[Toshi]

Given my updated list of wants, one vehicle that could fulfill them would be a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Same nice Uconnect interface for controls and media, ventilated seats/heated wheel/pano sunroof just like the PacHy, and identical fancy adaptive cruise that works in stop and go traffic.

Several downsides, though:

- as best as I can tell via the myriad of trim line options and packages on the Jeep configurator getting these desired options would run at least $45k if an optioned Limited or $46k in an Overland
- poor reliability: probably a good one to lease instead of buy, especially given my fickle taste over time
- Jeep bro stigma even if not the bro-iest model

The real problem is that I don’t actually need 4wd or ground clearance. A second PacHy with a hitch would give me all the same comforts, would serve as a spare part vehicle for FCA reliability concerns :lol: , and would be effectively about $9k cheaper than a similarly optioned Jeep due to tax credits. (But it would also be a tight fit in the garage, has the tax incentives only for purchasing outright due to Chrysler Financial being boneheaded, and would be pretty goofy to explain, heh.)

 

[Toshi]

Colorado's electric vehicle plan acknowledges that fast-charging along major transportation corridors is a major barrier to greater adoption. Drilling down on the part of the state that matters to me, I-70 between Denver and the ski areas:

Note what looks to be planned charging stations in Idaho Springs or Downieville as well as in the Tesla-aping Silverthorne.

Plans are great, but is there money to realize them? There actually is: the Colorado Energy Office will repurpose existing program funds (because who wants more CNG refueling stations? no one, apparently), and VW will pay for a bunch as well (!) via their Dieselgate-atonement organization, Electrify America.

Their highway charging stations look to be well-specced and future-proofed as well: 4-10 CCS or CHAdeMO DC fast chargers at each highway site, 150 kW units that can be upgraded to 320 kW down the road. For context, Tesla's Superchargers currently top out at 135 kW, and 320 kW charging would render 19 miles of driving range per minute of charging.

Finally, they have a pretty aggressive timeline, this for Electrify America alone although there are several organizations working in parallel:

My commentary: Finally things are coming together. These plans seem well thought out and future-proofed, particularly the focus on DC fast charging at 150 and 320 kW for the highway stations. Once such a network is operational it'll be totally feasible to go fully electric outside of the Tesla ecosystem.

I would like to be part of the regional-EV-travel vanguard in future years, but the future is not here yet even if it's only a few years out. 2019-2020 is the earliest that I can reasonably expect I-70 to be built out, and non-Teslas that can take advantage of this 150-320 kW charging network don't exist in fully fledged form yet. The Bolt's 80 kW fast charging the best out there at the moment.

So what this means for me in terms of this thread is that I should probably do a 36 month lease that'd take me to early 2021. Waiting until 2020 or 2021 would hurt me a bit in terms of Colorado's EV tax credit but the tech is advancing fast enough that waiting out the infrastructure and upcoming models would be beneficial.



Given all this, new goals assuming I sell the RAV4 EV private party after paying off its loan:

- Minimal overall cost for 36 month lease (whether through PHEV + tax credit shenanigans or through a great lease deal on a conventional vehicle or whatever)
- 2" hitch option and a rack or a pass-through for my skis
- Fancy adaptive cruise with stop and go
- Nice interior, ideally with heated steering wheel
- Smooth and quiet
- 4+ doors

 

[Toshi]

All lease math below will minimize down payments as much as possible for consistency's sake.

Contender 1: Ford Fusion Energi SE optioned out with the Driver Assist and Adaptive Cruise packages.

What's not obvious in the screenshot above is that the $9,007 capitalized cost reduction ("available incentives") represents pass-through of the $4,502 Federal tax credit from the lessor to the lessee as well as Ford kicking in $4.5k cash on the hood.

Net price over 36 months: $1,001 + 36 * $356 - $2,500 CO PHEV leasing credit == $11,857. (For comparison purposes, a non-Energi Fusion SE with comparable options that necessitate the 2.0 Ecoboost, etc. would run $17,850 over 36 months! Also note that the Volt is not competitive at all, at $18,812.)

Contender 2, a basic box from Toyota albeit with fancy cruise: Toyota RAV4 XLE optioned out with power liftgate and blind spot monitors.

Net price over 36 months assuming no discount from MSRP incorporated into the capitalized cost: $1,083 + 36 * $433 == $16,671.

Contender 3, the Korean invasion. Kiro Niro PHEV in EX trim.

$4,843 capitalized cost reduction represents the $4,543 tax credit plus a meager $300 extra off.

Net price over 36 months: $378 + 36 * $378 - $2,500 == $11,486. In nicer EX Premium trim to get CarPlay, heated wheel, etc. that'd be $12,781. (Before anyone brings it up, an Elantra would probably be more expensive given credits and there's no 2" hitch option.)

Contender 4, the residual value champion, Subaru: A dark horse is that I read that 36 month residuals are ~65% for Subaru Outbacks. If true this would make for a super cheap lease if one could negotiate a bit off the initial capitalized cost. I can't find any documented deals and subaru.com is super unhelpful, though, so this remains on the sidelines.




Edit: More random lease deals here: https://www.edmunds.com/car-leasing/monthly-199-lease-deals.html . Not so helpful for my purposes since not all have 2" hitch options, and these advertised rates are often for base trims that don't have fancy adaptive cruise, etc.

 

[Toshi]

I test drove a Rogue today, and it kind of sucked.

2018 Nissan Rogue SL, with all the options checked including ProPILOT Assist.

Looked much like this:

Yes, that's very orange. I noticed, too.

Pros:

- overstuffed front seats with quilted (orange!) leather were very comfortable for the ~20 minutes I was in the vehicle
- Nissan's corporate flat-bottom steering wheel is actually a nice piece
- very easy to drive: smallish size, big glass area, surround view camera for parking, not intimidating in the least
- heated seats and heated wheel

Cons:

- ProPILOT Assist is a waste of time in its current iteration. More on this below.
- CVT + coarse 4 banger engine note + not much propulsion relative to the amount of sturm und drang, exacerbated by the CVT drone
- feels like a cheap car wearing a department store suit, especially when it comes to the infotainment screen
- I believe ProPILOT only comes with the Platinum trim package that leads to the two tone orange leather (!)

So how was ProPILOT Assist? Weird. It was definitely weird seeing and feeling (if a hand on the wheel as it wants) the car steer itself fairly forcefully. The concept seems fine but the execution is off in several ways.

1) Didn't reliably pick up lane markings despite this being 3:30 on a sunny day in Colorado. Maybe 20% of the time it was successful in this.

2) Not steady in its steering. While certainly better than lane keep assist systems I've tried it still pinballed around a bit between the sides of the lane. It also tried to punt me out of the lane and into the adjacent one during one segment where a new right hand turn lane was created from the shoulder.

3) Distracting. While there are some audio indicators, the main indicator for the system's status (has it identified lane markings or not? is it steering for you? do you need to touch the wheel to satisfy it that you're still alive?) is in a relatively small LCD panel betwixt two analogue gauges. Clearly the dashboard layout predated the system.

When driving I found myself looking down at that little LCD often instead of at the road--exactly the behavior we don't wish to have!

4) Hands free systems or bust. What experiencing this taught me is that a semi-effective self-steering system that cannot reliably detect lane markings, cannot be trusted to actually drive straight and true, and which has a poor interface for communicating its status to the driver is actually worse functionally than a system of just dynamic cruise control + unobtrusive lane keep assist.

Short of a level 4 autonomous car, Cadillac's Super Cruise system seems to be the only system with its shit figured out. Volvo's Pilot Assist would probably be just as frustrating as the Nissan ProPILOT Assist was, only possibly with better execution of what it does. The interface issues would be common to each--no thanks.

Verdict for the Rogue: I didn't even bother getting a lease quote from the sales guy, since I knew from the test drive that I wasn't interested in it at all.

 

[Toshi]

All lease math below will minimize down payments as much as possible for consistency's sake.

Contender 1: Ford Fusion Energi SE optioned out with the Driver Assist and Adaptive Cruise packages.



What's not obvious in the screenshot above is that the $9,007 capitalized cost reduction ("available incentives") represents pass-through of the $4,502 Federal tax credit from the lessor to the lessee as well as Ford kicking in $4.5k cash on the hood.

Net price over 36 months: $1,001 + 36 * $356 - $2,500 CO PHEV leasing credit == $11,857. (For comparison purposes, a non-Energi Fusion SE with comparable options that necessitate the 2.0 Ecoboost, etc. would run $17,850 over 36 months! Also note that the Volt is not competitive at all, at $18,812.)

I test-sat in a Fusion today. Didn't drive it since it was a gas version, not even the non-plugin hybrid one. Verdict is that I have plenty of headroom: the front seat goes super low.

I also got updated lease numbers, and they're even more attractive:

2018 Fusion Energi SE + Driver Assistance + Adaptive Cruise with Stop and Go packages + all-weather floor mats.
$36,810 MSRP.
After dealer and Ford discounts and incentives, the net capitalized cost is $23,475 (!).
Lease residual for 36 months, 10.5k miles/year is pretty crappy at 36% (of the MSRP).

Plug in some up front taxes baked in, etc. and the net lease cost (after averaging out the Colorado $2.5k PHEV lease tax credit) is $293.56 + tax per month x 36 months (nothing down, per se, just the first month's payment at signing). This is pretty good, and is extremely similar in outcome to a lease deal on a Subaru Outback 2.5i Premium with EyeSight + power liftgate package, which is $288 + tax x 36 months. (Interestingly, the Subaru comes at this same number from a totally different approach: 61% residual (!) but more like $3k in discounts and incentives instead of $13k+.)

Either of these lease deals would be within a few thousand of the expected depreciation on the RAV4 EV, and both would give me autobrake, stop and go dynamic cruise control, and CarPlay. Both would need hitches, but both have 2" hitches available. Choices, choices. I'm leaning toward the Fusion Energi because it does 97 MPGe x 21 miles then 42 MPG afterward, as opposed to 28 MPG in theory for the Outback.

 

[Toshi]

Groomer Zen.

 

[Toshi]

I quite liked Breckenridge. Huge place! but the lifts were well placed. Lots of high speed lifts. Lots of lifts with mid-point loading as well! and a gondola, and two lifts that cross paths even. Fancy fancy.

Runs seemed like everywhere else, and for better or worse the snow was par for the course for this season. I made a point of stopping for lunch today and that both helped me eke out an extra hour of skiing and not feel like I was hypoglycemic on the drive home.

Given that it's really not farther than A-Basin (1:34 to A-Basin at this hour per Google Maps, 1:38 to Breckenridge) I think I'll be going to Breck for the rest of this season's midweek skiing. I gladly paid $5 to park in the (South, but North is the same) Gondola Lot and found that setup convenient enough.

Perhaps the snow will improve and it'll be a less windy day. Because of both of these things 6 Chair, Imperial Express, and Zendo/Kensho were all closed. The Horseshoe Bowl T bar was open, though, and I hit the bowl for a run (video on Facebook). Wasn't worth it to do it again with the snow conditions and the wind (both while skiing and while being dragged uphill).

I did make it all over the mountain during my day, though, hitting up Falcon (kind of icy runs), Quicksilver, E Chair (super slow! in contrast to the others), Peak 8 SuperConnect, Colorado, Independence, and of course the T bar.

Not a bad day.

 

[Toshi]

2018 Fusion Energi SE + Driver Assistance + Adaptive Cruise with Stop and Go packages + all-weather floor mats.
$36,810 MSRP.
After dealer and Ford discounts and incentives, the net capitalized cost is $23,475 (!).
Lease residual for 36 months, 10.5k miles/year is pretty crappy at 36% (of the MSRP).

I’m pretty certain I’m going to move forward with the Fusion Energi plan today. I’ll have to order it undriven and trust in YouTube and written reviews. I decided in the interim to not be so cheap and get the nice Platinum trim for whale penis stitched leather this and that.

My last decision is to finance or lease. Math time:

1) Both use a basis of invoice - $1k, as my local dealer agreed to that after some negotiation. For a lease the relevant numbers are $9,007, $2,500, 0.25%, and 36%. The $9,007 represents pass-through of the $4,007 Federal tax credit and $5k cash back from Ford. $2,500 is Colorado’s PHEV lease tax credit. 0.25% is the apr equivalent of the money factor, which is very good. 36% is the residual used (for a 36/10.5 term), which is terrible but probably realistic.

So if the residual is correct and the Federal tax credit is backed out of the equation the discount here is really $7,500 from the basis (ex Fed credit).

2) Purchase option. Same basis of invoice - $1k. Relevant numbers are $3.5k, $4,007, $5k. Ford has $3.5k in cash on the hood if one finances with them. Second is Fed tax credit, which I would claim as the purchaser. Last is the Colorado PHEV purchase tax credit. Don’t know Ford Credit APR.

So ignoring the (same) Federal tax credit the discount for purchasing is $8.5k instead. But there’s a risk of taking a bath if I sell the car 3 years from now, and I have to wait 14 months or so before seeing the Fed tax credit. Lease payments would also be a bit cheaper, so there’s the time value of that relatively small amount of money as well. Finally, with the lease one could potentially negotiate a lower buyback price at the end of the term depending market.

I think leasing is the way to go here.

 

[Toshi]

Trigger pulled.

Went for the fancy Platinum trim in the off chance that this turns out to be a long-term vehicle for me, purchased at the end of the lease term. Cap cost $12.2k under MSRP. Terrible 36% residual, but such is the deal. 0.25% APR-equivalent money factor.

Now time to queue up a withdrawal from investments to cover paying off the RAV4 EV's loan, so that I can get the ball rolling on selling that. I'm thinking giving Craigslist a try for a few days then perhaps a few weeks on autotrader, then to eBay Motors?

 

[StiHacka]

I find your journey from a Tesla 3 to a Ford fascinating.

 

[Toshi]

I find your journey from a Tesla 3 to a Ford fascinating.

I'd have ponied up for the Tesla Model 3 even at a net price of ~$45k (long range, adding basic things like heated seats, AutoPilot == ~$57k per the Roadshow review) if it didn't appear to have a horrible UI. Doing everything on one big touchscreen is just not a good idea. Also no 2" hitch option for my T2 rack.

With this I should be able to get to biking and skiing (like any other car with a gas engine and 2" hitch ), enjoy my stitched leather dashboard for monocle-ness, and relax in traffic with adaptive cruise control. The electric range is enough to get me to work and back, which is really the point.

Said Roadshow review. Ignore Tim's mangling of "pique":

 

[Westy]

I'd consider a PHEV if it could handle my round trip commute. Need a 40 mile range for that. Perhaps in a few years things will get there.

 

[Toshi]

I'd consider a PHEV if it could handle my round trip commute. Need a 40 mile range for that. Perhaps in a few years things will get there.

Volt or i3 REx would handle that. Washington exempts the first $32k or so of EVs' cost from sales tax, iirc.

 

[Westy]

Volt or i3 REx would handle that. Washington exempts the first $32k or so of EVs' cost from sales tax, iirc.

I3 is more of an electric car with gas extender. Perfect for a commute, not enough car to do everything I want it to.

I have spent enough time inside GM plants that I don't know if I could ever own one.

 

[Toshi]

@SkaredShtles @Nick @Full Trucker @6thElement

I'm going to take one half day off during the week ~mid April-September for mid-week biking goodness. Any days of the week or AM/PM splits that work particularly well should I coordinate riding with you flexible-of-schedule types?

 

[Full Trucker]

@SkaredShtles @Nick @Full Trucker @6thElement

I'm going to take one half day off during the week ~mid April-September for mid-week biking goodness. Any days of the week or AM/PM splits that work particularly well should I coordinate riding with you flexible-of-schedule types?

I no longer count myself as having what I would consider a 'flexible' schedule.

 

[Toshi]

I no longer count myself as having what I would consider a 'flexible' schedule.

Welp, that sucks.

I just ran into my department chair in the hallway--he on his way out from a half day, me on my way in for a half day. He let slide that one of the upcoming changes is that our academic time, which is now supposed to be spent in our offices although I work from home often, will become unrestricted... provided one's not the backup person for other people calling in sick, and that one is productive enough over the course of the year.

Short version is that I may be able to break away for skiing and biking without taking vacation days as per this winter, and without incurring the potential wrath of highers-up.

 

[SkaredShtles]

@SkaredShtles @Nick @Full Trucker @6thElement

I'm going to take one half day off during the week ~mid April-September for mid-week biking goodness. Any days of the week or AM/PM splits that work particularly well should I coordinate riding with you flexible-of-schedule types?

I'd say whatever days would work - best in afternoons. Probably can do occasional LONG lunch hours.

 

[6thElement]

@SkaredShtles @Nick @Full Trucker @6thElement

I'm going to take one half day off during the week ~mid April-September for mid-week biking goodness. Any days of the week or AM/PM splits that work particularly well should I coordinate riding with you flexible-of-schedule types?

Working eastern hours I'm normally looking to head out after 3pm, so definitely afternoons for coordination with us, Tuesday-Friday is best.

 

[Nick]

@SkaredShtles @Nick @Full Trucker @6thElement

I'm going to take one half day off during the week ~mid April-September for mid-week biking goodness. Any days of the week or AM/PM splits that work particularly well should I coordinate riding with you flexible-of-schedule types?

Spring feels like a looooong time away, but yea, afternoon rides can be done, which day prob doesn't matter.

 

[Toshi]

A-Basin today with the whole family.

Getting there was a shitshow. We left too late, 6:38 from Stapleton so past 7 at I-70 and C-470. Traffic for days. Then it was snowing up high, and apparently windy enough that Loveland Pass was closed. So we had to drive around, through the tunnel and then up past horrible traffic on the way to Keystone.

Just shy of 3.5 hours door to parking lot. Springing for the $30 close-in lot was a key move given the little kids, though, and we snagged one of the last parking spots there.

Then there was the skiing. Mariko's lesson was a waste of money. The instructor had two kids, and didn't take them on a chairlift! This is horseshit: at Mariko's level she gets nothing out of 100 foot runs down from the Magic Carpet.

Indeed, Yuna got more vertical in, probably, as I took her on the bunny hill chairlift for a bunch of runs. Video pending. She did better than before but still hasn't grasped speed control fully, let alone controlling which way she turns with edge pressure.

After picking up Mariko she was eager to ski more, which makes sense after that lesson. I wasn't eager to head up because the lift lines were terrible all day, but caved. Jessica and Yuna ate a long lunch in the old, crowded lodge, while Mariko and I waited out the lift line on the mountain's sole high speed quad and then came down a long green run with some surprisingly non-green-ish sections. Video pending of this as well.

Overall my impression of A-Basin on a busy weekend was not good at all. I'm going to have to revise my skiing-with-kids plans for the rest of the season. A-Basin is cheap for them (free passes for 5 and under) but it's old, crowded on-slope and -off, the lesson Mariko got was crap, and the locker area in the lodge for de-booting is crowded and hectic.

(The snow was better today than on prior weeks, sure, but what's the point if the lift line is 10 minutes?)




Update/resolution: I complained via email to A-Basin about Mariko's crap lesson. Their guest service person called me up just now and Mariko will get a free makeup lesson where she'll get put in the proper class.

 

[Toshi]

In less whiny news, I just ordered Jessica up some skis. 2018 Blizzard Black Pearl 98, 152 cm, used-10-times demo skis with bindings, store pickup at Powder7.



Those should rock based off of the reviews, and then no more waiting on rental gear! Boots will be chosen after fitting at REI or Powder7 later this week.

 

[Toshi]

Yuna stopping:


Mariko legitimately skiing:

 

[Nick]

Just shy of 3.5 hours door to parking lot

Nothing against REI but can I suggest your wife gets fitted at a dedicated ski shop. Larsons and bentgate has good boot guys and a good selection too.

 

[Toshi]

Nothing against REI but can I suggest your wife gets fitted at a dedicated ski shop. Larsons and bentgate has good boot guys and a good selection too.

She’s not picky. She liked the rental boots yesterday, for instance, and has normal proportioned feet unlike me. If these boots don’t work out then I’ll totally return them and have her invest more time at one of those places (or Larry’s in Boulder, where I got my heavily massaged boots done), but this would be easy.

 

[Toshi]

Overall my impression of A-Basin on a busy weekend was not good at all. I'm going to have to revise my skiing-with-kids plans for the rest of the season.

One of the assumptions for the revised plan is that we stay overnight on a Friday night because Jessica doesn't want to get the kids up super early so that we beat the horrid I-70 westbound traffic in the mountains. Staying overnight, while not cheap, is pretty constant between the possible places left after eliminating those without lodging (Loveland, A-Basin namely) so I'm not going to include those costs below.

Other things to consider are that my kids are too young for the K-5 Epic Schoolkids program, we already have a day scheduled at Breckenridge with lodging beforehand, and that we have between 3-6 other possible days this season where we'll all go skiing.

Option 1, go all in for Winter Park:

Kids passes are $30 each and individual tickets are $10, so no sense not to do passes for them.

For adults, a WP pass bought at this late time is $579 and includes 10 $79 ticket vouchers for friends and family. Individual tickets are $124-135 bought in advance. So for 3 days, 2 adults the adult ticket cost would be $744 if individual tickets at the cheapest rate, $816 if one pass + 3 buddy tickets, $1158 for two passes. At 4 days this turns to $992, $895, $1158. 5 days: $1240, $974, $1158. 6 days: $1488, $1053, $1158. If somehow we can snag 10 buddy pass vouchers from our neighbors (hell, they might have 20--I think both of them have WP passes) then it'd be $474, $632, $790 for 3, 4, 5 days.

Also relevant are that half day max 1:5 ratio lessons for Mariko run $179 per. (Yuna's too young for lessons until April, at which point there might not be snow.)

So from the above it looks like 1 WP adult pass, use of the buddy ticket vouchers, passes for both the kids would be the way to go. Note that assuming I am the named passholder I can always jet up for extra MJ/WP weekday days and definitely get my money's worth from it, as it were.

If we get 4 days in, buy one pass, and do lessons each time for Mariko the total cost would be $1671. If we can do all buddy vouchers via neighbors, those same 4 days would be $1408 and I'd just do all my weekday skiing at Epic Pass resorts instead.

Option 2, go all in for Breckenridge:

No kids pass options. $98 SWAF kids' tickets for Yuna (!) through my Epic pass. $151 SWAF adult tickets for Jessica--yes, that's the buddy ticket rate! $323 per full day Ultimate 4 (max 1:4 ratio) ski lessons--no half-day options available but at least a lift ticket is included.

4 days with all of us skiing and Mariko taking a lesson each time: $2288. 5 days: $2860, 6 days: $3432. Oof. I like Breck, but not at those rates.

Edit: Yuna might be free, not $98. Still not cheap but a much smaller delta, especially if I can’t get WP buddy vouchers from the neighbors.

Edit 2: fixed Breck rates with no Yuna ticket: 4 days $1896, 5 days $2370, 6 days $2844. I also confirmed that the neighbors have a WP Pass so we can use their vouchers.

 

[SkaredShtles]

You know what'll make these numbers work out better?

MOAR KIDS!!!

 

[Toshi]

You know what'll make these numbers work out better?

MOAR KIDS!!!

When I laid out these numbers Jessica's response was whether we could afford to buy a condo at Breck or the like... and that's actually not a bad idea for down the road. Not going to happen until student loans are a memory, but at that point it could make a lot of sense: use it and rent out the days we're not there.

The prices, though...

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Breckenridge-CO/pmf,pf_pt/2095521236_zpid/14934_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/39.487789,-106.053118,39.474407,-106.071593_rect/15_zm/

and this is on the lower end, it seems! Weird the huge disconnect between the asking price and the Zestimate. Not sure which is more realistic. Ski in-ski out would be pretty fabulous.




Addition: Winter Park prices seem much more reasonable. Example, not quite ski in-ski out but still within walking distance from the lifts. Riding the shuttle in from a cheaper place is not nearly as monocle-ish.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Winter-Park-CO/pmf,pf_pt/124641600_zpid/34883_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/39.891373,-105.759572,39.8803,-105.767983_rect/16_zm/

 

[Toshi]

Sort of want. Sort of super wary.

 

[StiHacka]

Sort of want. Sort of super wary.

"Long distance test, 8.8km."

 

[Toshi]

Yeah, I caught that, too. To be useful to me it has to be able to fly from here to the mountains. Probably not feasible.

 

[Toshi]

Today did not suck.

 

[Toshi]

Computers are annoying:

I opened up the case to install a tiny standoff and screw for my (warrantied recently) M.2 drive.

The first frustration was the screw itself, way too tiny to work with. I lost it a few times in the case, fished it out, and finally managed to get it in after a few minutes of annoyance.

The next frustration was that the computer then wouldn't power up. No fans spinning up, no lights on the motherboard, nothing at all. I reseated the (second of two, blocks the M.2 slot) graphics card a few times, made sure everything on the motherboard still looked well seated, and nothing.

Finally, I decided to try unplugging everything, USB, Ethernet, HDMI and all, and letting the computer sit sans all sources of external power for 30 seconds. This somehow reset something in the power supply or motherboard that had tripped, and the computer booted up...

... but when it booted up it somehow had eaten its Nvidia drivers in the process. Right now it's sitting at a not so lovely 1024 x 768 resolution.

Gah.

 

[Toshi]

Just ordered this, because Nick endorses it, and because the prospect of having warm boots first thing in the morning is actually super awesome.

It heats at up to 80W on 120V AC, and 45W off of 12V DC. The minivan has a 300W inverter and 120V AC plug built in, so I'll have optimally toasty boots when taking it. Next winter, in my new car, I'll have to deal with just 45W...

 

[Westy]

Just ordered this, because Nick endorses it, and because the prospect of having warm boots first thing in the morning is actually super awesome.

It heats at up to 80W on 120V AC, and 45W off of 12V DC. The minivan has a 300W inverter and 120V AC plug built in, so I'll have optimally toasty boots when taking it. Next winter, in my new car, I'll have to deal with just 45W...

Or fill up a soda bottle with boiling water, drop in boot, stuff ski socks over the top to keep heat inside.

 

[6thElement]

Or fill up a soda bottle with boiling water, drop in boot, stuff ski socks over the top to keep heat inside.

Zero monocle kudos for that though.

 

[Toshi]

Or fill up a soda bottle with boiling water, drop in boot, stuff ski socks over the top to keep heat inside.

Make the vessel titanium and the thermal storage molten salt solution and then you’ll pique my interest

Zero monocle kudos for that though.

Affirmative

 

[Westy]

Make the vessel titanium and the thermal storage molten salt solution and then you’ll pique my interest



Affirmative

Short circuit a lithium ion battery pack and drop it into a boot.

 

[Westy]

Zero monocle kudos for that though.

I am more of a duck tape and bailing wire kind of guy.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Or fill up a soda bottle with boiling water, drop in boot, stuff ski socks over the top to keep heat inside.

Don't do this if you have heat-moldable liners... don't ask me how I know this.