Hitting 200k...Good Girl

 I've never had a new car. The closest I came was when my mother passed away and we inherited a little cash. I bought a two-year old car that had maybe 20k miles on it. I've had a few cars since then. My latest car, a 2010 Subaru Forester lovingly named "Donk" just hit 200k.

I had to stop and take a picture.

I've had Donk almost three years. When I bought it, the odometer was about to click 180k miles. Even moving way from civilization, I don't drive the car a lot. After I bought it, I was working at home and it took forever to put on the required miles for me to get an oil change. I put more miles on it now, but not much more. Except for my autumn gig, I'd hardly ever drive the thing.

For some strange reason, I remember a TV commercial from my youth. In the commercial, an older woman was driving her car. I think the ad was for motor oil--motor oil specially designed for older cars, and by "older" they meant, cars that had been driven over 100k.

Seems like a joke now.

They build better cars now--I don't think anyone would argue. It seems cars just last longer now, especially certain brands. If a certain make and model of car/truck has over 100k miles, I'd not think twice about buying it (if I had the money, that is...). And because the cost of used cars has skyrocketed lately, cars with 200k are still attractive to buyers.

But, I'm hoping I can keep this one. 

And maybe one day I'll pull over around 11pm on I-15 on a weekend night and snap another picture. Of course, if I continue driving Donk like I have been the past three years, it'll take me thirty years to reach another 200k.

The $40 Bike Rack...

When I bought Donk The Subaru it came with some heavy-duty racks. In fact, the racks were worth half of what I spent on the car. In the past, many of the cars I've had came with roof racks, but I never really used them. I don't have kayaks, or roof-top tents, but I do have bikes.

Now, the issue--I don't have the cash to fork out for a good roof-top bike rack.

I did a little checking and found some cheap racks online, $50 to $100. But, some of the reviews of these products are not good. In fact, many are downright terrible. Turns out you get what you pay for. But, in my search, I found something that caught my eye...an inexpensive alternative.

I thought I'd give it a try.

First, I needed a fork mount. Usually you put these things in the bed of a truck. You hook the front tires in the mount (that's secured to the truck bed...) and you're good to go. An enterprising individual took the mount and attached it to a roof rack, and voila! Cheap bike rack.

I picked up a mount. Mine cost $30. Next, I bought two u-bolts for $5 each. Following the instructions from the cheap-bike-rack guy, I stopped by our Local Cycle Shop (actual name...) and picked up a couple of ruined bike tubes. I cut up the inner tubes, wrapped them around the rack, them secured the mount to the rack using the u-bolts.

It worked...

Kind of.

The problem was the back tire of my bike did not rest atop the other rack. I needed a plank. I didn't have any metal strips, so I grabbed a length of hardwood flooring leftover from when we built our house and attached it. I need to get it stained or painted or swapped out for a metal track.

And there you go--a cheap bike rack. Now, to put it to good use.

Detailing With Decals...Almost Finished

Donk the Car needed something. It needed to improve its personality--nothing major...

But what?

Yes, it needed an Apple Computer decal.

Luckily, that's what we had.

Actually, we were doing some spring cleaning a few weeks ago and I found a set of Apple logo decals from an Apple Store purchase, most likely from when we picked up an iPhone. Since the decals were so small, I decided that Donk, the Subaru Forester would be adorned with a symbol of capitalism. 

Donks' previous owner had a decal on a side window from Big Sur, California. I've never been to Big Sur, California, but I liked the sticker. Before I bought the car, he said he'd remove the decal, but I told him to leave it--I wanted to keep it as a reminder of the previous owner, a memento to remind me of how good he took care of the car.

I've had Apple decals on most of my cars. The one that I had on my old car, a car now owned by my daughter, was showing its age, so I scraped off the old sticker, of which only half remained, and applied a new one. I probably should have asked for her permission to do that--I'm thinking this for the first time as I'm writing this--but I didn't. I hope it's okay.

I'm not a big "bumper sticker" guy. There's a lot of things I won't put on my car, political ads being one of them. And I suppose I could stop by just having the Apple decal attached to the rear window. But, it's not finished. There's one more thing I'd like to add to make Donk complete.

I need to find a DK or a Dannebrog decal. There's one on the family van (DK sticker) and there's a Dannebrog (Danish flag) on my daughter's car. Now, I just need to find one for Donk the Subaru. Then, if I never add anything else, that'd be okay.

Taking A Little Afternoon Walk...

I had to run an errand this afternoon. It wasn't far--normally, I'd hop in Donk the Subaru and drive over, but today, I thought I'd go for a walk.

What a beautiful day for a walk.

Since I began my career, I worked in offices, except for the past couple of years when I've telecommuted. Don't get me wrong--I LOVE working at home. I highly recommend it. But, when I worked in an office, I used to take public transportation and I'd take breaks as much as I could. In short, I was more mobile. Now, my commute is me walking from one floor to the next.

I have some exercise equipment close by and I try to use it, but I don't work out as much as I should. I keep thinking I should go outside and just walk around. For the past couple of months, I can use the excuse that it's too cold outside, but as the temperatures rise, I hope to take more breaks out of doors.

I only snapped a couple of pictures today. Just walking, I wasn't focused on taking pictures. It's not that there's a lack of things to see. I've lived in the same neighborhood most of my life, more than four decades. Much has changed and there'll be more changes. Homes being renovated and even a couple of new houses going up.

Yes, it will be a goal for me to get outside more. And if I do, I'll be sure to snap some pictures.

The Light Goes On...What Now?

I noticed the light as my wife and I drove home last night, the little symbol of a tire with an exclamation point inside.

Tire issue.

But, what does it mean?

The newest car we have (before I picked up Donk, the Subaru...) is a '07 Toyota van. Love it--I highly recommend the Toyota product. Over the years we've had the tire sensor indicator light show up on the van's dashboard. When that happens, I'll check the tire pressure, fill up whatever tire's low, then the light will go off.

With Donk, I just don't know the car well enough. I checked the tires and they seemed okay, not any noticeably low. I then referred to the trusty owner's manual. Reading that, it made it sound like if the tire light goes on, you've got a flat--or almost flat--tire. Well, I know that's not the problem. The manual even states if the light goes on, do not panic. Keep driving straight ahead and move off to the side of the road.

I did an on-line search. I sort of got some answers. Turns out the sensors in the tires can be affected by cold weather. Yes, it's been cold, but from what others have written on-line, the light should go out once the tires warm up. My light hasn't gone out yet.

I guess tomorrow, I'll check the tires to see what the proper pressure should be. It's possible they're all low, even though they don't look it. If they're low, I'll inflate them then hopefully, the light will go off for good. There's a pro/con whenever you get a new-ish car. The improved features are great, but more features mean more chances for things to go bad.

Like the van, I'll get used to the car, try things, keep doing what works. It's a trial-and-error system--just part of the plan.

I Finally Bought It...A License Plate Frame

I know I'm vain, hopefully, not in all things, but I know I'm vain in some. I think we're all that way, to a certain degree. If you're not at all vain, good for you. But, I am. I held off buying a license plate frame for the car I drove.

Until last week.

For almost a decade, our family had two cars, a Toyota Minivan, and a Pontiac Vibe. The Vibe was the second one we've owned. I got one after my mother passed away in 2007 and it was a great little car. After a few things happened, it became necessary to trade in our little Vibe, and so we did.

After some other things happened, I was in need of another car. I wanted a Vibe. I liked the look, I liked the gas mileage, and I loved the fact Toyota built it. I found one, a few years older and about 10k cheaper than the one I had earlier. I didn't mind the age, or the fact that the paint was peeling, or the fact that after I hit and killed a deer and we eventually had to put on a new driver's side door (that was not the same color...)--no, I didn't mind any of those things, because of one simple fact...

The car was paid for.

When you don't have money for a car loan, a paid-off car--as long as it runs well--is a thing of beauty.

But, whenever I saw a car drive by with a license plate frame from their alma mater, I kind of wished I could get one for the Vibe. Of course, I could have gone out and picked one up, but I didn't want to put a University of Utah frame on a car that I felt, didn't look good. I like the U of U. I like being an alumnus of the institution. I love the time I spent there, and I didn't want to put a U of U frame on my beat-up car.

I know...I'm vain.

Last month, we sold my Vibe to my daughter. I felt good about it--we know most of the car's history and it's been a fantastic, dependable car. I felt better about selling her my car than taking a chance/risk on getting a car from the public, or buying a car (which neither of us could afford...) at a dealer. This created a problem. I'd now be without a car. Last week we rectified that problem and I found a Subaru.

Introducing Donk.

He's a 2010. He's been very well maintained. He's the same color, all the way around. And, Donk is equipped with an anti-theft device--a manual transmission. We've only had Donk less than a week, but we love him already. Donk gave me a reason/excuse to get a new license plate frame.

And I did.