Beyond VTEC: The VX was the greatest daily driver ever.

    Ahhh, a fellow VX appreciator! I have owned two of these cars, and for me it is the ultimate daily driver. A true unicorn. It is the Mclaren F1 of daily drivers, even. That's taking it a bit far, now, isn't? Well, no, not really. Not when you consider that the car that inspired Gordon Murray to build the greatest hyper car of all time was the Honda NSX, Honda's halo car, and of which much of the DNA the NSX would share with the 5th gen Civics. A recent article rightly named the VX and its kin the greatest generation of Honda Civic Honda made. Ranking Every Generation Of The Honda Civic From Worst To Best

Ranking Every Generation Of The Honda Civic From Worst To Best Over 12 million Civics spanning 11 generations have been sold in America alone.

    When I bought my first Civic VX (In 2006, it was my second car, my first was an '85 Honda Accord), I chose it for my Craigslist search because of the fuel economy listed on fueleconomy.gov and because it was a Honda. I did not realize at the time that I would never find a better car. Years later I used to wonder to myself: do I love this car so much because I just have a natural appreciation of automobiles, and Hondas in general, and because I've owned one for so long? Surely there are other cars I would fall in love with? When my second VX finally died, I replaced it with a Mazda 2, 5 speed; nowhere near as fun to drive. It's amazing  that such a revered car as the Mazda 2, and a "modern" replacement to the VX, could fall so incredibly short of the VX. An absolutely numb driving experience compared to the VX, not to mention that it's smaller and gets significantly worse fuel economy.

    What I loved so much about the VX: first, the handling. The car is fun and rewarding to drive. The double-wishbone suspension connected to the manual steering was an absolute dream. I came to love the lean-burn stumble. It made it easier to hypermile and it was just very satisfying knowing when I was in lean-burn and when the car would come out of it. I also loved that if I wanted to go faster, the extra power at the higher RPMs was sooo satisfying: VTEC-E, what a concept! I also liked the non-power steering, for the same reason Gordon Murray chose to make the Mclaren F1 with manual steering: that direct connection to the road. And, yes, the wheels. Extremely light and smart looking wheels. 13" is all that light car needed for a fun, nimble and efficient driving experience.

    When I would think of other cars I could buy that might be as fun as the VX, the only other car I could think of was the original Miata, but it's not nearly as practical and doesn't get as good gas mileage, so I always come back to the VX: it is absolutely the ultimate daily driver, by faaaaaarrrr. Thanks for sharing your passion for this absolute legend of a car. I wish I could afford to buy yours! I'm currently in a 2008 Honda Fit, but it's an automatic. :-/

angband avatar

 

Chronicle of my quarantine

Good day. Today, Sunday March 15th is day 1 of my quarantine.

I live and work as a direct-care giver in a small town (7000 population) in Southern New England. About a week ago I learned of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in a nearby small city in the middle of my county. A few days ago the confirmed cases in my county reached 9. Since then each day the world has changed in significant and dramatic ways (national emergency declared; normal way of life is canceled) such that on Friday I was wondering what the headline would be on Saturday? Then (less than 48 hours ago) I could not have guessed I’d pretty much be my own next headline....

My direct supervisor lives and works across the street from where I live in a three storey house. Yesterday morning she informs me she isn’t feeling well. Last night she calls to tell me she has been to the ER and tested negative for various Flu and respiratory diseases; and the doctors suspect COVID-19 but we have to wait 72 hours for the results of that test. I was then told the whole house would be quarantined for at least 72 hours (if the test is positive then I believe the quarantine will have to be 2 weeks).

Since I hadn’t any direct contact with my supervisor I was told I could go home, but that if I stay it would be a big help. Since my housemate (across the street) is elderly and returned from the hospital for a surgery on Thursday I did not feel it a good idea to go home even if my risk last night was considered low.

So now it’s Sunday and I’m quarantined in the house with the people I care for, one of whom is an unwitting expert at spreading germs.

Yesterday I was feeling slightly sluggish and had slight sniffles. Today I feel very good. One of the three residents I care for today has a very slight fever, very slight cough, so he gets to spend the day in his room.

Now I just sit and wait. Like 10 little Indians. At least I’m still on the clock for any extra shifts I’ll be working this upcoming week (which might be a lot).

 

Yes, it’s quite alarming and almost comical, the absurdity of how quickly the world has changed in the last three days: I suddenly feel like I’m a real life character in a rapidly unfolding script of a fictional thriller but it’s somehow real life. The rapidity with which this virus has found its way to my doorstep (literally) after being an abstract thing in the headlines from the farthest reaches of the globe is startling and surreal.

An unrelated Trilogy of Tours.

Before my flight, I very carefully had used a bar of dove soap and a wash cloth in the airport bathroom, as in all my stress and running around, personal hygiene had fallen by the wayside, and I was wafting pretty pungent. With a fresh shirt and fresh armpits, ready for my 24+ hour flight. Bangkok was warm, rain sometimes threatened but never really materialized. The weather has been amazing so far, actually. It's never too hot, never too sunny, and only rains when it's convenient, like when I'm in doors, sleeping or need to cool off a little.

The flight went very well. I slept most of it, and when I was awake I was well entertained on my new iPad. The layover in the Qatar was quite nice. 

How to set your airport apart from the rest? Install a giant teddy bear in the center of it, of course. 

Or install an elaborate children's play area. Doha International Aiprot in Qatar.

I had an interesting experience trying to find an immigration card at Customs. I saw people filling them out but the card holders were all empty. I spent a good 45+ minutes running around (notice a theme developing?) trying to find an immigration card to fill out. Whenever I'd try to ask someone they didn't speak English and weren't very interested in my gesticulations for substitute means of communications. When someone did figure out what I was after, they'd point vaguely and say something more vague about where to get the cards. If I found someone official looking, their vagueries were equally puzzling, with vague gestures in vague directions. Finally I found three nice Thai girls who very happily gave me a card and showed me exactly how to fill out the form. The stark contrast to the previous 45+ minutes was as puzzling as it was pleasant. The customs process was surprisingly easy after that.

Beach in Pattaya, located a little over 100km south of Bangkok. 

After not enough time in Bangkok for sight seeing, and a pleasant enough stay in Pattaya I decided to book Phuket fairly last minute. Very glad I did. Found a very cool Hostel online near Patong Beach. 

On the way from the airport after landing in Phuket I signed up for 3 tours without doing any research. Very touristy affairs, but still very fun. I call it the Unrelated Trilogy.

1st tour visits sites from the movie The Beach. 

"All American Tourist"

2nd tour is reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

and the 3rd tour visits scenes from James Bond.

Somehow lowtech James Bond isn't quite as cool....

I don't have many pics from the first tour (and it wasn't very picturesque anyway) because my phone was almost dead when I left on the tour, because I almost missed the tour, because I was enjoying yet another late night out and had fallen asleep without setting my alarm, as Thailand has quite the nightlife.

Sometime after booking my flight to Thailand, I was feeling a little reticent about traveling alone to a country with such a different culture and not speaking the language, but it's been mostly fine. It's pretty eye opening when I start realizing how different each culture's experience is due to each nation's individual customs and climate. For example, I met a fair number of arabs on my tours. I was pleasantly surprised and a little puzzled when two Arab guys were so happy to meet me. They were like "we were hoping we would meet an American!" I thought Americans for sure had fallen out of favor by now with the rest of the world? To my surprise I'm often well received by all corners of the globe.  

When the time came to choose between three white water rafting adventures, a moderate 5k one, a 7k with rougher rapids and a 9k with roughest rapids, I of course wanted to do the 9k. The arabs, apparently, wanted me to join their raft, but I was to learn that one didn't know how to put on a helmet and the other didn't know how to swim. Since I really wanted to do the 9k and they really wanted to hang out with me I managed to convince them that the 9k would be fine.

We were approaching some rough water after taking a dip in a supposedly calm part of the river, and one was having some trouble getting back into the boat because the current was actually quite strong. After some struggling we managed to haul him aboard (the same thing had happened to me a bit earlier as well as we were approaching some rapids, but I hadn't taken my helmet off), and while I was helping him get back into the middle seat for ballast, we were telling the other to get his helmet on. That's when I noticed that he had yet to figure out that you need to unbuckle the strap to the helmet *before* you put it on (similar style to a horseback riding helmet). So I frantically unbuckle it for him, get it on his head and clumsily buckle it again, the straps all twisted, just as we were hitting the rapids. I carefully fling myself back into my position on my side of the boat as the raft buckles and hops beneath me.

Our guide was super cool. And even though the one who couldn't swim was very hesitatant about the trip, and even though the guide's balance between joking around and ensuring everyone was safe felt greatly skewed towards screwing around over safety, by the end of the trip they both thanked me, especially the one who couldn't swim, saying that I made him feel safe and confident. I sort of took it for granted doing a guided rafting tour wasn't a big a deal, but I had to remember for some people, water isn't really part of their culture, whether it's a still pool, or a rough river.

The drive back was a ride in itself. The two guides were sitting on the boat on a trailer behind the very bare jeep we were in the back of with small little benches running along its sides. The driver clearly had done the trip a million times and it was quite the hair raising ride, careening around corners. It was fun watching the two guides on the raft on the trailer behind totally comfortable, one expressionless and the leader with an easy grin. 

One of the things I love about Southeast Asia is that their idea of how safe things needs to be and how litigious they need to be is right in line with mine. So, yeah, as I was hoping, it was easy to feel like I was in the raft in Temple of Doom that goes down a whitewater river.

I managed to enlist Shortround as my trusty guide, seen here all grown up and steadfastly leading the way on an elephant. But when I noticed that, for some reason, the rest of the tour group was nowhere to be seen, doubt suddenly set in. I realized I wasn't actually too familiar with the customs and rituals of where I was and being that this tour felt very reminiscent of the film The Temple of Doom, I couldn't push out the idea that I was being lead ahead from the rest of the group because I was to be used for some kind of human sacrifice.

To be continued....

Ever The Savvy Traveler ... (*cough*)

Prologue to my trip to Thailand.

I started this blog post while trying out different iPad Pros at an Apple Store (since I left my laptop at home). I was so surprised by how nice these new, larger iPads are, even more portable than a laptop, but just as functional, that I started to consider buying one right before my trip.

The keyboard is actually up to par and pretty much full size for a 13" laptop. Super nice. Really nice to use this little gadget. The larger 13" is even nicer but less practical for travel. This 10.5" one feels super portable for its usability.

But I ended up leaning towards the 13" iPad because I found it so much more friendly to use (big enough that I can tap with great precision, whereas I found I was fumbling a little bit with the 10.5").  Finest gadget I have acquired in quite some time, really. Basically, like using a regular size laptop, but the super slim form factor synergized with the versatility of the iPad and the power and easy to use-ness of a laptop make it a true laptop replacement. iPad Touch screen is better than the laptop touch pad, and may even be as easy and as friendly to use as a traditional mouse!

Now onto the adventure of acquiring the laptop. Who knew buying a laptop could be such an adventure? Walk into a store, ask a few questions, pull out my phone and voila, purchasing Apple products doesn't get any easier. You don't even need to wait in line as there are no cash registers in Apple stores. Alas! it wasn't to be quite as easy as all that....

Where to begin... well, at the beginning seems like a good enough place. I got off the train from Wassaic in Grand Central Station and stumbled upon an Apple Store in the station while I was trying to figure out how to leave the station and go to the nearby TD Bank to get travelers checks. I was on the fence about buying an iPad at that particular point in time, so I grabbed some sub-par juevos rancheros and then found my way to the TD Bank.

I presented my travel plans to the teller who very matter of factly stated TD Bank does not carry travelers checks. I asked her how I was to use money securely while overseas? She plainly said she did not know. She was so unhelpful that I didn't even feel comfortable asking about the bank's security measures for my account while traveling abroad. I just had that sense I would have had to have phrased the question perfectly for her to engage me in a hospitable manner and it was just too much bother at that moment in time, so I just left without finishing my business. I went to a nearby hotel where I was told travelers checks could be had by the GC Station info desk, but the hotel informed me they no longer carry them. I googled locations that have travelers checks and called a nearby Staples that was advertised as having some, but they told me they did not. Apparently travelers checks are way passé. Credit cards and certain travel debit cards seem to be the way to go.

I went to another TD Bank and remembered that my mom had a checking account that refunded ATM fees if she maintained a certain balance, so I upgraded my checking account and made the decision to use my Debit card while in Thailand and Vietnam. The tellers were almost friendly and almost happy to help, although when I asked the question about security measures for my account while overseas, I still got the static I was fearing; the look from the teller was like I had just announced I was visiting from Andromeda and that my spaceship was parked just outside. Finally, one of the tellers had the wherewithal to ask me if I had already called to tell the bank I was traveling broad, which seemed to me obvious I hadn't, being that I was now in the bank asking about it, but, wait, isn't this blog supposed to be about the misadventure of trying to buy an iPad? Unfortunately the misadventures of the first 24 hours of my trip extend beyond buying iPads and figuring out how to securely spend money while traveling abroad....

Having finally taken care of how I was going to securely spend money in SE Asia I decided I would find my way back to the GC Station Apple Store. I asked more questions, I dabbled some more on the devices and this time the gentleman assisting was very helpful and informative . So I decide that, yes, blogging with this is going to be awesome, so as long as I can hold onto it for the entire trip, it will be an awesome asset for the travel blog. I decide to give into impulse and buy it, but they don't have the model in store that I want, but tell me the 5th Ave store near Columbus Circle has it. So I make my way over and when I arrive I realize it's already 6pm. The store is insanely busy, so I immediately go up to a sales rep and tell them the exact model of iPad Pro I'd like to purchase. Several minutes later they fetch it forth and I do the Apple Pay thing with my phone, but the purchase is declined. Shortly after while I'm on hold with my bank I get a call from them and an automated message asks me some security questions about my recent purchases.  It seems the hold has been lifted, but it is declined when I try again.  Somehow an hour goes by in the Apple Store and I suddenly realize I don't have anymore time to screw around trying to buy this iPad and need to get to JFK post haste! So I leave the Apple Store, flustered and frustrated, and proceed to make one public transport blunder after another on my way to the airport.

All I could remember from my last trip to JFK by train was that I took a train from Penn Station but it wasn't a subway. However, when I asked at the info desk in Penn Station about how best to get to JFK I'm told to take the E train. I run around Penn Station but all I see are Track 1, Track 2, .. Track 11, Track 12... etc. I had even told the man I was running late and had only one chance to get it right; was he sure the E train was best way to get to JFK. I came back and asked him how to get to train E and he pointed and when I went in the direction I realized he meant E as in the subway line E! It was sometime later that I remembered it was the Long Island Railroad I had taken last time, which is much faster than a local train to Jamaica..... But at the time, my wits were a bit wayward, so I got on Train E and after a few stops realize I'm going the wrong way! I change direction. However, the train is, for some reason, not going all the way to the end of the line, and there is a transfer to a bus needed to get to the JFK Airtrain.

I get off the train and hail an Uber, something I should have done over an hour ago. My luck is finally turning! The man had just been to Thailand two weeks earlier and was very familiar with the airline I was using and which terminal. Qatar Airways is sometimes Terminal 7, sometimes Terminal 8. He tells me flights departing in the evening are terminal 8 and flights departing in the morning are terminal 7. He drops me at the airport exactly an hour before my flight departs. I race over to the now empty check in. They radio to security and tell me I do not have enough time and the airline will not let me board and that I will have to call the airline in the morning to reschedule.

One man's $573 stupidity is another's entertainment? ... I guess? So much for the savvy traveler.... Well, after all of that, I miss my flight and fail to buy the iPad. But, it turns out the 5th Ave. Apple Store is open 24 hours, and having nothing better to do on a Saturday night, ladened with a backpack, decide to try once more. But first, I better sort out my bank hold before I leave the airport where I may not have service on the train. I find an outlet by the bottom of an escalator (these are seriously hard to find in JFK. Outlets, not escalators) and plug in my phone and call my bank. An hour goes by of me pacing back and forth while my phone repeats over and over some variation of "did you know? You can take care of most of your banking needs online!" and people going by looking at me quizzically. Finally, just before I was about to give up waiting any longer, on my way to the airtrain and still on hold, a TD Bank rep answers. I explain everything that's happened with the card and she assures me the hold is lifted, and also, that if I contact TD Bank through the APP next time, hold times will not exceed one minute. Gee, do you think the hour of on-hold recordings I just suffered through could have mentioned that little detail? 

Back in the Apple Store, card still declining. Finally I decide to try paying the old fashioned way, not through Apple Pay (both use the same card, though, so I don't see why there should be a difference), but there is, and the purchase goes through. The next morning I call the airline and while I'm booking, for a moment, I think the tails of the airlines are sails on the harbor. I think I might be a mite bit tired, but I won't be sleeping in a bed for more than another 24 hours yet.

Finding Nemo (or your way through it)

car pics

there is a blog i should be doing but i am too spent at present.