Paul Rossman » Chicago http://paulrossman.com/blog Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:04:58 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Winter shoes for the MINI http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/04/12/winter-shoes-for-my-mini/ http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/04/12/winter-shoes-for-my-mini/#comments Fri, 13 Apr 2007 02:45:59 +0000 Paul http://paulrossman.com/2007/04/12/winter-shoes-for-my-mini/ Continue reading →]]> Can you believe, it’s still snowing in Chicago. It’s April already… the Cubs should be playing!

Good thing the MINI is still wearing its winter shoes!

It’s not uncommon for Old Man Winter to dump a lot of snow on us here in Chicago. But with super efficient snow removal and the fact that I’m rarely far from home during the winter months, a set of pure snow tires (Blizzaks for instance) are probably not necessary. So after some focused research I settled on buying a set of Nokian WR in 185/65/15.

While not a real snow tire, the WR provides much better snow performance than regular all season tires. One salesperson person I spoke with said that he’s able to drive through a foot of snow in his WRs with no problem, though probably not in a MINI :) At www.snowtire.info, it’s reported that the WR are “marketed as a high speed snow tire” in Europe.

So after a full winter of running on them I can say without a doubt that these are terrific tires. First off, they handle well on dry, slush and snow covered roads. At highway speeds, they’re extremely stable. Rain performance is good too. They’re also really quiet – so much so that I hear the wonderful exhaust burble all the time now. My MINI is a treat to drive in the summer and with appropriate shoes in the winter the fun continues year round.

]]> http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/04/12/winter-shoes-for-my-mini/feed/ 1 Japanese pay phones http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/21/japanese-pay-phones/ http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/21/japanese-pay-phones/#comments Thu, 22 Feb 2007 01:28:33 +0000 Paul http://paulrossman.com/2007/02/21/japanese-pay-phones/ phone booth

With more than 100 million mobile phone subscriptions in Japan, I’m always surprised by the number of pay phones throughout Tokyo. In Chicago (and probably many other parts of the US) it’s increasingly more difficult to find a pay phone.

]]> http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/21/japanese-pay-phones/feed/ 0 Brrrr… http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/07/brrrr/ http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/07/brrrr/#comments Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:14:06 +0000 Paul http://paulrossman.com/2007/02/07/brrrr/ Fortunately the MINI has heated seats!

-10F

]]> http://paulrossman.com/blog/2007/02/07/brrrr/feed/ 0 Chicago Motorola Q and Nokia Stores http://paulrossman.com/blog/2006/06/10/chicago-motorola-q-and-nokia-stores/ http://paulrossman.com/blog/2006/06/10/chicago-motorola-q-and-nokia-stores/#comments Sun, 11 Jun 2006 04:19:28 +0000 Paul http://paulrossman.com/2006/06/10/chicago-motorola-q-and-nokia-stores/ Continue reading →]]> I had the chance to stop by the new Motorola Destination Q store on Michigan Avenue last Thursday. The first thing I realized upon reaching Destination Q was that it was being housed inside what used to be the Terra Museum. It felt really wierd walking into the what used to be the Terra. How sad.

Anyways, Destination Q certainly isn’t the Apple Store. One whole table of about 6 or so Q’s were dead and no one seemed interested in helping me find a working Q. Walk into any Apple Store and every device on display will have power and work. And, you won’t find any GSM devices here… Destination Q is more of a glorified, Q-centric, Verizon Wireless store.

Q’s exclusivity as a mobile device store on Michigan Avenue will soon end however. The Nokia Flagship Store is set to open on June 24. Now that should be worth visiting!

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