Forever Jung

Chevron runs a radio ad here about saving gas by getting better mileage. That seems a bit like KrispyKreme running spots warning about the dangers of high cholesterol. But never mind the oxymoronic nature of the ad, I'm always struck by the two strategies they advocate. One is accelerating gradually as you pull away from a light. I really don't have any other option with Stealth Reliabity; 0-60 in under ten minutes.
The other tactic they encourage is minimizing the use of your AC. They say that it's probably more efficient to run the AC when driving down the freeway, as compared to the aerodynamic drag of having the windows down. But when driving city streets "enjoy the fresh air."
I'm guessing whoever wrote the copy for that ad didn't live where today's high was 115 degrees. Our low tonight may not drop below 90.
OK, now I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's distance ride!
On Fridays, in anticipation of Saturday's long one, I just do a very short "spinning" ride - no concern for speed, just keep the muscles loose. Six miles into it this morning my bum felt like it did at the end of last Saturday's LSD. Why?? And what does it portend for tomorrow morning? I did extra stretching today in the hopes it will help.

Because life shouldn't be taken too seriously...
Beethoven's Ode to Joy

You know that we meet each Saturday for lunch at Chick-Fil-A, and that I'm a fan of their corporate culture. Here's an interesting article about the founder of this family-owned business.

Used car lots base their prices at least in part on the Kelly Blue Book or the NADA book value. Those two guides come out every year. Since almost all cars drop in value as they age, each new year's guide will show a lower price for any given vehicle. So if you go into a used car lot the week after the latest edition is published will the price of a specific car be lower than it was two weeks earlier? How do they work that?

Still on the subject of cars, did you see today's news stories about the plunging sales figures for the big three in Detroit? July sales for 2008 compared to July of '07 were down 26% for GM, 13% for Ford and 29% for Chrysler. GM posted a loss of $15.5 billion for the second quarter of this year.
The free market system is brutal. Get it right and you can make so much money so fast that Congress will be working on schemes to take it away (see: oil companies). Get it wrong and you'll crash and burn ingloriously.
Unfair? Nope. It's the best for all of us. Darwin in the marketplace.
There are good and relatively simple reasons that foreign based auto makers are doing so much better than any of the big three. And remember, several of those foreign manufacturers are making their cars here in the U.S. So while I sympathize fully with the salaried employee whose job is disappearing, the decision makers must shoulder the responsibility for bad decisions. The worst thing that could happen at this point, IMHO, is any kind of a government bailout. Enabling.

We've been spoiled. We've had the use of an empty office suite down the row from the dance studio where Pathway meets to store our stuff during the week. I made a cart, and in three or four trips we can get our stuff down there where it sits safe and secure until the next week. We don't have a lot of stuff by any standard - a dozen chairs to add to what the studio has, four big Tupperware tubs, our signs, a table and a few odds and ends. But it has been very convenient to have it all four doors down.
Alas, I got a call yesterday that the space has been leased out, so beginning Sunday we have to take all of our things with us when we leave. I'll drive Stealth Reliabity, and most of it will fit in the back, but hauling it back and forth each week, never mind storing it in our garage, will be a hassle.
Of course if we hadn't had the free use of that office space we wouldn't feel the inconvenience. So I guess I should be thankful that we had a couple of months' reprieve from what is SOP for every start-up church.
Glass half full.

I'm going to sit on the floor and stretch my bum. I'll let you know if it works.