Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Babes Love the Ford Fiesta

Our latest video -- Enjoy!

1-year-old Ele can't stand her car. There's nothing under the hood, and it needs one of those ratty keys. So she trades it in for a new 2011 Ford Fiesta. We think she made the right choice. Don't you?

Babes Love The Ford Fiesta from joelandmandy on Vimeo.



Thursday, October 15, 2009

Wanna See Something Sexy?

Then check out our Fiesta Night Display photos:

Click here to view the entire set!










Tuesday, October 13, 2009

what the Fiesta needs

I stumbled across a news article that Viper (the car alarm people) have released an iphone app that can start your car.

Now that is cool! Can you imagine going car shopping and the salesman being like, oh let me just warm up the car while we have a cup of coffee. What's next, an iphone app that can tap into the backup camera of a vehicle?

From Wired.com:


Remote starters are always a popular holiday gift in Northern climes, so particularly lazy shoppers will be heartened to learn one can be downloaded on iTunes.

The Viper SmartStart from Directed Electronics is an iPhone-compatible remote starter capable of warming up or cooling down a car. Even if you’re not a fan of letting your car idle in a parking lot, Viper says the SmartStart could come in handy for remotely locking or unlocking the doors, popping the trunk or even sounding the car alarm.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

The case of the missing manual

We like the Fiesta so much, we sold our regular car. I just couldn't go back to automatic and an SUV. I mean, the handling, the fun of driving a manual subcompact has forced me to rethink what I want in a car. The past few weeks looking at cars has yielded very few results in our price range. In fact, there isn't a manual hatchback that even comes close to the Fiesta in price and fit and finish.

Here's my shortlist to replace the Fiesta:

1. Focus SVT
Drove one and loved it. Problem...most have been destroyed with "upgrades" from Pep Boys or Auto Zone. No thank you.

craigslist.com

2. Mini Cooper
Waiting to test drive. Hard to find one in my price range, the ones that are have sold before I got to them!

3. Mazda Protege 5
Waiting to test drive. Same problem as the Mini...people keep buying them.

4. Honda Civic Hatch
I really wouldn't mind having another Honda. My first was a hand-me-down that served me well. My second was a brand new Element. Will there be a third? Hard to find the hatchback civic that doesn't have racing stickers all over it and gull wing doors:

AutoTrader.com

5. Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix
I did a TON of research on these...liked that they were in the price range, even with the 6 speed manual GT version. But there are problems. First off, I read that the paint jobs on these wasn't good. Didn't know what that meant until we test drove one. It was only 5 years old, but the paint was cheap. Faded, thin, and felt horrible to touch. It didn't help that the one we test drove died in a cloud of stinky fumes. Not joking!

6. Abandon hope for an affordable hatchback. Go back to driving something like the Element. It may not be sporty, but at least I'm goin' down the road knowing I can fold my seats up and carry just about anything!

What would you buy with $5k?

Friday, October 9, 2009

Exciting Updates

There are so many exciting things going on in the Fiesta world! For one, Ford announced that the 2011 Ford Fiesta will be unveiled at the LA Auto Show this December! We're crossing our fingers that we get to attend. Would be a great way to end the program. We've had a B L A S T.

Also, Joel and I will be hanging with the band Parachute this month for our final mission. We'll be making a music video, hanging VIP-style at their show, and we heard Kelly Clarkson will be lurking around there somewhere, too. How cool is that?



We've also truly said goodbye to our Honda Element. Herme was officially sold today. Now we've got cash burning a hole in our pocket. We're in search for a used manual hatchback. A Ford Festiva maybe? Ha!

Oh, and we've got tons of videos headed your way in the next few weeks. Every shred of film we've shot for the past 5 months will be uploaded for your viewing pleasure. Gotta end the Fiesta Movement in style!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Desk Hack Featured on Unplggd!

Not only was our July mission featured on Ikea Hacker, we're also featured on Unplggd, too. Now our mission video has over 3,000 views! Yeah, our desk gets around.



Saturday, October 3, 2009

Ikea Mission Featured on Ikea Hacker!

Our July Mission is featured this week on ikeahacker.blogspot.com, the foremost collection of ikea hacks on the web! Thanks to Jules for posting it.

We forgot to post our third Ikea Hack blog which outlines why our desk is ergonomic, so we apologize. It's hard to focus on the blog when you're having way too much taking the Fiesta for a spin.



To make any desk ergonomic, the monitor must be at eye level or slightly below. It must also be 18-22 inches from the eyes. With our design, we can pull the monitor closer depending on the person, and push it back if we need to use the desk surface.



Your back must make full contact with the backrest, and you must sit all the way back in your chair. Your lower back must fit into the curved lumbar support. Tilting back is permitted, as it is better for your back to be fully rested on the back of the chair rather than hunched forward.



Thighs should be parallel to the floor and feet should be flat. My thighs could be a bit more parallel, so I could slip a footrest under to bring my knees up an inch or two. This desk and chair combo is customizable for Joel as well, and he's 6' 3".



When typing, forearms must be parallel to the floor. Keyboard must be at elbow height. Elbows and forearms rest comfortably on the arms of the chair.


And that's about it! You can get even more technical if you want, but these are the specs given to me by my physical therapist. Once I started using this desk, I have not had any back problems. That's worth all the extra effort!