In my previous career I was exposed to more hours of radio in a day than most people get in a whole week. I lived and breathed radio. In this amount of time, I have heard my share of commercials and let’s all be honest: we all hate them. Sure there are occasionally some witty and entertaining spots but for the most part they are very stereotypical and cliché.

Your average commercial is something like this:

Do you have problems with your old widget? Ever thought about getting a new widget? Well, our widget is best. Our widgets are shown to be 10% more effective than those other widgets, and imagine the money that will save you every month! So, remember to come visit us for all your widget needs.

These commercials make me crazy, but nothing makes me more drive off the side of a bridge while screaming maniacally crazy than the car commercials:

It should be noted that this entire commercial is done via cellphone.

(First guy) FOLKS WE’RE DOWN HERE ON THE LOT AND WE’VE GOT SOME HOTTTTT DEEEEAAALLLSSSSSSSS!!

(Second Guy) THAT’S RIGHT (First Guy’s name) WE’VE OVERSTOCKED AND THAT MEANS SAVINGS FOR YOU! WE’VE GOT MORE (insert car brand name here) THAN YOU’VE EVER SEEN!

(First guy) WE’VE GOT SO MANY THAT WE CAN’T SEE THEM ALL FROM HERE! THAT MEANS SAVINGS FOR YOU! ZERO PERCENT FINANCING AND NO MONEY DOWN… HECK YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO PAY FOR THE CAR JUST COME PICK ONE OUT!

Ok, you get the idea. They are screaming, getting out of hand and in general being annoying. This is especially true at 3am. First off, you are NOT “out here on the lot” at 3am, so let’s not insult my intelligence. I think you need to know that we don’t appreciate that kind of thing.

Today, I heard a more disturbing advertisement. It was just like a car lot advertisement, but it was for a furniture store. Let me tell ya, their cell phone was even worse than the car lot guys. I couldn’t understand more than half of the ad because it was horribly over modulated. Why do you need to scream about furniture? Why? Do you have market research that shows people buy more furniture when the sales people are screaming and running around like chickens with their heads cut off? I’m willing to bet that it doesn’t actually help.

So, if you have a business I beg you please… Don’t scream in your advertisements. I’m not shopping there if you do.

I am an odd person.

I have arrived at this conclusion with a great deal of peace. I have even come to enjoy when people point this fact out in awkward conversations. I find it hillarious.

How, you ask, did I arrive at such a conclusion? Well, it comes from the fact that I am involved in such a wide variety of things. Let me give you a few examples of completely unrelated things that highlight my point.

1. I work on computers, and I am in general a techie, but I made a vegetable garden this year
2. I eat sushi, but I bailed hay today.
3. I am an HDTV Snob, but I want to learn morse code because I think it is cool.

These are just a few examples of how I operate on the extremes. I seem to never have a regular old predictable day.

There is your random post of the week.

So, I mentioned a few posts back that I am trying out different fuels in my Yaris (I am secure in my manhood, after all.)

I had run one tank of gasoline of an unknown origin from the dealership, which rendered 38mpg. I ran 3 tanks of a generic brand gasoline which rendered on the upper end of 38mpg (Somewhere between 38.7 and 38.8) and now 2 tanks of Texaco gas which gave me….. wait for it…. wait for it….. WORSE gas mileage. I was astonished. The reduction was small, somewhere in the 38.05 and 38.2 mpg, but it is worse.  So I guess I am back to the el-con-o cheap-o gas station for now.

Wayne, I realize exactly how un-scientific this study is. I know my sample isn’t broad enough to TRULY prove that it is worse. I’m at peace with that fact.

I’m going to start with a fuel additive soon to see what benefit it may have. I will post results as I get them.

I was looking around on Rhapsody for some Christian metal when my buddy Josh walks in and says “You were looking at Petra”.  I reply:

“Yeah, I’m looking for something to listen to when I feel like throwing things, but I want to think about Jesus while I do it.”

I’m not sure what this says about me, but it struck me as funny.

If you read this blog, and I am assuming that since you are reading this sentence then you read this blog, you’ll know that through much grief and ridicule I recently purchased a Toyota Yaris. This has resulted in some amount of ridicule, but when I fill up all that goes away. I’ve been consistently getting 38 mpg since the beginning, but after some reading I am trying a new tactic.

I have been running gas from one of the cheaper stations around. Don’t get me wrong it’s not bad gas, but it may not be the BEST gas either. So as of my last fill up I am running a name brand gasoline for a couple of tanks to see if perhaps it really does give me a better result.  If it does give a better result, I have the fun of deciding how much more per gallon it is worth to buy that name brand gasoline.
So far, and this is by no means final, my impression is that it will make a difference. The previous tank dropped one bar (the gas gauge is an LED based, not an analog meter) at between 67-70 miles.  This tank the first bar dropped around 90 miles. I’m interested to see how it pans out. I’ll keep the blog updated.