Mid-day At The Oasis

As I continue to explore Austin, I'm more and more drawn to the water. I guess it's due to the rising temperatures, but nonetheless there's more to it then just staying cool and splashing around. Yesterday was a great day to hang out by the lake as it was not too warm to be outside.

An Austin staple is The Oasis. It's perched on the the side of the cliffs that boarder Lake Travis. I was warned by my friend Mike that the food and service was unremarkable, and I can't say we were proved wrong. You come to hang out with friends, drink beer and enjoy the view. You can't really screw up beer that comes in a bottle, so it's best to plan on making it out for a few drinks rather then a special meal.

And the view was amazing. Here are some pics from where we were sat on the upper deck. Unfortunately the place was hit by lighting last year and is in the process of being rebuilt, so seating can be limited. It's first come first served, so you have to keep your eye out for a good table before you commit to sitting down.

Decked Out

Phew! It's hot here. Enough of that.. I did take advantage of a beautiful overcast morning to start and finish a much needed home improvement project.

There is a very nice deck off my back porch that I enjoy hanging out on, and so does Baxter. Unfortunately the stain had just about worn off of it. I've been TRYING to get out there and re-stain it but it keeps raining! I think we've hit a clear patch so this morning I got up at 6:00 am and headed out there before it became too warm.

It's done. I was surprised how fast staining is. It seems like painting takes forever. Certainly the brush is lighter and that made things pretty easy.

Now I need to keep Baxter off of it for 24 hours. Not so easy.

Highly Unorganized

Craigslist Redesign

There was a big hub-bub this week in the business journals about E-Bay reaching it's mid-point of maturity. Mostly I think it was people whining about the stock returns. I have no investment in E-Bay or that sector, so I'm not really paying attention.

But as a front end user, I'm highly addicted. It's like porn for car people. Anything you want, it's there. My Mustang was mostly built from E-Bay auctions. Parts came from the US and Canada and mostly from won auctions. Like many of us though, I'm bored and over the auction concept. While E-Bay has branched out with new ways to buy, I'm still not convinced any more. I really am not much for waiting and the "shill" bidder problem keeps you from getting real bargains for the most part.

The antithesis of E-Bay is Craigslist and I'm just as addicted. Not nearly as pretty and mostly counter-culture to the corporate style of E-bay and Overstock.com. It's pages are plain and searches are simple. You want a car, you go to the "cars+trucks" tab and the latest listings are posted. When you look at listings, they are listed simply by time of posting. Not dollar value or manufacturer. I'm in love with the simple randomness of it all. It's simply who's ever next and you can't buy your way to the top. (Uh, yes on E-bay you can.) Craigslist is the great equalizer and you can even find a Rolls Royce on there from time to time.

Every retailer has it's time. Craigslist may be bought out, fade away or solider on as is. Craigslist can be like life, you never know what's next.

AOHell

For someone who has moved a bit over the years, you would think that change doesn't bother me. Well for those of you keeping in touch with me, I've done my darndest to make it easy for you. My cell phone number is six years old and my e-mail address is about ten.

I've hung in there with my AOL e-mail for you, but the time has come to rid myself of AOL. AOL works fine for PC's but I'm a Mac person and they never got along. AOL also did not like my wireless home network. I hung in there for you, but it's time to go. My good friend who worked for AOL said they will never upgrade for MAC as apparently we don't use AOL.

If you didn't receive the update e-mail, going forward my e-mail provider will be Yahoo. They will have the privilege of hosting my instant messenger too.

Hopefully Yahoo will be around for at least another ten years. I can't say the same for AOL.

Coupe de Gras

E24 in an M6 version

2008 Audi A5

It's been a long time coming.

One of my all-time favorite cars is BMW's E24 6-Series that was produced from 1977 to 1989. (Yes that was the day where a car's life cycle lasted more then five years.) It's replacement was the dismal failure E31 8 series from 1989 to 1999 whose production totaled only 30,000 units. By comparison the E24 production run was 86,000 units.

The E24 was a work of art when introduced. I mean really a work of art. It was actually displayed in museums, such as the MoMA in NYC. It was the definition of a big sports coupe. It had a beautiful lines, a long hood, bright greenhouse, and short deck. It had the aggressive nimble look of a shark, thus it's nickname "The Shark".

The E31 was big, heavy and aggressive. More like a wild boar then a shark. Hardly the spiritual successor to an icon. It was massive, heavy, and powered by an 8 cylinder engine as well as the available 12 cylinder. The E24 was only available in a 6 cylinder as it was only 3800 lbs at the end of production. The 6-series moniker was reintroduced in 2003 under the E63 platform, but it also has never recaptured the spirit of the original E24 and resembles a pregnant toad.

The spirit is not dead, but it's found a new home. Audi has brought back the mid-sized coupe it once abandoned and called it the A5. A true successor to the E24 if there was one. It's light, stylish and aggressive looking. The underpinnings are from a mid-size sedan, the same as the original E24. Sad to see it's not from BMW, but a beautiful coupe is a beautiful coupe.

Hat's off to Audi. Pulling one over on BMW is a coup in itself.

Picture This

Every few weeks I help my old lunch buddy kill some time on his LONG commute from Moorpark to Santa Monica. While chatting today he kept filled me in on the latest Edmunds news and all that is going on his life back in California.

Brad is a mild mannered product manager by day and amateur photographer on the off time. As cars are my hobby, photography is his. I've put a link to his website in my blog here so you can see his work. Check it out and if you're in the Los Angeles area and need some pictures taken, be sure to look him up.

Oh, and we both have black Mustang GT's. That picture is his on Route 66. No wonder we're friends..


Brad's Pictures

Schlitterbahn!

What a day. Baxter woke up with a lame paw and my vet was open at 6:50 am to see him. The advantage of having a country vet I guess. He'll apparently was bit by something and had a swollen paw. After a shot of cortisone he was good to go and the he's walking fine.

One of the largest water parks in the country is located about 45 minutes from Austin. It's called Schlitterbahn which I believe translates to water route. There is a lot of German ancestry here. It's known for the "Master Blaster" which takes you through tubes and you actually go up and down. It's a roller coaster on water. Tons of fun.

Mid-week is the best day to go, so my workout partner and bud Vernon joined me for the day. It was a lot of fun and well worth the trip. Many thanks to my friend Richard and his dog Kelso who watched Baxter for me. We had a blast. Yes if you read the signs in the pictures, you cannot bring a handgun into the park. This is Texas....

After three weeks of rain, it's a bit odd to head to a water park. But it's a great way to beat the heat. Now it' time to mow the lawn..

Texas Cooldown

Well it finally broke 90 degrees here this weekend. Not much you can do when it's that hot outside but grab some beer and ride on the river. With 5,000 new friends joining you.

It's a floating party. This year there has been so much rain that the Guadalupe River is running to high and too fast. Ironically last year's annual tubing trip put on by my friend Coby was moved to the Comal Spring because of the lack of water. So again, I find myself drifting down the Comal for the opposite reason. It's a lazy two hour float from put-in to finish. My friend Toby and his friend Brian joined me this trip.

It's a cool lazy way to spend the day, and certainly beats sitting in the A/C.

Just A Little Fresher

Not much to report, but I have freshened up the blog a bit. You'll notice my mug shot and a improved link section.

Be sure to check out Jon's blog. He posts far more times then I do, and when you need a bit of beach life check to see what he's up to. I have the links as well to my Carspace.com page and the other Edmunds properties, Edmunds.com and Insideline.com. All the car information you'll ever need is there.

I'll post more links when they come up. Enjoy!

No More Plates

Well at least for a while. You may recall my post back in November, "I'll Have Another Plate", where I discussed the places I've lived. I've marked them by the license plates that have come off my vehicles.

Now that I've just about finished my office, I've put the last plate up. Hopefully this is it, but then again you never know. My Jeep came with a set of plates, but for some reason Texas decided I needed new ones. I took the old one off and found a place for it. I prefer the front license plate when possible as they generally have the most character. I think Georgia is the only one-plate state I've lived in.

I'm A Big Boy Now

While I was breaking out the digital camera to shoot my office for yesterday's blog, I looked down and saw my buddy fast asleep. I don't know who he thinks is going to take his bone away from him, I'm certainly not going to chew on it! Like a favorite Teddy Bear, he's now taken to sleeping with it. And yes he has a full size bed.

Baxter paid a visit to the vet last week as all this water he's loving has caused a yeast infection in his ears. Due to the floppy ears, Lab's tend to have this problem as their ear's don't dry out. I just have to make sure and put a drying solution in them each time we go to the creek.

While at the vet, Baxter was put on the scale and he's 62 lbs now. When I adopted him he was 48 lbs. My vet says that he has pretty much done his skeletal growing, now he will just fill out. That being the case, he has moved on to adult dog food.

Next thing you know, he'll be asking for an allowance.

So Blue

I'm back.. no I'm doing ok. Thanks to those of you who were wondering where I am. Things are fine, just not much to post about these days. I promise to get back on things.

I did paint my office the other day. It was "builder white", as it had not been painted in the seven years since my home was built. Lots of my house is that color, but some of it is painted very nicely. I'm not much of a painter, but I'm also not much for white walls either.

I do like the color blue. Not sure what that says about me, but I'll throw it out there. I have a inordinate about of blue clothing and I've had two blue cars in my lifetime. Given a preference, I gravitate towards blue.

But what blue for my office? Why Ford Blue Oval Blue, thank you. It's not easy to come by, I had to do a close match as much as possible. For those of you who know colors the RGB of Blue Oval Blue is 0/75/140 and Pantone 294C if you want to recreate it yourself. I did my best and much patience to my friend Toby while I kept running out to the parking lot of Lowes to find a Ford car to match as color sample too. I'm pretty close.

Now it's time to paint the kitchen...

Join In

I'm a big fan of networking sites and today I am focusing on two of the professional ones that I belong too. I was excited this week to hear of the launch of professional networking site for the automotive industry. The new site is based out of Germany and the address is www.automotiveK.com. Don't ask me what the "K"stands for, perhaps it's something in German. Bravo for the site not having been built in the U.S. and looking and feeling a little different, while being fully functional.

As many of you who read my blog are in the automotive business, please take a moment to register and help get this networking site off the ground.

The premier professional networking site I belong to is www.linkedin.com. Again, a great site to find people you once worked with and connect to those you are presently working with. I know I've lost touch with people through the years. I've found old college friends from 20 (ack!) years ago. Yes, people will be able to find you as well, but it's hard to escape Google these days and they will find you anyway.

So sign up, look for me, and we'll all stay connected.

All Wet

It's been a while, I know.

It's not that I haven't found anything to do, however lots of it has to do with water. As you can see, and you may have heard, it's raining an awful lot around here.

Digital cameras are wonderful, but not exactly water friendly. I'm really impressed with my Nikon that I bought last fall, but it's not a waterproof model. So I'm reluctant to take it outside.

Baxter loves the water though, I've found a new place for him to play. It's called Bull Creek and it's in North West Austin. Lots of places for doggies to run and play, there's even an waterfall. As I like to jump in an play with him, alas no pictures.

I guess you'll just have to use your imagination or come visit me!

Security Issues

It's been a rough week. I haven't felt much like blogging. One week ago today we were attached to our favorite form of media watching things unfold in Virginia. What an awful day. Working at home, the risk of facing this situation myself is pretty slim. However I have one sister in a public school and another in a law firm.

As the week went by things just became worse. While we found out more and more about what happened, we realized how little we could have done to prevent it. There was no obvious scapegoat. No person who ignored the warning signs, no gun swap meet where he bought his weapon, no relationship that went sour and no cries for help ignored. No one trigger or person has emerged to set off this chain of events.

So we all are left to look around for the next one. As 9/11 did, 4/16 left us all a little less secure.

Except for Baxter. On the lighter side of this week, Baxter is finally rolling on his back and sleeping. After two months together, he now feels comfortable enough to roll over on his back and sleep or play. For a dog owner this is a big occasion as you have earned the trust of your pet.

Baxter feels secure, let's all try and do the same.

Bean In The Oven

It's my 50th post and I can't think of a better way to celebrate then announcing another niece/nephew is on the way. My sister Jennifer is expecting and I'll be an uncle again November 25ish.

This is about what we all look like at five weeks. Some say "bun" but at this point I think we resemble a bean. I hope Jen doesn't mind that I posted an ultrasound of her insides on my blog page. She's doing fine, though not wanting to eat much which is very un-Jordan of her.

Feel free to send suggestions for names which I will kindly pass along.

It's Not Easy Being Green

Back on 02/02/07 in "Insert Dog Here" I shared with you a glimpse of my dismal looking backyard. Well I did put the dog there and some trees and shrubs. So here's an update on how things look.

Ok a little better, but we have a ways to go. As you can see the grass situation is well, "challenged". Texas is a pretty dry place despite the rain we had last month. The trees and shrubs have been planted and a few more may go in. We'll see.

Today the first of a few sprinkler companies strolled trough my backyard to give me an estimate on putting in a sprinkler system. In order to have a decent looking yard, it's absolutely necessary to have one here in Austin.

It's not easy being green and it's certainly not going to be cheap either.

1964

We're in for a long long long presidential campaign leading up to the 2008 election. It's not going to be fun, but you'll be very happy to know I've made my choice already. I won't be loosing any sleep debating my decision going forward. So don't worry about me.

How fortunate are we that the choices facing us this time are so many. We are a nation of consumers and if it's one thing we all enjoy is shopping. Like wandering through the breakfast cereal aisle, there is something for everyone. Based on the picture above, I believe you know my cereal of choice.

It has been a rough seven years for our country. We went from relative personal and national security to great uncertainty. From an unprecedented attack to a war we're not sure why we're in or how we're going to get out of. Our founding fathers were wise enough to give us an instrument of change every four years.

And change it will be. The voters will decide the extent. But why Hillary Clinton? A valid question and one we have to ask ourselves before we head to the voting booth. I'm offering some transparency into my decision here.

I'm looking for a breakthrough. It's been 42 years since we've passed the Civil Rights act of 1964 and we've yet to have a President that is protected under what I consider the two most significant protections, sex and race, color or creed. Back in 1964 white males held an extraordinary amount of power and this historic act was meant to level the playing field. It's only since last year the Speaker of the House fell under these protections and now it's time for a President. What a remarkable moment in history for our country.

I tend to believe that breakthroughs bring a since of optimism. A can-do-spirit per-se. The Apollo 11 mission to the moon, the end of the cold war, the dawn of the internet age all spurred feeling of optimism and reminded us of all that is possible in this country. While we're all protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, we've yet to elect a woman or a racial minority to our nations highest office.

I know you're saying "what about Obama"? If this were 2000 it would be different race and the choice between the two would be a lot harder. But it's 2007 and our world has changed. Experience counts and Hillary has it in spades. She was not running the country from 1992-2000, but she was very interested and learned some very valuable lessons.

And besides, how can you run a negative campaign ad about someone we know all about anyway?

Irrelevant

Car and Driver arrived in my mailbox last week. It's done that monthly for the past 26 years. I've never missed an issue and I read it cover to cover. It's still my favorite buff book car magazine.

It's not to say there aren't things I don't like about Car and Driver. See the picture above, the 2007 Cadillac SRX SUV going through a slalom course. One of my big pet peeves with Car and Driver, is that every car has to be judged on performance when it was not necessarily meant to be a performance vehicle. Putting a picture of this SUV going through a slalom, is about the most ridiculous thing I've seen. Imagine the laughter if they put a Mustang GT towing a boat on their next cover.

I've always been drawn to Edmunds.com and InsideLine.com for the more sensable approach to testing vehicles. (They also pay my mortgage.) Car and Driver does an fantastic job at covering sports cars and low-buck racing, but they always loose it when they have to test a vehicle with 65 series or higher tires. Not every car was built to excel on the race track because not every driver is looking for that in a vehicle.

I am such that person. I do own an SUV and sports car. I love the way my Mustang GT takes a curve on it's Dunlop SP2000's. It's light, responsive, and a blast to drive when the off ramps get twisty. It does not loose it's composure. In the other hand is my Jeep Grand Cherokee with Quadra Drive (4x4). No, it's not light and responsive but I'm not looking for it to be. I'd be a horse's ass if I was out there on it's all-weather tires trying to push it through the corners as fast as I could. I don't ask my Mustang GT to get me through a rain storm or take a load home from the nursury. And I don't ask my Jeep to give me any thrills.

The buff books are in big trouble, Car and Driver included. Advertising dollars are plummeting while readers move to online magazines such as ours, InsideLine.com. Car and Driver celebrated it's 50 year anniversary last year and InsideLine.com it's second. Insideline.com has triple the readership of CarandDriver.com.

Online magazines are supposed to provide content to the consumer faster then traditional publishing and Insideline.com succeeds at that. I had to take a picture of my own copy of Car and Driver as that issue has not made it to their website yet and it's over a week old.

Car and Driver, if you could shape up your editorial skills and publish online simultaneously, you'd give Insideline.com a run for the money.

Stay the course and your future is Life.

-Life is Over

Flex For Me

2009 Ford Flex

Ok, now something I really like at Ford besides the Mustang.

Most non-gearheads probably don't know that New York City is now hosting their big international auto show this week. Yesterday Ford pulled the wraps off their latest new product, the 2009 Ford Flex. Wow.

This design first appeared in 2005 as the Ford Fairlane concept vehicle. Ford sat on it for a year and then decided to go ahead and build it. Too bad for us it's a year later then it should be, but at least it's coming. The minivan, the vehicle we all hate but really love, is officially dead. The replacement is the "People Mover".

I'm in love with the look of this vehicle and I can see myself in it. That's truly a stretch as I'm just a single guy with a dog, granted I do live in a subdivision where it would be right at home. The low roof (painted in a contrasting color), clean sides and short front end recall BMW's Mini Cooper and Scion's Xb. Neither vehicle you'd be embarrassed to be seen in. Can't say that about a Dodge Caravan.

2007 GMC Arcadia

When I see the Flex I think of three terms. Clean, simple and purposeful. In contrast when you look at GM's entries into this "people mover" segment, the Outlook/Arcadia/Enclave, I think aggressive, heavy, lethargic. I doubt there will be many cross shoppers between Ford/GM products as you're going to go for one look over the other. Has this happened in the past? You betcha. In the 1960's Ford's Lincoln Continental was a clean and simple (award winning) design versus Cadillac's large/ostentatious themed vehicles.

1961 Lincoln Continental
1961 Cadillac Sedan DeVille

In the fight for the "people mover" market share, the biggest looser may acutally be Chrysler who's banking on the loved/hated minivan. They have nothing competitive in this segment now, then Ford brings out the Flex.

I think Ford just brought down the value of Chrysler by a billion dollars.