Today there were some thunderstorms and a big burst of rain in the afternoon. Today there were also contractors on top of the building re-doing the roof. During the morning they'd been using a front-end loader to get supplies up and down, and apparently it cracked a hole in the roof. After the rainstorm all the water on the roof pooled up above my supervisor's office and came down through the ceiling, knocking out the tiles and flooding his office. We got most of his stuff out of there before things got too wet, but judging by the visitors we had, it was one of the most exciting things to ever happen in our building. Even the cashier at the PX had heard about it by the end of the day. He saw my supervisor's name tag and said, "Hey, you're the guy whose office flooded, aren't you?" Exciting stuff for those in cubicle land.
Because of the forecast I chose to drive the old Subaru. It rolled over 240k miles this last week, and it is in the beginning stages of giving up the ghost. On the way home from work it died on me twice, both times at intersections, and it really cannot be trusted anymore. Just to repair the known issues with the vehicle would cost a couple times what the car is worth, and I really don't want to dump that money into a vehicle that I only need until the middle of August, when I depart for other climes and become reliant on government-issued transportation (even if that comes in the form of four new pairs of boots).
In anticipation of my eventual triumphant return to home station I've been researching commuter cars. What I'd really like to get is a gently-used Subaru WRX, a vehicle that both my wife and I have appreciated from afar since I can remember, but the fuel economy on that particular model is merely average. I could go with an Impreza, which sacrifices a little pep and loses some of the aggressive styling, but gains enough gas mileage to split the difference between the WRX and the subcompacts I've been looking at.
The most promising little car I've run into so far is the Honda Fit. The upcoming Ford Fiesta receives very high marks, but used examples will probably still be a little out of my preferred range at the time I'm looking for my next ride. The fit does look sort of like a mini-minivan, but gets better reviews than anything in its class outside of the aforementioned Fiesta.
Either way, I've got about a year to think about it and I hope the current old Subaru has still got a few hundred miles left on it. I just need it to get through another 3-4 weeks and then it can go off to that Pick-a-Part in the sky (or the one here in town).
Of course, thinking about Foundry's book sale has rekindled my Pirate tavern brawl plans. I've been packing up my hobby room so that my wife will have another room to use while I'm gone. Her mother might come up here from Georgia to help with the babies as long as she can, and having that room available will be more convenient than making her sleep downstairs. She can't have the closet, though. I have to put all my stuff in there. She can't have my desk, either. Or most of the bookshelf. But the rest of the room she can have.
Anyway, I was packing up my stuff and I came across my dozen or so painted Foundry pirates, and two or three lots of unpainted Foundry pirates I've accumulated over the years (probably 45 different figures), and I got to thinking about how neat it would be to have some town guardsmen and some musketeers and some townsfolk and the governor (and his beautiful daughter) and some regular civilians and a harbor with some ships and a tavern with a suggestive name and perhaps even a fort. Oh, and a shark. It is hard to discipline yourself when you have a shiny toy complex. I really don't think I'll act on all of that any time in the near future, but it's a rush to imagine the spectacle of it all.
The most promising little car I've run into so far is the Honda Fit. The upcoming Ford Fiesta receives very high marks, but used examples will probably still be a little out of my preferred range at the time I'm looking for my next ride. The fit does look sort of like a mini-minivan, but gets better reviews than anything in its class outside of the aforementioned Fiesta.
Either way, I've got about a year to think about it and I hope the current old Subaru has still got a few hundred miles left on it. I just need it to get through another 3-4 weeks and then it can go off to that Pick-a-Part in the sky (or the one here in town).
Of course, thinking about Foundry's book sale has rekindled my Pirate tavern brawl plans. I've been packing up my hobby room so that my wife will have another room to use while I'm gone. Her mother might come up here from Georgia to help with the babies as long as she can, and having that room available will be more convenient than making her sleep downstairs. She can't have the closet, though. I have to put all my stuff in there. She can't have my desk, either. Or most of the bookshelf. But the rest of the room she can have.
Anyway, I was packing up my stuff and I came across my dozen or so painted Foundry pirates, and two or three lots of unpainted Foundry pirates I've accumulated over the years (probably 45 different figures), and I got to thinking about how neat it would be to have some town guardsmen and some musketeers and some townsfolk and the governor (and his beautiful daughter) and some regular civilians and a harbor with some ships and a tavern with a suggestive name and perhaps even a fort. Oh, and a shark. It is hard to discipline yourself when you have a shiny toy complex. I really don't think I'll act on all of that any time in the near future, but it's a rush to imagine the spectacle of it all.
Oh yes, unpainted minis, sigh.
ReplyDeleteIt's a pity you can't get European standard Fords or Vauxhalls (GM) in the USA but their engines wouldn't run on the low grade fuel. They cost more but - zoom, zoom!