The new nothing too special car

I spent a couple of months looking on the web at new cars to replace my not terribly old car. I thought I would buy a hybrid car. EV would be good, but I can't charge one at home, so that was a no.

What I discovered during the search, what I already knew really, is that the latest model Mazda is not so different to my old car. Same body shape and exterior, with the interior being very similar. There has been some refinements to various features. 

But I wasn't looking to replace my car with the same newer model. I used the web browser Duck Duck Go, which ensured I didn't get a gazillion new car emails, FaceBook, YouTube, and Google ads. DDG doesn't track your activity and is not connected to the big tech companies. 

I looked at so many hybrid cars, their features and prices. Even a hybrid Lexus costing $10,000 more but couldn't match the power and features of my old car, let alone the current model Mazda. 

Decision time was coming, for no real reason other than I was now convinced a new Mazda of the same model was what I wanted. I was surprised, in spite of the body scratches, that the trade in value of my old car was much better than I anticipated.

If you want to look at the finer detail, the car is a Mazda CX30 G25 Skyactive petrol Astina front wheel drive 2.5 litre.

Exterior photos of the new non binary Perl, as against the old girl Pearl.

Perl is certainly not going to turn heads on the street, but it is attractive enough.

It doesn't look like it but the new car, second photo has a bigger screen than the old.

The centres look identical, don't they. The old...

The new.

The Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning (HVAC) controls are ever so slightly different, with the on/off button moved, but I would have to look closely at the two photos to see what is where it was. 

In the top photo of the old car, in front of the gear stick is a flap to press to open up the coffee cup holders and in front of that is a tray to keep keys, that is car remote, parking bollard remote and garage door remote. The new car uses the the key area as a phone charging pad and there isn't a lid on the coffee cup holders, so the remotes can easily be dumped in there. In the console with its lift up lid, not in photos, Pearl had a USBA port, an SD slot for the navigation system card and a cigarette lighter socket. Perl has two USBC ports but I am not sure about the cigarette lighter socket.

But really, to you, it will all look the same.

The dashboard display looks the same, but there are some subtle differences. Some of the buttons on the right down below are different. 

So what does Perl have that Pearl didn't? An electric sunroof, more attractive wheels, a larger display screen, a larger engine, USBC ports, a better mapping system, but also instant connectivity to Google maps from your phone, a phone charging pad. In general all the tech has been upgraded and is better, yet as my preference, most controls are still manually operated, rather than by distracting touch screens which seem to have gone a bit too far, and are a serious driver distraction. 

It is quieter than the old Pearl, but not much. There is still work to be done there with road noise. With a larger engine, it is slightly less economical. Time will tell with my own driving but the difference is supposed to be less than 1 litre per 100km. As I've said, I would have liked a hybrid but one would only halve the petrol bill, at best. Besides, Phyllis and Kosov pay for the petrol now.

The questions are am I happy with buying a new car and am I happy with the new car, and obviously the answers are yes and yes. 

Leadership women

This post probably needed more work, but I am sick of looking at it. 

This is Heidi Alexander, Secretary for Transport in England. At the launch of unveiling a livery for trains taken back into public ownership after years of private operation has been proven to be a failure, she was at Brighton Railway Station to launch the new livery of Great British Railways.

If you are in the US, Canada or Australia, this is not how a woman in public office would appear in public. That's perhaps so for most countries.

Politicians and spokespersons need to be super groomed, with tailored clothing, good hair and good makeup, men and women both. It's not that Alexander can't glam up if she wants.

Heidi was none of those at the media occasion. She is a good speaker, clearly passionate about her role and spoke sensibly. In the US #47's leading women, past and present are super groomed but frankly talk a lot of crap, spitting out lie after lie. Yes, Leavitt, Bondi, along with dog killer Noem.

I care more about the spoken honesty from Alexander rather than how she is dressed or made up.

Later edit: Just as the press do, I used an incorrect photo for Ms Alexander. I have removed the photo and replaced it with a correct photo. Thank you YP for pointing out the error. 

Monday Mural

Along with Sami and others, here is my mural for this week. I found it in an obscure end of a city lane. I think it may be associated with the Fitzroy Football Club that went on. with much sadness by supporters, to move interstate and become the Brisbane Lions. 

The old motor car

I have been looking for a new car for a while. I wanted a hybrid, that is car that uses petrol to charge batteries but primarily runs by batteries that are charged as you brake the car, by regenerative braking, which charges the batteries. This system is perfect for inner suburban driving, not so good on motorways where you rarely brake. 

I spent hours looking at different models over weeks, using the web browser Duck Duck Go, so that I wasn't inundated with car ads via Google's all knowing system.

Nothing could compare price wise and feature wise and tech wise to even my old 2021 Mazda CX30, let alone a new Mazda CX30. I received a much better trade in price than I thought, in spite of the slight damage to the body work, thanks Kosov. 

This was because otherwise, it was an undamaged car with very low mileage. 35,000 km/21,700 miles for a five year old car. If not for family dying, Covid when we stopped using public transport and Phyllis using the car, it might have been 20,000 km. I mostly use trams and trains to get around.

Goodbye to the old and slightly grubby drag queen car Pearl. I loved you, even if Ray didn't. It feels like a final severing of my connection to Ray. After an argument, I no longer drove the car in the city areas and he would moan on about how hard the car was to get in and out of, and how the warning beeping from various sources drove him mad. His first point may have been valid. It is harder when you are older to get in and out of a car, but I loved the beeping alerts, along with the sophisticated front and rear cameras. 

If you are a newer reader, Ray was my partner for 45 years until he suddenly died two years ago. 

Photos and detail of the new car to come. 

Public photography

I can't speak for other countries, but in Australia you are free to take photographs in public spaces. Defining public spaces is difficult, and I would certainly call anywhere government owned as a public space, with restrictions as defined by government law.

Our Spencer Street Station Southern Cross Station is privately operated but it is certainly government owned, so I reckon it is fair game for the public to take photos. After checking, personal and amateur photography is fine. 

What about Museum Melbourne Central Station?  The same as Southern Cross. 

Well, to my surprise this post is going nowhere. My suspicions about photography at private company operated railway stations seems unfounded.

Even at  a car service station where you might fill your car with petrol, while privately owned on privately owned land is considered a public space by Victoria Police.  

This was inspired by an article in an English electric newspaper, https://amateurphotographer.com/latest/photo-news/use-a-dslr-in-a-railway-station-you-get-questioned-use-a-smartphone-youre-ignored-why/ 

Speaking of English newspapers, their free versions are hideous. The Telegraph had an ad over the text of a news story that didn't disappear, and nor had any usual method to close the ad. Only by refreshing could I read the article. Other electric English papers are just as bad with overwhelming advertising, and the pages jumping around on the screen as you try to read something. If I lived in England and wanted to read newspapers, I think I would buy a hard copy at the corner shop. 

And I thought our own advertising was intrusive enough. 

My Doc

Dr Beng Eu has been my doctor for nigh on  thirty years. Always have a doctor younger than you was the mantra, and I did. But as I haven't aged at all, I've noticed he has. He was a pretty hot and sexy guy when he was younger.

One should not think about one's doctor in any kind of sexual manner, but still... 

Beside him being my GP (general practitioner doctor) he is a bit of a high achiever, with him being an early part owner of the practice, Prahran Market Clinic. While most of the clinic's patients are LBTQ... what ever else, straight people and conventional families also visit the clinic.

https://academicmedicaleducation.com/people/beng-eu-mbbs 

While I used to have to pay a fee, with our government paying about half the cost, now as an old age pensioner, I am no longer pay anything to see my doctor.

He is not afraid of the media.

He was quoted in our local electric newspaper about peptides here just this week, about two thirds down the page. I'll just paste it in.

Dr Beng Eu, a general practitioner and co-director of Prahran Market Clinic, said there had been a sharp increase in patients using experimental peptides for muscle building, skin care or biohacking. These products can be swallowed, injected or rubbed into the skin.

The doctor, who has been studying the rise of peptide use and is pushing for tighter regulations, said many of the substances had not even been tested on humans.

“It’s quite dodgy because they’re relying on studies which have been undertaken on rats,” he said. “There is no real safety data.”

Then there was the time when one of his patients died, but didn't. I can't find the YouTube clip now, but Beng's practice was informed one of its patients had died, Beng was surprised to see the dead person made an appointment to see him, and turned up, alive and well. There was some media coverage. 

Menfolk of a certain age, listen to what Beng has to say about prostate issues on our gay tv channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HHeFnXB3GA&list=PLspznn4QfUteeR8GIT79uwp9bKbm27uB2

Who and whom

Yesterday's post was updated with a photo of Jass in her cat house. 

Young people will not hesitate over whether to use who or whom, and in my opinion it is good thing that they probably just use who.

I didn't get a great lotta learnin' about grammar, but I've kinda picked it up along the way. Don't end a sentence with it, which I frequently do. Probably don't end a sentence with 'do' either, which I just did. Don't end a sentence with did...etc. 

At times a suspicion comes to me that the word I am typing should be whom and not who. EG; Who did you go with, or, with whom did you go. If spoken, the latter sounds pompous because of the rephrasing.  Who did you go with, is a perfectly clear question. 

Understanding the rules of object and subject about who and whom are beyond me. I've read them but I can't absorb them.

I believe among my senior readers are some excellent grammarians, so can any of you simplify when who or whom should be used?

Or, should I just see whom as legalese and forget about ever using whom?

Speaking of words, I heard or read in media somewhere whereby someone referred to a forty oneth birthday. I must have heard the word, because if I read it, I would know how to spell oneth, and I don't.

This doesn't feel quite finished but I wrote it some time ago, and I don't want a backlog of unfinished posts.