Car Irony

Odds and Ends

I had a fun week of driving because it was sunny but not blazing hot in Southern California. I could go out and drive with the top down on the MINI. While I was out driving, I discovered that I had missed a body art [tattoo show] and that I would miss an adult entertainment industry convention.

Oh well, I’m certain that I will manage to survive.

Car Irony

Car irony seems like a good term.

Somehow, I don’t think the world needs a Lamborghini SUV. It makes no sense to me but those crazy Italians went ahead a built a test model. I guess they thought it would be good idea and the global and European economies would be in better shape when they launched the project.

Maybe I can create a case study discussion for my Risk Management class built around the SUV.

Then, the other day, when I was rolling around running errands, I saw an unusual vehicle. Unusual vehicles are common in Southern California. They seem to grow like weeds here.

I saw a Toyota Avalon that was equipped as a small limousine. For those of you who are not familiar with the Avalon, it is just a bit larger than the Camry and it is a bit fancier on the inside.

It struck as being so wrong in so many ways starting with the idea that it is smaller than a traditional small limousine like a standard Mercedes Benz, Lincoln, or Cadillac. It probably gets better fuel economy; but, I feel anyone who wants to ride that way isn’t really bothered about fuel economy.

Silliness

I drink a Snapple product called Diet Half and Half. It is half tea and half lemonade. It has only ten calories, fifteen milligrams of sodium, and no sugar in a sixteen ounce serving. My doctors love the stuff. Actually, they approved of my drinking it.

Snapple is running a contest in conjunction with a television show that it apparently sponsors and I have never seen.

I won a prize this week. I thought maybe this would be money or a bunch of free Snapple.

Nope.

I won my choice of a Snapple screensaver or a Snapple calendar.

I don’t need or want either one. I don’t use a screensaver and if I wanted one, I could create it with Windows and my photos that are on the hard drive. If I had a girlfriend, I use random photos of her.

I use an old fashioned, paper calendar and have for years. I like the permanence of paper. I am also Y3K ready right now

I will still continue to drink the stuff because I like it and it is marginally better for me than anything else I can find.

Be well and stay happy.

Me at midyear, sort of

Me at midyear, sort of

Well, here I am at midyear.

Yes, I know it is past June now. But, it is still closer to midyear than end of year so I will stick with this approach

First, the explanation on why I haven’t posted in the blog. There was not much going on in my life that warranted me writing a posting. I saw some films at the local cinema. I loved Marvel’s AVENGERS, enjoyed PROMETHEUS, watched BATTLESHIP, and suffered through JOHN CARTER.

Four films all Summer so far. I can remember when Doug and I would cram seeing four films into one weekend. One was a midnight film on Friday night.

I have done some reading. I think I have read twelve or thirteen books so far. I must admit my choices this year have not been all that good. The reviews seemed promising. I guess my ideas of good literature and the reviewer’s ideas are miles apart.

I take some of that comment back. I did read all of the Edgar Rice Burroughs’ books about John Carter on Mars. Those were good; granted they were never intended to be great writing. They were exactly what they were supposed to be. Great escapist fiction and that was all that I wanted to read at the time.

My Kindle makes me feel like I am in love with museum technology. I purchased the largest screen version almost two years ago because I wear glasses and I wanted the page to look close to a traditional paper page in size.

Now everyone seems to have an iPad or other small form reader device.

My students laughed at my cellphones because they are so old. I have a Samsung that I use with Verizon. It must be close to twelve years old. All I can effectively use it for is talking. It has no keyboard and no camera and a low resolution color display screen.

The other cellphone is a Nokia and it has to be eight or nine years old now. It does have a camera and I can store up to ten photos in the camera. It has no keyboard.

The Samsung cellphone amazes me. I am still using the original battery. I have no valid or logical reason for having multiple phones. When the Samsung passes on to the cellphone afterlife, I will close the account.

Doug and I do have periodic conversations about me getting a smart phone.

I think I am one of those rare people who only wants to talk on the phone and enjoys being disconnected from the other electronic leashes in our daily lives.

Someday, I suppose I will have to purchase a smart phone. That will happen when I can no longer purchase batteries for the Nokia phone.

This month was an oncology follow up month.

I had another CT scan. I really don’t like them, mostly because of the barium contrast agent I have to drink and then get the iodine injection to make the scan work. My visit with Dr. Joseph Kim at City of Hope was good. He took a quick look at my liver scan results and it looked great. My visit was two weeks ago. Since he hasn’t called or emailed me, I’m guessing the radiologist though my liver was fine as well. I go back again in January and if everything is fine then, I go on an annual follow up visit cycle.

Five years ago this October, the first surgeon gave me two to three years left.

Sweet.

One of my friends sent me a life calculator program that was developed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. I tried it and was stunned at the results. According to the program, I ought to live another twenty years. I was surprised there were no questions about cancer. This is the URL if you want to take the short thirteen question test.

http://media.nmfn.com/tnetwork/lifespan

The blog still draw visitors even though I don’t write much. I’m approaching 66,500 visitors to the blog since I began it in 2005. The blog had the 100,000 page view this month. It was a visitor from Brazil who viewed September 1, 2007.

I still love driving the MINI. It’s just over two years old and it has 36,600 miles on the odometer. That means it is out of warranty. I have about 408 hours of driving with the top down and I should be able to add another two or three hours to the total before the end of the month.

I was filling the tank this morning as I was running errands. The young woman who was filling her car next to me asked what make of car it was. I smiled and said it was a MINI and a lot of fun to drive.

She finished filling her car and drove away. She had a UCLA license plate frame on her rear license.

I had a chance to think about our interaction as I was waiting in line at the checkout at the market later this morning.

She could have been not very interested in cars and genuinely didn’t know what it was. The alternative hypothesis was that she was flirting with me and I missed her pass.

Fascinating.

I have four classes to teach this quarter at ITT Technical Institute. Three are project management courses and one is an accounting and finance course. I like the classes and I know most of the students from prior classes so that makes the class more fun for me. I still have to struggle to get the students to turn in their assignments.

The traditional month long celebration of all things Charles, also known as Chuckay, was another success.

Doug and I managed to visit The Counter and Morton’s the Steakhouse. We didn’t make it to the Original Tommy’s Hamburgers this year. Maybe we finally learned to exercise moderation in our consumption of beef.

Morton’s has changed hands and is now owned by Landry’s Restaurants, Inc. The beef is still as good as ever. There were some changes. The cart with the various cuts of beef in cellophane and the live lobster are gone. Landry’s has added more fish and chicken to the menu so the variety is greater.

This year I didn’t invite Doug’s mother to join us since she is now a Vegan.

I am now a student again.

I enrolled in a certificate program in project management from the University of Redlands. They have a campus near where I live. It is a five course program. The class is small, there are six students. Three of them will finish at the end of this term so there will be only three of us unless more sign on. The courses can be taken in any order.

There, now you are up to date with me.

Be well and stay happy.