Leasing a New Truck

The lease on my 2007 Dodge Dakota has expired. This is the 2nd vehicle I have leased through Chrysler Financial and I have been happy. My truck has the crew cab, bed liner, keyless entry, air conditioning, and satellite radio, plus power windows and seats. I rarely leave the county, so the 10,500 miles per year mileage allowance is easy. The payment I have made for the past 27 months has been a sweet deal.

Now that I am in the market for another vehicle, there’s just too much to do. I hate the process of getting a new vehicle.  Talking to a car salesman is my least favorite conversation in life.  The vehicle’s style and color is irrelevant to me. The power train, engine size, turning radius is also of no interest to me. I have never raised the hood on my truck and don’t really care about anything but a vehicle’s usefulness in my lifestyle and the ability to go places comfortably.  All I really need to do is list the options I’d like, the rest should be short and sweet and simple.

Car shopping is such a chore for me.  I’ve been watching the ads and trying to read the fine print but have found that the hook is there but everything changes once you enter the dealership.  The price in the paper does not include tax, license, or dealer prep.  but it does include loyalty discount, military discount, employee discount, friends and family, and special dealer incentives.  By the time the final price is determined, it’s not even close to the price in the paper. Less than one percent of the population qualifies for half of the discounts, so they totally take advantage of regular guys. 

What I would like, is to pre-register my credit and vehicle choice walk in, sign the papers, write a reasonable check, and drive away knowing exactly what I got and what my monthly payment will be. Sounds easy, but the salesman always want to continue selling long after I’ve decided to buy, and they want to explain the unexplainable about why I don’t qualify for any discounts offered in the ad.

I wonder if it’s possible to have car lots that operate like department stores. You walk in, find what you like, sit in it, play with the dashboard, drive it to the check-out counter, and take it home. They wouldn’t have to pay a salesman and could get virtually anyone to operate the cash register.  All they’d have to do is offer vehicles at fair prices that do not reflect a salesman’s commission. That would be too affordable and too easy.

I run a bed and breakfast in Michigan.  I do not need a heavy duty truck for daily use.  I just want a truck that gets me around comfortably and can sometimes transport heavy or bulky things.

Dodgeball is an Adult Game

Dodgeball is no longer a kids game played during gym class in junior high with the jocks annihilating the nerds. It is an adult game played for fun in leagues across America.  I’ve seen the movie with Ben Stiller, a lot of it is true. There are players out for blood, trying to physically hurt the members of the other team. It is not just a game but a contest to decide who will be the last man standing.  The good news is that no matter how hard a ball is thrown, even a direct hit to the face does more stinging that physical damage.

Our local league is played at the middle school in Hillsdale and pits teams of 8 against each other on a basketball court.  It is a best of 7 series. A game typically lasts only a few minutes. A set goes for about 20 minutes. It starts out with members of each team lining up on the base line and charging to center court on a whistle signal to pick up as many of 8 balls as possible to be thrown at the other team. But first, each team must retreat behind the free throw line before attempting to hit an opponent.

Some teams have strategy, but most teams do not. The strategists will target the person deemed as a better player and whip several balls at him in a coördinated barrage, assuming that this player cannot dodge them all.  If that player gets hit by an airborne ball, he’s out. If the ball is caught before it hits the ground, the hurler is out and the catching team gets to add a player.  This play continues until one team is out of players.  Teamwork will win more games than individual play.

Players are allowed to cross half court to enter about three quarters of the way into the total game space. Going out of bounds is the same as being hit, and that player is illiminated.  The game is not just about dodging a thrown ball.  It took me several games to figure out that catching a ball is more advantageous than dodging it. When a team is behind in the number of players on the court, it is better to catch than to throw or dodge.  When a team is ahead in the number of players it is better to pick out an individual and bull rush him until he is tagged.

Dodgeball is more of a workout than previously thought. There are a lot short bursts of speed that are necessary to obtain or avoid projectiles. Lateral movement is also very important, and can disrupt  the opponents’ timing and aim.  At the end of the night, not only will throwing arms be sore, but also thigh muscles will be burning. Dodgeball is an intense  energetic cardiovascular workout–much more than I had expected on my first night. I spend many nights at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan, waiting for guests to arrive, but on Thursdays, I have other plans.  Dodgeball is not a game just for kids. Adults enjoy it, too.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Presents the Seinfeld Reunion on HBO

It took the entire season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO to get to the finished production of the “Seinfeld Reunion”, but it was worth it.  Of course, there really isn’t a new episode of Seinfeld, but we get to see what may or may not go on when writers and actors collaborate to create a program.

The premise of the “Curb” side of the show is that Larry wants to get his ex-wife Cheryl back. He devises a plan to woo her by casting her as a new character in a Seinfeld reunion show who will play George Costanza’s ex-wife, “Amanda”. Because of conflicts on and off the set, the script gets made-over and redone. The plot follows Larry’s missteps with his wife on “Curb” to the missteps of George’s character on “Seinfeld”. At one point George quits and Larry fills in.  He knows he can do the character because, as Larry says, “I’m George”.

The reunion show centers around George and Amanda. Since we last saw him, George has become a multi millionaire by selling a smart phone app that only George could create. In the ensuing divorce, Amanda gets half. In the following months, George loses it all to Bernie Madolf investments, but Amanda had withdrawn her money before the Ponzie Scheme was exposed leaving her with all of her divorce settlement intact. George wants her (and his money) back, and it get funnier.

I could not have imagined a better way to get the Seinfeld gang back together. The idea of creating a reunion show that wasn’t a reunion show was the ultimate way to get the characters back on TV just one more time. The script played out extremely well, and I am happy. I’ll be watching reruns of this season from the couch at the Munro House for a long time. I am sure I will continue to laugh at all the jokes to which I already know the punchlines.

Fire at Chicago Water Grill in Jonesville Michigan

I was watching football on a pleasant mid-November afternoon when a friend called to inform me that the Chicago Water Grill was on fire.  This is easily the finest restaurant in the county and may be the best place to eat within 50 miles. I immediately ran downtown hoping it was not true. My heart sank as I rounded the corner to see what was sure to be a horrendous disaster.  Seeing the escalating flames and counting the numerous fire departments on the scene, I immediately knew that there would be no happy ending.

Hundreds of people had assembled across the street and watched with shock and sorrow as the cornerstone of downtown Jonesville and its neighbor, May’s Furniture Store, were destroyed before our eyes.  Luckily, both businesses are not open on Sundays, so there were no injuries to patrons or workers.  Many downtown businesses have apartments upstairs, but these just had storage areas on the second floor, so there were no tenants in harm’s way.

An excavation vehicle arrived and tore down the backside of both businesses to contain the fire as a crowd watched. Jonesville Hardware Store is the immediate neighbor and appears to have escaped severe damage.  The fire fighting ended by 10 p.m.  Many crews packed up and went home while the local volunteers remained on the scene to be sure there would be no flare-ups during the night.

The Chicago Water Grill has always been a great partner to my business, the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan.  My best wishes go out to the owners and employees of this top-notch business.

Lewis Emery Treasure Hunt in Hillsdale Michigan

I was a Lewis Emery Treasure Hunt virgin until Saturday night. We assembled a team of five and eagerly awaited the start of the search for clues that would make us zig zag across the county to the final destination. 94 teams met at the Hillsdale County Fairgrounds at dusk on a misty cool night for the traditional Saturday before Halloween event that was being run for the 76th time.

First, 2 easy clues were found on the fairgrounds. Then came the clues that required a drive. We read and figured and strained our brains on a cryptic message for about an hour when we decided we were already stumped. We elected to follow the next vehicle that moved. Unfortunately for us, the car we were following had a different starting clue than we had, so we were already disqualified for not deciphering our own clue.

Oh, well, we just wanted to have fun without too much frustration. We found the next two clues with relative ease before making the backwards clue much harder than it should have been. I swear we drove down every dirt road in the whole county–twice!  before getting the clue in the can.  Of course, we didn’t have a can opener and resorted to an alternate means to open the container that once could have contained pork and beans. Running the can over to try to pop the lid was a bad idea. It only made it even more difficult to open. We ruined a scissors making a hole in the can, but managed to remove the paper inside in relatively good condition.

The rest of the clues were a breeze for our team. We finished the quest at around 1:45 a.m. and would have been 9th if we hadn’t gotten stumped on an early cypher.  The organizers said we would travel 165 miles if we made no mistakes–we drove 210 miles!

We were frustrated for a good deal of the beginning of the night, but had a blast and acquired some satisfaction upon reaching the final destination and enjoying a pulled pork sandwich and hot chocolate with the other finishers.

My head hit my pillow at 3:10 a.m. and I had to awaken to make breakfast at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville Michigan for a houseful of hungry guests. If the B&B gods are good to me, I will be able to play again next year.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

The Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton Ohio–just 3 1/2 hours from my house. My buddy, Jeff, has been trying to get me to go for some time. The days I was available never matched the days he could go, until this week.

Late arrivals on Wednesday were what I expected for my business, the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan. That allowed me to play hookie for the day. A seven hour round trip and a half day looking at football memorabilia was on tap. We arrived early afternoon and stayed until closing and had a good time.

I was there to see the stars from the Green Bay Packers. Jeff was interested in the Pittsburgh Steelers. The legends from these two teams occupy a lot of space at the Hall of Fame.  With only about 250 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, there is definitely an elite group of players represented here.

An afternoon of enjoying displays and watching highlight films culminated with interactive stuff like throwing a football into a target and taking a head-to-head trivia challenge.  Next time I will bring a football to toss around on the Pro Turf practice field just outside the hall.

Life is good in Jonesville.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Features Gang from Seinfeld

I am a recent subscriber to HBO and a recent fan of “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. After watching just one episode, I was hooked. Larry David is the central character. Larry David is famous for having introduced the “Seinfeld” television show. Larry is actually Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza in one person. The same phobias, insecurities, and inappropriate comments from the Seinfeld program continue through Larry’s character in Curb Your Enthusiasm.

The program is filmed like a documentary or a reality TV show. Through behind-the-scenes programs, I have learned that most of the show is unscripted. There is an idea and a couple of lines that need to be inserted into the conversation. Everything else is ad-lib.

Apparently, the premise is that Larry wants to get the Seinfeld gang back together. Because this is filmed like a reality show, Larry talks to Jerry, and Jason Alexander, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Michael Richards about doing a Seinfeld episode that explains what has happened to the characters in the 11 years since the show went off the air. As viewers of “Curb”, we will see the  stuff–writing of the script, read-throughs, rehearsals, and portions of a reunion show–but there will not really be a reunion show.

This is going to be a very amusing non-reunion “reunion” show that is going to last for 6-7 episodes of this season’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” show. I’ll be watching from my couch at the Munro House Bed and Breakfast in Jonesville, Michigan.  Join me if you don’t have cable. I can’t wait.

 

S.W.A.T. Team for a Day

Our local service group, the Exchange Club of Hillsdale County, had a guest speaker who was a member of the SWAT team. He came to talk about his experience as a member of the regional Special Weapons and Tactics unit. He spoke about hostage situations, robberies, suicides, and VIP protection.

They use a lot of high tech equipment for video surveilance in certain situations that include the use of  robots, snakes, and balls. He demonstrated a self righting ball that is tossed into a conflict area. It is weighted on one side and almost always comes to rest in an upright position. Then a remote controlled video camera can be operated from a distance to spy on the subject.

The officer also brought weapons and safety equipment. I got to be the guinea pig to suit up as a team member. It started with a bullet resistant vest to protect my upper torso and vital organs–it was HEAVY. An estimated 50-60 pounds of armor was draped over my shoulders and cinched up to fit snugly. A 5 pound helmet was added to protect my head.

Then I was given a 50-60 pound shield to carry. A neck harness was used to help support the weight. The shield has a small window and a user controlled spotlight. Missing from the outfit were the bullet resistant chaps to protect the legs, special boots, gloves, and face shield. With a total combined weight of around 150 pounds for all of the equipment, these officers must be in pretty good shape to be able to work while carrying this protection for up to 12 hours at a time.  After about 10 minutes, I was ready to lose the shield.

A new respect was given to these police officers who are trained to handle hostile situations. Every attempt is made to provide the SWAT team with protection and equipment to give them an advantage in any confrontation. The intense technology and training make me happy that these guys are on our side.

Life is good in Jonesville.

 

Mike Venturini

Kevin Skinner Wins Las Vegas Contract on America’s Got Talent 2009 Finale

Based solely on his last performance, I didn’t think Kevin Skinner had a chance to win the million dollar Las Vegas contract on America’s Got Talent. He picked the wrong song and sang it badly–and the judges agreed. However, he has a great story and had sung flawlessly in previous performances. Apparently, Americans are forgiving and awarded him the grand prize regardless of his last performance. Good for you Kevin, but stick with what you do best when you get to Vegas.

America’s Got Talent Finale 9/14/09

The final show of America’s Got Talent tonight pitted 10 acts against each other with a million dollar Las Vegas contract at stake.

I don’t know who the judges were listening to, but the Voices of Glory were only in synch on their harmonies, yet the judges liked them a lot. The lead singer was flat on her solos–which was almost the entire song. To tell them they might win the million dollars was kind, but not honest. They were not very good.

Nobody moves like Hairo Torres.  An emotional performance tonight, instead of a fun routine, will probably keep him from the grand prize. My favorite contestant in the top 10 may not win, but out of all of the finalists, he’s the one with the most unique and original talent. We will see him in the future. He has charisma and movements likening him to Jackie Chan. Hairo is a young man with a huge future in dance and choreography.

Lawrence Beamen could not have chosen a better song to suit his voice. He needs to gain personality, he already has the talent.

Barbara Padilla has an outstanding operatic voice. I do not like opera, but I could listen to her sing all night. That is the mark that makes her special and could get her the Las Vegas contract.

The Fab Five were fabulous. The girls had a great circus themed routine and may be the best non-singing act. There is a definite chemistry between these five dancers who also happen to be sisters. They have great choreography and are extremely fun to watch.

The Texas Tenors are very handsome men who can sing very well. I was very entertained and appreciated the performance, but I’m not sure I could listen to an entire night of them.

Drew Stevyns is a handsome young man with a nice voice who plays guitar. He was good, not great.

Grandma Lee went spicey and racey and used her own material to make the crowd laugh. She’s unique and she’s funny, but not quite good enough to win it all.

Kevin Skinner didn’t hit any of the notes of the song he chose, and being backed by a rock band was not a good idea. The judges said it didn’t matter. I disagree, it mattered a lot. He has no chance.

Recycled Percussion was my least favorite group coming into tonight’s show, but they brought their best stuff to their final performance. They did the right thing by choosing “Wipeout” as their final performance. It was hot, but an entire evening of what they do would be more obnoxious than entertaining.

My favorites were Lawrence Beamen, The Fab Five, and Barbara Padilla. I think the women will dominate and place number 1 and 2.