Rise of the Titanium Falcon

Putting the ol' Ford Focus out to pasture, after a lengthy term of service.

It's the end of an era, America.

After thirteen years of heavy service, I finally retired my trusty 2005 Ford Focus.  I hadn't wanted to do so yet, as it still ran fine, and I probably could've gotten another couple years out of it, but my buddy Morgan - the Sales Manager at Midland Ford who sold Kris her fancy Town & Country back in April - told me, after having his guys look at it, that if I waited any longer, I wouldn't be able to get anything for it.  That, and another winter would probably kill it.

I'm gonna miss that sticker for Abby's once-obsession with Star Wars.

Kris and I had been keeping an eye out for a sturdier vehicles for my commutes to work, which are pretty substantial.  I drive a half-hour to and from work, every day - I'm in my car for an hour a day, five days a week.  My commute takes me through forested back roads down through Freeland, and on to Saginaw - a trek that's just fine in the Spring and Summer months, but perilous in the Fall (with deer jumping out from the woods on either side of the road pretty regularly) and Winter (with the snow and ice piling up on scarcely-salted roads.)

The Focus handled my far longer commute down in Orlando like a champ.  An hour to work, an hour to get back home - twice as long as my commute now - five days a week, for eight years.  But that was in Florida, where it's usually sunny and the roads are always in great shape, and where there are no deer jumping out into the road trying to kill you.

In the four years since we've moved back to Michigan, the weaknesses of the Focus have become blatantly apparent.  No longer was its awesome gas mileage enough to impress me.  Weighing something, like, 200 lbs, it handled like pure crap in the winter, sliding all over the damn place.  If I were to hit a deer - which thankfully hasn't happened yet - I'd probably die in a horrific car accident.

Time for a shit-load of one-last-time, bittersweet interior shots of my trusty, old friend. . .

I had put on a once-brown cloth steering wheel cover after the oppressive Florida had caused the leather to crumble over the course of a few years.  It's now brown, dirty, and crumbling itself.

That aux-in feature on a second-hand car stereo was life-changing.  Once.

This all-leather interior was once pretty sharp-looking.  After thirteen years of heavy use. . . not so much.

Lot of wear-and-tear throughout this thing. . . 

The backseat, which was ravaged by children over the last decade or so.

I had added the seat covers a few years ago, to cover the tears and burn marks (yes, from the Florida sun) on the leather.

All blemishes considered, I'm gonna miss the ol' girl.  Like the Shadow before it.

I knew I wanted something bigger.  Something that could handle a Michigan winter, but that wouldn't guzzle too much gas on my lengthy commute.  Having a friend 'on the inside' at a local dealership cemented the business from which I'd be buying my new vehicle:  I knew I'd eventually be getting another Ford.

I went back and forth between several different vehicle options, larger sedans but mostly SUVs, and over the last two months I've test-driven Edges and Escapes.  Of the two, I preferred the smaller Escape, which not only had far better gas mileage but also had the feel of something I was more used to:  the Edge drove like a truck, the Escape like a large car.

So Kris and I kept our eye on the dealership page for new Escapes that came into their inventory.  Morgan would occasionally text me and let me know when he got particular vehicle options in that he felt I'd be interested in.  Over the last couple months, I told him where we were at financially, what options were must-haves for me, etc., so he knew where my head was at.  I came pretty close to a couple different vehicles, but none of them were quite perfect, and that's what I was looking for:  perfection.

God knows I'm probably going to drive this next vehicle for quite some time, if my track record says anything at all.

Then, about a week ago, Kris spotted a black 2017 Ford Escape Titanium.  Four-wheel drive, great gas mileage (nearly as good as my Focus, thanks to Ecoboost technology), and a luxurious interior (being the top-tier Titanium class and everything.)  Morgan was able to cut us a pretty good deal on it, as well.

It didn't take me long to pull the trigger on it.

The Titanium Falcon

This thing is gorgeous inside and out.  Aside from being the top-of-the-line Titanium class, my vehicle has what's called the Sports Appearance package.  This includes black window trim, a gloss black grille, and 19-inch aluminum wheels with an ebony black finish.  It also has partial leather sport seats with white contrast stitching (not full leather seats, sadly - my main gripe, for sure.)  The other thing it doesn't have that would've been cool is a sun-roof, but honestly, here in Michigan, I'd probably only be able to use that about, oh, two weeks per year.

A much fancier interior than my old car.  Remote start, heated seats, automated parallel- and perpendicular parking (yes, the car can park itself), upgraded front and back cameras, Google Maps, Siriux XL, and - one of my favorite features - Android Auto, which, when connected to my phone turns the computer screen into my phone secreen.  That on-board computer system is pretty hardcore - check it out here.

All I need to do now is slap a Masonic auto emblem on the back.  Maybe a Virgil Q sticker or something.

See ya on the road, folks. . .

- Brian

An Accuweather Winter Warning Wonderland

Happy 1214 Day, brothers and sisters.

Teaching definitely has its perks, folks - don't let anyone tell you it doesn't.  Without a doubt, one of the greatest perks has to be paid Snow Days.  A paid day off of work?  Don't mind if I do.

This stretch of Waldo is horrible.  I don't think salt trucks know it exists.

We're half-way through December, and so far things have been pretty quiet up here in Central Michigan.  Yesterday, however, we saw a full-scale winter assault blast the Tri-City area, dumping a crapload of snow on us in a matter of hours.  The morning was actually pretty uneventful, so the kids ended up going in to school and I had to go in to work. . . but by the late morning, the district higher-ups must have realized that the buses wouldn't be able to run their routes by the time school let out in the afternoon.  We were getting dumped on, inches per hour, so they made the call to let us out a few hours early.

Cowabunga.

A beautiful blanket of crap that makes my commute to work a living hell.

That drive home from Saginaw to Midland was downright brutal, so I opted to pull the girls from school early so I didn't have to go back out on the roads a couple hours later when they'd be even worse.  It was no surprise at all to anyone when they called today off, so while Kris had to fight her way to work through horrible road conditions (like a sucker), the girls and I got to enjoy an awesome (and paid) day off.

Check it out - the First Snow Day of the school year:

Most of our day off today was pretty quiet - we basically sat around the house and watched movies, played video games, and otherwise not attended our respective schools.  In the late morning, however, the girls decided they wanted to play outside in the snow, so I seized on the opportunity to try out my new 24-105 Canon lens.

Watson has a hard time staying above the snow, which, today, reached up past his shoulders.

These two attempted making a snowman, but it wasn't really packing snow and they gave up after awhile.

Still tearing around the backyard.  He usually avoids the snow, but it probably had something to do with the girls running around and shrieking like a bunch of Apache that made the dog run multiple victory laps across the yard.

Today would have been an amazing day to ski.  Not that we would have survived the drive to a ski hill or anything.

I'm across the yard from her, for reference - I love the zoom on this lens.

Portrait mode on this lens is okay, too, besides being a bit on the backlit side, here.

After about a half an hour or so, the girls got cold and we came inside. . . and resumed our previous positions on the living room couches, in front of the TV.

Hot cocoa.  Kind of a given after playing outside in the snow.

Watson alerts the family upon the arrival of his arch nemesis. 

This is what a snow day really looks like, America.

- Brian

Goodbye Kindercare

After a year and some odd months and after my wonderful summer of maternity leave, I have made the final decision to NOT return to Kindercare. It wasn't a hard decision to make either. The opportunity awaiting me had far better benefits and it's right around the corner from where we live.

So, down the road a little ways, a preschool classroom is awaiting my arrival in a week. This independently owned daycare has offered me $1 more an hour, 4 longer shifts a week instead of 5 so I can stay home with Alayna an extra day, and a discount on childcare! So, things are finally looking up in this neck of the woods. The only downfall is we have to suck up putting Alayna in a family run daycare in the meantime while waiting for a space to become available. I'd feel better about this if I could understand half the people I've met with. Wish us luck as far as that goes. But if its temporary, I can live with it. Without a doubt she'll be coming to work with me when she turns 1 year old. Thank you Primose Schools !

-Kristina