Homicular Vehicide

Apparently, I have the automotive touch of death. Two cars in the last week have fallen victim to my curse.

The first was an innocent, and brand new, van. I purchased a Toyota Sienna on Aug. 2. On Aug. 4, I drove that new van into a suburban. The front of the van was crumpled and they had to tow my van away. Wrecking a new vehicle within 48 hours of purchasing it is not a pleasant experience. That van had less than 300 miles on it.

Despite how weird that wreck was, I did not suspect that anything was out of the ordinary. I assumed that it was just a freak accident and that all was well.

I got a rental car to drive while the van was being repaired. It was a 2007 Nissan Altima. It was a nice car, I enjoyed driving it. I picked it up on Monday morning and drove it all week. On Friday, my wife drove the Altima to work. When she was 2/3 of the way there, the car stalled and would not drive. She called me and I came and picked her up and took her to work. I then had to go back to the vehicle and wait for the tow truck from the rental company's roadside assistance. When I got back to the Altima, I noticed that smoke was coming from under the hood. Within about 5 minutes, this white smoke turned to black smoke and then became a fire.

By the time the fire truck came and put out the fire, the entire front end of the car had burned. There was no hood, no side panels, no lights, nothing left but the frame and engine block.

Another car bit the dust.

The rental company has now given me a Toyota Prius. I am afraid to drive it. I stayed home most of the day Saturday and Sunday, hoping to shake off the curse. It is now Monday midday. So far So good.

The internet is bad

Despite the fact that I spend at least an hour or two each day perusing my favorite sites on the web, I am a firm believer that the internet is an evil evil entity.

Why? Because it is so much harder now to win freebies. Remember back in the day, when every candy bar or soda that you opened had the potential to win you anything from a million dollars to a free candy bar or soda? You looked under the cap, or inside the wrapper, and you were an instant winner or loser. You knew right away, with no effort on your part, whether or not you had won.

Now, because of the internet, things have changed. Companies have capitalized on technology to save money by taking advantage of at least the lazy people, probably a high percentage of everyone else as well. Now everytime you look under the cap or inside the wrapper, what do you see? A code. A code that requires you to perform the following steps before you find out whether or not you won:

1. You are required to hang on to your GARBAGE until you are by a computer.
2. You have to go to the website indicated.
3. Often you have to create an account complete with password.
4. You have to enter your code.

Then the payoff finally comes. You are not a winner.

I don't know about anyone else, but whenever I see the code, I groan in disgust and throw away my garbage. I almost never go online to check the code. Maybe I could have been a million dollar winner!! Probably not, but at least 10 years ago, I would have known, and known right away.

Lousy Internet.