Vegas Trip

Well, after 20 years the wife and I decided to go to Vegas for the first time together. I had been twice before on business. Yes I know we ALL say that, but it's true. I used to work for a company that had an office in Vegas and about 12 years ago I had been sent there for meetings.... and naturally a little casino hopping afterwards.

Anywho... Vegas was nothing like I remembered. Everything had changed so much! We saw two great shows, The Blue Man Group and Penn and Teller. It was like Broadway 2000 miles away! and the hotels are HUGE!!! The Venetian has a Gondola ride INSIDE and a MALL too!!! We walked the strip until our feet were swollen and we got some great pictures. They even have a recreation of the statue of Liberty here!

Well we had a great time, and are planning to go back. I used to think that Vegas was just for people who like to gamble, but that's sooooo not the case anymore. There's soooo much to see and do you just can't do everything!

Performance Parts

Well, as it turns out, the Vibe has a rather impressive list of after market performance parts available for it. So it's not my Mustang, But it's still a very cool little car.

So far, for about $100.00 I have modified the air intake, and added a strut tower bar. I removed the stock baffle from the air filter box, and installed a K&N air filter. The air K&N air filter gives the car a few more horsepower, and I installed a strut tower bar that makes it handle a little better through turns, (and it looks kinda cool too).

New Car

OK, so Tuesday I bought a new car, a Pontiac Vibe. See as a friend just pointed out I've been giving US automakers grief here, and I bought a Vibe... But see This is a GM / Toyota venture. It's basically a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac logo and flair. Why did I have to buy a new car? Well the Suzuki Verona I had turned out to be the biggest piece of junk I've owned in years. It had major engine work at 25k, an Oil leak at 30k, and now it was stalling and it almost got me killed. So I called the dealer to make ANOTHER appointment, and I was told my warranty had expired (only 36 months) and I'd have to pay for this service. Well I lost it, went to the local dealers and started checking out cars. I was actually looking for a Honda or something, but the "low end" pricing you keep hearing about on TV doesn't exist unless you DON'T want air conditioning or anything. Then the sales weasel tells me about this Pontiac leftover and told me GM had a 0% finance deal going on. SO... I bought it.

OK, now if anyone from a US automaker reads this listen up, these joint ventures are good for you guys. You learn how to make a quality car, at a decent price. You should do this more often!

...end of soap box speech.

Long time no hear...

Hello again. I know I haven't written anything here in a while, as I've not thought of much that was blog worthy. However the other day something cool happened. I heard from an old friend I'd lost touch with for years. OK... Here's the deal.
1. I hate him... He's my age but looks GREAT, he's got a lovely family, AND he's got my Mustang.
2. I'd post pics to show you what I mean, but he asked me not too.
3. I have to admit I was jealous for about 2 seconds, but then I remembered it was MY choices that lead me in the direction I went, just as his decisions lead him down his chosen path. I can't complain, I have 4 great kids, a good job my life doesn't suck.

SO... Here's to old friends, may we all find those whom we've lost touch with, apologize to those who need it, and draw strength from the choices we've made that have made us who we are.

Vacation to New York

Well, we're back from New York. The trip was a little frustrating. The travel time and hold over in Atlanta was bad enough. The Hotel was disappointing at best and it was colder than I was hoping for, so we didn't see some of the things we wanted. Also the kids didn't get to see their Grandpa and they're a bit bummed about it.

I remembered some of the reasons that I really love New York, and I after talking with friends I also remember why I left... I don't miss the $600.00 utility bills.

Chrysler to eliminate nearly 13,000 jobs

OK guys, I know this is not the usual stuff I talk about here, but I can't help it. Everyone is crying about US automakers losing money, and how US buyers are killing the car makers by NOT buying American cars. Well I say THIS is the time for US automakers to wake up and smell the coffee. People buy the Hyundai and Kia and other foreign cars for lots of reasons. But there are a few BIG ones. First the US automakers have priced their cars too high. Secondly the warranty offered by US automakers sucks. Lets face it, as a buyer if I can get a good car at a LOWER price WITH a better warranty Why wouldn't I? I mean lets check it out... The Kia Sedona is well equipped and costs less than a Dodge Caravan, and has a longer warranty. 6/60 and 10/100 as opposed to 3/36. HMMMMM. No brainer. Do American automakers expect buyers to just buy American just because it's American?!? Get a grip guys!!! Make a better product, at a good price with a good warranty and PEOPLE WILL BUY IT!

Battlefield 2142

OK guys... First of all I want you to know I'm a gamer. Recently, a friend, who's name we wont mention, got me hooked on Battlefield 2142. SOOO I bought the game, and started playing only to find out that I was having problems. The game just dumped me out to the desktop without warning. SOOO Naturally I contacted EA (Electronic Arts) about the problem. Well Their tech support told me they don't support my Nvidia GT 6600 video card!!! Now this card is NOT old, and it runs other games like FEAR and Half Life2 and such without fail.

It must be nice to be able to write crappy code, and send it out for us to buy and worry about fixing it only after enough people complain... Oh yeah, they follow the Microsoft Philosophy.

Snow in Arizona??

So it happened... I've been here for 7 years almost, and this is the first time it snowed! I was even able but NOT ALLOWED to go to work this morning because of it?!? I mean, in NY this would hardly have qualified as an event, but it was BIG NEWS here.

WHATEVER...