New Car

Wednesday (7/26) I went to Hoselton for service on my car.  The past few weeks the Maint Req light was on but I kept ignoring it.  I finally made an appointment and as soon as I was checked in, I was approached by someone from the service sales force asking me if I would like to look at some new cars since my lease was up in 4 months.

Friday I picked up my new car.  A 2017 RAV4, I am definitely in a rut.  This is the 5th RAV4 I've gotten but at least I got a new color.  It's dark blue and in the sunlight it looks like it has glitter sprinkled all over it.

They changed a couple of things I didn't like about the 2015.  They added back the sunglass holder over the window and the small tray in the console box.  I also like the way the direction you're going shows on the rearview mirror.  I got a hitch with it for a bike rack, now maybe I'll go somewhere with my bike, and cross bars so I could get a kayak carrier, if I want.  The safety features all came standard like a beep if you change lanes without putting on the blinkers - GUILTY and a warning if your close to other cars or walls, etc.  I also like how the car will automatically slow down when using cruise control if you get too close to the car in front of you.

No more smell from the smoothie Tucker accidentally left in the back seat that spilled down under it, although that had dissipated over time with much cleaning and air fresheners.

Note:  11/29/17 - Noticed I can open the car with thin gloves on, not sure if it will work with heavier ones but this is also a plus over the last car.

New RAV4

I just leased my 4th RAV4 yesterday.  I kept the same silver color but the design is entirely different.  The tire isn't on the back end anymore, a feature I'll miss because it made finding my car easier in a parking lot and it opens up now instead of out.

So far I've had a silver 2006 a red 2009 a silver 2012 and now a silver 2015.  When I got the 2012 I was going to write to Toyota and tell them about all the changes I didn't like that they made to the car, but of course I never did.  I didn't even document them here and it wasn't until yesterday that I thought about it when I focused on all the changes that they made now that I don't like.  Maybe if I wasn't so lazy and didn't hate car shopping I wouldn't have gotten this car and would have looked for the perfect one, but I didn't.  It was easier just to take this one.

These are the things I didn't like that they did to 2012:
They took the phone buttons off the steering wheel and moved them over by the radio on the dashboard.  Dangerous!!  I don't remember how you looked up phonebook names in 2009 but the 2012 way also didn't seem as easy.  I didn't like that they got rid of SiriusXM radio, especially since Larry was paying for it.

But now in 2015 I have even more complaints, although I do like the advances in the technology and they did put the phone buttons back on the steering wheel.  I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't like that change.  BUT, THEY TOOK AWAY the upper glove box, the sunglass holder over the windows, the electric outlet in the back seat and the small upper storage area in the console storage box.  The pockets on the doors were reshaped so my maps won't fit in there anymore and who knows what else I'll find when I actually use the car.  They did put SiriusXM back in the car and I have 3 months free but Larry didn't volunteer to pay for it again so not sure if I'll get it since I usually listen to my books.  There's now GPS in the car, no choice, and they moved the backup viewer down to the GPS area from the rearview mirror which is nice.

1/25/15 - Update - another negative.  I don't like the door locking keyless mechanism.  On the old RAV4 you just pushed a button on the handle and all the doors would lock.  On this new one you put your finger where the grooves are and it locks.  However, unless I'm doing something wrong, it doesn't lock if you have gloves on.  I did get it to lock once with the gloves that you can use with an iPhone that has the special fingertips but I was only able to do it once.  I do love driving it though!

July 2015 update:  the back seats don't move up or back.  I noticed this when I wanted to move the seats up so I had more room in the back for golf clubs and cart.  Now the only way to get more space is to put the seat down but then you lose the seat.

Hot and Cold

It's been really hot here lately, like most of the country and during this time I got a really bad cold.
After we took that wonderful hike in Whiting Park, we came home and Karen invited us to join her and John for dinner at the Pultneyville Grille.  Great, I thought, another night I don't have to cook.  And ten minutes later I started to feel like I was coming down with a cold.  Most of the time it goes away after some Advil so I thought it would this day too.  No such luck but it wasn't too bad although my throat felt a little scratchy.  We drove out to Pultneyville and met Karen and John who came by boat from Sodus and had a nice dinner.  I even splurged and had real meat, a filet.  I asked for it rare and it wasn't even very pink when I got it, but I thought maybe that's as rare as they're allowed to do.  It was tender though.
After dinner we said our goodbyes as we watched the boat pull away,

and on our way home we hit a deer on Lake Rd.

The next morning I woke up with a horrible cold and Larry had been up since 1:30.  It was a lost day.  I slept most of the next two days and then had some energy again on Tuesday.

Monday a tow truck came and got Larry's car.  Over $6000 worth of damage.  New radiator, fan and all the visible stuff needed to be replaced.  In my sluggish state I managed to drag myself outside to get some pictures of the only 4 month old car.

It was really hot on July 17th, a record high for that day here of 97°.  My car showed 98°

and the thermometer on the deck looked like 100° (in the shade).

I Need a Vacation

 I don't know if I need a vacation or just a change of environment.  Actually with temperatures being as warm as they have been this March and predicted to go up to 80 over the next few days, the idea of going to Florida for a month seems a bit ludicrous.  But it will be fun while we're down there, Fred is coming one week and Nadine and Michael are coming the next and that's just what is currently planned.

But the reason I need to get away is just to escape the "misfortune" that has fallen my way.  At least this week it was just annoyances and nothing damaging or physically debilitating.

The Good the Bad and The Ugly - my week in review
Last Saturday we were going to Finger Lakes CC to watch Katie's basketball game.  Penfield was playing Lockport in some sectional playoff.  On the way we stopped at Hoselton to look at cars.  I spoke to Conor that week and he said there were some good deals on leases for the Highlander (which Larry has) and the Sienna (which he was thinking of getting).  "How much time should we give ourselves there so we can get to the game," I asked.  "Well, I'm not going to buy so and hour should be enough," he replied.  Famous last words.  He signed the paperwork for a new Sienna which we test drove and arranged to pick it up on Wednesday.  We missed the 1st quarter of the game, but saw Penfield win!  So far so good.

We picked the car up on Wednesday.  It's longer than the Highlander which should be great for our road trips but not so great for the garage.  Our garage needs a clean out badly so this might be just the push we need to do it.

 The car is grey but because of the lighting it doesn't look that way,  But the garage does make us look like hoarders.  Definitely needs a clean-up since I can't walk around the front of the car.

We programmed the car to work with the garage door opener but the next day when I was going to work I realized my garage door opener wouldn't work anymore.  Starting the bad - -

When I left work I was going to the Monroe Library to pick up a book on CD to listen to on the drive to Florida but when I got to my car the automatic door opener wouldn't work.  It's a keyless entry and drive system but I knew where the key was on my fob and opened the door with it for the first time, the battery was dead and it started to rain.  Inside the car I flipped through the pages of the car manual to figure out how to start the car.
1- Put the car into park
2- Put your foot on the break
3- Hold the fob against start button until beep
4-Push button within 5 seconds

I did all that and then it was pouring.  Rather than going to the library in the downpour and worry about whether it was going to start again I decided to go home and replace the battery first.  No problem about the rain, I could just pull into the garage.  STOP!!!  I remembered, my garage door opener didn't work - but that's OK I'll just call Larry and have him open the door from inside.  STOP again.  I just remembered - he went to play golf.  Rather than get upset I figured I would just sit in the driveway in my car and listen to my book until the rain let up a bit and then I'd manually open the garage door.  A GOOD in the middle of the BAD - as I made the turn, I saw that Larry was in the garage -  TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

The next day, just to round out the week, work was incredibly busy and we were there forever doing the good old paper tally.  We need computers!!!

Dumb and Dumber

My leg all of a sudden was so much better today.  I went to work and then was going to lunch at La-Tea-Da with Anna.  We drove down, had a delicious relaxing lunch and lots of chatting.  While we were sitting there I said, "Oh look, my bad leg is crossed over my other one."  My leg did it without me even being aware of it since it was so natural for me to sit that way before my meniscus tear.