January 31, 2006
She's Out of My Life
It's a hard life, but a good one. I haven't been writing recently for several reasons. First, I lost the condo I was buying. Reader's Digest Version: It wouldn't appraise for the value and it seemed for some reason (pride) the seller's agent was stubborn and wouldn't negotiate. I really wanted that place, but such is life and I'm sure it will work out for the best.
Actually, that's a canned response. To be perfectly honest, I have been very depressed about it. I don't believe in fate, but it sure feels like I'm not supposed to own a home. I've been looking for a year and have been under contract on three homes and all of them have fallen through. It may not seem like it should be that big a deal, but buying one home is stressful enough, and buying three homes unsuccessfully is even worse.
The other thing that has been keeping me busy is some freelance projects I'm working on. To give you an idea, I've been doing php coding for an insurance company, home flyer designs for a real estate agent, and a couple of newspaper ads for a book store.
In addition, I was contacted recently by another school district, a smaller one, that wants me to create a design for them. That should be a big job, but I'm really excited about it.
Another thing that has taken a toll on my emotional health is that I sold my WRX. I really loved that car, but with buying a condo (yeah, right!) I decided to get a more sensible one with a monthly payment that isn't the size of an apartment. It's been a good two years that I've owned it and it was hard to say goodbye, but I don't regret my decision.
July 05, 2005
Stage II
I removed the pipe at the top and installed the one on the bottom. You can tell just from the pictures that it will flow better and remove much restriction on the engine by replacing two stock catalytic convertors with one high-flow cat. By replacing this pipe, my car is now sitting with 300 horsepower and is a Cobb Stage II. (For future reference: installed with approx. 17,000 miles.)
April 04, 2005
Giddy Like A School Girl, AKA New Rims
Well it has finally gotten to be decent enough weather here in Salt Lake to put on my summer rims.
March 14, 2005
Local Meet
Yesterday afternoon, I met up with about 40 or 50 fellow Subaru enthusiasts in my area and caravanned up to Park City for a drive. Despite 95% of us driving quite conservatively, we still ran into some severe problems with the law. About half of our group got separated because the police set up a road block to better control us. While this roadblock took place several cops raced (completely out of control) ahead to stop the other pack. Being in this first pack we were completely oblivious to the problems behind us. We continued to the designated meeting spot to wait for stragglers and anybody who got left behind.
Apparently the officers, who were panicking because they had all seen Fast and the Furious, knew exactly what high-performance import cars do when they gather. I say they were panicking for several reasons.
- A couple of them got out of their car and started yelling at each other.
- One squad car, upon entering the freeway, fishtailed uncontrollably for several moments before finally getting control.
- A second squad car, upon seeing the first car out of control, lost control himself and ended up in the median of the highway.
I bring this episode up not to say, "look how much of a ruckus we WRX and STi owners can cause," but to point out who was the real problem yesterday. I'm actually quite surprised that there wasn't an accident. But rest assured, the vehicles involved in it wouldn't be driven by one of us Subarus who were abiding by the law.
February 22, 2005
Cobb Accessport
Yesterday, I drove down to Modern Garage and picked up a Cobb AccessPort for my Rex. I'm running the Stage I map because I haven't done the downpipe yet. Now, I assume I'm running about 275hp, but once I have that DP I should be hitting at about 300hp.
This handheld computer is a pretty cool little gadget. You plug it into the computer in your car (below the steering wheel on my car), which you can do even while the car is running, and change "maps." If you don't know, how your car performs is based on a map that is held in your car's computer. When somebody says they have "chipped" their car this usually means that have either "reflashed" their computer or added a piggyback chip that attaches to the stock computer. Mine does neither of these, but allows me to change the map on the fly. This handheld device can hold up to 10 maps that I define. Some of the maps included are stock, economy, anti-theft, valet, and a few performance maps. This is desirable to me because if I choose, I can still take my car in to the dealership and they won't be able to detect it because I can just change the map to the stock one. Pretty cool, huh?
November 10, 2004
Traffic School (Reloaded)
It turns out traffic school wasn't all that bad. The first thing the instructor said when he walked in was, "How about we leave early tonight?" To which the crowd replied with uproarious applause. For the first half all he did was go around to each person in the room and find out what infraction they had infracted to deserve traffic school.
Then he showed several scenarios on one of those magnetic street boards. You know, the ones that have those little matchbox cars with magnets on them that you can put in any position. He did about 10 scenarios where we all had to write down who we thought deserved the ticket. Then he gave us the answers.
The last (and longest) part, was the question and answer section. This is probably pretty self-explanatory, so I'm not going to go into it. But I will say that this section got pretty out-of-hand. My fellow students used this opportunity to bitch about why they got their respective ticket. Also, the mandatory, "Well, I heard that in Arizona you can make a left turn from the right lane." And, "In California, motorcycles can drive between lanes in traffic. Why can't they in Utah?"
Overall it wasn't that bad. The instructor was pretty entertaining. He's a retired police officer who used to teach cops the traffic laws. He has done traffic school for Salt Lake City for thirty-someodd years and has several canned jokes that were actually pretty funny. I've been to traffic school before where it was two hours of boring instructor piled on top of the stinking refuse that is our traffic laws. But this one was just the opposite. It was the same stinking refuse, but presented with icing on top and a garnish or two on the side.
So, overall, if you have the chance to go to Salt Lake City Traffic School, go for it! I'm going to give it a ranking of three out of five Loritabs, because after all, it is still traffic school.
November 09, 2004
Traffic School
Well, tonight after work I will be attending traffic school for a speeding ticket I received about a month ago. I was on my way home from a friends house at about 2 in the morning and was figured I'd be the only one on the road. I was close. It turned out there was a cop on the road too and it turns out he was on the same road as I. Oh well. At least it won't go on my record now that I'm going to traffic school.
September 01, 2004
Painted Sideskirts and I-Badge
Last weekend, my brother-in-law and I painted my sideskirts to match the rest of my car. For some reason, the stock sideskirts were a dull black and I thought they'd look better if they matched the rest of the car. So, here's what my car looks like with them off as well as the gas door that was removed to match the paint.
After letting the paint cure for a couple of days, I washed the car very good inside and out. I also put on a new front emblem. This emblem has a lower-case "i" and sort of a tribal decoration around it. I got it because its the one that is used by Subaru in Japan and Europe for their Imprezas. It is a lot brighter and catches your attention immediately.
You'll also notice the front bumper trim that I got to cover the front license plate bracket. I can't stand front bumper license plates, so this little item works great.
Also, I updated my WRX Upgrade Path page.
Here's a couple more pictures. Let me know what you think.
June 23, 2004
Possible WRX Upgrade Path
One of the main motivations for purchasing a high-performance vehicle is the multitude of upgrades and modifications that become available. I am no exception to this rule when I bought a WRX in February.
Well, after a few months of adjusting to my new budget (which hasn't even existed since I was in college working for minimum wage), which includes my monthly car payment, I am now ready to begin modifying my car. In an effort to keep record of my possible upgrades and modifications, I will maintain and update this page. Listed below is my possible upgrade path.
First of all, I think I'm very lucky to be living in Salt Lake City as one of the best Subaru tuning companies, Cobb, is based here. Not only does Cobb manufacture excellent custom Subaru parts and services, but it does so at an excellent and affordable price.
- As with most upgrade paths, I'm starting mine with the exhaust. I've decided to go with a 3" CatBack exhaust system. A CatBack exhaust begins at the stock catalytic converter and replaces everything "back" to the muffler.
- Wheels and tires will be next. I would like to get the BBS's that come on the STi. They come with pretty good tires from the factory and a lot of STi owners get their car new and want instant customization, so they throw on new rims.
- Next will be the Cobb AccessPort. This has 10 instantly switchable ECU maps and will be a great improvement.
- A downpipe with a high-flow cat and a STi Cat-less Up-pipe. This will eliminate the pre-turbo Cat and reduce total Cats from the stock restrictive three to one high flow.
- Coilovers. To lower the car, give it more aggressive handling and a meaner look.
- Then front and rear sway bars and strut tower braces to improve handling further. As of right now, I have a Cusco adjustable one with Whiteline endlinks.
- Next, I'll probably replace the intercooler and radiator hoses with high-performance Silicone hoses.
While those are my main upgrades, I'll also be spending a few dollars here and there to improve its look.
- » I would like to get matching silver sideskirts, the STi hood scoop, STi splitters, and maybe side spats.
- » Inside the car, I'm going to replace the cheesy factory shift boot and shift knob with leather Momo ones that matches my stock steering wheel.
- » I'll paint the ugly, stock brake calipers a more sporty-looking blue.
- » While, I'm not a big fan of decals, I want to add a windshield banner (at least for a little while) like the WRC Subaru.
High Res Photos
- June 2004 front | side
- August 2004 front | side
- April 2005 front | side
June 18, 2004
Headlight Cooking Friday
February 24, 2004
I've Become One of Them . . . Gulp
Yes, I hate to say it folks, but I have become one of those people who parks far out in the parking lot where there are less cars to scratch and dent it.
Its just that I want my new car to stay as perfect as possible for as long as possible. In fact, I've decided one way is to find the nicest car in the lot and park next to it. It just makes sense to me that people with nice cars are going to be extra careful around each other. I just hope I don't get too carried away, you know?
Ooh! Gotta go, I need to do my hourly security walk around the parking lot here.
February 20, 2004
Wheels
I bought this on Monday. I've wanted it since mid-2001 when I read about it in a magazine. And now . . . she's mine!
For those of you who don't know what it is, its a 2004 Subaru WRX. I don't make a lot of money, but I am frugal, I budget well, and I'm single (which is a huge factor, or so I'm told). In fact, I definitely needed a new car several months ago, heck, even a couple of years ago.
The new car has these standard features:
- » Horizontally opposed 4-cylinder intercooled turbo engine packing 227 horses
- » MOMO brand leather-wrapped steering wheel
- » Power windows and locks
- » Cruise control
- » Air conditioning
- » 6-disc in-dash CD changer with cassette player
- » Projector beam foglights
- » Full-time All Wheel Drive
It also has these tasty features:
- » Rear spoiler
- » Power moonroof
- » Heated front seats
- » Heated exterior mirrors
- » Auto-dimming, compass rear-view mirror
- » Turbo gauge
- » Short throw shifter
- » Armrest extension
- » Premium Sound Package
Yes, I admit there's certainly a lot there that I don't need. But I promise I got a great deal on it. Due to my excellent negotiation skills (taught by my brother-in-law, Ted), I paid far lower than the sticker price. Oh yeah, its a great time to drive a new car.