Progress Report

[drscott]

I think I speak for all of us in the Bay Area when I beseech the jet stream gods to quit sending us all this Pacific moisture. It belongs in BC and Seattle, not here. The coldest and most rainy March in recent history was not only a big downer, we used too much natural gas to qualify for the 10% conservation/20% rebate offered by PG&E, and I would imagine most people failed because of this weather pattern. OTOH, the warm winter back East held gas prices down to reasonable levels, so we didn't spend more than $800 total for this winter when it had been expected to be much higher.

Just got a call from Josh, the Hammer Auto guy. The Prius will be here by the end of the week, they take personal checks, and he's tired of rain, too. Selling my '94 Geo Prizm is next on the agenda -- Mike's son Dan might want it, otherwise Hammer says they have some possible buyers. A '94 Corolla, essentially, with only 78K miles is pretty rare.

The replacement Mac Mini is at DHL's terminal in Santa Clara. I scored a free HP inkjet we don't need as well as a $25 rebate.

Used my Bluetooth headset yesterday to make calls from the car. I've had this thing for years and rarely used it; I don't like talking while driving, since I'm very distractible and even a little inattention is too dangerous to tolerate. But I don't have much time lately and it lets me keep in touch when I otherwise wouldn't have time. Paul has been doing this for years to keep up with his mom and many friends (and his car is still dent-free.) The headset works really well, and it's cool to press a small button in your ear, say "Call [name]", and get connected without punching any buttons.

Social plans: dinner with pklexton Saturday up in Belmont, John and Mark Sunday, then I leave for DC and KC Tuesday. Locals are invited to try to entice excessor out for social activities while I'm gone, since he'll be all alone [awww...!] for two weeks.

Comments

[sfmini.livejournal.com]

My new MINI is taking 7 months to get here. I could get it faster if I went with a dealer that marks up 10% over MSRP, but I'm not in that big a hurry. East Bay MINI will sell for MSRP, which is as good as it gets with MINIs. The nice part is that when you have to wait that long anyway, you get to order one tricked out EXACTLY as you want it. I had to get an automatic for my knee, otherwise I would have just kept my current one.

I am still pretty happy with my new RAZr phone with the bluetooth headset. It was very handy when I was on crutches, the phone was always with me without needing hands. My only real gripe is... if the thing can recite your name as you are dialing, why can it not recite the name when the call comes in? Seems it would be just as easy for it to say "office calling" rather than just ring in your ear. I'm not one that likes to answer the phone for every call, and it kind of makes the caller id useless.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

The inability to speak your caller ID sounds like a software misdesign -- no reason it couldn't do that and ask if you want to take the call.

As for cars, people often pay a premium to rapacious dealers to get a hot model. I prefer to pay a broker a much smaller sum and not reward the local monopolist. allanh commented that fleet buyers are abother way around this, but if the car is really in demand and not usually a fleet kind of car (conditions which fit your Mini) that doesn't work.