Chris Moss Online

Chevrolet’s introduction of its car, the “Nova” into Latin American countries is the subject of an urban myth about the failure to plan in business. “No va” translates to “doesn’t go” in Spanish and for some reason this has become a tale that is cited in otherwise very credible textbooks about an international business blunder, however it isn’t true.

What is true, is that on last Saturday, our Chrysler would “no va.” As we were returning from Lake Texoma, on the border with Oklahoma, the car decided to stop running in McKinney. It was almost like it ran out of gas. I was able to steer it onto the shoulder, onto the next exit ramp, to the service road and into a strip shopping center, right into a parking space. Although the car did not consult with us before it decided to shut itself off, James and I were very fortunate that the car didn’t make this unilateral decision halway between Sherman and McKinney. So, neither of us got upset, except for me briefly when I wanted to throw my stupid cell phone against a wall because the person I was talking to about a tow truck couldn’t hear me.

A call to AAA was placed and a tow truck dispached, and Jonas was kind enough to come get us and bring us back to Frisco. The car was towed to the dealership from where the car was purchased in the first place, because it was close and AAA will only tow a short distance for free, so it didn’t seem like a good idea to tow it to Frisco. At the dealership, James and I took a look at a Pacifica, which is a “crossover” between car and SUV.

The problem with the car was the fuel pump, and some of you may know I’ve recently been experiencing some problems with the starter, so that was fixed as well. However, the car is coming up on 100,000 miles, which means maintenance: timing chain, drive belts, spark plugs, radiator and transmission service and fuel-injector service. During the week, I was able to negotiate the cost for all this down from $2,200 to $1,700.

I contemplated trading it away, and a call to the sales guy to ask for a trade-in value on my car resulted in a promised call back but no actual call back. So when the car manufacturers lament poor sales, you know who to blame. We also discovered that there are no rental cars available in the Dallas area because they were all in Houston to respond to Katrina (FEMA, Red Cross, insurance adjusters, victims, etc) and this was well before Rita showed up. In theory, we’re still waiting on Enterprise to call as soon as a car becomes available. I inconvenienced James by taking his car, and Brian for having to chauffeur James a bit. Oh, and Bobby and Ian who were kind enough to pick me up to go to dinner at Campisi’s on Monday Thanks to all of you (and Jonas) for getting us out of a jam!

We were able to pick the car up on Wednesday, and it does actually run better. I’m actually glad to still have it, because I really like that car and I’m also not excited about having another car payment.

Pardon the delays in posting – it’s been a very hectic week as you’ll soon see.

On Saturday, James and I headed up to Lake Texoma in order to attend a friend’s wedding. They rented a houseboat and we took off for a beach on the lake. The wedding took place on a beach, then we re-boarded and cruised around for a while. I have to say it was quite enjoyable, as we had the chance to chat for a long time with Kathy Seei, as well as getting to know her husband, Bob, a bit better. Bob is a really neat guy and reminds me of the types of friends my parents had when I was growing up. It was great to get out on a lake on a boat like that, because that is how I spent most of my weekends and summers when I was a kid. It reminded me how much I miss it, and how easily I could slip back into that kind of weekend life. Here’s my perfect weekend, if I had a boat.

Friday – after work, pack and go to the lake. Upon arrival, put on some music, unload and grill dinner. Listen to music and relax.
Saturday – take the boat out for a spin, explore, see what other people are up to, swim, do minor repairs if needed. Have another nice dinner from the grill, watch the sunset, generally relax.
Sunday – repeat Saturday until time to go home.

Sounds nice, huh? It works even better if you have a ski boat or jet ski, or friends who have something like that, so you can have visitors or go skiing.

The day was really pleasant, although I also have to say that the captain wasn’t a very good one. It was amusing to me that he didn’t ask the passengers to stay off the front deck while they put out the land anchors. Instead he made us guess which way he was going to walk so we were in his way. On the cruise back, he literally steered the boat aimlessly, instead of picking an appropriate destination for the time we had left and going there and back. Upon our return, they took us to the fuel dock instead of the regular dock. The captain evidently envisioned everyone just waiting while they got fuel (nevermind we had all been out in 100 degree sun for six hours). He also didn’t ask people to stay back from the side while he brought it in and at one point I thought some kids’ fingers were going to get smashed. He did a terrible job bringing it in, and I can say that because I had the pleasure of piloting a 43″ houseboat my parents formerly owned. It had twin engines and a flying bridge, and piloting it is one of the most satisfying things I think I have ever done. This captain smacked the side a number of times, and attempted a maneuver with a rope to pull the boat alongside, but it didn’t really work. If he had just brought it alongside smoothly the first time, his deck hands could have easily tied it off. Oh well, no one ever listens to me.

A final note, the website for this “Fastrac” from where the boat was rented includes a picture of a different captain, who is “coast guard certified” with the quotes like that. I think that implies he actually isn’t, if it’s in quotes. If he’s the captain on the website, I’m guessing the one we had on board that day must be their inferior captain!

It’s hard to believe no one else has blogged about our big time at Six Flags on Friday. Ian works for Pepsi/Frito Lay and they hold an annual employee picnic where they rent out the whole park which is otherwise closed to the public. The employees can invite friends, etc so we pay what amounts to regular (~$30) for tickets, which includes $10 in park cash (“Daffy Dollars”) that we usually use to eat dinner. As an added bonus, there are stations throughout the park offering free bags of Frito Lay products and cold Pepsi products. So we gorge ourselves on junk food and ride the rides. This year’s group consisted of Bobby & Ian, James & I and Layton.

First it should be mentioned that James doesn’t do the rides, and he and I (I think) are both okay with that. Of course, I always do the childish “watch me watch me watch me” thing. The challenge this year was that he managed to get his back out of whack the other day and it was still sore, so walking around a place like Six Flags for 6 hours wasn’t really something he relished. He was so sweet to come along and join in the fun regardless. Ian and I managed to do all the rides we wanted to and, surprisingly, we ended up leaving by about 10 or so. Tradition calls that we close the place down and ride Batman or Mr. Freeze ten times in a row. But, I think we were all ready to go after arriving on time for a change (5pm) and getting to ride everything without much of a wait.

Six Flags overall just doesn’t impress me any more. We always have a great time with Bobby & Ian on Frito Lay night, and we always look forward to it and will continue to do so (presuming they even ask us back again). Some of the rides like those mentioned, and Superman and Titan are a lot of fun, but I just can’t see waiting in line for very long to ride them. The only real wait we had was about 20 minutes to ride Superman, and that was because they only had one of the three towers operating. We joked about how when a company rents out the park, Six Flags probably has a whole “a la carte” option, such as, it costs more to have certain rides operate, or maybe you can save a little money by using the less experienced staff. Stuff like that. It makes sense, I guess, to only operate one of the three towers, because 12 ride at a time and there probably were only about 50 people behind us and the line wasn’t really growing. I bet they would have opened another one if there was a bigger demand. Anyway, I don’t see paying $30 to go there on a regular day and spend the usual wait time, which can be over an hour, on these rides. They’re fun but they’re not THAT fun.

Six Flags doesn’t seem to have done a very good job of maintaining the park overall. I hope they are properly maintaining their rides, but the older areas of the park really look old. Every now and again you’ll see these little stuffed dummies that are supposed to be either people or ghosts. Six Flags has the “Fright Fest” going on, which is meant to be quasi-scary I guess, to celebrate Halloween. The dummies are pretty badly done to begin with, and each has a lot of chicken wire exposed and stuffing coming out. All the material making up the dummies is severely sun faded. It’s no big deal and no one comes to the park to see something like that, but if you’re going to display them it’s kind of a turn-off to see them in such bad shape.

The highlight of this visit, was an adventure on the very first ride that Ian, Layton and I went on, the “Wildcatter”, which is sort of an elevator car you sit in, it lifts the car up 10 stories then drops it down. I remember when this ride was first introduced about 20 years ago, it was called something else at the time, and it was highly innovative. Now it just seems rickety. Ride Superman instead, it’s much smoother. Anyway, we were lifted to the top and then the whole ride suddenly stopped. So we sat there at the top, fortunately not pushed out onto the lip quite yet, for about 15 minutes while the engineer and electrician fixed the ride. There was another car on the tracks below us where we would be heading. They said there was a proximity switch that failed, and that this sort of thing happened a lot. One of the ride operators, a kid, climbed the 10 stories by stair to talk to us and, I suppose, keep us calm while they fixed the ride. He was nice and did a good job, because even though we weren’t necessarily interested in talking to him, he kept asking us polite questions, I guess to keep our minds off being stranded at the top of this ride. He probably could have gotten us out, but we didn’t really feel the need to. So we just cut jokes until the ride started again. You know, part of the fun of these rides is being scared by them, but the ride is supposed to go through a set cycle and the whole thing usually only lasts maybe a minute or two. It’s not designed for you to sit in this contraption for 15 minutes and contemplate what could go wrong! Ian made a good observation, I think it was after the Superman ride, which was that they aren’t so scary when they are moving. Neither of us likes the part of Superman where it takes you to the very top of this 325′ tower and you sit there for about 20 seconds before you start a free fall. You know the free fall is coming, just not exactly when. The sudden drop is part of the thrill, and the anticipation gets your adrenaline going. But, when the ride is actually moving (and even during the free fall) you can feel that the machinery is in control, and that is reassuring. When everything is stopped, you’re left to wonder is something is broken.

As this blog entry was being prepared, I noticed Six Flags doesn’t even do a convincing job of maintaining its website. It still says Mr. Freeze is the fastest and tallest ride in the southwest (introduced in 1998, it is 238′ high and goes to 70mph). The “tallest” honor goes to Superman, introduced in 2003 at 325′ and the fastest goes to Titan, introduced in 2001 and 85mph. Titan is also taller (at 255′) than Mr. Freeze. I guess I’m surprised it doesn’t advertise Judge Roy Scream as “new”.

Thanks to Ian and Bobby for organizing and inviting us. If you hope to get an invite next year, it wouldn’t hurt to start sucking up to Ian now.

Last night, on the way home from work, I stopped by the local mall in search of cuff links. There are a handful of people (my boss, but also some clients of ours in the oil & gas bid’ness) who wear French cuffs and I thought it might be neat to have at least one shirt with them. I got one about a month ago but hadn’t worn it, as I needed cuff links first. I really like the way French cuffs look, it’s kinda classy and cuff links these days can be pretty cool – an additional way to be stylish and different. Well, French cuffs are pretty different in and of themselves!

Anyway, first stop was at Nordstrom – way expensive (eg $80) and not even all that cool. I had remembered a funny story my boss once told about being at JC Penney and being told they didn’t sell any shirts with French cuffs. He laughed at them, because they were standing next to a display case of cuff links. Anyway, I remembered the story and headed over to JC Penney and theirs were only $20, but they were complete crap. On the way, I bumped into Bobby and said hi to him. While I was leaving the store, I ended up going through the home furnishings department, and caught the employees in the middle of unboxing all their Christmas decorations and putting them up! They had several big trees up, fully decorated, and a bunch more boxes they were emptying. I couldn’t believe it! I asked one of the four people working on this project, “you can’t be serious?” She seemed a bit freakish in her response, which came with a wide-eyed expression on her face “Oh yeah, we’re totally serious!” I think they were really into it. September 7th has to be the earliest I have ever seen Christmas decorations, other than at those Christmas stores that are open year-round. Some stores have already got Halloween stuff out, and I even thought it was a bit early for that! Oh, well. I was in Lowe’s on Monday and noticed they have received several boxes marked “Christmas lights” and the boxes are in a cleared out “seasonal” section of the store but they haven’t started unpacking them yet.

I’m announcing here that I am running a betting pool for the date that Stonebriar Centre puts up the Christmas decorations inside the mall. $10 per bet, closest calendar date without going over wins. I get to play, too, and my bet is Oct 26th.

Coming out of JC Penney, still dazed from seeing fully decorated Christmas trees in early September, I ran into Bobby again, and I related to him the horror of what I had seen. We had a good laugh, and I mentioned that I was already formulating a blog post in my head.

At Foley’s, I finally found a nice selection of cuff links at reasonable prices ($25 – $30). I really like the pair I bought, and I’m wearing my French cuffs today, and I love this shirt! I will probably get more shirts with French cuffs and more cuff links as well. Cuff links would make a nice Christmas present, by the way

As it turns out, today was a good day to wear the French cuffs. Gabe (my boss) asked for me to stand in for him at the ADAM Energy Forum, which meets at the Dallas Petroleum Club on the 39th floor of Chase Tower. We’re members of the ADAM thing, and for the price of an annual membership we get to go to the monthly meetings, which include a presentation by a member about themselves and lunch. Lunch is over-the-top, and generally consists of salad, steak, baked potato, steamed veggies, dessert, bread, tea & coffee. The dessert today was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, rolled in pralines and served in a silver dish, covered in fudge. It is important to note that the desert is not presented to you with the fudge already on it – no – the servers come by and pour it over later. It’s meant to be a marketing excercise, but I’ve found most of the people are just there to be social and eat. I always manage to pass out a few business cards but nothing has ever come of it. I think Gabe has had the same results, although I reckon he tries a lot harder than I do. That’s why he’s the boss!

Apart from the nice lunch, I don’t like going. I hate marketing and making chit chat with people who probably don’t want to hear from me (they want to “do a deal” – buy or sell oil & gas properties).

One more gripe in this rambling entry – it costs a fortune to park downtown – 1 hour in the Chase tower was $5.80. The parking garage of that building does not accept credit cards. Fortunately, I had the cash on me, but I rarely carry any cash any more (plastic works – and seems to be preferred – in most places). I find it quite brutal for a parking garage to not only charge these usurous rates, but then to not accept credit cards as well. Now I’ll get an expense check for $5.80, which will sit in the bottom of my desk drawer here at the office until it becomes too old to cash – like a few other I have like that.

I never expected to be happy about gas “going back down” to $2.60/gal:

Check out this article.

2 people made comments recently on this blog, and I must apologize because they got lost. I found them, and one in particular must have thought I really hated him! From Ian:

So I’m guessing it was boring since you never updated us after your return. Oops, I guess that also means I wasn’t supposed to mention it again! I’ll stop before I’m banned from commenting on your blog. I know of the wraith of Chris

I swear, it was unintentional!

Also commenting was Michelle