Cup of Coffee

May 28, 2015: Jetta

131 Comments

We bought a new car for the first time in years, and it really was a new car. I mean, it's a '13, but it has 11,000 miles, which is pretty new. We aren't upper class, but our lives don't suck, either.

131 thoughts on “May 28, 2015: Jetta”

  1. Congrats and welcome to the world of German over-engineering. You'll want to familiarize yourself with the head and tail light part numbers.

    1. Our Subaru is just under 105,000 miles, so I'm going to be familiarizing myself with the parts numbers of both head gaskets and the water pump fairly soon.

      1. Best of luck there. At 240,000 on the Golf, I'm not sure what I'll need to familiarize myself with (other than electrical components), but I'm sure there will be something.

      2. Oil pan gasket and transmission flush next for me.

        I was gonna do new tie rods, but my parents had them put on for me unbeknownst. Told me it was an early birthday present.

      3. We have two Buicks. A 2000 Century with around 242,000 miles and a 2005 LeSabre with around 166,000. Both are running great.

      1. Our other vehicle is a Chrysler. I completely understand. (double locked spare tires! Woo!) I'm preparing to embark on a head unit swap out, but found out after I bought one off of Ebay that this particular car will not be a simple swap out due to the factory installed amplifier. Can't wait!

      2. We've been very pleased with our previous Chrysler T&C (2003?) except for the rust, nothing else seemed a problem. (OK, the spare tire I guess).
        We wanted the same thing, just less old and ended up with the Dodge minivan (2014, 18K). But like Spoons, it's new to us.

  2. What an awful basketball game last night. Was Harden shaving points? Howard played well, but acted like a thug. Corey Brewer (!!!!) was controlling their offense as the life drained out of their season. Seriously, though, Harden [poop emoji]. You could say that GSW forced Harden into 13 turnovers, but so many of them looked like unforced errors. He was just awful. Just [poop emoji].

    In the end, you could see why GSW was the better team; they had more guys than Houston who were functioning within the offense, even though their star was off last night (Steph was 7-21, was he feeling the effects of his terrible fall???) and they killed Houston on the boards. Was heartwarming, though, to see Klay Thompson get back in there after taking a knee to the head and bleeding out of his ear. It was especially cool to hear that he didn't go through the concussion protocol on TV (did he or didn't he? The team says he did.) and then hear him say in the post game that he was still a "little dizzy" and to read later that he is exhibiting concussion symptoms. Cool.

    Setting that stinker of a game aside, we are now down to the Finals. Before the playoffs started, I thought that the Spurs would get through; they got knocked out in the first round by a team that lost in the second round, to a team that got beat in the WCF. So I kind of missed that. And I thought when the Warriors were down 2-1 in the second round that they were in trouble. So, I kind of missed that, too. I've been sleeping on a 67 win team that is #goink to the Finals. I would have put a ton of money on Cleveland coming out of the East when the playoff started. Even after Love went down, I emailed my old buddy from Cleveland that I thought they would make the Finals. So, I got that right. I chatted with him yesterday and he had gotten some flack for wearing some Cavs clothing (Mark Price vintage) as being a front runner. Ha!

    This should be fun. I think it's somewhat hilarious that people are complaining and making such a big deal about a 7 day layoff. Doesn't the Super Bowl come after a 14 day layoff every year??? The teams can heal up a little and maybe we can get some championship quality basketball. Warriors in 7, which means I think it's going to be close (depending on what Kyrie can give). Please, no games like last night.

    1. 538 has the Warriors as the third best team of all time behind Jordans late 90s Bulls teams. I know nothing about basketball but I like it when statistically dominant teams continue to dominate.

        1. I have a hard time with these purely statistically-driven rankings when trying to identify best teams ever. But I don't doubt so much the statistical claims of margins relative to competition.

          Quoting from Nate Silver hisownself:

          WTF, nerds? You’re telling us that this season’s Golden State Warriors, who haven’t won anything yet, are better than Bill Russell’s Celtics, who won eight titles in a row and 11 in 13 seasons?

          Actually, no. It would be ridiculous to say that.

          Those Bulls teams, recall, were said to be so dominant because of the relative weakness of the league. But Jordan and Pippen and role players.

          1. It is hard for me to believe that this club is better than, say, the '86 Celtics or the '87 Lakers or one of those peak Kobe/Shaq teams. But, on the other hand, they came through the West with only three losses. Now, I happen to think that they missed the next two best teams in the West (LAC and SAS), but you play the teams on the schedule. If they win the title, they will have completed a pretty fantastic season by almost any measure. Not only that, but they will have done it with a style of basketball that's a lot more fun to watch than most.

            1. I should add that I don't want to get caught up in such a debate. Feels like "LeBron is no Jordan". Maybe so, but if you are making an argument that player X isn't that great because he's not as good as player Y, who is almost universally regarded as the best ever, you might want to concede that player X is pretty good. Thus, 67 wins in the West and a title (assuming they get it)? Pretty good.

              1. Aye. This is a team built to succeed in today's NBA. Would they succeed as well in other eras? Who knows?

    2. I was a little stunned last night when I heard Doris Burke report that Thompson didn't "need" to get the concussion test. The protocol needs a changing.

      1. His dad reported that he drove him home last night and that Klay threw up "several times". Oy vey.

        I should clarify the record here. He did NOT re-enter the game after sustaining his injury. He attempted to re-enter, but was forced back to the lockerroom when he started bleeding out his ear.

        1. yea, it was a nasty blow to the head. Hard to believe there was not a concussion involved.

          1. A very bad optic for the league, not to mention a very dangerous situation for Thompson. Can't have guys get hit like that and re-enter (or in this case, attempt to re-enter) the game. He could have been seriously injured with a second blow to the head.

        1. I haven't heard from her in a while. Probably still shooting footage for that "10th inning" of Ken Burns' Baseball documentary.

          1. I just "got" to see her in interviews when I watched the special features for Lincoln. I forget how well-connected she is.

    3. People talk about how long it's been since Cleveland has won a championship in any sport.
      But Golden State has never won any championship in any sport.
      Edit: So wrong.

  3. I'll admit to being just about as pessimistic as anyone about the Twins in 2015. I'm all for them winning, though. The fun thing about reading stories about whether they will come back to earth is the recognition by writers of these articles that, even if they start to regress towards what we might think is their mean, they've already banked a lot of wins. In other words, there will not be 90 losses this year. w00t!

    1. So, what is your take on Molitor so far? Here are a few of my thoughts:
      - no showtime: he is definitely more of the Kelly mold than Gardenhire in this regard.
      - coaches are more visible: before, it was The Gardy & Anderson Show, but there is much more visibility of the other coaches now, particularly Brunansky. Maybe as a newbie, Moli's leaning on them more, but I don't think so -- I think he's delegating nicely.
      - putting Perk in for 4-out saves is a step in the right direction. He also ignored the lefty/lefty matchup earlier this week and went with the numbers, so he's definitely paying attention
      - he likes to stack the top of the lineup with veterans, but at least he doesn't seem to be fixated on having a banjo-hitting utility guy batting #2 all of the time, for instance

      I still find it fascinating how the Twins offensive stats are dominated by their opponents' stats in pretty much every category except walks, yet they have a significant runs scored advantage.

      1. I'm a fan. Who knows how much a manager really influences the outcomes of games, though. I just know that I never cared much for Gardy and I enjoyed the other day hearing Molitar talking about the Tom Kelly days.

        1. I thought that early Gardy did some good things. I think when he was new, he was more open to giving players a shot regardless of their tenure with the team. He did a little more platooning with the position players (not as much as would maybe be optimal, but he at least juggled Kielty/Mohr/Buchannan) and seemed to value defense before it was cool for us nerds to care that much about defense. He also tended to give his relievers a full inning (or more at times) and didn't La Russa the pitching match-ups so often.

          But so much of that seemed to go down the drain the longer he was with the team--he didn't seem interested in platooning the position players, started running the bullpen into the ground with more but shorter appearances (Neshak being the example I can't get out of my head) and just seemed really risk averse. Yeah, he had some crappy teams, but to me, that's when you really have to start looking for platoons and finding complementary players--if they're all coming off the scrap heap anyway, you should be able to find some with complementary strengths and weaknesses.

            1. Haha. Life is good. Not without its ups and downs, but I've been keeping busy. I have to say I haven't been watching as much baseball as I'd like lately, but I've generally been trying to cut back on televised sports. I find that haven't missed it as much as I might have thought I would, and in retrospect I think it was somewhat stressful trying to watch events in different time zones. I made it to the last game of the Twins-Mariners series in Seattle and it was good to see the Joe Mauer show, but at the same time I feel a little disconnected from the scene.

              My wife and I have Seattle Sounders season tickets with a couple of friends, and that's a pretty fun time. Now that summer is nearly upon us, we're looking forward to getting outside more.

              I've been enjoying your NBA updates, they make me nostalgic for my younger days in MN when I could come home and there would be NBA playoff games on broadcast television.

              1. Cheers, ubes. Just yesterday I was running names in my head of our departed - mostly guys who we're not exactly clamoring to see return - and it struck me that you (definitely not among the aforementioned) were on one of your extended hiatii. Glad to hear you're enjoying life.

              2. Ubes, since you're here I just want to thank you again for the Seattle trip suggestions a few years back. We've returned twice more since then and are absolutely in love with the area.

                  1. I'd consider moving there, but I have no idea how anyone in my current line of work at the other UW affords the cost of living, let alone a house. My best friend bought a house in Mill Creek that is the same size as ours, newer but in worse condition, on a lot half the size of ours. Our house cost almost $350,000 less than his.

                    On top of that his daily commute is to Bellevue.

                    1. The housing market here is kind of insane. It helps (somewhat) to be a couple with no kids. Single is bad because you're essentially competing with couples for the same apartments, and having kids is bad because they don't bring in an income (silly child labor laws.) We've been renting a 660 sq. ft. apartment, and maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome, but I've grown to value my limits on storage. (And for a number of reasons, really don't look forward to going through my parents' house at some point.) I also grew up in a 1000 sq. ft. house with one bathroom and don't understand the current fascination with putting a thousand bathrooms with two sinks in every house.

                      Part of me would like to own a home, but I just see so many negatives in the current market (in Seattle specifically.) Inventory is super low--which becomes a self-perpetuating problem--so in the first place it's hard to find something you really like (and if I'm going to spend $500K+ in one place, I'd really like to be happy with the purchase). And low interest rates actually make me super nervous. I assume that housing prices are basically set by the cost of a monthly mortgage, so if interest rates go up--and hey maybe we'll get trapped in a deflationary trap and that won't happen in the next 15-20 years--then I would stand to lose a lot of money as the value of my home goes down. Plus a lot of the current pressure on home prices is related to an influx of tech jobs--so if tech takes a big hit ala 2000--the market could take a big hit. Or if Boeing left, though these days Seattle-area Boeing seems more likely to die a long, slow death than a quick death.

                      All of which is beside the point that I don't currently have the money to make a sensible down-payment on this theoretical purchase.

                      I can take a bus to work now, which really helps from a commute standpoint, but I used to do the drive across Lake Washington both ways every day, and I can confirm it is not fun to spend 30 minutes (AM) to 60 minutes (PM) to drive 12 miles. One election day it took me 1:45 to get home, and at one point in my life I could run 12 miles that fast. If you worked at the University of Washington, you'd have pretty good transit options (especially with the light rail line coming in to campus soon), but I imagine this will also serve to drive up home prices near the light rail, so...yeah.

                  1. Thanks for Sounders tix! We had a great time withthe 0-0 result. Drank a bunch of Rainiers at the game too.

              3. I'm thinking about MN United season tickets next year if I have the income and haven't followed through on my threat of cutting out soccer. Do you feel like your Sounders tickets are worth what they cost?

                1. For me, yeah, I think they're worth what they cost. I'm row M in the NE corner and they are about $28/ticket. One of the things that makes them worthwhile to me is that demand is high enough that I can basically recoup my ticket cost (or better) on any game that I can't make, and I definitely can't make all the games with 17 home games + playoffs + friendlies + champions league (some years).

                  For one thing, I think the Sounders have generally been an interesting team since they've been in MLS--Sigi's a strong coach, they've been willing to spend on DPs (these days just getting to watch Dempsey and Martins is nearly worth the price of admission by itself), and they generally play a pretty attack-minded game. But also with the big crowds, it's just a fun time going out to the game. Most visiting teams have someone I'm looking forward to seeing, too. (I'm pretty bummed I'll be missing the game when Toronto visits.) And having the game limited to essentially a 2-hour time frame can be nice, too.

                  I wonder if you get MN United tickets next year if you'll get any discount/perks when they move to MLS. If they get a well-placed stadium, I'm optimistic that they'll draw good crowds when they move to MLS.

          2. Hello Ubelmann!!!
            Someone just doubted your existence last week.
            The timing of your return is suspicious...

            2. I missed that...but of course that's what I would say if I had multiple accounts and was just playing games with all of you...

              Also, I did make an appearance in person way back when, probably over 7-8 years ago now.

              2. That was mentioned as proof, but said person showed up at the picnic after you left.

    4. I'm going to enjoy the ride as much as I can, but I have been thinking about the 2001 Twins. They actually had a better record at the same point (30-16). They had a five-game lead on July 14 and then completely fell apart. I remember pretty much giving up on the season on Aug. 14 when LaTroy Hawkins blew a three-run lead in the 9th at Cleveland after there were two outs and no runners on base.

      1. That thought crossed my mind, too. That team, though, was mostly young players (the oldest regular was Matt Lawton at 29, and the only veterans among the starters were Radke and Rick Reed). That's not to say this team couldn't collapse in a similar fashion, but it's not really a similar sort of team.

        1. It's similar in that they are playing over their heads. I was thinking more the 2003 Royals. I just hope it's not 11 more years before we make the playoffs.

          1. The Royals didn't have near the minor league talent nor the money for any extended run at that time. That Royals team was made up of a bunch of utility players and veteran castoff pitchers from other organizations all playing way over their head. They also were only 25-21 through 46 games and were 1.5 games back. They got hot in mid June when the Twins were ice cold and went from 5 games back to 7 games up on the White Sox at the All-Star break despite being just 51-41. Royals were the only team with a winning record at the break. If anything, the Twins are in the strongest division this year.

  4. Thank goodness for podcasts and smartphones. Yesterday afternoon we had 5 cubic yards of compost dumped in our driveway delivered for the three new raised be gardens we built last week. Our back yard is about eight feet higher than our driveway, which makes wheelbarrowing the dirt up there fun. I suppose forty years ago I might have been carrying a transistor radio so I could listen to something as I worked, but I'm glad I have technology that enables me to choose whatever program I want to entertain me as I work.

    2. At the rink in Buffalo, we had 9 cubic yards of mulch delivered for the landscaping. Not only did moving all that take forever, it decided to rain about 2/3rds the way through.

          1. If that is how you want to spend your Saturday morning or early afternoon, I wouldn't stop you. I could even buy you a 6 pack for your trouble.

            Plus, it would give you some FKB material. I even have a title picked out. "Why Algonad has no hair."

            2. What would have been even more awkward is that my response was going to be, "I could give you my Alabama Shakes ticket, but then you would be going to thr concert with my wife."

      1. Yes, about the size of my wedding ring. I coxed it onto my hand, then walked into the house to get my phone and then walked back out into (late afternoon) sunlight to take the photo, so it was very well behaved.

        Plume moths are incredibly thin and have fixed wings in a T shape, and likely are found among grass blades. I've only photographed a couple other varieties.

        Oh, and sorry Spooky.

        1. fixed wings? Wow. I'd never heard of such a thing on an animal. that's kinda cool.

            1. Ok, even if merely hinged perpendicular to the abdomen, that's still pretty damn cool.

              I read that the normal resting state is "with the wings extended laterally and narrowly rolled up". Huh. Rolled up like width-wise? Again, kinda cool.

              1. they seem to place the two wings together one on top of the other on each side, but they might curl slightly I guess. I thought the little furry halteres (vestigial wings) looked pretty cool

  7. In a couple of weeks Mrs. Hayes & I will be heading up to Minneapolis for my cousin's graduation party. Normally we might stay with my uncle & aunt, but since the party's at their house we decided to get a hotel room for the evening. Neither of us are taking any vacation over the summer, so we decided to splurge a bit and stay at Hotel Ivy. I'm really looking forward to it because that building was still vacant when I was working downtown and parked in the surface lot next door. It just looks cool and I've always wanted to see the inside.

    Now, to figure out where to do brunch on Sunday & possibly supper on Saturday. I love the brunch at Hazel's, but I'm open to alternatives. Any suggestions, Minneapolis denizens?

      1. Thanks for the suggestions! We'll look at them tonight.

        Brunch sounds fantastic about now. Much better than working on training documents.

        1. My current favorite brunch spot is Al Vento. The buffet has some great sausage-and-egg standard brunch fare, but the range of delicious Italian meats, cheeses, pastries, and smoked fishes makes it truly outstanding. Plus you can't go wrong with a bottomless mimosa or bloody mary.

      2. Hell's Kitchen is the Doris Kearns Goodwin of restaurants. Avoid like the plague! The other two recommendations are excellent (and I'll add Tilia).

        1. Really? Granted I've not been there in years, since I don't get out of the house anymore. (Only a slight exaggeration, work excepted.)

          1. Absolutely, the staff thinks it can do no wrong, treats the customers like garbage, and churns out thoroughly mediocre food, yet it must have the world's greatest publicist as it thrives.

            1. I went on Saturday with the family and enjoyed it. But I get out less than Pepper so can't compare it to any others.

              1. I'm not aware of that (or of him having any inappropriate relationships with Preznits).

        2. That is a reference that makes complete sense to this historian. I appreciate the heads-up!

      1. An article which includes this gem:

        Schwartz was candid about how he envisioned change under a McCain presidency.
        "Less taxes and more war," he said, smiling. He said the U.S. should "bomb the hell" out of Iran because the country threatens Israel.
        Asked by the interviewer how America would pay for a military confrontation with Iran, he said the U.S. should take the country's resources.
        "We should plant a flag. Take the oil, take the money," he said. "We deserve reimbursement."
        A few hours after the interview, an unknown woman helped herself to Schwartz's resources.

        1. That is too awesome.

          Also, what'a single man doing with a pair of $4,000 earings? I'm not one to judge, but it does raise an eyebrow.

      2. I thought that was going to be about the guy base jumping, but then I remembered that was Foshay.

        1. I have some stories about the Foshay Tower, too, which I will not repeat. OMG, they should have tinted the windows or something.

            1. It's a W hotel now. I used to work across the street. Let's just say that I've seen some things that I wish I could unsee.

              1. Apparently this is the case for some of my colleagues whose offices are leased in the same building as a 13-storey block of private, doorman-included apartments. The offices share an interior courtyard with over 50% of the building's apartments, all leased by college-age folk.

            2. I didn't know eurotrash existed in Minnesota until I walked through the W's lobby for the first time. From where do they materialize? It's always left me perplexed.

    4. I've done dinner and brunch at Spoon and Stable and would recommend either very, very highly. The creamed spinach is to die for.

  8. 10 years of marriage today. It's gone fast, and I still feel like I'm on my honeymoon.

    1. congrats, Phyllo!

      Tomorrow is number 27 for us. I can't say it still feels like honeymoon, but it's been damned good.

    2. Congratulations. Good times, that.
      You got a honeymoon? We should have tried that.

    5. Last Saturday was our 7th wedding anniversary. We went to the farmer's market and Mad Max. It was a good day.

    9. Seems it's that time of year. Congrats to all the other citizens too.

      I made a video for my wife as a wedding gift, but since we're in transition it's not immediately accessible. I might to try find it and post it someday. It was fairly entertaining.

  9. Wasn't around yesterday and didn't get to post my "See how much America hates soccer?!?" line in response to the FIFA arrests. Dangit.

    1. As they say about comedic timing...better late than never.

      That's what they say, right?

    1. But that would be censorship! Freedom of the press and freedom of speech means that every letter to the editor needs to be printed in its entirety!!! (That is one of my favorite misinterpretations of the Bill of Rights.)

  11. Well, FilmWise Invisibles brought Mike out of the woodworks, let's see if bringing back ID the AU work as well. I've picked up a few new Twins baseball card autographs since last season.

    ID the AU!
    Identify the Twins player (current or former) whose autograph this is:
    au

    'Hint' SelectShow
    'Answer' SelectShow

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