Last Week in Chris: 6.8.26
Pumping the brakes
Too many red lights.
The new whip
Meet Kermit. I wasn’t looking to pick up a new car this week; it just kind of happened. I actually took my 2024 Taos into the dealership to investigate a recent incident. One day — without warning — my dashboard suddenly lit up, and a message about an engine issue appeared. My car was then automatically put into “limp mode,” which throttled me at 30 mph or below.
I told the mechanics about this, along with the rough idling I've occasionally experienced over the past several months. They had no idea what caused the engine failure despite seeing a code in the computer, and wrote in their notes that I should “just use better gas” to resolve the idling. The latter comment really ticked me off, as I fill up exclusively at Exxon stations.
At the same time the car was being diagnosed, my sales guy reached out to say he saw my vehicle was in for service. He mentioned they needed pre-owned inventory, and he could lease me a 2026 Taos for about the same payment I'm making now. It really tempted me, as the new model has an entirely different engine (and transmission).
After sleeping on it — and experiencing some residual anger at the service department's nonchalant attitude — I decided to go for it. I had to spend five hours at the dealership because the brand-new finance guy was as slow as molasses, but I now have peace of mind that my car won't randomly shut down when I'm doing 70.
When it rains, it pours. Of course, the day after I decided to lease the new Taos, one of my clients told me they wanted to pause for four weeks to get their sh*t together. Their decision will deprive me of a high four-figure payday. I'm salty about this because they just booked me for June and July.
Before I had a signed scope of work from them, I asked whether they were really going to have work for me, since someone else had offered me a five-figure, four-week gig. “Yes,” they assured me. So now I'm missing out on income from them and the other party.
It’s actually the second time this company has left me hanging after offering work, although the first time it was a different division. As the saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.” Hello, guaranteed minimum compensation and kill fees, I’ll be seeing you in my next contract!
Some ephemera:
• I finished Tom Perotta's “Ghost Town” in a matter of days. It was a breezy read, but not one of my favorites of his. It felt a little slight, and I thought the supernatural elements could've been explored more. It was just kinda grafted onto an otherwise enjoyable coming-of-age story.
• I’ve resumed my summer tradition of tackling one of Rick Atkinson's thick histories of WWII. I just started the third installment of his Liberation trilogy, “The Guns At Last Light.” It starts with D-Day and goes all the way to the fall of Berlin.
• I recently received some books I ordered from the Half-Price Books website using gift cards Tom gave me. I got “Monocle's Guide To Gentle Living,” a compendium from my favorite magazine. I also found the out-of-print “Visual Journalism.” Unfortunately, two other books I ordered showed up in pretty crappy condition. When I tried to return them to a local store, I was turned away. So far, I’ve sent two emails to their customer service team and haven’t received a response. Suffice it to say, this is probably the last time I order something from them online.
• I thought I might see a former Bumble date I recently reconnected with IRL, but she never returned my phone call (or text) about getting together on Saturday. I did meet a couple of great ladies at The Big Booth — Martha's Friday morning breakfast event — but they were both married. At least I'm getting closer to finding my kind of women. I just need to locate the equivalent event for singles. The dating Meetups I've been going to lately have been populated by heavy-drinking pickleball fanatics, so I've given up on going to those. I will likely try Bumble again in the fall, if for no other reason than to see if AI matchmaking is better than swiping. I mean, it can’t be any worse, right?
• I went and saw the new He-Man movie Saturday night. I wasn’t even really considering it until IGN gave it an 8 out of 10, and other reviewers drew comparisons to “Deadpool” and “Barbie.” While “Masters of the Universe” did try to ape those movies, it also tried to be several others. Tonally, it was a mess. It also made me realize I’m tired of watching movies where 90% is shot against a green screen, especially when the CGI is cut-rate. I saw a bunch of artists build a replica of Castle Grayskull on the east side of Austin a few years back, so it shouldn’t have been that hard for MGM to pull off. What’s Bezos money for if not overspending on sci-fantasy productions?
• Oh, the doc thinks my hand issue is trigger finger. I'm seeing a hand specialist on 6/18.