Dog balls hot

Shit, I am sweating my ass off. No post today except to say that it's hot as hell.

And that losing one's keys sucks. A LOT!

It lives!

I just got back from the shop where my race car has been sitting since last September. and I have some fucking awesome news. IT LIVES! It's running and still has to be fine tuned so I can't take it back just yet, but soon I'll be able to. It should be done the week of July 4th. And on top of that it should cost less than $500, which is probably less than simply storing it somewhere that charges for it would have cost me. No complaints here, that's for sure. Some pics to follow just for the fuck of it.

Here's the dash and all of its useful gauges. I sure wish I had a temp gauge.

Apexi Super airflow converter, AKA that thing I fiddle with when it doesn't run right.

Profile shot of the ugly beast

And the dash.164K+ HARD miles.

I can't wait for the 4th.

The occasional whining post

The only thing worse than having to work an extra two hours unexpectedly is knowing you're not going to earn overtime for it.

More suck: I have to fix my damned car and it's raining. I guess the car fixing will have to wait. Maybe I can use that time to pick up my new shoes. Oh wait, no I can't because they aren't open yet.

I swear I'll have more and better stuff to write about next time.

Adventures in two wheel drive

So I finally went down to pick up my tires for my car today. I borrowed my nephew's pickup truck to do it and I almost wish I hadn't. It was a downright scary experience if I do say so. I had quite a drive to make. It was right around 80 miles to central Connecticut. Connecticut, by the way, is in a perpetual state of construction. Just letting you know in case you ever need to go there.

The first thing I noticed about driving the truck was that the light half bed he has on it doesn't do much for traction and for the first time in quite a while I experienced wheel spin. For the past two years I've been bouncing back and forth between my AWD car and a motorcycle with a 70cc engine, so the very idea of wheel spin is just right out. Not so with this truck. Even though it has very little in the balls department it's got no problem whatsoever in jumping sideways around a corner or sitting there going nowhere as the revs go up (and as the speedo says so are the Ms per H) but I can swear that tree over there on the side of the road isn't getting any farther away. I make a note of this and try taking it easier on takeoff.

His truck also has this funny thing I call shit for brakes. He didn't warn me of this, but I guess I should have guessed from the fact that th brake light was on. They've got this really weird habit of doing nothing then nothing them more nothing as you press the pedal down. Gradually the brakes will start to work a bit. After a while though you hit a magical point at which the brakes seeming just lock right up. I didn't really know about that magical point though till I was on the highway doing about 65-70 when all of a sudden BOOM traffic jam. I start to hit the bakes with some urgency and ohh boy all of a sudden I'm slipping all over the lane, but luckily I managed to get the truck back under control before rear ending the guy in front of me. Not by much mind you, but I did it.

The traffic jam I hit was caused by either the fact that I84 was shut down for a few exits worth of road or a crash, I'm not really sure which. I passed by a car wreck as I jumped to the right hand lane to get the fuck off of the highway, but there was still traffic beyond the crash so I'm pretty sure that wasn't the cause. So here I was off the highway because the signs said I84 closed for however the fuck many exits it was closed for seek alternate route. Well damn, if I hadn't gotten my directions off of mapquest maybe I'd know how the hell to get around this. I actually did surprisingly well in finding that alternate route though. After cruising through Plainfield (or was it Plainville? I don't know) and Bristol (Hey look ESPN headquarters, I should drop in and tell them to stfu about Favre) I managed to hop back onto the highway beyond the part that is under such heavy construction that they shut it down. Naturally a few miles down the road I hit another traffic jam. 1 hour and 34 minute trip my ass.

Not too long after I finally get off all of the highways and as I approach my destination (after making a few wrong turns of course) I come to the realization that there are indeed some farms in CT. I always just assumed the whole state was just a suburb of NYC the same way that everyone else assumes that the rest of New England is a suburb of Boston. In no time at all I get to where I'm going. Success! The guy isn't there, but in the email he said the tires were in the driveway so I assume he meant to just grab them and go. I load up my tires and head back toward Mass with much fewer incidents of missing highway or possible death due to traffic jam/brake suckage mishaps. I did though see a person who might just be the unluckiest person on the highway that day. He was driving a nice blue-greenish two door car. It looked like a Honda maybe. But the driver side door was red. Clearly he had been in a collision recently and just hadn't gotten around to repainting his new door. That's probably a good thing though, because the place I saw said car was on the side of the road. And that shiny red door? Ohh it was crushed right the hell in. That poor bastard probably just got that door a week ago and already he's got to buy another one.

I was planning on getting the tires mounted today, but I got to the tire shop and the guy there tells me that their air compressor shit the bed and that after they get it fixed they were going to be playing catch up for the rest of the day and they can get to my tires on Monday. Eh, whatever. I'm in no major rush.

My mission complete I did what anyone in my position would do. I grabbed some Taco Bell and returned the truck to my nephew (along with a Nachos Bellgrande). Volcano tacos rule!

Top Gear UK^HSA

So I saw a promo for a new version of a US version of Top Gear. I don't really know how I feel about this. I never saw any of whatever the original US version was. In fact, I'm not even sure it got out of the meeting rooms and onto the air, but I have a memory in the back of my mind of hearing about it airing at least a few times and failing miserably. If that's the case, well, that's too bad. Still, it'd be nice if this version of it was any good. And if it is any good it'd be nice for it to hang around for a bit.

From what I can think of I can see some serious plus sides to a US version of Top Gear. The first being that I'd be able to actually understand what they're saying a much higher percentage of the time. I'm a huge fan of Top Gear's hosts, but sometimes I just plain can't make out WTF they're saying. It makes me really glad I have DVR so I can hit the "back up a few seconds and do that again" button. Another nice bonus would be that I'd probably know who these "celebrities" they have on the show are and that I'd get the pop culture references at a much higher rate.

I can think of some downsides, too though. I mean, Top Gear's hosts are just so perfect for the show. I like the way that Jeremy thinks anyone who owns a Camaro is a murderer, the way that both James and Jeremy pick on Richard for being short and the way that Richard and Jeremy poke fun at James for being "Captain Slow". I don't really know how long it took for the hosts to get into their respective places on Top Gear, but it might be painful to watch on the US version. And if that ends up being the case, well, US viewers might not stick it out through the early episodes. But hey, if US TV viewers can manage to watch two full seasons of Jersey Shore without killing themselves then they should be able to take the adjustment period of a car show. another problem I could see is that Americans just aren't the CAR people they used to be. Half of us (sadly) probably couldn't get a standard transmission car moving on even the slightest incline (hur dur, why's your car need two brake pedals?) let alone get one around a racetrack in decent time. And if they try to appeal to the greater public by reviewing SUVs and hybrids I may have to puke.

Either way though, I'm still looking forward to checking this show out and I hope it turns out being decent. Is anyone else going to watch it?

(P.S. Fuck you google toolbar spellcheck for trying to tell me Camaro should be spelled Camry.)

What kind of name is that?

Ok, I really don't have too much of a leg to stand on with this mini-rant considering the fact that I drive a 3000GT, but what ever happened to cars having actual names? It used to be that people drove around in their Firebirds and their Novas and if they were really lucky their Corvettes or their Vipers, but these days everyone owns a CTS or an A8 or maybe a 328i or an SLS AMG F1 (there's a fucking mouthful). Jesus fucking christ, are we getting cryptic enough with our car names yet? I'm not entirely sure BMW has ever produced a car with an actual name.

I mean sure the Dodge Omni is a pretty lame name as well as the Kia Sephia (or any name Kia has come up with, really), but at least when someone tells you they own an Omni you can sort of picture what sort of car it might be and/or what sort of attitude the car is supposed to project from the name alone. When someone tells you they just bought a brand new Mustang you know damned well that bitch is going to get driven hard. And if someone else were to tell you they just bought themselves a used Subaru Legacy you're going to be like, ok enjoy your mellow all wheel drive conveyance and don't let those snow drifts scare you, they're your bitch. But what sort of image do you conjure up when someone tells you they just bought an A6, or a 730 or an SL2? I'm sort of drawing a blank here and you probably are as well.

Now I'm not bashing these cars mind you. I'd love to own an Audi and the legendary AWD drive train that comes with it, but the name it just uninspiring. If I ever find myself in the position of CEO of Audi I'll be putting a quick stop to this shit I tell ya. People won't be driving around their A8 anymore, they'll be cruising around in their Bonerwagon and maybe I'll call the A6 the Sisterfister. Give it some much needed attitude ya know.

Well, hope you enjoyed the rant. I feel better now.

(P.S. I think this is the blog post I forgot about the other day. The thought seems familiar. So now I don't have to keep wondering what that idea was.)

Lotus Elise

So, there was a Lotus Elise parked near my apartment today. I took some pictures. Check em out.

It's a pretty short car. At least a few feet shorter than mine. I bet it corners like a bitch.

I like the louvered ducts on the hood. I don't really know how much of a point there is in them though since the engine is in the back.

The instrument cluster is pretty boss, too. And if you look closely yes, that's a manual shifter. I'd really hate to see such a sweet sports car being saddled with a dogomatic.

Rear end here. These ducts do have a bit of a point what with the hot engine being right there. I couldn't make out much about the engine though, but since it's a lotus I'd guess it's a turbocharged 4 or maybe a 6. I get a kick out of the plate. Not late indeed.

Better view of the rear louvers.

The front wheels are only 16s, but considering it's such a small car that makes some sense. Tires are 195/50/ZR16 It's hard to see here, but the calipers say Lotus right on them. The rears were 225/45/ZR17s.

And finally here's a shot of the passenger door area. The scalloped look brings back thoughts of a 50s Vette minus of course the two toned style they had. I like the gas cap, they even made that look sporty.

ChickachickaVROOOOMM

That title there... That's the sound my car makes again. It's always made the vroom sound mind you, ever since getting it back from the mechanic, but now it makes the chickachicka sound again. That's the sound of a working starter. Man, it sure is nice having one of those again. For the past three months or so I've been pop starting the car. It gets to be a royal pain in the ass I tell you. Luckily the parking lot at work is roomy and has a slight slope to it so starting it without help was usually pretty easy.

It sure is nice driving though. For a good bit of the past year I was relying on the bus to get to work and my bicycle to get home. On the bright side I have a short commute about 10 miles round trip. That made the whole biking home thing not so bad. It also make the paying for gas thing fairly easy. When you have the sort of car that puts out close to 400 horses it's helpful on the wallet to not have to drive too far just to get to work.

Man, I do like driving though. Which is why I'm looking forward to getting my new tires so I can drive this car the way it wants to be driven. I haven't been in triple digits for probably a year or so. BAAH that bites. I wanna drive fast!

Well, catch you later bloggyland I'm out. Hope you enjoyed the show.