Cars
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Chris Pongpitaya’s Supercar Knockoffs
…Because nothing says genuine 911 like a spoiler the size of a Cessna wing (and judging by the height of the hood, front wheel drive as well). (thx Mark) This video intrigued me so much, I had to dig around a bit. Here’s the juicy bits: When looks alone matter – A Bangkok Post article on Chris and his shop, Schönes A thread on a Phuket message board with sweet replica Aston Martin pics An online gallery with photos of the old factory in Ekamae According to this Danish article, this is the contact info for Chris Pongpitaya / Schönes in Bangkok, Thailand:Tel: (+66) 81 674 4950schones_2000@yahoo.com UPDATE:Here’s some alternate…
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My other, much-neglected baby
The Kujira Crown is still my daily driver; driving in heavy rain everyday with no power steering, no hand brake, fairly torquey rear wheel drive, and Max in the front seat (in his new, larger baby seat) is a challenge, but it’s cool driving such a unique car every day. Here’s a photo from the other day when we had to dispose of a dead body in the woods: Although the lighting in this photo masks it very well, she is in great need of a new paint job, which when done properly will entail sanding everything off, fixing several holes and rust patches, and cutting out and patching the…
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We are home.
We made it back home safely, and I recommend that every parent try a 20-30 hour journey by planes just for kicks. Our trip was extended by nearly a week when Mina caught roseola or something similar that left her dotted for a while; Korean Air extended our tickets for free and we took the opportunity to visit Mika and Adam up in Monterey/Pacific Grove/Seaside. Details will probably follow in some fashion. To everybody – family, friends, and even random strangers – who made our trip possible and enjoyable, thank you. It meant a lot to be able to expose the kids to all of you and yours. // Meanwhile,…
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Bad juju days
The past 48 hours have been so trying, it would be easier to just forget about them. It is for that very reason that I now attempt to document them. Two nights ago, I fell asleep with a high fever and covered up with a heavy blanket when the chills started an hour later. I woke up a couple hours later hearing my wife’s voice telling me to do something, but I was drenched in my own sweat and feverish again. I somehow sensed there was a blackout, because the room was completely dark – no flashing LEDs from electronics or nightlights for the babies could be seen. I kicked…
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close call
On my way to pick up Max from school today, I almost killed a female university student who evaded a police checkpoint by speeding straight at me from the opposite direction. I stomped on the brakes as she almost went down sideways, but then her half-raised kickstand caught on the asphalt and inertia righted her scooter as if by magic. She rode off with a bovine smile on her face, perhaps oblivious to how close she had come to dying. The ironic thing is that the cops were trying to stop her for not wearing a helmet. ///////////////// It’s funny, right before the slow motion adrenaline effect kicked in, the…
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Pulling plugs again
The Kujira Crown has a mysterious problem with its plug contacts corroding at a high rate – enough to affect performance after just two or three weeks. I originally thought it could be fixed by using colder plugs, but that hasn’t helped at all. As it turns out it doesn’t seem to be caused by the engine running hot at all – the Crown’s been parked for a month since I haven’t renewed insurance on it yet. I pulled the plugs once and cleaned them a few weeks ago and only started the car to keep things running a couple times during that period. However, I took it for a…
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SsangYong Rodius aka SsangYong Stavic
A few months ago, I saw the ugliest car ever made, in person. I was buying stuff at the fresh market in downtown Sarakham, and there was a white model parked close by. I read the logo, Ssangyong, and wondered what ugly planet it had been beamed down from. I even waited an extra few minutes just to see what kind of blind person had been conned into buying something so obviously atrocious. No luck, though.
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Toyota Floormat Recall
This is a pretty serious problem: Toyota plans huge U.S. recall for dangerous floormats It sounds more like a headline from the Onion, but it seems like it’s responsible for deaths. I can attest to the dangers of certain types of floor mats because they caused problems in my car last year a few times. I was using an aftermarket rubber floor mat on the driver’s side of our Cefiro and the mass of the raised lip made the front edge heavy. The mat was naturally pushed forward when I moved my feet around while driving, and once in a while it would get pushed up onto the accelerator. When…
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Mitsuoka 50 series vs Rollerninjas
Too batshit crazy (in a good way) for words. Link: Mitsuoka 50 series Bubu Shuttle
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No work accomplished today
I wanted to get some midterm grading done the past five hours, but I ended up entertaining Max instead. He wouldn’t go to sleep and Nam was busy putting together slides for a presentation in Bangkok at some lexicographical conference in ten days – it takes precedence over my work so I had to watch the baby (of course, pretty soon he will be the toddler and there will be a new baby). I really need to get as much grading done as I can in chunks because with 11 classes (7 different courses; 3 which I’ve done before but am improving and 4 new ones), a few hundred students,…
