Red Car

On my blog post of January 17, I sort of made fun of a friend who just goes into the car dealership, points at a red car, and says "I want that one".  Here is the red car we just bought.  But for us it was after a few weeks of research, etc.
It is 2020 Mazda CX-5.  Gerry would have you know it has a turbo, all wheel drive and 2000# towing capacity.  For me, it has so much computer stuff in it, that I say we are driving a computer.  But I will be able to find my car in the parking lot.

Last night we went to our favorite place to see a movie.   Lorain County Community College.  According to their site, "LCCC's film Series screens the world's finest art, independent, classic and foreign films..."  We have never seen a film there that we didn't love.  We saw the classic, "The Bridges of Madison County".

Inspiration from two sources

Sometimes it seems hard to find something interesting to write about.  My highlight today was taking a leisurely two mile walk on our country road.  The thing that made it so great was that the temperature was nearly 60 degrees.  For February 2 - what a treat. It just reminds me of how Spring and Fall feel.  Now to keep the feeling. 

On another topic, DH loves to collect quotes, which sometimes are on tee shirts.  He is not afraid to ask strangers if he can take a picture of their shirt. Recently after exercise class I saw this and asked to take a picture.  I doubt if I will do it frequently, but it was for DH.

Dogs, etc

Yesterday I went with Gerry to the "FRINGE" group he attends. A friend of ours came with her husband and their three greyhound dogs. She told about her dogs histories and how she communicates with them.  Another woman told of seeing a UFO including a picture she drew immediately after she saw it. These are examples of the topics that are shared.  The only requirement for attending the group is to have an open mind. Just listen to others, don't judge  but you don't need to believe what others believe.

On another topic, Gerry has received a CPAP machine.  He has slept with it one night.  It is amazing how it reads so much information about your breathing,  records it on the machine, then sends it out to where is monitored constantly.  I am just beginning to understand how it all works.

Car shopping

I have been looking at my past blogs.  I have discovered it is a journal of my life since 2007.  I hope to keep that idea in mind when I post going forward.  It is for others but for me too, so that will be a motivator. 

A lot of our energy in the last few weeks has been the shopping for a new car.  We have a friend who just goes to the dealership and says, " I want the red car in the back of the lot."  This is NOT how we buy a car.  Among other things it should have good reviews, be reliable, have low cost for any repairs, be able to tow at least 2,000 pounds, be fun to drive, have a turbo, have leather seats with electric adjustments, and be the right price.  The later usually means it is two or three years old.  Did I mention, it should be red?  Actually we have not decided on any color.

We are serious about one make and model which we will be test driving a few more times. But then maybe it will be another kind.  Stay tuned.   So no pictures yet.

County Parks

Our county has a wonderful park system which has 18 parks. In Ohio, if it is 50 degrees (10 celsius) it is a good day for hiking.
And yesterday was that.  It is monocolor but still gave me what I needed:  exercise, being outdoors, solitude, and finding photo opportunities. 

RIP Camry

Wow, when I looked at the last time I posted, I realized I could do better.   When we visited RM at Thanksgiving, our car, with 260,000 miles decided it was time to quit.  We were two hours out of DC when the transmission went out on the toll road.  Fortunately we found a man near us in Ohio who transports cars for a living. He drove four hours to load our car and take us home.  It was an interesting ride home riding four hours in a tow truck. (Don't tell him, but it was tiring listening to him talk nonstop.  But I should not complain because he did do us a big favor) We can drive it on short trips but wouldn't trust it for long ones.  So we are car shopping in earnest. 

Today we had invited friends over for a brunch.  Earlier they had left a message that the wife was sick and they could not come.  We did not learn that until the meal was about ready.  It turns out that we have friends next door who were willing to help out. 

Pots and Pans

Although G doesn't cook much, he has been very frustrated with the pans we have.  I do have a set of heavy stainless steel which cook evenly and then several "non-stick" pans.  The later are the cause of the frustration.  They are not "non-stick" and don't clean well.  A kitchen store near us is going out of business so we stopped in.  He found a small skillet, brand  Blue Diamond.  After using it a couple times he returned and purchases the last full set.  He was impressed when he fried an egg and it just slide off when he tipped the pan.

However there now is the  problem of an over crowded pan shelf.

We will use some in the camper, but still there needs to be some editing.