Over Labor Day week-end (Sept. 5-7th) we flew out to CA to visit old friends over Labour Day week-end. It was a nice break from the TX summer heat, that has been bogging us down this year with record temperatures. CA welcomed us with pleasant temperatures in the 80ies and blue skies. We stayed at a friend’s place and met lots of people from our former life in CA. The four day trip was very pleasant and Rohan enjoyed exploring his surrounding.
During the flights he was mostly manageable and slept for large stretches. This helped with keeping our sanity.
We both enjoyed coming back to our old home and were reminded of many fond memories we have of the time we lived there. We’ll be back to visit – no doubt.
Alaska airline has picked up the non-stop route between San Jose and Austin after American Airlines has discontinued its service. This is a pleasant surprise, as flying non-stop with a baby is so much more preferable over a connecting flight.
Traveling with car seat, baby diapers and all the equipment that you need for a baby is definitely different from hopping on a plane while I was single…
Category Archives: USA
Cash for clunker
The US is contemplating a program that would be similar to Germany’s “Abwrackpraemie”. the intend is to get old fuel inefficient cars off the road and replace them by new cars. In the proposed legislation you would qualify for $3500 from the government, if your new vehicle gets a 4 mpg better gas mileage, or $4500 if it improves by more than 10 mpg.
Given that my 1993 Explorer with 150k miles on it is on its last stretch, I’ve been looking for possible candidates. The Explorer gets 18 mpg in combined driving, so I need a car that gets at least 22mpg.
First I thought to buy a minivan, but neither the Honda Oddyssee nor the Toyota Siena get the required fuel efficiency of 22mpg, so that idea is out.
Due to the heat in TX that produces a noticable performance loss, especially with the A/C running at all times, I’ve been wanting a turbo charged or super charged engine. Unfortunately either system makes the engine less fuel efficient despite the fun you add. That threw out the Subaru WRX and the Mazda Speed3 (245hp!).
Currently I’m looking at the Volkswagen GTI with its 2.0T (200hp) (turbo), the Mazda MX-5 2.0, 167hp (naturally aspirated), and the Mini Cooper S (167hp, turbo).
The GTI with a DSG gearbox is very refined, but the DSG definitely takes some getting used to. After having read raging reviews, I had high expectations. I have to say I was disappointed. There’s still noticeable lag, when you switch gears, less so than a traditional step tronic though. When launching from a full stop, it takes quite some time until the engine develops enough torque to catapult the heavy Golf forward. Dropping one gear isn’t enough to unleash the full power, but dropping two gears at a time causes even bigger lag. The ride of the Golf is very refined, you’re almost removed from the engine noise and the road, but all this comes at the cost of fun. Under steer is still very pronounced as expected with this car. I liked the fit and finish of the car inside and out, the engine was OK (didn’t feel like a 200hp beast) but the transmission disappointed.
Then I drove the MX-5. The non turbo charged 2.0 liter engine is a good match for the lighter car. While not as strong as the GTI, and not as refined (vibration noticable at the stick shift), it is a good engine for this rear wheel drive car. The ride is low and stiff and the car communicates the road conditions well. The short throw of the shifter makes for a fun handling ride. The car feels like a previous generation technology car – everything is moving and shaking and when you drive you like it. You’re right in the middle of the action. The exhaust sounds good and if the weather is nice you can even drop the top. What you can’t do is loading another two kids in the back-seats – they’re not there. Overall I had a lot of fun with this very affordable roadster.
Next to drive is the Mini Cooper S. I’ll update this post when it happens.
Andy Grove on patents
Andy Grove gave an interesting speech beginning of May, where he criticized the current state of patent usage http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-10232355-64.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0.
He compared the patents to mortgage backed securities, derivatives that have moved far away from the actual underlying product. They became a product by themselves but have become less and less useful in their original intent to make the inventor rich and to let the society benefit.
Interesting read.
Connecting with Germans
Recently I’ve tried to find more Germans in Austin to connect and network with. For that reason I’ve joined the local German ex-patriate group that meets once a month at a local bar. The other day I drove out of our neighborhood (which is pretty big with 2600 houses, almost a village by itself) when I saw an Audi A4 with a German D stuck to its bumper. At the red light at the exit of the neighborhood I rolled down my window and hollered over. After a second of hesitation the Audi’s window also lowered and we were able to exchange a few words before the light turned green. During those seconds I learned that he was indeed originally from Germany as I am and that he lives on street X in the neighborhood. While suggesting that we should have a couple of beers together sometimes, the light turned green and we each went our way.
The next day I went online and looked up the publicly available house owner data of that street and looked for a German sounding name. Mr Meier (name changed) was easily identified and I used his name for a search with LinkedIn, a professional networking community. Sure enough I found him working for another high-tech company in town. So I contacted him in turn through this website. After the exchange of a couple of emails we met yesterday in person the first time. Quite exciting – from a bumper sticker to a new neighborhood friend.
America is really great in that way. Connecting with strangers isn’t considered strange at all. Of course the privacy aspect of this story is somewhat is scary.