The Rob Tang Corner

My Close Effort...

2006-08-29T22:45:00.000-07:00

It was that time again to replace the rear brakes on my 2004 Golf TDI. With the car up on jack stands I discovered that only 5% of my rear pads remained while the fronts still had 80% remaining. How odd is that?

Armed with my brand new Mastercraft Impact Gun and Socket Set, I was going to complete the brake change completely myself. I admit that I felt nervous, but also excited that I was going to try this on my own. Replacing brake pads isn't exactly rocket science. It was just wierd not having my friend Alexi directly standing over me for supervision throughout the whole process.

Normally, I would always make an effort to help out when it came to servicing my car. Time after time, he would step in at any signs of me needing help and end up completing the whole job by himself. Unknowingly, he became my teacher as I would attentively watch and ask questions.

Dispite all my built up confidence, I still needed to call him for assistance in removing my seized 20 mm spacers from both hubs.

This Caliper Resetting Tool made the brake install so much easier! I was able to rent this for free from my local Canadian Tire. It saved us alot of time and hassles of using a C-clamp to reset the piston! I definately need to pick up one of these for myself the next time I am at Princess Auto.

On a side note, I've been running B40 fuel in my TDI for the past three weeks. Despite a barely noticable loss in fuel economy of 50 kms per tank, I've found the car running alot more quieter and smoother. The motor seems a lot more peppier while and feels like it was fueled by gasoline! I'll continuely update my progress while running B40.

My Andrew, His Hotwheels and XBox 360

2006-08-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

It's been nearly three months since my last entry and my son Andrew has now reached 8 weeks old. It would be an understatement to say that he has kept me extremely busy. Even when I do get some free time, I find myself wanting to spend it all with him.

Luckily, he and I have discovered many similar special interests which I consider important in father & son bonding which include:

1. Collecting Hot Wheels (we have reached over 250 cars);
2. Collecting Pampers "Gift to Grow" ponts (130 pts so far);
3. Watching the Golf Channel.

Yesterday, we won the ultimate jack pot! I recieved a telephone call from a friend offered Andrew and I the opportunity of a lifetime to purchase an unopened XBox 360 Premium Console at an absurd price of $125 CAN. Needless to say, we immediately jumped at the chance.

According to my friend, he had brought his orginal XBox 360 back to Futureshop for an immediate exchange due to some sort of manufacturer's defect. Three weeks later, his doorbell rang. Microsoft had sent him a new console via UPS in error without realizing that Futureshop had already provided him with a replacement.

Talk about perfect timing as it was a nice birthday gift to myself! Andrew and I are really enjoying Tiger Woods 2006!

My Hang Time

2006-05-24T11:21:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress... Check back soon!

My Hectic Life & Boost Valve!

2006-05-22T19:13:00.000-07:00

After two weeks of anticipation, my boost valve finally arrived by UPS courier services! I immediately ripped open the shipping package and verified that all the parts were accounted for. I'll probably install the valve sometime at the end of this week once my car's warranty service is completed by Westminster Volkswagen.

With 76,000 kms and three days in their service bay, they discovered that my car's acceleration problems were caused by the premature death of my turbocharger. Good thing that the charger died while during the warranty period. According to the dealer, the diagnostic fee and replacement woudl have set me back approximately $2000. While probing around, they also found a leak in the EGR Cooler which has now been replaced. While the car was in their shop, I had them change the oil and perform the 74,000 km preventative minor servicing.

On another note, it's been really hectic period in my life. With four and a half weeks left before the birth of my son/daughter, I've been really busy making sure everything is ready. I've also been swamped with an increased flow of patients through my ER department.

Alike every other typical weekend, my wife and I spent it shopping in Seattle. I swear that one day we may just decide to permamently move south of the 49th. Despite my proud Canadian-ism, I've been pestered by a fellow colleague (George) about employment opportunities in Bishop and San Francisco, California. He keeps reminding me that the pay is significantly higher, and that flyfishing and golfing is year round. I keep telling him that I'm one of those people who love the Pacific Northwest and the cool climate. Hot weather and I do not mix well.

My Decision: Heat Pumps vs. Air Conditioning

2006-05-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

With the recent heatwave and temperatures reaching up to 30 degree celcius, we were simply not enjoying our dream home. For the sake of comfort, my wife's soon approaching maternity leave, and the arrival of our baby, we began our search for a central air conditioning system for our home. Our original plan was to bare through the summer without it and make our purchase sometime in spring 2007. Of course, nothing in life ever happens as planned.

After a few weeks of internet research, I learned that there were two different systems available. The first is a traditional air conditioning system and the second was the addition of a heat pump. Although both systems were designed for cooling, both work very differently. The Air conditioning units cool refrigerants like Puron Refrigerant and Freon and delivers them to evaporator coils, which dissipate the refrigerant and blow cool air into ducts for delivery throughout the home. The heat pump is a central air conditioner which can also heat your whole home.

According to the my builder, he had had installed a heat pump into his 5000 sq-ft home with the identical furnace system from Carrier. With the heat pump, his total monthly gas bills are now $80-100 per month. His electrical use has increased, however minimally.

My first estimate came from Jim from Vancouver Furnance Express. They were the company which I orginally hired to install the heating and duct work during the construction of my home. Jim informed me that the heat pump was the best option due to it's high energy efficiency. The unforunate news was that the Carrier heat pumps were on short supply throughout the Lower Mainland and that it would be a 2-3 week wait for one.

My second call was to my neighbour Tony who works for Executive Air. He immediately recommended that I run a traditional air conditioning system as he warned that heat pump technologies are still new. He explained that although a heat pump would pay itself off within 4-5 years, they have a higher chance of costly malfunctionings.

None the less, I had both parties come and calculate the system that would best fit my needs. Fortunate for us, we had a concrete pad pre-poured for an outdoor condensor, roughed in all the necessary electrical lines, and ducting to keep the cost for this upgrade minimal.

My Redeeming Satisfaction

2006-05-19T21:03:00.000-07:00

After a stressful week in the ER, I was reminded of why I love my job so much. It began last Friday when I popped in for one of my after hours 'rounds' in the department.

I noticed a patient, Mr. Cox (not the patient's real name) had came in looking for a psychiatric evaluation and assistance to link up with community services. Unfortunately, he had been sitting in our waiting room for 3-4 hours and was then told to go home as he did not present with a primary medical concern. To make a long story short, I picked up his chart and my clip board and volunteered 30 minutes of my time off to do a quick assessment.

Mr. Cox had been suffering from an untreated acute clinical depression/adjustment disorder, suicidal and had been attempting to cope with the symptoms through suggested cocaine use by his less ideal friends. Mr. Cox was a well educated individual who struck me as a go-getter and someone who had just made one bad decision which began a spiralling tumble in life. Although prior to this he had been coping well in life, his depression was precipitated by the recent loss (laid off) of employment, and break-up with his long-time fiancee.

This afternoon, I decided to visit Mr. Cox at home to check in on his progress. He was doing well and was following my discharge recommendations. As I was walking back to my car, his mother ran out of the house to express gratitude because I cared for her son. I simply told her that it's just a part of my job. As we shook hands, she leaned in to give me a hug. She stated that if was not for me donating my time during after hours, she believed that he would not be alive today.

In this day and age, modern medicine and psychiatry has become such a thankless line of work. Today I was left feeling satisfied as someone reminded me that we make differences in people's lives.

My Transitioning Emotions

2006-05-18T14:40:00.000-07:00

After spending most of today day in a complete chaos with my conscious, I came to realize how low people can be.

I view friends as an intergal part of my life, they are like family to me. Today, I learned first hand how people can take that kindness and respect and turn it against you in the heat of the moment. No matter who I have been friends with, I've always held all our friendships in the highest regards and respect.

As I sit here still feeling extremely guilty, everyone who I know from under the sun and moon have left near threatening messages or hostilities towards me. I thought my friends were going to be a little more mature about dealing with my immature actions. No, they responded with immaturity right back at me.

Funny how accusations and blame were flying everywhere before either Alexi and myself had the opportunity to speak to each other.

While I was at work this morning, I decided to check in on my VW Club Forum for new discussion topics. Low and behold, I find this:

http://www.vwdov.ca/forum/showthread.php?threadid=96987

Individuals who I deem as my close friends were posting crap about what had occurred or attempting to defame my character. This just compounded on top of my pre-existing upset feelings which just turned into anger. It was friends admitting that they have been talking smack behind your back. Name calling, racist remarks and also labelling me as having a split personality disorder.

Just for my records, I've decided to cut and paste some of these quotes so I never forget that it happened.

"Alexi, remeber those conversations we've been having about the "double personality" wow!"

"However, it sucks that you are impressionable and cannot clue in to the fact that 'Hey, maybe I shouldn't push this car into the middle of the road because the fat china man thinks it'll be funny.' Be it known, if you or Rob ever fucked with my shit, I'd rip your balls off and if Alexi asked me to, I'd do the same for him."

"What did you and your clan of followers do to Alexi's car? Completely uncool Rob. I think you have split personalities, you go from a good friend to doing something like this. Alexi was VERY upset and after hearing about it and that you had a role in this made me upset. Come on Rob.....get a grip."

After speaking to other individuals who were present during the incident, I've gotten to know the real story.

I guess friendshipis not comparable to family. Family does not intentionally make highly offensive statements re: race, and humourously labelling mental health diagnosis directly to hurt someone's feelings. I guess some of my friendships are as thin as water.

Funnier yet, Alexi came over to my home this afternoon to work on our friend Dejan's car. He agreed with me that there was no hostilities between us, he never was directly upset at me as I didn't mastermind the incident. He had already blown it off. Apparently our mutual friends decided upon themselves without knowing the full story and place full responsibilty on me.

This absolutely disgusted me. However, I now know where I stand with these so called "close friends".

My Lack of Judgement

2006-05-18T10:27:00.000-07:00

Upon arriving for work today, I could not even pull my level of focus together to see patients in the ER because of horrible feelings of guilt and irresponsibility continued to plague my conscience. Midway through the morning, I decided to take the remainder of the day off on stress leave for some time of self-reflection. Questions began rumminating in my mind as I asked myself:

1. What kind of friend am I?
2. Am I that irresponsible?
3. Am I that horrible of a person to others?
4. Am I fit for parenthood?
5. Am I over reacting?

Last evening, a few friends and I gathered at the local coffee shop for some gelato dessert. The evening began quite well as I was greeted upon arriving and informed that they didn’t think that I would show up tonight.

During the gathering, my friend Alexi went out for a drive in Brandon's recently completed MK1 Cabriolet Turbocharged G60 conversion. This is where the evening began heading downhill. While he was out driving, someone made the suggestion that we pull a prank on Alexi, and push his parked MK3 VR6 a few stalls forward. After his car was moved, everyone returned to the coffee shop and waited for his return. I knew at that moment that this wasn't going to be good

Honestly, nobody in the group intended to upset Alexi. In the past, I've had numerous tricks and pranks played on me from my friends and fellow Volkswagen enthuisiast. In the past, my friends have hidden my antenna; moved & kicked my car, gently rear ended with a friend's car at stop lights, windshield wiper completely removed, messages fingered in my dirty paint, and stickers placed all over my vehicle. All of which were done for humour and laughs.

Throughout the whole process, I was surprised at myself that I did not think twice about how upset Alexi would become. He had recently repainted approximately 1/4 of his car it was freshly washed prior to coming out tonight. If it was my car, I understand how he would not want people draping her with fingerprints and risk denting a quarter panel.

When Alexi returned, he immediately jumped out of the cabriolet and was very upset. As expected, the blame was squared onto myself. Although I did not suggest the idea, I did participate in the act which makes me fully accountable. As well, I really showed a serious lack of judgement. As on of his closest friend present, I should have made the right decision and stopped it from happening.

As Alexi became increasingly angry, he made a sudden 180 degree turn, got into his car and drove off. Ten minutes later, Brandon received a telephone call from Alexi stating that he left because he was extremely upset. I followed up with Brandon's suggestion and later called him back to privately apologize and take responsibility for everything that happened tonight. Even after the call ended and I returned home, I still felt an overwhelming sense of guilt in which I should have made a more mature decision.

Midway through this morning, I recieved a telephone message from our mutual friends informing me that when they found out of the incident, they were extremely disappointed in my actions. I totally deserve the statement below:

"What did you and your clan of followers do to Alexi's car? Completely uncool Rob. I think you have split personalities, you go from a good friend to doing something like this. Alexi was VERY upset and after hearing about it and that you had a role in this made me upset. Come on Rob.....get a grip."

I've already attempted to contact Alexi by phone this morning to offer a physical apology, but he did not answer his phone. I don't blame him for not wanting to speak to me.

This incident really made me realize that my guilty feelings are prompted by the level that I respect I have for Alexi and our friendship. Hopefully I can get a hold of him later today to apologise and share my guilty feelings.

Once again, I will take full responsibility for this incident as I should have thought twice and stopped it from happening. I continue to feel horrible about the incident and that no words of apology can explain my guilt.

Driveway Fixed!

2006-05-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

After a long battle, the City of Port Coquitlam finally agreed to re-pave and bridge the road to our driveway. This was a welcome sight as for the past 8 months, I've been carefully navigating my car in and out along a narrow gravel patch to avoid dropping my car into the ditch at the end of the driveway.

Funny how it took six city crew members and 8 hours of wasted taxpayer's money to complete this relatively simple task. As I played supervisor from my front windows, I only observed two of the crew members actually working. The other four had pulled out lawnchairs out of their trucks and watched while sitting under a shady tree from across the road. Go figure eh? Must be unionized workers.

Even after the job was completed, I continue to naturally back out of the driveway thinking that the ditch was still there. Dam'n Pavlov's classical conditioning theory!

My Incredibly Busy Week

2006-05-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I have not been able to post much this week due to an incredibly busy week. For some strange reason, the flow of psychiatric patients in my ER department significantly increased. Of the five work days this week, I found myself staying late until around 8 pm for catch up work or requests for consultations near the end of the day.

Last evening, I made a frantic last minute run to the Costco in Bellingham to look for a birthday present for my wife. I had initially intended to purchase her a new digital camcorder. However, the price for the Panasonic 3CCD model was more expensive in the United States. After shopping around, I decided to purchase her an 11-cup Cuisinart Food Processor for $149.99 USD. The MSRP for the same model here in Canada was $389.99! Even after the currency exchange, it puzzles me how there is such a huge price difference.

In celebration of my wife's 26th birthday, we had lunch at White Spot, and out to Lougheed Wonton for chinese dinner with her parents.

I better sign off now, as I've got a pre-natal class tomorrow at Douglas College and a barbeque with some friends in the evening. Check back tomorrow for my next entry and some photos!

My Letter To Westminster Volkswagen

2006-05-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

The following is a letter which I wrote reflecting today's experience with the service department at Westminster Volkswagen:

To: Management of Westminster Volkswagen,

I would like to express my sincere appreciation to your service team, in most particular Robbie (my service advisor). I had called your service department and reported having vehicle difficulties on May 8, 2006. The folks in your service department quickly validated my frustrations and expressed concerns regarding the safety of the vehicle and it's drivability. Within minutes of calling, I was scheduled for a service appointment for the next day.

Upon arriving for my service appointment,I informed Robbie that it was extremely important that I have the service completed before noon or be issues a courtesy vehicle. I needed a source of dependable transportation to as I work at several hospital sites within the Lower Mainland. Despite only having partially completed the diagnosis of the problem, the car was promptly returned to me washed and vaccumed at 11:00 am. Inside the car, I found a complimentary newspaper and a bottle of spring water. She apologized for not being able to complete the service due to parts needing special ordering and had been well aware of my time restraints with work. I was also informed that all of the car's problems would be fully covered under warranty. I was rescheduled for a second service appointment next week to have all the remaining repairs completed.

I have brought my car into many different dealerships since first owning a Volkswagen in 1996. I have to say that the service I received today was absolutely exceptional and deserved recognition. Please share my thanks to your service team and especially Robbie for all her help.

Once again, thank you very much for knowing how to deliver exceptional customer service. It was a wonderful reminder why I came back in 2004 to purchase another Volkswagen.

Sincerely, Robert Tang

My Continued CEL Woes

2006-05-08T22:04:00.000-07:00

Since driving down to Seattle last weekend, my Check Enging Light has continued to cause problems. While driving along the Interstate 5, I suddenly felt a significant decrease in the car's motor and became restricted to a top speed of 85 km/hrs.

Once pulled over, I immediately removed the Diesel Tuning Box and resetted the car's ECU. I did this to see if I could isolate the problem. Was it the tuning box or the motor? Once back on the highway, the CEL remained illuminated. I was forced to drive the remainder of the trip using tiptronic while never exceeding 3000 RPM. The car like it was running without it's turbocharger. I knew right there that my woes were motor related.

Upon returning home, I met with my godbrother Gary over lunch to explain the situation. Gary was recently employed for Kinetic Motorsports/Advanced Tuning Products, Inc. (ATP Turbo), a company dedicated solely to turbocharging. I informed him that my car had been mysteriously leaking coolant (up to 1-2 litres per day) with no evidence of leaking; massive horsepower losses at higher rpms; and continued intermittent CEL signals. He believed that the seals in the turbocharger may have failed, which consequently led to my overboosting problems.

As lunch progressed, what Gary said started to make a lot of sense. Turbochargers use coolant to cool itself. If the seals fail, that would be where the coolant was leaking and why the car felt under powered. I immediately made a service appointment for tomorrow at Westminster Volkswagen. I am hoping that the problem can be verified and repaired.

While on the phone with my Volkswagen Service Technician, he informed me that the failure of the turbocharger seal was common with the MK4 1.9L TDI motor. With less than 4000 kms before the expirations of my 80,000 km factory warranty, I'm glad my car problems are occurring now rather than later.

I am still planning to install the boost valve when it arrives and purchase a boost guage for preventative measures. Hopefully, this problem will never happen again.

My New Boost Valve

2006-05-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

Following the recommendations from my tuner box distributer, I decided to purchase a boost valve today from the folks at boostvalve.com. Since placing the order 12 hours ago, the UPS tracking number reports that my new valve is already enroute from Florida and will arrive this Monday or Tuesday.

The valve should help reduce the boost spikes when I am driving at higher RPMs and allow me to run the tuner box at the maximum power settings without any problems. Joe from Diesel Tuning informed me that the combination of back pressure and excessive fuel have caused my car's boost to rise faster than the turbo's vanes can react. The turbo spikes ended up causing my ECU to react by pulling out timing from the motor. The result is lower torgue output.

According to the boostvalve.com, the component will not raise max boost but control the spikes/surges and effectively give better control of the turbo's wastegate. It prevents boost pressure from opening the turbo's waste gate until the desired preset boost level is reached. Inside the valve is a precision stainless steel ball that is held in place by spring tension. During the turbo's spool-up (as pressure is building) spring tension in the valve is greater than the boost pressure pushing against the ball, so the ball prevents the air from flowing to the wastegate actuator.

This maximizes the efficiency of the turbo during the spool-up by using the greatest amount of air possible to spin the turbo charger. Most boost control systems waste air by venting much of the air out, even many factory boost control systems waste available exhaust energy during this crucial spool-up period. Once the turbo spools up to the desired boost, the Boostvalve opens, quickly opening the waste gate. Boost pressure is held at this level with accuracy unmatched by even more expensive methods of boost control.

Below is the installation diagram for the boost valve from their website:

My Recurring Check Engine Light

2006-05-06T00:08:00.000-07:00

After running the VAG-COM diagnostic tool and clearing an "overboosting" fault code, my Check Engine Light (CEL) illuminated again today. The CEL occurred during my drive into work this morning. Hoping that my ECU needed a simple restart,I pulled over and turned off the ignition and restarted the car. Of course with my luck, the CEL light didn't turn off on it's own.

Accompanied by my friend Dejan and his father's brand new MK5 GTI, we made a short noticed visit to see my friends at PG Performance for some help. Althought the shop was extremely busy with other customers, and non-stop telephone calls, they were kind enough run my TDI through a free VAG-COM diagnostic. The readings indicated that it was the same "overboosting" fault code from the day before.

Once we erased the code, I offered Paul the opportunity to drive my TDI on their unofficial test track. After 15 minutes, he returned stating that the CEL had illuminated again. A telephone call was made to Joe Heffner, the representative of Diesel Tuning (the manufacturer of my tuning box. He encouraged us to turn down the power setting to the recommended powerband: C-mode. Furthermore, he recommended me to purchase and install a boost guage, boost pressure valve to help control and monitor my turbo.

Once the tuning box was adjusted to the new settings, Dejan and I drove out to Mission Raceway. Throughout the 45 minute long drive, the CEL never returned. Thanks Paul! We ended up meeting our usual circle of friends at the raceway and spent the remainder of the evening watching the street-legal drag races.

Fender Rolling & Vag Com Madness!

2006-05-05T00:11:00.000-07:00

Last evening, I was visited by a few friends asking to use my garage to roll out the fenders of Dejan's MK4 Jetta GLI and Harrison's MK4 GTI. Nothing too spectacular happened.

While working on the fenders, Darren popped by with his lap top computer and VAG diagnostic tool. During my drive home, a check engine light in my car illuminated after spanking the living daylight out of a riced out 2004 Honda Civic Coupe. While waiting at a red light, one of the four Indo-Canadian guys in the car yelled, "Your car is all show and no go!" When the light turned green, I just hammered the gas peddle of my 165 hp, 265 ft-lb of torque TDI and left them behind in a nasty cloud of diesel smoke.

Luckily for me, the VAG scan revealed that a simple warning that I had overboosted my turbocharged motor. With the error code erased, the car was good as new!

It wasn't after Darren's arrival in which I noticed that we had seven tastefully modified Volkswagens parked in front of my house. As we worked on the cars, I noticed many of the passing cars slowed down to take a closer look. At one point, another Volkswagen owner made 8 separate passes in his lowered MK2 1.8L Golf.

Hmmm... I wonder if my neighbours have figured out that I have an addiction to Volkswagens?

Found! My New Spoiler

2006-05-04T23:33:00.000-07:00

A spoiler was the last piece I needed to complete all the body modifications to my MK4 TDI. After a few weeks of searching different manufacturers including JOM styling, JMS, Der ABT, and Oettenger, I found the perfect spoiler for my car.

During my search, a friend had suggested that I check out the spoilerdepot.com. Their company specializes in selling OEM and replica spoilers (which meet all OEM specifications) for a fraction of the price at a dealership. I decided that I would purchase a replica R32 rear spoiler as I wanted something that would flow nicely with an OEM look/feel. The price which included it painted in Reflex Silver and brokerage/shipping was $179.00 USD.

I decided to compare their pricing to the OEM spoiler sold at my local Volkswagen dealership. I called both Westminster VW and Guildford Motors and was quoted nearly $350 CAN + taxes. The price didn't include painting as it would roughly cost me an additional $150-250 in material and labour.

Needless to say where I have decided to purchase my new spoiler. I'll probably place my order sometime in the next few weeks.

Cooking Isn't Your Special Talent!

2006-05-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Out of nowhere today, my friend Clayton asked me a very simple question while chatting on MSN: What is my special talent? Although the question appeared very simple, providing an answer was much more difficult than I thought. Then I realized, I have never been asked this question by a friend before.

For a few minutes, I sat in contemplation while staring at my computer screen. I wondered to myself, why he would interupt our conversation about digital camcorders to ask such an off-topic question?

To answer this question, I had to stop everything to ask myself two questions to find my answer. Why am I friends with Clayton? What do I bother him for the most about when i need to bother him? He replied, "hmm...never thought that."

In my response, I joked to him that cooking was definately not his special talent. I felt that his special talent was his ability to teach and share his life experiences with others. Since knowing Clayton, he's always been one of the few friends who I would call when I need to make a difficult decision in life.

He replied, "Serious?" I told him that I looked up to him as if I had an older brother who was 10 yrs ahead in life. He is definately someone who you don't feel stupid when you share your thoughts or feelings. I think my response may have caught him off guard as he probably expected me not to take his question seriously.

I was reminded tonight that everyone has some sort of a special talent in life. Unfortunately, many will never realize this as we often take our friendships for granted while forgetting to recognize how they have positively impacted our lives.

My Final Decision... Watching As Time Ticks Away

2006-05-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to leave work a little earlier than usual today. I had made my final decision and was on my way to purchase the Tissot PR50 Chronograph as my new replacement watch.

Reaching this decision was relatively easy as I view the Seiko was a far inferior product. There was no way I could justify paying anywhere near their over inflated MSRP pricing for either the Kinetic models or $100-200 more for the light-weight Titanium series.

Despite the failure of my last watch, I still felt that the Tissot was a far superior product with a higher level of craftmanship. My orginal plan was to purchase the the model which had silver guages on a black dial. In a last minute change, I chose to go with the silver on silver model. I really felt that this model presented with a more distinctiveness from it's water-damaged predecessor.

Removing The Driver Side Lock

2006-05-02T00:12:00.000-07:00

During last weekend's Tim Hortons gathering in Langley, I was assisted by my friend Harrison in installing the blank cover which replaces the lock cylinder on my driver side door. This modification has become quite popular in the Volkswagen community as car thiefs have been opening windows/unlocking the doors on MK4's by twisting a screw driver which is jammed into the lock cylinder.

I've been quite hesitant to attempt this on my own as I have heard many stories of people severely messing up this relatively simple modification. Harrison informed me that the mistake is made when people overly loosen the torx screw holding the lock cylinder in the door. Quite often, this will cause the screw to fall between the door frame. Once this happens, the only way to properly install the blank is to completely strip the door apart to put the screw back in it's proper place.

To begin the install, a small flat head screw driver was used to remove the small plastic cap covering the single torx screw holds the lock cylinder in in place.

Once the torx screw was carefully loosened, we slowly wiggled the lock cylinder out of the door and replaced it with the blank metal piece and painted plastic cap. The Torx screw was retighten and the flat plastic cap placed back. The installation took less than 5 minutes to complete.

Thanks Harrison!

Watching For A Replacement

2006-05-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

While getting ready for work a few weeks ago, I discovered that a small amount of condensation had built up inside my Tissot PR50 Automatic watch. I was a mystified as I have a habit of never wearing watches while showering, dish washing, swimming, car washing or washing my hands. I decided to leave my watch in direct sunlight and give it a few days the condensation would disappear. To my surprise, the condensation worsen to the point where I was unable to even read the time.

I had orginally purchased my Tissot in a set for approximately $800 with my wife 5 years ago. Obviously, this watch has a lot of sentimental meaning because it was an anniversary present to each other. I also admired it's swiss craftmanship and rolex styled functioning.

I then decided to bring my watch to the Tissot authorized service centre at Time Co. on Canada Way in Burnaby. After watching the technician pull my watch apart, he showed me where rust/water damages had developped on the internal motor system and dials. He explained to me that the condensation was most likely caused by a failure in the factory seals & gaskets. Unfortunately the watch is no longer covered under warranty and the estimated repair cost was approximately $240 including taxes.

Feeling extremely disappointed, I regretfully decided that I would embark on a search for a new replacement. Since owning a Tissot, I've become quite brand loyal. I've become quite selective on styling and high craftmanship despite high costs.

After a week of searching, I had narrowed down the replacement candidates to either a $375 Seiko Kinetic SMY091 or a $400+ Tissot PR50 Chronograph. I felt many of the other watch manufacturers including Seiko and Citizen to have a lesser quality product. In temptation, I also test fitted the watch which I have desired for many years, the Omega Seamaster. Unfortunately, I was unwilling to pay $1800 price tag for it. I have considered purchasing a match set for our 5th or 10th year wedding anniversary with our wedding date engraved on the back.

I've probably driven my wife absolutely mad throughout this experience. We've been to several jewellers and I've pretty much rejected many of the watches she has suggested as a replacement. While at the mall this afternoon, she turned to me and gave me the look. You guys all know that look your wives will give you. It was her non-verbal way of saying, "Just pick a watch... I don't want to look anymore."

The following two watches are the leading candidates to become my new replacement:

There was no way I could have made the decision today. I wanted to see if there were more selection south of the border as I'll be in Seattle this upcoming weekend.

Cookie Sheet Meyhem

2006-04-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

Last evening, I had the opportunity to attend a local Volkswagen gathering at the new Tim Hortons on 200th Avenue in Langley. The evening began with the initial meet up at Alexi's home before cruising to the site of the gathering. The turn out of nearly 30 cars at the Tim Hortons was quite impressive.

After an hour of the usual standing around outside, the group decided to cruise down to the Fresgo Inn on King George Hwy, Surrey for dinner. During our visit, I decided to indulge myself to a greasy bacon, cheddar, mushroom burger with double patties and french fries. The burger was so enormous that I had to turf the hamburger bun to finish the meal!

After my delicious cholesterol packed meal, our group cruised to South Surrey for coffee at Starbucks. Once there, food trays taken from Fresgo Inn were brought out and placed under the rear tires of a MK3 VR6 which belonged to my friend Johnny. With the e-brake cranked, he quickly launched his car and drifted it around and around the parking lot. Unforunately the trays from Fresgo Inn did not last very long as they were constructed with fiberglass. Johnny had distroyed all 6 trays within 15 minutes. Surprisingly enough, the police never showed up despite being 9:00 pm with Save On Foods, Milestones Restaurant, Starbucks and Tim Hortons open within the same parking lot.

In a successful attempt to continue our fun, we were able to collect enough money from everyone to purchase a set of heavy guage metal cookie sheets from the Save On Foods.

With the cookie sheets in hand, we drove off to a nearby industrial area to continue the senseless meyhem. Once there, the cookie sheets were immediately placed under Johnny's rear wheels. We all stood safely away from the road, we watched the sparks fly as the cookie sheets grinded away against the asphalt. After 45 minutes of drifting and uncontrollable laughter, the cookie sheets appeared intact.

Needless to say, we had a absolute gas of a time. Below are some video clips of our cookie sheet meyhem.

Cookie Sheet Video 1
Cookie Sheet Video 2

Curry In A Hurry? Our Adventures In Richmond

2006-04-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

As each week comes to an end, I look forward to seeing my friends Alexi, Brandon, Darren, Mike, Samir, Dean, Sky at our ritualistic Friday night Starbucks get together. Normally, I would order the usual, an English Breakfast Tea with a package of sweetener and topped off with some low fat milk.

I would then make our way outside to enjoy to join the group chat about news, Volkswagen talk, rumours and gossip. I admit that I would have to agree with most outsiders views, we're probably worse than a pack of elderly grandmothers when it comes to gossiping. Others would say we're like a group of Roper & Ebert critics as we always something to say about every passing car in the parking lot.

After an hour of sitting around, I brought up the question, "Does anyone else get bored coming here every Friday night to talk about the same things? Let's do something different for a change." Immediately everyone responded, "Then why don't you suggest something interesting to do." I recieved the usual responses to any suggestions made, "...it costs too much... it's too far... I'm tired... what a stupid idea."

Finally with some arm bending, John, Mike, Harrison, Alexi joined me in a drive to visit our friend Johnny in Richmond.

Once we met up with Johnny, he decided to take us out for late night chinese food at the Golden Award Restaurant. I found it a little odd that the restaurant had a separate menu which consisted of portugese chicken, french fries, macaroni & ham soup, and toast. I decided to play it safe and ordered my favorite dish, curry chicken on rice. Unfortunately, Mike and John did not fair as well in the luck department as their pork was overly sweet without any sour taste.

We wrapped up the evening close to 2:00 am with a fill-up at the bio-diesel station in Delta.

Sianora Sumitomos, Hello Good Year!

2006-04-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

After two agonizing years of driving on Sumitomo tires, I noticed that my tires had finally reached the wear bars! I had nothing good to say about these tires. In contrary to the manufacturer's claims, the tires are terribly noisy, and severely lacks performance/traction during wet driving.

My search began at TireTrends.com. I figured that because it was a local shop, I would save on shipping and they were know for their low prices. My preference was to find and purchase a set of Dunlop FM901s or Perelli P7000s. I became quickly discouraged after discoving that many of my preferred tires would set me back at least $800-1000 CAN. I didn't think my wife would be all too impressed with that. With the harsh reality of financial responsibilities to my family, I refocused myself to find something less expensive.

After many hours of searching, I found a classifieds ad on VWVortex.com for a set of used OEM Good Year F1 tires from an VW Golf R32 located in Seattle. The owner informed me that he replaced the set with all season tires after six months of ownership due to his frequent commute to work through snow in the Pacific Coastal Mountain Range. The tires were only used for 5000 miles and were in prestine condition with no nails, patches or buldges in the sidewalls.

He had originally posted a rediculously low asking price of $300 USD for the set. With a little negotiating, we finalized the price to $200 USD. Needless to say, I've already booked off next weekend to pick up and mount the tires in Seattle.

Can You See HID?

2006-04-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

While relaxing at home after a long day at work, a surprise visit was made by my friends Dejan and Nick. Having been good friends with Dejan for several years, I graciously offered free storage space for his VW Golf in my unused third bay. Although his car has been in storage since last summmer, I've given him the key to the garage as he frequently visits to add new modifications or perform basic maintenance on it.

A headlight swap was the purpose of tonight's visit. Dejan had bought Nick's oem VW HID set up for $900 CAN (an absolute steal) and planned to install them onto his Golf 337.

The headlight swap took approximately an hour to complete. During the process, I got a chance to take a closer look at his new lighting system. The orginal value of these headlights were approximately $1900 USD which were bought from a Seattle member of the VW Vortex. After owning them for a few months, Nick decided to send his headlights into a professional body shop to have them smoked and resealed.

Following the installation, we eagerly fired up the new headlights in the Golf 337. The beam pattern of the headlights were absolutely amazing. This was thanks to the the excellent condition they were in, with minimal/no lense pitting. The light was so bright, we were able light up a house nearly 100-200 meters away.

Cuts And Scrapes... The Reception Is Clear!

2006-04-26T16:44:00.000-07:00

After a few days of limping from the Vancouver Sun Run, I felt strong enough to start working on my car again. My main priority was to replace my broken antenna.

As soon as Alexi arrived, we began tearing apart all the interior pieces in the rear quarter of the car. Unlike the MK3 Golfs, the amount of insulation and excessive interior pieces layering the antenna wire was absolutely astronomical. After an hour of tearing away the stubborn panels and suffering numerous cuts and scrapes on our hands, the rear quarter was finally stripped away enough to access the antenna base.

After installing the antenna base, the reception presented full of static interference. Once a few minor adjustments were made, we began reassembling the interior of the car. While we were working, my wife came down to find out what the hell we were doing. Her jaw dropped as she saw the extent of how much we had to strip out the interior.

Once the car was complete, I attached my new oem VW Sharan antenna onto the base and backed my baby out of the garage. The reception was crystal clear!

Unfortunately, we finished pretty late and decided to pack it in for the night. I guess I'll just have to wait until later in the week to install my new driver side door lock blank and cover.

My Mentoring Friend

2006-04-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

It is incredible how fast time can fly. I had the chance to finally catch up with my old friend Larry over dinner at Guu in Vancouver. He even brought his adorable five year old son Noah. Even though we met up at the Sun Run, we didn't get much of a chance to talk.

Larry has always been very influential throughout the short time we've known each other. Although we can't meet up as much as we used to, I still look up to him like an older brother. He's always been great in providing me with guidance, with advice and encouragements.

Our friendship began roughly six years ago while I was working as a clinician at Delta Mental Health. Larry was a psychiatrist who was pretty fresh out of medical school with only 2-3 years of clinical experience. As new graduates, we were full of nervousness as this our first job opportunity to apply all the acquired theories into practice. Larry decided to take me under his wing in a mentor role. In the next three years, he shared his knowledge with me while encouraging me to think outside the box.

Just before we parted ways, he pulled me aside and asked if I would ever seriously consider returning back to school to study medicine. He kept insisting that I had great instincts, caring & compassion while always finding new ways to improve the quality of our health care's delivery system. Although I had never said it outright, he identified my desires to expand my practice to the next level.

Despite my overwhelming desires to persue medical school, I decided to decline the opportunity. Although I had support from my family, I did not want to put off my future life with my fiancee.

After catching up with all the latest news, we ended our delightful dinner with desert at Mondos Gelatos and went back to his place for some tea at his new home in McDonalds Heights in Vancouver.

Fifty Seven Minutes Later

2006-04-24T22:48:00.000-07:00

I had an absolute blast at yesterday's Vancouver Sun Run. My initial intention was to complete the run together with my friends (Larry & Jonathan) within 75-90 minutes. I quickly learned that it would be nearly impossible to stay together when surrounded by approximately 50,000 other participants.

In my previous experiences, I've always started out of the gates too quickly in an attempt to get into the front of the main crowd. Like a stupid donkey, I would never learn from my mistakes. This year, I was able to quickly set a comfortable pace of 5:43 min/km or 9:12 min/mile.

Between the second and third kilometer, I had already pulled away from my friends. By the 6 kilometer, I was surprised that neither fatigue or cramping had set in. Despite passing runners, I continued chugging along at my own pace.

I glanced at my watch as I passed the 8 kilometer mark. I had been able to keep my split time to within 1-2 minutes of my initial pace, while 42:00 minutes had passed since leaving the start line. I pressed on as I became determined to cross the finish line within 60 minutes.

Despite having had no spring training, I surprisingly finished the run within 57 minutes and 5 seconds. If I had trained this year, I felt that I could have been able to finish the run under 50 minutes.

My previous Sun Run times:

2004: 56:57 finish 5:41/km 9:10/mile
2005: 61:11 finish 6:07/km 9:51/mile

The Vancouver Sun Run

2006-04-23T07:25:00.000-07:00

T-minus 1:30 hours before I start the Vancouver Sun Run. I'm hoping to finish the run with a time less than 1:20 minutes considering that I did not specifically train at all this year. My best time ever was 52 minutes. This year I'll be running with my old friend Larry and Jonathan. I figured that if I group myself with faster runners, I'll be pushed for a faster time.

In anticipation that I'll be sore for the rest of the week, I spent last evening mowing my lawn, washing the car and any house errands that would involve heavy lifting/labour.

Wish me luck! I'll have more to write later as I'll be heading over to a friend's home to celebrate Greek Easter.

My Replacement Fridgerator

2006-04-22T00:30:00.000-07:00

At approximately 1:00 pm this afternoon, a Coast Appliance Wholesale delivery truck pulled up to our driveway. Out hopped the driver with two other sets of helping hands. My wife and I watched in awe as the three movers spent approximately 1 1/2 hours moving, wiggling and finally exchanging the units. Our new fridgerator had finally arrived!

We knew that we wanted to incorporate a commerical styled kitchen during our first draft/blue prints of our home. Despite people telling us that it would be overkill, we ended up spending nearly fifteen thousand dollars for a duel fuel 6 burner range and a commerical styled refridgeration system.

Following the completion of our home, we soon discovered that the fridgerator doors were leaking air. This allowed moisture to become trapped inside the unit. Consequently all the internal components to began rusting. We were obviously frustrated as we believed that there would be less problems with higher end appliances.

The manufacturer had initially denied our request to exchange the unit. They had orginally planned to special order all new internal parts and pay a team of three technicians sixteen hours each to rebuild the fridgerator. After calculating the cost for material and labour, the manfacturer quickly realized that the total would be three times of my original purchase price of the unit.

After several more months of endless battling, the manufacturer finally agreed to our requests and provided a full product replacement.

Mast Discount & Great Service

2006-04-21T20:04:00.000-07:00

As promised by PG Performance, my special ordered replacement antenna mass arrived today. The final price for the mast and the antenna came out to $140 CAN + taxes due to my discount from the Volkswagen Drivers Of Vancouver Club.

Like every other time I've visited the shop, I am greeted by both owners (Paul Sr & Jr) with their crazy antics, sexual induendos and hilerious insults. I've got to give kudos to them as they've maintained great customer service which is nothing short of a class act for many years.

A great example occurred during yesterday's visit. As Paul Sr returned to the shop wth several boxes of take-out pizza, he invited me to join in on their informal dinner!

On another note, I recieved great news from Denon Performance today! My brand new OEM 337 exhaust finally arrived at their shop and is ready for pick up.

With the 10 kilometer Vancouver Sun Run and Greek Easter celebrations this weekend, I'll be too busy to install the replacement antenna, base and new muffler. I guess it'll have to wait until late next week.

Antenna Thieving In Delta!

2006-04-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

Following a visit to shop at the Zellers at Scottsdale Mall, I returned to my car and noticed that something was wrong. As I scanned my car, I noticed that my aluminum shorty antenna from my Volkswagen was missing. My first thought was perhaps a friend had seen my parked car and decided to play a prank on me.

My care free mood quickly changed to overwhelming anger as I noticed the base of the antenna was damaged. I am assuming that when they decided to steal the mast, they chose to physical force pull it off the base. (I guess they did not know the mast can be simply unscrewed off) They ended up damaging the base so badly that I have replace it completely. Obviously the person involved was unfamilar with Volkswagens and their antenna systems.

After leaving the mall, I immediately made my way to PG Performance in Surrey. I ended up special ordering a new antenna setup which includes a new base and mast. Seeing this as a golden opportunity, I purchased a mast from a European Volkswagen Sharan.

The Sharan antenna was significantly shorter than my orginal one and was actually amplified with threaded wires inside. According to PG Performance, the antenna will strengthen my AM/FM radio reception greater in comparison to the full length OEM one which came with my car.

I'll be back to PG Performance tomorrow to pick up all the parts. The final total this inconvience was $152 + taxes.

Good News! My Muffler Is Coming!

2006-04-19T17:50:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of increased frustration, I finally recieved some great news from Ron at Denon Performance. He called to let me know that my OEM 337 exhaust had been ordered and should be arriving within the week.

I was also worried by unconfirmed rumours within the local Volkswagen scene that Denon was going to close the business without any notice. After confronting Ron, he was quick to assure me that the shop would not be going anywhere anytime soon.

It was a welcomed sign of relief as I had order the exhaust using a pre-existing four hundred dollar credit with them. I was pretty worried of the possibility of losing the credit note if the shop was to close.

While chatting, Ron informed me that the exhaust system would not be a direct bolt onto my car. This was due to a difference with the downpipe between my 1.9L TDI and 337 1.8L turbo motor. This isn't any devestating news to me. I'll just have to fabricate a small adapter piece to complete the final installation.

Acts Of Kindness Never Goes Unnoticed

2006-04-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happened to me while ducking out to Annacis Island to fill up my car with bio-diesel during my lunch break from work. Upon arriving to the fuel station, I realized that I had unknowingly left my wallet at home in my golf bag. Hoping that I would find a twenty dollar bill or some change, I searched frantically through my car.

The needle on my fuel guage was way below empty as I knew I would not make it home. Luckily for me, the kind lady who runs the station noticed me ruffling around the car. She comes out and asks, "what is wrong dear?" In a state of embarassment, I revealed my predicament. She replies, "No problem sweetie... I'll lend you five dollars of fuel to get you home. Just pay me back when you come back."

I returned to the station a few hours after returning home to pick up my wallet. As I lined up to pay for the fuel, I reminded the lady that I owed her the five dollars back. She informed me that is was not necessary to pay and that she did it as a simple act of kindness. "Don't worry about the five dollars, I just wanted to help you."

It made me realize how a simple act of kindness can be rewarding and helpful to others.

My Hypocritical Conscience

2006-04-17T22:11:00.000-07:00

I found a something that quickly caught my interest while surfing the Volkswagen Drivers of Vancouver web forums. The interest was a thread was named, "Spotted: Somebody driving Rob Tang's old car".

In the thread, someone had spotted my old ride speeding through traffic in the city of Richmond. As I progressed through the thread, accusations of street racing began flying between the person who spotted my old car and her new owner.

This thread inspired me to share my negative thoughts about street racing. I know this must sound so hypocritical for me, but I we need to remind ourselves and friends that street racing is extremely dangerous. I admit that I was once heavily involved in this extremely dangerous activity. It happened in my younger years when I felt invisible and had nothing to lose.

In one of our recent club drives, I was very proud to boast that I did not participate in any extreme speeding. It was the first time that I had remained within 5-10 miles of the posted speed limits during any past Volkswagen affliated event. Despite driving normally, we still managed to get to our destination within 30 minutes of everyone else. More importantly, we all got there in one piece.

I feel that my stance naturally changed when I recently found out that I was an expecting father. Since then, I've spent many days, hours, minutes and seconds contemplating the uncountable foolish decisions which I have made in my life. I came to the conclusion that life is precious and in order to properly raise a child, you have to stand by the lessons you teach them. So can we all slow down a little bit?

We Will Rise Again Next Season

2006-04-16T23:24:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed attending last night's season ending hockey game as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 4-3. The game ended with Brendan Morrison scoring the game winner in overtime.

Despite not being able to secure a playoff berth, I was quite surprised that there was very little boo'ing from the fans. The fans remained very loyal and supportive of their effort last night.

During the middle of the game, a roar of cheers came from the fans when this sign was held up in the stands:

At this time of year, I would normally would be getting ready to cheer on the Canuck's quest for the Stanley Cup. I feel like I am still in a state of denial. Is the season really over? With the team not in playoffs, I found myself scrambling to find anything to keep myself busy until October. Today, I spent the afternoon cleaning my golf clubs in preparation for a long summer.

I hope that the Canucks will not make excessively drastic changes to the team during the off season. I believe that the team would most likely benefit from change in their current head coach and play under a new philosphy. Only time will reveal the changes for the upcoming 2006-2007 season.

He Shoots... I Score!

2006-04-14T19:50:00.000-07:00

While picking up my wife today from the hospital, she presented me with a pair of tickets for tomorrow night's final Canuck game of the regular season. The tickets were given to us by a physician colleague at work. It has been nearly two seasons since I've attended a Canuck's home game. This has been partly due to my hectic work schedule and responsibilities during the building of our house and the upcoming birth of our first child.

Although the Canucks have been eliminated from a play off berth, I am still very excited to go watch the game. Many fans, critics and journalists have already predicted that the there will be massive player/personnelle changes during the upcoming off season. Rumours have already begun circulating that Trevor Linden may retire and that Todd Bertuzzi and many of their core players will be traded away.

I see game as perhaps the last golden opportunity to watch this team play together. It is likely that the Canucks will never have the same amount of talent again for a long time. Deep down inside, aside of the frustration and disappointment, I still am a hardcore Canucks fan.

Here is an amusing picture that I found on the Canucks.com online forums:

Rescued

2006-04-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

Earlier this morning, I made way to Eaglequest's Practice Range to meet up with my golfing buddy Will. Despite a positive round of golf at the Kensington Pitch & Putt, I needed to spend some time improving my driving consistency prior to Sunday's game at Golden Eagle. My other reason for visiting Eaglequest was to try out their new replacement Callaway range balls.

After driving a bucket of 90 balls, we left for breakfast at the Cat & Fiddle Pub in Port Coquitlam. Together we ordered four of their morning specials: The Cat 222 breakfast ($2.22 each) which consisted of 2 english muffins, 2 slices of bacon, country styled potatoes, scrambled eggs and fresh fruit.

After eating, we visited the Coquitlam Golf Town store & the Pitt Meadows Golfing Range's pro-shop. I wanted to check out their selection of sale priced hybrid clubs. I have always wanted to pick up a hybrid due to consistency issues with my woods and low irons. After trying one out late last season, I found it so much easier to hit while instantly improving my driving consistency.

After an hour of demo'ing a few clubs, I found that the 5 Wood Hybrid by Taylor Made was the best fit. Needless to say, I'll be at the range everyday this weekend to get acquainted with my new secret weapon, the Rescue Club.

Exhausting Frustration

2006-04-14T00:30:00.000-07:00

Day three of my extended long weekend was marred with feelings of frustration. I still had not recieved any updated news regarding the arrival of my OEM 337 exhaust from Denon Performance. During my telephone conversation, I was told by the owner that he had failed to follow-up with the order.

After venting on the phone, I was promised a definate answer by next Tuesday (following the Easter holidays). I have been waiting for almost eight weeks for the exhaust and had initially hoped to have had it installed well before the Dubglomerate Club International's barbeque on April 8th.

The picture below is a used exhaust system which is nearly identical to the one I have ordered:

Despite being a longtime customer of their shop, they are notoriously known for disorganization, long delays on special orders and poor customer service. However, the benefits with them is that you are always guaranteed to recieve the lowest quotes/prices for parts.

I have no worries that I will recieve the part, but question when it will arrive. I'll keep my fingers crossed for some better news next week!

Canucks Eliminated

2006-04-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight was a very sad night for all Vancouver hockey fans. The Canucks lost against the San Jose Sharks 5-3 tonight in their battle for the eighth and final playoff berth for the Stanley Cup.

I really do not know what to say. I feel really disappointed and betrayed as a fan. The Canucks were billed as one of top contenders to win the Stanley Cup this year. This was supposed to be our year and it's not going to happen now. I could act as if I was in denial and lay blame on the many factors which contributed to their demise. Midway through this season, we became injury plagued and experienced multiple losing slumps.

The Canuck's next and last game of the season is against the Colorado Avalanche, I'll still be watching it. What will the off-season bring? Trades? Management changes?

Adding A Little Asian Spice

2006-04-13T00:48:00.000-07:00

After returning home sick from work, my wife and I made our weekly grocery run to the local Costco. During the visit, we noticed that they had finally opened up their annual garden center. We picked up two different japanese maples for $47.95 each (an Acer Palm Diss Beni Shidare & a Bloodgood Japanese Maple). After leaving, we made a stop at the local Art Knapps Nursery to purchase a few yards of premium top soil and a container of bone meal.

Upon arriving home, I eagerly pulled out my shovel and wheel barrow to plant the new trees. After a lot of time spent carefully chosing it's planting location, I dug the holes, added a handful of bone meal and placed the trees in their final placings. According to the labels attached to the plants, one of the trees will take appoximately 4-5 years to reach their optimum height of 15 feet.

As the weather improves, I'll be making an initial order of approximately 10-15 pre-selected trees/shrubs for my garden from Art Knapps. Once delivered and planted, I'll then order a extra yards of top soil and bark mulch for decorative purposes in forming the flower beds.

Funny how gardening can be so addictive and rewarding. It's definately a great way to destress and relax yourself.

My Six Day Long Weekend

2006-04-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

I had started work today with my usual routine. I arrived to my office with my typical extra large Tim Horton's steep tea, and was off to a great start. I felt relaxed and looked forward to assessing my patients in the emergency department. Prior to the daily bed utilization meeting, I visited the emergency department to get the usual morning update. Upon arriving to the meeting, everyone was smiling and laughing. It was going to be a good day.

Like every other day this week, we began discussing our shared concerns about the Norwalk virus which has been circulating within our hospital. For the most part, many admissions and surgeries on our slate have been cancelled in attempts to quaratine/eliminate the spread of the virus. Also many staff have fallen ill with symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, dizziness and upset stomach. A emergency protecol was issued in which any staff presenting with these symptoms are to be sent home until symptom free for 48 hours.

Well... I am sure you can figure out where this story is going. Following the meeting, I returned back to my office to do my routine e-mail check and return phone messages. Within minutes of sitting down, I felt my stomach begin to tie up in knots. "Oh no," I said to myself. As per protecol, my work week came to an abrupt end as I visited our Occupational Health Nurse. She immediately confirmed my symptoms as possible for Norwalk virus. I informed to immediately leave the hospital.

As I drive home, I realized that provided that if my symptoms quickly resolves, I may be able to enjoy a six day long weekend!

My New Search Begins

2006-04-12T00:00:00.000-07:00

After installing my lower OEM 337/R-Line body kit, it has now become apparent that my car does not look complete without a trunk spoiler. This realization came to me during tonight's dinner with my friend Nick.

He said, "Rob... your car looks great! But it's missing something." After a few minutes of silence, he replies, "You need a spoiler to finish up the look. The roof line seems out of place with the lower part of the car. The bottom flares out... but the top looks too narrow. You need a spoiler!"

Soon after returning home, I compared pictures of my car and those with spoilers on VW Vortex. I have to admit that I totally agree with Nick's opinion. *Sigh* Now I embark on a new search to find an OEM MK4 337/R32/GTI upper hatch spoiler. I've already have a few good leads from classifieds section of the VW Vortex.

I also plan to call Denon Performance tomorrow to inquire the whereabouts/status of my long awaited OEM 337 exhaust.

Fore! A Beautiful Afternoon On The Links

2006-04-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

My cellular phone rang as my lunch break drew to a close. It was my golfing buddy Will. He asked if I wanted to fire off a few buckets of golf balls at the local driving range. Tempted by the warm sunshine, I suggested that we play a round of 18 holes at the Kensington Pitch & Putt course in Burnaby.

As soon as we agreed to the plan, I quickly called the secretaries at my office and told them that I was gong to take the rest of the afternoon off. As soon as I arrived at Will's home, we threw his clubs into the back seats of my car and sped off to the course.

We arrived at the Pitch & Putt at approximately 1:30 pm and were able to immediately tee off. Although this was my first time on a course this year, my first 9 holes were horrible as I bogied seven and doubled two holes. My luck would change on the back 9 as I was able to pull off a birdie and several par shots to save my score. I managed to score a 71 and Will scored a 64 on the par 3. It was not too bad considering that I spent the last season frustrated while working on fixing my swing.

Following our round, we grabbed a quick lunch at Cockney Kings Fish & Chips in Burnaby. During our meal, we began organizing a weekend of pure golf which includes a visit to the range on Friday, Pitch & Putt on Saturday and a full round at the Golden Bear Course in Pitt Meadows on Sunday.

Snohomish, Seattle & Shopping

2006-04-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Following a visit to the Aubrurn SuperMall, Ikea and Costco, we met up with my sister for lunch at City Deli in the Snohomish Wine County. Despite the food being overly expensive, the setting was very unique and appealing. The one half of the establishment was a trendy restauarant and the other half was a wine store.

The food was absolutely amazing as I quickly scarfed down on a cranberry turkey sandwich on an onion, rosemary bread. For dessert, I indulged in a slice of their mocha chocolate cheesecake. Yummy!

Following our late lunch, we met up with the remaining members of the Volkswagen Drivers of Vancouver Club at the Seattle Premium Outlets in Marysville, Washington. I had spent $300 USD for new clothing after 2-3 hours of outlet shopping. I was very surprised that I did not purchase anything from my favorite store, Banana Republic.

At approximately 6:00 pm, we saddled up and began our trek back to Canada. The drive home was pretty uneventful as there was not a single police speed trap during the drive home.

Despite a minor pitstop in Burlington to top up our fuel supplies and to purchase milk & cheese, we reached Canadian soil at approximately 8:00 pm. The remaining drivers (Chris, Harrison, Kendall, my wife and I) met up at the Boston Pizza Restaurant in White Rock for some appetizers and dinner.

Following dinner, I made a slight detour to top up some bio-diesel in my MK4 Golf TDI. I had consumed approximately 5/8th of a full tank for approximately 723.3 kms of mixed highway/city driving. Not too bad... not too bad.

2006 Dubglomerate Club International's Annual Spring Barbeque

2006-04-08T21:56:00.000-07:00

After a long day of driving, we finally reached the Five Mile Lake Park in Federal Way, Washignton for the 2006 Annual DCI Barbeque. Although it was raining, we all had a great time with endless laughs and good food.

Despite organizing an Elitist Group, the group broke apart mid-way due to some errors in the maps provided. I ended up separated from the pack early in the early stages of the drive. Although I cruising alone, I ended up joining another group of Vancouver VW owners caught up to me. The entire group was re-united upon reaching the park.

Despite popular beliefs, our group only recieved one speeding violation . My friend Albert (Stargazer) in his 2006 Subaru WRX STI was caught speeding in Everett, Washington.

After a few hours of crazy antics and watching Nick (SR71) try to burn down the park with lighter fluid.

Following the barbeque, my wife and I left for some shopping at the Super Mall in Auburn, Washington. We later met up with my sister and her boyfriend for some dinner downtown at Pad Thai Garden Restaurant and eventually retired for the evening at the Lakespur Hotel. We chose to have a quieter night to ourselves as my wife can easily become tired due to her pregnancy. Unfortunately we missed the house party and pub crawl hosted by DCI.

Tomorrow's plan includes some more shopping and brunch with my sister in the Snohomish Wine County.

On a side note, my MK4 Golf TDI is running smoother than usual since changing the fuel filter. The mileage remains uneffected as I have logged 387 kms so far during this trip. The fuel gauge still shows that I have only used 1/4th of a tank of bio-diesel!

The Twelfth Hour...

2006-04-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

Twelve hours left until our departure to the 2006 Annual Dubglomerate Club International's Barbeque! I anticipate that we'll have a lot of fun during this drive down.

I've already gotten the heads up that their has been an increase in police speed patrols on the I-5 from friends who went down to Seattle today. I am hoping that my newly acquired Motorola FRS Radios will prove useful with heads up from the faster drivers.

We'll be meeting tomorrow at 8:00 am at a secretly determined starting point in Surrey, BC. I've spent the better part of the evening, washing, waxing and detailing the car in preparation. The car's services (60,000 km) has been completed re: fuel filter, cabin filter, oil change. My overnight luggage, passports, and maps have already been pre-loaded into the car!

Here is the map of our route (courtesy of Stargazer's page):

I'll post pictures upon my return home on Sunday night.

2006 Vancouver Auto Show

2006-04-07T00:42:00.000-07:00

After spending a seemingly endless day at work, a few friends and I decided to visit the 2006 Auto Show at the BC Place Stadium, Vancouver.

The first exhibit which we visit was the Mercedes RMG test driving tour. We were tossed the keys to a 2006 M-Class SUV, Smart Car, and a turbocharged B-Class to drive around an auto cross course. I was quite impressed with all the vehicles which I drove. Although I was asked to tone down due to excessive drifting and wheel squeeling, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Needless to say, I did not adhere to the course speed limit.

Following the test drive, we spent approximately an hour visiting various automobile manufacturers displays. My main reason for visiting the auto show was to see the Volkswagen MK5 Jetta R-GT. This would be the first and last time that this car would be displayed in Canada. Following this auto show, the R-GT will be shipped and displayed in various European auto shows. Upon competing the circuit, the R-GT will be retired and moved to it's final home at the Volkswagen Museum in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The R-GT was a specially authorized and 100% funded by Volkswagen Europe for the Moonraker Project. It was a VW concept vehicle built in collaboration of build three major tuner shops in North America and Europe.

The most well-noted contributer were my friends at HPA Motorsports in Surrey, BC. Their contribution included a 3.2 L VR6 twin turbo motor transplant, capable of punching out a minimum 550 hps at the wheels. Four adjustable race seats, a fuel cell, air jacks, and much more.

My breath was immediately taken away as I stood back to admire the craftmanship which was put into the car. As we were preparing to leave the display, I overheard a Volkswagen sales representative making false claims about the vehicle. He informed a middle-aged individual that the car was available as a factory option for a mere $40,000 extra. As I corrected his endless false information, "Let me introduce you to my friend Alexi. He actually played a key part in building her."

(Alexi providing some education to the VW Sales Representatives)

To make a long story short, we were tossed the keys to the $250,000 USD R-GT. We ended up spending approximately an hour correcting the mis-educated Volkswagen representatives with an indepth tour of the vehicle.

Perhaps one day, I'll visit the museum in Germany and tell them that my friends built her.

Washed, Waxes... Say Cheese!

2006-04-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

During my lunch break, I drove my MK4 TDI Golf to Minnekada Park in Port Coquitlam. I wanted to take some daylight photos of the installed OEM 337 front and rear valence, and OEM R-Line side skirts. I took a step back and snapped the following photos.

As soon as I get off work, I'll be heading out to VM Autohaus to pick up a replacement thermostat and some G-11 coolant for my friend Alexi. He was stranded at home this morning as his thermostat had finally died after 160,000 km and leaked most of his coolant away. I'm also off to see the Vancouver Auto Show tonight.

Urethane + Tape = Sideskirts Installed

2006-04-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

After a much anticipated wait, Raj from RD Motorsport informed me that my side skirts were ready for pick up. With glee and excitment, I called my workplace and immediately took the rest of the afternoon off.

Upon my arrival to RD Motorports, Raj accompanied me into the back paint booth to inspect the paint job. The sideskirts were flawless. The total came to exactly $120 CAN for the material and labour.

Later that evening, a few friends and I spent approximately 5 hours installing them onto my car. After giving the car a good wash and a few successful attempts of test fitting, we drilled several holes for the mounting screws.

In the next step, we applied a primer line to where the sideskirts would adhere to the car. Once completed, the side skirts were mounted to their final position on using urethane as an adhesive compound.

Once mounted, we applied physical pressure with high grade masking tape to hold the side skirts in place until the urethane properly cured. According to the instructions, the tape must remain on the car for 12 hours while avoiding 100+ km/hr driving for the next 24 hours.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take any pictures of the car with the complete OEM 337 body kit as the installation ended at approximately 12:15 am. I'll be calling Denon Performance tomorrow to inquire the whereabouts of the OEM 337 exhaust.

Our Good Deed

2006-04-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

While spending the afternoon hanging out with Dejan, we decided to make a long overdue visit Krispy Kreme in Delta. During our visit, we were approached by a dischevelled lady who appeared in her mid-50's asking for car assistance.

"Do you have any experience using a coat hanger to open a car door?"

We were able to easily assume that she had locked her car keys inside of her 1989 Ford Probe. She then informs us she can not locate the spare key that her husband had left attached under the car. She appeared to be in a state of near panic and then asked us the kicker question...

"Do you guys know how to break into cars?" Dejan's jaw drops as he whispers to me, "I think she assumes that every young person in Surrey is a car thief or criminal. Hahaha..."

Obviously, both of us could not turn our backs and walk away from an innocent lady who was looking for help.

My first thought was to run to the drycleaners at the other end of the parking lot for a hanger. Meanwhile, Dejan quickly drops down on his hands and knees. Within moments, he had found the spare key attached to the radiator support. I watched the eyes on the lady immediately glow as she begins endlessly thanking us for being so helpful. Although we declined her offer to pay for a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee, we felt rewarded enough knowing somebody benefited from our good deed.

Painted Sideskirts & Chrysler Ownage

2006-04-04T23:02:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a little drive over to RD Motorsports in Surrey this afternoon. During my visit, I recieved great news... the side skirts will be ready for pick up tomorrow! It seems everything is falling into place and in time for this weekend's barbeque in Seattle.

On my way home, I decided to take a small detour to the Bio-Diesel Station in Delta to top off my half empty fuel tank. While I was filling my car, a late model Chrysler LHX pulled up to the opposite pump. The owner jumped out and proceeded to fill bio-diesel into his gas powered vehicle.

Within moments the Jamaican-born gas station attendant lept over the inside counter while yelling "STOP FILLING MON!" It was too late... he Chrsyler owner had filled his tank with approximately 25% bio-diesel. He just stood there frozen without emotion, albeit feeling quite embarassed. The station attendant says, "So mon, when did Chryslers begin making TDI's?!? Can you not read the signs on the pump... diesel fuel only!"

As I finished filling up and was getting ready to leave, I overheard him on the phone with his Chrysler dealership, "What do I do now?"

Despite chuckling under my breath, I felt sorry for the guy.

Five Days Left Until The DCI BBQ

2006-04-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

My excitement increases as the days draw closer to the annual barbeque hosted by the Dubglomerate Club International in Seattle. I've nearly completed the 60,000 km tune up for the car (minus changing the fuel filter), while eagerly awaiting for RJ Motorsports to finish painting my OEM 337 Side Skirts. I figured that I'll have the maintenance done and the full body kit installed before the trip.

For this event, my wife and I decided to change our accomodations to the Lakespur Landing Hotel (www.larkspurlanding.com). Not only will my wife and I benefit from the tranquility of a relaxing environment, but we'll be close to downtown for shopping with the opportunity to take in some fine dining. After much thought, I decided that I would rather not stay at the same hotel with the rest of the group due to the anticipated endless partying.

The rest of our group will be staying at the Travel Lodge in Auburn, WA. To many VW enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest, we are known as the "Crazy Canucks." Why? For every major VW event we have attended, our group has been known for throwing notorious parties at our hotel accomodations, out of controlled drinking, illegal rowdy antics and unneccesary encounters with the local police department. I admit to having enjoyed my fair share of wild partying with them when I was younger. But priorities in my life have changed.

Despite all this, I do feel terribly guilty in ditching the group's original plan. However I was once told by a good friend, "It's time to enjoy the finer things in life." At that time, I did not quite understand what my friend Clayton meant, but now I do... It's called growing up.

Corks, Bottles, Label & Good Times!

2006-04-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

After a hectic week at work, I kicked off the weekend in the company of my wife; good friend Jason, his fiancee Megan; and co-worker Karrie. We had met at Oak, Wine & Barrel in Coquitlam to bottle our three different varieties of wines which consisted of Kendall Ridge Merlot, Kendall Ridge Sauvignon and a Gewurztraminer.

Our interest in wine began nearly six-years ago. After meeting my wife in 1999, we began actively collecting various samples of wines which were native to various vacation destinations. Since successfully u-brewing our first batch in 2002, my wife and I have become increasingly interested in wine making.

My decision to organize the brewery group was precipitated following the visit of my wine-loving grandfather late last year. During his three week visit, my wife and I hosted countless family functions at our new home. During which, our proud wine collection of over twenty five-plus bottles were reduced to three. We immediately sprang into emergency mode during late-2005 as we needed to quickly re-stock our depleted collection. Why? We discovered my wife's pregnancy and are anticipating endless visits by out of town family/guests to celebrate the birth of my first child.

I was amazed that the process only took us 45 minutes to complete from washing and sterilizing the bottles to capping and labelling them. After completing all 91 bottles, the wines were quickly loading into the back of my car and brought back to my home. Our plan is to organize a meet up at my place this Monday evening for sampling and division of the three batches. Already, several of us have begun discussing plans to brew several batches of alcoholic coolers/lemonades later this spring.

Hello From An Old Friend

2006-03-30T14:45:00.000-08:00

I recieved a lovely e-mail with pictures from the new owner of my old MK3 VR6 conversion. Since owning the car, he's made changes to Recaro SRD seats, DTM cup mirrors and Keskin deep dish wheels.

Far too often second owners become very neglectful of beautiful project cars. It's very nice to see that he's taken the car to the next level. The car is looking very nice. Great job Kevin!

Sideskirts Delayed...

2006-03-29T23:32:00.000-08:00

I recieved a telephone call today from RD Motorsports informing me that my eagerly awaited painted sideskirts would be delayed until the end of the week. The total cost for painting: $120 CAN!

I should have pictures of the installed side skirts by the end of this upcoming weekend.

Taking A Brake: Double Trouble

2006-03-28T01:24:00.000-08:00

Tonight's adventures began with another visit my buddy Darren with his MK4 Turbo'ed VR6. Our objective was to finally complete the installation for his 13 inch RPI Wilwood front brake kit.

During last evening's installation, an unexpected situation occurred when an important brake line fitting sheered apart. At the time, we decided to temporarily bypass the fitting as Darren needed to drive the car to work the next day. Without it, the brake line will become overstressed when turning sharply and sheer apart from the caliper. Tonight's primary objective was simple: replace the temporary fitting bypass.

Darren informed us that he had spent most of today pricing out the part. He became quickly frustrated as he was quoted $37.00 CAN from Ron's Parts Inc for an item that should cost no more than a few dollars. With no success in finding a lower price, he purchased a new set of brake lines with the fittings built into them from Momentum Motorparts for $70.00 CAN.

Once completing the installation, we turned to our second task of replacing Johnny's rear rotors and brake pads.

While working on his car, I noticed heavy scratches and oxidation in his paint. When asked when he last clay-barred or waxed. He replied, "Clay bar? What is clay-barring?" I immediately stopped in my tracks and got out my Mothers Clay-Bar Kit and some Meguires Cleaner Wax. I used his hood as a demostration. After 15 minutes of elbow grease, I had waxed 1/2 of his hood with and the other 1/2 without claybarring. The finish result was obvious. The side without clay-bar appeared just as bright and glossy, but felt rough like sandpaper. The side which I applied the clay-bar felt silky smooth. I told him that clay-barring makes it a lot easier to apply and remove wax due to less friction/surface area from dirt embedded into the paint.

How Do You Stop 350+ horsepower?

2006-03-27T13:48:00.000-08:00

After spending the afternoon gardening, my buddy Darren came over to install his newly acquired 'used' RPI 13-inch Wilwood front brake kit onto his HPA Turbocharged MK4 24V VR6. At first glance, I must say that I was impressed on how enormous the brake kit was. While many newbies do not appreciate the benefits of bigger brakes, Darren needed them to safely stop the 350+ horsepower monster.

Last week, Darren failed at his first attempt to install the brakes on his car. Midway of the installation, he discovered missing bolts from the kit. Tonight, Darren prayed that he would be graced with better luck in this second attempt.

As the night progressed, the installation did appear to be going smoothly without any complications. At approximately 9:45 pm, trouble occurred. An adapter fitting that joined the stainless steel brake lines to the caliper sheered apart. We figured that the previous owner of the kit had overtorqued the fitting, thus stressing it. The look of dismay was appeared on Darren's face. A few minutes of brainstorming followed. Finally... a solution, we discovered that the brake line could be threaded directly into the caliper thus bypassing the sheered fitting. The decision was made to continue the installation with the bypass solution. This would only be a temporary fix until acquiring a replacement fitting tomorrow.

With the brakes finally completed at 11:00 pm, the car was backed out the garage to test them. A tired looking Darren returned with a smiles on his face.

My First Garden Experience

2006-03-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

My typical weekend would normally compose of hanging out with friends, working on my friend's cars or a day escape to Seattle for some cross border shopping. This weekend was a little different, I discovered gardening.

As I woken up by Dejan on Saturday morning, I noticed that the sun was shining brightly outside. Upon returning from my Audi test drive, I stopped off at a Canadian Tire to pick up a jerry can and some gas for my lawnmower. This was my first opportunity to use the mower since purchasing it last year.

I had spent a lot of time researching the internet for information about lawn care. I found numerous sources which encouraged homeowners to mulch their clippings as it is environmentally friendly. When mulching, the clippings a recirculated inside the cuitting deck. Once recut into fine piece, they are left in the grass behind you. When the clippings decompost, it act as a natural lawn fertilizer.

Several neighbours watched as I rolled out "Big Red" out from the garage. Her flawless paint reflected in the sunlight. Then, I checked her oil levels, primed the fuel... all systems go! I pulled the starter in eagerness... Vroooooom!

I was very impressed with it's 5.75 horsepower Briggs & Stratton rear wheel drive motor. The adjustable throttle allowed me to control the mower easily up the hill leading to my backyard.

A few hours later, I was left with the feeling of self-satisfaction. I never thought that gardening would be so enjoyable. The creative juices were beginning to flow as I have ideas on livening up my yard. I'll have to make a visit soon to Art Knapps and Amsterdam Nurseries to pick up a few shrubs and trees.

My Blind Date: An Audi S4 & Belgian Fries

2006-03-25T18:52:00.000-08:00

Like every other typical weekend, a telephone call from a friend usually wakes me up in the morning. This time, it's my friend Dejan. "Rob... do you want to come downtown to test drive an Audi RS4? Let's go!"

It's 1:30 pm and I find myself driving to downtown Vancouver on the TransCanada Hwy. In the lead is Dejan in his 2004 MK4 Jetta GLI. He's racing through traffic, weaving cars as they were standing still.

My reason of not participating in this game of freeway tag...

1. I'm driving a MK4 TDI.

2. I'd like to see the birth of my first child.

After constant reminders, my wife's sensibility has finally sunk into my head. "Don't you do anything stupid... I don't want to become a widow and have a fatherless child." In everyway, I know she is right. I could not imagine being alone in my life and without her by my side.

Upon arriving to Clarkdale Motors in Vancouver, we were immediately greeted by our favorite Volkswagen saleman, Colin. He tells us that we would have to wiat as he was wrapping up a deal with some customers. While waiting, I noticed this puzzle made by Volkwagen in the waiting area. When did they begin using American V8 motors?

When Colin finally arrives, he informs us that the 2006 Audi RS4 was sold and unavailable to test. With this news, Dejan immediately begins to scan the car lot looking for another car. His eyes dart to an 2006 Audi S4 convertible. We were given the keys and away we went!

Our 45 minute test drive took us into the Kerrisdale district of Vancouver. We got ample stares from passing pedestrians and fellow drivers while playing with the retractable motorized roof.

After having driven an 2005 BMW M3, I felt the Audi seemed to lack in the department of engine power. We also agreed that the difference between this exterior and that of a stock A4 was minimal and more could have been done. Despite all this, I was impressed by music immitting from the V8 motor, the Quattro all wheel drive system and how well the interior was laid out.

We felt quite hungry on our drive home. We ended our day with a quick stop at Belgian Fries on Commercial Street in Vancouver for some food. Yum!

To The Paint Shop Batman!

2006-03-23T22:19:00.000-08:00

It was time to send my newly acquired OEM VW Votex sideskirts to the paintshop after test fitting them to my car. Like a fat kid on cake, I gleefully placed them into the trunk of my car and quickly snuck them off to RD Motorsports for painting.

Although our good friend Raj (owner) was not there at the time of my arrival, I left the sideskirts with the painter. He told me that they would be ready for pick up sometime early next week (Tuesday). Not too shabby for cheap $100 weekend side job which includes paint and labour. $100 you may say... don't worry folks. I've seen his work and it's truly excellent quality.

Anyone noticed the Ferrari shell in the background? He's doing a complete tear down and rebuild. He's done many Ferrari's in the past and the end results are completely astonishing!

I also took some pictures of one of his newest rebuild project, a 2004 Dodge Viper SRT10 with a light side impact hit.

On my way home, I decided to stop by Denon Performance to see if my OEM 337 exhaust had arrived.

Denon is not exactly the typical custom speedshop from Hollywood movies. It's always been more of a salvage yard which appears like a natural disaster swept through it. Despite the appearance of total disorganization, you'd be surprised on all the little treasures one can find here. Definately a great place for OEM and aftermarket VW parts.

I was immediately greeted by my favorite and colourful shop mechanic Jerek. Unfortunately he gave me some bad news that the private seller backed out of the deal as he wanted an ridiculious $400 CAN for a used setup. I told him that for $100-150 more, Uncle Ron (the owner of Denon Performance) would be able to order me a brand new one from the factory. I've decided to opt for a new one. The order was placed. I am really keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive before the DCI BBQ and Spring Meet in Seattle on April 8 and 9th.

Did Somebody Say Barbeque?

2006-03-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

I was just sent the information tonight from my fellow Dubglomerate (DCI) members confirming the date of this year's annual spring barbeque. The date has been set for April 8, 2006 at the Five Mile Lake Park in Auburn, Washington. I am absolutely excited as this event is always well attended and traditionally kicks off the VW show season.

Each year, a specially select a group of skilled Wolkswagen owners are chosen from the Pacific Northwest. This group has become known to the VW scene as the Elitist Group which strives to maintain a safe, however spirited experience when travelling together to various VW events.

Since the creation of this group, we have proudly kept a clean record which is free of vehicle accidents or personal injuries. For this reason, I believe that it is imparitive that we only invite drivers who are demostrate driver responsiblity, awareness that personal and public safety is first priority, ability to identify awareness of their personal driving skills and vehicle's limitations, while attempting to avoid unneccesary encounters with the police.

Unfortunately the picture below from last year's DCI BBQ doesn't really help.

Over the past years, many outside groups have become quick to acuse our drivers to be unsafe and reckless. I oppose these views as many of those who make these accusations have never been out with us. Unfortunately, due to "glory rumours and tall-tale stories" of our past drives, I have received many inappropriate requests for invitations to join our group. For this year, I made the decision not to add new drivers to the group.

For this year, I will be sporting my MK4 Golf TDI for the first time. Unfortunately, I will be limited in power. But then again, it may be a good thing as it'll keep me from getting any speeding tickets. I'll post a summary/photos following the event! See you all there!

Audi R10 Wins at Sebring!

2006-03-20T22:39:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Audi Motorsports for winning the LeMans at Sebring, USA this past weekend!

Unfortunately, I was unable to watch their inaugural race on Speedvision due to a trip to Seattle for the 2006 Bio-Diesel Forum. During the forum, the Audi R10 was the hottest topic of conversation. Many individuals were already predicting that if Audi continues to dominate this season, they may face restrictions to the R10 in effort to even out the competition field.

Personally, I think that it's not Audi's fault for engineering such a beautiful race vehicle with a diesel powerplant. Imagine if Audi ever decided to use bio-diesel in the R10 and kept winning? That would be the biggest slap in the face to their competitors.

I just hope that the other drivers didn't inhale get too much carbon into their lungs. Hahaha...

CG-Locks - It's the newest trend!

2006-03-20T22:15:00.000-08:00

Since acquiring my MK4 Golf TDI, I've upgraded to KW coilovers and added a beefy rear sway bar in an effort to make my car feel more like my old MK3 VR6. Even with all the small upgrades, I still miss the superglued feeling in my old adjustable race seats and the harnesses.

I first took note of the CG-Lock system from a good buddy Alexi during his time working for HPA Motorsports. Upon his return from the 2006 SEMA Show, I noticed a metal clip which was attached to his stock seat belt. I was blown away once I was explained how it was able to reproduce the racing harness feel. After a few test drives with the CG-Lock device, I quickly became a believer.

As I was surfing the internet today, I noticed that another good friend (Stargazer) had ordered one and was very happy with the CG-Lock product. I'll have to order one for myself tomorrow.

Barges, Boats & Seals Oh My!

2006-03-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

The sound of a telephone ringing kicked off my adventure this morning. It was my friend Darren West. He is a 25 year old friend who is a marine mechanic, employed at a local boat repair shop at Reed Point Marina, Port Moody.

In a cheerful tone of voice, he stated that he remembered my unique interest in visiting the old McDonald's Restaurant Barge via boat. My answer was an automatic response as I quickly hung up the phone, dashed to my car while calling friends to cancel anything planned for this morning.

Upon arriving at the marina, Darren greeted me from a slow approaching work boat. The boat we were taking on our little adventure was nothing grand. It was an old fibreglass boat with a simple outboat motor which was less than 3-4 meters long. Darren informed me that the boat was primarily used for shore runs for shallow ports or quick runs to other marinas to pick up customer's boats.

As we embarked on our high seas adventure, I became immediately appreciative of the beautiful shoreline with the magestic backdrop of the North Shore Mountains. We spotted a seal swimming along our boat in the water nearby. For a person who spends little to no time on boats, the time spent on the water was absolutely amazing and extremely relaxing. It was an absolute utopia.

Our trip to the McBarge took us approximately 10 minutes to complete. As we got closer and closer, it became more apparent that the McBarge was not how I remembered it during the Worlds Fair in 1986. The old restaurant appeared like something out of a creepy pirate movie. It sat neglected, abandonned and moored approximately 50 meters off the shoreline. There was no identifying markings that this had been a McDonald's restaurant.

Over the years, the Mcbarge has been visited by countless teenagers via dingy to partake in drug use, partying or with intentions to vandalize the old restaurant. Deep inside me, I felt a sinking sadness to see an old childhood landmark in such an awful state.

Darren informed me that during it's final tug to this storage site, parts of the McBarge had broken away in the open waters and left the restaurant unsafe for any future use. "The McBarge costed McDonald's millions to build. It was never intended to sea worthy and moved from the old Expo site. The structure goes deeper than the water line... there was so much equipment in the old restaurant that there is a second floor under the surface level."

I noticed that many of the windows had been either broken by tossed rocks or graffitied. A chainlinked fence had been placed around the entire McBarge to prevent people from boarding the restaurant. I was able to catch a few glimpses inside through passing windows. To my surprise, the interior appeared in prestine condition, with undamaged light fixtures, seats, and hardwood flooring which were trendy in the mid 1980's. Rumours had once circulated that the old restaurant was sold and to be refitted into a casino/restaurant.

After spending several minutes circling the McBarge, we said our farwells and departed back to the Reed Point Marina.

We closed off the adventure with a tour of Darren's workplace, a customer's 2.2 million dollar yaught and a research project which housed three seals. I was most excited druing the visit with the seals. This was my first time ever to have gotten up close and personal with these animals. I was astonished by their sheer size and friendliness.

The 2006 Bio-Diesel Forum - Seattle

2006-03-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

This was my first opportunity to participate with the TDI Club's drive to Seattle, Washington for the 2006 Bio-Diesel Forum/Convention. I was able to finally put my TDI Golf using biodiesel to the test in some high speed highway driving with my tuner box on maximum settings. I experienced no difference in power, or any motor hestitation. During the trip, my car consumed between 1/8th to 1/4 tank of bio-diesel return to Seattle.

Our eventful day began with the usual 8:15 am meet up with the local members near the Pacific Truck Crossing in Surrey, British Columbia. With the usual minor delays at the border, we managed to arrive in Seattle at approximately 11:30 am. We had initially planned an ETA of 10:30-11:00 am, but was delayed with several unplanned pitstops at a McDonald's and Arby's Restaurant in Bellingham. During our stop at Arby's, one of the members became aware that he had lost his oil cap during the drive. Fortunately, he managed to find a replacement at the local Shuck's Auto Supplies and re-joined the group at the Bio-Diesel Forum.

Upon arriving, I was very surprised on how many TDI vehicles/owners had shown up to support this event. I had a great time meeting new members from as far away as Oregon State. The forum was very informative with gained knowledge about bio-diesel, it's refining processes, and various uses.

I was also unaware that there were judges grading the cars in attendance. As I was taking pictures of some of the unique VW's, I was honoured with the "Best VW Golf Award" at the forum.

Christmas in March!

2006-03-19T22:38:00.000-08:00

I finally got them! The initial purchase/sale which I had lined up fell with Canpol Auto Parts fell through as the seller was taking forever to get them to me. I became quite frustrated as many days passed between each communication with them. Hopelessness was beginnign to set in as I had planned to have the skirts painted and installed on my car before the DCI BBQ Cruise on April 8th, 2006.

As I was surfing the Volkswagen Drivers of Vancouver's forums this morning, I my prayers were answered by the VW Gods as a fellow VW enthusiast (Alias: 404) was selling a brand new/unpainted set of OEM Vortex (1st generation) sideskirts. These were the sideskirts which I had initially wanted, but was discontinued in production by Volkswagen in 2004.

An unfortunate setback had occurred in his personal health which forced him to sell his MK4 Tornado Red 1.8T Golf for something a little more practical. He had purchased the sideskirts during a group buy promotion from PG Performace in August 2005 and never had the opportunity to paint/install them on his car.

I'll be sending my new sideskirts to RJ Performance later this week for painting and hopefully have them installed sometime next week. Now I await my OEM 337 exhaust which seems to be taking forever to arrive at Denon Perfomance.

Anxiety, Advice... Voila... A Baby Room!

2006-03-19T09:03:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of planning, and countless cross border shopping trips to Target, the baby room is now completed.

Our decision for the "Classic Winnie the Pooh" them orginated during one of our regular cross border shopping trips down to Seattle last summer. While shopping at our favorite store (Target), we accidently found an isle that carried everything imaginably Classic Pooh. We felt that the theme would be unique as Classic Pooh items are hard to acquire in Canada. Another important reason was that it worked well with the already pre-painted green bedrooms.

This would be my first ever home improvement project. I naturally called a good friend Clayton, who was very helpful in ideas such as chair mouldings and wall papering. With his help, we installed the mouldings using an air compressor and finishing nail gun.

After the installation of the mouldings, they were filled and painted was applied for the finishing coat. A wallpaper border was added and voila... the baby room was completed. I now feel a lot more confident of taking on larger home improvement projects in the future, thanks to the advice and support from my friend.

Two important life lessons during this little project...

1. Help & Advice is never too far away with good friends

2. An air compressor will be on the top of my Christmas Wishlist!

TDI Club GTG: Langley BBQ & Tuning Day

2006-03-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

I have to apologize to many of my loyal readers for having neglected my blog for the past 10 days. Unfortunately, I've been really busy with work while battling an ear and sinus infection. Due to this reason, I've not been feeling well at all and was left with little energy or motivation to post anything interesting.

I began to feel better this past weekend and decided to join the TDI Club Barbeque & Tuning Day in Langley, British Columbia. This marked my second time attending this meet which has been occurring semi-regularly for the past few years. It was a great opportunity to meet up and learn from TDI members who made the trek as far away as Seattle, Washington.

During the GTG, it was announced that this was our last GTG at the present farm/home of TDI Club Member: Eric Morneau. With the increased responsibilities of raising children, and the desires to travel, the family made the difficult decision to downsize from their 22 acre farm.

Despite the sad news, brainstorming began in finding possible alternative sites for future TDI Club GTGs. A strong possibility would be the Bio-Diesel Fuel Station (Husky/Autogas) in Delta as they have an empty huge commercial truck parking lot which they share with Tim Hortons! I've had the opportunity to meet the owner of the station and he was very excited and open to the idea of hosting us.

On a side note, it has been officially gone through 5 tanks of strict bio-diesel use in my TDI. I have nothing new to report as my Golf continues to run smoothly while maintaining improved fuel economy of approximately 800 km/1100 km per tank city/highway driving.

Sideskirts!

2006-03-14T18:14:00.000-08:00

During the past few weeks, hope was beginning to fade in my search for OEM 337 sideskirts. The near fatal blow hit me when I was quoted approximately $600 from my local VW dealership and another $450 to paint them at my home body shop (First Class Autobody). Who on earth would pay over $1000 CAN + taxes for these body pieces?

In an amazing stroke of luck, a fellow Volkswagen Club of Vancouver member: AirCooledRules spotted my "Want To Buy" sideskirts thread. As the youngest son of Canpol Autoparts (a local VW and BMW salvage shop) in Burnaby, he informed me via e-mail that his company had imported a MK4 Golf with the sideskirts intact!

After many exchanges of e-mails, a price of $300 CAN was set and another $80-100 for painting from RJ Motorsports in Surrey. The ETA for the skirts will be a week. Hopefully, the kit will be fully painted, assembled with my soon to be arriving OEM 337 exhaust before SpringMeet 2006 (Seattle, Washington).

I'll post pictures as soon as I get them! Hopefully, my car will appear as clean as this picture:

All Good Things...

2006-03-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday morning, I recieved a telephone call by a few friends who reminded me that the Rodeo Drive-In was closing down today after 55 + years of operation.

Upon arriving, we were astonished by the 30 minute line up to the order counter. I was fine when told to expect a 1 hour 20 minute wait to recieve our food. We were also told that 100% of all sales would be donated to the Salvation Army.

As we waited, I remembered being brought for the first time to the Rodeo at the age of 10. I remembered how it sat as the only building at the corner of 152 Street and 64 Avenue in Surrey. It was surrounded by a double lane road which was primarily used by truckers travelling to the commerical entry point for the United States.

I remembered enjoying countless hamburgers and milkshakes while eating on their outside picnic benches. From there, I would watch trucks pass by in the backdrop of endless farmlands. Their dirt parking lot was always lined with visiting trucks and the occasional wood-paneled 1980's Cheverolet or Ford station wagon.

To me, the Rodeo was my burger Nirvana. Forget about those corporate burger chains. This is the real thing. Delicious burgers, so juicy you'll need a shower afterwards. Great fries, and the deep fried mushrooms are the stuff of dreams. This was absolutely the best burger joint in BC.

The ambience is not much, unless you like picnic tables and talking through a window to make your order, but they have take out. It was always worth the drive.

After waking up this morning, I truly realized that a special place for myself and many of my friends was gone. It is so true that all good things always come to an end. Goodbye Rodeo and thanks for all the great memories!

My Early Christmas Wishlist For 2006

2006-03-04T23:06:00.000-08:00

I had not planned to buy sideskirts for my TDI Golf this year as I had already spent my annual budget for a 337 exhaust with matching front and rear valences. With the nearing arrival of my rear valence and exhaust, my wife has graciously allowed me to find a set of matching skirts to complete the clean appearance.

As soon as I was graced with this good news, I immediately picked up my telephone and called a good friend, Paul Gekrath Jr. at PG Performance for some pricing and options. As many know, any part which is impossible to get in North America is magically obtainable from them due to their extensive connection with VW Deutchland.

At first, it did not look good. It had appeared that Paul was unable to get his hands on any OEM VW sideskirts as many have been discontinued due to the newly released MK5 Gti. With a few third party telephone calls and internet searches, Paul was able to offer me a set of R32 R-Line side skirts for approximately $550 CAN($635 retail). He was gracious enough to send me an e-mail with pictures. Unfortunate for me, I love these skirts but not the price. With a mortgage, car and baby on the way, I've gotta aim for $300-400 ish.

I've looked at several styled skirts and I was not impressed. Some of them included Emphase, Charactere, ABT, Oettenger, Reiger, and Dubtechnik. Many of them have a lot of fittament issues and require extensive body work or modifications in order stay on the vehicle or appear straight.

With my mouth salavating, I now begin my daily search of the classifieds of VWDOV or VW Vortex hoping for a miracle.

Triaged, Admitted, and Discharged

2006-03-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

Following my return from work on Wednesday evening, I began to experience a crackling and loss of hearing in my right ear. The loss of hearing increased to approximately 50% following my dinner meal. With the encouragement of my wife and family, I brought myself to Eagle Ridge Hospital - Emegergency Department to investigate the problem.

For the first time, I got a chance to step into the patient role and experience the recieving side of our hospital service delivery system. Upon arriving at the nurse triage desk, I was required to wait 5-10 minutes as the nurse was occupied with a physician consultation. Luckily, the Emergency Department was not experiencing heavy traffic.

Following her return to the triage desk, I was immediately recognized as a staff member and quickly processed through. A few weeks prior to this visit, one of the nurses and Emergency physician joked with me that if I ever presented myself to the department for treatment, they would gown me and send me for a psychiatric assessment.

Obviously I could not resist this opportunity to test their threat. I proceeded to inform her that I felt suicidal and needed a psychiatric assessment for auditory hallucinations and perceptual disturbances. I must admit, it was hard to keep a straight face as she kept looking to roll her eyes at me. I occasionally will come into the Emergency Deparment on my off-work hours and bring in Tim Hortons coffee and doughnuts. I sensed that this should have been one of those moments.

While waiting in the lobby of the Emergency Department, a young man was attempting to seek a nurse's attention regarding concerns for an admitted family member. I watched the treatment team quickly pace back and forth between beds. As five to ten minutes pasted, he remained there with no acknowlegement of his presence. At the fifteen minute mark, a nurse finally noticed him, stopped her duties and addressed his concerns.

At that moment, I realized how pre-occupied we can become in our work we and often neglect to provide support to the patient's families.

I've made it a regular habit in my practice to include the family in all of my assessments. During countless occasions, the family has played an integral role in the indentification of precipitating symptoms which led to their visit. On other occasions, I have also encountered families who feel discouraged and intimidated in sharing their concerns due to feeling of embarassment, foolishness and irrelevance. It is amazing how their shared concerns can significantly decrease the amount of time wasted in unnecessary assessments and procedures.

Following the examination by my work colleague, it was concluded that my secondary symptoms of dizziness and headaches were attributed by a fluid blockage and infection in my right ear. I was given a steroid solution and discharged home.

During the drive home, I took the opportunity to reflect the hospital experience. I realized the importance to not only take care of the patient, but also the family.

So Far So Good… My Second Tank of B20

2006-02-27T22:53:00.000-08:00

I took a free moment out of my evening to scoot down for a fill up at the Delta Biodiesel Station which is just off Nordel Way & River Road in Delta. Officially, this will be my second full tank of B20 that I have ran in my TDI. I've pretty much had my fingers crossed as many have predicted my fuel filter to clog up. So far, I have encountered no problems or any significant changes. My TDI continues to run smoother than usual and my mileage is unaffected.

For those who are not aware, biodiesel acts like a natural solvant/degreaser. It is a fuel blend primarily made with different percentages of dino-diesel mixed with waste vegetable oils. In North America, oil from soy beans are primarily used.

The environmental benefits of biodiesel as an alternative fuel is astonishing. When using B100 grade, it is a purely renewable domestic product and contains no petroleum. It is biodegradable, non-toxic fuel which could be used in any diesel burning engine without modification. Most importantly Biodiesel of all grades results in lower emissions, which keeps our planet green. In addition, Biodiesel can potentially contribute to our independence when it comes to oil supply.

When used over a significant amount of time, it can attribute to a clogging of the fuel filter. This is primarily due to the poorly commericalized filtered/refined dino-diesel fuel which is available at any Mohawk, Husky, Shell or Esso Gas Stations. It has been proven that with the prolonged use of dino-diesel will increase the chances for contaminant build ups in your fuel system .

For instance, B5 = 5%; B10 = 10%; B20 = 20%; B50 = 50% and B99 or B100 = 100% ( X% = Soy Oil )

Running B20 is still viewed as quite environmentally friendly. It's the highest bio-diesel mixture which is most available through select commerical fuel companies. As long as I do not encounter any problems, I optimally would run a near 100% pure soy oil mixture on a consistent basis. The unfortunate part is that B100 is only available through two methods:

1. A special order is made from Cascadia Fuels and delivered in bulk amounts to a holding tank at your home,

2. B100 can be made through a quick home brewing process from used cooking oils which can be collected free of charge from your local restaurant.

The initial start up cost for a home brewing station will range from $1500 - 2000. Once your formula is perfected, bio-diesel can be produced as low as 3-10% of the current pump prices of commerical grade dino-diesel. There always is a downside to every good thing. Home brewing can be also risky. The refining quality can become inconsistent and much poorer to biodiesel available through an actual fuel company.

Currently, all commerically sold bio-diesel is made by Cascadia Fuel (http://www.cascadiabiofuels.com) and distrubuted through Autogas dealers, and Mohawk or Husky Fuel Stations are made through a high standard of refinement. Therefore the chances of contaminents is extremely low and you are more likely to have the lesser odds of running into problems.

And to think, the higher the percentage of bio-diesel you chose to run in your TDI, the less money goes into some billionaire oil barron. I rather give back my hard earned money back to those environmentally conscience soy bean farmers in the Mid-West United States or Central Canada.

Good Friends, Good Company, Poor Motor

2006-02-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

"It's truly amazing how beautiful is it to watch how a person's life can change for the better with the addition of a child."

Yesterday afternoon, I took the opportunity to visit some long-time friends, Clayton and Kathleen Dyck. I met initially met Clayton during my late teenage years through the mutual interests with Volkswagens. Through the past 10 years of friendship, we've experienced many memorable and unforgettable times together. We've watched each other grow into the individuals which we are now and I've become more appreciative of our unspokened friendship.

Although he is one step ahead of me with the birth of his first child, I get the opportunity to see how my future may become. I see a future that I am eagerly anticipating. Everytime I see Clayton with his daughter, I see a proud and enlightened man with an unmistakable glow in his eyes. I see how beautiful it is to be a dad, happy with a family of his own.

Earlier in my visit, I was invited into Clayton's garage as he and some friends were attempting to diagnose a motor malfuntion in the turbocharged setup in his MKII VR6 conversion. I am always awestrucked when I see his MKII VR6 Golf. It brings back many memories of the good times we had, which includes many spirited drives together and watching countless quartermile races. I still remember my first ride in 1997 as he drove me down Hwy 99 Southbound and engaged a 75 shot of Nitrous Oxide. That was the most pivotal moment of my Volkswagen ownership which influenced two motor swaps, 2 different nitrous oxide set ups, and countless modifications of my Passat and two Golfs.

After pulling apart the motor, traces of heat damage was discovered in the block. I felt Clayton unspoken frustration as he appeared helplessly debating in his mind which direction should he persue in the rebuilding of the motor. Would he replace the entire block? Or would he attempt to rebuild it with hopes that the damage was minimal and unaffect the motor's performance.

Some photos of the motor:

Therapy Lies in a Patch of Grass

2006-02-26T22:12:00.000-08:00

I have grown a second addition in life, the television show Scrubs. The storylines depicts the humourous side of working in a hospital. I could almost compare myself to the character depicted by Zach Braff (John "J.D." Dorian). Despite being often stressed at work, I still manage to have an extremely caring heart and uses humour to make a difference, one patient at a time.

Ironically, I also share a similar over-active imagination which tends to visualize worst-case scenarios of the funniest kind. Who would have known that at the age of 29 I would be solely responsible for the psychiatric services of my hospital.

I constantly watch patients being brought into the hospital, knowing that for many, they will never be visited by friends and family, never improve their prognosis or never leve. Work often leave me overly stressed from frequent inappropriate referrals, countless complicated assessments, pressure from physicians to make recommendations for treatment and constant worrying of my patients whether they are being admitted or discharged home.

Sometimes I just feel all alone while questioning myself after work, "Could I have made a better decision for my patient today?" Like John Dorian, there are days which I beg to escape the Emergency Department and lay on some grass in a beautiful park while enjoying the sight of clouds floating by. I learned from one episode that life is way too short, that I've got to let go of my worries for patients after I leave and enjoy my personal time off.

Many people I meet have this notion that my job is relatively easy and quite cushy. Funny, even when I am out for coffee, I sometimes sit there still worrying about each of my patients that I may have left overnight at my hospital.

My coping mechanisms:

1. Listen to my Scrubs CD Soundtrack while telling myself that everything will okay, everything happens for a reason.

2. Crack open the Scrubs Season DVD box set and allow laughter to be the best therapy,

3. Be grateful that you're not being chased by a herd of attack ostriches,

4. Seek support from my good friend at work, Turk (Jason),

5. Run home to the one person (my wife) in my life who understands me and constantly brightens my day.

My Return to Tim Hortons

2006-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Prior to today's Tim Hortons meet, a follow-up visit was made by Baggio to my garage to make some final adjustments to his coilovers. After a bit of tweaking to the height settings, I was pretty eager to follow suit and wind down my KW coilovers down a few rotations. With daylight, I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of the final height settings. Very sexy indeed!

Before:

After:

Since my wife will be at work tonight I decided to attend the semi-regular meet up at a local Tim Horton's for coffee, doughnuts. Normally, I never really got excited about coffee meet ups. I used to get easily boreds as many of the stories of the glory days were repeated over and over like a broken record. However tonight my excitability changed for two reasons:

1. I've found out that many of the old timer members were attending,

2. I was eager to see what people had done (car modifications) over the winter break.

I've been getting a lot of slack from many VW club members for my lack of attendance and involvement in various club events. My main excuse for having been so socially withdrawn has been due to the recent competion of our new home, increased responsibilites at work, my wife's pregancy including the countless related doctor appoinments. I've also been spending a lot of my weekends in Seattle which leaves me with the inability to attend events by the Volkswagen Drivers of Vancouver, VWVortex or TDIClub.

I know... excuses... excuses. I've tried to explain myself, but now that everything has settled out, I'm going to try to make it out more often.

I was unable to take any pictures of tonight's get together as I accidently left my digital camera's memory card at home. I'll try to find some photos taken by other enthusiast tomorrow and post them up.

The Dirty Suspension Job vs.The Garden Beast

2006-02-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

My garage has been a busy place for the past few days. Since putting on my newly acquired 337 front valence, my garage has been visited non-stop by fellow VW enthusiasts who were seeking a place to replace their brakes/rotors, and the installation of coilovers.

After today's visit, I was left with a garage in a state of near disaster. I've never experienced this feeling before. After last weekend's brake job, my good friend (Remy) went the extra mile while cleaning up. I admit, I am a severe neat freak and love having everything organized. However, the garage was absolutely filthy, trash lying everywhere, floors unswept with uncleaned tools lying everywhere. I have to admit, I was a pretty peeved off, but managed to get everything claned and got the garage back to it's normal state in about 10-20 minutes.

I've learned one thing since opening up my garage to friends... discourage them walking around your home with their unwashed greasy hands and make sure they clean up after themselves. Next time, limits will be set!

On a much happier note, I thought I'd post some pictures of my recently acquired street machine: My new Sears Craftsman Lawn Mower. With this, I will rule the neighbourhood lawns. Since purchasing this garden beast last fall, I've restricted it to storage in my garage.

Since it had been so nice outside, I thought I would take the opportunity to break it in. Well... not really. Although tempted to turn the garden unleash the sheer mulching/cutting terror, I was told to wait until late-Spring/early-Summer to give the lawn it's first cut.

"The turf needs time to root itself," said the gardener.

Despite all the excitement and feeling like a kid at the candy store, I managed to hold myself back. I decided to de-virginize the lawnmowerby rolling it onto grass for the first time and took some mouth-watering pictures.

(I stuck on an H&R suspension decal for some extra laughs as I noticed the adjustability in the ride/cutting height)

My Field Trip In Seatch of the McBarge & VM Autohaus!

2006-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

It's been two days now since filling my TDI with B20 Biodiesel. Everything including my normal fuel mileage seems to be in order. I've noticed no hesitations or power loss as many have claimed when running higher percentages of biodiesel.

I decided to take the opportunity of a bright sunny lunch break from the hospital to scoot out to VM Autohaus in Burnaby. I remembered sighting the MacDonalds McBarge 3-4 years ago anchored along the shorelines of the Barnet Inlet. I decided to take a few minutes and veered off course to look for some sort of road that would allow me to get up and personal it. I ended up spending 30-45 minutes weaving in and out of different streets near Holdom and Hastings Street and found a trail that appeared to lead towards the shoreline.

After parking the car, I grabbed my digital camera with high glee and ventured down the path. Unforuntately the path did not take me down to the shoreline, but I managed to get some semi-clear spyshots! It was a great feeling to see the McBarge again despite it's lack of regular maintenance while in storage.

Here is a brief history lesson for those who are too young to remember. During the World Exposition of 1986 in Vancouver, McDonalds built a restaurant on a barge and had it moored to a dock. It was a very popular attraction because of the floating restaurant concept.

I was forutnate that my family had an unlimited pass to the World's Fair and would make weekly visits.We visited the McBarge during each visit as a result of my annoying begging and arm bending towards my parents. Following the closing of Expo 86, the McBarge was towed away by tugboats to an unknown destination.

After spending a few minutes admiring the old restaurant, I returned to my car to continue my trek to VM Autohaus for some auto parts.

When I arrived, I was greeted by the regular sales-counter guy (Chris) who was cheerful as usual. I've recently become a regular to VM Autohaus for parts due to their honest pricing, great customer service, and their helpful sharing of knowledge regarding maintenance tips. We chatted briefly about VW gossip and I left very contently with a small box containing some OEM VW Automatic Transmission Fluid, a OEM Pollen/Dust Filter, and a new Bosche Fuel Filter.

The total damage: $100 CAN for all the items compared to the quoted $360+ CAN from the local dealership for the same parts plus labour.

After coming home from work, I'm now waiting the arrival of some fellow VW enthusiasts as we are doing yet another suspension installation in my garage. As many of you may have thought, my home has turned into the communal garage. It's just a little payback for the times people have lent me the use of their garage when I didn't have one.

My new weekend plan: Do my 60,000 km maintenance tune up!

Russia ousts Canada from Olympics

2006-02-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Although during the game I had to return to work, my colleagues allowed me to roll in a television into the conference room to watch the game. Nice people eh?

The outcome of today's game was not what I expected. Canada lost 2-0 against Russia in today's quarterfinals in Men's Olympic Ice Hockey. There is already a lot of blame floating around the media questioning Gretzky's dedication to the team and a constant lack of effort by the players.

As a proud supporter of our team, I refuse to play the blame game. I thought the game was very exciting to watch! I was so tempted to skip out on work this afternoon. When I returned to work, my colleagues allowed me to roll in a television into the hospital conference room to watch the game during our workshop/lecture. Nice eh?

Anyways, we went to Torino and gave it our best and it obviously was not enough. We'll have to try harder at Vancouver in 2010! Hopefully, I'll be able to physically attend the game.

On my way home after work, I popped into my local VW dealer: Westminster Volkswagen. Although they have gained a pretty nasty reputation over the past 5 years for poor customer service and prices. I thought I would mention something nice about them as I feel bad that they get slagged all the time.

The purpose of my visit was to buy some replacement light bulbs for my VW Golf. I was greeted at the service counter by a fellow VW enthusiast (Austin) who was very kind to supply me with the light bulbs for free. Kudos for your act of kindness!

http://www.westminstervw.com/en_CA/

Go Team CANADA!

2006-02-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

Go Canada Go...

Today is the beginning of the quarter finals in Men's Ice Hockey! Elimination time...

Olympic Hockey is a great excuse to call in sick or ditch work early to watch. As a diehard hockey fan, I desparately scrambled home as quickly as I could during my lunch break to watch the game on my 100" projection screen at home! The unfortunate part is that my lunch break is almost over and I have to go back to work for a workshop this afternoon. Hmmm... do I skip out of work on a sick call?

Hope we can beat Russia this afternoon!

On a VW related note... I've managed to acumulate about 100 km since filling B20 bio-diesel in my TDI. I must admit, I've been a little anxious about the possibility that it may dislodge a lot of build up in my fuel system and clog up my fuel filter. By the grace of VW gods, I've encountered absolutely no problems yet. The car is still running very smoothly and I've noticed no loss or lagging when accelerating.

Because of today's exciting hockey game, I'll have to postpone my trip to VM Autohaus until tomorrow. Hockey comes first... even over Volkswagens!

4-Motion Envy...

2006-02-22T00:32:00.001-08:00

The one thing that annoys me most are people who excessively babies their beloved cars and do not use them for it's fullest potential. Reminded me of when I used to have my MK3 Golf VR6, I built it for enthusiastic driving... not simply to sit there and look pretty. I built it to have fun! (Picture Below: DCI Annual Spring BBQ)

Anyways, the reason for this entry was how envious I was of a friend's brother who was having a blast in a East Coast snow storm with his R32.

Way to go R32Argent... work the 4-Motion system! Lately, I've seen so many people on Vortex complaining of rock chips and dirtying their R32s. I understand that the R32 (my all time favorite VW) was a limited production model... but come on... live a little eh!

Spyshots of my new TDI's bodykit!

2006-02-21T22:07:00.000-08:00

I was tempted, but it was hard to keep this secret until the first VW club get togethers in late spring or summer. Here are a few sneak peak shots of my new body kit which I installed on Sunday in my driveway while friends used my garage bays for maintenance work on their MK3 Golfs.

The rest of the kit is in transit from San Francisco and should be arriving soon. I also managed to get my hands on a brand new 337 exhaust from Denon Performance. Now for my next mod... anyone got a used R32 powertrain for sale? LOL...

Later that evening, I took the opportunity to unwind my garden hose and wash down the garage bays. All the brake grease and dust just rinsed right out... god bless my friends who advised me to roll a few coats of industrial sealant which prevents stains and dirt setting into the concrete. I'll have to early summer to power wash my driveway to roll sealant on that too. Next garage item on my wishlist... a heavy duty heater to work in the cold.

Sharing my past...

2006-02-21T21:27:00.000-08:00

After several attempts to edit the format of my corner, I've come to realise that I can't share my experiences with Volkswagens without sharing the projects that I have previously owned...

It would be a crime not to introduce my good ol' MK3 VR6 conversion. This project started in 1996 with her purchase in a barebones 1.8L CL model platform. After many years of upgrades, unnecessary modifications, and countless sets of new shoes... $60,00 revealed her ultimate prime and beauty! Oh... how I miss her so much!

In 2003, I purchased my second VW, a 1999 B5 Passat GLX from a fellow VW enthusiest, Stargazer.

This is my current project, a 2004 MK4 Golf TDI GLS with R32 Aristo wheels, KW Variant-1 coilovers, OEM GTI tail-lights, and Deisel Tuner Box. I have a OEM 337 Special Edition body kit and exhaust to compliment the wheels... I'll post pictures when it arrives!

I have big plans for my Golf TDI... as I eagerly await the expiry of her factory warranty.

My First Post & Tank of B20 Diesel!

2006-02-21T20:42:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to the Rob Tang Corner which I was inspired to create after following the web-blog of a very good friend named Stargazer. I watched how his blogs were informative, in helping other car enthusiasts with helpful tips.

I know that there are a lot of people on the great world called the internet constantly debating the ability to run B20 and higher B % with a Volkswagen PD motor. I thought, I'd keep a brief online log of my progress. I'd love to eventually run B50 or B100.

I just got back 15 minutes ago from filling my first tank of B20 in my 2005 Golf PD at the Husky Station, Delta GVRD. The attendants were very helpful and knowledgable about their product. The fuel is made by Cascadia Fuels and is a clean production process. I have been running B5 for the past few weeks with no problems despite warnings from VWOA and VW Canada that it could void my warranty.

As soon as I filled up and left the station, I noticed that the PD motor was a lot smoother, and significantly quieter. I have have a pre-existing Diesel Tuning Box in my car which is dialed to F-Mode (The highest setting: 165 hp). When I goosed the car with the B20, I felt no loss in power or torque. The car did not give out the smell or huge plume of black smoke.

I am planning to visit VW Autohaus on my lunch break tomorrow to buy two fuel filters. One to immediately replace the one in my car and a back up one (in case of filter clogging). I called my local dealer today and even with my discount, my cost was $56 CAN per filter. VM Autohaus's price was roughly $30 CAN.

Wish me luck and keep checking back for updates!