Ten Years On...A Dead Battery

So off to scenic Berkeley for dinner with Ted and Diane at an Indian Restaurant. Into the trusty but feeble Penny The Prius and off we go about 2:15 last Wednesday. Thru the canyon and down the hill into Vallejo Kelly drove in the fairly light traffic. We crossed the Crockett/Vallejo Bridge (Carquinez)and as we gained the other side and found ourselves on the uphill climb out of the bridge Penny gave a lurch and went into high speed engine mode with the Brake lite on and the check engine light still on from a few days before. Teh all manner of Dead Prius indicator lights came on and she ran slower and slower as Kelly pulled over to the right to get out of the flying traffic. We sat there a minute, she turned Penny off and then back on and away we went like nothing happened...but it HAD and shortly it performed the same set of tricks again, Kelly pulled over once again and turned her off and on and we headed south once more. Third times a charm isn't it? Yes, same thing about a mile further on. More Master Warning indicator, check engine and the racing engine and slow speed business along with it. Shit! So we decided to abandon dinner with our friends and return home and I would take Penny to the Toyota Dealer in Fairfield tomorrow. We turned around and she made it back to the bridge and I told Kelly we could still go to dinner...we'd just get Penny to the Toyota Dealer in Vallejo instead which was about 10 minutes away. I called the dealers number on our cell phone and asked about a rental car and told them of our Prius problem. They said they had one and we arrived a few minutes later with only ONE failure coming back. They took mu description and promised service the next day. We drove the 2010 Prii across the bridge and had a wonderful time and meal at the Indian Restaurant previously chosen by Ted and Diane. The next morning the dealer called and said they didn't have the car key! In the excitement of the moment I had taken it to remove some things from the back of Penny and place them into the rental's trunk...and put the key's into my pocket where I found them. Kelly was going to Vallejo shopping anyway so she dropped them off at the dealer along the way. About 11am the dealers rep called saying they had fixed the air flow sensor by cleaning it, had done to analysis of the codes and after checking the HV battery found cell #9 was not at the normal voltage. Than meant replacing the HV battery, a $3700 proposition plus the other repairs! She's our car, the only car we have outside of my trusty Ford truck...what to do?! Say yes and deal with it. I called back and told them to go ahead. They called later that afternoon saying the work was done and Penny was good to go once again. We picked her up the next morning and came home $3940 dollars lighter. Penny IS 10 years old, the California Emissions Warranty says 10 years or 150,000 miles whichever comes first. It IS September 2010...it's LIKELY she is 10 years old when the battery bellied up...but is this fair or should there be some pro-rated rate for the few possible months? I don't know...but when you Prius owners have battery failure...hold on tight! It's an EXPENSIVE repair!

Happy B-Day MacKenzie! and a Great Bonding Activity for Fathers and Daughters and Others

Today is our little 2 year old GC's B-Day. She is a most cute, most bright, most engaging little character. Born to Aimee and Joe she has her Mum's good looks and the energy of both of them.
Her sister, Kaylee, loves her dearly. She just about didn't visit this world though as her Mum developed Preeclampsia and it was progressing rapidly about 7 weeks from her Real B-Day to be. They used to call this condition something else but I've forgotten that too, precious...aging, just precious. Anyway here's a link to get the real low down on this most dangerous and potential killer of new Mum's and babies.
http://pregnancy.emedtv.com/preeclampsia/preclampsia.html
So they took the baby by C section and though small at 3lbs and with the effects of the preclampsia, hospital bound for several weeks, she is a wonderful gift today!
Anyhow we will all eat Pizza at Mary's Pizza Shack and have a cake and all the mess that means. Great for kids and fun for us too.
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The rest of the few days I've paused from the blog have been spent reading about sourdough bread, the starter in trivial detail and modifying what I am doing somewhat. I sent a self-stamped envelop to Carl' in Maryland and he's returned to me a small package of his live starter. It looked pretty flat in the clear plastic bag but once freed and into a small bowl, warmed a bit and with a tablespoon of flour and a slightly shyer amount of H2O added and mixed well it came to life, burp! That was 5 days ago. I've divided the Mum Starter in two, forming a working starter that will actually become bread while preserving the original Mum, it's safer that way and less likely to end up getting polluted with some other ingredient. Mum stays a virgin, get it?
The Baby gets played with and will become a loaf, not today but probably tomorrow after I feed it two more times. To get Carl's famous starter stuff here's what you do; go to his site, read the blurb and ship off your SSAE, you won't be disappointed. Here's the link:
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/
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Then yesterday...Audrey came over as Kelly left as I needed the help of a strong woman with the mattress swap onto "my" man-bed (HA!) to try out our old marriage-bed mattress instead of the one that came with the bed frame. Audrey dragged and I pushed, Ooof, up the stairs we went with it and plopped it down on the box springs and wow, what a difference! A decent bed! Any you know...I didn't wake up once last night! Not once! And that had gotten to be a regular thing. Mattresses make a difference. Then in an ultimate step-father - step-daughter bonding moment we took on the task of changing the oil in her Toyota Echo some 13,000 miles since it was changed last...by guess who? Yes, me. 13,000 miles no less! Synthetic oil it was but ever so black and well contaminated now. I found the drain again (it was a year ago since I climbed under the beast, cute as it is) and proceeded to use a breaker bar to get enough leverage to pull the damned thing loose again! Grrrrrr. Loose, I unscrewed it and placed the old black lid from a boat battery box underneath to catch the black goo in all it's glory. Soon it was well draining and...what's that? Oh no! A FLOOD of oily mess...EXON VALDIZ!!! In our driveway!!! Shit! Merde! Something! A bag? Audrey rushed off to get some plastic bags, the mess continued to pour out onto the concrete of our previously clean driveway. Another container (no), rags? (no), paper towels (no), damnit...what a mess...and it has to be stopped before it gets into the drain system and reeks havoc with the local sewer system! (Think EPA, Corps of Engineers, State Lands Commission, City Hall, Barrack Obama!) Oh my God, this IS a disaster. So cat litter to the rescue! Having moved the car down the driveway and into the street...yes,yes with the plug IN and the filter changed and new oil added, the now thoroughly blackened driveway is fully exposed for my dear wife and Republican neighbors to see! So for the next two hours we scrubbed (more bonding), power-washed, soaped, scraped and removed MOST (but not all) of the slimy black goo. Such fun on a Sunday afternoon. And along comes my sweetie Kelly, all cheerful and pert, took no notice of the dark stain and pulled her car right in and covered the 20 foot long spot. Nice. And she's not even mad. Bonding activities are so very rewarding.

Getting Around In France By Car

It's fun driving in the countryside of France, any day at all is like an early Sunday here in the Land Of Cars. No body is on the road by you. You and your car, a unit, moving swiftly without interference from that bane of modern highways everywhere in the world, traffic. We've driven from Lignieres to Montlucon, a distance of 37 miles and seen one or two cars during the weekday. The route we take which is as far as we can tell the most direct simply doesn't attract traffic. It takes us about a leisurely driven hour to make the journey. Rolling hills of verdant green, sheep, castles and tiny villages all mark the trail for us. The driving adventure to Bourges, our largest city, is similar in character though there are more cars but never enough for a traffic jam anywhere outside of the city proper.
The ease of rural driving is a blessing, it's like getting back for all those I invested in SF commuting in the past, this is my reward come true. In all my driving about off the main routes and out of big cities is similar to this. Pleasant to a fault, one can get distracted and not feel like you'll smash into the guy in front of you.
However, in cities like Paris, Tours, Nice and the entire South driving is hazardous and traffic burdened just like any big city in the US. Aggressive driving is an art form and assholes that cut in and out of traffic like the rats they are, abound. Speeding in France is common and wrecks are truly spectacular with parts scattered far and wide. The freeways, A-roads, M-Roads are smooth as glass and well constructed, no bumpity, bump, bumps here. The roads can only be blamed in that they allow for fast driving perhaps beyond the ability or nerve of some drivers.
Tailgating is also very common and drives me crazy. I usually just slow down or find a spot to turn off as these guys are a great hazard and endless rear view distraction can lead to front end catastrophe. The worse drivers are, of course, the Americans, the lover of automobiles and the maker of the damnable automobile culture in the US. They do all manner of bad things that can get one damaged or killed in Europe. They aren't particularly fast, not me anyway, but passing on the right, weaving in and out of lanes like some boggle-head doll and tailgating are all bad combinations in European traffic. The high speed lane here, the left most one...not like in the UK, is for High Speed traffic and they mean it! The right most is for slower traffic and trucks take up most of that space typically. The others, well for you and I at our moderate speeds and the infrequent passing truck traffic.
Most major freeways are 4 this direction and 4 the other, some are 3 and some are 2 both ways. Oh, and they aren't free...yes, mostly they are toll roads for various distances and can create quite a backup when someone doesn't have the money, the card or the proper change to get the paying done quickly. Then there are the famous (infamous) speed cameras. Oh yes, they have them everywhere, on highways, 2 lane roads and circle roads skirting big cities, many thousands have been installed and boy do they ever work. The warn you though...big signs about 200 yards before the camera that indicate that the camera is ahead and the speed limit prescribed by law. Speeds are generally similar to those in the US except somewhat higher on the freeways. Inside towns and villages typically 50km/hr..about 30mph, in suburban areas 70kph (42 mph), on main 2 lane roads you can legally go 90 kph (54) or even 110, a screaming 66mph! The real speed comes on the freeways where there is a 110 kph (66mph) lower limit...yes...lower limit, and 130 kph (about 81mph). Above that is not legal but believe me...people go a LOT faster than that when they know the road and want to get somewhere fast...like the beach! How fast? Well...how fast will it go? I've personally gone on a long straight and perfectly smooth concrete freeway
190 kph or 118 mph...seemed perfectly fine, smooth, good Michelin rubber all around and it was very near the top speed of my little Avensis's 2.2 liter diesel in 5th gear. Kelly was fast asleep or I'd been braked, that's for sure. I travelled on with the BMW's, Mercedes, the Hi-Lux vans et al. for about an hour that way until I spied an upcoming exit and a roadside rest where I could get a shot of espresso and to stretch my legs. These Aires are wonderful stops, you can get gas, diesel, foods, local products (honey, mints, wine etc.) and they all have spotless, McDonald's -like restrooms for both sexes...no Turkish toilets here! So that's a pocket summary of the driving conditions. Gentlemen, start your engines!