Day In The Life of Baz

I know that I’ve spoken about it in the past. I’ve gone through a ton of reasons why I don’t need one, why I shouldn’t get one. But I finally just bit the bullet and got it. After monitoring the Garmin nüvi 350 3.5-Inch Portable GPS Navigator for months and reading tons of reviews, I purchase it.

I don’t know what to say. When I first opened up the package I was speechless. I just sat and stared at it for a while. Kudos goes out to Garmin for shipping the product fully charged. I don’t think I could have survived waiting for the unit to charge.

Why I Got It

I’ve been playing around with the idea for awhile, but I just kept trying to justify the purchase to myself.

1. It’s too expensive
2. I don’t need it
3. I should learn my surroundings
4. I should learn to use maps better
5. In two weeks I’ll get fed up of it and never use it again
6. blah blah blah

This is a great example of why I need to plan things better. On Saturday I decided to take a trip down to Lava’s house to check up on her. The problem is gas is more expensive down where she is. The smart thing to do would have been to fill up before I left.

Here’s The Dumb Thing To Do

Instead of doing the smart thing, this is what I did. I hopped in the car and looked at the gas gauge and realized that I had more than enough (well just enough) gas to make the trip.

So I loaded up the car and gunned it down there. This is where plans changed. I was on the phone talking to a friend to pass the time on the highway. Then I noticed that I had missed my exit, by about ten (10) miles. No problem, just exit, find an overpass and get back on track.

Time To Recalculate, But I Didn’t

This is where a smart guy would realize that he needs to recalculate things, but oh no, not Baz. When I was leaving, I hopped into the car. I noticed that the gas gauge was a bit low, but then I figured that I’d already calculated and I’d be fine.

Saving Money On Your Oil Change

An oil change is a relatively simple thing to perform, or so they say. They supplies are usually the least expensive of what you pay for if you go to your dealership or another auto shop. The bulk of the cost comes from labor and the oil disposal fees. So a lot of people save tons of money by simply doing their own oil changes. To those I say, more power to you.

For the rest of us, like those who live in apartment complexes, and those who aren’t very mechanically inclined. We need to take our car to the shop.

Ditch The Dealership

Dealerships are notoriously overpriced when it comes to basic auto maintenance. Don’t get me wrong, for those 15K, 30K, 45K, etc. maintenance schedules, I won’t hesitate to bring my car to the appropriate dealership. Now when I say appropriate, I don’t necessarily mean where you bought your car from. I’m talking about the dealer that corresponds to your car model. They know your car inside and out.

Now don’t look at me like that, it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t go do it on purpose. But none the less, I think some poor guy/girl isn’t having a very pleasant day/night because of me. Now please save the judging for the end of the post.

How It Happened

I was speeding along on the highway, following the speed limit and trying to be alert. There was a tailgater on me for some time, but I hadn’t noticed. I mean, we’re all doing 60, so my eyes are to the front. It’s a three lane highway and I was in the center lane. Now, I usually drive in the center lane. This gives me options when I need to switch lanes and I usually don’t have to bother with slow folks and people trying to merge on the right; and the speed demons in the far left lane. For some reason, the center lane was quite empty; I would soon find out why.

I meant to mention this some time back, but I lost track of it. Washington is now the first state to ban text messaging while driving. While I understand the premise of this, I have to wonder, why do we need another unenforceable law? Really a cop pulls me over for texting? How does he prove this? Talking on the cell phone is hard enough to enforce, but at least a cop can see the phone. How is a cop, minding his own business, going to see someone texting under his steering wheel?

And when you do get pulled over, you say you were turning the phone off, or your were looking for a number. Oh well, I guess it’s time to think up some excuses.

Source: Washington first state to ban text messaging while driving [AutoBlog]

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