Saturday Afternoon Movie

I've had my house on the market for 7 weeks now. I've had no showings today, though, a Saturday. I guess the prospect of rain has put some people off on home shopping. I borrowed some DVDs from the local library earlier this week. I got around to seeing one of them, About a Boy. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Our protagonist, Will, played by uber-letch Hugh Grant, is a spoiled, jobless bachelor who spends his days watching TV game shows, who gets himself into more than he bargained for when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet single moms. It's a much deeper movie than the casting of Mr. Grant would suggest, and he actually plays a likeable, sympathetic person. That takes a lot of effort and imagination from the writer and director. It's basically a movie about telling the truth, or the silliness that erupts from not playing straight with the facts.

The Ripoff

The Geely Chengbao, a show car on display right now at the 2005 Shanghai Auto Show. Geely is a private Chinese company, with aspirations of becoming a legitimate vehicle producer in its own right. But this is not how you make it to greatness. I see a little of Audi TT, a smidgen of Saturn Curve, and a whole lotta....(continued).

The Original

As you can see, the Geely draws upon this vehicle, the Kappa-based Chevy Nomad, as seen at the 2004 North American International Auto Show. I hope GM's Intellectual Property Rights lawyers take note of this one. It's one thing to crib a minicar's design, but it's entirely another to lift one from here.

Goodbye to Commerce Park

This could be my last visit to Commerce Park as a registered Student...and for those who have wondered about it, here it is.

Room B

Below is a picture of Conference Room B at Commerce Park, right after I submitted my Final online. I spent many a weekend afternoon in this windowless room, locked up, presumably trying to get work done, be it job-related, classwork, or something marginal. It's going to be weird not being in there again. I liked it precisely because it HAD no windows, so I wouldn't be distracted by light or activity outside.
A place I know all too well...

Woo-hoo! It's over, it's oooooo-ver.

I did it. I completed my Operations Management 551 final today, (hopefully) wrapping up 5 long years of working towards my MBA at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. I spent all of it today at the Commerce Park satellite campus for evening students, since it was he only place I felt I could do it without distraction. After 3 bottles of energy drinks, I finally submitted it to the great pile of soon-to-be-forgotten school junk. After a night of insomnia, it's good to have this all done. To be honest, I am a bit underwhelmed by this occasion, as I was 3 weeks ago when I left GM. The graduation ceremony is next Friday, 6:30pm, in the men's hoops arena (Crisler). The graduation speaker is some activist who campaigned against land mines. This is a business school fer crying out loud. He'd be fine for the social work or public policy geeks, but it'd be nice to actually have someone who you might see in the docket 5 or 6 years from now on some corporate scandal. Sheesh. We had Jack Welch here last week.....is it too much to ask for someone in the business world?

Does anyone know how to hold onto private info anymore?

Last week, I was informed that I was one of 98,000 UC Berkeley graduates whose IDs were contained on a stolen notebook computer. I had to take action, which annoyed me to no end. What the hell was the University doing by stashing so many names and relevant personal information on a single computer without encrytion and appropriate security is beyond me. This morning, I woke up to find out that some stupid vendor (Ralph Lauren) 'misappropriated' credit card numbers and info. Thankfully, I'm not vain enough to shop at any of their stores, so I was spared having to pull another credit report. Coupled with the news that some idiot lab in Cincy sent out copies of some nasty flu virus that killed millions 4+ decades ago, and you have to wonder if anyone is awake on the job anymore.

Fast Break mania

Since week #3 of the NBA season, I've been going head-to-head against my old friend Jason on ESPN's fantasy hoops simulation Fast Break. I refer to Jason by a different epithet, but that's probably something for another time. As we enter the final week of the regular NBA season, I feel like things are truly coming to an end. I haven't watched a single game all the way through all season, and to be honest, I don't care much for the league, or any specific team. I say this being raised on the '80-'88 Laker teams. Fantasy hoops is another story. Since late 1997, Jason and I have played various iterations of online fantasy hoops, beginning with the Sandbox 'Starting 5' simulations. The games have been entertaining, and a way to keep up on the season and my hoops awareness without actually having to watch a single game. I have been taking a bit of a beating on Fast Break during the season, not the least of which is being unable to stick with more than one or two key players. My mainstay for 95% of the season has been Phoenix Suns C/F Amare Stoudemire, who was a really inexpensive pickup at the beginning of the season. However, halfway through the 24th and final week of the game, I am still in the lead, with 138 points to Jason's 115. This, despite Kevin Garnett leading at his position (Jason has Garnett), and my SG Corey Maggette down for the season. Prediction: I will take the final week. Just you wait and see.

Bless you, Jerry....

My favorite regular automotive columnist, Jerry Flint of Forbes, has again shown why he's a maverick among the pseudo-wonk analyst/hatchet job crowd. His take on Dan Neil's screed on the G6, which was really the latest in a series of warranted and unwarranted potshots taken at GM. So, Dan Neil's big claim to fame is his Pulitzer, the first for anyone who's written about automobiles on a regular basis. His columns are filled with colourful metaphors and other gimmicks, some of which are occasionally amusing, but his actual insights on the cars themselves are nothing special. It's like someone decided to get a movie reviewer or art critic to take on a second assignment because the paper is too cheap to hire another staffer. Which is probably the case with the Times. As you know, most newspaper reviews of cars are designed to supplement the large swath of new- and used- car ads that generate a considerable portion of paper revenue. Usually, these 'reviews' are highly deferential pieces, written not to offend the carmaker that provided the 'test' vehicle. These writers never make it to the more prestigiuous levels of the enthusiast rags (Car and Driver, Motor Trend, etc). So, Neil's efforts at the L.A. Times are somewhat unique in this realm. It's good he has some recognition, if not for himself, at least the profession. But...getting back to Jerry: He has the 'nads to call Dan for what he really is--a cheap neophyte opportunist who didn't bother to do his research. Jerry's forgotten more about the auto industry that Dan and his ilk will ever know.

Going Downtown one last time

I made my final trip 'downtown' this afternoon on company business. Theoretically, I separated from the company yesterday, which was technically the end of the 1st Quarter. I went to pay a visit to my old boss, who helped situate me during my first few years here at GM in his area of focus. We talked about my future plans, the outcome of my last study, and even the old building. He told me that I still have my best years in front of me; I told him that I doubted they could rival the spectacle and excitement I've had being in the auto industry for 8 years. In a way, I feel like I've let him down. It wasn't that long ago that he suggested that I was going to be going places, literally and figuratively. It's probably the most painful part about leaving the company. I turned in my notebook computer, badge, and phone to security on my way out, and left the building very quietly. I also stepped in to see the person who made the past 8 years all possible; the alum from my old graduate school in Berkeley who forwarded my resume 9 years ago. Little does she know how my life was changed by that one act; she didn't actually do the hiring, but without her taking that first step, I know I would not be the person I am today.