Thursday, December 17 — 4:35 p.m. — 18°F

Chase Weir -- Australian twit.

Here’s a weird one. On Tuesday, shortly after local noon, 22-year-old Chase Weir was tooling down the Eastern Freeway near Melbourne, Australia, at 100 kph (~62 mph) in his Ford Explorer. He was on cruise control. At some point, he became aware that he was unable to disengage cruise control. He could slow the vehicle down to 80 kph with the brakes, but then the pedal became difficult to push, and the SUV accelerated back up to 100 kph when the pedal was released. The key wouldn’t turn to allow the car to be shut off, and the button on the shift control could not be pushed in so he could shift into neutral.

Initially there was no crisis. Weir was on a freeway, after all. He telephoned a Ford garage and explained his predicament. They advised him that it was dangerous to drive with a mal-functioning cruise control. Weir then called Triple-0, Australia’s equivalent of 911, and asked for advice.

It took more than 30 minutes to end the ordeal. By the time it was over, Weir had police escorts and chase cars, and patrol cars clearing traffic ahead. When he finally began to encounter too much traffic for the police to clear, Weir decided for some reason it would improve his situation if he drove down into and across the median to the other half of the freeway so he could drive the wrong way into oncoming traffic. The transcript indicates the situation quickly became more lively just about then.

Sgt. Marnie Goldsmith

Finally, Sergeant Marnie Goldsmith, the dispatcher on the phone with Weir, provided the solution that would end the nightmare. “I need you with all your strength to go on the brake,” she says, as Weir can be heard squealing hysterically in the background.

It worked.

I’d like to think maybe I would have come up with that solution on my own. And maybe in less than 30 minutes.

Weir said he was afraid if he used his brakes, his vehicle would flip. But he didn’t mind endangering others by choosing to drive his 4500 pound missile the wrong way down the freeway for the last bit of his jaunt.

The alleged Ford Explorer. Note the lack of skid marks.

Weir was so emotionally destroyed by the event that he had to be hauled away by EMTs on a gurney. Really!

Weir's graceful exit.

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Move over Stephen King and Keanu Reeves we have winner. Chase Weir was driving along on a Melbourne freeway at 100km/h when he realized his cruise control was stuck on his Ford Explorer and he couldn’t turn it off. A frantic Mr Weir called police who helped clear the traffic and escorted him along the freeway. Despite braking, knocking the car out of gear and removing the keys, the car continued to hurtle along at 100km/h .  As police frantically tried to find a solution all seemed to be going OK, that was until he came to the banked up traffic scenario . Ah shit!  Police were unable to clear traffic near Monash university fast enough. Everyone panic.  Luckily a quick thinking radio police officer told him to slam on the brakes and pull the handbrake at the same time. “I just shut my eyes. I could hear the tyres skidding on the road for what seemed like forever. I thought I was dead. When I opened my eyes, I was bonnet to bonnet with the car in front of me.”  Hmm, while Mr Weir was taken to hospital in shit stains shock, Ford were muttering WTF!

Psst Appropriate name dude!

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Ahhh, Wednesday.  Not sure how I approach this day of jump, middle of the week, or the day from hell?  Wednesday’s I drive 60 miles to take my son and his teammate to hockey practice.  I get to fight the good fight of the Boston traffic going South and North.  I have always wondered how that works, traffic both ways.  I rush them down to practice, a 1/2 or or sometimes 45 minutes early, against their wishes, but I know in order to get through the traffic and pick up his sister by 6pm at the after-school program, they have to suck it up.  Ahhh, Wednesday.

My week is generally planned around this special day.  Special in that I get to spend quality time with two teenagers who mearly grunt and text message one another while they are less than 16 inches apart.  When I pick up Charlie’s teammate and friend Zack, I ask the same questions, hoping to get some conversation from these boys.  Now Zack is a great kid, as the weeks have passed he plays me like a fiddle engaging in my tete á tete.  ”How was school today Zack?”, I ask hoping for a sentence longer than one word.  ”Actually, it was great Mrs. McConnell. Today, I had a really nice day.  Thanks for asking.”  What, what, who is this? Oh the joys of conversation.  Do I continue, or do I relish in the fact that he didn’t just grunt a “good” under his voice-changing breath?

I’ll take it.  My Wednesday is fulfilled.  Now I head into the traffic.  I would love to calculate the miles put on my car over the course of the hockey season.  My Ford Explorer has 210,000 miles (most of which was driving to and from a job 40 miles from our home).  Now, she, (Bessie, I affectionately call her, or Big Blue), has retired from driving to those hockey tournaments outside a 250 mile radius.  My husband fears Bessie will not make it much longer.

She’s got good fight in her.  She’s been to Montreal, Quebec, Rochester, Providence, Stamford, and of course, nearly every MDC rink in eastern Massachusetts.  She’s toured much of the South Shore for Baseball trips, but was left behind when we drove to Virginia Beach for the AAU National Tournament.  It may have been a result of her lack of air conditioning, or simply the noises in the back tend to over deliver their sound over the music on the radio.  We’re careful where Bessie goes now.

My favorite part of Bessie is her ability to house so much crap to keep my six year old content.  As we travel from place to place, taking in as many dinners on the road as an amateur hockey team, we collect plenty of restaurant crayons.  I wish just once, someone would supply colors other than red, blue, green and yellow.    I’ll survive though.  I keep a basket of “art supplies” in the back, tucked away next to the three or four fleece blankets, extra winter coats, and of course the travel potty seat.  You laugh, but when you have a girl, they come in handy!

I’m pretty convinced Bessie looks forward to the switchover.  This is the time when the basket and items in the car switchover from hockey to baseball, or vice versa.  This, this is the time Bessie gets a good cleaning.  I even think she runs better for a day or so.  (Noises not so loud, or maybe I am just turning the radio up a little louder?)  Fleece blankets are replaced with large blankets to act as a picnic blanket.  The “tent” I purchased for $20 dollars goes alongside the pop up chairs.  (I highly advise the purchase of a pop-up tent to keep little ones occupied at baseball games.  Baseball, as you know, has no clock…

Yes, Bessie has a good life.  International explorer that she is, she keeps chugging along.  And, I have to say, no car payment leaves me more money to take the kids out to eat and score those free crayons.

The idea is ingenious. We already use airbags in out steering wheels, dash boards, pillars, seats and headliners, so why not put one in a seat belt? If it works as intended, it should spread out the impact forces and reduce the amount of bruising that occurs. This could prove a major benefit for children and elderly people, who are often more prone to injuries during car crashes.  The inflatable belts are only being developed for the rear seats; featuring smooth edges and more padding that a sheepskin seat cover, these belts should prove to be more comfortable to wear that traditional belts.  Expect them to be released in the next generation Ford Explorer first, with more vehicles to follow. Get the full details from Ford after the jump.

DETROIT — Air bags have long been mounted in the steering wheel, dashboard and sides of vehicles. Now, they’re in the seat belts.

Ford Motor Co. plans to introduce seat belt-mounted air bags in the back seat of the 2011 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which will hit the market next fall. Ford says it’s the first automaker to mass produce the technology.

The belts have a cylindrical air bag that stretches from the buckle to the shoulder and fits inside a pocket sewn into the belt. The car sends a signal that releases the bag, which inflates more gently than a front air bag, so it’s safer for children.

Srini Sundararajan, the Ford engineer who was chiefly responsible for developing the device, says the wider belts and bags help distribute crash forces across the occupant’s chest, so there’s less chance of serious injury. It also supports the head and neck.

“The top two lifesaving devices today are the seat belt and the air bag. This combines them into one great feature,” Sundararajan said.

Clarence Ditlow, head of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, says the belts are particularly effective at protecting the elderly, who are more frail.

“You often end up with broken ribs” during a crash with a conventional seat belt, Ditlow said.

Ford has been working on the technology for a decade and had to overcome numerous challenges bringing it to market.

Front air bags are powered by a device that generates hot gas. They deploy very quickly because they need to cover a greater distance before they reach the driver or passenger. Seat belt air bags don’t have that distance to cover, so they can deploy more gently, using cold gas technology, although Srini said they’re still fully deployed in a tenth of a second.

Ford also did a significant amount of testing to make sure the bags would protect children, even if they’re sleeping and their heads are drooping. The belt also works with booster seats.

Sue Cischke, Ford’s group vice president for sustainability, environmental and safety engineering, wouldn’t say how much the belts with air bags will cost, but she did say the technology is expensive. They will be available as an option at first, since some drivers – particularly those without children – may not feel they need them.

“With any new safety technology, you have to do a lot to educate the consumer,” she said. “We’re not sure what people will value with this.”

Cischke said the Explorer was chosen for the new seat belts because it’s popular with families and has also been a platform for other safety introductions, such as side-curtain air bags and stability control. Cischke said the price could come down substantially if Ford decides to put the seat belts on other vehicles.

Edward DeSmet, a technical seat belt specialist at Ford, said test subjects found the padded belts even more comfortable than regular ones. He hopes that leads more people to use them. U.S. seat belt usage in back seats is still at a dismal 60 percent, compared with 83 percent in the vehicle as a whole, DeSmet said.

___

AP Auto Writer Dan Strumpf contributed to this report from New York.

I found out on Huffington Post that Ford just came out with some new car technology that enhances the safety feature on their Ford Explorer – Seatbelt WITH Airbags! How awesome is that.  Keep reading below …

DETROIT — Air bags have long been mounted in the steering wheel, dashboard and sides of vehicles. Now, they’re in the seat belts.

Ford Motor Co. plans to introduce seat belt-mounted air bags in the back seat of the 2011 Ford Explorer sport utility vehicle, which will hit the market next fall. Ford says it’s the first automaker to mass produce the technology.

The belts have a cylindrical air bag that stretches from the buckle to the shoulder and fits inside a pocket sewn into the belt. The car sends a signal that releases the bag, which inflates more gently than a front air bag, so it’s safer for children.

Srini Sundararajan, the Ford engineer who was chiefly responsible for developing the device, says the wider belts and bags help distribute crash forces across the occupant’s chest, so there’s less chance of serious injury. It also supports the head and neck.

“The top two lifesaving devices today are the seat belt and the air bag. This combines them into one great feature,” Sundararajan said.

To read the complete article, click here.

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Il proprietario non ne voleva più sapere di quella Bentely Continental R (Prima foto) con il motore fuori uso. Una bega costosa e inutile da riparare, deve aver pensato, mandandola nella pressa del “cash for clunkers”, il programma di incentivi varato dall’amministrazione Obama. In cambio della lussuosa coupé, che in buono stato vale 60 mila euro (quotazione “Ruoteclassiche”), ha ottenuto un assegno da 4.500 dollari.

E che dire di una Aston Martin DB7 Volante del ‘97 (seconda foto) alla quale è toccata la stessa sorte? La lista dei “sacrilegi” automobilistici americani è stata pubblicata dal quotidiano “Detroit Free Press” e vanta alcune rarità.

Come le 22 Peugeot demolite (il marchio francese è sparito dal mercato Usa nel 1991) o un esemplare di Buick GNX (terza foto), una berlina potentissima capace di accelerare da 0 a 100 km/h in 6 secondi, realizzata in sole 587 unità.

Qualcun altro, invece, si è liberato di una Mercedes C43 AMG, mentre 22 Corvette sono arrivate a fine corsa. E incredibilmente sono stati avvistati modelli con meno di tre anni di vita, come la Scion xD o un’edizione speciale del pick-up Ford F-150 spinta da un V8 da 450 CV.

Nella classifica della più rottamate figura al primo posto la Ford Explorer: con 69.887 demolizioni, rappresenta il 10% del totale del “cash for clunkers”.

Fonte: www.quattroruote.it

Recognizing the CMOs role when it comes to crisis

Dean Crutchfield, Article, September 14^th, 2009, Advertising Age

http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=138995

Crises are particle accelerators for brands that reveal their fragility as we’ve just witnessed with bankrupt banks, tampered-with pizzas, poisoned pistachios, dodgy cookie dough and lethal drugs. In light of the innumerable gaffes “brands” make when dealing with crisis, catastrophe reveals four cardinal rules CMOs can help deploy with PR.

1: Expect the best, Plan for the worst

“I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.” George W. Bush, September 1, 2005.

When crisis strikes, news and social media burst and formal statements are rendered useless. Stocks don’t have a memory recall button, but the public do. The problem isn’t resources; it’s about managing the crisis with a can-do culture and strong values of trust. Many claim it, but few deliver: J&J’s $100M rapid response to the contaminated Tylenol crisis in ’82 prepared J&J for the acetaminophen overdosing debacle in ‘09, but (what) did we learn?

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Captain Sully’s preparedness for the “Miracle on the Hudson” was a far cry from the sludge bank of stoic corporate puff supplied in the (delayed) response of US Airways’ CEO, Doug Parker. The same rang true for Merck’s smoking gun with Vioxx that demonstrated how much the company’s leadership was in disarray. Merck communicated greater interest in maintaining their $2.5B brand than their vision “To preserve and improve human life.” Their disdain for the facts took them 4 weeks to withdraw Vioxx!

Consumers may be forgiving, but a crisis can cost a brand’s reputation in a single battering: “The court of public opinion can put you out of business even faster than a court of law.”

2: Decentralized decision-making

Crises are too quick for lengthy procedures; you can’t hide in bureaucracy, you can’t be pusillanimous and trust is vital. Mississippi Power’s success restoring power in 12 days during Katrina was twenty “Storm Directors” with crystal clear assignments and a phone directory of people who could get things done. As the Storm Director, Robert Powell said, “If you don’t know what you’re supposed to do, the manual is not going to help you now.”

Mattel had experienced 28 product recalls prior to the lead paint scare in ’07. When the news broke a team of sixteen opened all lines of communication with 300 media channels and its CEO, Robert Eckert, made 14 TV appearances and 20 calls to journalists in one day, a model for decentralized decision-making. A similarly integrated, multi-platform response strategy resulted in favorable customer opinion to Nestlé’s immediate action to withdraw its Toll House cookie dough brand this summer.

The Fortune 100 favor Twitter as a key communication tool according to a study by Burson Marstellar. As social media becomes ubiquitous and customers participate more, the role of the CMO is crucial in crisis as they’re able to inculcate social media to empower customers to play a key role: South West Airlines this summer, immediately posted updates on Twitter as the damaged plane landed, which illustrates the ability to handle the urgency of crisis communication.

3: Disaster begs a bold response

Marshalling a crisis team and a response plan are critical, including weighing the need for autonomy over the preferred unified leadership approach. Citi was the largest US bank prior to the meltdown and its fall from grace was accelerated by Robert Rubin’s “probabilistic” approach to decision-making that clearly misrepresented the severity of Citi’s exposure to the crisis that broke the brand and the bank.

Rest assured, when you need an ambitious, audacious and imaginative response, being forced on ineffective policies by some species of corporate bureaucrat creates a morass. During Katrina, with the cash economy broken, Mississippi Power’s head of marketing helped instigate a bartering system: electricity for fuel supplies with Chevron; consequently supplying the Eastern US and Gulf coast with fuel! Evidently, the more you want to achieve the more you achieve.

4: Check, Test, Check, Test

Brand integrity is compromised through fear. Studies show that companies who handled a catastrophe well have recovered and even exceeded pre-catastrophe stock price.

In a crisis fear is often the company’s first reaction that culminates in either a lack of compassion and/or stubborn refusal of the facts. Firestone tire treads were causing fatal crashes on the Ford Explorer, but customers were blamed first for over inflating the tires, then both brands publicly defenestrated each other for faulty designs and concomitantly fell into silence until dragged before Congress. Propitiously, Ford employees are currently being trained on how to better present the company via the use of Twitter to interact with customers.

Post adhoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this)

Decontaminating a brand doesn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Bad news is good news to the prepared. When you need to be big, strong, fast and mobilize a massive, sweeping redistribution of information to the public: Hide Nothing, Tell All. With that mantra in hand, there’s a phrase popular in the Whitehouse: “Never waste a good crisis.”

Clean Ford Explorer Sold and shipped down to Nigeria,#1.8

Did you know they stopped producing Ford Excursions back in 2005?! What kind of crap is that?!

I love Excursions. They are big, have enough room for 2 carseats and a dog, you can tow anything, and you can go shopping at Costco without crowding the kids. And I just love Fords, plain and simple.

I have wanted one for awhile, especially after I bought my Explorer last summer. I love it. I love the way it sits, the way it rides, the way it handles. But Excursions are hard to find because no one wants to get rid of them. And when you do find one, they are a bit expensive.

Daniel has already said that if I find one for a good price, I get it. He’s the one who gets the new-to-him pickups all the time. If I can’t find an Excursion then I’m getting a F-350 crew cab. Mondo and Mandy have one and I’ve driven it a few times and I LOVE it.

My dream cars-an Excursion or F-350. I’m so NOT girly.

Each week Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Mercury spotlights several different vehicles we currently have at our dealership. Each week we will have a different set of vehicles that are in the Inventory Spotlight so make sure to visit our website each week to check out our spotlighted vehicles. This week’s Inventory Spotlight Vehicles are:

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

2002 Ford Taurus

Stock: 94349A

Mileage: 89,553

Price: $6,991

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2006 Ford Focus

Stock: B5642

Mileage: 23,856

Price: $10,991

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2006 Ford Explorer

Stock: 94501A

Mileage: 112,098

Price: $11,299

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2007 Ford F 150

Stock: A4028A

Mileage: 65,776

Price: $23,399

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2009 Dodge Grand Caravan

Stock: B5640

Mileage: 41,674

Price: $19,499

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See something you like? Call Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Mercury at 888.542.3388 today and schedule your test drive!

Want to see Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Mercury’s entire inventory? Visit us at www.vigilford.com

Last Friday, a good friend and I left my Sherwood (home) for a weekend of photography. The purpose was 3 fold. One, to see the wildflower display up at My Rainier (it was AWESOME!) and then drive over to Olympic National Park.  Second, was to show my friend, and fellow photographer from San Diego,  Greg, areas he hadn’t seen and get some good images. Third, was to shoot some video for workshop promotion and other projects (which we did and was pretty funny in itself at times). This was not a workshop but rather a few days out shooting in some of the nicest, but remote areas in the country.

We got up to Mt Rainier late on the morning in Friday. The mountain was socked in (fog) but we did get some great images of the wildflowers and the area. Since we exhausted the possibilities there due to the weather, we left after lunch for Olympic, via Seattle, and Port Townsend ferry for Olympic National Park.  We spent the night in Port Angeles. Saturday’s sunrise at Hurricane Ridge wasn’t great but much better than we thought or expected.  We then shot over in the Sol Duc area, as well as the Hoa Rain forest on the west side of the Olympic peninsula. We spent Saturday night in Kalaloch.

 On Sunday am we drove up  to 4^th beach to shoot some decent tide pools at low tide. Again we got some good images.  After the tide pool shoot we planned on heading back to Portland and home.

We took a few detours through some forest service roads to look for more shots and decided to take the loop around Lake Quinault.

The lake is about 15miles long and has a north road and south road. We got to the point where the road was about 17 ‘wide with loose gravel.  We were about ¾ around the lake when we came into a pretty big curve (about 45 degrees). About ½ way through the curve a motor home (most of you know how I feel about them) came barreling toward us, really fast and I mean fast!.

 The choice was to hit the RV head on or try and avoid him. We had a shallow part of the river, which feed into the lake on our right and about a 20-25’ embankment. I had a split second to make this decision. Well, I decided to try and avoid the RV and swerved to the right. My front right tire went over the embankment.

Both Greg and I though it would stop the truck by bottoming out but the dirt was so loose on the embankment that we went into a roll , sideways down the embankment, and landed tires up in about 2-3′ of water, in the river that feeds into Lake Quinault. We rolled at least once and maybe twice.

I gatherd some important papers and the Canon G10 I carried along and began to try and get out of the water. Greg followed. We managed to climb up the embankment ( again,about 20-25′). The soil was really dry and not easy to get hardly any traction in, but we made it. The RV drivers wife was standing there and she asked if we were ok. I indicated I didn’t really know! ( What I wanted to say was…” Yea, I’m feeling great, how about you?” but for once I avoided saying the wrong thing.

Here is the amazing part. It was drizzling lightly and I was standing there pretty shocked, wet, in a short sleeve shirt and wet pants. The RV folks were in a big hurry to get out of there, before any rangers showed up.  Instead of saying, why don’t you guys come on in and stay dry etc….The RV guy (driver) took off pretty quick after we made it up the embankment.  I practically had to beg him for his name & phone #. When I asked him for it, he asked me “why do you need my name # phone #”  duhhhhhhh?????…..I really don’t like to (well I guess I do) pre judge folks but this guy knew he caused the accident and hi-tailed it away as soon as he could.  His wife actually told him to give me the info… he didn’t want to. He scribbled it down on a paper plate as he looked at me and again says…”I don’t know why you need this”.

… there they go!

This road is only 17′ wide… Why are RV’s even allowed in this section of the road? . I grabbed my Canon G10 (as you can see) and took a lot of images of the road and everything else (and the license plate of the RV guy!)

 Keep in mind we were 5-8 miles from the nearest building, 15 miles or so from the nearest little ( and I mean little) town, out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. After a while the ranger came by and did his thing. He was super nice and extremely friendly and helpful. Next time you all get into the National Parks, be courteous to these folks. they are here for you, as I witnessed in person. In fact he had one of his other rangers personally drive us south about an hour to deal with the car in tow and meet my wife, who drove up 4 hrs from home to get us. They were really helpful and get me through the afternoon. Thank you George!!! About 2 hours later the tow truck arrived (they were located 1 hr 15 minutes south in Aberdeen!) and they somehow pulled the truck up the embankment.

                                                                                            I can tell you on thing … both Greg and I are convinced that this vehicle saved our lived.

It was built in 2002 and did not crunch in during the roll. I bet the newer vehicles would have not held up as well. Thanks Ford!

So here’s the bottom line

1)      We are both OK. Greg is just a little sore and so am I. My back is pretty screwed up but we both had seat belts on (l don’t wear mine a lot of the time. I was lucky)

2)      Camera bags were scattered in the water as were a lot of the truck’s contents flew out of the blow out windows.

3)      We have 2 dead cameras, a few dead lenses (due to water), both all memory cards survived and images were intact.

4)      My good old Explorer is totaled and begin the process of dealing with the insurance company etc.

 BUT…………

 We are both in a lot better shape than we could have been.  Most everyone who was there was surprised we were walking around and not dead. It’s really funny what goes through your mind in the 20-30 seconds of this kind of an event. It’s like your life replays itself in really fast motion. It was a very weird feeling, one I hope you all never have to experience.

SO………….

Since I know a lot of other travelers and photographers might read this……            I have a few things for you all to consider:

I know we all get out to some pretty remote areas. This accident happened in one. Don’t take anything for granted. Be prepared. We had lots of food, water and supplies in the event we got stranded.  Let someone know where you are going. I had called my wife about 2 hrs before the accident, and told here we would be back around 4-5pm and where we were when I called. Always let someone know where you  are if you can.

This truck of mine had 145,000 miles on it and it was in tip top condition. It’s been to some very remote areas and frankly was in great shape with good tires and up to date everything.  This was the 4^thFord Explorer I’ve driven so I bet I’ve driven over a mjillion miles in some crazy areas without an accident (this was y 1^st and almost my last), so maybe the odds were that I was due.  If you think you might be due as well, be extra careful. I was reminded of another photographer friend, Garry Crabbe who sustained much worse injuries than us in Death Valley earlier this year when he slipped off a ridge. Understand where you are and please be careful. Could I have avoided this accident? Probably not but it could have been a lot worse. 

As my dear friend Bill Fortney of Nikon told me….. This was a message from above, that God’s trying to get my attention….  well He did… big time! That’s why we survived.

Be careful , fellow photogrphers as well as other who venture out into these kind of areas.. You never know what’s around the next curve.

JG

A few months ago, my oldest two children’s daily civil war had me wishing for a larger vehicle.  A larger vehicle you say?  Something more roomy, more comfortable, something more awesome than the minivan?  Agreed, not possible.  However, as of August 6, 2009 the number of children that I will haul around in minivan awesomeness has doubled.  While the Caravan can seat seven relatively comfortably, add three baby seats and five bodies and the Caravan comes up a little short.

The self-improvement set would employ something cliche like ‘With every challenge an opportunity is presented’.  A broken clock is right at least twice a day.  But this an opportunity.  A new vehicle is needed and with a family of eight, why not try and get another minivan?

While the funds are still tight, it doesn’t stop me from pining after the sexiness of this, or the hautness of this, or the American genius of this!  However, the wife is using this opportunity to go after gas guzzling symbols of soccer mom status like this or even this.  It hurts a little, the wife not wanting live the loco life with me in the minivan.  But a man can dream right?

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Blog posted by:

Larry Hayden, Owner
www.AutoAccessoriesNow.com
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