interested / appalled

My friend Goldy just sent me this email:

"I was reading NYC's budget document and saw this. thought you might be interested / appalled."



Say, what's that at the bottom? Oh us! Terrific, this is a great way to start the day.

Detroit leads nation in first quarter foreclosure rate (freep)

It just keeps coming.

"Continuing a trend from 2006, metro Detroit posted the highest rate of real estate foreclosures during the first three months of 2007, with one foreclosure filing for every 51 households."

Best Snooze Bar ever

Why spoil it explaining what this is? Via a terrific blog, adfreak.

Goulet's Snooze Bars

HB Ride Spotting: Roush 427R Convertible

There's nothing special from a "spy" standpoint here except that it's on manufacturer plates. You can even buy these cars on eBay. I'm posting it anyway though, because it was loud and cool-looking and you need to pay attention to loud, fast, cool-looking cars on Woodward, just on principle*.





a Woodward Haiku:
Unmuffled side pipes
Open the still morning sky
Blacktop and donuts.

Getting our priorities straight, 4-22-07. Chocolate frozen custard and learning what a '67 Camaro looks like on Woodward, first beautiful Sunday of the year.

"A graphical dissertation on the number one song in America" (Village Voice)

A nice breakdown of why he's hot, complete with visual aids. Brilliant.

"It would appear that fly and hot are interchangable. If you are one, you are both; if you aren't at least one, you are neither."

MC: My Property Value

PROPERTY VALUES STALLED: Oakland Co. growth hits 40-year low (freep)

"The county has seen a 579% increase in foreclosures since 1998, with 715 homes lost that year, and 4,855 foreclosed upon in 2006."

I can't express the kind of frustration I am feeling right now - there's nothing like buying a starter house that is too small at the top of the market and then having to wait ten years to be able to sell it for something bigger. Is this the worst thing that has ever happened to a person? Hardly. Does it still suck for everyone in Michigan that our economy is busted, our legislature is unwilling or unable to cooperate, and the value of our greatest asset is depreciating or even under water? You bet.

Older people: If you own a tudor or a brick duplex in Birmingham and you are ready to trade down for something small and manageable with a first floor master, get in touch, we'll just swap houses.

HB Ride Spotting: Jeep Commander CRD

Coming to America? This is left-hand drive, and the version sold in the UK is right-hand drive, so this could be testing on a US model. I'm more convinced having read this.

Sliders

On the way home from the PBR, I stopped at Hunter House for dinner. What can you say about this meal? Every six months or so, you need it. I can't eat this way often, but when I do I try to make it worth it.

Hunter House has great sliders because the onions are so terrific. The fries are good too. While I was waiting for my order, I was looking at the menu behind the counter, and I saw you can get a grilled sweet roll for breakfast, which sounds amazing. If sweet rolls are good, and grilling things is good, putting them together is a natural.

One thing I wonder about - I put a nice tip in the tip cup, but no one saw me do it. I left thinking, "I hope they don't think I stiffed them on the tip since they didn't see it happen." It's a tree falling in the forest - if the person taking your order doesn't see the tip, did it ever happen? This is not the first time the thought has crossed my mind, and I can't be alone here. Do unseen tips count? Karmically sure, but can you show your face again?

La Prairie Pure Gold Cellular Radiance Concentrate

I'm 29, and that means that, let's face it, I am starting to look old. I thought I could deal with it, but it is a competitive world and youth is the edge. I think that this might help. If this "Revolutionary, multi-faceted microemulsion restores look of health, youth, and vitality" to my worn features, then $525 an ounce to lift, firm, resurface and brighten myself is a small price to pay. If I can slap some on and look 27, it's all worthwhile, cost be damned.

HB Ride Spotting: Convertible Hummer H3!

I am re-posting this due to the aforementioned technical issues. Hopefully everyone can see these now.

Thank you! I have been waiting a while for something interesting to peek its' head out, and this is it. Of course you never have the good camera when you need it, but I just saw a convertible H3 out for some testing. It lives near my office, so I will try to get some better shots next time it's around. Maybe if it ever gets about 40 in Michigan they'll put the top down.

Technical difficulties

Sorry about the difficulty in seeing pictures of the bullriding, I think I finally have it fixed. Ever since Google got rid of the ability to use Hello to upload pictures from Picasa direct to Blogger (an elegant solution if there ever was one), it's harder to get the right results the first time. I am starting to think of hosting this blog myself and migrating it to howbourgeois.com. Will keep you posted.

PBR!

Friday I got to go to see the Professional Bullriders Association event at the Palace.







Yup, that is a clown in a t-shirt tank.

"only in books do we learn what’s really going on."

Good-bye, Kurt Vonnegut. Thanks for all the books.

(By the way, I noticed from the article that your first novel wasn't published until you were thirty. Maybe it means there's hope for the rest of us too).

Trenary Outhouse Classic (AutoWeek)

I'm not sure how I missed this, but next year I am going to the Trenary Outhouse Classic. Maybe we'll even enter if I can find someone who will build a racing outhouse with me. I am certain that I know at least a couple of people reading this post who are both capable of building a racing outhouse and competitive enough to drag the thing to northern Michigan. Can they drink enough to power it down the course? Time will tell.

About that drain cleaning bladder

A friend of mine emailed me yesterday and asked, "whatever happened with that drain-cleaning bladder?"

Alas, not one of my finer moments.

The drain cleaning bladder was not a total disaster, but could have worked out better, in that it shot stinky drain water all over my kitchen. As it turns out though, there was nothing I could have done - I tried the bladder, I tried the snake, and I tried the plunger, and the combined effect of those "repairs" was to fill my dishwater with water from the drain. I tried the phone.

When I had a professional come out, he determined that the pipes were clogged with 50 years worth of bio-matter, and he cut the entire iron mass off in the basement and replaced it with fresh PVC. It will not clog again for decades, if ever. I'll spare you the pictures of the old pipe, but suffice it to say that you can load the pipes with a ton of food waste between 1952 and 2007. It's almost enough to consider a liquid diet.

I may have hastened the process slightly though by putting some spaghetti down the disposal. It turns out that pasta continues to expand when it is in the pipe, and I had made special 18-inch long brass die-cut spaghetti from Trader Joe's (the rough edges really hold sauce nicely), which plugged it up superbly. Sooner or later though, this was inevitable, and at least now I own a drain snake. And that drain bladder? Turns out that if there is nowhere for the clog to go, that water is coming back at you somehow. And that's one to grow on.

Mice On A Plane: Search For Escaped Pet Mouse Grounds Flight For 4 Hours (Consumerist)

Lauren and I had to chose to drive to California (and back) in 2003, because Northwest Airlines would not let us take our guinea pig Dr. Fleischman on a plane - they said he would chew through the plane wiring if he escaped, creating a potentially dangerous situation. We tried to explain that he was a) in a carrier and b) pretty content just to stay there and eat carrots, but to no avail.

We cursed them while we were cramming everything we could into my Integra for the trip(s), and again after thirty hours in the car (each way), and now it turns out that they were right after all! Rodents + Plane = issues.

The Loft Where Time Stood Still (New York Times)

Whoosh. What a story.

FYI

I've had four people I know pass away in the past five months. My guinea pig died too. This morning I attended a funeral for a family friend's Grandfather. It was a beautiful service and he lived such a very full and amazing life.

Personally though, I think death is one of life's greatest short comings.

Oh Joy!

Can I just tell you, CAN I JUST TELL YOU how utterly wonderful these past three hours have been!? It's so strange, the things I have done, would have never equalled a fabulous late morning-early afternoon before I became a Mom. It's such an odd realization...
Katy came for three hours today because Noah is on spring break. Knowing that I had a full THREE hours, to do what I'd like, to not worry about driving half way across town to get back to nursery school, or strategically leaving where I am 3o minutes early to pick Noah up right on the dot, was just wonderful. I was relaxed, felt productive and free. It makes me such a better parent to have "me" time during the week. It's not time spent in a spa or on a shopping spree, it's just some space. Space to get the grocery shopping done without a screaming toddler throwing cereal out of the cart. It's time for actually feeling like a 29 year old adult, quietly standing in line (INSIDE!!!) the bank like the rest of the world does instead of being forced to do the drive-up ATM with Noah.
We were married, bought a house and had a baby all in 9 months and 2 days. Sometimes I look back, as most of us do, and wonder where the old me went. For Jon and I though, the three huge milestones of growing into true adulthood happened much more quickly than for most people. That abrupt switch, makes me a little sad sometimes and I miss just being me. I miss being "Lauren, the girl who saw herself as a girl", not as "Lauren, slightly haggard looking Mommy." I saw myself before our wedding as "Lauren, the girl with her whole life ahead of her", the world was mine, so many avenues to explore in career and travel, hobbies and friendships and love. Now, I'm just "Lauren, frustrated, struggling Mommy who is a stay-at-home, but kind of wishes she has a part-time career so she could talk to adults and feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose like her husband does, but can't find work that would really cover the cost of good childcare and besides her son would miss her and I'm sure after 4 hours away from him, she would miss him too."
Now I'm tearing up (I'm fine) because I really am so conflicted. You've got to understand, several years ago, we had moved back to Detroit from San Francisco and I was full of excitement and energy. So many exciting things were going on besides our up coming wedding. I was looking at schools where I could possibly continue my interior design minor and sit for licensing, or even start from scratch and get the counseling degree I had always wanted. I was scouting jobs and making crafty little, adorned baby tee's and barrettes to sell, and was in my first craft sale. It was a fun time, but most of all, I felt that amazing feeling of being young and being free, the world as my oyster.
Having a child not only ages you instantly and for me, took me out of the most of my friend's current situation in life, it can also put a giant stop sign on any future aspirations you might have for quite a long time. Five or six years to some might not seem like a lengthy amount of time, but when you are at the starting gate, ready to zoom out, being faced with a five or six year hold on your plans, it can be a little bit of a let down.
Just call me "Tangent Girl". Where was I.... the point is, is that I felt so ALIVE, to be just ME at the bank! Nobody saw me as some poor schlep of a Mommy. I was just an adult in the world, I was just "Lauren". I miss that so much. When you are a mother, especially a stay-at-home-mom, your identity to yourself and the outside world is as a "mom". Sure, that can be fine, but sometimes I want to be seen as just plain old "me".
Katy came over just before 11:00 and I happily went out on errands just as "me". It was great! First I headed over to the house that my parents are going to be moving to shortly. The house was in need of some updating and they ended up renovating the whole place. At one point the original kitchen's counter tops were taking out. Those counter tops are made of Corian and much nicer than our simple laminate counters. We are due to replace them because of scratches and stains, so my mother is letting me have the Corian tops installed at my house! I went over to make sure that they were something I wanted and to check out the length. My mother introduced me to her contracted as "Lauren, my daughter" and it struck me that this was the first time in a while that I was introduced to someone new without Noah. I thought about it as I left that for all he knows, I'm just a 29 year anything! I could be a 29 year old interior designer or an accountant or mail woman. He didn't automatically see me as just a mom. Odd to think so deeply on such things, but so be it, those were my thoughts.
After giving the counter tops a "go", I went over to the bank. As I pulled into a space, I heard some honking, looked up and saw my mother speeding down the street, on her way to meet a tile guy. I thought it must be nice to have so much "me" time, to have the freedom to get her new house done or to paint beautiful paintings and rescue dogs like she does. As my mother has reminded me on more than one occasion though, and this does make sense, she too, as do most people, spent many years as a mother and in a full time career. She works hard to this day and loves what she does, which may be the ultimate point in life.
I went into the bank, no toddler in tow, and took out some money to pay Katy with. Our balance was right where I expected to be, no panic, so in my book, a great trip to the bank all around.
After the bank I made the drive across town to Home Depot to buy some sand for Noah's sand table. On the way I listened to the Dian Rhem show, one of my favorites on NPR. Most any day is a good day with NPR playing in the background. It was nice, I don't always get to listen to NPR in the car, I have to be fair to Noah and play his music for him, at least most of the time.
Home Depot had the sand. I got a great parking space. The 50lb. bag of sand felt so heavy. It seems much more difficult to carry a 50lb. bag of sand than a 50lb. kid around. At least, I think. The guy who checked me out made a slightly anti-Semitic remark to me about ladies bitching him out for not having propane today because they needed to cook their passover chicken. So i had a lot of fun making him put his foot in his mouth as I told him I was Jewish and said that we are all crabby (Jewish or not) somedays. (By the way, I am half Jewish but frankly, for the record, I'm fundamentally a mix between a secular humanist and a Hindu. Just so you know..)
After Home Depot, I got to listen to NPR again! This time, it was "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross, another favorite. She had on the three comedians that make up "The Axis of Evil", very funny. This is serious, I have been carrying around in my trunk for FOUR months, some clothes to return and I have never, until today, gotten to return them. I knew that I would be given an in-store due bill, so I wasn't in a big rush, but come on...four months? I never had time during the week to get out there, but today I did! Found some nice things that fit Noah this time around and even got a baby gift for a friend.
After that I was left with just over an hour before I needed to get home. It was about 1:00, so I decided to grab some lunch. I can't say enough about how great it is to eat a sandwich in your car, on a warm, sunny day, while listening to NPR. Wait, I must be obsessed with NPR. The deli I got my sandwich from was packed, there really weren't tables, so I got it to go and munched while listening to a book review about "The Mistress's Daughter". It actually sounded interesting, I might check it out.
With less than an hour left and no other quick errands that needed to be completed, I went for a coffee a.......................

Ford Pays Chief $28 Million for 4 Months’ Work

No wonder the guy's always smiling, that's $233,000 a day.

"The Ford Motor Company paid its new chief executive, Alan R. Mulally, $28.18 million in his first four months on the job, the automaker said in a regulatory filing yesterday."

HB Ride Spotting: 2009 Dodge Crossover

This is the as-yet-unnmamed 2009 Dodge crossover. It's not the first picture on the web, or even the best picture on the web, it's just a gratuitous spy shot. I really need to see something fun on the road (only about 150 days to the Dream Cruise!), these camouflaged minivans and SUVs are getting old already. My new commute has me riding home with a lot of DCX employees, but lately they just haven't been driving anything very interesting.



Case in point: This isn't any better, so don't get your hopes up: I saw a Dodge truck, they're testing a new engine, or something. Note crazy huge tailpipe. Whee.



Note to Chrysler: How about testing a candy-flake Viper-powered Pacifica, or a DUB-edition Jeep Compass, or even an SRT Sprinter Van? I'll be out there, so give me something to work with.

"As season opens, cost of ballpark suds rivals city's finest" (SFGATE)

According to CNNMoney.com, if you make $50,000 a year in Detroit, you would need to make $80,648.24 to maintain the same standard of living in San Francisco. So what?

Well, as I noted yesterday, a "premium draft" beer at Ford Field in Detroit is $11, and if you want a plastic bottle of something domestic it's eight bucks. In marked contrast, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, you get a 20-ounce draft for $8 (still pricey), and a 14-ounce beer is $5.75 - not cheap, but not $8.

According to the calculator, that $5.75 San Francisco beer should be $3.56 in Detroit, but instead it's $8, or what you would pay to drink that beer on, I don't know, Mars? It's completely outrageous.

Wrestlemania! (What I Learned)

Last night, I went to Wrestlemania 23 with my dad and my younger brother. This was the culmination of a life-long dream for my brother, which just goes to show that if your dreams are really, really reasonable, you stand a pretty fair chance of achieving them.

The basic idea here has not changed since we were little: big guys pummeling each other, mugging for the camera, and flying off the ropes. What has changed is the scale - this is Big Time Entertainment. There were more than 80,000 people at Ford Field last night for Wrestlemania, and there was a tremendous cross-section of fans. It had the feel of a Super Bowl for the rest of us, except it might be more fun.

Where else can you see Aretha Franklin sing "America the Beautiful," Donald Trump in a ringside altercation, and Dusty Rhodes doing anything all in one night? This is before you get into multiple title fights, wrestling "divas," indoor fireworks, and all of the various sub-plots, sidekicks, interfering managers and sideshows that make up professional wrestling. This is part of the American experience, and there's nothing like it.

I don't watch professional wrestling at home, it just doesn't do much for me. I am still glad that I went to Wrestlemania, because you have to love the sheer spectacle.

A word on two things I did not like, neither of which were the WWE's fault: food at Ford Field, and the horrendous traffic situation. New stadiums are supposed to have great food. The Mud Hens dog is terrific, and I had a great barbecue sandwich at a Houston Rockets game last year. Even the wings at the Palace are pretty good, and their hot dogs don't cost a fortune. Good eats have become part of the sports experience, which is why it was such a downer to get freezer fries and a dry, well-done burger on a blah bun for more than $10 last night at a brand new stadium. Maybe the food is better during the football season, but this was just not right. And don't get me started on $11 "premium draft beer" (i.e. Amstel Light) - this isn't Manhattan, enough said.

On traffic and parking: look, I know that when 80,000 people get together, there will be some gridlock. It's inevitable. But I sat in downtown Detroit barely moving for an hour last night because no one was directing traffic. I passed (slowly) people who were waiting in line for shuttle buses, and I can't imagine how late they got home. I have been to the Electronic Music Festival on days with over 100,000 people in attendance, and the traffic was never this bad, and it even seems to move better after the 4th of July fireworks, when hundreds of thousands of people show up. Better planning would have helped here.*


*On my part too. My dad took the People Mover from Cobo Hall, and not only was the parking half what I paid, but he got out a lot faster by parking further from the field.

Wrestlemania (Action!)

8-man ladder match (whoever gets to the briefcase at the top of the ladder wins a contract to fight for the title).



2007 Hall of Fame inductees. Note Mr. Fuji (in wheelchair) and Dusty Rhodes (far right).



The Undertaker's entourage.



Dramatic entrance for The Undertaker.

Wrestlemania! (Almost time to brawl)

Ric Flair!



80,000 wrestling fans!



Aretha Franklin, ladies and gentlemen!

Wrestlemania! (Pre-Event)

Just a normal Sunday in Detroit.



My dad.



Can't stop, won't stop, even at Wrestlemania.

HB Ride Spotting: Holden Commodore SS V-Series

It's been a while since I have seen something on the street worth posting, but this is a not everyday car. This is the Holden Commodore SS V-Series, spotted in downtown Birmingham, and it will be the basis for the 2008 Pontiac G8.



Is this significant? Some people have argued that Pontiac is irrelevant and has run it's course (new Torrent, anyone?), but this could be the kind of car that revitalizes interest in the brand. If it's fast, high-quality, and not woefully inefficient, it has a good chance of doing that. It does not have the visual flair of a Chrysler 300, but everyone who wants one has one at this point anyway.

Like Wrestlemania, this is not everyone's cup of tea, but if it finds its audience there's hope for the brand, and it will sprinkle halo dust around the rest of the line like the Solstice does. If it misses the mark like the recent GTO...well, they just can't afford to miss the mark. Hopefully it will be a good car.