October 30, 2016 blog entry
While this past week has been a very busy one, there isn’t
much that is new to report. Mostly I have been wearing my used car sales hat
and during the week I sold three Subaru Imprezas, one Chevrolet Equinox, and
one Chevrolet Trax. Two other vehicles were detailed, photographed, and I am
awaiting pricing for them. Two other vehicles needed oil changes, which I don’t
do but have to take them to Canadian Tire where the work is done. The person
who bought the Equinox didn’t like the snow tires that were on it due to road
noise, so I arranged for the wheels to come off his Equinox and exchanged them
with another Equinox we have for sale and now he is happy. Three other vehicles
will have body and paint repairs completed on Monday and they will be ready for
detailing and pricing during the upcoming week. Still others are coming in to
be sold as we gradually introduce the new Toyota RAV 4s for the older vehicles
into the fleet.
On Wednesday Kathy and I drove to Brooks where we met a pair
of missionaries and exchanged their Equinox for a new RAV 4. Brooks is about
two hours away from Calgary and we were able to see how the collision avoidance
system works on these new cars. The system has a radar device and a camera that
work together to be “aware” of other cars ahead. Once you set the cruise
control, the system works like usual until it senses a slower vehicle ahead at
which point the RAV 4 slows to match the speed of the slower car in the lane
ahead. If you need to pass the slower vehicle, however, as soon as you turn out
into the other lane the system allows you to accelerate or resume the set
speed. Other features, - if you drift across the lines on either side of your
lane, it warns you. While we didn’t have occasion to see how the vehicle reacts
to a stopped vehicle or one hurtling toward us (thank goodness!) the literature
states that the system will apply the brakes faster than you can humanly react
to a potential collision. The owner’s manual states that the system records
speed of deceleration and acceleration, GPS location, and other pertinent
information that can be accessed by the owner, the police, and other authorized
personnel if necessary. I assume the system works in harmony with the TIWI devices
that are installed on missionary cars in many missions of the Church. We are in
line to have these devices installed on all our mission vehicles next April.
I will include a picture of a very happy set of Elders and
the new car with which they have been entrusted.
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| Elder Jewkes and Elder Shah |
I am nursing a cold and asthma to go along with it, and
since it is much cooler this weekend, we didn’t venture out to see any of the
sites in the area as has been our custom; therefore, we don’t have any new
pictures to share. Hopefully Kathy won’t catch a cold as well, in which case we
will hope to do better in the next blog. In the meantime, our mail-in ballots
are sitting here waiting to be marked and sent as we struggle with how to vote.
What a political mess the U.S. is in! Canadian news channels faithfully report
on the “progress” of the election in the U.S. Many of our Canadian friends,
while somewhat amused at the process, are also very worried about the outcome.
They already have concerns about their own prime minister and Canada’s future
as they live with the recession since the fall of oil prices. Now they look
south and see the political unrest in the U.S. and worry how Canada will be
affected by the outcome of the U.S. election, regardless of who is elected.
When it comes to the possibility of war, economic instability, and other human
welfare issues, Canada sees itself as gaining or losing by what its closest
neighbor does. Yes, Canadians are watching the elections very closely and are
concerned.
Enjoy the week. Keep a positive attitude. Amidst the
turmoil, it is still “the best of times”.
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