The Schlicken Empire

The Elson Gallery

Today was just another average Saturday. Got up late did a few chores around the house then I headed to the local Quickie Lube/Car Wash(like the sign to the left) with my dad. He asked me to go so he could take both his cars in at the same time and kill two birds with one stone. My dad’s been going to the same place for years and although it was crowded as usual he dropped off the car and we waited.

As the time passed, my dads truck went quicker and was all done before his car had even finished its oil change. Somewhat annoyed we watched as the car finally went to the back where it would be scrubbed before coming out of the mechanical car wash. After about 10 more minutes, the car still had not come out and an older woman about 60 who ran the front counter and young highschool boy who washed the cars came out and asked us if our car was there.

My dad said, “yes,” to which she replied, “what type of car sir?”

“Honda Accord Hybrid”, he said beginning to get somewhat irritated with all the questioning.

The older woman gave the young boy a nervous look and then said, “Could you go to the back, sir, and see if you see your car? We think it might have been stolen”

“Stolen,” asked my dad?

“Yes”, nodded the older woman.

And that’s how we found out that some punk guy who had been standing around the back area for the last couple of days stole our car. The car wash lube place just leaves the keys in the car as they move it from station to station. It’s actually the perfect crime. The guy just walked right up and took the car, no breaking in required.

This is the first, and hopefully the last time I ever have a car stolen. Interesting enough, neither my dad nor myself ever felt really much fear or nervousness. My dad has great insurance and the Lube place is most likely liable anyway.

When I got home I started doing some research because I wanted to know why my dad’s car and why today?

The research pointed out pretty blatantly that he was at risk. Most of us know that Honda’s are notoriously bad for being stolen, one of the only faults of the machines. Below is the list of the top 10 most stolen cars for 2005. It’s put out by the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB).

Rank Year/Make/Model
1. 1991 Honda Accord
2. 1995 Honda Civic
3. 1989 Toyota Camry
4. 1994 Dodge Caravan
5. 1994 Nissan Sentra
6. 1997 Ford F-150
7. 1990 Acura Integra
8. 1986 Toyota Pickup
9. 1993 Saturn SL
10. 2004 Dodge Ram

So although my fathers car was a newer model of Honda Accord, you can still see how much thieves like them. The NICB also does an anual study of the top 10 Vehicle Theft Hot Spots or locations that have the most thefts.

Thefts per 100,000
1. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev. 1,310
2. Stockton, Calif. 1,061
3. Visalia-Porterville, Calif. 1,031
4. Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. 1,023
5. Modesto, Calif. 1,005
6. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. 975
7. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, Calif. 958
8. Fresno, Calif. 953
9. Yakima, Wash. 931
10. Tucson, Ariz. 920

We live in the Sacramento area which has the 7th most thefts per 100,000 vehicles at just under 1,000.

All in all, with the research I did, I believe I shouldn’t have asked why my dad’s car was stolen today, I should have asked why it wasn’t stolen yesterday.

This video is great on so many levels. It pokes fun at the magniloquent college professor who, in the real world often times falls by the wayside, but in his classroom, his kingdom, he miraculously becomes a God. Professors often times use their power unethically, focusing on their personal needs as opposed to those of the students. They may do it to make less work for themselves, or all too often, to make themselves feel superior at the expense of the students.
That’s why this video is so awesome, because it takes the very arrogance the professor uses to degrade the student, and shoves it back in his face as the means by which he is outsmarted.
Enjoy!

Update: I’ve contacted stumbleupon.com and they’ve commented on the issue. Read their response.

Ok, I know I’m probably not the first person to rant about this, but come on now, something has got to change at Stumbleupon.

What you ask?

Well, I’ll tell you.

I’m just about to pull my hair out with all the duplicate posts in the stumbleupon world. I can’t go a round without seeing duplicates.

Some stories I’ve seen several times, and grant it, I usually liked it the first time and sometimes the second but the 3rd, 4th, and 5th times were completely unnecessary.
Some examples of duplicate posts:

Firefox Blocked

Flagpole sitta lipdub

Some of the most powerful images from around the world

Same old Graffiti (This is probably the one I’ve seen the most.)

These are just a few I saw the last time I stumbled and I’m sure you’ve all seen them a couple of times yourselves.

I believe the biggest problem is people really don’t know if it’s been submitted or not. The only way I’m able to find out is to search for the title on Google. Usually it will come up there if it’s been submitted but that’s not completely reliable either.

Anyway, to get to the point, what I’m calling for is some kind of system that can cut down on duplicate posts. Many other services like Digg and Netscape already have one in place. It wouldn’t be that difficult and until this happens I say, thumbs down with all duplicate sites. No exceptions.

That’s my rant.

I would be interested in hearing from all of you. Let me know which sites you see all the time and lets end the insanity.

Update
Unfortunately due to my naivety I erroneously thought this was a first time post. This error, in and of itself, reiterates my point. I had no way of knowing whether or not similar posts had been submitted. A simple system in place could have prevented this post.

I am currently in the process of researching possible solutions. I will post later this week with suggestions from other stumblers and, hopefully, a comment from stumbleupon itself.

So I’ve reached my 1000th stumble. It took me nearly 6 months to get my first 1000. I wanted my 1000th stumble to be something special so to celebrate the occasion I thought I would run through the things stumbleupon has done for me.
Here goes.

Stumbleupon has:

and last but certainly not least,
Stumbleupon has entertained me, and that, my friends is what it’s all about.