I Am Debbie Downer

Sigh, why the long face. GM went into bankruptcy and could not have asked for a better news day then when an Air France jet disappears in the Atlantic. It was a media miracle for GM, the stuff their PR team dreamed about. A headliner that trumpted GM's bankruptcy story. Obama had a press conference at noon on Monday to put a positive face on the whole thing. Gee, bankruptcy is not that bad after all. We should all do it.

There are a few things that will not work and I want to point them out well ahead of time. I like to take credit. GMC Truck needs to go along with Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer. Buick has value but needs to be folded with Chevrolet dealers. Buick only has three vehicles in their lineup. Unfortunately GM decided to merge the distribution channel of Buick, GMC and Pontiac years ago to consolidate roof tops. They did not plan on going under then. Chevy/Buick dual stores make since. Their price points do not collide on product. Cadillac will go it alone, but it's going to be tough. Those dealers barely sell more then Lincoln which is dueled with Mercury.

Buick/GMC is targeting an upscale customer. GMC trucks command a price premium, but they are the same vehicle as a Chevrolet. GMC has offered the upscale Denali series on it's truck and Chevrolet does not. But Cadillac sells upscale trucks in the GM stable. Give it up GM, it's time to put the kiss of death on GMC too. Best to do this now then go through another reorganization to kill off a division. By then no one will have any confidence in your company. Now is your chance. You can always sell upscale Chevy trucks, Ford does that with the King Ranch series. And they did not need a separate brand to do so. The day of the uber-luxury SUV/truck is limited with new CAFE regulations.

I warn you about the government taking over your new car warranty. Yes the government has pledged to back it. But warranty items can be gray. Concessions are made to please the customer, something the government is not likely to do. The government does not want your future car business.

It was kinda silly this week that when Ford announced it was upping production 10%, it had to apologize for doing so. The press asked if they were being opportunistic in the wake of the GM/Chrysler bankruptcy filings. Well hell yes they are taking advantage of the situation. They are not getting bailed out by the government and they need to make that up. In our new wave of socialism, we have forgotten this is still a free-market economy. You gain your market share where and when you can. We need to be empathic to distressed industries and companies, but this is not a first grade soccer game where everyone gets a trophy.

A Chinese firm bought Hummer today. They will close the deal in the fourth quarter of this year. The Chinese are coming and they are brutal competitors. We owe them so much money we cannot shut out their product policy wise. We can only not buy it. I'd like to think we have a social conscience in this country but then again we can't stay out of Walmart to save our lives. We ignore the safety issues with Chinese made products, but will we continue that thought process with our cars?

On the bright side, Lincoln sales are up 2% over May of last year. You say Huh? It's the return of the Lincoln Town Car to the line up. Town Car rules!

I'm happy again.

Change Is A Constant

Last Friday at 4:30 pm,cst. I sat in front of my computer and I felt very sad. Change is a constant I keep telling myself, but as someone who likes traditional things, this event was a bit hard to swallow. May 29th was the last full trading day for General Motors stock. It had fallen to $.75 a share, with a market value of $500 million dollars. Clearly, there was no more General Motors as we know it.

There will be books, documentaries, columns, etc.. for months and years to come about what caused this once barometer of our economy to collapse. It all comes down to management, but what decisions will be a lightning rod for critics is well beyond me. When Alan Mullaly took over the helm at Ford, he told senior management the company had been having a going out of business sale for the last 30 years. Apparently no one told GM that in time.

Rick Wagoner did not bring down General Motors, but he did not do much to save it. GM's terminal illness was too many brands and in China copied GM American's broken model. In China you can buy a Buick, Chevrolet, Vauxhall, Opel, Cadillac and Daihatsu and they are all made by GM. In contrast Toyota will let the Chinese buy a Lexus or a Toyota. Sound familiar?

Will GM be successful post bankruptcy? Any one's guess, but I have my doubts. First, management is not being replaced and that is unusual. In bankruptcy, the first thing to go is present upper management, the people who put you there. Second, the government will be the primary owner of the company. Historically we have not done this in the United States, but Britain tried this back in the 1970's with the disaster that was called British Leyland. They no longer make cars and Britain no longer has any domestically owned manufacturers. We consolidated the railroad under a government organization called Amtrak, and we still are subsidizing that decision.

There are those who are cheering the downfall of GM. And I can't blame them. Former customers who bought poorly designed vehicles and paid for repairs that they should never have had to. GM knew they would still sell cars, so why make customers happy. Despite the enormous engineering talent at GM, they have some legendary engineering failures on their hands. You knew the Pontiac Aztek was a looser when you looked at in the showroom. When your transmission went out or your diesel engine blew up after a few years that was a complete surprise.

Should you buy a GM product? I keep getting that question. In comparison to Chrysler, GM builds a better quality product. So the repair issue is less of a consideration. But since Chrysler went into bankruptcy, their products have been harder to finance as compared to Toyota, Ford, etc.. Several large lenders are now requiring larger down payments and higher interest rates. If you are a cash buyer or can secure good financing, you may be able to get a great deal if you have your heart set on a new vehicle.

But this is America. We live on a free market system. GM went into bankruptcy for a reason. Whey would you buy a product from a company that was so poorly managed? What cost cutting did they do the the product over the last year to save money? There are SO many vehicle options out there, why would you buy from a company that went bankrupt and possibly will not be there in the long term? What overwhelmingly compelling reason do you have to buy a GM product?

If you have to buy an American branded product, Ford makes a wonderful line of vehicles with the highest quality ranking for an American name plate. Some are higher then the imports. Ford outranks Nissan in quality as a company, but you don't hear that much. So go buy a Ford if you need a American branded product.

I do predict we will be without Buick (domestically) and GMC Truck eventually. Ford will outsell GM in 2009 and possibly 2010. If GM does fail in the next few year or so, it will be a HUGE black eye on the Obama administration and damage his presidency. You need revenue to exit bankruptcy, and if consumers shun GM products liquidation will be the next step as the revenue dries up.

You may gamble on a GM product if you like. President Obama has gambled on the entire company. Let's hope we're all winners.

Don't Buy It

Failed clock spring from my Grand Cherokee

They say the Irish never forget.

Well it's true. But then there are times I don't need to be reminded of what's left a bad taste in my mouth. It comes back at me screaming. Case-in-point, recent Chrysler products. Regular readers may remember the Grand Cherokee that I sold off last year. I was annoyed with the electrical problems that came from parts that should have NEVER failed on the car.

I won't bother to explain what the clock spring is on a steering column. Unless you own a Chrysler product, you won't need to know what it does. Well mine failed on the Grand Cherokee I owned and I replaced it. Not a fun job but not a hard one. The toughest part of the job is that it should never have needed to be done in the first place. I had hoped that Chrysler learned it's lesson with the part, but sure enough they did not. Automobile Magazine just wrapped up it's long-term test of the 2008 Chrysler Town and Country. At 31,691 miles the clock spring failed. There were a total of four warranty claims for their vehicle in 32,880 miles.

Today Chrysler announced incentives up to $6000.00 so consumers would purchase one of their vehicles during their bankruptcy reorganization. Rightfully consumers are shunning the brand and were doing so over the past several years. Consumer Reports consistently ranks them at the bottom for quality. I do not recommend a single product they produce to anyone and steer buyers to other vehicles that may suit their needs while providing a better product.

Yes I'm taking responsibility for assisting Chrysler into bankruptcy. Somehow they missed the quality bandwagon that everyone has been on for years. They make domestic cars look horrible with their underdeveloped products that are built with lower quality parts.

My beef with all of this is the bailouts that they will never be paid back. Everyone knows the merger/purchase with Fiat is going to be a disaster. The merger of Chrysler and Fiat will be truly a merger of equals as they are both known for abysmal quality vehicles. Chrysler will limp around for a while, it's dealer network (what's left) will be used to sell Fiats until the Italian's retreat again as they did in 1984.

If you're a fan of scratching your head wondering how/why that part of your car managed to fail, head to your Chrysler dealer for a great deal. There's no mystery why their product is so cheap.

Happy Trails To You

I think it's the longest I've ever owned an individual car. My Mustang is saying goodbye after four years in my stable. It was time to go though.

With so many cars that have come and gone over the last 24 years of driving, I can't keep up with them all. Some I don't even have pictures of, which I find hard to believe too. This is probably the most photographed car I've ever owned. While I've always worked on my cars, this is the first car I've "restored". I've clearly cut my teeth on this car with engine work and interior finishing. Along the way I've cut my fingers so many times that there's probably at least a pint of my dried blood throughout the car. I have a nice scar on my thumb from cutting the new carpet one day.

I took one last joy ride yesterday up to Hewitt, Texas to visit Latemodel Restoration Supply. There were some finishing touches I needed to apply before delivering the car. While I could have taken one of the other two rides up there, I thought one last ride to the place where I bought most of my restoration parts was fitting. With 113,000 miles on the odometer, the Mustang rode like a champ after two years of garage time. That 5.0L engine just goes and goes.

In the showroom was one of the first Mustang's I've ever really coveted. Back in 1978, when I was nine, Ford launched the Fox body 'stang. During it's introduction model year, it was named the Official Pace Car of the Indy 500. It was a real looker then, and it still is. Wow. I wanted to buy it...

But the reality set in. With work, a house to myself, two very energetic dogs, a social life and other hobbies, there was no time for two cars to keep up. A classic car is perpetual restoration project and this one had been put on hold for over two years now. I was not going to take it any farther then I had, and it was time to let it go. In truth, the BMW 635CSi is in better shape and requires less to maintain. It still needs work, but not nearly as much.

I'll own another Mustang at some point. It's most likely going to be something new though. Maybe one I can buy and maintain. The kinda car you don't drive on rainy days or let sit in the driveway. One that looks like new twenty years after you bought it.

Or I'll give in and get the '79 Indy Pace Car. You can count on one thing.

I'll have another car next year.

My Pontiac

I'm not going to drabble on much here about the passing of Pontiac. I just want to say good bye and make a brief posting as I have some history with the brand. Out of college it was the first car I bought, a 1984 Pontiac 6000STE. Nothing against the car as I really enjoyed it, but I never bought another Pontiac or GM branded vehicle after that. There was never a true successor to the 6000STE, which at one time was one of Car and Driver's Ten Best Cars. The craptacular GM-10 series Grand Prix STE tried to succeed it but failed.

The sadness I have over the passing of Pontiac is for the many fans the brand had. Pontiac did HAVE a performance heritage and today we honor that. When Oldsmobile faded away, it was just remembered for being "old" as it was one of the very original car manufacturers and was in fact older then GM itself. Pontiac will be remembered for the GTO. The innovative Fiero (it's build structure and mid-engine design). And how can I not mention the screaming chicken Trans-Am's of the 70's. Yee Haw! Now Pontiac is a bargain hunter brand for customers with low FICO scores.

Goodbye Pontiac. The consumers have decided your fate.

Four Oh!

Some birthdays are better then others. This was one of the best. Many thanks to all my friends for making it out last night. It was a school night after all. A few shout outs to Jim and Mike for driving me around last night. Tom supplied the camera for party pictures, such as the one above. And a big huge Texas sized thank you to my buddies Gary and Kurt for putting it all together. The cake was amazing.

We headed to Salk Lick where it takes about an hour or so to seat a party of twenty. But the food was worth it. An all-you-can-eat beef fest. We all went family style last night. I'm still full.

Just a few notes and shout outs. Thank you to my now favorite sibling Lisa who pulled off a Jordan sibling miracle and had my birthday gift to my house BEFORE my birthday. Jennifer did get points for a voice mail of Happy Birthday with charming children singing, but Jen, you gotta deliver the goods... Feel free to try and spend your way to number one sibling, I know how you like to win.

Of course, thank you Mom and Dad for the gas grill.

And a card I will keep for the rest of my life.

Black and Blue Ember

The other day I received an e-mail about a car repair I had done to my Grand Cherokee. I was thrilled to find my blog was searchable and someone had actually found it useful when fixing their car. I've made the world a better place, one posting at a time.

So I have a head's up for all of you searching for a Blue Ember gas grill. Yes it was rated number one by Consumer Reports last year in their test of mid-sized gas grills. And in the article it refers you to Home Depot. So I headed to the big orange box to buy one. They no longer carry them, but you can get the left-over's on line.

So I wonder why Home Depot would not carry Consumer Report's number one rated grill. Well it's shipped from China wrapped in Kleenex on a Donkey. When you open the box, it looks like that's how it made it here. The grill pictured here was one of the casualties. It was dropped and the front control panel was crushed. Lowes of Round Rock had six other in stock with the front "crush" feature. Lowes of Austin on I-35 North had three with damaged handles.

Never fear, I don't give up. Easily. With a very red face, the Service Manager of Round Rock Lowes let me have the floor model at a nice 20% off. He was very nice and I can't complain about the service at all. I have a great new grill and the best one in the store was the one on display and they knocked $100.00 off the price for my troubles.

I can imagine that Home Depot may have had the same issue and that's why it's no longer carried there. When you shell out good $$ for a grill, you expect it to be in good shape. Thankfully my buddy Mike with his F-150 felt the same way and the four trips to Lowes were not too hard to coax out of him.

My last grill I've had for nine years, it's a Weber. It's served well, but the paint on the inside is now coming off on the food. Time for a change. Weber came in number two in the test, and I felt guilty not buying another one. But the Blue Ember had more features I liked and looked easier to clean.

The moral of the story. Before you leave Lowes with your Blue Ember, pull it ALL out of the box for inspection.

The more you know....

Crawford, Texas

No bother in getting all worked up. This is not a tribute to our last President, even if you did like him. Sorry.

This is a road trip to a place etched into history. Washington had Mount Vernon, Bush has Crawford. A place to go to get away from Washington, D.C. Today was an unbelievably nice day here in Central Texas. Nearly 80 degrees and sunny with pillowy clouds dotting the sky. After a nice walk around Town Lake with the pups, I could not stay indoors. With gas being relatively cheap, two words came to mind. Road Trip.

Crawford is roughly two hours from my home and made the perfect afternoon getaway. An easy drive, Interstate 35 to Texas 317, and you're there. Once you leave the highway Texas 317 takes you through some very small towns and is mostly two lane. Old abandoned Main Streets mark what was once the town center.

When you make it to Crawford, George and Laura are there to greet you. The sign is faded and the "W'04" indicate that this is not a place where things are updated. There is no great town center, no rows of interesting shops or restaurants. Not even a Post Office. I wanted to find something interesting or meaningful to explain why the former President built a ranch here.

Of all the little burbs I drove though on my way, Crawford had some of the nicest and largest homes. So there may be something here I did not find. The big general store was closed, but I did manage to find another one to buy a few postcards. I didn't ask where the Bush ranch was, I was not really inclined to go there anyhow.

Crawford is not much, and Washington, D.C. is everything. It's one extreme to another.

Just like our Presidents.

Year Two

It's a small thing and I only note it on here because this is how my blog had begun, a journey to buy a house in Austin. Today is the second anniversary of the closing of my house. I was not here for it, I arrived the next day.

I finished painting the master bedroom this morning. It's chocolate fudge brown now. It was one of the few rooms in my house that were painted before I bought it. Two years later, the colors are all mine. This is the same photo angle of my house from the listing. If you look back at past December blogs, you'll see the changes in the trees. My how you've grown!

Last night I attended a the first run of Holiday parties. There will be more. Besides the wonderful food and drink, I could not help but be thankful for the wonderful friends I've made in this short amount of time. I'm highly suspect of people who say they can't make friends in this town, it's the friendliest place I've lived.

I'm off this week, forced vacation time. You have to use your vacation or loose it. I'll be doing a few projects around the house.

What a surprise.

When The Pen Is The Sword

No doubt the US auto industry is teetering on the brink of destruction. Ford has the cash to make it though until 2010 but the collapses of GM and Chrysler will destroy the supplier network that Ford and many other auto manufactures depend on. There has been so much talk about the bankruptcy of GM that the shock value has worn off. We're growing to accept that it is highly possible there will be no more General Motors. There is no longer PanAm, Woolworths, Bethlehem Steel, and the list goes on. Icons do pass.

There will be a huge impact to our economy and many companies without GM. But of interest today is Edmunds.com, my former employer. It's not about the website itself, but I guess more about Automotive Journalism here in the states. For years and years, Ford, GM and Chrysler were beat up and nit picked. Toyota's are boring, Nissan's not very reliable after all, Honda's bland, but these never were their main themes. Remember, Hillary Clinton on paper was probably the most qualified candidate for President. The pen is very mighty.

But in the case of Edmunds.com, the pen has come back to stab the hand that holds it. Today's Insideline.com featured an article called "Be American, Buy American". It was written by a "ghost writer" called "The Mechanic". Well that would have to be an Edmunds staffer as I doubt they've given the keys to the website to some nameless person. The picture for the piece was the new Chevrolet Camaro, a car that could conceivably never be produced.

It's a bit too late though. GM writes eight figure checks to Edmunds.com and it's a substantial portion of their total revenue. Out of respect, I wont' quote any figures from my time there, but it's quite a bit. You might say "wow". I found the timing of the article interesting as today the automakers went to the Senate for a beating while they were asking for life raft.

GM may have loved Edmunds.com, but I could never see the love returned. Bob Lutz even once paid a visit to the offices in Santa Monica. But recently they showed a picture of a Silverado attached to a tow truck as a main photo for a long term test. All cars can break down, but never in my nearly 30 years of car magazines can I recall such a slap. Despite the large chunk of cash bestowed on the company, during my time, no upper management drove a GM product. Acura, Lexus, Land Rover and Volvo, as I recall were the personal (not long term test) vehicles with reserved parking. If GM handed me an eight figure check, I might have a Cadillac or two parked in the reserved spaces.

But it may be too late Edmunds. It was not cool to be nice to GM either personally or in print. The company is run by a fine family with high caliber employees and despite the major bruising it may receive for the loss of GM, it will live on.

Just like the rest of us.

Big Decisions

I've already voted. Thankfully Travis County does a great job of setting up polling places. One was by my office and I voted earlier in the week. Fast, efficient and convienent. Voting should always be this easy and acessable. I think the election is decided for President, the big show will be how big the Democrats lead in Congress will be.

What do we do about the American automobile industry?

Chrysler maybe a goner. Yes you can still buy one, in fact you can order one. But before we have another Congressional election, you won't be able to get a new one. Ford is doing ok, and will weather the storm with the surplus of cash on hand. But what do we do with GM?

GM has more then sales problems. It has cash problems. Two years ago Ford mortgaged everything. Credit markets were open, it was easy for them to get cash. GM sold half of GMAC (their finance arm) to raise cash. Now they can't lend you money to buy a car, but Ford still can. Ford held on to Ford Motor Credit.

GM is not an industrial icon to my generation. However to my parents generation it is. GM was everywhere on television, they owned half the new vehicle market in the United States and were at times eyed by the justice department to be broken up for anti-trust reasons. Today, GM has about 24 percent of the market and is on the verge of running out of cash. When you burn through a billion dollars a month from your bank account, well sometime in 2009 GM won't be able to pay their bills. They no longer pay them in 30 days as it stands today.

Do we save GM? Arguments are being made by governors across the country to lend money to help them out. We did help out Chrysler in the 80's and the treasury made $400 million in profit for doing so. Do we want to try the same for GM? You keep hearing GM is going to buy Chrysler, but don't be fooled. Chrysler is a goner, you're financing saving GM not Chrysler which will be closed. Period. There will be massive job losses regardless.

I work in the auto industry. The company I work for will be effected. Part of the problem with GM and Chrysler going under is that the suppliers who supply them will go under too. Those suppliers also supply the rest of our auto industry in the US and will face massive restructuring (layoffs). Oh, and the retirees who will be flooding the government funded pension guarantee system. Don't forget about them.

We've said good-bye to making textiles. We've said good-bye to making electronics. We've said good-bye to most of our manufacturing industry. But are we ready to say goodbye to General Motors?

Baseball, Apple Pie and Chevrolet. A fate that will be decided after Election Day.

My Kinda Town, Again

My blog is taking it's third trip to Chicago. I'm here in business to see a client. My first trip was February 2007 for the Chicago Auto Show, the best of the auto show season. That was a momentous trip as I gave up Diet Coke and I've never had another one since. The next trip was November 2007 to pick up a 1988 Pontiac Fiero with my friend Mike and drive back to Austin.

Chicago helped me kick the Diet Coke habit but I'll never give up burgers and fries. So tonight I headed over to my old neighborhood here in Chicago to have dinner at the Green Door Tavern. It's old and it's wood. Rare in Chicago as most things post the Great Chicago Fire were made of stone. If you're downtown and want to head to a neighborhood bar without a "corporate" theme, head to the Green Door Tavern at Orleans and Huron. Try the blue cheese burger and some nachos. Yum.

And if you're on a budget, there's always the original Mr. Beef next door.

A Long October

It's been a while, I know. As many of you know me, I'm a sporadic communicator at times.

I've begun to feel a bit of disconnect to my blog. And I'm going to overcome that, but it may take some time. My blog started out as the beginning of my departure from Los Angeles to Austin. You may recall that I left Los Angeles so I could buy a home and that was an important goal of mine.

I love my home here. I love my new friends. I love my dogs. I love having a garage and a big yard. I love the quality of life here.

There is so much that is good, but the last six weeks or so have been so bad. I've been angry, disappointed and at times a bit bitter. The government bailout of the banking system made me ill. I wrote my Congressman three times, and he voted against it. Anyone who broke the law writing mortgages from the broker to the underwriter should be brought before the courts, and he agrees as well. Despite my Democratic leanings, he's Republican and I'm voting for John Carter tomorrow. He wrote me back too.

So much of this is all wrong and we're spinning our heads looking for someone to point the finger at. The problem is that there is no one government, bank, mortgage company, President, Senator, CEO etc. We're looking at the government to fix a problem that wasn't theirs to begin with.

Having lived in the heart of the mortgage meltdown from 2000 to 2006 I was at ground zero of what was happening. I could have jumped in but I knew better. I wanted a house and I had to leave Los Angeles to get one. Back in the fall of 2006 you could still get a crazy mortgage that you could not possibly afford. I was offered upwards of 350k to buy a house. By Bank of America.

Of course I did not accept. I knew better. It was stupid. Your income times three is the price you should be able to pay for a house. I don't make that kind of money. (yet) Your income divided by two is the price you should pay for a car. Simple math I've learned long ago. I'm well below those two guidelines and while my parents expressed their pride in my decision making, I'm still feeling a bit ill and angry.

Bank of America, who owns the other 80% of my house, recently announced they were "adjusting" mortgages to fit people's income. They were going to take the principal down to 30% of the person's income so they could stay in the home. I felt that kick in the stomach feeling you get when you get horrible news as I read that article. I didn't have to leave Los Angeles, I just had to wait it out.

I often say, if you want fair, wait until the end of the summer. So I'm not going to scream at Bank of America, or send them nasty letters. It's a good business decision rather then evict people and try to sell houses. The numbers make sense, they are better off adjusting mortgages then flooding the market with properties in a climate where they can't lend people money to buy them. I'm all for good business decisions. I can live with people being evicted.

Harsh as it sounds, it's true. I sympathize with the renters who paid rent and then the landlord defaulted on the mortgage. Somehow they committed theft and should be brought before the courts. But the owner occupied properties, well you kinda had it coming. The mortgage is a simple financial instrument that has been around for decades. You put money down, you buy a house and make payments for 20 or 30 years that are fixed monthly. Your taxes and insurance go up with inflation but the mortgage stays the same. No brainer, our parents did it. Their parents did it. You knew better but chose to ignore it. It was the greed of wanting a better house then you could afford.

My story is the path I took to get to my piece of the American Dream.

And I get to keep it.

iZoomZoom

With daily commuting now a fact of life, it was time to bring a new vehicle into the stable. The Jeep Grand Cherokee had been relieved of duty earlier this year and found a new home. Horrible gas mileage and very little space made it easy to say goodbye. I should have bought a pick-up instead in February 2006.

I'm happy to introduce to you my latest addition, the Mazda Mazda6. (that's no typo, I'm not kidding). My new companion will be my primary ride to work and back, with the BMW filling in back up duties and for a change of pace. I really like the 635csi, but 17 mpg on premium is not going to cut it. Also, I don't want to run on the miles on a classic car. It was also like an insurance policy as well, certainly the BMW would break to the tune of $1500.00 or so if I had depended solely on it.

This is the Mazda6 sSport. (again, no typo!) A V-6 with a manual transmission, not an ordinary vehicle build, in fact it's no longer offered. I had to travel to Houston to find one and major thank you's to my friend Mike for taking me there and leading the way home. The car I found was in Alvin, TX pretty close to Galveston. I had actually found the car about 10 days ago, but all of Houston was a little busy last weekend. Alvin, TX is 64 feet above sea level, so no flooding and just a lot of wind damage. The dealership had just opened on Friday and I came in Saturday and picked her up.

So far it's a great car. It's still under factory warranty for another 14 months and 20,000 miles. I won't be able to work on it. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that. But the BMW and Mustang need plenty of attention. This car has always had great reviews as a sporty sedan. I had a similar set up in my 1993 Ford Contour SE with the V6 and manual transmission, but that combo has not been offered by Ford in a long time on a mid-sized sedan. I was looking at the Ford Fusion, but there was no manual offered on anything but a four and I'd have better luck trying to find Osama Bin Laden then a manual Fusion. I flirted with getting a 2009, but the dealer said a manual was an "order only" build. Me wait? HA! See ya.

Houston is recovering. On the way to the dealer we saw much wind damage. Office building windows were boarded up, power poles were leaning, fences were down, roofs were tarped and some structures had failed. There were many "four way stops" due to lack of signals. Everyone cooperated though. On the way home I had the "pleasure" of driving through a backed up sewer that was about 12 inches deep on the road. It did not smell nice.

There was one constant sign of damage throughout Houston that was unmistakable. McDonald's has several signs that were 400-500ft in the air. They are not very wind resistant as all over the city they were destroyed. I snapped a shot of one. Every where I went they were destroyed, even when nothing else around seemed damaged.

Tomorrow I break in the Mazda for commuting duty. Now I'll be Zoom-Zooming through traffic with much better mileage.

Next Door

When one door closes, another one opens. They don't mention that sometimes the hallway is a long one. And this time it was. It's been over a year since my departure at Edmunds when my product was discontinued. During that time, I've gone back to school, upped my credentials, upgraded my house, and met some personal fitness goals.

The next door has opened and Sept 2nd I'll be returning to an office. No surprise, I'll be a Project Manager. Well I've obtained my Project Management Professional (PMP) designation and my Certification in Project Management from UT Austin, so I had better. All evidence that education does pay off. The most exciting part is that I'll continue to stay in the automotive data business. I'll be managing IT projects for Austin's homegrown automotive data provider, Digital Motorworks. I could not ask for anything better anywhere.

So life will change a bit for me and my boys. I've been home since December 2006. When I adopted my dogs, I was always here to be with them and play, let them out, feed them. The snuggle with me on the couch for my afternoon nap. But now I'll be gone for most of the day so to accommodate them, I've installed a "doggie door". They can come and go as they please, although they have not figured that out yet. Baxter took to the door instantly but only when I told him to come in/out. Logan is a little more timid about it. In good time they will get it.

Tomorrow I head out to see my parents for a week. It will be a while before I get vacation time to see them. Then a few last days of goofing off here in Austin and prepping the dogs and the house for my no longer being around as much as once was. I'll miss being master of my own schedule for sure.

But when you do what you love you never go to work. Looks like I missed out on working again.

Express Myself

A few weeks ago I received a big envelope from our local Triple A baseball team, the Round Rock Express. It was a little suspicious as I had not asked for anything from them, nor was it addressed to me. So I opened it. The handwriting was pretty bad on the envelope so I know why it came to me, the house number and zip code matched.

It was a batch of tickets for a local Girl Scout Troop to have a evening watching a game and camping out on the field at night. Well not wanting bad Girl Scout Karma, I called the team and spoke to Gregg Miller who was wondering what happened to the tickets. He made good to the Troop and the tickets were replaced. For my efforts, he gave me four tickets to the game of my choice.

The game was today and I took my friends with me. Unofficially it turned out to be the hottest day of the summer, with highs hitting 104. Not sure if it made it or not, but it really didn't matter. There was a good breeze and cold beer so all was well with the world. When you sit down, 104 is not bad with a beer in your hand.

It was fun, had not been to a baseball game here. The stadium, Dell Diamond, was really nice. There was a lot to do and of course a lot to eat. When you think Triple A, you might think of wooden bleachers and stale hot dogs. This was not the case, it was a much smaller stadium, but as nice as the big league parks I've been too. Of course being in Round Rock, the people were nice and polite, kids were running everywhere, and the parking was only five dollars. Life here is easy.

Last month Money magazine named Round Rock, number seven on it's best places to live and I can see why. Having lived in Atlanta, Chicago, and Los Angeles, life is pretty easy here. Kids leave their bikes in the yard at night and they are there in the morning. Sure, the stores close at 10:00 and funky/interesting is 12 miles away in Austin.

I'll take it.

Dog Daze

It's another day of 100 or near 100 degree heat here in Austin. While the days are hot the mornings and nights are very comfortable. It's just about four in the afternoon when it hits the high for the day.

Usually those two are out playing in the yard, but it's just to hot during the day. They don't want to play even in the AC of the house. They usually camp out in my office but apparently it's a bit cooler in the bedroom. I caught them out cold in their beds this afternoon. It's funny how animals know how much to eat for the exercise they are going to do. It's so hot they only eat once a day now.

As for me, well I painted more of the living room and part of the upstairs hallway. Summer in Texas is like Winter in Buffalo, you just find things to do inside.

Hey Good Lookin

In the rebirth of the Pony car wars, GM is last to the game this time. Their original answer to the wildly successful 1964 1/2 Mustang took a little over 25 months to bring to market. Ford launched the current Mustang in September 2004 and it was an immediate hit. GM's response will go on sale in the spring of 2009, a little over five years later. It's the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro.

Camaro and Mustang started out very similar vehicles then diverged in 1970. Ford kept the concept of a four seater sports coupe that was a comfortable for every day driving and was a little more upright. Chevrolet sent the Camaro in the direction of the Corvette and made it low to the ground with a low roofline as well. It made for a much sportier and aggressive appearance at the sake of passenger comfort and outward visibility.

Sporty is wonderful but practical one out. The Camaro was laid to rest in 2002 while the Mustang lived on. Ford had consistently stayed with the it's original formula of a practical sporty car that everyone could enjoy. I grew up with one as my mother would drive nothing else. (Mini-van? Huh!) In her 60's, she still has a red Mustang coupe as her daily driver. And of course there is one my my garage too.

The Camaro is back and the world will be a much better place for it returning. As you can see, it's gone back to the original 1967 design theme patterned after the original Mustang. It's a beautiful car with great lines and proportions. The interior is a modern interpretation of the original and I love to see the ancillary gauges on the console as in the original model. A wonderful "surprise and delight" that sets the car apart from the pact. The Camaro has always made the Mustang a better car, and vice-versa. GM will pack some potent engines into everyone from the base models to the SS.

And the Mustang? Well just you wait until 2010.

Eviction Notice

I think you could call it one of nature's miracles. A little 10 lb, 10 year old, dog can keep two seventy pound dogs off of the couch. Poor Baxter and Logan ended up laying down clear across the living room. Ripley is very cute and cuddly, but Baxter and Logan might disagree. Funny how she can visit and take over so easily.

Maybe We'll Take The Car

A good friend of mine works for an airline, fortunately it's Southwest. His job is secure and he's been there a long time. Southwest also hedged it's oil prices somewhere near $50.00 a barrel for another year or so. Don't quote me on that though. The point of the conversation we were having is that air travel may once again be not for the masses as it was pre-1980's when it was a luxury or a business purpose.

I didn't give it much thought. Then I went to price a ticket home to see my parents for a long weekend. The normal $400 fare was now $800. Plus fees for my bags, etc. I spoke to my sister today and she's flying to San Fransisco at the end of the month with her family. She's using frequent flier miles, and if she hadn't, $1400 for two seats round trip. Ouch.

Americans do not use all the vacation time there allocated each year. As a collective, we roll it over or cash it out. In the worst case, we just loose it entirely. It was fairly cheap to pack the kids up on a plane and shoot them off to some destination that took about half a day to get there via air. Maybe that's about to change.

There was a time when "Dad" took two consecutive weeks off of work and the family hit the highway to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, etc. Factories in fact counted on this and shut down for two weeks so everyone could go. Ford/GM/Chrysler still do this in July. Vacation was actually forced on you to take. Where or if you went anywhere was your call.

So $3200 in family airfare that was once $1200 may be a game changer. Those vacation days we didn't take could be days spent on the open road getting to our destination. These days though, cars have DVD players for the kiddies to pass the time. I myself love the Ford Flex as a road trip car. I can't resist a car with a fridge in the backseat. My BMW has one and it is handy in this Texas heat.

In about a year, we'll figure how this all plays out. For now, plans have been made and are set. Tickets were bought months ago for plane trips for the summer season. We'll end up not using all our vacation time again this year.

Next year, don't be surprised if the cubicle next to you is empty for two weeks.