the “check engine” light that came on in my car mysteriously turned itself off today while i was driving.

one less thing to worry about or veiled harbinger of doom?

got a parking ticket today because i didn’t feed the meters in a private lot. the good news is, the fine was actually cheaper than what i would’ve had to pay to park there legitimately.

thanks to my brother Dan the super sleuth, i now know about the mystery badge i posted yesterday. it’s the emblem of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (founded, strangely enough, by two white men in Manhattan) or, as they are more commonly known, the Shriners.

shouldn’t this have been found on a much smaller car then?

i spotted this strange emblem on the back of a Hyundai the other day but it’s from no country that i know of. anyone know what it is?

there’s a part of Indiana that refuses to observe daylight savings time and even though i only really think of our eastern neighbor when i’m stuck behind one of its many infuriatingly clueless drivers in traffic here in Chicago, i admire the audacity of that Hoosier slice. i applaud their ability to display their grubby, corn-husking middle fingers in defiance and stand up to the clock Nazis in Washington.

at least that’s what i did until today when i discovered that the entire state of Indiana has been observing daylight savings time since April 2, 2006.

no, your eyes do not deceive you; what you see is indeed an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. this is the first 8C i’ve seen, having spied it on the upper floor of an exotic/luxury car dealership downtown while taking a walk the other night and considering that only 500 of these gorgeous machines were produced, it will probably be the last one i see as well.

the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is powered by a 4.7 liter V8 which produces 444 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque which means it can do 0-60 mph in about four seconds and a standing quarter mile in 12.4. but all of those seemingly impressive stats mean nothing compared to its beauty, a beauty i can’t show you because this was the best photo i could get of it.

i heard someone refer to the Nissan Skyline R32 as “retro” today and it caught me completely by surprise. as i’ve mentioned before in past posts, my brain occasionally still thinks that it’s the year 1998 so it’s alarming to hear a car that was discontinued in the mid ’90s being lumped into the same category as tri-color tube socks and Betamax.

i was driving through a highway interchange today when i saw a silver Honda CR-V calmly drive off the shoulder, up across the grass banking and onto a different highway.

sadly, i didn’t have the time to take any video or pictures.

i’ve heard of people who ride their bicycles to work and park in the office but today i saw someone who does that with his motorcycle. a Ducati Monster, no less.

Afghan “Rules of the Road” Chapter 19, Section 2-J: In the event that a passenger is forced to ride in the boot of a vehicle, the driver of said vehicle is legally required to provide the affected party with a pillow and a mobile phone with Snake.