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Article posted on Jun 26

Isn't technology wonderful?

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 26, 2007, 5:55 pm

Apple somehow managed to re-animate Paul McCartney in an iTunes ad.

Computers! Is there nothing they can't do?

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Article posted on Jun 25

First "Complete" Fill-Up

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 25, 2007, 2:11 am

First "Complete" Fill-Up, originally uploaded by fo0bar.

This is just before my second fill-up, but the first with "complete" data, as in I knew the exact mileage of my last fill-up. Doing the math revealed this tank was 53.089MPG, considerably MORE than the display indicated.

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Article posted on Jun 20

More Prius news you can ignore.

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 20, 2007, 8:48 pm

I got the Sirius satellite radio kit installed today. The antenna is right at the back of the roof, behind the main antenna. The unit works by extending the AM button, so now when you keep pressing it, it cycles through AM/SAT1/SAT2/SAT3. Each SAT mode lets you store 6 presets. Beside that, there's very few bells and whistles, not even a signal strength indicator. And the display is limited to 10 characters. Sucks, but at least it sounds good, much better than FM modulation or tape pass-through ever could.

I also received my cargo net today. Toyota sells a vertical cargo net pouch for the Prius, but not a horizontal net. This is odd because the Prius comes with D-rings in all 4 corners of the cargo area. However, I found a forum post that said Hyundai sells a net for the Santa Fe that is the perfect size. And it is.

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Article posted on Jun 17

Voice Post: Unsafe drama at any speed.

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 17, 2007, 1:33 am

(LiveJournal Voice Post)

I like the quality of the in-car phone system. You can't even tell I'm on the road. Everybody I've talked to through the phone says I sound great.

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Article posted on Jun 15

Sirius satellite radio on the Prius

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 15, 2007, 7:36 pm

I bought a Sirius car kit last year, the kind that clips to your AC vent, you run the antenna to the roof, and use a cassette adapter. While it wasn't too pretty, it worked well. I chose Sirius over XM because Sirius has more news/talk channels, and XM didn't have NPR at all. I found myself listening to NPR Now and BBC World News most of the time. (Oh, and the 80s channel.) I still switched back to the regular Sacramento NPR station for the drive home each day, because the Sirius NPR station doesn't have All Things Considered.

Shortly before buying my new car, I heard that Toyota had recently begun selling direct Sirius integration (they've had XM integration for a few years now), but Toyota's site had no information except for a small marketing blurb, and I only found a few people in forums talking about it.

After buying the car, I started asking around. Reno Toyota said while they haven't ordered any yet, the installation instructions on the TIS (Toyota Information System, essentially something like MSDN, but for Toyota techs) look nearly identical to the XM installations, which they've done. They said they saw 2 parts, one for the receiver itself, and one for the "fit kit". Together they were $450 (ouch), and installation would be another $180. I got the part numbers and verified them against some forums through Google.

Then I found this site, which lists the exact same parts for $270. Again, I've found very little info about this (earliest date I've found has been 2007-04-27), so I wasn't sure if everything in those 2 items were complete (antenna, etc). I took a deep breath and pulled out the credit card. 3 days later, today, it arrived.

I busted out the camera:

Everything needed seems to be there. It even came with a printout of the TIS installation manual. The instructions are straight forward, but I would need tools such as a drill, deburring tool, nylon panel removal tool, etc. I then made an appointment with Reno Toyota to get it installed. $180 is worth it to not risk messing up your car that's only a week old.

I took a lot of pictures, just in case someone who is in a similar situation needs more information about what he'll be buying.

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Article posted on Jun 15

My work desk

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 15, 2007, 2:38 pm

My work desk, originally uploaded by fo0bar.

Do you think I have enough phones?

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Article posted on Jun 13

Huh?

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 13, 2007, 8:44 pm

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Article posted on Jun 13

I've owned many cars. Well, four.

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 13, 2007, 1:37 am

I've pulled together, and imported into Flickr, pics of the cars I have owned. Each photo links to its gallery.

1986 Chevy Caprice station wagon, bought in 1997. Sat 12 comfortably. Seriously: 3 in the front, 4 in the middle, the back bed turned into a 3rd row for 3, and 2 on the wheel wells. Though I think the design limit was 7 (2/3/2). Crush capacity is 18. Don't ask me how I know that. Sadly I didn't take a wide-angle shot, so please click through to get a sense of its size. Sold for scrap in 1999 due to cracked engine block.

1993 Plymouth Duster, bought in 1999. The 90s "Duster" was not the same Duster muscle cars of the 70s. Instead, it was literally a Plymouth Sundance or a Dodge Shadow, but with a spoiler. This car came with me from Green Bay, to the Bay Area, then to Reno. Sold in 2003.

2002 Toyota Prius, bought April 2002. My first "new" car, and lasted me the longest (indeed, the car was fine when I sold it, I just got an awesome trade-in on in and decided to act). Bought before most of the world knew what a "hybrid" was. Sold June 2007.

2007 Toyota Prius. If you didn't know I just bought this, you must have been living under a rock.

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Article posted on Jun 12

Twins!

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 12, 2007, 1:12 pm

Twins!, originally uploaded by fo0bar.

Last night I stopped by the office and noticed another white Prius. There is one of those "get your MBA in only 3 days" schools in my office's building, so I assume it's one of the students. It's a lower package though, no 6-disc changer or JBL speakers.

In other Prius news, I ordered the integrated Sirius radio kit. $280, and I'll have to get it professionally installed on top of that. (I could probably do it myself, but I don't want to get in a situation like with the old Prius where I broke the AC vents.)

(Yes, I know this is boring to you, but humor me. I just bought a new car. I'll get over it soon.)

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Article posted on Jun 11

Thank you for visiting California. Now never come back.

• Posted by Ryan Finnie on June 11, 2007, 5:45 pm

I got my title back from Carson City Toyota and will mail it to Auburn Toyota soon. I went to the DMV, surrendered the plates on my old car (and got $122 prorated refund on my registration, woo), and paid $1300 in taxes on my new car. And I finally bit the bullet and applied for vanity plates. Here's what I should be getting:

If you plan on going my route and buying a car from a California dealership, there's one gigantic gotcha I found today. California requires you to provide proof (if they request) that the vehicle has not been used primarily in California for a year after purchase, to avoid California taxes on the vehicle. That's reasonable, not the gotcha.

This is the gotcha: You may not enter California with the car within 90 days of purchase. Period. No exceptions. If you do, you risk being charged full taxes on the car, in addition to what you paid to your state.

Totally unreasonable. Now, I understand the principle behind the law (to prevent people from buying a car to use in California, but registering it in Nevada to avoid paying the higher California taxes on it), but this makes no exception for people like me who live in Reno, work in Reno, but occasionally go down to the Bay Area for a day.

Now, I could probably risk it and drive it in California anyway, but of course the penalty for that risk is about $2000. I've got a good relationship with Enterprise and can get good rates (and when you rent in Reno, they allow you to drive in both Nevada and California since we're so close to the border), so it looks like I'll be renting cars for the occasional weekend trip.

Screw you, California.

(Besides that, the car is great so far.)

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