New or Used or New Used Car Shopping

It is all that annoying and confusing at the same time.  New or used?  Used certified is relatively good as new.

Currently exploring, in no particular order, each have their own cost benefits (and fans), new or within the last couple of years.  Subarus give up gas mileage to get to the same equipment level of the Compass.  Subs are AWD, while the Jeep is 4WD.  All are automatic.

Subaru Crosstrek

Subaru Outback

Jeep Compass Trailhawk 

Storms from West Kansas

Another addition to the 500px collection shows off storms rolling in across the west Kansas prairie around harvest time.

Rabbitbrush Excerpt

One of the latest additions to the collection over on 500px, Rabbitbrush Swirl.  Testing out a different sort of macro lens on a typical shot.

Google Finance Fail

Google Finance has joined the ranks of other applications they have produced, which used to work perfectly fine and now are a completely useless mess.

Checking up on the value of some stocks lately, I noticed that some were losing as much as 60%.

I almost fell out of my chair.

It seems that Google no longer makes adjustments for things like stock splits.

That was the case in this instance, at least.

Shares of SCHD originally purchased on 1/24/2023 @ 76.30 were showing a share price of $29 today.

SCHD had split 3 for 1 back on 10/10/2024.

In the past, Google Finance made the necessary adjustments for calculations to appear accurately.

Some update of theirs in this past year has ruined all that.

This used to work just fine, like many of their other applications.

It has joined the ranks of worthless now.

Every time they make an "improvement," they invariably damage core functionality.

Arkansas Intermission

A super short weekend in Arkansas found them ready for the Christmas season.  The Stone County courthouse lawn stood fully decked out in an array of lights all around on the one and only night out and about.

The journey south was fraught with delays.  Multiple accidents in multiple locations necessitated multiple detours.  Some were more equipped to handle these scenarios, but they were not the type of situation I wanted to be involved with, given recent circumstances.  Add to that, steady rain south of Harrison, and the anticipated 7-hour trip took 9 hours.

Rain persisted throughout much of the following day.  Forecasters insisted it would stop by around 1:00 PM.  It did not and just about the time I hit the trail, it picked up again.  According to others, the downpour proved significant.  The remains of the canopy above Mossy Bluff Trail offered decent protection from a complete drenching though.  

It was actually quite a bit more peaceful than usual.  Water rushed all around, cascading down the streams intersecting the area, falling steadily over the the small falls that usually display little more more than a dribble, hushing all other sound invasions. Temperatures lingered near 18 °C a good portion of the day too, so it was not too uncomfortable. 

The return trip stood in stark contrast with the rest of the weekend.  Clear blue skies and 20 °C welcomed the ride homeward.  While our radar was tuned in to finding any potential oddity, nothing of significance appeared.  All houses seemed in good order, propped up against potential threats, with goat chicken defenses in place.

Pausing to reflect for a moment at Busiek State Forest and Wildlife Area found the place overrun with tourists.  The parking lot appeared full and it proved nearly impossible to get a moment alone with your own thoughts on the trail.  We ultimately abandoned the effort, content to continue the journey under the sun with windows down, until northern breezes forced us to abandon that cause as well.