DARE to keep cops off kids

Remember this spoof campaign back in the late eighties / early nineties? There were a few occasions where cops had gone a little too far in their efforts to curtail illegal activities being performed by children. Using excessive violence because they were being "antagonized" by kids made the headlines every so often. But we hadn't heard much about it lately. It would appear that all of that anger repression counseling was paying off...or so we thought.

Enter YouTube, camera phones, iPods...etc. Now, when "good" cops go bad, there are countless sources of evidence capture that they're going to have to watch out for. Here's the latest video making waves on YouTube (and across the nation) showing a few skateboarding kids getting mistreated by a police officer (while another watches) for skateboarding in a downtown "no skate" area. Before the video is complete, we get to see several children pushed, choked, strangled, and placed in a head lock. And as if the angsty male skateboarding youth of yesterday (myself included) weren't enough of a target, this cop even puts his arm around a young girl's neck, just for holding the skateboard of the young man being arrested.

Anyways, I could on and on about how much this pisses me off, and I could think of all kinds of profane ways of describing this police officer's behavior. Instead, I'll just share the video and contact information for the Hot Springs, Arkansas police department. Let them know what you think about their "peace" officer's actions. Oh, and if they hang up on you, don't take it personally.

Oh, and did I mention that this happened on National "Go Skateboarding" Day?


Please voice your concerns to:
Bobby Southard
Chief of Police
Phone: (501) 321-6789
Fax: (501) 321-6708
Chief of Police, Bobby Southard
email: bsouthard@cityhs.net
641 Malvern Avenue Hot Springs, Arkansas 71901

Priority Club VISA rocks

I just wanted to drop a quick kudos to the Priority Club Visa people. This is not a sponsored post, but rather my way of saying "thanks" for understanding an overspending mistake and removing the overspent fee without any hassling from me. Unfortunately, a couple of merchants accidentally charged us too much for a couple of items this past month, and it threw us over our credit limit. We were less than enthusiastic when our statement arrived and we saw the $40 over limit fee.

We tend to put all of our purchases onto credit cards and pay them off each month, so that we can earn points towards hotel or airfare. So, sometimes we come close to the limit. But we usually keep track of it, and know when to slow down on spending because we're getting close to the limit. Since a couple of different stores charged us too much, we had to go back and have them credit the account for their mistake. Unfortunately the credit didn't make it to our account in time and it went past our limit.

So I called Priority Club Visa to try and dispute, expecting to have to pull teeth for a resolution. Amazingly enough, they said it was "no problem" and said they would credit me the fee. Wow! No arguing, no haggling, no "let me speak to your manager" required. So I just wanted to say "thanks" for being nice and understanding. THANKS!

Poilce on YouTube

While I am discussing my old music collection, I have to plug the recently released "Greatest Hits" Police CD 2 disc collection. I can now comfortably sell off my old Police vinyl...yes, even my copy of "Synchronicity".

They've been promoting the new disc and accompanying tour like mad, using viral campaigns and services like PayPerPost to get their message across. Here's the latest 30 second video spot posted on YouTube that they are airing in the UK:



I really have to hand it to them, as they have done an exceptional job at branding this new disc release campaign. The yellow on black text effects and classic band photos have been repeated in both their online advertisements, video and on the actual CD artwork itself. It just goes to show that a band can release a new CD that carries its own identity both separate from, and yet intertwined with the band's own identity. I try to do this same type of thing with my ow music releases. Each one has its own identity, and that identity needs to constitute more than just the album name. But it has to incorporate the band's identity, as well. It has an accompanying color scheme, or certain repeated imagery to drive this feeling of identity.

In the case of this Police CD, they're using high contrast colors and images of the band when they were at the height of their career. These are images that most of us can remember, from their music videos in most cases. I'll admit that I'm a bit curious to see how the band members have changed their appearance over the years. After all, they're ~25 years older than they were in these photographs, especially in the original show flyer reprint included in the liner notes. But the images fit the music nicely and reflect a time when the Police were young, restless, and brimming with potential.


The idea for this post came from PayPerPost, where I actually get paid to talk about bands that I enjoy. Crazy, huh?

the death of vinyl

Okay, so vinyl has been dead for a long time. So you say! My vinyl collection has remained strong, though. At least until now. I have finally decided to bite the bullet and sell off my vinyl. Sure, I still have my record player, and I occasionally will pop a 12" on the platter, but I think our last move dealt the death blow to my vinyl collection.

Vinyl was a great medium for music. It was thin, and you could fit a bunch of them in a standard sized box. They give off an analog warmth to their embedded music that cannot be reproduced by tape or digital. it was fun to thumb through them at used record stores, even if you walked away with black fingertips. They stay in decent condition if you take care of them, too. However, they are a pain to move.

I've got hundreds of vinyl records...perhaps a few thousand. Moving them from one house to another each time we were relocated was no fun. The boxes take up a lot of room, and they are very heavy. I've also heard that you shouldn't stack them too high, too. So I decided to sell them off. A quick trip to eBay indicates that some records still sell for quite a bit because of their rarity. Deejay mixes like Razormaid!, Ultimix or Hot Tracks are always in hot demand. In fact, I've seen some rare remix releases sell for close to $100. Not bad for twenty year old vinyl.

Some of my releases are selling like that. Others are fetching a few bucks. All in all, I try to console myself that somebody is educating themselves in the music that I grew up listening to. But I will still miss some of it. On the bright side, they are releasing more and more old music on CD these days. I actually noticed that they pressed the Micro Chip League back-catalogue of singles onto CD recently. I'll have to pick that one up.

ballad of the overconferenced

Is it just me or are tech conferences happening a little too often? There was the South by Southwest (SXSW), North by Northeast (NXNE), etc. I get occasional emails about eBay developers conferences. The Commission Junction affiliate conference is coming to California in September. PayPerPost tried to have their own conference, but switched it to coincide with one of the big blogging conferences when their attendance numbers fell short. Now we've got the Microsoft MGX Conference just around the corner in happening Orlando, Florida.

If I attended every tech conference that came my way, I would likely live on the road (or in the air), and would spend more money on travel than I could earn on non-travel. So what's a burgeoning (but financially-limited) techie to do? Well, for one thing save some cash on hotel stays. Sure, you could stay at the Inverness and blow a load of cash at the cocktail bar each evening, but you could also leave the "elbow rubbing" at the conference and wake up unfettered by the drunken promises you would have made the night before. Instead of renting a car, try finding a hotel that is within walking distance to the conference. Not having a rental car in a strange city can be a pain, but it offers you the chance to check out the nightlife on foot (or avoid the traffic and gas expense by letting others drive you around). Many hotels also offer free shuttle service.

Do some research before you book. For example, the International Plaza Hotel in Orlando recently advertised their Microsoft MGX Special Rate of only $119/night on PayPerPost. In addition, they're within walking distance to the convention center. They offer shuttle service to all of the big Orlando theme parks, too. So you can run out to Disney World for a night at Pleasure Island if you'd like. There are also lots of restaurants along International Drive, so your need for a rental car is practically eliminated. Just get your shuttle from the airport to the hotel and your set.

It often seems like spending money is a status symbol while attending conferences. People will blow $30 a night open drinks without blinking an eye. And yes, some of those networking expenses are important. However, keep in mind that you are also there to learn some new skills, and that spending more than you needed to at every conference could potentially negate any additional money you may have made using those new skills.

i killed the web...except for google

Or so I thought.

Strangely enough, after working for several hours redesigning one of my websites today, my entire internet connection appeared to have collapsed. I checked my modem and DSL connection and everything looked okay. Then I tried Google. It worked. For some odd reason, I could search and surf Google but nothing else. I couldn't check my email, FTP anything or visit any other websites. Absolutely strange. The problem persisted in both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

I did some searching for solutions and had to view Google's cached version of the sites listed in the search results since they wouldn't load. I tried a lengthy MTU registry fix proposed by Microsoft that didn't fix anything. Then I tried entering a few things from a command line. Just in case you ever run into this odd problem, here's what I did that solved it:

Click START > RUN
Type CMD & hit enter
Type ipconfig /dnsflush & hit enter
Type ipconfig /release & hit enter
Type ipconfig /renew & hit enter

I was back to surfing in no time. I'm hoping that this doesn't become a common occurrence. There were two potential triggers to the problem. I downloaded and tried out a new torrent download client earlier today called BitTornado, and my version of CoreFTP crashed unexpectedly in the middle of a file upload and I had to do a CTRL+ALT+Delete forced shut down to stop it. None-the-less, I think I'll be uninstalling the torrent client and find another FTP client if it crashes again like that.

send me to the beach...

...or just send the beach to me!

A recent opportunity at PayPerPost for the Beaches Family Resort clued in on some truly creative marketing. The website allows users to build their own virtual sandcastles, complete with beach sounds, flags, turrets, seagulls circling overhead and dungenous crabs scampering around wherever you want to place them.

The tool is fairly easy to use. So easy in fact that I have bookmarked it for my six year old to play around with later today. You just drag the different sandcastle pieces to the "virtual beach" to create your castle. You can change colors, add various custom features like seashells, and save or send the whole thing as an e-card or wallpaper. You also get to have your castle featured right there on their from page once created.

It's been a long time since I've done any sandcastle construction work, and this was a bit of silly fun. Sure, there's nothing like having real sand in between your toes, but that's why they point you to their vacation planner once you're done. here's my little virtual sand masterpiece...and yes, I ripped off the old He-Man castle name and modified it for my own purposes:



All in all, this is a very creative marketing approach that successfully targets families who may be in the market for a beach front vacation filled with sun and excitement.

the occasional facelift

Well, I finally took some time to customize my blog design here at blogger. It wasn't too difficult, actually. The rounded edges are a pain in the butt o maneuver around, but all in all it was relatively painless. I just altered the original template a bit, instead of going for a full redesign. After all, if I wanted to spend that much time, I'd just build myself a new Drupal or Wordpress site with its own domain name. This was easier and quicker (albeit not as search engine friendly, but hey - Google owns Blogger, so you know I'm still feeling the love).

Do you like the new colors? How about my new slogan? I think that it accurately describes my brutal honesty and how it goes hand in hand with the lovely chip on my shoulder. Enjoy!

you scratch my back and...well, that's it

I recently received a friendly comment from a fellow blogger, offering some words of praise and a "special deal" on one of his custom designed t-shirts. I was redirected to a webpage that he apparently redirects numerous bloggers to, offering me a great deal on a t-shirt for only $8.50 in exchange for a six-month static link on my blog.

Gee, what a great deal. Not! While I hate to pick fights with anyone, you've got to be joking. This is a great example of not understanding your customer base. Sure, I might have been interested in one of your t-shirts. I'm geeky enough and they're kind-of humorous. But your approach is all wrong. If I want a home-made t-shirt, I'll pop on over to CafePress, or I'll Google it. Work on your SEO and work for your inbound links like everyone else.

Are you that enamored with your t-shirt designs that you thought a blogger (even a lowly unpopular one such as myself) would give you a static link (for six months) for what is essentially a $4 off coupon for a t-shirt that I don't need and wasn't looking to buy in the first place? Puhh...lease.

Here's a tip. If you want to build brand recognition and you feel that bloggers are a good target audience for your product, then send them a free sample. Don't "require" a reciprocal link and threaten to charge them the difference if they take the link down prematurely. You need to win your customer base, not bribe/blackmail them. If you send them a shirt, and they like it, you might just get lucky and find an inbound link from their blog.

return of circuit sh*tty

Well, wouldn't you know that only a day or so after my telephone call to Circuit City, they finally decide to send me an automated email response that they received my request and will be mailing me a copy of the requested receipt within 5 to 7 business days. LOL. So now I guess I will be receiving two copies.

This is what is funny about crappy customer service from big corporations. They try to save money by having crappy customer service, but in the end they cost themselves twice as much. Because they waited so long to respond (or to have their website running properly in the first place), they have to pay two separate employees to process my request (once online and one over the phone), and then they are going to pay for postage and shipping for two copies of my receipt instead of one.

Sure, "what's an extra first class stamp and an envelope to a mega-company like Circuit City?" you may be asking yourself. However, you need to consider that I am only one customer out of millions who may have experienced this same problem. It is common sense that customers will call for telephone support when their email request isn't answered in a timely manner.

On the bright side, companies without the common sense to operate their customer support in a professional and timely manner are inevitably shooting themselves in the foot. They won't last forever.

the great gossip mashup

The latest opportunity that I was presented over at PayPerPost was to review a website based on the latest celebrity gossip. While I am by no means fascinated with the lifestyles of coddled movie-star millionaires, I am more than happy to shed some constructive website criticism.

First off, the page is pink. Hot pink. Nearly hot magenta, in fact. They've certainly got their audience targeted, as I know of few machismatic guys who follow this type of "entertainment". They've got a few Adsense ads at the top and right sidebar, which are fairly unobtrusive. This already makes the site ten times better than most of the gossip sites that I've run into in the past, that like to intersperse cleverly designed Adsense advertisements within the content articles.

Each article opens to a new page, which is a bit annoying. I guess that they wanted to keep their homepage in the background at all times. In fact, it appears that this site is primarily a collection of gossip feeds presented in one friendly format, or a "mashup" as it is commonly called (and increasingly overused). It also lists related stories posted by other bloggers under each article, so you can catch the latest gossip from several different angles. (It *is* his baby! No, it *is* not!)

Offering users the ability to vote on reported stories (once they have registered with the site), the site functions a bit like a less structured celebrity blogging version of Digg. There are three tabs at the top of the page - "hot", "latest", and "celebrities". Clicking on "celebrities" allows you to search for your favorite Hollywood heroes and heroines by name (alphabetically). I'm not quite sure what the "hot" page is for, since it didn't seem to be sorted by popular vote. I don't really know what makes it a "hot" story...they don't really explain it. Maybe it is based on page views...

Apparently, there is also a chance to earn "points" by referring your friends to signup for an account. These "points" can be exchanged for magazine subscriptions. Their points system reminds me a little of a pyramid scheme, as you earn points when your friends sign up, and when their friends sign up, and so on, and so on. So you basically read about celebrity gossip stories to earn points to subscribe to magazines that will give you more celebrity gossip stories. It's like the old "chicken or the egg" approach, but wrapped in Gucci.

Overall, this isn't exactly the type of website that I would visit, and I feel fortunate that my wife doesn't concern herself with these types of things much, either. However, anyone who is having trouble keeping on top of the latest celebrity gossip through a regular feed reader might benefit from the consolidation of fresh tinsel town news available from this website.

save your old pc parts

I recently met up with a lady who works for a local kids foundation here in town, as I had a couple of CD burners that I didn't need anymore, and I didn't feel like trying to sell them or anything. This way, I know that they were going to be used and that they were going to a good cause. We had a short conversation about old PC parts and peripherals and how sad it was that most people just junk their old computer gear.

We all know that computers are now made to be replaced every year or so, but I think that approach has more to do with keeping them clean than with keeping them functional. The internet has a way of destroying (or seriously maiming) the computers of novice users after a matter of six months or so. Most will live with the frustration for another six months before getting the latest and greatest from Dell.

Since I have a bit of experience with computers, I have managed to keep several of them running for six to eight years, and even when I trashed (or cannibalized) them, they still worked. However, I've always been something of a pack rat and felt like I didn't want to just hang on to all of these parts for the odd chance of needing one of them as a replacement. After all, with changing technology, who knows if I would even be able to use it in a newer computer? (Lord knows that I am not going to install crappy old PC100 RAM into my newer desktop PC).

Before you decide to throw it all out, or leave it at the curb, you may want to make some phone calls and see if there aren't some non-profit organizations that can use them. Sure, it might seem lame donating crappy old parts to non-profits, but if they can use them they will. As the old saying goes, "beggars can't be choosers". Best of all, you get to feel a little better about yourself at the end of day, as if that CD burner that you just donated is going to give someone a new lease on life. LOL.

survival of the fit-in-ness

Can you seamlessly blend into a city full of strangers and survive with no cash? This is one of the questions I was proposed while perusing the latest opportunities over at PayPerPost when I ran across one for USA Network's Burn Notice, a new saga in which a former spy attempts to "survive" in a strange city after receiving notice that he has been surplussed. He has to use his wit to find ways to getting by with no cash. It's an interesting premise for a series, I must admit. I wonder how I would fare in such a dilemma. It doesn't sound *that* difficult...

First off, find yourself a church. No, not to ask God for help or to beg for alms, but because churches often host special occasions that involve free food. We're talking weddings, bar mitzvahs, and if you're really desperate, there's always communion. Grocery stores and supermarkets are also decent sources of food on "sample days". Don't forget that you can usually walk to the deli to sample their meats and cheeses, too. Just tell them that you're looking for something exotic for a very special luncheon.

As for finding a place to stay, there are a few things that I can think of that might ensure a comfortable night's stay. First, pick up some free travel guides or random free publications at the entrance of a local gas station or supermarket. Another source of "study fodder" might be to walk by some hare krishna's for their "free" literature. (This time, hold them to that "free" offering and ignore their request for "required" donations.) Then, head over to the nearest state or community college and "camp out" in the student lounges. Make sure that you move from one study area to another every few hours so as not to draw attention. However, it is fairly common to catch glimpses of snoring students in these areas. Assuming that you haven't already established a homeless appearance to compliment your living situation, just tassel your hair and loosen your belt and you should be able to blend in with the other students with no problem.

While you're there, it wouldn't hurt to check out the message boards. In some cases there are job postings or rooms for rent. I knew an awful lot of dumb college students back in the day who wouldn't know enough to check your references or make sure that you have a job before entering into a "roomie" agreement. This should give you a few days to find a job and secure some cash.

Of course if you were looking for an "honest" way to find food and shelter, you may have to rely on the pity of others via such avenues as the local food bank and homeless shelter. Definitely not as much fun, though.

circuit sh*tty

I'm on hold, again. I had to telephone Circuit City to try and get a copy of an old online purchase receipt. Of course, there's an option to do this via their website, but it doesn't work. You click on the "reprint receipt" button and it throws back an error at you. I used their "email us" link about a week ago, and never received a response. So, I had to call them for it. Now I get to wait 7-10 business days to receive a copy in the mail. Or, possibly receive a copy quicker by fax. Either way, they won't give an ETA over the phone.

Why am I asking for a copy of a receipt? Because I have a crappy Olympus SP-320 digital camera that has been giving me all kinds of memory card problems. It started off by occasionally trying to force me to reformat the card when I had pictures on it. Then at some point, it rendered a 1Gb XD card useless. Regardless of what I do, or what kind of card reader I put it in, the card no longer works. So, I'm trying to send it back in to Olympus and of course they need a copy of the receipt. Apparently, it is not enough that I registered the product when I bought it about a year ago. (Why bother registering at all?) Normally, we keep all of our receipts, but somehow this one has disappeared.

My experience with the Circuit City customer service specialist was typical. Monotone , talking a bit too fast, perhaps on an IP phone with a slight touch of an Indian accent, fumbling for the word "receipt" for about five seconds; Placing me on hold to verify my "request" a couple of times. Apologizing that the website didn't work for me, and informing me that they are aware of the problem. (So fix it! Why would a huge chain like Circuit City allow a function like this to go broken for over a week? Aahhh...because it is a post-sale function.)

A good friend of mine used to work at Circuit City. I had to hide my electronics purchases from him, because he would have preferred that I go through him. I never had the heart to tell him that I felt like Circuit City's service was sub-par when compared to stores like Best Buy. My friend may have been the exception, but he didn't work there forever, so even if I had purchased more items from him, I wouldn't be dealing with him if I had any post-sale problems, like warranty or repair work.

So now I have my request submitted, and I have a call reference number (as if that is going to help). Let's just hope that I can get the copy of my receipt and send in the faulty camera before the one year warranty runs out.

bad fashion is a crime...

...or at least it is in Delcambre, Louisiana, where the mayor has just declared that sagging trousers will be against the law. A popular style with hip hop aficionados, some residents were quick to try and turn this into a race issue, although the mayor was quick to clarify that some "White people wear sagging pants, too."

Although I believe in the rights of individuals and freedom of expression, I've never understood what is so fashionable about having your underwear hang out of your pants. It limits mobility, and has the potential to expose possible hygiene efficiency problems. The mayor will sign the proposal into law as an extension of the indecent exposure act.

Word up to all of the homies out there : Keep your skid marks under wraps when traveling through Delcambre, Louisiana.

Next on the Louisiana indecency hit-list: coinslots!

quit griping, start learning

Recently, I posted a quick rant about people who hate their jobs, and why I believe that the best thing for them to do is just quit. Obviously, one of the excuses that we will hear is that there are no better jobs out there. Quitting one hopeless job is only going to result in starting over at another hopeless job, unless you manage to pick up some specialized skills in-between. And who has time to learn a new trade? Who has time for college and studying?

Actually, with the advent of distance learning and online degrees, anybody should be able to advance their education and earn a college degree online if they have the determination. Popular online colleges like Capella University offer graduate and undergraduate degrees and multiple certificate programs. In fact, you can chose from 82 different degrees and 16 professional certificates. So nobody can use the excuse that there are no options out there, or that you have to be a business major in order to earn a degree while working. Although Capella is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota they have an active roster of nearly 18,000 students from every state and over fifty different foreign countries. Plus, these online degree programs are not "fly by night" operations with inexperienced professors. In fact, professors from Capella have been known to author books on the subjects that they teach, including works on new academic developments like appreciative coaching.

Even if you're not at all interested in going back to school (even online), the internet is a valuable resource for learning new trades. I taught myself most of what I know about the web by visiting "expert" sources on the web and practicing my code by hand. So I will say it once again - quit complaining and get out of that rut. No amount of money is worth the misery of a meaningless job.

carbon trading

A recent article on the BBC news website stated that the latest EU carbon trading schemes were coming under attack for their lap-sided leniency towards big business. It is unfortunate that such a unique idea for curbing carbon emissions is meeting with these types of hurdles. Of course, it is difficult to know whether there truly is a problem with the distribution of free carbon credits or whether this is simply new spin from the same big business pushers who want us all to believe that there is no such thing as global warming.

When you look at the arguments against the global warming theory, they hold no water. What incentive does any group have in "inventing" planetary catastrophes? To win the votes of tree huggers? To get people to buy more CFL bulbs? Give me a break. When you look at potential incentives for ignoring global warming, there are glaring examples of motives for cover-ups. It will cost big business more to curb their emissions. The national economy (or rather the profit margin of corporations) will suffer. It is easy to see why corporate America (and their puppet-strung government) is paying less attention to the threat of global warming. It is easy to see why the USA didn't want to be involved in Kyoto.

The only thing that isn't easy to understand is why the majority of us put up with it.

webroot offering $10 off spysweeper

In case you haven't yet found a good anti-spyware solution for your home or office computer, you may want to check out Spy Sweeper. As I just learned from an opportunity over at PayPerPost, Webroot is offering $10 off right now for this popular all-in-one anti-spyware software solution. This useful application has already earned a truckload of software awards from the likes of PCMagazine, Downloads.com and PCWorld, and as they state on their website and in a hidden cipher on PPP, "SPY SWEEPER IS THE MOST AWARD-WINNING ANTISPYWARE SOFTWARE."

Best of all, those of you who have already ventured into the murky waters of Windows Vista operating system will be happy to know that Spy Sweeper is now fully compatible. (None-the-less, I will pray for you as I have heard that Vista is a hard nut to crack and still loaded with bugs and quirks.) Spy Sweeper offers continuous monitoring and free technical support, as well, which is something you usually won't find in the free offerings on the internet (which also aren't updated as frequently).

It also features automatic updates and doesn't require you to restart your computer a zillion times when combating viruses, hijackings and trojans, which can be especially convenient when you're in the middle of something important. With the learning curve of the new Windows Vista OS, you owe it to yourself to have someone else watching out for your protection. An award-winning anti-spyware software solution should help immensely.

quit your day job!

I bet you thought this was going to be another one of those "buy my e-book and i'll show you how" messages...nope!

Rather, this is just a simple message to all of the miserable workers out there - quit your job! Yes, that's right. Go out and quit. All of you Wal-Mart checkout people who can't say "hello" to your customers as they approach you in line, all of you McDonald's clerks who look at me like I'm from Pluto when I say "hi" to you first, and all of you bus drivers who speak in "grunt" dialect. Please, please - do all of us a favor and just quit. I can almost guarantee that you will be better off.

I learned at a young age that it isn't worth sticking it out at a crappy job, no matter how much money you're making. There's always something better around the corner, especially wen you're in one of those retail positions that are a dime a dozen, but your manager acts like he is the keeper of the goose that laid the golden egg.

So tell that boss where to go, get yourself out of that rut, and make the world a better place by saving us all form your attitude. It is nobody's fault but your own that you still work there.

alcoholism then and now

I was recently perusing the opportunities at PayPerPost and came across an informative website about an alcoholism treatment program, and one of the points noted on their homepage about alcoholism got me thinking. They state that, "Alcohol is a large part of our society. It is in the background of every social class and historically is at the root of even certain religions. Despite the difference in subject of fermentation it is enjoyed and abused by all races."

It is easy to see how ingrained alcohol is in our social and religious functions, and it is understandable that without the current types of support that we have now, alcohol has remained such a problem.

What started out with local Alcoholics Anonymous outreach groups has now spread to the internet, and every day alcoholics are finding some of the answers that they need online, without the stigma of having to go to "meetings" or speak with a professional just to find out more about alcoholism. This Stop Your Addiction site, for example, offers a free article on The Difference Between Social Drinkers and Alcoholics that sums things up adequately - that there is a fine lie between the two and it is easy to cross that line, but difficult to cross back.

Another advantage of programs like this is that they accept patients from across the country. Who wants to go to local "meetings" where you may be seen by neighbors and other local town folk while undergoing addiction treatment? Wouldn't it be easier to tell everyone that you are simply taking an extended vacation, and see if the noticed that you have stopped drinking when you return? The Stop Your Addiction program offers a 28-day drug treatment based out of Michigan.

It's a shame that these types of treatment opportunities were not available to our ancestors, since alcoholism tends to be passed on through the family.

"limited" lifetime warranty

So what exactly does this statement mean, when attached to a consumer good or appliance? In some cases, they go into details in super-fine text beneath this statement, but in other cases they leave it vague. Isn't this a little like making blanketed statements like, "voted best in our class by consumers". Which of your consumers would those be exactly? The ones getting employee discounts, or their relatives?

The event that triggered this little mental anecdote was when my bedroom ceiling fan quit working. Realizing that it was a Hunter fan, and that all Hunter fans come with a "limited" lifetime warranty, I have contacted Hunter via their website to find out if it is covered by their warranty or not. Unfortunately, it has been a week now and still no response. I'm a little disappointed, but I am guessing that Hunter may be one of those companies that has yet to step up to internet customer service standards. In fact, I didn't even receive an auto-response to indicate that they received my support request. I was impressed, however, with the fact that they have downloadable PDF files for the installation manuals and parts lists for their different fan models online. Now if they would just respond to me. It is shame because we have bought numerous Hunter fans over the years, but had never had a problem with any of them until now.

calling cards versus unlimited long distance

In my last post, I was contemplating shutting off my $40 per month unlimited home phone long distance and having my relatives call me. If we still had a cell phone, I would likely be using my evening and weekend minutes to make my long distance calls. Problem is - who wants to be restricted to evenings and weekends to make long distance phone calls? So, I guess it is time to look at prepaid calling cards again. In the past, I typically picked up prepaid long distance calling cards at gas stations while traveling, or at the local Wal-mart, but I always heard of friends and relatives getting much lower rates on the internet. I guess that I was paying the price of convenience and not shopping around. It's always good to have one tucked in your wallet for emergencies. Even if you've run out of minutes, you can usually add more time with a credit card via the phone in a pinch.

While perusing opportunities at PayPerPost, I noticed that a company called Pingo is offering $5 in free calls if you sign up for a phone card online. This isn't a bad deal, especially when you consider that they advertise calls as low as 1.8 cents per minute. Talk about a cheap prepaid phone card. You'd basically get 277 free minutes just for signing up. Not bad at all. I also like the fact that they don't require you to enter your full pin for every call that you make. Considering that some of the calling card pin numbers that I have had in the past were around 20+ digits long, this can be a daunting task when you're making a bunch of calls. They also offer a web-based management system where you can track your call usage and minutes online.

Here's their ad for the $5 in free calls:

the family martyr

Why is it that some family members are granted martyr status while others are crucified without redemption for any little thing that they do (or don't do)? For example, I have an aunt who never buys gifts for anyone at Christmas, always requires that everyone call her because she "doesn't have long distance", and expects every one else to travel to visit her. She won't get on a plane, drive a car, or take a train to meet up with anyone. There is nothing wrong with her health. She, of course, uses finance as her excuse for these non-participatory acts.

Here's the rub. I don't make much more money than she does, and yet I've got kids and a wife. Although she says that she is broke, she always has money for cable TV, eating out, and smoking cigarettes. I would also like to skip taking trips to see relatives, as they are never "vacations", but only stressful travel experiences (especially when traveling with young children). I would also like to shut off my unlimited long distance calling and let my relatives call me sometimes. Unfortunately, I would receive a ration of you-know-what if I attempted to take such drastic actions with my relatives. And yet, my aunt has held this position for years and gets away with it. If I complain about it, relatives just shrug their shoulders.

It's no different than how parents treat their children, really. Some kids grow up and lead good lives, and are therefore held up to this standard of always being "good" and successful. Others make tons of stupid mistakes and so they are never criticized for failure or making further mistakes. Sure, it would suck being taken for granted as an idiot or fool, but if it means less criticism and disappointment from our parents, it may just be worth it. I guess it is all about setting a precedence.

It's silly that I allow my parents to still affect me at my age, but sometimes I can't help it, and it frustrates me at family gatherings that they make excuses for my less-than-responsible adult relatives. Especially when I know that they wouldn't make the same excuses for me...

the police were at my door today

Today, my copy of the new Police CD collection arrived at my doorstep. My initial impression is that the design is pretty cool with a see-through black and white overlay sleeve and some glossy-on-matte yellow artwork (I really dig that look on CDs). All of the favorite tracks are there, as expected.

Listening to this new collection, my all-time favorite track from the Police has to be "So Lonely". Some songwriters do such an awesome job of embodying how you feel in their music, and this song is near the top of the list when it comes to break-ups. The self-pity, the guilt, lamenting and more - all of it goes hand-in-hand with that gut-wrenching feeling of being left by one that you love(d). This is just one of the shining moments on the new Police CD.

The track has a definite Jamaica feel to it, as well - something of a slow "ska meets reggae" rhythm. One could easily argue the influential factor of the Police when seeing how later pop and new wave bands began to include these tropical infusions in their compositions. In fact, I've made a few compilation discs over the years in which the Police fit in fine alongside more ska-influenced pop acts like English Beat, Madness and Fishbone.


Win a New York fly-away to see The Police live.

300 posts!

Today I have reached a landmark - for me, at least. This is the 300th post on my blog. Since I first started blogging, I have learned a few things. For one, that is is difficult for me to keep up with daily blogging. As much as I wish I could do a daily blog here, I have a number of other sites that I post regularly to, and sometimes priorities get a little shifted. One other thing that I have learned is that blogging is work. It is fun, but it is still hard work and it is not always easy to come up with ideas for posting. Even when I visit blogging prompt sites for ideas, I still sometimes draw a blank, or don't feel any inclination to write about some of the random topics suggested.

Looking back at my original posts, I'm still as bitchy as ever, although I occasionally throw in some sap, some pap, and if you're lucky - some rap. My only regret at this point was not setting up my own domain name for this blog. If I was to try and move things now, I would likely lose my pagerank and have to start all over again. I would lose my standing with paid blogging, as well. I have grown accustomed to using the Blogger interface, though, and don't really see programs like WordPress offering that much more value for me right now (although trackbacks don't seem to work here on Blogger).

Perhaps one of these days, I will have time to play around with my template a little more, to get more of a customized look for this blog. Until then, I'm just struggling to keep up with my daily posts.

deals for disney

As jaded as I am about the plastic "commercial" world of tourism, I have to admit that I hold something of a special place in my heart for Disney World. Sure, you can go online and find stories of corruption and malcontent, but the fact is that kids have a great time at Disney. In fact, most adults have a great time, too. It's one of the few places in this world that I can think of that offers a "Stepford" approach to vacations that is about as well planned out as Stepford. Everything is clean and "pure" and the only time you feel the wool over your eyes is when you turn around and look behind you while riding some of the rides. But it doesn't matter. Disney World is still beyond compare. There are no other theme parks that offer such an immersive experience, a far as I know.

Although we are on a very tight budget, we've decided to try and take the kids there with my parents sometime next year. The airline tickets will be free, thanks to "miles" earned by my father on his business credit card throughout the year. He also has a Vegas timeshare that he may be able to trade for our stay in Orlando. The only other things we'll need to worry about are meals and park tickets.

The park tickets, as expected, are quite expensive. A quick trip to the Disney homepage indicates that a 7-day parkhopper pass is $248. Realistically, this is no more than one can expect to pay for a Six Flags pass, which generally costs about $40 per day. And Disney beats out Six Flags because they are a theme park, not just an amusement park. Six Flags is only about rides. Disney is about the story and the rides.

There are a number of discount Disney ticket websites online. Lots of them are scams. I have heard that many of them will try and sell you partly used or expired tickets. The last thing you need is to spoil your kids vacation when you approach the gates and they tell you that your tickets aren't valid. While trying to find legitimate discounted Disney Tickets sites, I checked out Orlando Fun Tickets, which is licensed and bonded in the state of Florida. Unfortunately, their discounted 7-day parkhopper pass is $243.79. That's a savings of only $4.21 - not exactly enough to risk buying them through an outside vendor, in my opinion.

We're extremely fortunate that my parents want to go with us, and thus wanted to help us out by offering for us to stay with them in their timeshare. And since my father spends so much money on his business credit card each year, he has managed to rack up enough miles for all of us, which again, we are very fortunate that he has offered them to us. Paying full price for the park tickets is still expensive, but for a Disney vacation, we're getting away with a steal of a deal. Now we just have to figure out a way not to pay $10 for a hamburger while we are there...

keeping the kids busy this summer

Summer is here and the kids are starting to bounce off of the walls. Now that school is on hiatus, it's our job as parental units to keep the rugrats busy, and hopefully keep what knowledge they learned during school sharply honed, to be used when they return to academia.

We've currently got our daughter on a strict regimen of reading, writing, counting, practicing her addition and subtraction by occasionally paying cash for us at the grocery store checkout. My wife and I are fortunate that I work from home and she only has to work part time, so we're around the kids most of the day.

For other working parents, it's easy to let the kids slip through the summer in daycare or at the babysitter's place. Fortunately, there are reasonably priced alternatives out there, and some of them can even help kids to prepare for the coming school year. One such Summer Program that I noticed at PayPerPost is from a learning company called Score. They've been around since 1992 and specialize in making learning fun, so you won't feel too guilty about sending your kids off to learn while their neighborhood counterparts are collecting "doddle bugs" and drinking from the garden hose.

eBay scores again - faucet savings!

Well, we did it again - save about 70% off of retail by purchasing some hardware items from eBay. It is truly amazing that sellers are able to auction off items at such lower prices than the big retailers like Lowe's or Home Depot. Maybe they're hot items or something...who knows!

None-the-less, when I get two brand new bathroom faucets for $70 that sell for $130 each at Home Depot, I can't help but smile. Obviously, I'll be smiling even more if/when they arrive and they have nothing wrong with them, but the seller had tons of positive feedback from previous buyers, so we've cut our chances of getting screwed considerably.

orion stands alone

Ever since I was a child, I've always been able to identify the Orion constellation. Something about the stars in his belt line are just too easy to find in the night sky. Unfortunately, that's about as far as my astronomical expertise goes, although I can sometimes pick out one of the "dippers". (I couldn't say whether it is the "big" or "little" dipper, though.)

Astronomy is an interesting hobby that I wouldn't mind getting my kids into. As a child, I lived near a large city and as such, couldn't see the stars in the sky too often. Any chance that I had to get out into the "country" or in more rural areas usually afforded some breath-taking views of the heavens, though.

I used to think that auto-guided telescopes were cutting edge, but lately I have seen some other inventions that blow my mind. One such invention that i ran across at PPP is called the meade my sky. This device is unique in that it functions as a multimedia guide to the stars, and includes a full color LCD for easier identification. The beautiful images displayed help to educate astronomer wannabe's (like myself), and don't require a perfectly clear night sky out in the middle of nowhere. Pretty cool! And of course, you also have the option of having it control your computerized Meade telescope.

cabinet hardware source

Since I was discussing home repairs earlier, I thought I would drop a quick tip to those of you who may be looking to upgrade the hardware on your cabinetry:

Check Ebay!

I was happily surprised to find a cabinet hardware dealer selling some brushed nickel knobs for less than $1 each that I had seen in the big retail stores for $3-$4 each. Even better, I went to their homepage and ordered them there, where the shipping costs were less than what they were charging at Ebay - bonus!

As always, read the fine print and check feedback before bidding.
Now I just need to find some matching hinges that will fit my cabinets...

Does Impatience Always Lead to Debt?

This is a question that I have been contemplating lately. Obviously, we are forced to take on a certain amount of debt to pick up certain items that we cannot pay for out-right. Items like homes and new cars are only purchased with cash by the ultra rich, or ultra old and thrifty. Trying to "put away" massive amounts of cash has proved to be futile for the majority of the population, so why should I be any different?

While some parents may still pass on the idea that "patience is a virtue" to their children, are their actions speaking louder than those words of wisdom? Have they themselves fallen prey to the great "immediate gratification" culture of today? Do we really have to break out the credit card, or can we just wait another couple months for that flat panel TV?

The mainstream media seems to be most at fault for propagating these ideas that debt is part of the very fabric of our lives. The internet has connected billions of individuals to the same market place, and unfortunately, depending in online debt advice to steer the consumers of tomorrow into "smart debt" realms is like expecting teens to read the surgeon general warning on cigarettes before they light up.

Here's a few interesting articles on the tendency of consumers to take on debt for just about anything:

Debt-a-Holics find insane reasons to borrow

Studies show that many people take out loans to fund their tax bills

It is sad and unforgivable how we have allowed the media to convince us that all debt is good debt. Unfortunately, the "trend to spend" is deep rooted and I don't see it going away anytime soon.

Homes are still like Art...

They are never finished, and it takes a lot of effort to make them look pretty. Several posts back, I made this same analogy, and I found myself repeating it quite often this past week. Prior to our house hunting trip last year, we were debating purchasing one of the smaller historic Victorian homes in town. Seeing how much work our current home has become (and it is only 15 years old), I am glad that we passed on the cute, lovely, one-of-a-kind, quaint Victorian money pits.

As much character as they have, they also carry with them the promise of eating my bank account alive. It's unbelievable how much small items cost when fixing up a home. Of course, if you are unfortunate enough (like me) to have purchased a home that was apparently built (or modified) by imbeciles, it makes it that much more fun.

I'm becoming accustomed to the idea of having to completely rewire anything in the home that I update that is electrical, for instance. The electrician who installed our wiring and fixtures was either in a time pinch or lacking some brain cells.