By the time you read this, a collective sigh of relief from all of Harvard Square (and most of Boston) will have already deafened your ears. Tom & Ray are ending their radio show, Cartalk, after 25 years of amusing and entertaining our fair nation. Thank you Tom & Ray. For thousands of shows, hundreds of new insights, and two Ben & Jerry's ice cream bars I never paid you for. Looking back at our first meeting…
The year was 1996. The Olympics were catapulting Atlanta to it's absolute zenith of popularity, and I had one of the most thankless jobs in all of metro-Atlanta. I was a senior financial analyst for a mainframe manufacturer that was laying off older folks with a gusto usually reserved for recessions. "Steve? What's this?" "Those huge numbers in red? In parentheses? That is your quarterly performance." "This makes no sense at all? Where are my revenues?" "They're being outsourced to India." And so it went. In between automating my own work and spending endless meetings with frazzled folks who were usually double my age, I visited cartalk.com. Back then, banks and other investment firms were just beginning to get that mind altering buzz that comes with investing in unsustainable online ventures. For those of you too young to remember the good old days known as The Clinton Era, the key back then was to first find a business that was guaranteed to fail. The larger and more arrogant the company, the worse the idea, and so it went. Naturally, Microsoft turned their attention straight to Tom & Ray's work. About a dozen folks of dubious distinctions were chosen by Bill Gates to build Tom & Ray a web site. "I'm getting married. Go and find something to do." – Mr. Gates likely told his underlings in Redmond, Washington who were getting awfully tired of watching Windows 95 crash on a daily basis. Meanwhile 3,000 miles away, my boss told me, "I'm getting married. Go and find something to do. Oh, and don't send any more financial reports until I get back." He never came back. So I spent the next six months visiting a bulletin board at Cartalk called Cafe Dartre. As well as reading various stories and reviews from folks who wanted to tell the world about their old rides. Compared to endless meetings and making numbers dance on a computer, Tom & Ray's website was time well spent. So in between the three hour walks I would take at a nearby mall, and the myriad paper airplanes I designed and tested for the amusement of my co-workers, I spent endless hours at Cartalk.com. Tom & Ray's unproductive work, became my job. After six months of doing this, a dim flickering bulb finally shined on top of my head. "Steve. Why don't you make the car business your living instead of the brutally boring world that is mainframe manufacturing?" I quit the job. Became an auctioneer. Started traveling the country, and finally, seven years later, had the chance to visit Tom & Ray. I walked up a narrow walkway. Opened a door…. and there they were! Perfect six-foot cutouts of Tom & Ray with a nearby frezzer full of Ben & Jerry's ice cream pops. "Sorry we missed you!" was emblazoned on the cutout. The tired and haggard intern discussed the fact that the Magliozzi's were too busy taking their sixth nap of the day and offered me an ice cream pop. I took two. Called an auctioneer friend. Got drunk at a nearby bar, and finally did a sale the following day in Concord, Massachusetts. I never got a chance to say thank you. So I guess a simple "Thank you" will do for me. As for the B&B, any memories of Tom & Ray? Feel free to share…
from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com | |||
| |||
| |||
|
Friday, June 8, 2012
Tom & Ray Wrench Out Their Retirement
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Archive
-
▼
2012
(7297)
-
▼
June
(664)
- Fifty Years of the Trans-Canada Highway
- Hammer Time: Finding A Cheap Ride
- LeMons Arse-Sweat-a-Palooza BS Inspections: Britis...
- This Week's Most-Read Stories
- Junkyard Find: 1980 AMC Eagle Coupe
- Most-Watched Video Reviews of the Week
- Toyota And BMW Plan To Take The Lead In Commercial...
- Phil’s Podium Of The Automotive Pure: Ten Trick Te...
- 2013 Dodge Dart 1.4 Turbo/Dual-Clutch First Drive:...
- 2012 Goodwood Festival of Speed: What’s Headed Up ...
- Jaguar Adds V-6, Turbo Four, New Gearbox to U.S.-M...
- 2012 Jeep Wrangler Freedom Edition Proudly Wears t...
- The Continental: Another Detroit Designer for Opel...
- 2013 Audi A6 Allroad First Drive: Off-Road Looks M...
- Audi R8 e-tron Sets “World-Record” Lap Time at the...
- 2013 Ford Focus ST First Drive: The Hot Focus Deli...
- McLaren Officially Confirms MP4-12C Spider, Provid...
- Cars.com's Convertible Buying Guide
- New or Used? : Seeking A California Vintage
- Toyota and BMW Announce Further Ties, Adding a Joi...
- Mercedes-Benz Reveals the Not-a-Station-Wagon 2013...
- We Be Sippin’: Nine Technologies that Significantl...
- GM’s Brazilian Spin: Dog Of An Engine Devours Any ...
- Where is Gas the Cheapest?
- Toyota Expands Floormat Recall
- Overcapacity In Europe: It’s Worse Than We Thought
- General Motors Looking To Cut Engine Lineup By 40 ...
- BMW And Toyota To Jointly Develop Sports Cars And ...
- Daily News Briefs: June 29, 2012
- Canadian Auto Plant Caught Up In Abortion Debate
- Take That, China: Japan Finds 200 Years’ Worth Of ...
- Adventures In Marketing: The Cocainiest Car Ad of ...
- Junkyard Find: 1969 Volvo 145 Wagon
- The Secret Of The Tiffany-Blue LFA, Or How Those A...
- 2013 Subaru Impreza: What's Changed
- 2013 Audi Allroad: First Drive
- Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: The Millionair...
- 2014 Chevy Tahoe / GMC Yukon Spied: Next Generatio...
- 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Postponed...
- 2014 Land Rover Range Rover Spy Photos: The Next-G...
- Mazda Considers Hotter Miata with 205-hp MX-5 GT C...
- The (Nearly) 1.0-g Nissan Leaf: Getting an EV to G...
- Next-Gen Alfa Romeo Spider Won’t Be An Upscale Miata
- Aston Martin Produces Another 77 One-77s: Okay, Th...
- LeMons Good/Bad Idea of the Week: Twin-Turbo Taxi!
- What’s Right With This Picture: A Father’s Advice
- 2012 Chevrolet Equinox: Car Seat Check
- C/D Video: We Thrash the Ariel Atom 300
- Trackday Diaries: How’d that Cadillac crash, anyway?
- Consumers Want Backup Cameras, Blind Spot Systems
- Hyundai Generation Why Intramural League, First Pl...
- Edmunds Issues June Sales Forecast: No Major Changes
- Ford’s Traffic Jam Assist Combines New and Existin...
- Cars.com Reviews the 2012 Chrysler 200 Convertible
- Mazda Can’t Make Its CX-5 Fast Enough
- GM Preps for Wireless Charging Tech by Filing to T...
- Daily News Briefs: June 28, 2012
- How to Drink Less (Fuel): Five Tips for Efficiency...
- Ford Predicts 47 mpg for C-Max Hybrid
- Generation Why: Throw Some D’s On That Spark!
- Carbuzz Builds Chinese Firewall To Lock Out Lone D...
- Chasing Perfection: 1000 Miles in the McLaren MP4-12C
- BMW/NedCar Now In Talks
- Junkyard Find: 1987 Chevrolet Nova Sedan
- Fun at 40 mpg: Real-World Mileage Test with Chevy ...
- Fiat’s Viaggio To Bolster Chinese Exports
- 2013 Nissan Altima: Explaining the Trim Levels
- The Zen of Cupholders
- World’s Largest Automaker 2012: Toyota Leads After...
- 2013 Porsche Cayenne GTS First Drive: A Little Mor...
- Here’s Why Your Mileage May Vary (A Lot) from the ...
- Toyota and Gazoo Racing Twincharge a GT 86 for Goo...
- How Dampers Work: We Slice Open Four Types of Shoc...
- Ladies and Gentlemen, Mazda’s Rotary Has Left the ...
- Trackday Diaries: I can tell you how to win a Lemo...
- Cadillac ELR: More Details On How the Volt Will Be...
- Ford System Could Block Incoming Calls While You M...
- 2013 Subaru Forester: What's Changed
- Cars.com Reviews the 2012 Volvo XC70
- Hyundai Generation Why Intramural League, Second P...
- 2013 Dodge Dart Video
- Daily News Briefs: June 27, 2012
- Carnewschina: Carbuzz Is A Bunch Of Thieves
- Ask An Engineer: Natural Gas For Dummies
- Ford Developing Traffic Jam Fighter
- Question: What Car Most Needs a Spec Racing Series?
- Cars.com Family Reviews the 2012 Infiniti QX56
- Junkyard Find: 1996 Volkswagen Jetta Trek Edition
- BMW And Toyota To Make Announcement This Week
- Opel Restructuring: Baby Steps Instead Of Big Bang
- Piston Slap: Of Winter Tires and The Nürburgring D...
- Vellum Venom: 2012 BMW 750Li
- Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: 1992, The Year...
- 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo First Drive: A Sportie...
- 2011 Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4 Long-Term Wrap
- Four Hundred And Thirty The Hard Way: Porsche Intr...
- BMW M School: Learning How to Go Fast in German
- Name That Exhaust Note, Episode 141
- 2013 BMW 640i Gran Coupe Tested: Six Plus Four Equ...
- Ford Aims for 47-mpg City Rating for C-Max Hybrid,...
-
▼
June
(664)
No comments:
Post a Comment