A View Of Even More Reasons Why Fuel Consumption Sucks

I forgot to add these reasons to yesterday's post:

• Cars attract jackals. A friend of mine was on her way to her car over the weekend when she was greeted by a sight similar to the one in the picture above. Thieves stole all four tires off her new car. The damage they did to the car, including the stolen tires, comes to about $7000. Her insurance company is giving her a hard time , not to mention the inevitable increase in her rate because of the theft; the management and owners of the apartment complex where this took place are dragging their feet about their part in the theft (turns out the security guard on duty was fired by the managing agent for being asleep on his post - again) and are fighting her attempts to get them to pay her deductible; plus she encountered a very clueless customer service rep from GM in an attempt to get her car taken in for repair. (This Hoover Award is going to be a whopper, trust me.) The only persons who were of any assistance to her were the guy who finally towed her car and, believe it or not, the Detroit Police who came to the scene, surveyed the crime scene and took her report within five minutes of the theft being reported. (Quick, someone alert the folks over at Detroit Uncovered. They'll never believe it.) Shame 911 in Detroit doesn't perform that effectively on a consistent basis.
• People do stupid things with passengers in their cars. We've all heard the stories about parents leaving children in hot cars, often leading to tragic results. A report in the Detroit Free Press earlier this month discussed efforts underway in the state legislature to toughen up laws to address this form of child abuse, even when no harm comes to the child that's been abandoned. That law may need to be extended to cover all animals - not just dogs and cats - as this story about a cockatoo that perished in an overheated car. (And if you made any sort of reference to the phrase, "your goose is cooked," as you read this, then you're one sick soul.)
• Overzealous flight attendants can go too far. Did you hear about how Mo'nique got thrown off a flight because of a hair dryer? Or how she was told to tell "your people" they were being thrown off their flight because an "attitude" is not tolerated in this post 9/11 world? United did issue an apology for the incident, but it was described as a "tepid" one, and now Mo'nique is calling for a boycott of United Airlines.

Commuting ain't easy. More to come, after that long walk home.