Saturday, June 27th, 2009
Yesterday, I was humming away, working outside and minding my own business when the sky started getting dark. I kept on working until the sky was a little too dark for my liking. I grabbed my tools and walked into the garage.
About five minutes later, the sky fell. It was crazy. The wind picked up and there was like a sheet of rain falling from above. Then, the hail started. I am so glad the cars were in the garage because I am almost sure they would have been all dented up from the hail. Some pieces were really big. They were actually bouncing off the grass and rolling down the front yard.
The storm lasted for about 15 minutes and then slowed down. I looked outside and there was a complete mess. Leaves everywhere. There are now holes in many of our plant leaves because of the hail.
Everything was cool for a while and then the power went out. It just came back on this morning. Ugh. That really stunk.
Here are some pictures. I didn’t get any of the big hail, but my brother’s verbal abuse will make me remember for next time.
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Hartford, CT hail storm – hail on ground
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Hail falling on back porch – some serious hailing
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Sunday, May 17th, 2009
Just a few minutes ago, I read an article on Yahoo! about the biggest car flops in the past 25 years. If you haven’t seen it yet, I’m sure you will. Yahoo! (and everyone else these days) seems to have a little issue with rerunning old stories when the run out of current news. Actually, I think I may have written about this myself already, but I think it’s worth mentioning again.
Here is my vote for the more annoying vehicle ever created on this earth – The Chevrolet SSR. I truly apologize if you have one of these vehicles, but there is something about it that just rubs me the wrong way. I think it’s the way it looks. I really couldn’t care less about what’s under the hood or what the interior looks like because I can’t get past the exterior. I dislike this vehicle so much, I would like to opportunity to crush a few of them in a car crusher. That’s that about that.
I am a little shocked and disappointed about Yahoo!’s number one flop choice, the Vector W-2. I bet not many people have ever heard of this car, but I used to have a poster of it hanging on my wall when I was a kid. I had no idea who made it or why, but I liked the fact that it went “0-60 in 3.9 seconds.” That’s all I know. I bought it from the poster section over at Ames (when they were in business) a long, long time ago. Who knew that it would eventually become a flop in something called the “internet” many years in the future. I was so naïve.
Still, I really think someone should do something about all of the remaining Chevrolet SSRs on the road out there. While they’re at it, they may as well wipe the streets clean of the PT Cruiser as well. Yee Haw.
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Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
10 Green Projects That Just Might Save The World
Faced with massive population growth, melting ice caps and the need to own an ever-increasing number of gadgets, the world needs to find sustainable solutions.
Satellites Show Air Pollution is Way Worse Than We Thought
A new way of comparing ground and satellite collected data on air pollution has shown that 15 of 20 highly populated cities have air pollution levels that 5 to 10 times higher than the World Health Organization’s guidelines.
Texas the world’s 6th biggest wind-power producer
Although many Texans seem to doubt that climate change is man-made, they are still firm believers in clean energy. According to a new report released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Texas once again leads in wind- energy capacity and largest wind farms installed, ranking sixth in the world behind Germany…
Chinese Electric Car Company Led by Charasmatic CEO
BYD, a battery and electric car manufacturer, is led by Wang Chuan-Fu. Wang has built BYD into a global leader but still wants to be environmentally friendly. To that end, BYD has developed a nontoxic electrolyte battery fluid. “If we’re going to help solve environmental problems, we can’t create new environmental problems with our technology.”
China’s Grand Plans for Eco-Cities Now Lie Abandoned
Mostly conceived by international architects, China’s eco-cities were intended to be models of green urban design. But the planning was done with little awareness of how local people lived, and the much-touted projects have largely been scrapped.
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Monday, March 16th, 2009
Yesterday, I was out cruising around when a funny thing happened. The gas warning light came on.
I knew I was running low and that I needed to fill up. It’s not so strange that the gas light went on…that’s happened a million times to me. I really hate to stop for gas. The strange thing is that a warning “type” light went on in the instrument panel on the dash. For a while, I didn’t know what it was and why it turned on. Today, I made an effort to reset it and discovered a few things in the process.
The light that turned on was actually the “Cruising Range” indicator lamp. I am guessing that the minute the low fuel lamp comes on in these cars, the cruising range light comes on telling the driver how many more miles they are able to drive on the fuel left in the fuel tank. I think that’s pretty nifty.
When I was buying this car, the sales guy kept telling me, “Jay, there is so much engineering in this thing, you can’t even imagine.” It’s weird, because I keep discovering things that just make sense. It’s a very intuitive vehicle.
While I was sitting in the parking lot of Whole Foods in Glastonbury this afternoon, I read all about the computer displays in the instrument panel on page 73 of the owner’s manual. There are a few options you can check out by clicking the “BC” button on the turn signal lever.
If you take a look at the photos above, you will see photos of the cruising range, average speed and average fuel consumption (not necessarily in that order) indicator lamps on the instrument panel. A while back, I discovered a few of these features in the i-Drive system, but this is like a little short-cut to the simple views.
I know this post doesn’t really make sense or good reading to many of you who might be looking at this, but I did get some response from the last post I wrote about the various features that BMW offers in their newer models. I’m just writing for the interested. Tomorrow, I will probably be back to lawn care.
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Thursday, March 5th, 2009
This is a very exciting day for our family. Let me be the first person to broadcast this message worldwide – my nephew, Connor, won 3rd place in the Pinewood Derby. Isn’t that just cool?
You know, I used to be in the Cub Scouts too. I don’t think I can remember too much of it at this point in my life, but I do remember participating in the Pinewood Derby a few times. I can clearly recall not winning any races, but if there is any really exciting activity that Cub Scouts do, the derby is it. Well, besides camping up at Camp Siwanoy in Wingdale, NY. That camp closed, by the way. You can read about it here.
From what I can gather, the Pinewood Derby is all set up these days. They have computerized racing stats, electronic finish lines and all that sort of stuff. When I was racing in the Pinewood Derby, we had some old man yelling “Winner” at the prettiest car that went by. Not really, but you get the picture.
Ready for some Pinewood Derby pictures?
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Connor’s Pinewood Derby car
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The fellas watching their Pinewood Derby race
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Nice selection of Pinewood Derby cars
Has it really been that long? As I sit here, I keep trying to think of what my Pinewood Derby cars look like. I have no idea. The only thing I remember is that my father drilled a hole in the back of one of them, put some BBs in the hole and then stuck an ear plug in there to seal it up. The car may have been too heavy for the regulations, but that was the right idea.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have a serious car. I’m telling you, a serious car.
Anyway, congrats Connor!!!
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
Oh, this is a good one.
So I was sitting here yesterday, nice and peacefully, working away when I received a phone call from my better half. She told me that the exhaust on her 1999 Honda Civic had fallen down and was dragging on the road. I asked if the open side was facing the front of the car or the rear. I wanted to know, because if it was facing the rear, she could drive the car, but if it was facing the front, she couldn’t. Being the smart lady she is, she had already looked and it was facing the front. Oh, lucky me.
The minute I got off the phone, I quickly put my cape on and ran downstairs to load up the car. I put my floor jack, a blanket and some string (I couldn’t find any wire) in the back of the car. I also grabbed some cutters. I raced down the road and drove for about two miles. Luckily, this all happened just as she turned off the main road, onto the back road we almost live on.
When I arrived, she was sitting in the car, chatting on the phone. She kind of gave me a smile and a wave. Man, remember the good ol’ days when people were hysterical when they were stuck on the side of the road? Not any more. Now, people pull out a lawn chair to grab a quick tan.
Anyway, I pulled my jack out and jacked up the car. I noticed that there really wasn’t anything to tie the pipe up to. The pipe was cold, so I just wrapped some string around it and pulled it towards the nearest fixture. I let her drive my car back to the house and I drove hers.
I have to tell you this…when I was pulling up the road at about 3 miles per hour, her car was very loud. It brought me back to the days when I used to drive cars like this…on purpose. What a silly time of my life. I felt like I was 16 again. I pulled in the driveway and was very happy to turn the thing off.
Earlier in the year, we made a decision that we weren’t going to fix the next big repair on this car. We were going to somehow get the car to the dealer, trade it in and buy a new one. There was a little part of my brain that wanted this to happen. I thought I had better at least look under the vehicle to see if this was going to be a big repair or a little one. One never knows with exhaust systems.
When I peeked under the car, I saw that the pipe between the one that comes down from the catalytic converter and the muffler pipe had broken in half. The pipe actually looked fine, it was the weld that rusted right through, or the area right next to the weld. While laying on the ground, I yelled out, “I can fix it!!!” I didn’t want to fix it, but I wanted the world to know that I, in fact, could fix it.
A few minutes later, I found myself on the phone ordering a new pipe, gaskets and bolt kits from NAPA auto parts down in Colchester. Everything came up to around $129. Not bad.
I told Laura about it and she thought that was just great. She really doesn’t drive the car all that much anymore, so the longer it lasts, the better. As I was sitting there telling her about it, I said, “I think it might be a good idea if I make sure I can get the old part off before I really commit to fixing this thing.” She agreed and we hit the garage.
I must tell you that working on a car in a garage is a little better than working on a car on a gravel driveway in the cold (like our old place). For some reason, every time something goes wrong with a car, it’s always during the winter. I have flashbacks of me changing the transmission of my Honda Prelude in the middle of a very cold February out in the driveway – in the dark. Those were the good ol’ days. I can still remember what sand and gravel feel like stuck to the back of my head. That really was a horrible, horrible time. Last night, working in a garage with warmth and a nice drop-light was certainly welcomed.
I had a little trouble getting the bolts off the exhaust joints. In the front, they were totally rusted on. In the back, they weren’t rusted at all, they just wouldn’t turn for anything. Good thing I had my trusted reciprocating saw. I cut the first bolt off and tried to get the second. When I realized the saw wasn’t working for the second bolt because I chewed all the teeth off the blade, I used my trusted grinder. What a treat. I buzzed that sucker right off and down fell the front part of the pipe.
The back was another story. I tried to grind the bolts off the back and they were giving me a really tough time. I got the bright idea that if I just cut the pipe and pulled the whole muffler off, I could work a heck of a lot easier away from the car. I did just that. I pulled the muffler off and clamped it down in new Wilton 5″ multi-purpose vise. I easily ground the bolts right off and was left with a nice easy project. I went inside and told Laura about my success.
This morning, I ran down to the auto parts store to pick up the parts. I came back, jacked her car up and replaced the pipe. It took about a half hour and that was because most of the time was taken jacking up the car and putting safety blocks under it. That’s always such a necessary pain in the butt. The pipe looks good though and the car is nice and quiet now. I am quite proud of myself.
Now, if that rusty front pipe goes, time for a new car. That pipe is attached to the catalytic converter and those bolts are really on there.
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Friday, February 6th, 2009
I recently made a little vow to myself that I would try to learn more about this BMW iDrive that I encounter every time I drive around. It is quite the computer system and it has a lot to offer. The only problem is that it has a lot to offer. I know, I just said that. I am a “get in the car and drive” kind of guy, so this whole iDrive thing goes a little against my grain.
I guess my grain is changing, because I started fiddling with some stuff the other day. I came across a really cool feature that I have been playing with ever since. It’s the “Trip Computer.” I am sure lots of cars have this, but since this is my first experience with one, I though I would share it with you.
Basically, I clicked the “Menu” button and then “Car Data.” From there, I visited the “Trip Computer.” There are three options…Start, Stop and Reset. Since there was already data stored in there, I chose reset and then start. I think they do the same thing. Then, I drove for a little while. It was really cool.
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2008 BMW X5 trip computer
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2008 BMW X5 iDrive controls and shifter
Yesterday, we went to Costco in Enfield, CT. I thought that the trip would be a great opportunity to show Laura the new feature I discovered. As it ends up, she didn’t express all that much interest in it. Actually, I suspect she is wondering why anyone would spend any amount of time making this feature in the first place. Funny how people like different things.
I left the house and set the trip computer up. When we arrived at our destination, I took a photo.
As you can see from the photos above, the trip computer tells you the departure time, the trip duration, the distance traveled, the average fuel consumption and the average miles per hour.
The area I like the best is the average fuel consumption. While I the highway, we were averaging over 21 miles per gallon, but things got worse when we turned on the back roads. The stop and go doesn’t do any favors. The sales guy said that some people report over 23 miles per gallon on the highway.
Now, let me assure you that this type of fuel consumption doesn’t really excite me. What does excite me is that BMW introduced its new diesel engines into the American market this year. The X5 is getting 26 MPG on the highway with the diesel engine and the 5 series gets up to 36 MPG. Now, that’s something that excites me. I just wonder how they handle the whole “diesel fuel gelling up on really cold mornings” issue.
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Saturday, December 20th, 2008
I guess it really isn’t the morning after the snow, because it’s still snowing. I think it’s supposed to stop today, but I heard last night that we can expect 4-6 more inches tomorrow. Holly, the Norwegian Elkhound (snow dog), just loves it.
Norwegian Elkhound
The minute she feels snow under the pads of her feet, she rolls around like crazy, giving those weird snorts that dogs give.
Typically, I would be a little upset at the whole situation. I was hoping to avoid any snow at all this year. But truthfully, I am having a blast. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because I don’t have to scrape anything off the cars and try to shovel around them. That was always a miserable task. Also, I don’t have to shovel the end of the driveway. I used to really hate that part of the ordeal.
Remember when I was telling you about how I thought we could shovel the entire driveway instead of buying a snowblower? Yeah, I must have been on crack. There is no way in the world I would have been physically able to shovel this driveway. No way at all. Even if I had a team of my best friends on the job, half of them would have quit.
By this point, I don’t have to tell you that the snowblower is da bomb. I was so proud of it this morning, I asked Laura to come outside and take some action shots of me. She took a whole bunch, but these are my more fashionable.
Jay, pulling the snowblower out of the garage.
Clearing the first area of snow with the snowblower.
Sure beats a shovel.
Snowblower eating the snow for breakfast.
One happy boy.
I did learn a few things while clearing the driveway this morning. First, blow the snow in the same direction as the wind. I nearly froze half my face by going against the wind once. Second, self propelled snowblowers are awesome. I loved watching those snow tires grab that pavement. No slip, no slide, no nothing.
That’s all I learned.
Go enjoy the snow. I’m outty.
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Thursday, December 4th, 2008
Man, It’s been a rough week.
I did a little complaining recently. I called a few people who are close to me and vented my frustration about the goings on of our world. They politely listened for a while, but both came to the same conclusion. They said, “Well Jay, things could be worse. You could be doing this or that, etc…” I guess that’s why I call people, so they can tell me to shut up and put things in perspective. I need that every once in a while.
I still think about life way too much.
Sometimes I just sit here with my head in my hands. I would just like the answer to one question: when did it all change?
In 2000, right after a graduated from Binghamton University for the second time, I had a plan. My plan was to release myself from all attachments with the real world and walk the Appalachian Trail. I was going to set my school loans on auto-pilot with my bank and fly as free as a bird. All I have ever really wanted was freedom; freedom from thought, freedom from today’s world, freedom from being dragged down by anything and everything.
I figured that walking the trail would really change my life. I was not interested in repeating the 9-5 job I sat through the year before while living in Atlanta. That was painful. All I was looking for was a way out…something different that wouldn’t trap me in the good ol’ American way of living day in and day out like the rest of the population.
Did I ever walk the Appalachian Trail? What do you think? Considering the fact that it takes about 10 months to complete and I never mentioned it before, I think not. I have actually walked a few miles on it here and there, but towards the end of each hike, I looked forward to driving back to the house, taking a nice shower and drinking a glass of wine. I don’t think I am exactly wired for growing a beard down to my waist and sleeping with the bears. The thought of a bear picking my tent up and eating it kind of freaks me out.
Let me tell you what bothers me about life as I know it – Worry.
Every day, I concern myself with each and every thing that probably concerns all of you. I think about money and security and politics and friends and life and everything else. I walk around in a fog, trying to make sense of every decision I make. It’s rare that I break out of that fog to have a clear thought. Maybe that’s why I like tennis so much, because I don’t think about anything else besides having fun. Although, I do like mowing the lawn for the same reason.
So, when did I change from the care free Jay to the constantly worrying Jay? I can tell you the exact day.
I have mentioned the fact that I moved to Atlanta a few times in the past. I lived there for a year, but the way I talk about it, it’s like I have a “Braves” tattoo on my right arm. Really, it was only a year, but it was a fun year.
I moved down when I was 24 years old. I packed up my 1989 Honda Accord with all of my belongings and hit the road. Basically, I just repacked the same items that I unpacked about a month ago after graduation.
I remember that drive down. I had one of those luggage containers strapped to the top of the car packed to the gills. Everything else I owned was spread out inside…on the back seat, on the front seat and in the trunk. There was no room for anything else.
On the highway, I remember the pleasure of wondering what my new life was going to be like. I didn’t know one person, the area or anything else about the entire state of Georgia. I usually do my best in these types of situations. As Rob always says, “You need to be like an Chameleon. Just change colors and fit right in.” Well, I did that and started off having a very good time.
Upon arrival at Morgan Falls Station, our awesome apartment complex, I was crazy excited. While I was waiting for the folks to finish up the apartment, I walked around a bit. I visited the 3 swimming pools, the work out centers, the tennis courts and the nature trails. It was nicer than anything I had expected. I recall wondering how $800 per month was paying for all this. Then, I remembered that things were a little different in the South. Up here, you get a tiny apartment above some old lady’s garage for $800 a month, and that’s a good deal. Down there, it’s like living at Club Med.
Needless to say, I was pleased. After I got settled in and had the phone hooked up, I called Rob. I was a non-stop talker. I told him about all the cool stuff that was there and about all the things we were going to do. I could tell that he was getting fidgety because he kept asking questions. We even got to the point of discussing what time it got dark in Atlanta. There is about a half hour difference between down there and up North. We used the scientific method of, “Is it dark now? What about now?”
After a few weeks of driving around a midnight (because there was so much traffic during the day) and getting to know people, I had really gotten used to it. I had a few friends and was playing tennis like it was nobody’s business. I didn’t have a job, so what else was there to do? I felt like I was living in a resort.
At the same time, my parents were planning their big move to Wilmington, NC. My sister Laurie had her first child and I guess my parents thought that watching water drip off their cars in the morning was a better idea than scraping ice off of them, like they did up North for all those years. The stars were aligned and they made the jump. They broke out of the New York shackles and started moving to North Carolina.
For the years that I attended Binghamton University and up to the time I moved to Atlanta, my parents took care of my big, beautiful Golden Retriever. I acquired this hairy beast a few years earlier, while I was attending Westchester Community College. It’s funny, because before getting a dog, I really gave no thought to what was going to happen to him for the rest of his life. I figured I would give him to my parents after I moved out and that would be that.
One day, while sitting on the floor (I had no furniture) of my Atlanta apartment, I received a phone call from my mother. “Jay, your father is driving a big truck down to the new house in Wilmington and he is bringing your dog with him.” she said. I replied, “Oh good, he will really like it in your new house.” “No Jay.” she said, “You are going to drive over and get him. He is your dog.”
Well, this came as sort of a surprise to me. Why in the world would someone want to hand over a perfectly good dog to someone as irresponsible as I was? As my mother put it, she couldn’t bear to see the dog laying on the kitchen floor looking up at her. His eyes broke her heart. She knew that he needed to run in the woods and swim in the river. He was a Golden, after all.
The day my father arrived at the new house in Wilmington, I was there to pick up the beast. I made the 7 hour drive and was quite excited to see my dog again.
I remember pulling in and seeing him tied to a small tree at the end of the driveway, waiting for me to give him a big hug. I leapt out of the car and ran over to him. I untied him and we instantly became entangled in a long embrace. That was my dog.
After a few hours of hanging out and going to the ocean, we left to head back to Atlanta. Again, I hadn’t given much thought as to what would happen next.
After my new roommate and I arrived back at the apartment, we did a little hanging out. Things were great. We went for a walk and I showed him all the stuff he was going to do for the next chapter of his life. It really was a grand ol’ time.
That night, a friend of mine called and asked if I wanted to go out to do something. I immediately said yes. Then, I looked down and saw my dog looking up at me. I paused and said something that I am not sure I have ever said to anyone in my life before that moment…”Wait, actually, I can’t.” I didn’t offer any reason for not being able to go out that night, but I definitely knew that something big in my life had shifted.
At that very moment, while standing there talking on the phone that night, I think I actually became responsible.
I know that sounds like the strangest thing you probably have ever read, but it’s true. I feel strange writing it. The reason I didn’t go out that night is because it was my dog’s first night in his new home and I didn’t feel right about leaving him there all alone.
All of a sudden, I started giving all types of thought to how my dog would feel if I did certain things. I knew I had to take him for a walk in the morning and that I had to be back after work to feed him and take him for another walk, but what really struck me was how I was unable to go visit friends in other cities and stay over their houses or apartments. I wasn’t ready to say no to trips to fun places, like the one that Rob made down to the Okefenokee Swamp in Southern Georgia. That one hurt because I really wanted to go there. I had to keep thinking about my dog and how I didn’t want to put him in a boarding kennel in a town I hardly even knew myself.
As it turned out, my consideration for everything and everyone snowballed from there. I began making sure more and more things were okay. I started saving my money and getting ready for the move back to New York to go to grad school. I stopped going out and doing stupid things that wouldn’t help me get to that goal. I never called in sick to work and I paid off that huge balance I had on my credit card. I don’t even want to talk about how much my soul has tightened up after I graduated from graduate school after the move back to New York. They basically train you how to become a herb.
I was most certainly becoming a worrier.
One might say, “Well Jay, aren’t those all good things?” I would agree, but I have to admit that once you grow up and become overly responsible, a little part of you disappears. How many times have you asked yourself, “Remember all those times we used to do that? Do you think we’ll ever do that again?” The answers are yes and probably not.
I was talking to Laura the other day about what I like to talk to my friends about. I told her my three top priorities are real estate, business and personal finance. Can you get any more boring than that? What ever happened to travel, drinking and where we are going to move to next?
At this point in my life, I feel that I am almost the opposite of what I wanted to be after graduate school. Sure, my little dream of walking the Trail may have been just a dream, but it was an indication of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to live my life.
At that time, I wanted two legal associations. I wanted one bank account and my student loan. That was it. Currently, I have more associations than I know what to do with. I understand that this is what happens when you buy a house and operate a business, but I must admit, at times it’s smothering.
Lately, I have been thinking about how I could get back to my ideal self, about how I could loosen up and at least become a shadow of that fun guy I think I used to be. I think I have a plan.
While I won’t precisely lay out my plan here, I will at least tell you that it has a lot to do with seasonal weather, long walks on the beach and campfires.
As you may have guessed, I gave Mickles a very good life and in return, he was a very good dog. I appreciate the fact that he spent the majority of his life with me. I would guess that he enjoyed his time in Atlanta the most. He had the field, the woods and the river. He couldn’t have asked for anything more.
I decided to post a few photos of my good friend here. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them throughout the years.
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Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
As you may have noticed, the last post I wrote about the 2008 BMW X5 was kind of vague. Also, I included photos of a car that was in the showroom. What I would like to introduce tonight is the car I actually bought.
It took a few days for the dealer to get their hands on what I wanted. They had to ship it down from Massachusetts. The biggest issue was that I didn’t want leather. BMW offers an interior in leatherette, so that’s what I asked for. As you might guess, they make fewer cars with leatherette than with leather.
It only took the sales guy a few hours to find a vehicle for me. The problem was getting it to Hartford. There was a weekend in between, so it took a few days.
The car they found was a 2008 BMW X5, V6, space gray metallic with black leatherette interior. The car came with the cold weather package (retractable headlight washers, ski bag, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, heated front seats), rear climate package (privacy glass, rear manual side window shades, 4-zone automatic climate control), running boards and dark bamboo trim. I also requested that the car have floor mats, a towing package and the roof rack base support system. There was a whole bunch of other stuff to choose from, but none of it really interested me. This car is one huge computer that is going to take a while to learn as it is.
Ok, who cares about all that stuff. Here are the pictures.
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