It's Most Techy Time of Year

So, if you know us, you know that we like our tech and truly this was like tech Christmas at our house this weekend.

Tech the first. We replaced our 20 year old fridge with a brand new one from Samsung. Having a fridge and tv from the same brand still seems weird to me. I'm old enough to remember when we used to separate our kitchen tech from tv tech... But no longer. So, we have this fancy fridge.... And I might have hugged it when it arrived. You've heard the phrase they don't make 'em like they used to?? That's the truth... This thing is nothing like my old fridge, except for that part where you know it keeps food cold. 

French doors, door within a door for the things you use most, temp settings on the outside, a drawer just for snacks that cools differently than the fridge.... And a giant drawer freezer! I went crazy and bought frozen pizzas today at the store. (Old fridge was an old side by side and you could not put a pizza in it in the fridge or freezer.) Seriously, I've gone all kinds of nuts.

But that's nothing compared to tech the second....a smart thermostat!

Yeah, it's getting all futuristic here. We are now the proud parents to an ecobee 3. Yes, the one with the bee. It promises to rock my socks off... So there's that. It might have taken a bit longer than the "under 45 minutes" promised to install, but so far I'm very impressed with the interface and the remote sensor.

Reviews are out on our new tech, but at this point the excitement over new tech is more than we can stand.

Fernando Alonso And McLaren - Bad Idea, or Horrible Idea

Much has been written since the rumors started flying that Fernando Alonso was headed to McLaren regarding how wise this decision was, and much will be written over the coming months and well into the 2015 season over this decision.  So why not add our own two cents?

There's no question that Fernando Alonso is one of if not the best driver currently on the race grid.  In terms of sheer driver quality, McLaren's decision makes perfect sense.  But it's more than just that.  Alonso's preview stint with McLaren was disastrous.  Besides not getting along with his team mate Lewis Hamilton or Team Principal Ron Dennis, Alonso added the final nail in the coffin regarding McLaren's involvement in the Spygate scandal.

While it's not unprecedented for a sports team to re-sign a top performing player who also creates a lot of drama on a team, it's another thing to re-sign a player who played a role in getting a team disqualified and costing them millions of dollars.

How many companies would re-hire an employee who didn't just leave on bad terms, but actually went as far as threatened to betray the trust of that company?  That's not to say that McLaren's role in Spygate was correct, but Alonso had a role in bringing down the team.  What company would consider re-hiring an employee after such a situation?

Along the same lines, a lot of hope and expectations have been pinned on McLaren's partnership with Honda.  Yes, the two were a highly successful pair in the early '90s, but a lot has changed since the last time McLaren-Honda was the team name...  Coming off a 2012 where McLaren had arguably the fastest car on the grid that was plagued by pitt lane issues, the team's changes for the 2013 season ruined the recipe.  Instead of fighting for wins, McLaren was struggling to get into the top 5, and a team that looked so promising ended up without a single podium in 2013.

2014 again should have been a promising year, especially seeing the success that the Mercedes power unit enjoyed, not just with the Mercedes team, but with the resurgent Williams and even Force India.  But instead the team struggled yet again, but the issue obviously wasn't with the engine, so what are the odds that 2015's McLaren Honda will be better than the previous cars?  How likely is it that McLaren will be able to fix the their 2014 design issues so that the 2015 car has a fighting chance?  How likely is it that McLaren's Honda power unit will get the opportunity to perform at it's highest levels when mated with McLaren's 2015 chassis?

We'll know in a few months....

We're Baaaaaack...

I know some of you may remember the blog as "Join Me in Snarkville" and some may remember a "Mail Buoy" and still others (frankly the truly devoted) might remember "Aimless Wandering" and ultimately, you might recall us shutting down The Bloke and a Bird almost two years ago. I guess I'm saying that we might have actually tried to do this a few times in the past, but now...

We are BACK.

Yup, back to cyberspace with us once again. What will we say, what will we be all about -- it is still being decided. I can promise we will talk F1, because seriously how could we not. I can promise we will also talk about whatever catches our attention. There will be new things we are planning. So, as I hesitate to say -- Watch this Space!