Category Archives

Cars

Friendship by numbers…

ARoB, Cars by
  • Comments Off on Friendship by numbers…

Since so many of my friends seem to have trouble making sense of what it is that they need to do in order to not piss me off, I’ve decided to make a short list. That way, if you seem to see me not being ‘chill’ enough for you, you can consult these points and come to a quick conclusion as to what it is that I’m on about.

  1. I need to actually see you when we are physically in the same area. Not daily, but once every week or two would be ideal.
  2. If I call you, text you, email you, IM you or write you a telegram, please get back to me.
  3. If, for whatever reason, you can’t contact me at length or meet an engagement we’ve made, please let me know.
  4. When moving to a new city, call me. This can be a short call, finished by saying goodbye.
  5. Every once in awhile, I enjoy having someone go out of their way to see how I’m doing.
  6. Don’t lie to me or play games. I’ve had more than enough of this in my life. And you should know that if you are my friend.

And that’s really all there is to making me glad that we are friends. Personally, I feel like these items are common sense, but experience is proving otherwise these days.

P.S. Something like the Bellefonte Cruise would be called ‘traffic’ anywhere other than rural America.

Lord, won’t you loan me a Mercedes Benz?

ARoB, Cars by

So, I took Klaus back to the body shop today to have his peeling paint issue resolved. Upon arrival, I was anticipating the ‘little Mazda’ they told me that I’d be driving while the repairs took place. However, when my ride pulled up, I was greeted by this:

“I’m really sorry…we’re going to have to give you the Mercedes,” says the employee.

“Oh, no…it’s fine. Really,” I retorted.

*puzzled look*

“It’s really old…” he added as he handed me the keys.

“I know!”

You have no idea how excited I am to be driving this 1984 190E. Sure, the radio doesn’t work. And it’s slow. And creaks if you do anything. And cruise control is a cruel joke. It has amazing leather seats, though, and undeniable, timeless style. It screams class…or at least Eurotrash. Either way, I love it. I took it for a joyride tonight and had such a blast twisting through the back country roads, rear-driven tires squealing. The first time I’ve gone driving just to drive since gas topped $2/gallon. I’ve missed it.

My car is now a ZEV…

ARoB, Cars, Technology by

Klaus will not make an impact on the environment this year! For $35, I purchased a TerraPass for him to wear, indicating that he’s a zero emissions vehicle. This required no modifications under the hood. Instead, my money paid for the TerraPass company to buy 8,000 lbs of carbon emissions out of trading. These emissions will be parked, as opposed to giving a corporation the right to buy them and pollute. In a round about way, TerraPass neutralizes my car’s effect on the environment. At the same time, the profit that TerraPass makes is turned around and re-invested into clean energy initiatives all over the country. Pretty slick. And, to go with my peace of mind, I get a cool decal:

For more information, you can visit TerraPass online. They are even offering 10% off coupons for your first purchase. Definitely worth a visit, even if it’s just to calculate your current emissions level.

What I did this “weekend”…

ARoB, Art, Cars by

…now with 100% more bullet points!

  • relaxed at Seven Springs resort with my mom & sister
  • watched some very talented young dancers
  • saw Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater inside & out
  • took my mom out to lunch
  • drove Klaus, as opposed to just commuting in him
  • picked daffodils in Talleyrand Park at midnight

Back to work tomorrow. Hopefully you’ll all enjoy your weekends as much as I enjoyed mine. As random as it was…

Special bonus! Fortified with photographic evidence.


My view of the room while waiting on the bed for anyone to come back from wherever they were.


The bounty of my daffodil hunt in Talleyrand.

Oh, dear…

ARoB, Cars by

We’ve reached a new level of dork-osity at my job. This is me with my coworkers. After work. Yes, we gathered after work for this madness. And, yes…we were excited about it. I know…I know.

(I know.)

Any ideas?

ARoB, Cars, Music by

I really cannot afford to live here. I have just received an $826 estimate for my car, Maggie’s not moving in (+$300/mo) and Penn State is not paying me anywhere near enough to cover it all. Where should I go? What should I do when I get there? The options I’m most strongly considering are:

  • Go to a great city and head back to school for video hair and make up.
  • Look for a job in a great city, stay here and make ends meet until I find one.
  • Move home, save some money and look for a job somewhere better.
  • Overdose on caprese salad and red wine while listening to Smokey & Miho.

Suggestions?

I know, I know…

ARoB, Cars by

…that this post isn’t music related. But, I had to post this while I was still feeling jovial from what I received in the mail. Volkswagen sent me a card today and it has to be the most adorable piece of customer care stuff I’ve ever seen.

Inside the oh-so-trendy transparent envelope that read “One lump or two?” was a card featuring a classic Beetle with an ice pack. Opening the card, I found a $10 Starbucks gift card (do they know their demographic or what?) and the following copy:

Dear Nicholas,

We heard your VW just visited your local repair shop. Sorry about that. We don’t like it when our drivers can’t be, well, driving. So, to help make up for the inconvenience, we’d like you to treat yourself to a nice Caramel Macchiato with this Starbucks Card loaded with $10. Or cookies. Cookies always make things better. They’re good like that. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at 1.800.822.8987.

Your friends at Volkswagen

I defy you to not grin while you read that. I laughed all the way up the stairs from my mailbox. Because cookies really do make things better. And I’ll probably buy them with a latte, because I would anyway. And now it’s easier, thanks to VW. 🙂

Thursday evening post…

Cars by

Well, another work week has ended for me and I’m tired. I don’t really know why that is, either, because out of all my weeks, this one was neither particularly stressful or busy. Whatever. With all the plague going around, I’m sure my body is just worn out from fighting this or that germ at every social interaction.

On Tuesday I got to spend the entire workday with Hannah. How novel! We accomplished real tasks here and there, had lunch from Panera and found her the perfect Touareg in Harrisburg. And then we drove to Harrisburg. And then she bought it. So, after 4 hours at the skeeziest Cadillac dealer this side of Newark, I give you Hannah’s new boyfriend, Geoffrey:

If I drove an SUV, this would be the one. He’s like a giant Klaus…with heated leather seats and more wood grain trim and chrome than some Hyundai lots have in total.

In other news, I’m going to Gettysburg tomorrow to visit Hannah’s mom, Marie. This started out as a phone call by Hannah to let her know that there was a new car. It quickly turned into a visit and then more quickly turned into a roadtrip. So, I’ve been warned that I’ll be forced to have my photo taken on a cannon at least once. But, on the upside of going to the battlefield, I think we are taking a ghost tour. By lantern, even!

And now, I wait for Sonya or Maggie to get online and keep me entertained. Because they are both fantastically good at it. 🙂

P.S. It may seem silly that we have a cars category…but, oh how it isn’t.