It's Wednesday - Where Are My Rants?

Yeah, I've taken some time away from rants. Today's the day.

Health Care: Let me repeat...I am not political. However, I noticed that the United States is ranked either #1 or #2 in Gross Domestic Product (depending on the survey and whether the European Union is counted as a single entity) and yet, according to the World Health Organization's survey in 2000, the U.S. ranked 37th in the world in terms of health systems. It is behind Morocco, for crying out loud! All I'm saying is this: it is a crime that in one of the richest countries in the world, that spends more per capita on health care than any other country, that every person isn't covered for health care from cradle to grave. It's an embarrassment. Even Canada and the U.K. are ranked higher. The number one system? Wait for it... Yes, it's that nationalized health care system in France! I'm just pointing out some facts, folks.

Football (Soccer to Americans): Two things here. France won its match today 1-0 over the Faroe Islands. The Faroe Islands! One to zero??? How can France barely squeak by the Faroe Islands in World Cup qualifying? Oh...this doesn't bode well for 2010 in South Africa.
Another thing: what imbecile in the headquarters of U.S. Soccer gave the broadcasting rights for today's match of U.S. v. Mexico solely to TeleMundo? Hello? ESPN? Hello? (Dimwits...)

Cash For Clunkers: Nice idea. I also like how one commentator compared it to a gold rush during the first week. People went through the $1 billion dollars allotted for the program in a hurry, and once another $2 billion was shifted to the program, the sales died down. Is it because it wasn't as close to ending as feared, or is it because there are no more cars on the lots?

Volkswagen (and other car dealers): Went online last week to get a quote on a Volkswagen Jetta TDI diesel. I specifically noted in the request that the dealer should contact me by email, not by phone. What happened? You guessed it. A phone call from the internet sales manager asking me what I was interested in, even though I put it all down on the request. Would I accept automatic instead of manual? No. That's why I put manual in the request. Would I like to come down and test drive the automatic, just to see if I like it? No, I wanted manual. We only have 4 left, because we sold 4 this weekend. We won't get any more until October. And we aren't going below the suggested retail price because it's our most popular model. Then why are you annoying me by continuing to talk to me on the phone?

I must admit, in the past I have had great experiences negotiating sales on the internet. I do the work online, a bit of back and forth with the internet department, get an offer, and voila! I go to the dealership and sign the papers. I was out of Mel Rapton Honda in less than an hour. Roseville VW...work on your internet sales. You did this same thing to my son when he was looking at one of your cars, while Mazda did things right.

Job Cuts: Announced today in the news that Kaiser is cutting 1,200 jobs in Northern California due to lower earnings, even though in the last quarter they quoted a huge gain in profits. Isn't Kaiser supposed to be non-profit? Nonetheless, if you made a big profit, keep people employed. You can afford it. Don't add to the misery. And don't add to your current clients' troubles by making them wait even longer for appointments and to be seen by their physician. Bad press, Kaiser.

Baseball: Don't care.
Football: Surprisingly, don't care.
Basketball: Even more surprisingly, don't care.
Current lot of movies in theaters: Care least of all. GI Joe? For real? Give me a break! Transformers and GI Joe in the same summer. Coming to theaters near you next spring...My Little Pony, The Film! You laugh. It could happen! Stretch Armstrong and the Search for Plastic Man! Ugh. When is someone going to write something decent again?

Television: Current favorites on the air - Psych, House (on break), Doctor Who, Deadliest Catch, Burn Notice, and....my absolute favorite....TOP GEAR!! Man, what a great show. I can watch repeats and never get bored. It is fantastic!

That's all for now. Ranting is complete. I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.