Sunday, June 29, 2008

Of no significance whatsoever

Yes, these are clearly photoshopped. But they're still fun.
They're called "spy shots" - stills or video of cars under development but not yet announced. The manufacturers go to great lengths to keep them under wraps (literally) lest competitors get an idea of what they'll be selling in the future. But they have to take them out for testing on the road and on the track. So an equally dedicated group of privateers go to great lengths to catch these cars on film, and then they sell those pics or video to car mags for unbelievable sums of money.
Most of the cat-and-mouse game for all but U.S. manufacturers happens in Germany where they have the kinds of streets and tracks the manufacturers want for testing.
One of the things the manufacturers do is disguise the cars by either painting them with a scheme that camouflages the details and/or putting a wrap over the car, something like a giant hair net. The driver can see out and the lights can penetrate the mesh, but it covers the shape sufficiently to hide all but the most basic shape.
Honda sold the NSX from 1990 to 2005. It was their high performance car and driven by rich guys and race drivers.
Honda recently announced they were going to release a new NSX, this time with a V-10 instead of a V-8, and lots of other go-fast technology. The spy shot photogs went on the hunt. Here's the result.
NSX spy shot
OK, you can't see much, but I think it's interesting to see Honda's efforts to disguise and the work of a videographer (and probably several assistants).

We watched some of the Olympic Trials tonight on NBC - the coverage of some men's Track and Field events. Those guys are ripped! And I feel so bad for the poor guy who finishes in fourth place because only the top three make the U.S. team. In some cases that runner is eliminated by hundredths of a second. He's spent years focused on one goal, putting everything else in the background in order to make it to the Olympic Games. And he misses by a couple hundredths of a second.
Sold out.
There's a sermon illustration in there.

I'm starting a job tomorrow morning. The new pediatric therapy clinic will open in a month, but before then they need some "tenant improvements" made to the business park space they're leasing. I'll "create" two rooms by putting in a couple of walls, each with a door, and install an 8' stretch of base cabinets with a sink.
But this will be a new experience for me. I finished several basements in MI, taking them from empty space to bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. But that was all wood construction. This is steel. The framing is all metal, which means electrical, drywall and doors all get done differently. I've done a lot of reading and talked to several guys who have done this kind of work and the one thing they all agree on is that metal construction is easy and fun compared to wood construction. But no matter how much homework you do ahead of time there's always a learning curve.
I'm also especially motivated to get this one right because this pediatric therapy clinic is being opened by a couple in our church who are both physical therapists, and our son Josh, who is a pediatric Occupational Therapist, will be working there.
No pressure.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your job!

I have heard of Occupational Therapy and in a previous occupation took care of some people who needed such services. However, why would someone who qualifies for pediatric care also need therapy for their occupation? Most children do not have jobs! Can someone explain this?