VW's TDI Golf SportWagen Wagon

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For as long as I've known, I've always been into cars. From the earliest a memories of my little white '94 Porsche 911 Micromachine to owning a Mercedes-Benz W123 300D and W203 C55 AMG, what car I get next is always a question.

With just the paragraph below, I might have made my decision especially in lieu of how unworthy and unreliable my BMW E39 5.28iT (wagon) had been.

Yet while the E.P.A. rules tend to overstate hybrid mileage, they vastly underestimate diesels’ real-world economy. In my testing, the TDI effortlessly delivered 50 to 53 m.p.g. even as I cruised at 65 to 70 miles per hour and passed dawdlers at will. And in an admittedly Prius-like run, holding at a resolute 55 m.p.h., the TDI sipped at a wallet-friendly 60 m.p.g.

Then again, if anyone can actually provide me reliability records and lifetime performance, I'd be sold TODAY! I want the new VW Golf SportsWagen but maybe might just settle for the hatchback. Last I saw, VW wanted around $33k for a fully loaded TDI SportWagen.

Also just announced and obtained by VWVortex, the full lineup changes for Model Year 2016 (MY2016) which highlights the inclusion of MIB2 (audio / nav system upgrade) and a full set of driving safety features such as lane departure assist, adaptive cruise control and park assist to name a few. Exciting stuff for 2016 models which can be expected to debut around September in a showroom near you.

She's pretty isn't she? 

She's pretty isn't she? 

In Zimbabwe, We Don't Cry for Lions →

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In my village in Zimbabwe, surrounded by wildlife conservation areas, no lion has ever been beloved, or granted an affectionate nickname. They are objects of terror.

When I was 9 years old, a solitary lion prowled villages near my home. After it killed a few chickens, some goats and finally a cow, we were warned to walk to school in groups and stop playing outside. My sisters no longer went alone to the river to collect water or wash dishes; my mother waited for my father and older brothers, armed with machetes, axes and spears, to escort her into the bush to collect firewood.

There are always two sides. Our American Mindset just isn't always the right one. I'm not siding by no means on hunting for or against, but like I already said, two sides. Our overly privileged position allows us this thought.

Hiroshima: 70 years of Reconstruction in Photographs →

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The Washington Post:

At 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, the first bomb exploded over Hiroshima killing, by some estimates, 140,000 people, and destroying 90 percent of the city. But near its hypocenter only one building was left standing.

Seventy years later, the Genbaku Dome — now known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial — is part of a very different city that’s home to 1.2 million residents and filled with skyscrapers, apartment buildings and streetcars.

Armed with archival photographs, Reuters photographer Issei Kato revisited some of the same locations destroyed 70 years ago in both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The juxtapostion is truly heartening.

For further insight, the Washington Post has also provided various maps that will show you how it would look like it "Little Boy" hit your city inlcuding full detailed explanations of damaged areas. To sample what a possible nuclear bomb would be like in your city, check out Nuke Map.

"Fat Man" over San Diego / Nagasaki 20kt 

SprezzaBox Ambassadorship

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A few weeks ago, I was accepted into the SprezzaBox Ambassador program and I can't wait for you all to signup to the goodness that the SprezzaBox has introduced me to! Click away and check out the amazing collaborations and curations they've created. Subscribe and set yourself up with an awesome surprise every month! It's allowed me to expand my style and even venture out to other styles that I wouldn't have otherwised thought of.

PSA: You can also use the coupon code: ENICOLAS for 10% off your first subscription or store purchase!

The Honest Co. Men's Complete One A Day

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It's been just under three years since I went "cold" turkey and stopped taking any multiple vitamin or pre-workout mixes. It's also been just about two years where I pretty much stopped working out in any form except for the occasional here and there jog to and from terminals or airplanes.

My family has been using Jessica Alba's The Honest Company, products for our daughter since birth and started over again when our son was born. We love their products and can't talk about them enough. Our kids have never had "diaper rash" or any associated reactions to wipes and it's been great having them shipped to the house. I suggest you check them out and sign up for their free "pay for shipping only" introduction package.

When they released "Men's Complete One A Day" a while back, I was interested but never pulled the trigger till now. I figured my NYC diet and commuting back and forth hasn't allotted me the convenience of a well balanced meal so this will have to provide and can provide some compensation. Today is Day 1 and I'll be taking you through my day to day experience (30 tablets at one a day) during this August month.

Zoom in for all the ingridients listed on the back of the box. I'll also list them later on in another blog post. Cheers and happy Monday!

 
 
 

I'm for Ubiquitous Encryption. Are You? →

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We believe that the greater public good is a secure communications infrastructure protected by ubiquitous encryption at the device, server and enterprise level without building in means for government monitoring.

I'm a strong supporter in encryption especially in light of the OPM hacks and United Airlines hacks.

Finally, and most significantly, if the United States can demand that companies make available a duplicate key, other nations such as China will insist on the same. There will be no principled basis to resist that legal demand. The result will be to expose business, political and personal communications to a wide spectrum of governmental access regimes with varying degrees of due process.

The perfect point.

Vanity Fair on Clayton Cubitt's Hysterical Literature

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Triggered by this month's Vanity Fair, writer Toni Bently detail's her Hysterical Literature experience.

Once seated I raised myself up bit by bit, hiking my long skirt all the way up until it pooled gently around my waist. The edges of the table were hung with heavy fabric fastened to the top of the desk creating a kind of small cave under the table: Katie’s workspace. “What’s it like under there?” I ask her. She pauses: “Dark. And hot.”

One final adjustment: I need to be seated with my derriere as close to the front edge of the chair as possible, not centered back in the seat where one normally would sit. I found a perfect balance by pressing my waist into the edge of the table, and, with my legs extended and elongated quite far forward and apart, I was firmly wedged, though it was certainly not how I had ever read Henry James before.

Below is the first in a series of videos by Clayton Cubitt Hysterical Literature. Session One features adult film star Stoya and her "Thoughts on her Session" here

Head ups. The video might be NSFW.

PSA: PhotoBulk is 30% off!

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Right now PhotoBulk but Eltima Software is on sale for $6.99 down from $9.99 on the Mac App Store and it's probably some of the best money that I've spent on any app on my Mac. If you like editing and adding watermarks to your photos, check this awesomeness out! Other features include: Resizing, bulk renaming, optimzing and renaming, it also supports JPGs, GIFs, PNGs, BMPs and TIFF. Of course this wonderful app is available on Windows too. There's also a free version available at the Eltima website. Cheers!

iOS 9 and Apple Maps →

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I mapped my way to several familiar destinations to gauge whether the trains and routes Maps suggested were the quickest and most efficient ways to end up at my destination, and they were. Bonus time-saving feature: Apple Maps shows you where subway entrances are in flyover mode, which is incredibly useful. Grand Central Terminal has several entrances, but if you don’t know where the closest one is, you could end up walking several blocks out of the way. Now entrances are helpfully marked “Entrances” (so simple, so necessary) in Maps.

photo courtesy of Macworld

photo courtesy of Macworld

If there's one thing I'm excited about iOS 9 this year, it's the HUGE improvment to Apple Maps. Now how about you start unbundling all these app updates from their respective OS updates so we can see a steady upgrade / bug fix over the months instead of waiting a year? Or better yet, installing a operating system update just for app bug fixes. Thanks!

Chinese Lurked Around United Airlines System for Over a Year →

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Additionally, in April the Federal Aviation Administration called out United for what it labeled “systemic” problems in the system the airline uses to qualify and schedule its pilots.

As a result, these new revelations of Chinese hacking only reinforce and magnify the “screwed-up United” storyline. It’s not at all clear what the hackers have done, or can do with the more than a year’s worth of data they quite likely pirated from United. Nor is it known if – or which – other airlines also have been targeted by the Chinese.

But the fact that United only found out from U.S. government investigators in April that the Chinese had been playing around inside their supposedly sophisticated and well-guarded systems for more than a year adds to the perception that United’s management is failing to manage the basics.

It's not looking great at one of the U.S. major airlines. I hope all my friends at United are doing well and have some type of backup. Other than the massive retirees, the advice of attrition and expansion is looking better at Blue. :) In lieu of all these high end hacker attacks, our systems and firewalls should be gearing up for a cyberwar.

Pilot Shortage Caused by Extremely Low Wages & Legacy Airlines' Greed →

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The nation's big airlines want you to know that there's a dreadful pilot shortage and they apologize profusely if their commuter-carrier partners cancel flights to your hometown airport due to the debilitating shortfall. The nation's big airlines don't want you to know that their commuter carriers, which operate half of all the nation's commercial flights, often pay pilots so little that it's often financially wiser to drive a truck or flip fast-food burgers than fly a plane.

This was the only article that I read that truly understood the bigger picture. Many other articles state that the voting no by and large by the pilot unions for not only better pay but work rules led to this in time but none of them detail the fact that some of those contracts were in fact largely concessionary. Just yesterday, The Dallas Morning News pointed out that the U.S. airlines scored their first $5 BILLION dollar quarter!

By the way, my previous employer, ExpressJet Airlines formerly known as Atlantic Southeast Airlines and owned by SkyWest Inc who also owns and operates SkyWest Airlines, is hiring. JetBlue will also be opening their pilot application in the VERY near future. So stay tuned!

Here's a formal picture in my Captain uniform at ASA / XJT when I volunteered in pilot recruitment that is still used today =) 

 

Thanks for the Birthday Wishes!

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To celebrate my birthday this year, my wife got together an excellent soju paired karaoke birthday dinner, followed by an amazing cake and drinks on Sunday. Then on Monday, I prepared and cooked 6 bacon wrapped filet mignons for a family dinner and along with leftover cake.  Then last night, on my real birthday, I prepared some awesome hamburger patties and had them protein style. 

I couldn't be happier and more thankful! I've usually been gone on a trip the past few years celebrating on the road but this was the best! Thirty three was spectacular and thirty four is going to be that much more special! Thanks everyone for all the special birthday wishes and greetings throughout Facebook and twitter. 

Got some cool and thoughtful birthday gifts this year and I'll be posting pictures along with reviews. Here's one of my favorites from my two of daughter's godmothers: A medicine bottle of Dark Horse's Cold Brew and a bag o beans. I encourage and invite you to come over for a Hario V60 pourover, Espro Press, Aeropress, or even a Blue Bottle / Joey Roth collab Moka Pot. My daughter's wonderful third godmother also gave me an awesome present but that photo I'm saving for a review of Ballast Point *hint* =) Thanks again ladies and to everyone else. You will get thanked here sooner or later.