Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

Wastin' Away Again in Margaritaville

Parked the Ford Mustang Bullitt at Carrigan's Karaoke bar in Burlington the other night.

(Long story. Jimmy Buffet will surely forgive me.)

Backed it into the parking spot, as you would.

Had to run the gauntlet of smokers on the sidewalk to get inside.

"Nice car!" one of the patrons slurred out. "Too bad you don't know how to park it!"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"YOU'RE CROOKED!" he bleated.

"I do that on purpose so other cars' doors won't ding the side of my [well, Ford's] nice car," I replied.

"Huh? Uhhhh..." - I waited until his Bud- and nicotine-tinged brain caught up with the concept.

"Oh, er, yeah - good idea..."

One you should all follow.

(As you may have gathered, this photo was not taken at Carrigan's. That aint the Burlington Skyway.)

Lewis Hamilton

What a breathtaking performance from Lewis Hamilton at the British Grand Prix on Sunday. The reigning world champion (Raikkonen) and a two-time world champion (Alonso) on the same track, along with a guy who used to be competitive with Hamilton in the junior ranks (Kovalainen) in a supposedly identical car, who actually had pole position - and Hamilton wins with over a one minute margin? In the pouring rain?

Staggering.

Gob-smacking.

The TV commentators noted that there are some people who dismiss Hamilton as a true potential champion. True, in Montreal he "blotted his copy book" as his country-mates would say by rear-ending Raikkonen in the pits, putting them both out.

But at Silverstone on Sunday?

Peerless. One of the most dominating wins in modern Formula One history.

And my man Robert Kubica finally made his first mistake of the season. Still love the guy. Kudos to his teammate Nick Heidfeld equaling a career best by finishing second, and for pulling off some of the best passes of the season. He'll win one of these days.

Incidentally, can anyone suggest why only English-language Formula One races like the British Grand Prix don't use their own language to describe the event? Other than that "Grand Prize Racing" sounds dumb?

It's the "Grosser Preis" of Germany, the "Gran Premio" of Italy (and Spain), etc.

Just wondering.

Happy (Belated) Fourth of July!

Random observations while driving in the U.S. on the fourth of July weekend:

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The pixelboard sign on the QEW approaching the Burlington Skyway last Friday, July 4, noted the bridge would be closed at 10 p.m. that evening. Didn't say for how long. This meant traffic would be diverted over the old lift bridge. Maybe Hutch's hamburger stand on the Burlington Beach strip would have been happy.

Now, I understand there are only two seasons in Canada - winter, and construction. And I know that deadlines for roadwork are tight.

But, um, the fourth of July weekend? When our closest (and richest) neighbours might just be coming across the border for a wee holiday?

OK, with the strong Canadian dollar and rising (for them) gasoline prices, they aren't traveling up here as much as they used too. And it would have been night-time (it was open by the following afternoon at least).

But couldn’t they have let that timetable slide a couple days, so as not to inconvenience any late-arriving guests?

It isn't the worst scheduling of roadworks I have encountered. Several years ago I was driving in England on a Monday, and the traffic report noted that the high street of Wimbledon would be closed for construction for two weeks, starting on that very day.

What else might you associate with Wimbledon? Something about a tennis match, perhaps?

Yep - started that very same day.

Hello?

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Intriguing Road Sign # 1: "Bruce's Flowers, 2 miles ahead - we smell fabulous!''

I bet you do.

***

Where were all the flags? On this particular weekend especially, I expected the ultra-patriotic Yanks to have flags all over the place. Not so much. Some fireworks here and there. One American told me that flags are almost more of a Memorial Day thing.

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Intriguing Road Sign # 2: "Highway 219. Construction started - 1979. Completed - ???? Memorial to victims of Highway 219''.

I think that's what it read anyway - shouldn't really be taking notes while driving.

Reading between the lines here, it looks as if, contrary to usual practice, the local residents aren't complaining of a new road being put through their community, but about the fact that this new four-lane divided freeway has been under construction for almost 30 years, and they are tired of dying on the old two-laner.

219 is the main drag south out of Buffalo to the ski area of Ellicottville. If you want to go further south and want to take a completed Interstate, you have to head well west to Erie Pennsylvania and down through Pittsburgh, or even further east to Binghampton and down to Philadelphia.

I think the locals have a right to be cheesed.

***

Intriguing Road Sign # 3: "Mud, Sweat and Gears'' - an off-road specialty shop in Ellicottville, about an hour south of Buffalo.

Forza Italia!

Is July 3 official Get Your Ferrari Out of Winter Storage Day in Toronto?

Couldn't blame the owners if it was - the weather has been so crappy this spring who would want to expose their Ferrari to it?

But I saw no fewer than four F430 Spiders today - I can't remember the last time I saw even one.
Weren't all the same car either.

True, three sightings were red (the fourth was yellow).

But one of the red ones had gorgeous red road wheels, while the other two didn't, and those other two were separated by about 50 kilometres. It would have been too much of a coincidence for us to pass each other twice in the same day, so far apart.

They are such lovely cars.

BTW, this photo was not the yellow car I saw. Unless the owner brought it here from Bologna Italy.

Deux roues, non-motrices

Driving in Paris is a lot of fun.

No, really.

Dangerous, sure. But fun.

Riding a bike in Paris?

Not quite brave enough for that just yet.

But they do make it easy for you to give it a try.

For about a year, the Velib - "velocipede libre" - system has been offering rental bikes at computerized bike stands scattered across the city.

Pop in your credit card (the French really have, um, mastered credit cards) or a pre-paid dedicated card, remove one of the pretty silver two-wheelers, et voila.

Drop it off at that or any other stand, and Robert est ton oncle.

The first half-hour is even free - and try getting something for free in Paris.

After that, it's a euro - about a buck-sixty - per half hour.

Except for Montmartre, Paris is generally not very hilly, although apparently the bikes do sometimes tend to congregate at the lower-lying stations and have to be trucked back up-hill.

Otherwise, Paris is an ideal bike town. Apart from the automotive and moped traffic of course.

The system has been spectacularly successful - eleven million trips in the first four months of operation. One probably-unintended consequence is that sales of regular bicycles have increased 35 percent in the past year as Parisians discover that biking is maybe the best way to navigate this complex but gorgeous city.

There have been various attempts to do something similar with cars in many cities - rent one for a single trip; drop it off near to your destination.

But cars of course don’t fit so well into the bike racks.

Other cities are looking into the Velib plan. Will Toronto be one of them?

That I might try.