How hard can it be?

We aren't really car people. I've had scientist no 2 (a boy) call me (a girl) to ask where the battery is in Maggie the Modus, for example.
Tyre pressure is one of those things I try not to think about too much. When I bought the Modus Walter asked me (after a year) if I'd checked the tyre pressure. I replied that it was a new car, with new tyres so why should I?

W

Walter and scientist no 1 waiting for me on the side of the road to bring my Renault's wheel-removing equipment since his broke and hers didn't fit. Mine didn't either, fortunately a friend rescued us with his Toyota wheel-removing thingy.
 
But I've always assumed there is a right answer to What tyre pressure should I use?

Wrong.

On our way back from the anniversary adventure in Magoebaskloof we stopped to fill up and I (very responsibly, I thought) decided to check the tyre pressure. I looked on the driver's side door where they conveniently put a little sticker with tyre pressures and confidently asked the attendant to put in the recommended pressure. I could tell he was impressed with my technical knowledge because he leapt into action, air hose in hand and started the process. I was fixing my lipstick in the lipstick mirror so I didn't notice him until he tapped on the window and asked me if I was sure that was right since there was much more air in the tyres already..
Being a girl, and not altogether sure,  I called the salesman who sold me the Ninja. I keep his number on speed dial for exactly these kinds of emergencies. I expected a straight answer, but the silence on the other end of the line wasn't because he was laughing at me, it was because he actually didn't know.
He promised to speak to the workshop manager and get back to me.
Five minutes later he called back with a different tyre pressure, which I told the attendant. I also wrote it down in my obsessive-compulsive-control logbook so that I wouldn't forget.
We've used that ever since.
However, last weekend on the teenytiny4x4 adventure, when the jolly offroader told me to reduce tyre pressure to get through the course without destroying my tyres and kindly offered to do it for me (Walter was distracted by a lurking bird with his binoculars and the bird book) he nearly had a hernia on the spot. "Your tyres are WAY too overinflated" he squawked "who on earth told you to put this much pressure in?"
"The dealer and the workshop manager" I said
"Idiots" he muttered
So now we're back to what it says on the door sticker.

H

Happy Ninja
 
Actually, it's much more comfortable and doesn't skip around on the highway anymore.
.

Blonde or brunette?

So we got back from the teenytiny4x4 adventure to discover that Scientist No 1 had decided to go back to being a brunette.
The blonde journey has probably cost more than the GDP of a small Arab emirate PLUS I explained that she wouldn't be able to travel internationally without a new passport.
She's off to work as a brunette for the first time, I'm hoping the security people let her in and that her boss recognises her. Perhaps a hat?

S

Scientist no 1 at the beach when she was about 2, loved hats even as a baby.

The little car that can

Walter and I finally made it to one of the offroad days to have some fun with the teenytiny 4x4
Of course we had every intention of getting there in time, Groenkloof Nature Reserve is about an hour away, we needed to get petrol, buy braai stuff and get there at around 9.30 so we left at 9.30 (of course)
Things didn't start well, we both paid for petrol - fortunately the petrol attendants know Walter, so they keep a close eye on him and gave us back the money he'd paid over. Then he wandered off in the Spar so it took me some time to find him so that I could establish what he wanted to eat at the braai while he was catching up with the butcher. I finally sent him off to the bottle store to get some liquid refreshments while I packed everything into the cooler box. He returned with a huge bag of ice for the tiny cooler box, so that required the entire car to be re-packed before we could finally set off.
Fortunately it was fairly smooth sailing after that, we even managed to find the turnoff on the first attempt.
Me: Walter, why don't you ask Bob where we should turn
Walter: I don't know how to use him
Me: But you used him in Magoebaskloof
Walter: I've forgotten
Both of us: sigh
We finally got there, paid, found the 4x4 trail and set off with great confidence. How difficult could it be? The road looked good, the invitation had said it wasn't challenging, but more of a nature drive. Perfect.
Hah. After a while we arrived at a mud channel.
Me: This is obviously not the road, it's not tarred.
Walter: This car can do anything. I'll check how bad the mud is. Put it into low range, don't rev it, just drive through at a constant speed.
Me: Why don't we just turn around?
Walter was out of range by this time walking the track

Obviously this isn't the road
The Ninja took a deep breath, clunked some deep bits and set off bravely through the deep primal slime. We arrived on the other side and Walter climbed back in "See? I told you this car can do it" Now that we had done the offroad bit we took it out of low range and set off once again.
Another surprise awaited around the next corner....

These are loose rocks. You are expected to drive over them.
I took one look "Walter, I'm reversing" but his testosterone was engaged - "Nonsense, just drive slowly over them and we'll be fine"
Sure enough the Ninja rose to the challenge and brought us safely through. By this time we considered ourselves old hands and ready for anything the trail could throw at us.
Except the next bit.

If we hadn't caught up with all the other Suzukis at this stage I would definitely have turned around. Loose rocks and sand, a 45 degree angle, this ox wagon track is definitely not a road. The jolly offroaders made us sign an indemnity, hand over more money and proceeded to ask me if I was comfortable driving up the cliff. Um, no. Walter, testosterone in full flight, was having none of it so I threw him out of the car. While I was considering my escape route options a perfect stranger leapt in and said "1st gear, low range, revs at 2,500" I stared at him like a rabbit in the headlights. "Oh, and keep an eye on the chap in the yellow jacket, he'll tell you where to go"
I call this offroading peer pressure, there were cars behind me so I went. A little way. "Stop" shouted the stranger as we went around a corner "I'll show you where to go" So we got out

You should avoid this rock at all costs
By this stage there's no way out. You also can't just close your eyes - I apologised to the Ninja, got back in and promptly stalled. Then I decided that it was nowhere near as scary as the first time you do stalls and spins (fly straight up until the aircraft stalls, drops a wing and tries its best to fall out of the sky end over end). That cheered me up immensely and I set off with gusto. By the time we got to the top (to much cheering and applauding) the helper was strangely quiet and pale but Walter was impressed. "Sjoe"  A man of few words is our Walter.
There was only one more part that gave me pause for concern, we "walked the track" discussing the various options and what to avoid "You don't want to stall here, it's all very loose so you could slide backwards over that cliff" and so on. I'd already decided that Walter could indulge his testosterone on this part and was waiting patiently for him down the track when another jolly offroader patted the roof of the Ninja and said "On your way then, we're just waiting for you"

Little 4x4s all in a row
I set off slowly, looking for Walter (who was conveniently right at the top of the mountain) while various people (all men) gave me different instructions. I picked one, followed his hand signals and when he said "Floor it!" I did. First time. No sliding. Clever Ninja.

What's the password?

I hate passwords, it's no secret that I find it extremely difficult to remember a string of numbers, symbols, letters and random squirrel sounds in the right order so I inevitably end up:
a) writing them down somewhere (which apparently defeats the purpose) or
b) locking myself out of my computer, cellphone or bank account

I'm sure I would manage if it was only one, but I'm confronted with "enter username/password/pin" at least 4 times a day.I can see myself standing at the corner of some busy crossroad in Johannesburg with a sign "Family to feed, forgotten pin, please help"

Where is summer?

A weather search crisply informs us that in South Africa winter starts on 1 May and ends on 31 July. Just like that; the seasons are supposed to fit neatly into our season boxes. People assume that South Africa is warm, in fact the biggest economic boost we got from the World Cup was all the tourists buying jackets and beanies to survive the matches.
As a tropical child I take exception to winter. In Lusaka the minimum temperature is 15C, which is far more suitable for humans than Johannesburg's regular forays into the minus zone.My garden looks like a death zone from the black frost and the labradors have given up trying to excavate their way to Australia because of the permafrost layer.I can't for the life of me understand why people actually venture outside at night in winter. Most places look like a Michelin Man convention at night.
Of course real summer doesn't get here until December, this is why I have a firm rule about not swimming in an outdoor swimming pool before Christmas day.
I'd like to make a request to the relevant authorities to update their search information: Winter in Johannesburg lasts from March to November. The other months are (in order) warm, decent, decent, cool.

Oh joy. Another update

All these software updates are starting to wear me down. Just when you think you might make the end of the month with enough "broadband" for once you switch on the computer to be greeted with: Click here to download updates.
In June it was the iTunes and iPhone software update. Version 4.0. We duly trotted off to buy more "airtime" on our ADSL line so that I could do the update.
Then Apple released the iPhone 4. After a while, when people started complaining about not being able to make actual phone calls Apple retaliated by saying all their customers were essentially stupid and were holding the phone wrong. Put it between your feet, idiots, then find a tall building, do a headstand on top and make your call. Eventually they admitted they had a problem with the antenna and that it applied to all their phones. Well, actually everyone's phones (which isn't true - Walter has Bob now and Bob shows 3g signal when I can't get any off the iPhone)
So they released a software update to fix the problem (Question: if the antenna is not good enough, how will software fix it?) iPhone 4.0.1
It took me 9 hours plus a trip to buy more ADSL to download that update. I actually think the solution is far, far simpler

When I plugged in my iPhone yesterday a new message popped up: iTunes version 9.2.1.5 is available. Download?