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This past weekend my car coughed up a hairball on Storrow Drive, stalling out in heavy traffic near Copley Square while doing last minute Christmas shopping. I coasted off the exit and was able to get restarted, making a beeline

for Boston’s go-to auto repair shop: The Car Zone in Kendall Square, where it would be in good hands with Murph, one of the finest mechanics in the city. So by now you are probably thinking “why am I reading this, and why is he blogging about such a mundane topic???”

Turns out this latest car problem highlighted -

a) Why Murph is *the man* when it comes to honest, fast, affordable car repair Boston

b) How the web is a price – buster as it always pays to shop around for auto parts.

Here’s how it went down: I dropped it off with Murph on Christmas Eve, knowing he wouldn’t get to it until after the weekend. As it turns out, the East Coast got slammed with a major blizzard on the 26th/27th – so instead of having to dig out from 18″ of wet, heavy snow my wheels were stashed safely indoors at The Car Zone. Just by virtue of that I dodged a major bullet.

On Tuesday morning, just after 8:00 AM, Murph called to let me know that the culprit was a faulty fuel pump. He had contacted a dealer about the part, and was quoted $349. Knowing that price was too high, Murph demurred and asked if I had any ideas. Unfortunately our go-to used parts store, Nissenbaum’s did not have one in stock, so I did some quick research, and found a plethora of options, ranging from $251 at The Auto Zone in Somerville to $35 from a shop in Calgary which while very cheap would have taken up to 10 days to ship. The solution turned out to be J & S Auto Salvage in Flint, Michigan – which offered a reconditioned fuel pump in “A grade” condition for $55, with another $15 for two – day shipping.

Bottom line is that by going to Murph and shopping around, I saved myself from having to shovel out from the worst storm of the year, while also realizing a $280 savings for the necessary part. You can’t go wrong with the Car Zone! Also major props to Randy at J & S in Flint, who called me back with a tracking number within 30 minutes of placing the order.

Google TV is a great option for ubergeeks (like me).   The problem is that for the average couch potato, its user interface is overly complex and presents a steep learning curve.  Both the NY Times and Wall Street Journal documented this in their reviews. Enter Kevin Bacon:

Now that its been on the market for several weeks and feedback like this is percolating back to the Googleplex, Logitech has launched a TV spot featuring Kevin Bacon, to highlight the appeal of their ‘Revue’ Google TV hardware to the masses.   And who better to pitch it than Kevin Bacon, who’s within six degrees of everyone?

More insight, and the inspiration for this post, at PaidContent.org.