Monthly Archives: December 2018

Treehouse and test drive

We found out a week or so ago that the Subaru is a total loss.  Our insurance company is cutting us a check for about 24K, roughly $1000 short of what I think they should be cutting us a check for, but it could be a lot worse.  For a while, I thought they were going to build us a new psuedo-Subaru from non-OEM parts.  We test drove a 2019 Subaru Outback and a 2019 Honda CRV today.  They were very similar.  Each had a few advantages and disadvantages, but I feel like they’re fairly comparable.  Any thoughts on which compact SUV to purchase?  The one thing we are doing differently is spending on safety features as needed.  That really ends up being about $1000 for the Subaru, which isn’t bad.  For that you get lane cross detection, blind spot detection, and a few other features.  Having been in the crash has made me more paranoid about being in another one, but I don’t think there’s anything human or computer could have done from my vehicle to prevent it.  Looking at the bright side, new car.  Fun, right?

Amusing conversation with B and L.  I’ve been plowing through the treehouse books for the two girls.  L is not a huge fan, but B absolutely loves them.  Our two nightly chapters are seriously a highlight of her day.  We’re on something like Book 18 – the Titanic.   We finish the chapter with everyone boarding the lifeboats and both girls look terrified.

Me: B, are you scared?

B: Yes, but not really because I’ve looked through the book lots and lots of times and I know they didn’t get sinked.

So cute.  I love her turn of phrase.  You’d think by book 18 they’d have figured out everything always works out for them!

taylor swift

My sister is getting married today, and her team at work did a send-off for her.  See the video here.  (You have to scroll right to the second image to see the video.)  My mind is seriously boggled.  I can’t imagine people doing that at my company for anyone.  The snippet in Insta is actually just a subsection of this 5 minute video with a couple dozen people participating singing Taylor Swift.  They love her.  She is probably top 5 to 10% technically and works like crazy, but she is top 1% in people skills, and that is what has made the difference for her in her career.  If you look at the people page for her company, they have the top execs pictured, of which my sister is one, and you can see that she is AT LEAST 10 years younger than the next-youngest person.

I love to see my sister succeed, and I love to see a woman succeed.  I hope getting married and having babies doesn’t derail things for her.  She deserves those things as well as career success, but it is so hard to have both, especially for a woman.