Blog Is...

...never having to say anything more.

I know that Rand Simberg (Transterrestrial Musings "Coming Hone") is a bit of a soft target for this sort of thing, but this is a classic example of something you see around the Blogosphere - especially from reasonably well known Bloggers who've let their egos get ahead of their critical thinking.

Rand's had some classics over the last few years.  There was his request for a refund on the way after the "Mission Accomplished" thing and it turned out that less money had been spent than predicted at that point.  Then there have been the multiple "Oil is over priced, it's coming down real soon now" posts. 

The ability to latch onto a single item in support of your worldview and then build a Blog Post around it with absolutely no fear of having to revisit your position is probably the key for this type of personality.

It's interesting.

Me?  I'm glad that a lot of Iraqis feel they can come home from Syria.  As I understand the Syrians haven't exactly been making them particuarly welcome there and the conditions (at least those reported in a BBC report I watched) looked pretty miserable.  It's a few hundred thousand.  But which few hundred thousand?  Will these be the entrepeneurs, the teachers, the doctors, the professionals that have left?

For the record, and for other Bloggers, editorial isn't all there is to journalism.  There's a lot more to it than that.  It's probably why Paul and I aren't terribly good bloggers.  I worry about the questions behind the editorial too much.

Car Servicing in the US... (Yet more differences between UK and US)

I took my car for a service at a local garage yesterday.  The mechanic looked puzzled at me.  "Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, it's just over due for a full service, so could you do one?"

"Er... ok...."

A few hours later he called me to say it was ready.  I turn up and go to pay.  "No charge," he says.  "I didn't do anything."

Hmmm...

Am I missing something or was this guy just a bit dim?  Typically in the UK, since I got cars that I actually cared about and could afford to maintain, I'll have them services twice a year.  A small service - oil, check fluid levels, redo the coolant, inspect the brakes, change the air filter, plugs etc... and a large one (usually before the MOT) where they'll do all the above and anything the manufacturer recommends for that point in the car's life.  Since I started doing this I've found that I generally have less problems with the car.  My little "under the arches" guy in Bath was perfect for this sort of thing as he'd also do stuff like rotate the tires and warn me when I'd need stuff done.

So, is this not done in the US?  Do people just wait until something drops off the car?  Or should I just go to a main dealler and say, the car's on 80K miles - do the 80K service?