Funkengroovin Wednesday - Afterview

I was going to post a "Funkengroovin Preview", but TeData decided at exactly 4:30 PM on Sunday it was changing over it's system, you know "improvings it," and my Internet went dead, as well as my Vonage phone. They sent a young MB looking guy, in jeans over, who fucked with my MAC for over an hour. He tried that last month, but I wouldn't let him near my machine. No one around here seems to understand Mac's. They promised to send someone else over in the morning - "inshallah mumpkin boukra" (tomorrow, God willing). The Boss Man went through the words "fuck," "fucked up," and "fucking" every other breath (the ugly American.) Fortunately MB looking man laughed at it all. They said they had installed a better system from the U.K. Oh, let me ask a rhetorical question here, "Is Bill Gates from the UK? Is Steve Jobs from the UK? Did the UK invent the Internet? Are all the Indian ITT wizards from the UK?" Needless to say, that did not impress me.

Monday I found the new TeData number in the back of a magazine, after having called wrong numbers all morning long. One of the numbers, which I had gotten from a book belonged to a woman I phoned up twice. The second time, she said, "Don't hang up! I want to help you." I explained my problem (that I was trying to call TeData,) and she gave me the number for information. I decided to wait until the maid arrived, for help with any Arabic I might need, but then I found the TeData number on the back page of a CSA Magazine the Boss Man brought home, coincidentally the night before.

I called. I waited. I was transferred. I waited again. I was transferred again, and constantly told, "I am now transferring you to a techhnikal assistant." I was transferred again, to a "technician". Apparently not technically inclined enough though, as his reply to me was, "We do not soupporrrt Muckintoush." Meanwhile, it took me about an hour to figure out what the young MB dude did to my computer, and to undo it all.

Fortunately we have a friend who came over with his IBM, and he was able to figure out that our router went dead after the TeData "improvements." He got us use of a (temporary) working router, and sometime Monday evening we were back in business. He's even going to take the old router back for us, to exchange for a new one. The man is amazing! Needless to say we will need to bring a superior gift for him, when one of us returns from the States, later this fall. I think the Boss Man was talking about an Apple product - not sure, but I know he'll love it! We will convert these skeptics, one by one, slowly, killing them softly with lovable Apple products (uh, no iPhone, though).

Monday evening, which is when I usually post my "Funkengroovin Preview" we were back in business, but I was about 24 hours behind on my blog.

Both the young lady on the other end of my wrong number, and our friend were awesome in helping us out. The people here in Egypt are totally giving. I don't think I've ever lived in a country where people are so friendly, considerate, willing to make fun of themselves, plus who scream and get all emotional just like Greeks! So for all my Egyptian and Muslim friends: Ramadan Kareem. BTW, I gave the boab money to go buy a Ramadan light. I told him to buy one he liked, since he sits out there, and has to look at it all day and night. He said, in his thirteen years working here, no one has ever given him that discretion, nor paid for a light.

What did Jerry Lewis say, LaLaLa, Nice laddeeee!" - Nooooo. I am not nice! I was just so embarrassed because everyone else had Ramadan lights and we didn't. I can't believe the other folks in this apartment building don't give a hoot, and they're all Muslim! I think the boab is very happy though.

My mom always said, "What goes around comes around."

Now, that I've gotten my computer problems off my chest, here's the "Preview" a bit late - which makes it an "Afterview", I guess.

Anybody remember Ted Bundy?
Bundy, Ridgway 'murderabilia' among Internet sales

WASHINGTON - Round and chrome, it looks a lot like your average hubcap from a vintage VW Bug. But this one is special. And it's for sale.

It's off the tan 1968 Volkswagen Beetle that Ted Bundy drove as he roamed the West in the mid-1970s murdering young women. From Washington state to Colorado to Utah, Bundy is considered among the most diabolical serial killers in U.S. history.

The starting bid for the hubcap from Bundy's Beetle is $3,500.

Here's a preview of a new car from Volkswagen. Personally, I don't like the way it looks - fugly. Interior and exterior photos are included in the article.
The Volkswagen up!

Frankfurt Preview: Volkswagen Caddy Maxi Life

A Successor to the Hippie Van

It has become the favored vehicle for a new generation of van fans, argued Paul Saffo, the futurist and Stanford University teacher, in his blog at saffo.com. The Sprinter, he wrote, became the spiritual successor to the Volkswagen Microbus of the 1960s and the Ford Econoline and other vans of later eras, noting that private individuals “began purchasing Sprinters, turning them into mobile homes, windsurfing carriers, pedigree dog show transporters and, of course, surfer vans.

Rise of the replica cars

Volkswagen T2 van The classic "Kombi" camper van was never luxurious but romantics still prefer it to modern tourers. VW Brazil is still manufacturing a version and you can buy a brand-new T2 Rio camper – but with the reliability and build quality of a modern Volkswagen.

The motor is water- rather than air-cooled (it's from a 1.4-litre Golf). Otherwise, this is as faithful a Sixties camping experience as you can get. From £21,688, danburymotorcaravans.com.

The Who to rock International Bus Meeting - Nice photos here.

That’s exactly what the song ‘Going Mobile’ is about: “Well I'm gonna find a home on wheels, see how it feels, / Goin' mobile/ Keep me moving/ I can pull up by the curb, /I can make it on the road, /Goin' mobile
I can stop in any street/ And talk with people that we meet”.

The Who vocalist Roger Daltrey is a Volkswagen Bus enthusiast too and says he is looking forward to the event. “All of us in the band are Volkswagen fans. I’ll give my vocal chords an oiling and then give it all I’ve got, until everyone is singing along … ´f-f-fade away´,“ Daltrey promises.

International VW Bus Meeting - Go to the Gallery for some great Type 2 photos.

How to renovate a VW bus in just 73 complicated steps

Ailments and Antidotes

SHUDDERING Acuras and grease oozing from the dashboards of Mazda CX-9s are among the latest technical service bulletins compiled by alldatapro.com.

Technical service bulletins, or T.S.B.’s, offer insights into some recurring problems. The bulletins are not recalls; they are notices provided by manufacturers to the service departments and mechanics of their dealerships. Except where noted, manufacturers did not mention in the reports whether the repairs would be covered outside of the warranty.

VOLKSWAGEN Owners of some 2004-8 Volkswagen Touareg S.U.V.’s may find their door handles stuck open. In TSB 5707-06 issued May 3, Volkswagen officials noted that while the handle may become stuck, the latch remained operative. Adding a metal retaining clip inside the door trim should snap things back into place.

How many times have I heard the Boss Man say, "That car is a piece of shit?" (aka P.O.S.)

Well, from TIME Magazine, here's an official list of The 50 Worst Cars Of Al Time, with emphasis on The Edsel.


Maybe some the new Chinese made cars will make the list eventually. Germans See Imitation in Chinese Cars,

FRANKFURT, Sept. 11 — It’s hardly surprising that a car that bills itself as the “ultimate driving machine” would inspire imitation. But to BMW, the CEO, a Chinese sport utility vehicle, is less respectful homage than brazen knockoff.

“We did not like it,” BMW chief executive, Norbert Reithofer, said curtly in an interview here.

Neither did DaimlerChrysler, which is taking legal action against Shuanghuan to prevent it from selling the Noble, a subcompact that bears an uncanny resemblance to Daimler’s Smart minicar. The Noble did not appear at the show, though the importer, China Automobile Deutschland, insisted that it decided on its own not to distribute the car in Germany.

“Naturally, our cars are inspired by European carmakers,” said Karl Schlössl, a German who is the chief executive of China Automobile. “But we reject the charge that they are copies.”

At a circuslike news conference, Mr. Schlössl refused to speak the name BMW, instead referring to it as “that company.” He spoke of having a southern German accent that would make him at home in the hallways of the Munich-based BMW, and he introduced a tall blond woman as his companion.

Mr. Maxton said Chinese carmakers sometimes copied the exterior of a car from one model, and the interior from another. In the case of the CEO, for instance, it is not clear that the BMW X5 was the sole inspiration for its design. Auto critics have said that while the rear end of the vehicle is a dead ringer for the X5, the front end looks more like a Toyota Land Cruiser.

BMW emphasized that under the hood, the CEO is no X5. Small wonder: the X5 starts at 59,000 euros ($86,830) in Europe; the twin-turbo diesel model on display here goes for 92,000 euros ($126,040). Mr. Schlössl said the CEO would sell for a base price of 25,900 euros ($35,483).

For now, the Chinese are struggling with more basic issues, like designing a safe car. Two carmakers, Brilliance and Landwind, suffered when their cars performed abysmally in crash tests conducted by the German automobile club ADAC.

Landwind has stopped selling while it retools its cars to improve their safety, according to Peter Bijvelds, a Dutch car dealer who holds the distribution license for the brand.

Brilliance, which collaborates with BMW in assembling cars in China, insisted it had improved its safety standards, though it still received only a middling score in a subsequent crash test. It presented its new compact, the BS2, as a low-cost alternative to the Volkswagen Golf.

Little Britain - Carol Beer