01.27.04

Electric Manual

Posted in Blog at 20.25 by Gabe

Electric manual: Cool idea or oxymoron?

While my car was in the dealership repair shop for a 3rd time (dead battery, supposedly they have fixed the problem by replacing the Navigation system), I got to use the Mazda 6 with a 4 speed automatic with “electric manual” (or “manual shift-mode” as Mazda.com calls it) control.

Without a clutch, I forget I need to shift and end up rev-ing the engine very high. First time I thought to myself “who is the person who can’t drive their car?” Then realized it was me that forgot to switch to 2nd gear.

I really don’t see the point of it. Having it with steering wheel (a la Indy Cars) might be better but I’ll have to reserve judgement on that.

01.25.04

Skiing

Posted in Blog at 23.56 by Gabe

So I guess Skiing is like riding a bike, you don’t forget how to do it.

I did first try snowboarding and was not very successful at it. My body is used to facing downhill, not sideways. I probably didn’t get it enough time, but it was much more fun on skis.

Skiing in Michigan is barely skiing, more like skating with skis on. The “snow” is usually so little you’re just sliding on the packed ice below. Makes for a very hard surface if you fall, as my wife’s elbow and my knee found out (while snowboarding).

01.20.04

Capital City

Posted in Travel at 11.24 by Gabe

We went to Washington DC for the extended weekend.

Meet John and Renata, saw the sights, nearly froze our tails off.

Subway systems still piss me off. They don’t take you extactly where you want to go, they don’t run on time, transfering wastes time.

The weather was pretty bad. We had clear skies when we arrived at 3am and saw (no pictures) a cool moon over the capital and the Washington Monument. The weekend was rainy and cold. Monday was clear, but even colder! Especially with the wind.

The buildings were very cool and almost all of the “attractions” were free. It was quite nice considering it used to hold the title: Murder capital of the US.

01.12.04

Dead Battery

Posted in Blog at 19.27 by Gabe

This is the THIRD time my car battery has died.

Almost seems like a flaw in the design or an eletrical problem. Its very strange that it only happened in the cold (1st time was Dec 5 or so and then again Jan 4 and now Jan 12).

After sitting for 48 hours the battery is almost completely dead. This time (just under 48 hours) the radio system remembered my present stations (very odd) but the clock was reset.

Might be time for the lemon law and turn the car back in and get something else (maybe a C6/2005 Corvette??).

01.07.04

Back in the Cold

Posted in Blog at 17.16 by Gabe

We’re back from Rio.

It was a wonderful trip. The weather wasn’t perfect, but its 10 MILLION TIMES BETTER than freezing ass Michigan.

Traveling is always a little stressful, traveling during the holidays makes it just that much more so. Nothing major happened, forgot a few things and I didn’t make a snow man out of sand!!!!!