Dead Batteries

The other day my car battery died. While this is not that monumentous and really not all that surprising considering it was the factory issue battery, the scenario created a funny little slice of my life I imagine/hope my loyal readers will, well, get a kick out of. To set the scene it is important to know it was a rainy day and after finishing dinner with friends, I stopped by Star Video (a local wonderful video store) where after much perusing I opted to rent the most recent version of “Pride and Prejudice.” What can I say; I was in the mood for 18th century England.
I left the shop, only to discover my car wouldn’t start. I was able to discern in my limited expertise of things automotive that the problem was related to the battery. I tried to call my friends, but as I have figured out with the intersection of Washington & Allen before, to no avail as it is a dead zone (try very hard to not script a cell phone commercial). Because I frequent the video store, I am pretty chummy with the staff there so I re-entered to ask if I could use their phone. I know, very 1996 of me.

They happily consented but insisted only 626 numbers. I first called Triple A only to find out that my policy had lapsed. Well can I just pay the fee? No, the membership office is closed for the night. Remember it is raining. Okay, I call one of my friends. Ordinarily, I tend towards calling the friend or person I was most recently with but in this case, Stacy has an out of area number. In fact, a great number of my friends had to immediately be eliminated by virtue of their area codes. I called two different friends with the right area codes only to be screened. Of course, they didn’t recognize the Star Video Number and opted to screen. I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes. Finally, I got a hold of Sharon and Cole who were so curious as to why Star Video would be calling they couldn’t resist answering. Thank God.

So the twenty-first century lesson when it comes to cell phones is that they have some draw backs. For starters, dead zones. But also, because we all have grown so accustomed to programming in our friends and screening unknown numbers, there will be times when getting a hold of a friend will be tricky. We didn’t have either of these problems in 1996 did we when screening was at best a luxury? But the last weird thing and I think most of us have to admit when push comes to shove, we like to have a phone number that pays homage to our former lives before moving to the 626. Proudly, we hold onto those out of area area codes as markers of our more exotic heritage beyond the San Gabriel Valley. Except of course for me who has only ever had one cell phone number and it was issued in the San Gabriel Valley as a 626 number. Rue the day when I have to change it.

Ironically, a truth I have observed over the years of having car break downs is that passerbys will often give you their two cents. Sometimes, the advice they give is out of nowhere and you know in your gut you should just smile politely and ignore it. But there are other times, when you know in your knower that they are right and honest and possibly angels sent to help damsels in distress. That was the case with my battery as my loyal friend tried with no luck to jump it, just as we had given up and were unhooking the cables and calling it dead, a warm-hearted passerby claiming to have been a mechanic for thirty years insisted on giving it a try. And just as I have seen in many other instances like this, he was able to get the car on the road again.

Ring in Wednesday – February 3, 2010

Simple, straightforward, the question you’ve been asked all week –

Who do you think is going to win the Super Bowl?

The Minnesota Vikings

This weekend for the first and last time in my life I rooted for the Minnesota Vikings. Even before I discovered Brett Favre with the rest of America in the early nineties, I knew the Vikings were absolutely cursed. It is worse than the old “always a bridesmaid, never a bride” syndrome – it is a deep seated doom. They are the Boston Red Sox (pre whatever year that was the finally won the World Series) and the Chicago Cubs rolled into one. I believe it is quite possible that some Norse God hexed them to the miserable experience their franchise has endured over the years.

But this year, along with many, many other Brett devotees, I was faced with an ethical dilemma – could I root against Brett Favre? Could I indeed place my hopes in the hands of a team I have for so long considered cursed? So I, like many other Brett lovers, threw caution to the wind and embraced the purple. Just like two years ago when the Packers, at the time lead by Brett Favre, came so close to beating the NY Giants, I so wanted to see Brett go to the Super Bowl one last time.

Of course, the nearly three hours I rooted for the Minnesota Vikings were three of the most regrettable hours of my life. I perhaps ought to take some solace that now when someone asks me, as they often do, what is the biggest regret of my life, I will finally have a good answer. I am also revisiting the plan of creating a 12-step program specifically designed for the special needs of Minnesota Vikings fans that I have long toyed with. To add insult to injury, I believe this might finally be Brett Favre’s retirement.

Ring in Wednesday, Apple’s new tablet

Today, Apple (a company I just bought stock in) will release its tablet device amid much speculation from all sorts of consumers and analysts. Apple will jump into the market that has previously been dominated by Amazon & Kindle presumably offering a sexier, souped up device merging the seamless simplicity of both the iPod and iPhone and decimating our need to ever have paper books again. This tablet is said to be generating more attention than Moses’ ten commandments, leading me to this week’s question,

what will the new apple tablet device be called?

If you are betting sort, you can put your money where your mouth is at the Irish website offering ibets: http://www.paddypower.com/bet



Some of the favorites are: iSlate, iPad, iPaper, iPage, iRead.

The Help, 1.19.10

This year, I am going to merge my love for reading with blogging by posting a BRIEF report on each book I finish throughout the year. Not meant to be material suitable for the New York Times book review, but hopefully something above a mere reading log entry. Also, this might serve as a bit of a decoy to the fact I joined the little club where they send you free books so long as you post reviews of them in your blog. This is not one of those entries, but believe me friends it is coming and I am quite sure you will know the books I was given as they are far from my normal preferred genre of fiction.

Okay, enough of an intro, on to The Help. I loved The Help – partly because I was able to imagine the thick southern dialect dripping off the characters mouths throughout the whole story and also the history major in me was enthralled with a different understanding of the Civil Rights Era. To backtrack, The Help is set in Mississippi in the sixties bouncing between two African-American maids and one recently graduated from college, white, rich, unmarried aspiring writer. As an aside, isn’t it funny how many main characters are aspiring writers? I suppose we do indeed write what we know.

The Help isn’t classic literature but the story is quite engaging and enjoyable. I found an honesty as all of the characters wrestled with class, race and the changing times (there is even anachronistic quote of Bob Dylan). Throughout the story, the love between African-American domestic and white young child resonated so deeply it made me (almost) wish I had been raised by doting, no-nonsense black nanny instead of my biological mother. Okay, not really, but just for a second I wondered what that would be like and for those of you who know my mother, please don’t tell her I said that. I think The Help would make an outstanding movie which is admittedly a terrible barometer of a book’s quality, but true nonetheless.

Ring in Wednesday – 1.20.2010

Today is our one year anniversary with Barack – do you think he will remember? Of course he will, yes, I am sure by days’ end there will be a dozen roses waiting for us all simply signed “Here’s to seven more, B.” And while although I am tempted to ask some of the more obvious questions for our forum today – what are his greatest accomplishments, what are his greatest failures, what ranking do you give him or any of the other “comprehensive” reviews we will no doubt be flooded by today from all corners of the news media, but I instead will ask a different question.

Let’s go back to inauguration day, I had a French toast & coffee viewing party with friends where we watched every single moment of all of the festivities including Aretha Franklin’s crazy hat, John Roberts’ blooper on the oath of office, George & Laura riding off in a helicopter and who could forget Dick Cheney in a wheelchair (what are you doing moving boxes anyways?)? Like you, I know I got carried away and perhaps even enthralled by watching the festivities and there were a few things that really caught my interest.

I know most of us pay much attention to Mr. Obama being the first African-American President, but I wonder if we lose sight of the fact that he is also the first President who grew up in Hawaii? Obama’s Hawaiian heritage was showcased during the President’s Home State Ball, which I don’t remember being the least bit interested in when it was a Texan on Arkansasan shindig (really how much honky tonk and barbeque can we stand?), but leis, Jack Johnson and luau faire made me want to plan my own Presidential Home State Ball which brings me to my question, what would your Presidential Home State Ball be like? And/or how would you celebrate your home state throughout your Inauguration?

Ring in Wednesday

Last night, for the first time in my life, I watched an entire episode of “American Idol.” Over the years, I had seen bits and pieces – enough to know I like Simon – but never from start to finish. I don’t think I will keep up with the show, maybe jump back in towards the end of the season simply because it involves too much TV watching. But as I watched last night, I could help but wonder (CB) – why do we love reality TV so much these days? Bringing me to my Ring in Wednesday question – “Why is reality TV so popular?”