Webthoughts

Two signs of Spring finally being here:

• I mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday. I didn't mow it very short (I've always been told to mow the lawn higher the first few mowings of the year, to not stress the new grass), but my lawn is really starting to look...cared for again!
• I participated in my first softball practice today. The league that I'm part of starts up in a few weeks and the team got together just to have a chance to start throwing the ball around before that first game. It got a little chilly toward the end of practice (a front is apparently moving through tonight) as the wind came up, but it was still wonderful to get out and throw the body around.

Easter is next weekend and we'll be having family over at our house, so I'm looking forward to getting out this week and finishing up some spring lawn cleanup. My wife, of course, thinks I'm nuts.

I read today that Toyota has finally beaten GM in total unit sales for a quarter and is expected to beat the American giant for the entire year. Although people have been seeing this coming for quite some time (especially with GM's financial woes), I don't see this as big news.

First, let me preface by saying that I know very little about the financial situations of either company (I have problems with my own finances from time to time, so multi-billion dollar corporations are pretty much beyond me). I have only a vague understanding of what went wrong at GM. So, in reality, everything I say here is just my own view of the situation. It may be right or it may be wrong—I truly have no idea.

That said, this could not have been a surprise for anyone. For a long time now, Toyota has been seen as a bastion of quality, while GM cars (and the other American manufacturers for that matter) have been seen as having sub-par quality: buy a Toyota and drive it for decades; buy a GM car or truck and watch it fall apart in five years or less—that sort of thing. In reality, that just isn't true. GM cars and trucks are pretty much close to Toyota cars in quality. In some cases, they beat Toyota at the warranty game too.

But, because of how the Big American Three handled things in the 80's and early 90's (where they truly did put out crap products for the most part), that stigma has hung over them even until today. Many people see GM cars as junk. Toyota is obviously the way to go. (Note that I'm not even addressing the overseas markets, which are a whole other ball of wax.)

So, it's not surprising to see Toyota overtake GM. It was bound to happen. It is just not possible in a free market for one company to stay in the top position forever. GM had a great run (even despite their issues), but they've been beaten (fairly or not) from that position.

And you know what? Toyota will eventually fall from that position as well. Who knows when that will happen (assuming of course that they hold onto it past this one quarter, which they probably will)? Perhaps Honda will overtake them. Perhaps Ford will. Who knows?

As for me, unless something really gets screwed up, I will still be partial to GM products. I will probably never own a Toyota. Some people agree with me, some don't.

This is just what happens in a free market and it's a beautiful thing.

Would somebody please explain to me why Enrique Iglesias' Hero is in my iTunes playlist?

A man should be able to listen to his iTunes playlists without having this thing show up out of nowhere and cause completely unnecessary violent reactions.