Was it a: (1) Pontiac GTO  (2) Ford Gran Torino  (3)  Dodge Charger  (4)  Chevy Camaro

When did paying attention become an afterthought on today’s highways?

Is it the way we are taught in today’s society?  Is it that our electronic devices or our outward appearance or the printed document are so much more important that being attentive while we maneuver our 3,000 pound unguided missile down the street is relegated to fourth, fifth or sixth in our thought list?

My God!  Are we so full of ourselves that we can text on a cell phone, adjust the volume on the radio, insert another CD-Rom in the player stack, reread the paragraph in an article that captured our attention at morning coffee and stuff the last remnants of a sweet roll in our maw all the while making damn sure that nothing got on our clothes in the process, and doing all of this while trying NOT to kill someone?

Is our small and petty personal life problems more important than the guy trying to turn left into a parking lot that we DO NOT see?

I am astounded each and everyday by every type of person imaginable and how they perceive the amount of attention they think is required to drive four wheels at 65 MPH…   and these idiots are doing it RIGHT NEXT TO ME!

That’s it…  I am making sure I have a ton of life insurance, updating my last will and testament, contacting the Neptune Society and booking an open slot at my local church, because if I have to drive one more day with the brainless idiots I happen to share the freeway with, I may not make it.  No wonder folks are moving to the country!  But even there you have moron’s who can’t figure out which side of a four lane highway they should meander down the road on.

I am damn serious.  It’s become an epidemic, and, as of right now, there is no cure.

The U. S. Department of Transportation has made a projection that by the year 2012, less than a year away, over 68% of the non-fatal accidents that occur on the nations highways will have occurred because of driver distraction (which is a real nice way of saying that the dimwit who caused the accident was texting, talking on a cell phone, eating a Big Mac AND drinking a cola while driving with his/her knees or fiddling with the radio in one form or another).  The list of driver related distractions could number in the thousands!

These are non-fatal accidents.  Would you like to guess what the percentage of accidents that occur due to inattention which result in a fatality is?  How about all of them!

To hell with that…   let’s look at all this one other way.  The USDOT has also stated that the possibility of you being involved in an inattentive driver’s accident over the next five years is…   wait for it…   92%.  The USDOT does not make a distinction if the driver who is responsible for the inattentive accident is you or someone else.  I wonder why?

So…   I guess I am going to get into an ID (Inattentive Driver) accident.  I may loose my life because of this ID accident.  There is nothing I can do about this ID accident, is there?  And law enforcement is going to issue $25 tickets for talking on a cell phone and look the other way when Mr. Business Suit eats his bowl of Cheerios and drives with his…  uh…  knees?  At least I hope he’s driving with his knees.

As epidemics go, this one is curable.  It won’t take much to implement the cure and the cure can have an effect immediately.  The cure is harsh, but it is fair.  It’s also something that you may not agree with me on, but it has to be done.  While painful in it’s dosage, it will preclude it from ever happening again.  All it takes is one elected official who has the intestinal fortitude to stand up for the rights of the living and he/she has to realize that his/her family may be saved by just such a cure.

You ready???

Here it is…  a new law for the rule books!

“In the event it is proven, either by observance by an officer of the law, or by contraindications of an accident, that a driver responsible for the unsafe operation of a motor vehicle who was not paying full attention while driving, shall loose his/her rights to drive for a period of five (5) years and regardless of who is the registered or legal owner, will forfeit, along with any perceived value to the DOT/DMV in the states jurisdiction, the vehicle involved in the violation.  Anyone convicted of this violation will be fined no less than $12,000 per infraction and/or serve one year in jail.”

I am slowly leaning towards a zero tolerance for inattentive driving and/or driving under the influence.  About the only way I can see to remove the possibility of someone who wants to take my life with his/her vehicle due to their irresponsible behaviour is to remove the vehicle from the equation because it’s painfully obvious that prevention system in place right now, isn’t keeping the epidemic at bay.

Besides, Starky and Hutch’s Ford Gran Torino being forfeit to the State because the current owner was doing her nails on I-10 just might help out in this fiscal crisis, doncha think?  And those who said that all I ever do is bitch about the problem and yet I never offer an alternative or a solution…   CAN GO POUND SAND!

Until next time…

“Here is a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy……”

Don’t Worry Be Happy

by Bobby McFerrin

The “instruments” in the a cappella song are entirely overdubbed voice parts and other sounds made by Mr. McFerrin, using no instruments at all.

I really think NASCAR should allow the F1M Superbikes to race alongside, doncha think?

How about having a goalie at or around the basket in a basketball game…

Sudden death play-off in World Cup Soccer matches…

Golf with real hazards like Alligators, flaming tar pits or busy intersections…

No holds barred Hockey (who needs ref’s anyway)…

Rollerball!!!!!   Yeah…

Just a few simple musings…

And I guess the only reason I am waxing philosophic about sports is due to the constant irritating rant from sports nuts and sport news casters that sports referees are making bad calls.  A perfect game in baseball was negated by a first base line umpire.  A U.S. goal in World Cup Soccer was denied by a ref who obviously has a grudge against the good ol’ U.S. of A. In the NBA play-offs, the refs blew their whistles non-stop in the first half of one game and then swallowed those same whistles in the second half.

Where is parity?  Where is fair?  Why don’t we throw those idiot refs and umpires out and revert to computerized systems to make it all fair?  We can use replay systems that make sure things get called right.  Electronic overseer’s that focus on what every player is doing, not just the person with the ball / puck / bat / stick. etc., right?  After all, computerized systems hold no grudges, can’t be influenced and could care less who is playing who.  You can correct me if I am wrong, but aren’t instant replay devices are about as impartial as you can get, right?

So we are really talking about removing the human factor from the sports we love.  For as long as I can remember, there have always been normal guys and gals calling the fouls / penalty / errors in games.  These folks are human, right alongside the players.  If we are asking them to impartially judge some part or portion of a game or contest, then we should abide by the decisions they make, good or bad.

It’s a part of the sport…  it always has been.  Until we get the computerized system to call an impartial game or contest, then we must use and accept the human factor in any sporting event.  And this means we can be mad at the lousy calls, boo the ref or curse “Blue”.  It’s a big part of every game and it’s something you have to live with. It has been and should always be a love / hate relationship with those that should be impartial.

However, the day we take the human factor out of a game or contest is the day I refuse to watch, participate or be a fan of that particular sport. Pretty soon we will be watching a version of football that closely resembles the way The Jetson’s watched football…  two mechanical teams “duke” it out on the gridiron.

For me it would be like going to a baseball or basketball game and not being able to have a hot dog, peanuts or a beer.  Kinda like putting a guitar, drums and congas in a simple little song like “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.  It just wouldn’t be the same…

Until next time…

I’m going to work this out on my calculator, and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised…

The dealer vs. your pocketbook…

Just recently I got somehow involved in a lively discussion about the cost of doing business with a local dealer and how outrageous the dealers prices were compared to doing the work yourself.  The conversation also focused on finding a product at another store or on the Internet versus getting it from someone local. It seemed that the general consensus was that the dealer overcharges everyone on just about every service type and/or part in their inventory.

Guess what? It’s a fact of life and it’s one I happen to agree with.

Look, a dealer has to make a living. In order to make a living they have to make a profit. To make a profit they have to price services or product according to the guidelines established by their respective manufacturers requirements coupled with a desire to make their enterprise profitable, pay the rent, keep the lights on and provide the simple little “snacks” that you consume when you visit. I cannot begrudge them in trying to keep the doors open.

Let’s look at this dealer relationship in another way.

Does the dealer mind if you find a product or service somewhere else? Sure he does. Any dealer would like to have your business and view the prospect of you going somewhere else as an issue. Dealerships try to make the idea of visiting their establishment a positive one. They try and maintain an inventory that will appeal to ninety percent of the foot traffic that walks through the doors. Sometimes, they will provide little niceties that keep you cool, keep your children entertained while your vehicle is being worked on or allow you to watch your favorite TV programs as you shop or wait for service. If you really stand back a bit from your disgust at what you just got charged, you would see that you are really angry at yourself, not at the dealer.

Case in point: I needed a cable for a helmet COM system. I could have hit the Internet, spent a few minutes looking for the part, and had it shipped to my home. Case closed. However, I need the cable in two days and if I paid for overnight delivery, the cable would have cost more than what I paid for it by going to my local dealer.  And then I got angry at the final cost. But my anger was at myself, not the dealer. Had I been thinking, I would have started this whole cable scenario a week earlier. But I didn’t. The dealer had the part and made an upcoming trip that much better.

How about another case in point: You know that you need to get the oil changed in your car. If you do the work, it costs about sixty bucks and you can complete the task in two hours. What’s your time worth? Ten dollars per hour? Twenty? Fifty? Not counting the tools you may or may not have, lift, clean-up, sophisticated equipment… If you have all of that, plus the time to do the job, then do it. However a dealer offers you an oil change service and the ancillary headaches are something you do not have to put up with. Remember, the word service does not mean just something one does to a vehicle, it means taking that vehicle in, performing the work, and returning it to you in a timely manner… so that you don’t have to do it or think about it.  Having the dealer do the work means you won’t spill the old oil all over the floor of your garage, pinch a finger, slice open your hand on a sharp edge and let the neighbors know that you can swear like a sailor.

Dealerships also need to move services and products in and out quickly. Products that sit in storage bins provide no profit. Therefore dealers will not have every single item you might need in a size you can use. If they did, they would be mind readers anticipating your desires before you walk into their store. They also don’t get paid to have your vehicle sit on a lift while a technician wire brushes a small spot of “Double Bubble” off of a front rim during a tire change. Technicians are told to move them in and move them out. The more work done during a day, the more product a dealer sells during the day, is more money that the dealership can make to stay in business a little bit longer. Also, a technician is trained to perform the service work and to recognize issues that may be developing on your vehicle. That training is costly. It’s also part of the job description. Sales personnel are required to make products look their best, and they have to have the knowledge of what it is and what it does. That knowledge is costly.

Hey, I like to wrench. For me, it’s a way to get in touch with my machine and it helps me gain more and more knowledge about how things work. I will work on my vehicles if time is available and knowledge can be imparted to do a complete job. I also know that I am not trained to identify possible future issues and I accept that as part of doing the work myself. In the tire scenario above, a dealership can ill afford doing a tire change the way that I perform a tire change. But there are times when a dealer may fit the bill in either service work, parts or supplies.

Profit is the only way a dealer can stay in business. Anyone with any kind of business acumen will tell you that. However, when you think a dealer is charging an outrageous amount of money for a product or service, remember that the dealer is trying to keep his doors open and people employed so that you can keep driving your car or motorcycle. And do not think that the money spent is just about the owner and/or the technicians. It’s also about the folks that answer your calls when you phone, the accountants that keep the books, the people that keep the dealership clean and well maintained and the management staff that keeps everyone in their respective departments doing their jobs.  It also includes the inventory people that make sure that you have the right part when you need it and the advertising that tells you when something is available that you might want to look at. A dealership has to make money to stay open and keep people gainfully employed.

Let’s say that a business owner has a 16,000 square foot, eight bedroom, seven bath house on twenty-two acres with a full 600 hundred sensor electronic security system, ten live-in nannies / maid’s / kitchen support, personal security contingent and a motor pool.  Would you want to use their product or service?  I mean it’s obvious that they have to “over charge” for their product just to maintain that life style, right?  Well, you are quite possibly helping them pay for that lifestyle by reading this on your Microsoft operating system. And you pay those high prices for this software with a smile on your face… because you can’t build an operating system, don’t have the time to build an operating system or you don’t want to use any other type of operating system that’s free of charge. Why is that?

I like my local dealers. I like to visit them and say “Hi, how are you?” And there will be times when I need the dealer to be ready to service my vehicle because I haven’t the time nor the expertise. There are some things on my vehicle that I will service myself. Some things I will ask the dealer to do. But I will not grouse about the cost of doing business with my dealer. Yeah, it can be expensive. But if you really look at things from their point of view, keeping the business open and able to service anyones needs, not just yours, may be paramount in their minds.
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Until next time…