Last weekend Gabriele and I attended a fun wine-tasting event in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria. Planet Wine set up some tables across the street from their location and poured 30 different wines for a crowd of about 50 on a gorgeous fall day. From the email invite: As always, we’re breaking this thing […]
Earlier this month I came close to buying a BMW on BaT, the Bring a Trailer auction site. I enjoy my two M cars and until this month hadn’t seen a car I wanted badly enough to bid. After watching the auctions and sharing comments on BMWs since 2016 it finally happened. The car I […]
It’s been relatively quiet on the M car front lately. I purchased new summer tires for my M3, and I had to redo a front sway bar link that blew out shortly after install. I added a far superior, aftermarket drink holder solution to the M5. And unfortunately, I ran into my first DIY fail […]
Recently I had an occasion to celebrate and it made me think of a suitable wine. The kind of wine you spend more on because of the celebration and the experience you expect. My wife and I both like pinot noir so we did a comparison taste test of some well-known makers. Merry Edwards is […]
Last weekend was a busy one on the BMW DIY front. I replaced the front sway bar end links on my E46 M3 at a DIY/block party hosted by RevTech Performance. I also installed a brand new set of OE European Hella headlights for my E39 M5. I had noticed the worn end links during […]
Last week I attended an excellent presentation on the use of LinkedIn in the federal space. The presenter was Mark Amtower, known by many as the “Godfather” of government marketing. The discussion was a GovCon ClubTM event organized by Guy (Go-To-Guy) Timberlake, another long-time luminary in federal marketing. When Mark Amtower talks LinkedIn people listen. […]
Last week Tim Hartman and Frank Salatto were guest speakers on our Ideation group govcon call. Tim is Chief Executive Officer of GovExec, and Frank is SVP and Head of Growth Initiatives. They gave us a compelling overview of GovExec’s string of acquisitions over the past two years, arguably the most important development for B2G […]
Here’s a two-fer post for BMW fans. Last week I tackled the replacement of camshaft position sensors, exhaust side on my E39 M5. I also attended a webinar organized by the CCA M-Chapter and Hagerty, looking at the data behind rising BMW M car valuations. My two M cars have been pretty trouble-free of late. […]
The COVID pandemic has deepened my relationships in the GovCon community. Early in 2020 the Ideation call was set up by Government Marketing University. As many as 70 government marketers would Zoom in and share tips and best practices as we all groped for a new normal. It was both a professional and a psychological […]
This weekend I attended another DIY event organized by the National Capital Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America. Craftsman Auto Care, owned by Matt and Judy Curry, generously hosted the club at their Merrifield location. I took my 2006 M3 and a short list of maintenance items, nothing too ambitious. It had been […]
Earlier this month I stupidly pulled the front bumper cover off my 2006 M3. It took the better part of the month to repair. The delay was caused by travel, some miscommunication with the repair shop, the holidays and parts availability. Nothing is ever simple with BMWs so I was expecting some complications and was […]
Earlier this month we took a long weekend in Pittsburgh. Gabriele’s new company is headquartered there and her job is full-time remote. But her boss wanted to bring the department together before the holidays. This was just before the Omicron variant started to dominate the headlines. We had a fun visit to Pittsburgh two years […]