doylebrau.com

It’s been a while since I last posted anything.  I’ve been busy.  Yeah, I know that’s no excuse.

Truth is that I’ve really spent the last month or so taking everything in.  I’ve been absorbing information and experiences at such a volume that I’ve simply not had the time to take a step back and reflect on anything.  This also extends to my actual personal life.  Friends, if you called me in the last few weeks and I haven’t gotten back to you yet, please be patient, I’ve had a lot to process lately.

I don’t want to get into everything I’ve been up to recently, as I would like to post on it later this week in more detail and I don’t want to ruin the surprise.  Plus, I’m rather tired and would like to go to sleep now.  But I promise at least a couple of mediocre posts this week, which will bring all of y’all up to speed.

I was watching the overhead TV in my favorite laundromat when I saw a commercial for Jeep, advertising their new infinite powertrain warrantee. As the commercial was wrapping up, I saw in the fine print, way at the bottom of the screen, “Excludes Diesel Vehicles.”

Long time Doylebrau.com readers would think that I’d launch into a rather long rant on this subject, on why the Diesel gets no love (and if you did think that, score yourself +2 quarts in the home game, and how the automotive industry is keeping my favorite engine down. And I really, really thought about it.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized, Jeep is correct. An infinite powertrain warrantee on a Diesel engine is a recipe for disaster. To understand this point, one must have a little context for the Diesel engine. First off, the Diesel is a special type of internal combustion engine. It uses compression to ignite the fuel, not traditional combustion. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s actually the difference between something shaking itself apart at about 150,000 miles , and something that can keep humming upwards of 1,000,000 miles. That’s not unheard of, either. One. Million. Miles. On one engine. It happens. A lot. I could explain exactly why the style of combustion makes such a difference (a mechanic once did for me), but I’d butcher it. Suffice to say, the engine last forever.

So, yes, Jeep, exclude the Diesel all you want. Considering the state of the Chrysler these days, I’d say a new diesel Jeep might last longer than the company that sold it to me.

So I’m sitting in the Apple Store waiting for my friend Greg to arrive, and in addition to drooling over the new 160 gigabyte iPod (Dubbed the Classic, how quaint!!), I’m also watching the whole run of iPhone ads on the big screen they have here at Station A.  And the one thing I have to say is man are they innovators.  I mean, damn, even I want one.  Of course, I’m talking about the adds, not the product.  Apple, as a technological innovator, took a back seat to smaller, more creative companies a long time ago.  Where Apple’s genius comes from now is in their marketing department and the department full of people they have that make things look cool.  The recent trend has been: Apple may not be the first to market with something, and when they get there they may not have the most advanced product, but gawddamnit, they know what people want, they know how to make it easy to use, and they sure as hell know how to make people want something more than they should.  Just check out the ads on their iPhone page and see what I mean.  I’m sold.

Yes, I know, the damn thing came out three months ago.  Sue me, I’m a busy guy…

That’s right, how else can you explain the presence of this little item in the MoMA fall catalog (the one that arrived in the mail, not just on the website).

This little gem looks familiar, where have I seen it before? Hmm, could it be something that I’ve had in my possession for almost a year? Could it be that I put the M in MoMA? (Process of elimination with the M, folks.) Could that wonderful little gadget be sitting on my toilet seat right now with a stunt camera perched atop its mounting ring?

Certainly looks like it. I know I probably didn’t out MoMA MoMA, but I’m still happy with the purchase. How else could I have snagged these great night time shots with a tiny digicam?

Here’s to six years of knee-jerk legislation, pre-emptive war, and a keen focus on the most important problems this country is facing, all wrapped up in a nice red, white and blue package.

My office had a six hour “suspicious package” search today that HR refused to acknowledge, despite the block long line of fire trucks, police cars, and scary men in chemical suits scurrying about in the lobby for the better part of the afternoon.  The first responders didn’t bother me at all, but the under-the-rug-sweeping done by my employer was rather irksome.