I drove my bunny to work yesterday, and again today. I need a new radiator, the old one leaks a little bit. About an ounce every 10 miles. I have 5 washers stacked up under the clutch lever taking up slack in the clutch cable. The new old clutch is in there and working fine. The flywheel teeth are chewing up the little bit of starter bushing I lost in the bell housing. One of my speakers fell out, so the radio is not really working. I don't care.
My top is down and my car runs. In intarweb-speak, that means happy Kat is happy again.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Formula noOne
I'm one of those lucky employees who gets to see their employer's logo paraded around the F1 track on a car. Unfortunately, that appears to be not the case any more, at least in the form we paid for it.
I want to know why it never occured to the Mercedes/McLaren staff involved that maybe, just maybe, Ferrari was setting them up? Getting the competition's documents is always a rush, but are these people that clueless that the downside never crossed their minds? I guess so.
As the Wheel Turns....
I want to know why it never occured to the Mercedes/McLaren staff involved that maybe, just maybe, Ferrari was setting them up? Getting the competition's documents is always a rush, but are these people that clueless that the downside never crossed their minds? I guess so.
As the Wheel Turns....
Monday, September 10, 2007
Schmole reversal
Ha! That's the way it should be. Screw the guys, we have project cars!
Four and one half years ago, I moved into my first house with a garage. Two measly cars worth, but a GARAGE. It's even heated. It houses my precious Rabbit Convertible and my spouse's oil burner. As much as I wanted to claim both spots, discretion was and is the better part of valor, and I gave the other one up. My beautiful wagon suffers outside.
He's already promised that the next house will have a garage big enough to handle a two-post lift. I love the house we live in now - it's a bizarre and beautiful mid-century modern that we're renovating to 1961 spec. The tile we're installing is pretty damn far-out. I've never loved a house like I love this one. My woodshop takes up the entire (small) basement, and I find myself doing car projects in our cavernous living room. Nothing beats car parts in the living room - I've done an interior, a convertible top, and I'm planning a rear disc brake conversion. But I, too, feel the call of the giant garage. The siren song of space, in both the horizontal and vertical planes.
My day will come. I hope. I want a lift.
Four and one half years ago, I moved into my first house with a garage. Two measly cars worth, but a GARAGE. It's even heated. It houses my precious Rabbit Convertible and my spouse's oil burner. As much as I wanted to claim both spots, discretion was and is the better part of valor, and I gave the other one up. My beautiful wagon suffers outside.
He's already promised that the next house will have a garage big enough to handle a two-post lift. I love the house we live in now - it's a bizarre and beautiful mid-century modern that we're renovating to 1961 spec. The tile we're installing is pretty damn far-out. I've never loved a house like I love this one. My woodshop takes up the entire (small) basement, and I find myself doing car projects in our cavernous living room. Nothing beats car parts in the living room - I've done an interior, a convertible top, and I'm planning a rear disc brake conversion. But I, too, feel the call of the giant garage. The siren song of space, in both the horizontal and vertical planes.
My day will come. I hope. I want a lift.
Role-reversal.
My future husband (19 days from now!) and I are in the market for a home. CNN and MSNBC tell me the economy is crashing and the housing market's catastrophic. As a buyer, that's good.
We toured a house Saturday, a lovely little fixer-upper bungalow that we absolutely adore. Immediately afterward, we steered the Rabbit over to the local building supply warehouse to check out tile and flooring options. From there, we headed out to our editor's house for a barbecue.
We want the same features; we have similar tastes. We have been talking about our home search more-or-less nonstop, so our friends ask how the search is progressing.
"How was the house?" says Random Person at Party.
"We can build a master bath!" says Husband. "We can choose tile and buy new appliances and paint walls and build equity!"
"It has a four-car garage!" says I. "I can store my GTI! I can pull the engine and powdercoat all the brackets! If I let it sit on the 15s all winter, I can upgrade to Corrado G60 brakes! Garage!"
I like painting. I'm looking forward to laying tile. Master bath with corner tub? Oh, hell yes. But nothing beats the sweetness of that garage. A woman's got priorities, after all.
Moving day
Volkswagen's move to Northern Virginia was announced last thursday. Taking 400 jobs with them, they plan to leave 600 jobs in Auburn Hills. However.....
Three hundred of the 600 jobs remaining in AH are contract jobs, and at least one of the contractors (ProCare, handling customer care) have contracts set to expire in 2008. Technical staff of around 20 are in-house, however another 25 or so are contract, and considered replaceable. This leaves one wondering exactly how many jobs will remain in Auburn Hills say, over the next five years. My bet is very very few.
Rumors of Chrysler's interest in the VW complex are already floating around Detroit. The VW campus includes two leased buildings (including the one with the shop) and one building owned by VW. Sources indicate that certain staff groups are waiting for news of the location of a proposed manufacturing site to plan their relocations.
Speaking of factories, what better place to build than a US government-certified brownfield? With brownfield locations increasing as the armed forces shutter bases, certain locations in, say, South Carolina or other right-to-work states begin take on a certain golden hue. No doubt significant tax incentives can be made available for use of one of these sites. Port locations with rail facilities should take top consideration. I'll be very disappointed if VW screws that up. I expect a site location to be announced within 6 months.
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