Adventures on the Journey
We celebrated Valentines Day on a rock wall. Several other climbers were jealous of my personal cheering squad as I scooted up the rock walls.
But I wasn’t the only one getting cheers. Once we discovered the right technique for her, Kayla had a lot of fun climbing up, and down, up and down the wall.
Tomorrow, there’s a good chance I’ll be wearing my crampons at the top of Mt. Si. It’s been a long time since they’ve been buckled to the bottom of a pair of boots.
I even included a “Michigan” photo.
Surprise surprise. Microsoft SYNC doesn’t suck. It is far from perfect, but it is one of my favorite Fusion features.
It did not start out that way. I became acquainted with SYNC when the car salesman tried to show me how easy it is to sync with my Bluetooth equipped phone. When he resorted to the manual, I politely steered the conversation elsewhere. When he got busy filling out paperwork, I skimmed the 78 page manual and paired my iPhone and uploaded all my contacts.
Then I tried to use the voice activated calling feature. “Call Jennifer Simerson,” I would say. And it would pick some other person from my 548 contacts and start calling them. Grrrrrrr. Finally I figured out that the sync process was a bit retarded. Microsoft’s NIH syndrome keeps them using reference implementations of standards like OBEX and SyncML. They write their own, get it badly wrong, make some fixes, and eventually arrive at something usable. They weren’t there yet when my car left the factory.
After calling the wrong party a couple dozen times, I finally deduced that when it imported my contacts, it mapped them all last name first. And it also included middle names. If a contact had a middle name, I could not call them without saying their middle name in the voice command. After a few days, I figured out how to call home, “Call Simerson R**** Jennifer.”
Then I discovered the version 1.2 update. Duh, it’s from Microsoft. Of course. It needs an update! I downloaded the update and installed it but it didn’t help. Days later, insight struck. It’s from Microsoft. You can’t just install it the update. You also have to reboot! So I performed a “Master Reset” of the SYNC system. Then I re-paired my phone to it and had it sync all my contacts. Voila! All my contacts synced properly. I can call home by saying, “Call Jennifer Simerson.”
The handsfree functionality works superbly. Talking while driving is now fun and much safer. I predict that in another decade, every car will have this functionality. My kids will be hard pressed to remember a car that didn’t have phone integration built-in.
SYNC also supports text messaging via Bluetooth, but it doesn’t work with the iPhone. Yet.
“The Fusion rides and handles very well, again thanks to the sound Mazda platform. Steering feel is fine, brakes are excellent, handling is good, but limited by the 16-inch tires.”– Orlando Sentinel
I took a test Fusion from the dealership over to a nice wet freeway ramp with a 90 degree entrance. I aimed for the inside of the curve under wide open throttle, trying to bust the tires loose and drift across the lane. The Fusion grabbed hard and true and we launched out onto the freeway without a hint of tire slippage. Inside, Jen let out her ‘there he goes again’ sigh while I and the car salesman wore big wide grins.
The traction control system worked so perfectly that I didn’t even notice it. Except that the tires never broke loose. I briefly considered turning off the traction control so I could have a little oversteering fun. But it was so unobtrusive and effective that I left it in control.
Having driven my Fusion for a week, I still love how it handles. It brings back fond memories of driving a Miata. Minus the wind and road noise.
“Overall, the Fusion is engaging. It tracks steady and true on twisty roads and flatters the driver in a way that the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry can’t.” — Road and Track.
Where my SHO and Jetta both had very predictable oversteer, the Fusion is wonderfully balanced. There is no tendency towards over or understeer. I suspect I’d have to turn off the traction control to achieve either. The steering wheel is incredibly responsive. There’s no slosh and no twitchiness, just a subtle anxiety to act upon my intentions. The car holds straight and true through the curves without even a hint of body roll. The Fusion longs for that next twisty stretch of road.
“The Ford Fusion we recently tested didn’t rocket to 60 mph with any urgency, and didn’t have the most dramatic styling, but the Fusion still left everyone who drove it thoroughly impressed.” — Motor Trend
Unlike Motor Trend, I got the V6. Unlike the Sentinel, I got the 17″ wheels. The Fusion doesn’t have the catchy appearance of some cars so there was no love at first sight. But it didn’t take long for us to be “thoroughly impressed.”
Options:
Mine for $15,999.
It’s time to clean up the Jetta and say goodbye.
In the last 4 months, the U.S. job market has shed nearly 2 million jobs. As of 2005, there were 125 million people employed. Our economy has shed 1.6% of it’s work force and the numbers grow weekly.
Obama’s trillion dollar recovery plan aims to create 3 to 4 million jobs. At the current rate of job losses, will it be enough?
Yesterday, UPS called to inform us they’d be delivering a package today that required an adult signature. UPS delivered one package, but not the one requiring the signature. I check their web site and the expected package has received an “Exception” due to “Adverse Weather Conditions.” It’s not even raining!
I have wanted an Apple TV since shortly after they came out. I read the articles about how to hack them and was interested in poking around under the hood. During Apple’s black friday promotion, the Apple TV was discounted enough to pay my sales tax. I bought one.
Since then I’ve come to really appreciate the addition to my living room. There were several things about the Apple TV that I didn’t realize. In addition to storing and playing my iTunes library from its local disk, it also streams iTunes music to my stereo system. Voila, I no longer need the Airport Express in the living room.
I had also forgotten that the Apple TV would sync with my iPhoto library. While playing with it the first night, the screen saver kicked on and photos from my computer were gracefully sliding across my screen. As I watched, I recalled researching LCD picture frames. For any of them under $100, I’d have to specially format my photos and then transfer them to the frame. The AppleTV syncs them wirelessly from my computer and scales them automatically.
The value of the photo feature was manifested over the Christmas holidays. We had a Christmas party for family, and then a birthday party for Ricardo. During both we had the photos playing. Having them play in the background evoked many memories and sparked many conversations. It also sparked several, “how are you getting your photos on the TV” conversations. They couldn’t believe it could be that easy or fun. Oops, I just boosted my Apple stock a bit. 😉
Finally, the Apple TV motivated me to do something I hadn’t yet. I have quite a few DVD movies stored on my file server. I started ripping them all to mp4 and dropping them into my iTunes library. After adding them into iTunes, they automatically sync to the AppleTV. Now I have a library of movies available in the living room and the DVDs are safely away from harm (Kayla) and mayhem (Lucas).
And can barely remember the urge to crack it open and start tinkering. I like it just the way it is.
As 2008 draws to a close, I’m thrilled to report that our home in Dallas is not just sold, but closed. The funds were wired into our account earlier today. We could not have ended the year on a better note.
Actual press clippings:
Actual storm details:
I’m posting because my friends in Michigan, who have been getting feet of snow dumped on them, needed a good laugh.
In all seriousness, the weather did change last week. We got a little bit of ice and snow. Enough that I drove to work instead of riding my bicycle. Here’s a photo taken during the worst of the “storm.”
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