The TravelEd $5k challenge

No...you can't win $5,000 from me :)

After things settle down a bit and I sell my Vancouver home, G and I will be in the market for another car. We are looking for a dedicated dog car to haul the pups around in, but something that could be used by friends or family when they come to visit. We've been doing some preliminary searching, but I thought it would be fun to open it up to other suggestions.

Here are the parameters that must be satisfied by your suggestion:

1. Budget of $5,000
2. Must be able to be parked in front of the house without embarrassment
3. Must be able to haul the dogs (2 medium and 1 small)
4. Must be reliable enough to let my parents drive
5. Must be within 500 miles of Atlanta, or you must account for transportation to Atlanta in your budget


This is open to all makes and models, as long as they meet the criteria listed above. So get your thinking caps on...and leave a comment with your suggestions!

GTI Woes

One crappy thing about Atlanta right now is the drought. It's rained a little bit, but we are still in the worst drought in over 100 years. Bad drought = Outside Watering Bad. Outside Watering Ban means no washing the car. No washing the car = Unhappy Ed. So the car has gone about 3 months without being washed, which is driving me nuts. Usually it got a bath about every 3 days...so this is way different.

I'm not particularly happy with the GTI right now. Actually, the car is still running fine, so I can't complain that much. But she's fallen off the pedestal with the "Wyoming" incident, the paint issue on the A pillar and being so dirty. And unfortunately these things seem to attract more bad news.

Last week I was riding around when an overwhelming odor wafted into the cabin. Not smoke, not coolant, not oil...something else. It reminded me of a ski shop for some reason. I looked over at my friend Casey who was riding with me, and his look confirmed that there was definitely something going on. He seemed to think it was electrical, and came up with a brilliant plan if smoke suddenly filled the cabin (Find an autoparts store, run in and grab a fire extinguisher while he explains to the clerk what was going on). We eventually parked and investigated, but couldn't locate the source. But something was for sure- my car wasn't smelling right.

The following day I got under the car as much as I could, and almost instantly located the source: I had run over a plastic grocery bag. It had somehow wrapped around the exhaust in the dead center of the car, completely out of reach. I could jack up the car, but of course the movers didn't pack the blocks I used to raise the car enough to get the floor jack underneath. So I had to wait until I had some time to not only run to Lowe's and by a 2x10, but also have enough light to work on the car.

Finally a week later, I found the time. Got the car jacked up, and sure enough the bag had wrapped around the entire pipe and proceeded to melt...making a two foot long section completely coated in plastic. So I climb under with a die grinder and some sandpaper...and went at it.

Oh...did I forget to mention it was snowing at the time!? Yeah...snowing in Atlanta, on the one day I really needed to be outside rolling around on the ground. And to cap it all off, since it was Saturday morning Car Talk(www.cartalk.com) was on the radio, and some guy had called in because of a funny smell coming from his car. And guess what they said the likely culprit was- a plastic grocery bag.

Someone is mocking me.

Ahhhh....Quiet Time!

It's amazing what can happen when you get some time to yourself and stop running around like crazy. For the last week or two, I've actually lived a fairly normal life- and it's been very nice. I've been able to turn my attention to getting settled in the house.

After only three weeks of bathing in front of a picture window, we finally have curtains in the master bedroom and bathroom. I'm sure the workers building the house next to us appreciate that very much, now that they don't have to look at me naked in the morning anymore.

It was an adventure getting them however. Gayle had picked some out in a Target, but of course they didn't have enough to fit our needs. So did we order more? Nooooooo....why do that when there are 3 Targets in a 5 mile radius of your house. So we started out in one Target with a plan, but insufficient hardware and draperies to complete it. We bought what we could and drove to Target #2, where we found more of the hardware, but no more draperies. On to Target #3, where we completed the hardware requirement but were still lacking on the draperies. So did we give up? Nooooo...purchased a different color, or at least as many as we could. Then back to Target #1 and #2 to get the rest in the new color.

I'm sure the guy at Visa that monitors my account activity was like 'WTF is he doing!?'. But screw him...I have curtains now!

I've also succeeded in clearing out all the boxes from the garage that don't belong there, and unpacking all but 3 or4 of the ones that contain garage stuff. I've cleared enough space to park one car in the garage, and after this weekend and a trip or two to Goodwill I should be able to park both car inside. That right there is a victory in my mind. Not too mention I dug out all my tools and got them organized- another victory. Plus I acquired a crappy fridge to keep in my newly uncluttered garage specifically for the storage of malty brews and fermented grapes. Once I fill it up, that will be a BIG victory! ;)

The inside of the house is starting to come along as well, with a few walls getting a few decorations and some clutter piles getting knocked out. Of course this means I have one room completely full of crap...but at least I know what crap is in there.

Strange things afoot in PDX

We had to make a short notice trip back to Portland for a funeral last week, and had an experience that I just have to share.

The church service was attended by a number of folks that I didn't know, as the deceased was very active in the church community and had volunteered for many years. After some very nice words from the pastor and the family, the floor was opened up for the audience to make comments and pay their respects.

Most of the folks talked about memories from church or from volunteering...the usual fare. But one speaker stood out from all the rest. Let me do my best to recount his little talk:

"Hi...uh...I didn't know Wes (the deceased). In fact this is my first time visiting this church. I was just looking for a Tai Chi class and got a little tired and decided to make a pit stop. It sounds like he was a great guy, and who knows, maybe his spirit brought me here for a reason!?"

Now...I really didn't know Wes all that well, but I from what I gathered from him his spirit probably wouldn't be hanging out with a 20-something looking for a martial arts class.

But hey...you never know, right?

Comcast FTL!

For the record...I hate Comcast.

The problem is they have a decent product...and really have no competition. Which is really sad, because it allows them to get away with ish like this:

November 30th- Service installed, but no HDMI output from the cable box
December 6th- Total outtage (with family in town and the football playoffs on TV)
December 9th- First service call...tech says it's a problem in the neighborhood and service will be up by the end of the day. Service did not come back.
December 10th- Comcast says there was a global problem in my neighborhood, but it's been resolve. I argue my service is still out- they tell me it should be working. An hour later, there are 4 trucks in my neighborhood.
December 11th- get TV back...but it's very pixelated and sound cuts in and out. Spotty internet.
December 13th- Second tech call. Tech finds a questionable splitter and swaps it out. Service comes back strong. Attempt to hook up wireless router...doesn't work. But internet will work when hard plugged.
December 18th- bought new wireless router...everything works! Call regarding HDMI output on cable box. While on the phone, Comcast remotely resets cable box, internet stops working. troubleshoot problem...and it appears modem is bad
December 21st- third tech call. Tech tests everything and finds multiple failures. Swaps modem and box. When he leaves...everything is working. Finally!

So...exactly 3 weeks after the original install everything is working. What BS is that!? At $150 a month, I have paid almost $120 for services not rendered. Not cool.

What's worse is there are little to no options other than Comcast. DSL services are a joke. I would love satellite TV, but now they require hefty commitments and don't have the internet solutions Comcast can provide. Verizon and their FIOS seems to be a great alternative...but it isn't available in many areas at this time.

I just hate being stuck. My recommendation...if you have other alternatives, use them!

London, UK

My trip to the UK was a very important business trip, so the bulk of my time was spent working and stressing over a number of things this week. However, I must say that the trip did have a number of high points.

First, the flight. When I was getting ready for this trip I happened to skim through my company’s travel policies and procedures, and it just so happens that any international flights spanning the Atlantic or Pacific get booked in Business Class, and I made sure everyone knew that portion. Yes, being on a plane for 8-11 hours a stretch is very tedious and extremely tiring…but I’m amazed at the amount you can offset with the proper service. More space than any First Class cabin I’ve previously been in, a 5 course meal, drinks, Bose noise cancelling headsets, seats that lie nearly flat, and an in seat entertainment systems with a number of movies and TV shows at your fingertips…the flight really wasn’t that bad. It’s the only way to make a trip that long…I can’t imagine how the people in coach made it in one piece.

When I finally did make it to London, I was amazed. Few cities have ever made such an immediate impact as this one. Everyone was so polite and courteous, all the amazing history the city holds…the only word to describe it is ‘elegant’. Granted I really only had one night to explore the city, and even then I didn’t have much time…but it made a solid impact on me. This is a city I will come back to, as I fell in love the first night. Hopefully next time I can bring Gayle…and some cash. With the British Pound over 2 to 1 to the US Dollar, it’s expensive. Our car service, which ranged from 1-3 hours per trip was between $250 and $350 each trip. The Hilton in the “ok” part of town was almost $600 a night, and I can’t even imagine how expensive the shopping would be if I went. I pulled 50GBP(100USD) out of an ATM one day at lunch and it was gone with a taxi ride and round of pints at the airport.

And the food! If someone ever tells you English food leaves something to be desired, I want to you punch them squarely in the mouth. It was amazing! Now granted, we were entertaining clients, so we dropped some coin at times. We ate at an amazing Indian restaurant which held so many flavors I never thought my mouth would recover...but when the tab reached well over $1000 US for four people it will probably be a once in a lifetime experience. The second night we found Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen, which not only had an amazing sampling of dishes but was founded to help troubled young people get a second chance at life by teaching them a trade. (Insert URL). At $120 per person, it really wasn’t that bad considering what the money was supporting. And on the third night we found the most amazing Argentinean steakhouse which was completely packed at 11pm…and ended up being the cheapest dinner of the week! But even the meals we didn’t pay through the nose for- Beef and Mushroom pies at the pub, Fish and Chips, Lamb Kebobs…all of them fantastic! Second to none…all of them!

The best news from this trip however came from the client reaction…he absolutely loved us, and is ready to give us almost all of the European business on a silver platter. We are already planning another trip to the UK in February…but that’s only the beginning. Germany, Holland, and France are already in the works as well…it’s going to be an excellent adventure, I know it. If you haven’t already, you might want to subscribe to the blog. There’s going to be some excellent reading in the future :)

The United Kingdom and the Mercedes E220

I mentioned earlier that I was taking a trip to Great Britain for work, as my new client’s UK division is launching a new program. Now this is a big deal- our first European program and I got to be one of three people to head over the pond to kick it off. Needless to say, it was an absolute ton of work and everyone else at work hates me now. It’s good to be hated sometimes :)

Getting around in the UK can be difficult- they drive on the left side of the road, none of the roads are marked, and none of us that were going knew anything about the layout. Coupled with the fact that we had been traveling for around 14 hours straight when we got there, no one was up for the task of driving.

Fortunately we had thought ahead and hired a car service. Robert and his Mercedes was there to meet us at Gatwick and drive us up to North Hampton, which was around 3 hours away. My first impression of this car was that it seemed very small. Usually the E class seem like a bit of a boat, but with 4 good sized guys and enough luggage for a week the space fills up fairly fast. I however was extremely impressed with the car’s performance though- considering it was a diesel. Average speed varied quite a bit as we went from the city to the country, but our mileage was always on the north side of 40mpg. And went Robert finally “put his toe down” (not that often), the car responded magnificently. It was a very grueling 3 hour drive though. His driving was so cautious it made my eye twitch. In fact, he left the directional on for so long once I reached over and turned it off myself. He gave me the look of death…which was warranted because it was a dick move. But I don’t think he realized just how close he was to getting carjacked by his own passengers so they could drive the car the way it was meant to be.

The Europeans have got it right. You can take a luxury car and add a diesel engine and keep it luxury. The engine was near silent, had plenty of pep, didn’t have that “smell”(which may be a shame to some), and STILL get the efficiency. North America seriously needs to pull their heads out and take a look around. Talk about hybrids all you want…give me a diesel any day.

As long as whoever drives “puts their toe down” :)