Tech guys giveth and taketh away

As previously lamented numerous times on this blog, the march of technology is relentless and not unlike Sherman's storied march to the sea. Except in this case there is no sea which will bring an end to the destruction.  While these guys (and really, they are all either guys or women who think like tech guys) live to tweak and "enhance" they unknowingly or with evil intent wreck havoc on what once worked just fine for folks.

Let me get specific about what has bunched my shorts lately:

In my 2018 RAV 4, there is no CD player (and indeed nearly all new vehicles). Apparently we are all so entirely living on our smart phones that we no longer borrow audio CD's from a physical library to play in our cars. So, I purchased a portable CD player which will let me use the car speaker system, but will not let me pause or go back or forward. This must be done on the small black player with tiny black buttons. So "hello God!"should I attempt this while operating a moving vehicle.

Also, but usefully, I will be able transfer a downloaded (onto my dino home computer) audio CD from a virtual library onto a sufficiently large USB  drive which will be fully functional via the sound system.  I just confirmed that this works with a USB containing a selection of my similarly retrograde music.

Unrelated but a needed touch of silly.

But wait, there's LESS! Apparently in order to make use of many (most?) of the wonderful new sound system features, I must use a smart phone. I checked to see if my android tablet with Bluetooth was compatible. Alas no, as it is NOT a PHONE!! So, unbelievably I cannot set a favorite radio station by holding down one of the available preset locations (as was possible on a 2016 RAV). Nooooo, you get to do this only with a smart phone. Would it have created problems to continue manual setting capability? I sure hope so, as otherwise this deprovement ends up just being evil.

Now that I have vented some frustration (you still there?), I will end this screed with something to help me and perhaps my dear readers return to pre-blog equanimity setting.

I should do more of what the girl on the far right is up to.

Not a baby step. Possibly a step in my dotage.

If you do not understand the "baby step" reference, you have not yet read my May 25 and 27 posts. Things got away from me there for a bit, and I may have failed to alert my audience.

My dotage step to which I refer above: I have purchased a cute little trailer without having acquired sufficient tow vehicle parking skills. As I am an insecure backer-upper, and never mastered (did manage, though) putting my Roadtrek Moho in a slanted parking slot behind me, I have some doubts; boyfriend does not (or is so compromised in his desire to again camp with me that he is motivated to jolly me along.)

You may get a look at what overwhelmed my usual rock solid careful financial choices:

This may still be online when you read this (it has several good inside shots) https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2019-Little-Guy-MINI-MAX-5005132796

Unbelievably, the manufacturer's web site has no inside photos. But You Tube to the rescue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVvcPl_OUuU If you have 26 minutes to kill.
I suggest you take the 26 min. out of your cat video viewing budget.

Little Guy

So here I am: I am driving a bit of a gas hog full time, in order to (1) not have a second motored vehicle and (2) to be able to tow a trailer I may always park as ineptly as my history suggests.

I blame boyfriend. However, it is entirely possible that someday (soon I hope) I will be so thrilled with my new escape pod arrangement that I will be able to acknowledge how very wise I was to ignore his fears!

Baby steps

An update on the Prius grief progress and the relocation of a favorite window sticker thereon:

I have removed every item from the Prius into the garage where it awaits transfer on Tues. or Wed. The beloved sticker has become one with the P,  so rather than destroying it, I will let the next owner (or used car prep folks) determine it's fate.  I think I have moved past much of the initial pain of loss. But I have been wrong about that in earlier non-automotive grief processes.

Next I really MUST tackle trailer parking skill development. I may have located the trailer I will buy (thank you, boyfriend), but I cannot see myself taking either of the next two steps until I have reason to believe I will be able to tow. Step one after coming to believe, would be to have towing gear installed, and step two, to take my tow capable RAV 4 to haggle over the price of a trailer I am prepared to tow off. I think that will give me the most leverage for a "best they can do" deal.

Also, I have begun a process of making more room in my garage for a car that is 6" longer and 15" wider than P. My garage door is 190" wide and the garage is approx 214" wide. I currently have 57" of inefficient storage along both sides, leaving 157 inches for a vehicle before any doors are opened. P is only 58" wide, so it is roomy now, but 73", plus room to open doors will be another story. Maybe the RAV doors are not as wide, but I can't figure that out today.

- You may wish to stop reading now (if you have not already) as I am going to strain mathematical fascination beyond any reasonable limit -

Width of Garage (all in inches)	214
Width of RAV 4 (doors closed)	73
Width of current storage (total of both sides)	57
Leaving (again, no opening of any doors)	84
Width of the trailer I have my eye on	81

You can probably see where I want to take this: everybody safe and snug inside my garage nest.
Also of concern, the trailer has a door I will surely want to open. And it would probably require trailer parking skill I will NEVER have. So, dear readers, if you are still with me, a belated apology for taking you down this rabbit hole. This is not going to be remotely possible even if I can reduce side storage to half of it's current configuration.

So added to learning to back up, acquiring a hitch, etal, and purchasing a trailer, I must now add:
Find covered storage off site for the trailer or have a cover installed on half of my driveway. I do not want to subject the exterior of this RV to the destruction wrought upon my prior 2 RV's.

Good thing I am retired and adequately funded.

Present choice vs past behaviors

My "environmental sensibility" was sparked in early childhood when Oregon instituted PSAs  decrying littering of our beaches, forests and roads. I collected recyclable glass beer bottles on the Seattle sound with cousins, washed them, and redeemed them for candy money (for the environment!). As an adult who blows her nose a lot (who SHOULD use handkerchiefs, but got disgusted with the reality of that practice) I once lost a kleenex out an open car window and promptly burst into tears of despair and guilt (luckily I was not the driver).

My most significant "sacrifice" for mother earth was failing to breed. That is NOT WHY I did not have children, but the global impact is the same. A brief digression: often folks decry an abortion as the potential loss of a Bach or Newton, but rarely consider the just as likely loss of a Hitler or neighbor with 50 cats. Just saying, not breeding does not guarantee a net loss or benefit, but it does guarantee one benefit: one less lifetime human footprint.

And I have made other choices that involve trade offs (paying more to get a Prius even though I am a low mileage gal, so this was financially silly, and forsaking a THIRD trip to Antarctica as the two I had were amazing and really two too many carbon wise.) Also I have tried to be a conservative consumer, by not buying a lot of stuff or clothes. Additional disclosure here: I have owned 2 class B motorhomes, and a beach condo in earlier times. All of this is a portion of the exhaustive argument I have been having with myself as I considered, researched, and actually purchased a TOW VEHICLE.

I sold my last RV August 2017 as I was using it less and it needed more and more $$ upkeep $$. But I have been missing high season (anytime but summer) jaunts around, and summer dashes to the coast when there is a predicted 30+ degree temperature variance. Not wanting the additional cost and headaches of a second vehicle, I have began exploring light trailers that meet my glamping needs. It became apparent that my needs would not be satisfied by anything under 2500#, and hence not tow-able by my Prius (duh), or even a slightly less fuel efficient vehicle. So there I was, glumly researching what mgp sacrifice would need to laid at the alter of a new "escape pod solution".

Yesterday I purchased the results of a moderate search (the universe of choices, and the conflicting available data on makes and models wore out my tolerance) at Lithia Toyota Springfield. I wanted to find the solution at Kendall in Eugene, but it was not to be. I own, but have not yet taken possession of a 2018 (used!) Toyota RAV 4 Adventure. It has a tow limit of 3500#, which boyfriend has pared down to how much HE would drag. But he was the one who pushed me over my fears (change) and loss (beloved Prius) by saying: "you could use a change." Yes, totally. Also, I almost never make even questionable financial decisions. This may be one! But it is one I will survive emotionally and financially. If I never find something to tow, or I just can't abide the average mileage I am now getting, or I cannot move on from Prius, I can trade it in for a new Prius or other more environmental choice. I am truly blessed with options beyond my usual explorations of such.

Admission: I could have swapped my Prius for the RAV yesterday, but I needed time to start the grieving process and try to remove a favorite (as it is suggestive but no longer available) Dutch Bros. window sticker.

Bunnies!

I am thinking of growing a garden with the express goal of finding baby bunnies there. It should work, right?

Bunnies unsure of their place in the web of life

Also firefighter rescuing a fawn.

Uniformed men displaying gentleness

My all-time favorite photo of a fawn. A fawn and a wild cat were rescued from a forest fire and they sought comfort in a transgressive relationship (and who among us has not?)

Headline antics

The Washington Post’s headline:

 “A couple ate raw marmot believed to have health benefits. 
Then, they died of the plague.” 

If this isn't a sober warning to all of us who hold unfounded health beliefs, what would be?

Apparently rodents are the plague's playground. I think they are cute, but I would never choose to eat any portion of raw rodent, even if it reversed aging, or gave me a rich contralto like Karen Carpenter's. And I would really really like those benefits.

How spring should look and feel.

So this is me, being silly the first day of 2019 predicted to climb to the high 80's in May, for fuck's sake. I am cooling my house with fresh air in the morning (beginning at 3am, when I keep waking up FFS), then relying on Spring Season Air Conditioning which should not be a thing in the mid Willamette Valley in May. Just saying..................

New favorite Slate columnist

As a lifelong childless person (who never ONCE seriously considered parenthood as a goal), I am strangely drawn to podcasts and articles about parenting. A new one was just introduced on Slate that is funny in the dark way I so enjoy. Here are two recent quotes:

"Parenting them [babies] is a bit like being the dictator of a small, poorly functioning country."

" Before the baby, you’re a vessel to be cherished and protected. After the baby, you’re a lactation-oriented baby accessory".

The author is Emily Oster and her contributions in the service of getting real about the joys of all things pregnancy and parenting are enlightening and entertaining (at least to the entirely uninitiated).

I admit that I cannot possibly fully appreciate the truth in any of her amusing characterizations, but I do possess a stable genius* for absorbing the full impact of the literate snark.

*Urban Dictionary: stable genius

What unstable cretins claim to be. See also, dotard.

The president, despite evidence to the contrary, tweeted confirmation that he is in fact a stable genius.

**UD makes clear that this does not apply to someone as stable and un-cretin-like as moi.