More Power Needed

Friday: (11/29) Breakfast was cinnamon tarts and deviled eggs. I did a few tasks in the morning. I raised another yard chair for Lou to use outside. I just attached 4×4 boards to the legs. I also repaired my post-hole shovel. It lost a nut that was its pivot. It evidently was an odd size and I couldn’t find a proper sized nut so I got a bolt and lock-nut of the appropriate size to repair it. My next task was to install the new battery for the Jeep that I bought on my way home Wednesday. The Jeep had the battery go dead last Friday when I left the headlights on for a short period and ran an air compressor. A good battery should have been able to do that task for two hours and still start the engine. It wouldn’t turn the motor after just twenty minutes. Then, at least twice this week, it barely started the engine. It was a 3-year free replacement Walmart battery and was only two years old.

It was easy to swap out the old and in the new. Getting the credit for the bad battery was a bit more difficult. First, it was Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. Fortunately, most everyone was buying, not returning. It still took about an hour. There was a bit of trouble convincing them to credit me for the replacement battery but they came through in the end. I also spent some time emptying my buckets of concrete debris into a pile to free the buckets. Lunch was some leftover dinner rolls with summer sausage and cheese. Tomorrow Dawn and I will be diving up to Napa. Lou wanted her scooter out of the car so she can take a “walk” if she wants while we are gone. When I went out to open the car to get it the doors wouldn’t unlock with the clicker. Not a good sign. I checked it and the battery was dead, totally dead. This is our nice new Hyundai. I jump started it with the Jeep which now, fortunately, has a good battery. When I attached the cable I noticed the negative battery cable was loose. As tight as it will go, but loose. This isn’t related to the dead battery but is something to be fixed by the dealer next visit. I took the car for a drive to charge it up. Hopefully it will be OK in the morning and cause no problems on the trip. For a long trip like to Napa I prefer the mileage of the Hyundai over the Jeep, 40 compared to 14. Dinner was baked beans, BBQ ribs and baked potatoes.

A New Accent

Friday: (04/06) No not a different language. I finished off the corned beef hash while Lou had corn meal mush for breakfast. Lou and I stopped by Stevens Creek Hyundai so we could test drive our new car replacement model. One concern was whether the ride in such a small car as the Hyundai Accent would be too bumpy or whether the steering wheel would aggravate Lou's wrists. We took a test drive and neither were problems. The stock was thin so the model we test drove wasn't a hatchback and wasn't the model with the larger tires which we thought would be needed for ride improvement. We determined the ride was OK so the larger tires weren't needed but we still wanted to check out the hatchback. Unfortunately, they didn't have any on the lot. In fact, the one we had driven was the only Accent on the lot. When they come in, they go out immediately. That was corrected as they unloaded a new batch from the delivery truck before we left. Off came a white hatchback with the larger tires, just what we were looking for. We tried it out for size but couldn't test drive it until it was inspected. We put a deposit on the vehicle, since they are rare and returned later to test drive it. We picked up Dawn and went to lunch at Country Inn in Cupertino. I had chili rellenos while Lou and Dawn had Swedish pancakes.  We then returned home for the checkbook. Today was going to be a test drive but turned into a purchase. The car was ready for a test drive when we returned. It performed similar to the previous vehicle. We signed on the dotted line and then waited for the car to be detailed and prepped. After a detailed orientation Lou and I tossed a coin and I drove off in the new car. Ha Ha!. Of course Lou says this is my birthday present, which is OK with me. The last present like this was the motorhome nine years ago for my birthday.  It's nice to have a vehicle that can pass a gas station. It has a range of about 400 miles and can be filled up for less that $50! We finally made it home about 6pm. Turned into a long day. Ham, baked potatoes and sliced peppers for dinner. Now we'll need to take a little trip too get a good trial on the new car. Before we left they had sold at least one clone of the car.


Our new toy, a Hyundai Accent. Not much bigger than an enclosed roller skate but seats four adults comfortably. It's also the only small car that I fit in without bumping my head.