Mouse is my Hero

Ok, so maybe that is an overstatement. I went to the Yale School of Medicine Second Year Show last weekend. It's a big tradition for the second year class to put on an elaborate show that makes fun of the faculty, medicine, and just about anything else the class can think of. There are plenty of songs and dancing. Although DrT is not a second year med student, I saw the video of her show from last year and it was awesome. Maybe I didn't get all of the medical jokes and whatnot, but I was interested in joining her and her friends to see the Class of 2009 show this weekend.

But to my original point. I made a mental list of songs I wanted to download based on songs parodied in Saturday's show. There were three or four songs in total. Unfortunately, I did not write them down. Now I can't remember the songs anymore. At least I remembered one song. Come Together by The Beatles. Sadly, I could not find this song on iTunes. Since this is a great Beatles song, I was surprised.

Thankfully, Mouse saved the day. She just e-mailed me the song. Thanks Mouse! You rule! If you can tell me the rest of the songs I wanted to download, our next night out at the bar is on me. Otherwise, you are buying.

South Quad Pride

I came across this article in the Michigan Daily today. Ah, the memories.

As fun as this fight was each year, it always got out of hand. It would eventually turn into senseless violence and destruction since people went too far and took this way too seriously. Is there really a need to break someone's nose? I mean, come on! At least the South Quad lobby area was not vandalized like it was after our horrible defeat during my time in South Quad.

The Gambler

I hosted a small poker tournament at my apartment this weekend. My brother likes to play once in a while, so I thought it would be fun to have a few people over for a Texas Hold'em tournament. Unfortunately for my brother, he lost all his chips to me in the first hour. I didn't want to bust him, but he moved all his chips in when I had a monster hand.

The decisions made in the following hand during heads-up play was crucial to my victory in the tournament. It may or may not have been the last hand of the tournament.

For those of you that care about poker, feel free to guess which player is me and which player is KottenBallz. Also, try and guess our hands and what player #2 decided to do on the turn. Going into this hand, I had about 8000 in chips. KottenBallz had about 6000.

Blinds 100/200.
Player #1 raises 400 chips to 500 total.
Player #2 calls.

Flop - 3,4,5 (three different suits)
Player #1 bets 500.
Player #2 calls.

Turn - 10 (rainbow complete - flush out of play)
Player #1 checks
Player #2 bets 1500
Player #1 raises and goes all-in
Player #2 ???

If enough of you actually care enough to comment, I'll provide "the solution" later.

I've been playing fairly decent poker lately. I think that means it is time for a casino run sometime in the next couple weeks.

Not That Anyone Cares

I received a letter today addressed to all members of the Elbel Club. It was from the director of bands at UM informing us that the director of the Michigan Marching Band has resigned. I was somewhat surprised, but not for the reason you may think. I am surprised that this was how I found out. I know that I am completely disconnected from the people in the MMB these days, but I know enough alumni out there that are more connected, so I am surprised that no one else told me about this.

Based on rumors from past years, I am not surprised he quit. I was surprised that the director came back for his sixth season in 2006 based on a rumor I heard that he was moving to Florida. Maybe that's where he is going now. I have no idea what he is going to do next.

I don't know the whole story, but I wish the outgoing director the best of luck. He took a marching band that had grown incredibly stale and boring and started to produce a much more exciting "product". The MMB was far more entertaining to watch over the past 4 years relative to when I was a member of the group. Hopefully the next director can carry on this new and more entertaining tradition.

I know that no one actually cares about this post, so feel free to complain about how I wasted one minute of your time.

Family Time in CT

Excluding my rant about the UAW below, I have not been the most reliable blogger lately. Between a 3-day trip to Philly last week, spending last weekend sick in bed, and a busy week of after-work activities this week, I have not had much opportunity to keep up with this site.

Unfortunately, my flakiness will continue for a few more days. My brother is coming to town tomorrow. As a government employee, he has a three-day weekend. I'm going to take Monday off as well.

Oddly enough, other than when my dad came out here with me to help me move to CT back in August 2002, this is the first time a family member has visited. I'm excited to show off the area to my brother!

I hope everyone has a good President's Day weekend.

The Car Rants Continue

Since I am going with a car-related theme this week...

I've been following the dire situation with the Big 3 American automakers for a while. Given my roots in auto country, I find it sad what that industry has become today.

Yesterday, DaimlerChrysler announced (in kinder words) that the Chrysler group is a complete failure and that they are looking to get rid of it for whatever they can get. Furthermore, they will be eliminating around 13k North American jobs.

You want to know what's crippling Chrysler and the other big US automakers? Look no further than the comments from the United Auto Worker's (UAW) leadership in reaction to the latest news from Chrysler. I've included the key quote below:

"While Chrysler Group's recent losses are not the fault of UAW members, they will suffer because of the reductions announced today"

Classic. This quote is why either the UAW or the US automakers (or possibly both) will be irrelevant in 3 years. The UAW has no accountability. There is no connection or pride for the companies where UAW members work. Whenever life is good, the UAW takes all the credit and milks the automakers for as large a profit sharing check as possible. Never mind that past earnings could have been used to make investments to help a company innovate and remain competitive in a changing business environment or return wealth to the shareholders that are the owners with a financial stake in the company.

When times a hard, the UAW blames management. That's a pathetic excuse unless the UAW also takes a long hard look in the mirror. When cars are not selling, the UAW claims it is because management is supporting out of date models. Or because management is pricing too high in an attempt to make excessive profits. Or because management is out of touch and taking larger paychecks than they deserve.

According to the UAW, it's not because US cars cost too much to produce relative to the foreign competition that does not have to pay union-level wages. It's not because the UAW is forcing the auto companies to either overproduce and build up bloated inventories or pay workers to do nothing since the union is protecting unneeded jobs through their “job bank”. It's not because the UAW insists on protecting overly rich medical plans with $5 copays that lead to over-utilization of medical services and a higher cost of labor (and cars). Would you spend more on your car if your auto insurance included windshield wiper fluid and oil changes?

The demand for cars in this country does not support the need for as many employees as the unions force the big three automakers to hire and retain. By taking the hiring and firing decisions away from the corporations, the corporations lose control over their ability to make a sufficient profit for their shareholders. Publicly traded corporations are supposed to be cold and heartless and make decisions that might not always be best for their employees. That's why the best companies are so much more efficient than government. A company that is way too nice to parties that do not hold a financial stake will underperform over the long-term.

I hate to break it to the UAW, but the current state of the US auto industry is as much your fault as it is anyone else's fault. First, it's the UAW's fault because of their unrealistic demands on pay and staffing levels relative to the demands of the open market for cars. Second, it's the UAW's fault because they refuse to take a sense of ownership in the financial results of the US auto industry. Third, it's the UAW's fault that they refuse to consider alternative options and plan designs to help control their ridiculous cost of healthcare, and then blame the lack of government sponsored universal health coverage instead of their unwillingness to negotiate. Don't even get me started on the faults of government sponsored universal health care. That's a rant for another day. (Don't get me wrong, I think everyone should have access to basic catastrophic health care coverage, but the government cannot be trusted to provide this efficiently)

The UAW's short term strategy to maximize returns for union members has ruined a generation of unskilled labor that will be out of luck and out of a job when the automakers all go bankrupt or break the unions through a hard stance in the next round of negotiations.

The executives of these companies also deserve their share of the blame, but they are generally much more accountable for their own actions. Auto executives can be fired more easily and paid poorly relative to normal executive pay when their company underperforms, assuming that their board of directors has more integrity than has been demonstrated at some companies (Like Home Depot and UnitedHealthGroup) in recent years.

When the next round of labor negotiations is completed, the auto companies will force one of two results:
1) Be on a path to financial ruin by giving in to UAW demands
2) Break the union either by forcing them to give in or letting them strike and replacing them with cheaper labor


I do believe that labor unions can be great for professions and have a place in the world today. However, when a labor union promotes an 'us against the corporation' mentality, it will fail its members over the long-term.

Before you all go accusing me of becoming a conservative, let me assure you that I am just ranting against the sense of entitlement within the UAW today. I provide equal criticism to other entitlement problems in our country (like the complete elimination of the estate tax), so my moderate-to-left leaning political views have not been compromised today.

Do you Trust Your Mechanic?

I've been concerned lately that something is wrong with my car. Lately, the heating system rarely blows warm air. I regularly smell the sweet, syrupy smell of coolant when I shut off the engine. Also, the temperature gauge frequently hits the highest point, but the car does not seem to actually be overheating. I suspected that there may be a coolant leak and/or the coolant level was low.

I was due for an oil change, so I went to the place near work to drop off my car during lunch today. I told the place of my problem, and they insisted that their magnificent 24-step check that is part of the oil change will catch any potential coolant level or leak issue.

When I picked up my car, the place said that nothing appeared wrong. The coolant level was fine and there was no leak. Furthermore, they did not notice any problem with the heat.

I assumed that they simply skipped a few of their promised 24-steps. I know something is wrong with my car. I asked what else could possibly cause me to smell coolant whenever I get out of my car. The place said that I may have head gasket issues, but they didn't check for that since it was not one of the 24 steps I paid for. I highly doubt I have head gasket issues. My car is nowhere near old enough for that. The good news is that if I do, my powertrain warranty that covers the engine is still good for another 4 months.

Surprisingly, I had no issues with the heater or the temperature gauge since picking up my car this evening. However, I still smell coolant. I'm not sure what to do next, but my plan is to research symptoms of a cracked head gasket and possibly spend ~$100 for the nearby Subaru dealership to inspect the car for problems.

Anyone have any suggestions? Anyone in CT have a mechanic that they trust? Even though I've been using Midas most of the time since I moved here, I am skeptical that they ever really look for problems related to their alleged 24-step check. The pessimist in me thinks they just check the manual of suggested repairs based on mileage and that's it.

Name Three Words That Describe Me

Mpls Ju e-mailed me the other way to point out the tags on a recent post on MGoBlog this past week. I didn't get a chance to catch up on that site until this morning, but I finally got to see the recent post about hockey, bitching, and math.

While you are all certainly welcome to read this post, I don't expect you to fully understand what he is bitching about. Afterall, it's about a computerized ranking system and college hockey. However, I've become very familiar with the Pairwise Ranking (PWR) system used to seed the college hockey NCAA tournament field, especially since Michigan is once again at risk of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990 after a disgusting loss to conference bottom feeder Bowling Green last night. A loss to Michigan State tonight and Michigan's Pairwise Ranking will likely fall below #14, which puts them at risk of missing out on an at-large berth into the tourney with 4 regular season games left (all on the road).

I generally agree that there are countless flaws in the PWR process. However, I am not quite as upset about this system given the alternative. Would you want a completely objective ranking system that all parties understood even if there were some arbitrary pieces to it or would you prefer a little more subjectivity with the potential for controversy, back-room deals, and scandal? I'll take the PWR for now.

I'm Behind

I could probably post something about several different topics right now. I just got back from Philadelphia. It was my last trip work related trip there (at least in my current job). I completed cross training with my replacement the last couple days and now I am just doing "special projects" until I rotate into a new position sometime in the near future.

Although I can always go back there for a weekend to visit, I am going to miss these trips. It was a nice change of pace from the daily grind.

However, this trip was particularly tough. I have come down with some sort of flu. Either that, or I have trouble holding down two beers and a glass of wine during a night out. Today was a rough day, and I don't really feel much better. Hopefully I will be more refreshed tomorrow since our semi-annual results party is tomorrow night and two of the honorees are FlyingV and UNICorn.

Family Ties

It's nice having family on the right coast nowadays. I spoke at length with my brother today. It's his birthday, though I must admit it's scary to realize that my brother is getting close to his 'mid-30s'.

He moved to Washington DC a little over a week ago. Now that he is settled in, he has a lot of idle time on his weekends with his family still situated in CA for a few months. We've made arrangements to meet up somewhere in or between our locations at least once a month until his family arrives. I'm really excited to spend more time with my brother! Since there are about 98 government holidays each year, he is going to come to Hartford for President's Day weekend. It will be the first time I have entertained a family member since my dad help me move to CT 4.5 years ago. I'll have to figure out how to be a good host, but it will be nice to spend some time with him for the first time in 8 months.