people who drive fast

OK. I drive faster than most other people. However, I've noticed something about people who drive really really fast (the ones that happen to fly by me on the freeway) -- they don't know where they're going.

Two cases (which clearly makes this scientific):

Case 1: The person in the black Nissan Altima driving down I-271
I noticed this car one morning when I was driving over to my parents' place. I was in the local lanes going my typical 70-75mph. I noticed somewhere around the Mayfield exit that the black Nissan Altima in the express lane that was flying down the road. I also noticed the nice dent on the right side of the car - much like the dent I have.

Another 3 or 4 miles down the road I get off at Chagrin Blvd. As I stop at the light at Richmond, I notice a black Nissan Altima with a dent on the passenger side. Exact same car. Apparently the jackass got off at the wrong exit and came back north an exit. Good work, jackass.

Case 2: Annoyed girl in a Honda CR-V in the OH turnpike
This girl clearly was unhappy with my speed on the turnpike as she tailgated me. I think I was going 75mph, and she wasn't really going too much faster than I was, but she was annoyed, impatient, pissed off. Anyway, I was happy when she turned off at the I-680 exit by Youngstown. I thought that was the end of it. Apparently not.

Half an hour later (about 30 miles down the road), I see this girl again. She didn't look any happier. Clearly she was even more pissed off because she really meant to get off at I-480 (Cleveland) instead of I-680 (Youngstown). Brilliant.

the imperial palace

This June I'll be going to Las Vegas to join Seth at his bachelor party. However, the one thing that I didn't know when I signed up for the fun was where we'd be staying.

I really didn't give it much thought at first. After all, we're probably not going to be spending much time in our rooms anyway. However, when I was informed that we would be staying at the Imperial Palace, I was left speechless.

Was this a good thing? Was it a bad thing?

Last time I went to Vegas, I had the fine luck of passing through the Imperial Palace. It's tucked neatly away behind another casino, and I remember that I struck my attention because of it's fantastic logo spells out my last name. I also remember from stepping into the casino that it was overwhelmingly Asian. In other words, FOBish.

So you can understand how I was torn about this. Sure, it's funny as hell that I'll be at the Asian FOBish casino that's also known as the IP, but then I realize that I'll actually be staying at the Asian FOBish casino called the IP. We'll see. Worst case is that it results in more humor.

dilemma

If I have lots to write about, I have no time to post. If I have time to post, I don't have much to write. Various topics to harrass me about:

• Yale welcome weekend - awesome
• The drive back - lots of rain, flooding, Hudson River
• People who drive fast - don't know where they're going (I-680, Harvard exit)
• Vegas
• I'm sure I'm missing something. Just ask!
  

art supplies

Yeah, I just made my first purchase from an art supply store. Why? Because I needed to.

The one thing that did really bother me though was how crappy those web sites are. Poor product descriptions, poor layouts, and a most buggy purchase flow I've seen in years. Really, it got so bad that in Firefox it thought that the continue button was the same as the button that toggled between US address entry and International address entry. For whatever reason I actually switched to IE, redid my shopping cart, and then checked out. Bleh...

And no, I'm not going to art school. Going to business school.

which brings me to my next point

If people are so pissed off about the price of oil (which is a commodity that is priced the same regardless of which station you buy from), think about this outrage:

Today, millions of consumers are buying food at artificially high prices. How high? About 70% more than they should be paying. You would think that people would be outraged at this anal rapage of sorts. But no, they're actually wearing broad smiles when they are being ripped a new one. Chances are, you're one of them.

So where's your Bonus Card when your grocery store charges over $3 for a gallon of skim milk when it's sold at Sam's Club every day for $1.75? And what's the advantage of the Giant Eagle Advantage card when you have to buy apples at $1.69 a pound when they're sold at the discount store at the other side of the strip mall for $0.99 a pound? If these stores can "save" you $30 each time you make a grocery run, imagine how much you'd save if you were buying your chicken breast at $2.59 a pound instead of a ridiculous $4.59 a pound?

Yes, you should be outraged. But unlike the stupid gasoline thing, there really is a solution. With the gas thing, you buy gas at some other station for the same price. You save nothing. Here, you can buy your groceries elsewhere and save money each time, while simultaneously pressure grocers into more consumer-friendly pricing schemes. Sure, it may not work, but you can at least know that you're not the one paying the extra 70% for your groceries.

Did I ever mention that I hate Giant Eagle? Yes, I do. But at the same time I'm not exactly impressed with any of the other grocery stores around here either.

do you seriously believe this will work

If it wasn't for the last pathetic attempt (not buying gas for a day), this would the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. It is kind of funny to see how desperately creative people can be. Definitely more interesting that the "don't buy gas for a day... that'll show them!" thing that was attempted previously, but flawed nonetheless. It's like saying that we don't like how cars are expensive so we'll stop buying Toyotas because they sell the most vehicles. Toyota may lower prices, but the other companies can artificially inflate prices to take advantage of this new "market force" of blatant retardation.

Ultimately it comes to this. As consumers, if we find it expensive, we'll find ways of using less of it so that we can save money. From a corporate standpoint, why not keep jacking up the price if people are dumb enough to keep buying? Right now, gas is still cheap enough for most people to tolerate, which is why people keep buying fuel inefficient cars and keep buying gas.

Besides, we're not the only consumers of gasoline (trucks, fleets, etc.), and gasoline is not the only product that's dependent on oil.

This might be worth a try and it certainly won't hurt to test out this
theory:
GAS WAR - an idea that WILL work

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola
executive It came from one of his engineer buddies
who retired from Halliburton. It's worth your
consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit
close to $ 4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might
go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We
need to take some intelligent, united action.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea. This makes
MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain
day" campaign that was going around last April or May!
The oil companies just laughed at that because they
knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by
refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience
to us than it was a problem for them. BUT, whoever
thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can
really work. Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at
about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently
$2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the
oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us
to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at
$1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to
teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not
sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each
day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we
are going to see the price of gas come down is if we
hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their
gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.
How?

Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop
buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if
we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T
purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies
(which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not
selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their
prices. If they reduce their prices, the other
companies will have to follow suit. But to have an
impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon
and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now,
don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and
I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of
people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us
send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and
those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =
3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches
the sixth group of people, we will have reached over
THREE MILLION consumers.

If those three million get excited and pass this on to
ten friends each, then 30 million people will have
been contacted! If it goes one level further, you
guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people.
That's all!
(If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million
and all you have to do is send this to 10 people....
Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician.
But I am . so trust me on this one.)
How long would all that take? If each of us sends
this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of
receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be
contacted within the next 8 days!!! I'll bet you
didn't think you and I had that much potential, did
you! Acting together we can make a difference.

minoriteam is terrible

Need I explain? Not funny, stupid plots (if I can even call them plots), bad voice acting, and it looks like it's a comic book on TV -- as in hardly any animation outside of panning still frames. Please kill this show.

Samurai Champloo, on the other hand, is awesome. Good story, great animation, and great visuals.

i dreamt i was with someone else

I'm sorry, but I dreamt that I was with someone else... while grocery shopping. Or more precisely, that I was grocery shopping with someone else. It's ok though! I didn't really buy anything! I just got like three things!

Yeah. This is silly, but I guess this is what happens when I go to sleep after grocery shopping and I also talk with certain people about produce and groceries on a surprisingly regular basis.

Anyway, it's not like I made a booty call or something. That's a totally different incident and I politely turned it down.

Unlike this crappy Netgear router, I generally behave myself. Generally...

boo silverstar

You know those Sylvania Silverstar headlight commercials? Yeah, the one where there are two incredibly stupid bicyclists riding in the middle of the road in complete darkness without any of the standard reflectors? Yep. I'm not sure if "regular" people pay attention to such ads, but my dad and I as DIY auto mechanics certainly remember the product. Well, during the past two weeks, both my dad and I needed new headlamps. Here's our story.

My dad needed headlamps first, and I was lucky enough to get them from the store for him. I was actually there to get something for myself (I think?), but before leaving I forgot to ask exactly which ones he wanted. I called him up from the store and asked him which type he wanted. There were basically three choices, the standard halogens, some extra bright halogens, and the Silverstars. Prices were $8 or so for a standard halogen, $11 for a long life halogen, and $24 for the Silverstars. Knowing that he wanted something the provided more light, I told him the Silverstars would be brighter, but would cost more. As I predicted, he went with the Silverstars. We put them in and he's happy with them.

But here's what we didn't know... My headlamp just burned out. And as a guy who hates bright headlights, I wasn't particularly interested in the Silverstars. However, I did come across a great deal on the Cool Blue headlights (also by Sylvania). Instead of being $15 a bulb, they were a ridiculously cheap $5.50 a bulb - even cheaper than a standard halogen. But should I get this bulb? I didn't want one that was insanely bright. So I decided to do some research. I went to Sylvania's site to check out their products. I remembered seeing such a chart at Murray's (our auto parts store), so I expect to find *something* online, and I did.

Looking at the comparison chart, I saw that the life of most of their higher end bulbs were inferior to that of the standard halogens. But by how much? If the Cool Blue's were half the price of a standard halogen, they's still be worth it if they only had half the life. So I dug further.

On the standard halogen lamp's web page, it proudly stated that the bulbs have a durability rating of 1000 to 1500. Cool. However, that piece of information was missing from the pages for all the other lamps. Fine. After a bit more digging, I was able to find what I wanted. And here's what I found:

• Standard Halogen - 1000
• Long Life Halogen - 1500
• Cool Blue - 200
  
• XtraVision - 850
  
• Silverstar - 150

Basically, the Cool Blue's last only 20% as long as the standard halogens. No go. What was even more disturbing was that the Silverstars, which Sylvania is so heavily promoting (and which also cost a fortune), last only 10% as long as a long life bulb. What the hell. After taking bulb life into account, here's the cost of each per year (based on the life of my recently deceased standard halogen which lasted 4 years and 3 weeks - yes, I kept track):

• Standard Halogen - $1.97/year
  
• Long Life Halogen - $1.81/year (8.4% cheaper)
  
• Cool Blue - $6.76/year (3.4 times as expensive)
  
• XtraVision - $3.62/year (1.77 times as expensive)
  
• Silverstar - $39.41 (almost exactly 20x as expensive!)
  

So basically, the Silverstar is a ripoff. If you want a bright headlamp, go with the XtraVision. It has the letter X in it, so it's inherently better, plus it would cost only one tenth as much. Is it really worth that much more? I doubt it.

alternate identity

I've been hiding it all these years, but I'll now expose my true identity. I am not Paul Ip. I am....

Alan Jones

OK. Seriously. I'm not Alan Jones, but apparently that what they *thought* my name was when I ordered this part at Murray's. I love Murray's, and I'll still shop there again, but this just doesn't make any sense.

So here's the story. I called into Murray's on Monday to check the price they had for a part. They had the lowest price by a few dollars, so I ordered the part by giving my credit card number to the guy. The part usually gets in overnight, but I didn't drop by till tonight (Thursday night).

When I got in the store, I went to the bin to see if the part that I ordered was there. It wasn't. It wouldn't have been there anyway, since that isn't where they put those parts (probably a good thing), but either way, I couldn't find what I was looking for. So I ask the guy working there, RJ.

After helping a couple of people that got there before I did, RJ went to the back of the store to look for it. He couldn't find it. It didn't make sense to either of us. He then checked the logs of parts that have been ordered. He couldn't find me. After asking what the part was, he did find the same part ordered for Alan Jones. It wasn't clear if it was for the same car though. Probably just coincedence.

I then mentioned that perhaps I ordered it at another store by mistake, and RJ went to check to see if there were any parts being held for me at all the Murray's stores in Ohio. Again, nothing. Disappointed, I asked him if he could just order me another part. He advised me against that since if I gave my credit card number, chances are it was charged, and I wouldn't want to be charged twice. I left empty handed.

Getting home, I checked my credit card statement. Sure enough, my card was charged for the part. Not only that, but it was charged to the store that I had just visited. Great. What the heck is going on... I call them up.

I talk to another fellow on the phone. I ask him to double check to see if my part is in. I did explain the prior difficulty, so he goes straight to the logs. "Are you Alan Jones?" he asks. Of course not, I reply. The funny thing is, Alan Jones also has a 1993 Honda Accord, just like mine. I volunteer the last 4 digits of my credit card number. Bingo! That bastard used my credit card!

It would have been simple if that was all. But he wanted to see if the other info matched up. Daytime phone number? I forget what he said it was, but it sure wasn't my phone number. I think the credit card, part, order date, and car were enough to convince him though. He told me that he wrote my name on the order so I should be able to come and pick it up the next time I drop in. At this time I ask if the part will be in the bin at the door, or if it would be behind the desk. He replies by telling me that these parts are always held behind the desk so that they are given to the right person. But what if Alan Jones comes in? "There is no Alan Jones," he replies. I'm not totally convinced. But if Alan Jones comes in and takes my rear left brake caliper bracket, I'm going to be a little pissed.

site of the day

Ever wonder how the big water treatment plant at the top of Fairhill (er... Stokes Blvd.) was built?

Answer: With horses and steam shovels. Heck yeah!

Specifications

random link of the day

You know, everyone does it...

branding,part deux

Samson brand hair care products. Why? Because what's more important to Samson than his beautiful hair?

Of course, I'm not the first person to think of this.

...

I can't take this anymore. This movie with Sandra Bullock and Emilio Estevez is terrible.

Spy Game is crap too. No one would be so foolish to mess with China. Plus it's an "encore," meaning I just saw it once already.

fun with insurance

To date... still haven't gotten the bill for the followup exam.

Cost after insurance: $436.58
Cost before insurance: $4060.00 ($935 for anesthesia... who needs that?)
Savings to date: $3623.42

Total cost of insurance: $782.34/year before tax... or about $460/year after tax. Deal?

news from iraq

At least for me, the most interesting, non-biased source of news from Iraq is from the Digital Journalist.

Example:
http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0603/dis_calaf.html

car payment

I am saddened to report that I will need to make my first car payment of the year. I have *yet another* bad anti-lock brake sensor, a fouled oxygen sensor, and also a busted exhaust.

ABS Sensor:
It appears that these just die on my car. This is the third one that needs to be replaced. Granted, it's the rear one that is very easy to replace. Total cost of the repair: $111.92. Total savings from doing it myself: ~$200-$300 (extra $45 parts, plus an hour of labor).

Oxygen Sensor:
I replaced this recently, but it died because of a design flaw. Bosch makes the replacement parts come with a wire that's about 3" too long. What happens is that the wire is so long it bends up towards the oil filter. Consequently, some oil got on it the last time I did an oil change, likely damaging the sensor. I considered buying an authentic Honda part this time, but I couldn't bear paying the extra $100 for the part. Total cost of the repair: about $60. Total savings from doing it myself: ~$260-$360 (extra $160 parts, plus an hour of labor).

Exhaust:
This was replaced 2 years ago by the shady folks at Midas by Golden Gate. Not only do they coerce me to do extra work, but then they didn't connect the exhaust right, denied it, then eventually fixed it because they saw that they really did manage to screw it up. Now the pipe towards the rear has completely broken, with a 2" gap between main line and the muffler's pipe. The break is on the muffler side, which makes me wonder if this is covered under warranty...

yay!

Yay! I have been authorized to borrow up to $40,611 for next year! Oh wait... borrow, not free money. Well, here's to being debt free!

And did I ever mention that I didn't like the recent changes to the federal student aid programs?

interesting conversations

Excerpt from what I heard on the way up the elevator just now... (and when I say excerpt, I mean everything that was said).

Players:
Girl 1 -- Late teens, early twenties female, dyed blonde hair. Presumably the elder sister of girl 2
Girl 2 -- 10 year old gir. Brown hair. Wearing a shirt that read "Blondes have more fun."

Girl 1 leans against the side of the elevator, with hand to her mouth. In her hand is her mobile phone.

Girl 2: Why are you always biting your cell phone?
Girl 1: (Annoyed) I'm not biting it.
Girl 2: Then why do you always have it in your mouth?
(Pause...)
Girl 1: Because I'm in love with it.

random

You know how in ads they often have beautiful photos of random places? I was dorking around Canon's site and wanted to take a look at a night shot from the camera to see how it compares to the ones I've taken with the same camera. Oh right, the photo.

While look at this photo, my first reaction was that my night photo came out just as well, of not better. With a 30s exposure, I found that the stars move quite a bit (ok... enough to be noticeable on this kick-ass camera). Sure, most of my night shots sucked. But thankfully I was mindful enough to take a number of shots at varying ISO speeds and shutter timings. My best shot was at 30s too, but at 100 ISO so that you can tell what's stars vs. what's graininess in the photo. This shot was taken on Mt. Fuji in the middle of the night. It was incredible how many stars there were (though not as many as in the southern hemisphere).

But back to the point... I was taking a close look at the photo on Canon's site, and I realized that it looked vaguely familiar. No, not because I looked at the photo earlier in the year when I was deciding if I should buy the camera. What caught my attention was the odd windows on the church. I've seen those somewhere before. On The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand to be precise. I looked up the church, and yep, it was the same one in the Canon photo. Heh... and I remember thinking the first time I saw the photo how it must be some random place in Scotland or something. Little did I know...

You may be wondering if I have my own photo of the church. I don't. I *do* have a photo looking towards the lake from the rear of the church. d=