Random Thoughts

So, the problem with blogging is remembering to update these things regularly. Especially when there’s not much going on – or there’s too much going on. Either way, I’ve been remiss.

That said, I don’t really have much to say right now, so I’m kind of rambling about whatever thoughts have crossed my feeble little mind lately.

• Inept car dealers really suck. Having spent some time as a dealer myself, I understand the car buying process better than most. That said, when it came time to buy my new ride, I used a company contact to help me out. Since he works for the manufacturer, he hooked me up with a local dealer in LA to facilitate the delivery and paperwork part of the transaction… and that’s where things got messy.

  First, the car was late, though that wasn’t really the dealer’s fault. Still, his poor communication throughout the delivery cost me extra bucks for a rental car for nearly a month longer than I planned. Then, when the car finally arrived, not all of the paperwork was in order, resulting in a number of FedEx packages being sent back and forth between LA and Vegas, and multiple trips to the DMV, which is never fun.

  Finally, to add insult to injury, the delay in paperwork meant I got notice that I was enrolled in BMW’s automatic payment plan two days after I sent them my first month’s check. Or, to put it another way, I’ve paid December’s bill twice. Thankfully, I can just apply the second payment to January, but that’s another chunk of change out the door that I could have held on to for another month.

• Vegas is… odd. Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying my new hometown, but I’m not really sure it qualifies as a city, unless of course, you live in Reno. There’s the strip and downtown (which is really small and kind of sleazy) and, other than that, not much. It’s all strip malls and suburban sprall in the middle of the desert.

  There are some great restaurants, clubs and shows if you want to spend all of your time on the Strip, but once you leave Las Vegas Boulevard, there’s just not much of anything exciting. Unless you count the strip clubs and massage parlors that seem to populate every half-filled shopping mall. Still, the weather is good, things are cheap, and its certainly not Dublin. All that said, I don’t think is really ever going to be “home” for me. It’s great for awhile and I’m happy to be here, but I sense that I’ll be talking to movers again within the next few years.

• The holidays and an economic crisis don’t really play well together. Yeah, I know, this isn’t any kind of major (or even minor) revelation, but it is strange to see all of these stores and companies (including Ford, GM and Chrysler) advertising special holiday deals to people who have absolutely no money with which to take advantage of them.

  It’s the perpetuation of the vicious cycle. The economy sucks and you may (or may soon) be out of work, so make yourself feel better by spending money on stuff that you don’t need or really can’t afford. Remember, your dollars fuel the retail economy and allow the banks to offer you more credit so you can buy even more stuff you can’t pay for. So shop ’til it hurts and have a happy holiday.

OK… that seems random enough for now. I’m off for a beer.