Perfect Weekend!

You could not ask for better weather out here this weekend. It was close to 70, no wind... lots and lots of sun.

It was a lot of fun.

I took a drive....


Well it wasn't in the 70's the whole time. It was down right cold in the morning. We went to the Porsche parts place called Part's Heaven in Hayward. I had been meaning to get down and get a few exterior pieces for the car that I had either lost or they fell off the car over the years. I got new plastic lug nut caps and finally replaced the jack hole cover on the passenger sign. That is the dirtiest window you will ever see on one of my cars. I don't like washing this car because of the rust factor. It was awesome. We went down to Hayward then back up through Livermore than into Lodi for a party. Mostly in a T-Shirt the whole time.

Stevenot Winery

This morning we said, "Ah... what the heck... Let's go for a ride again...." So we went up to Starbucks then over to Twisted Oak for some wine. Then we took off up to Sheep Ranch from Murphys. It was warm so we popped the top off and did some hard riding through the hills. The car ran great all the way. Very, very fast... smooth handling... no issues. I have past up the car in age...:)

Heading into Sheep Ranch, which I think has like 45 people there... I expected to encounter, well some sheep...
Unfortunately all I could find was this field full of liberals. Well... we sped through Sheep Ranch down over to Railroad Flat near where Charles Ng and Leonard Lake killed all of those people and buried them in the 80's. It's one of the few things people know Calaveras County for.

Another unfortunate thing... I didn't stop and take more pictures. We jetted down from Railroad Flat through Glencoe and over to Mokolumne Hill. The locals are nice. All the roads have pretty much a rural speed limit of 55 mph and that is cool but a lot of these roads you would be an idiot if you went that fast. However, I can get on it and get down those hills quickly... never really leaving from 2nd and 3rd gear. The old folks actually got out of the way.

After getting through Moke Hill, I got on Paloma Rd and headed down through Campo Seco back over to my house. I actually need to get some pictures of Campo Seco so I can actually truly show my readers there actually is a Chinese Ghost Town up here.

What a fun ride... Perfect weather, not cold and not warm... Just perfect. Smoked a lot of turns and had perfect control. And my little car ran great. I could have sat in bed all weekend. I could have sat at home on the couch or finished hanging shelves in my garage but why? Nothing was more relaxing before a big travel week.

Saw Gran Torino too... Racing cars and Eastwood movies... Now that is living.

People Can't Drive

I have had bad luck with cars this week. So I decided to write about it. We all remember my post, like 660 posts or so. Remember, Steve versus the Carl's Jr. drive through post when I was a wee lad in 2004?

So like... Tuesday, I wish I had one of those old beat up cars you do not give a crap about with no plates. I was rolling through the fog and came to a stoplight on a two lane highway. I mean it was foggy. You wouldn't realistically want to go more than 45 mph because of the fog and safety driving in it. So I go to take off from the stop light and this lady in an SUV tries to pass me on the right. It wasn't like she was beside me at the start. Plus there were like 5 cars behind me. I didn't realize she was trying to pass either until she ran out of lane. She honked, rode my ass and left her high beams on for the next 5 miles, shutting the off and on as cars passed us the other direction.

She was so uptight, that as cars either pulled in front of me or went slow because of the heavy fog. What a bitch! Then when I hit the freeway she did everything to pass me... only to get cut off by a Semi. Are we that much in a hurry? I am not a crazy driver but I drive 5 miles or so over the speed limit often unless it is by a school or something. I just couldn't believe this lady.

I didn't think anything of this until I hit the Starbucks drive through.

Everything was fine... the line was moving fine. I got my order into the box. There was an SUV in front of me with one of those vanity plates but I can't remember what it said. And so I happened to see what the lady ordered on the screen before I placed my order. She ordered a tall coffee, in a Venti cup, with a pump of carmel or something. I didn't understand why someone would order all these side ventures at starbucks... I just want a latte with an add shot. So she gets to the window and proceeds to SCREAM at the drive through barista. She kept going... and going and going... to the point I noticed like 7 minutes went by. So I hit the horn, and yelled, "C'mon lady, get over it!!" I had no idea at the point what she was yelling about but then she yelled at me to wait... I dropped a few F-Bombs out the window and laid on the horn and didn't let off for like a minute. She got all frustrated and flustered and couldn't be heard by Starbucks. I just laughed my ass off and so did the drive through barista. Merry Christmas lady.

So I had to run an errand up to Sacramento this afternoon and it was such a nice day today (the calm before the wicked cold front we are about to get) I decided to fly up in the Porsche. The back roads to the highway are all under construction so there are some detours to some really crazy roads which I love in the Porsche because you can fly around the curves and shit. I got behind a truck. He wasn't going slow but he wasn't in a hurry either. We turned onto a new road and he just kind of putted along. The passing lane was wide open the other direction so I decided to pass. Suddenly the bastard turned left and holy crap... I gunned it through the dirt on the other side shooting dust and stuff... and then I got back on the road all fish tailing. Just missed his mailbox and I left some cool skid marks to show off to people. The bastard didn't use his signal!!! I think I gave him a heart attack because he sat in the road for a while. I couldn't believe it but I was calm. It was close though dude... Very close...

A 914 Porsche Story: Smoked!! Keep an extra rotor!!

914 Porsche Distributor Rotors do not come in three pieces.

Too bad my camera sucks balls at close range but this is what I found under my 914's distributor cap. I spent the afternoon investigating why my 914 stopped running on the freeway a couple of Saturdays back. Not fun racing up to 70 MPH and have nothing left but burning smell and gas on the side of the road. I had it towed home and could not get the thing to turn over.

After checking the plug wires this afternoon to see if anything was loose, I decided to take off the cap since it was the only other thing I could look at without tools. I swear to God, Porsches must be made by little German elves with like stubby little fingers made of hard rubber. You can't take off one thing without taking off another unrelated part or without a few "Awe Shits!!" when you jam your fingers into the side of something. As soon as I finally got the distributor cap off I immediately thought, "Hey where is my Rotor?" It wasn't there. It was gone! I found it in three separate chunks seen in the photo and the rest of it was dust. I am not a mechanic for cars. Car Washes maybe. You know mechanics and engineers, when they see something wrong and people are around who don't know any different, they sort of freak out leaving the bystander going, "What, I don't see it?" This was pretty obvious that most novices would spot. But you are talking to a guy who rebuilt his fuel system from under the car by touch so... perhaps there is some knowledge.

Of course, I immediately had to post my findings as something really cool on the 914 BBS I belong to. Turns out it isn't that special. Avid 914 drivers keep two or three rotors with them at all times. Shit... it wasn't really that cool. It's one of those parts that just go out. A mechanic's dream... bad rotor? Hmmm... no labor hours but we'll charge you 3 hours at $90 an hour for a $8 part.

I have undone and replaced lines, hoses, and other things without really thinking about it at work for years. It doesn't matter what it looks like, I am always good with flows of fluid, air and electricity. I re-installed everything on the Porsche and jumped in the front seat. And the car was trying to start and would keep trying after I turned the key off. I wondered if my car was really screwed up beyond the rotor. I kept starting it and it kept trying but I noticed the battery power was low. I threw this super charger I have on the roof and tried to start the car that way. Nothing!! WTF. I looked under the hood and found all kinds of smoke and shit. I wondered WTF Now! I thought this had gotten expensive. I kept staring at the distributor cap... Wait a minute!!

I had crossed the two plug wires on the driver side spark plugs. I just crossed them back and POOF!! My little car came back to life. Seems to run a whole lot better too. So I can spot a bad rotor but not a crossed wire...

I drove it around the block twice going, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"


Moral to the story: Yes I Can... I can do it on my own.

(Note: The above statement is not an endorsement of Obama, if I did endorse him a few months back, I was miss-guided)

Steve Crashes...

Dude... I have driven probably a half to 3/4 of a million miles in my life, literally. I put many miles on my vehicles and all that.

Driving down the freeway this morning. I was going the normal speed... not fast or slow... I was at least a half an hour early for my meeting. All of a sudden calamity struck in front of me. Cars were like pinballs crashing into each other. I was a good 150-200 yards behind someone, not going more than 60 MPH and still I could not stop my vehicle. (Because I was not in either Porsche!)

I skidded and it was like one of those slides that took what seemed like a minute but in reality was a few seconds. The car would not stop and I headed right for a Honda Civic. There were at least 9 cars crashed in front of it in a few lanes... smoke everywhere... And I could not freaking stop!!

So I am sliding....sliding... then finally BAM!!!

I was pissed... I got the guy off the road and exchanged info.

I am freaking lucky... All I have is a cracked license plate frame on my Charger. The other car had a scuff that I was able to rub out with my fingers. That dude was cool... he was scared because there was so many cars... I mean they were everywhere with smoke coming out of a few of them.

I fly a lot for my job. And you would think I would be scared of that. I fear crashing a car so much. Two days before Elijah was born, I avoided a 10-15 car pile up by thinking fast and getting out of a lane as everyone crashed behind me. I am lucky. I think of all the driving I have done and I am surprised I haven't crashed more.

Last accident I was in was a bit before I started this blog in 2004. I crashed my 914 off of Lombard St. in San Francisco. A taxi ran a light and clipped my bumper and rear fender and spun me around side ways.

Cars are scary...

We all remember this accident too, don't we? Read July 11th Post

The Zen of Porsche Driving

Elijah is sick again... I get to watch him tomorrow. He has an ear infection again... No seizure this time. I took a break today and went for a drive.

I fired up the 914 and cruised the foothills.

I started out going into Ione. I went by the old Rancho Seco "nucular" power plant. It is kind of crazy because there are all these vineyards out there now and I'd be scared to drink wine from those grapes. It was fun though humming along in the Porsche. I kept the top on and I just listened to the sound of the wind blowing through the window. I passed a bright green 914 in Ione. I waved at the guy I thought might have been the owner. He sure gawked and mine. It is really bright with the orange roof on versus when it is off.

Once I got through Ione, I turned up 88 and headed into Jackson. Not the Jackson from the Johnny Cash song but the gold rush town in Amador County. I have always had a strong attraction to Ione and Jackson. For example, I remember going to Ione on vacation when I was three and I got new shoes because my old ones got muddy. I remember them vividly because they had stop and go on them and one was red and the other was green. I was 3 when I got those. Jackson has different memories. Again on vacation from the bay area, we'd go to Jackson while camping to do laundry or get donuts or site see or whatever. It was fun coming into down. They still have an active gold mine and all that going on. I have other memories of Jackson too. It was the place you went to hang out at in high school. My family liked vacationing so much up there, we moved there 20 years ago to the lake down the road where we vacationed.

I stopped, regrettably at Taco Bell for lunch. It's been kicking my ass ever since. I ate my food staring at the only car wash in town. I was wondering why they were not open on such a beautiful Sunday. You'd think it would be a popular day to be open (like the 2nd or 3rd best of the week... not that I know anything about car washing).

Once I finished I trekked up 49 through Mokolumne Hill. That road is a blast in the 914. I zoomed over the river for the turny road up to the top of the hill. Then I blasted through the historic district of Moke Hill. 10,000 people lived in the town 140 years ago. Maybe 700 or so there now. They struck gold there and mined it out back in the 1860's or something like that. It was a rough place at one time too. They had a very diverse group of people living there... Indians, the Chinese, Mexicans and white bread Americans all fighting for the gold. I wanted to stop for a beer but the Taco Bell was wreaking havoc on me.

Once at the top I headed down into San Andreas, the town where I went to high school. It's funny a town named San Andreas and the San Andreas Fault is 100 or so miles west in the bay area. There ain't much to the town either except that is where Elijah was taken for his last seizure and some drug store that seems to be popular around the area. High school was fun. I liked the history of the area a lot. It was a cool place to grow up.

So I headed out the back of town down Dogtown Rd. I hadn't been down the road in years until a few weeks back. This time I had the right car. The 914 hugged this road tight. I never went over 50 miles per hour once but even that was a bit fast!! When I came through Calaveritas I heard a pop. My engine lid on the 914 blew open on me. I had to pull off and refasten it. It was fun... when I stopped, all these cows came running at me and they stopped at the fence line. It nearly freaked me out. The majority of Dogtown is a narrow one lane road. It was a fun ride hugging all those corners and squealing the tires and slamming on the brakes. But the pavement was way too uneven for my suspension. I bounced all over the place for 11 miles. Once I got into Angels Camp, I stopped for a break at Starbucks.

I felt better at Starbucks. I got some relief there. I had a little cappuccino and a bottle of water. I had a little biker group stop and ask me about the car. That was kind of cool. I mostly sat there checking the college basketball scores on my iPod. I drove into downtown because one of the biker people told me they saw a bunch of Porsches earlier. I didn't find any so I turned around and headed back down to my parents. Highway 49 is fun in that car.

Overall I had a great time, not thinking about anything. I didn't think much of the pain. I had such an unusual time last week with the pain, hardly being able to walk. Today I felt fine... I felt normal as normal could be. My shoulder is killing me but that is probably from driving. The road seems to calm my nerves and helps me think clearly. I got a busy couple of weeks here so I just needed a little break.

I had filled up before I left and I refilled the car once I got down to Valley Springs. I drove 115 miles and took 4.3 gallons. Not bad for a souped up 35 year old car and all the hard driving I did. About 27 miles to the gallon there. Not bad at 4 bucks which is now the price for super unleaded in California. I have to buy it for the 914 and the Cayenne. I buy super for the 914 because engine burns cooler. In the summer I run octane booster too with that. If not I don't I seem to have more vapor locks with that hot engine. Didn't burn any oil which was really cool this trip.

I like turtles.


Most Insightful Interview Ever - Watch more free videos

Steve Chased By Cougars

Not literally but...

The weather in Sactown (Sacramento to those in Peoria) is perfect! It has been in the 70's all week and it is convertable weather. It's like that Goldilocks time of year wear you can walk outside in a t-shirt and jeans and not be too hot or too cold.

So I had the Porsche out... flying around town, doing my things that I do. It's amazing what people say to you in the car. Here are somethings I heard:

1. What kind of car is that? (The car is 35 years old so some people have never seen a 914)
   
2. Dude... what kind of engine do you have in that thing? (Usually a motorcycle guy or an older black gentlemen in a Crown Vic or something will ask this)
3. Wanna trade?
4. Sweet!!!
5. Pollute!!! (Prius drivers getting bitch slapped from each stoplight)
6. Mighty fine, dude...(Scared me a little because it was a dude that said it)
7. Give us a ride!!!

Give us a ride? A couple of 50 year old women roll up next to me and ask me for a ride? I smile and say there is only room for one.

"We'll fit, " they say. "Just take us now!!!"

Um... Holy crap!!! Steve got picked up on by some older women. I didn't no what to do so I sped off!!! I was scared and kept looking behind me to see if they were coming.... Sure, enough... they followed me into the Jamba Juice parking lot. Oh my God !!! I panicked when I got out of the car and ran into Walgreens to hide. I could see them eyeing me as I trotted across the parking lot. They went into Starbucks. I was safe.

I am sure they thought it was funny.

Scary... I am getting up there...

Country Flyin' in a 914

I really need to invest in a camera mount and turn off the radio next time.

Really nice day in California. Temp is probably 70 outside, no wind... This morning I set out for a drive in my 914 Porsche. Started first, by-passing coffee at a major chain coffee shop and had breakfast at Sactown's best greasy spoon, The Lucky Cafe. Breakfast here is the shit. No one was there which is rare for a Sunday morning like today. Great food!! I had the French Toast and Egg combo, I believe it was the #15. Two cups of coffee.

There was a light chill this morning so I had my leather jacket on. I started heading out south of town down 160 along the river. It was really cool with the sun up midway, the river levee road just flying along. The car has been running great. I have slight squeak in the front brakes before the car really gets warm that is annoying but it ran great. Nice and quick acceleration. Not bad for a 35 year old car. (Born date: 9/8/73)

I got off on Hood Franklin Rd and tore it back over to I-5. I got a lot of waves from bicyclists as I sped by. Once on 5, I headed down to Twin Cities Rd. A problem with a car like this, is when you haven't driven far in months (you'd be an idiot driving a 914 in the rain) is the tires get flat spots from sitting. So at the beginning of the season the front end was a little jumpy. A little scary at 75 mph. I knew they would wear smooth if I kept driving.

I headed down Twin Cities through Galt and then onto 99, finally arriving on Liberty Rd. Once I made the boring, straight, cow pasture laden, trek down Liberty I got to North Camanche Pkwy. Here is where the fun starts:

The oakie driving the camper pulled off so it was me and a windy road along Lake Camanche. I just gunned it, not exceeding 60, but not slowing through the turns too much. The car just hummed along. No squeals, nice braking and handling, smooth as can be acceleration.

The video up top is a section of road with not a whole lot of turns. It was fun revving the engine up but I should have kept the stereo off. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my digital video camera. One handed driving... third gear... going from 40 to 60 mph and revving up to 5 grand. You can kind of hear the motor in the video but there is a lot of background noise. One of the first things I did when I got the car was to remove the rusty HEAVY muffler off the back and modify in a Magna Flow muffler. I even have new flanges on the old 914 headers. The gaskets fit a 53 Buick. It's tucked up underneath pretty good but what I really have is a 2 1/2" exhaust on a muffler that would feel at home on a 289 Mustang engine than a whiny 2.0 914 engine. I had the intakes matched to the headers, installed some Mahle pistons, shaved the fly wheel and then added a MSD ignition to the car. The car goes from 30-60 in a couple of seconds. It takes a little to get going but once you hit the power band... the car is a lot of fun.

I winded my way around the back of Camanche to the south side to my parents house. I had noticed that my horn was not working so I stopped for a pit stop to re-wire the horn at my parents. A simple fix.

After a piece of Angel Food cake and handful of M&M's I head back. Once on 99... the car was smooth even at 75 MPH. The flat spots were gone.

If You Keep Reading, I'll Keep Ranting...

This post revisits many of my more famous themes from posts like, The Starbucks line, Verbal Assaults in parking lots regarding my choice of vehicle and my personal favorite Elijah.

Okay... so last night, the first night in say, 3 weeks that I went to sleep at a normal hour on my own power... only to wake up at 2:30AM. I put on CNN on sling box on my laptop so I can bore myself back to sleep. Nothing more boring than an early morning Lou Dobbs replay. The reality is though, I turned on Fox so I can anticipate the big Mitt Romney speech and learn more about the crazy fuck with the AK-47 in Omaha. (I guess if you leave all the pieces in close proximity, a kid will grab a gun and go to town... So sad this kind of stuff happens). I went back to sleep at 3 and woke up at 7 when I heard the doors slam.

Anyhow fast forward to reality... I got out of bed at 8 forgetting DW was taking the day off to relax. It's actually cool because I got to take the Cayenne to Starbucks for a cup of my liquid elixir. So I roll in and just like a movie, there was a parking spot right in front. I always call that spot the "movie spot" because when a car rolls up on a business in a movie they always get to park in front. You never get to see them run in the rain across the parking lot, dodging cars and splashing through puddles.

My cell rings and it's Elijah's day care. The nice lady there is asking me to come by and look at Elijah's finger. He somehow got it caught in a door. It sounded a hell of a lot worse than it was. I think it scared him more than it hurt. But I am the emergency contact during the week so I figured I just head into Starbucks and then head over to day care.

Fat chance...

When I opened the door of the Porsche to get out there was rather large woman standing in front of the Porsche. I gave her the,"Do I like generous? I don't have any money!" look. She goes, "I CAN'T GET IN MY CAR!!!" So I humor her... "Why?"

She's like..."You parked to close to my car..."

Thinking of Elijah... Do I say sorry? Do I ignore her? Do I say sucks to be you?

No actually, I go assess the situation because I clearly was well within my line. Sure enough I walk over to the passenger side and her tires are on the line and I am good, Teeny-arm's-widespread distance from her door. I mean... I know people larger than her who could have gotten in. I am not being mean, unreasonable or nasty. There was space. She did not want to attempt it for some reason. It is a tight, urban, downtown parking lot off of Broadway.

She goes..."I can wait for you to get your coffee."

Ah... I struck fear into her... Was it my attitude? My stern, internal dickhead approach to life?

"No...", I say..."My son is hurt at daycare... And all those cooks from the Chinese restaurant are getting their coffee. Look at the line. I'd be wasting more of your time. I am gonna just run and see my son, that's why I was on the phone."

I got back in and sped off. I was pissed the whole time to day care. Why did I let my guard down and not be a jerk on this one? Must be my Christmas spirit.

Elijah was fine. Definitely not a happy camper... Poor little guy. I went back to Starbucks after seeing Elijah.

Do not buy the Ginger Bread slice at Starbucks. It tastes like ass.

Hybrid Porsche?

See what is coming guys:



PRESS RELEASE:Porsche at the Los Angeles Auto Show Committed to Alternative Drive Systems

Stuttgart/Los Angeles. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, is presenting drive concepts particularly friendly to the environment at the Los Angeles Auto Show starting on November 16, 2007: The highlight of this leading event at the Los Angeles Convention Center is of course the first appearance of the innovative Cayenne Hybrid in America. At the same time Porsche is also presenting a milestone in automobile development to the well-informed public attending the most significant trend show in North America with their great knowledge of history and technical development over the years: The electric-drive Lohner-Porsche from the year 1900, one of the world's first zero emission vehicles and, accordingly, a forerunner for hybrid drive.

With its future-oriented electric motors in the wheel hubs, the Lohner-Porsche was acknowledged as the absolute sensation at the Paris World Fair in 1900. On loan from the Technical Museum in Vienna, Austria, this outstanding achievement in technology protected today as a universal monument is now to be seen the first time outside of Europe at an auto show.

It was this vehicle, Ferdinand Porsche's first major project completed at the time without layshafts and without a transmission that gave the 24-year-old automobile genius his breakthrough as a pioneer in the history of the automobile. Shortly thereafter Ferdinand Porsche added a combustion engine providing power for the electric generator to the electric drive system with two internal-pole motors in the front wheels. This made Porsche's hybrid drive ready for production and created a unique highlight at the Paris Auto Show in 1901.

More than 100 years later the engineers at Porsche's Weissach Research & Development Center took up precisely this concept, creating the future-oriented high-tech Cayenne Hybrid, a unique vehicle combining superior efficiency with equally superior driving dynamics. The Full-Parallel-Hybrid System developed by Porsche combines the best of two worlds so efficiently that the series-production will consume less than 9 liters/100 km. An equally important point was to maintain Porsche's typically ambitious standards in terms of vehicle weight and driving dynamics also in the hybrid model. And perhaps the best news is that Porsche will be introducing this very economical SUV before the end of this decade.

The Los Angeles Auto Show has become the most significant show for Porsche in the USA, reaching Porsche customers in one of the brand's main regions with maximum impact and with a great effect on the company's image. The particular lifestyle of California is clearly borne out by the new Porsche GT2 likewise making its North American debut in Los Angeles and offering high technology of tomorrow in today's market: This 530-hp super-sportscar is powered by a biturbo engine featuring a new expansion intake manifold to reduce fuel consumption under full load. The fastest production-911 of all times will be available as of February 2008 in the USA at a retail price of US$ 191,700.

Holy crap... I also got the latest issue of Christophorus, the Porsche magazine that goes to out to Porsche owners. The hybrid will retain it's near 300 HP and even have faster acceleration while it drags it's 150 lb Duracell battery pack down the road. How cool is that!! Leave it up to the Germans to come up with something cool.

This is gonna be cool. Finally the hippie tree huggers can back the fuck up when they want to attack you at the coffee shop for driving an SUV. A nice car that will be environmentally friendly (until the battery needs disposal) saving 30% of its fuel consumption and still capable at barreling down the road at 0-60 at 7 seconds while topping out at 145 mph. Freaking awesome. I can't wait until 2010. It will be the shit when I can buy this. (Of course the BMW X6 looks awesome)

I don't know about the "liberal repellent" decals laced down the side. Might be good for Berkeley or Davis with their do gooder socialists in sandals.

Speaking of Berkeley...check out this guy: HOLY SHIT!!! Smack!! Perfect name too... Slaughter. Get off the phone... I should talk with my 3000 minutes a burn on my Treo.

Steve Involved In A Wicked Car Accident

I was driving today in Arizona. It was hot like 107 degrees. I was in a sports-type car and so I was going kind of fast for the conditions. I was weaving in and out of corners just passing people left and right, a lot of them just really didn't know how to drive. Well, I came around this really tight corner and this lady spun out in front of me. She totally got sideways and like I had nowhere to go. I thought quick and I threw my car into the guard rail hoping to make it through and BAM!!! I was T-Boned at 35 mph by the car behind me. I almost flew out of the car because it was open top. I had a four point harness on though and THANK GOD for the helmet!!

I was able to straighten out and get off the track. I was lucky. The guy that hit me is a piece of shit for doing so. That guy is big brother. And we were on the F-1 go kart racing track in Phoenix, AZ. He had his racing permit revoked for the day. I might forgive him but 30 minutes in the hot tub did nothing to help.

But the racing...

Dude... it was so rad. These go karts go like 45 mph. There was this tight track and we got two races on it. Centrifical clutch on the motor. A gas pedal and some brakes. Yeah what brakes. I was drifting in the fog like an Asian kid in Daly City, CA down Hickey Blvd. (Grow up in DC and you know what I am talking about) I was all giddy before we started. We had to take a race "class" on how to drive. We had a smock for the helmets so your sweat didn't make everything wet. Optional racing suits which we declined of course because we didn't want to look like fairies. I have a passion for driving cars fast and when I can get in a position to legally do so... I can get a car to move.

So there was like 10 of us. We all get in the cars. My brother got the pole position because of a random pick and I was 5th, which pissed me off. As soon as the green flag dropped I was gone. We had a rolling start and when green meant go, I freaking blew the doors off the car in front of me. All tight corners and chicanes. I found the line and soon I was behind my brother. The two of us roll it like we stole it. I'd pass him and the asshole would cheat and bump me into the wall over and over. This went on for like 15 laps until they called us in.

They judged the racing times by seconds per lap. I had the fastest lap out of 24, beating my brother by a full half second. He was pissed. He made up excuses like my car was faster or that his brakes didn't work right or that because I am smaller. (He's 6' 1" and maybe 220, which doubles Teeny both in height and weight, twice) I rarely used my brakes and all that tuning and racing I did a few years back on my 914 and the racing games on my XBOX 360 paid off. I flew around corners. Everyone would take them tight... I ran them deep to keep the speed up because of the engine clutch these things have. When you hit the brakes you lose revs and your engine dies. You keep the engine speed up and there is no stopping you. I got the thing to back fire a few times which was really cool. The line was definitely on the outside of the track.

So a half an hour later. The cars are in a different order so the faster car claim is gone. I am running 5th at the start so I still have to pass 4 people to get to the front and ahead of my brother. I don't have the same car. And still despite the accident (that the managers were pissed at my brother for) I beat my best time by a full second and again came in first. I ran this car harder. Sliding, smoking tires. It was great. All except for the crash. The admonished my brother and kicked him out.

In the championship race I lost by 7 tenths of a second. My time in the second race was the 4th best this week at this place.

My thumbs hurt. My back is totally fucked. I think I have whiplash. My wrists are killing me. After he hit me I sat on the track for like 5 minutes and then pulled off the track and sat there for another few. My co-workers had that look like, "Oh that dude is totally a jerk for doing that to him."

But it's okay... We go on these team events and if there is something to win, my brother always tries to win. He is ultra competitive. But I stuck him twice by a good margin. I had him.

I won.

The Proving Ground

Parrott's Ferry Rd between Murphys and Columbia

Okay... this is a gnarly stretch of road between Murphys and Columbia State Park. That chunk of water is New Melones Resevoir which takes it's water from what I believe is the Stanislaus River off the Sierra Nevada. It's a pretty steep grade down to that water from Columbia. The road isn't the curviest or the steepest but ask any kid that grew up in Calaveras County and they'll tell you about some kid that died on this road. When I was in high school I used to haul ass in my Toyota pickup over that bridge on the left of rectangle.

I had to make a trip to Sonora this morning, so hey... lets test the Porsche out on the way back. I got to the top of the hill with no one in front that I could see. My iPod was on shuffle and like it was meant to be, Sympathy for the Devil started playing. I opened the windows and sun roof, hit the sport mode between the seats and went into Tiptronic. I gave myself some boundaries though... I kept the thing in manual and never let it get out of 3rd gear. Also if the tires squealed I'd ease it back a little. Never crossed the yellow line. I was able to keep it about 50 most of the way. (Speed limit is 25). Holy Crap! It handled better than the BMW we had a few years back. Just darted in and out of each turn and hugged the road tight. You would not expect this handling from a 4500lb car but dude... It was awesome!! I want to bring the 914 back next time!!

Trivia factoid: Most of the Back to the Future filming took place in Jamestown just south of here. Also Mark Twain lived outside of Columbia.

(Used Microsoft's Streets and Trips 2007 to make the map)

Now The Trouble Begins..

It's like the laughter of the comic book guy on the Simpsons when Bart, Milhous and Martin fought over the rare comic book they pooled their money to buy.

Or even like the commercial where the couple is racing home to take a shower in their highly wasteful Kohler shower. Remember the lady is nearly naked pounding on the front door screaming "no fair you had it last time!"

I got home from a two day trip and last night I am like, "I am going to drive the Porsche around the park real quick." to my wife...

And she says, "Which one? The new one or the old one?"

I look at her knowing she can't drive the 914 because it's a stick and the seat doesn't move, and I am like duh... the new one, and I thought to myself, "Are you going somewhere?"

What a dilema? Which Porsche to drive? Gee... I don't know. The white one with the brown interior doesn't quite define it!

(I don't think I am gonna have many readers left soon!)

I Am Such An Ass... But There IS No Substitute For A Porsche!

Well... I got rid of the Hummer last night. It's gone. No more four wheeling over parking blocks. No more getting chastised by liberals who think they know how the environment works by watching Al Gore like the neo-cons know how we were all created by what Jerry Falwell said. I'll miss the Hummer but as one brilliant Beatle once said, "All Things Must Pass". (Darling Wife's carbon footprint is still 9.9 which is STILL a full 10 points lower than average where Al Gore says we need to be, Teeny)

Scratch off life goal number 276. I bought a Porsche, the Cayenne seen pictured above. (Heh, the cheapest one!) But still 295hp SUV that goes 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. A whole 4 seconds faster than the Hummer. The scary speed though occurs when you need to pass the old lady going 50 in the fast lane. Holy Crap! 50 to 80 occurs in less than a second. It's a real sports car disguised as a grocery getter. The white color is nearly the same as my 914. The interior color is nearly the same as well. Sort of a homage to my ole 1974... I can at least drive this new Porsche in the rain without fear of dying when I step on the brakes!

All wheel drive, four wheel disc brakes and like 8 air bags. It's got snow settings for those trips to Tahoe. The exhaust sound is unbelievable. Handling is crazy nimble. We even got seat and steering wheel heaters for those cool 40 degree mornings we get in the winter. I missed the BMW when we got the Hummer but with a child, how can you do it these days with all the crap you need to haul for the kid? I am glad to get that luxury back. This is the only car I have to buy for the family.

(Okay lawryde, you can go ahead and change that side bar link again on your blog.)

My 914 Porsche with New Wheels

I had some new wheels installed on my 914 today. I bought some replicas of the wheels I already had on it. The old wheels were pretty destroyed and would cost a fortune to restore. I'll save those for a rainy day. I found a deal on wheels at Bugformance in Sacramento. Had to re-cut my stock lugs to fit. This car looks hot now. Up next, a new windshield and some new Porsche caps for these wheels. $264 bucks for authentic Porsche caps!! What a rip!! Need some new weather stripping as well. Gonna eventually need to attack that tranny but I have years of fun left before that. I have to repaint the passenger front fender though you couldn't tell unless you looked for it. Some Orange Porsche decals would look good down the lower rocker panels as well.

Click on picture to make it bigger.