Food and cars on my birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, and I took the day off. I ordered this Maserati-Citroen book to give to myself. In the days preceding my birthday, I was getting annoyed by the fact that it hadn't arrived yet. Apparently, K got it before I saw it in the mailbox and hid it. It was a nice surprise to open it yesterday morning.

Next, we drove down to Silicon Valley to try a Taiwanese joint I had been researching. It is a Chinese tradition to eat noodles for your birthday, and apparently this restaurant has good beef noodle soup. This spread contained the Greatest Hits of my childhood: pickled cabbage, tofu/pork/celery/squid, oyster omelet, beef noodle soup, and a "Taiwanese hamburger".

On our way back to the car, we spotted this BMW i8 parked across from us. The new owner hopped out along with his two friends. They were all very happy. The owner was proud of his new purchase (probably paid for with money from the recent sale of his tech company) and his two friends were wowed by the novelty of the car and seemed genuinely happy for their friend. It was all very sweet.

I then did the impossible. I persuaded K to go to a used Porsche dealership with me. We sat in this 993. Alas, it was an automatic, had been in a crash, and has suspiciously been on the showroom floor for months. Nevertheless, it was nice to sit in one with K. The backseat even has enough room for Cooper the Dog.

Here is K looking for the door handle to get out.

Then, we went to the local BMW dealership to test drive the i3. It looks like we're going to lease it. I need to do some more research first. Apparently, you can get a $2,500 tax credit if your lease is over 30 months (or something like that). Also, you can buy an off-brand (not Bosch) home charger at Home Depot for $600 (includes labor of installation).

We both really liked the car. It's a big step up from the 2004 Civic.

This is the one we drove. It has a range extender (basically a 600 cc motorcycle engine). Some arcane regulation in California requires that the gasoline range be equal to or less than the electric range, so the fuel tank will only accept 1.9 gallons of gas.

We both drove it on the freeway and surface streets. It was very quick and handled well. The short wheelbase took a little getting used to. Also, when you take your foot off the gas, the car comes to almost an immediate stop.

Back to the book. Here are some cool period photos. There are a lot of interviews of people involved in the development of the Citroens and Maseratis of the 1970s.