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jason wagner
hi there, I'm jason. click on some of them links up yonder.
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- May 22, 12I was offered the opportunity to visit the Yokohama Tire Plant in Salem, Virginia this week and of course I jumped at the chance. I got up bright and early and headed up 220N without knowing much of what the day would bring. It had been raining for the past few days and I knew there was a pretty good chance of rain throughout the day and that part of the plan was a "Ride & Drive." So, fully expecting a rainy washout I comforted myself with the fact that even though this is my first Ride & Drive I've heard they never really have any cool cars for you to drive—no cool cars for a Formula-Red-Bleeding-Honda-Loving guy anyways (mine bleeds a slightly juicier Milano Red shade, but you know what I mean). Thankfully my pessimism started to wane as I pulled into Roanoke and the clouds began lifting and the sun began to peek through. Being a fairly frequent visitor of the area I recognized all the usual landmarks on Electric Road but when I turned onto Indiana Street I was shocked at how absolutely ginormous the building is (1.25 million sq/ft) and equally surprised by the fact that I had driven by so many times without ever noticing it.(source)We started off the morning with a super interesting and informative class on the art of tire making. To quote our instructor, "There is more technology in a modern radial tire than the building of the Golden Gate Bridge." I don't know much about bridge building but after that class I do know a lot about tire construction and I would guess that his quote is probably pretty accurate.Next came the tour of the plant. Keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times, don't touch anything, and by far the hardest order to go along with; no photos. We started at the beginning where the rubber compounds were being mixed and followed the process all the way down to the shipping dock.They had the Super Street Civic Si with their Yokohama Parada Spec 2's on it in their display case right inside the front door (I've got one of these at home that has become my 10-month old son's favorite toy).After our brains were full and our legs were tired we headed over to the Salem Civic Center for the second half of the day. This is the part where things got a lot more exciting. The car we would spend the afternoon flogging was the new Scion FR-S. Toyota/Scion/Subaru have done an excellent job of hyping this car so that even I was pretty well informed about this car through all the pre-release buzz that's surrounded it.We started off in car #1 on Avid Ascends then moved onto car #2 which was fitted with the impressive Avid ENvigor's. Then cars #3 & #4 were a lot more fun with car #3 sporting the S.drive's and car #4 wearing the uber-awesome Advan Neova AD08's (below on the BBS).Even with the Scion's being the center of attention it's impossible to get away from Big Red. :) (Elite 80 & EU3000is)The rain held off for the afternoon and we had beautiful cloud cover for our high speed parking lot shenanigans.As we wrapped things up for the day it was pretty clear that I wasn't taking home any medals (in my defense I thought we were going for fastest lap so I little-old-ladied my first lap on the Ascends so as to feel out the course—instead it was an average of all four timed laps. oops!). 1st place would have been pretty hard to obtain anyways with the cutthroat approach of guys leaving parking brakes partially engaged, a/c's switched on, and realizing the cone penalties weren't being fully enforced. Holy moly, guys are so competitive!The folks at Yokohama really are top-notch and I appreciate all the work they spent in making this day both informative and fun.
- Mar 17, 12
Drunk, high, or just redneck?
This guy just left this voicemail on my wife's phone. He has no idea how much entertainment he's brought us this morning. Featuring hits like: "Hey gurl!", "Serious Bitness", and "Classical Musical". - Feb 09, 12
this is a really cute .gif that posterous doesn't allow to play for some reason. So you'll just have to trust me in that the level of cuteness is around a 9.8.
- Feb 02, 12
Krystle told me today when I got home from work that she had taken a few pics of Truett and that we should look through them to see if there were any good ones. If this is her starting point I believe she'll surpass my photography skills in about a day of practicing. I'm so proud of her!
(I cropped, B&W'd and sharpened it a little but other than that it's all her photo) - Jan 08, 12
- Dec 28, 11
lyrics: jon foreman's your love is strong // if you don't own this album, please stop what you're doing and buy it.
photo: jason wagner // Smith Mountain Lake - Dec 28, 11to me!A 50mm/1.8and Bessie got her LSD equipped 4.40 final drive S80 tranny she's always wanted...
- Nov 17, 11I took a test that told me what I already suspected: Hannibal Lecter & I have the same personality type.It's not so bad though since Lance Armstrong, General Colin Powell, Chevy Chase, and C.S. Lewis all were INTJ's.— Introverted, iNtuitive, Thinking, Judging —This recent reoccurring thought may play into this INTJ personality type somehow: I've been thinking about being Active-Aggressive.I'm surrounded by Passive-Aggressiveness all day because the constant stress of working with the public can lead one to bottle up and act out in little ways or wait 6 months and suddenly come unglued on your co-worker who "YOU MOVED THAT PARTS TICKET ON PURPOSE LAST MAY AND NOW IVE HAD IT WITH YOU, LET'S RUMBLE." I'm ushering in a whole new way of thinking and I'm not only a client, I'm the flappin president of this new way.Here's the gist of being an Active-Aggressive: Someone pees in your cornflakes, correct it then and there without worry of the consequences (surely there will be consequences, you just should never ever never take time to consider them).
- The guy who drank all the tea at Cook-Out and didn't bother to tell anyone behind the counter? Trip him as he passes your booth and watch him fall to the ground, his grubby tea hogging hands trying to decide between letting go of his tray of freshly purchased onion rings and protecting his face from skidding along the greasy floor—teeth digging up the mortar between the tiles and the tiles then shattering his pearly white maxillary central incisors his mom paid the orthodontist too much to straighten.
- The driver that knew his lane was going to end for the last 26 miles and didn't bother to merge until the last possible second when he swerved in front of you nearly missing your front bumper? Don't lift! If you lift, you may miss him and the opportunity to make him realize that decisions in life have consequences and his consequences are about to suck. hard. If you stay in the gas, you'll catch him just behind the back tire in the rear quarter or hopefully just the bumper. The great thing about this is that with his sideways momentum he's built up by caring zero for your life and his when he yanked the wheel to zip into your lane will work to your advantage. With his car moving sideways at high speed it will only take the slightest tap from your front bumper to spin him around and send him off into the woods where he'll sit and wait for a tow truck or hopefully an ambulance and contemplate how he'll drive differently once he recovers. Don't take my word for it, learn this move from police officers as they try to kill this guy. Look how gentle they tap the guy, just imagine if this driver was moving into your lane, he's doing 90% of the work for you!
- "You gone eat yo conebread?" WHACKUM. Right in the dang eye socket. Yes I'm going to eat my cornbread and you are going to sit there, finish crying, and watch me.
- "Hey how 'bout that football game last night...." Hey remember that time I never watched a football game and told you just yesterday how stupid that sport is? BAM. That's why I just punched you in the throat. I've known you ten years and we've had this conversation repeatedly, it's time I did something to help you remember not to ask me again.
Join with me in making December Active-Aggressive Awareness Month. Remember, it could be you who punches someone in the mouth today that makes them talk nicer to the next person. It's really just another way that you can Pay It Forward.
- Nov 01, 11
"If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle."
—Vincent Willem van Gogh
- Nov 01, 11
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature."
—Thoreau, Walden - Sep 15, 11
Wagner family heirloom's are awesome.My son gets to grow up riding the same Honda his Great-Great-Grandfather bought new in '86. - Sep 03, 11
- Sep 03, 11
One day the first will be last but in the meantime the first shall have the best parking places.
- Aug 31, 11My thoughts on turning thirty put into words by Mr Clive Staples.I still don't feel thirty.I certainly don't act like I'm thirty.I guess I am thirty.I'm wearing the O.R. jumpsuit they made me squeeze into when my wife was being sliced on and my son was being brought into this world.Though I thought this would make me feel older, (thus more wise and mature) it has not.He's so much fun (even the 2am poop everywhere diaper changes) that he doesn't feel like work, or growing up.Age ain't nothing but a number.At least that's what all the old thirty year olds used to say when I was young.
- Aug 31, 11Baby poots. They happen all the time, but rarely underwater and on video simultaneously.
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Tweets
- Setting a goal to get more photos on real live paper. Starting with a Memorybox from the beautifully redesigned //printstagr.am
- My buddy's got a tummy bug. Pretty nice though that we made it 10 months with no sickness http://t.co/usP6iYjc
- @jasonwindsor glad they clarified, I nearly invited my friend Rodrigo to tag along. He could have been made uncomfortable.
- Thanks @kennethwagner and @flyineng for clueing me in to the redneck awesomeness of Duck Dynasty.
- "The only way to achieve freedom is to tear down the walls. And right now, I'm the wrecking ball" —Jase #DuckDynasty
- Reminiscing... been to this same parking lot for Nickel Creek at the Civic Center in '02, Tony Rice at the stadium in '05, & car stuff today
- @heatherdedona no kidding. I had to keep my wife's bb alive for years. I still have nightmares.
- Guy beside me likes his BlackBerry because it's so "user friendly." ahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
- The office for the afternoon. (Auto-x'ing the yet-to-be-released Scion FR-S) :p http://t.co/Arf5y0zg
- For a guy who takes pics of everything it's hard to tour a plant that can make 20,000 tires/day and not be allowed to take pics.
- Visitor http://t.co/byFUEzsZ
- On my way to VA. Touring the Yokohama tire plant today.
- @gedeon thx!
- Spent a lovely Mother's Day and 7th Anniversary at the coast with these two. So thankful for both http://t.co/erQDYK85
- Duck http://t.co/jkrsQewB
- Brb, checking to see if there's anything east of Raleigh.
- If you have Verizon and haven't blocked "Premium Messaging" you'll want to before they begin charging you a non-refundable $9.99/mo per line
- I'm so proud of my little guy (and proud of my wife for filming horizontally). He did this today... http://t.co/86CfTYyF
- I mean if it were multiple choice and you had to guess whether he produced Planet Rock or Skynyrd's Gimme Back My Bullets...
- Who would've thought this guy produced Afrika Bambaataa's Planet Rock? http://t.co/JfqLKJZr
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“This is what happens when you take a modern Porsche Boxter, give it the body of a 1960’s Porsche 904: The Gullwing America P/904 Carrera.”
gorgeous.
SEMA 2011: Honda (via HPD) debuts their “Body In White” program.
A first for Honda as far as I know.
looking forward to the 42nd annual tokyo auto show for more details about this one
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- May 22, 12I was offered the opportunity to visit the Yokohama Tire Plant in Salem, Virginia this week and of course I jumped at the chance. I got up bright and early and headed up 220N without knowing much of what the day would bring. It had been raining for the past few days and I knew there was a pretty good chance of rain throughout the day and that part of the plan was a "Ride & Drive." So, fully expecting a rainy washout I comforted myself with the fact that even though this is my first Ride & Drive I've heard they never really have any cool cars for you to drive—no cool cars for a Formula-Red-Bleeding-Honda-Loving guy anyways (mine bleeds a slightly juicier Milano Red shade, but you know what I mean). Thankfully my pessimism started to wane as I pulled into Roanoke and the clouds began lifting and the sun began to peek through. Being a fairly frequent visitor of the area I recognized all the usual landmarks on Electric Road but when I turned onto Indiana Street I was shocked at how absolutely ginormous the building is (1.25 million sq/ft) and equally surprised by the fact that I had driven by so many times without ever noticing it.(source)We started off the morning with a super interesting and informative class on the art of tire making. To quote our instructor, "There is more technology in a modern radial tire than the building of the Golden Gate Bridge." I don't know much about bridge building but after that class I do know a lot about tire construction and I would guess that his quote is probably pretty accurate.Next came the tour of the plant. Keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times, don't touch anything, and by far the hardest order to go along with; no photos. We started at the beginning where the rubber compounds were being mixed and followed the process all the way down to the shipping dock.They had the Super Street Civic Si with their Yokohama Parada Spec 2's on it in their display case right inside the front door (I've got one of these at home that has become my 10-month old son's favorite toy).After our brains were full and our legs were tired we headed over to the Salem Civic Center for the second half of the day. This is the part where things got a lot more exciting. The car we would spend the afternoon flogging was the new Scion FR-S. Toyota/Scion/Subaru have done an excellent job of hyping this car so that even I was pretty well informed about this car through all the pre-release buzz that's surrounded it.We started off in car #1 on Avid Ascends then moved onto car #2 which was fitted with the impressive Avid ENvigor's. Then cars #3 & #4 were a lot more fun with car #3 sporting the S.drive's and car #4 wearing the uber-awesome Advan Neova AD08's (below on the BBS).Even with the Scion's being the center of attention it's impossible to get away from Big Red. :) (Elite 80 & EU3000is)The rain held off for the afternoon and we had beautiful cloud cover for our high speed parking lot shenanigans.As we wrapped things up for the day it was pretty clear that I wasn't taking home any medals (in my defense I thought we were going for fastest lap so I little-old-ladied my first lap on the Ascends so as to feel out the course—instead it was an average of all four timed laps. oops!). 1st place would have been pretty hard to obtain anyways with the cutthroat approach of guys leaving parking brakes partially engaged, a/c's switched on, and realizing the cone penalties weren't being fully enforced. Holy moly, guys are so competitive!The folks at Yokohama really are top-notch and I appreciate all the work they put into making this day both informative and fun.
- Apr 28, 12
Dennis & a long-time customer making plans for repairs on her Odyssey. It's gorgeous outside!
- Jan 11, 12
A customer who normally has their work done at a well known tire store chain had brake rotors and brake pads replaced not too long ago. Today he stopped by to ask us to check a noise in the front end and this is what we found. The front aftermarket brake rotor has completely broken into 2 pieces. There are no manufacturer stampings on the rotors or the aftermarket brake pads. This is a great example of why it's so important to use Original Equipment parts (meaning you are installing the same part the car company used when they were building the car) or parts that have been tested by a reputable 3rd party (such as DOT or TÜV approved parts). At the very least use a part the manufacturer was proud enough to put their name on. - Dec 08, 11"Mikey's old CRX is looking extra shiny tonight. We miss you Mikey"Franklin Michael LandrethMar 16, 1947 — May 22, 2007
- Nov 30, 11
A while back we took a trial-run with a company that could help us learn to communicate better with our customers. Out of this came a whole bunch of reviews, emails, phone calls and the like and a lot of it never saw the light of day. I saved a few screen captures of you guys' reviews and thought they deserved a place on the internet. So—with apologies if this seems too vain—here they are...
Triad Auto Specialty is located in the heart of the Piedmont Triad
in beautiful Greensboro, NC.
Servicing Honda and Acura vehicles exclusively since 1978.
- Sep 29, 11
Here's a great explanation from Honda about what happens to a tire to cause it to flat spot:When you park a vehicle overnight in cold temperatures or park it for a few days, weeks, or months, the tires can form what are commonly called flat spots. These flat spots can cause a noticeable vibration when traveling at low speeds that goes away after just a few miles of driving.
Due to their construction and materials, many heavy-duty and high-performance tires have a memory—meaning they continue to remember the position in which they were last parked when you begin driving again. Unfortunately, that memory can become a problem when the tires go through wide swings in ambient temperature, or they’ve been sitting overnight in cold temperatures or for a long period of time.
When a tire is suspended in the air (there’s no load on it), each of the sidewall cords has the same tension. As the tire rolls on the ground, each of those sidewall cords goes from a relaxed state to a loaded state for every rotation. And this happens about 800 times every mile. This constant deflection generates heat, which makes the tires more flexible. But once you park the vehicle and those tires start to cool, the spot that’s touching the ground (the tire’s footprint) flattens and the cords around that spot relax as the tire presses down from the weight of the vehicle. The cords at the top of the tire, however, are held at their maximum tension. If it’s cold overnight or you don’t drive the vehicle for a while, the tire will remember its position, forming a flat spot. After a cold start, the axle rises and falls in response to that flat spot, causing
a noticeable vibration. But as tire warms up, it softens, and normally rounds out. With the axle now riding steady, the vibration goes away.A flat spot can be just temporary, where the tire rounds out after it warms up. But sometimes it can also be permanent in which the tire’s memory effectively destroys its ride quality. A flat spot’s severity often depends on the tire’s size, its construction, the load it’s under, the ambient temperature, and how long it’s been sitting and at what temperature. If the tire has a temporary flat spot, don’t replace the tire just because of it. Of course, if that flat spot is permanent, the only real cure is tire replacement.
via ServiceNews 11/07 - Sep 29, 11The lovely a/perture cinema in Winston-Salem is showing the Ayrton Senna documentary next week. It's a chance to watch a great movie at a beautiful little theater.
- Aug 17, 11
We would love to see more old Honda's like this being restored & venturing back out on the road.
via Enkei's blog
Check out Enkei's new line of classic wheels and the VIDEO of the car in the making.
- Jun 08, 11
"Success is doing work you're proud of & having a reputation you're proud of."
—Seth Godinvia the Chick-fil-A Leadership Conversations on Dan Cathy's blog
- Apr 21, 11
We took a little Triad Auto field trip up to VIRginia International Raceway this past Sunday and enjoyed watching the fierce on-track competition in the beautiful Spring sunshine (which was much welcomed after the crazy tornado ridden weather of the day before). The "Double Nationals" meant that each class had to qualify in the morning, then race in the afternoon on both Saturday and Sunday. The photos are just from Sunday's event.
I've said it before here, but I'll say it again, if you've never been to VIR — you HAVE to go. It's hard to imagine a more beautiful racetrack and it's right in our back yard! There are two huge events coming up that would be the perfect chance to check out the track: May 7th-8th SCCA Al Fairer SARRC/MARRS Challenge, then the biggest weekend of the VIR schedule, the May 13th-15th Bosch Engineering Rolex Grand-Am Race Sport.photos courtesy of Jason's Flickr - Apr 12, 11
One advantage of the MVCI was immediate: it's wireless. Now it's possible to plug the MVCI into the OBD port under the dash and use the HDS (our laptop with Honda's diagnostic software installed) to perform our diagnostic work with the laptop sitting outside of the car on a cart/workbench/toolbox. So evaporative system tests that used to require us to plug into the OBD port and run the cable to the underside of the car to the laptop will be simplified. Also, reprogramming/updating the PCM (the car's computer) will move along a little more smoothly with all program files being stored in an SD card onboard the MVCI. Instead of just having to have it to do the work required, we're actually looking forward to using the first diagnostic tool we've been excited about the capabilities of in a long while.
We spent the morning using Honda's newest diagnostic tool, the MVCI, and we're in love. - Feb 28, 11
Read the news release here.
2011 Honda HR28TT engine. Developed by a joint-venture between HPD and Honda R&D for the ALMS LMP2 class. - Feb 09, 11
...made its debut today at the Chicago Auto Show.
The extra time spent redesigning the front and rear of this car is noticeable immediately. It's not as angular and tough looking, but it's a bit more refined & handsome than the '08-'11s. - Jan 21, 11
Will stopped in today for a service and to celebrate with us on crossing another milestone— 600,000 miles!
We have serviced this car since he first brought it in as a baby Honda with just 50,000 miles on it; that was back in 1991. Over the past 20 years this car has cost Will just 3¢ per mile to maintain.
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Ayrton Senna of Brazil sits in his car during the US Formula One Grand Prix in Phoenix, Arizona. circa 1991. Photo Credit: Mike Powell/ALLSPORT
Honda R&D designed 1/64th scale Honda Racer Hot Wheels car (went on sale May 2008). Debuted at the 2007 SEMA Show as a 1/5th scale model.
“Have you ever written on a banana in biro? (ballpoint pen) Its crazy but it works like a dream. You wish all writing could be this way. It flows. It’s smooth. It’s sensual. You get the urge to write poems; sonnets; odes to lilies. A strongly worded letter of complaint is impossible. It makes you realise that everything can be improved. That even the familiar can be looked at in a new light. And that imagination is more powerful than knowledge. Do you believe in the power of dreams?” » by W + K London
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