Free car wash!

The trick to getting your car washed for free: loan it out to other people!

These days I'm not as consistent in washing my car as I would like. 10 years ago I would religiously take out the bucket and soap once every two weeks. Nowadays I thank the weather gods when it rains because that's a free car wash that I don't have to do. The key is to use wax when I do wash my BMW M2. The waxed surface repels dust and foreign debris quite readily, allowing the rain drops to do most of the work.

This is what happens when you get old, kids: you start caring less and less about keeping things in pristine condition. Not to say you should go the other end of the spectrum and actively neglect on maintenance. The goal is to maximize the utility for as long as possible. I certainly don't make the sort of money to be disposable with the expensive things I buy.

So that means I would have to wash the car every once in a while. There's only so much rain water can do, especially when California has been in drought conditions for the longest time. But recently I've noticed something: the last two times I let a fellow car enthusiast borrow the M2, it has returned to me freshly washed and fueled. That's the code: a gentlemen always return a borrowed car (or anything, really) in cleaner condition and a fully filled tank.

Obviously I try to also loan my car out in somewhat clean condition, and fill up on gas before handing the keys over. Courtesy begets courtesy. A free car wash, however, is something I can happily live with in this quid pro quo situation.

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Spring time in the summer.

I washed the car

This past weekend I was reminded why I don’t wash my BMW M2 often: it’s those damn wheels. The “Style 788M” factory alloys looks amazing (clean or dirty, honestly), but that multitude of spokes is horror on the fingers. I actually tore a piece off my right ringer finger, and as of writing it’s still hurting rather nicely. What I really need is my old set of wheel woolies. However I just don’t have to mind to spend hours on car detailing anymore.

In fact the only reason I even washed the M2 this past Saturday was because it’s been over four months since the car last got one. That I didn’t even do:: a neighbor borrowed the BMW for a bit, so in return he cleaned it and gassed it up before returning (a gentleman always hand back a borrowed car with a full tank of gas). The neighbor did a fantastic job because up until recently the paint was still beading water nicely, indication of a layer of wax.

Well that layer was completely gone. I don’t detail my car as often as a I used to (once every two weeks!), but I’m not negligent either. Time to bring out the single bucket, many microfiber towels, and that bottle of Optimum No Rinse Wash with Wax. It was actually kind of nice: a beautiful Saturday afternoon, warmish weather, with a slight breeze. Perfect conditions to spend some time with the M2, podcast playing in my ear. If I weren’t so lazy about it, I’d probably do it more often.

I could pay a professional detailer to do it periodically, though I don’t mind a bit of manual labor. It humbles the mind, and it’s great exercise. The best workouts are the ones that have utility, the everyday tasks. Squatting to clean those aforementioned difficult-to-clean wheels sure beats squatting at a gym rack. My thighs get the burn, and the M2 gets clean.

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Standing guard.

Running and washing

The muscle pain from running four miles for the first time in over a year is expected, but present all the same. It feels great to run outdoors around Lake Merced again, breathing fresh air as I train aerobically. It has taken this long for me to return to running because I was never going to run outside with a mask on. Heavy breathing through multiple layers of cloth just doesn’t feel right. So I had to wait until I was both fully vaccinated, and for a time when not wearing a mask outdoors becomes socially acceptable in this liberal utopia of ours.

I am happy to report that it was rather easy to pick back up the old habit. I can’t say for sure that I didn’t gain any COVID weight, but my stamina has not waned that much, if at all. I completed the loop around the lake at my usual pace, surprising even myself that I didn’t lose a step, or become overly tired from the (more than) one year hiatus. To this I owe to keeping a regular workout schedule at home throughout the pandemic, and the fact I now walk to work on the regular.

It would not be wise to then on the next day go wash the car, what with the muscle aches and everything. However, that is exactly what I did. My BMW M2 hasn’t seen the cleaning side of a microfiber towel since January, which is insane now that I am typing this out on the first of June. A white-colored car parked outside attracts all the dust and plant fallout that our neighborhood has to offer. The M2 really deserves to be detailed more often, but that’s contingent upon me to not be lazy.

What happened? Back in my twenties I would consistent wash my car once every two weeks. Having a clean and tidy car - inside and out - is something of a prideful point for me. Driving a freshly washed car just feels different and awesome. It’s completely due to laziness that I’ve stepped away from this consistent habit. That said, going four months in between wash is unacceptable. I need to pick back up the pace.

Running and cleaning the car: things I’m endeavoring to start doing constantly again. Wish me luck.

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Russian gangster.

The lucky flow

The best days are when you get into a flow, and everything seems to fall into place. This past Sunday was like that. I woke up at normal time, and as per usual on a weekend day, I lazed around in bed reading up on the latest nothing from twitter. What I really should do is get up and take the car out to the wash before I go my parents’ for breakfast.

It would be too easy to keep being lazy and skip that, but natured called and I actually had to get up to use the restroom. Well, since I’m out of the bed anyways, might as well do take the BMW M2 to the car wash. The poor thing has sat outdoors for two months since the last time I washed it, so I am happy to spray the layer of crud off the paint.

Quite a few people had the same thought as me: the car wash place was decently busy for 8:00 AM on a Sunday. I got in line behind someone that looks to be just about to start the process. However, the guy couldn’t get his credit card to work for some reason, so he took off in frustration after a few minutes. This lucky happenstance meant I didn’t have to wait much at all for my turn. The same smugness that comes from choosing the faster checkout lane at the grocery store.

I got to my parents’ house on time, feeling good about having done an errand in the morning. I even managed to find a nice parking spot right on the same block, which in that particular neighborhood is practically a miracle. It was looking to be a good day.

After breakfast I had to take our pet kitten to the vet for vaccinations. The typically busy vet means finding parking in front is nearly impossible. But on this Sunday, I found a spot to park right in front of the entrance (albeit blocking a fire hydrant, but if it wasn’t me, it would definitely be another patron). The appointment took a total of 10 minutes, and soon I was back on my way to enjoying the rest of my Sunday.

Go with the flow, and sometimes life will reward you.

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Symmetry and synergy.

Morning in America

It’s Monday, and you know what the means? It’s garbage pickup day. Why does the garbage man have to come so early? 6:00 AM is usually when the truck comes through the neighborhood, and as always, the process makes a racket loud enough to wake everyone that’s asleep. Why not come at 8:00 AM, like the street-cleaning crew does?

Good thing 6:00 AM is my wakeup time anyways. Not that I purposely synced it to the coming of the garbage truck, mind you. Going to sleep and rising early has been staple habit since the start of the coronavirus almost a year ago. The morning hours of solitude and calm - before anyone else wakes up - are super precious to me. Usually I start the day with typing a few hundred words on this blog.

Today is the Presidents Day holiday, which I almost forgot about. I absolutely do not have the day off today, so it’s not really something I’d pay attention to. While most of my friends are still sleeping soundly, awaiting a peaceful off day from the grind, I’m at the beginning of yet another work week. It should be a relatively quiet day though, because inevitably a bunch of students will think the university has Presidents Day off, so they don’t show up to class.

This was true even before this whole COVID online class madness.

On Sunday, I washed the M2 Competition for the first time since I bought it back in October. The seasonal rain have made it easy to just keep it as is, but it has reached a point of dirtiness that not even heavy rain can wash away. As I grow older, I am definitely less enthusiastic about the parts of car ownership that isn’t driving. I used to detail my cars every two weeks like clockwork. Nowadays I’m perfectly content to not wash it so long as it looks decent from five feet away.

It’s driving that I like, not car washing or changing the oil.

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Red rose.