My Life Blog

I’ve debated whether to post about this as I’m not sure how this makes me sound.

Over the past three weeks, I’ve had at least three instances where I’ve had to valet park. Now usually, I’m okay with this as I’m at a nice restaurant and I view it as a real convenience. But this weekend, a couple of things happened which I wasn’t pleased about.

Now I don’t want to get off a rant here, but I think we need to question this whole niche industry. Who are we trying to benefit here? I think the valet industry is not there to add convenience to your experience. I think it is there as a revenue opportunity for the valet service and for the restaurant. And that taints my experience.

Two weeks ago, I went to Snuffer’s — Snuffer’s for God’s sakes!! Its a hamburger place! With visible parking places mere feet away from the restaurant entrance, I valeted my car. The valet was also mere feet from the entrance. So where is the convenience here? Why do I need someone to park my car when I could park it myself and have even a shorter walk? And at a hamburger place. So it cost me $3 for the inconvenience.

Then on Friday night, we went to Al Biernat’s for a really nice dinner. The dinner experience was wonderful. However, when the valet returned with my car, the back of the seat was covered with sweat. It was a hot night and the valet attendents were really hustling. But doesn’t that somehow lessen my experience?

And lastly, after Al Biernat’s we made the short trip to Sambuca’s where we also valeted. When the valet brought my car, I got in only to find that the seat had been adjusted forward. Is it really necessary to adjust the seat for such a short trip? And to top it off, the claim tag was left under my windshield wiper.

Again, I don’t want to come off as being a complainer, but let’s all understand what valet parking is. Its an opportunity for two additional parties to make money off of you — the establishment and the valet service. It is not a service offered for your convenience. And most times, its not a non-invasive service. There’s always something left behind to leave a bad taste in your mouth. And we’re expected to tip generously for this?

So there’s my take on valet parking — I think its a scam. Of course, that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong…

A short rant here. And one could argue that I get what I deserve when I subject myself to fast-food.

I love Chic-Fil-A’s offerings, but I do not like their policy on ketchup. Ketchup is made available only in those small little packages — even to their in-store customers.

So everytime I go there, I spend the first 5 minutes working through a few ketchup packages. This is one of those little annoyances that cheats me out of a truly good experience. And I wonder how they haven’t received feedback to that effect.

I much prefer Wendy’s approach where you get to blast ketchup into a cup. Unfortunately, Wendy’s food is slightly less healthy, so I avoid it most of the time.

As Seth Godin would say, Chic-Fil-A has chosen an “edge” to exploit, but that edge does not include providing convenient ketchup.

Man…I can complain about anything. What’s next?

Two NASCAR entries in less than a week will do a lot to repulse the few readers that I have. However, I wanted to write a quick follow-on entry since I realized my favorite race is coming up.

NASCAR goes to Bristol, Tennessee this weekend for night races on Friday and Saturday night. The big race is on Saturday night. But anyway, the Bristol Motor Speedway track is a 1/2 mile track with banking. That’s a small track to have 43 cars on it. But just look at the picture below:

They have just about enclosed it stadium-style and for years its been sold-out. The appeal of the race has a lot to do with the comparatively small venue. With 43 cars going around on a small track, there are plenty of wrecks and fans are really close to it. Fans are guaranteed to see drivers lose their cool.

In the past, I have seen drivers get out of their cars after a wreck and throw a helmet or their gloves at a driver that sent them into the wall. I’ve also seen near-brawls after the conclusion of the race. If that’s not enough, consider that a driver can win the race if they resort to a classless chrome-bumper move to move the leader out of the way.

There are also cool special paint schemes and its all under the lights on a Saturday night. To me, this is more exciting than the Super Bowl. And I hope someday to see the event live. They call it “Thunder Valley” because its so loud. Check it out…

Anyone else out there bored with the Olympics?

Its pretty sad when you can say that you only enjoy the Olympics because it gives Google an opportunity to change their logo each day.

I will admit that I’ve watched little so far, so I’m probably unqualified to even have an opinion. But here’s what I think is going on:

1. Back when I used to watch, there were only three entire channels, so the Olympics were invariably the most exciting event on. In this day of cable and satellite TV, we have more options. Given a choice, I’ve been opting out.

2. I get my news through the Internet nowdays. I don’t subscribe to a newspaper. So again, invariably I find out who won the events well before the evening. I find the drama in sports is wondering who will win. If I know who will win, there’s little intrigue left in watching the event.

Or maybe for me, its just that the Summer Olympics are boring. Track & Field and Swimming bore me. I can watch a horse, a dog, or a car race, but watching a human race is somehow boring. I’m not sure what that says about me.

Give me the Winter Olympics where there are interesting events like bobsledding and downhill skiing. And you can’t forget hockey — my favorite sport.

Wake me up when the 2006 games begin…

Yeah, I admit it, I like NASCAR. I don’t admit this often because of the stereotype that the sport historically has had. But things are changing. And before you check out of this post, read another paragraph and see if you start to change as well. You might find that its not just a bunch of cars “going in circles.”

I’m intrigued by a sport that involves teamwork, constraints, strategy, and passion. NASCAR has all of those. By the way, it is NASCAR in all caps since its an acronym. NASCAR stands for the “National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.”

First off, there are 36 races a year and with few exceptions each is at a different track each week. 43 cars make each race and the order is set by a qualifying session involving 2 laps around the track. Here’s where the fun begins.

You want to qualify well, so that you can be up front when the race starts — they call this “track position.” You get bonus points for leading the race for a lap and those bonus points can add up over the course of a year. You also want to qualify well, so that you can select your pit position — some tracks have pit stalls that provide distinct advantages.

Qualifying is the game within the game. Cars are set up specifically to make a qualifying run. Extra tape is added to the grill to make the car more aerodynamic and to provide more downforce. The car wouldn’t run that way in the race because that lack of extra air would mean the difference between overheating or not. And obviously, the drivers drive more aggressively on those qualifying laps as well.

In the actual race, there are several constraints at play. Fuel mileage is one. Everyone’s gas tank and all the fuel pump lines are supposed to be the same size, so the winning team is the one that figures out how to get the best gas mileage or how to manage their pit stops so that they have enough fuel left to win the race.

To be competitive, drivers must run their cars on the “edge.” The edge refers to the fastest speed at which the car will grip the track without breaking free and causing the driver to lose control. So tires become a constraint. Drivers have input into that constraint by the way they drive the car. And track position has influence here as well. If you are way behind, you are probably driving aggressively to get to the front. Your tires will then wear out faster than those riding around in the front.

But speaking of track position, you can gain better track position through your pit stops. Perhaps you have a pit crew that averages a second faster than other teams. That’s a lot of ground to make up. What if you opt for two tires instead of four? You sacrifice grip, but you take several fewer seconds less in the pits.

The stereotype for the sport is that these are a bunch of hillbillies. In actuality, these are some of the smartest folks you’ll find. They are innovative, meticulous, adaptive, and hard-working.

To be competitive, they must push their engine departments to make more horsepower just to maintain competitiveness. There are tons of innovations tried each year — probably each race. Crews are meticulous with their checklists of pre-race preparations. There are a staggering number of preparations to make before the green flag waves. And during the race, the winning teams are the ones that can adapt their car to the changing track conditions. You wouldn’t believe it, but a little cloud cover can totally change the way a car handles.

At the end of the race, the winning driver is always quick to thank all the people involved. Its not just him out there. If his pit crew was slow or made mistakes, he doesn’t win. If the engine department didn’t create a competitive and durable engine, he doesn’t win. If the fabricators didn’t create an aerodynamically-sound body, he doesn’t win. If he doesn’t have enough sponsor money to pull together a winning team and the equipment to create a quality race car, he doesn’t win.

There’s much more to it than meets the eye. Most people just see cars going around in circles, but don’t realize the strategy. There’s a lot more that I could add, but I think I’ve made my point.

Ah, but you say if anything its nearing Fall.

Yes, you are right, this is not about seasons. But if we were to mention “fall”, we might use it to describe EJB’s fall from grace. Well, okay, maybe I’m being a bit premature with that.

What I’m talking about is the Spring Application Framework. And yes, if you aren’t a techie, you can move along as I’m sure this won’t interest you in the slightest.

I’ll admit that I’m very new to this framework, but I’m in a euphoric state right now about what I’ve discovered so far. Its like dating someone new and exciting that you feel may have potential.

There’s so much that could be said, but I’ll highlight what I think I will appreciate the most. In my view, POJOs now get their revenge. The elegance and fun of creating a cool OO architecture is now back to the primary focus.

As I’ve been doing IT technology lately, we’ve done lots of mind-numbing stateless session beans. I had almost accepted the fact that I’d be stuck with writing DTOs, assemblers, and EJB-specific code. But Spring promises to deliver me from that. In Spring, classes will rarely be dumb classes. Spring is non-invasive, so there won’t be a lot of code written for the sake of living in the container. The primary focus of most of the code will actually be on the business problem.

As I said, there are probably many more things I don’t know or do know and could say. But I’m quite happy with what I’ve seen and am looking forward to getting to know Spring a little bit better.

I love hypotheticals. If they are sick and twisted…even better. This one is better in the PM hours after a beer or two.

So first of all, I need answers to two questions:

1. Who is your best same-sex friend?
2. Who do you lust after, but know you could never have sexually?

Presumably, the answer to (1) and (2) are different, but I’ll leave your sexual preference to you.

So the hypothetical is: what if your friend (1) could morph into the object of your lust (2)? And let’s just say that along with the morphing process comes full rights and privileges for you to act out your lustful thoughts. Would you?

Now before you answer, realize that your friend will assume the identity of your lust partner, but will actually be that person during the “act”. And further, they will remember everything the two of you do. Would you?

If you want to trick up the hypothetical even more, you can match all the objects of your lust up with friends that you think you’d most be able to do this with. Or, you can consider what “things” you might and might not do.

If you have decided that you could do this, let your friend know…you should always stay in “touch” with your friends.

It wasn’t a pack of bubble gum. It wasn’t a car. It wasn’t the Hope Diamond.

But if you go to www.zeldman.com you’ll know what I stole.

There, I feel like at least one wrong has been righted.

As I mentioned in my Alien vs. Predator post, I sometimes like to toss a couple of things in the ring and see who would win. So I’m matching up iPod and Tivo in a no-holds-barred blood-bath to the death. Sorry…got carried away there. I want both of them to survive and flourish.

How did I ever do without either of these two items?

My iPod is with me more than any single thing in my life except maybe my watch and my contacts. I go everywhere with it. It jogs with me, it lifts weights with me, it works with me.

And yet, my Tivo technology (again, I have UltimateTV, but they are more or less the same) is really valued as well. I never watch anything at its normal time anymore and I rarely waste my time with commercials. I maximize the value of my TV time and do not let it control my schedule. Awesome.

So if you put me on an island and gave me only one, it’d be hard to choose which to take. I guess it’d have to be the iPod. But if I’m under that constraint, give me a few more gig and the ability to tap into new songs while I’m there.

Is technology cool or what?

Not you.

Well, maybe you.

Actually, I was making the call to some higher power. Or directing the ether to send an eddy my way with one nice passion-filled, blockbuster idea that I can put some sweat equity into.

Like love, business ideas are all around us. Trouble is, like love, we have a tough time finding each other under compatible circumstances. And given that I’m no expert on love, the analogy now suddenly troubles me. But I digress.

I’m not sure that I need to say anymore. But if I might add one small qualification, let it be as powerful as something like eBay.

I sit patiently waiting…