Yet Another Long Weekend Clusterfuck

Today was MLK Day, which means most of us federal employees had a four-day weekend. I chose to drive up to New York, naturally. My drive rapidly descended into a series of unfortunate events.

Leaving Bragg, the weather went from misting rain to a pretty steady pour the further north I progressed. As I passed through Richmond, VA, it continued to degrade until I was hit with some Epic Motherfucking Snowflakes. Big, sloppy, half-dollar sized wet bastards that made it virtually impossible to see or drive, necessitating a night in a hotel. I despise hotels, as a rule. To add to my disgust, in the process of trying to find a suitable liquor store in the area (because let's be honest, if I'm going to sit in a hotel room in Virginia and do nothing while it dumps snow, I'm going to have a drink), I managed to bang my aluminum radiator mounts on the ground while making a U-turn, locate a parking lot swimming pool that looked like a small puddle, and coat my entire car in road salt and slush. Thank god for stainless exhaust (and pressure washers). But, nothing was actually damaged.

The frustrating part was that I had an appointment with my mechanic (Chuck Mosello at Corvettes of Westchester) at 1000 on Friday - he's pretty much the only person I trust to work on my car, other than my guy in Colorado, but he's difficult to get in touch with, let alone schedule something while I'm actually in the area. Anyway, it ended up that I rolled up to his shop around 1700 Friday night. He and his crew were working on my car until almost 0100 Saturday morning getting my exhaust straightened out, since the headers had shifted after many heating/cooling cycles. She also got her 50,000 mile service and a check engine light solved (bad O2 sensor). It's always something.

To add to my difficulties, I forgot that today was Inauguration day for our esteemed leader, meaning I had to find a way around DC. It actually turned out to be a good thing, as I discovered a new route that is less stressful, much prettier, and more interesting, all while being substantially quicker and with approximately half the tolls.

I'm rambling. Time for sleep. Adios, muchachos.

As Promised, and Only Three Months Late...

...I finally took some pictures of my car while she was clean today. Observe the glory.

Still too much wheel gap in the back.



Amplifiers, usually turned up to 11


Peep the low, dawg


More low:


All in all, I'm pretty happy with how she turned out. It sounds like a GT1 car and goes like a raped ape. Also, I can pretty much guarantee I'm the only guy with that color wheels.

Anyway. Happy lazy Sunday. Adios

Gettin' Sideways

I forgot what an absolute torque monster Vanessa is. Competitive Driving Mode, roll into first, hammer down at 1200 RPM, greeted with massive wheelspin and some rear end drift. Hard shift into second and she goes sideways enough that the (normally very lenient in Competitive Mode) traction control tells me that I drive like a retard and straightens me out, though I would be okay without it. Fun, anyway.

As an aside, it's always nice when guys with substantially newer, more expensive 'vettes catch you at a red light just to complement the way yours sounds and looks.

That's enough bragging for one night. Later.

Return to Reality

As you may (but probably haven't) noticed, I've not posted anything in awhile. It's not that there was nothing to write about, or that I didn't have the motivation - I simply have not had the time or been consistently connected to the internet.

Tonight I returned from just shy of three weeks' leave in my wonderful home state, Colorado. Suffice it to say that other than the period of my life where I was an unemployed fish bum, those were likely the most enjoyable three weeks I've yet to live.

The new mountain house is everything I had anticipated and more. The view is incredible, the neighbors are existent only to the point where they'll make sure your gate is closed, the wildlife is abundant and the house itself is quite nice. Among its many other amenities, it is also equipped with a ten-foot (yes, ten) Snooker table that, being uneducated philistines, we used for pool. Believe me when I say that if you can play on that table, you can beat anyone on any other table; not only is there a shitload of green but it has the smallest pockets of any table I've ever played. That monster will eventually make me unstoppable. Anyway.

I haven't yet gotten the pleasure of seeing (let alone driving) my new-old truck, much to my chagrin. Patience is not one of my virtues, but when a deal is too good to pass up, I can pretend.

Off to sleep. Vanessa and I (happily reunited) have a Raleigh trip to take in the morning. Joy.

Deuces.