Spring/summer is here, which means warm days and body temperature nights (read: put the top down and remember why you didn't buy a minivan).

Here's a view of my drive home through San Jose on an unusually smogless afternoon. This is at the peak of the evening rush hour, so you can see why I don't find my 35-mile commute to Siebel so painful.

I'm a fairly conservative driver (I've yet to see the DSC light flicker on), but to test out the new tires, I decided to push it a little.

The car still corners tightly with minimal body roll on tight corners. At high speeds—100+ mph—the car feels like it hunkers down and actually becomes more controlled, the exact opposite of my Eclipse which felt like it wanted to take flight despite the spoilers.

Version 2.0 of the site launches for beta testing. Many thanks to all who have visited and given their feedback

My car (not me, please note) is invited to participate in this years San Jose Gay Pride parade June 9th, although I have nightmares about the rollover protection headrests popping up unexpectedly and killing the mayor of Mountain View.

I finally applied Zaino polish to my car, and it's pretty amazing stuff. The paint takes on a very different look, sort of like wet highly-polished black granite.

Application is incredibly easy if you follow the directions (Z1, Z2, gloss enhancer) and took about two hours total in 75 degree, low humidity weather. Unfortunately, I didn't take before and after pictures, but there's definitely a change. Pics coming when I apply a second coat.

Average gas mileage after 26,000 miles: 24.7 mpg (80% highway miles)
Average speed: 46 mph

I don't know what is going on in San Jose, but there's an amazing amount of dust in the air these days. The wind deflector picks up an incredible amount of dirt, so not only am I adding to Shell Oil's fortunes, I'm cleaning the air of dirt particles.

Highway 280 Leveling Underway
CalTrans has started "shaving" the concrete on 280 to smooth the uneven pavement, which was the automotive equivalent of skiing moguls. They've done the northbound lanes from just before Sand Hill to past Foothill. My molars thank them.

CSAA insurance drops to $1603 per year.

28,500+ miles.

Applied my third coat of Zaino. The paint is definitely slicker feeling, although it hasn't developed the "wet" look that I was going for. Anyway...

If you're not a BMW owner, you'll think the following is pretty stupid:

I finally figured out that not only can you roll all of the windows down using just the key in the door lock, but that you can raise and lower the top. I'm sure that it says this in the manual, on the tape, and on the CD-ROM...but who the hell ever reads the manual?