Automobiles 06-19-24

I notice unusual cars, although I am not a car "buff".  Mostly I  see the models from years  past.  But the other day this one was in the parking lot of a restaurant.   When I left I stopped to take  pictures,  but didn't get out to walk around  the back of the vehicle.  I thought it must be a custom model and wished I could see it on the road.  Only four days later I saw it, or another one, on the road.  I was so startled I didn't think to follow it for a better look.  Mentioning the sighting to a friend and showing her the photos, she knew it was a Tesla and said one lived two blocks  from her.  I Googled  it and found that it is Tesla's New Cybertruck, which Google  says will be released  in 2025.  The base model will  be $60,990 and the "super-duper" model will be about $99,990 and will reach 60mph in just 2.6 seconds.  And reach 130mph.  

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                    "See the USA in your Chevrolet, America is asking you to call......"

Also in a parking lot - a 1970 Chevy Monte Carlo almost like it just came off the lot.

BIG difference from the new Tesla, huh?

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Not much to write about. 09-26-23

We go for our walks twice a day and sometimes that is  the only time we are outside. KoKo needs to go out back in the mid afternoon and due to  the coyotes who  roam night or  day, I go out  with him.   He only takes a few minutes, so there doesn't seem  to be much to write about.

I have been watching this fig tree growing on the next street. I had hoped the owners would share their crop. 

However, it looks like the birds are helping them selves.  Might not be anything left when they are  ripe  enough for people consumption.  There is also a  Fuyu tree  along our way and it is loaded, but still hard and green. 

This car was parked  nearby the other day  and I am  mystified what the black "tube" does, I've never seen such before.

 
It isn't a homemade  contraption, but seems to be made to fit the car. 

The vehicle  is a Toyota.  It is very shiny, so what looks  like dents is just reflection.

I guess the biggest news is that Halloween is just a month away and the decorations are going up.  Love these Shrek hands on the palm trees in this neighbor's yard.   They also have styrofoam headstones and huge fuzzy black spiders.  Brrrrrr!

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Wordless Wednesday 08-30-23

 Edit - This is what was hot when I started high school in 1952. Del

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Home again. 03-30-23

Class was over yesterday, Wednesday, at noon.  I had a little car problem so looked up a mechanic in PGrove and got an okay to drive home.  Stopped at Back Porch in their new location.  The fabric selection is just as wonderful, but miss the gallery and the spaciousness of the old place.  Then I made one more cruise of Sunset Street that goes along the Bay, quite a few walkers and rock climbers and dog walkers and bicycles - just the usual crowd.  But it was chilly and somewhat windy. Then on the road toward home.  Some showers and construction, but made it to Harris Ranch before dark.  Settled into my room, took a shower and collapsed about 8:30pm!!  Coupla' pit stops during the night, but up and ready do go at 8am.  I had thought to have steak and eggs for breakfast, the HRanch beef is the best, but the menu prices dissuaded  me,  $35  - $53 for breakfast is beyond my ken!  Settled for prime rib benedict at $20+.   Ate half and had  the other half for dinner tonight  - but ate both eggs this morning.  Leftover eggs don't appeal to me! \

On the road again.  Weather was moving clouds, some peeks of blue sky, a few showers, and a little gusty wind.  Light traffic.  There was a deluge going over the Ridge Route/Grapevine, but the temp was 41F so no snow.  Everyone slowed down and drove carefully and soon we were all safely on the south side.  Cloudy, but no more rain.    Home at last about 2pm.  Emptied the car, but  didn't put anything away.  Arranged to pick KoKo up tomorrow morning and then collapsed again.  I have NO stamina these days along with the sciatica pain and now a pulled shoulder.   Ain't easy getting old, eh?  So, I slept for about three hours and then started putting everything away.  It will take a long time, I think.  

On Sunset there are a number of places to pull out and watch the waves.  And the people, dogs, birds, ground squirels.  The other side of the bay is just a sketch of medium blue. 

Dark clouds with just a tiny patch of blue.  Fields of yellow flowers - which I cannot think of the name of at the moment.  Not poppies or mustard - very low growing like a carpet of gold.  

Not a lot of traffic!  The clouds hide the north side of the mountains.  

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Mysteries 12-19-22

Maybe instead of mysteries I should title this "Things I think about."

Such as why does this seem to be the land of white vehicles?  Not something new, I have noticed it for years and possibly have posted about it previously.  But my neighbors have new vehicles, so they are a completely white car family to go with their glaring white house.  And the next house down the cul de sac has two white cars (way off on the left of the image).  Just curious.

And does anyone know what these are?  I came across this in a long unsorted drawer.  It is a cheap plastic pouch marked "Ortho Molecular Products" which is a company that sells many different vitamins and other "healthy" compounds. 

Inside are these two plastic "tools" that close when squeezed.  Sort of like tweezers.  The stem part is hollow.  4.5" long and 3/4" wide.  I have no recollection of ever seeing them before.  

Surfside QGuild Board Meeting tomorrow.  It will be so nice to see some quilting friends since I missed the general meeting last Tuesday.  I just need to be with some friendly people now and then!!

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A grumble about cars! 07-18-22

Thirty plus years ago when we moved into this house one of the things that made it attractive was how clean the neighborhood was and how few cars were parked on the street.   It seemed so tidy and "upscale".   Now new neighbors move in with complete wall to wall garage shelving or just piles of stuff in the garage and few park their cars in their garage.  Instead they park on the driveways and along the curbs.  Every other Monday the street sweeper comes by and tickets are given to any car parked in the street.  Don't know where the vehicles are parked on those days, but they all quickly returned.   I feel sometimes I am living in a parking lot.  Our house faces into a cul de sac with six houses.  They have a total of seventeen cars and two motor homes!  Admittedly there are twenty people living there, but almost half are under driving age.   Of course, in thirty years most of the original owners have retired, moved, or died, so the new people who move in are younger and have children.  (Oddly there are about eleven widows in the tract now.)

We are going on our morning walk when some neighbors have gone to work.

But the motor homes/campers are there ALL of the time and have been for decades.  There is a law in Placentia that one cannot park these vehicles in this manner.  But I suppose that if nobody complains there is no reason to obey the law.  

In mid June the two families went traveling and on a Sunday afternoon our view was this.  Lovely, huh?   There is a Facebook group "View from my window" with pictures people all over the world post pictures from their window, door, porch, patio, wherever.  I enjoy looking at what is posted and am tempted to post a picture, but in truth I would have to post what I see most of the year and I doubt that anyone would enjoy that.  

Thank you for reading this "rant".  I just needed to get it off my chest.  

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Miscellaneous and a CAR! 03-15-22

 A busy day.  As usual I have procrastinated and am no where close to leaving on Saturday for Empty Spools.  But I have two ladies riding with me, so I better get ready, huh?  Saw the periodontist and he says my gum surgery is looking good, so he removed the stitches.  Had my Lexus serviced and they did a "trip check" - Castner's Auto is so good to me.  Attended the Surfside QGuild Board meeting on ZOOM for an hour.  Finally figured out, with the help of my friend Dick Bednar, how to send a photo album to the SQG newsletter editor - or just anyone, for that matter.  Walked, fed, played with KoKo and got his "overnight" bag ready to go with him on Saturday to his keeper.  AND I had a little nap.  Sooo much to do, but I just have to rest sometimes.  Age I guess.  

I stopped at the ATM and there was this marvelous car parked in front.  A pristine 1957 Corvette.  While I was taking pictures the owner came out.  He purchased it recently, already restored.  Made my heart go Pitter-Pat - the car, not the owner!  

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Southern California 07-29-21

This is a typical parking lot in Orange County, California, although there isn't a Tesla.  White dogs are also popular!

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Miscellaneous 04-08-21

While KoKo had pancreatitis the vet didn't want him going to the groomer, so he went for almost two months without a trim, although I give him a bath at home a couple times a month, so he was clean, but shaggy. 

I did have to trim his top knot a bit just so he could see.  I also put a little gel on and brushed it back. 

The groomer does such a good job and he is a smaller dog without all the extra hair. 

KoKo doesn't discriminate, if there is a lap available he will take it over.  I took him with me to Carol and Dick's house when Dick was helping me with my laptop.  Carol was watching a basketball game, so KoKo just kept her company.  The cat was lurking under a chair. 

 

Some of my neighbors decorate for every holiday.  These propped up letters have been popular this past year for holidays and for birthdays.  

Our house, on the other hand is very plain, no decorations and very few flowers.

This VW Bug parked next to me in a lot and I had to take a picture! 

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Wordless Wednesday 11-06-19

A repeat from 02-04-15

A one hour car wash 09-26-19

The funniest thing happened at the car wash today.  Some would not think so, but I found it very amusing and it gave me a chance to read my e-mail which I hadn't had time to do. I had taken KoKo to the groomer for a bath and trim which takes about two hours.  I didn't have anything special to do, so I decided to go to the car wash which is almost across the street from the groomer.  And then I would go to the ice cream shop and fill my craving for an hot fudge sundae. 

Today was cloudy and cool, the high was 77F after weeks of 80s and 90s.  I don't know if that had anything to do with the lack of business at the car wash, there were no cars waiting when I drove up.  Unheard of.  I got my ticket and went inside to pay and browse through all the strange, unlikely things they sell at the car wash - like large artificial flower arrangements.  Very nice if you like that sort of thing.  So, I paid and was looking at the snarky greeting cards, still nobody else came in.  The manager lady came up to me and pointed through the windows into the washing line and asked me if that was my car.  Oh, no, I thought, something wrong with my car.  Not exactly.  It seems that the problem was with the SUV in front of my car.  It had locked itself and the owner did not have a key.  It seems that sometimes the electronic doors don't like the car wash so they lock automatically.  There is a small sign near the door suggesting that owners of electronic doors bring a spare key with them, just in case.  The SUV guy did not have one.  And he refused to have the car wash guys push his car the rest of the way through the wash into the "drying yard".  So, he called the auto club to come open his doors.  He was quite nasty and vocal about it, seeming to blame the attendants for the problem.  The manager was so apologetic about the delay, but I would have to wait until AAA arrived which could take quite a long time since now it was rush hour traffic - the busiest time of day for AAA.  Meanwhile the guy is stomping around being obnoxious.  He went out to be with his car, thank heavens.  The manager had managed to stop any cars behind me - after a certain point one cannot back out of a car wash.  My car, of course, was beyond that point.  I had to laugh at being caught between and rock and a hard place!  

So, I sat down with my cell phone and read my e-mail.  The manager gave me a card for a free car wash at some future time.  And she sent most of the crew on their way.  But those that stayed must have spent their time cleaning my car.  After about an hour the man drove away to stew and complain to his family and friends.  And I stepped into a car with freshly cleaned front seats, sparkling windows and spotless dash.  Lovely.  

According to the manager this only happens a couple times a year, but it happens also at other car washes.  So, if there is a moral to this story it would be - carry a spare key. 

I feel for the manager as they lost a couple hours of business.  But hopefully the guy will never come back or he will remember to have a key - in case his car should lock itself up. 
He stated loudly that this has never happened before, so he better watch out, those could be fighting words.  

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A hard day's travel 08-03-19

We were up bright and early, waving goodbye to Phyllis and her husband while we were on our morning walk. On the road at 8:30am we had mostly moderate traffic and lots of construction.  KoKo with Agapanthus.

Into the slot for several miles. 

In several places I-5 was one lane in each direction.  I seemed to always be the last of the pack.  At least this time I wasn't right behind a semi. 

 One lane traffic each direction.  Each in a "slot" with minimal shoulder.

In the middle of this picture is the "Ag station" into California.  Every car must stop and declare any fresh fruits or veggies they have from outside the state.  Mostly they are looking for homegrown items that might carry bugs or diseases we'd like to keep out of California.  I've often wondered how effective this operation is. 

 And in the middle of this picture is Mt Shasta.  She sort of just appears out of the haze in what previously looked like empty sky.

This is in the "State of Jefferson" and those of you have traveled I-5 know the metal cow and her calf in a field along the north bound highway.  She has been graffitied over the years, but still stands proud.  Pickup is heading north on the Interstate.
(The white smear is a reflection on the side window.) 

There she is, out in the open.  Shasta is the only mountain I saw on this trip, all the rest were hiding behind the clouds despite the lovely (and very hot) weather we have enjoyed on this trip. 

And then we had this view for about 2 1/2 hours after we hit something on the roadway and had an almost instantaneous flat right front tire.  

Fortunately there is a very wide shoulder at this section of road and we could pull way off the traffic lanes.  We were almost at Abrams Lake Road north of Shasta City.  

This was the view out the right side of the car - up very steep slope. 

There was almost a whole lane between our car and the traffic, but it was still nervous making when large vehicles zipped by. 

(I've never posted a video - hope it works)

Of course I called AAA to take advantage of my 62 year membership.  They were very nice, but we had a hard time telling them exactly where we were stuck.  A CHP stopped and told me the name of the exit ahead and I advised AAA.  And we waited.  It was hot, but I couldn't run the A/C continuously because then it wouldn't work at all.  So, 20 minutes off and 10 minutes on.  After a while another CHP stopped and was going to get in touch with AAA to see what the problem was.  At that moment the tow truck pulled up.  

Calm and patient?  Not happy. 

Hot and patient.  Also not happy.  He is blue due to the light coming through the very top of the windshield which is tinted.   We had lots of water and a supply of cookies and cheese slices and crackers and..... etc. 

I agreed that we would stay in our car and be pulled up onto the flatbed.  It was very interesting and not scary at all.  One reason I agreed to this is that I doubted I could climb up into the seat of the truck!   He took the next road off (Abrams Lake Road) and went along a surface road to the tire shop in Shasta City.  Where they were very nice and helpful . 

Since we had such good seats I took one more picture of Shasta!

KoKo rarely meets a stranger and will sit on just about any lap that is available.  This fellow was waiting for his tires to be rotated.  

They were able to plug the tire and about 2:30pm we were on I-5 again.  A five hour delay in our day.  We REALLY wanted to stay with Mary in San Juan Bautista, so we drove and drove and arrived at her house at 9pm.  I was on my last leg and so was KoKo. After a bite to eat we hit the bed, got up about 7:30am, went for a potty walk, he wouldn't eat his breakfast, and I didn't want any.  So, we went back to bed until noon.  Oh, how I needed that extra sleep.   We are prepared to leave in the morning to drive home.  KoKo will be happy, I think, this road trip was boring for him.   I had a great time.  

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