October Week 4

First I will start off with a few pictures regarding the IKEA trip we took on Saturday. There is a good sized cafeteria in the IKEA near us, and it reminds me of the cafeterias at the Almas around town (like a college dining hall). Mia is seen here enjoying her ice cream cone that she got after finishing her chicken nuggets (breading removed of course).



We noticed two things at the IKEA cafeteria. 1. Belgians could really get into drink free refills if you let them, and 2. some of them even think that ice cream cones are refillable.



This is the size rental truck you get at IKEA, more like a van I guess, but for only around $10/hour this wasn't so bad. If only traffic had been more clear I could have done the trip in one hour.



The previous box that was being unloaded is now a nice play pen for Mia.

This weekend we are taking a short holiday to the Rhine river in Germany, before we go I want/need to do some maintenance on the car. I took the afternoon off and we all went to the auto parts store by the Carrefour to get some supplies. The store was a little like a Autozone, but with way less merchandise and a garage attached for them to do your work. It took nearly over an hour to get everything I needed for a routine oil change and new spark plugs. Basically the hold up was they couldn't find the right filter for me, and then the spark plugs were difficult to match up. (I'm still not convinced they sold me the right ones, so I will probably take them back if I can find another autoparts store around.)

When I arrived home ready to change my oil, I couldn't get the drain plug loose or the oil filter. They were not going to budge. I quickly drove to a garage nearby where Geert takes his vehicles. They very kindly lifted my car and loosened both objects for me in less than 10 minutes. 10 Euro later I was headed back home to finish my project. (6 Euro charged and an extra 4 for saying "thanks for squeezing me in just before 5:00 on the day before a holiday")



Back home Mia and I finished the job while Mindy packed for the weekend trip. The oil changes here are pretty much exactly the same as back home. The filter and oil cost more of course, and I will have to find a place that will take my used oil (now stored in Dr Pepper 2 liters!). The oil sold here seems to all be pure or semi-synthetics. I might need to look more into this to see if that is the case or if it was just the store I was at?



The spark plugs will have to wait for another day. The wrench I bought is 16 mm, the right size for the new ones they sold me, but not for the current ones on the car. So I will have to go back and get a bigger socket, and then after I pull of the old plugs I will see if the new ones they sold me are the proper fit. I paid 26 Euro for a set of 4 special Bosch plugs, which is way more than this car needs, so like I said earlier, if I can find another auto store, I will return these Bosch plugs and opt for cheaper ones. Where is a NAPA when I need one?