Mostly Car Crap

A few short items:

Thanks to a tip from Rebecca, I picked up an FM transmitter from Wal-Mart's automotive section for $30.  It has a headphone jack for plugging in your whatever, and a USB slot that reads mp3 files.  So far I'm happy that it's been a better solution than the cassette adapter.  I get occasional static here and there, but none of the distortion that came from that cassette getting over-magnetized, and since the deck in the Grapemobile tends to chomp down on cassettes now and again it's a better long term solution. 

Unfortunately the USB reader on the gadget works terribly.  The sound quality from a memory stick is like listening to solid tin speakers under 100 feet of water.  And there's no easy way to go from one song to the next, no way to browse by folder, no "skip ahead 10 tracks" button.  It takes a full three seconds to skip from one song to the next.  So if you have more than a couple dozen songs on your memory stick, you probably wont get around to most of them.  Not that you'd want to hear them anyway.

I was hoping this would be my "hard drive with a headphone jack," but it doesn't quite cut it.  And I still have to keep batteries in my disk-player, since I can't plug that into the lighter any more.

But it's one less wire than before, and better music and sound quality.  I've got music and stories back, and that'll do for now.

* * *

Other Grapemobile news: new brake pads and rotors yesterday.  It seems I'm destined to restore everything on this car except for the paint.  The new brakes made a huge improvement in the smoothness of the ride; it feels even more like a go-cart, like a toy.  Whee!

* * *

The Wife traded the Rover down to a Volvo station wagon.  Cash back!  Half the fuel consumption, half the repair costs, with just about the same storage capacity!  It burns regular gas, not premium!  And it's got a trailer hitch that means she can get by without a pickup truck after all, and still complete her building, beekeeping, and chicken raising projects! 

It's a shame we never got to take the Rover off road.  We never even used the lower set of gears. 

Which probably means we didn't need them.  Let somebody else take it off road.  And then they can pay for the repairs.

* * *

Are you officially sick of hearing about cars?  Because I'm sick of writing about them.  The other day Donna said to me, "Remember when we used to talk about art and literature?"  And I almost could.

* * *

Here's something:  We had some errands to run on the Lower Cape yesterday, in Orleans.  Got them out of the way as quickly as we could, then reminisced about when these used to be our stomping grounds.  We spent our first two years together living in Eastham without cars, and life doesn't get much simpler than that.  This was pre-computer, too.  I was in my manual-typewriter collecting phase.  We'd walk along Route 6 in vintage clothing and people would pull over to tell us that we had great style.

After spending a year in Boston, my first reaction on coming back this way was how laid back the vibe was in the off-season.  So this is how the tourists see the place!  My second was, "How strange to see middle-aged white people doing entry-level service jobs."  Where are all the college students and immigrants?

In a month, I suspect, the place will feel very different.

Comments

[Rebecca]

Beekeeping? Chicken raising? I think the bees won't be an issue just have a clear flight line in and out of the hive. The chickens could be a problem with your neighbors. Check the town laws for poop disposal and storage. And ask a vet about how to remove vocal cords in roosters if you have any.

If you can keep the chickens quiet, you could actually sell aged chicken poop for fertilizer. Seriously!

[Chili]

We had friends over yesterday, all in thir early to mid 20s. Had a nice meal, played with the dog, looked at Otis. Then one said, "It's so nice to come over and hang out with you guys... you're so domestic!" I too remember once talking about things more substantial than the color of poop and the timing of naps, never mind the endlessly voracious money pit named 'automobile'. I f-ing hate cars now. At first it's an oil change here and there, then it's tires or brakes, then it's a freakin' alternator or water pump. Never freakin' ends. I decided about five years ago that I would never take a job that I needed to either drive for or drive to. So far it's worked out well. Public transit and a working bicycle have helped me keep the promise I made to myself. Only problem is that now I think I want to learn how to sail a littl esunfish sailboat and we libe about 3 miles from the water. How to transport the craft from home to shore? We have a tandem bike kicking around that could carry the whole family, and then there's these awesome trailers... I bet they could carry a small boat...

http://www.bikesatwork.com/bike-trailers/features.html

It's madness! I love it! Add it to the 5 year recreation plan just before 'get motorcycle and ride California Rt 49 through the gold rush mining towns and then go over the Sierras and across Nevada on Rt 50 'America's Lonliest Road'!

[Nate]

Rebecca,

Hens only, no roosters. And you don't need a permit for any livestock except pigs, apparently, which surprised me.

It's hard tracking down bees this year. Everyone wants to raise them since "Colony Collapse Disorder" has been in the news.

Chili,

I loved not owning a car, too. I need to find work more locally - bicycling 140 miles a day is just a little too much exercize.