#7 Manual transmissions prove you can do more than one thing at a time

Taken from AskMen.com

Some people have a hard time walking and sipping chai lattes at the same time. No one respects these people. We as a society respect those who can do more than one thing at a time — especially if they can do those things well. Men who excel at performing multiple, complex motor movements at one time, such as professional athletes, often enjoy an almost godlike status.

Shifting a car manually is really quite complex. The process of changing gears involves releasing the gas with the right foot, depressing the clutch with the left foot, using your right hand to select a different gear, then simultaneously releasing the clutch as you press down on the gas — hoping to engage the clutch and throttle at a very specific “sweet spot” that varies from car to car. The challenge only increases when trying to do things like start from a standstill on a hill. Being good at driving a manual car may not lead to a life showered in money and women, but we can bet that every professional racecar driver knows how to drive a stick.

#5 You can’t pull fancy moves in an automatic

The heel-toe maneuver is considered by many to be an elite driving technique that is crucial in the testosterone-filled world of motor racing. The heel-toe maneuver allows one to downshift, rev-match and brake all at the same time.

This technique will have the driver operate the clutch normally with the left foot. The ball of the right foot will be on the brake, slowing the car down, while at the same time the heel of the right foot will “blip” the throttle during the gear change, matching the engine speed to the wheel speed. Not only does this technique help keep the engine in the desired powerband, it reduces drivetrain jolt, greatly reducing wear and tear on the transmission.

#4 You get better fuel economy with a stick

We know that eco-warriordom at its core is the antitheses of manliness, but perhaps not all things eco-friendly are for wusses. Manual transmissions have historically been more energy efficient than traditional automatic transmissions, and a quick look at EPA numbers will show that a manual version of a car can get 1 to 2 more miles per gallon than its identical automatic-equipped sibling.

So I decided to get a new website.  I’ll figure out how to transfer this blog onto my site later…

Http://SONYTONY.com

It’s been a long first week of school.  I don’t even know where to begin.

Movies, movies, movies.  District 9 was the last one I saw.  It was…horrible!  Yes, I know, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a really high rating, but I really do not care for it.  It’s kind of like Napoleon Dynamite–you either love it or you hate it.  I got most the references, satires, and allusions but the movie as a whole just was not engaging.  I would rate this somewhere along with Street Fighter Chun-Li (which I gave a negative 5 out of 5).  After we finished District 9, we decided it wasn’t satisfying enough so we watched Funny People afterwords.  It was okay…  Not that great either.  Not that bad though.  Maybe it was because we watched it back to back with District 9…

Weekend before school started, I went on a business retreat up in Lake Travis.  The lake was dried up!  The place we stayed at was really nice though–up in the mountains with deers living all around us and a great view into the part of the lake that wasn’t completely drained.  The lakefront was gorgeous when the sun was setting.  It was a nice 4 day stay.

School started.  Taking Intermediate Accounting, the first Marketing, International Business 3352 (I think it’s politics?), and Individual Taxation.  I was thinking about adding the 2nd marketing also but having two roles in the Finance Association and also teaching Catholic School while also instructing Vovinam at two centers and opening a new one at UH, I don’t think I will be able to handle it.

Anyway, bought another 75 gallon tank.  This one has a little BB gun crack near the top.  Don’t know what I’m going to do with it–I can either seal it up or try to sell it back.  If I seal it up, I’ll probably get a Jardini to go in it.

My roommate (not sure why I keep calling them roommates–technically they’re not since they have their own rooms and we live in a house, not an apartment or dorm or whatnot) just bought a shotgun.  Crazy guy.  Now we have a total of 11 different swords ranging from ninja swords to tai chi swords to broad swords, you name it.  He’s also got a nunchuck, a tonfa, couple knives, a baton that turns into a sharp dagger like stick, and two hand guns I think.  Only thing he needs now is the S&W magnum 5000!  =)

All this weaponry got me back into martial arts a little bit, not much.  haha  I was searching around for some throwing knifes and shurikens.  I can’t seem to find a good place that has them for a decent price.  Once I do though, I’m gonna turn the garage into a throwing/shooting range!  So next up on my list: throwing knives, and then kamas!

I might start tweeting… seems like less of a hassle than starting a new post every time and going through the set up…

Rush week coming up!  No where near done with “Big Red”…

Oh, and also building Diana a computer!  Less than $400 for a 2.7ghz Dual Core, 500gb hard drive, 4gb RAM, etc… Dell’s/HP’s equivalent price: >$600.  Anyone looking for a new computer desktop rig, let me know!

I recently was able to stop by and see some trophy-quality guppies from a breeder here in Houston.  Golly gee they are beautiful.  For a fish that is so small and can so easily breed, there are so many different genes that are so hard to isolate and therefore those phenotypes are not seen widely.  Green Terrors and other cichlids for example have more so been limited to a couple strains here and there but for guppies, relatively, there is like an endless chart of genotypes!

After seeing his collection, no wonder these guppies are so expensive even though they breed like crazy: the colors that he managed to get and the amount of notes and tracking that had to be done was so extensive!  One strain that caught my eyes were his full black Moscow Guppies.  Seeing something so dark compared to the usual bright and colorful strains really sets it out.  Along with the guppies’ active personality, these little ones were just mesmerizing!

I was able to get a couple of HB Red’s from him (basically half black body with red tail).  My dad used to have guppies a long time ago and so I wanted to get him back in the hobby and so he also has something to do during his free time.  Of course, I’ll be keeping a couple for myself also so I can mess around with the strains… =)

Here’s a photo of an HB Red that won 2nd Best of Show from the 7th Annual World Guppy Contest:

Just got back from watching G.I. Joe.

I don’t know how to put it…  One one end, I’d give it a 2 thumbs up.  On the other, I’d have to give it half my thumb.

If you’re a die hard, old school, everything must match the cartoon type of fan, you might not like it that much.  As can already be seen from the previews, it uses many crazy technology (of course, so did the cartoon but not to this extent).  Accelerator suits?  Okay…

However, if you can manage to just watch it for the action thriller it is, which is what I came into the theatre expecting, it’s actually pretty good.  Mixed in with the Wayan’s comedic acting and Sienna Miller’s dark haired and in tight leather outfit…this G.I. Joe movie came out way better than how most cartoon to life action flicks do.  One thing I like is that they make it easy for newcomers to pick up on the story line by explaining most mysteries brought up sometime later in the movie.

Only thing was that the ending was fail!  What part?  I don’t want to ruin it but I’m sure you guys who have seen it know where.  Basically, it’s a sudden end…

Oh, and they also managed to sneak in, “Knowing is half the battle!”  GJ G.I. Joe!