Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Today I was up very early to get a jump start on the blog. You know, it is hard to believe I have managed to get behind and stay there considering all the time I spend do the blog. But I digress. After a shower and some breakfast we rounded up the troops and headed off to test drive some cars. Why, one might ask, would some Canadians visiting people in Raleigh choose spend their time test driving cars? Good question. So let me explain. When we set out on our MoHo Extravaganza, in an effort to raise the necessary funds, we sold our minivan. Of course, we have the little Toyota Matrix, that we have been literally dragging all around Canada and the US for the last several months, but when we return we are going to need a second vehicle. And we find that we often need the extra space that a larger vehicle, like a minivan, affords us. The master plan was supposed to see us sell the MoHo upon our return in order to generate some cash with which to buy our next car. Unfortunately, the MoHo will not likely be sold until the spring so that leaves us also needing to generate some kind of bridge financing in the meantime. Anyway, we decided to consider something other than a minivan this time around. The only other vehicles that might fit the bill would be an suv. However, in a very uncharacteristic state of mind, Chantal indicated that she might be interested considering the new pickup truck from Honda. I’m sorry, did I just hear my French wife tell me she is interested in a pickup truck? Well, just when you think you know someone, eh? So, as you can see, we were not exactly sure what we wanted so we were hoping that a test-driving some of these different vehicles we might be able to narrow down the field. The process was interesting to say the least. We started off with a spin in an Acura MDX which is the larger SUV offering from them. It was very refined and Chantal actually liked it. Now it was time to head to the Honda dealer. When arrived and asked if we could drive the Ridgeline (the aforementioned pickup truck), the Pilot (there large-sized suv), and the Odyssey (the new version of their minivan which we used to own). The female salesperson we had appeared less than enthusiastic right from the beginning. She had no smile, she asked us very few questions, and she did not even tell us her name! We started with the Ridgeline. It is a very nice vehicle but unfortunately, if not surprisingly, it rode too much like a, well, truck. So you won’t have to worry about seeing Chantal driving around in a pickup … at least for now. Then we tried the Pilot. It was definitely better but, having just driven the up-scale Acura version of this vehicle an hour before, we found that although the ride was noticeably better than the Ridgeline, it was not as nice as the MDX. Granted the MDX is much more expensive, but Chantal prefers its design so that basically took the Pilot out of the running. The sales person had said very little to us up to this point other than to ask when we were planning to buy. Then, while we were waiting for her to get the keys to an Odyssey minivan for us to do our final comparison, she comes up to us and asks if it would be ok to come back on Saturday to drive the Odyssey because she has to deal with another customer now. Pardon? Are you kidding me? Needless to say we bid her adieu. But can you believe that? Incedible. Well, we had to pick up the MoHo from the shop as it was all fixed and ready to go. My theory was that the cable, connecting the temperature control to the door that lets the heat enter, was broken or malfunctioning. This incident proved, once again, that I should not enter the field of automotive repair. The problem ended up being the device that contains the door that lets the heat enter. This device is a big plastic box with a flap inside. The flap is adjusted via a cable connected to the temperature control on the dashboard. It turns out that where the cable connects to the flap’s pivot point was broken. So the cable functioned properly but the movement was not transferred to this flap. My guess is that the flap probably became a little seized from non-use for the last 6 to 8 months which cause the connection point to break when the dial was turned. The fix turned out to be straightforward, if not economical. They simply replaced the entire plastic box and flap unit. With a tip of my hat to Nina in Chicago, let me summarized it this way:

Diagnose the problem with the MoHo heater control: $80
New plastic box to repair the MoHo heater problem: $200
Installation of new part in MoHo: $320
Hot air in the MoHo cabin on a windy, rainy, 40 degree (5C) day: Priceless

You know, perhaps I should get into the business of selling $200 plastic boxes. Yet another business opportunity. After returning home and having dinner with the whole gang, Michael and I sat down to play a little poker with the kids after dinner. And I can’t help but mention the wonderful birthday cake that Olivia made for me. It was chocolate, of course, and most yummy. I displayed what you might refer to as a trencherman’s appetite while devouring much more than my share of this culinary masterpiece. Thank you Olivia!

Today’s word:

trencherman \TREN-chuhr-muhn\, noun:
A hearty eater.