Dr Copa

It seems hard to believe that my wife bought her Subaru Impreza eleven years ago!  She had just transferred from a clerical position in one designated location with her employer to one where she was going to have to travel around the state every day.  She had been driving an older car that was fine for short runs, but once she hit the road with her new job it was breaking down every week, and it was costing her a lot of money to fix it.  So she traded it in on a Subaru.

That was the first year that the Outback Sport was released – that was voted the “car of the year” by (I think) the Car & Driver magazine, and a few other places too.  It was smaller than she would have preferred, but it was all she could afford, and it had all wheel drive which was what she wanted.  And of course she was concerned about reliability and safety, and we had heard that Subaru cars were very reliable and safe.  We’ve heard that they will run forever if you take good care of them.  So far I’d have to say that seems to be the case with her Subaru.  We’ve recently passed it down to our oldest son to drive to and from work because it gets great mileage and we feel it is a good choice for him to drive.

My brother-in-law has been trying to convince us to trade it in on an Acura rl sedan. He says that he thinks that it’s time we drove a luxury sedan.  I was checking the reviews of it on the website thecarconnection.com, however, and have to say that I’m not impressed at all with the mileage!  And to be honest, the price is a little bit out of our reach right now!  While I was on their website I checked out the reviews on a few other cars, such as the Chevy Tahoe and the Kia Soul and came to the conclusion that if we are going to buy any new car in the near future, we will have to do a lot of careful research!  I’m glad I found this website!

Well the contractor came back and finished fixing the doggie door.  The dogs have learned to use it pretty quickly, but they aren’t going out through it much yet because it has been raining all day.  It sure has been a relief to not have to get up and let them in and out and in and out every five minutes!  I’m glad we got it, and the contractor that put it in charged us a very fair price.  I was expecting to have to pay him more because it took longer than he expected; but he charged only what his original estimate was.  I’m thinking maybe it’s because I baked a batch of my famous peanut butter fudge cookies and let him have a few!  One interesting thing that came out of this is that he has offered me a job, and I’m thinking about taking it!

Personally, I like green cars.  I have a green truck.  And by that I’m referring to color!  But this post is actually about the “other” kind of “green.”  The type that are more environmentally friendly.  You know, the hybrids.  I’m really glad to see that more car manufacturers are turning to the newer technology of going electric and/or hybrid.  We’d really like to get one of the hybrid cars someday.  Hopefully the economy will turn around soon so we can buy one!

My mother in law bought a hybrid car a few years ago. I think it was a Honda. She bragged about what great mileage it got – about 50 miles to the gallon! Unfortunately one of her sons convinced her that it was a good idea to get rid of it when it was only two years old – he told her that her battery was going to need to be replaced and that was going to be really expensive. So she traded it in for a car that doesn’t get as good mileage. Sadly the dealer that took her trade in ripped her off and did not give her the full value of the car! Personally, the next time she buys a car I’d like to see her buy a new Nissan cube; I think she would be really happy with that!

My wife keeps talking about checking out the Ford Fiesta; she thinks it’s really cute. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned a Ford!  As for me, I’m more inclined to want to buy a Toyota pickup truck: I owned a nice Toyota pickup truck when I was younger, and I really liked the way it handled.  I’ve always wanted to keep a pick-up in the household for all of those chores that required a truck.   I just can’t imagine what life would be like with us only owning cars and no trucks!

Today I decided it was time to give the dog a bath. We’ve had him for two years now, and have never bathed him. I’ve wanted my wife to give him a bath but she keeps telling me that the only reason to give a dog a bath is if he smells bad; brushing him should get the dirt out. And my wife keeps telling me that before a dog gets a bath he should get a good grooming to keep the mats from getting worse. So today I gave the dog a good brushing and gave him a bath in the laundry tub. He did well in the tub, much better than I expected! As soon as I lifted him out of the tub and dried him with a towel, though he got squirmy. I carried him out to the back yard so he could shake, and the first thing he did was find a patch of mud to roll in! So much for squeaky clean!

I enjoy going to trade shows. My wife and I especially enjoy going to the shows regarding home and garden, recreational vehicles, manufactured homes and boats. My wife enjoys the garden shows the most. She likes to take lots of pictures of the sample gardens that the landscaping companies design to bring home for inspiration. Some of the fantasy gardens are absolutely fantastic!

We also enjoy going to the other parts of the show where the vendors have booths set up to sell their various wares. We see some fantastic trade show exhibits at the shows that we go to. Some of the best looking trade show exhibit booths we’ve seen are at trade shows that feature kitchen and bath ideas at the home shows. I’ve asked a few people where they got their exhibits, and they told me that they got them from the http://www.gilbertdisplays.com website.  I can remember many years ago that the booths were fairly crude, but now they look very sophisticated and seem to be an art form in themselves!