Archive for the ‘Personal’ category

Another Year

January 3rd, 2010

Well it’s a busy time to be Greg Vandagriff. The holidays and fall semester are behind us but I’ve got a lot of things coming up and a few “projects” that I’ve been working on.

My return to the world of web development is probably the biggest update recently; I’ve been setting up a blog about Stupid Criminal Stories as well as designing a website for my upcoming Utah DJ business. It’s nice to have something to do with my spare time that could potentially earn me some extra scratch on the side, but it’s also the joy in creating something that keeps me coming back. I confess that I probably spend more time thinking about how to make money from search engine optimization than I actually do making money, but that’s life, isn’t it?

Other than that, life is fairly normal; just getting ready for my heavy work/classload this coming semester — 12 credits is just barely full-time but it’s a bit heavier when you consider my planned 30-hour workweek as well. I look forward to being busy and having things to do with my time though; I absolutely dread being bored.

Cars and Brotherhood

November 16th, 2009

Few things interest me as much as one’s choice of vehicle. Given this important fact, my concern over my brother’s recently declared attraction to the VW Jetta is perfectly reasonable. Much like a parent who has grown concerned over the increasingly rash decisions of a wayward child, I feel a certain degree of familial responsibility in this matter. It is as though the spirits of dead cars would haunt my every waking moment if I were to hold my peace and permit this evil to go forward unchallenged.

The Volkswagen Jetta is a fine car. It also happens to be a girl car. Brother, you are not a girl. Therefore your car purchasing protocol on this particular model is quite simple: pass. If you don’t believe me, type in “is the jetta a girl car” in google and look at the tremendous number of discussions going on about this subject. I don’t care what your personal opinion is. The mere fact that there are so many debates on this topic should indicate that you are walking on dangerous ground.

Might I humbly suggest a 2006 BMW 328i? Checking in within the same price range as a VW Jetta, a used 3-series would handle better and do far less damage to your reputation! Now I understand if you’re worried about going with something used, if that’s the case then I’m going to just have to say that you’d be better served if you went with a new Nissan Altima or Mazda6.

There, I have done my duty as your younger brother. Your fate is in your hands, I’m washing my hands of the entire affair. You can get a Jetta if you want, but the sin be upon your head my brother.

Acura RSX

February 14th, 2009

The Acura RSX; sporty, great mileage, good horsepower on the s-type, Acura quality, leather interior on some models. What’s not to like? Well, the pricetag is a bit higher on this vehicle than what I would like to pay, but that’s always the case.

The biggest problem is that there have been widespread reports of faulty manual transmissions on the S-Type wherein the transmission will “grind” while in 2nd gear. This appears to be across all models from 02 to 06.

So if I were to get an S-Type, I’d have to be particular about the transmission. Otherwise I’d probably need to stick with the base edition with an automatic transmission.

If I could get a good deal, I’d love this car though. Great handling, luxurious, etc. So it’s definitely on my list of cars to keep an eye out for. There were some updates to the vehicle on the 05 and 06 models that weren’t on the earlier ones either; so ideally I’d be looking at getting one from those years.

Quest for Car

February 14th, 2009

I’m looking at getting a car. One that I like. My current ‘95 Buick Lesabre averages $200 per month or so in maintenance costs and I hate it in every possible way except interior space, which is quite roomy.

That being said, this is not a post about how I hate my car. Sufficeth to say that if I’m paying so much per month in maintenance on a car that I don’t like at all, it’s time to look at what to do about it.

Oh General Sherman, the adventures we had together.

What kind of car do I want? Obviously I want a sports car. Realistically I’ll have to get a “sporty” car, and I’m leaning towards the SpoCom (Sports Compact) segment.

Price Range: $15k or less; the higher it is, the longer I’ll have to save and I’d prefer to have something by the end of the summer at the very latest; no later than a few weeks before people start moving in for fall. In Provo the availability of cars in this price range takes a hit at that time of year as parents come to town and buy cars for their kids going to school.

Important Attributes: Reliability, exterior and interior appearance, speed, in roughly that order

I intend to own this vehicle for roughly 5 years. That is, through college and the first couple years or so of my career.

So I guess you can expect the next few posts to be about different cars and options that I’m considering.

A Personal Blog

February 3rd, 2009

This is my personal crazy blog, so as not to be confused with my other “professional” blog, which I’m in the process of either redoing or scrapping all together (I haven’t decided which).

This liberates me from the ongoing pressure to have an underlying professional subject for my posts. More accurately, it affords me the freedom to have a very loose theme: me and whatever I feel like talking about.

So welcome. I make no guarantees as to the regularity of my posts or the sanity contained therein.

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