So I'm driving in to work this morning and I was inundated with drivers who "forgot" which lane they wanted to be in and decided to "dive" into my lane at the last moment to hit an exit. This highway branches off into 4 different roads at the same time, so you need to be in the correct lane otherwise you are stuck on the wrong road. It is pretty simple, though. Just get into your correct lane and then drive, drink your coffee, listen to music, chill out, live the good life.
Of course, the main "exit" is in the center and that is the exit that most people take. Since most people have to take that exit, the lane gets crowded, backed up, and moves slowly. So, many of my fellow drivers use the faster lanes and the "dart" into the main lane at the last minute. It really drives me nuts, but then again, who cares?
Ok, so while I'm watching the cars dart in and out of lanes like hummingbirds I noticed how many cars have the name of the dealership emblazoned on the back of the car. Some had the license-plate cover, others had stickers. I wonder, what gives the dealership the gumption to think they can use our cars as advertisements for their crappy car dealership?? I'll be honest, I hate ( hate ) car salesmen, dealership general managers, the car dealership accountants, the finance guys, I even hate the people who just empty the trash cans at car dealerships. They are the lowest form of life. They will screw you at all costs. But, in addition to just being lousy people, why do they think they can CONTINUE to screw you by making you drive around with the dealership's name on your car?? When I go to Macy's for a shirt and a pair of pants I don't get a MACY's nametag that I have to wear. My Red Sox hat doesn't say "Bob's Stores" on the back of it. I don't get it. I'm thinking of printing up bumper stickers that say "I was ripped off buying this car at _________________" and then the buyer could write in the name of the dealership with a Sharpie.
Have any of you had terrible experiences buying cars? If so, send me an email at thedalilima@gmail.com. I'll post some of the funniest.
While we are on the subject of cars... what's the deal with gas prices (to rip off Seinfeld)?? How do we go from $3.90 in the summer to $1.65?? Talk about getting ripped off... I don't get it... I know it is a traded commodity so the price fluctuates, but that is crazy. Also, who could have foreseen the "big 3" auto manufacturers going under? I mean, Ford currently sells 6 different SUV models. Why wouldn't that business model work? General Motors sells the same cars under 3 different brands... of course that would be successful. Chrysler has 10 cars that feature the gas-guzzling "HEMI" motor and they proudly use that in their marketing. I know the foreign manufacturers have some advantage when it comes to the costs of labor and materials, but if you ask me Honda is the best of the best. They sell 10 cars TOTAL. Ford sells 6 SUVs!!! Get your niche and do it well. Unbelievable. Plus, what they heck does Ford need to also have the EXACT same cars being sold as MERCURY? What sense does that make? The entire auto industry is whacked, from the production of the vehicles, to the dealers, to the crazy gas prices. Just whacked.
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Ok, if any of you want to get notified of updated blog entries, send me your email address and I'll get you on my mailing list. Peace.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Friday, December 12, 2008
A few random thoughts...
A few things that have been rattling around in my head...
- CC Sabathia... great pitcher, but I don't get the sense that he REALLY wants to pitch for the Yankees. I think he REALLY wants to pitch for 160 million. Could work out ok for the Yanks, but will be brutal if he struggles early. I think the Yanks appears ready to bring in every high-priced free-agent pitcher this year. Well, Phil Hughes, thanks for the memories.
- I get too many things to read in the mail. Honestly, why can't BusinessWeek be published monthly? It would really simplify my life.
- Why is it that sometimes I write a word and it looks misspelled on the screen, but I know it is totally correct? Has that happened to you? Why does that happen? Is it because I'm getting old?
- Why were we told as kids not to sit close to the TV, yet I sit 1 foot from my computer monitor for 6 hours a day?
- I don't understand this "green" movement... Well, I actually understand the premise, but I keep seeing things like "cut down on paper use" and "go electronic, be green". Everything I see at work is related to reducing our printing and paper production and delivering information electronically. From a cost perspective it makes great sense, but environmentally? Isn't paper the most recyclable thing on the planet this side of water? How is building more computers and hand-held devices "green" but printing newspapers (with soy ink, of course) not "green"? I'm being facetious here (there's one of those words that doesn't look correct on the screen!) but I look at my closet full of CD-Roms and wonder what they heck I can do with those and people are worrying about paper...
- Why do I always misspell "great" (greta)?
- At what point do we all agree that every song has been written? We've been churning out "popular" music for 70 years now and at some point we MUST have exploited every chord progression and harmony, right? Case and point - Joe Satriani and Coldplay. Satriani is claiming that Coldplay stole his song "If I Could Fly" in their acclaimed "Viva La Vida". YouTube has the evidence, and it doesn't sound too good for Coldplay. I listen to it and can definitely see Satriani's point, but honestly, at this point in history I think we've exhausted all the musical combinations. Do any of you think about that? Everytime I hear a new song on the radio I think... wow, is that REALLY something I like that is NEW, or is it reminding me of another song that I like that was made 20 years ago? I dunno... maybe I shouldn't think so much...
- The Red Sox released new uniforms yesterday. They are fine to me, I don't really care one way or another, but you should see the negative responses by fans! You'd think the Sox were mandating a dress code for fans to gain entry into Fenway! Unreal. Check it out here.
- And lastly, I just read the Hartford Courant in 6 minutes. Really. I don't think it can even be classified as a "newspaper" anymore. It is more of a periodical, or maybe a thick pamphlet. It is so small now the classifieds are crammed together with the sports pages. I almost called up to buy a box score I thought was for sale.
Have a great weekend.
- CC Sabathia... great pitcher, but I don't get the sense that he REALLY wants to pitch for the Yankees. I think he REALLY wants to pitch for 160 million. Could work out ok for the Yanks, but will be brutal if he struggles early. I think the Yanks appears ready to bring in every high-priced free-agent pitcher this year. Well, Phil Hughes, thanks for the memories.
- I get too many things to read in the mail. Honestly, why can't BusinessWeek be published monthly? It would really simplify my life.
- Why is it that sometimes I write a word and it looks misspelled on the screen, but I know it is totally correct? Has that happened to you? Why does that happen? Is it because I'm getting old?
- Why were we told as kids not to sit close to the TV, yet I sit 1 foot from my computer monitor for 6 hours a day?
- I don't understand this "green" movement... Well, I actually understand the premise, but I keep seeing things like "cut down on paper use" and "go electronic, be green". Everything I see at work is related to reducing our printing and paper production and delivering information electronically. From a cost perspective it makes great sense, but environmentally? Isn't paper the most recyclable thing on the planet this side of water? How is building more computers and hand-held devices "green" but printing newspapers (with soy ink, of course) not "green"? I'm being facetious here (there's one of those words that doesn't look correct on the screen!) but I look at my closet full of CD-Roms and wonder what they heck I can do with those and people are worrying about paper...
- Why do I always misspell "great" (greta)?
- At what point do we all agree that every song has been written? We've been churning out "popular" music for 70 years now and at some point we MUST have exploited every chord progression and harmony, right? Case and point - Joe Satriani and Coldplay. Satriani is claiming that Coldplay stole his song "If I Could Fly" in their acclaimed "Viva La Vida". YouTube has the evidence, and it doesn't sound too good for Coldplay. I listen to it and can definitely see Satriani's point, but honestly, at this point in history I think we've exhausted all the musical combinations. Do any of you think about that? Everytime I hear a new song on the radio I think... wow, is that REALLY something I like that is NEW, or is it reminding me of another song that I like that was made 20 years ago? I dunno... maybe I shouldn't think so much...
- The Red Sox released new uniforms yesterday. They are fine to me, I don't really care one way or another, but you should see the negative responses by fans! You'd think the Sox were mandating a dress code for fans to gain entry into Fenway! Unreal. Check it out here.
- And lastly, I just read the Hartford Courant in 6 minutes. Really. I don't think it can even be classified as a "newspaper" anymore. It is more of a periodical, or maybe a thick pamphlet. It is so small now the classifieds are crammed together with the sports pages. I almost called up to buy a box score I thought was for sale.
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ready? One, Two, Smoke!
My house might be the only colonial in Connecticut that doesn't feature a fireplace or chimney. I guess the previous folk must have worked for an oil company or something. Anyway, because of this I've been working over the last two months on renovating the house and making a nice spot available for a wood stove. After many trials and tribulations we have a perfect spot for the stove and its look just amazing in the family room.
Ok, great - so now what? Well, I guess i have to light the sucker. I don't have much experience with fires and fireplaces, so I did some reading on the 'net, talked with my father and then jumped into it!
Rule #1, don't start a fire if you don't know what you are doing...
I opened the flue and put about 500 gobs of newspaper in the firebox and then added a few "larger than kindling" pieces of wood. I lite the paper and closed the door to the stove. Wow. A lot of smoke. In fact, their was smoke pouring out of the stove where I didn't think smoke could pour! Out the door, the side door, the chimney connection. I honestly think I saw smoke actually come directly out of the paint. The stove looked like it was mad or something.
Rule #2, don't open the stove door...
So, what do I do? I opened the door... bad idea... the oxygen rushed in an created even more smoke! I think the neighbors thought I was having a bad 60's party at the house. Then again, they wouldn't have known because I was doing this at midnight...
I opened the windows, turned on the fan and tried to keep the smoke detectors from going off. Man, it really smokes!! I guess that is what you get for not understanding how to create a "draft" when starting a fire.
Rule #3, a little newspaper goes a long way
Ok, so I figured it out... a little newspaper, a few small scraps of dry wood and leave the door open creates a "draft" into the chimney. In 5 minutes you are ready to burn. I've had the stove running for the last two days and it is crazy hot! We had the house at 80 degrees with the windows open! Cool man! I love the fire, and the stove looks so nice when it is running. Even my dogs love it! My yellow Lab Cammie (named after Cam Neely, of course) sits about 2 inches from the stove. She just loves the warm air. I swear I can see the ticks and fleas jumping off her when it gets too hot!
Alls well that end well, but thank God everyone was asleep while the stove was belching smoke...
Ok, great - so now what? Well, I guess i have to light the sucker. I don't have much experience with fires and fireplaces, so I did some reading on the 'net, talked with my father and then jumped into it!
Rule #1, don't start a fire if you don't know what you are doing...
I opened the flue and put about 500 gobs of newspaper in the firebox and then added a few "larger than kindling" pieces of wood. I lite the paper and closed the door to the stove. Wow. A lot of smoke. In fact, their was smoke pouring out of the stove where I didn't think smoke could pour! Out the door, the side door, the chimney connection. I honestly think I saw smoke actually come directly out of the paint. The stove looked like it was mad or something.
Rule #2, don't open the stove door...
So, what do I do? I opened the door... bad idea... the oxygen rushed in an created even more smoke! I think the neighbors thought I was having a bad 60's party at the house. Then again, they wouldn't have known because I was doing this at midnight...
I opened the windows, turned on the fan and tried to keep the smoke detectors from going off. Man, it really smokes!! I guess that is what you get for not understanding how to create a "draft" when starting a fire.
Rule #3, a little newspaper goes a long way
Ok, so I figured it out... a little newspaper, a few small scraps of dry wood and leave the door open creates a "draft" into the chimney. In 5 minutes you are ready to burn. I've had the stove running for the last two days and it is crazy hot! We had the house at 80 degrees with the windows open! Cool man! I love the fire, and the stove looks so nice when it is running. Even my dogs love it! My yellow Lab Cammie (named after Cam Neely, of course) sits about 2 inches from the stove. She just loves the warm air. I swear I can see the ticks and fleas jumping off her when it gets too hot!
Alls well that end well, but thank God everyone was asleep while the stove was belching smoke...
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
My first Father/Daughter dance
Well, it had to happen sometime, right? My beloved daughter is actually old enough to go to a dance!!! Luckily, I really like the guy she went with so I felt pretty comfortable with her going out to our church's hall for the father/daughter dance this weekend.
It was a pretty weird experience, as there were actually people there! I mean, how many people do you expect at a father/daughter dance in the church hall at 7pm on a Saturday night 3 weeks before Christmas? I couldn't believe it... probably a good 150 people there. So many, in fact, that Delaney and I had to wait in line for 7 minutes to get a mini-cup of water at the water table!
But seriously, you haven't lived until you watch 75 grown men dance awkwardly with their daughters to songs they've never heard before. Most of these guys had no idea what to do... do you crouch down and dance face-to-face with your 7-year-old? Do you hold their hands? Do you just dance NEAR them?
And then, of course, is the dilemma... do you try to teach your daughter how to dance, or just let them bounce up and down like they do in the living room? I opted to let her jump up and down, but there were some fathers and daughters that were doing some kind of odd synchronized two-stepping with an optional hop and skip.
We had a great time, and of course the two of us knocked over a Christmas tree while we were dancing... on to the floor and then broke the base of the tree in the midst of trying to stand it up. But then again, why is there a tree in the church hall, shouldn't that have been a nativity scene anyway?
We got some great pictures and she had a ball. Maybe her next date will be a better dancer...
It was a pretty weird experience, as there were actually people there! I mean, how many people do you expect at a father/daughter dance in the church hall at 7pm on a Saturday night 3 weeks before Christmas? I couldn't believe it... probably a good 150 people there. So many, in fact, that Delaney and I had to wait in line for 7 minutes to get a mini-cup of water at the water table!
But seriously, you haven't lived until you watch 75 grown men dance awkwardly with their daughters to songs they've never heard before. Most of these guys had no idea what to do... do you crouch down and dance face-to-face with your 7-year-old? Do you hold their hands? Do you just dance NEAR them?
And then, of course, is the dilemma... do you try to teach your daughter how to dance, or just let them bounce up and down like they do in the living room? I opted to let her jump up and down, but there were some fathers and daughters that were doing some kind of odd synchronized two-stepping with an optional hop and skip.
We had a great time, and of course the two of us knocked over a Christmas tree while we were dancing... on to the floor and then broke the base of the tree in the midst of trying to stand it up. But then again, why is there a tree in the church hall, shouldn't that have been a nativity scene anyway?
We got some great pictures and she had a ball. Maybe her next date will be a better dancer...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Dancing with the marginally famous?
So my mother-in-law is over the moon about the television show "Dancing with the Stars" - of course, being a red-blooded American male I can't stand the show. I was, however, watching the finale and saw that Brook Burke won this year's competition. But who, you might ask, is Brook Burke? Very good question. She is most famous for hosting a show about famous people on the E! network. In fact, other than having a very hot body I'm not even sure how she got that gig. All that aside, I wonder how a show like "Dancing with the Stars" can continue to be successful when most of the people on the show are not stars. I mean, Warren Sapp was probably the most famous person this year. Warren Sapp!
Anyway, I think the whole premise of the show couldn't be more boring... "let's take 6 or 7 former celebrities and pair them up with totally unfamiliar (and publicly unknown) dancing partners and then have them perform in front of a studio audience." Wow... so I get to watch uncoordinated people try to dance? Wow, pass the popcorn and local anesthetic.
Wasn't the runner-up this year a guy from a "boy-band"? How did he lose? Doesn't he already know how to dance?
To top it all off, I just saw a commercial for a new show about "professional dancers" who compete to see who is the best dancer in the world . I can't wait. My DVR is already set.
Anyway, I think the whole premise of the show couldn't be more boring... "let's take 6 or 7 former celebrities and pair them up with totally unfamiliar (and publicly unknown) dancing partners and then have them perform in front of a studio audience." Wow... so I get to watch uncoordinated people try to dance? Wow, pass the popcorn and local anesthetic.
Wasn't the runner-up this year a guy from a "boy-band"? How did he lose? Doesn't he already know how to dance?
To top it all off, I just saw a commercial for a new show about "professional dancers" who compete to see who is the best dancer in the world . I can't wait. My DVR is already set.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Recent Movies
Hello world... I just saw a few movies and thought I'd give you the official Lima review of each...
I saw a number of cartoon and animated movies recent, due mainly to my children (of course), but I won't bore you with the details of the crazy adventures found at Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
I DID just see, however, Madagascar II and it was pretty decent. It felt like a continuation of the 1st movie, which I guess is the point of a sequel... It had some funny parts and the general story was pretty good. I'm not sure I was 100% down with the old lady beating the crap out of Alex the lion (Alex, THE Alex) since I was with my kids. I mean, she was no joke and beat the beJesus out of Alex. By the way, man, have we not come full circle with kid's cartoons? When I grew up it was Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny beating the Marty McSorely out of each other and then in the 80's and 90's it was "bad" to show kids all that violence... and yet I can turn on Law & Order SVU at any hour of the day and watch an in-depth discussion of some pretty nasty subject matter.
Anyway, I'll give Madagascar II 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I recently watched two movies that I rented from Blockbuster Online...
One was "Deja-Vu" with Denzell Washington. Pretty good movie. I thought the plot was "ok" but once you realize that the machine is actually a time machine it gets a little goofy. Plus, I'm not sure how two Denzell Washington's in the same timeline didn't explode the universe. Isn't that what is supposed to happen? Every girl I meet tells me that the universe can't handle two-Steve Lima's, so why two Denzell's? Anyway... pretty entertaining movie. 3 out of 5 stars.
I also saw Harrison Ford in "Firewall". Yes, as in computer firewall. How come Harrison Ford has a younger wife in each successive movie? I think he's dating Miley Cyrus in his next flick. Good movie until the stupid fight scene at the end. People, Harrison is playing a computer geek systems Vice President at a bank, he can't take 30 punches to the gut from a professional thug. I mean I could probably take 12 or 13, but 30? Seriously. Also, the movie is kinda strange in that it has some fairly serious and creepy siutuations, but then they try to add in some random humor which doesn't quite work. Good movie until the goofy ending. 4 out of 5.
I saw a number of cartoon and animated movies recent, due mainly to my children (of course), but I won't bore you with the details of the crazy adventures found at Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
I DID just see, however, Madagascar II and it was pretty decent. It felt like a continuation of the 1st movie, which I guess is the point of a sequel... It had some funny parts and the general story was pretty good. I'm not sure I was 100% down with the old lady beating the crap out of Alex the lion (Alex, THE Alex) since I was with my kids. I mean, she was no joke and beat the beJesus out of Alex. By the way, man, have we not come full circle with kid's cartoons? When I grew up it was Tom & Jerry and Bugs Bunny beating the Marty McSorely out of each other and then in the 80's and 90's it was "bad" to show kids all that violence... and yet I can turn on Law & Order SVU at any hour of the day and watch an in-depth discussion of some pretty nasty subject matter.
Anyway, I'll give Madagascar II 3.5 out of 5 stars.
I recently watched two movies that I rented from Blockbuster Online...
One was "Deja-Vu" with Denzell Washington. Pretty good movie. I thought the plot was "ok" but once you realize that the machine is actually a time machine it gets a little goofy. Plus, I'm not sure how two Denzell Washington's in the same timeline didn't explode the universe. Isn't that what is supposed to happen? Every girl I meet tells me that the universe can't handle two-Steve Lima's, so why two Denzell's? Anyway... pretty entertaining movie. 3 out of 5 stars.
I also saw Harrison Ford in "Firewall". Yes, as in computer firewall. How come Harrison Ford has a younger wife in each successive movie? I think he's dating Miley Cyrus in his next flick. Good movie until the stupid fight scene at the end. People, Harrison is playing a computer geek systems Vice President at a bank, he can't take 30 punches to the gut from a professional thug. I mean I could probably take 12 or 13, but 30? Seriously. Also, the movie is kinda strange in that it has some fairly serious and creepy siutuations, but then they try to add in some random humor which doesn't quite work. Good movie until the goofy ending. 4 out of 5.
Online Forms
I have a ton of different accounts online. You've got your Netflix, your online banking, ITunes, web forums, online retirement plans, etc, etc... I was recently setting up an onoline payment at my car insurance company's website and it was totally infuriating me.
You know how you get your bill in the mail and it says "pay easily online at our website"? Great, so let's go. I sign up for access online and the form asks me for my account number. Ok, so I look at my bill and it shows my account number as 1111 4444... so I enter it as such. I then get the page back to me with the error message "Your account number is numbers only, do not add spaces, dashes, or other characters."
Ummm... well, there is a space on my bill between the numbers... This is a silly example, but the idea here is that if you have a space or a dash in your account number on your bill, why is it different online? And why can't they adjust for it in the form? It drives me crazy! Every website asks for your SSN and half allow you add the dashes, half ask you to just enter the 9 digit, and half automatically add the dashes for you. Ok, maybe that's too many "halfs" but you get the idea.
I also have an issue with these online bank sites... man, I've set up "payees" like ExxonMobile and Sears - I mean these are BIG companies... and my stupid bank sites can never "find" the payee to send an electronic payment. They end up requiring me to enter the mailing address so I can send a check via the mail. Wow. I can do that in my kitchen, I don't need to log in to my bank site and initiate a "paper check" to get my bill paid. Isn't the idea that you pay directly from your account electronically? If I wanted to pay with a check I could probably just write one out...myself.
In fact, that's not even the biggest compliant: why don't these wbsites ask for what they want up front instead of waiting for the error message to tell you? And I love the error messages that say something like, "Please do not use spaces in your entry. If you do not understand how to complete the form please call our customer service agent at..." Hey, I'm not a moron. I can figure out how to fill a form out, I don't need to call your 22-year-old college flunky to get help.
Ok, enough for now. Later.
You know how you get your bill in the mail and it says "pay easily online at our website"? Great, so let's go. I sign up for access online and the form asks me for my account number. Ok, so I look at my bill and it shows my account number as 1111 4444... so I enter it as such. I then get the page back to me with the error message "Your account number is numbers only, do not add spaces, dashes, or other characters."
Ummm... well, there is a space on my bill between the numbers... This is a silly example, but the idea here is that if you have a space or a dash in your account number on your bill, why is it different online? And why can't they adjust for it in the form? It drives me crazy! Every website asks for your SSN and half allow you add the dashes, half ask you to just enter the 9 digit, and half automatically add the dashes for you. Ok, maybe that's too many "halfs" but you get the idea.
I also have an issue with these online bank sites... man, I've set up "payees" like ExxonMobile and Sears - I mean these are BIG companies... and my stupid bank sites can never "find" the payee to send an electronic payment. They end up requiring me to enter the mailing address so I can send a check via the mail. Wow. I can do that in my kitchen, I don't need to log in to my bank site and initiate a "paper check" to get my bill paid. Isn't the idea that you pay directly from your account electronically? If I wanted to pay with a check I could probably just write one out...myself.
In fact, that's not even the biggest compliant: why don't these wbsites ask for what they want up front instead of waiting for the error message to tell you? And I love the error messages that say something like, "Please do not use spaces in your entry. If you do not understand how to complete the form please call our customer service agent at..." Hey, I'm not a moron. I can figure out how to fill a form out, I don't need to call your 22-year-old college flunky to get help.
Ok, enough for now. Later.
My very first blog
Hello everyone. Ok, hello Mom.
This is my first BLOG outside of the trainwreck called "MySpace". What a terrible website. I can't imagine a web design in more disarray that MySpace. Just a clutter of garbage. But, it started social networking, so it can't be all that bad.
Anyway, I thought I'd get this sucker rolling by posting a few thoughts and seeing if there really IS life outside of Connecticut.
This is my first BLOG outside of the trainwreck called "MySpace". What a terrible website. I can't imagine a web design in more disarray that MySpace. Just a clutter of garbage. But, it started social networking, so it can't be all that bad.
Anyway, I thought I'd get this sucker rolling by posting a few thoughts and seeing if there really IS life outside of Connecticut.
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