I leased a new car a few weeks ago and it has pretty much everything I want. It definitely has everything I need. The car runs android Auto so I can play Spotify, Audible, Google Maps and more. It has a backup camera for precisely backing into spots and alerting me to things behind the car. It has lane assist warnings in case I miss something in my blindspot. There are many excellent features. I also love the look of the car overall, it is very sporty. I did add a few things to it, though.
Android Auto only works if the phone is physically connected to the car with a USB cable. I have a ton of cables but they are all way too big and when the cable is connected to the phone and the phone is on its little built in shelf it barely fit. So, I looked into right angle USB cables. I searched them on Amazon.com because I could not find them in stores. I found a set of three of them that were very short but perfect for my needs. I hate having a mass of cables in the way so I found the shortest possible to do the job and I used a cable organizer (small rubberized dot that you can slip a cable into to keep the cable in place) to keep the cable up and out of the way. Now my phone can fit perfectly on the shelf and have plenty of room to connect the USB cable. It does cover one of the 12V lighter connectors but I don’t need them anyway because the USB also charges the phone on the go as well as runs Android Auto.
Another thing I added was a very small accent to the wheels. I found some metallic blue valve stem covers. They match the color of the car really well and give the black wheels an extra pop. Of course, it would be karma if someone steals them off the tires as that was something I did once as a kid to make my bike look cool. Metal valve stem covers that were liberated from a vehicle in the beach parking lot. Luckily I can pop another set on for $6. So, if some kid wants to make his bike look extra cool with metallic blue valve stem covers, I’ll chalk that up to the universe paying me back for some misguided choices of my youth.
I picked up my new car today. Last week I went and set up a new lease on a Kia Forte. This is a 2021 Kia Forte GT. It was a little more than a standard Forte and has some extras that I am really enjoying. I had been following the Kia website for our local dealership for a few weeks and they finally got some new cars in stock. They had a blue one and since that is my favorite color I decided to get that one. I’ve had 3 Kia Forte’s so far and two out of the three have been blue. Prior to the Forte I had a Honda Civic that was also blue. Blue is the color for me.
I like how this looks, it also has the back up camera and a big screen for the infotainment applications. I can connect android Auto to the car and will be able to listen to my podcasts and more. there is even a little shelf above the USB plug for my phone. This will keep things nice and neat in the car.
We picked this up after school and karate today. Andy retested for his white stripe and he earned that and his blue one as well. He’s got a lot more practicing to do on the days that he does not have karate but I think he’ll keep at it in order to earn his next black stripe.
Speaking of training and practicing to earn things in martial arts. Today started my road to the black belt with some morning workouts to get my physical requirements up to snuff. I bought a training dummy months ago and it has gathered cobwebs in the garage over the Summer. Mostly because it was too hot in there and for some reason there is no longer electricity in the garage so night training is out. But a little more of it is just being lazy. I know I have to get my physical requirements up for passing the test. I have my push-ups there and also squats but running and planking are not even close. So, every day doing some training. Luckily I have the training dummy and also videos from the school to help me train.
Today was the first full day of school for the kids and the last day of being a one car family. It worked out a little for a little while but that was when we didn’t have as much running around to day. Now that school is back in session having two cars make more sense.
