Where should your next car come from?

I have really had it with American cars. Up to here (fingers at chin)!
I always had American cars as a young driver - Chevy, Pontiac, Lincoln-Mercury, Plymouth. While the quality was just so-so, I was young and wouldn't consider Japanese or European. I believed the "Live Better - Work Union" bumper stickers. (Back then, no foreign cars were build here.) I figured you kept Americans employed and that was good for the country, and foreign cars were probably no different, quality-wise. My Chevy Malibu's rings went out when it was 6 years old. My Firebird - though sexy - had numerous mechanical problems. A neighbor told me he worked on a Pontiac line in Van Nuys in 1989, and said the line was sped up to increase production, so they just threw bolts that were supposed to hold the car together into the spare tire well ... sure enough, there they were! My Zephyr (yes, I had one, but don't judge me on that one - again, I was young) rattled and shook like the bolts weren't tight anywhere. My 1973 Plymouth Duster was the best of the lot, but was lost when an idiot "t-boned" me in 1978.

When I finally jumped ship it was out of desperation. I had owned a 1985 Buick Century I supported for three years. The dealer service center was on my speed dial, and I was on a first name basis with the towing company (Bruce was the usual guy) that took my car to them for me. The door handle fell off and I was told that the bumper-to-bumper warranty didn't consider that part "essential." I mean after all, it IS easy to put the window down to reach outside and open the door, isn't it? I had 2 transmissions and 3 on-board computers - I mean this one was a dog with retarded fleas!

A friend who sold cars worked for a while at a Nissan dealership in Orange County. With his coaxing, I was talked into a Nissan Maxima for 1989, and I held on to it for 9 years. Held on TIGHTLY, I should say. In that time, I never really knew where the local dealer service was because NOTHING WENT WRONG. Were it not for a job change that allowed me to purchase a newer car (a Toyota), I would still have it. Anyway, I was sold on Japanese cars. The 1999 Avalon was equally spectacular. Never a hitch.

I married Debbie in 2000, and her family was all for Ford. I married her anyway because I thought we'd still use the Toyota. Well, she needed a car and with reservations, I bought her a Taurus (to replace her aging one). You know, it wasn't bad, but once you go Jap, all else is crap (no, I'm not sorry for the politically incorrect word, it's just a contraction, and besides, it rhymes). I have had 7 recall notices on the Ford, it's heavy and lumbering, the performance is lackluster, and the styling is BORING. I will say it has been better than previous American-label cars, but there's just something not quite right about it.

Also, when people have to tell you "try a Ford (or the brand you've been recommended) - you know they're much better than they used to be!" that is not very reassuring. How long have American car makers had to get it right now? Like, a century? I know the Japanese took advantage of lessons learned from domestic development, but why haven't our own manufacturers put the same lessons into practice? Arrogance, not stupidity, is my opinion.

Now that a lot of cars bearing foreign labels are made here, the jobs-issue has subsided, so buying a Toyota or a Nissan or Honda - to me - is the way to go. Same with European, as long as they're not GM or Ford subsidiaries. I think the American labels have had enough time that they should go the way of TVs and most other electronics. Buy the best and don't worry.

That reminds me of a blog I'll write about foreign goods, but that's another evening's work.
Till then,
be nice.

Can the Theater Experience Get WORSE???

We went to see the newest Harry Potter flick. "Goblet of Fire" is good, but Edwards Cinemas has NO CLUE how the experience has degraded, I am quite sure.

First there's the $7.50 matinee price, but the stadium seats are great and the sound excellent. I guess $15 for the big screen is the occasional treat. But then...

The trailers ended (finally, my God I was almost through my snack!), they ended with the warning to silence cell phones, keep quiet, watch out for trash, blah blah get to the movie.

Then I remembered - when NO LESS than 7 conversations were going on around me during the film - SILENCE you cell phone?! I thought it was TURN OFF, not merely silence. Theaters are now pandering to idiots who insist on being able to get calls from the lobby (one of the calls, in front and to the right, a guy ordering snacks when his girlfriend went to the bathroom), friends, or fellow watchers (two of the girls were actually discussing NOT the movie but boys) while I was trying to concentrate on the movie!

This screening room (number 7) had two ceiling fans up in the back that were turned up to "Katrina." It's warm in November in California (low 80s) so who brings a jacket? I finally went to the manager and got him to turn them down. Actually he turned them off completely, which wasn't all that much better. I'm sure those things can be set to comfort the audience, not irritate...

I know people have to go to the bathroom, but I swear a walking trail had been installed in our row that morning, because it seemed relentless. Our parents always raised us to "try" before an outing, and we rarely used public facilities. C'mon people...

But more so, C'mon Edwards Cinemas! Surely you need the business - I've heard the gripes and the changing strategies from you owners. You execs ought to sit in your own theaters once in a while instead of private screening rooms. It's a friggin' circus in there sometimes.

This is the second time I've written about the theater experience, and coincidentally this is the first time since the last movie that prompted the first observation. It's getting THAT rare that we go out to a movie anymore. I like the shared experience of watching a movie in a crowded room, so how do we fix it....

I feel there are only two ways to send a message:
1. Complain. LOUDLY. How will they know is we don't speak up. Tell the manager, not the kid selling buckets of popcorn. This is not his career (I hope).
2. Don't go to a theater. Let them starve. Download the movie or borrow it from someone. Don't buy - don't rent. Starve the food chain. I have a home-theater system and it does well with most movies. Some movies ARE best on a big screen, but the annoyance-level these days makes a hefty home screen just fine.

People, put your movie money into a larger screen at home, take the phone off the hook (or turn the cell off), turn up the sound, sip a glass of wine, and when Brad Pitt can't buy his 14th Hummer because nobody can afford production costs, we'll get real theaters again.

Be nice (except to theaters - financially, that is).

Debbie and I on a cruise to Mexico in 2004