While most people regularly strive to improve themselves with professional, personal, or emotional breakthroughs, I found it easier to just buy a new car instead. It’s a Toyota Solara SLE Convertible (SLE = Solara Loogie Edition). It’s not nearly as exciting as I’ll claim it is when I try to sell it someday, but I do enjoy driving it with the top down and heated seats on. As this is the first time I’ve ever purchased a non-American car, I was pretty conflicted about it.
I test drove a Pontiac G6 Convertible and now wonder if I (and others like myself) had just bought American, whether Pontiac might have survived. Ultimately, I didn’t buy the G6 because A) when the top was down, there was no trunk space B) the top would not go down on the (cold) day that I test drove it, and C) OMG, what a slimy, slimy salesman.
The entire experience raised a philosophical conundrum. As a Liberal, I wonder why other Liberals who go out of their way to buy local products at premium prices, abandon these principles to unilaterally buy foreign cars. Similarly, Conservatives who consistently stock up on the cheapest import products at MALL * WART steadfastly buy American vehicles. I’m not sure why such an inconsistency exists, but I’m sure someone will histrionically explain it to me in the most partisan way possible.
In other news, and I use “news” in the loosest sense of the word, Fitpacking has received some media coverage. Check out this recent article from MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30137945/?pg=5#Travel_IT_FitnessTravel. The splash page for the article can be found here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30137945/?pg=1#Travel_IT_FitnessTravel in case you are interested in say, Bikini Boot Camp.
Actually, business has been hard to predict. While the March trip to Joshua Tree National Park was great (see the first set of amazing photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/39834440@N00/sets/72157617570761259/ ), the April Great Smoky Mountains Trip had to be cancelled due to lack of participation. Fortunately, the forthcoming Shenandoah National Park Trip is completely full. I have no idea why participation is spotty, but I can assure you that all trips are marketed equally poorly.
Now if you were ever inclined to ask me “How’s work?” you might expect me to issue the borderline Pavlovian response “I hate my job”. However, if you can overlook a little cognitive dissonance, I was actually featured in a Calgary Sun article entitled “Why I Love My Job”. http://career.calgarysun.jobboom.com/headlines-calgarysun/2009/02/13/8382701.html.
If you are a preservationist who sees value in preserving our shared architectural heritage, please go to http://www.partnersinpreservation.com/ and vote for the Paragon Carousel as worthy of protection and rehabilitation. Built in the roaring 20s when people built merry-go-rounds because alcohol was illegal, the Paragon Carousel is iconic of Hull’s identity. The Carousel is currently in first place in online voting, and sorely needs the funds that winning this competition would bring to restore it to its former grandeur as an architectural treasure (and fairly lame ride). Please vote once a day through May 17th.
And if you are into really old buildings, maybe Italy is the place for you. Will this be the year you finally visit? Contact mailto:suzanne@suzstav.com>Suzanne Stavinoha , who is coordinating a farmhouse villa vacation in Tuscany this September to either Villa Clara (http://www.italianvillas.com/villa.aspx?villa=105997) or La Pozza di Volpaia (http://www.italianvillas.com/villa.aspx?villa=105977). These wonderfully romantic edifices are both beautiful and quaint (translation: constructed before the days of plumbing). The cost is between $750-$900, but you should e-mail her for details.
Who among us hasn’t always wished for breakfast falafel? Well, maybe God hasn’t answered this prayer, at least Paula Cofman will. She is opening a new Hull eatery called “To Dine For”, and will be serving up delicious American and Mediterranean delicacies daily. More details forthcoming.
Though I’ve never really been a one issue voter, I have a new singular criteria that I am going to use to determine who to vote for. If a candidate claims that they will eliminate waste or bloat, they will automatically not receive my vote, even if this obviates me from voting for anyone at all.
Oh sure, there are always services you pay for that you don’t use, but that doesn’t make these services wasteful. Everything is wasteful to someone. Even the destitute among us have a right to claim that government is wasteful because their sales tax dollars are spent maintaining infrastructure that they don’t use.
Politicians who promise to cut out the fat are really promising you … that’s right, a big bag of nothing. These candidates might as well just proclaim, “I oppose terrorism!” to the adoration of wild cheering crowds. Normally, I’d try to tie up this train of thought with some kind of thought-provoking revelation, but I’ve decided to cut out the waste.
If you have news you’d like me to disseminate next edition, please let me know! And remember that Steve’s Mildly Informative Stuff is a self-important blog: http://stevesmildlyinformativestuff.blogspot.com/
1 comment:
breakfast falafel - FINALLY!
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