Switching Oil Types from 5w30 to 10w30

So when I got my oil changed the other day I checked the dipstick to find out that I had burned about 1 liter of oil over 5000 km, not bad for a car with 212 000 km.  I asked the technician if there was anything that I could do to lessen this amount of burn-off?  He said that we could switch the oil type from the recommended 5w30 to 10w30.  This would mean a bit more viscosity when it's cold but the same viscosity during operating temperatures.   So we made the switch and I am going to monitor how much oil it burns this cycle before I get the oil changed again.  I read a few forums about this and most people recommend that you use 5w30 in cold weather climates so that the oil runs better at low temperatures.  The day after the oil change I forgot to plug the block heater in and had to start the car on a cold day.  It didn't start as easy as it did the day before and I can only conclude that I was because of the higher viscosity of the oil made turning the starter more difficult.  It still started and ran just fine but it was interesting that there was a significant difference in the initial starting performance.   It'll be at least five weeks before the oil needs changed again and I will update this post when I get the results.  If I find that it continues to start really hard then I might consider changing it back to 5w30 before the next oil change is due at 5000 km.

Another Rear Wheel Bearing

When I first bought my forester the mechanic that I took it too for an inspection said that the driver's side bearing was bad and it needed to be replaced.  It's now three months later and the other bearing wore out and started to make noise.  I noticed it driving home this week and monitored it for a few days to see if it got worse, but I also made an appointment to have a mechanic check it out.  I was pretty sure that it was the right rear bearing because if I turned to the right it would go away then when I straightened out again it would return.  The hum was present during left turns and only changed on right turns.  So here is m reasoning, when I turn right it put pressure on the front left tire and takes pressure off the rear right tire.  When the pressure was remove from the rear right bearing the noise stopped.  The mechanic confirmed my suspicions the next day, when I took it the shop for diagnostics.  They said the bearing had worn out and replaced it for $250 parts and labour.