jmaynard and I had reason to go to Mankato for a few things today, and I now have a 128 MB USB flash drive (the PNY Attache from Best Buy). That along with the gadget I picked up last night makes up my auto mp3 player. Earlier in the day we got mp3 encoding working on belgian so I can encode to the format the thing can play. The gadget even plays some mp3 files that seem to give xmms (version 1.2.7 so it's not the latest and greatest) some trouble.

After loading the flash drive with mp3 files, I had to test it. First in the office to be sure it would play a troublesome file, then in the car to be sure it worked for what I really wanted. Two issues came up, both of which are treatable. It seems there's enough hash in the air even in little Fairmont that every FM channel from 87.7 to 88.9 MHz has enough noise to make things sound scratchy. Fortunately the Corolla's broadcast receiver antenna is mounted on the A-pillar where the driver can reach out and adjust it. I had it fully retracted and things sounded clean. Or at least they did most files. That's the other issue. The mp3 player seems to clip a bit on a few files I'd made with Audacity and had adjust the levels to *just* not clip, or so it had seemed. Evidently that's a bit more than the player-transmitter combination can take. The files made from CD all sounded fine.

I like this thing. I could use a few more flash drives, but that's not a big deal. I have until a bit before RCFM for that. On that trip (16 hours one way if I were nutty enough to do it in one shot), I'd like to have a few hours worth of music, spread across a few flash drives.

Current Mood: pleased
Current Music: Moonlight Cocktail - Glenn Miller

Last year I mentioned what my ideal (automotive) digital music player would be like. My ideal still seems not to exist. However, considering the price of the item I picked up tonight I'm willing to compromise a bit. I now have an automotive mp3 player - or at least most of one. I still need to get a USB memory stick or four.

Tonight jmaynard and I went looking for a few items at Wal-mart and I noticed this gadget which sells for about $30. It doesn't need batteries since it plugs into the car power (cigarette lighter) socket. It transmits on the low end of the FM band, on one of seven easily selectable frequencies. It will transmit audio from a cable so I could use a CD player or such if I desired. But the neat part is that it plays mp3s from a USB memory stick. I can put whatever mp3s I want on a memory stick with whatever operating system I prefer. Jay and I tried this tonight in the office and he used Mac OS X to put a few tunes on a memory stick of his and they all played fine.

This gadget isn't perfect. Even with only playing mp3 files (we tried an ogg file which it merrily ignored, as we had expected) it has a couple limitations. It doesn't remember its own transmitting frequency through a power cycle, nor does it resume playing at the same point it stopped if power is removed. Combine that with not having any navigation beyond [Previous file] [Play/Pause] and [Next file] and it means that a big USB memory isn't really a good idea. Who wants to tap the forward button through a few hours of music? Instead, a few smaller USB sticks would be better. With a play rate of roughly one minute per megabyte a 128 MB stick would be around two hours of play - which is about the longest I am now willing to drive without stopping for water or just to move around a bit. So a few 128 MB sticks (which sell for about $15 each now) seem to be ideal for this. The order of play is very simple: the first file put on the USB stick is the first file played and so on, so put things on it in the order desired.

The limitations aren't too big of a deal. It allows me to play mp3s in the car without any real installation issues. It allows me to use my preferred operating system - or any machine with a USB port. I can change media as I see fit. If I wanted to, I could get a 512 MB stick and use this in the house with a 12 volt power supply and have about eight hours of music. Or I could use the cable and play from the computer and use a good set of stereo speakers.

Current Mood: cheerful

On a hopefully completely unrelated note, the Corolla's odometer turned 95,000 miles today.

Current Mood: still tired

While Jay stayed in Fairmont today, I set out to go to Sioux Falls today and did, eventually. I went to South Dakota twice today. On my way to Sioux Falls I passed a beat up Ford Escort, which was no big deal. A while later that same Escort passed me, which was also no big deal. I left the cruise control where I had set it and went along. It was a couple miles later that things went wrong.

I didn't know if the folks in the Escort failed to notice or if they noticed and failed to realize, but there was a rather large cloud of dense white smoke suddenly appearing from their exhaust. They kept on going for what seemed a surprisingly long time to me, and made it into South Dakota, but not to their destination. They wound up pulling over, wondering what happened. What happened was that cloud of white smoke was the anti-freeze burning. Anti-freeze, of course, should not be burning in the engine.

The folks were from Worthington and didn't have anyone to call (on the one day I make the Sioux Falls trip with a cell phone). So they decided the best thing was for them to go back to Worthington and see about things. Okkay. So I drove them back to Worthington and dropped them off in a parking lot presumably near their house. I would have driven them right to their place, but they insisted on stopping there and I wasn't arguing. They were having a lousy enough day as it was.

I made my way back to Sioux Falls and stopped at Rainbow to pick up the comics they hold for me, then went to an Indian restaurant I'd recently found out about. I got there just after 3:00. Guess when they close? Yep, 3:00. They'd re-open at 5:00 but I didn't intend to be in Sioux Falls that long and I was getting hungry. I wound up stopping at a Schlotzsky's on my way to Barnes & Noble. I plan to try for the Indian place again, but that'll likely be in about a month.

On my drive through Sioux Falls in search of substitute meal I mused that I would have been at the Indian place in time had I not stopped for the folks in the Escort. But I did stop, and I'll sleep well tonight for that.

Current Mood: tired

Slashdot has had a couple recent articles about digital music/media players. There's quite a selection, however none manage to have the set features I'd like all in the same package. Somehow they all seem to manage to miss one thing - and I don't think I'm asking for that much when everything I do desire is in multiple players, just never all in the same player.

• I desire a digital music player that plays .ogg as well as .mp3 files. If it can also play other formats, that's a bonus. If not, it's not a deal-breaker.



• I desire a digital music player that does not demand I use Windows™ to use it or set it up.



• I desire a digital music player that has its own FM transmitter since I'd be using it in the car and don't care to mess with annoying tape adapters or fiddle with the wiring. And while an FM transmission might not be ideal for fidelity, remember this would be in a car where there's wind, road, and engine noise. Any loss of fidelity from FM wouldn't be noticed.

I don't need an FM receiver. I don't need a huge amount of space on the thing - four hours of music capacity would suffice, eight would be nice. More than twelve is almost certainly overkill. I certainly don't need it gold plated. I don't need a fancy display - I merely need to know that's on or off and if its transmitting, on what frequency. I don't need to record voice or radio. I don't even need much in the way to choose what it plays, really. It'd be nice, but while driving? Three main controls are all I really ask: ON/OFF, PREVIOUS and NEXT. Anything else is bonus.

It's easy to find stuff with many of the things I don't really care that much about. Nothing wrong with that, I could always choose simply not to use the "extras" or might eventually find them useful. But for now, I have yet to find anything with the three things I desire all in the same package.

( Preserved comment(s) )

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Music: Orange Barrels - Bob and Tom

* At work during the heavy rains last week, I felt the curious feeling that I normally only notice in the Winter during a storm. I can't really describe this feeling, but I recognized it right away, and it was odd to have it during a Summer storm.

* On the way to MNRF (Saturday September 18) the car passed the 90,000 mile mark on the odometer. This post shows that 80,000 miles was passed on January 5 this year. I'm putting more miles on the Corolla this year since I'm driving more than the last couple years. The last couple years, Jay drove his RX300 on most longer trips. But he's not been around for much of time I'm on going any distance this year.

* I am amused by going to a RenFest and getting offered a computer, or parts thereof. It seems a bit surreal. Not that I'm complaining, mind. I already have a use in mind, should things work out. And after seeing how things have gone with jmaynard since April, it's not all that surreal.

* Also amusing were the couple guys, in garb, who came up to me in the morning at MNRF and treated my walking stick as if it were a real horse, even being careful not approach from behind.

* Having a cooler of icewater available on the drive home helped considerably. I can drive up to Shakopee in the cool morning without needing water, but the hotter afternoon demands more hydration. I got home and felt pretty good.

* It's finally Fall, or Autumn if you prefer, and that means an end to annoyingly high temperatures. Sure, it has been a bit cooler this Summer, but the peaks were still annoying. I'm feeling more alive again. I like this season. It cools down, the humidity drops, and the bugs disappear. October is pretty much the ideal month, to me, in regards to climate.

Current Mood: chipper

jmaynard and I went up to the Twin Cities area Saturday. This trip was primarily to get new tires on my car - the old ones weren't passing the penny test anymore, and it might snow here again and make it look like Winter. (Right now it only feels like Winter. Current temp: 0 F.) Four new Michelins and a few hundred dollars later, I feel a bit better about the season. Watch it either not snow significantly again or dump so much at once that nobody can move anyway.

Got back to find a bill from a card. This one has the last of the Houston trip expenses, which is good. What's bad is that the due date is next Saturday and the account I'd pay it with is a bit low. Shuffle a bit from one account and deal with it. I now owe myself $200, which I took from an account I was trying hard not to touch. That money will get replaced.

At least there shouldn't be any more big expenses until RCFM, and I can plan for that.

Current Mood: mildly annoyed
Current Music: Hell's Bells -- Art Kassel

On the drive back to work I saw the odometer turn 80,000 miles. I wonder what it was last year about now, but I'm not going back out just to check what the maintenance record might have listed. It's actually cold out today.

1. What vehicle do you drive?
A 1998 Toyota Corolla.

2. How long have you had it?
Since mid/late November 1997.

3. What is the coolest feature on your vehicle?
That I don't have to worry about it. It "Just works."

4. What is the most annoying thing about your vehicle?
It's black. A clean shiny black car can look really sharp. However a black car is never clean for very long, especially when the best route from home to work and back includes a gravel road.

5. If money were no object, what vehicle would you be driving right now?
The one I have. There is no real reason to replace it. Changing purely for the sake of change seems rather silly. Though when the time came to replace it and money were not an issue for purchasing or operating I might have a look at the Lexus line.

Current Mood: calm

The bill for auto registration arrived and was paid (it's nice to have a separate account that gets a contribution set aside just for auto registration and insurance - one, well two, less things to worry about). I'm set for another year - though I am wondering when I'll be paying less than the cap for the fee. At least there is a cap, thanks to former Gov. Ventura.

At work I noticed a simple personal one page ad for a used car. It was for a 16 valve V6. Uhm, 16 valve V6? 12 valves would make sense (though it wouldn't be a point of advertising), as would 18 and 24 (which would be an advertising point). Or maybe it's a 4 cylinder? I wasn't curious enough to investigate it and find out.

Also the lines on the parking lot at work were repainted at long last. Part of the lot was repaved over a year ago. The lines are now nice and bright and obvious. Unfortunately they are not quite perpendicular to the edges of the lot, nor at a significant angle that would suggest that the painters meant to do that. Of course, come Winter it won't matter as there'll be a layer of packed snow and/or ice covering up the lines and even the lines that might remain visible will be merrily ignored.

The new no smoking policy went into effect Tuesday. Thursday afternoon there was an e-mail restating the ban and explaining the escalation of consequences. The only place on the business property where smoking remains permissible is inside personal vehicles. I wonder how much longer before the status of windows (up or down) becomes a matter of contention. Also, one person suggested a large vehicle, such as a Suburban, as a makeshift break room for smokers and speculated on a scene, upon them exiting, reminiscent of something from a Cheech and Chong movie. I won't be holding my breath. I no longer have to!

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: Little Brown Jug - Glen MIller

It's very unusual for me to take the car to the mechanic for something other than an oil change. But I did today.

I finally had enough with the slow leak of one tire and took the car to a local mechanic who does tire repair. He said it was a very slow leak and he had to look a while to find the problem. But find it he did. Removed a nail, plugged the hole, and that was that.

And since the car was there and I thought I'd heard some noises on a hard turn I asked him to check out the CV joints so if there was a problem it could be taken care of before it got bad/worse. Everything checked out good, and test driving didn't reveal any noises on hard turns.

The best part of all this is that it cost a mere $12. And now I feel much better about things. There's still a few thousand miles worth of tread on the tires and the Corolla is living up to its reputation for being a long lasting, reliable car.

Current Mood: pleased

Altoids supply now replenished. One tin peppermint. Two tins cinnamon. Two tins spearmint. Two tins wintergreen... and a freebie wintergreen "tiny tin" too.

Called insurance agent to point out that I drive a Corolla CE and not a Corolla VE. All taken care of over the phone. Insurance company will send me revised papers and bill. A bill that will be $25 less than the one with the incorrect model listed.

Current Mood: bouncy

I was going to drive up Downtown Plaza earlier today but it was blocked off. There were a bunch of classic cars, or things that looked like classic cars. A few really were. The rest were 'rods of one sort or another.

There were a bunch I simply did not recognize, and not all had the little window note saying just what they were. Many were things that had an old style shape, but a flame paint job and way too much chrome. There were at least three Bel Aires' (all robin's egg blue or close - as if they didn't come in any other color). Some were listed as '37 Chevy or '38 Ford, but with automatic transmissions? Come on. That's a retrofit, and not a right one. The left & right buttons or such I can forgive - safety and keeping up with the laws, but I saw way too many "old cars" with silly plexisglass PRNDL indicators on the steering column. Don't tell me someone who can restore or rebuild a car can't drive a stick. One or two, I might believe, but so many? Erf.

Not all the cars were screwed up like that. The vehicles from the 1960s would have automatics, at least the land yachts I saw. And there were two cars that were about right, as far as I could tell.

One was a '57 Chevy. I think this still had the 4-on-the-floor as many seem to consider the '57 Chevy a peak of automotive style and would not dare risk the wrath of others if they modified one.

The other was a 1960 Rolls Royce (must be nice to have money...) It looked as if it had simply been kept up (which would be no surprise at all) and had no real changes. Yes, Phar, it was right-hand drive. With a manual transmission from what it looked like - but the control was on the steering column, like an automatic. It was not a 'three on the tree' as it had a gear '4'. Whoever owns it has a sense of humor, too. In back, there's a tray table (yes, like on an airplane) and it was down. On this tray was a plush hot dog and a real jar of Grey Poupon.

ADDENDUM: The thing was put on by a "Street Rod" group.. so one can't expect authenticity, but it's still jarring and feels wrong to see things modified in such silly ways.

Current Mood: relaxed

This isn't a history of the automobile as such but a history of those I recall. There are mostly likely omissions. It might also be dull to everyone except possibly PharWarner.

( As we glide on our motor trip... )

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang running through my mind

Well, sort of. I'm not paying off a loan taken out for to buy a car. But I did just arrange for a re-juggling of my direct deposit so that each pay period a bit more is set aside. These bits will add up, over a month, to roughly what the monthly car payment had been. And since I had been making payments, it won't be like I'm gonna miss discretionary income. The next step is do something to get a better interest rate on my money.

Current Mood: determined

Today's mail included an envelope from a bank. In this envelope were the papers that show that my car really belongs to me and not to the bank. Only took about four weeks to get this, not the six I was expecting but hoping against.

Current Mood: cheerful

I've got a car that's mine alone that me and the finance company own. -- 'Lord, Mr. Ford' Jerry Reed 1973

But very soon the car will really be "mine alone."

This morning I called the bank through which I have my auto loan and asked what the amount of the final payment would be. Instead of the usual large sum, I was told that if I paid it off this Wednesday (which allows time for mail to get there) it'd come to... $80.22. Though I could never stay very far ahead of payments, I did get a month ahead a couple times and was never really behind and it must have helped some.

So this noon I wrote a letter and made out a check and addressed and stamped an envelope and now it's all in the mail. Now I wait for the bank to send me the title and whatever else signifies that the business is taken care of.

Oh, the car? A Corolla with just over 70k miles on it. I expect to be driving it a long time yet. I do not expect to be taking out another auto loan anytime soon.

Current Mood: pleased