September 24, 2017

I bought a used Audi this year, and so far, it has been an interesting ride.  I thought after five months of ownership, I should make a note of what the experience has been like.

First, let me say it has been a blast!  Also a learning experience - lol.

I got the car fairly cheap, knowing it needed maintenance, so some of the things I've had to deal with have just been deferred maintenance issues. While the cost of four new tires was not cheap, I knew that when I bought the car, and it was factored into the purchase price.  As a side note to anyone reading this, new tires do not increase the price of a car; but poor tires certainly lower the price you are able to get!

Rear brakes were another item that needed doing - I wasn't aware of that when I bought the car. But when the new tires went on, I was able to see that the rear rotors were looking pretty sad, and that rear pads were needed. I took the easy way out, and just replaced both the rear pads and rotors.  This may not have been a job I planned on doing, but it falls under normal wear and tear, so I don't feel it was an unreasonable expense.

I've read some horror stories about these cars and oiling problems, especially the turbo cars (which mine isn't!), so I decided to switch to synthetic oil - a bit more costly, but it does have an extended service interval to help offset the cost.  Since the bulk of my driving is on the highway, a little extra protection doesn't hurt!  Plus the car has a chance to fully come up to temperature which should help prevent any sludge buildup.  So far, the downside has been oil leaks - apparently a known Audi problem. So tracking them down, and having them fixed, has been an annoying and unanticipated event. This has been my only real complaint about the car so far.

I have had a few odd repairs to take care of - things that I had never thought would be an issue in a modern car.  The windshield washer pump quit - the first time I have had to replace a pump since some of the 1970's cars I owned.  I needed to replace a headlight linkage that connects the headlight adjustment module to the suspension of the car so that the lights will adjust how they are aimed according to the load in the car.  A cool feature, but disconcerting when you drive the car the first time at night and discover the lights are basically pointing down instead of ahead! Fortunately, the part was still available at the dealer - a bonus when dealing with a seventeen year old car!  The other odd repair has been to replace the outside mirror because it was leaking.  It turns out that the outside mirror is not only just heated, but also auto-dimming.  Well, until the auto-dimming fluid starts leaking out.  Thank goodness for eBay!

Other than that, there have just been a few things that any used car may have wrong with them. A license plate bulb that needs replacing, one of the interior light bulbs needs replacing, and a new set of windshield wipers.

Still to come, I will need a set of winter tires. I am actually looking forward to winter, and snow, to see how well the car works.

One of the reasons I bought the car is that it is a quattro model, and should be sure-footed in snow and winter driving.  My daily work commute is 75km each way, so being safe on the highway is pretty important to me!

September 19, 2017

Organization is the bane of my existence.

I am much enamored with the idea of being organized, and having a place for everything, and everything in it's place. But, alas, I fear that is not to be.

Part of it, I am sure, is never having developed the habit in the first place. I have a theory that being messy, and still being able to find things, goes hand in hand with having a good memory. But I'm not sure which comes first; if having a good memory enables you to be unorganized and messy, and still function; or if being messy and unorganized forces you to develop a good memory.

Interestingly, there have been some studies that seem to indicate that mankind is undergoing a change in how we remember things.  Apparently, with the rise of the internet, and the vast amounts of information on it, people are now less likely to remember the actual information but instead remember where to find it.

Which is, I suppose, very similar to what people used to do with personal libraries.  The biggest difference, in my way of thinking, is that the internet is in many ways ephemeral. Whereas a library, filled with books, is a lot less technology dependent. For instance, books still work during power outages and other disruptions.

Not that books are immune to damage, far from it.  Water and fire can render them totally useless, as can cheap materials used in their creation.

Now, if you will excuse me, I feel the need to organize my books.