Notes on the state of life

Things are not looking so good lately: Darlene is still in the dumps about not getting the promotion at work, I'm equally screwed at work, we won't get to celebrate our anniversary this Friday evening as we had planned because of conflicting work commitments, MRI is scheduled for Monday to find out what the hell is wrong with my knee, and we still haven't won the lottery...

How far I've fallen

A true story of heartbreak:

"Week 9 of the MP3 contest saw a close
battle in the top 4 for the lead.  Beck. North.  McMinn.  Galloway.
These players, barring remarkable changes, would decide the battle for the podium.

Week 9, Paris-Tours, is considered the "sprinter's classic"
of the World Cup, and is thus perhaps the most challenging to predict.  Emerging from the chaos of the sprint, Dave Henderson's 1-2 of Freire and Hondo was good for high points on the day.  Indeed, his choice of Hondo was the "dark horse" pick for the week.

Of the podium hunters, Galloway was strongest with his
Freire-O'Grady 1-2.   Beck limped in with 12th best
for the week, but held on to a microscopic 4 point lead over Beck in the final standings.  Tom McMinn came in even
weaker, and North was a DNS."

Dropping from second to sixth:

OVERALL SCORES
#   player               tot
1   Michael Beck        1973
2   Jeff Galloway       1969
3   Tom McMinn          1889
4   Frank Kurzawa       1845
5   Alon G              1795
6   Jake North          1739

No return in the final week and no next year to make it up:

"Thanks to all for playing.  There's no world cup next year, so this contest can no longer exist in its current form.  But I'll come up with something."

The final results:

OVERALL SCORES
#   player               tot
1   Jeff Galloway       2011
2   Tom McMinn          1989
3   Michael Beck        1973
4   Frank Kurzawa       1845
5   Alon G              1795
6   Jake North          1747
7   Julian Humphries    1626  
8   Bill Reams          1591
9   WC2003              1557 
10  Bill Strachan       1532
11  Kenneth D. Lloyd    1510
12  Dan Connelly        1485 
13  Randy Wright        1268
14  Podium2003          1214
15  Lee Rusk            1211
16  WC2004              1171 
17  David Henderson     1133 
18  Richard Whittington 1073
19  Andy White          1045 
20  Jason Rivers         955
21  Steven Mullins       921 
22  Ryan Robinson        734
23  Karen White          606  
24  John Bartle          584
25  David Orr            508
26  Shawn Liberty        500  
27  Dustoyevsky          126  

Continuing woes with the knee

I was cleared by my PT to give running a try again after what I think is now six weeks off.  Went for a short (1.5 mile) jog and started to feel the same stabbing pain in the outside of my left knee.  Seems like I'm exactly where I started before all the rest and time off...

I'm still not convinced that it's just the IT band, so I am waiting for the doctor's office to call me back to let me know when I can schedule an MRI.  I suspect something with the collateral ligament, but hopefully the MRI will be able to pinpoint the problem.  Regardless, looks like I've bought a few more weeks of not running. 

Can't really afford much more time off from running and still make the Ironman.  I am really nervous now that the MRI won't be conclusive and we'll spend months of non-productive trial and error and not solve the problem.  Sounds sick, but I think the best of all possible scenarios is to get it corrected through surgery, blow through physical therapy, and hit the training again...

before 

A little greenskeeping change

got tired of the grass in this small wedge of earth at the corner of the driveway looking quite so bad, and with the onset of brown patch declaring the grass irreparable until new growth next year, i decided to do something about it.

the problems with that particular patch of grass were numerous. most notably, we don't have a sprinkler system to keep that spot well watered. next, we have st. augustine grass which requires insane amounts of water and a decent amount of shade to keep happy. the earth was completely domed in that spot and i suspect the water couldn't soak in before it ran off. an exascerbating factor i didn't understand until was forced to use a pick to dig into the stuff is that there is a very high concentration of clay in the soil that helps to keep the water from soaking in well. top that all off with the fact that the spot gets full sun from about eight in the morning until five in the evening, and you have a recipe for dead grass.

after developing brown patch from watering in the evenings and letting the fungus grow on the wet leaves each evening, that spot looked a little haggard. knowing there was nothing else i could do with it until spring, i decided to at least level it out a little.

then the thought occurred to me that we would need a completely different zone for that spot once we got a sprinkler system next year, i decided it might be worth to go with the slash and burn approach. to that end, we bought an indian hawthorne as the centerpiece. it's an evergreen that requires little care and is pretty common in this climate. it won't get much bigger than it is now, so won't be tripping people coming up the stairs and won't likely need to be trimmed much.

i decided to get cute and add some annuals around the edge for color. i planted a smattering of snapdragons around the periphery and with any luck they will fill out the spare space a little. they are looking a little worse for wear today, as i think the transplant and the clay soil is a little rough initially. hopefully they'll find the small cone of potting soil i placed each of them in a little more hospitable and perk up soon (although it's clear they won't find roots much outside that radius. if i decide those are too much work (and i just might next planting season, maybe i'll fill in with some perennial groundcover...

anyhow, here's a before and after. not the prettiest, but i think an improvement and certainly lower maintenance.

after 

Would be nice to have the capacity...

TiVo Users Thinking Outside the Box
By EMILY CHASAN
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 21, 2004; Page D4
Since TiVo Inc. sold its first digital video recorder seven years ago, couch potatoes around the world have been rejoicing. But for true TV junkies, the 40-hour storage capacity on TiVo's low-end models is nowhere near enough.

Now, a growing number of TiVo enthusiasts are "hacking" their machines to boost that capacity. Some are prying open their TiVo boxes and installing monstrous hard drives so that their machines hold up to 700 hours of programming. Others are paying online retailers up to $2,000 to get souped-up TiVos.

John Venzon of Arcadia, Calif., became a TiVo hacker recently when he found that he lacked enough storage to tape the Olympics. His wife and daughter, both gymnasts, wanted to see every second of NBC's Athens coverage but his TiVo was filling up fast. "My daughter won't let us clear off the high-definition version until she's had a chance to watch it a couple of times," he said. And Mr. Venzon didn't want to delete his favorite television shows so his daughter could keep watching Carly Patterson's gold-medal winning gymnastics performance over and over again.

So Mr. Venzon paid $380 for an upgrade kit from online retailer WeaKnees.com at the beginning of the Olympics. His TiVo now has 470 hours of standard programming capacity. "I couldn't get it installed fast enough," he said.

Bill Regnery, president of Hinsdale Upgrades, which sells TiVo upgrades through newreleasesvideo.com, estimates that by now at least 10% of TiVo subscribers have hacked their models, and online upgraders say business is still growing. WeaKnees and its competitors have reported double-digit growth almost every month since they started selling upgrade kits. It says that during the Summer Olympics, sales increased nearly 30%, as TiVo users tried to record round-the-clock Olympics coverage.

TiVo itself isn't exactly sitting still either. One of its new Series2 model, introduced in February, has a capacity of up to 140 hours and retails for $399. The company also continues to announce new features, like Tivo-to-Go, which allows users to take recorded TV on the road. But for some TiVo addicts, even that's not enough.

The growing thirst for storage capacity reflects the changing way that Americans are using their TiVos. The original appeal of the device was it allowed users to record shows while they weren't away or to zap away commercials. Now, many people are using the machines as a massive long-term storage device.

"We view our TiVo as a catalog," says Eric Silverman, a consultant in Los Angeles, who keeps everything from favorite movies to children's videos on his three TiVos. To address his worries that TiVo might record over his two-year-old daughter's favorite Sesame Street episode, Mr. Silverman spent nearly $1,000 upgrading his devices. He now has over 900 hours of recording time.

Customers willing to do upgrades themselves can supercharge their TiVo for a lot less than that. A hard drive capable of storing 70 additional hours of TV can be purchased for as little as $139.

But there a few things to keep in mind before you pry the back off your machine. For starters, unlike a personal computer, the power source in a TiVo is unshielded. This means you can still get a nasty shock even if it's unplugged. Second, directions for reprogramming TiVo's Linux-based operating system are even more complicated than furniture assembly and you might want to spend some time familiarizing yourself with the directions.

TiVo doesn't officially endorse or discourage the hacking practice, but it does caution consumers that opening the box voids the warranty.

Online message boards like www.tivofaq.com or www.tivocommunity.com outline the step-by-step procedure for adding additional hard drives to your TiVo. For the coding and tinkering types, how-to books like "Hacking TiVo" by Jeff Keegan or "TiVo Hacks" by Raffi Krikorian explain how to upgrade TiVo's memory. They also provide directions on hooking up AOL Instant Messenger and Caller ID features so you can see who is messaging or calling on your screen. It's even possible to get a TiVo to read your e-mail out loud.

If this seems daunting, consider an upgrade kit. Online retailers sell pre-programmed hard drives -- you simply have to lift up the lid of the TiVo and screw in the new drive, just as you might install a light bulb. Ready-made upgrade kits like this typically range in price from $139 to $799. At least one online company is also offering upgraded hard drives for machines made by TiVo rivals, such as those from Digital Networks North America Inc., ReplayTV or Microsoft Corp.'s Ultimate TV.

Some online retailers offer services that will do the upgrade for an extra $39 to $79 when you send them your TiVo.

New words that became canonical

Glad to see that pleather and teensploitation have gone mainstream...

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary,
Eleventh Edition
2004 Copyright New Words and Senses Sampler 

New Entries
body wrap (noun) 1974 : a body treatment involving the application of usually oils or gels followed by a wrapping of the body with a sheet

clafouti (noun) circa 1968 : a dessert consisting of a layer of fruit (as cherries) topped with batter and baked
darmstadtium (noun) 2003 : a short-lived radioactive element produced artificially—see element table (Also: Ds : elemental symbol for darmstadtium)

digital subscriber line (noun) 1984 : a high-speed communications connection used for accessing the Internet and carrying short-range transmissions over ordinary telephone lines

dream catcher (noun) 1989 : a circular framed net with a hole in the center that is used by some American Indian peoples to help block bad dreams and catch good ones

HPLC (abbreviation) : high-performance liquid chromatography
information technology (noun) 1978 : the technology involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for the processing and distribution of data

lossless (adjective) circa 1934 : done or being without loss (as of power or data)
menudo (noun) 1929 : a tripe stew seasoned with chili peppers
MPEG (noun) [Moving Pictures Experts Group] 1988 1 : any of a group of computer file formats for the compression and storage of digital video and audio data 2 : a computer file (as of a movie) in an MPEG format

MP3 (noun) [from the file extension .mp3 used for such files, short for MPEG Audio Layer 3] 1996 1 : a computer file format for the compression and storage of digital audio data 2 : a computer file (as of a song) in the MP3 format

nanotech (noun) 1991 : nanotechnology (Also: nanotechnological (adjective) and nanotechnologist (noun)
pleather (noun) 1982 : a plastic fabric made to look like leather
PMB (abbreviation) : private mailbox
S Res (abbreviation) : Senate resolution
teensploitation (noun) 1982 : the exploitation of teenagers by producers of teen-oriented films
union territory (noun) 1979 : a centrally administered subdivision of India
New Senses
extension (noun) : a series of usually three or four characters following a dot at the end of the name of a computer file that specifies the file's format or purpose

goggles (noun) : an electronic apparatus that covers the eyes and is used to enhance vision (as at night) or to produce images (as of a virtual reality) 

 

cool, a price reduction for a change

Netflix's Profit Jumps,
Plans to Cut Monthly Fee
A WALL STREET JOURNAL ONLINE NEWS ROUNDUP
October 15, 2004; Page A11
Netflix Inc.'s profit and sales surged in the third quarter as the online DVD rental company continued to add new subscribers at a rapid clip.

The Los Gatos, Calif., company said it plans to lower the monthly fee for its unlimited DVD rentals to $18 from $22 starting in November. The company had hiked prices earlier this year.

In a move to blunt the expected entry of Amazon.com Inc. into the business of renting DVD movies by mail, Netflix said it's slashing its subscription prices and postponing a plan to expand overseas so it can focus on a coming battle with the Internet retail giant in the U.S.

Shares plunged on the news, down 40% to $10.51 in early morning trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
In an interview, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said the company has heard from "several sources" he declined to identify that Amazon is preparing to enter Netflix's business, through which customers pay a flat monthly fee, order DVDs online and receive them through the mail. As a result of Amazon's expected moves, Mr. Hastings said Netflix is cutting its monthly subscription fee to $18 from $22 and shelving plans to expand its service to the United Kingdom. Mr. Hastings, who also discussed the plans in a conference call with investors, said the changes are an effort to gain more subscribers before Amazon gets into the market.

The price drop is a reversal of past actions by Netflix, which increased its subscription fee earlier this year to $22 from $20 even as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Blockbuster Inc. got into the DVD-by-mail market. "Amazon is a more serious competitor," Mr. Hastings said. "They're the gold standard in e-commerce. We take the threat seriously."

Patty Smith, a spokeswoman for Amazon of Seattle, said the company's "customers have encouraged us to offer low-price online DVD rentals but we have nothing to announce at this time." Amazon already has a sizable audience of customers who purchase DVDs through its Web site.

For the third quarter, Netflix reported net income of $18.9 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with net income of $3.3 million, or five cents a share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue nearly doubled to $141.6 million from $72.2 million in the year-earlier period.

Results beat the company's own raised forecast. Earlier this month, Netflix raised its guidance, saying net income could reach as high as $17.5 million. At the time, it said its subscribers in the period were up 73% from a year ago to 2.23 million total subscribers.

However, Wall Street was expecting even higher earnings. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were expecting a profit of 32 cents a share on revenue of $140.6 million.

When the company raised its guidance earlier this month, it attributed the brighter outlook in part to lower-than-expected movie rentals in the quarter, which may have resulted from interest in the Olympic games. Since Netflix customers are allowed to rent an unlimited number of movies for a monthly fee, fewer movie rentals means lower expenses.

At the time, Netflix also announced plans to change how it accounts for its back-catalogue DVD library. Without those changes, earnings would have been $14.9 million or 23 cents a share, the company said Thursday.

Netflix has enjoyed surging revenue growth as its subscriber base soars. Still, the company has paid dearly in costly marketing tactics to recruit customers, which weighed heavily on profitability until recently.

--Wall Street Journal reporter Nick Wingfield contributed to this article.

Write to the Online Journal's editors at newseditors@wsj.com

Interesting use of funds for a secretary and a garbage man...

Fairy-Tale Fifteenths
The 'Quince' Marks a Big Rite
For Latin Teens and Marketers;
Coming of Age at Disneyland
By AMY CHOZICK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 15, 2004; Page B1
Yessenia Franco got the royal treatment for her 15th birthday: a horse-drawn, pumpkin-shaped crystal carriage with liveried servants in powdered wigs, a silver tulle ball gown and a gala at which 260 guests danced until dawn in the shadow of Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland. "My daughter always wanted to be a princess," says Mabel Franco, Yessenia's mother.

Like an increasing number of Hispanics in the U.S., Ms. Franco, a San Francisco office assistant, and her husband, Ismael, a sanitation worker, decided to spare no expense for their daughter's quinceanera, or 15th birthday party. The cost: $30,000. It was "a dream come true," says Mabel Franco. The Francos, both of whom immigrated from Mexico, have told Yessenia's 11-year-old sister that if she wishes, they will book the Walt Disney Co. theme park for her, too.

In Latin America, the quinceanera, a celebration dating back to the Aztecs that commemorates the spiritual and physical coming of age of a 15-year-old girl, is typically observed with a ceremony in a Catholic church and a backyard party for family members. Piety and a priest's blessing are the main ingredients for the usually modest events.

On this side of the border, the tradition has taken on a momentum of its own, melding cultural pride with conspicuous consumption. Savvy marketers with an eye for the growing Hispanic population are starting to catch on. The result: homemade dresses are giving way to designer gowns, streamer-festooned patios to Royal Caribbean cruises.

"To Latinos in the U.S., the quinceanera serves as an important tool to preserve culture," says Cordelia Candelaria, editor of the Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture in the U.S. That hasn't stopped it from evolving from an intimate religious ritual toward a lavish secular celebration, often costing more than a wedding. "A lot of times it's a simple case of outdoing the Joneses," Ms. Candelaria says. Or, in this case, the Garzas.

A girl celebrating her quinceanera (keen-seen-yerah) typically invites six to 10 damas, or single female friends, to serve as her attendants, plus dozens -- sometimes hundreds -- of other guests. That means marketers have the chance to target not only the birthday girl and her family, but a slew of teenage girls planning their own quinceaneras.

In California, Disneyland Resort has a team of event planners who craft customized quinceanera events, which it began offering in 2000. The parties, which can feature Mickey and Minnie Mouse dressed as mariachi, can also include park tickets, balloon sculptors, acrobats and fanfare trumpeters, and start at $7,500. With about three high-end quinceanera parties a month, up from just six a year in 2000, such galas are the resort's fastest-growing event category, after weddings.

It isn't a new phenomenon for an ethnic group's spiritual traditions to become more commercial as the group gains economic power, says Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, author of "Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child's Bar or Bat Mitzvah." He believes Hispanics are confronting the same issues as Jews did in the early 1960s, when bar and bat mitzvahs became increasingly flashy, secular and expensive. "These rites of passage are a way for a minority group to demonstrate that they have succeeded in America," he says.

Daisy Marilyn Vargas, a ninth grader in Dallas, says she has been planning her "quince" for a year. Having already procured a custom $500 strapless gown for the occasion, she is keen to have "all the space I can get" for her 400-plus guests. "We'll serve Mexican food from 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. until everyone drops! Plus an after party at my house!" she squeals. "Oh, we also have a church ceremony at 10 a.m. and I'll just get blessed."

Such quasireligious hoopla helps to explain why marketers are duking it out for any part of the quinceanera windfall. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. works with travel agencies to push its $900 to $1,600 a person quinceanera cruises, which include the use of theaters that hold as many as 1,200 revelers, an ice-skating rink and a disco. This summer, almost all of its cruises embarking from South Florida had a quinceanera group on board.

At David's Bridal, the nation's largest bridal retailer, $200 to $600 frothy, floor-length quinceanera gowns now compete with prom dresses at 41 of the chain's 240 stores. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. now sells specially designed quince dresses for $24 to $30 at 200 of its 3,200 U.S. locations.

Mattel Inc. has a limited edition Quinceanera Barbie (available as a blonde or brunette); Hallmark CardsInc. reports that two of its three top selling Spanish-language cards are quinceanera cards. J.C. Penny Co. is marketing itself as an affordable, one-stop emporium for all things quince, from shoes to jewelry to personalized portraits for the big day.

Despite all the accoutrements, the ritual is hardly limited to the rich. Families of modest means, such as the Francos, save for years to afford the pageant-like parties, often relying on godparents and extended family for contributions. Sometimes, the soirees get priority over other expenditures, including mortgages and college. "Poor or rich, Mexican or Cuban, everyone spends on a quinceanera," says Erika Prosper, director of strategic planning at Garcia360, a San Antonio business consulting firm.

Zenia Sigler, a 43-year-old housewife in Miami and her husband, Carlos, a dragline operator, both born in Cuba, recently gave their daughter, Melissa, a seven-day cruise for her quinceanera. Cost: $1,600 a person. At the moment, Ms. Sigler says she isn't worried about college bills. "Melissa is very smart," she says, "We know she will get a scholarship."

According to the Department of Education, Hispanic students are twice as likely as blacks and three times as likely as whites to drop out of high school, and cite a lack of funding as a major reason for not continuing their education.

"You're always going to see people with their priorities messed up," says Alma Morales Riojas, president of the Mexican American National Association, an advocacy group for Latinas, who says most families don't spend money on the quince at the expense of higher education.

As cultural tastes shift, it is unclear whether the quince will continue to resonate with future generations. Aryani Montes's parents gave her a choice between a big 15th birthday party or a used car when she turned sixteen. Breaking with tradition, Ms. Montes opted for a 2000 Mazda Protégé. "Some girls went all out," says Ms. Montes, who attended several parties in the Austin, Texas, area. "It was fun. But being 17 and reflecting on it, it seems like a big waste of money to go over the top like that."

Write to Amy Chozick at amy.chozick@wsj.com

The local mountain lion

Darlene read a news article last night that a mountain lion has been spotted in our neighborhood.  In fact, it was spotted, DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE!  The location they gave in the article was the corner of Bintliff and Spicewood Springs.  Looks like it enjoys prowling the valleys around our house and can be fairly anonymous in the thick brush.  No incidents with people yet, but makes me a little nervous about heading out to run at 5 a.m. by myself.  I remember what Indy was like pissed off at 20 pounds, don't think I'd like to find out what 100 pounds of hate feels like.

timing

Funny that I was reading earlier this week how Apple is beating up Dell in the music space and how Dell needed to release a smaller version to compete with the mini...

Dell Unveils Plasma TVs
And Mini Music Players,
In Push Beyond PCs
By GARY MCWILLIAMS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 14, 2004; Page D6
Personal computer king Dell Inc., continuing its push into consumer electronics, unveiled Thursday its first plasma-screen televisions, a tiny version of its digital-music player and a photoprinter with built-in display for previewing images.

Dell has parlayed its position as the world's largest personal-computer brand into a new stake in consumer electronics. Market watcher Retail Forward Inc. recently ranked the company as the fourth-largest U.S. seller of consumer electronics, behind Best Buy Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. Unlike its rivals, Dell doesn't operate stores. Instead, it peddles its flat-screen TVs, digital-music players and cameras over the phone, mail-order catalogs and Web sites.

John Hamlin, senior vice president of Dell's U.S. consumer business, said the consumer-product launch is an outgrowth of its home-PC customers' interest in video and music.

Its first plasma TVs are a pair of 42-inch diagonal monitors with dual analog tuners, connectors that allow them to be used as PC displays and detachable speakers. Dell entered the TV market a year ago with its release of a liquid-crystal display television. It now sells four LCD TVs, ranging from 17-inch diagonal to 30-inch diagonal sets.

"We feel plasma now is at a quality standpoint that we can bring it out," said Mr. Hamlin. The high-definition version of the new pair, the Dell W4200HD, displays 1024 by 768 lines and costs $3,500. A lower-resolution model, which displays 852 by 480 lines, is priced at $2,300. Dell, based in Round Rock, Texas, will take orders beginning on Oct. 27, he said.

Dell also is releasing new versions of its Digital Jukebox music player. The smallest of the two new models weighs 4.4 ounces, stores as many as 2,500 songs and runs about 10 hours on a fully charged battery. A larger version with 20 gigabytes of storage can hold as many as 9,000 songs and run for as long as 12 hours. The music players accept songs in MP3, WMA and wav formats.

While the Pocket DJ is heavier than the 3.6-ounce Apple Computer Inc. iPod Mini, it is priced at $199, 20% less than the iPod Mini, and stores more than twice as many songs. Dell said its redesigned DJ20 will cost $249. Both continue the company's use of a scroll-wheel for flipping among songs, and are available beginning in November.

Dell is also introducing two new printers for the consumer and small-business market. The Dell Photo Printer 540 comes equipped with memory-card slots that allow digital pictures to be printed in 4-by-6-inch formats without involving a PC. The printer is priced at $189 and is available immediately, the company said.

It also is releasing a new device for small businesses and home offices that combines color printer, fax, copier and scanner into one device. The Dell Photo All-in-One 942 is priced at $149 after a $30 rebate, and prints black and white documents at up to 19 pages a minute and color at up to 14 pages a minute. Both are available immediately in the U.S.

Write to Gary McWilliams at gary.mcwilliams@wsj.com

Something to think about now that MP3 and sat radio are going mainstream

Customizing Cars
Gets Complicated
Audio and Other Systems
Installed During Assembly
Become Hard to Untangle
By MICHELLE HIGGINS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 14, 2004; Page D3
When Ricky Harvey bought his new Mazda RX-8 earlier this year he wanted to add one thing that would make it perfect for him: A sophisticated in-dash satellite radio.

He was in for disappointment: There is no way to install a custom radio in the dashboard because the factory radio's unconventional design incorporates the air-conditioning controls into the same panel. "It made me feel like they were trying to inhibit me from doing something I like to do," says Mr. Harvey, of North Little Rock, Ark.

It is as American as baseball and lots of cup-holders: Personalizing a new car with add-ons. But the increasingly sophisticated design of cars is making it harder to make some time-honored modifications.

For instance, on the 2005 Chevrolet Cavalier, removing the factory-installed radio may cause the door chimes, and also the dome light, to stop working. The Infiniti Q45 comes with climate controls, dash vents and a reverse-view camera screen all incorporated into the radio design, making it difficult, if not impossible, to replace the individual parts with custom options.

It is virtually impossible to put anything but factory devices in a number of luxury cars such as the Volvo XC90, Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series. That is because those vehicles use a computer network that doesn't have ports to plug in aftermarket gadgets.

Industrywide, about 40% of car stereos, 10% of speakers and 20% of amplifiers can't be repaired or upgraded by retailers, according to the Mobile Enhancement Retailers Association, a trade organization that markets mobile electronics.

The problem is twofold. In some cases, unconventional dashboard designs that combine multiple features into one panel -- like Mr. Harvey's Mazda -- make replacing individual parts problematic. In other cases, the customization problem lurks behind the panel where specialized computer networks hide. Installing a remote starter (which enables drivers to start their car without being in it) no longer is as easy as splicing a few wires. The changes require expertise in computer programming and engineering, and can cost a great deal more.

Today, 39% of 2005 model cars have integrated radio panels that make it difficult or impossible to replace the factory-installed radio, compared with just 9% of 1996 model vehicles, according to Victory Technologies Inc. of Stoneham, Mass., which supplies an electronics database to automotive retailers and manufacturers.

The increase stems from a combination of factors. To save manufacturing costs, auto makers are linking car entertainment systems with other vehicle functions through onboard computer networks. The most common installation obstacles involve audio systems, which no longer just play music, but double as vehicle control and message centers. Many cars come with a screen in the dash that displays radio stations and CD tracks, but also alerts the driver with a message when a headlight goes out or oil needs to be changed.

This reduces the number of wires and components needed to run such features and allows car makers to add more options, from navigation systems to on-road assistance to integrated cell phones. That makes it more difficult for mobile-electronics retailers to make products that seamlessly will plug into the vehicle.

It used to be that a professional installer could create a remote-start system for a vehicle simply by tapping into some wires. Now, car keys come with imbedded computer chips that send a signal to the vehicle in order to turn it on. These high-tech keys require installers to either mount a special device in the car to mimic the key's computer signal or actually hide the key in the car to get the remote start to work.

Barry Vogel of the Ultimate Edge, a mobile-electronics shop in Oswego, N.Y., estimates 75% of vehicles that roll into his shop require some type of installation interface to get a remote start to work. Such installation kits can cost from $65 to $120.

Car-audio retailers say the trend is cutting into sales by forcing some consumers to opt for factory-installed systems. Sales of car-audio components were $2.18 billion last year, down 7% from 2002, according to market researcher NPD Group.

It usually isn't impossible for consumers to get a different audio system installed in their vehicle; it just costs more. Last month, Bobby Martin III, a 24-year-old from Lemoore, Calif., paid nearly $200 to put a $350 stereo into his 2001 Oldsmobile Alero. Without the $120 "interface module" the car would lose its door chimes and car alarm. "I was either going to have to eat it without a CD player or pay the money," Mr. Martin says.

Write to Michelle Higgins at michelle.higgins@wsj.com

rehab

Finding that the old foam roller treatment prescribed by the physical therapist for working out the knots in the ITBs is not as fun as advertised. In fact, it's right up there with the rack, thumbscrews, or breaking with the wheel (Shannon, Matt, and Darlene will remember that one from the torture exhibit at Balboa Park) in terms of enjoyment. The other exercises are good in that I'm really fatigued and feel like I'm getting somewhere. I'm hopeful that I'll have Arnold Schwarzenegger-quality ITBs by the time I see the therapist Monday and he'll let me resume running again.

I've been riding and swimming a lot to make up for the training shortfall and my long ride is pushing 70 miles. I am finding it mind-numbing to swim 4000 yards at a stretch, especially in a 25-yard pool. I guess that's something I'm going to have to get used to, but I'm thinking about a lake swim in the next couple weekends to get some open-water. We'll see what Sean has to say about it; I'm hesitant to go do it alone.

Still not sleeping well consistently, but hoping that I can continue to exhaust myself so I'm tired enough to get to sleep.

Darlene is leaving me for our anniversary: she is going up to Idaho to help with the business for a couple days and will be back the afternoon of the 27th. We are planning on bugging out of work early on Friday and spending the night at a little B&B in Fredericksburg. http://www.absolutecharm.com/absolute-charm-bed-and-breakfast-fredericksburg-tx.htm. Should be fun!

Finally, an auto maker that gets it

This could be really nice if this actually delivers
Salsa Over Spinach
Honda's New Hybrid Takes New Tack:
It's a Feel-Good Car, Not a Do-Good Car
October 11, 2004
The gas-electric hybrid-car market isn't up to Baskin-Robbins's level yet, but it's about to get some important new flavors.

In December, Honda plans to roll out the next major hybrid entry: a gas-electric version of its best-selling model, the Honda Accord sedan.

The first gas-electric hybrid cars offered in the U.S. market came in one style: Science Project. Honda's Insight and the first edition of the Toyota Prius generated more media buzz than sales, mainly because they were tiny, not very powerful cars once you got past the initial "wow!" of driving a car that promised to go as much as 70 miles on a gallon of gas.

The Accord Hybrid, which I got to drive briefly last week, is another proposition entirely. This time, Honda is using its hybrid technology to make a small, six-cylinder engine feel like a beefy, large-displacement six from Detroit or Munich -- but with the fuel economy of a four-cylinder Honda Civic.

The Accord Hybrid's purpose isn't just to give the Honda brand a green halo. It's to give the midpriced model line -- which trades largely on its reputation for durability and practicality -- some extra prestige with consumers who like action when they hit the gas. The Hybrid Accord will be rated at 255 horsepower, compared with 240 for the regular Accord V-6, and will generate 9% more torque.

Torque is the force that you feel in your fanny when you hit the gas; by adding what amounts to an extra motor and a battery pack to the stock 3.0 liter Accord V-6, Honda has produced a car that has more of it than a 3.8 liter V-6 Buick LeSabre -- the epitome of large-displacement Detroit sixes. This is a difference you can feel. The Hybrid Accord accelerates with far more authority than its nonhybrid sibling. Hey, that thing got a Hybrid in it? Sweet!

The Hybrid Accord delivers this improved performance with an estimated mileage of 30 miles per gallon in the city and 37 miles per gallon on the highway, compared with 21 miles and 30 miles per gallon for a regular V-6 Accord and 20 city miles and 29 highway miles for the 3.8 liter Buick. So there's the pitch: The performance of a big, high-performance V-6 with the mileage of a standard four-cylinder engine.

Get it? Honda sure hopes so, because it's floating a $30,000 price tag for the Accord Hybrid in advance of its December launch. (By comparison, a regular Accord EX is priced at about $26,650.) Getting a quick payback in gas savings for the premium hybrid price isn't a rationale for buying this car, even at current gas prices. Honda's bet is that this won't matter -- at least not to about 20,000 consumers a year.

What's noteworthy is what the Accord Hybrid says about the coming shift in hybrid-car marketing strategies. At first, hybrids were positioned as do-good cars -- their drivers were helping to save the planet from global warming. The next wave of hybrids will be positioned as feel-good cars -- high-tech cars that make owners feel smart and ahead of the pack.

The Accord Hybrid presents gas-electric hybrid technology not as spinach but as salsa -- a way to spice up the ride without carbs or excess calories. If owning a car with more horsepower than a BMW 530i and the mileage of a Honda Civic gives you about $3,000 worth of that "I am much smarter than the average bear" vibe, then this car is for you.

This isn't unprecedented thinking. Lots of car makers charge premium prices for innovative high-performance engines. Just ask Chrysler, which can't keep up with demand for its "Hemi" V-8s.

Just as Chrysler did with its Hemi-powered 300 C sedan, Honda intends to market the Accord Hybrid as the brand's "image leader." The company is aiming the new Accord at an audience that's younger (50 years old compared to 53 for the current V-6 Accord buyer); manlier (60% men vs. 56% for the current V-6); and wealthier (Accord Hybrid buyers should be earning $100,000 or more vs. just under that mark for the current V-6).

Honda has packaged a number of slick technical achievements in its new hybrid. To improve mileage, it's equipped the engine with systems that shut down three of six cylinders when the engine is just cruising -- a shift that's imperceptible, even though a six running on just three cylinders naturally tends to be rough. To fix this, Honda has designed special motor mounts and a noise-cancellation system to maintain quiet.

At a stoplight, the engine shuts off with a soft shudder. When you hit the gas, the engine pops back to life. In the city, this feature accounts for about 25% of the nine-mile-per-gallon difference between the standard Accord's city mileage and the hybrid's. Honda has sprinkled small improvements throughout the car: An aluminum hood cuts weight, as does a magnesium intake manifold.

Over the next year, consumers are going to see gas-electric hybrid cars arriving in several other forms. Ford's Hybrid Escape SUV, already on sale, is designed to prove that SUVs can get 30 miles to the gallon. Toyota's Lexus RX400 hybrid SUV is expected to use hybrid technology to boost performance without sacrificing mileage. Toyota said recently it wants to sell as many as 100,000 of its Prius sedans in the U.S.

General Motors and Chrysler, which have been slower than Toyota, Honda and Ford to jump on the hybrid bandwagon, are now showing more interest. Both GM and Chrysler plan to use hybrid systems to pump up the mileage of some of their least fuel-efficient vehicles. Their rationale is that it makes more sense to invest in improving the fuel economy of heavy vehicles that get below-average mileage than it does to stretch for incremental gains on relatively efficient small cars.

GM is starting to roll out a version of its Chevrolet Silverado with a so-called "mild hybrid" system. This is basically a beefed-up starter motor-generator system that gives the truck an electrical boost from a stop. GM says the system improves fuel economy by 13% compared with its standard pickup. The hybrid Silverado will be offered in small numbers to consumers in California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Nevada. GM has outlined plans for more hybrid trucks and SUVs in coming years. Chrysler, meanwhile, plans to offer a diesel-electric hybrid version of its big Ram pickup to fleet customers later this year.

Within two or three years, it should become clear what kind of legs hybrid technology will have in the U.S. market. Within that time, European auto makers will have to deliver on promises to make their diesel engines comply with tough U.S. clean-air rules. If they succeed, hybrids will face stiff competition from that technology.

But in the meantime, the Accord Hybrid is making a bet that its hybrid-for-power technology is better positioned not as a shade of green, but as the new black.

Some useful info...

Testing Ways to Kill
Shower-Curtain Mold
By SAM SCHECHNER
October 12, 2004; Page D7
It's easy to spot mold on a shower curtain -- but is there an equally fast way to get rid of it?
Big household-cleaning companies like Clorox and SC Johnson offer assorted sprays that promise to eradicate these black splotches with a minimum of elbow grease. Meanwhile, the Internet abounds with do-it-yourself advice for cleaning up mold. Some companies even sell mold-resistant shower curtains, with antifungal agents baked into the vinyl.

For those who don't want to replace their shower curtains every few months, which of these options works the best? We tested five methods, using five different slices of the same disgustingly moldy vinyl shower curtain. We tried a spray with bleach (Tilex Mold & Mildew Remover) and one free of chlorine (Seventh Generation Shower Cleaner). We also tried dumping a strip in a washing machine along with bleach and white towels (for friction). We soaked another slice in a bathtub with a bottle of distilled vinegar. Finally, we scrubbed one slice with a mixture of water, dish soap and tea tree oil.

The worst result came from bleaching the curtain in a washing machine, a method that two different microbiologists had recommended to us. It may have killed all the mold and bacteria, but it left behind visible rust-colored stains, even after running the 30-minute hot-water wash cycle twice.

The NOW tea-tree oil, a natural fungicide that we bought at a local health-food store, seemed to be an intriguing option. It smelled like a new-age mountain spa as we poured three teaspoons of the oil into a washbasin. After soaking and sloshing the curtain around in the soapy tea tree solution for five minutes and then scrubbing hard for another 10, much of the mold was gone. But there were still large yellow stains and gray specks left behind. NOW doesn't market its tea-tree oil for mold per se, but many Web sites suggest using it to kill and clean fungus.

The best of the five by far was the $3.29 bottle of Tilex. We were skeptical at the outset because the label instructed us only to "spray, wait until stains disappear and rinse." But three minutes after applying the spray to the dry strip of curtain, the mold started to disappear. After 10 minutes, and a rinse, it was gone, apart from two very faint yellow stains that resisted a second spray and scrubbing. The downside: The smell eventually burned our nose (and drew tears to our eyes), even in a well-ventilated bathroom.

For those averse to chlorine, a bleach ingredient that can contaminate groundwater, Seventh Generation "natural citrus scent" shower cleaner ($4.99 a bottle) is a workable alternative. Using hydrogen peroxide, which kills germs and then breaks down into water, the cleaner got rid of most of the mold stains. It left behind only subtle, gray stain remnants. Unfortunately, it required a good deal of scrubbing, which is mitigated slightly by its pleasant Orangina-like aroma.

Soaking the curtain in a solution of bathwater and distilled vinegar didn't wow us. After an hour, the mold looked unchanged -- but some of the stains yielded to sustained scrubbing. Still, the gray areas that remained were slightly more noticeable than those left by Seventh Generation.

• Write to cranky@wsj.com

METHOD: Spray with Tilex Mold & Mildew Remover
COST: $3.29 for 32 fl. oz. spray bottle
EASE OF USE: As promised, requires no scrubbing
SMELL: Like a swimming pool
THE RESULT: The curtain came out practically bone-white.
METHOD: Spray with Seventh Generation Shower Cleaner
COST: $3.99 for 32 fl. oz. spray bottle
EASE OF USE: Shoulder felt tender after 14 minutes of scrubbing -- and that was only one section of curtain
SMELL: Sweet lemon soda
THE RESULT: Grayish pattern remained where the black mold had been -- was less noticeable from across the room.
METHOD: Soak in distilled vinegar and water
COST: $1.29 for 16 fl. oz. bottle of Heinz distilled white vinegar
EASE OF USE: Requires slightly less elbow grease than some methods, but takes an hour to soak
SMELL: Like someone had made a salad in our bathroom
THE RESULT: So-so; gray stains still visible
METHOD: Wash with Now tea tree oil and dishsoap
COST: $5.95 for 1 fl. oz. bottle of oil; $1.99 for Palmolive
EASE OF USE: Felt like we had done a fully upper-body workout at the gym
SMELL: Massage parlor
THE RESULT: Minimal payback for all that effort.
METHOD: Bleach in washing machine (hot-water cycle)
COST: $1.29 for 24 fl. oz. bottle of Clorox Ultra Regular Bleach
EAE OF USE: Just let the washing machine slosh around
SMELL: Light bleach odor
THE RESULT: Big rust-colored stains remained. We even tried a second time again, without much improvement.

how to lose a bike race, fantasy league, etc....

Don't show up. That's my best piece of advice.

After struggling all season through the first eight races of the World Cup competition known as the MP3, once leading the series, and most recently trailing the series leader by 18 points with two weeks to go, I let it all slip away. Wanting to get a look at the start list one last time yesterday prior to Sunday's Paris-Tours, I deferred mailing in my entries. Occupied by a 4-hour training ride and a few errands, I missed the entry deadline!

To top it off, my would-be picks ended up third, fifth, and sixth...

Now I will likely drop out of the top five with my big goose egg with no time to recover in the tenth and final leg of the series next Sunday. I could just weep.

Knee stuff

Got in to see the physical therapist this morning to look after the knee.  The doc thought it was IT band tendonitis brought on from overuse and relative weakness in the lateral plane of motion.  The therapist looked at the knee joint and tested to confirm everything was working there.  Next, he had me lay down on my side, raise my straight leg, and resist his pushing down on my leg.  I was able to hold him off pretty well on the right side; I lifted him off the floor trying to push it down.  The left side was another story: I folded like a house of cards.  Diagnosis, tight and weak ITBs.

So he showed me a series of exercises to strengthen my ITBs and increase my flexibility.  It was humbling because I felt like one of those baby giraffes you see on the Discovery Channel taking its first few steps.  Just those exercises was enough to have me shaky-legged and tired.  I am supposed to follow this regimen for the next 10 days before I see him again, then we'll talk about me running again.  He doesn't want me doing any running before the ITB is reining in some of the instability in my knee because he's afraid the same thing will happen, but he does encourage me to keep lifting, swimming, and cycling. 

He's also got me looking for a pool noodle: those foam things kids sit on or the old ladies use for water aerobics.  I'm supposed to roll back and forth over that after my runs to try to massage out some of the tightness.  Little did I know that most sporting goods stores don't carry those.  Looks like I'll have to hit a pool place…

So, I'll just continue logging monster miles in the pool and on the bike, weather and work permitting.  I'm on pace for a 10,000 yard week in the pool, and I'm shooting for a 160-mile weekend on the bike.

Quote of the Day, although I doubt the attribution...

Ninety percent of the time things turn out worse than you thought they would.
The other ten percent of the time you had no right to expect that much.
--Augustine