Greekstentialism

Kalisera from Athens, Greece! Another day, another data integration project with one of our field offices...and thankfully, this one happens to be in one of the cities I've been meaning to visit since I was a child. Growing up a product of the US public school system, you'd often hear stories about ancient Greek civilizations and their culture. This country is indeed the birthplace of democracy and great minds such as Socrates, and of course, being a general math geek that I am, Pythagoras. Heck, ancient Greek reading was even required in high school, as we read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey in our English classes (the latter being one of my favorite books of all time). All things considered, despite having fallen on hard times recently, I believe Greece to still be one of the most fascinating countries in the world. The picture to the left is me seated out front of the Parthenon in the Acropolis, a truly amazing structure that I'd rank up with the Egyptian pyramids as a "must see before time wears it down to nothing."

Anyway, geeky tourist fascination aside, I've learned much about the modern Greek culture since I've been here. Some tips for my fellow Americans who may have never visited Greece before and are planning on coming by in the near future:

• The Greeks LOVE cheese. Not just feta either. Cheese is practically on every dish. For those who are lactose-intolerant, bring all appropriate OTC treatments.
• Eat lunch at 12-1 pm? Most Greeks will look at you strangely. Lunch here typically begins around 2:30pm/3:00pm.
• Eat dinner at 6-7 pm? Again, most Greeks will look at you strangely. Actually, you won't see them looking at you strangely because none of them will be out. Dinner starts around 9:00pm/9:30pm.
• Common Greek phrases can be found here complete with phonetic pronunciation.
• Want to eat some amazing seafood while driving by some of the biggest villas in Greece? Take a trip a little north of Athens to a place called Kiffisias.
• Have ouzo on the rocks when having seafood, then finish off with mastica as a dessert apertif.

Word is I might be headed back around these parts sooner rather than later, so I will be sure to post any more tips as I discover them.

Environmental Geekstentialism

With petrol prices still climbing and a need for a highly efficient car for my fiance, I decided it was time to finally bid adieu to my Honda S2000. I had quite a terrific time with that car, but its impracticality wore my patience a little thin over the years. I would still recommend it for anyone who wants a reasonably priced convertible sports car without sacrificing the fun -- I dare say you won't find a better 6-speed shifter this side of a Porsche 911. I'll still have my 2003 Subaru WRX project car to keep my speed needs at bay.

That being said, as a result of our vehicular needs, we have joined the ranks of the hybrid owners of the world and got ourselves a 2010 Honda Insight. I must admit, I was a little leery with hybrid technology at first; the first generation Insight was the S2000's environmental cousin (i.e. completely impractical with anything else aside from fuel efficiency) and the prior and current gen Priuses never really did it for me with regards to a driving experience...not to mention its steadily climbing price.

With that in mind, I was able to hunt down a certified 2010 Honda Insight that struck our fancy with its price point. In test driving the car, I found myself to be a bit surprised -- the handling of the car is, dare I say it, actually fun. Its handling characteristics reminded me of my cousin's Honda Fit, with which I'm sure the Insight shared some of its components. The steering is very responsive, definitely much more responsive than the Priuses I've test driven, and it feels pretty nimble on its feet in normal and highway traffic.

Don't get me wrong, speed and acceleration-wise, the Insight is the polar opposite of the S2000, but my fiance was more concerned with reliability and fuel efficiency. In both aspects, I'd say Honda excels. Reliability? It's a Honda. I know it's become the company's unofficial motto, but their cars simply are highly reliable. I still remember my parents' old 1989 Civic. My family piled on about 200,000 miles and 15 years on that car. Engine never blew, only had to replace the usual wear and tear items, and overall was a great little car. Ditto my S2000 -- not a problem with it mechanically in my 3 years of ownership (and, um, enthusiastic driving).

Fuel efficiency...now this is where the Insight really impresses the geek in me. Most of the new hybrids have a similar system, but I believe the Insight's execution of it is a little better on the user-side. The car has a built in ECO Mode which maximizes the car's fuel efficiency to go along with the brilliant ECO Guide user interface on the dash. The ECO Guide is what I'm impressed with the most. The speedometer (mounted at the top of the dash, a la the new Civics) has an ambient light that glows green when you're driving in a fuel efficient manner and dark blue when you're driving like a maniac. To help coach you into better fuel efficiency, there is also a UI on the dash called the Eco Drive Bar which shows you efficiency ranges as you accelerate and decelerate. I think this system, at least for me, works a bit better than Ford's pretty "leaves" UI. The ambient lighting on the dash gives enough of a high level overview of your fuel efficiency while the Eco Drive Bar can show a driver specifically how his inputs affect his fuel efficiency. So, even a lead footed speed addict such as myself can be trained into maximizing his fuel efficiency. Not bad at all.

So, what's the verdict on the fuel efficiency? The sticker says 40 city/43 highway. I drove from the hills of Manayunk to Abington, taking all local hilly roads, and I easily beat the city average and got closer to 45 mpg. I'd imagine that reaching 50+ mpg on the highway is easily attained. The Prius still beats those numbers by about 10-20% with its slightly more advanced hybrid system, but again, I felt the driving experience on the Insight was slightly more fun than that of its Toyota competitor...not to mention I'm kind of biased to Honda products.

While the car enthusiast in me may mourn the loss of one of the best production sports cars ever built, the Eco Geek in me will rejoice in (maybe) once a month fill-ups, lower insurance premiums, and a more positive environment impact. That will certainly help.

...and I think my WRX is about due for a new turbo and intercooler anyway ;-)