The Formula One opener at Melbourne began as a wild card event and was not disappointing. All teams entered the race with new cars and new tires. Some using KERS, others not. Three teams using rear diffusers. After watching the race, here are some random thoughts:

1. Long pit stops lasting 11 to over 13 (Button’s last stop) seconds in many cases.
2. I’d like to own the carbon fiber manufacturer who will be supplying all of the honkingly large nose spoilers that get knocked off in 2009.
3. I’d like to own the carbon fiber manufacturer who will be supplying all the new rear diffusers as found on the Brawn GP cars.
4. I would have preferred a slightly wider rear wing and a slightly narrower front wing
5. The cars seem very twitchy with the narrower wings.
6. Now that we’ve seen KERS in action, I’m curious about how long it will take the other teams to get on board.
7. Nice to see Button out front with a good car. But will it last?
8. With the juggernaut teams finishing mid-pack or worse, it certainly adds tension to the season when anticipating the outcome.
9. Not the usual suspects at the finish.
10. Kimi seemed to carries his pattern over from last season. Will he brek the streak?
11. Button finished under yellow but he owned the race from the start and would have won regardless. It was a great, surprise win.
12. If it were anyone else I’d say it was dumb luck, but Ross Brawn makes his own luck.
13. The outcome validated Branson’s choice of an “underdog” team. Will they be able to preserve the momentum?
14. Lewis goes from 18th to 4th. Wow.

This is anyone’s show this year.

My employer awarded me the honor of being Employee of the Month because I had to rent a car to make it to one of my shifts. This may seem a little extreme. Why would anyone spend money to rent a car just to work for a few hours? It was very important that I made it to work, and renting a car was my only solution.
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Chevrolet trucks will never be outdated, outmoded, or outdone. (Well, they are neck-and-neck with Ford trucks, but why argue over Coke and Pepsi? Both work quite well for millions of satisfied customers and fans.) Point is, Chevrolet trucks today are as hot, high-powered, and enduring as those of the seventies.
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The 2006 Honda Civic sedan is a technological marvel, and is the most advanced piece of automotive machinery in existence today. Hmm, okay, so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. If you’ve been keeping up with car reviews, the praise the new 2006 Honda Civics have been getting would lead you to think that it is indeed some kind of engineering break through. The 2006 Honda Civic may not be the most advanced car on the planet, but for its price range it may be the most practical, and most reliable. Read the rest of this entry »

When you have a new baby, it is important to have the right baby car seat. It needs to be installed correctly in order to protect your baby in the event of a car accident. Most hospitals won’t discharge a mom and new baby until they see the car seat. Many kinds of infant car seats exist.
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No matter how advanced the technology becomes for pre-recorded music, all of us still need the radio. There is something warm and fuzzy listening to your favorite disc jockey play the music that you like.

However, there is a new technology opening up in the radio market; satellite radio. Read the rest of this entry »

I just bought a used car. That statement alone makes the process alone seem like a snap, right? Well, yes and no. The final transactions went beautifully, but only after months of careful research, planning, and discussion (the latter of which some would call “negotiation” or “haggling”). And I bought the car online, so to speak. That is, I used a classifieds board to find my dream cars and ones that would fit my budget; I researched all I could about how to buy a used car; and I took advantage of used car search engines—which also have much research and how-to material. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you find good used cars, especially if you are not well versed in auto-mechanics? Do you go to a used car lot? Look through the want ads? Explore by word of mouth? The Internet? Read the rest of this entry »