My Wife Is Easily Amused

My Wife Is Easily Amused

Mont Saint-Michel

My wife has been doing this for years, but I just started noticing recently. For some reason she finds it quite amusing when random people ask me to take a picture for them when we're traveling. She feels the need to take a picture of me taking a picture, and seems very pleased every time it happens. If I went back and sifted through old trip photos I could probably find lots of these, but here are a few that I caught recently. 

Bristol, Tennessee

I think part of her being entertained by this is that she feels I don't usually come across as the most approachable person in a crowd. With all the options in most of these places, she finds it hard to believe that people think "let's go ask that guy" - but they do all the time. 

Paris

This one was really funny. Nel and I were heading out to dinner late one evening in Paris and outside our restaurant there was a large group of women - maybe a dozen or so. They wanted a picture and it was a wide one so I got back as far as I could. This seemed to concern at least a few of the women. I think they thought I was going to run off with their camera. They didn't think I could understand them, but most interesting (and confusing) was that they seemed to be very concerned that I was Swedish - as if that made me more likely to be a camera thief?  

South Dakota

Truth be told, I don't mind taking a picture or two for folks. In fact, I'm probably a lucky person to ask because I will commit to getting the best shot I can for anyone that asks. I've even been known to climb something or lay on the ground if it improves that shot. Anything worth doing...., right?

Versailles

Anyway, bottom line:  I don't mind doing it - I agree with Nel in that I am surprised by how often I seem to be asked - and I am extremely amused by how much it amuses her.

1997 Audi A8

1997 Audi A8

I really liked this car, but not many of my friends or family shared in that appreciation. In truth, this A8 was a fantastic machine but most people struggled to get past the color of this particular example - not really purple, but not really maroon either.

I had this car for years and drove it quite a bit. It had its share of rather expensive problems, but when operating as intended was a pleasure. The downside of owning these older Audis is the maintenance, or more specifically, the cost of that maintenance.

The car was loaded with advanced technology and options (for the period anyway), had a great motor, was all-wheel-drive, and had a rather comfortable and handsome interior. Unfortunately for me, when I stopped driving it much I agreed to owner finance it to someone I knew and that just never works out. The couple split and the car stayed with the girl, who I didn't know. I wasn't getting paid and then it broke down and I just went and towed it away. I was never compensated for any of the payments or repairs so I was out thousands. I decided to just dump it as-is and take my beating. It still looked great and only had about 50K miles but it needed a transmission and other items and I had too much going on to want to deal with it.  

Should you buy one today? Probably not. If you want an older and cheap luxury car to use as transportation, buy a Lexus or Infiniti - for the love of God don't buy anything German! Don't get me wrong, I love these things and I loved this car, but I'm kind of a different animal. I buy cars because they're interesting and I want to play with them, not because I have to. Sadly, it's not collectible and it's way too complicated and unreliable to make it financially feasible to own. That said, they don't cost much to buy, but there is a reason.

Georgia Aquarium Dive

Swimming With Gentle Giants

When hurricane Harvey hit Houston, it stranded Branelle and I out of town for nearly a week. We were on a plane on final approach into Hobby Airport when the storm forced us to divert to Dallas for the night. It quickly became apparent that we weren't getting home anytime soon so we decided to fly to Atlanta to wait since it's the largest airport in the world and has the most options for flights back to Houston when they start going. We decided to make the best of our "extended trip" and looked for fun things to do around the ATL. One of Nel's co-workers had commented on one of our FB posts something about swimming with whale sharks. What!?! That sounded awesome to me so we investigated.

Here is the link to about a 6 minute video of my dive that was shot by the aquarium (Hanna to be specific). It's fun and they edited it with nice music, etc. I'm the only diver with blue shoulders on my wetsuit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_PguNseUgQ

I looked it up on their website and sure enough, they have a program that allows you to dive with whale sharks. I didn't have my dive certification card with me but I had my mom - who was back in Houston with our daughter - send me a picture of it. We headed to the aquarium in downtown Atlanta. I have to mention that the Georgia Aquarium is a lot more than just whale sharks. It's a great facility with lots of really fun shows. We especially enjoyed the dolphin show and the sea lion skit. The people working there could not have been nicer either. When I asked them about the whale shark dive, which I didn't have a reservation for, they were beyond helpful and took me to the right people to make it happen.

They have four whale sharks in a tank about the size of a football field. There are great places to view them even if you aren't going for a swim, especially the feeding times.

They allow eight people a day to dive in the tank. They also allow snorkelers but I didn't ask about that program. At a designated time you go to this waiting area to be taken back to the orientation room. They also check your credentials to make sure you are an experienced diver. They were able to use the certification number from my card to verify that I was qualified.

Next they take you to this room where they go over the dive rules for about 30 minutes. It's pretty straight forward. They mostly just go over the equipment briefly (which is all theirs by the way - and really good stuff) and give you instructions on how to interact with the residents of the tank. The most important rule is not to touch any of the critters - if they touch you that's okay (and they do) but you aren't allowed to reach out and touch any of the swimmers. They also talk about what the dive is going to be like. The guy doing our orientation was called James - he was very good and made it fun.

Next, you go suit up in the locker rooms. They have all your equipment laid out for you and ready to go. When you have your wetsuit on you head to the pool where your BC, mask, fins, etc are waiting along with what I would call your "dive concierge". They help you gear up if needed and then it's face first into the pool.

You head straight to the bottom and you'll spend the majority of your dive there, primarily because there are fish the size of a bus that like to just cruise around the top. There is a lead diver (ours was Lani) and there was another guy (Scott on our dive) that kind of just cruises around keeping an eye on everyone. He carried what I think was a piece of PVC pipe which I assume was to tap anyone getting too close to something they shouldn't - diver or fish. 

Whale sharks wouldn't hurt a fly, but they also probably aren't going to stop just because you're in their path. Even though they are slow moving, they do carry a little weight so it's best to just stay under them.

One of the cool things about the program is that they will take your family - in this case my wife - around and put them in the right locations to see you during your dive. They had two volunteers named Art and Gary that were basically tour guides for our non-diving family members. Branelle isn't a diver, but she was also pregnant so it wouldn't have mattered anyway. Basically during our entire trip, due to her "affliction" she had to just watch me do all the fun stuff. At least this time they made it a little more fun for her as well.

This is kind of interesting. Our hands are both touching the glass here, but it's two feet thick!  It's an illusion when you're in the tank. It looks like I could just reach out and hold Nel's hand. When you're on the outside looking in you can see where the acrylic wall starts. In the tank, you can't see it at all so they tell you to hold your hands out when approaching so you won't scratch the rather fragile acrylic surface with your equipment.

It made the dive a lot of fun for me because you could interact with the visitors outside the tank, especially the kids. I hammed it up a bit. You can see everyone as clear as day on the other side of the glass so it's easy to pose for pictures (or ruin some by photo bombing them) and tell when people are smiling.

In addition to the four whale sharks (Alice - Trixie - Yushan - Taroko) the 6.3 million gallon tank (largest in the world) is home to thousands of other fish. There are four giant manta rays in there as well that really love to hover above the divers because they apparently like the bubbles.

The tank is about 30 feet deep, and roughly the size of a football field. When you're on the bottom it doesn't feel that open because there are obstructions everywhere that you swim around like rocks and the giant viewing tunnels. 

The whale sharks are awesome. You kind of forget about them from time to time because there is a lot more interaction with stingrays, sharks, grouper, and other bottom dwelling fish, but then you feel them swim buy or see a large shadow right over your head and quickly remember whose house this is. 

When the dive is over you head up and take a shower and dress in the locker rooms and then they bring your family to the top of the tank and then into the briefing room where you watch the video they shot of your dive. 

The Georgia Aquarium is fun for everyone, whether you dive or not. It's a great facility with top notch people as far as I can tell. If you're a diver, you should definitely give this a go. You don't need any equipment - it will be the easiest dive you ever take. 

1974 Jensen Healey Mark II

1974 Jensen Healey Mark II

My wife would tell you that this is one of her favorite cars we've ever owned. It's explained to a degree by the fact that she likes anything small and cute (clearly why she married me), but it also has a certain something that will always put a smile on your face.

Her poor posture and ridiculous flip-flops aside, I get the appeal (of the car, not my wife...she's appealing too of course - I'll shut up now). There is something charming about a simple and fun to drive vehicle. Only about 10,500 of these British roadsters were built between 1972 and 1975, and it's a fascinating story that I won't get into here. The Jensen was ultimately killed off by a combination of inflation-tied supply costs and labor unrest.

I have to admit that when I bought this car I knew almost nothing about them. It was at an auction and seemed cheap, looked great, it was late in the day, etc. I snatched it up for very little money and have been thrilled ever since. I've done almost nothing to it other than tighten a few screws here and there. The fuel gauge and radio are about the only things that don't function as they should but the car drives fantastic. When I got the paperwork I realized that the previous owner was only blocks away from me. In a city of six million people I bought a car from someone two streets down in my neighborhood - and I had never even seen that car once! I tried contacting the owners but they wouldn't return any of my messages for some reason.

One thing that made the Jensen stand out from other British roadsters at the time was its Lotus twin-cam four-cylinder motor. It put out about 140-hp, which wasn't bad for the period considering the weight of the car. Mine has an upgraded carb setup that probably pushes that hp rating up, but I have no idea by how much.

The interior is in fantastic shape. Clearly much of it has been replaced (things I would have loved to have asked the previous owners had they not been so aloof). Another really cool thing about the Jensen is that I fit - kind of. I'm 6'2" and most British sports cars from this era are tough for me - we have an MGB that I barely fit in. With the Jensen Healey I can get in and out easily (although it is very low) and lean back enough to actually look through the windscreen without having to decide whether to look over or under the frame. It seems longer inside to me. 

Don't get me wrong - I still look ridiculous, but I'm at least comfortable doing it. 

Another thing I like about this particular car is that it came with all the little extras that are hard to replace but you really want to have, like the tonneau cover and manuals. 

It also has a nearly perfect and very hard to find hard top. It's never on the car, but great to have for resale and collectible purposes. 

For years these cars languished in obscurity. A small but passionate core group of enthusiasts has kept the mark going and now the market is starting to take note. They still aren't expensive, but considering how drivable the car is compared to other British classics I would say it's an up and coming bargain.

If you're looking at one of these the main thing to concern yourself with is rust. It's a problem for anything built in the 70s in the British Midlands, and the JH is no exception. The Lotus motor can also be problematic, but later units are reportedly better due to in-production improvements. You could also get a much improved and desired 5-speed starting with late 74 models. Sadly, mine has the 4-speed.

The only thing I would prefer to be different about this car is the color. The paint is fantastic, and black is usually my favorite color for almost anything, but I feel like the Jensen Healey is more of a "fun" car and should be a fun color. Red, yellow, blue - anything really. It's too small to take the serious approach that black conveys. 

1993 Acura NSX

1993 Acura NSX

It's been a while, but the random program has finally given me something cool. Acura's one venture into the world of exotics over the years has been the NSX. I bought this one back in 1999 on a whim and kept it for some time, driving it quite a bit. I had never been crazy about them, but thought they were, at the very least, unique and interesting.

Between 1991 and 2005 they sold 18,685 NSX's worldwide. More than half of them were delivered to North America as Acura's, but everywhere else in the world they were sold as Honda's. Honda has brought back the NSX this year and it's supposed to be quite a car. I haven't driven one yet, but all indications are that it's a world class sports car.

The early ones like mine were pretty good as well, but it wasn't an overpowering car. It had a 3.0 liter V6 that only put out about 270 horsepower. Some of them were even automatics (blasphemy in the 90's) although mine was the much more common manual. It was quick and handled amazingly well due to its mid-engine layout, but it wasn't all that fast.

The interior was very cool, but snug for a big guy like me. You sat very low to the ground. Everything was well thought out and worked though.

I was kind of curious what became of my NSX so I did a little digging. It was no spring chicken when I let it go with nearly 90K miles on it in 2004. These cars were reliable and easy to drive, so unlike other exotics, people drove them. The car has been sold twice since my ownership, the last time in 2012 with 110K miles, and each time for more money. That's not surprising as these have started climbing the collectible ladder as the market for Japanese classics has heated up.

This is one of those cars that I wish I still owned today. Aside from the investment potential, my NSX was 100% original which is rarely the case with these older ones. The miles were a bit high, but it was a reliable and driveable exotic. Those words rarely go together. I even had all the tools and other extra things that came with the car new. They still look cool too - even today.

My brother even liked this one (not always the case). 

So should you buy one? Absolutely! If you're even thinking about it, do it. It's hard to imagine that you'll go wrong with an NSX. They're only going to continue to appreciate and it's got Honda reliability under it's rather exotic skin. Good, low mileage examples are already through the roof, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy a higher mileage NSX if it's close to stock. You can actually drive it and enjoy it instead of worrying about engine noises and door dings.   

2004 Chrysler Pacifica

2004 Chrysler Pacifica

I don't have much of a history with Chrysler. I've owned three to date, none of them particularly interesting. I've started buying older cars of late it seems so that may bring some of the classic Chryslers into play, but really it's been a brand with little to shout about for decades. That said, I have to admit that I was kind of impressed with this Pacifica. I can't remember for the life of me why I bought it, or even where. I got it basically new in 2004 with about 1000 miles on the odometer and I didn't keep it long.

I also find it funny that it's coming up now because I just made Nel go test drive a new Pacifica this week. There's probably no chance that I could actually pull the trigger and buy one, but it's weird that this was selected at this time. The new Pacifica is 100% minivan, and a very good one. These older ones were kind of like an attempt to make a minivan without people thinking it was a minivan. I was kind of impressed with it really. It was quite useful and well thought out.

Sadly, other than being a flexible vehicle that didn't drive terribly, there wasn't much to say about it. I can't imagine anyone buying one of these today so I won't bother telling you not to. 

I'm not sure if these were a financial success for Chrysler or not, but the name lives on today in a very capable and well designed minivan....if you're into that sort of thing.

Total Eclipse - 2017

Total Eclipse - 2017

This is basically just my "Eclipse 2017" story. I have to start by saying that I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in seeing the eclipse. Don't get me wrong, I'll look up at something interesting for a few minutes just like the next guy, but it wasn't something that I considered to be an "event". We have friends - lots of them - who traveled far and wide for the sake of optimal viewing. More power to them - I've done the same to see dumber things - but this wasn't that interesting to me.

Then there's my wife. She's kind of a nerd, and a space nerd to make it worse. She definitely wanted to view the eclipse, but she wasn't desperate to be in the "path of totality" like others.......until I inadvertently put her about 15 minutes from it on eclipse day.

By sheer luck (bad luck in my opinion) we happened to be in the Carolinas traveling at the time. We had been in Asheville for a few days prior and everyone kept asking us "Are you here for the eclipse?" "No, just lucky I guess." The other thing everyone kept talking about was how bad the traffic was going to be. Seriously, the news would lead with it and made it sound like it was going to be hurricane evacuation-like traffic. 

The day of the event we were in Spartanburg, South Carolina and planning to drive to Charlotte. Branelle started trying to negotiate staying so we could actually see the total eclipse and that's the first time it clicked with me that it would make a difference. We were literally about 5 miles outside the "zone of totality", and I wanted to RUN the other way to avoid the armageddon-like traffic that was to come. Nel wanted to drive INTO the storm. 

In true "Husband of the Year" fashion, I came up with a plan to make the old ball and chain happy while trying to avoid starving to death on I85. It occurred to me that the BMW plant was in Greer, just inside the zone of totality. We drove over and scoped it out.

The plan was to watch the eclipse here at the edge of the zone and then as soon as we passed the total coverage period (the sun started to come back) we would make a break for it and hopefully be ahead of the wave of humanity heading to Charlotte. Compromise!

The plan was sound, but the location was perfect. The BMW plant was very hospitable. They have a small museum there, I've been before. It's not much, but you can take a plant tour as well, which is really cool. They weren't doing plant tours when we were there due to construction, but the museum was all in on the eclipse stuff. They were giving everyone glasses and even Moon Pies and generally just having a good time. 

We had some time to kill so we played around a bit. I learned that I will probably never buy an I8 - it's one of the most difficult cars to get in and out of that I've ever tried.

Messin' with Nel.  She's posing holding up her Moon Pie and wearing her viewing glasses and I just left her there like that. You can't see anything with those on. She thinks I'm still trying to get the shot.

We actually had a little too much time to kill, but they have a cafe and a gift shop and lots of neat cars so it could have been worse.

Another thing they had was air conditioning! When the eclipse started, we could just stare at it through the 50 foot wall of glass that is the museum in total air conditioned comfort.

The factory let everyone come out to watch. Most just used the glasses they provided but a few were more creative.

It actually couldn't have been more perfect for us (not that anything can be "more perfect" - I realize the fallacy, but hey, it's in the first line of the Declaration of Independence). We watched like this for most of the eclipse but when it got to the total part we headed outside. 

I have to admit that it was visually quite a unique sight. The gray light was pretty cool. I'm still not all that geeked about the astrological anomaly or anything like that - I'm not going to be booking a flight to Chile to see the next one - but it was interesting.

As soon as the sun peeked back out we bolted. We got to Charlotte with zero traffic issues. It was like nothing had happened. I'm not sure if we just beat it, or if it was over-hyped by the news (probably the latter, although I have a hard time believing news agencies would overhype anything). Regardless, we made it through the darkness.  A big thank you to BMW for being great hosts. It really was a very pleasant "viewing party".