Who is the mascot?

rapids

Ben (our 13-year-old) and I had a great Sunday afternoon bonding experience. We were given tickets to a Colorado Rapids soccer game.

The seats were very close to the opponent’s goal, during the second half. We had the pleasure of seeing the only goal from very close. That made me glad we were in a country that does not value soccer (“football”, for the rest of the world). If we had been in England or Benin, it would have been difficult to be that close to the action.

So anyways – Ben and I noticed that the Rapids have no clear mascot. Roughly seven different “animals” were seen in costumes around the edge of the field. Time to get a real mascot, I say.

Takeaway: If you live in Colorado, going to a Rapids game is a great way to see a live sporting event without taking out a second or third mortgage. If you live near another major North American city, check our your city’s soccer team. You might enjoy a fun (and different) outing!

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You can’t keep everything

r-plate-art

Rachel created this lovely piece of art. My urge was to keep it. Somewhere. Instead, I “kept” it by taking this photo.

When I was a kid, we didn’t create as much art as kids do today. My parents were blessed by not having to face the dilemma of which of the many many pieces of art to hang on to.

By the time we reached child number three (Rachel), we collected even less. That’s one of those unfairness-of-life things. But since she’s the most artistic of our kids, perhaps our rate of collection evened out.

Takeaway? Digitize.

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A face only a mother could love

acura-face

Acura went wrong, a few years back. They introduced this snake-like beak to the front of their vehicles. Now it’s on all their models.

It is positive to have unity in your family – but only if that unity is based around something good.

Admittedly, they must have chosen this new direction to distinguish themselves from the rest of car offerings. But different is not always good.

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Grow old, gracefully

anti-aging-spa

I had to laugh when I saw this business.

We are meant to age. It’s obviously good to try to present ourselves in the best way possible, but some of the most beautiful “older” people I know are those who aren’t trying to make themselves look way younger than they really are.

You know what I mean.

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Beating my mom

mother-mileage

Don’t get the wrong idea – I’m talking about a contest.

My family has always been into fuel economy. My dad started our focus by keeping track of fuel economy in a little book that stayed in the glovebox. Every time he filled the tank, he would figure out the gas mileage. My mom continued that tradition, all the way till just before she died, about twenty years after my dad passed away. I did it until I got married, about 20 years ago. Heather couldn’t be bothered with that habit, so I ditched it in the interest of fidelity.

We inherited my mom’s Toyota Corolla, due to the generosity of my three siblings. It’s a basic model – with a 3-speed automatic transmission – not the best fuel-saving option.

Mom got in the low-to-mid 20s. I have kept track since getting the car, and we have consistently gotten in the low 30s. Why? I can’t be sure – I hadn’t been in a car while she was driving since maybe high school. But I can tell you the ways I save fuel…

  • Treat the accelerator pedal like it’s your enemy. When you see a stop light ahead, immediately take your foot off the pedal. Anticipate slow-downs in traffic and take your foot off the pedal whenever you see a slow-down ahead.
  • Treat the brake pedal like it’s your enemy. Coast to a stop when possible.
  • Put it in neutral when you are going down a big hill. (Combining this with the brake-enemy measure may be dangerous. And try not to break the speed limit!)
  • If you’re at a traffic light that waits two minutes to change, shut your engine off before the beginning of the cycle. (At the end of the cycle, be sure to start it quickly enough that your neighbors behind don’t know you had it off!)
  • If you have a ski rack, take it off. Those sap mileage due to the aerodynamic drag they create.

I have many more tricks, but I didn’t want to take up your whole day.

I admit most of these measures are extreme. And they will require retooling your brain to make them work well. You will need to exercise caution at all times. When traffic is thick, you’ll have to quit doing most.

Have fun! Your results may vary.

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Celebrating the obscure

saab-engine

…In this case, Saab.

A loyal reader told how she appreciates that I celebrate obscure aspects of life in this blog. (Thanks for appreciating that, Johanna!) It’s true – I enjoy noticing and highlighting the oblique aspects of life that many others either don’t care about or gloss over.

While one sister and her family were visiting recently, we had to take them up to the mountains, to celebrate an aspect of Colorado that is not obscure – our beautiful mountains.

We chose a day trip to Copper Mountain, because their chair lifts run for free in the summer. That gave all of us an easy way to quickly enjoy incredible views. Two of our party were under four, so the lack of a long hike was a major benefit to them!

After we returned to the resort, I enjoyed savoring an obscure aspect of the automotive kingdom – Saabs. The company held its national convention at Copper that weekend. We got to see more Saabs in one place than is normally possible (outside of Sweden). Many came from their US headquarters in Michigan.

My favorite was an ancient station wagon. It so clean that you could eat a meal off the air cleaner cover. Though it was very small, there were three rows of seats. My fantasy machine kicked into gear – I thought how perfect it would be for our family car. But my logical side said that it really doesn’t get much better fuel economy than our Honda minivan. And I’d have to develop a close personal relationship with a Saab mechanic to keep that baby on the road.

Maybe when I get to heaven, I’ll be driving a prehistoric Saab.

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A bridge too far

hubby-hubby

Ben & Jerry’s just introduced this new flavor – Hubby Hubby.

Normally I’m for freedoms, but I can’t really go along with this particular celebration of that particular freedom.

Just from a marketing standpoint, I think they’re making a mistake – they may alienate some of their client base. (Then again, militant members of the GLBT community may make it a best-seller.)

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