Thursday, January 26, 2006

purpose


I came across this photo on a website today.

http://davidsicherman.com/

Look at the glee in the man's eye, the determination to achieve. The lengths he went to prepare himself for the challenge, bringing his helmet to brace himself for the battle ahead. I admire this man.

And I want to know where I can get a burger like that on the West Coast!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

rivalry


I'm really looking forward to the start of the American Le Mans Series races this year, for several reasons. Audi has debuted a new Le Mans prototype car to replace the ultra-successful R8 car, a turbo-diesel called the R10 (silver car pictured). Porsche will also be campaigning a new entry in the LMP2 class, the RS Spyder (pictured in yellow behind the R10). The R10 and RS Spyder are not directly competing within a class together but they will be racing for overall victory in the endurance races. This will be the first full season of competition for both new designs, so it should be very interesting to see how well they do.


The other reason I'm so excited about the ALMS season this year is the new GT2S class they've created for sedan-based touring cars. Lexus will be campaigning the all new IS350 in this class, and since I am a Lexus-owner-to-be I am of course going to root for them to take the checkered flag! BMW has joined the battle with their M3 racecars which are no strangers to racing victory. Meet the enemy (pictured at left)! I will hopefully see some photos of the IS350 racecars soon and share them here.

The 2006 ALMS championship begins at Sebring on March 18. Like last year, I hope to make it to the ALMS race when it comes out to Laguna Seca in October.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

serendipity


I recently had to bring in my 2005 Scion tC for a recall on the power moonroof glass. They basically had to apply some kind of protective film over the front air blocker piece to prevent it from shattering if a bouncing rock hit it. No big deal but it did take a few hours at the dealership to do it.

Well how cool is this ... the other day I got a package outside my door from Scion. I was like, what is this? I didn't order any more parts... turns out it is a thank you gift from Scion, and an apology to Scion tC owners for the inconvenience of the recall campaign. It's a 1:18 scale diecast model of a pimped out tC, painted candy apple red with some CF bling and black wheels. Pretty sweet.

I am pretty impressed with how Scion seems to always be thinking about its customers and demographics ... wonder if other manufacturers like Honda or GM would go to such lengths to stay tapped into their customer base?

Thursday, January 19, 2006

paranoia

In preparation for my new car I've placed an order for two of these for my garage:

http://www.autosupermart.com/store/shop/parksmart00003.html

Sometimes I park kind of close to the garage wall in order to maximize the space between my cars. This will allow me to park even closer without fear of banging my door against the wall. Maybe I only need 1 of them, but I'll give the other to my father-in-law for his garage. He is just as paranoid if not more about parking his cars so he will appreciate it.

do you park your nice car way out in the back of the parking lot away from all the other cars so that you can park alongside a curb and hopefully lessen the chance of getting a door ding? ever notice that all the other nice cars park out there too? that's the nice thing about my office parking lot, almost everyone else drives pretty nice cars too, so they're respectful and won't slam their car door into yours when getting in and out. but i still park way the f*** out there, just to be safe.

i avoid shopping malls and supermarkets like the plague. the kinds of mf's you run into there have absolutely no regard for property. when i have to park there i am a nervous wreck and try to get back to my car and get out of there as soon as possible.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

anticipation


So i put a deposit down on a 2006 Lexus IS350 with Lexus of Stevens Creek in Santa Clara. That was back on Dec. 23, 2005. I hadn't heard anything in a while so I called my sales guy Phil to see what's going on?

He says they have a car fitting my requirements coming in the next day or so. Sport package, Nav system, the whole works. Yay! But it belongs to another buyer who placed his order months ago before me. Boo. Phil hinted that the guy might not take the car when it arrives though, so I might have a shot at it. We'll see.

genesis

hello this is my first post to my very own blog. I'll keep it short and sweet. In case you are wondering "cha siu tong mein" is Cantonese for BBQ Pork Noodle Soup, which is my favorite Chinese meal.



Cashew nut chicken over rice is my second favorite dish, but I couldn't remember the chinese name for it so there you go, a site is born.