PPPPPPPPPPProductive…
I am feeling good.... yesterday... mason had a doctor's appt, the work, then came home, got mason to bed, had dinner, went to the gym, then went to the grocery store and got normal stuff as well as stuff for smoothies, veggies, and stuff for work lunches. Made some veggies stir fried for a post gym snack, cleaned up the main floor, and went to bed.
This AM I got up, made smoothies, fed mason, and was at work at 9.
I like eating lunch in, since I don't really care about the food options around me, and damn is it hard to eat a decent meal out that is remotely healthy. I mean, au ba pon (sp?) has low calories, but like 50% of the daily sodium. ok. Subway 6inch veggie patty is ok. The tofu teriyaki is good, but I can only eat that so much. Not to mention all of those cost $4-$6. So I have been making pb&j sandwiches and eating some fruit. I figure that is better, and infinitely cheaper, even when I am using whole wheat bread, real peanut butter (list of ingredients: peanuts. thats it.), and fruit spread (it is hard to find a jelly/jam/preserve that doesn't have corn syrup in it).
So yeah, I figure that is better than what I was eating.
Work, tonight is garage. Maybe I'll work on the car? who knows.
ah, the joys of being a parent…
As many of you know, I drive a loud audi. It is actually probably too loud, but I enjoy it, so I am not feeling too bad about it. Anyway.... last night I drove home from work, as I tend to do, and I parked in front of the house. I parallel parked it in the spot in front of the house, so I was making a decent bit of noise. I parked and got out and as I was pulling out the keys to unlock the front door, it opens and rebecca is there holding a smiling mason. Not used to being greeted at the door, I asked what was up.
Turns out as I pulled up and was parking, mason was hanging out on the 3rd floor with rebecca. Mason pointed at the windows and said 'daddy'. That is awesome, my child recognizes my car by sound.
The joys of being a father.
wow… talk about behind…
so lets play some catchup...
mason: doing great.. talkative (but just no in english) and almost always in a good mood. he is always smiling and can be so easily entertained. As I type this he is scooting around on the floor playing with a piece of paper he pulled off an empty box. Funny stuff. He is pretty social, and he still sleeps really well. We are beginning to ween him and we have started giving him formula as well as the solid foods, and he is all about that. He is also getting big enough that we need to get him into a normal car seat, as we aver overdue. He isn't crawling yet but he scoots around on the hardwood on his belly, which is fun to watch, primarily because he can only really go backwards.
house: we are making progress on the house, in preparation for mason's first birthday party, which we will be celebrating on 10/28. We have hung a bunch of stuff on the walls that we had been meaning to get up, and we got some black tile for the basement bathroom. Unfortunately, I haven't finished pulling up the glue from the linoleum yet, which is a pain, but is coming along. We have a grocery list of stuff that we need to finish though, amongst them is tile for the front entry, which will likely be a slate. Should be super nice.
cars: I have been busy enough that my free time hasn't been spent at the garage, which is too bad. the jetta is really close to ready... check out that blog for more on the project. The Audi performed very well Blackhawk Farms with the ACCCC last month and it was great being on the track. I have a short video that I stole from josh and edited down to just the part I am in, which you can watch if you want, even though it is long... check it (warning, 20mb). I have only been driving around in the city lately, not pushing the car much. I had noticed a few thunks in the rear lately, I assuming it was stuff in the back of the car rolling around. I happened to be driving the camry home the other night and as I pulled behind the audi, I noticed something hanging down. Sure enough, the swaybar was BROKEN. Kinda nuts, I'll get some pics tonight. but it is odd. Needless to say, the camry is doing fine. I'll likely buy some better tires for it next summer, as I hate these RE92s, and one has a slow leak. But whatever. I am still impressed by the gas mileage for a car of its size.
computer stuff: I still think my macbook is dope. still very happy with it. The move to the intels was a great move by apple. I also got a nice case for it that fits in my backpack, very nice.
side stuff... I have been inspired a bunch of times readin the MAKE blog and I have a few little projects I am going to work on, but I have been so busy with side web work and other shit I haven't had time to play. I finally got around to learning layout with CSS vs. tables, and that has worked out well for me. I am by no means an expert, but I am getting the hang of it. I don't know why I had such trouble figuring it out in the past, it is easy. I think I just wasn't motivated enough.
Other than that, nothing super amazing to make note off... off to hang some more stuff on the walls. or back to the basement bathroom. And I need to go to the garage to talk with dylan about websites we are working on. And I have some work to do for work work. awesome.
The auto industry…
So as a slightly more than casual observer to the auto industry... I see a number of things happening that don't sound awesome... to me.
First is the increase in 'collaboration' and purchasing of one brand by another, or even just minority shares or controlling shares... and I am not sure I am thrilled with that. I feel we are leading up to a situation where there are only 3 or so brands on the planet... and with the current amount of rules, etc, it becomes increasingly more difficult for a new car company to come about. I do however, when compared to other industries, feel the auto industry DOES respond to consumers demands, where as I don't feel that is true elsewhere. But I don't want to digress... Sometimes the collaborations produce interesting products that are good for both brands. I would prefer to see those are mutually amicable (think VW/Porsche) and less purchase of another company...
Second is the dramatic increase in the weight of cars lately. It is insane. I look at the quest for MPG and the money that is being spent on increasing technology to support 40+mpg, etc, but it is done on cars that are getting fatter with each generation (like americans!). Look at the first gen US civic. That thing got 40+mpg, but it was much lighter weight. Think of how awesome the new toyota 4 cylinder would be in a car that weighed in at 2100lbs. It would rule. I am sure they need to increase the weight to maintain their claims of structural rigidity and safety... and not that I am against those things by any means, but man, can't they be done and keep the car under 3,000lbs? I mean shit, we look at at 3100lb car and call it 'tossable'. Reallly?
Third... car makers continue to overproduce, then have to have huge incentives to move cars. Hello big 3. It is dumb. But whatever, I am not too worried about the big three. Sure they are a major employer in the US, and I would love to see more US companies survive, but man, they continue to turn out shitty cars that they can't sell. Don't get me wrong, there have been some that are doing well, but as a whole, all of the domestics are looking at 'employee pricing' again this year.
But good news... it APPEARS that there is finally being progress made on the MPG and lets conserve front... we are finally moving to low sulphur diesel... and more and more manufacturers are promising diesel cars, which rules. Ethanol is getting hype again, as is biodiesel. Once they get a diesel electric hybrid on the market, it is going to be awesome. The only problem is the US consumer-they still insist on purchasing vehicles they don't need. As much as I hate the higher gas prices, if it forces consumers to use mass transit and/or more fuel efficient vehicles, it would be worth it. I would love to see us be more like europe in vehicle choices and mass transit usage. If only there were more mass transit alternatives....