Phooey

$400 for Husky football game tickets.
4 Saturdays spent going to Husky football games.
4 times we came home disappointed because
They lost all four games!

Commute Report

I have been struggling with road construction all week, causing morning commute times well over an hour. Today I tried Tiger Summit. It is 10 miles longer, but 20 minutes faster! I estimate that the extra gasoline costs less than a dollar.

Great Moment in American Politics

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_po/louisiana_governor

My favorite quote from the next governer of Louisiana: "My mom and dad came to this country in pursuit of the American dream. And guess what happened. They found the American dream to be alive and well right here in Louisiana," he said to cheers and applause at his victory party.

What a Politician!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071019/people_nm/usa_politics_limbaugh_dc

The "What a Politician" award goes to Senator Harry Reid today.

The story starts a few weeks ago when Rush Limbaugh was criticizing phony soldiers who fake their military records and make a news splash by criticizing Bush and the Iraq War while pretending to be a vet. It irritates Rush that the Democrats and the liberal media quote the phony soldiers without checking the source, and never backtrack after the phony soldiers are outed to clean up the mess.

Well, Harry Reid chose to misinterpret Rush to mean Rush was calling every soldier who opposed the Iraq War a phony soldier. Harry Reid made some angry speeches about it in the Senate. The transcript of the radio show proves that Rush did no such thing, but whatever. Later, Harry Reid and 40 of his closest Senator friends wrote and signed a letter to the chairman of Clear Channel, Mark Mays. Clear Channel carries the Rush Limbaugh radio show. The letter asked Mark Mays to confer with Limbaugh regarding the statements he made (an action which I believe is unconstitutional).

Rush and Mark Mays decided to sell the letter on E-Bay in hopes of raising a big contribution to the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, which is a charity for children of fallen Marines and law enforcement officers the Marine Corps, with the promise Rush would match the highest bid. The auction ended today, the highest bid was $2.1 million, Rush matched it, and the charity will receive a whopping $4.2 million (they can handle it, since they have distributed about $30 million since 1996.

In a moment of absolute political brilliance, Harry Reid stood up on the floor of the Senate today, praised this huge contribution to the charity, and took credit for it! He said, “I don't know what we could do more important than helping to ensure that children of our fallen soldiers and police officers who have fallen in the line of duty have the opportunity for their children to have a good education.”

We??? What a hoot! Like he and Rush planned the charity auction from the beginning.

Cruise Control

I have found myself changing gears (of my manual transmission) while on cruise control without touching the gas pedal. Example: cruising along at 45 mph in 5th gear approaching an uphill. Push clutch down (ends cruise control), shift to 4th, let clutch out, hit the resume button on the cruise control. Vice versa, 4th to 5th, works just as well. I hardly change speed and there are no jerky motions.

Driving Lesson

Today, I gave my wife a driving lesson in the Subaru with its manual transmission. She is a competent driver (in U.S. and UK, so she has driven on both sides of the road), but she never had a reason to drive a stick. Now she wants to learn how to drive the Subaru. She did quite well, BTW.

For a Movie???

From today's headlines:

--- Al Gore wins Peace Prize (for a movie?? are you kidding me??)

Meanwhile, the real news of the day is ignored:

--- At $161 billion, FY2007 U.S. budget Deficit is $80 billion lower than FY2006

--- Dow floating near all time high set on Tuesday of this week

P.S. At 1.2% of gross domestic product, this deficit is the best it's been since 2001.

Review of Subaru Forester

Great review from http://www.nctd.com/review-drive.cfm?Vehicle=2007_Subaru_Forester&ReviewID=2051

The Subaru Forester works superbly well on gravel, dirt and other types of unpaved roads, and performs swimmingly in rain, snow and icy conditions. The Forester is the perfect transport on logging trails in the Pacific Northwest, for example or for getting to a Michigan trout stream on a sandy two-track. Moreover, the Forester is excellent for inclement weather in just about any locale. Its variable all-wheel drive systems work better in driving snow on the Interstate than the typical dual-range four-wheel drive system in truck-based SUVs.

Consider this: Forester is much better than nearly any SUV that comes to mind for driving the way most people drive most of the time, that is, on paved roads, back and forth to work, to dinner and a movie, or collecting the kids at school. It rides better. It's more nimble and it gets better mileage. The Forester is also more pleasant, even more fun to drive, than just about any SUV. It will run circles around most of them. It handles more like a car and can be driven like a car. On an icy mountain road snaking along a bottomless precipice in a driving storm, we'd prefer to be in a Forester than in a truck-based SUV. The reason is that it stops and turns better.

The standard Forester engine delivers decent acceleration, to be sure. It can't match the exhilaration underfoot with the turbo, but plenty for merging onto a crowded freeway. Subaru's horizontally opposed engines share their design concept with Porsche's highly regarded boxer engines. The advantage is good power in a compact package, and a low block height that helps lower the center of mass in the car. Subaru has perfected this design. Subaru's four-cylinder engine isn't as smooth as some, but company engineers have done a good job insulating the Forester's interior from the vibration.

The five-speed manual transmission works well. The gear ratios deliver a good mix of acceleration and quiet cruising, even if the throws between gears are long. The Forester's shifter will neither delight the senses nor irritate to the point that it overwhelms what's good in the car. Subaru's Hill Holder clutch is a useful feature, particularly in San Francisco, Seattle and other hilly towns. It prevents the car from rolling backwards as the clutch pedal is released on a hill.

On the road, the Forester handles better than just about any reasonably priced SUV on the market, and far better than most. Its rack-and-pinion steering is more direct than that in a Ford Explorer or Chevy Trailblazer, and the Forester's turning circle is tight by SUV standards, making it easier to turn around. Its ride is firmer than a softly sprung sedan, with a bit of chop thanks to Forester fairly short wheelbase, but it's firm in a fashion we like.

The brakes are excellent. We experienced no apparent fade after three consecutive full-on stops from 65 mph, and Forester comes to a halt in short order.
Forester benefits from a tight, rigid unit-body. This stiffness sharpens reflexes and helps the suspension absorb road shock without allowing crash or vibration to disturb to the cabin. For 2006, Subaru enhanced this tight feeling by strengthening Forester's rear crossmember. At the same time the suspension was retuned, and the variable-assist, variable-ratio power steering was tweaked to further improve Forester's ride quality and response.

This is where we don't necessarily like the latest Forester's improvements, even if it largely comes down to taste. The new suspension settings seem to have moved Forester a bit closer to the SUV side of the crossover equation and further from the car side. The steering feels a hint more numb than before, and the Forester more reluctant to turn, with more lean in the body through a fast curve. None of it seriously detracts from the Forester's handling edge compared to a truck-based SUV, and many drivers will never notice. But if you're inclined to attack a winding road, even in your little SUV-car, you probably will notice.

The Forester's all-wheel-drive system varies in design and operation, depending on the trim level and transmission. Models with five-speed manuals use what Subaru calls Continuous All-Wheel Drive, in which a viscous-coupling center differential divides engine power 50/50 between the front and rear wheels, then shifts power one way or the other when the front or rear tires slip. Most Foresters with automatic transmissions use the Active All-Wheel Drive system, in which a center clutch delivers power where it's needed as determined by electronic sensors that measure wheelspin. The net effect is the same: Mud, rain or snow, the AWD helps ensure safe forward momentum and directional control by making best use of whatever traction is available. With tires suited to the task, you pretty much have to be a dunderhead to get the Forester stuck in anything short of axle-deep mud or packed snow that high-spots the frame. In short, weather isn't likely to stop a Forester.

Good Gas Mileage

My new Subaru is getting better than expected gas mileage.
24.8 mpg on the first fill-up (and I had to estimate the starting odometer reading because the dealer filled it)
25.9 mpg on the second fill-up
26.9 mpg on the third fill-up

I expect to see it drop soon, when I have to buy the government-mandated winter-blend gasoline with extra ethanol which typically gives 10% lower gas mileage.

Say, did you notice that the stock market hit new records highs today?
I blame the Republican tax cut package enacted 6 years ago.

Bad Commute

The winter rains have come to Seattle, and traffic is a mess. My normal 50 minute commute (25 miles) had a back-up for a stop sign that was over a mile long. So I assumed there was an accident or road construction work, and turned off my normal route. But I soon discovered that my detour was also clogged with slow moving cars. It took me over 90 minutes to get to work. :(