Detroit Auto Show 2009










We were speculating exactly what to expect out for the auto show this year. With the credit woes and the domestic auto makers on life support. No bling, no goodies, etc. As we thought - the show was quite pared down. Nissan and several other companies backed out and the last moment as well, opening up alot of space on the main floor.










Several Chinese manufacturers moved up to the big time with the vacancy, showing off their Chinese market models. BYD ( Build Your Dreams) and Brilliance Auto stepped up to the plate somewhat hastily and showed off several of their domestic models. Brilliance Auto bought defunct Rover a while back and basically carted the entire factories and machines back to China from their English homeland. A quick restart and rebadge and Viola! Brilliance Auto has a whole model line up. Both companies will need to do ALOT more homework before they are US bound.










BYD showed off a Electric Gas hybrid that supposedly will beat the Chevy Volt to the punch. I do not think anyone was taking the car seriously. It would not be the first time an automaker has overstated a claim at the autoshow. [ More later...] BYD took the effort to produce a flashy video playing on large Screens. A bizarre little number. All narrated in perfect English..... yet complete jibberish. I could not understand how anyone who could speak English that well could speak complete nonsense.










A friend pointed out that they probably used a slick computer translator - then the EngGrish all made sense. "Powerful standing, technology so high, your way this car!" It was funny actually. Somebody should have done them a favor and yanked the plug on the TV.



There were some good cars to see however. Last year I fell in love with the Cadillac CTS coupe, GM followed up this year with the Converj Concept. The idea was to take the rather expensive Chey volt chassis and put it on something GM can actually sell fo some $$. A nice concept with the passing look of an exotic. Hopefully they will make it.












Audi definitely took the show this year with their sportback concept. I think you are looking at their next A7 or A8. Beautifully done. The rear end of the car is HOT! Sorta like an old Opel manta?






























VW debuted their BlueSport, A mid-engine 2 seater featuring a high output diesel in the back. The concept has the hottest dash buttons I have seen. I did not get pics, but the buttons make me want the car.. totally.












Some other concepts including one from Lincoln, Volvo and Huyndai






























Biggest Bull of the year













I think Chrysler takes the cake this year for portraying fiction as fact. Last year I complained that their electric concepts were completely not serious and strictly plastic, foam and lip service. But what a whole year can do! Now that the company is on death row and seriously in risk of implosion, NOW they think EV's are the real deal. So while Gm is spending a few Bizillion making a special platform for their 40 mile electric-only hybrid and in danger of tripping over the challenges posed by the task... Chysler this year announced that they are also coming out with some hybrids and they are really really serious about Electric vehicles. So apparently all it takes is a bit of paint and slapping an electric motor in a couple of your existing vehicles and there you have it! Easy! They are claiming the same performance numbers as GM as well. I read somewhere this whole newfound EV nuttiness is all for the consumption of potential buyers for the company. All crap.


More pics on Flickr

Yu go HOME Yu too FAT




how to say "You ate WAY too much for the holidays and your ass is hu-UUUGE" in Japanese. Fun!

I need this





Just sending a note to friends at Whirlpool now.

I Like Candy





Our friends Kara and Mitch lefts us a goodie duffle after our party. Who knew they made such big bags of Swedish fish? The problem with me [ most Americans??] is I consider the quantity presented to be a single serving....... Like the Pringle cans that contain 10[?] servings.

Yeah right....

5 oz or 5lbs - a half finished bag of candy anything represents a rip in the very fabric of Space Time and it seems like it is always my job to fix it.

Thankfully for my pancreas, i shipped off the Swedish fish bag with my sister and father for their trip to Florida. That left just the gummy starburst bag to take care of. And i did.

Reality as we know it is safe again.

Tis the season














































Got the tree up last week -but did not get to post pics.

Morning After

















































Well..... it's 9:30 in the morning. Our last guest left last night around 1:00am. I put out all the glassware before the party last night [ which exceeded the # of guests by 50%] and yet somehow- every piece is in need of a wash.....

It's looking pretty crappy outside ... so Eric and I contemplating going back to bed. Maybe the magic party pixies will show up and clean the whole house. [ it could happen..... ]

Fun night however. Got the chance to talk [ briefly] with lots of our friends. Hopefully more pics soon....

Now that's moxie




you gotta love this.

8 track players galore!


just found this link to vintage Radio Shack catalogs. I used to LOVE going to the store just so I could look at all the light-up switches in the parts shelves. I think i wanted to build something resembling a start trek console. Lots of lights blinking and switches switching. Glorious. Never did get to do that project - but for my boy scouts hobby show in 8th grade - I had the brightest table. 25 different kinda of Christmas lights - all blinking and bedazzling. Just mesmerizing I tell you. Other kids brought baseball cards and stamp collecting crap. BORING! no electricity!

What

Was

The

Point?

Christmas was the best, while my hobby was stunted at home by a family that did just not appreciate making everything light up.. jeeesh. Dad had ~some~ issue with bedecking the entire outside of your house in electric splendor. All we got was electric candles in each window.

[ I got to pick the bulb color usually and it was my job to go around at 5:00pm every evening to turn them all on......] I loved the smell of hot plastic and a bit of dust burning. HEAVEN I TELL YOU.













































I would love driving by the super spectacle houses . One on the way to my grandparents in Pennsylvania was amazing. They had EVERY blow-molded figure you could think of. The nativity, 14 different santa's [ including a sleigh with reindeer on the roof..] 7 snowmen, candy canes, caroler's, drummer boys, angels, some elves - all lit up! I do not remember them being in any particular arrangement. So any given Christmas - you might see Joseph jivin' with a snowman or Mary talking with Santa. Chalk one up for diversity!

And not an ounce of snow within 50 feet of the house. Go figure.

Of course - all the photon- based joy blinded me - I never noticed the broken down cars in the driveway, nor that the roof decorations seemed to be covering openings in the roof. But nevermind the details! I am sure a few aircraft were a bit confused.

Of course - the house is now abandoned [?] Did not see that coming. And I am sure the whole kaboodle, along with jesus, mary and joseph are in the bottom of a landfill now..... [ sigh]

Check out the fun!

Vintage Sears Wish books

My M.O. has been exposed


Sargasm [noun]

- Deriving far too much satisfaction from glibly berating another with sarcasm.

Chicagoland Jukebox show








































Headed out on friday to Chicago for the Chicagoland Antique Advertising, Slot Machine and Jukebox Show. I have been wanting to make the show for a couple of years now. I figured that before I did something stupid on Ebay trying to buy a Jukebox, i should check out the show and get some resources for restoration and information. Lots of Seeburgs, but very few Rockolas. The ONE 1448 i spotted was trashed and for parts only. It was a good trip and I posted some great pics on flickr. They had lots of other stuff to look at as well - including some 12 ft tall railroad signals and lots of vintage neon.


Photos on Flickr

Much better lyrics


Of course - from an originality and creativity point of view - this video always marked the high point of music videos in my mind. IT still is. But now - the lyrics are better.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

I guess we dodged that bullet...



Cindy McCain Claims She's Just Like Any Other Female Human

Definitely not iMovie




Great stuff. Check out the video of how this was produced

Jeeesh! Newbies!





Just spotted this on YouTube to remind me back in the day of my mechanical adventures. This guy is an amateur. It worked MUCH better with MY technique. You simply taped a 45 onto the side fly wheel of the antique pedal power sewing machine, put a pin through the bottom of a dixie cup and Viola! Music without electricity! We did have electricity mind you. And come to think of it - I am pretty sure there was a working record player within arm's reach - but that was boring. I sorta found that true about most of my toys. in their native state - they were not as interesting, where as a pile of parts, bulbs, motors, gears and wires - their entertainment application was infinite. I think I worried my dad a bit over the years. I think he was slightly concerned that someday that my need for entertainment would burn the house down.
[ Thankfully my fire, match and lighter fluid entertainment phase was a short chapter.. ] Dad moved me into real voltage in 4th grade when i started rewiring lamps while watching Almighty Isis on saturday adventure TV. Fun multitasking till you put a rusty jackknife through your thumb. Moving into electricity at such an early phase was a mixed blessing. I dragged home some light fixtures out of an old Cadillac behind the Krenzer's farm one time and decided that it would be Kool to plug them in my bed room. After all - I could wire plugs now.....
No one had yet explained voltage to me, or that putting a 12 volt fixture into a house outlet behind you dresser - would, in-fact, resemble something like the Fourth of July.....


All great fun! I got pretty adept at opening windows in the middle of winter time to remove
evidence and smoke. Luckily, i never carried the disassembly thing over to live animals or anything. Dad did mange to divert my habits to something more useful - so by the age of 15 - I had started to become the family auto mechanic. I think my first job was replacing the alternator on the Caprice. And it was Greasy hands from there...... [ sigh]

the Dating Game [ Mom says "Hi" ]

As the dream begins, I find Eric and myself at my parents house. While not resembling my childhood home in any manner, it was definitely my folks house. Mom is setting up for an event that she explains to me in great detail. Apparently it is like a progressive dinner / dating game. I think I remember being a bit confused as she explains while 4 bachelors and a rather homely woman enter the front door and head for different rooms.
Eric and I have been recruited to facilitate this whole event as it becomes clear mom and dad are headed out for the evening. I skeptically ask how we got roped into this duty and mom explains that her and dad are headed out to a nice dinner put on for all the hosts. As i am looking at dirty spaghetti plates, i relented to the task conceding that since this was Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary, I guess it would be OK....
Mom hikes her purse up on her shoulder as she heads out front to meet pop. As my lucidity cruelly kicks in, I lean over to give her a big hug and say " I really really miss you"

The dream ends and I awake sobbing.

Damn.

Vote Dammit!

DC Weekend























Eric and I headed down to to DC for the weekend to visit friends. Our friend Patricia hosts a Halloween Party every year for her company and this year's theme was the Swinging 20's.


















Typically our costume idea fall along the lines of the village people... so this year was a new avenue for us. So We went as gangsters. I was a bit concerned about toting around a plastic machine guns on the streets of DC..... but it was definitely a fun time.


Saturday afternoon - we toured Georgetown with Cristian and Patricia and looked at some very nice couches that were 1/2 price! They were marked down to $6500! Awesome! It was neat to see the Georgetown canal.




















Saturday we all met up for dinner and then headed with our friend Brian to the Reel Affirmations film festival. It was closing night and we had tickets for the film "Were the world mine" a contemporary spin on "Midsummer night's dream" I was prepared to completely hate it. But it was terrific and I hope to get the DVD as some point.

A Few good points

Toronto seems nice....

I was just kidding about this with a blogger friend of mine in Alberta.

A Weekend in Provincetown









Eric and i headed up to Provincetown this weekend for a overdue vacation. The campsite projects this summer sorta turned our camping into work weekends and really did not provide any quiet time for us. The past 3 weeks at work I pulled 65 hours trying to get two projects out the door for testing and I was getting pretty cranky. Provincetown is quite the busy place in the summer - but after season, it is really very quiet. [ and half price! ]
























We stayed at the Brass Key Inn. A really nice place that i am not sure we could afford the full rate for.. [ though we may try next summer] Our guest house was very nice and we actually used the pool and outdoor jacuzzi alot. The outdoor jacuzzi was bigger than our room! We definitely caught up on our naps!
































I caught a few bits of the town on the camera. We lucked out for the most part with the weather.

































Of course, now it is back to work for both of us. However the break was much needed.

More Time than I have


Light-Paint Piano Player from Ryan Cashman on Vimeo

I am a Liberal

Friends and Family Camping 2

We trekked down to Jones Pond again this past weekend. Kristin and Carolyn joined us for a fun [ somewhat rainy] weekend. The patchy weather did not manage to stop the fun. Cathy and i remarked that we are very good at entertaining each other. I know not everyone can appreciate such a Vintage of Humor - but you can see that we really can make each other laugh.

Illumination weekend 2008























This year our illumination weekend was a bit smaller than in years past. I was pretty focused on getting our driveway done and so the whole 17 people camping thing was not going to work. as it turns out - most our friends were in P-Town this weekend anyway for carnival, so it was really just Eric, our friend Jeff and myself. My friend Derick from Elmira stopped in for the day as well.

The project -

The new driveway is raised 24" off the ground and i was concerned somebody [ err...me] would take a plunge off the edge some dark night, so the idea of lighting the perimeter started there. I thought something flush with the driveway would have a modernist look to it, but all the solutions i found were beyond the price range. so that's were the glass block kicked in.




The original plan has the lights all LED on three channels. But I had a tech failure mid-week

[ those darned external resistors! ]

SO - it was back to the old standby - and I dragged the C7 christmas lights out of the closet. Jeff and eric helped out getting the driveway ready for saturday night. It really came out good - and I hope to expand on the idea next year.

Burning Man Dreamin'

It is coming up to Illumination weekend at the campground and hopefully we can pull off a good show. Several of my mail lists have been all the buzz this week about getting ready for Burning Man. I will have to admit - I was more of an observer last year when i went - but I have never stopped talking about it to anyone who would listen. I am planning to go next year. [ If I can afford the gas...] but in the meantime i have been watching some online programs about last year's festival.


The famous Cubetron




This film does a great job covering the festival and sites. the Skydiving scene is awesome





Cant wait till next year!

Summer Projects





I have put aside many more important things this summer to try and finish up a mess / project i started last summer but did not complete. So - over the course the past 8 weekends [?] i have been trekking down to our campsite to finish the driveway. At various heavy lifting points, i have ensnared Eric and our friend Jeff to help out. We are getting close now. Our *first* 22 ton load of stone arrived and Eric and i spend a part of saturday dig-shovel-toss-spreading in order to get ready for the second [ fingers crossed we only need one more load...] This is all in effort to finish for the campground's illumination weekend coming up mid-august. rush rush. Of course - while we worked, i laughed to myself as we spread stone. Golly - where could have i gotten this event-driven-project gene from? who? My mind is just a blank. ARTHUR. MY FATHER. We have many stories from the distant past of painting-bathrooms-on-Christmas-eve and 22 tons of stone arrving in the backyard shortly before sibling's weddings... I just hope Eric decides to put up with it....

New Gig [lonnnng blab......]

A couple of people have been asking about my current employment gig. As some may recall, I started working as a Kitchen Designer at Lowes back in February. I had been talking about working for Lowes or home Depot since I was laid off from Xerox. I know that aspiring to a retail job is a bit offbeat - but during my house remodel - I was at one or the other [ or both] at least once a day. I figured - if I stayed a couple of hours, i could get a paycheck, a discount and save some gas money along the way. Lowes had been very helpful during my remodeling. I pestered their flooring guys ALOT. Not every employee at those stores knows alot, but if you find the right ones - they can be very helpful. SO - the idea was work at [Lowes] and find something to rehab and work the discount to the max. I have worked retail before, I know the demeaning beat. Crappy hours, Management by idiots and daily anarchy. I thought that with the idea that i was there by choice and actually being creative -[ i love kitchens..btw...] I could rise above or be insulated from it.

[ insert laugh track here..]

NO SUCH LUCK. After my first 6 weeks of some very stressful fly-by-the-seat training in kitchen design sales and some very positive feedback from my sales manager, associates and customers, I was walked into the office by another manager and told flatly that there was no budget for me to remain in kitchen [ 7 minutes after the sales manager said i had a great first month!] and i was to be moved to plumbing.

Plumbing.

The black hole of Lowes. I knew squat of plumbing and was now about to be one of those idiot employees who knew nothing about what they were selling. GREAT. I was quite taken aback, but did manage to say that "the crash training was stressful" and i expected better if I was moved.
"Sure" "OF course" "two weeks at another store before you start...." yada yada yada.

So - predictably, I was dropped in plumbing 2 weeks later like a wet sandbag. Meanwhile, I had a operations manager who considered me an F#&$%K up and never has anything positive to say to me. Talk about ruining your mood. And day. And week.

And here I thought I was sorta smart and stuff....Masters degree, shiny thesis, a couple of US patents.... And I was right back to 1983, 16 years old and my [former felon] Burger King manager berating me.

Talk about a tailspin. Eric told me just to quit. Which i could have. But leaving without a backup just would have made things worse in my mind.

So - sorta fast forward to May. One month since the store grand opening, store moral dropped through the floor and fellow employees who had options - were leaving... quickly.

Go figure - treat employees like they are a commodity..and .... [ you can the insert logic here... ]
[ and then mail it to Lowes please.] It will be news to them....

I, in the interim, am getting written up for 11 minutes of overtime and as well as spending my "training time" out in lawn and garden sweeping up leaky mulch bags.

Gotta be a team player.

Meanwhile - i get a note on my LinkedIn profile. [ i never expected it to do anything for me...]
a recruiter I spoke with in December says a client I interviewed with in December wants to talk to me RIGHT NOW. errr... OK - so after a little scrambling to actually finish my website - I head in for a 3.5 hour interview and TA DAH I started at WelshAllyn the following monday.

WelshAllyn is a medical device company in upstate NY about 25 minutes from here. I am the UI designer at the company now working on 3 projects, a computer workstation software and 2 touchscreen projects. When I left Xerox - I really thought i was doen with the UI stuff. But I am finding it all interesting. ....And get this.... people are glad I am there! Go figure! I walked into a meeting the other day and a coworker says "Thank god you're here" AND They think my previous experience is valuable. Quite a contrast to Lowes - i think my managers thought i just got out high school... or something..or whatever..... they never really cared or asked.

:O)

I have had several other positive comments like this since I started - which has gone a long way to help the mood. I am hoping by next year - i will have forgotten the Lowes trauma. Meanwhile - Eric and I have our weekends back and I managed to book the entire summer's worth already. Stay tuned for pics!

Coal - its whats for dinner




Such a smug ad. Too bad half the country won't get it.

The Pink Doughnut














I spent the last three days in a workshop at my new gig. An interesting place. I really do not know any of these guys that well yet, so it is interesting to me to play the role of observer of human nature. After i made a casual remark [ with an agenda behind it of course] regarding snacks being a great source of attention span.... our workshop facilitator started bringing in doughnuts for our morning sessions. My secondary job title at Xerox was Snack monger BTW... :O) So in the third day in a room of manly-men programmers, i enjoyed watching the doughnut box. It was amusing to watch as the meeting progressed..

[ or should i say drag ON and ON..] as the group slowly consumed the doughnuts.

But not all of them.

In the center of the box was a big yummy glazed doughnut. there was actually lots of them. But this one was different.

Like me in that meeting.

This one was covered in a huge slathering of bright pink girlie frosting. I am sure it was Cherry. and I WANTED it. But i really found it more amusing to watch as everyone else in the room very carefully pick around it. Nobody wanted to touch the Pink Doughnut. It entertained me greatly to observe. I could HEAR people's stomach's growling. But there it sat.. the Pink Doughnut.

Last in the box. Last picked for the team... :O(

Finally the facilitator grabbed it after everyone else left.

I could add that out of everyone in the room - i thought he had the least amount of testosterone [ but i liked him just the same..]

I am definitely thinking the next workshop i am going to bring in a whole box of Pink muffins.

And promptly watch everyone starve.