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Sunday, September 16, 2007
New Car
Finally got around to taking some pictures of the new car. (After Lori
reminded me I had not posted any)
Front view.
The five of us fit inside no problem.
The following is what I found on the internet for the name.
The background on the Yaris name is actually really interesting. It
stems from a goddess in Greek mythology, named CHARIS, who was a symbol
of beauty and elegance. We put that together with the German expression
of agreement, YA. We think the name symbolizes the car’s broad appeal in
styling and really represents Toyota’s next generation of global cars.
A photo of the central instrument panel. It doesn't take long to get use
to, we have a number of Toyota Prius's at work, so having driven them it
wasn't that unfamiliar. The only thing I find is that when driving at
night, I keep thinking my lights are off, because it is dark where the
controls usually are.
Another view, the fuel indicator is different, instead of an actual
gauge, it is a set of eight digital bars, and when it hits the last bar,
it starts flashing. The first time I filled up I was able to drive to
work all the while it was flashing. When I filled up I put 39.194 litres
into the 40 litre tank. So I figure I'm good for 50 km.
With the instrument controls in the middle of the dash, it allows for an
extra glove box behind the steering wheel. Apparently this is unique to
the hatchback model, as the sedans don't have it. I read somewhere that
the sedan and the hatchback were designed by two different teams, so
each has its own personality. They didn't take one design and fit it
into a sedan or a hatchback. Interesting concept.
The rear hatch area. Not a huge amount of space, maybe enough space for
a dog.
Monday, September 17, 2007
If you think the Yaris is small...
In response to Andrew's comment about our Yaris, Toyota unveiled a new
concept car at the Frankfurt Auto Show called the Ultra-compact
iQ. It is 30 inches shorter than the Yaris, yet it can hold four
adult passengers. It is half the length of a Lincoln Town Car.
When we all pile into the Yaris, we call it the mini-minivan.
Doing our part
Reducing our carbon footprint. I came across Zerofootprint,
a website that calculates your personal carbon footprint. Our 1996
Corolla emitted on average 3.6 tonnes of CO2, which was considered just
below average. In comparison based on the same estimated mileage, the
Yaris would emit 2.8 tonnes of CO2. A savings of 0.8 tonnes of CO2.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Mississauga Car Free Day
Today was Mississauga's
Car Free Day. Mayor Hazel McCallion at 87 years old led by example
and rode her bike from her home to City Hall. Someone Susan works with
sent around some photos of Hazel riding to work. The MAYOR1 is the same
as her licence plate.
She wasn't alone on her ride she had some police escorts on bicycles,
motorcycles and cars.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Back Updating
After a quiet month of blogging in November, I am trying to get back up
to speed with more timely updates. It was a busy month of travel at
work, with a couple of weekends where I was away. Also without my own
camera, some pictures were taken with a work camera and some on Susan's
camera. When I was home, it seemed my time was spent on school council
work. I am home for the month of December so I should have more time in
the evenings for updating.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
A Muppet Christmas
There was a new Muppet Christmas Special on television tonight. I'm glad
to see they are still developing Muppet specials. This one was called "A
Muppet Christmas - Letters to Santa", there was a good mix of original
Muppet Show and Muppets Tonight characters.
A photo of the puppeteers bringing the rats to life.
A screenshot from the show.
Friday, June 19, 2009
I'm Back To Blogging
I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. After the start of
April, our lives suddenly got very busy. Between family stuff, work and
school council events, the blog got pushed down the list. Figure I
should get this updated before we start our holidays. Only five days of
school left for the girls, and it's hard to believe Gillian graduates
from grade eight on Monday. We're looking forward to our vacation out
west next month. Keep coming back, I have a couple of months of updates.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Missing Blog Posts
Due to my hard drive failure on my laptop, I lost a portion of the blog
(March-June). I have most of the data, just need to pull it out and
re-post.
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