And yes, the birthday was excellent
So my birthday was yesterday. Yes, I am now older, according to the silly calendar year we adhere to, according purely to the number of revolutions around the large star in the middle of our solar system that our planet circles. That was a long sentence. Yeah - the birthday was quite good. I spent some time with the family, had some kung fu in the morning. And at night I had a surprise visit from some old friends. Bret and Kimberly! I haven't seen them in a long time, and it was good to hang out with them. I got cake and ice cream, and even some gifts. Random things from Bret, which isn't surprising. Indeed. Dolphin-shaped light bulb, flash cards about the presidents, 2006 calendar of Pope John Paul II. And Pepsi, which is always good. It was good times.

So what did I do during the day? Here, this is a little hint:




Oh, and for a more thorough view you can download a bit of footage I shot here (be warned, it's a 9 MB file).

The glorious Honda S2000. Yes, a 2007 model. It's my dream car. And it's sitting in my garage. I'm still in disbelief. I drove it all weekend, which took getting used to. It's my first standard transmission, so it has taken some learning. I will admit, I've killed it a couple of times. Yes, the first time was AT the dealership. Which was funny, but okay. Two more times when I was parking and forgot to take it out of gear. So it just died in the parking space, which isn't bad. But so far (crossing fingers) it hasn't died IN traffic.

So so far I've got about 200 miles. Most of that came from driving it back from Bartlesville. But I've driven around town a bit. I have a bit of a sunburn from it. And wind burn, probably. I'll admit - the more I drive it, the more I love it. I know it has a lot of power under the hood I haven't felt yet, but I have a respect for an engine like that. So in time. For now, I'm taking it very easy.

I will say I drove my other car (which I'm keeping), the Monte Carlo, around a bit tonight. My parents told me that I'll feel the difference right away, and they were right. I had spent so much time getting acclimated to the Honda, I had forgotten how my Chevy drove. And I did find myself pressing for the clutch a couple of times. When I floored it to get on the freeway, it made me laugh. It felt like it was trying, but just wasn't really grabbing the road. And the first turns I took I was pushing the car a little harder than I realized - that is to say, almost TOO hard. In the Honda it felt natural. And like it was a casual turn. In the Chevy, it was almost like it was shrieking at me, "What are you DOING?" And I'll say that I have NOT floored the Honda yet. I'm waiting until after the break in period. The break in recommendation is 600 miles before pushing it beyond 5500 RPM. Yes, that's correct - 5500. It redlines at 8000 RPM. The VTEC kicks in around 6000 RPM. The handling is unreal. It just picks up and goes wherever you point it. Yes, indeed - it is LUSCIOUS. And hella fun.

I'll be driving my Chevy to work for the most part - I can't handle the idea of putting the Honda in rush hour yet, or trying to park it in a packed parking lot. But I'll definitely be taking it out a bit at night.

Anyway, I'm quite happy about it, in case you haven't figured that out. It's the first sports car I've ever driven, much less owned. It IS my dream car, and I've been planning on getting a new car for a while. It just happened to work out that the time that I could do it landed on my birthday. And I'll happily share it with anyone who wants to check it out. Oh, I'LL be driving. But taking a spin is never a problem. (And sorry, but I won't drive multiple states just so you can see it.) I'll admit - it's a very pricey toy. But MAN. What a fun toy it is.

That's been taking most of my time lately. Working, kung fu, and getting ready for this last weekend. Oh! I did almost forget a little detail. I'll share this. 'Cause it's FUNNY. So I was driving around in front of the kwoon (kung fu) after dropping off Cory, who came with me to Bartlesville. You know, checking out the clutch, the feel of the transmission. Feeling it out. Well, there was this red Eclipse parked in the lot. It just sat there as I drove around. There were people in it. So after I drove around a while, I stopped by them to ask what they were up to. It was a couple of girls, and the driver talked to me. She said they were going to leave, but they saw me driving around and were trying to figure out if it I was going to sell the car, if I was test driving it, or if I owned it. We talked a bit about this and that, and I continued with my testing of the vehicle in the parking lot. (A large EMPTY parking lot, just so you know. Except for that Eclipse.) And after a little while longer, the girl stops me. I don't remember exactly how it went, but essentially she said, "I'll be out of town during the week doing some training for my job, but I'm here on weekends." And then she handed me a piece of paper. With her name on it. And her PHONE NUMBER. Yes, that's right. I hadn't even gotten HOME yet, and already this car had landed me some digits. Sure, she might be a gold digger, but it's pretty funny. I went ahead and gave her mine, since I'm very skeptical about someone sharing digits purely because of the vehicle they drive, so I probably won't call her anytime soon. But hey, if she wants to call me, then let it be. It cracked me up, though.

So yeah - it's been a good weekend. I'm tired, for some reason. I think I'm going to have some lovely ice cream that Kimberly gave me, maybe watch part of a movie (I wish I had a copy of Ronin right now...), and then sleep HARD. Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday on either MySpace, Facebook, or in person - all the details helped make it an awesome birthday. Yes, even completely excluding the CAR, it was an awesome birthday.

So time for random links! A video my friend Bret shared with me that I found rather funny. It's longer, but it's worth it for one video shot they got that was awesome. It has to do with how silly some speed limits are. And then I found a bunch of fun things with Google Maps. There are a variety of things. Well, I'm a fan of Escher, but seeing it on maps kind makes me feel woozy. Apparently the iPod has had more of an impact than people realize. Versailles is cool - did you ever notice the stick figure that is visible from above? Look carefully, and see if you can see him smiling at you. And to finish - I think Google Maps still has a few bugs in it.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:37 PM | 0 comments