After about 9 months and 13,000 miles the gas mileage on my Prius is stabilizing at in 40 MPG to 45 MPG range. For the first 3-4 months I started out in the 38 MPG range but after a road trip to Yosemite the engine my lifetime MPG settled firmly at 45.7 for a month or so. I just reset the gauge 2 weeks ago so now I’ll see if I can get back to 45 MPG or if that boost was due to the camping trip. I drive mostly highway miles on the weekdays and then a few miles for grocery runs on the weekends.

No noticeable problems or aggravations have come up yet.

I had a quarter stuck in the hinge of the front cup holder that prevented the cup holder from opening. That was incredibly aggravating because I like to flip use that cup holder a lot. I managed to dig it out of the hinge with a butter knife after 30 minutes of wrestling with it. Never put quarters in the front cup holder (the one that flips forward).

I’m going to Vancouver for New Year’s. Researching discount pricing for hotel rooms and rental cars.

Hotels.com

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Whistler, Canada

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cars

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It costs me 15 cents per message to send or receive. any text message. I hate that!

You can send a text message to a person’s phone using your regular email. It costs the emailer nothing but it will cost the SMS recipient whatever his plan costs. (i.e. it costs me 15 cents)

SMS 411 Blog has the major US providers (below). A reply in the AT&T Forum lists over 100 U.S. and international carriers.

Alltel
[10-digit phone number]@message.alltel.com
Example: 2125551212@message.alltel.com

AT&T (formerly Cingular)
[10-digit phone number]@txt.att.net
Example: 2125551212@txt.att.net

Boost Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@myboostmobile.com
Example: 2125551212@myboostmobile.com

Nextel (now part of Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit telephone number]@messaging.nextel.com
Example: 7035551234@messaging.nextel.com

Sprint PCS (now Sprint Nextel)
[10-digit phone number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Example: 2125551234@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-Mobile
[10-digit phone number]@tmomail.net
Example: 4251234567@tmomail.net

Verizon
[10-digit phone number]@vtext.com
Example: 5552223333@vtext.com

Virgin Mobile USA
[10-digit phone number]@vmobl.com
Example: 5551234567@vmobl.com