Radio to the Power of X

(I hope I don't get any posts from XM's corporate lawyers for lifting their slogan for the title of my post.)

My commute to work is an hour long each way. I know, I know - it stinks for sure. Well, it's further justification for my XM radio subscription. XM is satellite radio, kind of like satellite TV except no picture. There are something like 200 channels, and, just like satellite TV (if we had it), I only listen to about 15-20 channels regularly.

At any rate, satellite radio isn't bound by the same limitations as "terrestrial" radio. Mainly, it's rare to lose a signal and the vast majority of music channels don't have any commercials. Since a large portion of my commute is out into the farmland east of Raleigh, most radio signals wouldn't survive. XM keeps me trucking right along.

With all those channels, I get some very specific niches of music to listen to. One channel plays alternative 80s music - which is great when I'm in a particularly synthesized mode. Another plays alt rock hits from the 1990s, which immediately takes me back to high school (complete with sweater vest and carpenter jeans). A particular favorite of mine is "Ethel" the new alt rock channel. Listening to Ethel has introduced me to droves of bands I otherwise would never hear about. I've tried to keep the music streaming on this blog updated with new bands I like as I hear them. Some of the music is from artists that I've liked for a while, too.

A friend of mine from high school once introduced me to Modest Mouse, but it wasn't until the release of their newer album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank that I started to "get" their music. I've also been enjoying new music from Matt Nathanson (check out Come On, Get Higher on the playlist). I can also safely say I knew of him "way back when": I downloaded a fair amount of his music from...ahem...Napster (when it was still free and music piracy didn't exist).

Sure, every now and again I'll mix in a little X-Country (pronounced "cross country") for a slice of down-home cookin'...musically speaking. Cinemagic is a great channel, too - it plays music from just about every movie. The other day I listened to John Williams' scores to the first three Indiana Jones films. Doing so made me wish action music could follow me around all day. When I want a dose of what our friends across the pond listen to, I'll check out U-Pop (Euro Pop).

Even though I spend two hours a day in my car, the variety of music and talk channels are enough to pass the time. Now, if I can just boost my gas economy a little more...

The Slippery Slope

I follow financial current events daily. Just about every headline has oil in it (and most also include inflation). Right now it seems like the entire continent is blaming every problem in the world on oil. “Oil is going to push us into a recession.” “Gas prices are killing working-class America.” “Those oil companies are strangling the little guy.” “I can’t afford my car payments because of gas prices” (I guess the repo man will bring the sweet relief!)

Anyway, I’d be careful about how I allow the “Texas tea” become an excuse for all my problems. In so doing, I might invoke the Great American Right: deflecting my personal responsibility.

Even though automobile manufacturers can’t give away SUVs right now, they’re licking their lips because you – yes, you! – need to get a brand new vehicle that will maximize your fuel economy in these very trying times. Why should you pay another dime to fill up that gas hog when you can find a lightweight gas sipper on their car lot? Think of all that money you’ll save at the pump! What are you waiting for?

I hope you’re waiting to power up your calculator so you can do the math; that bubble of enthusiasm is about to pop…

Few people do the math when they make a change “for the better.” Case in point: when buying a new vehicle in the name of better gas mileage, most folks probably don’t realize that they’re going to have to hold onto the car for a long time before the switch pays off.

Let’s assume the following:

A gallon of gas costs $3.75.

You own a 2004 Chevy Trailblazer outright with 60,000 miles (~15,000 mi/year). According to Kelley Blue Book, you could probably sell it for $8,000. Your Trailblazer gets a combined 16 mi/gal (between city and highway), has a 22 gal gas tank, and therefore costs $82.50 (yikes!) to fill up. You drive 15,000 mi/year.

Enough is enough! You’re sick of paying an arm-and-a-leg at the pump so you jump for a 2008 Toyota Prius (from sinner to saint you go). Your Prius is going to cost $23,500, will get a combined 46 mi/gal, and has a 12 gal gas tank costing $45.00 to fill. You still drive 15,000 mi/year. It costs $3,516/year in gas for the Trailblazer, and only $1,223/year for the Prius ($2,293 less). Holy cow! What savings, right?
Hold the phone.

Unless you have the cash to buy the Prius outright, you’re going to have to finance it. After you sell the Traiblazer and put the proceeds toward the purchase price, you finance $15,500 at 6% for 5 years, which comes out to a payment of ~$300/month. That’s $3,600/year. Are you seeing the problem? You’re spending $3,600/year on the car to save $2,293/year in gas. This means that by switching from Trailblazer to Prius you’re spending $1,307/year more, not including increased maintenance costs for hybrids and insurance on a new vehicle. In fact, not until nearly 7 years after you pay off the Prius will the gas savings offset the initial $15,500. So, if you plan to drive the car for 12 years, you’re all set! (The average American keeps a car for 5.7 years, by the way).

Of course, my little case study assumes you don’t pay off the Prius early and that gas prices don’t change. Likewise, I’m not counting the cost of depreciation in this example, but you should be aware that in those first 5 years that you’re paying more for the Prius, the vehicle will lose at least 60% of its value. If you truly wanted to dump the Trailblazer for a more gas-friendly vehicle, you’d be better off going the used route: a 2003 Toyota Corolla. The Corolla will trade practically straight up for the Trailblazer, and you’ll save $1,861 in gas annually.

Sure, oil is a damper on the global economy right now, but without car payments your personal economy can stay afloat. Do the math on car payments – what you pay and what you get (a depreciating asset) – and you’ll see it’s just as silly as buying a brand new Prius for gas economy. Buyer beware.

The Future of Flicks

Remember betamax? When I was growing up, a buddy of mine had a betamax player and a handful of videos in that format. I can still recall holding The Terminator in my hand - betamax style. I thought it was so novel…

Well, betamax fell to VHS, VHS fell to DVD, DVD is about to fall to Blu-Ray. Before we know it, Blu-Ray will fall to streaming media via our computers, which will coincidentally replace our TVs, home phones, and microwaves. (Maybe not the microwaves - though a popcorn popping portal to the information superhighway would be magnificent.)

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the latest method to rent films from Blockbuster Video: Blockbuster Online. I'm sure everyone's familiar with how it works: you sign up for a plan, and they send you DVDs in the mail. We chose Blockbuster over Netflix because we can take DVDs we receive in the mail back to the store in exchange for new ones. And they have a better dental plan.

Blockbuster's vast film library has afforded us the opportunity to see a number of movies that we otherwise wouldn't. You know how you say, "I'll rent it when it comes out"? You don't want to pay the full arm-and-a-leg to see it in the theatre, so you hold off and pay $4.50 for the home viewing experience. Well, these films would've fallen under the "I'll see it if someone else rents it when it comes out" category. Here are two you may have heard of that are surprisingly great:

Juno: Don't allow the teen pregnancy thing to dissuade you from seeing this movie. Juno is the teenage girl who becomes pregnant, then uses the newspaper classifieds to find an uptight couple on the wealthy side of the town to adopt the baby. The film does a great job exploring the relationships between all the characters, and there are way too many one-liners to list.






Lars and the Real Girl: Ryan Gosling (of The Notebook fame) plays Lars - a recluse who lives in the garage behind his brother and sister-in-law's house. One day he orders a life-sized, anatomically correct doll named Bianca. When she arrives, he believes she's a real person. The story follows Lars as he climbs out of his shell and back into reality. I seriously thought this film was going to fly off the handle and be way over the top. It was nothing of the sort, and actually very sweet.



We've also watched some Woody Allen and Coen Brother's films, but they're a little older. I could take or leave Woody Allen. Although we're still waiting to see his hallmark Annie Hall, Melinda and Melinda was just so-so. The Big Lebowski and Fargo were pretty good from the Coen Brothers; if you haven't seen O Brother, Where Art Thou? you should definitely check it out.

If you've seen either or both of the two films above, feel free to post a comment on them. Also, if you have any good film recommendations, please share with the class.

Rain Over Me

I've been doing a little research on water tables. Last summer and into the fall, North Carolina began experiencing one of the more extreme droughts in recent memory. Not until just the past month have levels in local reservoirs returned to normal. Jordan Lake (which feeds us in Cary) is now "one foot above full" according to the Raleigh News & Observer. I don't know about you, but "one foot above full" means water is spilling over the edge of the lake! Get the sandbags and water-wings ready, right? Apparently not - I guess "full" is sort of arbitrary. If there are any reservoir experts out there who can clue me in, please do so.

Anyway, like I was saying, I've been reading up on water tables (phreatic surfaces to those who are "in"), because they are still low. Likewise, we continue to run a rainfall deficit of eight inches since January of 2007. We're operating in the red, which explains why my grass isn't green.

I've become a bit of a farmer of sorts in the past couple months. Yes, a grass farmer. When we bought our house, the front yard was basically a wasteland because the seller never took care of it. That sort of thing can play into your favor when negotiating price...

...until you have to revive it.

Fortunately, we've had plenty of regular rain since the beginning of 2008; we're already two inches higher than normal since March 1st. Now I'm contemplating digging some little irrigation channels through the front yard to retain water. It's a vicious cycle, this grass stuff: you need grass roots to absorb rain water, but you can't get grass to grow - and thus develop roots - if you can't retain the water. By now, you're probably wondering why I'm so passionate about this.

It's pretty simple: one of our neighbors has a phenomenal lawn, just like green carpet. Sure, I have great admiration and respect, but I can't stand being outdone! I'm looking for the biggest come-from-behind yard victory our neighborhood has ever seen!

I'd appreciate it if you'd post any grass tips or rescue ideas - call it "fescue rescue". Okay, no, don't call it that - that's a very lame joke...but I bet the grass farmers out there are laughing.

Woah! And time flies by...

I get a bit of a chuckle every time I look at date of my previous post: January 26th! What the heck?!

You know how, upon realizing that life just moves so fast, people make the oh-so-wise observation that "time flies"? I get that a lot where I work. It's a dynamic environment - constantly changing (I'm sure everyone can relate) - so it really does feel like the pages of the calendar keep flipping. Well, I started responding to that observation with, "and then you're dead."

That'll get an odd look. "Time flies and then you're dead." Go ahead and use that line the next time someone makes the "time flies" observation and see what looks you get.

Sure, most people don't want to confront their own mortality - certainly not standing around the watercooler at 8:30 on a Monday morning. I have to say, though, that maybe we'd all do some things differently if we did recognize that time waits for no one. Is carpe diem just a fun phrase to jockey around, or a core principle by which you lead your daily life? And what does seizing the day really look like for you?

Why do we do what we do? Being a business guy, I tend to look at things from the opportunity cost perspective: if I do this, I can't do that. "If I read this book for an hour, I can't mow the grass," and vice versa. Most of us probably do what we do (go to work, do chores, go to school) because we "have to". What does it take to spin "have to" into "want to"? And what do we sacrifice by choosing what we do?

One of my all-time favorite films is The Shawshank Redemption. The day before he escapes prison, Andy Dufresne tells his buddy Red, "get busy living, or get busy dying." Now, there's some wisdom - and a little less morose than "time flies and then you're dead."

Well, that's it for now. I "want to" go mow my grass because if I don't, we'll have the worst looking lawn on the street (hmm...we'll have to talk about keeping up appearances another day!)

Off the ground

More to come soon!