Best Of

I finally brought in the fuel log from the Sportage and uploaded it to my spreadsheet.

In the almost 9 months she's had the car, my stepdaughter is averaging about 30.5 MPG - far less than the EPA estimates. I suspect this is because a majority of her driving is done on the highway, which lessens the impact of the hybrid drivetrain.

And also - according to my wife, who rides shotgun with her - she has a lead foot. I've put every tank of gas into the car so far, and on the short drive home, I can get the in-car MPG meter to get up to 33-34 MPG, using EV mode exclusively in our housing development. Somehow, I suspect my stepdaughter isn't feathering the gas enough to enable EV mode a whole lot when not on the highway.

I'm putting 91 octane into it, and the most I've spent per gallon is $3.82, the least $2.94. A tank lasts approximately 3 weeks, so far, and she'll put just over 6000 miles on it in the first year.

I've been tracking the mileage of the Outback since I became the primary driver towards the end of 2019, and we're getting about 21 MPG since then. The worst tank was just under 18MPG; the best, a touch over 24.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oh, yeah; I was thinking a III or IV, but now that I look a little closer, I don't think the rear roof line supports either of those as viable options. That settles it: You need to get a tour so you can steal a peek under that cover!

Too late, already sold, and quickly for a unique place. It looks old but it isn't, a modern structure in a craftsman chalet style that was popular here, mimicking a nearby historic house. It's all garage/shop on the lower floor, living quarters on the second floor - ideal car nut house of indeterminant square footage. On a larger than average sized lot for this area even though it is built kinda close to the house next door, and the realtor is a bit flowery about the location (it's a nice neighborhood, but "enclave" is a bit odd - maybe another dingaling using AI), sold for just over list at 680K - Spokane market continues to be healthy. Big Doc Brown's garage vibes here:





https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2621-E-19th-Ave-Spokane-WA-99223/23530195_zpid/

I second the idea about putting up an ad for free wood - I know locally you'd get rid of it in no time.

I'm contemplating just cutting all the limbs off, and maybe cutting some of upper part of the trunk off, and then tying a heavy rope to it the rest, running it around another tree back in the woods, and tying it to my uncle's 4wd Colorado and see if that would pivot it back into the brush at the edge of the woods.

I asked Alexa, and she said roughly 4000-5500 lb. I thought it would be heavier. Anyway, in my mind, I'm thinking it *might* work, since I'm not actually dragging the full weight of it, but rather pivoting it. Or, is this a potential "Hold mah beer and watch THIS!" moment?

I would definitely plan to cut it into roughly 8'-10' lengths (I usually just walk three paces between cuts) before trying to move the logs. Can't really tell how big that tree is at the base, but I'd try to estimate on the upper end, so maybe 200# per foot at the base, if it is something like 24" across.

Yeah, you might get away with a longer cut, but I'd definitely try to limit the weight to about 2000# per section that you're trying to move. Since the truck itself is not on the best surface for good friction, and the log will have a whole lot of friction if you're trying to drag it sideways, a pulley attached to a tree would half the weight to assist the truck.

Maybe take some smaller pieces (firewood sized) and fill the back of the truck in order to give the truck better traction. Also consider using a kinetic rope if you have access to it to help give some torque multiplication to start it moving. Very doable!