Month: December 2025

Close To A Typical Friday

Weekly grocery shopping because Fred Meyer offers 4x the points on Friday if you clip the coupon. Free donuts at the community coffee klatch.

Not typical was the annual visit to the PCP for the Medicare-mandated checkup in between. “Have you fallen in the last 2 months?” “Do you worry about having enough food?” “Do you need help with bathing?”

This is almost typical in that it was the 3rd time I have removed the front grill and bumper of the GTI. I ordered some LED high beam bulbs to match the low beam ones. So, off came the front of the car to get at the headlights. I removed the existing halogen bulbs, and that is when I noticed the slot was nowhere near big enough to slide the new LED unit in. I suppose I could have made the hole bigger, but that would be modifying the reflector portion of the high beam, and that might create an unknown or weird light pattern.

I headed over to Advanced Auto and bought some higher-intensity and whiter-colored bulbs. They aren’t perfect, but they do match better with the low beams. I’ll return the LEDs to Amazon tomorrow.

I also finished the puzzle that was about 75% done when I left.

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls

First thing I did this morning was to return the GTI hatchback to stock configuration. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the hatch pop kit – return it or just trash it. Next up was to move both cars to the street and get the leaf blower to clear all the pine straw and fallen leaves off the driveway.

I backed the Miata back onto the clean drvieway and removed the dedicated summer tires and put the all-seasons that I ran on the now gone 2024 Miata. Once that was done, I washed the dust and such off before it returned to the street. Next up for a good washing was the GTI. It was a lot dirter because it had been on the road for around 4,000 miles.

Move the VW back to the street and I got the keys for the Miata and took a 20 mile drive before ending up at the new Chick-Fil-A that is in the Lowes parking lot just a mile and a half away from home. I just drove straight in with my food, so when I parked the GTI afterwards I pulled it straight in too.

A Different Day In The Life

Today I did two of the things I did yesterday: Stomping Grounds for a latte and a visit to Harbor Freight. The Harbor Freight trip was to get a set of 3/8″ drive metric deep sockets. I needed just one size, 13mm, but they only sell sets, so now I’ve got a set of 10 that range from 10mm to 21mm.

I bought a Hatch Pop Kit from ECS Tuning so I could open the hatch with a press of a button on the fob, and today was install day. First you remove the old struts, one at a time, but before you do that you have to prop up the hatch because even with just one strut removed the hatch will sag to close. It was a straight forward job and took all of 20 minutes to swap the struts. Closing the hatch now takes a heavier hand to shut it, but the magic will be in the free lift up.

Here is where it would have paid to read the whole page before ordering. Down in the notes section was “Coding may be required— To determine if coding is needed, hold your hatch pop button on your key fob and if you hear the hatch latch operating you DO NOT NEED CODING. Please reference our installation PDF for coding instructions as needed.” I thought I heard the latch, but the hatch did not raise under the power of the new struts. So to code this, I need to buy a Volkswagen Auto Group-specific OBDII scanner and some software too.

To get the functionality I wanted from the $100 original purchase, I have to spend another $40 +shipping and $25 for a month of the software… I’m almost leaning toward returning the Hatch Pop Kit; I’m not really liking the force required to close the hatch. I’ll give it a week.

A Day In The Life

0) Rainy Forecast

Welcome back to the Pacific Northwest. Oooh, Friday looks nice…

1) Buy Creamer

My first stop this morning was to buy some Dunkin’ creamer at the only place in town that still sells it. First Fred Meyer quit, then Albertsons, followed quickly by Safeway.

2) Salted Caramel Latte

This will brighten my day. Stop #2 is practically across the street from Target and something I have greatly missed, a Salted Caramel Latte from Stomping Grounds.

3) Return Wrong Drill Bit

Before heading off on my latest adventure, I had purchased a step drill bit for a GTI mod, but it wouldn’t fit into where I needed it to. Time to get my $8 back.

4) Haircut

I was long overdue for a cut. My usual period between trims is every 4 weeks, but I was at six. What little hair I still have left starts to be unruly after a month.

5) Drop Off Land’s End Return

Another pre-trip purchase that needed returning was a pair of pants from Land’s End that didn’t fit. When I first went into Kohl’s, I headed straight for the Amazon Returns counter. They told me it was at the regular Kohl’s return area. When I got there, they said, “No, it is back at the Amazon counter.” Back I went, and after much conversation I finally convinced the person behind the counter to scan the QR code. Bingo.

6) Return Another Drill Bit

The second drill bit was too long as well. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get that aftermarket clutch pedal stop in there.

7) I’ve Got Mail

I went and looked in my mailbox, and it was stuffed. The postal folks just jammed the mail in my mailbox. 4 catalogs, 5 weekly fliers, 4 Christmas cards, a jury summons for Donna, and a crap ton of pleas to donate something to somebody. Last time they just ditched this stuff.

Fairview, OR

I’m back home after five weeks away, but I can’t get too comfortable, as I’ll be here for five weeks before flying off for four weeks. This leg of the drive home was probably the worst driving of the whole trip. It was 370-ish miles of I-84, and the last half of that was in a steady, heavy rain. Think more 18-wheelers than you can shake a stick at, and all of them creating additional spray behind and on all sides, which enhances the lack of visibility. Heaven forbid you come up behind one passing the other…

On the first third of the journey, I was hopping off and on the interstate, grabbing the half dozen post offices that were left that are right off I-84. Weirdly, the number in the file name of the post offices has reached 312, but Google Maps thinks I have 313 in the List labeled “Found Post Offices.” I thought I had synced those numbers a while back. Maybe it’s a good time to audit it again.

Ontario, OR


 
I left the hotel in Utah before dawn, and after about 20 miles into Idaho along I-84, I noticed the sky starting to lighten and change color. This time, unlike the start in Santa Fe, I decided to pull off and take a picture. As I exited the car, I looked back, and it was even better than what I saw to my left. Hover over the image to see.

I’m finally back in my home state, and I should be home tomorrow after leaving 38 days ago. Because I am, it was time to go post office hunting. So, instead of taking the direct route, I got off of the Interstate at Hammett and started backroads to skirt around Boise to the south. And in a happy accident of this, I stumbled on the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park. I had the place pretty much to myself and spent about an hour in the park. Because I’m weird, I even opted to climb to the top of one of the dunes that is about 40-50 feet high. It was a very good workout that shook the dullness out of the legs from sitting in a car.

How do you turn what was supposed to be a 320-mile drive into one that just clicks past the 500-mile mark? Go get the furthest south post office in the eastern part of the state before turning north to get back where you should have been. That’s how.