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July 21st, 2012
02:04 pm - Fun with an electric car Last weekend I decided to drive to a friend's house for a party. She lives about 35 miles away, in the mountains (Boulder Creek).
Google maps said: You can go either way A or way B. I sorta recommend way A, but whatever.
CarWings (the Nissan website) said: Okay, do you want the fastest way or the shortest way? I said: Show me the fastest way. CW: Okay, here you go! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 7 bars of energy (out of 12) to get there, and 4 bars to get back. It'll take you about an hour one way. Me: Um, okay. That's... a bit odd with the energy estimates, but okay. Show me the shortest way. CW: Here it is! #shows me way B by Google maps# It will take 6 bars to get there, and 5 to get back. It'll take you about 45 minutes one way. Me: Hold on, it's quicker? CW: No, it's shorter. Me: But 45 minutes is less than an hour. CW: Nuh-uh. A hour is faster. Me: You are smoking crack. Let's go the shorter way. CW: Okay, if you're sure.
Drive there: all good! Car is happy. We drive basically flat, then up, then down. I don't get any extra bars for going downhill, but it stays at 6 bars from hitting the summit till when I get there. (Oh, and like how gas cars have a few gallons left when they show E? Electric car does the same thing, it keeps some energy in reserve.)
On the way home, we go up first. After a tiny bit - Car: Uh-oh. We won't be able to get home with the charge I have. Can I stop for food on the way home? Me: You're fine. We're just going uphill. It'll be downhill soon. Car: But we're going uphill NOW. I think it'll be uphill all the way home! I can't do that! Me: Shush. Car: But...I want more energy! Stop and feed me sometime! Me: Okay, okay, how about there? Car: Oh, thanks! ... pause a few minutes... Car: I can't make it home if it's uphill all the way. Me: It's not. ... Car: I think it's uphill all the way home. Me: Shush. ... Car: But we're going uphill now. Me: It's okay, dear. ... Car: Because, see, you could stop and charge me. Me: Look. Let's get to the pass. You can do that, right? Car: Duh! Of course! ... Car: Look at this fine list of charging stations I compiled for you! Me: #sigh# ... Car: Oh! Whee! Down we go! Look at that. I can go 12 miles like this! No, 13! 14! 18! 20! Oh I can go more and more! Me: See, I told you so. Still want to stop for food on the way home? Car: Nah!
Happy and uneventful most of the rest of the way home. Then, at 0.9 miles away from home: Car: Oh woe! My battery is low! I can only go 9 more miles like this! Me: We're less than a mile away from home. Car: Look! I have a warning light here and a warning light there and one message here and another message there and my DTE (distance to empty, or estimated driving range) is flashing (9 miles) and I even told you out loud! Woe! Me: We're almost home. Car: You should really really feed me! Me: Look, okay. Where do you want to plug in? Car: Lemme see... here's a list of places. Hey! Let's go "home"! That's the closest! Me: yay.
So, yes, they really engineered it so at you could not say you were surprised to run out of charge. As one article said, "The only thing it could do more would be to shock you." And I didn't even that close to running out of charge - I only just hit low battery warning #1. if I had gone those 9 more miles, I would have hit low battery warning #2 (where the DTE changes to ---, and there are assumedly more announcements and flashy lights), and 5 miles after *that* I finally would have hit turtle mode (where you can just creep along for a few miles, basically just enough to get off the highway).
Totally no regrets. I brought a book along, just in case - not quite range anxiety, but slight preparedness.
Oh, and the party was fun, too! =D
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March 5th, 2012
10:05 am - Phoenix
Phoenix outside on Sunday. ETA: his last day in the sun. Poor guy.
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November 23rd, 2011
04:49 pm - Thanksgiving and cats My old car did get auctioned off, but for far, far less than I had imagined. It went for less than 1/2 the blue book value. o_O Well, so it goes. I hope someone likes the bargain they got (and that it was actually a bargain).
I think I've mentioned before the Phoenix has been suffering from chronic renal failure. He had a checkup at the vets (two weeks?) ago, and his numbers were far worse. He'd been less energetic recently, too, so not a good sign. We were hoping it was just an infection, but his urine cultures came back clean. He was in the vet ICU for a few days getting IV fluids, and his numbers got a bit better, but still not good. He's been at home, getting more sub-Q fluids (daily now); he perked up briefly, but he seems lethargic again. Poor guy.
We had been planning on visiting friends in San Diego for Thanksgiving, but we weren't willing to leave Phoenix while his health is so unsteady. At least he's been mostly happy to get all the baby food he can eat.
I did some asking around, and found some friends right in our area that we could have Thanksgiving with. I feel a bit of a party crasher poking around for such a late invite. Ah well, it's nice to be able to change plans when necessary. I made a pumpkin cheesecake for tomorrow dessert today. Crossing my fingers that it actually turned out well.
I had asked for a Tuesday and today off work, for driving down to San Diego; I've just been staying at home wit the cats instead. Finder in particular seems to want to spend all day sleeping on my lap. I wonder again, how did he live as an unowned outdoor kitty for so long? He's such a people-loving mooch now.
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September 10th, 2011
12:33 pm - a month with the leaf So, it's no longer a painfully new car, since i now have license plates. I'm still really liking it; i still get a bit of smugness when i drive by gas stations, smog check stations, and oil change stores. My favorite feature is the remote climate control; it's really pleasant to tell the car I'm leaving my desk at work and have it be nice and cool by the time i lock my computer and go downstairs. The rear view camera, which i though would be ridiculous and superfluous, is actually quite useful. I did forget to plug it in one evening, but even at 80% charge i have enough to go to work and back three times in a row, so it wasn't a problem. (They recommend doing an 80% charge to prolong battery life. I'd do a 100% charge if i knew i were going much further than just my daily commute.)
The range hasn't really been an issue yet, but i have had a few twinges about it. For example, Earl and I drove to WorldCon in Reno (in his car), which we wouldn't have been able to do in the Leaf (no fast charge stations on the way). I'm also looking at going to Lambtown (a tiny fair in Dixon with fibery goodness), but that's 99 miles away, which is just at the edge of the advertised range. Range goes down at higher speeds and with air conditioning on, so... it'd be really nice and a simple trip if there were a fast charge station midway to top off, but as it is, I'd either make it a several day trip, or take a gas car. I'm (naively?) hoping for more charging stations to pop up in the future, but I knew what I was getting into when i got it. Since i use it for commute 99% of the time, it's still great. I do love not having to buy gas (yeah, I'm completely lazy).
My old car is finally gone. I had a few friends look at it, but it wasn't right for them (most notably too small for my taller-than-i-remember friend). After a fair amount of research, i called to donate it to charity. I was sad since it looks like mostly local charities who are set up for car donation - i couldn't see a way to donate it to Heifer International, or Doctors Without Borders, or National Organization for Rare Disorders, or Planned Parenthood. (Yes, i could sell it myself and donate the money - but i don't want to bother selling it myself.) Once i called, the car was picked up amazingly rapidly. I almost wished i could have given it a better goodbye, but it's just a car. (Cf. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07xDdFMdgw ). I did make a nice package with all the service records and a short note, and left it with the car.
It's been rinsed off and has what i call it's "beauty pictures" up on the auction website. ( http://www.copart.com/c2/individualLot.html?lotId=23407731&searchType=onSaleNow ) I'm amused to see that the origami roses are still in the back window. I'm relieved to see that it has no snail shells in the engine compartment. I was tempted to follow the tow truck to the lot, but it's just as well I didn't, since the round trip would have been at the edge of the 80% range of my new car. =)
Other than that, nothing much new. Finder and Seeker are getting along well; they love to wrestle with each other, and Finder loves to lick his brother. (He loves to lick everything, but licking Madeleine really don't go over well.)
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July 21st, 2011
10:05 pm - Leaf It has arrived! The dealer called this morning, I picked it up this afternoon. I've put a rainbow sticker on it, and it's sitting in the driveway right now, connected to the house via an umbilical power cord.
This weekend, i need to get the title for my old car out of the safe deposit box, collect all the service records in one nice pile (they're mostly in one nice pile, but i need to make sure things like old insurance cards aren't mixed in), and arrange to donate it (or sell to friend, but donate seems easier all around). I cleaned it out a bit this evening. Discarded: 1994 Los Angeles Freeway guide, 1994 California Driver's handbook and practice driver's test. Kept and transferred to new car: teeny tiny teddy bear, envelope from the Geo dealer from 1994 with "Proof of Insurance" written on it by my dad. More origami roses than I thought; i guessed 37, but there are 41 in the back window. Earl thinks i should remove them, but i dunno.
Aaah, i need to move the "Bay Area Cat Rescue" licence plate frames to my new car. I can put the old "Team Geo" ones on the old car. I'm also tempted to tape the old dealer info sticker back in the window, just to be silly. (I *try* not to be a packrat, but.)
Very tired now. The dealership (Boardwalk Nissan) was very nice (yeah, NEVER thought i would say that a car salesman was pleasant, but they were!), but still, it was wearying. New fun toy; i keep the economy rolling!
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June 27th, 2011
02:46 pm - Finder Pictures I've uploaded a bunch of kitty picutres (mostly of the new kitty, Finder) to Flickr. ( I've posted a few, under a cut for your sanityCollapse )
Yes, we still need to find a better home for Finder. Our other cats are still very upset that he's inside with them; we seem to have passed the limit of happy cats per house (for the base cats we have).
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June 3rd, 2011
05:07 pm - Fat Head Kitty So... Fat Head Kitty. He's actually very very friendly. He's very happy to see us and get foods and pettings. When he was outside, I noticed two big problems he had. One - his teeth. All of his canines were broken down to tiny translucent yellow stumps, and he was missing some of his other front teeth. Two - his testicles. Running around as a kitten-making machine not allowed! (Too many homeless animals already; we really don't need any more.) So, i HAD to take him to the vet, if nothing else to snip him then put him back.
He's now been snipped, had his tooth abscesses dealt with, been deflea-ed, been microchipped, gotten a rabies shot, and been tested for the common kitty diseases. He has scars from being an outdoor tomcat - one of his eyes neither opens fully or closes fully, and he's FIV+. Sadly, the common thinking with FIV+ cats is to keep them indoor-only (so they won't infect other cats or pick up opportunistic infections) and away from FIV- cats (so they won't infect them). All of our cats are FIV-, so... #sigh# There's the mild argument that since FIV is usually transmitted via deep bites (as in cat fights, which intact males tend to have), and since he has no biting teeth in the front, the risk is low. But he doesn't know our cats, and Phoenix is in slowly failing health (chronic renal failure). And I'm personally loath to put him back outside because of the danger of cars, as has been so vividly demonstrated recently.
He's currently living in our garage, and we've locked the cat door. The other cats are VERY curious about who's living in there - especially Seeker, since Fat Head Kitty is his brother. We need to keep him in for at least the 10 days of antibiotics. He still seems very attached to us - he really want to explore the rest of the house, and love sitting in our laps. (I was afraid the vet visit would be the ultimate betrayal - no so, apparently!) Huge sweetheart. Lucy has offered to put him on the Bay Area Cat Rescue page; i need to take some pictures of him for that. I want to wait a bit for him to clean up more (I'm still combing flea dirt out of his tail). Poor guy.
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May 17th, 2011
09:13 pm So, I have a better delivery estimate for my Leaf: the week of June 15th. It seems so weird to be getting a new car. I still need to figure out exactly what I'm going to do with the old one - sell it to a friend or donate to charity. Donate to charity is an easy default, but i want to check to make sure I don't know of anyone who wants/needs it first. ETA: Current/old car is a 1994 Geo Prizm, maintenance has been kept up, and it has a new electrical system and ignition controls module, no thanks to some @#$*@# rats.
My newest worry has been Fat Head Kitty - Seeker's brother (we're guessing, though he hasn't given us a clear view of his naughty bits). He's unowned (we presume from the lack of collar and the general dishevelment) and outdoors, but we already have plenty of cats. Oy. Trying real hard not to become the crazy cat lady; I can't save them all.
And yeah, that's not a "real" name. Before we adopted him, Seeker used to be Cross-Eyed Kitty or Outdoor Kitty. Before we rescued her, Madeleine use to be Matted Cat (or Matty Cat). There's Battered Old Tom, but we don't see him that much, and various one-time sightings like Orange Kitty. And even though we know that her name is Bunny, we still call her Neighbor Kitty.
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May 15th, 2011
12:53 pm - last update on the kitty Well, it rained last night, so I figured that i needed to take down the signs. Earl and I walked up to the place; three of them were still well and intact; one had started to fall apart. Picked up all the pieces so there's no litter. The rain didn't wash away the blood, though. There's still a spot on the sidewalk where i carried her out of the road, and a spot in the middle of the road.
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May 14th, 2011
01:34 pm - one week later I called the vet on Thursday night to see if anyone had claimed the cat I had found. Nope. They said that they had Animal Control come to take the body. I tried calling Animal Control on Friday, but it was one of the alternate Fridays that they were closed. So, I called this morning, right at opening time. (I had to redial a number of times; it was busy for the first 10 minutes. I'm not sure whether this was other people dialing at the crack of opening, or if they come in and take the phone off the hook for 10 minutes while they get things together for the day.) No, nobody had called them to claim her, either. Also, "You do understand why you can't claim the remains, when she's not your property?", with an abrubt hangup. *SIGH* I was expecting something like that, but still. I had to try.
I'm not surprised. An outdoor cat with no collar and no chip, kind of indicates to me the level of care. (Yes, it could be an escaped indoor cat, or lost its collar, or the owner could be on vacation, or a dozen of other things, but I make inferences based on the available facts.) I was going to take down the signs today, having been a week, but i was hit by a dose of snippiness after calling Animal Control. ("If they can't even bother to claim the cat, I'll force them to look at the signs until they themselves take them down.") I'll probably go and remove them sometime soon anyways, just so they won't be litter. Maybe next week.
I was pondering what her name would be, and came up with "Melody". Not sure why, but it seems to fit. Poor girl. I don't know what her life was like, but it seems so sad to have her death be so ignored.
And as for whoever hit her - well, i can think of two possibilities. One: whoever hit her didn't realize it. That would be a very distracted or inattentive driver. Mostly asleep, putting on makeup, yelling at kids, eating, talking on the phone, drunk at 8AM, 85 years old with failing eyesight - if you can hit a 10 pound object and not know it, I daresay you ought not be driving. Two: whoever hit her did realize it, but didn't bother to stop. Which means that they're (in my book) heartless and uncaring. The one way which would make it acceptable is if someone had hit her in a mad rush to take an injured person to the hospital. (In theory, such a person could call for someone to check on the cat afterwards; in practice, someone in that situation could easily be forgiven for forgetting.) Injured person is allowed to trump injured cat.
So, well, I guess that's it. I've done what I can, and there doesn't seem to be much else. Maybe make a donation to a cat rescue in her name. And tell my cats that they're safe and loved as indoor kitties. Current Mood: sad
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