Adam’s Auto Advice Turns 2 Years-Old Today Along With This 200th Post!

Me and My Dog Cody!

I thought I would share an important milestone with all the fans and readers of my humble blog, Adam's Auto Advice. This blog is now 2 years-old as of today.  Happy Birthday… to myself I guess! 🙂

It's amazing to think that my blog is 2 years old! Honestly it feels like I have been blogging and writing about cars forever, but it really has not been that long.

I look back at all the amazing posts and articles I have written. The articles and posts range from the fun and whacky Charm City Pedal Mill, the interesting Baltimore start-up ParkingPanda, attending the Baltimore Grand Prix, and breaking news about RelayRides. I have even tested automotive products and gone to a few car and auto shows.

Probably the best thing I have written about on this blog was my road trip from Irvine, CA to back to Baltimore.  It was an amazing trip and I hope to do many more road trips and a cross-country road trip again soon.

You know, I started this blog and didn't have set high hopes for my writing but look at me now! I am a full time auto journalist and blogger. I was able to go from writing as a hobby to writing about cars professionally.

Looking back at my first post, and some of my early writing such as this Top Gear editorial my writing has come a long way and fast. I am fortunate to be able to be doing something creative and love what I am doing.

I feel proud of everything I have been accomplished with this blog and other writing I have done.

As well sharing my experience when I appeared on Anderson with Anderson Cooper for the TV show's New Year's Special. I performed “Auld Lange Syne” with my singing dogs, Cody and Sierra, which was an amazing experience which I shared on this blog. (Of course it had nothing to do with cars, but I did drive up to New York-City with my dogs.)

I am glad to have had all these interesting and varied experiences. I hope to share more auto news, advice, tips & tricks, product reviews, with everyone via Adam's Auto Advice. I know I will continue to grow and experience more amazing automotive experiences in the future.

I also appreciate all the people with a shared passion for cars I have meet along my journey. We have exchanged web advice, writing tips, and personal stories of “Auto Awesomeness!”

Someone who deserves credit for my blog is my brother Jason. He helped me get this blog up and running and switch from Blogger to WordPress. He's also helped keep this blog going and updated. Thanks Jason!

I certainly have not crossed everything off on my automotive bucket list. I know I have a lot more great experiences ahead of me.

This is actually my 200th post! I didn't plan that, but it is a happy coincidence.  There will be hundreds of more great articles and posts along the way. I am going to make an effort to post more and most likely shorter articles in the future.

I hope all of you continue to follow my writing and work. Please Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest to keep updated.

I look forwarding to writing about cars and on this blog for many more years.

19th Century Romanian Wagon For Sale!

19th Century Romanian Wagon at Second Chance

A couple days ago I stopped by a neat warehouse in downtown Baltimore called Second Chance.  The motto of the place is “Retrain, Reclaim, Renew!”  Essentially the idea is to deconstruct buildings instead of demolishing them.  This saves materials, valuable resources, and money.  After deconstructing a building Second Chance takes building materials as well as furniture, cabinets, sinks, toilets, vanities, counter-tops, statues, mirrors, etc. and sells them in this warehouse.  If you need to buy building material or need a hard to-find part, say a doorknob or handle, Second Chance most likely has it.

There is a lot of really cool and interesting things that Second Chance carries in it's 200,000 sq. foot warehouse.  However, the most interesting item that this Auto Journalist and Blogger found there was a 4-wheeled vehicle, of course.  That was the above pictured 19th Century Romanian Wagon that was up for sale.  For a cool $4,500 you could take it home.  Unfortunately I don't have that kind of money or space to store a wagon, but if you do I recommend going down to Second Chance to check it out!

The Romanian Wagon made me think about how far modern society has come since the horse-drawn carriage days and how automobiles have changed the way people get around.  Imagine having to operate this wagon with a horse?  People complain a lot of about maintaining cars, fueling them up, and washing then, etc.  Think how they have made transportation so much easier and more efficient.  (Funny thing is some farmers and people in many parts of the world still use these types of horse drawn carriages to till soil and to get around.)

The wagon is representative of Second Chance as a whole in my opinion.  Just because something is old, worn, or isn't cutting edge technology doesn't mean it doesn't have value or can't be used by someone.  However, I am glad I didn't have to use the wagon to get to and from Second Chance.

For more pictures of the wagon check out my Flickr Photo Set.

I am a New International Motor Press Association Member

Sweet! Why did they send me ones for 2011 though?

For those that follow my Facebook page you might have seen that as of last week, I am a newly minted member of the International Motor Press Association (IMPA).  What does that mean?  Essentially this means I am now considered an “Auto Journalist” by an organization which is comprised of members of the automotive media and publication relations.

To join IMPA you need to show that you have been paid for articles or work relating to cars.  I sent in my application a little over a month ago.  My application went to a review board to determine whether I am in fact an auto journalist and would be eligible for membership.  As we all know that I am, they made the correct determination.  I can now tell people, “I am a member of the International Motor Press Association.” which sounds cool!

 

My New Business Cards

Business Card

Adam's Auto Advice has some new official business cards!  I can give them out at car shows, events, as well as family, friends, etc.  Basically whoever is interested in my work.

I am happy with design and how the overall look of the cards came out.  I ordered through OfficeMax, but they use Vistaprint's system. Officemax was cheaper though because Vistaprint charges a lot for shipping!  Vistaprint was $15 for 7-day shipping, while Officemax had Free Shipping for these cards.  Officemax charged more for the cards, but it came out less expensive because of the shipping.  I assume Vistaprint makes a lot of money charging ridiculous shipping prices.

I paid a little over $40 for this batch of 500, which was not a good deal at all.  While I like the image and look of the card, the paper is thin.  Like cardstock you would have bought from the store and printed at home.  The cut on some of the cards did not come out well.  I don't really feel like I got my money's worth with Vistaprint.

I did some checking around and found other websites with much better deals and quality.  A lot offer free shipping on any order and proofing.  If you are looking around for business cards or thinking you might want to get some in the future, I would recommend signing-up for emails from a couple printing websites.  You will be notified of special promotions and sales, which makes a big difference in cost.  I will use these cards up and then ordered from another website.

I would like to hear comments and suggestions from people.  What do you think of my business cards?  Do you like or dislike the design?