The Oracle of Apollo
Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

One year ago today, I got on the scale and saw that ugly 196 pound reading. By New Year’s Eve, I had lost 46 of those pounds. The scale read 150. This morning, the scale reads 150.

Through focused, almost obsessive, attention to my diet and working out (doing CrossFit since September), I have been able to maintain a lithe 150 pound weight (some days, I’m a pound over; some days, I’m a pound under) while building functional strength since then. My next step is to buy a barbell and bumper plates to ramp my fitness training up to the next level.

A year isn’t very long, but this year feels like an eternity. That big, bulky Apollo of 2007 has given way to a lean, mean machine that sets personal bests on workouts with startling regularity.

Here are my five upcoming fitness goals.

1. Acquire a barbell, bumpers, gymnastic rings, a Dynamax ball, and squat stands for portable workout awesomeness.
2. Max the APFT by my 38th birthday.
3. Take the CrossFit Level I Certification, the Running & Endurance Sports Training Certification, and the Olympic Lifting Certification.
4. Figure out the muscle up, double under, unassisted one-legged squat, L sit, and handstand pushup.
5. Score a first class on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test.

There are some exciting things coming. I can’t wait.

Over the past couple of weeks, my Blackberry Pearl has been having some issues. Lately, it deletes all the text messages and phone logs very frequently, so that I sometimes miss things. So, this afternoon, I decided to go over to the Apple Store in Palo Alto and rectify the situation. After reports (and a visit in Pleasanton to confirm) of stores being out of them, I took my chances and walked into the store in Palo Alto.

“Hi. I’d like an iPhone, please,” I requested.

“Which one?”

“The 128 GB.”

“Oh, we don’t have those. We have the 16 GB. That’s the biggest one there is.”

“Well, consider it sold.”

Ten minutes later, I took this picture with my Blackberry Pearl.

At last! I’m a cool kid now.

Randy Pausch succumbed today to complications from pancreatic cancer. This is really sad. He was an inspiration to everyone who knew him, even if we only knew him through his Last Lecture.

If you haven’t seen it, you must.

Rest in peace, Dr. Pausch.

The local CrossFit affiliate advertised a two-day introductory class and I decided at the last minute to take it, just so I could dial in my form on several of the exercises. I’m considering buying a barbell and bumper plates in the near future to increase my mad ridiculous amounts of game, so it would behoove me to have professional form correction before I mess myself up.

In addition to the fee I paid, I had to buy a day pass both days at this particular gym, but I expected that. We started at 8 am on Friday and Saturday, and were all out the door by noon.

On Friday, we went through the push press, shoulder press, push jerk, the jumping and squat stances, overhead squats, and kipping pullups. I’ve been doing CrossFit workouts on my own since the middle of September, so I already knew how to do some of these, but I wanted some tips and really locking my form in. We finished the day with Fran, using dumbbells and rough pullup bar. Sadly, I ripped all the calluses off my left hand in the first round and ripped the rest of them off my right hand on the second. My first group workout and I get a DNF. Soft.

On Saturday, we talked about deadlifts, kettlebell swings, sumo deadlift high pulls, overhead squats (again), cleans, and snatches. The snatch is the most technical Olympic barbell exercise, so we practice the jump and stances and all kinds of things that contribute to successfully executing these lifts and swings. We finished off with “Fight Gone Bad”, which I’ve done before. This time, I didn’t forget one of the rounds, got to row on the Concept 2, and got 237 points. Not bad with ripped up hands.

Five things I learned this weekend:

1. Balance: Lifting your big toe off the floor will force you to keep your weight on your heels, which is essential in any exercise where you’re not moving forward or jumping (like squats, cleans, snatches, kettlebell swings, and so on).
2. Chalk: If you’re going to chalk your hands to use a pullup bar, chalk them. Don’t dust them a little bit. Also, make sure your calluses are flat and trimmed before you do, or you’ll rip the crap out of your hands.
3. Squat form: For squats, your feet should be under your shoulders. Be careful not to go to wide and try to keep your body tight at the bottom. Resist the temptation to relax and sag at the bottom.
4. Athletic Posture: The “athletic” posture (chest up, abs tight, lower back maintaining its curve, lungs full) is essential for the exercises we do in CrossFit. Maintaining this form and doing lifts without slouching or softening the posture will prevent injury and maximize the benefits of the exercise in question.
5. Stick Work: Practicing jumping barbell exercises, like the clean & jerk, push jerk, and snatch (as well as the components - deadlift, overhead squat), with a dowel or broomstick helps lock in the form without worrying about a loaded barbell under a time constraint. It’s best to get it right without worrying about getting tired while you’re practicing your fundamentals.

I need to sign up for some certifications in the near future, I think. But, now I’m confident that I can buy a barbell and 300 pounds of bumpers and safely work out with them. Onward!

I talked to the dealership today. Tonight, I’m riding the train only part of the way home. I now have a car.

What I Like About It:

• The price: I got this car for about $4000 less than it would have cost me new.
• The color: It’s not white or some weird color. It’s kind of bluish green.
• The new car smell: Despite having 16000 miles on it, it still smells like a brand new car.
• The comfort: The seats are really really comfy. This is going to rock on a road trip.
• The versatility: The back seats fold down flat and, unlike the 2009 Vibe, the back window opens separately from the tailgate. Awesome!

What I Don’t Like About It:

• No AUX jack: I’m going to have to buy an aftermarket iPod interface and install it myself or pay a bunch of money to have one installed.
• Fumes: When I got the car, it came with about an eighth of a tank of gas. I made it to my home gas station for the first fill up, but I’m sure if it’d been another mile, I’d have pushed my car in.

At last, I have a nice car again. It’s no hot rod (At 128 horsepower, this thing feels pretty much like the Toyota Corolla whose engine powers it), but it gets decent gas mileage (topping at 32 mpg hwy). I decided that the versatility of a small wagon and the niceness of the cabin outweighed the slightly higher fuel economy in the two other front runners (the 2008 Pontiac G5 coupe and the 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LT). Now to await the sticker for my license plates from DMV.

Note to friends in San Francisco: Given SF’s status as a car theft capital, I’m not going to drive my shiny new car into the city until I have a registration sticker from DMV. That’ll let me take the temporary with my name and address out of my front window.

Also, on this day 12 years and one month ago, my last Pontiac was totalled by my housemate. This Pontiac has full coverage, though. Aspicious anniversary, no?

After haggling with some local dealers about the 2009 Pontiac Vibe, the ultimate finalist for “Apollo’s Next Car”, I found that it was nearly impossible to find one with the Preferred Package (Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Cruise Control) and the AC in a car with a manual transmission. After I located one in the Bay Area, I played footsie with a couple of dealers in the area only to find out something very interesting. If you’re a savvy car buyer, take notes on the following.

Nobody’s just going to accept your Capital One BlankCheck. Expect to sign it over and come back for your new car when the dealer gets the money.

The first couple of dealers that said they needed to run my credit saw me turn on my heels and walk out. After I talked to eight car dealers in the area, including the ones selling used cars, it became evident to me that a BlankCheck is not just good for cash. Someone’s going to run your credit and you’re not driving off in your shiny new car, unless you’re really really lucky. (Subsequent calls to Capital One confirmed that this is usually how it goes. They really should correct their documentation.)

After two months of searching and having car dealers quote me $300 off MSRP on new cars (yeah, right, I said “COMPETITIVE”, not “DOUCHEY”), I found a 2008 Pontiac Vibe on a nearby car lot. Sadly, this Vibe has an automatic transmission and is a rental return. It’s not as fast or as fuel efficient, but I don’t drive very much anyway.

I haggled a little bit, but they’d marked the price down on this one. Incidentally, it’s actually the first Vibe I test drove in April, but now it’s much cheaper. I got them to agree to my price and decided to let them run my credit. They decided to accept my BlankCheck, but I have to go get my car another day.

Yeah, I could have kept shopping, but it’s been two months and countless hours of test driving. I now have signed the papers and, soon, I’ll be driving my first new(ish) car in 12 years.

This weekend, I test drove four more cars. I had a blast. I’ve decided that my next automobile will definitely have a manual transmission. They get better gas mileage and you get much better performance, acceleration, and handling with a stick shift. With that in mind, I headed around to the dealerships on this three day weekend.

On Stevens Creek Boulevard, I walked over to the Honda dealership, the fourth dealership I’ve visited to look at the Civic. Due to soulcamp’s incessant suggestion, I keep this car on my list to keep my options open. They had one Civic on the lot, but it was boxed in and they didn’t want to have it driven. Well, that’s fair enough, but I’m not going to beg to test drive a fucking Honda. Sorry, Honda, you’re about to get crossed out.

I wandered onto the Volkswagen lot, just because I felt like checking out what they had to offer. Despite not having much interest in a Jetta, the salesman convinced me that it would be fun to take it for a spin. The five-cylinder engine was very European and race inspired, but the shifting was aggressive enough that this little car required a bunch of revving off the line. It was way too easy to accidentally put the car in third instead of first off the line, but at 170 horsepower, this was a zippy little thing. Still, I need a car that beats 30 miles per gallon.

After picking up Oz at my house, we headed to Capitol Expressway Auto Mall, where I test drove three cars in three adjacent lots. Two of them were fun and one got crossed off the list.

The Saturn Astra I test drove on a lark was quite a surprise. The fun, tight manual gearbox accelerated smoothly, quickly, and powerfully through the gears as I punched it on the freeway, feeling the acceleration and deceleration, how it cornered and handled. This car is nice and has a roomy interior. I didn’t expect to say this, but the Saturn gets to climb a few spots up the list. It’s well-appointed and it was fun to drive.

The 2009 Toyota Matrix S was very fun compared with a manual compared with the less powerful and older 2008 Matrix base. It wasn’t quite as fast as the Saturn, which has a more efficient and slightly smaller engine. But, the Saturn is a European car imported by GM from Opel and the Toyota is a Japanese car. There’s quite a difference. The Matrix was nice, but it doesn’t get 30 mpg in the S version. I think I scared the salesman half to death.

Next, I took the Ford Focus for a drive, although the guy really wanted to sell it to me now. I understand you asking for the sale, but no. The acceleration was okay, it gets good gas mileage, but it just feels like junk to me. The seats are plain Jane and the car is completely devoid of any character.

Finally, I test drove the Toyota Corolla base with a manual, after the Toyota dealer in Sunnyvale went to all the trouble of getting one on their reserve lot, the only manual transmission they have. It was quite fun to drive, had a nice enough interior, and probably earns the right to push a few of the cars higher on the list down a little ways. It did take quite a bit of work to take it on a test drive, but it was worth it. I don’t know if this is quite my style, but no frowns for the Corolla stick.

On Memorial Day, I tried my luck hunting down a 2009 Vibe with a manual transmission, a 2008 Cobalt manual, a Pontiac G5, and a Honda Civic — especially the Civic. After visiting my sixth Honda dealership today (and about a dozen visits overall) and still failing to test drive the Civic, I did my due diligence. Sorry, Honda, I have to cross you off my list. If you have 100 Civics in stock in Daly City and a gaggle of them in San Francisco, but you can’t take me for a spin in the stick, I’m just not going to waste my time anymore, especially since the car isn’t really my style anyway.

Next weekend, I’m damn sure going to find a 2008 Cobalt LS coupe, 2009 Pontiac Vibe, 2008 Pontiac G5, and 2008 Scion xD (all with manual transmissions) to finalize my list.

The Contenders

1. 2007 - 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LS coupe
2. 2009 Toyota Corolla
3. 2008 Saturn Astra XE
4. 2009 Pontiac Vibe base
5. 2008 - 2009 Pontiac G5 (still can’t get a test drive in this)
6. 2009 Toyota Matrix base (still have to test drive this one in the 1.8L)
7. 2008 Scion xD (need to test drive the manual)
8. 2008 Honda Fit
9. 2008 Honda Civic
10. 2008 Ford Focus

I’m shopping for a car. In order to narrow my list to three that I really want, I have to test drive a whole bunch of different kinds of cars in various configurations. Some car lots really don’t want you to test drive their cars. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to help you get your ass in a seat, your hand on a gear shift, and your foot on the floor as you shred the freeway in a car with fewer miles on it than you’ve walked today.

1. No car salesmen older than I am. Get the hungry young man who loves cars. He knows that you’re not interested in the Camry. He knows you want something that, while it may not get you laid, won’t totally prevent such a thing from happening. He knows that you want some zip in the gas pedal, while not expecting a Ferrari, but still something that holds its own at the gas pump. He also doesn’t want to hang around the showroom. He wants to go peel out. (Note: I’m using he here because I’ve never met a female salesperson on any car lot in California. Ever.)
2. Time wasters. If you wander around the lot and nobody comes out to greet you and show you some cars, go inside and talk to the receptionist. As nicely as you can, explain to her that you’d like someone to come show you a car, and which car you’d like. If she tells you you’re going to have to wait, give her five minutes. Is that impatient? No. You’re a cash customer, you want to test drive a car, and the dealership next door will be ecstatic to take you for a test drive without making you wait for an hour.
3. No lazy assholes. If he offers you his card and says “When you’re ready to buy a car, give me a call and we’ll talk”, he doesn’t deserve your business. You’re not at the dealership for the free coffee, are you? Hey, salesman, why are you talking to me without keys in your hand?

Bonus tips:

1. Hooptie drivers. If you see the car salesman bolt from the lot as soon as you leave and jump in a car that is worth less than $1,000 — especially a car that isn’t a classic or a marquee of one of the brands his dealership sells, move on. It’s understandable if you’re at a BMW dealer, but if the guy hucking Pontiacs drives off in a 1986 Honda Prelude that spits black smoke, that’s kind of a warning sign.
2. Locked down lots. If every single car on the lot is locked during business hours so you can’t poke around in the cars without a salesman on your jock, that’s kind of a red flag. They’re going to be really pushy. A good car lot leaves at least one of each of its models unlocked, so people can adjust the seats, check out the gizmos, and get a feel for the car before they talk to the salesman. I poked around in a brand new Toyota Matrix for 20 minutes once, folding the back seats down flat, opening the tailgate, adjusting the seats, and sitting in the back. That was good. A little quiet time with the car is good.
3. Aggressive pushy sales guys. In my experience, some sales people, especially immigrants, try much more aggressively to try to get you to buy something—anything—right now, right here and will never budge on price. (Note: I won’t specify any particular kind of salesman who is the most aggressive, but when I have to struggle to make my desires known, I have to ditch this sales guy and find someone who isn’t going to try to hoodwink me.)

This weekend, I test drove four cars. My front runner, the 2008 Pontiac Vibe, is now a distant fourth. Who knew that the Chevrolet Cobalt, which I’ve rented before, would be so much fun with a manual transmission?

Yesterday, I went with Oz to Dublin to check out a 2008 Pontiac Vibe I found on the internet. This practically new car had been on the lot there since January, but it had only 9,000 miles on it. So, after swinging out in my rental car to pick up Oz, I made the beeline toward Dublin to take it for a spin.

Sadly, there are a few things wrong with this car, most startlingly the brakes. The acceleration is pretty anemic (I’m used to a V6) in the automatic, and the brakes are soft. In addition, there were blemishes on the car that warranted me making an offer well under the sticker. Instead of meeting me in the middle somewhere, the sales manager came back with a counteroffer higher than the sticker. CAR SALEZ, UR DOIN IT RONG!

The Honda Fit I test drove next door was fun, but the car is a little too cute and girly for me to really want one. It gets good gas mileage and is peppy off the line, primarily due to the VTEC under the hood, but I’m pretty sure the authorities would confiscate my man card. Still, I’ll add it to the list, since it’s available in purple.

Earlier today, I decided to step into my Chevrolet dealership, just around the corner from my house. A young sales guy came out to chat me up, we told car stories, and I ruled out the Aveo, but decided to go for a spin in the amazingly sexy Cobalt coupe, equipped with a manual transmission. Taking this bad boy out on the freeway was breathtaking. Acceleration is amazing in this 2.2L inline four, the handling is sweet, and all of this on a coupe that gets 34 mpg on the highway. This particular one is a 2007, with all of 30 miles on the odometer. I really want to test drive the 2008 before I make my final decision. The yellow Cobalt moves into the lead on my list of cars.

After wasting another chunk of time at the Honda dealership, I bailed and headed over to the Toyota dealership to see about getting behind the wheel of a Matrix with a manual transmission. Somehow, I got talked into going for a spin in a 2009 Corolla S manual. Now, this car isn’t as much fun as the Cobalt, but it still blows the recent leader, the Pontiac Vibe, out of the sky. The shifting is nice and smooth, the acceleration is playful, and the steering is tight and sporty. Toyota’s nudged the Vibe even further down. The young salesman handed me off to his senior manager guy who blew me off when I wanted to test drive a Matrix (he wanted me to consider the Yaris).

The Contenders

1. 2007 - 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LS coupe
2. 2009 Toyota Corolla S
3. 2008 Scion xD (need to test drive the manual)
4. 2008 - 2009 Pontiac Vibe (manual - the automatic is way too anemic)
5. 2008 Honda Fit (need to test the manual)
6. 2008 Pontiac G5 (still can’t get a test drive in this)
7. 2009 Toyota Matrix
8. 2008 Honda Civic (4 visits, still no drive)
9. 2008 Saturn Astra (?)
10. 2008 Ford Focus (doubtful, but might as well check it out)

California Supreme Court legalizes marriage equality. Four years after they halted the weddings in San Francisco, the Supreme Court holds that discrimination is illegal.

The 4-3 ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald George, found that it is unconstitutional to deprive gays and lesbians of the equal right to walk down the aisle with a government-issued marriage license in hand. —Howard Mintz and Denis Theriault, San Jose Mercury News

Congratulations! It’s very pleasing to me to see that California doesn’t have to be run by right-wing religious nuts who saw fit to pass the California Defense of Marriage Act. It took a long time, but it’s unconstitutional. California is too nice a place to allow for discrimination against anybody.

Today, at work, it was sexual harassment training day. No, that means they teach us company, state, and federal policy on avoiding workplace sexual harassment. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I’ve worked in the HR department of two major Silicon Valley companies, there were a few things I learned.

1. An offending act can be reported by a third party, even if they merely overheard something that the original people did not consider offensive. If you make a suggestive comment at me, even if we’re dating, and someone overhears it, you can get in trouble.
2. In addition to whatever action the organization takes, the perpetrator of the offending act is independently civilly liable — regardless of the liability of the organization. So, the offender can be fired, but can also still be sued by the victim.
3. The organization is responsible for safeguarding and enforcing its policy among its employees, officers, contractors, consultants, and guests at the company’s offices, functions, or events. So, the organization can be held responsible if an employee’s drunk guest embarrasses everyone at the holiday party.
4. Asking someone out does not usually constitute harassment, provided it’s respectful. Asking someone out after they’ve made it clear that they’re not interested does. It’s all about tone, severity, and frequency.
5. Depending on the context of the gathering, a non-work-related gathering of employees off-site can be considered a “de facto” work event.
6. Jokes count, even overheard. “I always enjoy being your bitch,” while funny, is probably a stupid thing to say at work.

Like the rest of us, I already knew that it’s not okay to stare at a woman’s chest, make “mmm mmm MMM” subvocalizations as someone walks by, or make blatant and ridiculous passes or creepy compliments about someone. The fact that it’s permissible to ask someone out that you work with was news to me. I always considered even looking in that special way at someone else to be ridiculously taboo.

Sometimes I slip and tell offensive jokes at work, make offhanded comments accidentally that nobody took offense to, or rant and rave using four letter words. I’m trying to clean that up because it undermines what measly authority and credibility I have.

Still, I didn’t expect to learn anything at the training today. I expected it to be more of the same, like the “don’t steal the office supplies” talk or the controlled substances talk.

I guess we learn something new every day.

Apparently, some web filtering software has this website blocked. BrightKite user PhoneTrips sent me a message this afternoon to alert me to the fact that the filter at Panera Bread, who operates the largest free wireless network in the United States, blocks this site. Apparently, it’s categorized as OCCULT (<gasp />).

In 8½ years as a blogger here, I haven’t posted anything that could even loosely be categorized in that pigeonhole, other than my name. For the record, I’m an atheist and generally have a fairly low opinion of pseudoscience, paranormal claims, and other nonsense. I’m a huge fan of James Randi and used to listen to Skepticality on a regular basis. It baffles and annoys me that my website is blocked for having anything to do with the occult.

I don’t generally have anything to say about topics that anyone would consider remotely controversial, although I have used language that could charitably be rated PG-13 here. How do I appeal the web filter rating?

Notice: Apparently, it’s not a rare occurrence. Tinotopia even has a list.

Today, I went around to a few dealerships, some of which I’ve been to already. Since I was not feeling that motivated to drive all over the place in a car that lacks working turn signals after my trip to Palo Alto, I visited a few places in Sunnyvale, where I live.

After test driving a few cars, I thought it would behoove me to put together a short list of cars I’m considering to replace my purple hooptie. Today, I test drove a brand new Scion, got an annoying hard sell from a Pontiac monger that personally drives a late 80s Honda Prelude that might even be worth less than my Z24, and wandered around a Dodge dealership gawking at their used inventory.

The Contenders

1. 2006 - 2008 Pontiac Vibe
   • Pro: Very fuel efficient (26 c/32 h), back seats and front passenger seat fold down flat, based on the highly lauded Toyota Corolla platform, attractive. Comes with an exceptional warranty.
   • Con: Car dealers in the Silicon Valley consistently overprice the Vibe. The hard sell in Sunnyvale has the 2008 stickered higher than the 2009 sitting right next to it. It also has no built-in aux jack for my iPod, and everyone seems also only to carry it in silver.
2. 2005 - 2009 Toyota Matrix
   • Pro: Same car as the Pontiac Vibe, although I like the Pontiac’s look a little better. Attractive vehicle, highly rated, by a company that has done nothing so well as show American car companies what success looks like. The 2009 is much more sexy than its Pontiac counterpart.
   • Con: It’s also overpriced nearly everywhere I’ve looked. Until 2009, iPod aux jack didn’t come standard. It also seems to be ubiquitously in silver or grey.
3. 2008 - 2009 Scion xD
   • Pro: The price is really low. Fuel efficient (26 c/32 h). Back seats fold flat. There are stereo controls on the steering wheel. The fully loaded model NEW is a few thousand cheaper than all of the used Vibes I’ve looked at recently. The redesign is much more attractive than the xA was. The iPod connector displays current track information on the console. The vehicle is zippy off the line and accelerates aggressively on the freeway.
   • Con: There’s no arm rest in the center. The warranty is less impressive than other manufacturers. The ride felt a little stiff, although I didn’t drive it very far. The cargo space is limited compared with the previous two.
4. 2007 - 2008 Pontiac G5
   • Pro: This car is really sexy. The mileage is better than the Vibe/Matrix (25 c / 35 h) in a 5 speed, but about the same in the automatic. It looks roomy and I’d love to test drive one next weekend when I get out of Sunnyvale to go look around at some places where they want to earn my business. The warranty on the Pontiacs is really impressive.
   • Con: I’m more interested in a four-door hatchback than a coupe (my current ride is a coupe). The cargo area is fairly small. I can’t say much more about this since the local Pontiac dealer always keeps all their cars locked, even during business hours.
5. 2007 - 2008 Honda Fit
   • Pro: The automatic is very fuel efficient (27 c/34 h). It’s highly sought after, enough that most dealerships won’t even let you say its name without trying for the hard sell. It comes in some interesting colors, include purple (whose color is named “Blackberry Pearl”).
   • Con: Dealers cannot keep this vehicle in stock for very long, since all the tuner kids want one desperately. The warranty isn’t that impressive. The car feels confined, although I haven’t driven it. The cargo area is smaller than the Vibe/Matrix. Due to its popularity, I have heard that the incidence of theft, both of the car itself and of its logos and other visual treatments, is high.

Vehicles I’ve eliminated from my list include the Nissan Versa (which looks goofy to me and the back seats don’t fold flat) and the Dodge Caliber (which looks tough as a drill sergeant, but doesn’t even get 30 mpg on the highway).

I’m still compiling a list and narrowing, so this list will change, especially when I rent a car on Friday and drive out to somewhere where the fucking salesmen aren’t lazy as shit. The very first thing you should do when I step on the lot is GET ME BEHIND THE WHEEL.

Also, if your dealership is open and any of the cars on the lot are locked (at least any of the cars without a Ferrari or Lamborghini logo on the hood), I am not buying my car at your dealership. You don’t want me to poke my nose in and get to know your vehicles? Then, I’ll hand my money to someone else.

If you are trying to sell me a car, you don’t have to have a brand new top-of-the-line roadster from your company. But, if I see you climb into a car worth less than $1,000, I’m never going to take you seriously, especially if it’s not a classic and it’s not from the marque you sell.

Finally, if you follow up “I’m not ready to buy today, I’m just looking” with a whiny “Oh, man, why? Come on, man. I can only give you a special price today!”, you have permanently lost my business. Respect my timeline.

A while back, I noticed a crapload of followers that were obvious spammers following my tweets on Twitter. So, in a weird moment of decision, I locked my profile down and started the slow process (back when it was still broken) of trying to block everyone I don’t know from following me.

I’m sure twitter is an effective tool for promoting your blog posts, but I haven’t seen that much of a bump. Since mid-August, 30 visits were referred from the service. Perhaps that’s because I’ve had it locked down for a good percentage of that time.

Do you have your account visible to friends only? Do you post your tweets via a widget onto your website? How many extra visitors does your blog get because of your tweets?

I also notice a couple of my friends use twitter as a substitute for instant messaging. I’ve noticed that the ones who use iPhones are the most likely to do this and the most likely to want to just use twitter to send messages. One of my friends has a handle that ends in an underscore, which makes me more inclined to send him an SMS text in reply than try to type in d username_ on my Blackberry Pearl keyboard in TwitterBerry. (Uh, yeah, if you have a weird character in your name and it seems like I’m ignoring your direct messages, it’s just that I’m driving or marching or something. I’ll get back to you, though.)

How much has twitter replaced your instant messaging? How about your SMS texting?

I’m just curious about how all of you use twitter and whether it’s part of your blog pimpage program. My friend, Eric, insists that you always have to be pimping your projects fairly constantly in order to gain an audience. I’ve had huge traffic over these last eight years from spammers (81 comment and trackback spams in moderation since May 1 — Akismet caught 8543), but not so many from actual people. Should I open my tweets back up to the world and just manually block the spammers I find?

Related Post: Declining Your Friend Request, 08 Aug 2007.

08:04 — Look at watch. Oh, shit. I have 9 minutes to get to the train station. Get in the car and go!

08:06 — Toyota Sienna Minivan pulls out in front of me. Speed now: 12 mph. Okay, please turn right at Washington. Please, get out of my way, please, I beg you.

08:09 — Toyota Sienna Minivan waits for Toyota Camry. Speed now: 10 mph. I AM TRYING TO CATCH THE TRAIN!

08:12 — Left turn lane into Sunnyvale Caltrain parking lot. Clog of software engineering wives dropping hubbies off, while BLOCKING MY PARKING STRUCTURE.

08:13 — Caltrain arrives, boards, and leaves. I’m still not in the parking structure. Fuck.

08:14 — Depart Sunnyvale Caltrain, westbound on Evelyn Avenue. Attempt to catch northbound 08:23 Caltrain at Mountain View.

08:23 — Caltrain arrives, while I’m trying to find a place to park at Mountain View Caltrain lot. Well, so much for getting to work before 10:00. Better head back to Sunnyvale where at least there’s always parking on the roof of the parking structure.

08:31 — Drive to roof of Caltrain parking structure. Parking spots available: 0. Times this has happened before in the history of humanity: 0. Shit.

08:37 — Find parking spot at Sunnyvale Town Center Mall, careful to park in the spots not delineated by “FOUR HOUR PARKING LIMIT STRICTLY ENFORCED BETWEEN THE ARROWS”

08:54 — Caltrain arrives. I embark, while sending tardy email to coworkers. Looking up Caltrain schedule, I discover that had I continued to attempt to park at 08:14, I’d have made it aboard the 08:18 train.

10:10 — Arrive San Francisco office, late by an hour.

10:15 — Filling paper coffee cup under push handle dispenser. Attention diverted, half a cup of coffee bounces off metal table onto my crotch. Perfection achieved. Temptation to destroy Earth resisted.

That’s how you start a Tuesday.

On this day in 1994, my youngest sister, Jody, was killed by a drunk driver. I can hardly believe more than 14 years have passed since her light shined upon the world. In her memory, my tradition is to fast on May 4. The last time I ate a meal on this day, she was alive.

Her loss was a devastating tragedy for the whole world. She was a shining star—a bright amazing person who personified optimism and friendliness. I wonder what she’d have become, who she’d be now, where her fortunes would have taken her. I guess it’s something I’ll always wonder about.

Whatever you do on the weekends, please don’t drink and drive. You might make it home tonight, but you might not. And when you get in a crash, the chances are significant that someone like me will talk about someone they lost on a dark night. Don’t take the risk. Call someone and get a ride home.

I’m in the market for a new car. Well, not necessarily a brand new car, but a good late-model used car to replace my current purple car. I drive a 1994 Chevy Cavalier Z-24, which I bought in 1996. I’ve put 145,000 miles on it in the 12 years I’ve had it and it’s been a decent enough car, although I’ve had to spend more and more on repairs as it got older. When I came back from spring break a month ago, the turn signal flasher stopped working for the fourth time (I replaced it a year ago three times in the space of two months). Combine that with the fact that I accidentally broke the mirror off the passenger side and the driver’s side door latch failing from the inside (which requires me to open the driver’s door from the inside), I have probably put off getting another car for a few too many years.

I’ve been looking around for a new vehicle for a little while. Not having a car puts me at a serious disadvantage when it comes to going out on weekends. I take the train to work, so I wouldn’t need a car to commute to work. But, after a while, Netflix weekends start to get old. I could move to San Francisco, I suppose, and I may at some point in the future, but the climate in the city is quite cold, the apartments are tiny and expensive, and I enjoy having plenty of room. So, it’s off to the car dealers for the really pleasant task of finding another car.

My short list includes the Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Matrix, and (remotely) Honda Fit. I drove a Dodge Caliber last month on spring break and a Chevy Cobalt last year. I’d consider one of those if the deal was extraordinary.

I’ve been to a few of the car dealers around Sunnyvale and none of them seem ready to take their customers on test drives. They’re happy to answer questions, ask for the sale, and discuss financing options, but few of them default to “Why don’t we go for a drive and you can see if you like it?” They, to a person, wanted to give me brochures and a business card, dismissing me with a curt “When you’re ready to buy, let me know.” Uh, dude, I don’t hang out on car lots recreationally.

When I bought my Cavalier in 1996, the dealer came out, greeted me on the lot, led me around, and asked “What catches your eye?” I pointed out the purple car and he hollered, “Well, hell, kid, let’s take it fer a drive!” “Okay!” And on the test drive, “Well, you got more gas pedal. This thing’s got a V6 under the hood. Open her up and see what she’ll do!” He threw in a bunch of stuff with the car and really made me want it.

So, today, I headed down the street in my admittedly broken car, this time heading up the Peninsula to see what was in stock in Redwood City, San Mateo, and Burlingame. Hopefully, I could actually test drive one of my target automobiles. In Redwood City, the salesmen ignored me because I parked in the movie theater and walked over (the theater is between four car dealerships). In Burlingame, I skittered away from the Toyota dealer to find a soda machine and headed back because he tried to catch me.

I test drove a 2007 Toyota Matrix. This guy really tried to get me to buy today, but understood when I told him that tax day wasn’t nice to me. We took the low mileage matrix out on the freeway, I stepped into it, passed a couple of Priuses (I’d get one of those if they didn’t cost $150 million and top out at 45 mph), swung it around a freeway offramp, and basically just noodled around in it. It’s nice, but a little more expensive than I thought it would be. He offered to throw in an iPod connection to the stereo (seriously, why is the Cobalt the only car in that class to offer this as a standard feature?) and a retouch of the cosmetic scratches. I may consider this car, but I’d need to reduce the price significantly. Paying $350/month for a Toyota seems a little ridiculous.

Next, I headed a block down to the GMC Pontiac dealer. That salesman was solid as well, making an effort to find the 2008 Pontiac Vibe that had just come in a couple days before. We took it out on the freeway as well with a “Why don’t we take it for a drive?” and it was as nice as the Matrix. The sticker’s pretty high, but depending on my negotiating mojo, I could probably talk a few thousand off the price. Nice car, certainly on the list.

Third, I went next door to the Honda dealer, who pounced on me immediately and tried to sell me a brand new purple (bonus points for the color) Fit, but didn’t seem to want to take me on a test drive or have any used cars. “This is going to be gone tomorrow. Come on, man. You don’t want to drive home in that Chevy. We’ll make you a deal right now, come on.” Dude, I don’t buy any car I haven’t driven at least twice and I don’t have a 20% down payment today. I’ll consider the Fit, but it’s a distant third and I won’t be buying one here.

Finally, just to see if the Honda dealer in Sunnyvale was any different at all, I stepped in half an hour before closing and the sales guy did the old “here’s a brochure and my card” laziness. I like that the Fit is economical and available in purple, but if you are going to make a commission off me, you’re going to work for it. Maybe it’s a cultural thing in the Silicon Valley to talk in abstractions, but “when you’re ready to buy” means you’re not serious about making the sale or establishing a relationship with me.

My housemate is a hard bargain kind of girl, so she advised me to go to Gilroy, where she bought her new Corolla. That seems like a good idea for next weekend. Don’t worry, I’ll rent a car before I drive 70 miles to look at more vehicles. Incidentally, she’s right. When I was buying my current car, I lived in Moscow, Idaho, a college town, where the salesmen wouldn’t let me drive anything. They weren’t serious about making the sale, figuring me for a dumb college student without any money. In Lewiston, Idaho, I bought the car in cash. I’d have liked to have kept the commission local, but if you flunk at salesmanship, someone else gets the money.

Where did you buy your car? What do you drive? Would you buy it again? What would you buy if you were shopping today?

This morning on the train, I wrote my 24th track of the year on the way to work. It’s my 21st ambient improvisation. I don’t know how I started doing those, but they seem to flow well and help me fall asleep. Many people I know are unaware of my decades-long fascination with deep ambient music, particularly that of Harold Budd, Brian Eno, and Steve Roach.

I don’t know whether or not I’ll ever release these on an actual album, but I play them quite often when I’m trying to calm down. Even if they’re just throw-away tracks, I’m learning something about constructive self-criticism every time I make one of these tracks. What’s more, building music on the train (instead of playing video games on my PSP makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something even before I’ve set foot in my office.

I’d listen to them more at work, but at 40 beat a minute, they induce calmness and, often, sleepiness. Are they good enough to release on a CD? Not all of them are, certainly, but I definitely feel like the ambient tracks are superior to the house tracks I’ve written this year.

April was an incredibly unproductive month in my projects. I wrote just one track all month–one ambient track that took me almost half an hour. All the reasons I come up with for not writing music on the train are all lame. I’m just lazy.

Of the 30 days in April, I completed my CrossFit workouts on only nine occasions. I skipped 13 official workout days. The idea behind the program is to do what you can, even if you have to substitute something. The idea is to work out for three days and take a day of rest—not work out for a day and take three days of rest. Fortunately, I am not totally pigging out anymore, so I didn’t gain any weight, although I do feel awfully soft.

It is really easy for me to slide back and fall into old habits, so I’d better nip this one in the bud, pull back from the PlayStation Portable in my satchel, and get some work done. Thankfully for my inactivity, it should be relatively quick to catch the Oracle back up. Musically, despite my low output in April, I’m still ahead for the year and on track to finish 52 tracks by the end of December.

I’m not going to beat myself up too much more over this. It’s more constructive just to pick myself up, dust myself off, and march on. Maybe I’ll write another ambient track on the train in the morning to take the edge off what will certainly be another incredibly taxing day.

After most of two years, I’ve decided to change the theme of this site, particularly after K2 stopped allowing people to post comments:

Sorry, you can only post a new comment once every 15 seconds. Slow down cowboy.

In the next few days, I may try out several different themes. I particularly like the ones that get posted in Smashing Magazine. There seem to be 1130 posts about WordPress over there, many of which are themes galleries. Looks like I might be able to find a really cool one and breathe a little life into this old girl.

If you have suggestions for themes you think might work here, I’m interested. Many of you subscribe to my RSS feed, so you wouldn’t notice any difference in the UI. I guess I could serve an unstyled grey-and-black 1995 theme, but that’d be like driving a Bondo-colored Corvette to the prom. Since you have a souped up hot rod, you might as well paint it, right?