Speaking of going on vacation...you should see the list of food I packed. I'll have to post it later. It's like we're going across on a voyage across the ocean in the 1500's.
The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)
- Thread starter SatNavSaysStraightOn
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I haven't driven a Mazda 3. I forgot that you like to rent the smallest car available.
Heads up display of your speed is handy, IMO. No reason to look down at a speedometer in the dash -- you can keep your eyes on the road.
CD
It was larger than what we reserved, but there's a serious shortage of rental cars these days. They called us at 7 in the AM today to see if we still wanted a car, which we did, and when we got there, it was literally the only car they had.
It's not all that small, really. It's the 5-door hatchback. It looks like a shoe. It's bigger than my wife's 4-door Civic.
I have to say, though...it's loaded. It's got everything on it. All that driver assist stuff, heated seats, heated steering wheel, headlights automatically dip, automatically locks and unlocks...I hate all that stuff.
It was larger than what we reserved, but there's a serious shortage of rental cars these days. They called us at 7 in the AM today to see if we still wanted a car, which we did, and when we got there, it was literally the only car they had.
It's not all that small, really. It's the 5-door hatchback. It looks like a shoe. It's bigger than my wife's 4-door Civic.
I have to say, though...it's loaded. It's got everything on it. All that driver assist stuff, heated seats, heated steering wheel, headlights automatically dip, automatically locks and unlocks...I hate all that stuff.
When I travel for business, I typically get what the rental car companies call a full-size car, but I would call a mid-size. I prefer a car with a lockable trunk (boot) to keep my camera gear safely locked up.
However, if I have points for an upgrade, or there is a car on the Gold Member's row that I want to try out, I'll go with that. I have picked a Ford Escape Hybrid a couple of times. That is a nice driving car/SUV crossover. Upgrades are usually a Mercedes, Jaguar, or Infinity at Hertz, where I have the most points. That, or a Mustang convertible if I am someplace with nice top-down weather.
In Houston, I usually get a full-size pickup, which is usually a Chevy or RAM that is pretty loaded. My family always has work for me to do that requires multiple trips to Home Depot.
For a long trip on the Interstates, I couldn't stand renting a small car. I don't take my MINI CooperS on those trips, either. Now, on a long trip down winding country roads, the MINI is fun, but on long, straight Interstates, it is NOT fun.
CD
Ok, here we go:
Bottle of wine
Two bottles of beer
Six bottles of water
Munchos
Snack mix
Mixed nuts
Potato sticks
Two sleeves of crackers
6 fun-size gummy packs
18 fun-size M&M packs
3 fun-size cereal packs
Sleeve of jammie dodgers
Box of 70 tea bags
Grapes
Apples
Oranges
Miscellaneous raw veggies
Salami
Pepperoni
Ham
Three kinds of cheese cubes
A 1/2-gallon of apple cider
A thermos of tea (making that tomorrow)
Geez, are we driving 8 hours tomorrow or moving for good?!
rascal
Forum GOD!
You reminded me of a movie about a family going on holiday in murica, very entertaining. Lol.We're going on a driving vacation starting tomorrow, gone about 11 days to scout a potential retirement location about a day's drive away.
We chose to rent a car this time, as both our cars are getting a little age on them, and it's nice to put miles on someone else's car for a change. It's always fun to get a different/new car for a few days, but more recently, with all the extra electronic options added to cars, it's getting frustrating trying to figure out how to simply drive the thing.
Keyless entry and start...ok, that's not so new, but it's something I'm not used to, since neither of my cars have that, and I always spend 20 seconds after I first get in the car looking for the ignition slot, and 20 seconds after I park it, looking for the key to turn and pull out of the ignition slot.
Then it's figuring out how to unlock and open fuel cap cover. Sometimes it just opens, sometimes it locks, sometimes there's a release on the floor...or the dash...or the console...or sometimes it's like this one, you just push straight down on it and it softly opens. Glad I asked the rep at the agency, because I would have never figured that out.
Then there's making sure the A/C controls look reasonable, and onto the nav/entertainment system. When I started the car, it was playing...something, and I had to start randomly pressing button and turning knobs before I found the set that controlled the system, as nothing has, you know, words on it to explain what it is, just hieroglyphics that mean next to nothing to me. On top of that, the nav screen is made to look like it has touchscreen controls on it...but it ain't touchscreen, I can attest to that.
On the way home, I wanted to make sure I could get the speed control to work, because I always use that, and we have a full day of interstate/motorway driving tomorrow. Thankfully, cruise control systems are all the same, right? Turn the system on, get to the speed you want, press the set button, press cancel or tap the brake to cancel it, right?
Wrong.
This one has a multi-function switch that can be pushed, or toggled up and down, and it's set inside another switch that can be pressed. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how in the world to set it. It would come on, then no matter how I toggled, pressed, or twisted the knobbies, the little jerk refused to cooperate, and just made a bleating sheep-like sound to register its mocking disapproval.
Quick check of the glove box revealed, wonder of wonders, the owner's manual, which I think in the hundreds of cars I've rented over the years, might be just the second time I've seen one in a rental. No problem, I'll check that when I get home.
Just started to relax and...oh, let me scooch around this squirrel that's in my lane, no worries, no other cars within miles, nice backroad, and...WHAM-BAM-SHIMMY-LIMMY-DING-DONG!!!...the steering wheel began to violently shake, and the dashboard lit up like a fireworks display. WHAT! THE! F...?!?!
After I finished emptying my bowels and bladder and recovering from my heart attack, I guessed that maybe the car has some of that new CAB (Crash Avoidance Bullsh..) that I've seen in car ads. Turns out I was right. No worries, good ol' owner's manual will sort that out.
Got home, went into the glove box to get the owner's manual, and I found I needed two hands to lug it out and into the house. 636 pages, and no, that's all in English, not padded by including copies in various other languages. Oh well, I'm sure I'll figure it out.
Cruise control...cruise control...here we go, "How To Set The ASCAAS" - one question...what's ASCAAS? Keep reading, Tasty...
"To activate the ASCAAS <I guess that's their proprietary name for 'cruise control'>, ensure the vehicle is moving in a forward-like direction, at least 20mph, and press once the ASCAAS MCS (see page 2-17 for MCS information). Note the ASCAAS activation icon now displays on the MFDU in the lower-right corner and may optionally display on HUDADU, if so equipped (see pages 2-19 through 2-22 for MFDU information, and pages 2-27 through 2-30, 4-117, and 8-44 for HUDADU information)."
Eventually, I figured out the cruise control by going for another drive and angrily smashing all the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel at once, which managed to set the speed, so it's some combination of toggling and pressing that did the trick, because now that seems to work every time.
I did discover that the earthquake-like shaking was indeed due to my temporary crossing of the center lane to save that poor squirrel, and I also discovered how to shut that crap off - so no blind spot warning, driver nodding off warning, lane encroachment warning, braking assist, parking assist, night blindness assist, rear traffic warning, oncoming traffic warning for me. I'm going to have to take my chances by actually, you know, driving the car. Imagine that.
Next up, I have to work out how to lower the brightness of dashboard lights. There must be a cluster of unlabeled buttons I can smash that does that.
Hope it goes better for you than the movie.
Russ
Timenspace
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We had our morning temp down to 2c yesterday,and daily 16 c.
Mornings are for a winter cap.
Yorky
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Lullabelle
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We are having lovely weather at the moment, warmish wand sunny.
Rocklobster
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Rain today..good day to stay after work and strip and seal the shop floors...then go tomorrow and put more coats of sealer on it...
I've been fighting thatYou reminded me of a movie about a family going on holiday in murica, very entertaining. Lol.
Hope it goes better for you than the movie.
Russ
car all day today. Headlights are weird, wipers are completely abnormal (and it rained all day), and it took me about four hours to figure out the climate system, and the nav system is beyond complicated. I'm sure it'd be fine if I actually owned the thing, sat down with the manual, and spent an afternoon going through all the settings and getting everything just so to my liking, but as a rental, something you're supposed to just hop in and take off down the road, it's a
impossibility. Here's the hotel, though, a Hilton Home2Suites, a somewhat newer one of their brands:
It's very spartan, almost European-like, and the kitchenette is well-kitted, including one of those induction burners you see in so many YT videos now. It even has a proper dishwasher, and the fridge is nearly full-sized.
We've driven my 500 all over. Several trips to Ohio Amish country, that's about three hours each way, a week-long road trip once, we've driven it to Philly twice, that's like 8-9 hours each way, and I can't count the number of times we've driven it to St. Louis, which is six hours each way.
It's too old for that now, closing in on 180K miles and rides like it. As my brother once remarked after getting out of it, "Son, that's rough as a cob!"
Our hotel snacks:
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