Lowell's

We love you, too!

One of the great things about working at a service-oriented company like Lowell's is how much our customers appreciate what we do.  Our hope is that treating customers with generosity will pay future dividends - we want to build the most loyal band of customers in the city.

And, occasionally, we're able to do something which touches peoples' lives for the better.  We did that a couple of times last week.

J.I. sent us this note in response to our Community Service program (a FREE full-service oil change, with no strings, no catches, and no charge), our way of saying "thank you" to our community in celebration of our 30th anniversary:

Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 3:45 PM
Subject: I LOVE LOWELL'S

I just wanted to share something with you.  I have been experiencing a bit of financial difficulty these past few months.  I guess I too am a victim of the bad economy.  Anyway, my service light came on yesterday and I quickly realized I needed an oil change.  I decided to check out your web site to see if I could get a good deal on an oil change and to my amazement I saw the ad for a free oil change.  I will be contacting you to make my appointment! :-)  I wanted to say thanks for the years of GREAT service you provide Lexington and your decision to offer a free oil change. It is a BLESSING to me!  May you get all that you deserve in return for being so honest and giving!

J.I.

That same week, we got a bowl full of candy and this wonderful note from C.H., who used one of our 20-year-old loaner Camrys over the weekend:

Thank you so much for the use of the loaner car while mine was being fixed.  I must admit that I panicked not quite knowing how to work out the details of not having a car.  Your loaner looked better than any luxury car could ever look to me this weekend!!

You all truly deserve the reputation you have as giving excellent customer service!!

With gratitude,
C.H.

Both of these notes make us proud to be in the business of helping people.  We're always looking for ways to be an even better mechanic.  It is really nice when you tell us that we're on the right track. 

We love you, too!

What presenting to LFUCG is like

Prologue
It all started with a testy weekend exchange on Twitter with LFUCG council member Doug Martin.

That Twitter exchange started with me posting multiple sarcastic complaints about traffic and then morphed into a conversation on leadership. 

Throughout the day on Friday, I saw a series of 'tweets' on how bogged down Lexington's traffic had become.  As new street closures on West Main Street and Old Frankfort Pike were added to the long-term closure on South Limestone, traffic in many parts of the city came to a standstill.  This was exacerbated by a multi-vehicle wreck on Versailles Road Friday night.  Essentially, the entire west and south side of Lexington was impassable.

I then made my sarcastic assessment of the chaotic state of our streets.

Without going into details, CM Martin objected to my flippant tone, and urged me to complain less and lead more.  It was a point that he reiterated as other folks jumped into the conversation throughout the weekend.  I pulled back from the discussion - stewing a little that CM Martin felt I wasn't leading already. 

I should clarify that Doug Martin is one of my favorite council members.  He's engaged and approachable - by far the most active Twitterer in LFUCG - and he genuinely wants more citizen participation and a better city.  Although he and I frequently disagree on specific tactics that we should use as we approach the important issues in Lexington, I feel that we're on the same team. 

But as the weekend progressed I couldn't get over how he seemed to think I wasn't a leader.

::

Preparation
As I stewed about the conversation with CM Martin, I was simultaneously stewing about the state of our city's traffic.

I have written a few times about the streetscape project and the resulting impacts to downtown.   Most recently, I wrote about the "true costs" of the South Limestone project - lost customers, lost productivity, lost services - and estimated the total loss of business to be between $84 and $92 million, far in excess of the approximately $17 million being spent on construction.

Meanwhile, there seemed to be no sense of urgency at LFUCG about accelerating the project.

On Monday, I learned that the next LFUCG work session included a "Downtown Streetscape Update" on the agenda.  I decided that I would make a presentation on my findings - and perhaps demonstrate some "leadership".

Trouble is, I had never even been to council chambers, let alone participated in a meeting.  I asked my informal network of friends on Twitter, email, and South Limestone what I needed to do to make a presentation at the beginning of the session. 

And the responses I got were great, but a bit intimidating.  I only had about 24 hours to get my act together.

Citizens are only allowed 3 minutes to comment on issues on the agenda.  But other citizens can donate their time.  I figured that I had at least 10 minutes worth of material, which would mean that I needed 3 (or more) other folks to donate their time to me.  Everyone has to sign in before the 3 PM meeting starts.  Getting 3 other people to come to council chambers at 3 PM on a Tuesday is a daunting task.  

At the same time as I was searching for supporters, I was also trying to throw together a presentation.  I am a presentation perfectionist - I like to have every slide "just so", and I want to know precisely what I'm going to say with each slide.  (I'm the same way with writing, by the way.)  Normally, crafting a presentation that I am happy and comfortable with takes a week or more.

But I had one day.  Time to buckle down.

By early Tuesday, I had only one other person committed to showing up, giving me a grand total of 6 minutes.  I was beginning to think I'd have to miss this opportunity to present to council.  As I was preparing the presentation, I was also mentally noting the parts I'd have to slash if I didn't have enough supporters donating their time. 

But as my network kicked in on Tuesday afternoon, I saw that I'd have at least 12 minutes.

With that, I "locked in" the content of my presentation, and downloaded a few different versions of it to a thumb drive.  I didn't know which version of PowerPoint to bring (PP 2003 is the best bet).  I also didn't know if I'd have control of the 'clicker' to transition between slides (it turns out that I did).

::

Presentation
I showed up to city hall at about 2:45 PM, hoping to see my "supporters".  I checked in at the front desk by giving them my driver's license and getting a visitor's badge (a sticker, really).  Then, one by one, I started to see the other folks who were donating their time to my presentation.  There were 4 others, which should have given me 15 minutes - more than enough time for what I had to say.

I gave my thumb drive to the LFUCG's technical coordinator, and had a moment of panic - the thumb drive had an "autorun" file on it which the LFUCG computers saw as malware.  I was starting to look like I couldn't even load up the presentation.  After a reboot, we were able to transfer it, and the coordinator showed me the way to navigate through my presentation while up at the podium.

Mayor Newberry started the work session at 3 PM (sharp!), and public comment (for items that are on the agenda) is usually the first item.  But Tuesday was also the day that council recognized Lexington's Junior Fire Chief, and so council made time for that first.

Then, it was time for public comment.  Mayor Newberry called my name and, as I approached the podium, he mentioned that I had 12 minutes.  My mind scrambled a bit, as I tried to figure out where the other 3 minutes went.  Did someone not sign up?  Did they do so incorrectly?  Since I didn't know, and since I designed the presentation for about 10 minutes, I decided to go ahead without making a big scene.

I was atypically nervous as I approached the podium.  I'm normally a pretty confident public speaker, but I was shaking.  What was that all about? 

I've been suffering from a cold for the past few weeks, and the constant coughing has meant that I haven't been sleeping well.  On top of that, I didn't feel fully prepared - I didn't have every detail down pat.  Then, there was minute-gate.  And, finally, when my presentation showed on screen, it jumped ahead a couple of slides.

Streetscapes

View more documents from Rob Morris.

Then, I started talking.  My voice wavered a bit.  As I got a couple of slides in, I started to feel my normal presentation rhythm.  I usually flip through 6 to 10 slides per minute, and I was starting to get into the flow of the presentation.  And, yet, I was still shaking...

For the most part, the presentation flowed as I planned.  For the most part.  The least well-thought-out section (the one where I shared my Twitter conversation with CM Martin) was where I temporarily lost track.  I struggled for what seemed like an eternity, and then finally got control of the presentation again.

In the process of bungling that one section, I fear I may have given the unfortunate impression that CM Martin was some sort of "bad guy" in the South Limestone closure.  He most certainly isn't.  (Sorry, Doug.)

As I approached the end of my presentation, Mayor Newberry interrupted me.  "You have 30 seconds."  I felt like asking if I got more time because of his interruption.  But I knew that I had only 9 more rapid-fire slides, and I knew what I was going to say, so I charged ahead, wrapping up the presentation before he could interrupt again.

GTV3 Video of Presentation (My presentation starts to 6m 30s).

::

Post Mortem
As I sat down, a few of those around me quietly praised the presentation.  Mayor Newberry called the next speaker - who was actually one of my "supporters".  So I could have had 15 minutes after all.

As the council transitioned to their business, it wasn't at all clear that my presentation had any impact.  After I finished, there was no further discussion of South Lime, and no questions for me.

I knew I had some good points, but it wasn't clear that any of them had connected with the council members.  Then, several minutes after my presentation, CM Diane Lawless came by and told me how well I did.  But Diane is such a nice person that I wasn't sure her sentiments reflected the council as a whole. 

When the "Downtown Streetscape" item finally came up on the agenda, CM Lawless ripped into the way in which the South Lime portion was executed.  And then, an amazing thing happened.  One by one, previously staid council members chimed in with comments about the urgency of accelerating South Limestone.

First, CM Kevin Stinnett made a motion for getting an update on what it takes to speed things along.  Seconded (loudly) by CM Lawless, I then watched as CMs Jay McChord and Julian Beard reiterated their support for the motion.  

In the end, the presentation did connect with a large portion of the council, and - next Tuesday - the issue of jump-starting the South Limestone project is back on the docket.

GTV3 Video of Presentation (Council discussion starts at 1h 33m.  Takes a while, but it gets interesting).

Announcing Lowell's Community Service

We are very pleased that you have chosen Lowell's as Lexington's "Best Honest Mechanic" in Ace Weekly's Best of Lex 2009 readers' poll.  This is the eighth year you have voted us Ace's best mechanic, and we are deeply grateful that you have honored us once again.

On October 2nd, Lowell's will also celebrate its 30th anniversary (For more on the founding of Lowell's [the company] see this history, written by Lowell [the man], our founder and advisor).  In honor of that occasion, and in gratitude for your enthusiasm and loyalty over the past 30 years, we're going to do something special.

We're giving back.

Beginning in October and continuing through the end of 2009, we'll provide our full service oil change - FOR FREE.  We call it Lowell's Community Service.

And "free" means free: No Strings. No Catches. No Charge.

We do ask that you make an appointment, so that we may properly balance our workload and provide prompt service.

Regular oil and filter changes are the single most effective way to keep your vehicle running well.  So, for a limited time, every lube, oil, filter change, and multi-point inspection for your Toyota, Lexus, or Scion at Lowell's will be absolutely, positively free.  (And, just in case you're wondering, our prices for other maintenance and repair will remain the same.)

With the Lowell's Community Service program, we hope to give back a little of what you've given to us over the past 30 years.  And since you have read this post, you can take advantage of Community Service right now.  Just mention Community Service when you schedule your appointment, and you can get our October surprise in September!

Thanks so much for supporting us,
Rob, Suzanne, and your friends at Lowell's

The True Cost of South Limestone

The South Limestone streetscape project began with the closure of South Lime two months ago today, and the project is slated to continue for another 10 months.  Meant to better connect downtown with the University of Kentucky campus, the project includes the widening of sidewalks, the installation of bike lanes, and the underground placement of utilities.

When the project started, we wrote about the chaotic process of closing the street and about the need for practical planning and design on South Lime and other urban development projects.  How has the project evolved since then?

Not well.

Severed Artery
The closure dramatically impacted traffic patterns between downtown Lexington and the south side of our city, resulting in gnarled traffic on a number of alternative routes to downtown.  At various points in the project, intersections with cross-streets (High, Maxwell, and Euclid) have also closed with little notice, adding to confusion and gridlock for downtown commuters and shoppers.  In effect, the closure of South Limestone has walled off downtown from Lexington's south side.

Several businesses along South Lime have struggled to cope with the substantial loss of customers and the physical disruption of their businesses.  Last week, Joe Graviss, the owner of the McDonald's on South Lime, pleaded with Lexington's Mayor and Urban County Council to add extra shifts or more workers to speed the project.  

City officials responded that extra shifts will not accelerate the project.  The project's manager noted that the city's concrete supplier closed in the evenings and that local utilities were already providing personnel to assist with the location and relocation of utility lines.  At one point, he admitted that he had no ideas for speeding the South Lime project along.

Vice Mayor Jim Gray - the CEO of Gray Construction and the only councilmember to oppose the project - countered the project manager's claims.  "It would be wise of us not to be extravagant in describing the difficulties of this project...  With 2000 projects under my belt, I've never seen a project that couldn't be improved or accelerated."

At this point, most elected leaders and city bureaucrats seem unprepared to take significant action to accelerate the South Limestone streetscape project.

That's because they have been thinking about the impacts of South Lime on the wrong scale.

Estimates on the price of the South Lime project vary, but the early $5.2 million estimate has ballooned to somewhere between $13.1 and $17 million.  The newer, higher price was partly meant to help expedite the project. 

But, as we'll see in a moment, that price far underestimates the true cost of the project to our city, our economy, and to our future. 

South Limestone's closure is not a mere inconvenience - it is a severed artery that is bleeding the life from downtown.  It demands an urgent response from our leaders.  The cost to the city is too dear to delay action, especially in this difficult economy.

Disruption: Anecdotes and Hard Data
A number of weeks ago, on the first day that the High Street intersection with South Lime was closed, I worked in my office and overheard two different customers from the south side of Lexington talk about the enormous problem of getting to our downtown shop - the confusion from suddenly closing the High Street intersection had made traffic especially difficult to decipher.

Then, we had an elderly customer from Nicholasville make an appointment for the next day, asking for directions on how to get to the shop with all of the construction.  Concerned about getting lost, she decided to do a dry run the day before.  After experiencing the jams, diversions, and delays, she called back and canceled her appointment.

Last month, I talked with another downtown business who is in our same industry.  They were scratching their heads about why their August business "fell off a cliff".  I talked with them again last week, and their business was still much slower than usual.

Yesterday, a regular customer who owns a shop in Festival Market came into Lowell's and opened the discussion with a flat "Business sucks".

When I started hearing these anecdotes, I began to think that the impacts of the South Limestone closure extended far beyond South Lime.  I wondered about the effects of South Lime as a customer deterrent for our business:

• How many of our customers come from the south side of Lexington?
• How many of those south-siders might have chosen to stay away from "the mess" downtown?
• What could that data tell us about the impacts to all of downtown Lexington?

And what I saw in the data was astounding and troubling:

• About 30% of our customers come from ZIP codes which would use Nicholasville Road (which turns into South Limestone) as the primary corridor to downtown
• Since July 22nd - the date of the closure - we have lost one third of the business we'd normally expect from those ZIP codes.  By comparison, the rest of Lexington is relatively flat or growing.
• The net of this was a loss of 10% of our sales (and a much bigger hit to our profitability) directly attributable to the South Lime closure.

I disclose these facts not as a woe-are-we pity party, but as a fact-based assessment of how "the mess downtown" affects one downtown business.  Our business is a relatively healthy, well-respected business with incredibly loyal customers (Last week, we won "Best Honest Mechanic" from Ace Weekly readers).  And, still, the closure of South Limestone accounted for a loss of a full third of south-side customers.

Ripple Effects
Can we extrapolate from just one business to the whole of downtown?  Not with any degree of certainty.  But my conversations with other business owners make me believe that my business' experience with the South Lime closure is not exceptional.  Admittedly, not every downtown business is as impacted by traffic disruptions, but most are impacted in some fashion: lost customers, lost productivity, supply chain delays, etc.

Hard data for downtown Lexington is difficult to come by.

• Just how much of Lexington's $11 billion economy takes place downtown?
• Which businesses depend upon the smooth flow of traffic?  To what degree?
• How many of their customers / employees / suppliers come from the south side?

Depending on the assumptions used, the estimate of impacts to downtown can vary wildly.  Our best "conservative" estimate?  Downtown Lexington loses about $360,000 each business day that South Limestone is closed.  (Depending on our assumptions, the estimates ranged between $275,000 and $600,000 each day.)

That translates to between $7.0 to $7.7 million in lost business every month, or between $84 and $92 million for the year-long duration of the South Limestone project.  That's around 700 to 1000 jobs which could evaporate from downtown Lexington, especially as the closure drags on.

Are these numbers absolute?  Not by any means.  But they do provide a ballpark idea of the true cost of the South Limestone project. 

Much of the focus on the costs of South Lime have focused on either a) the direct taxpayer costs ($17 million) or b) the costs to businesses on South Lime.  And while those South Limestone businesses deserve special attention for the degree this project impacts them, our estimates suggest that our leaders and our community have been thinking about 'cost' on the wrong scale.  There is a much bigger, much more urgent cost which must be addressed.

The irony of South Limestone - as the cycle of lost customers, declining businesses, lower employment, and more lost customers continues - is that the project may well end up strangling the very downtown that the streetscape is meant to connect with.

Our leaders frequently assert the necessity of a vibrant, livable downtown.  It is time for them to live up to their words. 

With the South Limestone closure, they must now choose: Will they continue to choke off downtown from a significant portion of the city, or will they act with urgency and extraordinary effort to accelerate and improve the project?

Their actions now will determine whether the prediction from our Chaos post will come true:

"And the results of the chaos are easy to predict.  Confused commuters and shoppers stay away from 'the mess' downtown.  Downtown businesses die.  And, after fits and starts, Lexington ends up with a beautiful street.  To nowhere."

Time to choose.

I'm going to jail. For good.

Noooo, it's not because of what I've been writing here on the blog (yet).  

Don't worry, it is all in good fun.  But it is also for a good cause.

I'm asking you to help me raise 'bail' to support Jerry's Kids and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  

Next Thursday morning (September 17th), I'll be carted away from Lowell's to a mysterious destination a few blocks away, and the nice folks at MDA won't let me out until I've raised $2,000.  That's enough to help a child with a wheelchair or leg braces.

I've never tried fund-raising before, so this is a brand-new experience for me.  And $2,000 sounds like an awful lot to raise.  And I have procrastinated because I wasn't sure how to ask for your help. 

All of which means you will earn my eternal respect and gratitude if you can help me raise the necessary funds to get out of jail.

If you are interested and able, I'd sure appreciate your contribution at my MDA Lock-up page.  Any amount will help.  And if, in these tough times, you feel that you can't donate, that's OK -- please help me by spreading the word through Twitter, Facebook, and email.

Thank you so much for your support of a great cause.

Rob

The Treeds Experiment

Back in May, I blogged about the abandoned properties next to our shop, and about what to do about blight in our city. 

In this week's Urban County Council meetings, residents of several neighborhoods surrounding the University of Kentucky campus registered their concerns about the changes taking place in their communities. 

The biggest concerns surrounded how some property owners were effectively converting single-family homes into makeshift dormitories / frat houses / flop houses to take advantage of the burgeoning student population at UK.  The complaints centered not only on the creation of multi-unit apartments and the paving of lawns for parking, but also on the often-destructive behavior of the residents who move in.

Some on the council wished to impose a moratorium on these kinds of conversions while the city figures out how to accommodate growth at UK. 

Last night, the council rejected the proposed moratorium, to the disappointment of many of the residents.  At one point, Councilmember Lane suggested that neighbors should simply "file a complaint on property owners you feel are in violation of zoning ordinance, see if our government can apply the laws we have on the books," to which citizen Janet Cowan responded "I know all of the numbers, Mr. Lane.  I have them on speed dial." 

So, how well can the government apply the laws we have on the books?  It is time to see. 

The Treeds Experiment
What happened after openly blogging about the properties surrounding Lowell's back in May? 

Nothing.

Well, not nothing, exactly..  The 8-foot tall tree-weeds ("treeds") I talked about then have now grown to some 16- to 18-feet tall, dwarfing the hedges that they have grown through.

The treeds now spill out over the sidewalks, making them impossible to navigate without a machete.  Some pedestrians step into the street rather than navigate the mess on the sidewalks.

The grass growing next to our building has now grown to 7 1/2 feet tall (That's me back there earlier this afternoon, risking chiggers and other man-eating varmints. I'm 6 1/2 feet tall...). 

And, finally, the only drain on the lot is completely crusted over.  So, during heavy rains, the lot drains straight into Mechanic Street, contributing to an occasional "Lake Mechanic".

All of which sets the stage for what I'm calling "The Treeds Experiment".  The Treeds Experiment is a test -- wherein I plan to take up Councilmember Lane's suggestion -- and learn just how long and how well our government takes to apply the laws that we already have on the books.

Simultaneous with this blog post on the afternoon before a holiday weekend, I am sending an email to code_enforcement@lfucg.com requesting that they take remedial action upon this lot and its owners.

I will chronicle the communication (and, I anticipate, the non-communication) I get from the Code Enforcement folks and other city officials in updates to this post and on Twitter.  I will not tell them that I am doing so (so that they will not artificially accelerate their actions).

But I am telling you.

Should be interesting.  Look for updates here as the weeks and months progress.

::

Note: Many thanks to AceWeekly for chronicling the LFUCG meetings and civic discussions.  Ace captured the quotes I used above.

Pat Gerhard at Third Street Stuff has recently contacted the Downtown Development Authority about the lot.  We agreed a month or so ago that I would contact Code Enforcement.  (Sorry for the delay, Pat.)

9/4/2009, 3:46 PM: Sent initial email to LFUCG Code Enforcement, while publishing this post.

To whom it may concern:

I am the owner of Lowell's, an auto repair shop at 111 Mechanic Street.  There is a lot at the North corner of North Limestone and Mechanic which appears to be abandoned, as no maintenance has been done by the owners for over 2 years. 

There are now large tree-weeds growing through the hedges surrounding the lot, making progress on sidewalks very difficult.  The only drain on the lot is clogged, and the lot drains into Mechanic Street, contributing to flooding during heavy rains.  There is a large clump of grass which is now approaching 8 feet in height which is growing next to our main building.  Many customers assume that the lot is ours (since it borders our building), and a few have asked us to clean it up.

Can you take remedial action on this property and update me on your progress in addressing these issues? 

Thank you,
Rob Morris

9/4/2009, 6:18 PM: Blog comment from the Lexington Streetweeper (written by an LFUCG employee) on how the Treeds Experiment is "destined to fail".

9/4/2009, 9:28 PM: I reply that failure really isn't possible.

9/7/2009, 10:50 AM: During torrential downpours, Lake Mechanic forms again as Mechanic Street is completely flooded, due in part to runoff from the Treeds lot with a clogged drain.

9/8/2009, 10:45 AM: I receive an email from David Jarvis, Director of Code Enforcement:

I will have Calvin Powell assign an Inspector.  Thank You.

9/8/2009, 1:25 PM: I respond:

Thank you.  I look forward to your updates.

Rob

9/8/2009, 2:19 PM: David Jarvis sends me another email:

Property will be cited (14 day time limit) and the limbs will be cleared back off the sidewalk as soon as we can get our contractor there.

As I read that email (and post this update) the contractors arrive with weed-eaters and loppers in hand:

 

Buh-bye treeds!  But where will the varmints live now?

9/8/2009, 2:45 PM: Taylor Shelton and 10th District Councilmember Doug Martin post responses on the blog.  Councilmember Martin mentions that Code Enforcement is particularly short-handed and suggests that citizens use LexCall 311 with details of their similar complaints.

9/8/2009, 6:31 PM: I came back to Lowell's after being out since about 3:30 PM, and most of the debris was removed.  Still a couple of piles which couldn't fit into the contractor's truck.

9/9/2009, 9:15 AM: Contractors cleaning up remaining debris from lot next to Lowell's main building.

 

9/9/2009, 10:14 AM: The lot's only drain is still clogged.  Not sure whether that is a Code Enforcement issue or not.  Sent a response to David Jarvis and Calvin Powell:

Thank you for your quick actions in getting this lot cleared. 

Is the clogged drain in the lot something under the purview of Code Enforcement, or would there be another department which handles that drainage issue?

Thanks,
Rob

Health care reform: A small business perspective

This week, we're finalizing our shop's health insurance requirements for the next year.  Our policy will be 25% more this year for the same coverage.  Last year, it grew by 16%.  Compounded, that's 45% in two short years.  No other cost increases on that scale for us.

As a small business, the spiraling costs of health care hit us particularly hard each year.  And the need for a new approach to health care is particularly acute, for us and for our employees.

I've been puzzling over health care for a long while - and I won't claim to have the answers here.  But I thought it could be helpful to step away from the town hall and cable channel histrionics and fear-mongering to share some observations on health care from a small business perspective.

Insurance companies are like casinos: The house always wins.
Insurance companies have received a lot of criticism during the health care reform debate.  But they are doing precisely what they are designed to do.  They make money for investors by taking bets on the health requirements of their customers. 

Insurance companies operate like casinos or racetracks: the table is always tilted in favor of the house.  They may lose big on a single 'jackpot', but across the full array of customers they nearly always win.  And when they don't win 'enough', they'll raise the cost of making bets with them. 

When we enter into agreements with insurance companies, we're always taking a sucker's bet that we're very likely to lose.  The only reason an insurance company takes our money is because they 'bet' that we won't need that amount of medical care.

Ultimately, as with the casino, the house wins.

The oddity of employer-provided health insurance.
We don't really question it much today, but it is just plain strange that something as personal and as private as health care is mediated by employers at all.  We don't usually involve our employers in house payments or banking or appliance purchases or car insurance.  But, somehow, we've come to expect them to provide health care insurance.

Employer-provided insurance is an historical artifact from negotiations between General Motors and labor unions in the late 1940's and early 1950's.  Charles Wilson, GM's CEO, saw it as a last-ditch concession to help prevent the 'nationalized healthcare' system that Harry Truman was championing - which Wilson saw as a threat to the integrity of the free enterprise system.  (Funny how many things just don't change.)  Soon, other employers adopted health care coverage as a standard part of their benefits packages, and employer-provided insurance became the norm.

But, really, why are we employers involved at all?

Leverage
One reason that employers remain involved is that they often have more buying power than individuals.  Over the past 60 years, we've been able to provide leverage which lets us negotiate somewhat better plans with insurers and medical providers. 

But small businesses have scant more negotiating leverage than an individual.  Often, our employees choose to get independent coverage rather than participate in our group plan. 

When Lowell's bid out to three other health insurance companies, the results were disheartening.  The other three companies offered rates that were 200% to 300% higher than our current rates with Anthem.  So we're 'trapped' with Anthem.

Expanding waistlines, increasing costs.
As a nation, we're getting a lot unhealthier.  We eat more.  We exercise less.  We sleep less.  We're in worse health.  We're living longer.  And we need more care.

We don't spend much time, effort, or money on the preventative health care and self-care which would help eliminate the much more expensive catastrophic care.  We're too busy to exercise.  We don't want to pay for the mammogram.  We don't like waiting in the doctor's office. 

And we require more medical care as a result.  Often, we get that care after a catastrophe built upon years of self-abuse: We have a heart attack.  Our knees fail.  The cancer spreads.  (We see the same phenomenon with routine maintenance in the car business - put it off, put it off, put it off, then replace an engine.)

Health care is getting more expensive, in part, because we are getting unhealthier.

Rising expectations, increasing costs.
We've come to expect more from our medical system.  We expect our doctors, staff, drugs, equipment, and facilities all to improve.  And we should expect improvement as medical science advances.

But those advances are costly.  The astronomical research and development costs for the medical 'miracles' of MRIs and cholesterol-fighting drugs and 'little blue pills' have to be paid for in some fashion.

And doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies won't simply absorb those costs.  They will pass them on to patients.

Health care is getting more expensive, in part, because health care is getting better.

There are no painless solutions.
We've seen politicians, lobbyists, pundits, and fellow citizens all offer various versions of 'painless' solutions to the healthcare problem.

They promise that government should bear more of the burden. Or that government shouldn't bear any of the burden.  Or that we just need full, universal insurance.  Or that insurance companies should pay.  Or drug companies.  Or hospitals.  Or doctors.  Or that we shouldn't have to pay for the chronically uninsured.  Or that we should just collar all the lawyers and their malpractice suits.  Or we should just have more competition.

Nobody says that we must bear the responsibility.  But we must.

If we refuse to provide insurance or government coverage for the roughly 45 million uninsured Americans, what happens to those who can't pay?  Hospitals and emergency rooms will still provide care.  Their costs will go up.  And they will pass those costs to other patients in the form of, say, an $8 dose of ibuprofen.  We pay.

If we provide government-paid health care to them (or to ourselves), what happens?  Our national deficit will rise.  This week's projection of a $9 trillion deficit over 10 years amounts to about $30,000 per man, woman, and child.  Which will have to be funded through taxes.  We pay.

If we have full universal coverage in a government program, what happens?  Because they don't bear the initial brunt of the costs, patients get more health care than they really need.  And doctors and medical institutions will happily provide (or suggest) that profitable care.  More deficit.   More taxes.  We pay.

If we squeeze insurance company profit (or put greater requirements on them), what happens?  They will likely refuse coverage for the riskiest, least profitable customers.  Unable to find private coverage, those customers will opt to go without coverage or to go with a public plan.  More $8 (or, now, $10) ibuprofen.  More taxes.  We pay.  

If we squeeze drug or equipment company profits, what happens?  They have less to invest in research and development.  They take fewer risks, and release fewer blockbuster drugs or fewer equipment breakthroughs.  Improvements in our medical care falter.  We pay.

If we collar lawyers and malpractice suits, what happens?  Doctors' malpractice insurance costs will likely go down.  But a few careless doctors who commit malpractice may inflict injury or death without significant penalty.  And who ultimately bears the cost of that irresponsibility and that injury or death?  We do.  We pay.

If we allow more competition between insurance companies, what happens?  The insurance companies look at the same basic actuarial tables.  They evaluate risks in the same way.  They put a price on the 'bets' they are willing to take in the same way.  And their prices remain about the same as without as much competition.  We pay.

We want ever-better medical care.  We are getting unhealthier.  We want someone else to pay for it.  But they won't.  We must bear the responsibility.  We must pay.

Can government, insurance companies, hospitals, and doctors get more efficient?  Sure.  Are there opportunities to eliminate waste?  You bet.  Can we patients get healthier and do more preventative care?  Absolutely.  But it will cost us in some way.

There are no painless solutions.  In the end, we all pay.

The moral obligation
"Is health care a right or a privilege?"

It is a question that we don't talk about enough, and which underlies much of the national divide about health care today.  Is health care a right to which all people are entitled?  Or, is it a privilege bestowed only upon those who have earned it?  

It is an interesting question, and the health care debate has hinged upon how people answer it.

Except that I think that it is the wrong question.

The "right or privilege" question presupposes that rights and privileges are somehow separable. I don't think that they are.

I think of health care in many of the same ways as I think of citizenship or, even, to being a human being.  As citizens and as humans, we have certain 'inalienable' rights.  Heck, our country was built upon them - "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".  

But those citizen's (and human) rights come with deep responsibilities.  We must participate.  We must act in certain ways.  We must work together to improve our nation and our well-being.  We can't abuse the fundamental rights we have been given.

For me, health care comes down to a moral issue.  I can't tolerate 45 million fellow citizens living without a safety net.  I can't tolerate wasteful spending on needless tests and procedures on the public dime.  I can't tolerate 45% increases in insurance costs over 2 years.  I can't tolerate 'competition' which triples my existing rates.  I can't tolerate people (including me, unfortunately) who don't take good enough care of themselves.

I can't tolerate the status quo.  Can you?

For me, health care is a citizen's right.  And an earned privilege.  We must strive to provide health care for fundamental human needs whenever possible, while simultaneously striving to ensure we grapple with the responsibilities that come along with that privilege.

So to the politicians, lobbyists, pundits, and citizens engaged in the public debate, I say: Grow up.  Step up to the plate.  Quit attacking.  Get realistic.  Have adult discussions.  Lose the scare tactics.  Work together.  Compromise.  Take responsibility.  Live up to your moral obligations.

Then, maybe, just maybe, we can build a better health care system.  For our nation.  And for one another.

Lowell's is on Facebook and Twitter

You've been able to call or email us at any time. Now, you can talk with Lowell's on Facebook and Twitter, too:

	Become a fan of Lowell's on Facebook.
	Follow Lowell's on Twitter at @LowellsAuto.

We'd love to hear from you!

What you told us: How Zappos would fix cars

This week we asked for your help in defining an astoundingly great car repair experience.  We summed it up this way: How would Zappos fix cars?

In Wednesday's post, we talked a little about what Zappos does and why customers love them, including the famous I Heart Zappos post.  And in the past two days, we've gotten some really great responses on Twitter, Facebook, and here on the blog - including one response from a Zappos employee!

Over on Facebook, Joan commented that she thought that Zappos was actually the "Lowell's of selling shoes".  (We heart Joan.)  We love that sentiment and will try to live up to it, but still think we have a lot to potential to improve our own customer service.

On Twitter, Jim suggested that Zappos "would come to your house and fix it at night while you slept".  Allan and Mari joked about needing to buy parts online from Amazon (an allusion to Zappos' recent purchase by Amazon.com).

But the strongest theme running through the comments: The need for greater transparency in auto repair.  I'll run through some of the comments, and then talk a little about what Lowell's does (and what we could do based on your comments).  On Twitter, Jupiter said he'd like to prevent that "being had" feeling, perhaps by getting greater detail on what was being repaired and why it was needed.  Ace Weekly chimed in "They would spoon you before giving you the bill?"  Here on the blog, Letha (a Zappos employee) shared a friend's experience with a body shop which sent her daily text messages about the status of her car after a wreck, including a countdown to when it would be ready.  Jim added this comment:

"The thing the frustrates me about car repair is the unexpected nature and size of the expense. It would be nice to provide as part of the service an educational piece that says here are the expected life cycles for key systems for your car and what you might expect to pay. And here are indicators of failure so we can start to diagnose these issues BEFORE they happen. At some point, owners need to start BUDGETING for system replacement and failure and that takes planning and information."

What's clear from this last batch of comments is that automotive service is all-too-frequently a kind of mysterious 'black box' where a car goes in one side and nasty, unpleasant surprises emerge from the other. 

At Lowell's we try to prevent such surprises in the following ways:

• On each invoice, we print a list of factory-recommended maintenance given vehicle mileage, including a rating of the severity or urgency of each one, and pricing.  We try to review that list with our customers when they pick up or drop off their vehicle.  We sometimes fail to discuss maintenance needs during busy pick-up and drop-off times.
• We always get customer approval before doing work on a vehicle, providing customers with estimates of the costs before we do the work.  If they are available, we'll also offer less-expensive alternatives, like fixing or cleaning a part instead of replacing it.  (Ace, we try to reduce the need for 'spooning' whenever possible.)
• When we call a customer to get approval, we tell them what a technician found and explain why action might be needed.

Based on your comments to us, here are some ideas of what we could do:

• Explainers.  For frequently-done maintenance and repair service items, we could provide detailed "explainer" sheets, including text and pictures regarding what the service is, why it is needed, and what a part might look like when it needs replacement. 
• Schedules.  With ongoing maintenance, it is easier to implement Jim's suggestion that we provide more of a roadmap of service.  And we do that, to some extent, with our list of factory-recommended maintenance.  But it is very difficult to predict with accuracy when something will break and require repair, and for many repairs there are few warning signs until something breaks.  When visible, we'll tell customers about signs like brake or belt wear or engine leaks.  One idea: We could take pictures of the actual parts that are wearing or of the places that are leaking, to show the thing that needs service.
• Convenience.  Not sure yet how we might do something like this, but Jim's other suggestion of working on vehicles overnight is interesting.  Perhaps we could pick a car up and have it back in the morning for very basic items, but a big part of our process is communicating back to customers about what we find (and they probably won't welcome updates at 2 in the morning).  But Jim's suggestion got us thinking: Are there other ways we could make getting auto service easier?
• Updates.  As a mechanical shop, most of our repairs are completed same-day, so we almost never have the 20-day delay in getting completed that Letha's friend had at the body shop.  But Letha's post got us thinking: Are there other ways you'd prefer to be contacted?  While the phone is our usual way of updating customers, we do frequently find ourselves in a kind of phone tag during the service approval process.  We could provide more contact alternatives: text messages, Twitter DM's (direct messages), etc. 

Which of these things would matter to you?  What other things would create an astounding car repair experience for you?

We really appreciate your thoughts, and please, keep giving us ideas on how to improve.

How would Zappos fix cars?

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to make our shop a better place for our customers and our community.  We feel like we're pretty good at the basics.  Just a few examples:

• We have an expert staff who know how to get cars fixed.
• We have a lot of nice touches for customers who wait on their vehicles: 5-cent Cokes, complimentary coupons for a drink and snack at Third Street Stuff, and we encourage customers to take our waiting area magazines with them.
• For customers who can't wait around, we have a complimentary shuttle to take them back home or to work.  For longer repairs, we provide complimentary loaner vehicles.

These (and many other) touches have helped us a lot.

But "It can always be better" is my personal motto.  This isn't some pessimistic, glass-half-empty statement; it is a fundamental belief that we can always improve the way we do things.

So we've been thinking about companies that really excel in customer service, and one name keeps popping up: Zappos. 

Zappos is a world-class online shoe and clothing retailer who has gained a fanatical customer following because they do a lot of things right:

• They offer free shipping (both ways).  While not promised, the shipping is often next-day.
• They have a 365-day return policy.  If your shoes don't fit or don't look the way you expected, return them at no cost.
• They have round-the-clock customer service.
• They have a positive culture which puts a premium on providing astoundingly great customer service and having fun.
• They have an enthusiastic staff which has permission to make things 'right' for customers with frequent pleasant surprises like this one.

Zappos recently agreed to be acquired by Amazon.com, and there has been a lot of concern about their ability to maintain their unmatched customer service. 

But for us, Zappos presents an interesting question:

How would Zappos fix cars?

What would an astoundingly great car repair experience be like?  Please share your thoughts in the comments below. 

We can't wait to see what you come up with.

LexMobs on South Limestone?

The South Limestone streetscape project gets underway this morning.  Using Twitter, Lexington's Mayor announced that the closure will result in traffic delays of up to 45 minutes. 

From a public point of view, the closure seems hastily and poorly planned, although the promised streetscapes look wonderful.  The project stems from a noble goal: to better connect the University of Kentucky campus with downtown Lexington. 

But businesses lining South Limestone (SoLime) had little time to adapt to the closure, and I wonder how many can survive being starved of traffic for so long.  When Lexingtonians realize that there is a "mess" surrounding SoLime, they will stay away in droves.  (With a business just off of North Limestone, I'm concerned about the disruptions to our southside Lexington customers making it in to Lowell's.) 

There are a lot of great businesses along SoLime that would be a shame to lose: Sav's, Pazzo's, Tolly Ho, Failte, Sqecial Media, and many, many others.  Some (maybe all) of these are Lexington institutions.

How long could they operate without significant customer patronage?  How long could they retain employees?  How long can they make debt / rent payments?  How long can they pay bills?  How long can they survive?

So, here's a challenge for our readers: Let's go out of our way to demonstrate that we care about those businesses.

Beginning today, and continuing through the next month, let's pick one or two businesses to "flash mob" each day.  Let's get together to show, with our feet and our wallets, that we want those businesses to survive.  Let's show up.  And eat.  Or buy.  Or drink.  Let's refuse to let these businesses fail.

If our LexMobs get too big, that's OK - I'm sure that the plentiful nearby businesses would also love some of our overflow business.

Will this effort be well-organized and well-thought-out in advance?  Not a chance.  Will it be messy?  Yes.  Will it be chaotic?  Absolutely.  Will it be inconvenient?  Certainly.  Will you be too busy to interrupt your day?  Undoubtedly.

But that is precisely the point: to go out of our way to demonstrate we care for these businesses.

So... Let's LexMob South Limestone.  Look for more details on Twitter with the hashtags #LexMob and #SoLime.  See you there!

Update: The inaugural LexMob will be Wednesday, July 22nd @ Pazzo's Pizza Pub at 11:30 AM near Euclid on SoLime.  Can't make it?  We'll try for other times and places with future LexMobs!

A modest proposal to end blight

Comprehensive Care Parking Lot

Every morning when I walk into work at Lowell's, I see 8-foot-tall tree-weeds growing through unkempt hedges and spilling over into the public sidewalk.  I see a planter adjoining our building, burgeoning with weeds and grass and the massive stump of a long-dead tree.  I see a pitted, crumbling parking lot with clogged drainage.

Many customers assume it is our lot.  It does adjoin our building.  And they can't see the sign declaring "Comprehensive Care Center Parking Only".

116 Mechanic Street

Across the street I see a tiny old shotgun house with a gigantic half-rotted tree looming ominously over both the house and the main Lowell's parking lot.  After the ice storm and other storms this spring, downed branches lay in the asphalt front yard of the house.  For over two months.

Absentee owners neglect both properties.  Neighboring businesses have conducted the most of the maintenance on the properties over the past couple of years.  In effect, they are abandoned.

As a business owner, I worry about the effect it has on Lowell's famously loyal customers.  Even if they cherish us and the service we provide, I'm genuinely concerned about the ability of such eyesores to repel visitors to the shop.

I often talk with nearby business owners, who share my concern for the negative effects of these properties on our neighborhood.

* * *

Many folks have wondered why I have been so vocal on the CentrePointe mess.  There are many reasons, but one of the biggest is that the abandoned properties surrounding Lowell's have given me firsthand experience the negative effects of blight like the CentrePointe scar.

There are many such highly-visible, blighted, non-productive and apparently abandoned properties in Lexington: CentrePointe in Downtown, Lexington Mall on Richmond Road, and Continental Inn on New Circle at Winchester are some of the most apparent.  But there are numerous smaller examples littering our city.

Just like the properties surrounding our shop, the absentee owners seek to avoid any and all expenses.  They avoid capital gains taxes by refusing to sell their properties.  They avoid maintenance expenses by refusing to invest to make their properties economic contributors to the community.  They avoid property taxes by refusing to improve their decrepit real estate.

Such abandoned properties generate near-zero direct contributions to the economy.  Moreover, they generate negative economic effects for surrounding properties and businesses: They drive away business and drive down property values.

* * *

It is time for such neglect to end.  It is time to make sure that lazy landowners are motivated 1) to improve their holdings and 2) to transform their properties into contributors to our community's economic engine.

My modest proposal: Implement a 'blight tax'.  Lexington landownders whose property qualifies as 'blighted' would have to pay a moderately severe annual blight tax.

The definition of 'blighted' would need to be worked out, but should include an assessment of the property condition, as well as proof of substantial progress on needed improvements.  We could start with Division of Code Enforcement standards.

To overcome their avoidance of maintenance expenses, property taxes, and/or capital gains taxes, I'd propose that the blight tax have some teeth: Say, 35% to 50% of assessed property value per year.

In the CentrePointe case, the blight tax would generate $8 to $12 million per year of revenue to the city until the developers improve their land.  When historical buildings were demolished to make way for CentrePointe, many rationalized that the old buildings were greater eyesores than the pit which remains today.  I disagree.  But a blight tax may also have helped prevent the demolition-by-neglect which occurred on that block over the years.

I would imagine the former Lexington Mall and Continental Inn properties would generate amounts similar to CentrePointe, given their sizes and their locations on busy thoroughfares.

Such tax revenue could be specifically allocated to offsetting the effects of blight: community improvements to sidewalks, bike paths, streetscapes, parks, community centers, business incubators, community ventures, and the like.  If property owners avoid the blight tax by making their properties more valuable (i.e., by improving them), then all the better.

To create a vibrant city, we need to ensure that Lexington doesn't have the economic scars that blight leaves behind: dead spots which contribute little (or which actually destroy) monetary value in our community.

My proposal is the blight tax.  What's yours?

April in Review

April has been a busy month in the shop and on the blog.  Here's a sample of what we've been writing about this month:

• Lowell's School Tools and the Bluegrass Vehicle Report.  We provided data about the vehicles we drive in Lexington and surrounding areas, as well as tools for parents and teachers to use to make the data come to life for their students.
• Why CentrePointe will fail.  Our all-time most popular post analyzes why Lexington's CentrePointe project is doomed even if it is built.  (Also published in Ace Weekly)
• But it isn't enough to simply grouse about the failure of CentrePointe.  We need to understand what went wrong, what to do about it, and what to do with the empty block downtown.  We need a plan.  Toward that end, we offer The UnTower Manifesto as a starting point for moving beyond CentrePointe. (Portions cross-posted to Ace Weekly and Barefoot & Progressive)
• We weren't always serious in April.  We speculated on the real source of the Toyota truck logo.
• What do you hate about Lowell's?  We ask you what you don't like about Lowell's.  We want to be better. 
• Why Twitter matters.  Twitter has become something of an online sensation of late, with everyone from Oprah to the White House jumping on the Twitter bandwagon.  We talk about how to make it work, and why Twitter is more important than it may seem.
• A better brand for Lexington.  We talk about what it will take to truly re-brand Lexington.  Hint: It doesn't involve a blue horse or Pentagram.  (Also published in Ace Weekly, and cross-posted to Transform Lexington)

Many thanks to our friends at Ace Weekly, Transform Lexington, and Barefoot & Progressive for amplifying much of what we wrote here this month.

Enjoy!

What do you hate about Lowell's?

OK, so 'hate' is a strong word for it.

But as much as we try to be the best mechanic in Lexington, we know we're not perfect.  We know that there must be some parts of your experience with us which could be better.

So tell us.  Let us have it.  We can take it.  And we need it.

To get the conversation started, here are some aspects of our business you might want to riff on:

• Our location
• Our pricing
• Our service
• Our website
• Our blog
• Our lobby
• Our restroom
• Our people
• Our honesty
• Our attitude
• How we checked you in
• How much time we took
• How well we explained what we did
• How we checked you out
• Something we did
• Something we didn't do
• Something we should do

Please let us know how Lowell's can get better.  Use the comments section below, call the shop at 233-1173, or email us at lowells [at] iglou [dot] com.

We can't promise we'll do everything you suggest, but we will work to make your overall experience with Lowell's a better one.

And thank you.

[where: 111 Mechanic St., Lexington, KY, 40507]

Lowell's Bluegrass Vehicle Report

Today, we are pleased to release the Bluegrass Vehicle Report 2009.  Using state registration data, Lowell's compiled statistics on vehicles in seven Bluegrass counties.  We've put the results together in a fun and informative format which shows details about the automotive marketplace in and around Lexington.

In addition, Lowell's is releasing Lowell's School Tools.  School Tools is a companion guide to the report which helps teachers, parents, and student create their own fun and interesting findings from the automotive data.  More about School Tools can be found here.

Among the more interesting results from the Report:

• Toyota is the #1 brand of vehicle in Lexington.  The 33,624 Toyota vehicles on the road put Toyota ahead of both Ford (31,018) and Chevrolet (29,712).  Toyota nameplates are on 15.4% of the cars on the road.
• A lot of Toyotas.  All of those Toyotas, placed end-to-end, could fill all 4 lanes of New Circle Road, completely encircling Lexington.
• A lot of gas.  Lexington drivers consumed over 156 million gallons of gasoline in 2008 -- more than enough to fill Rupp Arena from floor to ceiling.

You can see all of the results here:

Bluegrass Vehicle Report 2009

View more presentations from Rob.

Or, you can download a PDF of Bluegrass Vehicle Report 2009 (1886.4K).

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Lowell's School Tools

Lowell's is pleased to release School Tools, which is a companion guide to the Bluegrass Vehicle Report.  School Tools is designed to help teachers, parents, and students develop their own interesting real-world insights about cars in the Bluegrass.  Along the way, they will engage their skills in research, creativity, and applied mathematics.

The School Tools guide is meant as a starting point - please adapt it to your particular needs and the particular aptitudes of your students. 

School Tools is free to teachers, parents, and the general public.  All we ask is that you give us suggestions for making it better, and that you share your stories about how you used School Tools.  We can't wait to see what you do with it!

School Tools 2009

View more presentations from Rob.

Or, you can download a PDF of School Tools 2009 (5804.0K)

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Lowell's on Yelp

We really appreciate when customers go out of their way to talk about Lowell's, either in person or online.  Thanks, Erik.

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Toyota is #1. And will stay there.

In 2008, Toyota became the largest carmaker in the world, producing nearly 9 million vehicles.  Toyota surpassed General Motors, who had held that title for 77 years, by over 600,000 vehicles.

As Toyota specialists, we're pleased.  As lifelong fans of GM, we're also a little sad.

Both manufacturers downplayed the significance of Toyota's ascension to the top of the sales charts, which is the culmination of a decades-long steady climb by Toyota and a precipitous drops by GM, especially in the past year.

While GM executives are optimistic about a return to the top spot, the Lowell's Corporate Office of Fearless Predictions says that won't happen.  Toyota will remain #1 for the next 20 years or more.

As we've noted before, GM and the other Detroit automakers have structural disadvantages in their business design relative to Japanese automakers which their executives have been either unwilling or unable to decisively address.

Meanwhile, Toyota has historically invested in new technologies and new capabilities long before the market demanded them, and stood ready to take advantage of sudden shifts in market demand.

Toyota isn't always right -- they released their huge 2008 Tundra and Sequoia models right into the teeth of $4 gas -- but they almost always put themselves in position to be right.  With gas prices lower, their big models may get some traction, especially against similar GM, Ford, and Dodge models.  When gas prices shoot back up, they can rely on the Prius and their other hybrid models to continue their market gains.

Toyota consistently makes collections of bets which advantage the company relative to its competitors.  When those bets don't work out (witness the Tundra), the Detroit 3 suffers more than Toyota (witness the sudden implosion of Detroit's truck-heavy business).  And the other bets Toyota makes (like hybrid, solar, and electric vehicle techologies) more than compensate for the ones that don't succeed.

That's why Toyota will stay in the top spot.

Lowell's is underwriting WUKY

Once in a while, we get a chance to do something which does good for our community while also doing well for ourselves. 

We've found such an opportunity with public radio.  We've long admired the quality reporting and programming of National Public Radio and our local public radio stations. 

So we are pleased to announce that Lowell's is the newest underwriter for WUKY 91.3 FM, public radio at the University of Kentucky.  Our first of many underwriting announcements (kind of like an ad spot) will run at 7:09 AM on Morning Edition.  Other announcements will run on All Things Considered, Marketplace, and (a personal favorite) Car Talk.  (You might remember our post a few weeks ago about Lowell's on Car Talk.)

We are also proud to announce that Lowell's is the first underwriter of WUKY's HD Radio programming.  WUKY is the first station in Lexington to offer HD programming, and has 3 separate HD broadcasts which you can hear with an HD radio, or via webstream:

• WUKY Main: WUKY's usual mix of news and adult rock, which can also be heard at 91.3 FM on standard radios or over an internet connection here.
• WUKY HD-2 ("Wookie 2"): Adult rock 24/7, with a webstream here.
• WUKY HD-3 ("Wookie 3"): All news all the time, including many NPR and BBC programs not formerly available in Lexington: Talk of the Nation, Day to Day, Diane Rehm, and other news, with a webstream here.  (As a news junkie, I'm often camped out at the WUKY 3 webstream...)

We are proud to sponsor listener-supported public radio.  Please listen with us!

Toyota developing a solar car?

In another example of Toyota's consistent ability to anticipate the future and develop for it, the Nikkei is reporting that Toyota has a completely solar-powered car in the works. 

This follows similar reports in July showing spy photos of a next-generation 2010 Prius which would help power its hybrid engine with solar panels.

Toyota already exemplifies how a relentlessly innovative company can come to dominate its industry.  It appears poised to continue that domination for a while.