Dreadhead

That really sucks about the ATS-V. Could have been a incredible car.

Yeah there is a lot of competition in that size range but she wants one of the cheaper, safer and (arguably) most fun cars and who am I to argue. I just got a car entirely for fun, so I have no grounds.

Happy birthday!

Yeah fully loaded AWD. It is not going to win any drag races but she prefers it to the Volvo she test drove.

Inspired my wife. Negotiations have started on a Mazda CX-5. I haven't driven it (she did) but she liked it which is all that matters.

I am not sure if they still have it but there are a few in stock around. Pick it up.

South Riding is a haul for me especially with the weather report I'd bow out of that. That said the Alexandria (Hollin Hills) one could be fun to check out, I expect it will be much more about classics but I'd like that even if I'm not in one. We were already talking about coming back Saturday evening. I'll PM you and see what we can work out. It would be fun to hang out even if it will be cold as hell. I may bring the boys.

Any good ones on Sunday morning? I am guessing with the weather though it's a mess. Failing that we could meet up somewhere for a drinks/dinner and you can mock my Racer Boy car. Given the snow predicted and I have summers that may not be the best plan to plan on Sunday morning. We are going to the lake for the weekend because there is a Easter Egg hunt tomorrow. Haven't been in a few weeks so we plan on following through.

One week in and I am having a blast with the car. Getting a car setup just right is fun: Finally got a phone mount and new car seats for the kids (the previous picture was the ones from the minivan). I may have to leave it in the driveway a few days next week because of the impending storm. It is so nice to have a manual again but I am still getting used to it and have stalled a few times etc. I will get there and have a blast doing it.

Learned a lesson on the importance of shopping around with your own auto insurance company: Forgot to register the car with insurance until today (was covered anyway due to rules) but I was about to add it to my policy and the price came back insane (increase of well over $500). So I went to their website and got a quote as if buying a new policy just for the car and it was much lower at around $290. I pointed this out and they looked into it. In the end I moved all of our vehicles to the new quote and the net increase to the insurance was $43. I would have accepted an increase of $300 and said "oh ok" and that would have been it. Crazy.

I was all set on buying the Seiko 55th Anniversary Spring Drive but then I learned that that it was no lume and my interest waned. We'll see if I can find something that interests me. I sort of like the Tag tourbillon but I'm not sure I want to spend that much.

Happy Birthday!

Glad you are excited Larry and happy birthday. For *me* that is a shit at load of watches.

There are a fair number of twisty roads with elevation changes around (going further out than I usually go) but as Jeff pointed out the police are pretty ubiquitous which puts a cramp on the fun. That said I had a very pleasant drive to work today at approximately 10 over the speed limit.

There is no way in hell the ST will beat a regular S4 in anything except maybe autocross where more power is often not better. I am sure Jeff's S4 would just drop me like there is no tomorrow. I am still pretty rusty on the launches, I am just lucky I have had my gaming rig to get me used to clutch again or it would be even worse. The 5 door showdown does sound like fun though.

Thanks I will do that tomorrow. I took a look and they did a pretty good job but it is obviously still on engine block as the smell isn't gone yet. Combi Coccoro, they are amazing compact car seats.

Welcome to the big leagues!

And now for the single most important thing: 3 car seats hell yeah.

Not perfectly but they did clean up. I asked twice and was assured it was cleaned but by the time I got there I just wanted to get it home so I let it go.

Decided that I want a fun little sport car and this was the most cost effective way to achieve that. It's also very good looking in my opinion. As predicted by many the coolant line clamp in the lower part of the car had not been pushed on hard enough and came off.

This is a US built one but I expect it to be around the same as elsewhere. Hopefully I am OK after this issue. Maybe I should have gone WRX.

Yeah I was thinking a full detail in the bay is definitely required. As far as a sweetener I was going to ask for some money off the install of the Ford short throw shifter kit.

I am sure I can get my money back at this point. I am open to them fixing it. Things happen but if they start dicking me around I will get upset. No sign of that yet.

We will see what they say tomorrow. Fuck