Wednesday, April 29, 2009

the good news,

I got my car done today and registered, so I don't have to worry for the smog test for a year

the bad news,

my catalytic recyclers could be really toast and I need to get the car smoged if I sell it or if I re register it next year. So I need to start saving money for this repairs, I need 4 catalytic recyclers...


I also should by a ODB II connector, so I can reset the check engine light my self...

Sunday, April 26, 2009

well this weekend we did the first real test with the car...

  • going to jack london national park
  • hitting the oil pan while parking, lesson: if you park next to a jetta, this thing is roughly 60 cm shorter than the passat, so don't measure the distance by it...
  • driving in berryessa with a tip tronic and a strong engine is a lot of fun, Ashley sitting next to me enjoyed it and felt safe. But the car feels extremly heavy in the curves and the back tends to push a bit to much for my liking
  • while passing other cars cops were more than happy to check my speed with there laser pistols for me, but did not pull me over. After all I was only slighlty faster than the speed limit and it was obious that I was passing a slower vehicle. You also could say I got lucky...
  • the average gas mileage over 250 miles was 23 mpg (10l/100km). Which was highway/city/hills
  • the dreaded check engine light came back on, right after I got gas again. I start to hate the electronical system in the passat.
now I really consider taking the passat to the race track on friday and get some track lessons and really learn how to handle this car.

well never mind, I ended up buying the sony and it works surprisingly well and is fast enough after updating it to the newest software version.

Sadly I could only get it in silver = reflects shiny things and not in dark blue, but already filled it up with 20 novels...

Basically a nice mixtures of Alexandre Dumas, Jack London, Oscar Wilde and Jules Verne.

The biggest difference to a book? It seems to read a bit slower and you have no real feeling of progress. Like switching pages and seeing were you are in a book.

---

Why did I buy it?

  • cheaper than the kindle 2 by 150$
  • i don't need space for 2k books on a reader, 10 - 15 books is all I need and I can always pop sd cards in it
  • it comes with a cover
  • i don't really like the kindle layout
  • supposed to be more stable
  • speed is fast enough, as long as the books are not pdf's
  • not planning on buying books in the next 5 month

Friday, April 24, 2009

after testing several eReaders today with R.E.A.L eBooks (750 pages - 2000 pages) and not the standard 25 page example books on them, I sadly have to say...

- sony prs-505 is just to slow ( 4 seconds to turn a page? come on...)
- sony prs-700 is to shiny and expensive

now it looks like I'm ordering a kindle 2 to see how it works and in the worst case return it. But still 470$ for a stupid reading device, which will be replaced in 2 years.

- kindle: 359$
- protective cover: 44$
- drop it warranty: 70$

The good thing, I only hear awesome reports of the amazon customer service, but still I need to find one first to test it, before I buy it. Which means I'm going to buy books for 25$ for my montery trip.

Yes Ashley is working and I'm sitting at the beach reading. (And maybe renting a surfboard and chase sharks, or was it the other way around?)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

so right now it's between the sony prs-505 for 269$ or the kindle 2 + warranty for 410$ (It's fragile and if you drop it you kill it, so warranty is recommended since it refunds the money in case of drops, once...)

price wise it's obvious that the sony wins, but it only works under windows, which means I need to install windows now, if I intend to buy books.

Let's look at some books:

title: clive cussler mediterranean caper
paper back: 9.99
sony: 7.19
kindle: 7.19
ebooks.com: 9.99

title: Worlds without end
paper back: 13.86
sony: 11.99
kindle: 9.99
ebooks.com: 22.99

title: white fang
paper back: 3.99
sony: 0.99
kindle: 0.00
ebooks.com: 3.99

Now white fang is a nice example since it's a free book and can be downloaded at the gutenberg project.

Sony books can be only read on the sony eReader
amazon books can be only read on the kindle
ebooks.com books can be read on both devices

Now I'm currently more interested in reading a lot of classics, which are free under the gutenberg project and to order books while traveling. It happens so often that I was on an airplane or at an airport and just wanted to grab another books, since I read all the other books. With the kindle I can just order it (If I'm in America) with the sony I need to connect to a laptop or so, but I can stock up before and have like 50 - 100 books before I go on the plane. So I could see the me using this feature once in a while.

Design?

I prefer the sony, a lot. Since it's smaller and has no keyboard. If they would produce a kindle without a keyboard, it would be perfect.

Subscriptions, it's possible to have newspaper subscriptions on the kindle, but you can write a program to generate your own newspaper based on websites for the sony, which would be free.

What would I like to have? The kindle, but why does it have to be so damn fragile...

What would be perfect? The sony ready with the connection to amazon.com, since I do all my shopping over this store and frankly like it. Also the sony store is kinda weak on books...





so the 'toy' is finally fixed and ready togo, well the skid plate is still missing, but will be installed soonish.

About the car?

* Volkswagen Passat GLX
* 2.8-liter V-6, 190 horses
* Power glass sunroof
* Rain sensor, automatic wipers
* Heated windshield washer nozzles
* Automatic climate control Air Conditioning
* Multi function trip computer
* Genuine wood decor
* Monsoon Sound System 8-speakers with amplifier - still no ipod connector...
* Driver and front passenger side airbags
* Side Curtain Air Bags
* 8-way driver and front passenger power seats, driver with 3 memory positions - can't figure out how the memory system works...
* Heatable front seats - after all it's cold in ca...
* Homelink with sun visor extension
* Leather seating surfaces
* ABS (anti-lock braking system)
* ASR (Anti-Slip Regulation)
* EDL (Electronic Differential Lock)
* Electronically controlled 5-speed Automatic Transmission with Tiptronic
* 6 disc CD-changer, trunk mounted
* children safety doors, I was successful in locking myself in the car...
* large trunk
* couple of dings, nothing major
* cruise control, to avoid speeding tickets

and it drives so much nicer than my truck. I totally forgot that car's can be silent and not making weird noises all the time...

Monday, April 20, 2009

doing some math tells me that I would break even after reading 100 books on a kindle. Which would equal to about a year of reading.

I really need to test this thing sometime soonish...

Sunday, April 19, 2009



ok the passat is still in the shop and I get eaten by bugs in the house, but I hope to get it back tomorrow ready togo.

I keep looking at the kindle2 since i do not want to spend more money on books and than can't keep them if I have to move. But 370$ is a bit steep and I don't even know if I like it. I guess I wait for the kindle3 which has I 10" display (I hope...)

The financing will be most likely done by the selling of a certain item, which would make it the most expensive kindle ever...

Ashley and I are also browsing all possibility of visas. To get an H1B seems to be impossible. To get a O1 is unlikely, but most likely my only chance. So far we also thought about the possibility to move some were together. But that's one of our crazy? Idea's.


While writing this blog I killed 22 mosquitoes, help!

Friday, April 10, 2009

mhm ashley kept pointing out that the passat smells like stuff is burning and so i spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out what it could be.

The smell comes front the driver side of the car, so maybe this?

I'd bet you have the "oil seeping from cam adjuster" problem. The cam adjuster for the right bank is at the rear and directly above the exhaust pipe...if oil drips down it hits pipe and burns...the intake for the cabin air is right above it...so the fumes are sucked into the cabin when heater or AC is on and fan is blowin. I had same problem...Audi published TSB saying that PCV system should be replaced B4 replacing cam adjuster gaskets/seals or valve cover gaskets since clogged PVC can lead to increased crankcase pressure which forces oil by the seals...since it is way cheaper labor wise to replace PVC (and the parts to do so are about $90 online) I did this and oil seepage stopped...been almost a year and no problems!


does not sound to healthy (give me head ache) and so I guess I have to replace some more parts or live with the smell...

Thursday, April 09, 2009

maybe just maybe I get lucky?

My local shop gave me a technical bulletin that applies to Passat, 2000-2001, 2.8L vehicles. The OBD for the catalytic converter system may be set too sensitive causing fault codes with out a defect in the catalytic system. The bulletin covers DTC codes P0420, P0421, P0422, P0430, P0431, P0432. The code descriptions all contain an 'efficiency below threshold' comment. Warranty claims would reference 'As per technical bulletin 2010372'. I think that the emissions coverage has expired, so it should be interesting to see if I have to pay for the update. I had the independent shop verify that the 02 sensors are good, and they didn't recommend replacing the cat's before having the code update. Will see how it plays out, but thought folks might appreciate knowing that there is a TB out for, at least, this model year/engine.


http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/volkswagen/passat/r40379/comments/page-6/

since my emission values are all perfect...

so far invested into the Passat:

  • 4600$ Passat (4300$ + 300$ taxes)
  • 80$ oil change
  • 40$ new air filter
  • 120$ aaa membership
  • 240$ for timing belt kit
  • 100$ for front liners
  • 250$ for a skid plate
  • 100$ for valve cover kit
  • 30$ for a car fax history report
  • 50$ hood lift support
  • 230$ tools
  • 140$ code reader
  • 40$ ramps
  • 300$ for labor


but now It's driving perfect.

got money for:

  • 400$ + 200$ worth of garage credit for my dogde dakota, it will be missed
  • 900$ 17-55mm F/2.8
  • 590$ Taxes
  • 250$ broken SB-800

being able to drive around soon and spend time with Ashley,

price less

cost of the passat:

6270$ total so far

do I trust it:

no

what needs to be done that I trust it?
  • replacement of transmission oil
  • PCV system replacement
  • ECU update
miles driven: 1200

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

correction,

my truck is officially dead and for sale,
bought a 2001 VW Passat V6 GLX for an incredible price,
drove it home,
engine mal function lamp turns on,
it's very low on oil,

I hate my live...

the passat is now going in the shop to see what the issue is...

...i just bought it and I thought I can resell it easily, since it looked to be in perfect condition and a friend who is a vw mechanic checked all what he could and was amazed about the condition the car is in...

besides the engine problem. I love this car. It's so wonderful to drive...

today is the day were my trusty truck was declared officially dead. It needs repairs for over 2500$ which is just a waste of money.

Now once I get my visa, I can go car shopping again...

Sunday, April 05, 2009

point reyes, is just wonderful...


well this Saturday Ashley and I went to the 'Point Reyes' national seashore and explored the deep and green jungle and the 'dangerous' surf. Why dangerous? Well it seems that if you hand somebody your key she is going to loose it and you spend the next 20 minutes searching the beach for a little orange tiger...

We even managed to see some deers, but like always it took me to long to grab the right camera/lens combination and it disappered, before I could capture it :(

About camera, that was my workout...

  • tripod + head
  • D200 + 70-200mm F/2.8
  • D80 + 10-20mm
  • 35mm F/2
  • 50mm F/1.8 (didn't use it, won't bring it again)
  • 90mm macro (I still suck at macros, I should sell it)
  • Reflector, just in case...
  • several filters which got stuck at each other and so could not be used...
I still want a small little semi pocketable camera, like a nikon P6600 or so. But I don't really needed it anyway...

Oh ya, pictures. You can find them here

The pics of me were taken by Ashley, which is getting more and more interested in the art of photography.