The Road Machine Is Here!
After waiting 6 weeks for it to be built
and shipped to the west coast,
it has finally arrived,
and it is spectacular!
I drove it home two days ago,
starting out with only 7 miles on the odometer,
and have since put a couple of hundred on it,
and just today I got my first speeding ticket
for going 52 in a 35 (motorcycle/radar cop).
The car is so smooth, and so powerful,
that such increments of speed of only 17mph
are barely perceptible.
I'm going to have to be more focused.
Most of the last two days have been spent
reviewing all of the "systems" on the car.
Lots of gadgets!
For example:
GPS Navigation with Voice Activation
Keyless entry and ignition
OnStar
Head Up display
On-board computers and display of everything,
including tire pressures, fuel consumption/range...
what's the use, I could go on and on.
This baby is Loaded!
I really like the color.
My last 3 cars were blue.
This one is a really interesting candy-apple red.
I call it "pull me over, write me up RED".
Everybody wants a ride in it!
I need a road trip...
Landmark National Bank - voted "Best Bank"!
And now, a little bragging:
Just got news that the bank I helped to start up
has been voted "Best Bank" by the readers of the
Rancho Santa Fe Review.
The way I figure it,
people who live in RSF have a TON of money,
so they should be pretty darn picky
when it comes to where they bank,
and when they prefer to do business with MY bank,
well, I figure that's something special.
I should mention that I really don't work there,
I'm just a founder/director (see this link)
but about 40+ excellent people do work there,
and it's really all about them because they are
the ones who earned this extraordinary recognition.
But some of it has got to rub off on me, right?
;o)
Totally Silent Computing
Few times have I been so impressed with a product
that I am Driven To Blog so urgently.
I have just unpacked a UPS delivery,
the new computer to replace my existing server.
I was not expecting such an extraordinary experience.
The packaging was seemingly bulletproof.
Very professional and thorough.
It inspired confidence in the contents!
Taking the PC out of the plastic wrapping
was a revelation, a thing of real beauty.
And yes, I am talking about a PC.
It does not look like anything special
when you look at it on their website.
Just looks like a black box.
But in real life, it is a most magical
combination of fit and finish and design,
that draws you to want to touch it everywhere,
and for giving in to your urges,
you are rewarded beyond your imagining.
Yes, I am talking about a PC.
It has these heatsink fins all around it,
so it is totally pleasurable to
run your hands & fingers over the fins.
You gotta get one of these.
I haven't even turned it on yet.
I need another one, just like it.
You are probably wondering why the heatsinks all over it.
It's because it has no fans to cool it, just heatsinks.
That means that it will not make any fan noises.
It also has a virtually inaudible hard disk.
Hermits like quiet.
A computer without a fan,
will therefore draw no air into it,
and will therefore not collect dust-mung
in its orifices, or working parts
like buttons and switches.
It will remain clean through eternity.
And quiet.
So far, everything is fine.
Website is good.
Customer service is real good.
So far.
Stay tuned.
-----------------
Two days later, we get the box o' beauty installed.
My first reaction,
after spending some "quiet time" with it,
(please excuse the intentional pun)
is that I must have gone suddenly deaf!
I can't hear a thing!
Zilch. Zip. Nada. Dingus.
And then I listen more closely.
I can hear the sounds of the surf!
Sweet!
Chess, Billiards, and a Place to sit and eat
(click to BIGGIFY)
Chess and billiards are two of my favorite games.
New furniture delivered to the Fun House this week
significantly upgrades these facilities.
The table is the "Del Mar" model by Darafeev,
and has an inlaid chess board in the surface.
The chairs swivel, of course, and are ideal for
my opponents in billiards, who must endure long
periods of waiting for their turn, while
I run rack after rack after rack...
(it's a fantasy I have).
The new chairs, with arms and backs,
replace the armless, backless stools which
were quite uncomfortable for the spectators.
Strange as it may seem, until now there has been
no place to sit and share a meal with a friend.
There was no kitchen or dining table and chairs.
Most of the room for that sort of trivial stuff
was taken up by the pool table.
So now I can stop eating while standing over the sink,
(in the true bachelor fashion)
or while eating from a plate in my lap while doing TV.
I feel so civilized!
Furniture purchased from Billiards and Barstools
in San Marcos, who also supplied the
Brunswick Gold Crown IV pool table
which I had recovered and releveled when they
deliviered the furniture.
They are a first class company to deal with.
Good people.
Sweet Jaguar XK8 Convertible for sale soon
Some severely lucky person will soon be the
happy new owner of the car I have pampered
for the last 5 and a half years.
Purchased new in October 2000,
this super-sweet 2001 Jaguar XK8 Convertible
has only 32,500 miles
(hermits don't drive much)
and is in almost like-new condition.
Did I say "pampered"?
This car has always been dealer-serviced,
always garaged,
always parked in the ding-free zone,
and always driven with care and respect.
The color is a stunning Pacific Blue,
with perfect, never-smoked-in ivory interior,
and has the navigation system, 6-CD changer,
and all the bells and whistles you expect.
It even has Lojack!
Kelley blue book shows the prices as follows:
private party, good condition: $32,535
private party, excellent cond: $33,285
retail price, excellent cond: $37,925
Make me an offer I can't refuse,
on a car you can't resist!
Available in 5 weeks, around June 5th, 2006.
Not for you at this time?
Tell a friend,
maybe they'll let you borrow it sometime.
;o)
