Rod Zapa on a dark and dreary day

Rod Zapa is my ‘new’ red 1998 Mazda Protege stick shift. I purchased it from Margo, speed skater extraordinaire.

This is my first standard vehicle. It was awhile before I stopped loathing hill starts. Each hill became a delicate game of timing as I tried to crawl towards unforgiving red lights and speed through wavering greens. When I faltered in my timing, my passenger (most often carpool buddy Shaun L.) had to endure excessive revving as I tried to compensate for my shaky clutch work. I sometimes wonder if those cars who stood idly by my side at lights thought it odd I would taunt them with my car’s throaty roar only to piddle and sputter forward once the light changed.

The car has a number of amenities that are novel to me. Most obvious perhaps is the CD player (The future is now!) Rod Zapa also has a sunroof and a temperamental Air Conditioner system (better than my previous ornamental Air Conditioner). Granted, the car runs a little louder than the Nissan and lacks some of the luxurious faux wood paneling in its interior, but its performance has been consistent and I’m pleased with the new ride.

Thanks Margo for the great car!

Oops.

I’ve been meaning to check out Geico, so I hit up their website first and, just like that, had car insurance not 25 minutes later. What was especially convenient was that the policy starts tonight at midnight, so I won’t have any time uninsured. Neat.

Thanks Geico!

Sadly, it’s beginning to show its age; the CV joints need replacing and there’s a vague smell of burning when you drive for more than 6 feet. It might not be anything to worry about but I figured I’d throw out the obligatory MikeDiDonato.com proclaimation: if you know anyone who’s trying to sell a car for cheap, fire me an e-mail – MikeDiDonato AT gmail D0T com.

Perhaps we can work something out. This little beast won’t last forever, so it’s probably best if I start looking at replacements now.

The other option would, of course, be to buy a smart car. Though it might be tricky to fit a bo staff into a smart car.

I was coasting at about 40, hit my emergency lights and touched the brakes to slow to a stop… could I make it across the street to the Shell station? … I gasped! When the car stalled I lost power brakes, but I didn’t make this connection in my head at the time of the engine stall, so when I touched the brakes I got no response. There was a mild freak out, I yanked the emergency brake, swung the wheel, and screeched to a standstill on the grass off of the highway.

I called up Shaun who helped me push the car across the street to that gas station. We tried to start the car again… to no avail. I walked into the Gas Station. There was a young Indian man behind the counter in an orange creamsicle colored shirt.

“Excuse me, my car broke down, is there a service station nearby?”
“yes actually, there’s one right on the other side of the dairy queen,” he responded pointing north “it’s about a 1 minute walk. If it’s closed, come back and I can get a friend who might be able to help you.”

Shaun and I headed over to the service station, but it was indeed closed. We walked back to the gas station and I thanked Shaun for his help and suggested that he head back home. I walked back into the service station.

“Hi, yeah… the place down the street is closed. You said you knew someone who might be able to lend me a hand?”
“Yes,” He said with a smile, “I’ll bring you to his shop. It’s just a ways down the street.”

I followed him to his car. It was a Lexus SUV.

“Wow! Nice car,” I stammered
“Thanks! It’s big, but it does the trick.”
“Do you own this gas station?”
“I do,” he responded “in fact a friend and I own a bunch of properties”
“mostly in this area?”
“actually no. All over. We have some in Michigan and New Jersey…” he went on with the list.
“That’s amazing!”
“yeah, we started about 10 years ago and now it’s about a 15 million dollar business”

Wow.

He took me over to a little shop in Meriden where I met Jose. Jose promised he’d take a look at the car. I left the keys and my new Indian friend brought me back to the shop. I picked a few things out of the car that I needed and then headed home.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with the car, hopefully nothing too expensive. But this was definitely a unique experience. I’m grateful to have ended up at this particular gas station.

Fun: Musical equipment can be easily carted around.
Funk: Expected yearly cost for insurance and taxes would be about $320
Fun: Trips to the dump become easier
Funk: Poor gas mileage
Fun: Back-up car for when the Nissan has trouble
Funk: Parking space used.
Fun: Big group climbing trips become easy

Hmm. What do you think?

from Ben.

My dearest Acclaim, I salute you.

“Phoenix, you are a bird more beautiful than all others. You shall live forever.”

The Phoenix sang with joy and praised the sun. She beat her fire red wings and danced through the sky. But the world envied the bird and constantly bothered her with its problems. So the Phoenix set off, flying east towards the rising sun, until she found a quiet sacred desert where she found peace and tranquility.

Many years passed. Some say five hundred others a thousand. And the Phoenix lived on, singing and dancing for the sun. But she grew weary and tired with age. One day she sang out to the sun:

“oh glorious sun, make me young and strong yet again!”

but the sun did not hear the Phoenix’s song. So she flew west to where she was first born. It was a slow long journey because the beautiful bird was burdened with age. So along the way she collected spices of cinnamon and nestled them between her feathers and upon reaching the tree where the sun first proclaimed her immortal, the Phoenix built a mighty nest of cinnamon and leaves. She blessed the nest and found some myrrh seeping from a nearby tree from which she molded a beautiful egg. The Phoenix sat on the egg and sang out to the sun again.

“oh glorious sun, make me young and strong yet again!”

This time the sun heard, and shined down so ferociously that all the other animals had to hide from the burning rays. The clouds parted and the sea receded. But the Phoenix raised her head and bright red and yellow wings and she burst into flames.

As the sun’s harsh rays eased, the clouds returned. Then the sea. And finally the animals and life that populated the plains. They saw there a tree and nest that had not been touched with fire. A perfect pile of silver ashes lay within the nest. And soon those ashes began to tremble. A Phoenix quietly pushed her way out from deep within those ashes. The Phoenix grew and spread her wings and sang out in praise of the sun.

She then found the egg of myrrh, now hollow, and carried it to a temple where she honored the bright sun.

Once the ritual was complete, the Phoenix returned to the quiet desert and found peace once again.

My friends, I present to you The Phoenix:

“The phoenix hope, can wing her way through the desert skies, and still defying fortune’s spite; revive from ashes and rise.”
-Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Unfortunately, I really like having this website. So I fear that I’m at least partially stuck. There’s a little bit of irony in there somewhere, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

In order to aid me in my anti-internet quest, I think I’m going to remove the computer from my bedroom proper and place it back in the huddles of my closet. Then, I will attempt to only use common room computers on a daily basis at the House of Rock. Perhaps I’ll make the big move tonight.

Other news:
Someone we all know and love may be coming back into our lives very very soon… that’s all I can say for now. Stay tuned for more exciting information.

The down side of this is that the world hates me.

And when I say “hate” I mean “hate“. I don’t think a day passes when I don’t get scowls, horns, gestures, or harsh words. As I see it, there are three types of honks. 1) the ‘Lookout! my car is here!’ 2) the ‘just thought I’d let you know the light has turned green… in case you got distracted’ and 3) the ‘I hate you because you’re in my way’

1 and 2 are usually pretty well recieved. It’s 3 that’s a kicker. Why the hatred folks? I mean you no harm. What I’ve noticed is that the number 3 honks never really happen on the highway. As long as slow folks like me stick to the slow lane, fast folks like you can zip around and dart all you like. No one’s bothered.

BUT… on one or two lane roads with lots of lights, the fury is exposed. Remarkably, the extra speed of those drivers around me rarely helps. Usually they just zip ahead so they can reach the red light first, then I coast up to them and have to deal with more of their rage.

So, if you happen to be one of those folks that honks at slow drivers, realize that we don’t intentionally mean to cause you grief. Try and understand that we prefer to live life without the rush and hustle and are hoping to save a few dollars here and there.

*disclaimer below

I have received quite a bit of angst from individuals as they question my ‘scientific studies’ of gas consumption. This is especially true for air conditioner usage and speed tests for miles per gallon. The contradicting arguement is that it’s impossible to determine how some of the things I do influence gas milage because there are so many variables. Some of these variables include: stop lights, hills, temperature/seasons, weight of car (i.e. is Kurt in the car with me), car quality, maintenance, traffic, different routes, wind, etc.

During my original tests with the acclaim to fame, I was looking at a specific trip. The drive from Meriden to Stoneham. I would make this trip every weekend and would fill up upon leaving Meriden and again upon arriving in stoneham. By resetting the odometer and writing down the amout of gas I use to fill up at my destination, I could compute mpg. Because it was the same roads and there’s never traffic, I felt I could pretty accurately deduce how many mpg I could save by going at different speeds Especially as I could average the numbers from multiple trips. I would control the speed via Cruise upon first hitting the highway, and only reduce it for the tolls and my final exit. In the acclaim I would get an addition 3-4 miles per gallon at 55 than I would at 70. I have NOT yet done these tests with the Nissan.

These days, I’m playing around with acceleration. I can control my acceleration by keeping a close eye on the tachometer. Right now I’m trying to keep it under 2500rpm as I switch into 2nd gear (a feat on the nissan because heavy acceleration will result in it hitting >3600 pre 2nd gear). While I can’t control stop lights and traffic as carefully as I did in my first study, by recording my data over a month I should be able to get a decent average. I’ll then alternate and for one month accelerate quickly, trying to hit 3500 before 2nd gear and see how that influences mpg and finally repeat that process so I have four months of data. Once I take the average of that I feel I’ll have a pretty good understanding of how I can optimize my driving to save gasoline.

One day, you find Donald suffering in the garage. You take him to the vet and find out he probably needs some transmission work. Replacing his filter and giving him lots of fluids doesn’t seem to help.

1) Do you take your favorite little dog to the vet and get an expensive surgery?
2) Do you agree that there’s probably just a bunch of illnesses down the road so you count your pennies and decide to let him rest in peace.
3) Or do you whip out your wrenches and your Haynes “How to repair Donald” book and trade punches with the Grim Reaper.

Comments/suggestions are welcome.

Thankfully, The Benchwarming White Whale of Nissan Justice should be registered by Saturday. So if the problem is more severe than a filter alone, extended downtime shouldn’t be a problem.