Resetting Gas Station Priorities

I saw the “Dunk of the Night”.  I had just gotten out of my car to fill up with  gas, and there it was, on a television monitor affixed to the top of a gas pump.  After the basketball highlight (shown from about 12 different angles), I was treated to a recap of Dancing with the Stars.

Pretty amazing that wireless/satellite technology and costs have come down so much that we can get caught up on critical news while at the gas station.  I mean when else in the busy day could I hear how Erin Andrews may have a crush on her DWTS partner?

While I thought about how incredible technology is in 2010, I put my credit card into the gas pump reader and waited.  And waited. And waited.  Then I got a message “Beginning approval process”.  And waited. And waited. And waited.

And yes, I realize if I really stop to think about what is happening (a plastic card unlocking the right for me to fill my tank with a liquid so I can magically transport myself for 300 miles at a time), I’d have been less frustrated.  But it was raining. Hard.  For the 3rd day in a row.  And I was getting colder, wetter, and grumpier by the second.  And hearing about Fergie’s tripping while in concert didn’t help me feel warmer, drier, and sunnier.

Can the person who’s figuring out how to get television access everywhere be reassigned for a few hours to figure out how to speed up the credit card transaction process?

From Iceman to Milkman to Mailman

When I was a kid, my uncle used to tell me stories about the Iceman.  He said that in his childhood a guy used to travel up and down the street with huge slabs of ice, delivering them to houses with “ice boxes”.  Once electric refrigerators became commonplace, the iceman was ice out of luck and had to find a new vocation.

And now I find myself feeling like my uncle when I explain that when I was a kid the milkman used to deliver glass bottles of milk on a weekly basis to our house.  I even show them where the little hatch was built into the external wall at my parents’ house for the deliveries.  The milkman would open the little compartment, leave the bottles, and then later we would open the coonecting door from inside the kitchen and take the bottles out (this hatch also served as the emergency plan for entering the house when we were locked out…..I was small enough to fit through and come around to the back door and let everyone in).  But as delivery and pasteurization became less costly and more efficient, the milkman went the way of the iceman.

This week it hit me: Molly and Emma’s version of milkman and iceman will be the postman.  The need for mail delivered to your house daily seems already outdated.  Bills can be both delivered and paid online; personal interactions are much more immediate and easier (no searching for a stamp) online; even receipt of personal checks are being sent more often online. 

The USPS has noticed this too.  It seems all but ineveitable that within the next year or two Saturday delivery will be halted.  That whole thing about rain, and snow, and sleet, and hail also seems to have been given a bit of slack in the past few years as I have noticed the occasional suspension of delivery when the weather is less than ideal.  Having a whole government supported enterprise dedicated to an outdated idea seems incongruous: wouldn’t it be money better spent to ensure everyone has access to a computer and an email account?  The spillover effect (increased computer literacy, a population that is increasingly in touch and not separated) of diverting funds away from the USPS and to computer access would also be positive for the country.

I could send the above to your land address where you would receive it in 2-3 days, or I could find it online and add it into this post in about 30 seconds.

There’s definitely a nostalgic sadness when I mention that I think the days of post delivery are numbered.  But like with the iceman and milkman, it’s just a sign that we’re finding more logical ways to get things done.

Nancy Healthcare

Wow.  I thought Healthcare reform had a good chance (eventually) of passing.  But I never thought I’d become a fan of Nancy Pelosi’s in the process.

I always felt Pelosi was putting her ideological and self promoting agendas ahead of what was best for her country and party (and called her a “speed bump” for Obama in this post last spring).  But it seems more and more apparent that the Healthcare reform will pass where other attempt over decades and decades have failed.  And it looks like she is the key reason for that.

And while I’m sure I support this healthcare reform bill, I really am not sure it will be a complete success or an abject failure.  I mean one side says it will save us lots of money and jobs while the other side says it will cost us lots of money and jobs.  Each side says their statements with utmost confidence.  I’m not sure who is right or if we’ll even ever be able to measure who is right.

But it seeems clear at least to me that there are two truths:

1) More people will have access to healthcare than in the past

2) The current situation is not a workable solution for the long term

These two facts on their own are more than enough to make me a strong supporter for the current healthcare reform bill.  Will the economic impact be hugely positive or devastating?  I really don’t know.  And I don’t think anyone does.  But I have been convinced that the current situation must change due to the two reasons above.

And news is emerging that Nancy Pelosi is the fundamental reason this will get done.  Apparently, post Scott Brown’s election, President Obama was leaning toward an extremely watered down version of healthcare reform.  But Nancy Healthcare convinced the president that the current bill was needed and would pass.  She gave Obama the spine he needed to deliver on the promise of CHANGE instead of “change” that had provided such optimism during his campaign.

And if providing that encouragement and support comes along with some ideology and occasional self promotion, that seems fine with me.

Mitochondrial Eve

My work commute is ridiculously long.  But it gives me ample opportunity to daydream.  And my favorite daydream consistently revolves around being in an up-and-coming rock band. (I am not creative enough in my daydreams to come up with songs that I could write for the band, so instead I appropriate already written songs that I like and pretend they had never been written….and then everyone is amazed when my rock band keeps coming out with these incredibly good songs).

And today the dream got more specific.

First, I heard a segment on NPR (excellent drift in, drift out environment for daydreaming) saying that current humans likely descended from one common woman.  This woman had an unusually large brain for her time.  Really she was a mutation.  But it was this mutation that helped separate humans from all other species.  Scientists call her Mitochondrial Eve.  And now I call my daydream band the same.

Second, I found the perfect concert for Mitochondrial Eve.  Yes the venue would be in the real world, which would be problematic for an imaginary band, but as Kevin Garnett said, “Anything is possible”. 

A key to making the concert perfect is to realize that Mitochondrial Eve is now several albums into their career.  They are critical darlings and have had a strong measure of popular success (but not enough to alienate their original fans).  They make anywhere they go instantly the place to be.  And the place to be on April 2 would be Fulton, Mississippi.

Fulton is where a female senior high school student made it clear that she intends to go to the prom with her girlfriend (click here  for an article).  The school board got really scared about the idea of having a girl dressed up in a tuxedo and said she couldn’t go (though this likely would have been fine with everyone if the prom were held on Halloweeen).  The ACLU came to the defense of the girl.  And then the school board said, “Screw it, we’re canceling the prom, and it’s all her fault.”

So apparently the evil plan of the school board is working.  The girl reports many classmates sarcastically thanking her for ruining their senior year.  If the senior year could have been ruined by a tuxedo, then my version in 1985 would have done it.  Now I know that it simply cannot be done.  But certainly a narrow minded school board can minimize the fun of a senior year, and that is what is happening in Fulton.

Mitochondrial Eve to the rescue.  Or in the real world how about Black Eyed Peas, or Green Day, or Dixie Chicks (it is Mississippi after all)?  Even the school board agrees that if a private party stepped forward to fund and host the prom it could still go on.  Well, Mitochondrial Eve would definitely step forward.  And we’d play all our hits.

The concert poster for Mitochondrial Eve, Live in Fulton, 4/2/10

Retirement Plan

Nomar Garciaparra retired yesterday.  But before he did, he signed a one-day contract with the Red Sox.  This allows him and the Red Sox to announce that Nomar ended his career as a Red Sox.

Huh?

I’m struggling to understand the point.  I think it’s that both parties want to show the respect and admiration they have for each other.  If that’s the case, couldn’t they just send flowers to each other’s address?  Do they really need to have some intern standing by the fax machine for Nomar’s signature to come across?  Did someone take the time to clear this with Theo?  How high up did this go?  And isn’t there something better they could do with their time?

I think we’re being set up for another revenue stream for the Sox.  I mean, people (and lots of them) are already paying $10 for a Red Sox Nation card and all the privileges that entails (which is basically the opportunity to spend more money).  Can you imagine if the Red Sox opened up the one-day contract scheme to the general public?  I think it would quickly replace the gold watch as the gift to give after a career of hard service:

“Hey, are you going to join the retirement party for Harry in accounting? We’re all chipping in to get him a one day contract so he can retire a Red Sox.  And we’ll also have a chocolate cake.”

I’m thinking $30 for the basic package, and $35 if you’d like Jed Lowrie to hand deliver the contract.

Backup shortstop and potential contract delivery person Jed Lowrie