winter

 

 

 It is the coldest night of the year tonight, but it is very very dry.  That arctic freeze has setteled in, and "it is bone chilling cold", the news says.  18 at the airport.  Some people in the area are reporting 10 degrees.  Officially, we’re near but not close to breaking the lowest temps on record.  I can live with not setting new records.  Redmond, in central Oregon is reporting six below zero.

Got the oil changed in the Caliber today – Mobile One full synthectic oil, rated at 0w-20 – it flows at 18 degrees, whereas the 10w-40 I used in my Mazda RX-2 way back in the early 80’s was like grease in the -23 I saw in Chicago in ’82.  Got the tires rotated and new wipers too and it was twenty bucks cheaper than Jiffy Lube, where A and I went last night to get the oil changed in the ’70 Dodge Dart GT he bought a week or two ago.  I always go to the dealer’s for service – for one thing, it’s new and under warranty; for another, the Dodge dealer knows the car like no one else, and it only has a minor amount to do with the good looking blonde at the Service Desk.

Apparently, I have a kind of reputation there.  In ’08, I bought a new blue Caliber and brought it in regularly for service – until the time I brought it in for service and drove out in a brand new black Caliber.  They’ve got a B-5 blue ’09 Challenger SRT8 on the lot – 6.1 L Hemi, six speed trans, moonroof, all the good stuff – that’s been on the lot for most of the year – bet they’d make a deal on that one, even if the asking price is $53,000.  It’ll be the total Classic some day.  I’d actively fanasize about driving one – the Challenger is quite the road rocket, except… I really like my Caliber.  As the engine breaks in – the power is picking up and the mileage is improving.  The Caliber in town gets mileage equal to the Hemi Challenger’s highway mileage.

Bet it’d be a great Interstate Cruiser though.

Today, I am very grateful for those heated seats in the Black Caliber.  I really woulda sneered at ’em once, but my ass is WARM almost immeadiately, and, well, I’m feeling closer to my physical age these days.  Guess I feel like I’m in my 30’s or something – I’ve always felt like the "young guy".

Cold like this – I don’t feel so young.

I can see moving to the border region of Arizona someday.

There are pictures there to to take.

 

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