My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on November 5, 2009

If you enjoy snapping your Volkswagen around a corner or stopping fast enough launch your sunglasses into the windshield, then you might want to consider the VW TDI Cup “Street” Edition. It’s closest kin is the Jetta GLI … but with a diesel engine.  Volkswagen announced that the TDI Cup Edition Jettas should be in dealer showrooms this January.

Jetta TDI Cup ‘Street’ Edition Racing Into Showrooms Soon

HERNDON, Va., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ — Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced the Jetta TDI Cup “Street” Edition will be available in dealer showrooms January 2010. The concept debuted in Las Vegas during the 2008 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show. Following the SEMA show the concept was displayed at TDI Cup races throughout the country, where it was well received by enthusiasts and consumers alike.

“Since our inaugural TDI Cup series in 2008 we have received numerous inquiries as to whether or not we would offer a TDI Cup replica vehicle,” said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “We’re thrilled to announce that a special edition Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition will be available in dealer showrooms early next year. What makes this special edition so unique is that it features the optional, race inspired, TDI Cup body kit package combined with our clean diesel engine. The Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition is one exceptional special model that is as fun-to-drive as it is to look at,” added Barnes.

The similarities between the TDI Cup race car and the “Street” Edition equipped with the optional TDI Cup Edition Kit are apparent at first glance — the TDI Cup “Street” Edition Kit features the front bumper, side skirts and rear valance that are found on the TDI Cup race cars. The enhancements to the TDI Cup “Street” Edition go well beyond cosmetics. All “Street” Edition Jetta TDI’s feature larger brakes with red calipers, sway bars and European sport tuned suspension from the performance oriented GLI.

The TDI Cup “Street” Edition is powered by the award winning 2.0-liter clean diesel engine that produces 140 horsepower and an impressive 236 lbs.-ft. of torque. The engine makes use of an advanced electronically controlled turbocharger and common rail direct injection technology, and can be mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or the highly acclaimed DSG® transmission.

Other standard upgrades on the Jetta TDI Cup “Street” Edition include sport seats with Interlagos cloth, and a leather-wrapped, multi-function steering wheel that features paddle shifters when equipped with the DSG transmission. Completing this dynamic special edition is a set of 18 inch Charleston wheels with performance all-season tires. This special edition starts around $25,000–staying true to the brands mantra of offering affordable German engineering that is a whole lot of fun to drive.

The Jetta TDI Cup “Street” Edition, like the Jetta TDI, Jetta SportWagen TDI, Golf TDI and Touareg TDI qualifies for an Advanced Lean Burn Technology Motor Vehicle Federal Income Tax Credit. The tax credit on the “Street” Edition is $1,300.

Like all 2010 models, the Jetta TDI Cup “Street” Edition also comes standard with Volkswagen’s Carefree Maintenance Program, with this program there are no charges for the scheduled maintenance described in the vehicle’s maintenance booklet for the length of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty — three years or 36,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

Category: Automotive, Volkswagen | 6 Comments »
Tags: diesel, jetta, racing, tdi, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on November 4, 2009

I’m a regular reader of Paul Thurott and he had a great article on the “convoluted, ridiculous and hard to understand” pricing and option packages associated with upgrading a Microsoft Windows PC to the new Windows 7 operating system. He compared it to the “Bataan Death Match … but this time, the victims are your sanity and your wallet.” If you are a Mac lover, you’ll enjoy the “what is Microsoft thinking” article since Apple prices their update straight forward and all inclusive … although they do come every couple of years at a cost. Check out Part two of Win 7  vs. Snow Leopard.  Of course one could always consider one of  the vastly improved Linux OS flavors that are available as free downloads … which has me wondering why I still pay for licenses on my Apple and Windows computers?

Apple Snow Leopard OS

1. Mac Leopard users can upgrade to Snow Leopard for $29 or five-Mac Family Pack for$49.
2. Intel-based Tiger OS users will spend $169 or $229 for the family pack.
   ***All previous Mac hardware configurations are out of luck … old Leopard is a far as you can go.

Microsoft Windows 7 OS

1. Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade) $119.99
2. Windows 7 Home Premium (Full) $199.99
3. Windows 7 Family Pack (Upgrade, retail only) $149.99
4. Windows 7 Professional (Upgrade) $199.99
5. Windows 7 Professional (Full) $299.99
6. Windows 7 Ultimate (Upgrade) $219.99
7. Windows 7 Ultimate (Full) $319.99
8. College Students only: Windows 7 Home Premium (Upgrade) or Professional (Upgrade) $30 <== quite the deal if you have a .edu email address.  Haven’t had the nerve to try my alumni dot edu email address?

Category: Computer, Productivity, Technology | 8 Comments »
Tags: leopard, mac, microsoft apple, snow, win7, windows

Posted By RichC on November 3, 2009

Volkswagen’s clean diesel TDI models continue to perform especially well. Jetta TDI sales accounted for 40 percent of total Jetta sedan and SportWagen sales, while sales of all TDI models accounted for 24 percent of total October sales. (LINK)

HERNDON, Va., Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Volkswagen of America, Inc. today
reported October 2009 sales of 17,037 total units, representing a 7.2 percent
increase over October 2008.

CC, Volkswagen's stylish four door coupe performed exceptionally well for the
month with 2,349 unit sales, representing its best sales month since March.  

The Jetta, consistently Volkswagen's top selling model, posted a 25 percent
increase over October 2008 with 9,076 unit sales. Demonstrating that today's
consumers are placing a greater emphasis on cleaner, more fuel efficient
vehicles, Volkswagen's clean diesel TDI models continue to perform especially
well.  Jetta TDI sales accounted for 40 percent of total Jetta sedan and
SportWagen sales, while sales of all TDI models accounted for 24 percent of
total October sales.  

"We're extremely pleased with our October sales results," said Mark Barnes,
Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc.  "Our clean diesel TDI
models continue to gain momentum in the market place, and the Golf and Touareg
TDI's are welcome editions to our model lineup. As our stylish and elegant CC
continues to gain market awareness, I'm confident that it will continue to
gain sales momentum.  It's a remarkable vehicle that truly represents what
this brand is all about--affordable German engineering. With more and more of
today's consumers looking for affordable, fuel efficient, and fun-to-drive
vehicles without sacrificing refinement, our brand is well positioned for a
bright future, " Barnes added. 

Volkswagen of America, Inc.
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc. is headquartered in Herndon,
Virginia.  It is a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg,
Germany.  Volkswagen is one of the world's largest producers of passenger cars
and Europe's largest automaker.  Volkswagen sells the Eos, Golf, New Beetle,
New Beetle convertible, GTI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, GLI, Passat, Passat
wagon, CC, Tiguan, Touareg 2 and Routan through approximately 600 independent
U.S. dealers.  All 2009 Volkswagens come standard-equipped with Electronic
Stabilization Program.  This is important because the National Highway and
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has called ESC the most effective new
vehicle safety technology since the safety belt. Visit Volkswagen of
America online at www.vw.com or www.media.vw.com to learn more.

    VW-US Snapshot                               --------YEAR-TO-DATE---------
                   October-09 October-08 Yr/Yr % October-09 October-08 Yr/Yr %
                     Actual     Actual   change  YTD Actual YTD Actual  change
                     ------     ------   ------  ---------- ----------  ------
    Rabbit/Golf        598      1,066    -43.9%     6,276      18,105   -65.3%
    GTI A5/A6          576        655    -12.1%     5,995      10,836   -44.7%
    R32                  -        109   -100.0%       139       2,899   -95.2%
                       ---        ---                 ---       -----
      Total Rabbit/
       GTI/R32       1,174      1,830    -35.8%    12,410      31,840   -61.0%
    Jetta Sdn        7,046      5,992     17.6%    76,333      79,309    -3.8%
     SportWagen A5/
      A6             2,030      1,267     60.2%    13,904       3,617   284.4%
                     -----      -----                           -----
        Total Jetta  9,076      7,259     25.0%    90,237      82,926     8.8%
    New Beetle
      - Coupe          873      1,083    -19.4%     8,850      13,662   -35.2%
      - Convertible    295        423    -30.3%     3,964      10,075   -60.7%
                       ---        ---                          ------
      Total New
       Beetle        1,168      1,506    -22.4%    12,814      23,737   -46.0%
    Eos                473        504     -6.2%     6,388      11,956   -46.6%
    Passat Sdn         471        886    -46.8%     7,855      21,461   -63.4%
           Wgn         168        201    -16.4%     1,947       5,104   -61.9%
                       ---        ---                           -----
        Total Passat   639      1,087    -41.2%     9,802      26,565   -63.1%
    CC               2,349        659    256.4%    17,536         659  2561.0%
    Tiguan             970      1,856    -47.7%    10,809       6,533    65.5%
    Touareg            519        399     30.1%     3,513       5,876   -40.2%
    Routan             669        789    -15.2%    13,308       1,164  1043.3%
                       ---        ---    -----     ------       -----  ------
    TOTAL           17,037     15,889      7.2%   176,817     191,256    -7.5%
                    ------     ------      ---    -------     -------    ----

    MEMO: Jetta
     Sedan TDI        1839
    MEMO: Jetta
     SportWagen TDI   1819
    MEMO: Touareg
     TDI               234
    MEMO: Golf TDI     116
          TOTAL TDI  4,008

SOURCE  Volkswagen of America, Inc.

Category: Automotive, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags:

Posted By RichC on November 2, 2009

Although most of my conservative friends would be appalled I listed to National Public Radio, they produced an appreciated story reflecting on the life of Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell, 1 of 14 Marines killed on October 27th and played the story nationally (MP3 Link). It was good to hear how the community of Loveland (NE of Cincinnati) showed respect to Capt. Mitchell’s military service and his life, although it’s frustratingly painful to hear of the loss of those who have given their lives for our country. Thanks for sharing Capt. David “Seth” Mitchell’s story NPR — see Cincinnati Enquirer story.

_

Category: Audio, Local, News | 2 Comments »
Tags: cincinnati, loveland, marine, military, npr, ohio

Posted By RichC on November 1, 2009

Reposting — Bob Luken (EAA284 President):

On October 1, 2009 Mark Dusenberry was engaging in practice flights in preparation for the 104^th commemorative celebration of the Wright Brothers demonstration of the first practical aircraft, their 1095 Model III Flyer. Mark completed one successful flight in the morning.

During his second flight of the day the aircraft began a series of pitch oscillations, finally striking the ground in a nose down attitude. In the 1905 Flyer the pilot is not strapped in. He lies on the lower wing. Photos of the impact clearly show Mark sliding forward on the wing.

Mark sustained significant injuries in the crash. He was taken to Miami Valley Hospital by Care Flight. Initially, he was listed in critical condition. He underwent two surgeries that night. His condition subsequently improved. He has been transferred to a hospital in Cleveland to be closer to family and to continue a rehabilitation program. The last report I received indicated that he had no feeling below the waist.

As a result of his injuries Mark will have a long period of rehabilitation and will incur large medical bills, not covered by insurance. Donations can be sent to Mark’s sister Lori. Checks should be made payable to The Citizens Bank. On the memo line indicate “Mark Dusenberry” Checks can be mailed to Mark’s sister, Lori at the following address.

Mark Dusenberry
c/o Lori Golec-Judy
121 E. 13^th St
Dover, OH 44622

At the November 8th EAA284 chapter meeting we will show a video of Mark’s successful flight, preparations for the second flight as well as footage of the crash. There will be some discussion of the problems the Wright encountered with pitch instability, as well as the measures they too to solve this problem.

NTSB Identification: CEN10LA001
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Thursday, October 01, 2009 in Dayton, OH
Aircraft: DUSENBERRY MARK J 1905 WRIGHT FLYER, registration: N3635N
Injuries: 1 Serious.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On October 1, 2009, at 1100 eastern daylight time, an experimental 1905 Wright Flyer, collided with the terrain following a loss of control shortly after taking off from the Huffman Prairie Flying Field at the Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO), Dayton, Ohio. The pilot received serious injuries. The airplane received substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and elevator. The flight was being operated under Title 14 code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated just prior to the accident.

_

Category: Aviation | No Comments »
Tags: eaa284, wright flyer dayton ohio mark dusenberry

Posted By RichC on October 31, 2009

In my opinion, the American Community Survey — aka: 2010 Census —  is a waste of time and money. For one, it is an oversized packet of paperwork being sent to 3 million Americans and is costly to print, mail and tabulate; wouldn’t it have been far more efficient to produce as a Scantron card. Second, I find the information they are requesting to be of little service to our country and its taxpaying citizens. Is it so important for me and 3 million others to take 45 minutes to answer questions like “what is my ancestry” — I’m an American — incorrect answer. I’m puzzled, why is it important to know where my ancestors came from 150 years ago if we are a melting pot nation who is not suppose to see race, color or creed? Other questions seem just as insignificant to me: “Do I have running water in our house” or “how many rooms in our house or mobile home?” I find it difficult to understand why our tax dollars are being spent on a slew of questions similar to these.  Wouldn’t we rather have a few more dollars revolving in our economy or used to actually upgrade infrastructure so more communities offered running water if this is a big issue? If congress wants to save a few dollars when they do our 2020 census, just ask the simple question like how many live in your household and are you a legal citizen of the United States (as if you’ll get the correct answers). These could all be answered on a simple computer read Scantron return card instead of a thick oversized envelope requiring manual tabulation … or here’s an idea, offer a web-based checkbox form or even a touchtone phone reply?

Then again, perhaps I misunderstand the purpose of the American Community Survey — bigger government redistributing wealth.

Category: Personal, Politics | 10 Comments »
Tags: census

Posted By RichC on October 30, 2009

My apology for the lousy Palm Pre ‘enlarged’ photo of a large coyote who has been roaming our Liberty Township Ohio neighborhood.  It has been a source of concern for neighbors and pet owners  that we’ve had a few more coyotes than normal … and that this particular large male has decided to make his daily trek through our neighborhood. When I was on vacation I received a call from my neighbor concerned for our dog as she spotted a “coyote as big as a German Shepard” in her backyard. I thanked her for the concern and rolled my eyes as to the size … assuming she was exaggerating (sorry Pam) … knowing my Australian Blue Heeler had proudly brought me a frail dead coyote in the past, as she does with other animals – raccoons, rabbits, birds, squirrel and even minks. Today, to my amazement, a beautiful auburn colored LARGE coyote (or possibly coywolf as the larger ones have been called) ran past me in the front yard while I was raking up leaves. At first I couldn’t believe the size as we starred at each other as we were only 50 feet apart. I struggled for my phone to try and take a photo (above), but he was having little to do with it. Nevertheless, our dog Tootsie is not spending the night outside tonight.

I did a little Googling tonight in hopes to pinpoint a bit more information … and came up with a photo that was somewhat similar to what I saw today.

EDIT 11/6/2009: Adding an excellent Urban Coyote PDF information sheet (rt click save as) and a photo just to remind those of us with ‘relatively’ bold and hardy dogs that a coyote bite is nothing to mess with …

Category: Environment, Local, Photos | 8 Comments »
Tags: coyote, liberty township

Posted By RichC on October 29, 2009

For those citizens trying to follow the political goings on in Washington DC, it is irritating  to trying to figure out just what is being debated and discussed by those we elect to “do the people’s business.” The current health care debate and varies bills being proposed in the House and Senate are prime example of “backroom politics” that could be (and should be) open to discussion, input and shared with the citizens it will impact.

“I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies.”
— Barack Obama, August, 2008

Some of us expected that President Obama and the Democrats, even if we disagreed with their philosophies, would at least offer open and fair discussions so citizens would know what was being debated. Naively, I even believed that opposing viewpoints would be included in the discussion and that there would be a semblance of bipartisanship. I was wrong … very wrong … there is even less transparency in this administration and congress while the billion and trillion dollar size of decisions are far larger than ever before.

Wake up America … no matter your political philosophy, at least expect — no … demand — that our elected representatives are forthright and truthful with those who they serve. If the majority in congress want more state control over more industries then they should have little problem convincing our citizens that what they propose is best for America —  don’t do it in the shadows and ram changes through without vigorous debate, cautious contemplation or listening to what U.S. citizens have to say.  Besides overhauling  U.S. Healthcare through legislation, all of us should be concerned about the cost and how much of it will be past along to the next generation — something we should have learned from medicaid, medicare and social security (all yet to be correctly funded). The changes being proposed in health care  are the largest in my lifetime — and the most expensive —  therefore they deserve to be clearly considered and transparently understood.

_

(Graphics above from a Washington Post has a helpful interactive graphic projecting costs and coverage prior to Sen Reid’s recent addition to Senate Finance Healthcare bill).

Category: Politics | 2 Comments »
Tags: congress, obama, Politics, president, washington

Posted By RichC on October 28, 2009

Enjoyable to watch the patience of drivers … how long do you suspect this woman took to park her car? It’s no wonder automakers are building cars with automatic parallel parking features.

From comment on previous post — thanks Marielle.

Category: Automotive, Humor, Video | No Comments »
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Posted By RichC on October 28, 2009

A quick thanks to Lee for expediting my Google Wave beta request, although I still feel a bit late to the game in getting a chance to play with this new Google app. Although I’ve talked to a few people about how they foresee using this new web based communications tool, I’m still struggling to figure out if it will really be adopted by my clients and co-workers — I sort of  doubt it.

Basically, Google Wave out of the gate is a collaboration tool that integrates chat, email and online applications like Google Docs. The ‘realtime’ aspect (can watch each other type) of the web window interface gives collaborators in different locations the ability to work on projects without emailing copies back and forth or making conference calls. From what I can see, the real power will come from users who develop APIs interfacing for their clients online sites that will “go live” … literally. Imagine a newsroom updating a breaking story from several news bureaus and watching the written story develop for the mornings paper online …. or just an interactive conversational comment sections for active blogs? If you are a beta user and need to try it with someone, let me know.

Category: Computer, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: beta, google, preview, wave