Schadenfreude in Japanese, or how I feel about Toyota.

ほくそ笑む

In Romanized letters: hokusoemu

Now to stem some of the hate comments, I want to state I have Japanese friends and don’t really have anything against Japanese cars.  I have been to Japan and plan on going back in the next couple of years. 

Yes, I don’t prefer Japanese cars.  What I don’t appreciate is the superiority complex some people have about buying a Japanese car over an American car.  Not that all Toyota owners do this, but I have experienced some people that act like they are smarter just because they bought a Toyota (when in actuality they made their purchase in a similar fashion as they would a washing machine).  Generally, people that buy Toyotas don’t have a passion for driving and it is more a means of transportation, which is fine.  But these are also the same people that drive recklessly since they don’t appreciate driving and only treat it as a means to an end. 

Oftentimes, I see someone doing something stupid on the road and it usually someone driving a Japanese car.  Maybe it is because there are more Japanese cars on the road, so there would be a bigger pool of bad drivers.  But you don’t usually see bad BMW drivers.  Again, generalizing, BMW (the company of “The Ultimate Driving Machine”) drivers are usually better.  Yes, they are often speeding.  But they usually don’t drive poorly.  And I do see people driving American and European cars doing stupid things.  But I just notice more people in Japanese cars doing these things during my commutes.  I’m not saying all owners of Toyotas are like the above description.  Just that I have seen my fair share over the years. 

And I have driven plenty of Japanese cars.  For my Rocky Mountain road trip last summer, I had a Toyota Camry and drove 3350 miles over a couple of weeks.  I actually liked the car quite a bit.  So I guess my biggest gripe is the typical Toyota customer.  What made Toyota’s cars so great in the past was their superior management system that focused on quality.  What has eroded in the past few years is a trend toward cost cutting.  Yet, quality has gone down in the interim. 

Serendipity in the Florida Keys

Normally I can’t get this shot too easily since there are many mosquitoes here on Blimp Road in Cudjoe Key.  Or there are some overcast clouds from a late afternoon shower.  But this time, I got lucky since there was a pretty good breeze keeping the bugs and clouds at bay.  I was on the way to pick up my grandfather to go to dinner (see below) and the sun had just set about a half hour earlier. 

The Island Fish Company has a good menu that is reasonably priced.  It is also right along the water.  It features a tiki theme and is dominated by seafood.  Definitely recommend if you are in the area. 

The Florida Keys are both a place and a state of mind.  I lived down here for a few years when I when I was younger and visit fairly often.  Life is much slower-paced, yet not in the same way it is in Montana for example.  Many people that live in the Keys used to lead very fast-paced lives somewhere else and were lured here at some point or another. 

The Keys represent the end of the road literally in the end of US 1 but for some people it is the end of the road psychologically also.  You find many people here that are trying to escape something.  For some it is the cold, for some it is crowds, for some it is responsibility, for some it is a past they want to forget.  People generally mind their business here and are just laid back. 

I love visiting the Keys.  I learned a lot when I lived there and it is definitely a great place to “get away from it all”.  I couldn’t live in the Keys full time.  But it is good to know a place like that is out there. 

Team Conan

Photo Credit: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/arts/television/14fans.html

I have always been a fan of Conan O’Brien.  Started watching him in high school and through college.  I have always felt that between Leno, Letterman, and Conan, Conan was always the funniest.  I like his irreverent humour, which showed when he was a writer on the Simpsons and translated well into Late Night.  I remember braving single-digit weather (and drinking free frozen cartons of Minute Maid orange juice) to see Conan at the Wang Center in 1996 during First Night.  It was one of the coldest nights I can remember, but I also remember it being really funny. 

And anyone that rocks a 1992 Ford Taurus SHO has my approval:

Photo Credit: http://www.autoloandaily.com/auto-loan-features/celebrity-auto-loans/1354-conan-obriens-ford-taurus-sho

Disaster Recovery in Haiti

Please help if you can.  I have had trouble with trying to donate via the Red Cross Site, but hope you can get thru shortly.  If not, please call. 

 

You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti. http://newsroom.redcross.org/

No more free T-shirts with signup

Photo Credit: http://thesmarterwallet.com/2009/how-to-manage-debt-credit-management-tips-college-students/

The Federal Reserve just passed new regulations making it harder for those under the age of 21 to obtain credit cards.  Overall, I think these new rules make sense.  What would make even more sense, however, would be to educate people more about personal finance.  Bringing back “home economics” in the full meaning of the term would be a start. 

It is amazing what people don’t understand about credit ratings, mortgages, 401k’s, or even how to balance a checkbook after 12 years of education.  Never mind any understanding of stocks or bonds.  A great deal of the real estate crisis could have been prevented if people understood the agreements they were signing (then again, why anyone signs something they don’t understand still boggles me). 

It wouldn’t even be that hard.  You could have a half year course on simple finance that covered things like a car loan, mortgage payments, insurance (health, life, home, car), simple taxes, retirement plans, savings and checking accounts, credit cards and ratings, the power of compounding, and rental/lease agreements.  And to tie in the “home economics” part of it, you could teach about how to buy things on sale (but not just because they are on sale), how buying in bulk is not always a good deal, along with some simple negotiation exercises. 

Nothing too fancy, just something in plain English that covered the barebones.  I think society would be much better off if we had something like that in our country. 

I made a few dumb mistakes financially early on that luckily didn’t snowball into something much bigger (ironically which involved credit cards that offered me free t-shirts).  But I was fortunate to pay off my debts early. 

I wanted to learn this stuff on my own.  To some people, they don’t even know where to begin.  Luckily, there are some very good resources out there for people that want to get started.  So in case one of your New Year’s Resolutions was to get your finances in order (and it is a very popular resolution to have), here are some suggestions. 

1. Money 101 @ money.cnn.com: For the financially-adverse, this site is a perfect starting point.  If you just read all of their lessons, you would be better off than 90% of the people out there.  I strongly suggest anyone (especially those just about to graduate high school and college) to look it over.  You don’t have to do it all at once.  Just read one lesson at a time. 
2. Investopedia:  A great next step after Money 101 if you want more in-depth knowledge about finance. 
3. The Federal Citizen Information Center in Pueblo, CO.  I actually visited Pueblo, CO during a trip to that state just from remembering all of the PSA’s they used to run in the 80’s on TV.    They have a neat little quiz about some very common consumer finance issues along with a list of 66 Ways to Save Money.  All of the information here is great stuff.  And it is all free (as are the links above).  
4. Yahoo! Finance: Their personal finance page usually has a bunch of great, simple articles on all kinds of things that relate to different money matters.  They also have many different calculators to help you figure out all kinds of different scenarios and questions you might have.  Yahoo! Finance is also a good place to screen for mutual funds (and anyone with less than $5 million shouldn’t be investing in individual stocks). 

Hope this information helps and leads you on the path to stable financial well-being!  And feel free to ask me any questions you might have!

Where I’ll be later tonight: Go BU!

Photo Credit: http://www.bu.edu/today/node/9376

Photo Credit: Brian Sullivan at http://www.uscho.com/

Game time will be 7:30 PM Eastern and broadcast on NESN & NHL Network. 

Where from here?

So I was actually able to fit in another trip to Las Vegas during Christmas due to a great rate I got at Aria at the new CityCenter and an even better deal at Mandalay Bay (can’t really beat free for two nights).  I really liked CityCenter overall with the way it was laid out and emphasis on art and design at the forefront.  You can read my reviews of both properties here (Aria) and here (Mandalay Bay).  In terms of the playing poker, all I’m going to say is that Santa left me a lump of coal at the table. 

What this post really is about is that I’m pretty satisfied with my travels last year and looking forward to where I’m going this year.  While I don’t anticipate logging as many miles, still hope for some good trips with time spent with family and friends (and good meals and photos). 

Leaving at the end of next week for Key West (where I spent a couple of years and have grandparents so sort of like going to my second home).  It has actually been a while since I have been there and had the time to take photos (last time was mostly spent partying with friends in Key West and South Beach, so not really camera friendly).  Hopefully, I’ll be able to take a couple of decent photos this time as the trip is much more relaxed and less rushed. 

I’m also going to Spain and Morocco in March.  Looking forward to meeting up with a friend from high school in Seville and then taking the ferry over to Morocco to visit Marrakesh and Fes.  I expect both countries to be very picture-friendly. 

Longer range plans are still up in the air, but here is what I see as possibilities. 

1. End of May to celebrate the completion of my MBA (fingers-crossed!) along with my friend’s Ph.D. in Vegas for Memorial Day Weekend.  I might stay out West the whole week by either going to LA or Utah. 
2. Week before July 4th I might go to San Francisco to wine country with some friends that have free tickets they have to use by the end of July.  Another friend that lives near SF is having a baby right around that time of year, so might not be the best time to go, but will have to see as we get closer. 
3. Chicago for Easter Weekend.  My family doesn’t celebrate Easter, but I get Good Friday off from work and my little sister is off from school.  So in trying to expose her to different cities in preparation for college visits, I hope to take her to the Windy City in April.  I have been to Chicago before, but any suggestions are kindly appreciated!
4. Sometime before Oct. 31 to visit the World Expo in Shanghai.  Would probably include a visit to Beijing on the same trip since a friend of mine hasn’t been and I would like to see the city when it isn’t freezing.  Hopefully, I can learn some Mandarin by then. 
5. Trips to New York City to visit friends.  I haven’t been down to NYC as often as I like to get down there in the past year and would like to change that for 2010. 
6. A short trip or two to this list of places I haven’t been to yet.  Would totally depend on finding a good airfare and time of year (i.e. avoiding hurricanes in late summer, blizzards in February, etc.)
7. Hong Kong for Christmas/New Year’s.  This trip is the least likely, but I would like to go if possible.  The weather there is the best at that time of year (highs in the mid 70’s, lows in the 60’s).  I also would like time to spend with my relatives there and get to know the city a little better.  My last trip there was a little too whirlwind for my taste.

A Man of Letters

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.  Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain