Things I've Noticed

'Ching'le Bells 'Ching'le Bells

The arrival of the holidays means trips to the mall, no parking, long lines, cold weather (for those of us in real climates), and Salvation Army "soldiers" who ring the bell to get some donations out of you.  Steph, creator of the blog, The Incurable Insomniac, is at the top of the Roundtable order this week and in her post, she tells a surprisingly captivating story of how she recently handled one and how it changed her.  Have a visit to her most recent blogpost and donate some comments of your own.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Trends / Styles / Fashions

"The cooler something is today, the more uncool it will become in the future."

+ Atul

Stationwagons and Hatchbacks Deserve More Respect, (And So Do Their Owners)

“My name is Atul, and I drive a stationwagon.” At least that’s what a lot of people would want me to say in some kind of stationwagon owner’s anonymous support group. This mostly occurs because I don’t have a wife and kids. To them I say, my Saab 9-3 SportCombi wagon (and most wagons) are faster, more efficient, lighter, better-handling, safer, and definitely sportier than many so-called Sport Utility Vehicles.  SUVs may have more power but the power to weight ratio is better with a wagon than most SUVs.  My 9-3 even holds about the same amount of stuff as some small to mid-sized SUVs.

Even though I catch flack for owning and driving a wagon (and a hatchback), it’s hard to argue with the fact that they are more practical than sedans. For instance, I can put my bicycle back there without taking the front wheel off and I can even put two with one of the front wheels removed. I’ve had my 1997 Saab 900 for almost ten years. My hatchback has saved me hundreds of dollars in U-Haul rental expenses when I was starting off. Hand-me-down furniture fit well in the back whereas a sedan would not have been able to hold any of the dressers, chairs, and tables that I brought from Cleveland to Detroit.   I fit a 32” tube TV which I purchased and my car saved the day when my friend bought a similar TV and could not get it home in her car.

On the efficiency front, my 1997 Saab has averaged 26.5 mpg with about 40% city driving and the 2006 has averaged 28 mpg with about 70% highway miles. This real world fuel economy is competitive with hybrid SUV’s like the Ford Escape hybrid and the Toyota Highlander hybrid. I think I deserve a tax credit too.

In terms of safety, a lighter, lower, better handling vehicle is better at avoiding accidents. I would rather avoid and accident and get to my destination without delay than get into one and suffer less damage, possibly hurting others in smaller vehicles. In an SUV, rollovers are more likely and those really snarl traffic, let alone putting vehicle occupants in a dizzying dangerous situation, (especially if seatbelts aren’t being used in the rear seats).

I feel I’m not alone though. The trend towards hatchbacks is catching on. In Europe, hatchbacks have been considered to be more upscale than sedans. Hatchbacks and wagons are becoming more popular in North America too. The Mazda 3, Audi A3, Honda Fit, and MINI are all considered cool and I believe my Saab 9-3 SportCombi looks sharp as well. (Notice how the Saab marketing folks had to disguise the fact that it’s a wagon by calling it something other than a stationwagon.) We are such a sensitive society.

I declare the dawn of a new era, a time when hatchbacks and wagons are not only practical, but respectable and cool. They’re not just for families with kids anymore.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on E-mailing at Work

"To 'cc' or not to 'cc', that is the question."

+ Atul

Tattoos: Body Art or Glorified Ink Stains?

At this week's Roundtable post, Prego asks us to consider the tatto and what it really means anymore.  Has it lost its status as a rebel's statement to the world that "I'm cool and I'll do what I want to do"?  I gave my take on tattoos and how I don't like them on women and how the long term implications are rarely considered when somebody is set on getting inked up.  Hop on over to Prego's blog and tell 'em what you think.

+ Atul

Quick Quote on Innocence

"Temptation is the murderer of innocence."

+ Atul

Forms, Forms, Forms, (and Filling Them Out)

As I grew up, my parents always told me to not write too small.  I continued to write small, perhaps because I had the typical low adolescent self-esteem, or because I just liked to write small.  It looks neater anyway.  Then, as I became older, I noticed that I had to fill out forms for everything from raffles to loans.  I realized that I was right all along.  Writing with small letters is advantageous.  It's the only way to fit what you want to say into those ridiculously small lines or divided boxes.  What's interesting is that sometimes the writing area is too small for my miniscule writing.  This is especially disturbing when this happens on a form for a job or something important.  I always wonder, "How do people with normal sized writing fit in their whole university name in this space" which is often half an inch wide?  How am I supposed to abbreviate or am I supposed to use a microscope as I write?

With the computer age, some forms have gotten better, such as on Adobe .pdf files.  But then there are those nasty forms on Microsoft Word where typing where the lines are inserts text and moves the lines over, thereby messing up the whole formatting of the form.  (And we all know how easy it is to selectively change formatting where you want to on MS Word.)  At least internet forms are usually easy to fill in especially with the auto fill in feature of web browsers.  But then they sometimes ask for the secret code that bots can't read.  Sometimes those are illegible and you have to repeat.

I wonder if anybody has ever figured out how many forms an average person fills out in a year.  I'm guessing it's about a hundred times the number of passwords a typical person has to keep track of.

+ Atul

Quick Quotes on Presents

"If it's the thought that counts, why not give wonderful thoughts instead of presents?"

Along the same lines...

"The less you pay for a present gives it more thought per dollar."

+ Atul

Oh No I Didn't (Just Say That)

The ever expressive Joe at the blog Hairshirt is up this week to share his Roundtable thoughts.  And what he's sharing isn't what he is proud of.  He talks about times that he said things he later regretted.  Join the therapy session and have a visit to his blogpost to confess your foot-in-mouth moments.  I was very unspecific about mine when I commented there.

+ Atul

Election 2006: More Affirmation That Every Vote Counts

I'm not going to get into the politics of yesterday's election other than to say that I'm happy with the outcome.  What matters to me more for the long long term is the fact that voter turnout is still as low as it is.  Three of the last four U.S. elections have had candidates win or lose by very few votes to the point that re-counts were needed.  The senate races in Montana and Virginia have not yet been officially called and their outcome could shift the balance of power in the Senate.  Close results could have happened in any state.

We could consider making voting mandatory like Australia does.  But does an ignorant unwilling voter do more harm than good?  I think one of major reasons that we have low turnout is because the perception that "all the candidates suck" keeps rearing its head every election.  I blame this on negative political advertising.  If all candidates' ads tell you the other candidates are horrible, then why would you want to elect either of them?  If, (as in the Vermont senate race this year), candidates focused on their own positives, then maybe more people would want to vote.  They would tend to choose the candidate whose accomplishments they can respect, hoping that by electing that candidate that she/he would continue with good works.

One could say that I'm being too idealistic.  As soon as one candidate slings mud, the other has to do so in return.  If they don't, they'll be perceived as a weak incompetent politicians.  My advice to everybody who doesn't vote is to chose the candidate whose philosophies more closely match your own and vote for that candidate.  That person is more likely to vote on legislation in a manner consistent with how you think .  It seems like all candidates have negatives or skeletons in their closet, and most seem to be influenced by lobbyists, so all you have left is their political philosophies.

The lesson is this... Every vote does count and every vote does matter.  Based on this, you can have an impact on the future of your country and even your planet.  If you don't vote for yourself, do it for your children whether you've had any yet or not.  Parents tend to know what's good for their children don't they?
The next two years will be very interesting from a political standpoint.  Here's to one year and ten months of television without political TV commercials. 

+ Atul