NeoCarz

Last weekend the heat shield between the exhaust pipe and the uncarriage on my 2006 Toyota Corolla came loose and started rattling, rattling, rattling, and rattling some more. It was close to one of the most aggravating noises I've been unlucky enough to bear witness. And for almost a week!

I bought some glue thinking I could temporarily glue the heat shield to the undercarriage, at least so I could sanely drive for a few days.

To prepare for the process, I took a look at the heat shield today and thankfully I figured out that it could be done in a semi-more permanent manner by using some wires to hang the heat shield up an inch or two.

I couldn't find any wire around the house so I improvised. I found a six foot coaxial cable and took fifteen minutes to strip the solid copper wire out from the middle.

With the cable in hand, I went to work stringing up the heat shield:

This past weekend, I traveled to Greenwich, Connecticut (about 30 minutes outside of New York City) for a wedding. It was a wonderful wedding, though my drive was not very pleasant, at all.

First off, I mistakenly drove straight north on 95 through the cross-Bronx expressway and the traffic sucked, as usual for that neck of the road, even though the rest of the drive was smooth. On the way back, I took the Tappan Zee bridge and thankfully the drive into New Jersey was smooth, but the rest of the drive was plagued by seriously bad Sunday Summer travel traffic. Doh!

Android's Google Navigation GPS System

Despite the traffic problems, I got the chance to try out the navigation service provided by Google on my new Android-powered Droid X on the Verizon Wireless network.

Its not the best, but it might just be good enough for me to retire my Garmin GPS - at least because the maps in my Garmin GPS are getting outdated.

Hands Free Bluetooth Driving with an Aftermarket Car Stereo in my Toyota Corolla

I was also able to try out the hands free Bluetooth pairing with the Droid X and the new stereo I put in my Toyota Corolla.

I've never rented from AVIS before, but this past weekend I rented a 2010 Ford Taurus from AVIS and it was a great car for a great deal.

I'll definitely rent from them again, if I can get the same rate for the same type of car.

For four days, I was able to get a brand new car, with a toddler car seat, for $165. The child safety seat was expensive, but of course absolutely necessary for my two year old daughter!

Tesla's IPO on Monday went well and they were able to sell each share at $17 instead of the expected $15, raising a total of $226.1 million. Congratulations to the entire Tesla team.

I'm surprised though - the event didn't make too much news. Even the company's website doesn't herald the story.

The story for Tesla is getting better every day - and today's news reports that Toyota is investing $50 million into the company is no different.

Tesla will be filing its initial public offering (IPO) soon, making it a publicly traded stock. Its impressive that they are able to do as well as they are doing amidst such a tough financial environment.