Here’s the Mr. Laff’s sign from out on Griffin and University, eleven miles from here. I drove the scooter out there, for a change, taking all the back roads to see what I’ve missed using the car. The cities here are definitely far-flung amalgamations of small towns and as such, have no real defined city center. It is truly third world, with slums across the street from five-star hotels and head offices located on street corners way out in suburbia.
We jammed for half an hour, including playing the dreaded “Last Dance with Mary Jane” funeral dirge. For some reason, three bass players were to be there at once. What are the odds on that? The one guy had an [expensive] upright bass, and like most bass players other than myself, tended to play a bit too loud. But he was certainly talented and could fake anything. My show is the other extreme, where talent is merely one of a dozen components needed to make things fly.Today I got a call from somebody offering a mobile home for sale for $900. He says there is nothing wrong with it, but for that price I am obligated to go take a look. Meanwhile Wallace has been in touch so that is wonderful news. I was worried the guy might have died without saying anything.
Here’s a circumstance, last evening I posted my results of an Amtrak price and immediately got 84 replies stating not to trust the Amtrak web page. Sure enough, I went back and discovered even if you check the “round trip” button, the price quoted is one-way. That means the price of the train to California is not $290, but $580 per person. I advised Jackie that the two of us could spend $1,160 on something better. Boo, Amtrak.
Take note it was this blog that triggered the instant replies to that pricing scam. How is it a scam? For quoting the lowest instead of a complete and revealing price. We’ve all been there. You drive across town, park, wait in line and discover the true cost. Now you either waste all that effort or get insulted by the clerk, “What’s the matter, isn’t your credit good enough?” You know what I mean.
I went on to price alternatives and found probably what you don’t want to hear. I looked at rates to fly, drive, train and bus return to New Orleans. The air fare is $213, driving will cost $209, the train is $223 and the bus is $208. Thus, the prices have no competitive difference. I predicted the Internet would have this effect. Despite the fact these modes of transportation don’t overlap, they have all adjusted their prices to so near the maximum that your selection is for the most part meaningless.
I sometimes call this the Mexico City effect, because thanks to the Internet the beat up cabs there charge exactly the same prices as in New York City. Actually, I first saw this not in Mexico City, but in Chitzen Itza. One of the two cabbies in town had gone to school in America and wanted $15 for a two mile trip back in 1987. The point was that he was taking advantage of people who thought they were ordering the other cab since they both had the same phone number. Back then, $15 was a months wages, so he was scalping the tourists.
Several people have contacted me to report the Hippie has given them a story about the incident last week. What a goof. Here’s how everyone knows he is lying. Most liars will tell a quaintly alternative but believable account that falsely fits the facts. The Hippie isn’t that clever, instead, his version is always 180 degrees out of whack. It’s a dead giveaway, that “New Age lying.” For example he is claiming I swung first and that I am barred from the club, whereas in fact the opposite is the case.
What a world of difference the scooter makes. I was back in town in time to hit up two Karaoke shows, Wanda and Laura. Wanda bought some new model DVD player that supposedly will play all known formats of disc. But it was tricky to connect, I found the related RCA jacks widely spaced on the back panel. It also had limited controls on the front panel, including a forward-only scroll button that had to be pressed six times to change from CD to DVD. Anyway, I was out all evening long for a grand cost of just $2.50.
The scooter is already showing limitations. The worst is having to stop for gas every hour and a half. Theoretically, the one gallon tank should last two hours at 35 mph, but the reality is you need to stop where there is a gas pump. I’ve already run out twice within sight of the next station. The highest road speeds in the cities are 45 mph and the scooter handles that easily. With the proper carrier (plastic milk carton), one can carry a surprisingly large cargo. I’ve traveled 556 miles for less than I used to spend on bus fare.
Historical moment: For the record, the Arduino is on the way, shipped from California for $4.95. Here are the details for posterity. The Duemilanove has been replaced by the Uno. My sources say the only difference is some USB connection, so the Uno it is. The word is all my tutorials and study material will work with the newer unit. The price of the brainboard itself was $29.95, or about half what they cost when I first began looking. My mind is racing ahead to getting this thing to “Hello World”.
Oops, too much jargon. Here’s what it means. Whenever one learns a new programming language, the traditional first test of competence is to get the program to print or display “Hello World”. This has been so as far back as I can remember. Since the Arduino cannot display, the equivalent is to get a light to blink according to programming controls. This is considerably more challenging that doing the same with timers or capacitors. And I am 110% certain I will get it on the first attempt. This is the gadget that bingo bought.
