped freeway traffic, but that still really sucked. I missed the exit I wanted, so went past the Strip and a huge construction project. I'm glad I did because it helped get the feel of the car.

3. The same. Everything else. Shifting is second nature and I like it, so normal traffic is essentially the same.

4. Much worse. Mileage. It's supposed to be 27/37 city/highway, but most of the time on the highway it was in the 17-25 range. Maybe it's breaking in? The average mileage since I've gotten it has been 25.5 mpg. The Fiat was usually 40+mpg on the highway. I've driven about 100 miles and used almost half a tank of gas, so unless something changes, it won't get me to LA.

5. Watching it shift is bizarre. The rpms are all over the place. This thing has to have 30 gears. It was weird watching the mileage go up and down with it too.

6. It's a very nice car, and I don't have any real complaints, except that I had to get it. And I wish it was a stick. I don't think of myself as a car person, but in a way I might be more of one than I thought because I never realized how much I felt the car driving. It's very weird.

I also got Android Auto set up. I already figured out how to use Bluetooth like in my Fiat, so it was low stress when I couldn't get it to work. It uses an outdated usb c to usb a cable. I tried the probably ten year old one I had, and got a connect phone meas. I tried a random one that probably came with something. It charged, and I got the connect phone message. I figured it was the cable, but looked it up and found something in the developer options needed to be changed. I changed it. Nothing. Then I went to Best Buy and got a cord. It thankfully worked.

I miss simple cars!

We have a three day weekend

So. Needed.

New car acquired. Dark blue Subaru Impreza.

Friday, I wouldn't have expected Monday to be like this. And automatics are weird.

I took my car for service yesterday. A big milestone one. I approved the regular stuff for 40,000 miles. They did it, and then looked for other stuff and found two axels and three engine mounts that need to be replaced. That's more than the car is worth, so I said no. But, since they did the service first, standard procedure, I had to pay for that. I may as well have set $1400 on fire.

You know they do it that way because people would decline the service if the other repairs were too expensive. I'm always going to ask for the inspection first, and then approve whatever.

And because of the effing tariffs, I have to figure everything out basically yesterday.

It is nine years old, which is longer than most people keep cars, but I had my last one for almost 16 years. I keep stuff. Sigh.

The day off I put in a million years ago was finally officially approved, so Avalon Ball tickets bought, hotel by ferry and on Catalina booked, ferry booked. The things for my seahorse halter outfit arrived today. I'm wearing the starburst Lanvin, which I'd have done in even the before times, instead of something new.

I thought I had a tag for the seahorse dress. It's this. Except I'm not doing the cowl neck. And it's going to be blue. And I'm using lightweight white twill for the skirt. The webpage is gone but I saved all the pictures.

https://pin.it/3vbazc8PX