79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/16/2013 12:46 PM |
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The bike crash in June (well, that wasn't a lot on $$)
The kitchen remodel. It will be $10k by the time it is finished and the new window installed.
Just bought my first new car. About the sum of the first two. The car? I've been driving a Toyota Corolla All Trac for the last 16 years. It's been a good car. Very good in snow, easy to park, no bad habits, very unexciting to drive. I've been wanting a Prius for years and knew that would be my next car when the All Trac died.
Well, the All Trac died rather suddenly Monday night when it had an encounter with an Accura. (It was a draw, but both contestants were beyond reviving.) Only damage the the handlers was a possible cracked sternum on yours truly.)
So I started researching Prii. First really obvious fact was that in Portland Prii hold their value very well. The step down in price between late model used and this year's new is almost nothing. I also learned of the new Prius c, known in the rest of the world as the Aqua. Shorter, less of a streamlined back, hatchback, not liftback.
(I just figured out how to paragraph new topics. Wrirte your post elsewhere. Start the thread, type one letter and Submit. Edit and replace your letter with the post. I didn't finish the post so I will bail before my edit time runs out and continue as a reply.) |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/16/2013 01:11 PM |
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We've been spending a lot of moneys but it has not led to anything tangible, just good memories and images.
Looking to spend more moneys on removing a bunch of nuisance trees on our property only to replace them with better trees in better locations. |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 08/16/2013 01:18 PM |
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Our expenditures have been mix of fun (two weeks in Italy) and house (substantial renovation inside and exterior staining) plus, of course, my daughter's tuition payment.
By the way, good choice on the Prius. We're on our second one and like it a lot. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/16/2013 01:32 PM |
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So I went to a dealer to look at both cars. First dealership had each in silver parked next to each other. (I don’t care for silver. Really easy to keep good looking, but invisible in nearly all light.) But I did try getting my winter fixie in the Prius c. Fits. With fenders, lowriders and both wheels on. Seats have to be a little forward, but totally drivable and comfortable. (The Prius with a back 10” longer was a no-brainer and I didn’t bother trying.) The c is also 23” shorted than the Prius with about 8” less wheelbase. Should be an easy car to park. Gets slightly better gas mileage,
The second dealership I went had a red c, fire engine/Ben’s bikes red. Also a beautiful dark blue 2009 Prius (the rounded body; I really don’t like the new angled bodies). Drove both. The Prius is very close to my Corolla, predictable and boring. The c was fun! The dealership was one block from the far point of one of my loops. So on the test ride, I took one corner I knew well at speed; a farm country right angle. Started a little too fast, hit the brakes too hard, squealed the tires and surprised the saleswoman. But I liked how the car reacted. Fun! Like my Tercel of many years ago but better.
I bought it. Drove it home on my bike loop. Got into braking using the regenerative braking. Shifting from “Drive” to “Regenerative”. In Regenerative, when hitting the brakes or easing off the gas, the car slows with the electric motor, recharging the battery with the energy and saving your brake pads. You can watch your gas mileage increase as you stop. It’s fun! (Got 49.5 mpg for the 18 mile drive home.) And what a fun car to drive. (And, the shifting is where it belongs, on the floor! Shifting in the tree is for the birds, not cars or bikes! The Prius was in the tree.) While it is considerably smaller than a Prius with less power which I know I will feel on the highway and on hills and on-ramps, its quicker steering and more immediate feel means I will be more attentive driving. I felt that loss when I sold my Tercel and look forward to having it back again.
And, the c simply looks like a car a true cyclist would own.
Ben |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 08/16/2013 01:59 PM |
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| Congrats! Have fun with it. We have a regular Prius, drive it mostly around town and on short trips and regularly get in the low 50s MPG. We gave out first Prius to one of our daughters, and it's still going strong at around 120,000 miles. |
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Oldfart
Posts:511
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| 08/17/2013 12:21 AM |
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| Yeah I just spent around 4k for a new Highball plus a bunch of parts for the wife. Hers looks nicer than mine now,! Had some fellows doa ton of landscaping here too plus a shed for the snowblower and garden tools to come. Now the Volvo is having electrical issues. |
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 08/17/2013 12:30 AM |
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| All my money lately is tied up sending two kids thru college at the same time. Yippie. Well at least it's the last two so the house is nice and quite for a change. |
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 08/17/2013 02:34 AM |
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"parts for the wife"..., is that a euphemism?  . j/k
My wife and I have bought a house and are doing extensive renovations to closets and bathrooms. The cost is silly. |
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 08/17/2013 07:29 AM |
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i spent our summer vacation money... preparing for winter! built a pad for it in the woods, it'll be off the grid with wood burning heater. comes as a kit; should get it next week i think.
i envision us eating deer jerky and drinking wine to survive; a gun rack on the side would be a nice touch...
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/17/2013 08:39 AM |
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| That little cabin is very cool. |
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vtguy
Posts:298
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| 08/17/2013 09:45 AM |
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| Nice, Entheo. Got any images of the interior? |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/17/2013 11:52 AM |
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Posted By Andy Eunson on 08/17/2013 12:21 AM
Now the Volvo is having electrical issues.
A Subaru is like a Volvo without the nonsense that breaks down :-)
Better secure that barrel well Entheo, once it starts rolling...whoah! |
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 08/17/2013 11:55 AM |
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thanks guys. it's a barrel sauna. interior will look something like this...
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jmdirt
Posts:775
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| 08/17/2013 04:21 PM |
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Ben, keep us posted on the C because that may be our next car purchase.
Enth, that is sweeeeet! |
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SideBySide
Posts:444
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| 08/17/2013 05:15 PM |
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What are the brushes in the sauna for?
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Entheo
Posts:317
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| 08/17/2013 05:27 PM |
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Posted By SideBy Side on 08/17/2013 05:15 PM
What are the brushes in the sauna for?
probably either to sweep out the ash drawer of the stove or baste oneself in olive oil (these barrels with wood burning heaters can evidently get up to @ 300 degrees F) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/17/2013 07:23 PM |
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More money to spend: Most of a grand on tracks and racks. I may ultimately go hitch and rack also, but I need plywood capability now. ( have early '90s Yakima hardware and it looks that they use the same tubing so that's a break. And, my driveway! It was poured concrete from some previous millennia, engineered around the ground clearance of horse drawn wagons. My high Corolla All Trac was a blessing.
Monday my car will go to get racked. I'll get on my drafting program, pull up my driveway, measure my car and see how many inches have to get ground off the high and if any concrete is left. (The first inch is already done by those expensive grinders known as "sedans".)
Oh, rack fun. Went to the towing yard to empty my car and take home the racks that were on full time for the kitchen stuff. Strapped them to my bike with inner tube and rode home. Overall length of the bike went up several feet and I could only turn the bars maybe 30 degrees, but at speed it was fine. (They were Yakima racks with galvanized pipe much wider than my car that I used to cartop the boat on.)
Ben |
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cycling chick
Posts:72
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| 08/17/2013 10:39 PM |
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I am a teacher so I don't get a paid over the summer but that doesn't stop the kids from wanting to spend our "summer" money.  |
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C2K_Rider
Posts:173
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| 08/18/2013 07:38 PM |
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We have 2010 prius and I had a 2006 prius they drive ok but the seating geometry is all wrong for me. I can't stand it after two hours - my shoulders and neck are aching from the weird steering wheel to seat configuration. The steering wheel is set quite low. I have to set the seat close and the back nearly straight up We had a corollla before that and I never had a problem. no variables in adjustment seem to fit me in that car. I'm 6-1, so not out of the ordinary.
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 08/18/2013 08:07 PM |
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That is too cool bonbswire, put it on wheels like some of these "Mini Homes" I have been checking out lately!!
well, most of mine,( money) is going to bikes fortunately, getting ready to build a new Ritchey P29er', working on a Cinelli Mash Cross single speed also, a new bike for the wife because of her hip replacement, new wheels for the Ciocc Volpe carbon cross bike, (going tubeless), new KUAT bike rack for the 4Runner, these things are bitchin' by the way, maybe a Santa Cruz carbon squish bike, but I need to sell the 26" squish bike 1st to pull this one off!!
We have no bills whatsoever, the car's paid for, the house is paid for, and the wife's surgery has not cost anything because of great insurance, and she is Native American, so that kicked in also, the only thing I need is more time, which can not be bought for any price |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 08/19/2013 10:26 AM |
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Very cool (so to speak) little getaway, Entheo! I am thinking we will get some winter weather here this year (SE PA), and I am seeing a lot of Canada goose activity already. Oh, yes: need to get our 2 year old furnace fixed, too......!@#$%
Spending money? Wedding ring, wedding party, and car maintenance (brakes, timing belt on Forester).
Ben: look into one of these for hauling plywood or ladders, etc: http://www.extendatruck.com/
I have one, and it works great. I built a ~50 inch wide cross bar out of 2x3 that I U-bolt to the existing front crossbar, so I can carry 4 foot wide stock without it shifting side to side (large eyebolts set vertically at the ends as stops, and others horizontally as lashing points). |
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THE SKINNY
Posts:506
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| 08/19/2013 11:17 AM |
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i'm trying to talk the girlfriend into letting me get a new bike. she wants to go on vacation. i'm also trying to talk her into letting me move to portland for a year or so. all of these probably cost more than i want to afford.
that's a cool looking sauna. i bet you could build one without a kit if you've got the tools. i built a canoe using that same bead and cove construction from scratch. no clue on the cost savings but i bet it was half of what the kit cost. i already have a sauna. it's called summer. |
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| How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. |
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