Recently in Automobiles Category

You know, I'm fairly forgiving of people but not at all of corporations.  For example:  when the Exxon Valdez spilled oil all over Prince William Sound in Alaska back in 1989, I swore I would never knowingly purchase Exxon products again.  Here 11 years later, I've kept that promise.

I was so annoyed by the crappy cars the American auto industry forced on the American public back when we had no choice but to purchase their junk.  Then, when the Japanese began importing affordable, well built cars into the US, I started buying Hondas.  I bought a VW.  I bought a Toyota.  I bought a Nissan. At one point, years ago, my wife talked me into buy a Ford.  Never again!  Garbage on wheels.

The Ford was such a crappy vehicle, even with the Japanese competition, I swore I would never again buy an American car.  Why couldn't we as a country build a quality car that was affordable?!  Every American-made car I ever had been in felt like a piece of junk--like an overly padded tomb on wheels!

As far as I was concerned, when the American auto industry was about to go under just over a year ago, I could have cared less.  They built crap cars for generations. Let them be victimized by their own mismanagement and lack of quality design, engineering and construction. They were getting what they deserved.  No forgiveness.

But in the past month, I've rented 2 American-made cars.  I was shocked.  They didn't look like, feel like, or handle like junk.  The best was a Ford.  I actually felt like a quality.

My cousin just purchased a Buick LaCrosse.  Not only was it gorgeous, the interior was well crafted, well designed, ergonomic.  I could get in and out of the car without having to contort my body.  The leather interior was classic.  The rear camera technology was awesome.  It got good gas mileage.  The price wasn't just affordable, it was highly competitive with the luxury cars in its class. I was actually positively impressed!

Now, I doubt I will ever buy another American-made car.  But at least the American auto industry is beginning to earn a little respect after 40 years!  It may come too late.

Related articles:

• U.S. Auto Sales May Reach 28-Year Low for August (businessweek.com)

I really like going to the El Segundo Antique Car show, held each year near the end of August.  It's free and is sponsored by the El Segundo Police Department, which I think is also cool.  I first went in 2008. I was out of town last year on business and missed it.  This year's show was a little different from the first one I attended.

When I first arrived the sky was overcast with the marine layer which makes for a very nice, diffuse lighting on the cars, perfect for photography.  The sun came out about half way through my visit.  Yikes.  Hot spots reflecting off the vehicles.

At any rate, I had a blast and am getting better and better at shooting cars (or, so I think, anyway—smile).

For this post I am including only a few shots of  hood ornaments, not grills, trunks, engines, or full cars.  To check out my entire collection of photos of automobiles, three albums, click on this link and then select the album(s) you wish to view.  Be sure to click the full screen button in order to view them in full screen, no matter how big your screen is.  (They do look awesome on the huge monitors!)

Click any image below to see a larger version.

Well, a good friend purchased a 4 door Porsche Panamera for his family. They picked us up as we headed off to Flemings Steakhouse for dinner a couple weeks back. Very nice car.

Today, in the grocery store parking lot I saw my first Telsa. It looks great. Of course, being all electric, it makes no sound at all. Maybe someone I know will buy one of those so Io can ride in it, though it seemed very low to the ground. I guess sports cars generally are.

I haven't posted much to my blog lately because I have been intensely busy, mostly with traveling, writing, and physical therapy.  And I have made some minuscule effort to avoid the computer as typing at the keyboard seems to train wreck my bad shoulder!

Recently, well, over the past several days, I used my Navigon application on the new iPhone as I traveled.  This application is awesome on its own.  On the iPhone 4, the app looks beyond gorgeous and functions with a level of smooth precision I had not noticed before.  I love it!

I use the app with the TomTom car kit.  I didn't give a second thought to using the car kit with my new phone, just assuming it would work fine.  Wrong!  The iPhone 4 is not as thick as the iPhone 3Gs, and this fact caused some connection issues.  Apparently the car kit needs the extra thickness to snap the phone firmly into the connector.  I even noticed a "rocking lever" that seems to need pressure to deliver electricity to the iPhone 4, which is not thick enough to press the lever.

The iPhone 4 appears to snap into the car kit fine.  But it does not get an electrical charge from the connector.  After some wiggling/pressing, each time I used it, I managed to get the phone to seat itself enough to get the charge.  Having electricity is essential as running a GPS app on the phone would otherwise very quickly deplete the battery.

I also noticed some wonderful updates to the Navigon application since last I used it.  I downloaded the panoramic 3D map information which adds more realistic display information.  And, for those who are not familiar with the Navigon app, I totally love how it implements highway signage information as you approach the signage.  It looks so realistic, just as the signs actually look when you arrive at them.  This feature takes so much guesswork out of navigating complex junctions.

The applications functions fantastically well in the background with the new multitasking iOS4.  And I also completely love the intuitive interface and GUI design.

On my recent trip to the Atlanta metropolitan area, I confess to finding the speed limit warning a bit annoying.  You can set the interval to 5, 10, 15, etc. miles per hour over the speed limit.  The application knows the speed limits and will say "Warning" while displaying an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle at the bottom corner of the speed limit sign indicating the actual speed limit.  In the top center I have the app showing my current, realtime speed.  This is invaluable information when traveling in unfamiliar areas.  But I knew the speed limits in the Atlanta area, had the interval set to 5mph, and the traffic was, as the traffic tends to do in Atlanta, speeding maniacally down the intestates.  So I heard "Warning!" every minute or so as I drove.  With my shoulder, I couldn't reach to adjust the interval while driving.

I'll have to update my TomTom car kit when they make one designed for the new iPhone 4.  But, I highly recommend the Navigon GPS application!

Related articles:

• On the road with the latest Navigon MobileNavigator (tuaw.com)
• Best iPhone Navigation Apps (brighthub.com)

Seems that lately I've been grousing around about everything. I tend to be a fairly happy-go-lucky sort of guy, but when things annoy me, especially when my shoulder hurts, I vent about them. I don't hold them in.

So, when something good happens, I try to be equally as quick to share the love. Well, tonight, I want to share the love. I'm in the Mile High City and had to rent a car.

Car rental is car rental to me, usually just dealing with people who are indifferently just doing their job, sometimes feeling ripped off by absurd prices. But this afternoon's experience was unexpected and unprecedented!

The shuttle driver who picked up the 3 of us waiting on Island 4 to be taken to the car rental office was probably a good bit older than I, yet he insisted on taking my suitcase and placing it in the bin. Little did he know how much I appreciated that as my arthritic shoulder had been killing me all day.

He was a pleasant and outgoing fellow who told us he was glad to answer any questions we might have in the 5 - 6 minutes it would take us to get to the rental agency. He explained how to get to the major interstates when leaving the car rental place.

When we walked in to the rental office I was in shock. They were very busy but three agents welcomed each one of us to his counter area with a warm smile and, "Let me help you right here." None of us waited even a second.

My agent, I think his name was Kyle, totally blew me away -- and that's really hard to do. Not only was he pleasantly conversational during our entire transaction, he was fast, thorough, and efficient. He suggested that the less expensive option for where I was going was not to prepay for the gas but to top it off when I returned it. (What?! Saving ME money???) He double checked the GPS to make sure it worked and was connected to the satellites before we ever went out to the lot. (In the past, I've had so many that didn't work. Thank god for my iPhone!)

He walked around with me in the lot showing me the cars from which I got to pick. Once I selected the Toyota Camery, he showed me where the gas tank was, opened the trunk and put my luggage in, and (since he had already asked me at the counter in general conversation where I was going) asked me if I was in a hurry.

I told him I really wasn't. He then suggested I might want to avoid the private toll road because they didn't take cash and required a later online registration and complex payment process. He said it was the fastest route and that the GPS would probably take me that way. If I wasn't in a hurry, he would be glad to program the GPS to avoid that route.

What?! Jeeze! Am I dreaming?!

He then programmed my destination address with the toll road avoided. This guy could not have been any nicer or any more helpful. The only other thing he could have done would have been to drive me to my destination. I was completely impressed. He told me that the return address for the car was already accurately programmed into the GPS. (That's rare!)

With the GPS ready to guide me, the car cranked, and the AC on, he wished me well as he shook my hand.

I told him that Enterprise was really working it and that I was totally impressed. He smiled as we waved goodbye with a great big smile.

Now that's totally awesome customer service! I highly recommend the Enterprise Car Rental at the Denver International Airport. They treat their customers the best I've ever seen, and those that know me know that I travel all the time and am slow to make recommendations! By the way, their rates were great too!

The bustle of this city goes beyond that of NYC and Paris. In many ways, it exceeds Rome. I've simply never seen so many scooters flitting about, so many people on bicycles, so many cars and pedestrians scrunching into such cramped quarters. The horns blow nonstop, not in a rude, NYC sort of way, but in a "Don't squash me. I'm here!" sort of way.

Nam, my young guide, and the driver took me all over Hanoi today. I'm exhausted. I walked almost all of the 36 streets in the old French Quarter, toured the historic Hanoi Hilton prison, walked a "typical neighborhood," and walked through the Ho Chi Minh memorial area. The sights, the sounds, the smells were unlike anything I've experienced anywhere else in the world. I even shot a movie of a house being built. Totally unique!

Nam speaks English very well. He's from here. He seems to know the people and has shared several interesting stories about the area.

I'm including in this post a few shots of the magnificent Sofitel Metropole by Lake Hoan Kiem where I'm staying in the French Quarter as well as some from around the city.

And the pictures of the crazy busy city...

Related articles

• Vietnam: Day One (timtyson.us)