So it´s only been 10 months since my last entry here. To be honest I suspected this would happen. Blogging is simply not for me, I do not have the energy/interest to write about my ordinary, every day life. All the things that were so different and exotic during the first months here are now a part of the every day routine and I am surprised how quickly I got used to living here in the US.
At least I have started using Picasa to share my photos so all friends and family are welcome to throw me an email and I will send you an invite to my albums. That way you can at least see how we spent the summer when Nina was here, our Roadtrip and some of the people that visited me during the summer.
For the few of my buddies that have an interest in cars I have been requested to throw up some info on my new ride. Yes, believe it or not, I have traded in that nice, new Lexus I wrote about 10 months ago. Not because I didn´t like it, it was a great car, but because I realized that this is the perfect opportunity in my life to buy something really impractical and fun.
Check out the entry below.....
söndag 27 september 2009
There´s nothing more American than a Corvette, and it definitely fits the bill as crazy fun and quite impractical (two door, no back seat).
The photo is from the 2000 mile road trip me and Nina did earlier this summer. It´s a 2006 C6 Corvette with a 6l V8 turning out 400Hp. It only had 3000 US miles on the meter when I got it so it was practically new. It has the 3LT luxury equipment package and the Z51 performance package so it´s fully loaded.
One of the points of owning a car like this is the hobby of modifying it and making it a bit more unique.
The very first "mod" I did was to remove the front license plate. I simply didn´t like the look of the stock holder, sitting at an angle in the middle of the front spoiler. Not quite legal in CA but quite common and the police do not seem to care too much.
With some minor violence it´s gone :
Since installing the Nav required removal of the dash console I took the opportunity of exchanging the whole console. The original one was made of really cheap looking plastic that I really didn´t like.
One more very common mod is to exchange the shifter for the 6 speed manual gearbox to a short throw sport shifter. Once again, convenient to do when the console is of anyway. There´s nothing horribly wrong with the stock shifter but it really doesn´t feel sporty enough for a car with this kind of performance. (stock to the right)
This is the before picture, felt a bit strange to pull apart a brand new car but once I got going it was great fun.
Dash console off and the stock shifter gone.
The whole center console gone but the new shifter is already in place.
A common complaint about the Corvette is that the exhaust running just under the center tunnel, emits a lot of heat that makes it´s way into the interior. There´s a convenient storage compartment in the center console but you can hardly store anything there due to the heat. Having the car apart anyway I also added some insulation mats to get rid of the problem!
With the insulation and shifter done it was time to get started on the electronics.
The Nav in place and working!
And here´s everything put together again. The picture really doesn´t do the new console justice, it´s a huge improvement over the old one.
To finish off the biggest blog entry I will ever do :) Here are some photos after I washed and waxed it today. First time ever I waxed a car. It was quite enjoyable but I can´t see myself doing it to often, it took 2 hours to get it washed and waxed.
The photo is from the 2000 mile road trip me and Nina did earlier this summer. It´s a 2006 C6 Corvette with a 6l V8 turning out 400Hp. It only had 3000 US miles on the meter when I got it so it was practically new. It has the 3LT luxury equipment package and the Z51 performance package so it´s fully loaded.One of the points of owning a car like this is the hobby of modifying it and making it a bit more unique.
The very first "mod" I did was to remove the front license plate. I simply didn´t like the look of the stock holder, sitting at an angle in the middle of the front spoiler. Not quite legal in CA but quite common and the police do not seem to care too much.
With some minor violence it´s gone :
About a month ago I did a weekend project of upgrading some interior components. Primarily I wanted to install a Nav unit. My two last cars had integrated Nav units and I have grown used to the convenience. I opted to go for the original GM Nav because it integrates with the Heads up display which is a really neat feature.
Since installing the Nav required removal of the dash console I took the opportunity of exchanging the whole console. The original one was made of really cheap looking plastic that I really didn´t like.
One more very common mod is to exchange the shifter for the 6 speed manual gearbox to a short throw sport shifter. Once again, convenient to do when the console is of anyway. There´s nothing horribly wrong with the stock shifter but it really doesn´t feel sporty enough for a car with this kind of performance. (stock to the right)
This is the before picture, felt a bit strange to pull apart a brand new car but once I got going it was great fun.
Dash console off and the stock shifter gone.
The whole center console gone but the new shifter is already in place.
A common complaint about the Corvette is that the exhaust running just under the center tunnel, emits a lot of heat that makes it´s way into the interior. There´s a convenient storage compartment in the center console but you can hardly store anything there due to the heat. Having the car apart anyway I also added some insulation mats to get rid of the problem!
With the insulation and shifter done it was time to get started on the electronics.
The Nav in place and working!
And here´s everything put together again. The picture really doesn´t do the new console justice, it´s a huge improvement over the old one.
With the interior mods done, it was time to focus on the sound of the car. The stock exhaust is surprisingly quiet and that great V8 can hardly be heard. Last weekend I took care of that problem :) First stock:
And the after photo, new cat back (mufflers and X-pipe) Corsa Sport exhaust. Finally the V8 growls like it´s supposed to.
And the after photo, new cat back (mufflers and X-pipe) Corsa Sport exhaust. Finally the V8 growls like it´s supposed to.
To finish off the biggest blog entry I will ever do :) Here are some photos after I washed and waxed it today. First time ever I waxed a car. It was quite enjoyable but I can´t see myself doing it to often, it took 2 hours to get it washed and waxed.
söndag 9 november 2008
Då var man en erfarenhet rikare. Ärligt talat så trodde jag inte att jag skulle få uppleva känslan av att hämta ut en fabriksny bil. Jag har alltid tyckt att det är ganska orimligt att köpa nya bilar med tanke på värdeförlusten. Men bilpriserna är annorlunda här och när man ändå provar en ny livsstil så kan man lika gärna gå "all the way" :) Så idag hämtade jag ut en 2008 Lexus IS 250..... och visst är det en fantastisk känsla :)
Tyvärr var det en typisk San Francisco höstdag med moln och regn men det förändrade inte flinet på mitt ansikte i alla fall.
torsdag 6 november 2008
Sold my soul
Så här ser det ut när man säljer sin själ till djävulen, eller i detta fallet Lexus Financial....
Resident
Lördagen förra veckan var en stor dag :) Då fick jag mitt Social Security nummer och räknas härmed officiellt som "resident" i USA. Det har vissa uppenbara fördelar, jag kan tex. nu ta ett körkort och köpa en egen bil.
söndag 2 november 2008
Same but different
Vissa saker är annorlunda i USA, av någon anledning så ser dammsugarna ut så här tex.
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