Category Archives: Stupidity plain and simple

Stupidity plain and simple

Grey Power redux: You don’t drive like her does

31 Comments

(Updated below)

Complain about those insipid, vapid, and idiotic commercials by Grey Power and its mother company, Trafalgar, here:

Or better yet, write them a letter.

Trafalgar Insurance Company of Canada
700 University Avenue, Suite 1500
Toronto, Ontario M5G 0A1

Toll free: (866) 464-2424
Local: (416) 227-6740

The Trafalgar Insurance Company is yet again foisting upon us the screaming ninny characterized with such zeal by their Grey Power television commercials. I would have thought that by now, enough people with grammar skills, as well as women and men who take exception to being zealously characterized as horrible, screaming, angry and incompetent drivers, would have registered enough complaints that Grey Power and its grammatically challenged advertising agency would have been banished to the dustbin of bad television commercials.

Not so.

Thankfully, the television remote has been designed with not only an off or a mute button, but also with the ability to change channels to one that does not feature the Trafalgar Insurance Company and its ear-splitting, grammar-challenged Grey Power commercials.

Link to my previous entry on Grey Power and Trafalgar here.

(Update)

How appropriate - chicken little
Chicken Little - how appropriate

Can someone explain to me why women haven’t stormed that corporate bastion of female empowerment known as Grey Power to protest the vile, insipid and disgusting characterization of a female driver flopping her head around her vehicle like a screaming, adult-sized bobble head doll?

Some of the comments I’ve received on the ever-popular Grey Power television comedy of errors:

I hate the Grey Power ad… – Penny

…cheesiest, most irritating advertisements ever produced!!! – John

This TV ad has driven me to the point of smashing my remote control! – david1006

I absolutely HATE this commercial. – Baz

I am so sick of that ad… – Steve

I can’t stand it. – Mark

…annoys the hell out of me! – Kenneth

Disappointments, Mechanical, Stupidity plain and simple

Motorcycle boutiques

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I almost forgot about this.

In an earlier post I proclaimed how great it was that H-D dealerships would take a long-distance rider in and do things like oil and tire changes without appointments. And yes, it still is a great accomplishment for most dealerships.

Well, subsequent to the oil change that I received at that dealership in Winchester, Virginia, I happened to have run another 5,000 miles, thus a requirement to change the oil and filter back in August. Lo and behold, the dumbass responsible for doing that oil and filter swap in Winchester managed to completely screw it up.

No, there was plenty of oil in the bag. I checked that out in their parking lot before I pulled out.

Lets make a list.

  • After removing the magnetic plug on the oil pan to drain the engine oil, the maintenance tech proceeds to wrap Teflon tape around the threads and re-insert.

The stupidity in this is that there’s an o-ring on the plug to prevent leaks, thus negating the need for any kind of sealant on the threads. Additionally, Teflon tape isn’t a friend of oil, and it will dissolve due to the heat and composition, thereby causing possible blockage of an oil passage. There are proper compounds available to seal such plugs, but obviously the individual wasn’t aware of them, and whether they were needed or not.

  • When installing the new oil filter, the filter was torqued on so tight that on removal, the filter was attached to the adapter plug and it came off with the filter. Red Loctite is used from the factory to hold the filter adapter in place, so you can imagine the torque that the tech used to hold the oil filter in place.

I had to use a power bar to remove the oil filter, and as noted, the adapter nut came off with the oil filter. Now, attaching an oil filter is not rocket science. Whether it be car or motorcycle, you screw the new filter on hand tight, then apply a quarter-turn past that. Can someone show me where it says to torque down an oil filter so hard that you need two men and a boy to get it off?

Nope, didn’t think so.

So, while happy with the Winchester dealership’s ability to get me in and out quickly for a basic oil and filter change, I must take exception to the competence – or lack thereof – of their service department’s capabilities. Obviously, competent professional motorcycle technicians aren’t something Winchester H-D is capable of employing.

I thought of sending an email or making a phone call, but do I really care if they screw up their local customers’ motorcycles in their shop? They’re a boutique, after all, and what should one expect from a boutique other than doo-rags, dog leashes, suspenders and fingerless gloves?

Long trips, On the road, Short trips, Stupidity plain and simple

Road signs, revisited

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I know I’ve said this before, but entering Ontario via Buffalo and the Peace Bridge is a pain in the ass when you’re trying to cover new ground and there are no signs directing you. The Buffalo side has plenty of signs to point you to the border. The Canadian side continues to be a mystery, and finding your way – especially if you’re new to the area (or visiting after decades of absence) –  is a royal pain.

The monolithic tourist information center visible across the way was a nice touch, but I never saw a sign pointing towards it from the convoluted road system, either. Thus, I was unable to discover Ontario in the fashion and manner to which, I’m certain, Ontario would desire.

The absence of meaningful directional signs until 20 miles past the border, on some road, is ridiculous. But of course, it’s Ontario the good, isn’t it? Idiots.

Here’s a Wikipedia explanation of concession roads in southern Ontario. After reading it, there is no doubt that southern Ontario has got to have one of the most convoluted and stupid highway naming conventions in North America. And I haven’t even begun to talk about those miniscule white on dark blue county road signs that are hidden on electrical posts and lighting standards. Try following those through a city some day.

Put up a series of meaningful directional signs, you morons. I’d prefer a variety that is plainly visible, of standard dimension and color, and that actually point me in a direction that I choose to proceed. Of course, that’s only me. I’m sure local yokels who never travel out of the valley and other miscreants are quite happy the way it is.

Otherwise, don’t bother – which appears to be the direction that Ontario chooses to follow.

Blog tribulations, Stupidity plain and simple

Trolls ‘r’ us

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Here’s an addendum to my original post on internet trolls.

The New York Times online has a seven page discourse on modern-day trolls and their absurdities. From that article you’ll find that trolls have graduated to an ever more mean and hateful presence, even making fun of and encouraging suicide.

Even if you only get as far as the first page, you’ll find it enlightening and disheartening.

Link to full New York Times article here.

Long trips, On the road, Stupidity plain and simple

Highlights and lowlights

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I had an amazing trip this year – 6,000 miles in all kinds of weather – although I prefer to avoid the massive thunderstorms I experienced in the Dakotas. It’s no fun on a motorcycle to be hassled by hail, driving rain and strong winds, all at once. I followed the back side of that storm all the way east, during which time there was only one day that I could make 500 miles.

Okay, so I’m whining about the weather. I do have a very good rain suit, but I just hate to have to put it on.

I discovered a couple of great places to eat, and if I’m in the neighborhood again, I’ll stop for a bite.

On the other hand, I discovered a place where I will never ever stop at, never stay at and never eat at again!

Interstate riding is still boring, no matter the flora and fauna — and even when the countryside is green, treed and covered with lakes.

A rain shower in the northeast is not like a rain shower in other parts of America. You’ll get very, very wet and miserable if you don’t don your rain suit. I got fooled once this year. Two years ago, in the same area, I got lucky and rode through a sprinkle. I assumed that the storm cell I rode through this year would be the same light sprinkle I rode through then. Wrong! It turned into a downpour.

I learned that if you do a walking tour of D.C., wear the most comfortable shoes you own. Seriously — no matter how bad they look. You’ll be glad you did at day’s end. Fortunately for me, I could relax on the VRE (Virginia Railway Express) during the trip home.

Entering Ontario via Buffalo and the Peace Bridge is a pain in the ass when you’re trying to cover new ground and there are no signs directing you. The Buffalo side is fine; there are plenty of signs to direct you to the border. It’s the Canadian side that continues to be a mystery, and finding your way — especially if you’re new to the area (or visiting after decades of absence) — is a royal pain. The absence of directional signs until 20 miles past the border, on some road, is ridiculous. But of course, it’s Ontario the good, isn’t it? Idiots.

Here’s a Wikipedia explanation of concession roads in southern Ontario. After reading it, there is no doubt that southern Ontario has got to have one of the most stupid highway naming conventions in North America. And I haven’t even begun to talk about those miniscule blue and white county road signs. Try following those through a city some day. Put up a meaningful sign, you morons.

The Tobermory ferry is still the most motorcycle-friendly, two-hour ferry ride that I know of. Motorcycles do not require a reservation, they get first-on and first-off treatment, and the cost is only $35.00.

Shea’s Ice Cream Oasis ( Update: closed in August 2010) is truly an oasis in the middle of nowhere.

Yet again, my motorcycle ran flawlessly with nary a whisper of any problem whatsoever.

I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

Well, all of it but the Lone Steer Motel, that is.

Long trips, On the road, Stupidity plain and simple

Let’s make fun of…

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Ontario has, without a doubt, the ugliest and most boring license plates of any jurisdiction in North America.

*     *     *

I crossed the Peace Bridge from Buffalo into Ontario, Canada. No problem with that; however, while trying to find my way north to Toronto, I encountered two road signs: Concession Road North and Concession Road South.

I don’t know about anyone else, but to me, a concession road is a farm road. Now, why on earth would I take a farm road anywhere? Right. I wouldn’t.

Unfortunately, the Ontario tourist information building – which I could see! – was across on another farm road, and there was absolutely no signage to direct me to it. I know this to be true, because I tried to get to it.

Twenty miles down a road, I finally discovered a sign with directions for Toronto, London and some other mystery destination.

How these southern Ontario farm boys find their way around their own country is a mystery to me, although, I suppose if one is a local farm boy, he already knows how to get to Toronto for his rub and tug.

How about some signage for the tourist?

Better yet, how about some meaningful directional signs right after one leaves the border station?

Politics, Stupidity plain and simple

Hunting for the Snark*

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*With apologies to Lewis Carroll

A U.S. federal appeals court judgment has highlighted some of the most ridiculous claims of the government in the trials of the people unjustly rendered, detained and imprisoned at that bastion of American freedom and justice known as Guantanamo.

…a three-judge panel said the government contended that its accusations against the detainee should be accepted as true because they had been repeated in at least three secret documents. The court compared that to the absurd declaration of a character in the Lewis Carroll poem “The Hunting of the Snark”: “I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.” — William Glaberson, nytimes.com online

Link to article here.

That courtroom must have been quite a sideshow during the prosecution’s arguments. After listening to that fine example of lawyerly logic and government jurisprudence, the appeals court threw out the charges and ordered that the defendant must either be released, transferred to another country, or given a new hearing to determine if the defendant had been properly classified.

Will the nightmare never end?