Category Archives: Miscellany & Minutiæ

The Fit is go!

That is, our two-for-one even trade on a new 2009 Honda Fit is (a) go! We love our orange 2008 Fit (which we’ve only had for about 8 months), but our 2000 Civic has been sitting in the garage untouched for about three months now. Clearly, despite juggling transportation for SLP’s job, kids in kindergarten and Montessori school, and my own freelance work, we are still a one-car family. Convenient access to the light rail and my own scheduling flexibility (and willingness to shuttle people around) definitely help in that regard.

So, with winter fast approaching and a single-car garage, we’ve decided it’s time for the Civic to go. It has served us well for nearly nine years, despite nearly meeting its maker (which the deer did, alas) about 4 years ago. But now, what can I say? We’ve moved on.

As I said, we love the Fit. So when I made the mental leap that a possible way to rid ourselves of the Civic would be to try to get an even trade of both cars for a new one, there was no doubt that the new one would also be a Fit. Honda’s made a few of our requested improvements (not that we actually requested them, but they must have read our minds) to the standard package this year, including a USB iPod interface, a passenger-side vanity mirror, and ten — count ’em, ten — drink holders. You wouldn’t think a car that seats five would need that many drink holders, but I can tell you, when you’ve got two kids in the car, the drinks-per-person ratio is higher than you might expect.

I checked Kelley Blue Book for the trade-in values on our cars, and determined that we should be able to pull off an even trade — zero dollars exchanged — including a few additional (entirely utilitarian) dealer add-on accessories. No clear coat though.

We went with Inver Grove Honda and were extremely happy with the whole process… and we got our deal! Our new red 2009 Fit will be arriving in a couple weeks.

Fall is falling

The leaves in my neighborhood have been surprisingly tenacious this year, some not even turning until last week, much less falling off the trees, but the combination of wind and rain over the last 24 hours has finally begun to win the battle. The backyard is a big wet mess of nasty right now. Maybe it’ll snow before it dries up and I can just pretend the leaves don’t exist, instead of having to rake them. (Oh, who am I kidding… I just need to find a way to ensure that I’m not the one doing the raking.)

Update, the next morning: It’s snowing.

Gas prices under $2

I don’t know how widespread this is, whether it has anything to do with the election or is just a continuation of the downward trend we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks, or whether it’s only just not getting much attention because of the election, but uh…

I saw gas for $1.999 today.

It was at the Moto Mart on Hiawatha in Minneapolis, for what it’s worth. I tried to take a picture of it with my iPhone but… well… it was dark… and raining… and I was driving. Needless to say it didn’t turn out the greatest. But since I went to the trouble of taking the picture, I’ll post it anyway.

I’m pretty sure the smudge in the upper left is the Moto Mart price sign.

OK, this is totally awesome

Even worthy of resurrecting that ’80s superlative. I’ve just learned, from Daring Fireball of course, that Amazon.com is now working with its suppliers to begin transitioning to “frustration-free” packaging.

What is “frustration-free” packaging, you ask? It’s toys, electronics and other goods that, over the past couple of decades, have come to be sold almost exclusively in non-recyclable, hard-to-open, excessively-bound-up packaging, placed instead in a simple recyclable cardboard box, such that all parts can be opened by hand without any special tools. Hallelujah! As a parent who’s grown accustomed to spending much of Christmas and birthdays stabbing at unnecessary packaging with a Swiss Army knife trying to emancipate the toys within, this speaks right to my bitter frustration.

It’s better for the planet, too.

It’s going to be a gradual transition, but Amazon’s goal is to get all of their packaged products into this type of packaging over the next few years. Much like Walmart, they’re using their clout to get their suppliers to change their ways. But rather than simply cutting costs at all costs, as with Walmart, Amazon is actually doing something that will turn into a tremendous service for their customers and for the environment.

As if Amazon weren’t already the obvious choice for Christmas gift buying, now there’s almost no reason to go anywhere else!