Oct 302024
 
Interview with Amtower Off Center

This week started off on the right good 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 […]

Sep 102024
 
E46 M3 Alternator and Bluebus

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 […]

Aug 192024
 
Various E46 M3 Maintenance

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 […]

Jul 252024
 
Shenandoah Valley and Some New Favorites

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 […]

Jun 292024
 
Champagne and Rose Wine Events

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 […]

Jun 102024
 
E46 M3 Gets a Vorsteiner Rear Diffuser

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 […]

May 252024
 
New Car Lease

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 […]

Apr 222024
 
E46 M3 Coolant Change

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 […]

Apr 152024
 
Central Coast Wine Tasting

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 […]

Mar 312024
 
An E46 M3 Headlight Saga

I’ve just completed what became a long saga improving my E46 M3 headlight performance. Regular visitors might remember it started about a year ago when I replaced the projector lenses in my headlights. All was fine for a while afterwards. Then last fall I noticed that the passenger side light was much lower than the […]

Mar 122024
 
Original Thought in the Age of AI

Ever since the broad availability of artificial intelligence exploded last year, I’ve been wondering about its impact on B2 marketing. There is already a lot of “me-tooism” in much of B2G content marketing. Would AI make that even worse? Or could it, in fact, amplify the value of truly original insights for thought leadership? Or […]

Feb 292024
 
Recent Wine Recommendations

Happy early spring! We’ve enjoyed some new wines this winter and here are a few standouts. The 2019 J. Christopher Volcanique Pinot Noir is an excellent wine. From the Dundee Hills region in Oregon, the wine is a beautiful balance of raspberry fruit and acidity, light on the palate but with a lot going on. […]