The Palm went back to Verizon last week for replacement under warranty. It'd been getting too hot to hold comfortably when charging or using the Mobile Hotspot. They overnighted me the (refurbished as-new) replacement, and paid shipping back. Apparently there have been some documented heat issues already. The new one seems to get warm, but not as hot as the first one. Plus one to the local Verizon store for making it relatively painless.
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MrsZ's car is continuing to present us with interesting issues. Now it's got a front brake that sticks occasionally. We'd been loosely shopping for a replacement already, with the following guidelines:
- all-wheel- or four-wheel-drive
- four cylinder
- four or five doors
- compact SUV/wagon
It narrows it down quite a bit, obviously. We'd glanced at the Subaru Outback, Honda Element, Honda CR-V, and Toyota RAV-4. Subaru was nixed pretty quick because we're not willing to pay their new-car prices, and the used cars aren't that far behind. The CR-V is still a possible, as is the RAV-4. The Element ... maybe.
Somehow, though, I'd missed the Nissan Rogue. I stopped at the local dealer today to at least eyeball one in the metal, and I think we'll take a test drive at some point. When the worst comment I can find on it online is, "It doesn't stand out from the rest," that's pretty strong praise. Nothing stands out in the daily-driver new-car market today. Hell, it hasn't for ten years.
When I sold cars in a former life, one of the auto rags had a two-page spread showing thumbnail profiles of every major make's mid-size sedan. Accord. Altima. Camry. Passat. A4. C- and E-Class. Taurus. Sable. Etc. They are nearly indistinguishable from one another at a distance, especially to anyone who isn't making a living on the differences.
If any of my readers have any direct experience with the Rogue, I'd love any insight.
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The wild parsnips are still thriving, but it's been too hot for me to get out there and attack them again. Maybe tonight when the sun has gone down. The cats are sprawling in the shade on the wood floor, and I'm hiding in our air-conditioned master bedroom. It's disgustingly hot.
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The post office in our little burg has a sign up in the foyer: "BEAR ALERT!" ... apparently a rather large black bear has been seen around the area. Usual precautions: take in your bird feeders, grill, trash, etc. If the bear is spotted, be calm, leave the area, etc. Supposed loud noise has scared off the bear so far. Hint: 12ga makes loud noise!
No, I won't shoot the bear for tearing down my bird feeders or destroying my grill. (Actually, for the grill, I might.) Or even for spreading our trash all over. But if I do see it outside, I will make loud noises to scare it off, and I will have the 12ga full of slugs in my hands when I do that. And probably the 1911 full of ball stuffed into my waistband.
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With that, it's back to the book and beer!
1 year ago
4 comments:
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The post office in our little burg has a sign up in the foyer: "BEAR ALERT!"
Great thing to read in a building where you are mandated to be disarmed....
It should tell you something that two years ago, I had narrowed my choices down to another A4 or a Nissan Rogue. I really liked it! Drives well, quite reasonable power for its class, decent electronics offerings.
I'd started looking at it because it was the rough American version of the Renault we'd rented in France in '07. Some differences beyond the name, but basically the same product.
I probably picked the A4 over the Rogue out of habit, as well as a vague sedan preference, but having already decided I'm not buying another Audi, I'll likely go talk to Royal in Cortland about the Rogue next spring.
I also test-drove the Murano two years ago, and loved that, as well, but the much more powerful engine meant much lower gas mileage, and it was way more expensive. And I test-drove the Accord for the hell of it. It had gotten way better than the last one I owned, but still lacked all-wheel-drive. The new Accord Crosstour is a) vaguely tempting, and b) a great sign that they may do an AWD sedan one of these days. (I'd buy an Acura RX if the nearest dealer weren't an hour away and the car weren't pushing $60K! But a Honda version? I'd be all over it.)
@ Weerd - Yeah. *sigh, eyeroll*
@ MHA - drove the Rogue today over lunch. VERY impressive car. MrsZ wants to shop more (CR-V, Element, RAV-4) but I think we may have a winner. Hell, if I didn't need a truck I'd be considering one.
Element is too stupid-looking for my tastes, though I've ridden in a couple of other people's. Feels pretty utilitarian.
CR-V drove well and felt good, and I liked the new styling a couple of years ago when I was going around test-driving small SUVs with Celisa, but the new styling included sharply reduced rear visibility out the windows. Probably the biggest factor in ruling it out for her. (They ended up with a Fit. AWD Fit would rock.)
(You know what else would rock? If blogspot could e-mail me when someone posts another comment!)
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