Jim’s Blog

I went out today and did a little shopping. I went to Kohl’s and got two shirts and two ties to wear at Christmas. I then went to Target and got a pair of slacks. My trip totalled about 26 miles. Here’s a photo of my ScanGauge at the end of my journey.

ScanGauge abbreviations:

• MPG – instantaneous miles-per-gallon
• AVG – average miles-per-gallon
• TPS – throttle-position-setting – with my foot off the gas, it reads “16″
• GPH – gallons-per-hour

Toyota today just announced that it is introducing the Plug-In Prius in key markets. Read the article here.

Here is my MPG for the last 1,286 miles on my 2005 Sienna before installing the ScanGauge yesterday.

Horray! My ScanGauge II came today from Amazon. I connected up the cable, set the ScanGauge on the dash, turned on the ignition. This all took less than a minute. Then I entered the engine-size: 3.3 liter, Fuel-Tank-Size: 20 gallons, and set the type fuel to “Gas”. Then before hitting the road, I use my ball-point pen with the point retracted to push the cable behind the weather-stripping along the door jam. Then I headed to the gas station where I filled the tank just until the gas pump clicked off. Then I went to Home > More > Fillup and entered the fuel cost/gal: $2.38 (2.379). When I got home I gathered up the extra cable and zip-tied it together under the dash to complete the installation.

I just ran across several videos on YouTube about people using the ScanGauge-II to increase fuel economy. I just ordered one from Amazon. This one will go in our 2005 Sienna; I will eventually get a second one for our other car, 1995 Honda Accord wagon. From what I’ve read, it is really easy to install – just connect it to the On-Board Diagnostic port (ODB-II) found under the steering column on my Sienna. Once connected, just key in your engine size and fuel tank size and it’s ready to go. My ScanGauge will be here in a few days. I’ll let you know how it goes.

One thing that I like about the ScanGauge is that you are able to read error codes that the vehicle’s on-board computer throw; then you can reset the Check-Engine light using the ScanGauge. The first time a Check-Engine light came on, I paid $40 for a repair place to read the code and reset the light. Then I found out that most car-parts houses will do it for you for free. My closest place is AutoZone and they have graciously read my codes for me the last couple of times. I like the fact that with the ScanGauge, I will now be able to do that myself.

For years I have been keeping track of my fuel economy with the vehicle I drive. Currently, my daily driver is a 2005 Toyota Sienna XLE. I like having the large vehicle for making long trips and for hauling large items, but I don’t like the 21 MPG I get driving it every day. I have looked at the Toyota Prius for years as a possible car to buy. The 2010 prius is rated at the 51/48 MPG.

Most recently, I have looked at both the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid and it’s cousin the 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid which are both rated at 41/38 MPG. The Ford Fusion Hybrid and the Mercury Milan Hybrid cars are rated as the #1 mid-side cars for 2010 by U.S. News and World Report.

2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid	2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid
I especially like the colorful dual-LCD SmartGauge configurable dashboard display which is the same on both the Fusion and Milan hybrids.

Photos Courtesy of Ford Motor Co.

The media today is announcing that the unemployment has now reached 10.2%, up from 9.8% from the previous month. This unemployment figure quoted by the media is the U-3 from the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Look at the U-6 figure of 17.5% announced today and see how this current figure of 17.5% fits in and compares to the Great Depression in this chart from 6 months ago. More and more people are looking at the U-6 as the true measure of unemployment as you can see in this Wall Street Journal article today.

With the cooler November air, the insects, especially the mosquitos, are hugging the warm houses. This is drawing the anoles to the house for food. When Beverly, our postoffice person, delivered some packages today, she pointed out the two anoles over the front door. I went and got the camera, yielding the photos below.

 
From Wikipedia: “Anole lizards are frequently and incorrectly called chameleons or geckos, although they are not closely related to either of those groups. In fact, they are more closely related to iguanas. These misconceptions are likely due to their ability to alter their skin color and run up walls, respectively.”

We’ve lived in this house for seven years and have never seen a squirrel in our yard. So, it was startling to look out the back door this afternoon and see a squirrel perched on our roof. I wondered how he got there and then remembered that we have crepe myrtle bushes at the two front corners of the house that reach above the roof line. That has to be how he got on the roof.

We have kept a bowl of cat food outside our back door for several years to provide food for the feral cats in the neighborhood. Lately we have been down to one cat. This siamese male cat has been around for several months. About 4 days ago the cat food has been going down faster than normal, so I figured we must have a two or three more cats in the area. The night before last, about 9 pm I looked out and saw a possum eating the food. When I turned on the light, he looked at me and then slowly wandered off.