On The Road

On Friday we (Carena, Simon, and I) loaded up in the Jeep and headed to Charlotte. Carena zoned out watching mostly Dora the Explorer on DVD (thanks to Art).



Simon stood for the first one hundred miles.

Then he finally laid down to sleep.


Tennessee was in full Foliage and was very nice. This picture is on I-40 near the North Carolina border. About a day later, a rock slide closed this portion of the road and will remained closed for about a month (at least). Good think I left when I did.

The ABF U-Pack ReloCubes Arrived.

The ABF U-Pack ReloCubes arrived and we filled them.

Actually, we could have almost filled a third cube. You can fit a lot of stuff in them.

Here is a picture of the ABF U-Pack ReloCubes as they were being delivered.

It Snowed!

As you can see I didn't make it out of South Dakota before some snow hit us. It wasn't much and was gone before you know it. I am glad to get out of the bitter cold this year. I think it will be a bad winter in South Dakota.

It's a good time to head to Charlotte.

The time to leave is fast approaching and I only have another week of work left in South Dakota. Today was a reminder of why I decided that it would be OK to venture into the great unknown. I have been thinking about life after EROS for a long time, but today was a validation that I am making a good choice. Today, I watched the parade of staff leave and return from a fate deciding meeting. In the meeting, they learned if they will stay or if they will be laid-off. The result of the meeting; Three of the Five employees will continue to work there next month. It is hard to watch co-workers, who I have worked with for a long time, take the bad news. At least I can take some comfort in that I saved one person's job by my departure.



The weather is getting colder and snow is already threatening us. I really am looking forward to the better climate of Charlotte. According to Wikipedia, Charlotte receives "6 inches of snow and more frequent ice-storms." I am accustom to 6 inches of snow after ice-storms here in Sioux Falls. I hope the better winter offsets the hotter/humid-er summers.

It's So Cold in the D

Picture taken January 15, 2009.
I arrived at work and it was cold. It was one of those days that my little Diesel engine really turned over hard. Trust me, I have stuck to Leaving Diesel #1 in when I know the cold days are a coming.

On a related note, the Jeep Liberty CRD hit 50,000 miles on October 29, 2008.

Solomon & Simon

Solomon is 3 years old now. Simon is now 1 year old. Simon was picked up from the Second Chance Rescue Center in Sioux Falls, SD. These two are good friends. Simon loves me and loves to sleep next to me.

New (to us) car

We purchased a 2005 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD (common rail diesel) last week.

Quicklook:
Motor -- VM Motori 2.8L inline 4 cyl turbo diesel. It gets 22/27 MPG.
160 hp @ 3800 rpm
295 lb/ft torque @ 1,800 rpm.
0-60 time: 10.1 seconds

The CRD weighs 4,300 lbs.

The CRD comes with Selec-Trac 4WD. The Selec-Trac transfer case gives you the choice of 2 wheel drive, Part-time 4WD (all wheel drive), Full-time 4WD (standard 4X4 drive), and 4 wheel drive low-range. The Selec-Trac option means you can run in 4wd all the time on dry surface if you want to.

On cold start this vehicle sounds like a diesel. After warm up, it sounds like a diesel when you need power, but at idle it is hard to tell from the cab. The diesel smell is not very evident in an open area. In the garage, the smell is a little more noticeable, but not much different from a gas powered car running in the garage. There is a lot of power in this diesel. More than once have I squawked the tires leaving an intersection. Thanks to the Turbo, this I4 diesel is quick off the line.

Overall, I like it so far. Fuel efficient, powerful, sporty, and practical. My wife loves it, my kids love it, and the dogs love it.

Happy Lion

Carena will be a Lion for her first Halloween.

Carena April

Our Newest family addition.
More pictures available here.

Puppy is Growing

Solomon is growing up so fast. 8 months old and he is bigger than Sheba.