Daylight Pics of the New Subie!

Ok,   Like a Parent with a newborn child,  I feel like showing off even more pictures of the new car.   These are mostly for ourselves, as new things mean little to people who have no vested interest.   ( Like houses, children, and ...well, cars I guess)  Unfortunately, Cheryl's picture taking ability was not as flattering in the cold, so I had to enhance them slightly.. any My ugly mug probably could have been left out of them...but I did my part and posed like a crazy man as scripted by my better half.   So   Hopefully this will give us a better idea of what the car looked like when it first came home with us.  Sorry if you are bored already,  I understand!  Really!  
Pictures are one of those funny things I think people take so when they get old,  they remember who their REAL family is.  And seriously,  no one wants to watch old vacation video of someone else's family.   ( I know, because I have been on both sides of that situation!)  However,  this is my blog...and I just needed something to post  so I look like I take blogging seriously.   Hope everyone is having a grand Sunday afternoon.   I feel like we missed out on a day, but it was totally worth it!   Enjoy!

Farewell Old Subaru...Hello Elegant New!

Well,  We did it!   It took a little bit more effort than we had hoped, but we found the Subaru of our dreams!   And now it is ours!  We had our eye on it since New Years Eve, But we decided last Thursday that we should make the effort to make it ours.   I have to tell you,  it was a bit of a nail biter driving all the way to Chicago with the old Subie,  but we pulled it off and the old guy pulled through for us one last time. 
A true champ all the way to the end.  It's a little sad to think of losing the old Subaru...It felt like a part of our family.  However,  the power steering was gone, the right tail light kept shorting out, there was an unknown grinding sound behind the left rear tire ( mechanic could not find anything wrong...but it worried me!) And I was having these night mares where we were going to work and the transmission dropped on the car!   Not to mention the rust was eating away at the front fender to the point we would lose chunks of it whenever it got Icy.  Cheryl thought we were going to lose the whole thing and have the frame of the car drop on the road.  There were many other "issues"  that are minor,

but they all add up and I think the car did it's best to warn us that things could get ugly if the situation stayed the same.    Just like my old Subaru that died suddenly and stranded us in Iowa City...alone, lost, and frightened!
   Looking back,  the purple Subaru gave us plenty of signs that it was on it's last legs,  but  you know me...300,000 MILES BABY!  YEAH!   Just how far can I take this thing?!?!   Well the answer is 320,342 miles and with everything failing on the way.   So!  With those memories fresh in our minds,  Cheryl said goodbye and we traveled to the distant lands of Chicago seeking a replacement. 
   I called on Friday to make sure the car was still in stock and then made arrangements to go there today.  ( Saturday)  What else is there to say,   the roads were clear, the skies were sunny, and the old Subaru trudged on to it's final voyage with us at the helm.  Fine'!
   Hello New Subaru Legacy!   It is everything and so much more than we had hoped!   Plus POWER STEERING!  A 2003 with 120,000 miles.   We were driving it home within and hour of shaking the guys hand.   It was the greatest, fastest, most effortless purchase of an auto that I have ever had.  I'll have to post more pics later when it is light out again and I can snap some more.   Let's just say it drove home in the snow without a hitch.  It's been so long since I drove a New-ish car...with POWER STEERING!
   And What trip to Chicago would be complete if we did not stop in to IKEA?  We didn't buy anything of substance,  we mostly just celebrated our successful venture with some Chicken fingers, fries, and LOTS AND LOTS of Honey Mustard Sauce!
  So there it is...The New Subie still has to be felt out a bit...but I like what I see so far.   We are planning on going to get the plates on Monday, and then it will be official!   YEAH!  DARE COMPLETE!

Sword Art Online! Check out this Anime!

So we have finished yet another Anime on Crunchyroll and this one is going to get noticed!   Sword Art Online is the Anime response to Everquest and World of Warcraft MMORPG world.   I was addicted to Everquest back in the day, so this Anime hits a cord with me on the addictive fun nature of online RPG's
 This anime has it all....Action, adventure, romance, and even that danger of having a main character die off.   Not to mention I even got chocked up several times when things did not turn out as I had though.   Well,  Check it out on Crunchyroll.   Or Funimation...Who is Bound to be dubbing this....THEY MUST!   BTW  Funimation is the GREATEST COMPANY EVER!   for dubbing these wonderful anime's into English.   I could gush about them more,  but  I probably already have in a previous post.    I really Hope they get this one!
   In other news...Our Car Quest continues!  And the plot thickens as we have our eyes set on a car.   I have to wait until Saturday to see if we will be able to get it...If not..( Shrug!)  Ah well,  Guess it was not meant to be.  But hopefully luck will be on our side a bit and we might possibly get exactly what we are looking for.    We shall see..

Flock of Origami Seagulls...A 1980's flash back!

Or Origami Terns.    Although I do think they look a little like Seagulls.   The forked tail is the distinguishable characteristic in my opinion.   I had this concept for a while,  and then found a Lafosse version that looked better than the origami swallows I was trying to make work.   the pattern is essentially the same,  until the end.    A simple fold and the tails look different...and , I believe, better this way.   I n debated whether three birds was enough, but ultimately settled on five.   I still might mess around with the placement to make them look a little more like they are in flight.  We shall see.

 In addition,  the title brought back  a moment from the '80's.   And as this is New years eve,  I thought that I might bring back the memories of 1982 with the Flock of seagulls...the group and their one hit wonder..." I ran"   ( Ok, if you are a fan...perhaps you know more of their "hits" than I do...but this is the only one I ever heard them sing)    Enjoy the video....and if you are younger than 30....perhaps you will like hearing a golden oldie that you may have never heard before. 

Battling a cold is not fun....Unless you origami a turtle

So it was bound to happen...Cheryl caught my cold.    Now I know the first thing a husband is suppose to do is offer support and not dance around making fun of his wife who called him a big baby when he was in the thick of it....Well....Let's just say I'm  not as good a husband as I should be...but I'm not as bad as That!   The thing is..I KNOW how crappy this cold is..(special thank you to the ACT people....who are also battling the cold...it's going around)   We have caught a cold every time we begin a new project there....what do these guys do?  Go home and hug their kids?  Everyone knows kids are magnets for germs, noisy, and smell bad....but I digress. . we were talking about Cheryl battling a cold.  
   It's hitting her a little harder faster than it did me..(It took me several days to totally explode) .but now she knows I was not faking my symptoms for attention.  HA!
Other than that,  I am still dealing with the after effects...and surrendering my orange juice to Cheryl now...along with my halls.  And, to keep my self occupied,  I have been working on an origami tortoise, based off the western turtle design from Robert Land.  This little gem took me most of one whole day  to get to "almost" finished.

  I cleaned it up a bit this morning.   If you follow the progression,  you will notice that paper clips help a lot...along with wetting the paper and drying it to keep the folds where they should be.

   Despite that,  I still managed to rip the paper and was forced to glue it in places where the paper layers where thick.
 Cheating?   I'm not going to call it that since this is going to someone who requested it.  I want it to have SOME level of permanence.                                                                                                                                                                   
   I'm not sure what we will do or new years eve...my hope is that Cheryl will feel better and we can hang out like bums and watch more anime.
  BTW!  I have several really cool animes to review...perhaps on one of those days when I have little to say but still want to blog...we shall see. 

Oh Subaru! Where Art thou?

So,  As mentioned previously,  we are looking for a Subaru.....something in the form of a sedan...though a forester as been considered.   Anyway,  In our search...a rather entertaining listing has popped up that, being an evaluator of various writing styles,   I have  deemed worth highlighting.
Granted...we are not in the market for something this ld....or old looking...however...the listing goes as follows:   1987 SUBARU Gl 4x4 with true 4wheel drive and lo range

Follow link to read more.    Notable Prose:  "141,000m 

Fabricated from rare minerals excavated from the core of Mount Olympus, artfully designed by Zeus and skillfully handcrafted in the Land of the Rising Sun by the deft hands of the infamous 7 Samurai. This Japanese rice-rocket is unquestionably the most heroic form of transport since the Apollo 11 lunar module. " 
Also:  "Cast as KITT in 1982's Knight Rider TV series, but eventually deemed too intelligent for the role"
" 

Integrated time machine (takes you back to 1987 when you step inside) 

Powered by nuclear fusion (makes Coles/Woolies fuel vouchers redundant)"
"

No power steering (so you better start pumping iron to shred your biceps) 

Analogue clock (ask your Grandfather how to read it). 


PRICE: 

$4,400 or 

Reasonable offers accepted. 

(Example of a reasonable offer: $10,000 +) 
 "
This guy really wants to sell this car to someone with a sense of humor...or nostalgia for the '80's!  
Also worth mentioning.  that someone else out there is cruising the craigslist Subaru links and replied to this listing as follows.   "To the guy with the Subaru You should focus on using your creative writing skills, not selling cars. Looks like Chuck Norris owned this one for a while I assume the car was too scared to rust. Way overpriced though."



The search continues...hopefully  with  someone who is not quite as in love with Subaru as this guy was.   I use his own words as a reference:  "

To date, the most monumental day of your existence was your wedding, or the birth of your children. That's about to change! In fact, you'd trade your spouse and all of your offspring just to test-drive this barbarian.

TP Cat and Origami Bull

As in the Cone shaped Tent the American Indians carried around.    I imagine with the title you were imagining a cat rolling in toilet paper shreds with a mischievous grin on his face.  Well,   Hiro does not camp out in the new Tee Pee much,  but Cheryl did manage to snap a pick of him.   Just thought I would post it on the blog for the archives.

  Other than that,  the only thing I worked on this weekend was the origami Bull.   I folded it with wrapping paper and it was not as elegant as the card stock.  I DID, however, adjust the proportions a bit giving him a bit of a stocky body.   Compare his to the cardstock one,  who is longer ( and smaller) He still turned out ok,  but, unlike the cardstock bull,  I had to use a little glue in parts to keep the larger one from unraveling.   Even with the wet folding, it still did not hold the same way as  the card stock one. 

  Other than that,   we have checked back into ACT for three days before New Years break begins....and I have been battling a cold for the last five days!   ARRG!    Runny nose,   chest cough....headache...the whole bit from several months ago.  I see everyone else is battling the same cold there, so there is no telling where I picked it up.  It's not life threatening,  just a BOTHER!   I'm so sick...(pun intended)...of this cold.   Hopefully tomorrow will find me in better health.

    And before I log off,   We  are on the hunt for a Subaru sedan.   Ours is getting up there in years and miles and we are seriously thinking about upgrading.   There have been a few listed around here in Iowa,   But for the most part.  the larger cities..like Chicago and even Michigan,   has a better selection.   I don't really want to go all the way to Michigan  ....  But Ohio and Indiana have potential as well.   Cheryl does not want to travel far for it....considering the age of the current car...I know why.   But,   this IS just a message to self several years from now...when we look back and see the time we were considering the purchase of a new Subie!  ( Suby?   Subby?    Hmmm...not sure how to spell the slang term...S-Long U-Bee) 

Christmas Log, Fish, And ,,,Pegasus

It's Christmas eve!  And I know the title of this post sounds a little strange,   but hopefully your curiosity is piqued.   You see...Cheryl did not want Christmas to end up being like thanksgiving.   That is:   Cooking a dish that is difficult and makes Ethan Grumpy in the kitchen!   So se sent away for some Christmas goodies that even I can't mess up and will still be special and fun and tasty.   Enter the Christmas LOG!  

Bûche de Noël  is the technical term.   Etsy has a really great picture of one....our pine bough  became a little disconnected in transit..so we just used the mushrooms.   By the way. .  the cakes is REALLY GOOD!   Moist and sweet despite being frozen for a week before we set it up. 
Next up:   The Pegasus.   Origami that is....I know it might be confusing to put origami in between the food,  but hear me out...  There is a reason.  Basically I tried another Pegasus with a larger piece of paper.   I think it turned out pretty good even though I liked the thicker paper a little better.



    And now on tot he main event:   The Christmas Fish!  Salmon Florentine En Croute is the real name and you can purchase one here.    It's really simple to cook up and was quite tasty!   The fish itself is four lbs.!  and serves 9 people.   So  Cheryl and I are going to have lots of leftovers for several days.  That being said,   These left overs are going to be calling to us as long as they are in the fridge.

   So there it is...We also made some Blueberry Macaron today.  Sorry,  no pics.    We made them for the folks at work and to brush our own inflated egos.   We are just that self centered.   Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Eve and are looking forward to Christmas day the same way we are.  Merry Christmas!