Go send Jim some love and any helpful suggestions you can. He is really one of the good ones, you know?

Anybody know anyone in Atlanta who's looking for a real smart tech guy?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 11:12 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Did anyone stay up late last night and watch Rudy's speech at the Convention? No? I missed it, too. That's why I was just listening to it at the NY Times website. It was wonderful and smart and clear. It was a powerful speech because it was so personal. Rudy lived it. He didn't have to be at the Convention speaking. He's not running for anything and no one claims he will be anytime in the near future. He came, I think, to thank the President for his support in those very dark days after 9/11 and to re-affirm that, in his view, this President is the best hope for maintaining national security. You don't have to see it Rudy's way, although I more or less do, but you have to admit it was a powerful speech.

You can find the text and video links here.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 11:04 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I received the following email this morning and just had to reproduce it, all but the link, of course:

Dear Sir/Madam;

From our records we understand that you are inquiring about a new profession.
We have a limited, ont time offer.
Our university can offer you a pre-qualified degree in your field of choice.
We offer signing bonuses of up to $15,000 in your profession.

To obtain your degree with valid transcripts & information on new career bonusus, follow our link:

I have left all the spelling mistakes in. Fascinating, no?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:06 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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My dad gave me a copy of "The Rape of the Masters", by Roger Kimball which I am trying to read on the train in the evenings. This is a great read and you should run to the store and grab a copy.

A little background first. I am by vocation a lawyer and by avocation a frustrated architectural historian. I am removed from the formal study of art history by about 15 years now. Having read Kimball's book, I'm happy I did not make art history my vocation.

Kimball's point is that art historians have stopped looking at art, stopped doing research in primary sources (like, say, journals written by artists) in favor instead of projecting their own views of politics, gender, racism, bias, and every other popular ideological movement from the last 30 years onto the painting. They stop looking at the art as art and start to call it a text, which they can thus read and search for hidden meanings "written" into the text. It is at once both absurd and disturbing. The effect is to destroy the art and to deny its important cultural weight, to remove from the art of Van Gogh its special character as something important in Western thought, to thus attack Western thought and culture as itself unimportant and, indeed, oppressive. The art becomes a tool in the hands of those who wish to deny the Western heritage and to disclaim it.

You should read this book. The art historians, secure in some of the most prominent sinecures of academia, are consumed by their own interest in seeing vaginsa (spelling intentional to avoid odd searches), some with teeth, castration concerns, fears of anla raep (sp., again), etc. It is remarkable. Kimball illustrates his point by picking ten paintings, including color plates of them, and then fisking the academics who write about these works and the artists who painted them.

The thing is, I happen to agree that art is political, to a certain extent. Not every work of art is a political message but I do believe that artists reflect and are part of their society, that they reflect to some degree the social mores of the time (whether reacting against or in agreement) and that you can understand art through its social context. What you can't do, however, is reach back with your own concerns and forcibly impose them on the art (which ain't a text) in order to distort the image to meet your own needs. That's uncool. And sloppy, no matter how many foot notes you include.

But the thinking and the material Kimball pokes fun at are seductive. It's fun to try to do this, as an intellectual exercise. While riding the train this morning, I tried to engage in this exercise. I envisioned Munch's painting, The Scream, and tried to write about it as if I were a modern art historian. The Scream is about a lot of things. I doubt strongly that it is about any of the things I subscribe to it below in the EXTENDED ENTRY (click away, if you dare). more...

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:00 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 That was very impressive, RP! I like how your "random" thoughts were so leading, and how the pseudo-analysis was cloaked in suggestion and insinuation. Bravo! Now please undo it so nobody takes it seriously!

Posted by: GrammarQueen at August 31, 2004 09:08 AM (gDEwS)

2 Hey, you're not so far off! I Googled munch scream patriarchy and here's one of the hits, a paper for Assistant Professor of English Alice den Otter's class in critical theory at Lakehead University in Ontario, on Lacan and the pondering of yellow wallpaper...that's right, yellow wallpaper: Indeed, the disaffection undergone by our narrator is akin to the alienation felt by the subject of post-industrial capital. She describes the form of the yellow wallpaper in terms of reminiscent of the chaos of modern society: It is dull enough to confuse the eye in following, pronounced enough constantly to irritate and provoke study, and when you follow the lame uncertain curves for a little distance they suddenly commit suicide- plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves in unheard- of contradictions. (61 The patriarchal symbolic eternally and ubiquitously renders her aggravated and fragmented. Its "isolated columns of fatuity" (621), rob her of any agency, and leave her to "exhaust" herself "trying to distinguish the order" (621). Further, this "interminably grotesque" (622) formation calls to mind Edward Munch's painting "The Scream" in ways it echoes the vicissitudes of modern life… There is a lack of sequence, a defiance of law, that is a constant irritant to a normal mind. The colour is hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the pattern is torturing. You think you have mastered it, but just as you get well under was in following it, it turns a back-somersault and there you are. It slaps you in the face, knocks you down, and tramples upon you. It is like a bad dream. (623) In these various ways the androcentrism of the patriarchal symbolic rob Gilman's protagonist of her autonomy and afflict her subjecthood. However, utmost in Gilman's agenda is exposing the ways in which phallogocentrism posits scripted gender roles which further destroy the independence of our narrator, and, by implication, of all women. And here's some literary theory from honorary research fellow Chris Pawling at Sheffield Hallam U in the UK: One way of responding to such narratives is to locate them within the context of a "postmodern" culture in which, to quote Fredric Jameson, the characteristic feature is a "waning of affect" (10). Jameson develops this point by comparing the aesthetic "depthlessness" of postmodernist art with that of a "high modernist" icon, such as Edvard Munch's painting "The Scream." In Munch's emblem of the "age of anxiety," "the thematics of alienation, anomie, solitude, social fragmentation and isolation" are rendered formally through an "aesthetic of expression" which has disappeared from postmodernism. Munch's painting "presupposes ... some separation within the subject ... of the wordless pain within the monad and the moment in which, often cathartically, that "emotion" is then projected out and externalised, as gesture or cry, as desperate communication and the outward dramatization of feeling" (Jameson 11-12). By contrast, in postmodernist art this "aesthetic of expression" seems to have "vanished away" and we are faced with "a new kind of flatness or depthlessness, a new kind of superficiality in the most literal sense" (Jameson 9). There's more. Rather parodies itself, doesn't it? You may have the makings of a new parlor game – just do a search on Munch and, say, phallogocentrism or monad, and see what surfaces!

Posted by: Mark C N Sullivan at August 31, 2004 10:11 AM (q9XsZ)

3 I don't much care for yellow wall paper myself, come to think of it. It oppresses me. Truly, I'm kind of frightened to hear that I was so close. Maybe I should listen to GQ and pull the whole thing down.

Posted by: RP at August 31, 2004 10:58 AM (LlPKh)

4 Fascinating! Indeed, you have the makings of a fine art critic!

Posted by: Mick at August 31, 2004 01:47 PM (VhRca)

5 jaw drops I cannot believe I dropped into your comments to cite the drearily analyzed-to-death "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Gilman only to find Mark beat me to it. I loved reading "The Yellow Wallpaper", but then, I read it on my own, because I chose to do so, not because it was an assignment. And not because I had to search for the reasoning behind the story. A friend of mine had to read it in school, however, and was forced to dissect it to death for days, both on paper and in class discussion. She hates the damn thing now. Too bad, I like the story, very much. Well done story of a woman slowly going insane. Creepy as hell. Good post, Random!

Posted by: Amber at August 31, 2004 02:45 PM (zQE5D)

6 I laughed my pants off when I saw "teleological" and "pseudo-sexual". Well done! This reminds me of things I read while in grad school. Ever thought of reentering the academic field as a ghost writer?

Posted by: Mandalei at August 31, 2004 04:10 PM (PibH1)

7 Ok, Mandalei, that would be fun, but where's the money going to come from? Those guys are not exactly flush with cash for the most part, are they? Thanks, Amber and Mick, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was scary how easily it came out.

Posted by: rp at September 01, 2004 01:23 PM (LlPKh)

8 I've profited very much by reading this short essay (and the Jameson-based comments!) and think you should continue it (if you have time/desire). I would just like to add one short comment, though, on something which I think is often forgotten. The fact is that (and you undoubtedly already know this, but as I say, one forgets) everyone starts out as a woman. Just the other day I was reminded of this in an article in the online version of the L.A. Times, where Susan Brink noted how "The first surge of testosterone happens in the uterus, a few weeks into development, causing an embryo with the XY combination of chromosomes to develop male sex organs." What would seem to be the case, then, or an interesting part of the case, is that, as Shelley thought, we are all artists, which is to say creators of many things, from multinationals to oil paintings. Well, actually, from paintings to multinationals is probably what I mean. Thanks for the analyses on Munch!

Posted by: Bill at October 30, 2005 09:04 AM (1U1pt)

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I promised a report from the Fair we went to on Friday and here it is, something between a full report and list of connected observations. In drafting this, I feel as if I am channeling Les Nessman, reporter extradonaire from WKRP. Remember Les? Coincidentally, eerily so, Richard Sanders, the actor who played him, just had his birthday on August 28.

So, first of all, the fairgrounds were huge. Acres and acres of barns and permanent structures. I take my hat off to the organizers for a tautly run show. The bathrooms were clean at all times. Can you believe that? At all times.

The fair was at heart an agricultural endeavor and was country at its best. Kids with "4H" shirts all over the place. Huge displays of new and used farm equipment and tack and agricultural materials. Ribbons all over the place. Tents devoted to the health department and the state agricultural department.

We saw cows. A lot of cows. Really big cows, impeccably groomed. We were all duly impressed. There were prize winning flower arrangements. We saw lots of horses.

There were carnival games. The Girl Child actually won two prizes by throwing 2 darts and popping balloons. I was seriously impressed. I had no idea that she was coordinated enough to do this and to win.

The Girl Child also conned me into going with her on the ride that causes you to go up and down and to spin around. I held on to her so tight. My vertigo is actually returning as I type this. I did not disgrace myself by vomiting. She did nothing but laugh with great delight through the whole ride. Well, she did reassure me a couple of times by telling me it was ok because she was holding on to me.

We missed the Oak Ridge Boys and (sorry, Amber) the husband calling contest.

The girls rode on an elephant by the name of Beulah. She was 35 years old.

We were all in agreement that the piglets were very cute.

We watched dog obedience and obstacle course runs, cheering loudly for all the dogs.

We over paid for lunch.

We bought fresh roasted peanuts from a booth with a huge peanut roaster and they were among the best peanuts I've ever tasted, even when they cooled off. The Boy Child also loved them.

What else to report? It was pretty darn hot and I congratulate myself on the foresight to have sunscreen applied to the little ones before we got there.

I saw no, not one single, Vote for Bush or Vote for Kerry shirt or sticker. That was nice.

Everyone was friendly and happy and looking for a good time. Even the State Police seemed relaxed. And they had one of the Cameros out on display. I imagine that they are pretty fast.

We closed the day with a purchase of maple sugar cotton candy. I abstained, but the Girl Child was enraptured.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 01:13 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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The Games have ended in an orgy of odd dance returns and aged Greek entertainers. Did anyone else think that those fellows all dressed in black and shaking their money makers during a "war dance" performed while women harvested the wheat did not have the body form traditionally associated with dance? But I digress.

The Games are touted as a success all over the media. Were they? I have two small observations.

First, estimates now put the cost at $10 billion. How is this a success where, according to the World Bank (pdf file) average yearly income is a scant $11,660 a year? How are they going to pay for this? What is going to happen to the tax system? While people are crying about the security costs, by the way, please note that these costs were estimated to be about $1.2 billion, or not much more than 10% of the actual costs.

Second, what did the Greeks get for the money? They did not get attendance at the Games, particularly. Ticket sales were generally accepted to be poor and if you watched the Games, you saw that the stands were regularly empty or sparsely filled.

So, how was it a success? It cost a lot to put the show on and no one came.

I am not persuaded.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:55 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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I was watching the Olympics this weekend and was forced to watch the commercials as the Boy Child has made off with the remote and secreted it somewhere. A commercial came on for some product or other, I wasn't really paying attention, but the closing words caught me: "SC Johnson, a family company".

And that got me to thinking a little bit. Is SC Johnson still privately held? Well, a quick check of its website reveals that it is. Then I saw all of the products they sell: Shout; Windex; Mr. Muscle; Ziploc; Edge; Glade; Brise; Vanish; Raid; OFF!; Kabbikiller; Pledge; Scrubbing Bubbles. Many of us have, at one time or another, used some of these products, I assume. Most of us associate the SC Johnson company with household tasks and chores.

But how many of you associate SJ Johnson and Racine Wisconsin with an icon of modern architecture? With Frank Lloyd Wright? If you dig a little on the SC Johnson website, you will find a page concerning the architecture. I was going to extract from it here but there really is no point. Go take a moment and read the whole thing.

Here is a page with some excellent photographs.

Not every post needs to be an exhaustive treatment of a subject. Sometimes its enough to record the thought and point people in the direction to go and indulge their curiosity.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:30 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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We have just returned from eating ice cream down in the village and the Girl Child is running laps in my bedroom around her mother who is seated on the floor. We had the following exchange, me and the She Who Was Hopped Up On Sugar:

Me: Hey, Sugar Girl!

Girl Child: I'm not Sugar Girl.

Me: So, what makes you so sweet, then?

Girl Child: [pause for thought] You loving me.

Very sweet, isn't it?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:48 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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This morning at breakfast, the Girl Child and I watched as her brother happily painted his face and hair with blueberry butter (really, a yogurt spread). My wife said to him, "you are such a goof ball".

I looked at the Girl Child and we had the following exchange:

Me: Where did you get such a goof ball for a brother from?

Girl Child: You made him.

So, there.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:21 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Hi, y'all, I'm hanging the Gone Fishin' sign on the door today. Yup, I'm taking the family, loading them into the car, and heading upstate to the:

According to the Dutchess County Fair web site:

Over a half a million visitors are expected at the 2004 Fair held August 24 through August 29. The Fair is the second largest agricultural event in New York State and has become the fabric of family life and tradition. Thousands of family members have grown up coming to the classic, old fashioned Fair year after year, experiencing something new on each visit.

The stars of the Dutchess County Fair are the farm animals. Over 1600 goats, sheep, hogs, cows, horses, chickens, cattle and rabbits will be judged for excellence at the six day event. In addition, vegetables, fruits, home crafts, baked goods, antiques, grain, flowers and more are entered in events celebrating Dutchess CountyÂ’s farming traditions and values.

Over three hundred commercial exhibitors will display and sell a wide variety of products. Demonstrations such as spinning, weaving and dyeing will be featured. There will be contests such as horse shoeing and forging, husband calling and hay bale throwing, to name a few.

I'll report back on the success of the petting zoo with the children and on whether my wife feels compelled to enter the "husband calling contest".

Have a great day!

Posted by: Random Penseur at 06:05 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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Someone asked, in the comments section, about the Ghurkas of Nepal and I thought his inquiry merited a fuller response than a quick reply to comment so I decided to do a post. I know a bit about them. I have been fascinated by them since I was a child and intrigued by that whole region ever since I read, Kim, by Kipling.

Let's start with some background on Nepal. There is a really great US Government report on Nepal which probably will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the place, although it is a little old. You can find it here. In case you don't feel like reading it, let me extract from it here, down in the extended section, in case you are not curious about the Mountain Kingdom:

more...

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:03 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Sign seen affixed to homeless guy's shopping cart this morning while walking to office from train station:

Repent: Judgment is Coming

My thought in response:

That's why we have appellate panels.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:15 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Have you ever stopped to appreciate the design of the humble subway map? You probably consult them regularly, especially if you live in a big city with a sprawling transporation system. I think that, intentionally or accidentally, they are quite attractive. I was going to post a couple of pictures here, but then I found a way more comprehensive survey: The Subway Page of Maps. This is your definitive source of maps of all of the world's subways, from Almaty to Zurich. This could easily suck up way too much of your time today. Therefore, I dub it my time suck of the day. Go forth and get sucked in! If nothing else, it's a cheap way to armchair travel.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:02 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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I am going to try to take part in Inter-Munuvian Hockey Whoopass Jamboree. I have selected the NY Rangers, the home town team, and will be posting their shield somewhere on the blog soon. Assuming that there will be a hockey season this year, and assuming that people still care, I'm planning on trying to care a little bit one more time.

The Rangers finished last year second from the bottom of the Atlantic Division with 27 wins, 40 losses and 7 ties. It is not looking like this coming season will be a breakout crazy win filled season by the way.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:22 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 islanders been with them a long time...

Posted by: kbear at August 25, 2004 01:16 PM (IAJcf)

2 More of a Panthers fan myself, though I'm constantly asking myself why...

Posted by: Mick at August 25, 2004 01:30 PM (VhRca)

3 We don't have a hockey team in CT. Do We?

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at August 25, 2004 10:27 PM (U3CvV)

4 Poor Stephen-still missing the Whalers, huh? RP-even though you support the Rangers and I support what will be the winning team (the Stars), I still count you as a good friend. No hard feelings when my team wins, ok?

Posted by: Helen at August 26, 2004 05:17 AM (Ug34A)

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To continue yesterday's thought about searches that puzzle me, let me share this little gem with you. I am equally perplexed by people who spend so much time searching on the internet for: "farty girls". Are these the same people who want to know what to do with girls in bed? Or what to do about girls in bed? Do they seek advice or are they looking for a support group? The mind wobbles, to quote an old friend who preferred that to boggles.

By the way, a disproportionate number of these intrepid seekers after knowledge seem to come to us from google.co.uk. I merely offer this information and refrain from making any attempt to interpret it. Although it's killing me not to. Just killing me.

Speaking of farts, by the way, go read Helen's exegesis on sharing these experiences with her beloved. I have managed to stop laughing, finally, and am now just smiling. I warn you, though, NOT SAFE FOR COFFEE!!!

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:04 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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It seems to me that I write so much about Africa that I ought to have it as a category. But it is such a fascinating topic. Zimbabwe is a country of great interest to me and I have written about it's slow motion train wreck of a system of government and civil society at length.

One of the biggest reasons for the decline in Zimbabwe's standard of living and hard currency reserves and general economic malaise is the manner in which the government has handled the redistribution of land held primarily by white farmers before. This land was the source of the main exports -- coffee; flowers; and tobacco. To raise these crops for international markets required a high level of sophisticated technical expertise. The people the government resettled on these farms had no such technical knowledge and, to cut this short, the economy has been devastated with the effects reaching beyond the export to the internal chemical industry (pesticides not needed any longer for farms not growing anything) to the heavy machinery industry (who has money now to buy farm equipment or to have existing equipment serviced?). The effects ripple and are bad.

Kenya is now faced with demands for the redistribution of land which was settled during colonial times and according to treaties of dubious character. Kenya, however, has taken lessons from Zimbabwe and has gone the other direction. According to the article in the NY Times* this morning, the Kenyan government is forcibly resisting the Masai squatting and land invasions. They are arresting and relocating the squatters.

Kenyan officials have no intention of following Mr. Mugabe's example. Uprooting the ranchers, government officials said, would be disastrous for the economy, which relies heavily on Western assistance and on tourism, a major source of hard currency.

On top of that, acceding to the Masai might encourage similar demands by the scores of other ethnic groups in Kenya, many of which have historic grievances of their own, officials added.

The government has adopted a cautious approach to land reform. A new constitution that is being drafted proposes that the long leases granted to some wealthy ranchers, some of which exceed 950 years, be reduced to 99 years. When those leases expire, Mr. Kimunya said, it is possible that the land may be reallocated.

A small round of applause for the cautious Kenyans and their sensible approach. They may yet avoid the calamity that has befallen Zimbabwe.

* Should you go read this article, please ignore the exceptionally stupid whitewash -- "But while President Robert Mugabe backed - and even encouraged - the forced redistribution of land in Zimbabwe as a way of righting colonial wrongs" -- of the land redistribution as Mugabe's one great chance as an historical reformer. Mugabe was trying to hold onto power and he did it through land redistribution. That is the reason, no matter what protestations to the contrary you may see in the press. This kind of off handed treatment of Mugabe just drives me nuts.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:54 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Eagle eyed readers of this blog may recall that I wrote, last week, about the blockade of Katmandu by the Maoist rebels. That entry garnered no comments so I don't really know if anyone, besides me, is interested in the topic. But, nevertheless, there is a follow up. The rebels have announced that they have lifted the blockade after appeals from humanitarian groups. As you may recall, the capital was running out of food and cooking fuel. The rebels have not, however, moderated their demands for the release of rebels held prisoner by the government.

As I said before, if the rebels hold the rope and can tighten it into a noose around the capital at will, this rebellion might be all but over.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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According to Google, someone came calling at my blog because they searched for: "Things to do in bed with a girl".

If you need the help of the internet to fill in that blank, you have no imagination.

Posted by: Random Penseur at 08:07 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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We are getting a German law student intern for a week starting today. We are taking her as a favor to a friend who practices exclusively corporate law primarily for German clients in the United States. This should be fun for her to see how litigation is conducted here. Our friend told us that she really wants to work when she is with us. That's nice. The fact is that she will be able to contribute very little of substance to what we do on a daily basis. Most law school summer associates are useless as are most first year associates. It takes a long time to be able to practice litigation effectively and correctly and they do not really teach you much about it in law school. Still, I've supervised foreign interns before and I have an idea of what to do for them and with them and no, I don't mean to imply a reference to our last President here.

We will let her sit in on a very contentious deposition scheduled for today and I will take her with me to Court later this week. I will give her some research material and a draft pleading and ask her to write me a memo about what I need to plead in order to get around the problems this client may have. I know the answer to that question already, of course, but if the memo is any good she can walk out of here with a small writing sample.

All in all, it should be fun.

Anyone recognize the source of the title, by the way?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 07:54 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 Fawlty Towers?

Posted by: GrammarQueen at August 24, 2004 08:27 AM (gDEwS)

2 Correct!!! Good for you, so early in the morning.

Posted by: RP at August 24, 2004 08:37 AM (LlPKh)

3 damn, beat me to it

Posted by: mikeyinbarcelona at August 24, 2004 10:04 AM (vJk6k)

4 #1 son had it downloaded on my laptop before I went to Armenia, leading my neighbors in the hotel to wonder what in the hell I was watching on Armenian TV.

Posted by: kb at August 24, 2004 11:33 AM (jVRaJ)

5 Drat... I was thinking 'Allo, 'Allo, but now that I think about it, it's definitely Faulty Towers. Oh, man, nearly starting laughing just thinking about it!

Posted by: Hannah at August 25, 2004 10:18 AM (UdFzX)

6 "I'll have the Prawn Cocktail." "One Eva Braun cocktail coming right up . . ." That was for me by far the funniest episode of Fawlty Towers ever -- from Sybil's ingrown toenail to the talking moose with the Germans in between. Re baby associates -- I decided to leave my last law firm when I saw that the first-years were getting paid more than I was as a sixth-year attorney writing telecom contracts at a premium billing rate. Grrr. I get paid only a little more now in-house but the quality of life and rewards of the work more than compensate me for the difference. Don't even get me started on how I would change state licensing schemes and law school curricula in my perfect world. . .

Posted by: John Lanius at August 25, 2004 03:40 PM (Hs4rn)

7 Farty Towels. (Well, that was one of the misspelled signs at the openning of the show.) And I thought I was gonna have a heart attack the first time I lived through that dang fire drill.

Posted by: Tuning Spork at August 26, 2004 01:24 AM (6xRga)

8 JL's right -that was the very best episode ever. "I think I mentioned it once but I got away with it."

Posted by: Simon at August 26, 2004 05:42 AM (OyeEA)

9 This is SUCH a well educated group of people. I love that.

Posted by: RP at August 26, 2004 02:04 PM (LlPKh)

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We own, outright, a Volvo station wagon. We bought it in the days following 9/11 when my wife's job was transferred to New Jersey and we needed a car in the City. Since then, we have moved out to Westchester and have been leading the you-gotta-have-a-car suburban life style. The Volvo has not been a fulfilling experience. Many electrical problems -- locks, windows, etc. Many other small problems. All of this means that I have lost confidence in our ability to drive this car another 75-100,000 miles as I had hoped we would do when we bought it. I bought the car with the intention that we would drive it into the ground. It appears as if I was wrong. Did I mention that it is very expensive to fix, too?

Well, the warranty on the beast is about to run out and I have been considering the cost of the extended warranties that Volvo will offer to me. They are several thousand dollars and they have deductibles, like an insurance policy does. They do not appear to replicate the original warranty on the car.

So, here's where the economics part of the post comes in. What to do? Buy the warranty or, and this is where things get more interesting, admit that the Volvo was as bad an investment as that JDS Uniphase stock and see if I can cash out the equity that remains in the car and buy another car for about or not much more than the cost of the extended warranty. Clearly, we'd be talking about a used car. That led to some investigation by my wife. She selected a couple of cars from Consumer Reports and compared them for safety and reliability. After Saturday afternoon driving four different SUV type cars (a moment of silence for the BMW X5, please, which was so great and so not a possibility), we have arrived at an Acura MDX. More precisely, the 2001 version, with around 29,000 miles. We will, I think, be able to swap out the Volvo for the Acura for a minimal amount above what the extended warranty costs for the Volvo.

The Acura will come out of their certified pre-owned program, is on the list of used cars recommended by Consumer Reports, has been serviced exclusively by the dealership selling me the car, and has a reputation for being a reliable car that can go the distance. Oh, and to extend the warranty (no deductible) on the Acura would be about 30% of the cost of doing so on the Volvo and I think that has to tell you something about the confidence that Acura has in its workmanship

Does anyone have any experience with Acura, generally, that they'd care to share? Anyone think that this transaction makes no sense and I have screwed up a major assumption? Did I get the economics right?

Posted by: Random Penseur at 09:00 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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