Cars on Jamie Thingelstad

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 13:00:00 -0500

Wonderful 11 foot tree strapped to the top of the Model Y.

Sun, 25 May 2025 17:53:08 -0500

I’m not eager to have someone riding my bumper, but…

BACK OFF BUMPER HUMPER!!!
MY BREAKS ARE GOOD!
HOW ABOUT YOUR INSURANCE?

😬

Fri, 09 May 2025 17:34:54 -0500

Added 9 kWh at Gooseberry Falls while we were hiking around. Thank you Minnesota DNR!

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 10:59:08 -0500

Tyler’s first time behind the wheel with basics in a parking lot.

Sun, 08 Dec 2024 09:24:48 -0500

I was excited to see there is now a watchOS app for Tesla! It can access all car functions and pair as the key to the car. Unfortunately I need to wait for an update to the cars before it will work though. Soon!

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 18:00:00 -0500

Our trip to Chicago for MEA was all electric in the Tesla Model Y. We’ve not done that many road trips using the Supercharger network and it worked great. The worst charger was the one on North Columbus in downtown Chicago, and the best was in Waukegan.

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 11:21:19 -0500

This Waukegan, IL Tesla Supercharger is the largest I’ve ever seen. 20 charging stations with Gen 3 capacity. ⚡️

Driving in Ireland

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 16:25:07 -0500

Today, day 15 of our Ireland 2024 trip, we returned the SEAT Leon that we rented (hired?) from New Way for our trip. All in over those 15 days I drove the car 1,907 kilometers, or 1,185 miles. I’m happy to report that I returned the car free of scratches, with all mirrors still on the car, and no worse for the couple weeks.

We chose to use Google Maps for navigation. And Tammy was my vigilant copilot. She was always looking and helping navigate round abouts and a variety of traffic scenarios!

So, how was driving in Ireland?

Everything is Opposite

I had never driven a right-hand drive car so that was all new. I decided to opt for a manual transmission and I’m glad I did. Driving a manual made me always connected to what the car was doing and frankly there were some roads where the manual just did a much better job. Happily the gear box layout is the same, and the pedals are the same too. Clutch on the left foot just like you would hope.

When we were in Turks & Caicos I had to drive on the left hand side of the road, however, it was in a left-hand drive car. So here in Ireland I was on the left-hand side of the road, but I was also in a right-hand drive car. Having everything be opposite was much better. Just like at home the driver is closer to oncoming traffic. Just on the other side.

After a few days of driving I got a bit more comfortable with the opposites, but it required constant vigilance. I needed to think through every turn and be much more aware of where I was looking. Again everything was opposite and you could never enter that habitual autopilot like we do when we drive. Taking a right turn always felt odd since that is a risk-free turn at home, but here is where you are crossing oncoming traffic.

Again, just all opposite world but I adapted good enough.

Crazy Small Roads

In addition to everything being opposite the roads are often just tiny. Like really tiny. Often times you cannot fit two cars on the road and have to watch for turnouts on the road and stop to let the other cars go through. Additionally, there are no shoulders as the roads are most often fenced in or lower than grade. So let’s say you had to get out the way of oncoming traffic? At home you could decide to leave the road and go into the ditch. There is no ditch. In fact, there is no way you could leave the road. You are in a slot care lane and there is no where to go.

The big highways were fine. The M designated roads were fast and divided highways. But in the smaller towns and rural areas the R roads required a lot of vigilance. I found it surprising that the speed limit on these roads would be 80 km/h, or even 100 km/h. You’re driving at those speeds right in front of houses and businesses. There are driveways that exit right onto a 100 km/h road which I’m still confused how that works.

Feedback

So, I think I did good but I figured I’d ask the family for feedback.

Tammy: ★★★★★ (for American driving in Ireland)
“He did a great job!”

Mazie: ★★★★★
“Balances safety and assertiveness very well. I sometimes felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride as we zoomed around the corners but I always knew he was one step ahead looking out for any danger.”

Tyler: 🤷‍♂️
“I mostly slept.”

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:59:09 -0500

Antique car outside of Titanic Museum in Belfast.

Sun, 02 Jun 2024 14:55:22 -0500

Drove three hours to Killarney today after landing in Dublin. Had to learn how to do everything opposite with right-hand drive, shifting with my left hand, driving on the left side of the road, and oh so many roundabouts. Did pretty good!

Harley-Davidson Museum

Tue, 26 Mar 2024 16:00:00 -0500

We visited the Harley-Davidson Museum while in Milwaukee. None of us are huge motorcycle fans but it was still fun to see the history and progression of all the bikes over the years.

Part of the Milwaukee Spring Break collection.

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 17:49:03 -0500

Picked up new Tesla Model Y today.

Also see list of vehicles.

Getting Tesla Model Y

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 10:10:15 -0500

Yesterday we purchased a 2024 Tesla Model Y! This will be my primary car replacing the Mazda CX-9. Our Model 3 has become Tammy’s primary car since the pandemic when she started driving it more. Before then the Model 3 was always with me at the office. 😊

We test drove the Model Y, Model S, and Model X. I find the Model 3 to be uncomfortable to get in and out of and the Model S was nearly identical. We all loved the Model X but the price jump is huge — you can buy two Model Y’s for the price. Additionally, with our small South Minneapolis garage I was very doubtful the Model X doors would work.

We did consider the idea of getting a non-Tesla EV, but the infrastructure upgrades to add another model of charger into our garage was going to be very difficult. We would have had to jump from 200A to 400A service for the house, install an additional main panel, have utility work done in the yard. The dollars add up quick on that stuff. The benefit of using the same charging setup at home was a big win. If we had a bigger garage and the power wasn’t an issue we would have looked hard at the Rivian. ⚡️

I decided to get the Stealth Grey and the standard 19" wheels. I also went for the Black and White interior which is very white. It looks great, and I’m hoping I’ll still think it looks great after three or four years of wear. Fingers crossed on that. Dual Motor and long range battery. Tow hitch for bike rack. I also opted into Enhanced Autopilot so it has the same capability as the Model 3 does. I continue to view Full Self Driving as a better monthly “add on” for trips. The Model 3 computer would need an upgrade to use it, so the Model Y will be our first time to try it.

I continue to be blown away by Tesla’s purchasing process. It took 5 minutes at the dealership after I did the test drive to put down the deposit. Within seconds of that transaction completing I loaded the Tesla app on my phone and it already showed the second car in my profile. I completed the purchase process while I was brewing my coffee at home this morning. The comparison to the buying process for the Mazda where I sat at the dealership for 90 minutes is shocking.

The Model Y is on the way and I will pick it up next week! 🤩

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 22:49:21 -0500

It seems we were at a stoplight behind a Dungeon Master. 😎

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 20:29:53 -0500

Tammy and I had a delightful dinner at Colita tonight and I had to gawk at this McLaren 720S in the parking lot. Don’t see cars like this often. Wow. 🤩

Sat, 19 Aug 2023 15:28:27 -0500

Took Tesla to Fargo for concert so using the Superchargers today. Mazie getting some lunges in while we charge.

Switzerland & Italy Log - Day 10

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 16:00:00 -0500

Weather: Hot and hot

Amazing breakfast at iQ Motel
Catch express train 8803 from Milan to Modena for Ferrari Day!
Walk out of train station wrong way because of cute train mural on walls
Walk to Enzo Ferrari Museam
Briefly explore the smaller side of museam
Shuttle to Maranello
See the museam- Jamie shed some tears at the F1 racing display
Photo shoot in yellow Ferrari
Lunch at Museam Cafe (much better than the equivalent in the US and cheaper)
Panaramic factory tour- short naps for all
Shuttle back to Modena
Racing simulation for Mazie and Tyler
See larger section of the Rnzo Ferrari museam
Macarons, coffee, and chocolate crumble at museam cafe
Walk back to train station and wait for delayed train
Train back to Milan- seating troubles
Train 40 mins late, so have to take a White Taxi to Mad Machines
Taxi driver hauls it like we’re on the Amazing Race, but we are still 5 mins late
Time Machine: another amazing escape room with so many rooms and creative challenges
Tram to Pizzeria Fabrico
Delicious pizza, pasta, and tiramisu
Metro back to hotel
😴

Jump to day 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 or Switzerland & Italy 2023 collection.

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:45:39 -0500

We all got our photos at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello.

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 09:30:00 -0500

The Museo Ferrari Maranello exhibit for the various Formula 1 winners over the years was an incredible experience. Standing amongst such legendary winners was amazing.

Sat, 17 Sep 2022 16:35:19 -0500

Noted milestones of your kid driving:

Gets permit and you begin the journey.
Passes drivers test and has their own drivers license.
You add their phone as a driver on your car.
They go to the grocery store on their own.

Me, waiting for the return from the grocery store. 😬

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 14:30:51 -0500

You come across some pretty wild vehicles in Iceland.

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 22:43:16 -0500

Highway MN 169 heading into Ely.

Sat, 25 Dec 2021 22:39:56 -0500

Hit a poor raccoon that was crossing I-35 on our way to the cabin tonight. Couldn’t see it at all until it was too late. Struck driver side front fender at 70 mph. 🙁

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 11:31:36 -0500

Mazie is making steady progress learning to drive. This is not a view I’m used to.

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 22:22:00 -0500

The recent Tesla updates allow you to look through the cars cameras when Sentry Mode is activated. I’m not sure if there is much utility in this, but it is a neat trick. You can look through any of the cameras, not just the front one.

Mon, 11 Oct 2021 19:22:48 -0500

Mazie did some parking lot driving for the first time tonight! We found an empty parking lot and did start / stop, figured out some basic turning, and a little backing up. She did really great!

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 18:59:43 -0500

We found our totaled out Honda Pilot going through the auction process. I wasn’t sure it was ours but we looked up the VIN and it is.

They hadn’t taken my Minnesota United sticker off the bumper. For sure ours.

It ended up selling for a little over $12,000.

Sat, 28 Aug 2021 13:28:00 -0500

I first heard of Rivian via The Long Way Up. Their trucks look pretty amazing. The valuation seems crazy high, but this might be a good investment still.

Rivian, a California-based electric-vehicle startup, filed confidentially for a public listing, seeking a valuation between $70bn and $80bn. Among its planned offerings are a sport-utility vehicle and a pick-up truck. Like Tesla, it wants to bypass dealerships and sell directly to customers. Deliveries were meant to start in June but have been delayed due to the pandemic. — Economist Espresso, Saturday, August 28.

Mazda CX-9 Carbon Edition

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 20:39:28 -0500

We had no plans to be buying a new car right now, but with severe hail damage to our Honda Pilot costing over $23,000 to repair the insurance company decided to total it. We have a road trip coming up so we we needed to get something quick.

We were curious to check out the Kia Telluride but those are impossible to buy without a 6 month wait. I had no interest in the BMW X5 since they haven’t done much of anything with it for years. We looked at another Honda Pilot but that just seemed incredibly boring. Tammy did some heavy research and found Morrie’s Mazda had two Mazda CX-9’s on the lot.

She test drove the Mazda CX-9 Carbon Edition in the morning and liked it. Given our time pressure, she told me to head to the dealership later in the day and if I liked it, buy it.

We pick it up this week. One banner feature for me is cooled front seats. I’ve always wanted that. And oddly this is the first car we have owned that has Apple CarPlay.

Also see list of vehicles.

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 19:14:53 -0500

Launching the Tesla app gives this error. Force quit doesn’t help. Hmm…

Wish: Tesla "Learn to Drive" App

Thu, 13 May 2021 21:48:15 -0500

Mazie is taking drivers education and soon we are going to find a vacant parking lot and I’m going to have her get behind the wheel and drive. Contemplating this I decided we are going to use the Honda Pilot for this, and not the Tesla Model 3. Driving a Tesla is so different from a gas car that I worry it wouldn’t set her up well. I actually wish I had my Mini Cooper S with manual transmission for this exercise.

While the differences between electric and gas are so large, there are a lot of ways that the Model 3 could be a better platform for a learner.

This all made me think that it would be really neat if Tesla had a “Learn to Drive” app. What would it do?

The app would allow you to put the car in learner mode. This would not only reduce the power output of the car, similar to valet mode, but also change the power curve to match that of a gas engine. Electric motors have so much low end torque, and I would worry about that amount of power with a brand new driver. I would think software could change that to emulate a gas engines curve, and simulate a gas experience.
This app would allow the user to have controls for the car, most notably to safely stop the car. A big red “STOP” button on the screen would give the parent or teacher the ability to override.
The car could be put in a defensive mode, where the radar system that detects nearby objects doesn’t just give you a warning but the car would actually stop to avoid any collision.
The main display in the Model 3 could be swapped out with a learning display, taking realtime feeds from all the cameras and overlaying driving paths. Maybe even engage the autopilot system to not drive the car, but show on the screen where the car should be driven.

All of this highlights the power of a car being thought of as a software platform. The software can change the entire characteristic of the car could change for this special, and very important, exercise.

Tue, 04 May 2021 19:41:09 -0500

My daughter is taking drivers ed., and the classes are online so we can all hear. I can report that just like the 1980s, drivers ed. is mostly filled with content to scare the crap out of you. They haven’t done the screening of “Death on the Highway”, at least not yet…

UTV in The Rolls

Wed, 10 Mar 2021 20:17:06 -0500

We have always thought it would be fun to rent a UTV and go out for some trail riding. We gave American Powersport Rentals a call and Duke got us all set up. We rented for a half day and were complete newbies but had a great time. We drove to the Rolls OHV Area in the Tonto National Forest. We didn’t have the electrical hookup for the trailer so I was happy it was only 15 miles of straight driving.

Here is our route for the day, you can also see the official trail map.

We got the Teryx4 out in the Pobrecito staging area and took off.

_Before taking off with our helmets, goggles and masks on for dust._ _The dust wasn't too bad so we ditched the masks._ _Me having a lot of fun._ _Navigating and figuring out where we are heading._ _Trails were awesome. Some fast, some really rocky, and a lot of pebbles you could tear around in._ _Our stop at Palo Fierro for a break._ _On 1863 at Stop 2 taking the wheel after Tammy gave it a go._ _Family selfie! Mazie is having more fun than she looks in the picture._

Pandemic Date Night

Tue, 08 Dec 2020 23:10:22 -0500

Like many Tammy and I haven’t had a “typical” date night during the pandemic. Restaurants are take out only. Movie theaters are closed, and would be a pretty bad idea with Covid. But we were thinking how the Tesla has Netflix and Hulu so we decided to have a Pandemic Date Night in the car! We got takeout from Lake & Irving, one of our favorite places.

Then we went to Lake Bde Maka Ska, parked along the parkway, and watched Hunt for the Wilder People on Netflix in the car. It was a fun change of pace, and a really good movie.

When Tesla added Entertainment options like Netflix and Hulu I thought that would be possibly interesting when waiting for someone. But hadn’t ever thought we’d watch a whole movie. 🍿 Also, running the heater, seat heaters, and entertainment system for the whole movie used about 10% battery. Also, the audio is really good. The surround sound was very immersive. I think we may do this again. 👍

Tue, 21 Jul 2020 10:27:26 -0500

It was 2005 when Tammy first stumbled upon EarthRoamer and I instantly went down that “rabbit hole.” Yesterday we stopped for groceries while in Bozeman, MT and I spotted an EarthRoamer! It was the first time I’d seen one in person. The thing is impressive, and massive. 🤩

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 11:24:19 -0500

Would be pretty nifty to get a Zoom app for Tesla. 😁

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 23:02:22 -0500

Well, that isn’t supposed to be there. 😤

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 14:14:00 -0500

Driving north on I-35 and clearly this car didn’t see us at all.

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 00:17:13 -0500

Just got Tesla 2019.40.50.1 installed. This looks like a big update! Need some time tomorrow to go over all the release notes. 🎁

Fri, 22 Nov 2019 20:08:41 -0500

The Tesla Cybertruck is shocking, and looks awesome! Wow! Looks like a complete rethink. Love it! 🖤😲⚡️

Tesla

Sat, 05 Oct 2019 16:38:00 -0500

We made a quick stop today at a fairly busy store in South Minneapolis and when we got out I decided it would be fun to try the new “Come to me” feature that Tesla shipped in v10. I found a spot on the sidewalk where I could clearly see my car. There were a lot of people walking around and three cars backing out with others coming into their spots. I waited a moment for things to calm down and then press and held the “Come to me” button on my phone.

The Tesla Model 3 lit up and then backed out of it’s parking spot. It then stopped, turned the wheels, and started down the parking lot headed towards me. Then a couple were walking through the lane and I lifted up on the button which stopped the car immediately. Then two cars came down the lane and were behind my now driverless car. Then more people came, and I tried to start the car back toward me but it wasn’t real sure what to do with all the people around.

Now here I am about 70 feet from my car, with it blocking everyone else, and nobody in it. So I quick ran down to the car to rescue it from it’s confusion. Lesson learned, only do this in a pretty calm parking lot.

Sun, 29 Sep 2019 20:58:32 -0500

This never gets old. Tesla Version 10 on the way! 🤓

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 20:15:37 -0500

I have no idea what “Preconditioning battery for Supercharging” means, but it sounds advanced. 🤓⚡️

Mon, 22 Jul 2019 14:53:29 -0500

First time visiting a Tesla Supercharger! ⚡️ Charging in Des Moines on our way to Kansas City.

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 22:43:39 -0500

Updated Tesla Model 3 to Firmware Build v9.0 2019.5.15 f5def7e (3/7/2019). Still love doing that. 😎

Fri, 08 Feb 2019 22:03:24 -0500

Tesla, your HTML encoding is showing. & 😳

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 23:13:42 -0500

Tesla 2018.48.12.1 update applied! 👍

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 20:02:53 -0500

Stop & go traffic is by far my favorite use case for Tesla Auto Pilot. Way less stress! 👍🏻

Tue, 06 Nov 2018 22:01:52 -0500

I tried Tesla’s new Navigate on Autopilot feature tonight. It worked very well on first try. 👍🏻

Fri, 02 Nov 2018 19:00:28 -0500

Got to do the first remote Tesla software update without being around the Model 3, a feature added in 9.0. Nice convenience feature!

Sat, 20 Oct 2018 10:15:56 -0500

I love updating things — but this is an entirely different level. 🎉👍

Sun, 14 Oct 2018 21:57:20 -0500

Did my first longer interstate drive with the Tesla Model 3 and Autopilot. Car drove itself without need for override south on I-35 from the edge of Minneapolis to Faribault. Display gives good indicators to convey confidence to driver as well. Impressed. 👍🏻🤖🚗

Sat, 06 Oct 2018 22:02:01 -0500

Driving a Ferrari in Manhattan? Seems like a crazy idea to me. 🤷‍♂️

Mon, 01 Oct 2018 20:22:00 -0500

Picked up my Tesla Model 3 today! Wow! 2 years and 7 months after reserving it.

Tue, 18 Sep 2018 19:31:00 -0500

Now have a VIN for my Tesla Model 3 reservation and a scheduled delivery date for the weekend! 😎

Fri, 07 Sep 2018 15:23:16 -0500

I finally order a Tesla, and then Elon Musk decides to lose his mind. 🤦‍♂️

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 07:58:52 -0500

Tesla pushed my Model 3 reservation to “Late 2018”. In “Musk-speak” that reads “Mid 2019” to me.

Deer Strike

Mon, 20 Nov 2017 19:44:47 -0500

On Friday night we were driving to the cabin, and in a split second, a deer 🦌 was in front of our Honda Pilot as we hit it at 45 mph. We had driven down to have dinner at Smoqehouse and were on highway 60 heading east, just a mile or so past I-35 right by the Dairy Queen there. Tammy was driving and just as the speed limit was going up to highway speed. Everyone is okay, and happily, the airbags didn’t go off.

Tammy slammed on the brakes, and the deer flew forward. It rolled and slid into the ditch about 20 feet and immediately leapt up and ran off when it stopped. Its legs were okay, and I’m hopeful that it either miraculously survived or didn’t suffer badly.

The car took a decent amount of damage but remained drivable. The radiator got banged up, and many parts of the front were damaged. All fixable but will be some expensive bodywork.

Wed, 01 Nov 2017 20:05:00 -0500

Got my very first communication ever regarding my Tesla Model 3 reservation.

Sat, 07 Oct 2017 21:52:14 -0500

This ridiculous route home from MN UFC game courtesy of crazy MN road construction! 🚧🚧🚧

Sat, 07 Oct 2017 19:33:29 -0500

Forgot about I-35W being closed and missed first 20 mins of MN United ⚽️ game! 😳

After being late to MN United game, U of MN parking screwed up and my reserved parking lot was sold out! Added even more delay. 😡

Thu, 25 May 2017 20:42:41 -0500

Update on car repair: replace front right ball bearings, bent front right rim, damaged front tires, bent left rear rim, rear brakes & pads, alignment, oil change, brake fluid flush. 🚙💸😟

Thu, 25 May 2017 20:29:03 -0500

The Mini Cooper loaner I have shines the Mini logo on the ground by the drivers side. Makes me smile. 😊

Tue, 23 May 2017 07:16:24 -0500

Taking car to the shop this morning. Will get to learn what the terrible noise is coming from the front-passenger wheel. My bet is something related to ball bearings. 😕🚙💸

Wed, 26 Oct 2016 07:34:30 -0500

Cars run much better when the timing chain isn’t stretched!

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 13:40:02 -0500

Like the looks of the Tesla Model 3. Reservation in! Looking forward to getting one… in a couple of years I expect. 😀

Tue, 13 May 2014 00:00:00 -0500

The Oatmeal did a great two-piece part on What it’s like to own a Tesla Model-S (and part 2).

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 12:45:51 -0500

Great looking 1957 Chevy.

1964 Ford Mustang.

1965 Corvette.

Sat, 22 Mar 2014 15:46:00 -0500

Got my Automatic today for my Mini Cooper. Looking forward to seeing the data!

Sat, 07 Dec 2013 07:16:00 -0500

Was behind this car the other day and was surprised it wasn’t The Mad Adder.

Sun, 10 Nov 2013 12:49:35 -0500

Person at SuperAmerica gave me free air for my tires when I asked for quarters. That’s nice.

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 11:31:46 -0500

Had Ford Fusion rental car this week and was (to my surprise) impressed with it. Biggest annoyance was Microsoft SYNC system.

Tue, 03 Sep 2013 17:39:11 -0500

I had forgotten how left turns are almost non-existent in New Jersey. Jughandles everywhere!

Tue, 28 May 2013 08:46:00 -0500

Saw a BMW X6 on the road this morning. What is going on in Munich? 😬

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 13:17:00 -0500

Traffic.

Car Seat Does Fit in Mini

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Tyler got to ride in my Mini Cooper for the first time today. His infant seat definitely would not fit, and the car seat wouldn’t fit rear facing (and how would we get him in if it did?). Now he is facing forward and while it isn’t spacious, it can be done.

Considering Mini Countryman All4

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I’ve had my Mini Cooper S for two years now and I still like it a lot. It’s been a really good car and it’s a blast to drive, still. There are however some issues.

There is no way that all four of us can fit into the Cooper. We could maybe squeeze into it if we were attempting to imitate a troop of clowns.
The Mini is a stick (as a Mini should be) and Tammy can’t drive a stick. She was going to learn, and she tried one time and found it ridiculous. So she can’t drive it.
The front wheel drive results in a lot of torque steering and while it does okay on the snow, it’s not great.

Those are actually bigger problems than they would seem since it means if Tammy does stuff on her own she needs to take the van and then I’m stuck at home with no car to take the kids anywhere.

I’ve eyed the new Countryman All4 and think we are going to take one for a test drive and see what we think. I’m hoping it maintains enough of the Mini spirit to still feel like a Mini while solving all the problems above.

Anybody drove one of these?

Tesla Roadster Sighting

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0500

First spotting of a Tesla Roadster in Minneapolis. Parked outside of Café Lurcat. Given the plates I’m guessing it is someone from Z.Vex Effects car.

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0500

$75 for gas! Bit of a shocker when we filled the minivan up with gas.

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:39:36 -0500

Been on Lyndale for 1 hour. Made it from 50th street to 28th street. Watching green lights while sitting still.

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:45:00 -0500

Car got towed!!! $138 lighter but getting Mini Cooper back. Oh, and $42 parking ticket. Thanks to Anna Klombies for rescuing me! 😬

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Still totally digging my Mini.

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Mini Parking Only.

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I want. 😊

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 01:00:00 -0500

Driving at night.

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:52:22 -0500

Hard to believe I’m paying $1.71 for premium gas.

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 10:56:07 -0500

Waiting to go to my meeting with court officer about my traffic ticket from several weeks ago.
Done waiting, heading up to officially plead my case. Have two pictures of the intersection just in case. I’m trying!
My meeting with the hearing officer is 10 minutes long. I guess we will skip the usual Minnesota weather chit-chat.
Ticket suspended! Jamie FTW!

Texting Car Repair

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500

I dropped our Honda Odyssey off this morning for regular maintenance at Richfield Honda. I was pretty impressed to see this sign on the door.

That’s a nice touch. Getting a call mid-day from the service department can be little annoying and a simple text message is a great alternative. Well done and a great example of going where you customers are.

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:45:00 -0500

Just scheduled time to contest my ’no left turn’ ticket from yesterday. First available meeting with court rep was Dec. 8th.

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:06:54 -0500

Got pulled over for illegal left turn in a trap on Lyndale. 😬

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:31:05 -0500

At Honda dealership after dropping off Odyssey. Waiting for Tammy and Mazie.

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:01:00 -0500

Just test drove a Toyota Prius. Pretty nice. A bit boring though.

Road Trip So Long You Need An Oil Change

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Yesterday we passed a milestone on the Summer of Love. After 29 days on the road and driving 4,541 miles the Honda Odyssey kindly let us know that it was due for an oil change.

Before we left on our trip my friend Kent had the revelation that our trip was so long that even with a fresh oil change, which we had done, we would need to have an oil change on the way. This, rightfully so, justified in his mind an entirely new level of road trip. One that exceeds all relevant norms. In fact, after learning of our oil change he reclassified the Summer of Love as an “epic” trip.

There isn’t that much in Sedona, so on our way back from the Grand Canyon yesterday we stopped in Flagstaff to run a number of errands – including getting the oil changed at Flagstaff Honda.

Summer of Love Day 26 Log

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:56:00 -0500

9:56 am: Leaving Monterey for our next stop, Las Vegas!
12:37 pm: Paying $4.66/gallon for gas.
3:33 pm: Starting to cross the Mojave Desert. 103 outside.
6:50 pm: 107 °F outside. Scared.
7:12 pm: Paying $5.50/gallon for gas. No joke. 60 miles outside Las Vegas.
11:05 pm: Super happy with our room at Mandeley Bay. Great setup.

See full Summer of Love Collection.

$5.50 Gasoline

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

We’ve happened to take our longest road trip ever during the most expensive gas prices ever. We’ve been hitting gas in the mid $4 range for a while now, but today as we were nearing the Nevada border we set a new high.

$5.499 for a gallon of gas. Ouch.

Airbags Kaput, What Would You Do?

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500

A couple of weeks ago my aging 1999 Audi A6 Avant decided to start flickering a little red light at me. Kind of like the car was winking at me. A couple of days later, it decided to just blast the light at me. You can see it in the image here, it’s the “Air Bag” light. Sadly, that doesn’t mean your air bags are great. It means they are totally broken, kaput.

Resurrect missing image "Airbag Light flickr.com/3209/2361334568_d8d9e60801_m"

I took it into the shop for other work and got an estimate to fix this air bag situation. Turns out the controller card fails a checksum validation. I had the exact same thing happen with my ABS controller card too and had to replace that. The air bag controller card weighed in at $1,200 to replace. Ouch!

On one hand, this is safety and you shouldn’t cut corners. $1,200 is a small price to pay if the air bags keep you safe. On the other hand, $1,200 is a boat load of money to pour into an older car and I wear my seat belts all the time.

What would you do?

Apple, Please Make This - Apple TV + iPhone = iCar

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:00:00 -0500

The iTunes ecosystem is pretty amazing. It spans my exercise routine (iPod Nano), entertainment on a flight (my iPhone and kicking back on the sofa for a movie (Apple TV). But there is another frontier that remains unserved. A frontier that is a prime media opportunity. The car.

There were some rumors a couple months ago about iCar. Apparently Apple met with Volkswagen to discuss who knows what. Perhaps we’ll see a black and silver VW bug coming out in future years that matches the iPhone aesthetic. (Just kidding, that’s ridiculous.) But the car is a media platform, and there are few good options.

I’ve had a Phatbox in my Audi A6 for a while now. I love it, but it’s a bit quirky. It also lacks two key features that really make it suffer. There is no WiFi so you have to undock it’s hard drive to add music, and no ability to integrate with iTunes. In fact, it doesn’t even have a Mac loader. A huge shout out to Cameron Silver though for creating PhatMac for us Mac users. PhatMac even integrates with iTunes Smart Playlists which is a start.

My proposal is simple. Take the guts of the Apple TV and shove it into a DIN unit for installation into a car. Then, on the front of the panel put a touch interface with coverflow like the iPhone and iPod Touch. Voila! Done. Really, there isn’t much more to it than that. This is what it could look like.

The Apple TV has the hard drive brains to sync with iTunes via WiFi. The only thing it lacks in a car is an interface. The touch interface of the iPhone is an ideal solution for the car. Fling, press, listen. Awesome. You can even have the touch interface itself easily snap off to protect from theft and maybe it could have 8G of storage locally to listen to something while your running an errand. How beautiful would this be? Pull into your garage and your car would show up in iTunes and get the latest podcasts and purchases copied to it. iTunes would also get new information to update play counts and last play times. I get excited just typing this stuff.

I know what your thinking, just dock your iPod with your car. That’s a hack. Seriously. When I shut my car off it’s crazy that I should then have to manually stop my music. The car platform is different and needs a couple of specific functions.

Apple has all the ingredients. It seems like a simple weekend project to tie it all together. But the market may not be big enough to care. I’d line up for this product myself.

Can't I Buy Overpriced Gas In Quiet?

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:00:00 -0500

The other morning I pulled into SuperAmerica [link removed] on my way into work to fill up the tank. I got out and started to fill up and was greeted to a marketing experience.

The image originally associated with this post was lost when I deleted my Flickr account. I’ve searched but I do not have a copy of the photo in any of my archives. I believe I took it with the Flickr app on my iPhone and it didn’t save a copy to the Camera Roll. I deleted my Flickr account when Yahoo! bought them and didn’t realize I was “hot linking” some of those photos on my blog. My last hope was Internet Archive, but the Wayback Machine excluded Flickr photos from archival. 😞

Yes, that’s right. There is 89 cent coffee inside! Not only was I treated to several marketing experiences they even had sound and audio tracks going with it. It seems I can’t even simply get gas anymore without having something thrown at me. I need to find a new gas station.

Tue, 29 May 2007 19:00:00 -0500

Dissapointed that it seems very hard, to impossible, to get a plug-in converted Toyota Prius.

Fender Bender

Thu, 21 Sep 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Here’s a big bummer.

Last night while driving back to the hotel getting ready to put Mazie down a car was trying to run the light as it turned red. The other car was turning left onto my street, I was going straight. I honked and the other driver slowed, but did not come to a complete stop. Luckily the other driver slowed to probably less than 5 mph. Very unluckily, the other driver was uninsured and I’m probably going to get stuck with the repair costs or face my insurance going up since I actually used it. [Insert rant here about the scam that the insurance industry is.]

The damage is to the rear lower panel on the passenger side. It’s totally drivable, thankfully. The other car hit the wheel and then scraped the crap out of the panel.

The even bigger bummer is that the panel that got dinged up is the entire rear bumper. I imagine they are going to have to replace the whole thing which will add up quickly.

Slow Down

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 -0500

I left work late on Tuesday. I thought I would try to get home a little earlier and hopped into the MnPASS lane and hit the pedal. As I came out of downtown I was greeted by a cop holding a radar detector. He vigorously encouraged me to pull over and receive my due.

He clocked me doing 71 in a 55. Eek.

He had some generosity in his heart though. While there was no way I was going to get off without a ticket, he cited me for Unacceptable Acceleration instead of a full on speeding ticket.

That’s the first time I’ve been pulled over by a cop in probably 10 years.

Slow down.

San Jose Trip

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 01:00:00 -0500

I spent last weekend in the San Jose area for my friend Scott’s wedding. Scott and I met when we were freshman in college. We hit it off right away sharing many techie, geek hobbies and a general interest in how things work (Scott was a EE major). Many a night were spent jawing on and on about computers, cars and numerous other topics. Scott moved to San Jose a number of years ago so we don’t see each other as often anymore. As is typical with guys we are not real active pen pals, so it was great to spend some time with him and be a part of his big day!

I flew into San Jose airport with a sense of deja vu. The last time I had flown into that airport was for my friend Phil’s wedding. Seems SJC is exclusively reserved for wedding use in my book. :-) I landed on Friday around noon with enough time to drop my junk off at the hotel and then go meet the guys for a groom’s day out.

We went to Lemans Karting in Fremont (where Scott and Cara live) and had a blast! 15 of us suited up, got our helmets on, and headed out on the track. The karts hit about 25 mph, but the scale sure makes it seem like a lot faster. I was really surprised by how much force it took to steer them through the hairpin turns. All of us had pretty sore hands and arms afterwards. I did pretty poorly in the first heat placing 9th out of 10 with a best lap of 26.013 seconds. However, I improved greatly in the second heat placing 3rd out of 10 with a best lap of 24.230 seconds. After that we went to City Beach for drinks, appetizers and dinner. Good food, good conversation and a really fun bunch of guys.

On Saturday morning, the big day, Scott and I rode with his friend Roger up to Club Sportiva in San Francisco. Cara arranged for Scott to have a Ferrari 308GTSi to drive for the day and I was accompanying him up to go get it. As an aside, Roger drove a Toyota Prius and I sure found that thing cool. It was a “shiny pebble” moment extraordinaire!

Club Sportiva is a pretty interesting concept. If you have a penchant for exotic and interesting cars, but lack the wallet to own them, you should check it out. We picked up the “Magnum Ferrari” and Scott drove us out on 280 and then up to Skyline drive to stretch out the car a bit. Very nice ride. One of the funnier moments was when a guy in a Ferrari 550 Maranello pulled up next to us, blipped his horn to say “Hi”, clicked his paddle shifters down twice and disappeared in a puff.

We stopped midway on Skyline Drive to have lunch at Alice’s Restaurant. It’s a little unclear if it is the Alice’s Restaurant. It does not appear to be “a half-a-mile from the railroad tracks”. On their menu they specify that it was created around the same time as the song, and the owner’s name was Alice. Good enough for me.

The wedding itself was in Half Moon Bay. Photos were on the beach with the waves pounding in and the ceremony itself up the coast shortly looking out on the ocean. It was a small, casual wedding. A very nice time with lots of laughter and joy. Congrats to Scott and Cara!

Honda Odyssey Pt. 2

Sat, 08 Oct 2005 00:00:00 -0500

We’ve had the 2006 Honda Odyssey for two weeks now and I thought I would share some of my comments on it. All in all, I really like the vehicle a lot more than I expected I would. There are a couple positives and negatives I would point out though.

Positives

I’m amazed at the engine management. The ECO mode (which cuts runs the 6-cylinder on only 3 to conserve fuel) is pretty amazing. I’ve never felt it turn on and off, and it cycles all the time. You would think this would only turn on when you are cruising down the highway, but it is very active and seems to have no negative for performance that I can perceive.
We still keep finding more interesting and thoughtful feaures. Just discovered another storage area today. And I found where the Honda designers actually created a spot to hold a pen. They thought of pretty much everything.

Negatives

This one is driving me nuts. We bought the touring edition for a number of reasons, but a big one in my book is driver memory. My last two cars have been a BMW and Audi and it’s standard in them that it remembers the driver seat position and other things depending if Key1 or Key2 opens the car. The touring Odyssey has this and I really wanted it. When your wife is almost a foot shorter than you it’s a really nice feature to not mess with your seat all the time. However, the mirrors are not linked to the memory! This is just incredibly stupid to me. So while my seat is positioned correctly when I get in, the mirrors are not.
Let me touch on XM, which comes standard with the car along with a 3-month trial subscription.
- First off, I don’t get it. I’ve heard from a number of people, and people I would value their input on these topics, that XM and satellite radio in general is great. I’m not seeing it. The programming is just boring. With the exception of unique features like the Comedy channels or listening to CNN Headline News I don’t see the value, and those unique features just aren’t all that compelling.
- XM missed the boat, at least with our family, in a big way when they didn’t get NPR. That’s only on Sirius.
- Can I rant for a bit that XM had the opportunity, creating a completely digital new music distribution method, to do so much but seems to have done so little. For example, the navigation system will show the XM information and it’s a nice touch that you get song and artist as you listen (but really, FM can do this with RDS support). Where is the album art? How about other graphics related to the artist? Or how about just not cutting off the song title after 40 characters? How ridiculously dumb is this.

I’ve added the rubber floor mats to it so we are ready for winter and I got the cooler bags for the lazy susan (yes, it really has a lazy susan in it!). So, still liking it a lot, just wishing my mirrors would move “automagically” and don’t think we’ll be signing up for XM.

Honda Odyssey

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Ever since Mazie arrived we have been learning that taking a car seat in and out of a station wagon is not a terribly comfortable thing to do. We’ve also been planning on getting a new car for Tammy. We started looking at minivans a few weeks ago and today we pulled the trigger!

We bought a 2006 Honda Odyssey. I got completely “shiny pebbled” (shi-ny peb-bled, v. 1. to get obsessed with bright and shiny gadgets and forget all practicality) as we were exploring our minivan options and went all out on the Touring edition with DVD and navigation system. I worked a good deal (thanks Internet!) and got a reasonable price relative to dealer invoice at Richfield Bloomington Honda. Their Internet sales guy was quick with emails, only took a couple of back and forths to get to a good price and we had a deal done. Walked into the store the next day and did the paperwork. We got the silver pearl metallic color, pictured above.

A year ago I would have told you you were crazy if you told me that I would be all hyper about a minivan, but this thing is so cool! It has every gadget, bell & whistle you could ever want. It’s too much to even go through here, and I haven’t figured out what they all are yet. The side and rear doors are all motorized. I’ve vowed to go as long as possible without actually touching one of those. 🙂 It also has a backup camera, all kinds of different sensors and of course twice as many cup holders as passengers. There is even a 110 outlet in the back with AV ports to plug in your camcorder or game system.

On top of the gadgets, it drives very well with some very notable braking power. I also like the “ECO” mode that shuts down three of the six cylinders to get better gas mileage. It has the run flat tires with the mandatory tire pressure sensors. If you get a flat it just lets you know and you need to get to a shop relatively soon.

Can’t wait for a road trip!

PhatBox Installed

Sun, 05 Jun 2005 00:00:00 -0500

I’ve felt for a long time that the car was absolutely the best platform for digital music. You can be in your car for hours and you need entertainment. While a CD changer is a step in the right direction if you are like me you listen to those same six CDs for weeks, or even months, before changing them. I looked around a few months ago for solutions but didn’t come to a conclusion. Recently my friend Chris (excuse his website, I think he’s working on bringing it into this century) decided he wanted to pursue this goal so I piggybacked on his very thorough research and got a PhatNoise PhatBox.

I would say we installed it this afternoon, but unless you count fetching a few tools and asking questions I don’t have much of a place in the we. The install took the whole afternoon. A few things came up on the install. I’ll share them here for others that may try this at home.

I had the PhatBox unit for Volkswagen but was installing in an Audi A6 wagon. The unit is exactly the same, but the cable is different. Chris did the solder iron magic and put a female DB-13 connector in place of the VW connector.
We blew the fuse in the Audi head unit while installing due to plugging and unplugging a lot of times. I’d suggest not plugging the PhatBox in until you have the connectors fully connected.
I upgraded the system files on the PhatBox to the newest versions. Took a few minutes on first boot but everything worked perfect.
The physical install was a bit rough, a hole had to be cut in the back of the steel frame that held the old CD player to allow room for the cable. Be ready to cut into some serious steel.
The screwholes on the unit weren’t ideally placed. In order to get the access panel back over the unit once installed new holes needed to be tapped into the aluminum chassis and even then the insulation had to be cut out to accommodate the unit. But after that, it fit fine.

I’ve only had it for a few hours now but I really like it. The voice prompting system seems to work well but I’m still getting used to it. When you turn it on the first time you get this rocking welcome sound. The PhatBox uses your standard car stereo so it cannot display menus with long text. PhatNoise has a fairly elegant solution to this using voice prompts. It will announce your genre for you, and it creates album names so you can pick what to listen to. As a bonus the random button on my head unit now has a purpose since it does something that is worthwhile. Anyway, you can read up on your own if you want more information.

Your browser does not support the audio element.

Huge thanks to Chris for doing the install! I would have been way over my head. We didn’t take out the camera so no pictures of the install. I can now happily drive down the road listening to one of a few thousand different songs at a time. Plus, I get to feel cool since I’ve got a little Linux computer in my trunk.

PhatBox Stuff:

PhatVoice is a program to put higher quality voice prompts on your PhatBox DMS.
Get more voices to create prompts with.
Various PhatBox notes.