Saturday, January 9, 2016
Thanks for Following and We'll See You Down the Road
Thank you readers, for all your views and good feedback on The Last Manual Transmission. I'm taking a hiatus from this blog as life is turning a new chapter for me in many senses this year. I'm leaving the government to go work for the commercial sector, but not until after I go traveling for a while to Australia then Europe. After 2015 I need some time to decompress. So I'm off to start another, different blog, based on the last ten years of my life and work in Washington, DC. We'll see you somewhere either on the track or down the road again. Warm Regards.
Finding my New Daily Driver- the Ford Fiesta ST
I originally published this in January 2015 after I purchased my Fiesta ST, but had to rewrite it from scratch due to formatting difficulties via blogger. In the original posting the font was simply too small to read, particularly on mobile, and I was unable to correct this using blogger's tools.
So here goes again...a year later but never too late.
10 years ago I would not have dreamed of buying an American car. Things have changed drastically in the last decade. After not being on the auto market for many years I ended up buying two cars in 2014. The first was the Porsche. But then I left my old job and accepted a new position that is about a 25 minute drive from home. I go entirely against traffic both ways, and part of that via EZ Pass express lanes; in Washington, DC that's not a bad commute at all as we have some of the worst traffic congestion in the United States.
My new job is not on public transport so the bottom line was that I needed a daily driver commuter car. The Porsche wasn't going to work for this. So I started looking for a commuter last fall and found it fun to shop around, read reviews, and go test driving. There is a lot of good information on the internet that one can avoid depending on dealers too much when doing your research.
Having been a CRX owner years back I thought hard about the Honda CR-Z but heard and read many negative things about it. The biggest detractor was that it was described over and over again as pedestrian and under-powered. I almost went and test drove one but knew that it wouldn't live up to my CRX that I had loved so much. Sales of the CR-Z are in the toilet, reviews were poor, and it just isn't a responsive, small performance car, which is what I was after.
What I really needed in a daily driver were qualities like good mileage, low maintenance, reasonable price, good safety record, and and yet something that kicked and had power, and was fun to drive. After lots of research I narrowed in on the Ford Fiesta ST (ST not surprisingly stands for Sport Technology) Both the written and video reviews were astonishing. I was not expecting that.
Way back in the 1970s my cousin had one of the original Fiestas that looked like a square box on wheels, similar to this one:
As I recall it was kind of a clunker, as were many of the first economy cars produced all over the world. In the same vein and in the interest of fuel economy amidst the oil crisis in the 1970s, my parents bought a blue Pontiac Astre in 1975 or 1976. It was an awful car. We called it the ash tray: it ran, but was jerky and whenever my parents would start it up in the garage the unleaded exhaust smell and blue smoke pouring out of its tailpipe would overwhelm you. The Astre was the Pontiac version of the Chevy Vega, and it seemed like General Motors put it on the market too early with major kinks still remaining in the design and performance. GM ceased its production in 1977. Of course, the American auto industry was at a low point then, and a joke at that time went that FORD = found on road dead. This is when I started to dislike American cars.
But now it's 2015. The Detroit auto manufacturers are going through a Renaissance thanks to a changing global economy, significant restructuring of their business practices, and great leadership such as Ford's President and CEO, Mark Fields, a Harvard Business School graduate. So it was time to give the American car makers another try.
One Saturday last November I test drove a 2015 Fiesta ST at a local dealership. It was bright orange with bright orange and gray Recaro seats, which were part of an upgraded package you could choose. I loved the Recaro seats but not the color. Fortunately they also came in solid gray. More importantly I loved the car's design, the way it handled for something so small, how quiet it was inside, how solid it felt, and the driver interface layout. I didn't need the bright orange color scheme, but over the next weeks honed in on tuxedo black, which had a pretty metallic tint to it, and gray Recaro seats.
Did I mention the ST is available only with a manual transmission? My kind of car.
I thought about trying to get my hands on a used 2014 model because I had never bought a new car from a dealership in my entire life. But it turned out that a used one was impossible to find. Ebay had none. After searching around extensively on cars.com and autotrader.com, I found there were a total of forty used 2014 STs listed for sale in the entire United Stated. I emailed four dealers all the way from Kentucky to California who claimed to have the car I wanted, and none of them would send pictures. Two said they had already sold those particular VINs they had advertised while another admitted that theirs was still being delivered from an auction and there were no actual pictures to share yet. I asked a dealer in California how much it would cost to have one shipped to me, and I was quoted $2000.00 for delivery to Virginia. Robbery. All this research led me to discover that the Fiesta ST is not only popular but has good resale value too. People are after them, which makes sense because they are one of the best performing cars at the lower priced end of that market. This would mean an advantage if I bought one then decided to sell it. The more I looked, the more it became apparent that the ST had a real following: I discovered several active ST forums, videos, reviews, and discussion on the net. All positive.
So I ended up buying new - a black 2015 ST, fully loaded with all options.
I bought it from Joel Bartling at Ted Britt Ford in Fairfax, Virginia. Joel is the Dude-- a sports car guru who knows everything about the ST from top to bottom. In fact, he knows an awful lot about Mustangs, Corvettes, and many other performance autos. My husband and I had a ton of fun talking cars with him and he was very easy going and outstanding to work with.
There was one minor but solvable issue the the new ST: they ship only with Bridgestone Potenza summer tires with no other choice available from the factory. These are good tires of course, but weren't going to work for the five to six months of the year that we have cold, rainy slush and occasional snow. So I ordered my favorite Michelin Pilot All Seasons from tirerack.com and they showed up on my doorstep the next day.
Joel had a Ford technician install them for me, and then I sold the Bridgestones on eBay the following week to a buyer in Georgia. I had never sold tires before on eBay but it was easy. We just had to haul them over to FedEx and stuck a prepaid label on each tire with a sticky sleeve and lots of sticky tape.
The ST is great and I love it. It has to be because I'll be spending a lot of time in it. As for the mechanical and other details of the ST itself, see my posting from Sunday, December 6, 2015.
So here goes again...a year later but never too late.
10 years ago I would not have dreamed of buying an American car. Things have changed drastically in the last decade. After not being on the auto market for many years I ended up buying two cars in 2014. The first was the Porsche. But then I left my old job and accepted a new position that is about a 25 minute drive from home. I go entirely against traffic both ways, and part of that via EZ Pass express lanes; in Washington, DC that's not a bad commute at all as we have some of the worst traffic congestion in the United States.
My new job is not on public transport so the bottom line was that I needed a daily driver commuter car. The Porsche wasn't going to work for this. So I started looking for a commuter last fall and found it fun to shop around, read reviews, and go test driving. There is a lot of good information on the internet that one can avoid depending on dealers too much when doing your research.
Having been a CRX owner years back I thought hard about the Honda CR-Z but heard and read many negative things about it. The biggest detractor was that it was described over and over again as pedestrian and under-powered. I almost went and test drove one but knew that it wouldn't live up to my CRX that I had loved so much. Sales of the CR-Z are in the toilet, reviews were poor, and it just isn't a responsive, small performance car, which is what I was after.
What I really needed in a daily driver were qualities like good mileage, low maintenance, reasonable price, good safety record, and and yet something that kicked and had power, and was fun to drive. After lots of research I narrowed in on the Ford Fiesta ST (ST not surprisingly stands for Sport Technology) Both the written and video reviews were astonishing. I was not expecting that.
Way back in the 1970s my cousin had one of the original Fiestas that looked like a square box on wheels, similar to this one:
As I recall it was kind of a clunker, as were many of the first economy cars produced all over the world. In the same vein and in the interest of fuel economy amidst the oil crisis in the 1970s, my parents bought a blue Pontiac Astre in 1975 or 1976. It was an awful car. We called it the ash tray: it ran, but was jerky and whenever my parents would start it up in the garage the unleaded exhaust smell and blue smoke pouring out of its tailpipe would overwhelm you. The Astre was the Pontiac version of the Chevy Vega, and it seemed like General Motors put it on the market too early with major kinks still remaining in the design and performance. GM ceased its production in 1977. Of course, the American auto industry was at a low point then, and a joke at that time went that FORD = found on road dead. This is when I started to dislike American cars.
 |
| An ad for the 1975 Pontiac Astre |
But now it's 2015. The Detroit auto manufacturers are going through a Renaissance thanks to a changing global economy, significant restructuring of their business practices, and great leadership such as Ford's President and CEO, Mark Fields, a Harvard Business School graduate. So it was time to give the American car makers another try.
One Saturday last November I test drove a 2015 Fiesta ST at a local dealership. It was bright orange with bright orange and gray Recaro seats, which were part of an upgraded package you could choose. I loved the Recaro seats but not the color. Fortunately they also came in solid gray. More importantly I loved the car's design, the way it handled for something so small, how quiet it was inside, how solid it felt, and the driver interface layout. I didn't need the bright orange color scheme, but over the next weeks honed in on tuxedo black, which had a pretty metallic tint to it, and gray Recaro seats.
Did I mention the ST is available only with a manual transmission? My kind of car.
I thought about trying to get my hands on a used 2014 model because I had never bought a new car from a dealership in my entire life. But it turned out that a used one was impossible to find. Ebay had none. After searching around extensively on cars.com and autotrader.com, I found there were a total of forty used 2014 STs listed for sale in the entire United Stated. I emailed four dealers all the way from Kentucky to California who claimed to have the car I wanted, and none of them would send pictures. Two said they had already sold those particular VINs they had advertised while another admitted that theirs was still being delivered from an auction and there were no actual pictures to share yet. I asked a dealer in California how much it would cost to have one shipped to me, and I was quoted $2000.00 for delivery to Virginia. Robbery. All this research led me to discover that the Fiesta ST is not only popular but has good resale value too. People are after them, which makes sense because they are one of the best performing cars at the lower priced end of that market. This would mean an advantage if I bought one then decided to sell it. The more I looked, the more it became apparent that the ST had a real following: I discovered several active ST forums, videos, reviews, and discussion on the net. All positive.
So I ended up buying new - a black 2015 ST, fully loaded with all options.
I bought it from Joel Bartling at Ted Britt Ford in Fairfax, Virginia. Joel is the Dude-- a sports car guru who knows everything about the ST from top to bottom. In fact, he knows an awful lot about Mustangs, Corvettes, and many other performance autos. My husband and I had a ton of fun talking cars with him and he was very easy going and outstanding to work with.
There was one minor but solvable issue the the new ST: they ship only with Bridgestone Potenza summer tires with no other choice available from the factory. These are good tires of course, but weren't going to work for the five to six months of the year that we have cold, rainy slush and occasional snow. So I ordered my favorite Michelin Pilot All Seasons from tirerack.com and they showed up on my doorstep the next day.
 | ||
| Michelins delivered to my front door, pronto |
Joel had a Ford technician install them for me, and then I sold the Bridgestones on eBay the following week to a buyer in Georgia. I had never sold tires before on eBay but it was easy. We just had to haul them over to FedEx and stuck a prepaid label on each tire with a sticky sleeve and lots of sticky tape.
 |
| The Bridgestones at FedEx on their way to Georgia |
The ST is great and I love it. It has to be because I'll be spending a lot of time in it. As for the mechanical and other details of the ST itself, see my posting from Sunday, December 6, 2015.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
The Ford Fiesta ST- The Details at Last
So I've had the Fiesta ST for just about a year and it's been nothing short of a blast. For me it's the perfect compromise of practical commuter car and street loving speed with tremendous response and handling. It feels and performs like a much more expensive car than it is. And it looks good too. Probably not for everyone but I really like the design. My daily commute is never boring.
The coolest thing about it is how much power and kick it has. Today's small engines that come with turbochargers are *not* yesterday's C-H-E-A-P, four cylinder economy cars. Remember those? And how they felt like they were powered by a hamster running on a wheel inside the engine compartment. I owned a few cars like that, and don't miss any of them.
What is turbocharging anyway? Turbochargers basically compress air before it is pumped into the combustion chamber to provide more power. They have been around for years but turbo chargers have advanced in the last decade to allow and cram more air into the fixed volume of their cylinders, allowing the car's engine to burn more fuel, producing extra power and low end torque responsiveness. The newer turbochargers also provide better gas mileage and produce less pollution. Ford calls this its EcoBoost line of products.
The Fiesta ST has a 1.6L Turbo 4 cylinder that puts out 197 HP and 202 lbs-ft of torque, with a top speed of 140 mph, and goes from 0-60 in about 7 seconds, with front wheel drive. It's available with a 6 speed manual transmission only, and goes into overboost at mid-range power between gears 3 and 6, between 2500 and 4000 rpm. I don't race it commuting to and from work, and notice I'm getting about 29-30 mpg. It weighs only about 2700 lbs, which adds to its performance.
For me a big appeal of any car is how it feels. This one has a sporty and quick but not rock hard suspension supported by a rear torsion beam and fairly tight springs. It feels good. It also has very responsive brakes.
I push it when I can get out on the more open roads. Last winter I drove out to the Blue Ridge mountains for a weekend getaway and it loved the sharp curves and corners on those back mountain roads, handling them so tightly. Then last week I had a meeting to attend in Charlottesville, Virginia and I drove the ST there and back, about 2 hours each way mainly on back roads with big rolling hills. And a beautiful fall day to boot. What fun passing cars at don't ask-don't tell mph-- let's just say I was lucky I didn't get a ticket.
I like ST's interior too and this adds to the way it feels. I opted for the Recaro front sport seat option and am so glad I did. They run about an extra $2000.00, but are so worth it They're a tight, cosy, deep fit that makes you feel secure and not like you're going to slide around in them. Of course the Recaros are optional and I urge those interested to test them out before buying: the Fiesta has a pretty tiny cabin and if you're a larger or tall person you're not going to enjoy that combined with such snug, narrow sport seats. I love it, but this combination fits me well because I'm a small person.
It's back seat is small, but fine for short trips if one has passengers. Again, more for the petite than particularly tall or big people. The back seats fold down too if you're carrying a lot of stuff, so there is a practical side to the interior design as well.
Not everyone who has reviewed the Fiesta ST likes the interior or the in-dash entertainment/navigation system. I'm content with the latter and the voice recognition is pretty accurate. It's also very quiet inside and there is more than adequate insulation from road noise; something I wouldn't have expected from a car at this price point.
The ST draws a narrower and younger crowd than the Porsche 911 did: the twenty-something guy set. I've had several young men come up to me when I'm parked or finishing the shopping or whatever I'm doing, asking if this is my car. I'm almost old enough to be their Mom. On my way home from Charlottesville I stopped to fill the ST up with gas and a guy who looked about 19 asked me if that was my car and commented on how awesome it looked. Of course, given the modest price of it, and because it comes only in a 6 speed stick, the Fiesta ST is definitely aimed at a younger, and likely male, market. But its always fun to buck the demographics.
So overall the ST gets an A+ in my book. Value, fun, practicality, and sharp looks. They start around $22,000.00 and go up from there depending on the options you choose. Ford has outdone themselves with this one!
The coolest thing about it is how much power and kick it has. Today's small engines that come with turbochargers are *not* yesterday's C-H-E-A-P, four cylinder economy cars. Remember those? And how they felt like they were powered by a hamster running on a wheel inside the engine compartment. I owned a few cars like that, and don't miss any of them.
What is turbocharging anyway? Turbochargers basically compress air before it is pumped into the combustion chamber to provide more power. They have been around for years but turbo chargers have advanced in the last decade to allow and cram more air into the fixed volume of their cylinders, allowing the car's engine to burn more fuel, producing extra power and low end torque responsiveness. The newer turbochargers also provide better gas mileage and produce less pollution. Ford calls this its EcoBoost line of products.
 |
| Its small yet powerful engine |
The Fiesta ST has a 1.6L Turbo 4 cylinder that puts out 197 HP and 202 lbs-ft of torque, with a top speed of 140 mph, and goes from 0-60 in about 7 seconds, with front wheel drive. It's available with a 6 speed manual transmission only, and goes into overboost at mid-range power between gears 3 and 6, between 2500 and 4000 rpm. I don't race it commuting to and from work, and notice I'm getting about 29-30 mpg. It weighs only about 2700 lbs, which adds to its performance.
For me a big appeal of any car is how it feels. This one has a sporty and quick but not rock hard suspension supported by a rear torsion beam and fairly tight springs. It feels good. It also has very responsive brakes.
I push it when I can get out on the more open roads. Last winter I drove out to the Blue Ridge mountains for a weekend getaway and it loved the sharp curves and corners on those back mountain roads, handling them so tightly. Then last week I had a meeting to attend in Charlottesville, Virginia and I drove the ST there and back, about 2 hours each way mainly on back roads with big rolling hills. And a beautiful fall day to boot. What fun passing cars at don't ask-don't tell mph-- let's just say I was lucky I didn't get a ticket.
A funny instance happened in Charlottesville when I pulled up to the office I was headed to and there was my car's twin in bright blue. These cars are so rare I had to snap a quick pic. The blue was my second color choice if I had not gotten black. But I like the black better and am glad I went with that.
 |
| It is rare to see the Fiesta ST on the road, much less 2 of them |
It's back seat is small, but fine for short trips if one has passengers. Again, more for the petite than particularly tall or big people. The back seats fold down too if you're carrying a lot of stuff, so there is a practical side to the interior design as well.
Not everyone who has reviewed the Fiesta ST likes the interior or the in-dash entertainment/navigation system. I'm content with the latter and the voice recognition is pretty accurate. It's also very quiet inside and there is more than adequate insulation from road noise; something I wouldn't have expected from a car at this price point.
The ST draws a narrower and younger crowd than the Porsche 911 did: the twenty-something guy set. I've had several young men come up to me when I'm parked or finishing the shopping or whatever I'm doing, asking if this is my car. I'm almost old enough to be their Mom. On my way home from Charlottesville I stopped to fill the ST up with gas and a guy who looked about 19 asked me if that was my car and commented on how awesome it looked. Of course, given the modest price of it, and because it comes only in a 6 speed stick, the Fiesta ST is definitely aimed at a younger, and likely male, market. But its always fun to buck the demographics.
So overall the ST gets an A+ in my book. Value, fun, practicality, and sharp looks. They start around $22,000.00 and go up from there depending on the options you choose. Ford has outdone themselves with this one!
Saturday, October 24, 2015
His Very Beloved Jeep
This is going to be w-a-y off topic from hot cars, and a very long piece, but it's something I want to talk about: my father's death due to complications from Alzheimer's disease and my guidance to others about dealing with this awful disease. It's also about the reality of nursing homes, based on my recent, up close, and personal experience. And about how life goes on. This is why I've been silent since May. My father's illness and care consumed an enormous part of my mother's, my siblings' and my life since last November. I promise there is an automobile tale in here, and if you want to get to that, read on. But it's mostly about what my family and I have had to face for the last couple of
years. If you're squeamish, read on at your own risk.
Being that I always do my homework on whatever task is facing me, I was shocked by the sheer lack of good advice and guidance in the form of informed social discussion about Alzheimer's disease, and how little quality discussion was out there on what your options are as far as dealing with memory impairment and the daily challenges of nursing home life. I found one very good piece by a British author, here. And only in a recent article in US News an author openly talked about the grueling routine of having to care for parents with Alzheimers at one's own home. There is a lot of fractured information out there which really does not help. I realize, for many, Alzheimers and nursing homes are painful subjects and hard to talk about. Understandably, people want to hide when they or a loved one has it. Doctors don't always tell their patients that they have it. Families understandably go into denial about it. Looking back I think my family wanted to believe that my father was just suffering from the trappings of "old age," when in reality he had been getting increasingly ill since 2006.
Of course, there is plenty of clinical information on the Mayo Clinic site and at the Alzheimers Foundation, but nothing comprehensive about how you manage a loved one's care at a nursing home, what to ask the staff, what services they are supposed to provide, and what the residents' rights are, what the state and social services can do, what it costs, and what to do if you run into problems at the nursing home. Some people have posted occasional horror stories and rants on the internet about nursing home staff and residents' treatment. This and elder abuse happens (unfortunately) and if it does needs to be reported and dealt with immediately. In New York you can contact the state office of children and family services. Other states likely have similar organizations for reporting elder abuse. Luckily most of my father's caretakers were genuinely kind and nurturing people.
In the case of my father, we did not intentionally "put" him in a nursing home. He had been declining rapidly mentally and physically for the last 3 years. He had fallen several times and had begun to walk with a shuffle. And one day he got up out of his chair and collapsed, his right hip joint having sheered off at the socket from advanced osteoporosis. The paramedics came, ushered him out and to the hospital, and within a few hours the wonderful orthopedic surgeon replaced his hip ball and secured it to the femur, and off he was sent to sub-acute rehab at the nursing home next to the hospital. Things happened so fast it was a blur.
Surgery on the elderly is dangerous in the first place; anesthesia can exacerbate the problems the memory-impaired are already facing. During his first month in rehab my father thought we were staying in a hotel or perhaps on a cruise ship. At one point he thought he was with his long deceased buddies, staying in a lodge while hunting in the Adirondacks. He had a phone in his room and one night my mother got a surprise call from him telling her that he has been up at camp and that he would be driving home the next day. He wasn't in rehab a week when, in a moment when the nursing staff were overly busy, he tried to get up from his chair and fell and re-fractured the femur attached to the hip joint that had just been operated on. He told the staff that he was going to get his Jeep. His beloved Jeep. Dementia-related memory impairment is still not that well understood: he couldn't remember that he had undergone hip fracture surgery barely a week ago, but he remembered his Jeep and was determined to drive it home. Another surgery at the hospital, and then back to rehab. He would have several more hospitalizations over the winter and spring for a variety of ailments. For many nursing home residents there is downward spiral of going from the home back and forth to the hospital, lost weight never regained, increasing loss of the person's faculties. Every visit to the hospital resulted in a little more lost weight.
I won't name the nursing home he resided at but they did as good a job as one could expect for the area in which my parents lived and the local economic conditions that determined nursing staff wages and quality of the staff that could be hired. The place was clean and smelled fresh. Sure, the nursing home management handed us a photocopied-many-times-over booklet outlining patients' rights when my father was admitted to rehab, and when it came time to admit him as a resident we met with the senior staff, including the home's billing manger, who to her credit explained the up front costs, and how they encourage everyone to apply for Medicaid, for which you have to qualify by being below a certain income level and having very few monetary assets. But we could ask as many questions as we wanted, and did.
It pays to be prepared: I assembled a binder filled with questions about everything from taxes on the monthly bill to how often he would receive physical therapy to how often nurses made their rounds at night. Did transport to medical appointments cost in addition to his monthly fees? Did they track hydration of each resident? How often were special and entertainment activities offered? What medications was he on? How often would his doctor see him? How often would he be weighed? Is he getting 3 meals per day and snacks that he likes? Could we hang pictures and a calendar in his room?
Remember that you've hired the nursing home to work for you-- not the other way around although it can seem that way. Never stop asking questions and make requests every time you visit. It's important to visit at odd times such as Sunday night or early mornings-- the staff will know you're keeping an eye on your loved one and you'll see what really goes on. You have to work with them to make them understand your loved one's preferences and needs. My father hated broccoli and it kept showing up on his dinner plate. I finally had to email the home's head of food service and all his staff to get this corrected. Then his hearing aids were lost. Very expensive hearing aids. I told the staff that those needed to be found or the home would pay us for them; they turned up soon after that.
The whole nursing home journey is a trial and error process where you stumble in the dark and hope for the best, but need to be prepared for anything.
When I talk to friends and colleagues about this, I don't believe anyone is prepared for the cost. On the subject of financing a nursing home stay, there is some good information on the internet about Medicare and Medicaid- but these are complicated topics and it pays to do a lot of research. Medicare A, for example, covers basically one month of rehab at a nursing home. As long as the person is deemed "making progress" then it covers roughly half the costs for the next 90 days. Qualifying for Medicaid, apparently, is an adventure in itself and can vary state by state. Everyone is in a different financial situation. A good trust and estate lawyer can walk you through this. My advice is to get an attorney in your state who understands this area of the law. Oh, and its a very good idea to have had a health care proxy already drawn up, well before the person needs a nursing home.
In my father's case, once Medicare A ended after 90 days my father's nursing home cost us slightly shy of $9000.00 per month out of pocket, plus another $14,000.00 a month for his 24/7 helpers, for a total of $23,000.00 per month. Yes, I said Twenty Three Thousand US dollars. My father could not be left alone and required someone with him all the time to mind him. Most nursing homes except for very elite and super costly facilities cannot provide one-on-one 24/7 care for residents. In a typical American nursing home on a day shift there are 4-5 nursing staff and 2-3 Certified Nurses Aids (CNA) working a 40-resident wing. In addition there is typically a nutritionist, social worker, a physical therapist or 2, and sometimes volunteer workers. There are fewer staff at night and on weekends. They simply cannot keep up with the demand. And the staff have to tow the party line established by the nursing home owner or holding company. When his nutritionist, Libby (I've changed all the people's real names her to fictional ones to protect their privacy), told us he was eating well and at the same time had lost 20 lbs, I politely said I understood her position but damn right expected an honest assessment.
Nursing home staff are overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated. They have a tough job, and they're mostly very caring people. I concluded that CNAs especially must be answering a calling of some kind. Occasionally I looked nosily at the job board in the front lobby of the building and at any given time the home had job openings for at least 15 positions which they were having trouble filling: geriatric nurse, CNA, cook, physical therapist, nutritionist, and so on.
My family was lucky to be able to afford to hire helpers (sometimes referred to as "sitters") because Dad couldn't remember to call for the nurse when he needed assistance, which was nearly all the time. He needed help with bathing, dressing, eating, drinking, and pretty much everything else. Dad has no clue about any of this other than occasionally when we reminded him that he broke his hip and leg he would say that it was good that we have health insurance. Looking back I'm glad he believed that as we wrote check after check every month.
He resided there for a little over seven months. It was emotionally draining and often depressing. But we tried to make the most of it, and there are always bright spots if you look for them. We sat with him through meals when we could. We played cards and read poetry- his favorite was Walt Whitman. Interestingly, the musical part of the human memory often remains long after all else is gone: if I streamed Vera Lynn or other 1940s music on my iPad he sang along, remembering almost all the words. We looked at old pictures, many of which he recognized.
Throughout the winter influenza, rotavirus, scabies, and all the other communicable diseases that float through group homes came and went. Entire building wings would be shut off and visitors discouraged from visiting or were asked to wear gloves and surgical masks. It didn't matter how much money you had-- these illnesses know no class or creed. When pneumonia came-- and it did often-- it always took lives. Hang around a nursing home long enough and you'll see all kinds of sickness, ailments, vomit, excrement, confusion, and pain. Most of the residents wear diapers. A person in the latter stages of Alzheimers disease often displays the cognitive abilities of a 4 to 6 year old. But these people can still feel, experience joy and sadness, and appreciate others. Often they cannot express themselves and become frustrated and agitated. As a result they often end up on anti-anxiety medications and/or anti-depressants.
Dad was diagnosed with uncomplicated senile dementia in 2006; in 2010 he was diagnosed with mild to moderate symptoms of Alzheimers. His MD at the time never told us about this and we fired him for failing to take proper care of my Dad. The new doctor we hired, however, cared for him very attentively through the end.
Because of the Alzheimers, my father often got the past and present confused. This is very common. Once when my mother was combing his hair he turned and asked, "If you're here and I'm here then who's going to watch the baby?" There hadn't been a baby in the house in almost 50 years. He hallucinated, seeing his mother and his two long deceased older brothers. Other times he saw objects that were not there, and squiggly lines on the wall. As his dementia progressed he developed tremors, which were halted somewhat by a visit to the neurologist and a prescription drug. He lost all sense of time or place, but fortunately not his sense of people, and he still recognized us. When we would gather up to go home towards the evenings we always felt guilty leaving him behind, and he would almost always ask, "Am I going home tonight? Shouldn't we get the Jeep and get home before dark?"
Most nursing homes will let you decorate your loved one's part of their room any way you want. We hung family photos in his room and brought in some plants. Photos help the person feel more at home. Some people bring in things like curtains, paintings, and other decor from the person's house. Never bring anything with any monetary value as I can promise, sadly, that it will be stolen. A nursing home is its own world and you need to become a part of that if you're going to succeed in protecting your loved one. No health care system anywhere is perfect, some are better than others, but you have to work with what's available to you in your locale.
The nursing home forms its own micro-community, often filled with characters. There was the wing matriarch, Edith, who at 96 had mild dementia but still walked unassisted, dressed beautifully every day and had her white hair coiffed perfectly at the salon downstairs. She proclaimed she relied on her beauty to get by. Her sisters came to visit her often and seemed to take care of her. Then there was Roger, a petite man who was comedian every day at lunch, mentally still with it and always cracking corny jokes. One elderly lady who was bound in a reclining wheelchair and every day steadfastly clung to a plastic toy dog and a baby doll always said to mother and I, "You don't have to go so soon, do you?" A baby doll? Yes, this is something commonly seen in nursing homes. Some patients find holding a doll or stuffed animal calming.
My father's room mate, George, was a solitary man, and a decorated veteran of the Korean war. He could be a little cranky and liked to swear but didn't really bother anyone. Sadly, no one ever came to visit him.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to look for the bright spots in such a place. One elderly lady who lived on my father's wing would always grab my mother's and my hands as we walked by and say how much we looked alike. Amusingly, two cats and a parakeet lived on my Dad's floor, and provided some distraction and cheerfulness. The cats would crawl onto residents' laps and often nap on their windowsills in the sun.
You may make friends with relatives of other patients as you know you are all facing the same inevitable outcome with your loved one. An old but healthy lady named Mildred who turned out to be a friend of friends of my parents would come every day to visit her husband who was suffering from the very latter stages of Alzheimers. She bonded with my mother. Her husband Jack could no longer walk, talk, dress himself or take care of his own bodily functions. He kept his eyes closed all the time and could not communicate at all. He had to be hand fed and Mildred always kept a child's sippy cup with her to get him to drink enough fluids. One day Mildred quietly told us: he stopped eating yesterday, and that was ok with her. He was dead within a couple weeks.
Meals were taken in a small dining halls-- each wing had its own dining hall and food was prepared in one big central kitchen and delivered to each hall. Residents usually sat 4 to a table, and at meals Dad made a few "friends." One, Charlie, was considerably younger than Dad and still had his wits about him. Charlie looked out for Dad, informing us of how well or poorly he ate, how he behaved, if he displayed tremors, and how the staff treated him. Charlie became our spy. We tried to take care of him in kind. Charlie was infirm and could not get out on his own. He said his room was too warm and wanted a fan, so we brought him one as a gift and he was as happy as could be.
The way the states regulate nursing homes vary, but in ours the staff were required to record how much each resident ate and drank at every meal, take their weight on the 1st of every month, and provide a bath or shower once per week. Don't be surprised to find bruises and cuts on the person sometimes; their skin becomes so fragile that scrapes happen routinely when transfering the person from wheelchair to bath, or they may cut themselves inadvertently or pick or scratch obsessively. A good facility will quickly bandage any abrasion, or dress the resident's arms with gerisleeves, then call you to let you know what happened. If you they don't call, raise hell with the nurse manager or higher up in the chain of command.
Be involved. Be a pain in the neck if you have to. Meet frequently with the nurse manager, social worker, nutritionist and others who take care of your loved one. It's your right. When I was not in town I would call the social worker and the nurse manager on my father's floor most days and asked about him. At one point, they thanked us for being so present, and admitted that residents whose relatives are frequently around get better treatment than those who are all alone.
Not long before he died, one day out of the blue Dad to turned to my mother and I and pointedly asked: you didn't sell the Jeep, did you? No, Dad. I told him that the Jeep was waiting for him in the garage at home. I then promised him that my husband and I were going to wash, wax, and detail it so that it would be sparkling for him for when he came home from the hospital. It wasn't a lie if it made him smile.
So here's where the car thread ties in. My father always drove a Jeep, for as long as I can remember. He was way ahead of his time and owned Jeeps in the 1960s and 1970s long before they become trendy. He loved his Jeeps, and the last one he bought was a 2009 Grand Cherokee Laredo, shown below:
Jeeps have their roots in World War II as all terrain military vehicles. There are all kinds of links out there about Jeep lore and history and they're easy to find if you want to know more. For you Jeep enthusiasts out there, there is a good general web site at allthingsjeep.
I'm not a huge Jeep fan, but they're iconic and many people love them plus they're outstanding off road vehicles and great in the snow. Jeep enthusiasts are often into the outdoors and and my father was no exception. He hunted and fished in some pretty remote places and could get to spots that others could not because of the terrain or road conditions.
I remember Dad's Jeeps going back to the 1960s, such as this one of his white Wagoneer taken in March 1968.
I remember him leaving for work in the morning and coming home in it in the late afternoon, when I would hide behind the front door and "surprise" him every day. I remember riding in that Jeep when he took us ice skating, and off to camp in the Adirondacks in the summers but occasionally in the middle of winter, packed with his pack-basket, his big snowshoes, my little snowshoes, and all the family's stuff for a weekend with heat only from a wood stove to stave off the far below freezing temperatures, and many feet of snow outside.
Over the course of my childhood I remember my parents taking our family to Florida during winter breaks in a later model Jeep he had bought, everyone eager to trade in the relentless winter for a week of sunshine. It was an almost annual event we always looked forward to.
The Jeep Wagoneer was the crossover 4-wheel drive/family car produced from 1963 through 1991, sometimes referred to as a luxury 4x4. Dad had several models during the 1970s and 1980s. When my parents dropped me off at college he owned a 1986 Wagoneer in a metallic brown color.
When Chrysler bought out the old American Motors Corporation they discontinued the Wagoneer line and from then on my Dad owned Jeep Grand Cherokees. He never drove anything else.
He died in July at age 92 not from the Alzheimer's directly but from a combination of co-morbidities that accompanied it. Because it meant so much to him the family had agreed not to sell his 2009 Grand Cherokee until after he was gone, and we kept our promise. On a warm weekend in August I spent an entire day vacuuming and washing it, and cleaning its windows and vinyl until it shined spotlessly.
During the last couple of years of his life he rarely drove it, so it was almost like a new car other than a little rust on the underside, which is inevitable in the northeast due to salt from the winter roads. But it ran well, and was always kept in the garage.
It wasn't the highest-end Jeep, but for my parents was more than enough car. It had a 3.7 liter V-6 engine with Quadra-Drive 4 wheel drive. The engine, shown below, looked showroom new.
Needless to say, it had several hundred views on Ebay and multiple bids. Selling it was a cinch. It had only 11,000 miles on it when we sold at the end of last August. The new owner was thrilled with it. This Jeep certainly was not luxurious, but quite comfortable with reliable 4 wheel drive that could tackle the nasty winters ahead, which the new owner wanted.
In the months since my father passed life is slowly returning to normal albeit residual legal, financial, and other matters that still need to be put to rest. My mother is getting out and starting to enjoy her life again, and had her first mini-vacations in several years over both Labor Day and Columbus Day. The December and New Years holidays will be fun this year, and we're all looking forward to them.
We've starting to go through my father's other belongings. There's no huge rush. Certain objects of his jar other memories and events-- both good and bad-- in our lives stretching back for decades. Grieving takes time and is different for everyone. There is a very good first person piece by the writer Olivia Judson here, on going through a parent's home and belongings after their death.
Life goes on. Just in the last week a friend of mine showed up to visit in a new BMW 6 Series.
Wow, I haven't seen that attractive kind of design from BMW in a while. I like it. Elegant and sporty at the same time. That M6 Coupe is particularly nice. My husband suggested sending me to the BMW driving school when I have the time as a fun getaway. I wouldn't turn that down. As always adventures are ahead and the road is wide open. My little Fiesta ST has been an awesome commuter car and loads of fun and my review of that, way overdue, is next.
Being that I always do my homework on whatever task is facing me, I was shocked by the sheer lack of good advice and guidance in the form of informed social discussion about Alzheimer's disease, and how little quality discussion was out there on what your options are as far as dealing with memory impairment and the daily challenges of nursing home life. I found one very good piece by a British author, here. And only in a recent article in US News an author openly talked about the grueling routine of having to care for parents with Alzheimers at one's own home. There is a lot of fractured information out there which really does not help. I realize, for many, Alzheimers and nursing homes are painful subjects and hard to talk about. Understandably, people want to hide when they or a loved one has it. Doctors don't always tell their patients that they have it. Families understandably go into denial about it. Looking back I think my family wanted to believe that my father was just suffering from the trappings of "old age," when in reality he had been getting increasingly ill since 2006.
Of course, there is plenty of clinical information on the Mayo Clinic site and at the Alzheimers Foundation, but nothing comprehensive about how you manage a loved one's care at a nursing home, what to ask the staff, what services they are supposed to provide, and what the residents' rights are, what the state and social services can do, what it costs, and what to do if you run into problems at the nursing home. Some people have posted occasional horror stories and rants on the internet about nursing home staff and residents' treatment. This and elder abuse happens (unfortunately) and if it does needs to be reported and dealt with immediately. In New York you can contact the state office of children and family services. Other states likely have similar organizations for reporting elder abuse. Luckily most of my father's caretakers were genuinely kind and nurturing people.
In the case of my father, we did not intentionally "put" him in a nursing home. He had been declining rapidly mentally and physically for the last 3 years. He had fallen several times and had begun to walk with a shuffle. And one day he got up out of his chair and collapsed, his right hip joint having sheered off at the socket from advanced osteoporosis. The paramedics came, ushered him out and to the hospital, and within a few hours the wonderful orthopedic surgeon replaced his hip ball and secured it to the femur, and off he was sent to sub-acute rehab at the nursing home next to the hospital. Things happened so fast it was a blur.
Surgery on the elderly is dangerous in the first place; anesthesia can exacerbate the problems the memory-impaired are already facing. During his first month in rehab my father thought we were staying in a hotel or perhaps on a cruise ship. At one point he thought he was with his long deceased buddies, staying in a lodge while hunting in the Adirondacks. He had a phone in his room and one night my mother got a surprise call from him telling her that he has been up at camp and that he would be driving home the next day. He wasn't in rehab a week when, in a moment when the nursing staff were overly busy, he tried to get up from his chair and fell and re-fractured the femur attached to the hip joint that had just been operated on. He told the staff that he was going to get his Jeep. His beloved Jeep. Dementia-related memory impairment is still not that well understood: he couldn't remember that he had undergone hip fracture surgery barely a week ago, but he remembered his Jeep and was determined to drive it home. Another surgery at the hospital, and then back to rehab. He would have several more hospitalizations over the winter and spring for a variety of ailments. For many nursing home residents there is downward spiral of going from the home back and forth to the hospital, lost weight never regained, increasing loss of the person's faculties. Every visit to the hospital resulted in a little more lost weight.
I won't name the nursing home he resided at but they did as good a job as one could expect for the area in which my parents lived and the local economic conditions that determined nursing staff wages and quality of the staff that could be hired. The place was clean and smelled fresh. Sure, the nursing home management handed us a photocopied-many-times-over booklet outlining patients' rights when my father was admitted to rehab, and when it came time to admit him as a resident we met with the senior staff, including the home's billing manger, who to her credit explained the up front costs, and how they encourage everyone to apply for Medicaid, for which you have to qualify by being below a certain income level and having very few monetary assets. But we could ask as many questions as we wanted, and did.
It pays to be prepared: I assembled a binder filled with questions about everything from taxes on the monthly bill to how often he would receive physical therapy to how often nurses made their rounds at night. Did transport to medical appointments cost in addition to his monthly fees? Did they track hydration of each resident? How often were special and entertainment activities offered? What medications was he on? How often would his doctor see him? How often would he be weighed? Is he getting 3 meals per day and snacks that he likes? Could we hang pictures and a calendar in his room?
Remember that you've hired the nursing home to work for you-- not the other way around although it can seem that way. Never stop asking questions and make requests every time you visit. It's important to visit at odd times such as Sunday night or early mornings-- the staff will know you're keeping an eye on your loved one and you'll see what really goes on. You have to work with them to make them understand your loved one's preferences and needs. My father hated broccoli and it kept showing up on his dinner plate. I finally had to email the home's head of food service and all his staff to get this corrected. Then his hearing aids were lost. Very expensive hearing aids. I told the staff that those needed to be found or the home would pay us for them; they turned up soon after that.
The whole nursing home journey is a trial and error process where you stumble in the dark and hope for the best, but need to be prepared for anything.
When I talk to friends and colleagues about this, I don't believe anyone is prepared for the cost. On the subject of financing a nursing home stay, there is some good information on the internet about Medicare and Medicaid- but these are complicated topics and it pays to do a lot of research. Medicare A, for example, covers basically one month of rehab at a nursing home. As long as the person is deemed "making progress" then it covers roughly half the costs for the next 90 days. Qualifying for Medicaid, apparently, is an adventure in itself and can vary state by state. Everyone is in a different financial situation. A good trust and estate lawyer can walk you through this. My advice is to get an attorney in your state who understands this area of the law. Oh, and its a very good idea to have had a health care proxy already drawn up, well before the person needs a nursing home.
In my father's case, once Medicare A ended after 90 days my father's nursing home cost us slightly shy of $9000.00 per month out of pocket, plus another $14,000.00 a month for his 24/7 helpers, for a total of $23,000.00 per month. Yes, I said Twenty Three Thousand US dollars. My father could not be left alone and required someone with him all the time to mind him. Most nursing homes except for very elite and super costly facilities cannot provide one-on-one 24/7 care for residents. In a typical American nursing home on a day shift there are 4-5 nursing staff and 2-3 Certified Nurses Aids (CNA) working a 40-resident wing. In addition there is typically a nutritionist, social worker, a physical therapist or 2, and sometimes volunteer workers. There are fewer staff at night and on weekends. They simply cannot keep up with the demand. And the staff have to tow the party line established by the nursing home owner or holding company. When his nutritionist, Libby (I've changed all the people's real names her to fictional ones to protect their privacy), told us he was eating well and at the same time had lost 20 lbs, I politely said I understood her position but damn right expected an honest assessment.
Nursing home staff are overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated. They have a tough job, and they're mostly very caring people. I concluded that CNAs especially must be answering a calling of some kind. Occasionally I looked nosily at the job board in the front lobby of the building and at any given time the home had job openings for at least 15 positions which they were having trouble filling: geriatric nurse, CNA, cook, physical therapist, nutritionist, and so on.
My family was lucky to be able to afford to hire helpers (sometimes referred to as "sitters") because Dad couldn't remember to call for the nurse when he needed assistance, which was nearly all the time. He needed help with bathing, dressing, eating, drinking, and pretty much everything else. Dad has no clue about any of this other than occasionally when we reminded him that he broke his hip and leg he would say that it was good that we have health insurance. Looking back I'm glad he believed that as we wrote check after check every month.
He resided there for a little over seven months. It was emotionally draining and often depressing. But we tried to make the most of it, and there are always bright spots if you look for them. We sat with him through meals when we could. We played cards and read poetry- his favorite was Walt Whitman. Interestingly, the musical part of the human memory often remains long after all else is gone: if I streamed Vera Lynn or other 1940s music on my iPad he sang along, remembering almost all the words. We looked at old pictures, many of which he recognized.
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| My parents in summer 1953, soon after they were married |
Throughout the winter influenza, rotavirus, scabies, and all the other communicable diseases that float through group homes came and went. Entire building wings would be shut off and visitors discouraged from visiting or were asked to wear gloves and surgical masks. It didn't matter how much money you had-- these illnesses know no class or creed. When pneumonia came-- and it did often-- it always took lives. Hang around a nursing home long enough and you'll see all kinds of sickness, ailments, vomit, excrement, confusion, and pain. Most of the residents wear diapers. A person in the latter stages of Alzheimers disease often displays the cognitive abilities of a 4 to 6 year old. But these people can still feel, experience joy and sadness, and appreciate others. Often they cannot express themselves and become frustrated and agitated. As a result they often end up on anti-anxiety medications and/or anti-depressants.
Dad was diagnosed with uncomplicated senile dementia in 2006; in 2010 he was diagnosed with mild to moderate symptoms of Alzheimers. His MD at the time never told us about this and we fired him for failing to take proper care of my Dad. The new doctor we hired, however, cared for him very attentively through the end.
Because of the Alzheimers, my father often got the past and present confused. This is very common. Once when my mother was combing his hair he turned and asked, "If you're here and I'm here then who's going to watch the baby?" There hadn't been a baby in the house in almost 50 years. He hallucinated, seeing his mother and his two long deceased older brothers. Other times he saw objects that were not there, and squiggly lines on the wall. As his dementia progressed he developed tremors, which were halted somewhat by a visit to the neurologist and a prescription drug. He lost all sense of time or place, but fortunately not his sense of people, and he still recognized us. When we would gather up to go home towards the evenings we always felt guilty leaving him behind, and he would almost always ask, "Am I going home tonight? Shouldn't we get the Jeep and get home before dark?"
Most nursing homes will let you decorate your loved one's part of their room any way you want. We hung family photos in his room and brought in some plants. Photos help the person feel more at home. Some people bring in things like curtains, paintings, and other decor from the person's house. Never bring anything with any monetary value as I can promise, sadly, that it will be stolen. A nursing home is its own world and you need to become a part of that if you're going to succeed in protecting your loved one. No health care system anywhere is perfect, some are better than others, but you have to work with what's available to you in your locale.
The nursing home forms its own micro-community, often filled with characters. There was the wing matriarch, Edith, who at 96 had mild dementia but still walked unassisted, dressed beautifully every day and had her white hair coiffed perfectly at the salon downstairs. She proclaimed she relied on her beauty to get by. Her sisters came to visit her often and seemed to take care of her. Then there was Roger, a petite man who was comedian every day at lunch, mentally still with it and always cracking corny jokes. One elderly lady who was bound in a reclining wheelchair and every day steadfastly clung to a plastic toy dog and a baby doll always said to mother and I, "You don't have to go so soon, do you?" A baby doll? Yes, this is something commonly seen in nursing homes. Some patients find holding a doll or stuffed animal calming.
My father's room mate, George, was a solitary man, and a decorated veteran of the Korean war. He could be a little cranky and liked to swear but didn't really bother anyone. Sadly, no one ever came to visit him.
I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to look for the bright spots in such a place. One elderly lady who lived on my father's wing would always grab my mother's and my hands as we walked by and say how much we looked alike. Amusingly, two cats and a parakeet lived on my Dad's floor, and provided some distraction and cheerfulness. The cats would crawl onto residents' laps and often nap on their windowsills in the sun.
You may make friends with relatives of other patients as you know you are all facing the same inevitable outcome with your loved one. An old but healthy lady named Mildred who turned out to be a friend of friends of my parents would come every day to visit her husband who was suffering from the very latter stages of Alzheimers. She bonded with my mother. Her husband Jack could no longer walk, talk, dress himself or take care of his own bodily functions. He kept his eyes closed all the time and could not communicate at all. He had to be hand fed and Mildred always kept a child's sippy cup with her to get him to drink enough fluids. One day Mildred quietly told us: he stopped eating yesterday, and that was ok with her. He was dead within a couple weeks.
Meals were taken in a small dining halls-- each wing had its own dining hall and food was prepared in one big central kitchen and delivered to each hall. Residents usually sat 4 to a table, and at meals Dad made a few "friends." One, Charlie, was considerably younger than Dad and still had his wits about him. Charlie looked out for Dad, informing us of how well or poorly he ate, how he behaved, if he displayed tremors, and how the staff treated him. Charlie became our spy. We tried to take care of him in kind. Charlie was infirm and could not get out on his own. He said his room was too warm and wanted a fan, so we brought him one as a gift and he was as happy as could be.
The way the states regulate nursing homes vary, but in ours the staff were required to record how much each resident ate and drank at every meal, take their weight on the 1st of every month, and provide a bath or shower once per week. Don't be surprised to find bruises and cuts on the person sometimes; their skin becomes so fragile that scrapes happen routinely when transfering the person from wheelchair to bath, or they may cut themselves inadvertently or pick or scratch obsessively. A good facility will quickly bandage any abrasion, or dress the resident's arms with gerisleeves, then call you to let you know what happened. If you they don't call, raise hell with the nurse manager or higher up in the chain of command.
Be involved. Be a pain in the neck if you have to. Meet frequently with the nurse manager, social worker, nutritionist and others who take care of your loved one. It's your right. When I was not in town I would call the social worker and the nurse manager on my father's floor most days and asked about him. At one point, they thanked us for being so present, and admitted that residents whose relatives are frequently around get better treatment than those who are all alone.
Not long before he died, one day out of the blue Dad to turned to my mother and I and pointedly asked: you didn't sell the Jeep, did you? No, Dad. I told him that the Jeep was waiting for him in the garage at home. I then promised him that my husband and I were going to wash, wax, and detail it so that it would be sparkling for him for when he came home from the hospital. It wasn't a lie if it made him smile.
So here's where the car thread ties in. My father always drove a Jeep, for as long as I can remember. He was way ahead of his time and owned Jeeps in the 1960s and 1970s long before they become trendy. He loved his Jeeps, and the last one he bought was a 2009 Grand Cherokee Laredo, shown below:
Jeeps have their roots in World War II as all terrain military vehicles. There are all kinds of links out there about Jeep lore and history and they're easy to find if you want to know more. For you Jeep enthusiasts out there, there is a good general web site at allthingsjeep.
I'm not a huge Jeep fan, but they're iconic and many people love them plus they're outstanding off road vehicles and great in the snow. Jeep enthusiasts are often into the outdoors and and my father was no exception. He hunted and fished in some pretty remote places and could get to spots that others could not because of the terrain or road conditions.
I remember Dad's Jeeps going back to the 1960s, such as this one of his white Wagoneer taken in March 1968.
Over the course of my childhood I remember my parents taking our family to Florida during winter breaks in a later model Jeep he had bought, everyone eager to trade in the relentless winter for a week of sunshine. It was an almost annual event we always looked forward to.
The Jeep Wagoneer was the crossover 4-wheel drive/family car produced from 1963 through 1991, sometimes referred to as a luxury 4x4. Dad had several models during the 1970s and 1980s. When my parents dropped me off at college he owned a 1986 Wagoneer in a metallic brown color.
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| My father in spring 1986 |
He died in July at age 92 not from the Alzheimer's directly but from a combination of co-morbidities that accompanied it. Because it meant so much to him the family had agreed not to sell his 2009 Grand Cherokee until after he was gone, and we kept our promise. On a warm weekend in August I spent an entire day vacuuming and washing it, and cleaning its windows and vinyl until it shined spotlessly.
It wasn't the highest-end Jeep, but for my parents was more than enough car. It had a 3.7 liter V-6 engine with Quadra-Drive 4 wheel drive. The engine, shown below, looked showroom new.
Needless to say, it had several hundred views on Ebay and multiple bids. Selling it was a cinch. It had only 11,000 miles on it when we sold at the end of last August. The new owner was thrilled with it. This Jeep certainly was not luxurious, but quite comfortable with reliable 4 wheel drive that could tackle the nasty winters ahead, which the new owner wanted.
In the months since my father passed life is slowly returning to normal albeit residual legal, financial, and other matters that still need to be put to rest. My mother is getting out and starting to enjoy her life again, and had her first mini-vacations in several years over both Labor Day and Columbus Day. The December and New Years holidays will be fun this year, and we're all looking forward to them.
We've starting to go through my father's other belongings. There's no huge rush. Certain objects of his jar other memories and events-- both good and bad-- in our lives stretching back for decades. Grieving takes time and is different for everyone. There is a very good first person piece by the writer Olivia Judson here, on going through a parent's home and belongings after their death.
Life goes on. Just in the last week a friend of mine showed up to visit in a new BMW 6 Series.
Wow, I haven't seen that attractive kind of design from BMW in a while. I like it. Elegant and sporty at the same time. That M6 Coupe is particularly nice. My husband suggested sending me to the BMW driving school when I have the time as a fun getaway. I wouldn't turn that down. As always adventures are ahead and the road is wide open. My little Fiesta ST has been an awesome commuter car and loads of fun and my review of that, way overdue, is next.
Friday, May 15, 2015
How Much Horsepower Do You Need (Given Today's High-Tech Cars)?
Follow this link to a very good piece published on Wired just a few days ago. It's about the upper limits of horsepower, or what is practically feasible. Maybe it isn't just all about horsepower, and Porsche seems to be in the lead towards this kind of rethinking. New lighter materials, design features, and technology all contribute to a car's feel and the experience one has with it. No manual transmission is available on the 2015 GT3, unfortunately, but it's still a beauty.
Friday, April 17, 2015
Like the Track, Life Has Hairpin Turns, Too
It has been over 2 months since I last posted anything here, but I have good reasons: sometimes life just gets in the way of everything else. And that's when you grab it by the horns and face whatever it is. In my case it's my 92 year old Dad with a broken hip, dementia, his move to a nursing home, and all that this scenario entails. A lot of people share this same story. My family has been through a lot in the past 6 months. It will get better. And there's always good things happening somewhere: I'm 3 months into my new job, and it's going well.
Needless to say, I haven't been driving the 911 because I haven't been home and because of the awful winter we had on the East Coast this year: cold, snow, more cold, more snow, sleet, and salty roads. Seemed like it would never end. But it did, and everything is blossoming in the Washington, DC area now, including everyone's allergies.
I've been driving my Fiesta ST-- and I will do a technical breakdown on that here one of these days-- to work regularly, and am loving that car. And after a lot of thought, considering our lack of garage and driveway space, insuring and paying personal property taxes (yes this is Virginia) on 3 autos, and the fact that the 911 was going to need some pretty major service (spark plugs, battery, fluid flushes) and probably a new water pump, I decided to sell it.
What? Sell the car I love so much and have written extensively about? Yes, it was the right thing to do right now. And the timing was perfect. It's spring: everyone is itching to drive their sports cars after the long winter and if they don't own, they're thinking about buying one. That's where I was exactly a year ago and I ended up with the 911. It's been great and I have no regrets, but it was time to make some changes.
So I put it on eBay a couple weeks ago, and watched the bidding begin. As with the BMW, offered lots of pictures and was honest about it and the few chips and blemishes it had, which were minor. The 911 got 341 views and 36 bids, but the bidders didn't make the reserve I had set for it by $1000.00. Things worked out anyway. A watcher emailed me and we talked on the phone, and worked out an agreeable price. He really wanted my car and called me 4 times in 2 days to make sure we were still on track. We had the guys over at Intersport Autos in Vienna, VA do an inspection (the buyer paid for it of course), and all checked out pretty well. I liked working with Omar and Tony at Intersport. They were knowledgeable and wow- what an inventory of cars they have! I'm going back to gawk.
My transaction with the buyer went lightning fast and he was great to work with. He wired me the money and after I confirmed that with my bank I FedEx-ed him the title. I cleaned all my stuff out of the car, loaded the manuals and touch up paint in the trunk, and got the 2 keys together. The buyer had an auto carrier at my house the next day and off went the 911 to somewhere in the Midwest. They're getting a nice car.
Sure, I'm a little sad about selling the Carrera, but the time may come when I'm ready to get a new one, and may even upgrade to a Turbo. Life needs to settle down a little, and it will. In the meantime am having a blast with the ST. Tomorrow I'm driving it to New York for its first long road trip. Should be fun!
Needless to say, I haven't been driving the 911 because I haven't been home and because of the awful winter we had on the East Coast this year: cold, snow, more cold, more snow, sleet, and salty roads. Seemed like it would never end. But it did, and everything is blossoming in the Washington, DC area now, including everyone's allergies.
I've been driving my Fiesta ST-- and I will do a technical breakdown on that here one of these days-- to work regularly, and am loving that car. And after a lot of thought, considering our lack of garage and driveway space, insuring and paying personal property taxes (yes this is Virginia) on 3 autos, and the fact that the 911 was going to need some pretty major service (spark plugs, battery, fluid flushes) and probably a new water pump, I decided to sell it.
What? Sell the car I love so much and have written extensively about? Yes, it was the right thing to do right now. And the timing was perfect. It's spring: everyone is itching to drive their sports cars after the long winter and if they don't own, they're thinking about buying one. That's where I was exactly a year ago and I ended up with the 911. It's been great and I have no regrets, but it was time to make some changes.
So I put it on eBay a couple weeks ago, and watched the bidding begin. As with the BMW, offered lots of pictures and was honest about it and the few chips and blemishes it had, which were minor. The 911 got 341 views and 36 bids, but the bidders didn't make the reserve I had set for it by $1000.00. Things worked out anyway. A watcher emailed me and we talked on the phone, and worked out an agreeable price. He really wanted my car and called me 4 times in 2 days to make sure we were still on track. We had the guys over at Intersport Autos in Vienna, VA do an inspection (the buyer paid for it of course), and all checked out pretty well. I liked working with Omar and Tony at Intersport. They were knowledgeable and wow- what an inventory of cars they have! I'm going back to gawk.
 |
| Off come the plates |
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| A beautiful spring day |
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| Off it goes |
Saturday, February 14, 2015
OMG GT3 Seen Today
Saw this beauty this morning en route to my yoga class. For some reason that orange and silver color combination on this GT3 is soooo hot. I normally don't like loud colors on these cars but this I really do. I could almost even see myself owning one of these. Sigh...enjoy staring...
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