Last month, I got rid of my 17 year old car and bought a new one.  Last week, I got rid of my 4 month old toothbrush and started a new one.  Today, I got rid of my 18 year old backpack.

The black Eddie Bauer backpack was close to the end anyway – the zipper teeth had many faults, such that holes might open up along its length if there was too much weight in it (a half load of groceries was about the limit).  The zipper pull itself had broken, so only a tiny piece of less-than-smooth metal was available for pulling.  The stitching on the bottom and inside pockets had broken, so stuff could move from one compartment to another and fall out if it were small enough.  I had been using it in Bermuda with the intention of using it until it died, or I left, whichever came first.  It was used for grocery shopping and beach trips, so I could avoid gathering piles of paper/plastic bags (added bonus of not having to tip the baggers, schoolkids who often made more money than the checkers) and didn’t care if it got dirty.  I was able to MacGuyver a fix for the broken zipper and stitching with twist ties and a pocket knife, which extended its life a couple of years.  It’s what I do.

Tonight, it made another step towards irreparability.  While loading groceries, the backpack fell off the checkout counter and the glass bottle of root beer broke, leaving the backpack soaked with root beer and filled with glass shards.  Most of the liquid spilled out and most of the glass was dumped out.  Knowing the ant situation in Bermuda (they will find and swarm bread crumbs left on a counter within an hour), it wasn’t worth trying to clean, so I walked the half hour back to the apartment with a wet backpack and soggy groceries, then used it one last time to carry out the garbage to the dumpster.

Worry not, as I have another backpack with me.  This one is a North Face Recon II, and I believe it is even more durable than the late Eddie Bauer (backpack).

By the way, I picked up another bottle of the (Jones) root beer, it wasn’t very good.

So I got a new car at the end of 2011, replacing my 17-year old 1995 Toyota Camry, which served me well and could have kept going, if I were willing to maintain it. The last thing was a $1700 part replacement for a car valued at $1500 on the high end. So it may have been time to look around. Toyota had a better-than-decent promotion and a further discount on certain models, so I now have a 2011 Toyota Corolla. I was able to drive it for 11 days before leaving the country, and I quickly noticed what I especially liked about the older Camry.

1. In the Corolla, the headlights stay on when you remove the key, which can drain your battery. For the last 17 years, my Camry would shut off the lights (and all electrics) when I removed the key, blocking any risk of a drained battery.

2. The Camry’s rear view mirror was anchored to the ceiling instead of glued to the windshield.

3. The Camry had a full-size spare tire, not a “space saver” miniature tire.

4. The Camry had more leg room and head room (but it’s also a larger model).

5. The Corolla’s clock is farther down the center panel, closer to the shift console, which means if you’re glancing at the clock, your field of vision includes less of the road.

6. The Camry had pneumatic struts on both sides to hold up the hood, no support stick required (though it had one as backup).   The Corolla only has the support stick on one side.

7. The sight lines for the Corolla are worse, perhaps due to the smaller body (that leads to less leg room).  When I turn my head to look before changing lanes, there is a large section of the body frame obstructing my field of vision.  This happens on both sides: the beam behind the driver and rear door (on the driver side) and the beam between the rear door and rear windshield (on the passenger side).

I may find out more things as I drive it more, these were the things that stood out the earliest. There are good things about the newer Corolla: more safety features (10 airbags vs 2), more fuel efficient, and better stereo (auxiliary and USB port).

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I’m sitting in Gatwick Airport, waiting for a gate assignment.  I might buy some food with whatever local currency is left.

In seven days, I visited the following: Natural History Museum, Science Museum, tour of London sights, day trip to Paris, Sea Life Aquarium, Doctor Who Experience, the last Harry Potter film on Britain’s largest IMAX screen, Greenwich and the Royal Observatory, a West End musical, and several famous landmarks and shopping destinations.

There was not enough time to visit: British Museum, Tate Museums, Shakespeare’s Globe, Buckingham Palace and various castles, London Zoo, Oxford, Cambridge, Stonehenge, sport venues (Wimbledon, Emirates Stadium, Olympic Park), and more places I will remember later.

While I’m still on the Atlantic side, perhaps I should return soon to visit the rest (add the rest of the UK and Ireland as well).  However, I would like to travel through Heathrow at least once, which wouldn’t happen from here.

I was in the US for nearly three weeks and saw only one film – Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D.  That’s a poor performance.

My eyeglasses broke two days before my December cruise, and the local optometrist would not have been open after the cruise and before I left for home.

At home, I was told by the optical center that my new glasses could take up to 2 weeks, so I would have had to have them sent to me through the slow post.  I received a call four hours before I planned to head to the airport that the glasses were ready for pick-up.  They took less than six days.  Nicely done, Costco.

Now that Pixar has made 11 feature films, I figure I may as well rank them.

1. Wall-E

2. Finding Nemo

3. Up

4. A Bug’s Life

5. Ratatouille

6. The Incredibles

7. Toy Story 3

8. Monsters, Inc.

9. Cars

10. Toy Story 2

11. Toy Story

This was a terrible year for movies.  Not that there were not many good films, but that I didn’t get to see as many as I would have liked.  This made it extremely easy to put together a top 5 list.  I know I make lists with 11 elements, but I would struggle to think of 11 films that I saw in theaters in 2010.  I do have another Kevin’s Eleven list in mind, hopefully I can actually post it.

These are the best films I saw in theaters in 2010.   If you don’t see your favorite, remember that I likely never had the chance to see it at the cinema.

1. Tron: Legacy

2. Inception

3. Kick-Ass

4. Scott Pilgrim vs The World

5. Tangled