My Car Turned 100,000Kms today

Yup, The car I purchased 3 years and 9 months ago turned 100,000Kms the other day. It was quite a momentous occasion. Marcy D'Arcy is purring like a kitten, and not those kittens who moan all night long, keeping you up, only after head butting the bedroom door open ;)

It got me thinking about the current plight of North American auto makers and a recent discussion I heard on talk radio. Yeah, I listen to talk radio in the mornings because I can't stand Dean Blundel; he's about as funny as a clown funeral, but that's another story for another day.

The argument came about after the president of Ford Canada proposed a $3,500 rebate for buyers of new Ford, Chrysler, and GM cars, if they junk their 10+ year old cars. I thought this was a pretty good idea considering the fact that Cars have become Greener, with a decrease in emissions of up to 50%. Mix the environmental factors with the stimulus the rebate would provide, and it appears to be a pretty good idea. The problem is that during the entirety of the discussion, only pro-old car and anti-domestic voices called in. Arguments ranged from people who want to keep their car for as long as possible, to use it as a measure of their own reliability no matter how much the car costs in monthly repairs, to callers who thought that domestic cars were pieces of junk. One caller even went so far as to misquote statistics from a CNN report, stating that 80% of domestic cars are not produced in North America (The actual story summary is that not all import cars are made outside North America, and not all North American cars are built in the United States).

Whatever the case, I want people to know that not all North American cars are crap. I just rolled over the 100,000KM mark on my mustang, and am proud to say my last mustang lasted 15 years and 389,000Kms. I bet there's plenty of people out there with domestic car success and pain stories. My issue is that people rely on ignorance and biased opinions when making car purchases. When looking to buy a car, do yourself a favor, and do some research. Check out Consumer Reports, ask current vehicle owners if they're happy with their car. Don't just rely on propaganda and slick marketing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to only buy North American, my point is to simply educate yourself before you buy, and hopefully, educate yourself before you open your mouth on national radio.

Dean Blundell on Edge 102 Sucks it like no other!

If you’re not from the GTA, Edge 102 is THE Alternative rock station. We here in Toronto are blessed with 15 Adult contemporary stations, 4 dance stations, 2 urban stations, multiple classic rock stations, and countless easy listening stations, yet we have only one alternative rock station. ¾ of the weekdays and every weekend, my dial is firmly tuned to Edge 102. The programming is more or less diverse although recently, they seem to have a hard on for wolf mother.

So, what do I listen to the other ¼ of the week days? Well, Weekday mornings, I tune in to any station that does not broadcast Dean Blundell and the Show. I’d rather have my anus scraped clean by a seashell than have to listen to the 3-man morning show team broadcast on the Edge.

I do admit that sometimes they can be funny, but they take the jokes to a point where they’re no longer enjoyable. The humour on most part is low brow, but the team insists on repeating jokes until they become annoying. Each morning I can expect to hear the same joke about gerbils in Richard Gere’s butt, hear about Todd’s latest attempts to rail girls or Jason’s whiney commentary on both.

I think I’d have to say my biggest beef with the show is how great Dean Blundell thinks he is. Stump the show was a clear example of his desire to feel superior. The premise of the game was to ask the trio a question that they could not answer. With the aid of the internet, they were able to answer almost any question. On the rare instances where the answer was too difficult to find, the team would deem the question stupid and hang up on the caller. I am sure you’re laughing at it right now. Honestly, yeah, that’s a pretty funny joke, but multiply this across 4 months, every morning and the stick get old.

I’ve heard Dean bash Lakeport breweries and the other buck a beer guys for being crap, yet shortly after their tirade, the edge aired a Lakeport brewery ad. Since then I have yet to hear Dean-o bash his sponsors. I guess the Man can be bought.

I could go on about this issue, but would rather you find out how bad they are on your own. I do think that Todd is a pretty funny guy, and Jason has his moments, but Dean Blundell has to go. I’d like to see Todd leave the show to peruse his dream of being a Robocop look-alike (He looks like Peter Weller as RoboCop. Maybe it’s the lack of Eyebrows).