Woohoo!!!
Its been a long, hard day, but a damn good one and a great way to end the week!!!
So today I had a big presentation with a team from school; we enrolled in a consulting project course last quarter that was a competition--the winning idea would be receive seed funding to launch the project and the team members would win a significant cash reward.
Well our idea rocked, we wowed the audience (all big alums who flew in to judge), and we won hands down!!!
So to celebrate, we went out for a quick pint (at 10:00am, mind you) still decked out in our suits. Then we went back to be present for the official announcement at school, got showered with praise, and figured out our next step.
Well 3 of us decided that, to blow off some stress, we'd go test drive some cars. But not just your regular cars. How about an M3, Range Rover Sport (supercharged 390hp version), IS350, GS400 and S4 (the RS4 ain't out till summer.) The M3 was great, S4 disappointed (seriously, while the performance was great it felt like an upscale Jetta inside and the ride was too harsh. Of course, I'm not a sports car driver...I sway to the luxury side of things.)
But the real star of the show was the IS350. WOW. I. AM. SOLD! Of course, the version we drove was completely decked out...sport package, aluminum pedals, upgraded rims, sticky low profile summer rubber etc.) But still, remember 'Jerry Maguire'? "You had me at hello"??? That's what it felt like when I slipped into this car's driver seat. It just...felt...right!!! OMG, even small details like the steering wheel were just perfect (they use some magic material for the wheel that feels like sex in your hands...ok I just left myself wide open for jack-off jokes but I don't care.) And the engine was smooth like butter. Not like the Audi's engine. Sure, it only has ~300hp, but that was plenty. Sure it has a stick, but that's fine by me. I spun the wheels plenty of times. My only gripe is that the 'Sport' mode was a joke...basically it just changes the buttery smooth 6-spd tranny into a 4-spd auto with shorter gearing 1-3 and a tall final drive (it won't shift to 5th or 6th.) I guess this makes it good for launching at a stop light, but otherwise its useless for actual driving. Oh well, this car was built for people who value luxury over sport, not for sports car drivers.
The other standout was the Range Rover Sport. I don't know what kinda engine Ford used, but the folks at Eaton will be proud of this supercharged beast. But it wasn't about the performance really. Its about driving around in a pimp ass ride, with pimp ass colors--i.e. the Bling Factor. This ride scores an 11/10 on The Bling Scale. Oh, and the air suspension knows some cool tricks too!
Oh, the last car I wanted to drive was a brand-spanking new (seriously, there was still plastic covering the speedo and steering wheel) Porsche Cayman demo model (I dunno if it was 'S' or not, but I don't think it was.) Porsche Yellow. Only 5 miles on the speedo. But alas, it did not have Tiptronic, just the stick (as purists want it.) I can't drive a stick ...so it was no Porsche for me.
Afterwards one of the alums, who happens to be President & CEO of Visual Numerics (think SAS on steroids) took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It happened to be next to a mall, and we all went to go check out the Apple Store (no Boot Camp demos yet though.) LOL, the CEO of a major analytics company pretty much decided to buy a 20" iMac. Meanwhile, thinking of ways to spend the prize money, I ended up buying these. Now before the audiophiles start chewing me out about overspending when the Grado's sound so much better, please remember that headphones are about form and function. And the B&O's ace the form test. Lightweight, open ear, VERY COMFORTABLE, and they look badass. And they sound pretty damn good too (great imaging...I turn off the iPod's EQ and sound check and let the headphones do the rest.)
Afterwards I went to see "Thank You for Smoking". Great movie! And a good way to end the day. Sure, Ice Cube's had better, but I couldn't have asked for anything more. And tomorrow, I hit up NYC!! I'm having so much fun...all I need now is a friggin' job. Then the IS350 shall be mine. Well, maybe the IS250
Cliff's Notes:
- Won some $$$$ (count the '$'s for an idea of how much...)
- Drove some pimpass cars
- Had dinner with a really cool guy
- Bought some B&O headphones
- Saw a fun movie
- Peace out!
Its been a long, hard day, but a damn good one and a great way to end the week!!!
So today I had a big presentation with a team from school; we enrolled in a consulting project course last quarter that was a competition--the winning idea would be receive seed funding to launch the project and the team members would win a significant cash reward.
Well our idea rocked, we wowed the audience (all big alums who flew in to judge), and we won hands down!!!
So to celebrate, we went out for a quick pint (at 10:00am, mind you) still decked out in our suits. Then we went back to be present for the official announcement at school, got showered with praise, and figured out our next step.
Well 3 of us decided that, to blow off some stress, we'd go test drive some cars. But not just your regular cars. How about an M3, Range Rover Sport (supercharged 390hp version), IS350, GS400 and S4 (the RS4 ain't out till summer.) The M3 was great, S4 disappointed (seriously, while the performance was great it felt like an upscale Jetta inside and the ride was too harsh. Of course, I'm not a sports car driver...I sway to the luxury side of things.)
But the real star of the show was the IS350. WOW. I. AM. SOLD! Of course, the version we drove was completely decked out...sport package, aluminum pedals, upgraded rims, sticky low profile summer rubber etc.) But still, remember 'Jerry Maguire'? "You had me at hello"??? That's what it felt like when I slipped into this car's driver seat. It just...felt...right!!! OMG, even small details like the steering wheel were just perfect (they use some magic material for the wheel that feels like sex in your hands...ok I just left myself wide open for jack-off jokes but I don't care.) And the engine was smooth like butter. Not like the Audi's engine. Sure, it only has ~300hp, but that was plenty. Sure it has a stick, but that's fine by me. I spun the wheels plenty of times. My only gripe is that the 'Sport' mode was a joke...basically it just changes the buttery smooth 6-spd tranny into a 4-spd auto with shorter gearing 1-3 and a tall final drive (it won't shift to 5th or 6th.) I guess this makes it good for launching at a stop light, but otherwise its useless for actual driving. Oh well, this car was built for people who value luxury over sport, not for sports car drivers.
The other standout was the Range Rover Sport. I don't know what kinda engine Ford used, but the folks at Eaton will be proud of this supercharged beast. But it wasn't about the performance really. Its about driving around in a pimp ass ride, with pimp ass colors--i.e. the Bling Factor. This ride scores an 11/10 on The Bling Scale. Oh, and the air suspension knows some cool tricks too!
Oh, the last car I wanted to drive was a brand-spanking new (seriously, there was still plastic covering the speedo and steering wheel) Porsche Cayman demo model (I dunno if it was 'S' or not, but I don't think it was.) Porsche Yellow. Only 5 miles on the speedo. But alas, it did not have Tiptronic, just the stick (as purists want it.) I can't drive a stick ...so it was no Porsche for me.
Afterwards one of the alums, who happens to be President & CEO of Visual Numerics (think SAS on steroids) took us out to dinner at a fancy restaurant. It happened to be next to a mall, and we all went to go check out the Apple Store (no Boot Camp demos yet though.) LOL, the CEO of a major analytics company pretty much decided to buy a 20" iMac. Meanwhile, thinking of ways to spend the prize money, I ended up buying these. Now before the audiophiles start chewing me out about overspending when the Grado's sound so much better, please remember that headphones are about form and function. And the B&O's ace the form test. Lightweight, open ear, VERY COMFORTABLE, and they look badass. And they sound pretty damn good too (great imaging...I turn off the iPod's EQ and sound check and let the headphones do the rest.)
Afterwards I went to see "Thank You for Smoking". Great movie! And a good way to end the day. Sure, Ice Cube's had better, but I couldn't have asked for anything more. And tomorrow, I hit up NYC!! I'm having so much fun...all I need now is a friggin' job. Then the IS350 shall be mine. Well, maybe the IS250
Cliff's Notes:
- Won some $$$$ (count the '$'s for an idea of how much...)
- Drove some pimpass cars
- Had dinner with a really cool guy
- Bought some B&O headphones
- Saw a fun movie
- Peace out!