Let's Refuel America... A Gallon of Gas Gimmick

Chrysler has just announced what it calls the “Let’s Refuel America” program, which promises that you will pay $2.99 a gallon for gas for the next three years, no matter how high the actual cost may rise. Sounds easy huh? Sounds great too, huh? Well, I contacted a friend of mine who graduated from MIT to do the math the way it is laid out in the program. He was busy and promptly referred me to an MSNBC.com article that said someone buying a 2008 Dodge Durango would save just over $400 a year with an average three year gas price of $3.61 a gallon (the current average price in the Detroit area).

Hmmm… $400 a year for three years sounds a lot less than the $4000 rebates available on a 2008 Ford Explorer. I guess that means Ford wants you to have gas money, and a little something to spend on a drive away vacation, about $2800 worth of something!! Formula you ask? Why, yes, there is a formula involved where you factor in 12,000 miles per year, the vehicle’s government fuel economy rating and the cost of a gallon of gas. I don’t know about you, but any promotion that requires me to do more math than simply reducing my price by a pretty good chunk of coin makes me more than a little suspect… especially one that makes your savings a crap shoot. It also gives me a head ache.

To be honest, I have had it with fear mongering, and to be sure, this Chrysler promotion is nothing more than that. The formally American, then German, (then American again?) automaker is playing off the fear that more violence in the Middle East, or South America, or wherever will have an adverse affect on the oil supply and send gas prices ever higher, which is the only way you really come out ahead with this program. I don’t know, I’d rather drive around this summer and beyond in my new 2008 Ford Focus at nearly 40 miles per gallon, enjoying the car, my family, and the driving experience and not sit around rooting for more world unrest to inflate the price of gas… how about you?

What Obama really said about small town voters...

Here's the actual full quote...
"You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are going to regenerate and they have not," he went on. "And it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Gee, quite different than what you have heard from the Clinton and Republic camps ain't it? Our nation has stagnated because of the hot button issues of guns, abortion, and gays being clung to by scared little people huddling in their little homes like rodents in their holes. Is that what has really happened to the American Spirit of adventure and daring and our thirst for something better. It looks like it, doesn't it?

Benefit Concert

Memorial Day

Ford Taurus, as safe as you can be!

When the new Ford Taurus and Taurus X arrive on the Ricart Ford showroom floor this summer, the world will be a much safer place. No, the Taurus will not negotiate world peace, or prevent major hurricanes, but it will keep you, your family, and your friends safer than any other family car available anywhere! As a matter of fact, the 2008 Taurus is the only large family car to earn top honors as a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the highest possible five star crash rating in all test categories by the U.S. government. The IIHS “Top Safety Pick” rating is only given to vehicles which perform best in side, frontal, and rear impacts, and also offer an electronic stability control system, which Ford does with Advance Track on the Taurus and Taurus X.
The 2008 Taurus is bringing even more good news from the safety front to our showroom in a few weeks, with the first ever two-row Safety Canopy side air bag system along with architectural changes with crush zones to channel energy more effectively around the passenger compartment, and away from the passengers. The new Taurus also boasts an air bag control system capable of determining whether a seat is occupied, along with the size of a passenger, to allow the air bag to deploy, or not deploy, to provide the best possible protection. The new 2008 Taurus and Taurus X bring safety, style, space, and comfort together in a package which has never before been presented to drivers and their families before, especially in a vehicle that offers such great value to boot! Peace of mind is hard to find at any price…only Ford manages to bring it to you with your budget in mind, and you can get your without breaking the bank this summer.

Ford Focus fords flood

It was a dark and stormy night…Okay, it was actually a gray and rainy morning, but the previous night certainly was dark and stormy, which is why the parking area for the townhouse we live in was a lake by dawn, and it was still raining. Sure, big honkin’ trucks with twelve feet of ground clearance were able to drive through the water with the wake flowing after them like an inboard towing a couple of water skiers, but anything smaller would surely be doomed attempting to ford the flood. At least that’s what I thought.
Being of hardy New English stock, I surveyed the situation, and decided that a little flood water would not keep me from driving in to work, so I climbed into my Ford Focus, backed out of my parking space, and headed for the shoreline. It was then that I noticed the Police had barricaded the street to the left, so I had no choice but to turn right around my neighbor’s house…and it was then I saw a Honda Civic and Toyota Tercel stalled in another massive pool of water. They didn’t make it through, and probably should never have tried.
By this time, I had no choice but to press on, through the same lake which now had two import islands, one white, the other gold. Water was actually flowing over the hood of my Focus as I descended into the water, and I tapped the accelerator and tried to avoid the fate of Atlantis as I increased my speed. It was one of those driving situations that has you saying a prayer that begins with, “God, if you let me make it…”, and ends with a promise to give up some vice.
Despite my best efforts at reenacting “The Poseidon Adventure”, my Ford Focus made it through like a champ, unlike the Toyota and Honda that are still stuck where they stalled.
I love my Focus!

Biden the Bonehead

Time for a recipe from the Joe Biden Cookbook.

Today , it’s Joe’s own creation, roasted Rockport le’ orange.

Take one size 11 Rockport shoe.

Add a stupid-ass remark about Sen. Obama of Illinois being the only “articulate”...”mainstream” …”clean”…(and a few other niceties) African-American to run for President, while you are declaring your own candidacy.

Open your gaping pie-hole, and shove the shoe in!

Uhh, Joe, I think you’ve gotten your campaign off on the wrong stride here dude…you should always lead with the foot that’s not in your mouth!

BTW- It's just over two weeks from pitchers and catchers! Let's Go Mets!