My life, an update...

Hello distant souls. How's trickolas?
Well, my 911 (the new one) is gone. Oh yes, tis gone. It seems odd to sell it after only a few months but needs must. Needs? Well there is a chance that I will be made redundant come the year end. I have no job to go to (despite interviews) and I want to be prepared. Thus the car is the first step to debt clearing. It is a huge shame to see this one drive away. It was just what I wanted.
Anyway.
So I'm a Clio driver now. It sucks to be honest, but what can you do? Buy another car? Hell y.. no. I have plans - well, ideas really. I'd like the Corvette (back to that old chestnut) but I don't see me getting the money together any time soon. Maybe something in the meantime, such as an older 'Vette or even a different Porsche (968 perhaps) have been swimming in my head. However, as Gemma quite rightly says, "It's not what you want, and you won't be happy". Typical she would know me that well!
What I want is the C6. So maybe I should aim for one and see what happens. :)

Let's see. Oh, yes the Calibra. Well that's up and running now. It needs work (when will it not?) but it runs. I'm not too happy driving it just yet but we'll see how things work out. It's there though, and that's the important bit. However, there is a boost leak and an oil leak that need attention before I can give her the thrashing she needs. (sigh) More work!

Um.. WoW. I haven't really played it. I will. But Gemma is here and I value my time with her over a game (and it's still technically Summer so I'm enjoying the weather). However, I still do play and the end game stuff is still waaaay open to me. Lots to do over the winter months! Check out This to see what's on the cards :)

Gemma has her new house (Uni) now as well. We're popping down to Exeter to start populating the place soon. Only one more year and she's "free". I personally cannot wait. :)

If you get bored, check out Sinfest - it's a great little comic. Well, I laugh at it! I'll pop it and another couple in the menu later on :)

New VW Eos CC

See the title? Just looks like a bunch of random letters... lol. Anyway, check out these pictures out of the new VW roadster. Why am I posting it? Well for a start it looks nothing like the prototype/concept. Hardly surprising but so far it's dull. Secondly, everyone has to have one in their range now. Vauxhall, Ford (Focus based), Renault, Mercedes, Peugeot.. blah.
Oh and it's a Golf underneath. :)

Well this is a first...

German court rules in favour of fat man in a Merc

Tue Aug 30, 1:24 PM ET

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has ruled that Mercedes must release a man from a car lease deal after a dispute over whether he was too heavy to drive the luxury vehicle, Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday.
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Mercedes refused to release the insurance salesman from a lease agreement on his S-320 CDI model, arguing the multiple car breakdowns caused by his weight were insufficient grounds to break the deal.

But the Stuttgart court ruled in favour of the salesman, named only as Frank S., apparently on the grounds that the car should have been able to take his weight.

Frank S. was told that at 160 kg (352 pounds) he weighed twice as much as the average driver, Bild said.

"They told me that I was too fat for the car because the seat was broken," he told Bild, in a story next to a picture of the east German squeezing behind the steering wheel of the model Bild said was worth 65,000 euros (44,400 pounds).

"I could hardly fit behind the steering wheel ... Then I had to take the car back to the shop for repairs 13 times for 21 different malfunctions in the first 20,000 km."

The 37-year-old said he got fed up and wanted to return the car but Mercedes refused to release him from his lease contract.

A court in Stuttgart ruled that DaimlerChrysler had to let him out of the agreement.

The salesman, who switched to a Volkswagen, would sue to get back the leasing payments he made, Bild said.

Mother nature...

...don't mess with her!.

Month(ly) roundup!

It's not that I've been overly busy (ish) but I really haven't had the inclination to update the site, post links or, well, pretty much anything. It's not been the greatest of months to be entire honest. My saving grace is Gemma. Having her home is awesome (cool US wording included) and there have been some nice highlights (my Brother's engagement party was great fun; as well as Kingsley's do). But the 911 is going soon (yeah I know!) due to mounting debt, inadequate storage and a few other "issues".
To top it off, work is pretty bleak (redundancy is looming in one form or another). I've had one really good interview, but whether I fit the bill is up to them now. I really hope I do! More on that later in the week (I hopeskycopter).
Back to the cars? Well the 911 is as good as sold. If the trader doesn't want it, someone else will. It pains me to sell it but then again, it pains me to keep it. So I would rather keep the monthly loan payments and be a bit lighter on the debt front instead. Hopefully I can go back to 911 ownership one day - or perhaps something else ;)
The Calibra hasn't moved so I can't really update that side of things. I do intend to get out there and play with it but so far I've not had the time. She does appear to run quite well though so that's something!

I've started reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - I'm only a few chapters in but it's so far quite enjoyable. I know you and the rest of the world has already read it but... nerr - I was busy!

WoW is going okay. I'm a bit behind with my playing (can't be bothe...etc) but I've started a new character on the Archimonde server (again, Arbilac - a NE Druid). Only level 10 at the moment but that will soon change!
Why? Well Archimonde is a lower population server (less lag) and it's also a PvP (Player vs Player) server so it's more dangerous to roam about without being attacked! It's a different challenge and I look forward to progressing further!

Anyway - on I must go. I will update the site soon with news of 911s and hopefully jobs. Then I might even get some pics uploaded etc!

Because I'm lazy...

I present to you, the VGCats forums thread on Best Pics. It's about as random as you can get - and some are unreal (as in, really funny!). Looksee and enjoy. Or else. Yeah you!

Great little game

It's all about the bubbles!.

250mph Ecotec

Whose who know their GMs will find this interesting. :)

Unconventional engines thread

Over on VWVortex. It's a good one too, because there are a ton of engine designs I had no idea even existed!

CTRL-ALT-DEL

CTRL-ALT-DEL is a great cartoon. Hilarious in places too - check out this WoW cartoon. Fab!

Good god, the site is out of date!

Yup - just checking through and I REALLY need to get this place cleaned up! The Calibra is all but done - and that needs a BIG update. I really need a decent camera.. lol.
I'll do my best over the next week or so - get some show pics up etc. Useless :(

Monkey Island Comic

Just as the title says!

Clicky!

P.J. Tracy

I've just finished reading the third book from mother/daughter team P.J. Tracy. Starting with "Want to Play" (or Monkeewrench) and on to "Live Bait" and now "Dead Run". I won't go in to them too much (click the links) but I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed every single page. If you enjoy reading - then read. :)

Rain.com/pour

Fortune favours the bold. Or in my case, everyone but me.
It's been a busy few weeks (hence I don't have time for blogging) and things are moving to a "finale" with the Calibra. To what end? I don't really want to think about it to be honest. I know how I am and how I work and I don't see me being happy with it running "right". Or at all. It's future is not assured any more than the 911's is.

I now have the following:
MBE 941 ECU: It's no longer made but does everything I need to get my car over 400bhp (or much more if the engine itself could handle it). It's pre-mapped with a spec not too far off what I have - which is nice. Fitting it doesn't look all that hard either - but I'll make sure Jamie is on hand as he's done it several times before.
500cc MSD injectors: Sure it doesn't mean a lot on screen but think that my old ones were 280cc (or thereabouts) you can see how much difference these will make. I could squeeze 300/350bhp out of the old ones (flow wise) so these should do for 400+bhp.
Wasted-spark ignition: This bit saves me spending a lot of distributer caps, rotor arms and coils. No moving parts = Good.

A few hours work (I have an oil leak that needs attention) and I should be up and running again. There is - of course - more to come update-wise ;)

Now - the rain/pour bit. My 911 is a hard top - not a cabrio. Yet it believes otherwise and has allowed water in to the cabin. Lots of it. This is annoying in the least as the leak appears to be coming from my "bond-in-only" rear screen and that sounds expensive. The leak itself has interferred with the electrics of the car as well and the rear spoiler no longer does it's job (it'll only move manually) and (and?!) my dash electrics are playing up. Being a 911, it's not something I want to mess with so it's going to Camtune to be looked at. I am not looking forward to that at all. If it works out to be very expensive I may just have to work out if I really need a 911. LOL.

In other news, the Clio appears to be fine. :p

It's coming...

Porsche have confirmed that there will indeed be a 4-door car joining the line-up. 2009. Panamera.
New 928 methinks. :)

Google maps.. now MSN Earth

As reported on The Register, MSN is having a stab at the whole "maps.. blah" thingy with MSN Virtual Earth. The Earth being Northern America, of course.
Blah. Etc.

Find amusing place names near you!

Right here. :D

Quite the interesting engine conversion...

Basically it's this: Put M3 running gear in to a 4-door 323i. Sounds simple I would have guessed.

Not really. Here's his own site.

The thread is over 90 pages long right now (and growing) but it's worth reading. Amazing work and kudos to the owner!

Days

Fly by when you're off work! :)

That's primarily why I've not posted. I should be back on form next week when I have some time to kill (or doing a rebuild.. lol).
So I've been busy as usual. Mostly throwing out stuff from the house (making space) and getting rid of stuff I don't need. Even making a few bob too. This is mainly due to having to find several hundred squids to pay for my upcoming ECU/injectors etc that are coming my way! So the Turbo will finally be all-but finished. About bloody time too.

The 911 has been my trusty steed recently too. You gotta love that German build quality. I really need to get it serviced (well, an oil change) and sort some minor bits out but it's being a rock. Love it.

London got bombed again. Great. Can't really understand why though. It's not like it's making a point (still). Sad world we live in.

If you've not seen War Of The Worlds then do so. It's rather fab. I won't go in to detail as there really should be no need. You should all know the story! Spielburg has done a great job. :)
I have to say the same for as well - a great movie that reboots the franchise nicely. I'll be watching this one again soon. And the sequel is pretty much assured.
As is the Fantastic Four I should think. This one is only out today so I've yet to go see it but I expect to soon. It looks good - probably not Spiderman good, but good.
One last one, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I want to see this - rain is expected this weekend so maybe I'll go then.. and report back later!

Ah WoW news. I'm level 60 now - have been for a week or so now :) It rules - now I just need some time to get some decent raids and PvP time under my belt. All in good time! :D

Need to get back to working out.. later.

F1 drivers.. will they strike?

Check it out.
Personally this has made F1 more interesting than actually watching it (I can't.. it bores me to tears). Go soapy drama!