Cups going Zoom-Zoom

As much as I love my Mazda for its zippy-ness, almost perfect driving position position, fantastic steering feel, practicality, and decent gas mileage, there are some design flaws that drive me nuts. Here's one of them:

Shallow Cup Holders*

"What's wrong with them?" you ask. Well, they're perfectly fine when the car isn't moving or if your cup is empty, but when you turn, it does this:

Before the turn

While turning**

You can guess what happens next. Yes, the cups go flyyyyyying. This is especially bad with bottles of water because the diameter of the bottle is much smaller than the cup holders. This can be especially bad if it falls towards the driver side and get under the pedals, like this the episode of The Simpsons when Milhouse and Bart roll fruits down the bus, and the grapefruit gets stuck under the brake pedal, causing a massive accident.

I don't know why Mazda didn't just make deeper cup holders. I might do a DIY mod someday.


*No, it's not my purse. It's owned by the girl I was carpooling with this morning.
**I did not take this picture while driving. It was a simulation of the real thing.

Heavyweight Boxing Champion

One of the joys in my finding well designed objects (This is the nerd in me speaking). I'm always impressed by ideas that just make sense. One area that's often overlooked is packaging. Some might argue that really nice packaging is just to make a good impression so people will buy the product (Side note: I believe that this strategy is totally worth it. If you were to choose between two similar products in the same price range, and you really knew nothing about the product, of course you'll go for the one that's packaged in a nicer box or whatever because it gives the impression of luxury/quality). However, sometimes the really nice packaging is just really smart packaging.

I was helping a friend buy, transport, and setup a Plasma TV today. The TV is pleasant to look at, but what I was impressed by is its packaging. It wasn't flashy or anything, but it has 2 of these on each side:



Which was really helpful when moving a bulky heavyweight object. You just stick your hands in here like this:


If this was the only feature it had, it would've been enough to write home (err on my blog) about. However, upon unpacking this, I found even more cool things about this design.

Normally, when you unbox something, you take a blade of some sort and cut open the packaging tape, then stick your hands down the side to lift whatever object you bought out of box, like this:

With Plasma TVs, it would be quite a challenge to do so, because the object is well, heavy. Most people would just cut open the side of boxes, rendering the box unless. Whoever designed the Panasonic box had a better idea: Put a box over another box, like the ones they use to transport fruit to the supermarkets.



As you can see from the instructions, the handles are holding the two boxes together. Once you take out all 4 handles, the outter, slightly larger box slide right off.



What you're left with is a really short box that and holds the bottom of the TV. Now you don't have to awkwardly stick your hands down the side of the box only to find it really hard to lift up something heavy with only your fingers.


It looks something like this:


Now it's really easy to lift up and install. Here's what it looks like all setup.


That was a really fun experience for me unboxing this because it was just so smart.

Final thoughts:
1. There are tidbits of joy in a lot of things in this world, and for me, I find joy in designs that make sense. However, these tidbits are what they are, simply tidbits. I thought about why it was delightful for me to open something that's intelligently designed. I can't help but remember the sermon Randy Alcorn preached at Resolved '08 about how the joys we find in life are there because they are characteristic of God. For example, puppies are delightful because God is delightful. Well, I find joy in intelligent design because God is THE intelligent designer (I hate to use this phrase though). He created all things with amazing percision. Just look at our solar system. Did you know that if the Earth rotated on a axis that was tilted just half a degree in either direction, the climate would be either too hot or too cold for life? The box is rather insignificant compared to the design of creation, especially people. If I can find delight in boxes, how much more should I marvel at creation? God's by far the greatest designer ever. This should be worship fuel!

2. Yes, I really did blog about unboxing a TV. Yes, I really am that nerdy. Yes, I actually did find joy in this. When I first discovered the handles, I immediately proclaimed its genius to my friend.

3. To all you wagon/hatchback haters out there:



Try doing this in your car that's the size of peanuts and carry only you and a 12oz can of coke!

Not only did I fit in a TV, I also had another box in there, because I'm moving out and I left some stuff in my far for the time being.
I get 30mpg (on the highway) and I can carry huge things like this. +1 for wagons!

Blogger's note: This is my first time unboxing an HDTV. I'm not sure if HDTV boxes have these features (I know most don't have handles, because I looked at the Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, or whatever next to it and none of them had these handles).

Installing Brakes

The brakes arrived today via UPS. Just like any other male, my impulse was to immediately install these puppies.

What I ordered:
1. Brembo Rotors on all 4 corners
2. Hawk HPS Brake Pads


What I bought to complete my install:
1. Brake Cleaner
2. Allen Wrench set.

What I plan to do:
Replace all 4 rotors and the brake pads.

The purpose of this post is to show you how easy it is to install car stuff, so you don't end up wasting money to get them installed. Anyone, and I mean anyone, who knows how to work basic tools can do this brake job. So let's get started!

Make sure you have the following things before starting the project:
1. New Rotors
2. New Brake Pads
3. 8mm Allen (Hex) Wrench*
4. 17mm Socket Wrench*
5. Brake Clean
6. Flathead Screwdriver
7. Car Jack
8. Jack Stands**
9. Some place to put all the loose pieces**
10. Flashlight/lamp**
11. C-Clamp**
12. Multiple large towels**

*may vary depending on your car
** Not required but would make this job a lot easier/safer


Step 1:

Clean the new brake rotors with brake clean. You may wonder why this is necessary, since these are new rotors. Well, brake rotors are actually packaged with a layer of oil to prevent it from rusting as it sit of shelves, waiting to be bought. Sometimes it may be years before it's actually purchased. The oil is there to protect it. Now we have to take off that layer before installing, or your brake system will suck. Imagine putting oil on your brake pads! You wouldn't do that!


So your job now is to spray down the brakes on both sides and watch the oil on the brakes come off. Either wipe it down with a towel or let it air dry. CAUTION: the brake cleaner stuff smells really bad and is really harmful if you inhale it, so do it in a well ventilated place.




Step 2:


While the cleaner is drying, loosen the lug nuts and jack up your car and put it on a jack stand for safety. I won't go over how to do that because if you know how to change a tire, you know how to do this step. It'll look like this afterward.


At this stage, you would have to turn the caliper (the big gray thing) outwards for easier access.


More to come later! I actually forgot to get a 17mm socket wrench, so I'm stuck. More to come later once I get to tool.

Tire Woes

My precious 2002 Mazda Protege 5 is in need of repairs. While driving around last Friday, I noticed that my car was shaking more than usual. After a few more minutes, it started drifting to the right. It turns out something punctured my front right tire and air was leaking out. After a while, the air was completely gone. Point being, I needed to replace the tire. After looking at some records and checking out the tire wear on the other tires, I realized I needed 4 new tires, since they're all pretty much bald. I took my baby to a Atlantic Tire & Auto Service in West Hollywood the next morning (on the spare, of course) and got 4 Kumho Escta ASX tires (195/50/16 for you car nerds). While getting them replaced, the shop owner informed me that my brake pads and rotors needed to be replaced ASAP because they were worn down all the way. After inspecting it, I saw that indeed the brakes need to be replaced.

As one who loves to work on cars and loves saving money by doing DIY Projects, I decided to install the brakes myself. I'll post pictures of the install when I get them on.

Finally, I'm posting this because it reminded me that God is sovereign over all things, even the tire situation.

1. The tires didn't blow out last week when we went up to Terestita Pines for Spring Retreat.
2. Only one tire blew out. I wouldn't be able to use the spare to take my car to the shop otherwise.
3. The air leaked out slowly, allow me to drive home before I discovered the problem. Changing the tire with the car's scissors tool would be a pain the rear. I was able to make it home and use a hydrolic jack.
4. If this didn't happen, I wouldn't have thought about the tires (which were bald). That could've been really bad

Finally, I'm reviving this blog with a new name: Deo Volente, latin for God willing.

Zoom Zoom!

2002 Mazda Protege 5
She's all mine!

FAQs:

What are you going to name her?

I'm not going to name her anything. I think that's a lame practice [no offense to anyone who names their cars]. I shouldn't even refer to the car as she. It's a car. It will be called... the Mazda, the Protege, P5, or the wagon. But if I WERE to name her, her name would be... wagon.

Why did you buy a wagon? Aren't wagons for soccer moms?

I bought a wagon because wagons are extremely practical, and that makes it cool. The backseats can fold down flat, turning the rear seating area into a huge trunk. This car can haul music equipment, camping gear, mountain bikes, snowboards, etc. Plus, this wagon looks really good, and it drives more like a sports car [handling wise] than a station wagon. Too bad it's slower than Turtle McTurtle.

You drive stick? I didn't know that! Can you teach me how to drive stick shift?

Yes, I've been driving stick since I had my permit. If you really want to learn, I could teach you how to drive it. I'll decided if I will on a case to case basis.

Can you make garlic bread with this wagon?

Unfortunately, no. This car is not equipped with an oven. However, now that I have a car, I can buy bread more often and make garlic bread more often. And who doesn't like garlic bread!

Are you going to get any RACINGBEAT or other aftermarket parts?

Okay, for those of you who have been wondering what Racingbeat is...Racingbeat is a company that makes aftermarket performance parts for Mazdas. I may get something later on but for now, the protege will remain stock.

I am planning on getting a snowboard/ski roof rack and a bike rack for the car. That way, I can carry 5 people AND 4 snowboards to the slopes in the winter, and go mountain biking [in the mountains] in the summer. Booya!



That's all I have for now. Zoom Zoom!