But...

2011 Impreza: 27mpg highway
2012 Impreza: 37mpg highway

2009 - 2011 Foresters are selling for like 19K... 2012 w/ manual would be 20K... and have a 3 year warranty.  If there was a catastrophic accident it would be:
Covered by warranty
Covered by insurance

Not sure what other kind of accident you might mean?  Do you mean like an accident to me working?

I'm not looking at a car as an investment... (though I'm trying to not be 100% stupid about it.) I'm looking for the best car that meets my needs: decent mileage + could fit the family + can haul bikes (and haul them to the trailhead) + I fit in it comfortably.  There is no perfect car for all of these things, so it's all some level of compromise.  If I start telecommuting even two days a week (or work 4 10s, and then do a day of telecommuting, or whatever) in a few months, that will have a MAJOR impact on overall mileage.

I drove the Focus hatchback this morning... it seemed okay, but I did feel sort of cramped in it headroom wise.  Storage space was sort of limited as well, and ground clearance was sketchy.  Lots of fancy techy features to sync to your phone and whatnot that were sort of cool, but all that stuff is secondary to me as long as whatever I get has an AUX jack for my mp3 player.

I hope to drive the Impreza and Forester this evening if I can con a buddy into driving me down to Colorado...

Today is the last day of Q1 incentives - does anyone know how to find out what a manufacturer's Q2 incentives will be?  We met with our credit union this morning, and they said our credit was A+, that we could get 2.75% through them, and that we would have no problem getting the best deals through manufacturers as well... which through Subaru through the end of today is 0.9%.

The Focus 5 door is also intriguing... seems like it might be larger than the Impreza, but comparable fuel efficiency and FWD...  I just don't know how much I'm going to want the AWD if the roads are bad?  Buddies here seem to think if I put on snow tires in the winter than the FWD is just as good.  It has the benefit of being test driveable right next to my work... might check that out in the morning.

Hrm, 2012 Impreza does have good MPG, it would seem... old ones seemed to be the same as Forester/Outback, but the 2012 is saying 36 highway.

Subaru is apparently offering 0.9% through tomorrow.  I had identified a potential Forester, but maybe the Impreza is worth a drive.

Have you seen the new Kia Optima? Its gotten really good reviews and looks really nice. Will probably be my next car once I retire my Lincoln LS.

http://www.kia.com/#/optima/explore/photos/

New Optimas seem insanely expensive... the nearby dealership has a bunch... none under $27K.

Your commute is 100 miles PER DAY?  So effectively 25,000 miles per year?  You need to buy a beater for that commute and that commute only.  Low cost, high mpg, and high reliability should be your only considerations.

Maybe... but there ARE other considerations.

Current frontrunner might actually be a 2009 or newer Forester... apparently actual drivers (including a buddy) report better than promised highway mileage (30mpg is what my buddy gets), and with that redesign they got a lot roomier and more comfortable inside... it would be a great car for all the stuff I do other than commuting, and I could always pass it to my wife if I decide in 6 months that I need an actual commuter.  Both of our current vehicles are old and need to go before too awful long... and our current Forester might be going away pretty soon since the engine just blew up.

Listen to High on Fire's new album in its entirety:

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/25/148593780/first-listen-high-on-fire-de-vermis-mysteriis

It's good.  Real good.

You should get one of those little houses in Vedauwoo, sure they aren't too expensive.

We were just fantasizing about a Curt Gowdy house and splitting the commute!

It seems like most things that are a decent size, especially wagons/hatchbacks, are all under 30mpg... I keep coming back to Subaru... later model Outback would be so nice for everything other than the mpg... but even looking at FWD cars in a similar price range (Nissan, Chevy, Ford), they are all in that same 27mpg sort of range...

Congrats, but you are not going to want to do that drive everyday. I did the Cheyenne - Ft Collins drive everyday for a year and it sucked. Your drive is 10x worse with that pass.

Thanks, rain cloud.

Hopefully I will be doing it less as time goes on.  I know it'll be less fun than no commute, but most of the time I think it'll be okay.

I figured out that my base pay, before bonuses, is equal to what I currently make at my job + what I was made when I started my current job.  That'll ease the sting considerably.  I will leave work a little closer to Curt Gowdy than if I drive from here, so that'll make a round trip post work Gowdy ride actually take *less* time, which is cool.

How tall are you?

Also, I tried calling Car Talk, but it's busy!

I wear my wallet on my left... sometimes it helps if I stick something under my right leg further down, like a wadded up t shirt or something.  On long trips I'm dyin' though.

So with the new job, I'm going to be commuting, and I need a new vehicle in which to do this.

The drive is all interstate, and for half the year it'll be a little windy at times, but mostly great... the other half of the year it'll be often closed, and usually not ideal travel conditions (hopefully by winter I'll be telecommuting some days).

New car requirements:
Front or AWD - something I could snow tire up for winter with front would be fine.
Decent gas mileage, obviously.
Not stupid looking.
Not brand new, and not super fancy - I just don't care that much.
Also, not super crappy.
Must be comfortable for a 6' 2" guy.
Ideal: Large enough that I could put the family in it, and a some gear in the back when we go on a few car trips a year.
Roof rack or trailer hitch on which to mount a bike rack is key.
Preference would be some sort of hatchback of wagon.
4 doors would be preferable... unless we count then hatchback... then 5.

Our current 'travel' car is a 2001 Subaru Forester (though I actually blew this car up on my way to the interview yesterday, so who knows), and it is *incredibly* uncomfortable for me on longer car trips... I get major sciatic pain/cramping in my right leg in this car... not totally sure why, maybe I'm not upright enough?

My initial thought was some sort of Subaru because of the AWD, but the comfort thing could be an issue unless things have majorly changed (I know the new Forester is massively different and more comfortable, but I think those are going to be more than I want to spend), and friends who know more about cars than I do said that any AWD will impact the gas consumption and that I'll be better off with a front wheel drive car that I can swap snow tires onto.

Job accepted. Notice given.

After meeting with them today, I'm feeling very good about things!

I play in an adult broomball league in the winter.  We're called 'Legion of Broom'.  Our shirts are... hot pink.  We were undefeated last season... 4 - 0 - 4. Sheesh. Ties.

Is it a drinking league like kickball?  We played WAKA for a few seasons but it's hella expensive due to the alcohol licensing required to allow drinking on the field. 

No, you would puke.  It's a shit-ton of cardio.  Our team does well because it's all endurance racers.  Our team is less good at the fine motor skills required to score goals, hence ties... though we won like 3 in a row towards the end and started scoring more.  We do tend to drink afterwards...

Are you just talking about team sports?

I 'race' mountain bikes in the summer.  I won free socks one time.  And free yoga twice.  There is a local series that has six races over the course of the summer, and then I have two big ones (72 and 50 miles) that I did last summer that I'll do again this summer.  Wife and I are both planning half marathon(s) this year (her first one is Sunday).  She ran the Denver marathon last fall.

I play in an adult broomball league in the winter.  We're called 'Legion of Broom'.  Our shirts are... hot pink.  We were undefeated last season... 4 - 0 - 4. Sheesh. Ties.

Wife is totally on board.

Blackjack, I think this is a very different situation.  There is no 'hang with us, and then you will make money'.  There is a contract, it's signed.  The money is there for at least 2 years, with options to renew for 2 years two more times, and an apparently very happy client (which I can ruin!)  They've given me information on the company, and it's shown steady revenue growth every year, and a satisfied client list.  The job I'm getting hired for (continuing development on a system them just completed) was apparently originally a bid that went to a competitor, who spent an insane amount of money over a couple of years and never delivered anything.  These guys came in and knocked it out in a year.  There seems to be a lot of independence with the way the company is run... I feel pretty good about it.

They may have been bad tonight, but they were in rare form on Monday.

My sister texted me FROM the game (she lives in columbus) to say, 'At Bluejackets v. Red wings game. Have a feeling you would appreciate this more than me...'  Sheesh.  I'll say.  I'm pretty sure she didn't pay for tickets, either.

Yeah, meeting with them Friday afternoon to take a look at what they are doing.  I think it's going to be a go.  Totally unexpected...

Crappy sore throat + 103 degree fever on Monday, 101 yesterday, normal but sore throat today means I haven't done anything since Sunday, and it's making me nuts.  Might chance a 2 mile run today.

When you get accustomed to leading an active lifestyle, it's amazing how stir-crazy you can get from just missing a few days.  And it can be even more frustrating when it's something beyond your control (sickness, injury, scheduling conflicts, etc).  But, sometimes rushing back can do more harm than good.  Still, it's up to you and your body.  Only you can know if you're ready to get back to it.

Ended up running 3. A little headachey, but it was good to get out. First half mile hurt, then stuff loosened up.

My bike is ready. Hell week is coming, friends, and it's going to kill my legs.

I truly miss cycling.  There was a time when I'd ride 20 miles a day three days per week and then a 50+ mile ride on the weekend, but a number of things limited my availability and I eventually sold my bike.  I have every intention of getting back into the sport, but not until I'm finished with pharmacy school.

I love bikes.  With this weather we've been able to get on them a lot earlier than most years... Saturdays have been run/road ride days, and Sundays have been mtn. bike rides.  Certainly my favorite way to get some exercise.  I got a new road bike this spring when Cervelo had a 'share the ride' deal where you could get $2000 back if you bought two bikes, so a buddy and I bought a pair of bikes.  I ride a lot more on this one because it fits well and is more comfortable than the Lightspeed I was riding last year.

I see you've never been to Wyoming, Hrothgar.

Please refer to this map.

I live in Laramie.  Fort Collins, CO, would be marginally closer, but not appreciably.  Those 'towns' you see around Cheyenne and Laramie are not towns... they are like... maybe 2 houses?


Yeah, I think you are right, zinckiwi... change just makes me nervous sometimes, even though when I look back historically at similar things, I tend to do quite well.

Crappy sore throat + 103 degree fever on Monday, 101 yesterday, normal but sore throat today means I haven't done anything since Sunday, and it's making me nuts.  Might chance a 2 mile run today.

Guy said that the people who end up telecommuting are on site 2 - 3 days a week, which isn't bad at all.  Whether or not I could do that, and when I could do that, would be up to the client.

No trains or anything of that sort.  It's Wyoming.  I guess I could hobo it.  The only intensity on this drive is weather related.

Moving is basically a 'no' for me because I don't want to live in Cheyenne, Ken.

And yeah, learning C# is probably a good thing for me.

Heh, I *thought* I was in that position here... but the current employer had a chance to come through for me recently and screwed it up terribly.

The commute is 100% relatively low traffic interstate... but over what can be in the winter a dangerous as shit mountain pass.

The company is stable - they've been doing this for... 8 years?  They actually compete with my current org for some contracts, and have a lot of the same clients.  The work would be very similar in a lot of ways, but more advanced, which is good.

I think I'm generally good at what I do, and very good when I'm motivated.  I'm currently unmotivated by management, and my current crappy compensation.

I do LOVE my free time though, and that's what the commute cuts into - time to myself, and time with my family.  I'm just scared because if it turns out I hate the commute, there are not a ton of opportunities for this type of work in this area.

Roman - my impression is that the philosophy there is that people take care of their own shit, manage their own contracts, and there isn't a lot of an employee/boss type relationship.  It's small - I would be the 9th employee.  7 of the 8 employees there now are developers, and one is a business management person.  Work is almost entirely on-site with clients.

What to do, what to do...

Long story short: old college friends and previous co-workers have their own company one town away.

They just out of the blue offered me a job.

Pros:
Roughly 60% raise.
Get to work with dudes.
Work looks more challenging.
More opportunity for growth, whereas at the current job, I think they are stifling my personal growth a bit.

Cons:
45 - 60 minute commute each way.  I would need to buy a new(er) car.
Need to transfer from VB.NET to C#.NET. Probably not that bad, but a little intimidating.
Need to buy new wardrobe. This may be a good thing.

There is a the potential for a future partial telecommute.

Discuss.

Oh, even the first round now? Figures.

Just finished week four of the Hal Higdon half marathon training plan, so ran 5 this morning, and then went for a 22 mile road bike ride up this canyon from town.  Awesome weather - good times.

I thought the movie really felt disjointed and hurried/rushed and it seemed to have an almost Twilight air about it some times.

I kind of got this feeling from the trailers (NOT THAT I'VE WATCHED TWILIGHT THANK YOU), and it has been my biggest fear - that they are trying to quickly push out a slick, low substance buck maker.  This is not reassuring.

Yeah, I did that a lot last season and it sucked.

I wish they would just let me buy gamecenter playoff edition or some shit.  Internet is the future!

Yes, that $2500 is hurting them. Severely.

That sounds like hell on earth.

So... 1st world problems...

We turned off the cable a year ago.  Everything is fine. I have Gamecenter Live on the computer and on the TV via our blu ray player to watch hockey, and while it occasionally sucks to miss a nationally televised game, it's generally good...

Until the playoffs hit, and basically every game is nationally televised, and GCL doesn't show past the first round anyway.

I looked at our old cable provider, and to get the package that includes NBC Sports Network, it's $75/mo... which is just too damn high.

Anyone know of any other options?  It seems like Direct TV or something I would have to sign a contract for a year or two, and really I just want to turn TV on for 3 months, then turn it back off after the Stanley Cup.

Are you actually looking to buy *tunes*?  Because amazon mp3 is DRM free...

I had Android.  Now I have an iPhone 4S.  It is vastly, vastly superior.  It pains me to say this.

Apps are better, performance is better, battery life is better, interface is better.

Just get an Otterbox so you don't break it.

Better than ISIS.

VRWC?

I believe that would be the Vast (and most honorable) Red Wings Conspiracy (or, more politely, Cabal), backed by NBC and the vast network of spies and connections left behind by the infamous Russian Five espionage and hockey-playing network.

Don't try to tell me what a term I made up entirely means.

Like you made something up that started in secret Canadian and Scandinavian robot labs over 40 years ago.  Please.

Howard re-injured his groin.

Lidstrom
Howard
MacDonald
Franzen
Ericsson
Eaves

Conklin is being called up, but it seems has to clear re-entry waivers... so... Pearce? McCollum?

We'll get the VRWC to set up a Wings/Canucks final.