Snow Tires - Ouch!

We decided to put snow tires on both cars this year, and suffice it to say that it wasn't pretty on the pocketbook. In fact, it was downright ugly, but you just can't put a price on safety and peace of mind. Driving in the winter is always a sketchy proposition, but with a new driver in the house, we felt like we couldn't mess around and put money over safety. Last year mom went with just her all seasons, while I had snow tires that were on year 3, which was really pushing my luck, but it sure was nice saving that wad of dough. Mom benefitted from brand new all-seasons at the beginning of winter, and it went pretty smoothly. When the weather got really bad, we just didn't drive.

I, on the other hand, had older snow tires that were high end when they were brand new, but again, 3 years is a lot to ask for a snow tire. In my defense, in the spring when I switched out my winter tires for summers, the tire store said I could get another year out of them. However, in the winter when I put them back on, the same tire store said I would probably be better of with the all-seasons because they had more tread (the all seasons were new). This information, which was delivered to me at the zero hour when I was sitting in the lobby, inflamed my OCD and fueled my neurosis. I literally sat there quaking in my boots trying to decide what to do. Finally I said to just put the winter tires on because they were probably going to charge me for the labor, anyway, so at least I'd have something to show for it. How's that for stupid, twisted logic.

Fast forward to this year, and with A now driving, we figured the time to mess around was over. Of course I shopped around and did some research, and decided to go with Sumitomo Ice Guards. In the past I've always gotten the Nokians, which are amazing tires, but a little pricier. Those Scandinavian engineers know how to manufacture quality cold weather equipment. I figured that since mom did fine with all season tires, buying the best snow tires probably wasn't necessary. Then again, I didn't want to buy the cheapest ones, either.

The Fit has a small and unusual tire size, so our choices were somewhat limited. Our all season tires are Yokohamas, which are good quality, and Yokohama make a good snow tire. Plus, I trust Japanese quality. I wasn't prepared to go cheap with Nexens, which are made in China (also, not much of a track record). In the end, the Sumitomos were a good compromise, and I later learned they were made in Finland, which gave me the Scandinavian connection. Say no more. They have an aggressive tread like the Bridgestone Blizzaks, which I've purchased in the past - great tire in the winter, though they don't last long.

So far our Sumitomos have been fine. We haven't been hit with a major storm just yet, but we did get some snow and they handled well. It helps when you drive as slowly as I do. In the end I was bummed at dropping all that cash on 8 new tires, but I'm also glad we did, because money isn't everything, right? Fortunately I'd been saving up for just this occasion, so despite the pain, I was ready.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Becky Blake for the pic.

Welcome Home?

As I mentioned, there's been a lot going on, and we are without our team leader, mom, so we're kind of winging it over here. Mom had to abruptly take off and return to see her parents after a short stint back home, so at least we got to have her for a few days. With her gone, we had a very busy weekend in store, with N having a hockey tournament in Lake Placid (LP), and A having a school dance and big music weekend with her band. We managed to connect all the dots, but not without some serious hoops to jump through.

On Friday of last week N and I headed up to New York to play in this tournament. I have to confess, I wasn't completely thrilled about leaving, what with all that's going on and the fact that I haven't been working at all these past several weeks. It's a double-whammy going away because not only am I not making the big bucks (to support our fabulous lifestyles), but it also requires spending loads of cash on food, hotels, and countless hours at the spa... just kidding. A arranged to stay at her friends house for the weekend, so we were good on that front, but the timing just wasn't that ideal. Then again, is it ever ideal? It's this kind of thinking that makes it hard to even get out the front door, so if you're a whiner like me (hopefully not), you just have to get over it.

Anyway, for the record, we had a great weekend, with N bonding with his teammates, and me bonding with the dads. Talk about a guy's weekend - hockey, fried foods, and beer. What more could you ask for? There's more to tell about the weekend later, but suffice it to say a good time was had by all. The drive up there was a little sketchy, but coming home was a breeze, except that we returned to a freezing cold house. I left the heater on but when we walked in the door, it felt really cold. The thermometer read 40 degrees, which is about 20 degrees too low. I went down into the basement to find that our boiler had taken a dive. Total bummer. I just had the thing cleaned and inspected (which it passed), how could this happen?

To throw salt on the wound, this also meant we had no hot water, so we couldn't shower, as well. AND, our upstairs toilet was leaking. Fortunately, I didn't sit and whine about it (well, maybe a little) and went into action. First thing is getting the fire going, and then trying to figure out what was wrong with the boiler, which means turning to the Amazing PR Man for advice. I got some tips but nothing really worked, so I was going to have to break out the big guns and call the gas company for a service call. We have a service plan, so it wasn't an outrageous idea, but who knows when they could have made it over, and we still had to pay for parts. Meanwhile, we're grungy and miserable, though at least we had the fire.

The toilet was easy enough to deal with - I just shut off the water intake valve, though that hardly solved the problem, it just temporarily ameliorated it. Clearly I was going to have to break out my tools and be a real man for a day... or at least a real man in training.

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Things actually worked out pretty well, but more on this later. Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to Rick Umali for the pic.

Pardon Me Again

Happy holidays to everyone, hope you're enjoying them more than this guy, and please pardon my absence for being away for so long, our lives have been a bit crazy, to say the least. Several weeks back mom had to go home for two weeks and then she returned, but only for a few days, after which she had to fly back home, leaving us to hold down the fort. It's very doable, the kids have been very helpful, but it happened to have coincided with a couple of very busy weeks. I've barely had time to take a breath, much less write this blog.

On top of all that there are the holiday preparations, which for us have been pretty sparse. It's just not the same with mom not being here, and with all that's going on, the holidays have to unfortunately take a back seat. That doesn't mean that we can't spread the good cheer of the season, especially now that we have snow on the ground.

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So with this in mind, Happy Holidays to everyone, and best wishes for the new year. Stay tuned for more and thanks for reading, and thanks to Tim Bouwer for the pic.

(Oh So) Fashionably Chic

There's a winter dance coming up at school and A is going with her friend and confidante. While I think there is always romantic potential when a boy and girl hit the dance floor, I won't delve any deeper into this because it's not my place to say. Either way, she needed a dress for the dance, and mom isn't around to help her pick one out, so she set off on her own into of our version retail hell and got one. All by her lonesome. She also braved the awful traffic that is so characteristic of that area, not to mention finding parking, but she did a stand-up job. And, the dress she chose was fabulous - classy, chic, alluring, but not trashy. She looked really good, and I think mom, who will see it soon enough, will approve. To paraphrase Coco Chanel said, every girl needs a little black dress, though not too little.

When I was a in high school, the girls wore incredibly provocative and inappropriate clothes. Bear in mind this was over 30 years ago in LA, and as a teenage boy, I wasn't complaining. Values are different up here, and I think they've changed over time. Plus, it's cold. You just don't see the kind of outfits I grew up around, which were more plausible in the southern California heat. The influence of Hollywood, for better or worse. Worse, in my opinion.

Whatever be the case, A did a good job. She's such a big girl now. I'm not sure when the dance is but whenever it happens, I think she'll look great.

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Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to I Brekelmans for the pic.

California's Burning

These wildfires in CA are crazy. Having grown up there I am fully aware that wildfires are, like earthquakes, drought, and mudslide, a regular thing, but the current fire is actually within striking distance of where my mom lives. The evacuated the area directly adjacent to her and it was only a matter of time before they moved out her neighborhood, it was that bad. The entire 405 freeway was shut down, and if you know anything about commuting in LA, you know that shutting down the 405 is like cutting off a major artery, slowly choking the city to death. I can't even imagine what traffic was like on the side streets. What's crazy about the videos you see online is that the entire hill is an inferno, it looks like a scene out of hell, and yet all the commuters are driving along as if it was business as usual. In a way, that is exactly the case. Why let a little brush fire prevent you from getting to work?

I spoke with my mom last night and she said things were calm where she was, though my brother and I thought she should have gotten out before the actual call to evacuate came down, but she wasn't having it. She had many options but opted to stay, and fortunately nothing bad happened. I spoke with a couple of her neighbors who actually live closer to the fire zone and they seemed to have come out of it unscathed, as well. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

In the meantime, everyone is keeping their eyes on the wind. If it kicks up and starts blowing in the wrong direction, it could spell trouble. Despite the calmer conditions, nobody is out of the woods, yet. I read that conditions in California were ripe for this disaster because they got so much precipitation this past winter that all the plants thrived and grew like crazy. Add to that a dry spring and summer, then throw in the Santa Ana winds, and disaster ensues. It's pretty scary.

What they really need is a massive rain storm, but as anyone knows, it never rains in California... it pours. Keeping my fingers crossed for the Golden State.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to bugcer for the pic.

Just Us

This past week has been a bit of a marathon because mom is away on personal business back in her home town, so there's a big missing link in our team effort. No question we miss her for a million reason, but we're also fairly adept at just dealing with things. Daily life, including mealtime, family time, and just hanging out, are not the same without her here, but as I mentioned, stuff like cooking and shopping for food are covered. Things get a little more complicated when you add in hockey games and practices, school, and teenage social life. Fortunately we have another driver in the house who can handle short trips around town. Plus, the weather has been fairly mild, so driving is not as precarious.

We miss mom but don't want her to fret over us, we're hanging in there. We just want her to take care of herself and get home when the time is right.

Until then, thanks for reading, and thanks to 0Four for the pic.

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Car Repair

As I mentioned, I hit a deer a few weeks back and it was a total bummer on all levels. I feel terrible for the deer, though there was little I could do, and of course, our car got banged up. Body work is a drag because it's usually really expensive, and it's hard to get it back to looking exactly the way it was, unless of course you want to pay the serious big bucks. Plus, once the body of the car gets damaged, you can't really let it alone because up here in New England, exposed metal takes a beating. Even tiny scratches in the paint will begin to rust and corrode. It's pretty striking.

With that in mind, I knew I had to take care of the hood. I ignorantly thought (something I excel at) that they would just take a hammer and knock the thing out, but I soon learned that this is not the case - total replacement was in order. I did a quick search and found hoods for our car running about $250. Factor in labor and you can about double that. There were also internal pieces and mechanisms, like the latches and hooks that held the hood on, that were probably going to have to be replaced. It wasn't looking pretty, and to rub salt in the wound, you can't buy a replacement hood that's painted, they all come primer black. Painting it the right color was going to cost, as well. One bright note - it looked like the frame and radiator were intact.

I first went to Gerrish Honda and they basically said I should go to an auto body place. They could order the hood, but didn't really do the body work. I then went to Kidder, a reputable body shop and the same place that did our undercoating, and the owner came out and did a quick look-over. He did mention that this has been a particularly bad year for deer, and he had cars lined up outside that needed body work because of deer collisions. He told me that for our Fit, the best case scenario was about $1000, worst case scenario (replacement of internal mechanisms) about $2000. Total bummer.

I told mom the bad news and we were resigned to the fact that this was going to be painful. I then called our good friends over at Meunier and RM said to bring it over and he'd have a look. They have been undergoing changes over there and a lot of the mechanics I knew are gone. The new guys, however, are super competent, and one used to work for Honda. They took a look, did a quick assessment, and said they could probably get a used hood from a salvage yard. It wouldn't be perfectly beautiful, but it would be perfectly functional, and we could always paint it at a later date. RM made some calls but couldn't find an exact match, i.e., silver. He did, however, find a gray one, for about half the cost. I said to move forward and in the end they put the new hood on for about $450, including the internal parts that were broken.

Boy was I stoked. I love Meunier, they're always coming through for us. That's what happens when you develop a relationship with a local business, the personal service is huge. What's really cool is that they got it done within a couple of days, despite their really busy schedule (Kidder couldn't take us for another month because they're so busy), and the gray hood doesn't look that bad. Sure, it's a bit off, but really not strikingly. There are a few chips in the paint that we can take care of with some touch-up paint. The ideal plan would be to paint it some time in the summer.

All in all it was a bad experience but the aftermath wasn't as painful as it could have been. I'm stoked we have friendly local businesses that can help us in a pinch, and of course, save us some money.

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Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Steven Chang for the pic.