The Oracle of Apollo Snippets from the life of Apollo Lee

So Ridiculously Light

One year ago today, I got on the scale and saw that ugly 196 pound reading. By New Year’s Eve, I had lost 46 of those pounds. The scale read 150. This morning, the scale reads 150.

Through focused, almost obsessive, attention to my diet and working out (doing CrossFit since September), I have been able to maintain a lithe 150 pound weight (some days, I’m a pound over; some days, I’m a pound under) while building functional strength since then. My next step is to buy a barbell and bumper plates to ramp my fitness training up to the next level.

A year isn’t very long, but this year feels like an eternity. That big, bulky Apollo of 2007 has given way to a lean, mean machine that sets personal bests on workouts with startling regularity.

Here are my five upcoming fitness goals.

1. Acquire a barbell, bumpers, gymnastic rings, a Dynamax ball, and squat stands for portable workout awesomeness.
2. Max the APFT by my 38th birthday.
3. Take the CrossFit Level I Certification, the Running & Endurance Sports Training Certification, and the Olympic Lifting Certification.
4. Figure out the muscle up, double under, unassisted one-legged squat, L sit, and handstand pushup.
5. Score a first class on the Marine Corps Physical Fitness Test.

There are some exciting things coming. I can’t wait.

New iPhone 3G

Over the past couple of weeks, my Blackberry Pearl has been having some issues. Lately, it deletes all the text messages and phone logs very frequently, so that I sometimes miss things. So, this afternoon, I decided to go over to the Apple Store in Palo Alto and rectify the situation. After reports (and a visit in Pleasanton to confirm) of stores being out of them, I took my chances and walked into the store in Palo Alto.

“Hi. I’d like an iPhone, please,” I requested.

“Which one?”

“The 128 GB.“

“Oh, we don’t have those. We have the 16 GB. That’s the biggest one there is.”

“Well, consider it sold.”

Ten minutes later, I took this picture with my Blackberry Pearl.

At last! I’m a cool kid now.

RIP Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch succumbed today to complications from pancreatic cancer. This is really sad. He was an inspiration to everyone who knew him, even if we only knew him through his Last Lecture.

If you haven’t seen it, you must.

Rest in peace, Dr. Pausch.

CrossFit Introduction Class

The local CrossFit affiliate advertised a two-day introductory class and I decided at the last minute to take it, just so I could dial in my form on several of the exercises. I’m considering buying a barbell and bumper plates in the near future to increase my mad ridiculous amounts of game, so it would behoove me to have professional form correction before I mess myself up.

In addition to the fee I paid, I had to buy a day pass both days at this particular gym, but I expected that. We started at 8 am on Friday and Saturday, and were all out the door by noon.

On Friday, we went through the push press, shoulder press, push jerk, the jumping and squat stances, overhead squats, and kipping pullups. I’ve been doing CrossFit workouts on my own since the middle of September, so I already knew how to do some of these, but I wanted some tips and really locking my form in. We finished the day with Fran, using dumbbells and rough pullup bar. Sadly, I ripped all the calluses off my left hand in the first round and ripped the rest of them off my right hand on the second. My first group workout and I get a DNF. Soft.

On Saturday, we talked about deadlifts, kettlebell swings, sumo deadlift high pulls, overhead squats (again), cleans, and snatches. The snatch is the most technical Olympic barbell exercise, so we practice the jump and stances and all kinds of things that contribute to successfully executing these lifts and swings. We finished off with “Fight Gone Bad”, which I’ve done before. This time, I didn’t forget one of the rounds, got to row on the Concept 2, and got 237 points. Not bad with ripped up hands.

Five things I learned this weekend:

1. Balance: Lifting your big toe off the floor will force you to keep your weight on your heels, which is essential in any exercise where you’re not moving forward or jumping (like squats, cleans, snatches, kettlebell swings, and so on).
2. Chalk: If you’re going to chalk your hands to use a pullup bar, chalk them. Don’t dust them a little bit. Also, make sure your calluses are flat and trimmed before you do, or you’ll rip the crap out of your hands.
3. Squat form: For squats, your feet should be under your shoulders. Be careful not to go to wide and try to keep your body tight at the bottom. Resist the temptation to relax and sag at the bottom.
4. Athletic Posture: The “athletic” posture (chest up, abs tight, lower back maintaining its curve, lungs full) is essential for the exercises we do in CrossFit. Maintaining this form and doing lifts without slouching or softening the posture will prevent injury and maximize the benefits of the exercise in question.
5. Stick Work: Practicing jumping barbell exercises, like the clean & jerk, push jerk, and snatch (as well as the components – deadlift, overhead squat), with a dowel or broomstick helps lock in the form without worrying about a loaded barbell under a time constraint. It’s best to get it right without worrying about getting tired while you’re practicing your fundamentals.

I need to sign up for some certifications in the near future, I think. But, now I’m confident that I can buy a barbell and 300 pounds of bumpers and safely work out with them. Onward!

My 2008 Pontiac Vibe

I talked to the dealership today. Tonight, I’m riding the train only part of the way home. I now have a car.

What I Like About It:

• The price: I got this car for about $4000 less than it would have cost me new.
• The color: It’s not white or some weird color. It’s kind of bluish green.
• The new car smell: Despite having 16000 miles on it, it still smells like a brand new car.
• The comfort: The seats are really really comfy. This is going to rock on a road trip.
• The versatility: The back seats fold down flat and, unlike the 2009 Vibe, the back window opens separately from the tailgate. Awesome!

What I Don’t Like About It:

• No AUX jack: I’m going to have to buy an aftermarket iPod interface and install it myself or pay a bunch of money to have one installed.
• Fumes: When I got the car, it came with about an eighth of a tank of gas. I made it to my home gas station for the first fill up, but I’m sure if it’d been another mile, I’d have pushed my car in.

At last, I have a nice car again. It’s no hot rod (At 128 horsepower, this thing feels pretty much like the Toyota Corolla whose engine powers it), but it gets decent gas mileage (topping at 32 mpg hwy). I decided that the versatility of a small wagon and the niceness of the cabin outweighed the slightly higher fuel economy in the two other front runners (the 2008 Pontiac G5 coupe and the 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LT). Now to await the sticker for my license plates from DMV.

Note to friends in San Francisco: Given SF’s status as a car theft capital, I’m not going to drive my shiny new car into the city until I have a registration sticker from DMV. That’ll let me take the temporary with my name and address out of my front window.

Also, on this day 12 years and one month ago, my last Pontiac was totalled by my housemate. This Pontiac has full coverage, though. Aspicious anniversary, no?

Interesting Car Grumbles

After haggling with some local dealers about the 2009 Pontiac Vibe, the ultimate finalist for “Apollo’s Next Car”, I found that it was nearly impossible to find one with the Preferred Package (Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Cruise Control) and the AC in a car with a manual transmission. After I located one in the Bay Area, I played footsie with a couple of dealers in the area only to find out something very interesting. If you’re a savvy car buyer, take notes on the following.

Nobody’s just going to accept your Capital One BlankCheck. Expect to sign it over and come back for your new car when the dealer gets the money.

The first couple of dealers that said they needed to run my credit saw me turn on my heels and walk out. After I talked to eight car dealers in the area, including the ones selling used cars, it became evident to me that a BlankCheck is not just good for cash. Someone’s going to run your credit and you’re not driving off in your shiny new car, unless you’re really really lucky. (Subsequent calls to Capital One confirmed that this is usually how it goes. They really should correct their documentation.)

After two months of searching and having car dealers quote me $300 off MSRP on new cars (yeah, right, I said “COMPETITIVE”, not “DOUCHEY”), I found a 2008 Pontiac Vibe on a nearby car lot. Sadly, this Vibe has an automatic transmission and is a rental return. It’s not as fast or as fuel efficient, but I don’t drive very much anyway.

I haggled a little bit, but they’d marked the price down on this one. Incidentally, it’s actually the first Vibe I test drove in April, but now it’s much cheaper. I got them to agree to my price and decided to let them run my credit. They decided to accept my BlankCheck, but I have to go get my car another day.

Yeah, I could have kept shopping, but it’s been two months and countless hours of test driving. I now have signed the papers and, soon, I’ll be driving my first new(ish) car in 12 years.

More Car Testing

This weekend, I test drove four more cars. I had a blast. I’ve decided that my next automobile will definitely have a manual transmission. They get better gas mileage and you get much better performance, acceleration, and handling with a stick shift. With that in mind, I headed around to the dealerships on this three day weekend.

On Stevens Creek Boulevard, I walked over to the Honda dealership, the fourth dealership I’ve visited to look at the Civic. Due to soulcamp’s incessant suggestion, I keep this car on my list to keep my options open. They had one Civic on the lot, but it was boxed in and they didn’t want to have it driven. Well, that’s fair enough, but I’m not going to beg to test drive a fucking Honda. Sorry, Honda, you’re about to get crossed out.

I wandered onto the Volkswagen lot, just because I felt like checking out what they had to offer. Despite not having much interest in a Jetta, the salesman convinced me that it would be fun to take it for a spin. The five-cylinder engine was very European and race inspired, but the shifting was aggressive enough that this little car required a bunch of revving off the line. It was way too easy to accidentally put the car in third instead of first off the line, but at 170 horsepower, this was a zippy little thing. Still, I need a car that beats 30 miles per gallon.

After picking up Oz at my house, we headed to Capitol Expressway Auto Mall, where I test drove three cars in three adjacent lots. Two of them were fun and one got crossed off the list.

The Saturn Astra I test drove on a lark was quite a surprise. The fun, tight manual gearbox accelerated smoothly, quickly, and powerfully through the gears as I punched it on the freeway, feeling the acceleration and deceleration, how it cornered and handled. This car is nice and has a roomy interior. I didn’t expect to say this, but the Saturn gets to climb a few spots up the list. It’s well-appointed and it was fun to drive.

The 2009 Toyota Matrix S was very fun compared with a manual compared with the less powerful and older 2008 Matrix base. It wasn’t quite as fast as the Saturn, which has a more efficient and slightly smaller engine. But, the Saturn is a European car imported by GM from Opel and the Toyota is a Japanese car. There’s quite a difference. The Matrix was nice, but it doesn’t get 30 mpg in the S version. I think I scared the salesman half to death.

Next, I took the Ford Focus for a drive, although the guy really wanted to sell it to me now. I understand you asking for the sale, but no. The acceleration was okay, it gets good gas mileage, but it just feels like junk to me. The seats are plain Jane and the car is completely devoid of any character.

Finally, I test drove the Toyota Corolla base with a manual, after the Toyota dealer in Sunnyvale went to all the trouble of getting one on their reserve lot, the only manual transmission they have. It was quite fun to drive, had a nice enough interior, and probably earns the right to push a few of the cars higher on the list down a little ways. It did take quite a bit of work to take it on a test drive, but it was worth it. I don’t know if this is quite my style, but no frowns for the Corolla stick.

On Memorial Day, I tried my luck hunting down a 2009 Vibe with a manual transmission, a 2008 Cobalt manual, a Pontiac G5, and a Honda Civic — especially the Civic. After visiting my sixth Honda dealership today (and about a dozen visits overall) and still failing to test drive the Civic, I did my due diligence. Sorry, Honda, I have to cross you off my list. If you have 100 Civics in stock in Daly City and a gaggle of them in San Francisco, but you can’t take me for a spin in the stick, I’m just not going to waste my time anymore, especially since the car isn’t really my style anyway.

Next weekend, I’m damn sure going to find a 2008 Cobalt LS coupe, 2009 Pontiac Vibe, 2008 Pontiac G5, and 2008 Scion xD (all with manual transmissions) to finalize my list.

The Contenders

1. 2007 – 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LS coupe
2. 2009 Toyota Corolla
3. 2008 Saturn Astra XE
4. 2009 Pontiac Vibe base
5. 2008 – 2009 Pontiac G5 (still can’t get a test drive in this)
6. 2009 Toyota Matrix base (still have to test drive this one in the 1.8L)
7. 2008 Scion xD (need to test drive the manual)
8. 2008 Honda Fit
9. 2008 Honda Civic
10. 2008 Ford Focus

Three Tips for Getting Your Test Drive Quickly

I’m shopping for a car. In order to narrow my list to three that I really want, I have to test drive a whole bunch of different kinds of cars in various configurations. Some car lots really don’t want you to test drive their cars. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to help you get your ass in a seat, your hand on a gear shift, and your foot on the floor as you shred the freeway in a car with fewer miles on it than you’ve walked today.

1. No car salesmen older than I am. Get the hungry young man who loves cars. He knows that you’re not interested in the Camry. He knows you want something that, while it may not get you laid, won’t totally prevent such a thing from happening. He knows that you want some zip in the gas pedal, while not expecting a Ferrari, but still something that holds its own at the gas pump. He also doesn’t want to hang around the showroom. He wants to go peel out. (Note: I’m using he here because I’ve never met a female salesperson on any car lot in California. Ever.)
2. Time wasters. If you wander around the lot and nobody comes out to greet you and show you some cars, go inside and talk to the receptionist. As nicely as you can, explain to her that you’d like someone to come show you a car, and which car you’d like. If she tells you you’re going to have to wait, give her five minutes. Is that impatient? No. You’re a cash customer, you want to test drive a car, and the dealership next door will be ecstatic to take you for a test drive without making you wait for an hour.
3. No lazy assholes. If he offers you his card and says “When you’re ready to buy a car, give me a call and we’ll talk”, he doesn’t deserve your business. You’re not at the dealership for the free coffee, are you? Hey, salesman, why are you talking to me without keys in your hand?

Bonus tips:

1. Hooptie drivers. If you see the car salesman bolt from the lot as soon as you leave and jump in a car that is worth less than $1,000 — especially a car that isn’t a classic or a marquee of one of the brands his dealership sells, move on. It’s understandable if you’re at a BMW dealer, but if the guy hucking Pontiacs drives off in a 1986 Honda Prelude that spits black smoke, that’s kind of a warning sign.
2. Locked down lots. If every single car on the lot is locked during business hours so you can’t poke around in the cars without a salesman on your jock, that’s kind of a red flag. They’re going to be really pushy. A good car lot leaves at least one of each of its models unlocked, so people can adjust the seats, check out the gizmos, and get a feel for the car before they talk to the salesman. I poked around in a brand new Toyota Matrix for 20 minutes once, folding the back seats down flat, opening the tailgate, adjusting the seats, and sitting in the back. That was good. A little quiet time with the car is good.
3. Aggressive pushy sales guys. In my experience, some sales people, especially immigrants, try much more aggressively to try to get you to buy something—anything—right now, right here and will never budge on price. (Note: I won’t specify any particular kind of salesman who is the most aggressive, but when I have to struggle to make my desires known, I have to ditch this sales guy and find someone who isn’t going to try to hoodwink me.)

Test Driving More Cars

This weekend, I test drove four cars. My front runner, the 2008 Pontiac Vibe, is now a distant fourth. Who knew that the Chevrolet Cobalt, which I’ve rented before, would be so much fun with a manual transmission?

Yesterday, I went with Oz to Dublin to check out a 2008 Pontiac Vibe I found on the internet. This practically new car had been on the lot there since January, but it had only 9,000 miles on it. So, after swinging out in my rental car to pick up Oz, I made the beeline toward Dublin to take it for a spin.

Sadly, there are a few things wrong with this car, most startlingly the brakes. The acceleration is pretty anemic (I’m used to a V6) in the automatic, and the brakes are soft. In addition, there were blemishes on the car that warranted me making an offer well under the sticker. Instead of meeting me in the middle somewhere, the sales manager came back with a counteroffer higher than the sticker. CAR SALEZ, UR DOIN IT RONG!

The Honda Fit I test drove next door was fun, but the car is a little too cute and girly for me to really want one. It gets good gas mileage and is peppy off the line, primarily due to the VTEC under the hood, but I’m pretty sure the authorities would confiscate my man card. Still, I’ll add it to the list, since it’s available in purple.

Earlier today, I decided to step into my Chevrolet dealership, just around the corner from my house. A young sales guy came out to chat me up, we told car stories, and I ruled out the Aveo, but decided to go for a spin in the amazingly sexy Cobalt coupe, equipped with a manual transmission. Taking this bad boy out on the freeway was breathtaking. Acceleration is amazing in this 2.2L inline four, the handling is sweet, and all of this on a coupe that gets 34 mpg on the highway. This particular one is a 2007, with all of 30 miles on the odometer. I really want to test drive the 2008 before I make my final decision. The yellow Cobalt moves into the lead on my list of cars.

After wasting another chunk of time at the Honda dealership, I bailed and headed over to the Toyota dealership to see about getting behind the wheel of a Matrix with a manual transmission. Somehow, I got talked into going for a spin in a 2009 Corolla S manual. Now, this car isn’t as much fun as the Cobalt, but it still blows the recent leader, the Pontiac Vibe, out of the sky. The shifting is nice and smooth, the acceleration is playful, and the steering is tight and sporty. Toyota’s nudged the Vibe even further down. The young salesman handed me off to his senior manager guy who blew me off when I wanted to test drive a Matrix (he wanted me to consider the Yaris).

The Contenders

1. 2007 – 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt LS coupe
2. 2009 Toyota Corolla S
3. 2008 Scion xD (need to test drive the manual)
4. 2008 – 2009 Pontiac Vibe (manual – the automatic is way too anemic)
5. 2008 Honda Fit (need to test the manual)
6. 2008 Pontiac G5 (still can’t get a test drive in this)
7. 2009 Toyota Matrix
8. 2008 Honda Civic (4 visits, still no drive)
9. 2008 Saturn Astra (?)
10. 2008 Ford Focus (doubtful, but might as well check it out)

That’s My Supreme Court

California Supreme Court legalizes marriage equality. Four years after they halted the weddings in San Francisco, the Supreme Court holds that discrimination is illegal.

The 4-3 ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald George, found that it is unconstitutional to deprive gays and lesbians of the equal right to walk down the aisle with a government-issued marriage license in hand. —Howard Mintz and Denis Theriault, San Jose Mercury News

Congratulations! It’s very pleasing to me to see that California doesn’t have to be run by right-wing religious nuts who saw fit to pass the California Defense of Marriage Act. It took a long time, but it’s unconstitutional. California is too nice a place to allow for discrimination against anybody.