Weekend Car

The other week I was having lunch with a friend - a friend who knows a lot about cars. Now being the novice I am about all things automotive - minus of course the addiction I have to the BBC Top Gear program - I figured I would ask him what kind of car he would recommend for me to get.

Of course the most logical question, which he asked, was "what do you want out of the car?"

Now I have been recently thinking how cool it would be to own a Porsche in the not too distant future. But after some consultations with reality, and a non-interest in becoming best friends with a mechanic in overalls, I figured I needed to find an alternative to a Porsche.

So then, what did I want out of the car? I answered "American power, European handling." Seems simple right?

Well it's not. Some logical first choices were the BMW M3 and M5, BMW Z4, Mercedes SLK 350, even the Crossfire. But between high repair bills for some, lack of wanting to wear a popped collar and a blue tooth in my ear as a requisite for owning others, and having an inadequate feeling in others - imagine being in a BMW Z4 and a Camaro comes up next to you. Stout and power against sleek and elegance. In America, one's masculine, the other feminine - or at least that's how I see it - I am against going for any of those.

Then there is the Volkswagen...did I mention the expense to maintain is a large part of the equation...

Then there is the Camaro and Mustang. Now I currently own a Charger which falls into this category too, so if you own one of these no offense but...What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see one of these cars? If you are being honest, you see it parked outside of a singlewide trailer while Billy is on the front porch (in a plastic chair and wearing a wife-beater) smoking a cigarette with a bottle of Jack Daniels in the other hand. You know you saw that same image. Therefore, they are out of the equation.

Then comes the Cadillac CTS-V. Now it's not what I call a pretty car, but its got the horsepower and - they claim - great handling. It fits the "American Power, European handling" guidelines. But...

How old am I? Oh yes, I am not on Medicare writing checks to Healthcare Reform Task Force every month. Sadly, the stigma of a Cadillac is that of a Lincoln Towncar. Elegance for the elderly.

But my friend did not give up on me. We continued the process of thinking and behold, we came across a car that fits everything I want in a car. It has American power, to the tune of 333 horsepower and a 13.3 quarter mile. It has European handling in that it comes in at 3300 pounds and has been likened to "BMW handling".

Also, and almost as important, if a trailertrash muscle car pulls up besides you when you are out on a first date, you not only will feel up to the challenge in how your car looks, you will be up to the challenge in a street race. So what car has this American Power with European Handling? Why of course it's the Japanese Nissan 370z.

Now personally I would go with the Roadster version, as it doesn't have the gaudy spoiler of the Nissmo version but gives better performance and handling than the base version (although you are giving up 20 horsepower by not going with the large wing). And also new, this car comes in at under $40,000. Very comparable to a Porsche Cayman (I know, not very impressive but still...) or even comparable in some aspects to the BMW M3 - while still coming in nearly $20,000 cheaper than either of them.

So when it's time for me to buy a weekend car, as of now I'm leaning towards the Nissan 370 Roadster.

The Simple Life

Sometimes it is easy to forget why we do things. You get so caught up in the idea of "getting somewhere" that when you get there, you forget to celebrate, to stop, to reflect. It seems the mentality of "moving, keep moving, the road never stops" is a double edged blade - it can create a life of monetary wealth and supposed ease but also hedges you into a cycle to where having the time - or the people - to celebrate, doesn't exist.

When I see people who "have it together", meaning in my head they are married (or in a committed relationship), own a house, car, full time job and have a routine social life, I can't help but wonder how fragile that lifestyle is. I wonder, "Don't you want to see the world? Don't you want to get out of X and do something besides what you do every single day?" Don't get me wrong, I pretty much "have it together" by my own definition, but I always have plans. Or Plan B's. Even Plan C's. What I can't imagine is not being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it (within reason of course).

Case in point, on a whim I have set aside 11 days in May that I will be going to Prague. I've never been to Prague, Czechoslovakia, Eastern or Mainland Europe - in fact, I haven't really even researched the place. But I decided I wanted to go. So I'm going. But I know people who have never even left the southeastern United State area they grew up in. Never been outside of the country - and seemingly don't have a care to.

Now some would say "To Each Their Own", but what is the point of working, of owning things, of saving up money if you never get to enjoy the use of it? I've read some blogs, newspaper articles, even met people who are modern day nomads. They own what they can carry, they find odd jobs where they end up for a time, they survive and...they are happy. Very happy. And they have great stories, seem to be good individuals, and just seem to be happy.

My time in Taiwan taught me to always get out and find something to do. Don't let others dictate what you can do, where you can go, and who you can meet. Set goals that are both challenging and rewarding. More important, goals that are important to you and make you a person who is interesting to be around - because who cares if you become the Vice President of Sales at age 30 but have become divorced, secluded and a miserable person to be around!

Unsurprisingly though, time moves by very quickly and "convictions" on how to live seem to run into reality. Since coming back to the US, I have been in banking. First working at a large regional (corporate) bank in South Carolina and then moving to Charlotte to work at one of the largest credit unions in the US. Between the training classes, the learning curve on the job, and the literally books of "homework" to learn for the job, doing ANYTHING has seemed a bit out of the question for the most of this year. Which is why I have been lame and have pretty much sold out on just about everything I spent the last 20 minutes writing about above.

But now that some of the workload is beginning to lighten up (although December looks to be a hellish month in the making), I am starting to get back to the basics of making life both enjoyable for me personally, along with making money and doing the "adult thing". I have created a few goals for myself to get at least some bearings on what's next. Some of these are:

1. Doing something I enjoy. In this case, I am going to start working on learning (errr, re-learning) some basic Russian. I took a year of Russian language classes while in college and found them to be my most enjoyable classes. But with extra-curricular activities, major classes beginning (did I mention I double majored), and working anywhere from 30 - 50 hours a week (last semester of college doing 2 internships...) I kind of realized it wasn't going to happen. So without the pressure of graded tests and only the enjoyment and personal achievement, I will begin learning Russian again!

2. Get outside! Lucky for me, my best friend is nothing short of an outdoor junky. Pretty much with this one, I just need to not be lazy when I'm back in my hometown and just follow him when he goes out. From hiking, to camping, to kayaking down rivers, I am planning on being a bit more active than I have been. And I need to justify buying that banana boat kayak...

3. Travel. Doesn't mean I need to leave the country every few months, just means I need to make sure I'm doing more that just the Charlotte to Columbia/Columbia to Charlotte drive. Beaches, mountains, lakes, plains. All within 2 hours of where I'm at. No excuses, just need to get out and start road tripping it.

4. Begin creating a social group in Charlotte. I have been spending almost every weekend back in Columbia since I moved here in July and have locked myself away during the week "studying" for work and I fear it may have dented my social life up here. But in all honesty, Columbia is a cheaper place to do pretty much everything on the weekends, so I don't see that changing, but during the week, I am going to start going out to places - coffee shops, concerts, protests (ha!) and start getting to know some people up here as well.

So simple goals that are reasonable but also allow for a lot of good things. Doing something for myself. Doing something outdoors. Doing something in a new place. And getting to know others. All simple. All doable. All as part of doing something with the resources I work so hard for everyday.

Hopefully with these simple things in mind, some interesting things will begin to happen and when they do, I'll be sure to post about them here.

Until next time...

Gettin' Back To It

It's been...well...ages since I've last updated this thing. Between the facts that my life has been fairly boring and my lack of imagination since returning from Taiwan, it's been fairly easy to forget about this little blog.

But I'm taking the initiave and going to start writing "stuff" here again. You have been warned...