Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

c_hunter · September 2003

There's one outside of Richmond VA.

Craig

jfl · September 2003

Steve (fibber2) sorry I didn't reply sooner. Too busy trying to finalize arrangements with Frank's visit. Of course we look forward to seeing another Crew member out on the left coast.

Jim

ladywclass · September 2003

i'm feeling a little 'schizophrenic' in this discussion here .. .i come in from work and find almost FORTY posts for today alone ... and it goes back and forth from bruce's car/dealer problem to the suggested meeting of people ... LOL ... like a tennis match with opposing topics at each end of the court!

jlemole · September 2003

I was thinking the same thing, Brenda! What's even funnier is that the Town Hall home page had this listed as a "hot topic" yesterday. Imagine some newbie deciding to see what's going on in this "hot topic" and seeing a dozen posts about Frank, Kate, Ken and Jim (and Steve?) figuring out where to meet for dinner...:-)

I guess it goes to show how uniquely bonded we Subaru owners are by virtue of our beloved cars!

Jon

fibber2 · September 2003

Yep, it has been a strange week on this board! But the topic is "Meet the Members", so arranging for that is right on target, no???

Bruce, I really do feel for you. When I had problems with my dealer (HG issue), I too thought about pushing them to get out of this vehicle and into another. I talked briefly with the GM about it. But being realistic, I just couldn't see them breaking the basic economic rules and loosing much more than the costs of the repair. I looked at reasonable depreciation on my car (@ 15k miles) and still saw a gap of several thousand to get into a new one. I think you would be happiest in the long run if you took their offer and tried to put this behind you.

And now for something light and fun. Emily came home and showed us some of her class work (an essay):

I have a father.
His name is Steve
He drives a Subaru
He loves to drive his Subaru in the winter time the most.

Of course she got an "A"!!!

Steve

p0926 · September 2003

c_hunter · September 2003

Brilliant! What talent!!

Craig

hypov · September 2003

juice-
thanks for the Patti uodate too :-)

Patti-
Feel better and see ya soon

-Dave

jfl · September 2003

It's all about raising your kid right and giving them the right values. Steve, you're doin' great! (At least automotively.)

Probably see you in November.

Jim

paisan · September 2003

This is taken from a book I read about 10 years ago. VERY useful information. It's basically my bible of getting out of my 33tickets in 35 pullovers.

http://www.eecis.udel.edu/~mpellegr/speeding.htm

-mike

hondafriek · September 2003

I totally agree with Colins observations here, having been in exactly the same situation as you with a K car believe it or not many years ago.

I elected not to take a similar offer on a replacement car I insisted that I was paying no more money and that they fix my car to my satisfaction.

Short story was they never did get it right the offer lapsed and several months later I dumped the car against a used Honda and took an enormous loss.

  My advice is although it goes against the grain is suck it it up take the deal and a new trouble free car, the fault is neither Subaru's or an inferior car just the dork that worked on it.

  I am sure that you will fall in love all over again with a new WRX.

  Cheers Pat.

twrx · September 2003

My dealer did something right. The service department called in the fleet leasing manager to help fix my car. Huh? He was the Subaru mechanic when I bought my Forester in 1997. He was very good as a mechanic and got promoted to service manager then fleet manager. With him working on the transmission hopefully it will be fixed right.

subearu · September 2003

missed the chat. been sort of under the weather with my allergies - this week they decided to turn into a sinus infection.

some zithro and a decongestant - I'm on the mend now! 8-)

-Brian

hammersley · September 2003

Brian: My wife had the same thing, and it's going thru all three kids as we speak. Hang in there - it tends to be a bit stubborn, but the Z-pack and forcing yourself to take it easy will help.

Take a nap

Cheers!
Paul

kens · September 2003

Frank, Kate, Jim and I met up last evening for some dinner. I've posted a picture over in the Photo Gallery.

It was a great to put some more faces on names.

Naturally, we spoke on end about Subies, but Frank had quite a few speeding stories to share.

Steve -- you're next!

Ken

fibber2 · September 2003

Looking forward to it, Ken!!!

Steve

rsholland · September 2003

rsholland · September 2003

Still no electricity, and today the phones were out for about 6 hours too! Thanks Isabel. The generator is sure getting a good workout. The only reason I'm here right know is due to a 50' extension cord right from the generator to the computer.

If I seem a bit testy, please bear with me. This hurricane has put me in one foul mood.

Bob

ladywclass · September 2003

I have been worried about all you guys in the path of Isabel ... living on the Gulf Coast of Texas most of my life .. I've lived through my share of tropical storms and hurricanes ... they are nasty things ... and I'm glad to know you survived, Bob ... but the nastiness after the storm is AWFUL !!!

hammersley · September 2003

Hang in there, Bob & the rest... all the rest of us are keeping you in our thoughts & prayers... stay safe, y'hear? We went through a pretty substantial ice storm here a few years back... no fun at all!

Paul

rsholland · September 2003

I lived through that one too7 days without electricity. That's when I decided never again, and got a 6600 watt generator.

Bob

jlemole · September 2003

Something tells me I've made a grave mistake :-)

mrk610 · September 2003

Anybody have any problems signing onto the site.

Mike k

c_hunter · September 2003

Boy do I understand! We just got power back after losing it on Thursday around 1pm (about 72 hours). The main thing that bothered me was having no air conditioning (thankfully, it has "only" been in the mid to high 80s over the past few days -- could have been a lot worse if the temps were higher).

My wife and I (and the two cats) basically went on a camping trip in our own house over the past few days. Kept food in a cooler and cooked on the grill. Thanks to a gas hot water heater and city water, we had a little luxury. It was tough sleeping at night, however, with the warm house and noise from everyone else's generators, but that was the worst of it. We played board games and read by lantern light, and actually had a nice time without TV and the computer (who knew??). That said, I just love this air conditioning now!!

I will probably shop for a generator over the next few weeks, just to be prepared next time. My neighbors all ran out and bought noisy low-budget generators from Lowes, but I'm going to look for a quiet Honda generator that can power the air conditioner and run at night without keeping us awake.

Craig

rsholland · September 2003

I've got a 6600 watt Yamaha generator, that's hooked into the house via a circuit breaker panel. I've got my well, septic pump, furnace (which does our hot water too), a couple of kitchen outlets and a bathroom lite hooked into it, so we are squeaking by. My AC is not hooked into it. I was more concerned about losing power over the winter. We have hot water baseboard heating, so I did not want those pipes to freeze.

We live in a very wooded area. As a result there are trees and powerlines down all over the place. I would not be surprised if I'm still out for another 4  5 days. It's a real mess around here. The landfill was open today (Sunday) for the first time. I've heard it will be open until 8 every nite this week. It usually closes at 4. I made several trips there today with my trailer, helping a couple of neighbors.

Boy was I glad to have a traditional SUV with a low range. The landfill was pretty muddy and full of deep tire ruts. Pulling a loaded trailer full of wet branches & leaves (~ 2500 lbs.) was made much easier having that low range. Having said that, there was a Subaru Outback in their too, but with a much smaller trailer. He made it out okay.

I looked at Honda generators, but as you would expect, they're expensive. The Yamaha was a tad cheaper, so I went with it.

Bob (now 72 hours without electricity)

p0926 · September 2003

You can always count on Bob to work both low range gearing and towing capacity into one post ;-)

-Frank P.

P.S. Hope your power is restored soon but at least you had the foresight to buy a generator.

ladywclass · September 2003

Interesting to read about the generator .. we've been thinking of purchasing one also .. although we've had few power problems here, we are more concerned with losing heat in the winter due to a freeze also ... south bend has its share of cold, ice, and snow ..

lucien2 · September 2003

Neways Isabel was a non-event chez Lucien. Never lost power, or anything else. Downtown got wedgied by the storm surge pretty bad though...

cmuniz · September 2003

Mike - I had trouble logging in on Sunday, 9/21. It would not recognize username/password.

fibber2 · September 2003

Also living in a rural area (NY), I bought a Generac 4000xl a few years back, and used it in August's blackout. In addition to being very quiet (Nagano OHV 7.8hp engine, but now some have Honda engines), it is a fuel sipper. They claim 14 hrs at 50% load on the 4 gal tank, and I figure it is about right.

Despite its smallish output, with good management I can run the fridge/freezer/boiler/water pump & a few lights. It also has a voltage regulated & surge protected output - very important to the life of electronics - something that many of the cheaper "contractor series" do not have.

I also inherited but have yet to install a propane powered Generac automatic whole house generator.

Steve

ateixeira · September 2003

Steve: now that's talent! :-)

Bruce: good to hear they're sending in the gurus. I e-mailed you, BTW.

Isabel: you have no idea. Where do I start?

Our flight got cancelled Thursday. Moved it to Friday 10:30, cancelled again. The only way to get us there was through Philly, so we drove up 2.5 hours flying at about 80. An SVX still passed me like I wasn't moving. paisan? ;-)

Then...we were 5 minutes late and missed that flight. They had one last chance flight leaving, but it had a connection in Vegas.

Keep in mind we were flying to Phoenix and driving 2 hours to Tucson, the whole point was to get a direct flight and avoid connections.

Well, that was just the beginning. Our nanny forgot to bring her original passport, she only had a copy. No dice. Could not board. So I got off with the baby, the wife went with my daughter, just the two of them.

They are the Maiden of Honor and the Flower Girl. So the family is split up all this time.

I drive home another 3 hours, and still no electricity. Last night, for about 5 minutes, it came back, then we lost it again! No generator, and to make things worse the folks across the street never lost power. At least they're giving us ice and we're charging flashlight batteries there.

I've actually sat in my Subie to listen to the news.

My wife rented a Buick Century.

<pause for effect>

LOL. But I would have rented an Outback had I known she would not need the space of a van!

The only good news? I bought a rockin' lawn vacuum and chipper/shredder. The yard looks awesome.

-juice

c_hunter · September 2003

Thanks for the generator info Bob and Steve. You both remind me of growing up in the country with well water! I will probably bug you guys with more generator questions in the coming weeks.

Anybody remember when Subaru had a deal on the Coleman generator with the Subaru sticker on it? About $400 if I remember right, and was decent for a small unit. I remember looking at the deal and thinking "nah, I'll never use it".

Juice, I could use a lawn vaccuum right about now -- I have been able to use my thatcher to coarsely rake all the leaves and sticks up, but still have to go out there with a hand rake to collect it all. I did half the yard yesterday and feel about 100 years old this morning! Hopefully I can wheez my way through the rest of the yard today.

Craig

ateixeira · September 2003

I should have bought one of those generators when Darlene was still around! Don't remind me...

Yard vac is pretty good, it still clogs up if branches with leaves get in there. It picks up leaves nicely though.

Wife called - wedding went well. Our 4 year old daughter actually walked down the aisle nicely with the flowers, didn't fuss. Of course I missed it all!

-juice

rsholland · September 2003

As to towing and low-range gearing, would you have expected less from me?

I read in the paper this morning that Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E) is concentrating on getting high density areas on line before low density areas, as it takes the same amount of labor/rime to hook up 10,000 people as it does to hook up 1000 people. That being the case, I don't expect power any time soon, as I'm out in the boonies.

Bob

ateixeira · September 2003

If I get power, come on over for soon-to-be-cold-ones. :-)

I promise I'll let you tow something. LOL

-juice

rsholland · September 2003

A small generator like what Subaru was offering is good for small stuff, like camping or outdoor chores. Still, if you could have electricity to the fridge, that's still better than nothing. Not sure how you would hook it into water, if that's electrically controlled. With me it is, as I'm on a well; not sure about city water, however.

Bob

ateixeira · September 2003

Water is OK for us, it's city water and WSSC has not been affected. It's even OK to drink.

We also have hot water and a gas range, because gas was OK. But not the oven, no fridge, nothing else.

For the baby, we can keep milk on ice and warm it up on the gas stove. Plus I have a gas grill. Temps have been forgivingly mild.

-juice

rsholland · September 2003

If I fill the generator to the brim with gas about 10:30 at night, it will run through the night OK. When I get up in the morning, even before I make coffee, I go to add gas, as it's almost empty.

I keep one light on all night so that thee is a some load on the unit. If I don't, and there's no load, the generator will surge (much like a lawn mower at idle, but much worse) for about a 1/2 hour or so, then it will run normally for a 1/2 hour or so (must be when the fridge and/or furnace kick in?), and will repeat this cycle all night. It's virtually impossible to sleep when it's surging.

Bob

ateixeira · September 2003

All the hardware stores were out of generators, way back on Thursday actually.

Batteries and ice are also impossible to find around here. What about up there in the boonies?

-juice

rsholland · September 2003

What I did was head west to Mt Airy, where it's less populated to search for supplies. Heading in the direction towards Baltimore, which is much more populated, and your chances of finding supplies I would think would be much worse.

Bob

p0926 · September 2003

Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E) is concentrating on getting high density areas on line before low density areas, as it takes the same amount of labor/rime to hook up 10,000 people as it does to hook up 1000 people.

Yep, that's a standard industry practice. You can't argue with the logic but it doesn't make the waiting any easier when you're the one effected. Oh well, I guess that's the price you pay for having all that personal space :-)

-Frank P.

ateixeira · September 2003

Bob does live pretty far out there. Gas is about 30 cents cheaper than at the Cabin John Exxon nearest me!

-juice

rsholland · September 2003

Yeah, my guess is that juice will get power back before I will, as he's in the high-density "burbs."

Bob

ateixeira · September 2003

Sheesh, $1.89 here, so actually 33 cents difference! Premium runs $2.09 and even diesel is $1.99.

I'm not sure I could afford to fuel a generator! LOL

-juice (still no power at home even now)

fibber2 · September 2003

Have any of you actually tried to siphon gas from your cars lately? I used to do it on older vehicles, but with most new designs, there are too many bends to get even the most flexible tubes in. Tried it unsuccessfully on the OBW and the Ody during the blackout as I was getting low on my mower gas. That is the one real downside of gasoline generators - who routinely stocks that much fuel? I could have always pulled a fuel line from underneath if the situation got desperate, but that is a bit extreme. You also need to rotate your fuel stock (even if you use a stabilizer), and make sure that the generator is drained and the carb bowl empty, otherwise the varnish will kill you when you need it the most!

All the more reason that I need to get the propane unit up and running....

Steve

ateixeira · September 2003

I only use the gas for the lawn mower and the new vac/chipper/shredder. I get about 5 gallons and use it in the summer.

If it's mid-winter, yeah, the stuff is ancient.

-juice

kens · September 2003

Hang in there, you mid-Atlantic folks!

juice -- that's some story. I admire your ability to stay cool (at least it seemed like you did).

Ken

nygreg · September 2003

mower in the summer, snow blower in the winter. No generator....yet. We're thinking about it since the blackout (no elec, water, nada).

Hang in there guys.

Greg

p0926 · September 2003

Speaking of gas prices, I felt some of the west coast crowds pain when I filled up the rental car last week: $2.05 for regular!

-Frank P.

subaru_team · September 2003

I have some notes to send out, but I'm able to sit up okay (staples out) so I wanted to post. I can't promise I'll stay on top of things here - for some reason this recovery is sllooowwww!!

Bruce - I'll try to give Gerilyn a call this week and check the status.

Juice - I'm glad the wedding went well. Isabel was kind to us up here.

Anyway - fluky year for me. I'm so sorry I punked out on you all so suddenly. This "growth" suprised me. But - the good news - it was not malignant. It was quite big though - 8lbs. and the size of a "large cantelope". How could I have not known that was in me!!

I'm sure nothing else can go wrong. I'm about hollowed out. Please accept my apologies. I'll do my best to get caught up again.

Kate - I'll be in touch. A special thanks ;-) to you!!

Thanks for your patience!

Patti

Subaru Crew - Meet The Members II

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