Spring has sprung

It is proper Spring season here in the northern hemisphere, and all I am wishing for is the rains of winter to not make the jump to the new season. Ever since I bought the GT3 back in January, I’ve been beset with inclement weather, and due to the sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires the car is shod with - tires that don’t work worth a damn in the cold and damp - I’ve been unable to really push the car to its insanely high limits. I might as well could have wait until now to purchase the 911, and it wouldn’t have made much material difference in terms of driving.

First world problems, yes, but I do live in the first world (extremely lucky to do so), and it is a problem for me. Life goes on.

So I hope the coming months will provide more opportunity for some proper motoring fun. California is officially out of drought conditions, so perhaps it would be fine to not have so much rain again – kidding not kidding.

The weird thing about working at a university is that during the typical spring and fall breaks, all of he students and faculty members are gone for holiday, but us staff have to still be at work. It’s especially odd for us service orientated staff, because without regular classes going on, there simply isn’t much for us to do. In order for staff to get the same break, we’d have to use our own vacation time. This year I’ve drawn the short straw, and will be holding down the proverbial fort whilst my colleagues are away.

Not that I could afford to go anywhere after putting down the enormous sum for the GT3. Since then any spare change has gone towards the car, be it for petrol or maintenance items. Indeed, I’d be in much better financial situation had I not made the purchase (as I was before), but again there’s but this one life to live, and sometimes you simply have to forsake the contingencies and go for it. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.

Not to say I’m “car poor” by any means, but the monthly outlay for the GT3 has been and is significant. Which is why I need to weather to cooperate so I can make all the monetary pain worth it.

Bring it on, Spring; don’t disappoint me. Please?

View fullsize

I just need all of this to go away for Spring.

First day of Spring

It's the first day of spring for those of you that actually experienced winter. For us here in San Francisco, we got no such luck. Felt like spring has been here ever since January to be honest. That's why the rest of the nation hates us (especially the East Coast people and their experience with the frozen tundras), and our land value is shooting up sky high (I'm likely to never buy a house here) - San Francisco is definitely the city to be if you hate the thought of having four distinct seasons. 

No complaints from me, obviously. Perhaps it's the decades plus of living here, but I have a real dislike of weather extremes. Anything above 75 fahrenheit is considered too hot, and it's entirely too damn cold once the mercury drops below 50. Spoiled, yes, but t-shirt, jeans, and light-jacket weather all year round? Can't beat it. 

Working in academia has it's perks (it isn't the paycheck; really), and one of them is I can actually take a week off for spring break. And I thought I was done with that sort of stuff upon graduation. Time to discover what it's like to have nothing to do for an entire week, starting this Saturday. Getting paid to go on vacation; that's how it's properly done.