Posthumous trunk volume reduced by a hit-and-run driver

12:17 June 27th, 2009 on the 105 Westbound at Sepulveda. Well, that was quick. Just over 3 months into ownership, and Posthumous has been rear-ended on the highway by a hit-and-run driver. I'm OK, but the car will need some work. She took it well, though, showing almost no external damage, but the underlying structure has been deformed. And of course, I never got collision insurance because I figured that as long as I did not crash the car, the at-fault driver's insurance would.

It's funny, though, because one of the main reasons I opted to get this particular convertible is because of the ample trunk space. Well, now the trunk volume has been reduced. Not by much, but enough that the spare tire cannot be removed and the trunk neither closes nor locks, rendering it unusable. And the real bummer- no more convertible-ing until it gets fixed as the trunk is an integral part of the roof retractor.

Well, here we go...

Intrusion of the rear frame into the trunk.

Where the sheet metal bottom shell of the trunk buckled

Not awful to fix, though not cheap. But seriously, a hit-and-run!!??

Aww, potatoes.

Distinguished Graduates of the Class of...SPARTAAAAA!

No doubt inspired by Wei and Joy Jams, I decided Wednesday and on Friday, hopped in a car with a kind friend and we drove up to Stanford for graduation. So many wonderful people graduating. Just had to see them again one more time. Couldn't miss it. More photos are coming after some sleep. Way to go, guys.

Wei and Joy Jams

Had a pretty rough day at work today. It's like going to war.

But today, Wei and Joy had jazz gig in a little university coffee shop 400 miles away, attended by so many friends, all of whom I love dearly. And I was on Skype, there, transported by a laptop on a counter. And it was beautiful.



Isn't it wonderful how, whenever things get worse, there is always something better?

Thanks so much, I love you.

The Car!

Tada! Here it is, finally ready for a full photo:

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Okay. Just kidding.
The Tesla is a spectacular car, but the real HMS Posthumous is pretty fun too:

And it knows a few tricks of its own:

Peeling a Banana...the SpaceX way

Fact of life #119: sometimes work is a drag, and sometimes it leaves you with a bunch of leftover liquid nitrogen from a cryo test.

Superman or not, this person is my hero.

From my weekend at Claremont, I saw this on a door.:

New (Used) Car!

Please meet the H.M.S. Posthumous (it needs a little work):
Yes, sadly this is a downgrade from the H.M.S. Haggis, the best car ever made.

Trunk limit switch.

Radiator fan controller

Radio
Tape deck (pre scalpel)

Reverse engineered!

Trunk disassembled exposing trunk mechanism, hydraulic, pneumatic, and fiber optic (?!) system.

Achy, breaky, (leaky) rear view mirror.


Lost a rubber bumper thingy from the trunk while putting it back together. Shuffled off to the hardware store. Now my car is part toilet parts. :-(

Radio, post-hack. Huzzah! I think the dealer wanted $300 for the ipod kit.

Throttle by wire!

More photos to follow.