Last month I attended a workshop focused on how to use AI technology to boost productivity. The workshop was put on by Juliana Slye and Natalie Lambert, the first in a continuing series. I’m a ‘learn by doing’ type of person and I found the workshop worthwhile. Natalie formerly worked at Google and brings a […]
Happy Holiday season! With 2024 almost over I’m resurrecting the Work, Wine and Wheels annual retrospective post. Back in the day, WordPress sent an annual report to me. I don’t know if everyone got one or if a certain traffic level needed to be met. The 2012 report is where I got the main image […]
This past weekend I tackled some minor paint issues, one on each car. I also changed the oil in my E46 M3, doing it in my driveway since a club DIY got canceled. Neither paint issue was major. My E39 M5 came to me in 2011 with two long scratches on the driver side rear […]
This week started off on the right foot with me being the guest of Mark Amtower’s Federal News Radio podcast Amtower Off Center. No one has been a leader in the B2G market longer than Mark. He and I are co-hosts of the GovCon Ideation community with Janet Waring of ArtForm, as well as co-authors […]
I thought I was done with M3 news after the last DIY event. But the car had other ideas. My alternator died last week while I was driving through Old Town Alexandria, taking the battery with it. After I got that settled I decided to buy a Bluebus Bluetooth device for the car, like I […]
Another National Capital Chapter (NCC) BMY DIY event, more maintenance for my 2006 E46 M3. We were graciously hosted again by BMW of Annapolis. On my agenda was fuel filter replacement, refreshing the passenger side muffler hanger, and a cosmetic repair to my steering wheel. The fuel filter I replaced was not original to the […]
Recently we attended another wine class organized by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, this time focused on Shenandoah Valley wines. I neglected to take a picture at the restaurant, so the image above is an AI interpretation of a Shenandoah vineyard. The growth of vineyards in this region has been incredible. In 1980 there were six […]
Recently we’ve attended local wine events featuring Champagne and Rose wines. The Champagne event was put on by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group, the same folks who hosted the Central Coast tasting in April. Their head wine person Erin told us an interesting story about the Champagne region, how growers have begun to take control back […]
Last week at a club DIY event I installed a Vorsteiner rear diffuser on my E46 M3. I had thought about getting one for a while. But the high cost of a quality piece pushed it down the priority list. That changed after a conversation with a fellow National Capital Chapter member who had no […]
I have been remiss in reporting on our family vehicles. Back in 2019 I wrote about Gabriele getting an X5. It was a nice car, but when the pandemic hit we sold it after the warranty expired. We didn’t want to be on the hook for expensive repairs, and we got a high offer for […]
Last weekend I changed the coolant on my 2006 M3 at a club DIY event. BMW of Sterling was our gracious host for the event, giving us access to its large and state-of-the-art facility. I had done the same maintenance in 2018 at Sterling. I went in hoping I could again borrow a fluid exchange […]
Earlier this month Gabriele and I attended a California Central Coast wine tasting put on by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. We’ve been fans of NRG for a long time. It was a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon and we got introduced to two new favorites. The host of the tasting was NRG’s […]