A leathersmith at TRF was selling leather straps that people can give as favors. This reminded me of something I saw at the Michigan Renfest. On the belts of some cast members were leather straps with renfest pins that they worked at. I figure I could do the same thing with my renfest pins. Now I need brass grommets to place at the top of the straps.
Columbus Day
Columbus Day is one of those government holidays that not every company takes off. Heck, UH Clear Lake and the local schools don't even observe it. Mary said that her co-workers call it "Mom's Day off" since they have the day off but not the kids. Unfortunately, my current company observes all government holidays. I would rather have it as a floater and use it during the week of Christmas. None of my friends has this day off. Boring...
I drive Mary to work and borrow her car for awhile. At one point, it wouldn't start -- not even a click. Am I now jinxed with cars? I complete a few chores that needed to be done for sometime now. I've been trying to support Super Target before Wal-Mart puts it out of business like it did K-Mart, but I give up. Target never has what I need. I went there for watch batteries, and could not find anyone in the jewelry area. At Wal-Mart, there is always someone there. I didn't go to Wal-Mart though. Instead, I went to Radio Shack which could probably use all the business it can get. I noticed that the Exxon on Bay Area and FM 528 is another gas station now out of business.
I harvest the last of the guavas. The tree is straightening up now that the weight of the fruit is gone. Some of the limbs are drying up so I need to keep watering it everyday. It may bloom again. According to Mom, guavas bear fruit year round in the Philippines. The original plumeria is also trying to bloom. Hopefully, it does so before the first freeze. I was able to harvest 6 figs! Did the birds move south? I don't think so. I see half a fig on one limb. Mary and I were at HEB one day and I was surprised how small and green their figs were.
Car Shopping
Oh boy. This one red Camry Hybrid at Champion Toyota is the coolest. The fob must have an RFID inside it. When the fob is within a certain distance of the car, the car unlocks itself. There is no keyhole for the ignition. If the car detects the person with the fob is inside, the person only has to step on the brake and press the start button on the dash. If you don't step on the brake and press the start button, it simply starts up the electronics. Hmmm...what if the fob's battery is dead?
The DVD/GPS navigation system has a color touch screen and even responds to voice commands. If it can't get a GPS signal, it does dead reckoning by checking the car speed and it's heading. It figures that the navigational system uses a woman's voice. A woman has to tell us guys where to go. I comment that the voice should be behind me. Mary gives that look. She reminds me that the computer's voice on the Enterprise was female. The CD player can hold up to 4 CDs in the dash which you feed one at a time. The radio uses the navigational screen and displays all sorts of information about the channel. If I'm not mistaken it also responds to voice commands. The car also hooks up via Bluetooth to your cellphone so you can make a voice call through the car's mike and hear the call through the car speakers. Now the bad part of the Camry. It has very little trunk space. It can hold our largest suitcase and maybe the medium suitcase. What's surprising is that it has more legroom than the Highlander Hybrid. Mary thought the Highlander had comfier seats than the Camry, but I thought the opposite. The Highlander had more pep than the Camry. It did have a little bit of a blindspot on the driver's side because of the position of the headrest and door jamb. Another gotcha with the Camry is that at 72-73 mph, it has a hesitation problem while it decides whether to use the electric engine or the gas engine. Well, that's not too bad since I usually don't drive faster than 70 mph, but I might do 75 mph which it will handle. Mary thinks that the Highlander is a bit difficult to get in and out of. She wants to try the Camry one more time. I wonder if there is another car that I can check out.
Interesting enough is that I knew more about the car than the salesperson, but that's usually the case.
Columbus Day
Columbus Day is one of those government holidays that not every company takes off. Heck, UH Clear Lake and the local schools don't even observe it. Mary said that her co-workers call it "Mom's Day off" since they have the day off but not the kids. Unfortunately, my current company observes all government holidays. I would rather have it as a floater and use it during the week of Christmas. None of my friends has this day off. Boring...
I drive Mary to work and borrow her car for awhile. At one point, it wouldn't start -- not even a click. Am I now jinxed with cars? I complete a few chores that needed to be done for sometime now. I've been trying to support Super Target before Wal-Mart puts it out of business like it did K-Mart, but I give up. Target never has what I need. I went there for watch batteries, and could not find anyone in the jewelry area. At Wal-Mart, there is always someone there. I didn't go to Wal-Mart though. Instead, I went to Radio Shack which could probably use all the business it can get. I noticed that the Exxon on Bay Area and FM 528 is another gas station now out of business.
I harvest the last of the guavas. The tree is straightening up now that the weight of the fruit is gone. Some of the limbs are drying up so I need to keep watering it everyday. It may bloom again. According to Mom, guavas bear fruit year round in the Philippines. The original plumeria is also trying to bloom. Hopefully, it does so before the first freeze. I was able to harvest 6 figs! Did the birds move south? I don't think so. I see half a fig on one limb. Mary and I were at HEB one day and I was surprised how small and green their figs were.
Car Shopping
Oh boy. This one red Camry Hybrid at Champion Toyota is the coolest. The fob must have an RFID inside it. When the fob is within a certain distance of the car, the car unlocks itself. There is no keyhole for the ignition. If the car detects the person with the fob is inside, the person only has to step on the brake and press the start button on the dash. If you don't step on the brake and press the start button, it simply starts up the electronics. Hmmm...what if the fob's battery is dead?
The DVD/GPS navigation system has a color touch screen and even responds to voice commands. If it can't get a GPS signal, it does dead reckoning by checking the car speed and it's heading. It figures that the navigational system uses a woman's voice. A woman has to tell us guys where to go. I comment that the voice should be behind me. Mary gives that look. She reminds me that the computer's voice on the Enterprise was female. The CD player can hold up to 4 CDs in the dash which you feed one at a time. The radio uses the navigational screen and displays all sorts of information about the channel. If I'm not mistaken it also responds to voice commands. The car also hooks up via Bluetooth to your cellphone so you can make a voice call through the car's mike and hear the call through the car speakers. Now the bad part of the Camry. It has very little trunk space. It can hold our largest suitcase and maybe the medium suitcase. What's surprising is that it has more legroom than the Highlander Hybrid. Mary thought the Highlander had comfier seats than the Camry, but I thought the opposite. The Highlander had more pep than the Camry. It did have a little bit of a blindspot on the driver's side because of the position of the headrest and door jamb. Another gotcha with the Camry is that at 72-73 mph, it has a hesitation problem while it decides whether to use the electric engine or the gas engine. Well, that's not too bad since I usually don't drive faster than 70 mph, but I might do 75 mph which it will handle. Mary thinks that the Highlander is a bit difficult to get in and out of. She wants to try the Camry one more time. I wonder if there is another car that I can check out.
Interesting enough is that I knew more about the car than the salesperson, but that's usually the case.
