The GPS on our JDM Leaf has never really coped with the fact that it's 6000 miles from Japan, and insists on trying to place us somewhere that it has a map for. And we've never figured out how to turn off the nav warnings. We've therefore become accustomed to having a nice Japanese lady (who we call Motoko) burble at us at random intervals warning of railroad crossings and other nonexistent hazards.

This is a new low though - normally it at least manages to place us on an actual road. And more disturbingly, Motoko hasn't warned me I'm about to drown. Maybe she's starting to suspect we've kidnapped her .

I'd say "go home Motoko, you're drunk", except that clearly she has no clue where home is.

For major birthdays and anniversaries, we have developed a tradition of going on holiday somewhere in NZ, renting an interesting car, and staying in a luxury lodge. This week’s our 20th wedding anniversary, and we’re visiting Christchurch, the wineries of the Waitaki valley, and Oamaru. In a gorgeously blue 2001 Alfa Spider V6.

Review so far:

Getting the obvious out of the way first, we’ve done 150 miles so far and it hasn’t broken down yet! Here’s hoping that lasts, but it comes with roadside assistance if not.

It’s in remarkably good condition for a 20 year old car, never mind a 20 year old Alfa, though it’s only got 60k miles on the clock. Paint and wheels are perfect, no rust that I can see, everything seems to work, and there’s very little sign of wear on the interior.

The Busso is everything they say it is. Smooth, a linear power delivery that keeps on giving all the way to 7k and feels like it wants to keep going, and sounds great anywhere north of about 3k, though not as loud and sharp as I’d like it - you can hardly hear it over the wind with the top down. There’d be a sports exhaust in its future if I owned it. The guy who we picked it up from also has a 155 with the 2.5 in it, which he says sounds way better. I guess being just about the last Busso- engined car it’s suffered from noise regulations.

Gearshift is very nice though takes a bit of getting used to. The lateral planes are closer together than the amount of free play in the shift, so it feels like you don’t move the shifter sideways at all, you just apply pressure in the relevant direction and let the spring loading do the work. So for example 4-5 is just apply rightwards pressure to the lever and push straight forward. Once you figure that out and stop stirring it around trying to find a slot, it’s light and fast. Pedals are incredibly badly positioned for heel & toe though (and close together and offset, in traditional Alfa style). Steering wheel position is also traditional Alfa - designed for gorillas. It does have adjustable reach, but even at full stretch it’s too far away for me if I’m seated in the right place for the pedals.

Handling (at 7/10 or less) is good - precise and easy to place. More power- on throttle steer than any other FWD car I’ve ever driven though - it goes incredibly wide if you give it some boot out of a corner. Lots of scuttle shake with the top off - it threw my phone out it’s holder over a mildly bumpy road - but the top up improves that a lot.

Top is electric, with a couple of body panels that lift themselves up for it to hide under. Which again, works so far, though it does come with a rubber mallet in the trunk and instructions on where to hit the mechanism if it seizes! Impressively little wind buffeting with it down. Insanely good A/C, which I guess isn’t surprising given Italian summers

Trunk is silly - very deep but mostly full of spare tire. Two squashy bags were a stretch for it. There’s a nice lockable bin behind the seats though.

You can tell it’s an Alfa because there’s a loose trim clip in the ashtray

Mk2 Jaaaag. Only a 240, but still, there are worse gentleman’s clubs to take for a relaxed cruise to a waterfront cafe on a summer afternoon.

Kids bike park with road markings and signs so they can learn the road rules in a safe environment.

And so older kids on pit bikes can set lap times in the wee hours, no doubt...

(Seent in Oamaru, NZ).

I am not the only one with a problem.

Admittedly mine's a more expensive problem, but not by as much you'd think: women's shoes are crazy expensive.

This is not all of them, BTW.

Colonel Sir Thomas Moore, the 100 year old UK veteran who raised a totally insane amount of money for healthcare worker support by shuffling round his yard on his walker, has died of Covid-19. I bet he got the best hospital care anyone’s ever had.

The Beeb has a great obituary.

@facw ...or the crowd is big enough for the Mustang to crash.

The City Council of Wellington, NZ's capital, have just released a list of the most popular dog names in the city. Dogs have to be registered here, so they have a database, and we're approaching summer break, so they obviously have nothing better to do than read it.

Of the city's 10,000 or so registered dogs, the most poplar names are Charlie (184), Bella (151), Poppy (139), Molly (120), Max (115), Coco (108), Ruby (104), Archie (85), Luna (82) and Toby (79). The most popular breeds are Labrador, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Border Collie, Miniature Schnauzer, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Miniature Poodle, Bichon Frise, Jack Russell Terrier, Golden Retriever, Huntaway

So far, what we appear to have proved is that Wellingtonian dog owners have no imagination (though I'm impressed to see Huntaway making the top 10 breeds)

Fortunately however, in defence of their city's reputation as the creative hub of NZ, and with the assistance of a few adult beverages, they have combed the list and brought us the list of what they deem the "best" dog names in Wellington. Without further ado, let me introduce you to:

Alphonse Capone
Amy Pineapples
Baron Zeus Winston Von Pugglesworth 3
Bruichladdich Ochdamh-mor
Captain Nana Spider-Pig Wolfenstein the Second
C Fluffy Dog Web Test
Chaise Destroyer of Worlds
Cheese
Chipolata Von Fox
Coco Tui Megalodon
Colin Ladykiller
Detective Justice Butterfield
Duke Berling Saunders-Ellingsen
E Fluffy Dog Web Test
Fenrir Baldur von Ritzweber
FN2187
Gofetch Quantum Leap Frankie
Hinekehua Dixie
Eaglesham Isabel Pistol Packer
Lord Percy
Los Pollos Hermanos
Miss Penny Money
Monty Woof McGavin
Mr Fish
MURPHY IRISH STOUT
Newt Commander
Norman Pint Imperius King
Obie Jupiter McWoofington
Poppadom Banana Pants McGee
Richie McPaw
Roxy-tala Moemalo
Russel Sprouts Gordon Bennett
S
Samson Kung Fu Panda
Sir Tobias Wigglebottom
Smutley
Technical Adviser Megabyte
The Hulk
Vivienne Westwoof
Zoeroceros Flauschige

I suspect what we learn from this is that at least 40 Wellingtonians either let their kids pick a name each, or are tech geeks with a mental age of 12. Given that Wellington is the home of Weta Digital (the SFX company behind LOTR, Avatar, and a good chunk of the Marvel universe), the latter isn't too surprising either.

I bet they were holding their breath and hoping the wind stayed down.

67m long wind turbine blade being transported in Germany.

@functionoverfashion Well one of a brake disc's functions is to get rid of heat, so teeeechnically it's a radiator.

@ranwhenparked Interesting that it didn't make sense to fix her in 1968, given that the UK-Australia-NZ route supported multiple passenger ships until at least 5 years later (both Oriana and Canberra were on that run till the end of '72). I guess as a mixed-cargo vessel she suffered from "Jack of all trades, master of none" syndrome: too slow to compete with dedicated ocean liners (Oriana cruised at 10 knots faster, which is a heck of a difference in journey time over that distance), and too unwieldy to compete with dedicated container ships or bulk haulers.

@sony1492 said in "New 812 Makes 830 HP at 9500 RPM":

@veearrrsix Torque > Horsepower

Only till you get to the point where you can light up the tires - after that more torque is irrelevant. I'm guessing this thing will give its traction control a workout in pretty much any gear at pretty much any speed.

@svend said in Happy 95th to an amazing woman:

@highlander
Lol. Never, but it'd be a truly great honour just to be asked to.

I can just imagine it. You’d be able to see the thing shining from space!

@ranwhenparked said in SUBMISS/SUBSINK:

We went through a period where we thought exporting revolution was a good idea, but that only works if other countries want to buy what you're selling. Canada very clearly told us they did not.

So that was a lesson well learned...

@pip-bip Well I guess the Wuling’s a volume car somewhere 🤪.

Though as low volume cars go, the Corvette’s a pretty high volume car. Wouldn’t surprise me if they shift more RHD ones than Holden did Commodores in its last few years, by the time you include what’ll go to the UK and Japan. Particularly given the pricing: they’re 50k cheaper than a GTR over here - there’s nothing even close to the performance for the price.

@engineer-in-motion Yup, the C8’s the first one that’s come with the wheel on the right (ahem) side from the factory, and even then only from MY2021. Up till now if you wanted a RHD one you had to go aftermarket.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a32814187/chevy-corvette-right-hand-drive-price-specs/

@pip-bip

@grindintosecond said in Watches: would you Hand-wind?:

@blacktruck18 They still make a hand-wound Speedmaster automatic...at several thousand dollars. Imagine hating to put that on!

My grandmother gave me a Seamaster automatic for my 21st birthday many many moons ago, though I only use it for special occasions so it’s rarely on my wrist long enough for the “automatic” bit to matter. It’s totally hopeless as a timekeeping device, but it’s a lovely piece of jewellery and setting it and winding it up enough for the auto mechanism to start working is an enjoyable part of the pre-going-out ritual.

@racinbob said in Atlanta International Auto Show: BRZ Thoughts:

@mm54 I think many of those rear seats are really just backpack and purse holders......

Then here’s hoping they’ve finally given the seat backs a memory - having to readjust your recline angle every time you threw something in the back is a major disincentive to using the back seats for that purpose in my 86.