Sticker Shock

It was a pleasure to remove the Commonwealth of Massachusetts registry inspection sticker from the windshield of my caah yesterday.

Massachusetts requires a vehicle inspection every year, which includes safety and emissions checks, at a fee of $35 for most passengers vehicles and $15 for motorcycles.

I can’t help feel this is just another way for Mass to impose an additional fee/tax, a.k.a. money grab, from the state just passing it off as in the best interest of safety and for the environment -

Failure to have a valid current year inspection sticker could hit you in the wallet even more with tickets if pulled over by the police. These stickers are color coded based per year so easily noticeable if expired.

The premise makes sense, especially the safety aspect but yearly is a bit much, as are the penalty fees if caught with an expired sticker.

It’s more pronounced when you see what other states do or don’t do when it comes to vehicle safety and emission checks, e.g. Tennessee does not have such a program.

Now I’ve seen very questionable vehicles on the road here in East Tennessee that would NO way pass both safety and emission checks. 

I understand the premise, just not the fees behind it. That being said, I’m pleased to no longer need to do this!

Oil Change Via Oil Extraction

I finally had the oil in my "cah" changed the other afternoon.

I had a coupon to Valvoline, an instant oil change business here in East Tennessee, so I went there and had a pleasant experience.

As I pulled up to the business, they opened one of the garage door and had me pull right in. I never had to get out of my cah! I remained in the driver seat, where the technician, on their computer, came to me. They gathered my information, asked what services I was interested in and went to work.

Seems this place extracted (sucked out) my oil versus the traditional gravity drain via the drain plug.  They simply removed the oil dipstick and placed a long narrow tube down and sucked the oil out, see first pic below -

They measured the proper amount of synthetic oil needed for my cah into a separate container, then  poured it into my engine - 

All in all it was a good experience. They asked some up front questions about air filters and fuel additives but otherwise NO upselling or "finding" of issues needing replacements. Fluids were topped off, e.g. windshield washer, tested my battery and put air in my tires.  They were friendly, professional and through, even wiping their finger prints (if there were even any) off the hood once they closed it.

One Mile At A Time II

Back on December 9, 2025 I submitted a post titled, One Mile At A Time and in it was a pic I took of my odometer showing I'd hit the 65000 mile mark.

Well, here's an update with a new pic now showing 66666 miles on the ole odometer -

The above picture was taken on January 7, 2026.  So, in less than one month I've driven 1000 miles!  Of course the drive to Tennessee itself added most of these miles but driving from JC to Limestone and back is racking the miles up too, as are my "driveabouts"!

One Mile At A Time

My Jetta hit the 65,000 mile mark this afternoon!

A nice round number to begin my upcoming drive to Tennessee!

"Donut" Spare Tire

Testing out my spare tire...

I've owned the vehicle since October of 2019 and yesterday was the first time I pulled the spare out.  It's the first time in forever that I've changed a tire AND I got to do it in the rain too boot. 

Changing the tire was easy-peasy and I would have been all set and on my way but for one important detail that was missing - AIR!

I will "spare" you the details of how I came to have a flat but suffice to say my vehicle is NOT a postal vehicle!

🚗 Public Service Announcement 🚗

!! Please check your spare tire on a regular basis and make sure it's properly inflated !!

Mileage Milestone

My car has hit 60k mile mark!

Luv my car!  Very happy with it.  It's been good to me.  Fingers crossed it keeps on going.  I wouldn't be disappointed with another sixty thousand miles...

Wax On! Wax Off!

I completed another pre-winter chore today! A chore that honestly I loath, waxing my car.  Actually, I really dislike any sort of car detailing, inside and outside, just don't enjoy it.

However, that being said, the waxing of my car heading into winter is a requirement for me. I want to protect it as best I can from the ice, salt and the New England weather but also I find it helps to repel, to some degree, snow and makes it easier to clean off the snow too.

DONE and look at her shine!  The marks shown along the side, below, is just a reflection.  She looks good!

Let it snow!

** UPDATE**

It's Sunday morning and it's been raining off an on.  Just look how the water just beads off the new wax job, so nice -

Eat Your Heart Out Clark W. Griswold!

It's not "metallic pee" in color but look at the station wagon in this pic I took the other day!

OMG! My dad would be in his glory in this bad boy!

Being how we typically traveled as gypsies for our trips to and from West Virginia and Tennessee growing up, this wagon would have allowed my dad to pack and load more "shite"!

Who knew there was such a beauty?!

Cargo Beep Beep...

 

I learned that the above Franklin police report motor vehicle crash involved a pick up truck and a deer AND it took place in the street in front of my house!

I was prolly in bed.  Yup, 10:15PM is past my bedtime these days. I don't believe sirens were used and I did not hear the impact. However, my neighbor did and went out to investigate.

It was a young kid driving a new pick up truck that he had recently purchased and claimed the deer ran out in front of him.  The deer, a big doe, was hurt pretty bad and was took a while to expire.

Cold I know but one less deer that will be foraging in my gardens.

Wax On, Wax Off!

I took advantage of the outstanding warm weather we had yesterday and took care of yet another Fall project!  One that I really don't like doing, which might explain why I procrastinated and waiting as long as I did to get it done - wash and waxed my car!

As much as I loath doing this task, I like to have it completed before the snow flies and the roads are covered with salt.  Plus it's a great feeling when it's finally done.

You can see the effects of what a nice coat of wax does to help protect the vehicle.  With this mornings rain, you can see how nicely the water beads up and rolls right off!  The snow does similar, plus the wax makes cleaning the snow off the car that much easier too.

On to the next chore...

Well This Sucks!

It was a good thing I didn't procrastinate in getting my October inspection sticker.

I noticed this crack in my windshield yesterday, UGH!

I imagine it's only going to get worse, especially with the swings in temperatures we've started to have.  Looks like I'll be calling the insurance company this afternoon...

Fall Detailing Time

Before draining and putting the hose up for the winter, I washed my car.  I didn't want to spend the time afterwards detailing, instead tended to the leaves and finished getting the yard to bed, so I parked her in the garage.  That was a Sunday.  On Monday after work I spent a good hour in the garage waxing her!

I 'm not a doting car care person generally in terms of washing, waxing vacuuming, etc. but always like to put a fresh coat of wax on before the winter hits and the snow flies.  Helps to protect from our salty New England winters, as well as helps the rain, snow and ice fall and wipe off that much easier.

Another fall item from the "To Do" list completed!

Wax On - Wax Off!

I washed and waxed my car the other day in preparation for winter.

Subsequent rain confirms I did a pretty darn good job!

Red + Black Makes for a Much Smaller Bank Account!

Reluctantly, but a necessity, our fleet is growing!

A 2015 Toyota Corolla and a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta have joined the family.

Honestly, not sure what to do with a car that is all electronics and supports things like Bluetooth.  I'm become my dad with each passing day.

Now if I can just find a money tree to plant...

A Little Elbow Grease...

I detailed the Toyota this past Thursday.  Look at her shine!!

A long overdue washing including under the hood, cleaned the tires & rims, buffed the headlights to remove the "foggy" glaze and applied a generous coating of Turtle was all over.  Finished with a through vacuuming of the inside, including the trunk.

As Autumn nears I'll clean the windows inside and out, apply some Armor-all to the leather inside then purchase a new set of Winter wiper blades.

She'll then be ready for the upcoming New England Winter, UGH!

So Long Old Friend

After months of hemming and hawing I finally pulled the trigger and posted our beloved 2003 Ford Explorer for sale.

The Craig's List ad was posted Friday afternoon and the vehicle was sold and gone Saturday afternoon, less than 24-hours later.

I was surprised at just how many people responded.  Happily the first person I contacted arrived when he said he would, knew he was getting a great deal and bought her!