Hi, Folks! Alan here. Been a long time since I posted, but peer pressure (in this case, from my closest parent peer) has beaten me once again! 😜

Three weeks ago (6/29), Eve and I went to DC to show her passport to someone in the Swedish Embassy in person. They said she had to come in for biometrics (fingerprints, pictures, etc.), but the lady we saw there said they changed the policy and now want her to do that in Gothenburg after she arrives. So, the question remains if we really had to do all this just to show a passport to someone in the Embassy in person, but it seems as such.

Anyway, we made a really good time of it. We flew down early Thursday morning to give us plenty of time for delays or other curveballs.

… like wandering around until the museums open. We walked past the museums, the monument to Washington’s willy, and stopped at the WWII memorial. At this sight, Eve said, “What would stop me from putting my dogs in there.” I said, “A lack of dogs on hand?”

I guess neither of us cared to take any more pictures, so I’ll sum up the exfil. Our Lyft dropped us at Budget, and they happily got us in our car about 30 minutes before the scheduled pickup time. From there, we headed north, but not before stopping for pretzels and coffee. It took us an absurd amount of time to find the pretzel place in a big, weird, indoor/outdoor mallish/shopping-area thing. So confusing to our tired brains! But we got it done together.

Then, it was off to Rosy’s for an absolutely lovely night’s sleep. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the locals because Rose worked the night shift that night and Joyce was off playing Navy in the Mediterranean. Regardless, whenever you are passing through Bingo, I highly recommend a hotel collier.

Several hours of driving later and we were all done. It was a great trip, and we both enjoyed it in the end. It would have been nice to not have to do it, but I’m glad we did, and I think Eve is too.

Eve would never forgive me if I didn’t mention Six of Crows. That’s the book she required us to listen to on the road, and I highly recommend it. Also, she will secretly hold a grudge against you if you don’t read it (and then you will have no choice but to read the sequel, which I just started.)

So, I picked up a Nissan Leaf on Monday.  If you are like me, and 90%+ of your trips are less than 80mi, If you have a second car for trips over 80mi, go get one now.  Nissan Dealers have end of quarter numbers they have to meet to get a big bonus which usually puts them in the black, and the lease deals are sick right now.  Even Consumer Reports recommends the lease on these which is nearly unheard of.

I got the Leaf S, which is the lowest trim level.  I was surprised it did not include cruise control, but not a big deal for my use of car that does <80mi on a round trip anyway. There are a few other things in the SV and SL models I’d like to have, but nothing worth the extra money to me.  Overall, the S is a super nice car with plenty of niceties; certainly it has everything I really need.  If you are interested, feel free to give me a call and I can break down the options for you and probably answer most of your questions.  =)  I have been studying these for years and watching the lease deal for months, waiting to get enough equity in my Prius, and just the right timing.  It all finally came together!

[Start boring details.]

If you are interested, find some where with some 2013 still in stock and they are very likely to make you a great deal. I traded in my 2005 Prius for a Leaf S with the same monthly payment ($226/mo).  With less than $2000 in equity (trade value minus amount remaining on the loan) on the Prius, I paid absolutely $0 to the dealer up front and they cut me a check for over $1000 to cover the VT taxes.  All I had to cover is a registration fee of about $41.  After 35 payments (that’s right, they even covered the first payment), I can buy it out for about $12.5k, trade it in for something at the dealer, or pay $395 to walk away assuming no significant damages beyond normal ware and tear.  Miles over 36k is only cost $0.15 but I don’t expect to do more than 24kmi in 3 years.  (They have a 45kmi option if you need it.)  All that on a car that has an MSRP of almost $30k.

This totally cash-flow positive for me.  Same-payment, only I get to skip one.  The electricity to run it should be less than 3/4 the cost to gas a 45mpg Prius at today’s prices (we will be lucky if it only doubles in the next 5 years) and maintenance is practically nothing: rotate the tires every 7500mi (which I do myself) and get the battery checked once a year.  Full manufacturer warranty on everything else for the life of the lease, and then some on most of it.  Sure beats the expect maintenance on a Prius (which is very low relatively), not to mention the unexpected issues of a car over 8 years old (again, relatively low on a Prius, but still.)

You could pay up to $2000 to have a charger installed at home, but it can be done cheaper.  Maybe more to come on that some day, but for now, the 110v cable that comes with it is sufficient for my needs since I’m just topping off each day for the most part and the land lord at my office said it was OK to plug in there as needed too.  I do want to get something dedicated at the house though since it is becoming tedious to pull out the cable every time I get home, and then pack it up again when I leave.  It will be much nicer to have something I can just leave behind and keep the cable that came with it in the car for occasional charging at work, etc.

[End boring details.]

Tessa finally had a chance to drive it Saturday and is pleased with it.  The basic function is pretty much the same as the Prius, so there is no learning curve to just get in it and go.  Of course, the kids love it!  Lex says, “Yeah, a brand new Nissan Leaf?  I sure would like to set the clock in that thing.”

In conclusion, As the song the kids want to hear every time we get in it says (and yes I count myself among the “kids” in that statement), happiness resides in an electric car. =)

Spoiler alert: if you have not seen Star Trek: The Motion Picture, what’s wrong with you? No, I mean, this will ruin the ending for you if you keep reading.  So, correct yourself by going and watching it now.  It is not the greatest movie by any stretch, and not the best of the ST movies by far, but it gets better as it goes and has a great ending… if you are a space geek. Plus, it is fun to MST3K some of the effects and excessively long fly-by sequences.  Of course, it helps if you are a fan of the original series. That said, if you are still reading, you do so at your own risk.  So, Lex and I cuddled up on the couch and watched it Saturday night, and when the big reveal of V’Ger comes at the end, he nailed it!  I whispered, “There it is! Do you recognize it?” “I don’t think so,” he said. “You’ve seen it before,” I assured him quietly. After many seconds of silence, but well before they showed the tarnished label, he said, “maybe they are just mispronouncing Voyager.” My bursting geek pride almost launched him across the room!  All the pains of parenting are worth it for moments like this.  Of course, you have to be a space geek to appreciate this particular moment, but both of us are, so such things work out well. =)

Here’s a hint: is has a lot to do with how much liquid has gone in and out of that glass.  ;-p

I’ve decided those are the 2 most important words regarding birthdays.  I know there are some of you out there who still wallow in the delusion that birthday cake is some decadent gift from god, but you people clearly haven’t had these cookies.  See the recipe below?  That’s what I’m talking about.  Alton Brown (the geeks’ cook) took the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe and modified it three times for three variations, including this one known as “chewy”.  Tessa took this and modified it slightly by adding pecans (on my request), and dark chocolate chunks instead of chips.  These things are heavenly.  But at 5 Weight Watcher’s PointsPlus points each, they are also evil.  For comparison, there is more enjoyment in each one of these cookies than can be found in an entire birthday cake.  And an entire birthday cake has far many more points with the enjoyment spread over many days.  I am a strong believer in moderation with food, so if you are going to eat something that’s technically bad for your body in fairly small amounts, it’s best best get the most out of every bite.  With that said, I reiterate, F|_|(|{ Cake.  Long live birthday cookies.

As I write this, Tessa is out at a school board meeting and Lex is upstairs reading bedtime stories to Eve.  Now, I have to to break it up for bed time. =)  These kids just melt me and astound me.

Lex and Eve have always
been soft babies. So much so, that other parents regularly
comment on our much softer Lex and Eve are than
their own kids. We give most of the credit to Burt’s Bees Baby Bee
Buttermilk Soap. The fact that we also bath our kids
almost every day (which most parents find excessive and
rightfully so) doesn’t hurt either.

Anyway, Lex is soft and was
softer as a baby, but he always had the gecko hands and feet:
moist and grippy, almost adhesive,
very useful for getting around, particularly for running and
climbing, usually on me. On the other hand, er, the other
child… particularly the hands and feet there of… the palms
of Eves hands and soles of her feet are stunningly soft. When
she comes over and puts her hand on my arm or leg, it often
feels as if I am numb where she is touching. I can feel a
slight pressure from her gentle touch, but she is
so soft, I feel nothing else. It would be creepy if I was not so
familiar with the source. As it is, after a few seconds, I have
to remind myself to breath.

It would seem that toddlers and savage
beasts have something in common besides the typical behaviour:
music soothes them. We recently returned from a family shopping
trip around 8PM, and as he often does when tired, Lex said he
wanted to stay in the car and listen to music. So, I let him
stay there while I put the groceries away and I checked on him
once in a while to see if he was still happy strapped in to his
car seat. Each time he indicated he’d like to stay.

Finally, I finished the groceries and some
other minor puttering, and it was time for Lex to come in and
go to bed. He was resistant, and he was so calm and sweet that
I was reluctant to force him. Then it occurred to me that with
about 5 minutes of effort, I could have him lying in the “big
bed” with the some music playing. I asked him if he wanted to,
he said yes. I asked him which CD he wanted from the car,
grabbed it, him, and the audio equipment, and within minutes,
he was happy and calmly lying in the big bed, with Mr. Diamond
sweetly crooning him to sleep.

Ever
since then, he has been happily, if not emphatically, going to
bed for naps and the night. The only exception was when he
uttered the title of this post. One can only imagine he had
something other than sleep on his mind. You know, like
memorizing more words to his favorite song: Bank Job. Get out
of the gutter. =p