It is that time of year, when the weather is now warm enough to change the tires over from winter to summer, which is a job I dislike, but do like the result. I have studded winter tires, which means that they have little metal pins in them to dig into the road, which is great on the icy roads, but they are loud. One of the reasons we chose this particular car over others that we could have got is that it is relatively quiet and now that it is back on normal tires, the silence is back.
Well, "silence" is relative and I am comparing this to my Honda Civic, which handles like a go-kart on rails, but sounded like a jumbo jet on the highway. For someone that can end up driving quite a lot for extended periods of time (when there is no Corona), a quiet car is a luxury. A friend was talking about how loud his car is and was wondering if it is bad for his baby son to hear it, but I am not sure if it is a concern, considering that people in my age grew up with V8s and V6s with minimal sound-deadening at all - and we are fine.
"What did you say? Speak up youngin'".
I also washed the car today, because the other thing at this time of year is the dust - it is choking like a desert, as the snow has melted and left everything trapped in it free-floating in the air and it gets everywhere. It messes with my daughter's and my asthma and helps lead into allergy season with the pollen soon to come as the trees bud.
It is nice to have a clean car again, even though it won't last long. The above picture is from the headlight cluster, shot up close through the glass to escape the reflection. I just like the details in it - it looks fancier than it really is. Below is the other side taken from a little further away so as to catch the reflection of our house. Now that the sun is out, it is back to its clean white look, as it reflects the surroundings quite well, which means that it spent much of the winter looking decidedly grey.
I change the tires myself, as now I have the space, although because of the renovation materials everywhere, I first had to clear a space in the garage to do it. That took me several hours yesterday.
I used to pay for storage in a "tire hotel" and would pay for the changes twice a year, but the price just got out of hand, almost doubling in the space of about 6 years. It wasn't cheap to begin with and the convenience of it still took just as long as doing it myself, as it meant booking a time and driving to the place on the other side of town - however, I didn't have the storage space for years, so it was about all I could do. In the last couple though, I have kept my tires at my in-laws' place instead and changed them on the road.
An hour a bit and some sweat twice a year to save aver 200 euros, is fine by me.
I am looking forward to eventually getting a place in the garage set up for myself, with some shelving put in to organize tools and random boxes of stuff that we have no other place for inside. We have plenty of space in this house, but the cost of fitting it for functionality is quite high and the living space is going to take precedence. Eventually, we will heat the basement (where the garage is also) and slowly get ourselves organized, but i am not sure if the first thing to do is the garage area, the laundry, the sauna or the little wine cellar space under the stairs. I am leaning towards the wine cellar.
While I have added pictures of headlights, these aren't actually the lights lost in the title of the post and technically, no lights were actually lost, but the right lights were not gained. We are having the ceiling for the lounge and dining area put in tomorrow and Tuesday, which also means putting the overhead lighting in. The problem is that the lights that we have in other areas are sold out and due to the pandemic, they have no estimate on when we could get them, so we have had to make alternative design decisions - that we didn't want to make.
We were hoping to have a model that blends more into the ceiling and don't draw attention when off, but we have had to go with a model that I think stands out a bit too much. We won't actually use these lights that often as we will rely on lamps and mood lighting most of the time, but they have to be there because there are times that bright light is required, especially in the winter.
The lights also have to not require a lot of space in the ceiling cavity, as we only have just over 5 centimeters of room in the dropdown. The ones we got weren't too expensive and the size of the hole required to embed them is smaller than when the others require, so if we have to change them later, we are able to possibly widen the recess and add new lighting. This is something that has to be done at some point anyway, as LED lighting often comes in solid units, meaning the bulbs can't be changed. A 5-year guarantee, really isn't very long when having to replace a few dozen lights.
For the next three days I am in a training tunnel, with deliveries each day that I am yet to do the prep work for and a few other tasks for internal processes on my desk. Tomorrow, there will be a guy coming to continue on building the structure for our toilet, a plumber coming to freeze and remove pipes for an unneeded wall radiator, a builder for a wall support and inbuilt shelving, his son for creating a doorway, his other son for the ceiling paneling, who will be working with his own son, the grandson along the way. It is going to be pretty hectic and noisy and I am glad I will be at work.
We weren't planning on having so much done at once by contractors, but we are running out of time and I will not be able to do much of it myself. But, once these bits have been done, it will be my turn to start digging into the finishing parts and getting the paint on the walls and eventually floor in the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to coincide my tasks with what will be a well earned few days off from work and though the work doesn't stop, "a change is as good as a holiday".
So they say.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I grew up with a detached garage,(mancave) it was my fathers, and we were in it more than the house it seemed.
Same today here, the garage is a sanctuary for my sanity. And if I were not on the road 4-5 days of the week. I am sure it would dominate my home time.
I will look forward to your mancave additions, please take many photos and document the evolution for garage junkies like Me.!! LoL
A great post as usual Taraz. Wish I could keep up with all of them. The crypto, smallsteps and DIY renovation projects are my faves.
I have worked on many a tire over the years. :-)
Us DIY guys ROCK.!
And we save a shit ton of cash doing it...
While I am not an obsessive compulsive, there is something very satisfying about having work tools organized well. I have always wanted one of those hanging walls for stuff, but have never had the space til now. It'll take a while to get it done, but it will be the first of many projects down there I hope :)
Oh look, you use the same tire iron as me! ;D
I always have winter tyres on my car because I don't drive much and I don't have room for summer tyres. And I don't like to store them in a tyre hotel either, because that costs me too much money.
i am guessing they are friction tyres :)
I don't know that at all, but they will be friction tyres because they are quiet. Or all-weather tyres, I only know that because I searched online for what friction tyres are. I don't need studded winter tyres because the roads are almost always ice free. When there has been a sudden onset of winter, I can hear the winter gritting vehicles at the crack of dawn. I think it was only twice that I drove on a snow road, and then I drove exceptionally slowly and enjoyed the wintry road.
Stressful as it may be sometimes, it's kinda nice getting your hands busy doing some task you could pay someone to do. Makes you feel extra independent.
I prefer to do what I can myself - but I am lacking so many skills! :D
One of my friends across the ditch from you was recently telling me that he had to take his vehicle in to get changed over as well (I don't think he has storage at his place for tyres so probably had to do the workshop thing).
Sounds like a lot of things piled up at once x_x
In most places, studded tyres are illegal because they kill the road - in Finland they make exceptions otherwise a lot of people die. There are also "friction tyres" that don't have studs and are great in the snow, but not as great on ice. Where I live, it can be very icy.
Good to keep busy....
Well we don't have to change our tires because of change of seasons we have mild season throughout the year
It is nicer that way. Back in Australia I lived in the tropics and the most important thing for tires was to be able to handle very wet conditions.
I could do with a quieter car. Mine is an ancient qashqai and it is a noisy bastard.
Maybe noisy, but Nissans are generally pretty bulletproof and function well. My first two cars were Nissans.
This is a VW Passat. We tested a Kia Niro hybrid, which was great, until the highway. The roads in Finland are quite rough in general and the Asian cars are made for smoother roads.
When the moon comes, are you thinking about testing to see how quiet a Gallardo is?
I think I might, mine is 15 years old now, high time for a change. Might be stretching it a tad getting two kids in a Gallardo! :0D
You are right about Nissan's, the engine seems indestructible and the only issue I have had are old car issues but nothing serious
If they want access to their wallets at 18, they will do what they are told and stay in their rooms.
The neighbours had a Qashqai until recently (about 12y) and it always seems in pretty good nick. I don't plan on ever buying a new car again, though that depends on just how high the moon rises :)
I can't bloody wait to get them into crypto. It at least set up a wallet for them properly. One that I don't dip into for crazy things like DeFi!!
Lol, he who controls the wallets controls the kids!!
"There goes your college education kids - don't harvest too often and remember to pool"
:0D
That's a lot lights in the last picture
Unfortunately, out of all of those, there was only one that was suitable that they had enough of. =)
🤪 sometimes you get lucky that way.
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