Quadruple parking?

I usually take extra effort to find a parking spot that minimizes the chances of getting dinged, sapped, or bird bombed, but I still avoid taking up more than one spot. Obviously, that's just me, because this evening I saw a black, stock New Beetle taking up not one, not two... but four parking spots! It was parked smack dab in the middle--x marks the spot, as they say. I've seen cars taking up two spots, but this is the first time I remember seeing a car taking up four!

Olympic hockey

Ugh. You can't win if you don't put the puck in the net. That's about the sum of it: Russia 2 Canada 0. We better do better in 2010!

Belated congratulations to the women's hockey team--who on Monday defeated Sweden 4-1 to successfully defend their gold medal :o) Go, Canada! During this tournament, the women's hockey team outscored their opponents 46-2, or thereabouts. Both goals against were by Sweden on the power play.

I've heard that some people accused the women's hockey team of running up the score. Canada dominated in this Olympics and after having worked so hard to get where they are I think it would have been even worse if the team had slacked off--it would have been disrespectful to their opponent and to the sport. Besides, in the Olympics score differentials matter.

As for greater parity in women's hocky, just give it time. Who would have predicted Sweden would knock-out USA?

Fun in the snow

Last weekend we had 6-7 inches of snow :o) The R doesn't get a chance to play in the snow that often, so I took my ride out for a spin. Here's a picture after I came back.

There are a few more pictures here.

A first time for everything

Well, after work today I discovered my right front tire was flat :o( So for the first time in my driving career I changed a tire. Everything is suddenly so clear--so that's what a wheel lock looks like!

Anywhoo, I ended up having to change tires twice: first I put the spare on the right rear, and moved the right rear to the right front. I had to go through this musical chair dealy because the spare won't fit over the front brakes.

FYI, the R32 didn't come with a spare; it came with some fix-a-flat stuff. I ended up buying an aftermarket spare--but for it to fit into the spare wheel well, the spare won't fit over the front brakes.

Here is what VW gave me:

Here is what I replaced it with:

If you're interested, you can get more information on the R32 spare tire conversion here.

Since this same tire had a flat previously, I'm wondering whether the original repair didn't hold up in this recent cold weather. When I dropped off the flat tonight, though, they said their repairs use both a patch and a plug, so it's unlikely. Anywhoo, he said he'd check it out to make sure.

One other thing I noticed: the jack VW gave me is pretty wimpy. I should really get something better.

R32 fuel consumption

FYI, I've split up my R32 personal fuel consumption data into years: 2004, 2005, and 2006.

The VW estimated mileage is 19 mpg for the city, and 26 mpg for the highway.

Ebay.co.uk

Wow. Recently my R32argent.ca site has been getting quite a few visits from the United Kingdom. I've just discovered that this is in part because a couple R32 sellers on ebay.co.uk have linked to my site in their listings. It's unexpectedly gratifying. I'm glad some people have found my site helpful :o)