It has been “partly cloudy” here (meaning frequent rain and hardly any sun, as I noted earlier), and I’ve had a job waiting for sunshine. The folks who distribute Birdy Bikes in the US are going to take out an ad in Airstream Life magazine in the Fall and I promised I’d take a photo of the bikes next to our Airstream.
Yesterday the sun came out in the afternoon and Eleanor and I ran out to capture some photos. You may see one of them in the magazine (minus Eleanor’s hand, which you can spot at left in some of the photos). Eleanor was willing to “model” with the bikes but then she’d probably send me a bill. 😉
Everyone is having fun except me and Eleanor. We are still trying to close up 1,001 loose ends with cars and other possessions. Emma and her grandparents went out to Pizza Putt last night, which is sort of a Chuckie Cheese with mini-golf — a major attraction for the sporting 6-year-old. I stayed behind and worked.
I am working on a book project, in addition to the Fall magazine. As a result my life is 12-15 hours a day in front of the laptop … not exciting. I only mention this because I still often get comments from people that I don’t work and am on some sort of endless vacation. The book, when published later this fall, will help explain how working couples can do what we are doing. I think once people start to recognize that today’s technology makes it possible for many people to travel extensively before retirement, that stigma of “you don’t do any work” will go away.
Another setback on the car front: the Nissan dealer didn’t inspect the car when we had it in for the 30,000 mile service on Monday. So we brought it back yesterday to get the sticker, and discovered it can’t pass — the exhaust manifold is cracked! That’s an expensive job, fortunately under warranty. I’m wondering if we shouldn’t consider an extended warranty now, since our new-car warranty will run out in 6,000 miles.
The dealer can’t get the replacement manifold this week, and we are leaving for Maine on Friday. It will have to get fixed when we return on the 12th. In the meantime, we are carrying a letter from the dealership which explains we have an appointment to get it fixed but couldn’t get the part before the inspection runs out. I am hoping we won’t need to use that letter.
August 31st, 2006 at 2:17 pm
Hi Rich;
Just a question i wandered a long time ago, Why a Nissan instead of an amrican car or pick-up truck as Ford, Dodge, GMC by example ?
Best regards from FRANCE.
Bruno.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:19 pm
I agree with your idea that technology enables people to detach from their desks but I belive it only for a small segment of the working population. IT and positions that are location independant are all options since mobile internet and cell phones enable you to access the net, and clients, from just about anywhere.
I do think in many professional roles, there is too much travel and temporary housing that keep people from attaching to their communities. I see it in IT that people spend more time online and travelling for customer engagements than at home. In these cases, travel is a release from work and not taking it with them is the goal.
Hope you and family are well.
Doug
September 1st, 2006 at 7:18 am
Towing appears to be hard on exhaust manifolds, and they can be tough to replace. But on the lighter side, my mom, a certified Master Gardener, was visiting one day after I had replaced one, and perked up after seeing the old one lying on the floor in the trash pile. Knowing she could care less about what is under the hood of a truck, I was surprised when she asked if she could have it. Come to find out, she needed a prop for a themed flower arrangement for the next flower show, and the warped manifold fit the bill.
September 2nd, 2006 at 8:41 pm
The heat generated by the engine while working under extreme conditions can cause the manifold to warp or even crack. I don’t know if you do this, but it will help immensely if you don’t– After running, and especially after towing, let the engine idle for a couple of minutes before turning it off. It will allow the (very) hot parts to cool off a bit, and not warp so badly.
September 4th, 2006 at 2:06 am
I work at a Nissan dealer, and while I am not a master tech by any means, I have seen my fair share of people who are glad they bought an extended warranty. But I have also seen some Nissans that keep going despite all types of abuse. I may be a little biased because of the problems I have seen on Nissans, but when something goes majorly wrong on a big vehicle like yours, it can be VERY expensive to repair! (replacing a manifold is usually in the $3K range!) Nissan does have some really good extended warranties. They can get pricey, but they also give a lot of piece of mind for those customers I have seen who use them.
September 6th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Interesting question for the full-time RV’er, or long-range RV’er: to go for the extended warranty, or not? Sounds like a good topic for a future article! ! Definitely needs research though, there are so many angles.
First thoughts that pop into my mind:
1) Having the warranty does bind you to the dealer network for repairs (doesn’t it? or are there provisions for out-of-network service?)
Which means you need dealers not far from everywhere you want to go.
2) Given it’s your only self-propelling vehicle, you want to make sure it gets proper care and parts that the manufacturer will back up. It’s not like you can use your other car for a week or two while your tow car gets fixed.
3) Logically, towing must tax a vehicle more than average, so by that logic you would be better served by the extended warranty than the average owner of the vehicle.
4) If a mechanic in one city does goof on some part of the job (dealer mechanics are human too), one would expect that you’d get less hassle by having all the service done by dealerships under warranty.
However I can’t speak from experience in this, either way.