defection

What's the holidays without a little technological gadgetry upgrade? Well it would still be the holidays, but also getting some new gadgets is certainly more fun! My honey V. couldn't wait until Christmas to give me my Christmas present, so I got it super early this year... she got me an Xbox 360 Elite! It's super cool looking in all black and even has its own distinctive black controller. The Elite has everything the regular X360 has, plus a 120GB drive, HDMI cable connector, and black headset. It also came with two free games, LEGO Indiana Jones and Kung-Foo Panda. I'm not too sure about those two games, but I will probably get to playing them eventually.
V. knows me so well... she knew they probably wouldn't cut it so she got me a copy of Halo 3 to get my violence rampage on. (Hey, killing ugly bad things in the virtual world, just might make you a better person in the real world.) So I stopped (momentarily) playing through GTA4 for the third time, to get into the world of Master Chief. So far it's been a real challenge, playing the game at "Heroic" difficulty I have to try most levels many many times before I can get through it. But the gameplay and storyline is fairly similar to Resistance 2
for the PS3, which I finished in an unbelievably short period of time. I haven't ventured online to play against other people yet but I will, I hear it is a lot of fun and some people never even play the solo campaign, opting to spend all their time online instead.
So now I'm a little conflicted, having been so long a Sony PS3 fanboy and now I have an X360 as well. What games to buy, which system to spend more money and time on? The PS3 has the home theater setup going for it, with Blu-Ray support and a decent web browser. On the other hand the X360 also interfaces nicely with our PC as a Windows Media Center extender. Well, we'll see how it goes as I play around with the X360 and learn more about what it can do.

retrorockets

My friend and fellow car junkie H. recently posted up his automotive resume of sorts, listing all the cars he's owned over the years. That of course led me to think about my own rides and... (start shimmering dream sequence effect) it's time to take a spirited drive down Memory Lane...

1) 1991 Toyota Tercel (a.k.a. Rice Rocket I) (1991-2002)
For a car guy, you could say that their first car is like their first love. It may not be the best or the one you stay with, but it will always have a special place in your heart. So it is with the original Rice Rocket. It was painted white, had kind of rounded edges, and being Japanese the name wasn't hard to come up with. The 4-speed long-throw stick shift helped make the most of the mind-numbing 82hp of the 4 cyl engine up front. Armed with 2-door coupe design, a sweet-looking black vinyl interior that one chick even thought was leather, and a "RELAX" bumper sticker on the back, it was the epitome of cool in 1991 for a high school senior. So what if it didn't come with a stereo? That's what a passenger is for, to flip the tape on the boombox when side A is done. It even had a dealer-installed sunroof. Unfortunately RR1 met its untimely demise when it smashed into a freeway offramp divider. Miraculously my sister-in-law who I had lent it to for her college commute escaped with only minor injuries despite RR1 not being equipped with an airbag. By then I had already acquired my next two rides so it didn't mean so much to me, but I will always remember it fondly.

2) 2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder (a.k.a. Stealth Fighter) (2000-)
Growing up my family was very fond of Toyotas ... we had some bad experiences with various American and European makes, but when we started buying Toyotas we found they were economical and reliable. Even when I was in school I became enamored of Toyota's first and second generation MR2s -- they combined sporty performance with rock-solid reliability. No wonder that when I started working and making a little money, I lusted after the new concept MR2 that Toyota displayed in 1997. By the time it went into production in 2000, I had met V. and she encouraged me to pursue my dream. Driving a mid-engine 2-seat roadster opened up my interest in cars and motorsports -- I tried my hand at autocross and then open track days, and got into the import tuning craze. The Stealth Fighter remains in my garage today, and although I no longer drive it every day it makes a great pick-me-up on the weekend drives and the occasional track day.

3) 1992 Toyota MR2 Turbo (a.k.a RedShark) (2002-2005)
As far back as high school I had already fallen in love with the 2nd-generation MR2 which had according to some auto magazines, Ferrari-style looks and Toyota-style price and reliability. And a standard-setting 200-hp 2.0 liter turbocharged engine providing the oomph. Unfortunately Toyota discontinued this model in the U.S. in 1995 and I never had a chance to buy one new. Well with a little extra cash available I was able to finally pick one up used. It was a fantastic ride with plenty of power, stylish looks, and superb mid-engine handling. It held its own at the racetrack, but it was also a practical car that I could drive every day. Unfortunately I eventually sold it because we didn't have the space for so many cars. I still miss it, and maybe someday I will own one again.

4) 2005 Scion tC (a.k.a. Rice Rocket II) (2005-)
When we got married I decided we needed a more "practical car" that we could take everywhere and haul a little more than a few small bags of groceries. But being who I am, of course it still had to be somewhat sporty yet comfy. The sporty ride of the MR2s was getting a little too harsh for the daily grind of my commute. At first I was thinking about an Infiniti G35 but I kind of recoiled from being so extravagant, and decided to look at something more economical. The new Scion tC fit the bill perfectly with its sporty 2-door coupe/hatchback profile and a surprisingly ample set of luxury, convenience and comfort features. And to a certain extent, I felt it was a spiritual successor of sorts to my first Tercel. Eventually V's Mercedes started to fall apart and it just wasn't worth fixing it, so we sold it and V took over the Scion as I started searching for another ride.

5) 2006 Lexus IS350 Sport (a.k.a. Silver Lexstasy) (2006-)
When we got rid of the Mercedes C280 it seemed logical to buy another car to fill the same purpose: another 4-door sedan. But V was happy to take the Scion off my hands, so I was free to shop for another car for me! Woo-hoo! Performance and style were my key criteria. Oh, and made by Toyota of course. At this point though, Toyota itself had gotten a little boring in their offerings. The Japanese equivalent of GM, some call them, but without the Corvette. They had discontinued sporty cars like the Celica or MR2, and a Camry or Avalon wasn't going to cut it. The real exciting or interesting cars were to be found in the Scion and Lexus brands. Well I certainly wasn't going to be rolling in a Scion xB so I went to look at Lexus. The IS350 was the standout performance sedan with a fresh new look and an impressive 306-hp V6 motor driving the rear wheels. It makes the daily drive to and from work just a little more bearable, maybe even entertaining.

Looking back at all these rides, it seems kind of modest and actually a pretty short list considering I'm supposed to be a "car guy". Aren't I supposed to have like 5 cars at once, at least two up on stands or cinder blocks in the front or back yard? And surely at least one truck to haul or tow them, and something with a V8. No muscle cars? Obviously my automotive resume needs some beefing up. I guess I'm coming to the realization that I am more of a driver than a mechanic -- I have tinkered with my rides to a fair degree, but I get much more enjoyment out of just taking them out on the open road or on a closed track.

So what's next in P's garage? I'm not sure yet -- maybe it's time to stray from the Toyota fold and see what else is out there. I'm definitely feeling the mid-engine magic might take hold of me again. I'm running out of affordable options there though. The Audi R8 seems like a solid choice but the Porsche Cayman is a bit more affordable. Then again, there's that new Lexus LF-A that will be coming in 2010. Maybe I should just start saving up for that. But reports say it might be priced over $300K. That's a pretty huge chunk of change for a Toyota!

adaptation

It used to be called Cluck University and then University Chicken, and now it's changed names once again. I pulled up today on my way back from a business trip to Monterey to pick up some spicy buffalo wings from my favorite wing place in Santa Clara and now the place is called Smoke Eaters?

Personally I think it's a horrible name but I had to go in and see if the wings were still the same. I asked the server when they changed and she said about a month ago. The menu looks different but has essentially the same offerings as before. The wings are still called wingers and there are still different levels of hotness for the sauce, but the highest level of hot is now "Inferno" instead of "Global Thermonuclear". Maybe the change makes sense; probably only the older customers will remember the classic reference to the old Matthew Broderick film WarGames.

Anyways I took a box of 10 "Nuclear" wingers home and dug in. Still the same sweet and tangy hot sauce, with a good dose of spicy heat. Too bad the name stinks. The weird thing is, the Chicken University website is still up and lists the Santa Clara location, so I'm not sure if they changed all of them or if just this one changed. Seems like they still serve the same good ol' wings though so I guess I'll still drop by from time to time.

cutbacks

So, 6 months have passed since I hatched the grandiose scheme of investing my money and having the dream of someday driving a V10-powered auto.   And unless you've been living under a rock (which I sort of was for a while, but even I've managed to notice), you know now that the financial and investment world has seriously gone down the drain and, almost to add insult to injury, the price of gas has shot up to $4 and even $5 a gallon for a while, making both investment in stocks and the purchase of any kind of gas-guzzler appear to be very foolish ideas.  But who would have known?  I'm sure there's someone out there that could say "I told you so", but I'm no genius and surely did not see this coming.  Needless to say, I haven't made it big and bought my retirement mansion in the Bahamas yet.  Nor am I driving a Bugatti Veyron or even a humble V10-equipped M5.  Instead I'm lamenting the demise of my WaMu shares and dusting off my trusty 4-cylinder powered MR2 to try and save some scratch at the pump.

And while I'm not necessarily packing my things and moving into a cardboard box just yet, surely this is a great time to be rich.  With all the economy in a tizzy and gas prices shooting up it's crazy but you can find some really sweet deals on some automotive hardware.  It's all about supply and demand, and right now it's a buyer's market like nobody's seen in quite a while.  If you're in the market for a Mercedes S-Class or a Ford F-150 truck, it's on like Donkey Kong.  For everybody else, though I think we're going to be finding ways to cut some of the excess fat from our monthly bills.  All of sudden my $95/month cable bill has moved from simply silly to outrageously ridiculous.  I think I can do without 200+ channels that I don't really have the time to watch anyways.

Last night I was having dinner with J.T. and we tried out a new restaurant, San Mateo Prime.  Which, as you might surmise, is in San Mateo. The prime rib there was decent and certainly enjoyable but not quite up to the standard of House of Prime Rib up in San Francisco. I'd say that in terms of ranking, HOPR > Broadway Prime > San Mateo Prime. But it was pretty sobering to see that even at prime time dinner hour on a Friday night, the restaurant's tables weren't full. The waiter commented that business has been slow and they were even lowering the prices of wine offerings in an attempt to drum up more business. Food for thought indeed.

contrast

It took all night, but I was actually able to finish this 24oz. can of Amp!

pequeno

Tabasco in an 1/8 oz. size! Ain't it cute?

spinning

It's been a while since my last post ... things have been busy at work but what else is new? At least I got a little time off back in July to take a roadtrip with my dad and visit my bro in San Diego and then we made the trek up to Las Vegas to take a little money off the casinos. In case you didn't know roulette is my game, and although I won't go so far as to say I have a winning system, I usually do pretty well and have fun while doing so -- what else could you want?

But then it's been back to work and although two of my cases thankfully settled before trial I still have 3 more on the calendar for this year, and that's still a ridiculous amount of work. I head to Washington DC next week for a trial at the ITC that will run about a week and a half; when I get back I think I have another hotel room waiting for me in San Jose to prepare for the next trial that may last several weeks. So this may well be my last post for another long stretch; as you might imagine I've been spending my days and nights at the office getting ready for all this action. Oh yeah, and then another trial coming in November. Maybe I will actually get a day or two off sometime in October.

Life's no fun without new gadgets, but my latest new toy is probably something a lot of people are starting to take for granted these days -- a new iPod! My first real iPod actually, my only other one being an iPod Shuffle. Due to a mishap involving the washing machine and her Shuffle, I gave my Shuffle to V. and picked up a new iPod Classic 160GB. I decided to go for the black finish because, well, it only comes in black or silver and I think white or silver iPods are just a little too common. Oddly though the black iPod still comes with white headphones -- guess that's the Apple branding at work ... but I guess I could just get any run-of-the-mill black set of earplugs to go with it. I've spent the last few days putting as much music and video as I can find the time to collect onto the iPod, but I've hardly made a dent on the 160GB hard drive... I just don't have that much music I guess. To be honest the 80GB version would probably have been fine, but V. got me the 160GB and I guess it'll be more than enough storage for a long time to come. Anyways it will be great to have along with me as I travel to and from the east coast in the coming months.

furley (2007-2008)

It's good to be home, but unfortunately when my honey V. picked me up at the airport she had some sad news... my little fishy friend Furley apparently missed me too much and kicked the bucket on Friday. I didn't get as teary eyed as I did when his predecessor Spencer went to the fish bowl in the sky, but it wasn't really the kind of news I wanted to hear upon my arrival. Anyways we gave him the royal flush ceremonial sendoff this morning and I think we are going to hold off on getting any new fish friends for a while.

Poor Mr. Furley.

NYC5

On my last day in NYC, I decided to take a scenic walk through Manhattan. I started from the GM building on 5th Avenue where our office is, and headed south through all the ritzy hotels and luxury shopping destinations. I walked past the iconic St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trump Tower, the NY Public Library, and the Empire State Building. Then I headed up Broadway towards Times Square, walked amongst the throngs of people there, saw a parade under way on 6th Ave., and walked past Radio City Music Hall back to the office to catch my ride to JFK airport by 1PM. So I covered about 50+ city blocks in 2.5 hours on foot, Niko Bellic eat your heart out.

Unfortunately the tight time frame meant I didn't have time to stop anywhere to grab some NY style pizza, but I didn't think the pizza around Times Square was going to be that great anyways. I was hoping to hit up Brooklyn on the way to the airport but my driver was not too cooperative and said we were going through Queens to get to JFK so it wasn't on the way.

Anyways I ended up at the airport early and the security checkpoint was nowhere near as busy I had been led to believe, so went into the gates and I hit up the pizzeria for a pair of strombolis, which are kind of like calzones. Good stuff for airport fare. Anyways the flight home was pretty uneventful and I got some work done in between sips of vodka and Coke and snacking on some Terra Blue chips. That's how I roll, baby.

For the rest of my phone camera pics from NYC, click here to my Photobucket album.

NYC4

Yum!!!

- CBS has its studios in the same building as my firm, and they use the plaza outside for live concerts and such. Apparently they were setting up the stage this morning as I was walking in, and I missed a live performance by Rihanna. I heard she was asking for me afterwards but I was busy in a lunch meeting with the patent litigation counselors group.

- Another burger place caught my eye, right across the street from the office. It's called Pop Burger and it seemed pretty hip and trendy. Like a White Castle meets Andy Warhol. Got a pair of mini cheeseburgers for $6 and you know what, it wasn't that much different from the bigger one I had at the Burger Joint last night. Pretty dang good and a lot easier to find.

- Well, tomorrow is my last day and I fly home to see my honey. I hope she's been feeding my fish Furley. She never remembers to feed him. Anyways, one last chance in the morning to do some exploring of NYC before I leave.

NYC3

-it's cramped in the conference room we're in. We set up a projector to show some of the work we're discussing and I have to say it's one of the most ghetto-style configurations I've seen in a while. the projector is a table-top model that is designed to project upwards from the table but we found there isn't room for it with us all sitting there so we put it on a chair, propped up on the far counter and because it shoots at an upward angle we had to tilt it with a binder and a stack of notepads. G-h-e-t-t-o.

-Some coworkers told me about this secret burger place that some regard as one of the best burgers in NYC. And it was within walking distance. So naturally I had to go check it out. It really is hidden, in a little alcove within a swanky hotel lobby of all places. You walk past a tall velvety curtain, spy a simple neon burger sign, and hang a right. Suddenly you're in the Burger Joint and it's all good. In keeping with its secret nature I couldn't take a picture of the burger that does it justice. But it was good. And I have a shot of the neon sign which also seems to evade clear depiction. You'll just have to ask someone that knows how to get there.

NYC2

More random thoughts from New York.

-being right across the street from the office is pretty convenient. A 5 min walk is a nice contrast to the usual 35min commute.

-went out for lunch with a coworker and he took me to a place called Beacon. I ordered a $19 hamburger with fries and "custom" ketchup. Not bad, but for $19 you'd expect something pretty awesome which it wasn't.

-lots of European tourists walking around 5th Ave during the day. Strong Euro and weak dollar means great shopping deals for the Euros.

-My coworker pointed out the Abercrombie & Fitch store on 5th Ave doubles as a trendy nightclub at night. There's even a velvet rope outside the door during the day and when it gets busy, you sometimes have to wait outside to get in ... just to shop. How incredibly pretentious.

-the office is in the GM building which has been decked out in the ground floor lobby to look like the inside of an iPod or something. Everything's white with silver accents and there's these pointless flashing red lights in the elevator that don't tell you what floor you're on or anything useful.

NYC1

NYC is nice. highlights so far:

-my flight on sunday was cancelled. flew redeye into JFK instead Sun night/Mon morning.
-checked in at 6AM, showered and then went to work all day Mon.
-hotel is pretty nice, best part is it's directly across the street from the NY office. towels are nice and soft.
-sudden rain and thunderstorm hit NYC last night. I got drenched in the one block run back to the hotel
-had a street stand hotdog at 2AM after the rainstorm, then visited the 24hr Apple Store right outside the office.

flex

Chris Bangle, the Director of Design at BMW has been both praised and villified by the automotive press for his accomplishments. Love it or hate it, the "Bangle-Butt" you see on cars like the BMW 7 Series has made an impression on the world of auto design and it has now manifested itself in cars as mundane or mainstream as the Toyota Camry.

I can't say I cared too much for the Bangle-Butt but now with the newest concept design from BMW I have some new-found respect for Bangle and his team. They've taken the "flame-surfacing" ideas they showcased on the BMW Z4 roadster and coupe, and moved into a new organic direction... with a flexible fabric-based skin and motorized moving structure that can resculpt itself and even blink its headlights, this really is the kind of car that one could imagine as a 21st century car of the future. Check out the promotional video from BMW featuring Bangle and showing some of the cool effects you get from a flexible skin and adjustable structure. The look of the folded skin when the doors open is very unconventional for sure, but I think it's pretty breath-taking to behold. I hope to see this car or an evolution of it in person someday.



See more photos of the BMW GINA at Autoblog

duality

Now I'm not a particularly big fan of football, but when one of the partners that I work for invites me to play in the office's newly formed flag football league, I found myself having a hard time saying no. To be honest, I haven't played flag football since high school, and I didn't fare particularly well then either. But you know what, it's moments like this that slap you in the face and make you sit up and pay more attention to your own health and well-being. But when we took to the field for the first time on Friday, the slap in the face was more harsh than even I imagined. Out of shape and with no athletic skills or conditioning, I found myself gasping for air after only a few plays and eagerly self-benching myself so that others could get a chance to play. Oh, man am I out of shape. My elliptical machine has really built up a fine patina of dust over the last few months from disuse. The guilt is starting to take its toll on me, so I think I'll be popping some fresh D-cell batteries into it (yeah, seems kinda silly that an exercise machine couldn't be self-powered, right?) and putting it through its paces soon. Maybe next week's game I can actually stay on my feet and not collapse from exhaustion.

But as they say for every force, there is a corresponding opposite force to keep things in balance. And so with this renewed pledge to exercise and get into shape, comes a desire to stuff myself silly in the most extravagant way possible. And so I have reconvened the Carnivore Club, a ragtag collection of similarly meat-centric folks who take no shame in eating as much food as they can, to return to the fantastic Brazilian steakhouse Espetus Churrascaria in San Francisco. If you're a meat lover and haven't been to a Brazilian steakhouse, you have to try it. You know how you go to a normal steakhouse, order a steak, and while it tastes great when you first dig into it, by the time you're finishing it the meat has cooled off and it's not so tasty anymore? Well at a churrascaria, you get smaller slices of beef off a large skewer fresh out of the kitchen and brought right to your plate, so every bite is a nice hot and tasty experience. I can't say enough about it and I can't wait to go back there next week. But I leave you with a few Carnivore Club Rules, or in the spirit of Pirates of the Carribean, they're more like guidelines.

Rules of Carnivore Club

#1. You do not talk about Carnivore Club.
#2. OK, you can talk about it a little but only when recruiting others.
#3. If someone says “stop” or turns over the red card, the food stops coming.
#4. One man (or woman), one plate. Nobody shares from their plate.
#5. You finish what’s on your plate. Unless it’s nasty.
#6. No soup, no salad. Unless it’s got meat in it.
#7. Dinner will go on as long as it has to.
#8. If this is your first night in Carnivore Club, you have to eat.

furious

I'm pretty angry right now. I just have to get it out of my system and move on. I've gone on and on in multiple posts about the coming of the new Rockstar game, Grand Theft Auto IV onto the PS3. I mean, this is basically one of the 2 games that I have been waiting all along to play on the PS3. Needless to say I'm pretty excited about it and I couldn't wait to play it when it was finally released in stores. I even pre-ordered it from Best Buy so I could be assured of getting it on Day Zero. That day is today.

And yet, here I am at home after work and am I firing up the game, assuming the role of Nico Bellic and terrorizing the streets of Liberty City? Negative. Instead I sit fuming in front of the computer, just plain angry. Did I get the game? I did. I worked until about 8pm, got the hell out of the office as soon as I could, and went down to the Best Buy to pick up my order just before closing time. The chick behind the counter gave me a blank stare as if she'd never done this before. "Is it the special edition?" she asked me. Not wanting to lie, I said I don't think so, but she seemed almost bent on trying to hand me the special collector's edition which costs about $30 more and comes with all kinds of extra stuff like a metal box and a book of artwork. If she was going to give that to me I sure wasn't going to say no. But eventually she actually checked the order and realized that it was just the regular game. She put it in a bag and handed it to me, and I was outta there.

It wasn't until I was nearly home, half an hour later, that it occurred to me that the package she handed me in the bag was unusually large. The PS3 games come in a Blu-Ray disk case which are slightly smaller than a DVD case. But something felt wrong somehow as I sat at a red light, caressing the package in my passenger seat. The case felt... unusually large. Ohoh. Surely the dimwitted cashier had not given me the wrong game? Or for the wrong platform (GTA IV is also available for the X360)? As I sat there in the car I held up the package in the pale yellowish illumination of the streetlights and made the horrible discovery -- the silly b!tch had forgotten to take the game out of its security packaging! Unbelievable!

So the game sits on my table, sealed in its tamper-resistant packaging and I'm halfway tempted to just go at it with my rotary cutting power tool to get it open. But I think it has one of those exploding ink cartridges that wouldn't be too fun to see splattered all over the room or my shirt. So yeah, I'm pretty damn angry. I'm going to go back tomorrow to get it opened, and I'm gonna let somebody have it. I guess in meantime, I'll go play some more Gran Turismo 5: Prologue instead.

alternative

I might have been too quick to judge, too swift to declare my allegiance to the V10. Because in this world of rising gas prices and global warming, it might be foolish to not at least consider buying an alternative fuel or hybrid vehicle. With that in mind, I submit, um, Plan B.

The Audi R8 TDI LeMans V12. It runs on diesel fuel and makes 500hp. According to Audi, the production version would be capable of reaching 200mph top speed, 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds, and it gets 25mpg. Dude, right now my Lexus IS350 doesn't even get 25mph. Sign me up!

gran(d)

Today is a big day for racing sim fans and PS3 fans -- it's launch day for Gran Turismo: 5 Prologue.

It actually hit the PlayStation Network last night as a downloadable game but will also be available in stores for purchase on Blu-Ray media today. I've already placed my order on Amazon and took advantage of a $5 off online coupon but the downside is, I won't get the game until sometime next week most likely. Things at work will probably keep me busy over the weekend anyways but you can bet I will be eagerly awaiting the arrival of what undoubtedly is one of the most hotly anticipated and wildly popular PS3 games that will come out this year.


The other huge release of the year comes out April 29th but is a multi-platform game -- Grand Theft Auto IV. I'm definitely going to be picking that up at the end of this month, and then I may well disappear off the grid for a while as I explore and fight to conquer the virtual world of Liberty City.

Speaking of grids, GT5P may see some intense competition later this summer from game developer Codemasters -- from a game called GRID. Check out the preview trailer below from IGN. I will probably be picking this one up as well when it comes out, it should really give GT5P a run for the money:



These are exciting times... I mean, GT5P and GTA IV are the games that I essentially bought my PS3 for. At long last, they are here. Both games also feature new online multiplayer functionality that should give them tons of replay value long after I finish the single-player modes.

fracture

Well the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I'm not really sure that applies 100% to the story I'm about to tell, but you can be the judge of that. I just couldn't think of anything more pithy to pair up with the tale on a moment's notice.

I've been told and have read somewhere (don't ask me for the source now) that eating almonds, especially raw and unsalted almonds, is good for your health. In fact it says right here on the can that eating them may reduce the risk of heart disease. So since I have mildly high blood pressure and am one of those "at risk", I thought it would be a nice healthy habit to pick up, plus I really like almonds anyways. It's just that I was used to eating roasted and salted ones, but raw almonds are not that far off in taste and texture so it's a relatively easy switch. So last weekend since we're on a health craze V. and I went to Trader Joe's and I picked up a big bag of raw almonds for me to snack on.

So I'm snacking away at work yesterday, munching on these healthy and heart-friendly almonds while my coworkers are scarfing down the Twix and Reeses Pieces in my candy jar. But late in the afternoon, something goes awry -- I find myself chomping down on something distinctly non-almondlike. Before you think of something horrific (animal part) or something really awesome (10-carat diamond), suffice to say that it was in fact, a fragment of my tooth. Apparently the corner of one of my molars had broken loose and presto, there it is on my desk. Fortunately, the aforementioned coworkers had since departed from my office, perhaps fearing that the look of consternation on my face was going to presage some new dreadful assignment I was about to lay down on them. But no, it was just a molar malfunction.

So I took the morning off today and went to see my dentist, who proclaimed "nice fracture!" and proceeded to saw the top of my tooth off after various needles and Novocaine were bandied about in front of my face. I'm sporting a temporary cap on the injured tooth and they made a casting from my teeth to make me a permanent cap that will be ready in two weeks. I was sorely tempted to inquire as to the price for a full platinum or gold grille but I had a hunch my insurance wasn't going to cover it. It could have been a pivotal point in my life, where my career as a hip-hop star would have taken off, but alas it seems it was not to be. So now I'm back in the office staring at this can of almonds and wondering what's next... am I going to cut the roof of my mouth trying to eat some of my multigrain flake cereal? Or choke on one of the vitamin pills I'm taking? Is there a moral to this story? I am not sure but I guess I'm going to be chewing more carefully for the next few weeks.

ten

Sometimes amazing things happen based on a simple idea or concept. Take the number 10 for instance. It has amazing significance. We have 10 fingers and 10 toes, and therefore our whole system of counting is based on factors of 10. It has a 1 and an 0, the two basic elements of the binary code language that man-made machines speak. Everywhere you look around, the number 10 plays a huge role in our lives.

I should know. My birthday is on October 10, the 10th day of the 10th month of the year.

Ok, don't get too creeped out. I'm trying to get somewhere with this, and it's really quite simple. A thought that just occurred to me today. It's not that politically correct to say something like this, and certainly not the "green" way to live, but I feel it in my heart just the same. Here it is:

I WILL own a V10 someday.

OK, maybe it wasn't the ground-breaking bombshell discovery or revelation you were looking for. But it caused ripples of cause and effect which could have amazing consequences further down the road. Walk with me a little further.

In case it's not clear, what I mean is I intend to own a V10-powered car someday. Why? Because we have 10 fingers on our hands and 10 toes on our feet. Because being born on 10/10 gives me the right, nay, the obligation to fulfill my automotive manifest destiny. Is it the most eco-friendly thing to want or have, given our bleak future of depleted oil resources, expensive gas prices, and global warming? Most definitely not. But you cannot deny my logic. 10 is the number that must be dominant, 10 is the number of cylinders that must power the vehicle of my dreams and make my life complete.

So let's take a look at what we're talking about here. What cars are available with a V10 engine? Not too many, really. The now discontinued Porsche Carrera GT would have been a great candidate. The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 is a serious contender. The Dodge Viper SRT-10 is another option. If I wanted to be practical I could even consider the BMW M5 Touring or the Audi RS6 Avant, which are German-speak for really really ridiculously fast station wagon. I have to admit, I may be doing myself a disservice by categorically excluding all the fine vehicles out there that are driven by a V8 motor, or a V12. But I must be true to my calling.

That's all well and good you say, but what is so ground-breaking about saying I want a V10? Nothing much, in and of itself. But when one realizes that these V10 machines are not cheap, but one still has the aspirations or dare I say, mandate! of owning one, then one has to get down to brass tacks and git 'er done, as the good ol' boys in the South would say. So it's time to get cracking on the revenue generation, bringing home the bacon, making the dough. That's the ripple -- it changes everything we do, in cause and effect.

You might have noticed a few subtle changes on this blog site. I've slyly added some advertising for Amazon in the sidebar, and a link at the bottom of the page where you can search and shop the whole Amazon site. If you're already shopping at Amazon to buy your favorite books, DVDs, music or other cool stuff, help me out and click through from here to make your purchases! Gift certificates also make great gifts! No additional cost to you, and it's a few pennies more to my V10 fund! I'll change the sidebar links from time to time to recommend some cool movies or books or whatever that I would recommend based on my own enjoyment of these items.

V is also on a newfound entrepreunerial charge, working to become a health and beauty consultant and teaming with Market America to sell products like vitamins, nutraceuticals and makeup. Her new business is called Princess Health and Beauty. If you're into that stuff then take a look at her new blog, and also her homepage linked in the sidebar.

Not to be outdone, I'm going to be playing mini-venture capitalist, throwing around some of my hard-earned bucks in various investments. I've taken a few risks and gambles by choosing to invest in what is viewed by many as a very shaky time economically but it may well pay off (literally I hope!). I've got some money in banking and commercial transaction institutions, some money in some aggressive mutual funds, and even some foreign investment funds. Wish me luck.

So today is 4/10/08. And in 6 months, it will be 10/10/08. Check back in to see how we're doing, maybe in 6 months we'll be coming up perfect 10s... and riding in style in a V10-powered car.