Spare Key

 "In this age, the mere example of non-conformity, the mere refusal to bend the knee to custom, is itself a service.  Precisely because the tyranny of opinion is such as to make eccentricity a reproach, it is desirable, in order to break through that tyranny, that people should be eccentric.  Eccentricity has always abounded when and where strength of character has abounded; and the amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage which it contained.  That so few now dare to be eccentric, marks the chief danger of the time." - John Stuart Mill

 As mentioned previously, I ponied up for a spare key for the new car.  The bill for the key was $775.  A key for the old truck would probably only cost about five bucks.

Here's the new key.  I didn't find any gold or platinum coins enclosed in the packaging...

Unfortunately, although it unlocks the doors and trunk, and starts the car when you twist it in the ignition, it's still not 100% right.

This notification comes up whenever I attempt to start the car using the "engine start" push-button.  So after a bit of online research, I learned that the issue is with the "Keyless Go" system.  This is the system that will unlock the doors when you touch the handle (assuming the key fob is with you), and allows the car to start using the push-button, as long as the key fob is in the car.  The wife's Dodge works the same way.  

Unfortunately, the car needs to learn the signal that this new key fob is sending out.  Like the 'learn' feature on a garage door, I suppose.  So yet again, I'll need to trek over to Spokane, this time with the Mercedes, and have their service tech train the car to recognize the new key.  Sigh...  That's three forty mile trips for one key - so far.  And we can tack on another hundred dollars to the cost of this key.

Speaking of driving the Mercedes, I've only had it on the road once since purchasing it and bringing it home.  I had intended to drive the Mercedes to Spokane to pick the key up yesterday, but the tires had lost a lot of air, and I couldn't put air in them.  That's because the valve stems are really short, almost inset into the rims.

The air chuck that I've used for a while now has a really fat head, and it wouldn't fit over the valve stem.  

So instead we took the wife's car over to pick up the new key.  While we were out, I bought an air chuck with a narrow head on it, and screwed in a "T" type air fitting so that it will fit any of the connectors here - and afterwards it filled the tires just fine.  However, I'm beginning to wonder how many more of these minor surprises will pop up, and how many more things I'll have to purchase just to do routine stuff on this car... 

The cheap Black & Decker solid-state trickle charger has kept the battery charged all winter, which is nice.  Very nice.  Here's why:

Yes, the battery is in the trunk - which can only be unlatched if you have electrical power - there is no mechanical key lock for the trunk.  You might be asking yourself - as I did - what people do when the battery goes dead?  How do you then get into the trunk and replace it?  Apparently there's a spot under the passenger floorboard where 12 volts can be temporarily applied, allowing the trunk to be opened.   Crazy stuff, and unnecessarily complicated!

And now you know the other reason why I left a battery maintainer on the car over winter.  I do this on all the machinery, because it's a lot cheaper than replacing a battery.  But in this case it would be a huge pain in the neck - plus the cost of a new battery :)

In happier news, the big box store called and notified us that our back-ordered refrigerator will be delivered next week.  We purchased it in late November, with the understanding that it would be 30 days before they could deliver it.  We are getting close to 80 days at this point, and have been using the tiny dented shop fridge in the meantime.  

I've no idea what it will be like to have room for frozen stuff in the house again.  Hope the wife likes it!