The car is looking pretty cool with tinted windows. You can't see the interior blue lights, but they are there. At night, both front seats are illuminated with a soft blue. It's most awesome. And don't even get me started about the subwoofer ;)

For my final tweak, the tire rims have to go and get replaced with decent ones.

Mostest funny mouses evar.



I still want a cat though ;)

Nice plane eh! :)

I spent the past couple of days in Chicago, taking some very nice ladies to a funeral. Chicago is a great city, there is a lot of stuff to do and see, and the food is terrific.

O'Hare airport is a zoo - one of the busiest places on the planet for traffic, but everything seemed to work out okay for us and we had an uneventful trip. I was flying for a different company than my employer - I pimped myself out to a fellow jet operator as they needed a pilot and I'm on good terms with them, so it was almost like a good deed, if you don't count the $1,000 that my company billed them for my overnight services. The plane I flew was a Citation Bravo, which is the more advanced model of the one I fly at the moment. Check out the cockpit! I flew it from the left seat on the way home, which was a lot of fun. The level of automation is greater than I have previously experienced, but I'm catching on pretty quick.

I just read a post on being poor and it brought tears to my eyes. Sure, I have problems, but in the great scheme of things, I don't deserve to complain about a thing. Here I am, posting about new toys and new cars and there are people who go to sleep hungry every night. I hope I never forget how lucky I am, and that I can do my part to help those who didn't win the parent/citizenship/education lottery like I did.

http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003704.html?h=3498

Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.

Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.

Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they're what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there's not an $800 car in America that's worth a damn.

Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.

Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends' houses but never has friends over to yours.

Being poor is going to the restroom before you get in the school lunch line so your friends will be ahead of you and won't hear you say "I get free lunch" when you get to the cashier.

Being poor is living next to the freeway.

Being poor is coming back to the car with your children in the back seat, clutching that box of Raisin Bran you just bought and trying to think of a way to make the kids understand that the box has to last.

Being poor is wondering if your well-off sibling is lying when he says he doesn't mind when you ask for help.

Being poor is off-brand toys.

Being poor is a heater in only one room of the house.

Being poor is knowing you can't leave $5 on the coffee table when your friends are around.

Being poor is hoping your kids don't have a growth spurt.

Being poor is stealing meat from the store, frying it up before your mom gets home and then telling her she doesn't have make dinner tonight because you're not hungry anyway.

Being poor is Goodwill underwear.

Being poor is not enough space for everyone who lives with you.

Being poor is feeling the glued soles tear off your supermarket shoes when you run around the playground.

Being poor is your kid's school being the one with the 15-year-old textbooks and no air conditioning.

Being poor is thinking $8 an hour is a really good deal.

Being poor is relying on people who don't give a damn about you.

Being poor is an overnight shift under florescent lights.

Being poor is finding the letter your mom wrote to your dad, begging him for the child support.

Being poor is a bathtub you have to empty into the toilet.

Being poor is stopping the car to take a lamp from a stranger's trash.

Being poor is making lunch for your kid when a cockroach skitters over the bread, and you looking over to see if your kid saw.

Being poor is believing a GED actually makes a goddamned difference.

Being poor is people angry at you just for walking around in the mall.

Being poor is not taking the job because you can't find someone you trust to watch your kids.

Being poor is the police busting into the apartment right next to yours.

Being poor is not talking to that girl because she'll probably just laugh at your clothes.

Being poor is hoping you'll be invited for dinner.

Being poor is a sidewalk with lots of brown glass on it.

Being poor is people thinking they know something about you by the way you talk.

Being poor is needing that 35-cent raise.

Being poor is your kid's teacher assuming you don't have any books in your home.

Being poor is six dollars short on the utility bill and no way to close the gap.

Being poor is crying when you drop the mac and cheese on the floor.

Being poor is knowing you work as hard as anyone, anywhere.

Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually stupid.

Being poor is people surprised to discover you're not actually lazy.

Being poor is a six-hour wait in an emergency room with a sick child asleep on your lap.

Being poor is never buying anything someone else hasn't bought first.

Being poor is picking the 10 cent ramen instead of the 12 cent ramen because that's two extra packages for every dollar.

Being poor is having to live with choices you didn't know you made when you were 14 years old.

Being poor is getting tired of people wanting you to be grateful.

Being poor is knowing you're being judged.

Being poor is a box of crayons and a $1 coloring book from a community center Santa.

Being poor is checking the coin return slot of every soda machine you go by.

Being poor is deciding that it's all right to base a relationship on shelter.

Being poor is knowing you really shouldn't spend that buck on a Lotto ticket.

Being poor is hoping the register lady will spot you the dime.

Being poor is feeling helpless when your child makes the same mistakes you did, and won't listen to you beg them against doing so.

Being poor is a cough that doesn't go away.

Being poor is making sure you don't spill on the couch, just in case you have to give it back before the lease is up.

Being poor is a $200 paycheck advance from a company that takes $250 when the paycheck comes in.

Being poor is four years of night classes for an Associates of Art degree.

Being poor is a lumpy futon bed.

Being poor is knowing where the shelter is.

Being poor is people who have never been poor wondering why you choose to be so.

Being poor is knowing how hard it is to stop being poor.

Being poor is seeing how few options you have.

Being poor is running in place.

Being poor is people wondering why you didn't leave.

Behold, the Storm Launcher. It'll be released to Target stores on July 26th. It's $79.99. I'm stoked! Give the video 40 seconds or so before it gets totally crazy...

This is Honda girl, my Civic Hybrid.

It has a 93hp gas engine, and a 20hp electric motor powered by a battery back which is located behind the rear passenger seats. They work in conjunction with each other, and a little display on the instrument panel lets you know if you are charging or discharging your big battery, along with your overall charge on the big battery.

If you are driving in the city, at a steady speed below 60km/hr, then the gas engine will most likely shut off, and the car will be powered exclusively by the electric motor - if the battery level gets low, then the gas engine fires up again, to charge the battery and to assist with moving the car forward while it's charging the battery. The battery is Nickel-Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) and is warrantied for 8 years/130,000km. The gas engine is a 1.3l i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine.


Retails for just over $27k. You can get $2k back from the government 'cause it's a green car. You will save money on gas, but you will still end up paying more overall for a hybrid than the conventional version. I'll save around $600/year in gas, but I'll pay more in overall purchase costs. When all is said and done, I'm going to pay a couple of thousand bucks more for this car over the life of the vehicle, and that's entirely due to the purchase price. and it's something I'm willing to do - much like how a person who drives a Hummer is willing to pay more for their particular vision of how they want to get from point A to B.

The transmission is automatic, a CVT (continuously variable transmission) setup that means there is only 1 gear, but the ratio changes depending on what you are asking the car to do. Kinda like a snowmobile! Smile

It comes with all the standard stuff that modern cars do, power windows, locks, air conditioning, cd/mp3/wma player, 2 power outlets, cruise control, ABS, side airbags, etc. The 2006 Canadian model does not come with a GPS system, though the US model does. That's too bad, I was looking forward to actually not getting lost on a regular basis like I do now, but I can wait a few more years until that happens I guess.

It's all about the fuel:

4.9l/100km@100km/hour - Air Conditioner OFF
4.8l/100km@110km/hour - A/C OFF
4.7l/100km@130km/hour - A/C OFF

6.5l/100km@all speeds - A/C ON

The air conditioner is the single greatest factor in gas mileage. City driving vs highway driving doesn't seem to make much of a difference as far as mileage goes.

Acceleration is just fine for a Civic, and I'm betting it's faster than you'd think. The car is rock-solid @ 140km/hour and above (I have only taken it to 165) with very little outside noise.

Inside, it's very quiet. You can hardly hear the engine unless it's revving above 4,000rpm, which it seems to do on steep hills at high speeds.

I like the two-tone interior and teh exterior styling, with the exception of the wheel rims, which are kinda sukky. If a truck load of money appears in my pockets some time, I'll get aftermarket rims which I had never considered before this car.

You just drive it like a normal car, all the hybrid technology is transparent to the user. I mentioned this in a previous post, but one of the most mind-blowing things about this car is when you come to a stop, the gas engine cuts out and you run on the electric battery. A/C still works, as do all your electrical systems. As soon as you take your foot off the brake and hit the accelerator pedal, the gas engine lights up and off you go, with no lag. The accelerator pedal is throttle-by-wire, with no direct mechanical linkage to the engine.

I like that I can realistically get 1,000km on a 46.5l tank of fuel. In 20 years we'll be switching over to hydrogen fuel-cel cars, but until then, I want to squeeze every drop of gas I can into the longest distance I can.

You don't need to plug in the car at all, it's entirely self-contained. There is no electrical cord on the car, you just put gas in like normal.

The battery is charged by the gas engine when required, and by the elecrical motor. The electrical motor acts as a generator when you brake, and it converts your brake energy back into useful energy and stores it in the battery. There is a pretty big power cable under the hood that leads from the electrical motor to the batteries in the back, and it appears that the electrons flow very freely back and forth.

Thou Star That Shines in Darkest Night
When Most I Need Thine Aid
Nor Changes, But To Burn More Bright
When Others Slowly Fade


I want to be a supernova when I grow up

I'm in New Jersey as I write this. Waiting on passengers, business types who live for golf. I don't live for golf. I live for:

A kiss on the back of my neck or a warm smooch on my nose
An unexpected piece of chocolate
A warm comforter in a cool room
When someone tells me I'm unique in some way
A familiar tune when I'm driving down the highway
interesting dinner conversation
A movie that presents life in some way I hadn't thought about before
A good, funny book. dark humor is allowed, and encouraged
Seeing a thunderstorm from above it, watching the lighting in the cloud as I pass overhead, marvelling at how very small I am and how very big nature is
Sleeping in an extra 5 minutes
Knowing that I am missed - a sad pleasure, but a pleasure anyway
Floating in warm water and watching the sunlight play on the surface, a million sparkles of light
Knowing that somewhere out there, sometime soon, there is a cat for me
Knowing that my mom and dad think I'm pretty cool
Feeling strong and healthy

What does it take to make me happy? Lots of time off? Lots of money? Regular contact with a loved one? Why does this job demand such constant sacrifice? What matters in life? When I look back on it in 50 years, what will stand out as the cornerstones of my life?

Sometimes, I press my hands to my face to touch the bones of me. A cheekbone here, my jaw there, the hollow places where my eyes are set to look out on the world. I wonder what I will seem to the ones who come across my grave in some future, far away. Will they think, here lays all that is left of a mad man or will they think, here lays the remains of a man who lived once, long ago, who loved and laughed, who travelled the world, now forever still. I push my hands harder now against the solid structure that gives form to flesh. It gives way only slightly. I feel soft, but I am stronger than these.

I'm in Washington DC as I write this. It's sunny out, and it's gonna be a scorcher. I'm here until Sunday so I'm going to spend the day at the Smithsonian, looking at all the American memorobilia, and of course visiting the Aviation section. It's among the best in the world, so I'm pretty excited.

I got a new car 2 days ago, a 2006 Honda Civiv Hybrid. It's the coolest thing I own for sure. I really have to get off my butt and take some pics of it, which of course I'll post here. When I come to a complete stop, the gas engine totally cuts out. When I hit the accelerator, the engine starts again, instantly, and off I go. There's no lag, and that's pretty amazing to me.


I'm looking forward to vacation also - currently scheduled for August 12th to 20th. I will head west to visit friends and family and hopefully that will recharge my batteries for another while. The day-in, day-out routine of every day life sometimes feels like it's kinda sucking my lifeforce out. I guess the word is "complacent" and that scares me. As far as I know I only have one life to live and I don't want to waste any time. The thing is, what do I want to spend time on? Well, I like to travel and I like to watch people, and I like to smell strange food cooking and then eat it. I want to see the world and I want a cat. Yeah, they make me sneeze, but so what. I had a throat infection about 4 months ago and when I took the doctor-prescribed antibiotics, it totally destroyed my sense of smell, which is only very slowly coming back to me. That's kind of how it is when I live with a cat, so as I'm used to it already, I might as well get a little furry beast to call my own. My present living situation won't allow that, so getting a cat would involve a significant change in that also. I don't mind, I'm used to moving around.

I was walking in Lexington and happened to walk by the "Commonwealth" office. I guess that's shorthand for the welfare office. There were hundreds of people inside, all sitting and waiting in line to see someone about their case. And I know this isn't profound or anything, but it just occured to me:

One of the fundamental differences between rich people and poor people is that rich people don't wait in line for anything, and poor people spend a lot of their time waiting in lines. A few years ago, I flew with a guy who is worth around half a billion dollars. It was a long flight, and he sat up front with me. During our conversation, he said this "Time is one of the most valuable gifts you can give someone." So what does that mean in regard to the millions of poor people who give up substantial parts of their lives waiting for things 'cause they can't afford to skip to the front of the line?

My present boss understands this at a fundamental level, he is early for everything. If I am early for everything, do I win? When I fly corporate, I spend a lot of time waiting for my customers - we drop them off, then wait until they return. How valuable is my gift to them? How can I even measure it?

I'm in Lexington, Kentucky at the moment on a charter. Lexington is nice enough - the local themes are bourbon and horses. Apparently they have some sort of horse derby here from time to time, I'm sure the name will come to me ;)

The pictures in my hotel room are of saddles and leather boots, so I assume it's about horses. Either that or I'm in a S&M hotel. Now that I think of it, the front desk clerk was wearing a rubber face mask, but I just assumed it was cause the lobby was kind of cold ;)

The past month has been crazy busy - I have been to: Montreal, Baton Rouge LA, Nassau, North Bay, Winnipeg, New York, Florida, and more. This week it's Lexington, then Trois Rivieres Quebec, then Detroit, then Ottawa for the weekend, then Phoenix Arizona, then Fresno California, then I have a week and a half off for vacation. I'm going to visit my mom in Nanaimo and my Dad and brother and sisters in Saskatoon, so I'm pretty excited about that.

Oh, I randomly applied for a pre-approved mortgage through my bank and the crazy people said yes to a cap of $225k. So I'm going to start talking a look at what's out there in the Toronto area just in case I can actually afford to live indoors. I presently live in Oakville, but there's no way that I'll be able to afford a place here - most places start at 600k and go up from there. Toronto prices are truly insane.

In other random notes, I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas (I bought it for myself) and that's been a lot of fun in a geeky way. Also my car got broken into last week, and the fuckers stole my stereo, my sat. radio and smashed in my window for good measure. That made me really angry - when I see people begging in the street I always donate a buck or two (or I buy them food if I think they might spend the dough on drugs etc) and when I shop for groceries I always add the little $5 piece donation to the food bank - I know I am incredibly lucky to be where I am in life and I don't mind passing some of that stuff along. But to smash up my car and just to take my stuff is such a violation that it makes me feel bitter. The stuff they stole wasn't even that valuable - I cancelled the satellite radio subscription as soon as I discovered the theft so the radio is completely useless - they can't even enable another subscription to that unit now. And while they were looting my car stereo and stuff they managed to destroy most of it in the process - I saw a few pieces on the ground by my car that are necessary parts of the stereo units, along with the subs and amp etc. So basically whomever stole from me might get $50 out of the deal from a pawnshop, and now my insurance is going to go up by a huge whack cause I had to make a claim for the window repair, along with the door panel that got broken when they climbed in.

Anyway, other than that, life is great. I'm happy, healthy, and loved. And I'm very excited about going back to Saskatoon for a few days - I haven't been there in 3 years and I grew up there so it feels like home. Since I started flying I have moved around so much that I don't feel like I have any roots except for toon-town.