There is much to mock...

[elfs]

I took Yamaraashi-chan malling today, because she wanted to, and I, having limited computing resources and little else to do, decided that it sounded like fun. We could have some father-daughter time together, and the mall is always good of fun things to mock.

First on the mocker list: FYE, or "For Your Entertainment," a retail store that sells CDs and DVDs. I mock them because their idea of "world music" consists of half a dozen reggae albums, half a dozen celtic albums, and a few compliations of "The Best of Senegal," "The Best of Morocco," "The Best of Italy," as if one 72-minute CD could hold anything meaningful about an entire country's entire history.

Second on the mocker list: A woman wearing a t-shirt that read, "Every Time You Wipe Your Butt, A Tree Dies." I mean, isn't that taking environmentalism a little too far? Unless this is an advertisement for the bidet-- a revolution in toiletry of which I whole-heartedly approve!-- it's just disgusting.

Third on the mocker list: the guy at the car dealership who took one look at me, decided "You aren't really going to buy a car anytime soon," and walked away. More fool him; I've got plenty of money for a down-payment and yes, I am, in fact, in the market for a new car. And the Saturn Outlook he was selling? Looks sweet. Too bad I won't be buying from him anytime soon.

Yamaraashi-chan and I did one big circuit of the mall, had a good time hanging out, talked a lot about "getting things done" (she, like me, has a problem figuring out what to do next with her life, but unlike me, she doesn't have much in the way of ambitions yet). It was a fun afternoon.

Comments

Re: Cars

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

Check out the Hyundai dealership off the Rainier ave exit from 405. They had a used Accent 5-speed there about 2-3 weeks ago for under $7,000.

I really loved the Hyundai Excell I had. The mechanics always praised it as the easiest car to work on. Said Hyundai cars must be designed by mechanics. Parts were really cheap too.

Re: Cars

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

I had an 02 accent, which i traded in two thanksgivings ago for an 08 sonata. Besides the lack of a direct audio input, and the lack of a scrolling display as regards satellite radio or CD/mp3CD track names, i've got no problems with them to speak of. Warrantee is good, too.

Re: Cars

[shunra.livejournal.com]

Allow me to honk for the new Honda Civic Hybrid. I ended up buying it because the combination of the loan they offered being lower than inflation (2.99%; if inflation rises anywhere over 3%, they're paying us to own it) and the mileage (our average since March is just over 41 mpg - it rises over long drives, hangs around the 36-37 after we've been driving around town for a while) made it irresistible.

And it's Not-A-Prius. Priuses are becoming something of a pestilence, aren't they?

Re: Cars

[lisakit.livejournal.com]

My housemate likes her Honda. She had a Hyundai prior to that and says she would be fine with either one.

Re: Cars

[gromm.livejournal.com]

if inflation rises anywhere over 3%, they're paying us to own it

Aside from the fact that we're due for a good bout of 70's style inflation, it's worth noting that depreciation of 30-40% in the first year (actually the moment you take it off the lot) can be expected for most any car. Which utterly destroys your "they're paying us to won it" hypothesis.

People never factor in depreciation in the cost of owning a car, because they hardly think of it as an investment. As a result, they just don't see this hidden cost, which is one of the largest of car ownership.

Re: Cars

[shunra.livejournal.com]

I actually did factor in depreciation. This seems to work a little differently for hybrids (based on the prices for used models at the time when I made the purchase).

FWIW, I had never intended to buy a new car. My plan had been to buy a pre-owned 2-yr old and drive it into the ground, in order to maximize my safely-driven-mile-per-dollar benefit. In March, when I made this purchase, the numbers pointed to "buy new, enjoy sales tax benefit, enjoy interest rate benefit, and buy a hybrid because gas is going to go up".

So sorry to disappoint in terms of your assumption that you're so much cleverer than "people".

[whitiger.livejournal.com]

"the guy at the car dealership who took one look at me, decided "You aren't really going to buy a car anytime soon," and walked away."

My father worked for a wonderful old gentleman and one day this man asked my father to drive him to the city in order to buy a new luxury vehicle. He didn't mind arriving in our old, beat up, multi-colored truck. He had money but he wasn't snobby. They pulled up to the dealership and parked right in front of the showroom. When they walked in the salesman absolutely refused to even speak to them. More's the pity because the old gentleman had enough cash in his pocket to flat out buy any vehicle the dealership had.

[jenk]

Yeah...while single and car-shopping, I got ignored at dealerships a lot. Even when I asked about the cars. But if I clipped on my Microsoft badge in the bathroom? Suddenly I was Important. And I'd ignore them as I walked to my car and drove away.

Pity Saturn was pissy though...their Bellevue dealership was offering me coffee and asking me what I was looking for just for walking in the door. :(

[bikerwalla.livejournal.com]

I heard an anecdote about Janis Joplin in a Mercedes dealership.

[ladyallyn.livejournal.com]

Wrong Staturn dealership, clearly. I'm on Saturn #5. I can hook you up with the *right* Saturn people. I'll ping you tomorrow with a name... I have an appointment for service on the Vue at 10:00 :-)

[kengr]

a lot of salescritters are like that. I recall fondly the day I walked into a local computer store in jeans and a t-shirt and got ignored. Until the manager greeted me warmly. He knew I was one of the folks making buying decisions for a local company. And that I was the person they called when someone dragged in one of their company's *old* systems...

Alas, they lost our business because someone ignored a bid request from our purchasing dept. As the guy from purchasing said, "If I send in a bid request and make a call to ask about it and get ignored, I'll find somebody who *wants* out business."

[gromm.livejournal.com]

What a tool. You'd think that a car salesman in this marketplace would be pretty damn desperate for something more than the minimum wage that he and most of his colleagues are getting in commissions.

But hey, it's not like its your loss or anything.

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

Second on the mocker list: A woman wearing a t-shirt that read, "Every Time You Wipe Your Butt, A Tree Dies." I mean, isn't that taking environmentalism a little too far? Unless this is an advertisement for the bidet-- a revolution in toiletry of which I whole-heartedly approve!-- it's just disgusting.

Er, yes, I'd hope that was pro-bidet. Alternatively, she may just be trying to call attention to this (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/science/earth/26charmin.html). (Executive summary: premium TP brands like Charmin use old-growth trees.)

[ewhac.livejournal.com]

*boggle* I was under the impression that nearly all the pulp used for paper came from trees farmed expressly for that purpose. Because you'd have to be out of your mind to knock over an old-growth tree for any use as paper, much less bathroom tissue.

[dr-memory.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was gobsmacked myself. Now I'm pricing out in-seat bidets, because for fuck's sake that's not right.

[gromm.livejournal.com]

Interesting.

You seem to have two assumptions here: that logging companies have morals, and that they would do the environmentally friendly thing if they weren't forced to by law.

Old growth trees are very nearly free (minus royalties they pay the government). Tree farms require that a company own land on which to grow them. Which one is cheaper?

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

I had a similar car shopping experience back around 1998, maybe 1999. I'd just moved back from CA to MA after Lucent had purchased Livingston, and I was flush with over-inflated Lucent stock. I was a ~27 year old geek and dressed the part - jeans, T-shirts, etc. Same with my friend z_gryphon, who was with me. I was seriously thinking of buying a Dodge Durango, so one night when we went to dinner we stopped into the dealer down the road. It was quiet, and the sales guys were just chatting, but they ignored us. Finally one came over and very brusquely asked if he could help us, and when I asked questions about the Durango he was very snippy. Then I asked if there was a standard transmission option on the Durango (I rather like them) and he snipped "No one would want that." Well, gee, didn't I *just ask you if I could get one?*

I didn't buy a Durango, and when I did buy my next car (about a year later, a PT Cruiser) I made sure to shop elsewhere.

His loss, I was ready and able to buy a loaded vehicle with cash at the time.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

My ex and I were car shopping several years back. We didn't look like money, but I'm pretty sure we were presentable as we drove onto the lot. The salesguy was nice enough as he talked with my ex, asking about this feature and that feature and specific models that we might be looking for. As soon as he found out the car was for me, he turned to me and asked "So, what color are you looking for?" I was so mad and disappointed that I answered "Plaid." He either didn't see it for the sarcasm it was or didn't care and replied "Well, I don't think we have any plaid, but we do have this nice pink one here..."

Salescritters

[(Anonymous)]

I remember going back to my Toyota dealership to get service on my Camry and wandering from the service section to the sales floor. The sales persons there would pay me (short, black female, mid-20's) absolutely no attention. However, when my husband (tall, white male, late 20's) wandered over to the sales floor, they would surround him and be ever so helpful. Funny things was my husband had just immigrated from Germany so he he had no job to pay for a new car and had never had a license. I was never sure if I was being ignored because I was female or black or both. :)