So I bought a Prius instead

I took the long way home from the dealer tonight, just to spend some time in my new car. I did about a 20 mile trip on some back roads. The Prius says I did about 40 mpg.

I resolved that with my first tank of gas or two, I would not attempt to maximize the gas mileage by tinkering with my driving technique; rather I'd drive without thinking about it, to get a baseline. Despite that, this evening, I couldn't help playing with the accelerator and the brakes to try to get the best mileage.

Apparently the trips that I make most often are exactly those trips which are supposed to get the worst mileage in this car:

The Prius and other hybrids get the worst mileage in the first five to ten minutes of driving...

Frequent short city trips will not produce good mileage, even though the Prius is rated very high for city driving.

I live less than 10 miles from work; it's about a 10 minute drive. It appears that it will be a challenge getting a really good mileage from this car.

Disappointed by the Yaris

Just a few days ago, I was all set to buy a Yaris; I felt sure that taking the test drive was a mere formality. I had seen the car parked around town and I loved the way it looked. It was a small hatchback and cheap, just what I wanted. But I took a test drive last weekend and unfortunately, I was disappointed.

When I got in the car, I instantly disliked the layout of the instrument panel. Specifically, the environmental controls for temperature and vents are laid out in a vertical column of three dials (a reviewer at CNET described it as an "interesting configuration". Hmm). The dials looked like some cheap junk you'd find on a child's toy (IMHO). It was awkward to reach the lowest dial, the one for setting the temperature, because the stick shift was in the way when it was pushed forward. Ok, I'm not in love with the interior, but I can live with it.

When I put the car in gear, I noticed that there was no tachometer. No tachometer on a manual transmission car? Weird - and annoying. Maybe I overly rely on the visual cue provided by a tachometer especially when I'm in low gears; I stalled out the Yaris several times during the test drive. Not the greatest experience.

I rarely drive a car other than my own Geo Metro, so maybe I'm too accustomed to its manual transmission, which I've been using for the past 10 years. As I drove around, I never felt comfortable with the shifting process in the Yaris. The reviewer at CNET described it this way:

The gear ratios in the transmission require some getting used to: First gear should be held longer than in most cars, up to about 15mph, with second gear taking over to about 35mph. Third gear can hold out and even cruise at 55mph.

I am pretty sure I'd get used to the gear shift, but it wasn't nice that I didn't feel immediately comfortable with it.

After the test drive, I had mixed feelings, but I was still interested, so I talked to the dealer about options. I had already decided that I wanted a couple of optional features that I'd pay extra for, but I absolutely wanted them: a) side curtain airbags and b) a bright color: "Blazing Blue Pearl" or "Absolutely Red" (supposedly there is no extra charge for the color, but the airbags do cost extra).

On the airbag issue, it is stupid that side airbags are optional. At the very least, they should be readily available. Without them, the Yaris earned a "poor rating [from the IIHS] in side crashes without side airbags and a good rating with them". I have jokingly referred to my Geo Metro as the "death trap" for years, but it's not entirely a joke. It's not the safest car to drive.

Americans who buy the smallest cars on the market are twice as likely to have fatal accidents as drivers of midsize and larger vehicles [2006 report from IIHS]

Save the environment and your money, but sacrifice your life? Having additional airbags makes me feel better about driving a small car.

I was unbelieving when the dealer told me that I absolutely could not get side curtain airbags. He claimed that Toyota sends out a fixed number of preconfigured cars to each region of the country, and that I would be unable to get airbags anywhere, because there were no Yarii in the Northeast (or practically anywhere) with side airbags... He showed me a book of specs which indicated that he was not lying. He also showed me specs that indicated it would be unlikely that I could get the color that I wanted (only a small percent of Yarii in the Northeast are painted in the bright colors that I wanted). It was weird but I'd almost swear the dealer did not want me to buy this car (unless I bought the one straight off the lot). I can understand why they want you to buy one off the lot rather than ordering one, but does it make sense to discourage you from buying that model altogether? I don't know, but I guess it worked on me. I came away from the dealer disappointed and thinking seriously about other options.

What the dealer did not mention was that it would be possible to get a Yaris special ordered from the factory with your choice of color and options. I was later told by another dealer that I could special order the car, which would be created in Japan for me, and which would cost more and take a "really long time" to get here. Since my current car is failing, I did not feel comfortable waiting a "really long time". I had also read some discussions on the web that left me with the vague fear that a special-ordered car might not ever actually arrive... The whole experience left me feeling uncomfortable, so I crossed the Yaris off my list.

I definitely get the impression that dealers are discouraging customers from buying the Yaris. Maybe they make too little money off these cars. In this case, the dealers who discouraged me from buying the Yaris did not get any further business from me, but I suspect they don't care.

Old car, new car

In my internal debate over buying a new car, two expenses loom menacingly: an increase in my property tax, and an increase in my auto insurance. The increase in insurance will mainly come because I'll have to get collision/theft coverage. I dropped that coverage on my old car years ago, but I'd be nuts not to get this coverage on a new vehicle. I haven't priced this yet, but I know it's going to hurt.

In Connecticut, every town has a different mill rate. The mill rate (which is essentially a percent), together with the assessed value of your property, determines your yearly property tax - in this case, the tax on my car.

Last year my town assessed my car as being worth about $1000. (This reminds me, maybe I can get them to buy it from me? I don't think anyone else will give me $1000 for it at this point.) The associated property tax was about $30, practically nothing.

If I get a Yaris, I'll probably be paying around 15 times that amount - as much as $500 yearly. Which is just awful. The idea of that new expense makes me want to repair my old car and keep it limping along.

The test drive

My car, now 12 years old, has developed a problem that will cost so much to fix that I have 99% decided to get a new car.

I knew that the end was coming eventually; I've been looking around at other models for a couple of years now. Things I want in my car:

• It must be as small as possible. I like being able to squeeze into impossibly small parking spaces in NYC.
• It must get the best available gas mileage.

I also want manual transmission, and prefer a 2-door hatchback, like my current car.

Up until recently, I was unable to find anything with a reasonable gas mileage, other than a hybrid. I'd been considering the Honda Insight, but they're expensive for such a small car, and it's hard to find a used one (Honda actually stopped making them last year, which is a pity).

In 2006, two acceptable cars came out: the Honda Fit, and the Toyota Yaris. My heart is really set on the Yaris. The Fit is a four-door and strikes me as excessively large. It gets slightly worse mileage than the Yaris. The more I think it over, the more I want the Yaris, and the more I want it now.

There's just one little problem: I have to test drive one to make sure it doesn't have any features that are so objectionable that I couldn't stand to drive it for the next 10 years. I am incredibly eager to test drive one, at this point, but my local dealer does not have a hatchback with manual transmission in stock. It's very frustrating... here I am ready to spend huge wads of cash, and there's this seemingly trivial, yet essential, barrier: the need for a test drive. *Sigh*.

French for today

I listened to Radio France's Français facile this evening. Here are some words I recognized:

• le climat - climate
• (une) ville sainte - holy city
• le corail - coral
• l'interdiction de - ban (on)
• acheter - to buy

Français facile has a nice feature: they print their transcripts so you can read along while you listen. I plan to play the broadcast a time or two, concentrating on understanding what I hear, before reading the transcript, in order to develop my French listening skills.

Water is restored

This morning, around 9 am, water was once again flowing in my apartment (in the good, expected way - from the taps, not from the ceiling!). As I suspected, the story from management was most interesting. Well, maybe not as interesting as I had hoped. They had not caused the problem - it was someone from the fire department, who had randomly shut off all kinds of valves to stop a leaking pipe that had burst when freezing/thawing elsewhere in the apartment complex. Oddly, this did not comfort me. And as for the fact that there was no one picking up the phone at the office all weekend long? They had no idea! There must be something wrong with their system. They'll look into it...

I hate apartment living, but I think you get the same sort of thing if you own a home. I suppose it's a toss-up.

Cheese recommendation - Woodcock Farm

 
On an autumn vacation to Vermont a few years ago, I visited Woodcock Farm, and sampled a few of their cheeses. I was positively impressed; so when I saw a few wedges of cheese with the Woodcock Farm label in my local health food store, I didn't hesitate to grab one, barely able to suppress a sybaritic cackle.

I was planning on eating the cheese at room temperature, savoring its solitary goodness. It has a delicious flavor that way and leaves a slightly tingly sensation in my mouth. But I took a leap of faith and tried it in another capacity: I have begun making mini-pizzas with it. Not ordinary mini-pizzas, but gourmet ones, with Seeds of Change organic tomato sauce and Matthew's whole wheat English muffins. The flavor of the cheese doesn't stand up to tomato sauce very well when it's used for this purpose; nevertheless, these mini-pizzas are delicious. Highly recommended. 

Apartment living

I am experiencing one of the many joys of apartment living today. The hot water in my apartment stopped working yesterday. And there's no water coming out of any of the fixtures in the bathroom. The only tap with normal water pressure is in the kitchen - thank goodness for that.

It's sort of like camping... only skipping the outdoors part.

I've called the apartment complex management phone number numerous times over the past 24 hours and no one is picking up - not even voicemail. I suppose the explanation that I get on Monday will be very interesting.

French practice

I've discovered that once I listen to a Radio France broadcast online over my dialup connection at home, I can cut my connection and replay the broadcast as often as I want, provided I keep the media player open. This is great; when listening to French broadcasts it's useful to play certain sections over several times to better understand what is being said.

Here are a few words that I picked up from a broadcast today:

• deuxième - second
• (le) renseignement - information
• les renseignements généraux - police department responsible for political security
• malheureuse affaire - unhappy affair
• ênquete - (police) investigation

I know most of these words and phrases already, but it helps to hear them spoken. "Les renseignements généraux" is a new one for me, and I'm not completely sure what it means still.

Krispy Kreme Class Action Settlement

I bought 100 shares of Krispy Kreme between 2003 and 2004. It was one of my more foolish/unlucky investments; I didn't investigate them much. My investment was based on personal experience. I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts, especially when they're hot, and I just knew they were going to be a big hit all over the world.

By the end of 2005, my shares had lost about half their value. I finally decided to sell and take the loss at that point, since I had some capital gains I could offset that year. I had a feeling that KKD was not going to recover for many years, if at all; taking the loss seemed about the best use I could make of the shares. And indeed they have yet to recover, as you can see by the Krispy Kreme stock chart.

I guess the story's not over. I got a thick packet in the mail this week from Krispy Kreme Securities Litigation, regarding the ongoing class action lawsuit on behalf of stockholders against the management. Here are some choice excerpts:

2. What is This Lawsuit About?
This case was brought as a class action alleging that the Class Settling Defendants manipulated and overstated Krispy Kreme's financial results by disguising debts as income and making other improper accounting adjustments, resulting in the artificial inflation of the price of Krispy Kreme securities between March 8, 2001 and April 18, 2005. Class Settling Defendants deny that they did anything wrong.

(In the words of George Costanza - "Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?")

Settlement Fund: $75,000,000 in cash... Depending on the number and type of eligible securities that participate in the settlement and when those securities were purchased and sold, the estimated average recovery per share of common stock will be worth approximately $0.33 before the deduction of Court-approved fees and expenses...

At $0.33 per share, it is not worth my time to participate in the class action. But after reading through the details, it looks like my shares could be worth more. I'll have to read through the papers a little more to figure it out. And I wonder what happens if I do get some piece of the settlement - how is that treated for tax purposes?

Cases like this make index funds very appealing in comparison to stock picking.

Les carottes sont cuites!

 I love that phrase, and I love my new Living Language French 2007 Calendar. I've been getting the calendars for a few years now, and I think that these calendars have contributed to the improvement in my French skills (despite my irregular study habits). I keep the calendar in the bathroom, by the sink, where I can glance at it while brushing my teeth twice a day.

I am going to get busy with some more intense French study, so that I'm ready for my ski trip to France next month! 

Carbon footprint

I try to be ecologically friendly. I own a 3 cylinder, 1.0 L car that averages about 40 mpg. Last year, I signed up for the more pricey Clean Energy option with my electricity supplier (this is really gonna bite when the 50% electric rate hike takes effect over this year).

I'm sure I could do more; but I try to be aware of my behavior and ameliorate the damage I'm doing. I'm flying from JFK to Geneva this February, and I don't want to feel like I'm destroying my world to do so. So I took a look at the carbon footprint for the flight using this handy flight emissions calculator, which tells me "Your emissions from this flight are: 1.73 Tonnes of CO_2".

I'm doubtful about what carbon footprint calculators really calculate, and whether or not the whole carbon offset concept makes sense at all. The people at Carbon Footprint say: "we believe reduction in household, office, transportation and industrial carbon emissions is far more beneficial in the battle against climate change and has a greater environmental impact than carbon offsetting." That strikes me as a very commonsense approach. After all, if we continue to belch out emissions at the current rate, will it ever be possible to plant enough trees to cancel it all out?

Still, planting a few trees or investing in alternative energies seems like a positive action to take, better than doing nothing. I took a look at a few environmental organizations coughed up by Charity Navigator. The Pachamama Alliance has a great score (4 stars) and piqued my interest, but their site is so vague about what they have actually done that I crossed them out. At the moment, I'm leaning towards Conservation International. They've got 4 stars too, and they've got numerous details on their web site explaining what they do. Here's an example of how they are working to prevent climate change:

With offset donations of various companies, however, CI and its partners are supporting Malagasy communities in managing a protected area and transforming slash-and-burn farming into sustainable agriculture across some 864,900 acres of land.

Sounds good; I think I'll send some money their way.

Concept2 Holiday Challenge t-shirt

 
My new Concept2 t-shirt arrived yesterday, courtesy of Zazzle. I was a little worried that this t-shirt was going to be incredibly thin (for some reason women's clothing is often made of ridiculously thin cloth) - and it was. Nevertheless, I'm delighted to finally get a t-shirt that fits. This shirt cost me twice as much as previous Concept2 Challenge t-shirts have, and I bet it will wear out twice as fast. But... it fits! And I got to choose from a wide variety of styles and colors. I'm delighted! 

This Game of Ghosts

I started in on Joe Simpson's "This Game of Ghosts" again, today. I began reading it several months ago, but left off because it started out slow. Joe Simpson is probably best known for his work "Touching the Void", a book which made a huge impact on me.

Like Touching the Void, "This Game of Ghosts" is autobiographical, but spans many years, going back into Simpson's childhood and detailing his early climbing experiences, which were rather wild. I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't know where he leaves off. The book troubles me; I get the sense that it was written while the author was depressed (something like Robert Pirsig's "Lila"), and it tends to bring me down (although not necessarily in a bad way).

Despite that, I think I've come to a better understanding of what motivates mountain climbers, or at least what motivates Joe Simpson. I've never understood why mountain climbers do it. It seems to me one of the least pleasureful activities one could imagine doing voluntarily. But after reading just half the book, I think I get it.

Joe Simpson was raised a Catholic and early on became an atheist, a history which resonates with me. Here's an excerpt that struck a cord.

p 150: "...I had decided in my mid-teens that I didn't want to do those things that society expected of me. I didn't want to compromise anything and rejected the idea of marriage and parenthood for fear that these would rob me of the selfish desire to do what I wanted with my life; a life lived once, with no reincarnation, no afterlife, heaven or hell, finished at death....

"It never occurred to me that these early certainties would themselves become eroded by time..."

Ski!!!

     I've booked a week of skiing in France this winter! My usual winter exercise program - a combination of weight lifting and rowing - doesn't seem to give me the conditioning that I need to be prepared for hours of skiing.

So I went out and got a step platform and a couple of 5-lb ankle weights. I'd thought about getting one of those platforms to do dumbbell step-ups properly, but the idea of spending $50 on what is more or less a glorified piece of plastic really burns.

Well, I'm glad I finally broke down and bought one. The thing is solid, with a bigger stepping area than the makeshift platform I've been using (a fire-safe security chest, if you must know). And it's adjustable, so I can increase the height to hit my legs in different ways. I did a 30 minute workout today with the ankle weights on, and my legs really feel it.

I have to think about setting a goal so I get a decent amount of conditioning before my trip, which is less than two months away. With this new routine, I should go into it better prepared than I usually do.

Saving for College in Connecticut

I've got two nieces, my brother's kids. When they were first born, I gave them toys for their birthdays and Christmas. I quickly realized that these kids were getting so many toys that they had no idea what to do with it all. What do I mean by "so many toys"? Well, ten times more than I ever got as a kid!

I didn't like the idea of wasting money on toys that are quickly discarded; I never even knew whether the kids would play with the toys I sent because I don't visit them very often. At the same time, I remember that when I was a kid, especially as I grew older, I envied the kids whose relatives had given them gifts of savings bonds.

So I quickly switched over to giving my nieces savings bonds year after year, for birthdays and Christmas. Kind of a stodgy gift, but I think they'll like it when the bonds reach maturity.

A couple of years ago, I decided contributing to a college fund for the kids made sense. I could "afford" it, and it bothered me that my brother had not set up a college savings fund of some sort. I opened a Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) account for each of my nieces. It's a 529 college savings plan. I intend to contribute to the accounts every year, as long as I can, until my nieces go to college (assuming they go; the beauty of CHET is that if the current beneficiary never goes to college, you can reset the beneficiary to someone else).

Up until this year, the only tax advantage to a CHET account is that the gains grow tax-deferred, and earnings that go to pay for higher education are tax-free. Nice.

This year, Connecticut gives people a bigger incentive to save - they made contributions to CHET accounts tax deductible. So you may be able to deduct contributions to CHET accounts (I'm assuming this only applies if you itemize your deductions, which only makes sense if your itemized deductions add up to more than the standard deduction).

Now the really great thing is that my brother opened a CHET account for each of my nieces this year - yesterday, in fact! I like to think it was due to my good example, but I suspect it was the tax deduction that got him there!

200K!

I finished the 2006 Concept 2 Holiday Challenge, today! Yes!! Now I'm going to go see about ordering the t-shirt...

tags: concept2, fitness, rowing, ergometer

You vs the billionaire - NY Times article by Peter Singer

Via Piaw: Peter Singer is back in the NY Times, discussing charitable giving. This article is better than his previous one, The Singer Solution to World Poverty, because it is a little less theoretical and a little more practical in nature. I hope Singer continues to pursue these topics and that people pay attention to what he says.

On a side note, this article introduced me to Zell Kravinsky, apparently a remarkable philanthropist and extraordinary human being. Strangely, I'd never heard of the man before.

110K

I hit a bump in the road on the way to the 200K Honor Board. Last week I came down with a terrible stomach virus that put me out of action for almost the entire week. I couldn't eat for a few days, and still feel pretty weak from it.

But I'm back in the saddle, and I should still meet the Challenge. I started rowing again yesterday, a slow 3K, and did another 7K today. Fourteen days to do another 90K. Piece of cake. I should still be able to hit the full 200K by Christmas, provided there are no further hiccups.

The Wisdom of the Crowds

I'm in a mad dash to finish "Wisdom of the Crowds", by James Surowiecki, in my ongoing attempt to read one book a month (at least one!). Sixty pages to go.

Overall the book is informative and worth reading. But as usual with pop-sci books, I'm left unsatisfied because of the lack of depth. The book is in some sense a string of anecdotes tied together under one topic: how decisions and actions made by a group can be more informed than those of any of the individuals that make up the group.

Quotes of interest:

Chapter 9, p 183: One of the consistent findings from decades of small-group research is that group deliberations are more successful when they have a clear agenda and when leaders take an active role in making sure that everyone gets a chance to speak.

Chapter 9, p 186: ... all the evidence suggests that the order in which people speak has a profound effect on the course of a discussion. Earlier comments are more influential ... there's no guarantee that the most-informed speaker will also be the most influential... In groups where the members know each other, status tends to shape speaking patterns, with higher-status people talking more and more often than lower-status people. Even when higher-status people don't really know what they're talking aout, they're more likely to speak.