Firsts and lasts
March 25 2008
My travels this week and next seem to have a lot of firsts and lasts...
- When I arrived in New York yesterday, a Toyota Prius was waiting for me in the Hertz parking lot. Now, this car isn't exactly new, but I have never been inside one before, much less driven it. I quite like the idea, but it did take a few minutes to adjust to this car. First of all, the proximity key is a very cool feature -- but it wasn't clear that the start button needs to be depressed and held in to start the car. Further, since all that starts initially is the electric motor, it's not like you get the roar of a combustion engine to confirm that you have done this right. It took me a few drives to figure that out, as well as the "P" button as opposed to being able to use the shifter to put the car in park. And I still have no idea what the "B" setting was on the drive mode selector. My driving today averaged about 43 MPG, very impressive.
- Tonight, Kathleen McGivney, her fiancee, and I had the opportunity to eat raw... I met up with them for dinner at Pure Food and Wine in Manhattan. This restaurant specializes in vegan food, prepared raw -- less than 118 degrees farenheit -- and without wheat, dairy, soy, or refined sugars. It was interesting how packed this restaurant was, even at an "early" 7:30 in NYC. The food was quite tasty and beautifully plated. I am not sure I'll run back there, but it was an interesting concept to try.
- On Sunday, I am heading to Germany again for a couple of customer meetings. I'll be connecting via Düsseldorf, which means I have one last opportunity to fly the Privatair all-business class service for Lufthansa. Apparently the Chicago-Düsseldorf route is quite in demand, as Lufthansa will convert this on 1 May to an Airbus 340, three-class service flight. The notion of a business class-only flight seems to have caught on, with several airlines now running similar routes between the US and Europe. In a span of 12 hours on Monday, I'll pass from Düsseldorf to Stuttgart to a customer, back to Stuttgart, back to Düsseldorf, and on to Essen. For obvious reasons, I am not offering a geekdinner in Essen that night :-)
- I will just miss the Lotusphere Comes to You events in the UK next week, but I will be in Manchester on Wednesday night (the 2nd) prior to the LCTY there. Already have discussed a possible geekdinner with some of the Bluewave team (Warren and Paul) for that night...perhaps others would be interested?
Post a Comment
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Dvir Reznik http://dvirreznik.blogspot.com | 3/26/2008 3:54:09 AM
Hey Ed,
The Prius is something I'd love to drive in, and we even have it as company car, but it's too expensive... I guess part of the 'revolution' also concerns government officials - lowering the tax on environment friendly cars..
I won't be joining you in the UK, but I'm in Madrid mid-April (14-17) for Lotus education... Good luck with the Germans
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Jim Casale | 3/26/2008 6:54:57 AM
Hey Ed,
Stop by for a free lunch. You can even meet our mutual friend...LOL
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Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 3/26/2008 7:03:35 AM
Sorry Jim, already at laguardia heading for Detroit...next time
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Neil Gower http://ngower.me.uk | 3/26/2008 8:17:06 AM
If your in Manchester the night before LCTY and you do arrange a geek dinner, then please give me a shout as would like to come.
Its a pity your not in Manchester longer, as I would invite you to see some of the interesting applications we have that use Lotus Domino.
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Tim Rand | 3/26/2008 1:23:00 PM
@1 - Ben, if you simply put your foot on the brake, then one press of the power button turns it to full on. This behavior has freaked my wife out more than once.
Ed, your average of 43 is pretty good. Once you get the hang of it, its like driving a video game to try to eke out the best performance you can.
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mdmadph http://mdm-adph.blogspot.com | 3/26/2008 2:11:26 PM
Bah -- want impressive? Drive a diesel. :P
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Ben Rose http://www.jaffacake.net | 3/26/2008 3:23:02 PM
@6 - Very true about the brake pedal, I was trying not to make Ed feel stupid. :OP There's a guy at work whose wife averages over 60mpg on some tanks of gas. She literally only uses the car to drive to the local shops and back, almost exclusively on batteries.
@7 - My 3 tonne Lexus can drive to the supermarket and back without using ANY gas...do that with a diesel ;O)
Prius - There is a "Ready" indicator on the dash to tell you when the car is started. The button should be treated like a key - just like you hold a key in the ignition position to start a car, you must hold the button. Pressing it once or twice is equivalent to the traditional I II positions on the ignition key. One push (position I) starts the radio and other electrics, as expected. I'll give you the P button though, that's unexpected.
The "B" setting on the gearshift stands for Braking. The Prius has very little rolling resistance, in fact it can roll for a very long way when you take your foot off the gas...such is efficiency. As it usually a continuously variable transmission (cvt) system, there are no gears available so you can't just downshift when rolling down a steep hill, for example. Engaging the "B" mode is a bit like driving in a lower gear, but without the economy reduction. In fact, as it uses the dynamos to effect the engine braking, efficiency can actually increase as the batteries receive more charge.
I like the Prius, a lot. Luggage space and legroom for a car of it's size is surpringly good and it has one of the best factory fitted soundsystems I've heard in any car. Of course I cruise around in it's big brother Lexus RX-400h :-)
Manhattan - is it unusual to find a restaurant busy at 7:30 anywhere in the US? We generally eat gone 8pm and find the restaurants state-side are usually dead.
LC2U - No can do Manchester...more notice required next time!