Steps - Forward And Backward
The first is an update on the Mitzvah Canister I posted about below. It's ... OK. It's physically smaller than I thought it would be, shorter actually. And the stainless steel is thin. It looks as though it will hold an 8 oz. bag of coffee but I can see that someone who buys coffee in larger sized bags would be disappointed to have one. Secondly, the nice, heavy gauge stainless steel measuring spoon I've been using simply doesn't fit so I've retreated to using the shorty plastic measuring spoon i had in the cabinet. Not a problem but I'll miss the heft of that nice Gevalia spoon every morning.
On the plus side, the gasket seems pretty secure without needing to be tacked down. The top is see-through which I kinda like. The hollow dome of the previous canister was inelegant design to me. The good part of the size is that it's compact. That's the nice way to say small but "compact" is accurate as long as it holds my requisite package full. And the shorty spoon fits so, all told, with the steps forward and back, I think I'm ahead.
Now, about my Friday.... The backstory is that I have long been looking for really good, solid iPod integration into the car stereo landscape. I've tried a couple of different versions of the "RoadTrip" (by Griffin) microradio connections and have had success that ultimately is undermined by poor connectivity or radio stations that intrude on frequencies that are open in my 'hood. So I Wooted an Alpine unit that looked pretty sweet (link goes to Amazon for clarity) and today I had it installed. I probably should have bought the Woot install offer but I actually like my local Subaru dealer and thought I'd go ahead and give them the business. Whew. Gave me the business today. It was supposed to take about two hours and ended up taking five.
The step forward is that the iPod integration is amazing. Incredible. Superb. Best ever. But the step back is that the radio is for shite. It acts almost like there's no antenna connection. The radio that came out was very good. I'm going to dig into the manual info and all that this weekend but I may be having to go back to the dealer to see what the hell is up with the lack of receiving. I think that this step forward and back has left me where I was before. But if I get the radio up and all soundy, I'm out in front all over again. Fingers crossed!