The Daily I680 Drive - The California Driver

Rain...

LOL well I left work yesterday and sniffed the air... hmmm smells like rain. A quick call to the wife confirms that its raining back at home. My dumb arse doesnt ask how bad before hanging up. So what do I do?? I dont roll up any of the windows in the convertible and off I got down 680.

Well I got to Danville before the first drops got onto the windshield... hmmm this might be close I thought to myself. Then the skys opened up! man oh man... but still... not a whole lot of rain was getting into the car believe it or not! People were looking at me kind of funny but I knew I couldnt reach over and roll up the windows on the freeway... not a good idea. Pulling over was a dicey decision as I know 680 traffic and rain like this spells disaster for traffic and the commute.

Soooo... I keep going! Hahaha well when I got into Concord the traffic thickened up alot and cars where now behind one another and throwing up alot of water... I got soaked! water was dripping in from the top seal which i have yet to replace... duh on my part for waiting... lesson learned hopefully.

I drive into the garage that my kind wife opened before my arrival and my poor baby was drenched! had to take out the floor mat as they were soaked. But I guess he upside is the cars cleaner than it was when I left yesterday for work!

Need to get my Impala up and running again... I hate the rain in the convertible!

Man oh Man...

Lol... I have forgotten all about my little project to document my commute along the great I680 corridor! Shame on me!!

Well what prompted me to remember this was the past storm that rolled through the Bay Area this past 2 days. Traffic wasn't all that bad as long as you didn't roll up on one of the 1800 accidents that occurred!

Sooo going forward Ill try and post more often and ideally DAILY! GASP I know, I know. You wont see the race car posts of other people seeing one of my cars and wanting to race and me always raising to the challenge... I just had a daughter, so Daddy is going to try and be nice and conservative!

Watch for posts with some video also! A new MinoHD came out with lots of space to record and a bigger screen. Perfect for those WTF moments I see often on 680.

Till then people, keep the rubber side down.

As Earth as it is in Texas...

Holy Crap... I'm in TEXAS! AT&T has put me out here for two weeks... including the weekend in between! I am staying at what they call the center for learning... or CFL for short... nice places I guess if you have company if not... suckage!

ok for starters... and this took me by COMPLETE surprise... Texans drive SLOW... and I mean SLOW... everyone doing 65 mph no matter what lane and thats the MAX... no kind of road etiquette keeping slower traffic to the right or anything.

Lane changing... if the car fits they are coming over!! whoa... even I dont drive like that and it seems common place for people to really just cut each other off... man.. shitty drivers here I tell ya!

Another weird thing but kind of cool.... tool booths!  you have to pay to play on these roads! keeps them lightly congested at any time and I zip right thru because I have a rental car.

Only one "altercation" and that was tonight... I went out to eat at Salt Grass SteakHouse... not bad but I think Tahoe Joes is better... Salt Grass had more ambiance but the food was in less portions that tahoes...

so i was backing up out of the parking spot to leave the restaurant... im in the back lot... I look and theres a car just entering the isle.. more than 50 feet away and im already out there... this guys starts speeding up and attempts ot get me to stop half way into the lane because he wants to go by... heh... i just keep backing right up with him honking like hes gonna hit me. well that just prompted me to idle down the rest of the isle... of course the guy is following me... maybe he thinks that I am intimidated or something... I pull into a gas station that is in the same area as the steak house and get out... the guy stops and give me a look like hes gonna get out... the guy has his son in the car! I just tilt my head and start walking over to his car... which he then drives away in a hurry... typical.

so thats it for tonight... this week was tuff getting used to the tome change and its still effecting me.

New 680 / 4 Interchange is Coming... More Traffic...

Looking at the Contra Costa Transportation Authority website. I found out that they are going to be tearing up the 680/4 Interchange...  Phase one of the project looks like it is to start sometime around the end of 2008 and maybe into 2009... But you know the State... they are sure to have some sort of budget crisis and funding will get cut for this again. Here are the Phases and what they'll be tearing up. But it will improve traffic and getting to one and the other highways much easier.

• Phase 1: Northbound I-680 to Westbound SR 4 connector
• Phase 2: Eastbound SR 4 to Southbound I-680 connector
• —Phase 3: SR 4 widening between Morello and SR 242
• —Phase 4: Southbound I-680 to Eastbound SR 4 connector
• —Phase 5: Westbound SR 4 to Northbound I-680 connector

The P1 is coming out in March...

Tesla's new little buggy will be coming out soon... March Soon! hopefully I'll be able to take a peak at some of these sweet little electric mobiles!!

Looks like the transmission problems they were having arent going to stop the March released date firm happening. Bad new I guess is that buyers will have to some time in the future bring their car back in to have the tranny replaced.

Take a peek below if you've never seen a Tesla before... Yummi!

Via Engadget

MLK Day... Nice easy traffic..

Ahhhh I love holidays that I have to work. The freeways are not entirely deserted but it was even raining this morning and I had no issues getting in... even though so butthead behind me was attempting to speed past me at every opportunity and his little Camry just didnt have the juice to get by... I wasnt even being a jerk but man, he was sure in a hurry to go somewhere...

I found out I "get" to goto Texas for some training next week... Joy. I get to stay in a CFL facility (Center for Learning) its an AT&T facility and they dont even have broadband??!! What the *&%^ is that all about?? what a joke.

It was raining lightly as I was getting in this morning so hopefully that will clear up by the time I get outta here.

Help... I'm Lost... Follow the Cable Ma'am...

This is interesting.... A navigation system that is projected for you to follow! How cool is that!! But, me thinks that this will never make it to market... can you imagine some idiot blindly following this into oncoming traffic... or the GPS is wrong therefore the "Cable" will be wrong.

Anyway pretty cool concept and worthy of a look.

Take a peek at the read from Engadget... Pretty Cool.

Holy Geez... Carbon Motors E7

I dont think I have ever felt the need to speed more than when I first saw pics of this beauty... i wanna speed just to get pulled over by this thing!! Take a peek at the pics of this car... looks like a car company want to build a purpose built police vehicle so that local agencies dont have to buy a stripped down version and then outfitting it for special services use.

anyway... take a gander... Maybe we can see these in CA someday??

http://www.carbonmotors.com/faq.htm  

Friday, Friday

I love Friday's commute! Its pretty thin, not at all bad and for the most part the drivers have their heads on straight and paying attention!

Been having troubles with the Impala again... grrrr damn cars gonna be the end of me! Engine is still stumbling at times and the CEL is still coming on no matter what.

My valve covers I ordered have not come in... thats pissing me off! Since I have not heard from the shop I ordered them from I have opened up a claim from Paypal to have them get the money for me. I hate this and it has taken WAY too long.

$2500 Nano... Im Buying 2 of Em!

India made a great little announcement today with the Nano... a $2500 mini car... emphasis on mini!

This little gem looks like a certain death trap... a child on a Big Wheel would cause a fatality inside the Nano whilst leaving said Big Wheel driver unscathed!

Anyway... check out the read... I have to admit with the Nano and the recently announces Smart Car... things are looking to begin to "size down" in the auto world maybe. Dont worry my big beautiful 4 wheel couch... i'll never get rid of ya!

Oklahoma is OK!! Just not for Slow Drivers...!

I decided to come in early again... ahhh to travel in the commute lane legally!!! ;-) I think  I'm gonna try and get in around my old time... the traffic and drivers just kill me... but then again I may not have a much content for my new blog... hahaha then again that may be a good thing!!

On the way in this morning I heard a small quip about Oklahoma and their crackdown on slow drivers in the fast lane on their highways. Now a lot of states have these laws on their books for various reasons. Being in California I dont believe we have a law like this on the books... Oregon I know has a pass only in the left lane law.

Some of the quotes from the OHP (Oklahoma Highway Patrol) are a little off base and have lead from what i have been reading in their comments section that you HAVE to be at 65 if you're in the left lane... I think the intent is that you cant be holing the flow of traffic up if you are in the left lane.

Here's the link to the article... take a gander and let us know what you think.

300,000 Driver Violations Every Month...

Ok I had to take a second look at this after hearing about this on the radio this morning on the way in... According to KTVU "Toll booth cameras record about 300,000 driver violations every month, with some 3,000 chronic cheaters. One driver was shown to have cheated tolls a total of 637 times" WTF??!! No way!! I cannot believe this! According to the Bridge Authority a large amount of these drivers are drivers that are going thru the FasTrak lanes with dealer tags on their cars... in response to that the proposed crackdown would require new legislation to track down toll cheaters who don't pay and impound their vehicles or revoke driver's licenses.

I couldnt believe and I am still baffled about the amount of violators out there. 637 times?? If the the Bay Area Toll Authority knows about these drivers obviously they have the time that the drivers come thru the toll gates because of the automatic violation and picture being taken... place a CHP car there and BUST THEM! Sheeesh... It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out.

I could maybe see the toll authority not doing its all if they were actually getting violators to PAY for their  tickets and fines... but people with the dealer tags (the majority) are getting off scott free!

Go get em CHP...!!

Rice is Wrong...

Well i decided to go to Safeway in Dublin today and get some stuff to stock the office desk. I need my snacks during the day! The local NobHill Foods sucks and they dont have what I want to eat.

So on the way back down 680 I'm cruising along and some blinding "rice lights" comes into my side view mirror passenger side... they slow down into my blind spot and I just shake my head a little... no doubt reading my plate... Sure enough Mr. Highbeam comes up along side of me and paces with me for a bit and then the obvious begins to unfold... he's coming into traffic and is going to cut me off... no Mr. Dim Bulb not gonna happen. I stay right at his rear wheel and I can tell this just pisses him off... he's now tailgating the hell out of the guy in front of him which slows down because of it... Mr. LiteBrite comes zipping behind me on my ass... sigh.. not in the mood today for rice racing so I just let off the gas a bit and this must have just set off Mr. SpotLight zipping from around me and moving over two lanes I can already see what he's gonna attempt to do... Oh what the hell my exit is coming up... I punch it! I love my couch on wheels... shes big and powerful and had no issues with the Mazdaspeed or MS3 or whatever they call it. This guy was all over 680 zinging and zipping from lane to lane in his attempt to get in front of me. No luck though... ho hummm another notch in the dash. I'm gonna change my plate one of these days as it seems to provoke the "Best" in people all the time... but I guess my problem is letting myself get goaded into the event at all...! ;-)

Oh Well... live and learn... I'm getting too old for kicking kids butts in their little ricers...

The roads were nice... almost completely dry now... I guess there will be more rain come Thursday.

What was your First "Junker"

On the way in this morning I spied a 1965 Mustang Coupe... nothing really special about it mainly a stocker, single exhaust, sagging rear leafs, everything you should see in an older unfixed Mustang. Wishing I was in my Mustang I reflected back when I drove my pony when it was in that state and loved every minute of it.

After getting in to work and thinking more about it I'd like to ask... what did you get as you first car or clunker so to speak... Me?? I got a car and license for that matter "late" in life... I was an avid bicycle rider and that got me where ever I needed to go... but after high school and getting a real full time job things got hectic... my dad, bless his heart gave up his 1966 Convertible Mustang. I drove the poor girl relentlessly and was and still are... a lead foot!

Ive never given up on her... she has been restored 3 times now... once by my dad... once by my dad and I when i took her to a mild resto-mod look. Then she was stolen and wrecked.. got her back put a new front clip and engine in her and she sat for a looong time. I restored her again about a year ago... gave her to my new Fiancee and there you have it.

So... what did you first drive?? how long did you drive it, still have it?? let me know... seeing that ol Mustang brought back memories of the ol girl when I first got her...

New Garmin...

Ok while having nothing to do with 680 traffic or my daily commute. This does and will fill the gapping hole that my lost garmin MAP70s let when (like an idiot) I left it on the cruise ship when we went to Mexico and neglected to take it off my balcony.

Anyway, this thing looks like its gonna be the prefect fit for my KTM!! Wooo Hooo and the fiancée always says she has nothing to get me as a gift... well dear here you go!! Hahaha!

Cant wait for it to hit the market... Ill be the first in line to plunk down cash for it!

Check out this Beauty!! Originally I saw this on the GPS Tracklog Blog.