Rants and musings, without care for substance.
Posted in cars, complaints, legal rights, privacy, the system on Apr 25th, 2011
On a recent Friday evening, I was pulled over for speeding on I-95S in the middle of Fayetteville, North Carolina. I was aware of my speed (since I had cruise control on), although not of the precise speed limit. The details aren’t really important, nor are any excuses. I was speeding. It was a valid [...]
Posted in observations on Nov 4th, 2010
If you’re short a friend to watch out for you at the bar, going the cash route isn’t such a bad idea. Except that there’s an ATM at most every watering hole.
Recommendation: When the ATM fee accounts for more than 5% of your remaining account balance, it might be time to call it a night. [...]
I was cleaning out the starred items in Google Reader and found one of Snay’s posts wherein he calculated the cost of his daily commute. He commutes via the Washington Metro system — a combination of bus and rail — at a cost of $5.40 per day.
A year later, I decided to figure it out [...]
I’m a regular but infrequent E-ZPass user. I probably only use it once or twice a year, but when I do I rack up $30 or $40 worth of tolls across the East coast.
Back on January 5th, 2009 the Maryland Transportation Authority proposed raising toll rates for large vehicles. That doesn’t affect me so much, [...]
Posted in cars, complaints, money, privacy on May 18th, 2009
I really don’t like car salesmen. My experience with them has led me to believe that they’re a bunch of crooks for whom exaggeration, document substitution, and lying are all tools of the trade. There are some salesmen who would gladly tell you anything to make the sale. You can’t trust people like that, yet [...]
Pricing a set of basic staples can tell you a lot about inflation. Typically economists might consider a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, or carton of eggs. I was out shopping for a Super Bowl viewing and decided to do the same with cheap beer. Sorted in the order from more affordable (per [...]
Posted in in the news, money, things i'd like to see on Dec 4th, 2008
The media has been reporting that all three CEOs of the top three U.S. car manufacturers offered to take $1 annual salaries. In light of the latest absurdity with regard to bailing out yet another industry at the expense of U.S. taxpayers, my thoughts on this are simple.
Big deal.
Alan Mulally is the CEO of Ford [...]
Posted in healthcare, life in general, money on Oct 18th, 2008
Scheduling an appointment with a health care provider is a large pain in the ass. I now know why I need to schedule recurring appointments with these providers whether or not I’ve got a specific malady that needs to be addressed. Whether it’s a physician or dentist or any other specialist, it’s got to be [...]
Posted in housing, in the news, money, politics on Sep 25th, 2008
I usually don’t watch the news, but while at the car dealership yesterday I had some time in the waiting room. On the one hand I don’t feel that the taxpayers ought to be bailing out either individuals or corporations that made poor financial decisions. Like a friend helping out your friend because they made [...]
Posted in cars, complaints, culture on Jun 6th, 2008
People are going out to the movies less due to gas prices. That fact has been all over the media. I haven’t seen any stories and photos about the gas lines at the wholesale clubs, but they’re there. With gas prices hovering at $4 per gallon, people have also begun to realize the cost of [...]
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