Car Rentals, Still a Big Rip

If someone came in and introduced EDLP to a car rental business, they'd clean up. Aren't you sick of the price game, renting a car is like playing the stock market. For example, I recently booked a car with Thrifty, but then had to change my pick up date. I called them back and told them that I was willing to pay for my original quote, even though I'd be using the car for a few days less. They wouldn't hold the car for me if I couldn't pick it up on the same day and suggested that I re-book -- at 2 1/2 times the original price for a third less time.

Then I checked availability with Sunwing a discount carrier / vacation packager and actually found a car for that period for 1/3 the price (with Alamo) of Thrifty's. From a consumer's perspectice though, this doesn't make any sense...

Overused phrase of the day

If I hear someone use the phrase "going down that slippery slope," I will gag. Why not just say, "precarious" and save three words?

Truffles, the most over-rated food

Don't get truffles, they taste awful and they're cultivated by pigs sniffing them out. They can't compare to potatoes from a taste perspective. I cannot understand what's all the fuss about. And while I'm on the topic of overrated foods, let me add mushrooms, a cousin to Athlete's Foot, and eggplant the homeliest food of all, to the list.

Hi there Corky!

Glad to see you join my legion of followers. What ever happened to the girl with the natural curly hair? Did she get a belly button ring?

Lovin' My Pumas

My wife pushed me to finally buy a pair of those retro looking Puma runners. And while I was never big fan of that look, I'm crazy in love with them now. The retro shoe is much lighter and less padded than today's typical running shoe which is a pleasure. They're easy to slip on and off and surprisingly comfy. Makes today's running shoe look like a ski boot. Think I'll be looking for more retro articles...

Felt the economic pinch in LA

The shopping malls and stores in LA over the past weekend seemed pretty slow and the locals didn't stop complaining about the economy and cut down in services. They even cut down the security checkers at LAX, so the check in line ups were long. Spoke to some people in the home improvement business with projects frozen because banks aren't giving credit. Seems like the Obama TARP money didn't make its way to the local banks, if it did, they're certainly not lending. And while home prices in LA have dropped, prices of the Beverly hills homes in the hills have gone up. All this is hard for an outsider to understand in a city dripping with wealth.,

An LA Thanksgiving Day not quite like the...

Corrections, but enough turkey, laughs, sappy moments, family tension and a close call when an 12 foot oak wood door came unhinged and crashed down in a kid's bedroom, narrowly missing the kid. Still no epiphanies for this writer though...