It's not lost on me that my "regularly scheduled" posts on our car and my teeth aren't here. Consider this, then, a two-fer.
Our 2003 Honda Element at the Nearly 10 Month Mark
We love this car.
Two problems cropped up fairly recently. Back in September, we had the driver's seat bushings replaced - an infamous Element design flaw which caused the seat to rock ever so slightly now and then. I've noticed this is starting to come back a bit; we'll probably take it in for this within a few weeks.
The other issue was a nasty noise when turning in reverse at slow (parking lot) speeds. A sometimes loud clunking seemed to emanate from the rear of the car. It seemed worse after a rain, too. Two dealers checked this out and found nothing, suggesting that the sound was from normal movement of the brake pads. Given we've had two places look at it I'm mostly satisfied with this explanation and, as a bonus, the sound's been AWOL for a while now. We also chose to have the rear differential fluid replaced at this time given it apparently wasn't done yet.
Our HondaCare warranty expires in two months! Time to get everything fixed.
Other than these issues we think the Element is swell. It's comfortable, very roomy, and has a lot of personality.
My White Teeth
I whitened my teeth using Crest WhiteStrips back in February. The package claimed the results would last up to 6 months. I am here to tell you that this is not true for me.
My teeth are still a bit whiter, but drinking coffee daily has taken its toll and they're nowhere near as white as they were when I finished the 2 weeks of applications. They were never a gleaming white but were definitely, noticeably whiter and looked better.
I'm going to pin this one moreso on the coffee, for now, but it's a little disappointing. If I were to do this again (and I might) I'd seek out something that specifically addressed coffee drinkers like me.