Jocelyn looks at him: “Was that my parents telling you to tell me to run?”

I’m an Aries, so let’s see what it says for me!

“I’m in charge” Aries will thrive in any occupation that permits advancement and promotion. You are an excellent promoter, and majoring in marketing would bode you well in public relations, sales, or just about any other direction you move. Here’s another inside tip: did you know that deep inside of every Aries is the soul of a hero? You would make an exceptional police officer, soldier, or fireman, and Aries does love a uniform. Check out the police academy or career military schools.

Also notice how general the description is. “…Or any other direction you move…”. It’s almost as if they make this stuff up completely out of the blue! I also wonder what we’d get if a different astrologist wrote about the same topic, but they didn’t know about this article. Probably get something completely different, like how Penn and Teller had 3 Feng Shui “experts” on Bullshit and they all came up with something completely different, and even contradicting each other at times (mentioned here, 3rd paragraph: Featured DVD – Penn & Teller).

Now, granted, the sample size is small (1), but you would think they’d at least get SOMETHING right!

You could do this for all the other signs as well, of course, but why multiply the stupid more than I already have?

Just a weird ass thought.

So, after taking a turn onto rt 28, I see behind me an orange Lamborghini Murcielago, probably back about 300 yards or so, just coming out of the same right hand turn. It’s a 2-lane road, and I was the only car in front of him for probably a mile. Now, being somewhat of a car guy, I’m pretty sure this guy is going to stomp on it. Why did I think that? Because that’s exactly what I would do most of the time, especially if I was driving a Murcielago (or any other Lamborghini, for that matter).

So, I see his nose pick up a little bit as he starts accelerating. Then I tell the kids “Ok guys, look over here *pointed left* and watch this”.

Driver of Lambo did NOT disappoint. He goes FLYING past.

Me: “awesome!”

Ethan: “DUDE! THAT WAS SO SWEET!!!” (”dude” and “sweet” are two of Ethans new favorite words. maybe he and I should re-enact “Dude, where’s my car”)

Jocelyn: “WHOA!!”

There was much exclaiming and talk as he hit traffic and I caught up to him. I was able to pull up next to him at one of the lights and the kids got a real good close look at the thing. There was some argument (amongst the children) as to how many engines the Lambo had. First hypothesis was 3. Then Ethan suggested 16, and that’s what they finally settled on.

Then, Jocelyn dropped the bomb that I totally wish I could make true… “Daddy, when the engine in this car brakes (my STi), you should get one of those!”

Somehow, I don’t think an argument from a 4 year old will convince the wife that my next car should be a Lamborghini. Nor will said argument magically produce the money needed to purchase such a thing

Situation: We’re in Old Town Alexandria with friends (Kurt and Ann), just finished dinner at Bilbo Baggins, after seeing a, err… monologue, I guess you’d call it, written and performed by Mike Daisey at the woolly mammoth theater in dc (it was awesome, btw). We’re getting back into the 4runner. Kurt holds the door open for his wife. We talk about that for a little bit (they’ve been married a hella long time, something like a bajillion years). And then:

Amy: *fake sniffle*I wish I had a husband that loved me that much, enough to hold the door open for me *fake sniffle*

Me: Yeah, me too, then I wouldn’t have to put up with you!

I ran some rough numbers, and an extra 2 mpg saves me something like $450/year. Not great, but it’s better than nothing! More experiments to follow (mainly flashing the ECU).

My current car is a 2006 Subaru Impreza STi. Lot’s of horsepower and torque, not so great on the gas mileage. I’m also a huge fan of Top Gear. In the first episode of the new season (11), they actually had a Prius on. They mentioned a study from CNW Research that claimed some SUV’s, over their lifetimes, are more environmentally friendly than a Prius. Of course, the study is crap, but that’s not really the point. I watch Top Gear for entertainment, not rigorous science (that’s what Mythbusters is for ).

However, they had a really good nugget that enforced something everyone should know, but sometimes it helps to see it. Since this is Top Gear, they had a race. This race was between a Prius and a new model BMW M3. Of course, the M3 is MUCH faster, but that’s not the point. Here’s how it went. They would do 10 laps of the track, with the Prius in front going as fast as it could, and the M3 would just follow behind. They would then figure out the MPG for each vehicle.

The results shouldn’t be surprising, when you think about it. The Prius got ~17mpg, while the M3 got ~19. The Prius, of course, is NOT meant to be driven like a bat out of hell, hence the crappy gas mileage in this race. If you drove a Prius like a normal person it would trounce the M3 in gas mileage. The point here is that your driving habits can make a big difference.

So. Armed with Fuelfrog, my STi, and my recently installed boost gauge, I’ve decided to try a little experiment. Getting on the gas kicking in the turbo destroys your gas mileage. With the boost gauge, I can easily tell when I’m getting into that range. I’m going to see if I can get better mileage by not getting on the turbo. The first thing I needed to do, of course, is get a baseline for my normal bat out of hell self, and it’s 15.7mpg. That’s me punching it off the line, accelerating as fast as possible, *cough*driving a tad faster than the speed limit*cough*, etc. I’m going to try a tank or two driving much nicer and see what happens.

P.S. Yeah, it’s Top Gear, so take any numbers they give with a HUGE grain of salt. Entertainment purposes, remember that.

Present #2: Handmade “Superman” T-shirts, for me, Jocelyn, and Ethan. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a picture of all of us in them today

And for the rest of the day, there’s a visit to an antique car show, Dogfish head ale house for an early dinner, Studying for Math exam *blech*, then hopefully some more fun stuff after the kids are in bed ifyouknowwhatimsayingyo.

My wife is AWESOME. Why she married a dumbass like me is beyond my quite meager capability for rational thought.

However, whenever I go to any event that has some layouts setup, I just get the impression that it’s all a bunch of old farts who don’t really care for anyone (ESPECIALLY kids) looking at or maybe even touching their precious little trains. This is NOT the way to get new people into a hobby. The Lego group setup was an exception, they didn’t mind Jocelyn saving the little surfer dude from a shark, nor did they mind Ethan staring at some HUGE Lego Technic bulldozer something or other that someone was showing to some of the other group. They actually talked to the kids and were nice.

Now, contrast this to whenever I go to a rocket launch (NOVAAR, of which I’m actually a member, but the experience I’m talking of was before I joined). Folks there are a hell of a lot more pleasant and the age range is much wider. 6 year olds on up to, well, pretty old folk out there launching their rockets. Or when I go to a RC car race, or a get together of RC flyers. They may not necessarily stop and talk to you, but they just seem a hell of a lot happier and nicer. They’ll talk to Ethan about their planes/rockets/whatever (unless said item just made a smoking hole in the ground).

Of course, this could just be my, admittedly narrow, experience. It could also just be confirmation bias, in that I only remember the bad instead of the good. Or maybe I’m just an ass, and that’s why the old farts never say anything to me or Ethan (or even LOOK at us). I’m skeptical of the latter, though, judging by my experiences at gatherings of different hobbyists (rockets and RC planes/cars/helicopters/etc.).

When you complain that there’s little new blood coming into a hobby, sometimes you have to look internally.

Here are some pics that crazymokes (ie “THE WIFE”) took on her cell phone at the festival: