Mission video

Guest Blogger

My dad recently took a trip down to NYC, and I let him take the Fiesta for the trip. New Hampshire to NYC is a little over 4 hours, so I thought he deserved to spend the trip riding in comfort. Here's his take on the car:

I headed out in the darkness to spend a day in the BIG city. It was a perfect autumnal day traveling down through Connecticut on the Merritt Parkway with beautiful colors and the wonderful architecture of the stone bridges. (Why can’t all our roads have design elements like this in the rest of the country?! It would make driving so much better and improve the quality of life for everyone.) Well, the Fiesta was a fun little car to drive and really feels much bigger than it is looking forward. The visibility gave me full command of the leaves, bridges, (and traffic, which was not too heavy) and before I knew it I was driving down Park Avenue. Now this is where the Fiesta really was great, because it is made for city driving.

After a full day in the city, the Fiesta and I headed for home in rural NH. It was a great ride home, listening to the radio and CDs made the time pass quickly and for having spent 9 hours driving that day, I was amazed how enjoyable and easy it was. And when I looked at how little gas I used I was really grateful for the opportunity to try it out.

Cash to Spend

Since Ford has kindly provided me with a car and gas for the next month, I find myself in the enviable position of having cash to spend. As a starving graduate student, this is a responsibility I'm taking seriously, so I figure the most responsible place to spend this extra cash is, of course, SkyMall.

Exhibit A: The FoodSaber


It's hard to believe I have lived 24 years in this dangerous world without owning a magic wand which "kills 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, in 10 seconds." But the Nano-uv Wand will change all of that. Not only does this mystical object kill off bacteria and microorganisms with its unsettling glow, it also reduces "dust mite populations in mattresses, pillows and carpets at home or away." Finally, a dust mite solution! In all seriousness, however, I don't blame this hand model for waving her light saber over this spread. It looks like she pulled that knife out of an archeological site. I'd probably wave the wand over it, and a holy book too for good measure.

Country Living in the Fiesta

Well, this was a big weekend for me and the Fiesta -- I took her home to meet the family. Since most of my siblings were going to be home for the long weekend, I thought it would be the right time to introduce my family to this new chapter of my life. I had been building her up for this visit, but I think she lived up to the high expectations my family had. The free gas helped.

Saturday we watched my brother's high school football team dominate their opponents. 6-0 and no sign of slowing down! After the game, all the kids hurried home to put together a little party for our Mom's birthday. Since she was already going to a dinner, we threw together a dessert fiesta for her, which we all enjoyed when she got home.



We then had a dance off.



Note the technique on that stanky leg.

I headed back to New Haven on Sunday so I could attend the annual 1L Torts party at our professors farm, "Guid-Acres" (coincidentally, his name is Guido). It was really a perfect afternoon, and my classmates definitely liked the spiffy wheels I was riding. Of course, Guido was the consummate host. They say clothes don't make the man, but I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect union of uniform and officer than the number he was rocking.



All in all, it was a near-perfect weekend.

Inaugural Post

To the handful of people who have somehow stumbled upon this blog:

Welcome!

Okay, I have no idea how to begin this blogging business. I barely know how to keep a journal, let alone an exhibitionist journal. So cut me some slack if the introduction is lackluster. I agonized enough over the name of this blog. I thought I would reference "The Fiesta," the car Ford has loaned me as part of a viral marketing strategy before its US release. But how to make it clever and punchy? As with most of my problems, I turned to www.urbandictionary.com: "grind --making the most of your money, when your low on cash and just need to get by. 'Yo dude you wanna go out to eat tonight?' 'Nah son, im on the grind.' (instead of going out you choose to eat ramen, because your on the grind)."

On the grind. When a man reduces himself to ramen noodles because he's low on cash. Ignoring the fact that this particular definition was poorly rated, I thought I'd turn the phrase on its head: Get on your Fiesta. Making the most of a free car, free gas, free parking, when you have lots of responsibilities you can ignore. "Yo dude, you wanna study contracts tonight?" "Nah son, im on my Fiesta." (instead of acting like a law student you choose to goof off, because your on your fiesta). Does this sound good? Follow along to see how it goes for the next few months.

Also, follow along because I doubt anyone else will. I only read one blog, and I think it's pretty popular. It's my sister's blog, and lots of people seem interested in it. However, it does feature this little tyke:

I don't have that kind of material. I don't have fancy advertising. I may be an underdog in the blogging world. But I'll give it my best.