It was a quiet week. The weather has not been good, but I did manage one ride.

The big news is that I took our Leaf (electric car) in for service. The dealer we bought the car from was very upfront about the cost and available deals. But their service department does what they can to do unnecessary service (at my expense). The car is 1 year old with 4,000 miles. The dealer changed the brake fluid. This is recommended after one year if the car is in heavy use. They also talked me into changing the cabin filter (which costs somewhere around $100 for most cars). They used the Burger King ploy — the 15K package is only a few bucks more than doing the other maintenance items separately. As it happens, the filters weren’t in stock, so they knocked about $100 of the service cost. At the last minute, they got another $8 out of me because the FOB key battery was weak. After I got home, I found that the brake fluid should be changed every other year, and the FOB key every 18 months. At least the battery wasn’t a total waste. I decided to change Danita’s battery. The batteries cost $4 each.

One of the sales features of the Leaf is that it needs less maintenance. I’ll be visiting a different dealer next time, and I’ll be armed. It’s too bad more dealers don’t treat their customers like Honda does. Honda dealers are always telling me about recommended service, but also telling me when I don’t really  need it this time around.

I got a new gig at the Howard County Food Bank, where Danita volunteers. They wanted some forms modified so they can be filled out on the computer. I was happy to help. At least some office staff use Adobe Acrobat DC Pro. I downloaded a 7-day free license. I told them that if they want more forms done, they will have to provide me with a license. We’ll see how that goes. I think this might have been a one-off volunteer gig, because I’m not donating $15/month for my own license.

Today is Super Bowl. We’re toning down the party. It will be shrimp salad sandwiches and crab soup. Our parish Knights of Columbus make the crab soup every year. It’s quite good.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.