A Hitchcockian Note

I love my Toyota Avalon XLS. I’m also very thankful it’s relatively old, a 2002 model, so far unaffected by recall-mania.

It’s my second Avalon, the first one being a 1999 lease. I bought the current transport when the lease offered in 2002 was 30% higher for a car whose sticker price remained the same, plus the dealer wanted about $2,500 up front.

Not being hung up having to drive the newest and flashiest car means I have kept most of my wheels for double-digit years. In 1999, it was time to replace my 13-year-old Mazda 626 which had replaced my 13-year-old Chevy Vega. Nothing really wrong with it, but Gilda and I were turning 50 and she thought it was time for us to get a grown-up car. So I test-drove our friend Jacob’s Avalon on the way to another friend’s son’s bar-mitzvah party in the city and liked it. I haven’t regretted the decision. Nor has anyone, especially larger than average passengers, who have sat in the back, as there’s plenty of room there even behind the driver’s seat.

Only one sign signals the age of my black beauty. Actually, it’s more than one sign. It’s multiple signs. Along the right rear passenger door is a series of pock marks where the door from Gilda’s car has claimed territorial rights in our garage. No matter how careful Gilda tries to be, the Jeep door invariably opens into, and I do mean into, the Avalon’s door. That’s another reason I’m not rushing out to replace the Avalon. I can’t imagine being so tolerant and forgiving is she were beating up a new car.

But I do hope Toyota fixes its problems quickly. By the time I’m ready for a new car I want to have renewed confidence in their product.



Snow Days Feedback: Reader feedback is always exciting and welcome, but a comment on my recent Snow Days blog (http://nosocksneededanymore.blogspot.com/2010/02/snow-days.html) made me scurry around town to find its meaning. Here’s the message: 酒店美女照片.

I didn’t know which language it was, much less what it meant, so this morning I made the rounds of our Korean dry cleaner and a Japanese grocer, only to be told it was Chinese. I remained frustrated because four Chinese restaurants I stopped at had not opened. Finally, a Chinese worker at an Oriental food mart translated the missive: “Liquor store pretty lady picture.”

Damned if I know what that’s supposed to mean. If Alfred Hitchcock were still alive I’m sure he could use it as a clue in one of his mysteries.



Spring Alert: The calendar still says winter but there are telltale signs of spring. Seen lots of robins around the bird feeders lately. More significantly, three times in the last two days I’ve noticed men walking around in shorts.

Be alert—daylight savings time begins 2 am March 14. We lose an hour’s sleep as the clock moves ahead by one hour.



Nap Time Followup: Speaking of sleep, after seeing my recent blog on napping (http://nosocksneededanymore.blogspot.com/2010/02/nap-time.html), Gilda clipped an article from Tuesday’s free Metro newspaper. “Naps, diabetes linked” blared the headline above a story of a Chinese study of 20,000 adults, 50 and older. According to Reuters, the study found people who usually napped four to six days of the week were more likely to suffer from type 2 diabetes. About 15% had diabetes vs. about 12% for those who napped less often or not at all.

Despite being thin, I’m proof that weight has nothing to do with susceptibility to diabetes. I’m borderline; I try to avoid sweets as much as possible. I also try to stay away from processed starches and carbohydrates that turn into sugar once digested. Hard not to eat good bread when dining out, though.

Despite my resident medical expert’s constant care (for those not aware, Gilda is a nurse practitioner), here’s some dietary advice sure to amuse you from Dr. Sum Ting Wong, passed along by my friend Milton who received it from a mutual friend, Walter: http://misty20001.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!5F44E10329175E2F!925.entry.



The Good Doctor: One more medical note—the other day I watched The Last Angry Man, starring Paul Muni as a dedicated general practitioner in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn in the late 1950s. A good, not great movie from 1959, but one with deep overtones and uncanny prescience to not only the current health care debate but also to the spate of reality shows flooding the airwaves. Rent it or catch it next time it’s on Turner Classic Movies.



Political Forecast: Joe Biden will be 70 years old in 2012. Assuming he and Obama win re-election, he’d be 74 at the end of their second term, too old to seek the presidency. My prediction—despite being a good vice president, Biden will either choose not to run again or be eased into making that decision. Obama will select Evan Bayh as his replacement. Bayh will be 57 in 2012.

Though he recently announced he won’t seek re-election to the Senate because he is fed up with the Washington bickering scene, Bayh would make a strong VP candidate. He’s a moderate, has shown he can win even in GOP-leaning Indiana and, if the Democrats maintain control of the White House in 2012, Bayh gives them a chance to extend their hold even longer. Remember, you read it first here.