I went to see the Transformers movie the other day. What I can say about the movie is that I got all I expected. It is a movie about giant robots and things getting blown up. What more do I need to say. It is the kind of movie where you can shut off your brain.
While I was watching the movie I was thinking about the Autobots and the Decepticon. When the first cartoon started the Decepticons where mostly Jets. You had the three main Jets, Skywarp, Strarscream, and Thundercracker are all F-15 jets. On top of that you have Megatron who is a Walker PPK and Shockwave who is a laser gun. Many would say that the F-15 was the greatest weapon system of the 1980s.
Fighter jets have only one purpose, war. If they are not being used for war, they are a waste. They really cannot server another purpose. It is not like you can use them for passengers or cargo.
On the other side the Autobots are cars. Cars are the symbol of American freedom. They are the greatest tool to the great American masses. Cars are the way we get around. Even if you have a better car than me, both cars go from point A to point B. Cars are extremely useful. The Autobots show this. They are a Big Rig, VW Beetle, Van, Ambulance, Race Car, and 4x4.
There is something in this idea that really strikes me. The Decepticon have to be warlike. If they were not warlike they would have nothing to do. The Autobots do not have to be warriors. They could have a good life just being cars. Of course the Autobots have to fight, because they have to defend the world from the Decepticon. They cannot stand by as the Decepticon create war.
I wonder if the people who made the toys thought about this before. I guess they just thought, Cars v. Planes Cool.
India's largest car company is coming out with a car that runs on compressed air. Now that is thinking outside the box. I think ideas like this are great. But we will never seen this car in America.
Of course, the Air Car will likely never hit American shores, especially considering its all-glue construction.
I guess it would really use a battle with an SUV. Where I live it is not worth having a car that cannot ride on the highway.
Everyone likes to play the blame fat people game. It does not matter how or why, we are an easy target. In a country like the US it is easy to see fat people as the example of everything that is wrong with this country.
That is how we get studies about how Weight gain means lower gas mileage. I have a lot of questions about this study. I know that it is simple physics that the more weight the more energy it takes to move. I am not confident at the efficiency of cars that they are generating just enough power to move the weight in the car.
Why don't we talk about how overpowered cars are. why don't we talk about how much poor driving habits drive down MPG. A leaded foot driver with a sports car is going to burn a lot of gas no matter how much they weigh.
I already have an iPod, but I think this is a good marketing idea. For a long time I have noticed with cross over between VW drivers and Mac owners. It would only be really cool if I could get the New Beetle in white plastic like my iBook. I am not sure, but I think I could buy a cheaper car and buy a bigger iPod.
I got my car washed today. Many of my close friends realized that this is a rare thing for me. I usually let my car just be dirty on the outside. It is usually not much better on the inside either. Today I went all the way, not only cleaning the outside, but also vacuuming the inside also. I am getting ready if the woman on Friday wants to take one car when we go out for drinks.
After I washed my car I really looked at my paint job. There are lots of scratches and chips in my paint job. I am usually someone who does not pay too much attention to my car. While I love driving, I think it is crazy when I see people who's life is their car. San Jose has a real car culture here. There must be 40 cars in the parking lot of my job that cost more then $60K. I would never spend that much money on a car.
I think that there is a line. On one side you have a zen approach to your car. You are utilitarian about transport and your car takes you from point A to point B. On the other side of that line you are a slob and you let you do not take care of the things you own. Where is that line exactly. I would like to say I am on the utilitarian side of that line. Those of you who have ridden in my car might think differently.
I went out and bought new front tires this weekend. My front tires were starting to look worn. Four of the last Five times I bought new tires, it was because one of my tires went flat. The last two times I had to change a tire on a highway. There are few things I hate more then changing a tire on the highway. My mind was full of all the stories of people getting hurt doing that.
The tires are a very important step. I need to make sure my car is in roadtrip shape. I would hate to be riding on a spare time when the next exit is 50 miles away. I am going to take a test trip this spring. I am going to take a road trip so I can see if my car can handle a long trip. I am going to drive up to Portland over Easter Weekend. I have a three day weekend. I can take a couple of days and just stretch that weekend. This will be the trip that will decide it my are is up to a further trip.
I know that waiting until April to decide if I want to take a trip in July might be a little late. This worries me a little bit. I wonder if it will be a problem for any of the people that I want to see. I feel that I have to take a trip to Portland. If I am driving, I really do not want to drive any sooner. I at least want to wait until March. I might as well wait for my three day weekend. I will have to see how this unfolds.
I went to the San Jose International Auto Show on Sunday. It is one of the shows where the auto makers show off their models for the next model year. They are trying to hype the cars, get people interested in them. There was only one concept car, the Ford Forty-Nine. It is a cross between the bat-mobile and an old Lincoln. It would be cool if it actually got into production.
I walked around the auto show for a while. I could tell there were a lot of people that were looking at cars they could never afford in real life. I will admit that I sat in both the Mercedes and BMW convertibles. I stopped there. I did not want to be the guy sitting in all the BMWs. They did not let people in the uber-expensive cars like Ferrari and Rolls Royce.
I tried to sit in all the cars that I might buy the next time I am looking for a car. I have three main criteria, under $20,000, at least 30-MPG city, and I need to be about to get in without needing a shoehorn. I think that these things fit the way I few a car. I know that I want a car that is cheap to own. I also want a car that I do not have to worry about it being stolen. There are very few cars that fit all of these categories. The two cars that I liked the most are the VW New Beetle and the Saturn L100.
I am very divided when it comes to cars. There is part of me that really likes cars. I love to drive. I love being on the road. I love the freedom that my car gives me. I have been itching for months to take a good road trip.
There is another part of me that wants to get rid of my car. I want to never make a car payment again. I want to get out of the daily grind of the traffic jam. I want to be the person that asks other people for rides. I have friends that live without cars. There is part of me that is jealous of them.
I am not going to buy a new car anytime soon. I want to own my current car for at least another three years. I want to get every penny of value out of it. By the time I am looking to buy a car, the cars at the car show will be used lease returns. That is what I will most likely be buying anyway.
Once again it is time for the Friday Five. This week I am even doing it on Friday.
1. What was your first job? I had a summer job working at Burger King. We had nine different managers (the story usually had three at a time) in the six weeks I worked there.
2. How old were you when you had your first kiss? 16. I meet the girl in driver's ed class. We are still friends.
3. What was your first car? What happened to it? My first car was a 1988 Plymouth Reliant K. It was my father's car and he gave it to me my second year in college. I put over 200,000 miles on that car, after my father had already put 100,000 on it. The engine died after a long life of service.
4. What was your first concert? The Monkees. It was their first reunion tour in the 80s. They were playing after the Temple University Homecoming game. My oldest sister took a big group of my friends to the game.
5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? Cleaning the apartment, Watching the Eagles, maybe San Jose Car Show, maybe a movie.
This weekend I had a dream about buying a new car. In the dream I was working for Saturn. In my mind it makes sense that Saturn and TiVo are alike in my brain. Everyone who I work with now, was also working for Saturn. One of the marketing guys was driving around with me telling me I made a good choice. I told him that I was thinking about buying a VW Bug, but I chose a Saturn. This is strange because the last couple of times I dreamt about getting a new car, I bought an old Bug. I had to take the car into the shop to get something adjusted. All the people working in the shop where from TiVo’s Quality Engineering department.
