One of my abiding passions is of course cars.   And the latest Aston Martin - to be announced at the Detroit Motor show this week - is the gorgeous Rapide.   Building on the success of the DB9, Vanquish and new Vantage (which is stunning) and having had their first profitable year in years, Aston head Uli Bez has given the go ahead for a 4 seater model.

And it's gorgeous. Designed by Aston's new design director, Marek Reichman the basis is a DB9 with a 9.8in stretch between the wheels. It uses the same 450bhp 5.9-litre V12 engine and six-speed ZF auto gearbox, and with better aerodynamics it should beat the coupé's 186mph top speed if not the 5.4sec dash from 0-60mph.

It should also give Porsche a run for their money with the new Panamera.

Ah, the future of motoring never looked so good.   Now where's that lottery ticket?

Remember, a diet is just for Christmas, not for life.

Now it is said that to err is human, but to completely stuff something up requires a computer.    Regular visitors will have noticed a few changes to the blog this year.   First I changed the layout and colour scheme and then managed to figure out how to add pictures.

Then the font started to go funny.  

Then the edit did not work properly.

And the preview has a mind of its' own.

So I've been a little stressed.   Graphically illustrated by this little animation....

Gareth from Hong Kong sent this over today - it made me chuckle.   I'm not their yet, but I have some of the symptoms.   You probably do too....

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

 

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

 

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

 

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

 

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

 

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

 

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

 

I take my check book off the table, ...   more »