"But it's in colder climates, where the words "snow", "ice" and "wind-chill factor" are often heard, that the Freeaire has a special talent. It taps into the greatest source of refrigeration ever created: winter. "More of this please.
Our patient: a 12 kilo, 4 month old, fawn and white wiggle-butt male pit bull puppy! One of my classmate's cousins has already asked to adopt him, hooray!
Six months later, the cider is out of the carboy and into bottles! We managed to get just shy of 11 gallons complete and into bottles, and split it three ways. Here is a shot of the Subaru hauling the final catch plus all the gear back home. The day was beautiful, 60˚ and sunny. We took our time and since the weather was nice, did the entire process outside. It is nice symmetry too since the day we pressed the apples was the last nice day of fall and yesterday was the first really nice day of spring!
As the big surgery day approaches, the second years are getting progressively less tolerant of our course load, exams, and anything that we have to learn that isn't directly clinically applicable. I'm afraid we've become the classic "cranky second years," immersed in the hardest part of vet school where the novelty of having gotten accepted wore off long ago and we're still a year away from starting clinics.
Hooray! I found out today that I got a summer job in a vet clinic! This will be my first ever paid clinic work, and should really help boost my confidence and fill in some holes in my basic clinical skills. I can't wait to be a productive member of a clinic!
Quick update on the Blog. Via our tracking software, we can see that we have become much more popular! After our big spike last April thanks to an odd fluke with with Google images and cars, we settled back to normal by June. But since then we have seen a steady rise in traffic that looks like it will keep going. Where is it coming from? Well, Google images plays a huge part but we also are getting people looking for specific things. If you Google, the benefits of forest fire, post grooming furunculosis or 2002 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport we are on the top one or two pages. We have been linked to by other blogs that give some traffic too. Most of this is for specific links, not for the blog in general.
Well we have had the car for a few weeks now so here is my review! The only thing I can't talk about is a long trip, that will have to wait until summer.
We were fortunate enough to have some of the worst weather of the winter hit after we bought the car, and without it I don't think I would have as complete an opinion as I do now. Basically, this car will get you anywhere you want to go. It is built for adversity. It loves 
adversity! The big fog lamps, the rear window wiper with fluid, big windshield, ABS, and of course the all wheel drive have pushed through all the muck we have gotten this spring without question or complaint. It already saved me from one accident the day we bought it, and that was on slick wet roads. On the Volvo and other rear wheel drive cars, if you turn on a icy road the rear end keeps going in what is called over-steer (top). This can be quite fun in my experience, if you can control it. The Saturn and other front wheel drive cars lose traction on the steering wheels and so can't complete the turn in what is called under-steer (below). This is never fun. My time on ice in the Subaru was that green line on both examples. Just round the curve. The all-wheel drive always has power down on the road somewhere so you always have control of the car. The flat four engine produces a nice range of power on demand and gets you where you want to be when you want to be there. It doesn't have the WRX's turbo boost that throws you back in your seat however. Oh well, I don't need premium gas either.
That all said, it is not a luxury car. The cup holders are poorly thought out. One pops out directly above the center console and the other is quite small in the center arm rest. Stuff sometimes rattles inside and everything is plastic. The shocks are stiff and tall so you can feel every ta-tak ta-tak ta-tak of the road. The sound system was upgraded which is great, but they did not opt for keyless entry or alarm so to open all the doors you have to do it from inside the driver or passenger door. The layout for some of the controls is confusing. Why they made the cruse control and fog lights buttons in a place where you can not see them, right next to each other, and the same shape I will never know (see arrow).
But, none of that matters because the car is just so incredibly solid you really don't care about cosmetics. Everything is about the driving. Those hard shocks might get annoying but they keep you firmly on the road at all times and tell you exactly what is going on under the car. The throaty engine roars to life when asked, and settles down quietly for cruising. The visibility is fantastic thanks to the flat engine that allows for a very low hood making you feel like you are right on top of the road. The back end can haul tons of stuff, and the seats fold down to give you even more room. In short, it is exactly the car I wanted! Look for us in it for a long time to come.