buckle-up

It was quite a quandary as we were getting ready to head back to northern California. We were to spend a week in the Bay area, first in San Jose and then, later in the week, Palo Alto. This is a trip that has become a regular occurrence for us as the major HPE event focused on NonStop systems (formerly Tandem Computers) takes place in November of each year. Restarted after a brief hiatus, this event has grown and it seemed it would set another attendance record yet again. Should we drive our BMW i8 and save money on gas or should we take the Jeep and be better prepared for whatever Mother Nature throws at us? This time last year we had run headlong into a winter blizzard as we left Reno, Nevada, and headed into California. The forecast had looked reasonable – a snow front was moving into the Sierras west of Truckee, suggesting that Donner Pass would be problematic but we had just replaced all four of our all season tires on the Jeep with a fresh set and while not really a “sticker ...

With fall fully under way the leaves continue to pile up around the garages and so there has been numerous times this month where we pulled the cars out so we could sweep the garages clean. This means shuffling the cars around and on one occasion, we had the red ones all lined up and somehow, it seemed to us symbolic. With so many yellow leaves surrounding our home, it was good to add a splash of red! There are numerous maple trees now growing in the yards of surrounding homes and we expect in the years to come, there will be a more dominant presence of red, but for now, with the aspen groves vying for our attention, a little splash of red is a welcome sight. There is some evidence of snow falling in the high country, but for everyone living along the front ranges it’s been a period of extended balmy weather with the thermometer pushing past 80 degrees a couple of times. Walking around in tee shirts isn’t normal for late October and for the month to end with Halloween being cele...

This has been a September to remember – for a second time in less than twelve months we had a potential buyer of our lovely Niwot home bail on us right at the eleventh hour just as they were about to hand over a check. Earlier this year we had almost crossed the finish line, only for a last minute hitch surfacing, but the common thread on both occasions was a little last minute buyer’s difficulty finding the money. On the bright side, on both occasions it has led us to revisit and prioritize a couple of task we had simply put off for too long so yes, our home has a light and airy feeling once again that, of itself, is making up for a little of the letdown that followed these missteps.  For all of September we had spent the time in our Niwot home having elected not to travel far from our home. This isn’t usual for us at this time of year – yes, we did miss the final of the Indy Races that was held once again at Sonoma. Readers of this blog will recall that at this time last y...

After a lengthy hiatus, our red C5 Corvette Z06 is almost ready for the track. For nearly two months it has been worked on from top to bottom and from front to rear. The list of service and replacement items was extensive and comes after three years of nothing more than track outings. For a moment, we were even talking about replacing it with a C7 Z06 Vette and on a recent road trip Margo searched the web for every piece of information on the C7 Z06 after our local GM dealer put a very attractive package together for us. A black C7 Z06 with the optional Z07 package and with detailing that included the upgraded interior, where the double stitching was done in yellow as were the powder-coated brake calipers – the touch of yellow on an otherwise black Corvette was all rather striking - and we came very close to pulling the trigger on the deal. But then, stepping back and looking at our C5 Z06 and having already experienced a supercharged C6 Vette on track, we decided to spend the m...

It’s simply un-American to not consider vacation in July, but for us, there is never really any time for vacation. Seriously, we cannot recall a time since 2009 where we have simply elected to escape and do nothing. Being hi-tech freelancers and having a business to run it’s just not possible to shut down, so when circumstances arose that dictated we head back to Virginia and the Carolinas for business, well, we jumped at the opportunity to head east. Regular readers of this blog may recall the post of October 4, 2015, A tale of two cars and of paths not taken where we recounted our first trip to the Carolina’s Outer Banks together with our first impressions of driving our then almost-new Mini Cooper S Roadster. Well, with this BizCation, we elected to combine both – our love of the east coast with our love for Mini. Readers if my posts to the NonStop community blog, Real Time View may have caught on to our whereabouts as I wrote the post, published July 19, 2016, Yes, once again...