echodrift

Defeating the purpose

I am the fortunate owner of a 2000 Chevy Cavalier. For those who don’t know, Cavaliers (at least ones that I’ve ever come across) have the gas tank on the passenger side of the car. Why is this of any importance? That doesn’t seem to be the case for, oh, 90% of other vehicles out there. (The statistic is completely made up by the way, but that’s the way it seems. It may be as high as 95%.) They all have the gas tank on the driver’s side. This poses a problem when it comes time to fill my gas tank.

Earlier today I noticed that in just a few hours one station raised their price from $3.69 to $3.85. I really did not want to wait and see that the only gas station in town with gas for $3.59 was about to raise theirs as well so I decided to stop and fill up my car. It’s not a small station; at least when it’s compared to others in town it’s not. However, there were only two pumps that had cars in line with tanks on the passenger side. One of those was somewhat hijacked by a person who backed in. I was driving around to take the same spot so I ended up behind this person. See, we passenger side tank owners have to be pretty aggressive when it comes to finding a pump.

As is the case for many gas stations out their this one requires that you either prepay or pay at the pump. I had to wait while this person decided how much they wanted to put in, went inside and prepaid and then began fueling. Finally it was my turn to fill up. I very much dislike going inside to pay because there are always lines. So I pulled out my card, completed the transaction, and began filling up. Once my car was finished filling up (a whole $37.14 worth for a Cavalier) I waited for my receipt but only to be told that my receipt was inside. Wait, wasn’t that the point of paying with my card? To not have to go inside and wait in line? Since I’ve started keeping track of everything we spend I really wanted the receipt so that I could put it in when I get home. Going inside was my only option so I did.

Through it all I did learn one thing. It wasn’t enough to tell the cashier that I needed a receipt for pump 7. She wanted my card which I, of course, had put in my wallet in my car when I locked the doors to come inside. She finally gave it to me when I told her the amount. So now I know. Here’s hoping that I don’t have to fill up again for a while. My car may be a pain with its passenger side tankness but it sure does get good gas mileage.

When software becomes spyware

Several years ago AIM was the only instant messenger I used. I had an MSN account and a Yahoo account from different email addresses I had but everyone I talked to used AIM. One day a new version of AIM came out. Like quite a bit of software there were several notifications that you should upgrade to the new version. I thought “Why not” and upgraded. It required a restart of AIM as is usual with most software upgrades. However, when I restarted AIM it popped up with some kind of AIM Today page in AOL Browser. The problem? I never installed AOL Browser. I never asked for it to be installed and I was never informed that it was installed. I immediately went to Add/Remove programs to get rid of it since I wanted nothing to do with it. (Side note: there is no Add/Remove Programs in Vista. It is instead called “Programs and Features.” If you’ve always looked for Add/Remove Programs it is really annoying that it’s no longer on the top row of icons.)

To my surprise AOL Browser did not appear as an installed program, thus having no remove option. Do you know what that reads as in my book? Spyware. I never asked for it, I was never informed about it, and I wasn’t presented with an easy method to uninstall it. I found an uninstall file buried somewhere in the AOL program folder and promptly uninstalled AOL Browser. It wasn’t long after that I uninstalled AIM completely and have used Trillian or Meebo ever since.

Now what would bring me to write about something that happened several years ago? A certain well known company has also been involved in such shady practices. For a while now Apple has only offered QuickTime with iTunes included, or iTunes with QuickTime ,depending on which you were originally after. Before I had an iPod this annoyed me to no end. I had no use for iTunes and didn’t want it on my computer. Let’s not forget that several items are added to startup once you install this bundled.

It appears that they have stepped up their software bundling practices. If you’ve installed one of the latest versions of this iTunes/QuickTime monstrosity you might want to check out your control panel and look for a MobileMe icon. How did that get there? iTunes. Did I ask for it? No and I am highly irritated by it. When you try to run it it asks you for your MobileMe log in information. It also has a prompt for you to be able to sign up for an account if you don’t have one. How handy… except I don’t want a MobileMe account, thank you very much. (To be honest I didn’t notice this until I came across a post on this site though I’m pretty sure I would have found it sooner or later.)

MobileMe isn’t the only thing that comes with the iTunes/QuickTime install. While browsing my installed programs list I found one called Bonjour and couldn’t recall installing it. A quick search shows that it is yet another Apple product that is installed when you install iTunes without any notification whatsoever. Yet another program I never intend to use that’s sitting there junking up my computer. Thanks, Apple.

2+2=4

The other day I came across an article entitled “Why Generation Y is Broke.” The woman featured in the article was in debt with student loans and her normal bills. She had no idea where her money was going. Every time I read something like this I’m astounded. How can someone be so out of touch that they have no idea why they’re in debt? The principle is simple: if you spend more than you make you go in debt. Know how much you make. Know how much you can spend. It shouldn’t be difficult. I haven’t done the best about keeping to a strict budget but I’m not exactly swimming in debt either.

The article said something that is eerily similar to what I know about the Great Depression. It’s the idea of “buy now, pay later.” Yep I’m talking credit cards. Credit cards aren’t necessarily evil. They need to be used responsibly. I often use mine because of most gas stations requiring you to prepay or to pay with credit or debit. It’s faster and easier to swipe my card. However, I always remember how much I’ve put on my credit card. As soon as that card is swiped it may as well already be taken out of my checking account because it’s basically money I no longer have.

This reminds me of an from high school. While on an overnight trip we were allowed to go to a mall. Some of the girls were talking about how much money they had and how much they’d spent. I mentioned that I hadn’t really bought anything yet. See, I’m not much of an impulse buyer. I usually think long and hard before I buy anything. Someone said something along the lines of “I could never do that! I don’t have that much self control.” I think that’s a huge part of this problem: people don’t have self control. If they see something they want they buy it. They don’t consider if they really need it or if they can afford it.

That brings me to another subject that’s been bothering me lately. It’s this obsession with celebrities. It really bothers me when I see celebrity gossip articles as a majority of the most read articles on different news sites. I get the feeling that people are living in a fantasy world. That they really think that they can live like the celebrities do. They can spend outrageously as they do. They can live it up and party like they do. It’s simply not the truth. It doesn’t help that these ideas are marketed to kids as well, such as in the new Sears back to school ads. “Don’t just go back. Arrive.” Really, what does that teach kids? Of course it stars an actress that more than a few kids are familiar with. Impressionable kids.

I don’t have children yet so I may yet end up eating my words. However I think there are so many things on TV, in movies, on the radio and so on that are aimed towards younger children that really aren’t appropriate. I touched on this a little in my post about the latest Batman movie. Of course there are toys based on the movie that are being advertised to kids. Of course kids are going to ask to see the movie. And, of course, some parents are going to take their kids to see it. That doesn’t make it appropriate for grade school age kids. This all just doesn’t sit well with me.

Ok buddy, let’s go!

I’m a very vocal driver. Anyone who’s ever been in a car with me will agree. Sometimes I speak up even when I’m not driving. I think I got it from my dad. He likes telling the story of how one day he had me out doing something when I was very young. Apparently the driver in front of us didn’t start moving quickly enough to suit me after the light turned green. My dad claims that I lifted myself out of my car seat a little and said “Ok buddy, let’s go!” So yes, this started at a very young age.

Driving to and from work lately has been a little stressful even though it’s only two miles one way. For one there is major construction going on at the bridge near our apartment. This bridge happens to cross a very busy interstate. There’s an almost constant stream of semis and other drivers exiting, entering, and crossing this bridge. During lunch time and ‘rush hour’ it backs up more than a bit. One major issue is the Pilot on one side of the bridge. It’s the only station large enough for the semis to stop and fill up so of course it’s the station they go to. The turn lane for this station is just past the light at the bridge. Some drivers just aren’t smart enough to realize that traffic will flow more smoothly if they don’t block the turn in for the drivers. To me that’d be common sense. Just the other day this area was clear, surprisingly enough. Drivers were letting other drivers through. However, one driver decided that they were going to take advantage of the semi that was pausing for traffic and pull out. into my lane and almost into me. I absolutely hate seeing drivers that close from the corner of my eye because I simply don’t trust other drivers. I always assume they’re going to do something stupid (and they usually do). Incidents like this usually elicit some very loud yelling in their direction.

Then there’s the matter of the road near the college. I usually take this route to avoid students. I don’t like stopping to let them cross but I’ve been in their shoes and I know how irritating it was for cars to not stop. Especially when it’s raining. Why don’t people take pity on the poor college student who’s been caught in the rain with no umbrella? The road I choose to take does not have a center line. It has no lines at all, actually. For some reason this makes people think that they don’t have to drive on their side of the road. I’d say that 9 days out of 10 I will meet someone who is not entirely on their side of the road. Or they may be completely on the wrong side of the road. This is particularly prevalent at a very sharp curve. No one slows down enough to stay on their side. I don’t understand this at all. It’s not like it’s a road with little traffic. Quite a few people use this road and still I continue to meet people driving on the wrong side.

For some reason I keep spelling traffic as ‘traffice.’ I have this weird habit of often adding an ‘e’ to the end of random words. Hah! I just did it with random, probably because I was thinking about it.

Batmania

One day my co-workers and I were talking about movies. This has happened several times and usually derails us for some time. A month or so back the topic was movies we hadn’t seen yet. I mentioned that I hadn’t seen Batman Begins yet, even though I’ve intended to and have heard it’s a great movie. I was assured that yes, it’s a good movie and yes, I need to watch it. I made note of it but still never bothered to rent it. Then The Dark Knight came out in theaters. Well, before it ever came out there was the hype. I can’t remember the last movie that had this much hype, if any. I wanted to know if the movie really was up to the hype. (Sue me, I have a rather strong curious streak.) There was, however, a problem. The Dark Knight is a sequel. What fun is watching a sequel before you’ve ever seen the movie that came before it?

So Thursday night we rented Batman Begins. And I really enjoyed it. The movie was very visually appealing. The villains were well portrayed, Scarecrow in particular. I’m not familiar with all of the ins and outs of Batman lore but Scarecrow was, well, scary. Mind you, I usually can’t abide any type of horror or overly suspenseful movie. I should also say that when Ducard was first introduced I kept thinking “Where do I know that voice from? What else has he been in?” because I didn’t recognize his face. I resisted the urge to look it up until after the movie and wasn’t very surprised to learn that the familiarity was due to that character being played by Liam Neeson, the voice of Aslan in the most recent Narnia movies. Batman and his gadgets were impressive as expected. Bruce Wayne is a billionaire, after all. I did find it amusing how Batman disguised his voice to keep from being recognized.

Renting the movie was, of course, a ploy to get Michael to go see The Dark Knight with me. So we did just that Friday evening. I’m not going to write a full blown review; you can find countless reviews online. My first thought when entering the theater (we were a tad late so the previews were already over) was that it was entirely too loud. I know, I know: If it’s too loud, you’re too old. Whatever; I felt that the volume was actually distracting from the movie itself. Also distracting were the occupants of the row behind us. When we sat down I knew that there were small children behind us. And, as small children do, they talked. At some point (it may or may not have been the people directly behind us), someone’s cell phone kept going off. Added to the chatter it became really annoying.

What was most annoying was knowing that these children who were probably around 6 and 10, if not younger, had been brought to see this movie by a ‘responsible adult’ or two. The Joker’s appearance alone is rather frightful, not to mention his maniacal and sadistic behavior and countless violent acts. So many people are shot, blown up, or knifed to death. Don’t get me started on the disappearing pencil trick. All of this doesn’t even touch the violence performed by other characters, including Batman himself. What were these people thinking? That a PG-13 movie is going to be equivalent to the Batman cartoons shown on TV and so is suitable for a 6 year old? That it really doesn’t matter if their child sees a man who has had half his face burned off, exposing bone and muscle? That what these children see in the theater isn’t going to affect them in any way whatsoever?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not part of the crowd that will blame movies and video games for every act of violence done by kids. My point is that kids don’t always know the difference between fantasy and reality. Until they have the ability to recognize that difference and to know that it is “just a movie” they shouldn’t be allowed to watch things like this. But I can’t blame the kids. They couldn’t drive themselves to the theater and buy the ticket. One might be tempted to blame the media; I really don’t agree with trailers for PG-13 movies being shown on kid-oriented channels. However, I don’t think the full blame lies there. It is the parent (or guardian) who I blame. They are ultimately in charge of what their children see. It all starts at home.

Was The Dark Knight a good movie? Yes. Maybe a bit too violent for my taste, but still good. I actually wouldn’t mind seeing both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight a second time. Do I recommend taking children to see this movie? Absolutely not. I wrote this post earlier today and have been thinking about it for a while. My opinion hasn’t changed. I’ve thought before that the lines of what is age appropriate have been moving in the wrong direction. I would expound further but I’ll save that for another day.