Categories
Gadgets Random

No More Bling!

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We were walking through Target yesterday, and I noticed a Hello Kitty digital camera “with bling.” Even the price tag for the camera said “Digital With Bling.”

What is it with calling anything that sparkles bling? Does the act of putting “bling” on a cheap digital camera suddenly make it more attractive?

As of this post, you will never see me write anything about bling again.

Curious side note: what in the world is the “exclusive Hello Kitty photo editing software?”

[tags]bling, Hello Kitty, Digital Camera[/tags]

Categories
Games

World Series Thought

I’m not watching the [tag]World Series[/tag] this year for a couple reasons. First, I don’t really care about the outcome. Second, and more important, I can’t stay up that late to watch it. The game doesn’t start until about 8:30, and with the trend in games now, it won’t end until about midnight. I get up for work at 5:00, and I need more than five hours of sleep to function properly.

I found it odd that the [tag]Detroit Tigers[/tag] and [tag]St. Louis Cardinals[/tag] are both in. Both teams essentially backed into the playoffs. In the last month of the season, Detroit went 11-16 and St. Louis went 11-17. With that (lack of) momentum, I thought both teams would have just went out quietly in the first round. But it seems like they flipped a switch and they were ready for the postseason.

St. Louis was barely a .500 team. You have to go back to 1973 to find a World Series team with a worse record (Mets, 82-79).

[tags]Baseball[/tags]

Categories
Home

A Quick Rant, Part 3

My car is finally fixed. And it only took three trips to the dealer. To recap:

    Called on 9/25 to schedule the first appointment for 9/27. The purpose of that trip was to get the car inspected, get the oil changed, and get the emergency brake cable replaced.
    On 9/27, I go to the dealer, wait for two hours, and find out that they don’t have the e-brake cable. They have changed the oil though, so I guess I don’t go home with nothing. But they won’t do the inspection because the e-brake “won’t hold enough weight.” They order the cable, it arrives 9/29, and I get a call to schedule another appointment for 10/2.
    On 10/2, I go back. Wait another two hours. Find out that they missed a part and they need to reorder. But this time, they pass my inspection. I guess the e-brake was good enough for the inspection this time.
    Call on 10/11 to find out status of cable. Cable just arrived. Schedule third appointment on 10/17.
    Third appointment on 10/17. Car fixed in about two hours.

So all in all, I got to wait for six hours for this e-brake cable to get fixed. After all this, there are a couple obvious things to suggest.

  • How about checking your inventory when scheduling an appointment where you know something is going to be replaced?
  • Shouldn’t there be a parts list to check when getting parts in?

    • One more thing. Just a quick thanks to President Bush. You came to Greensboro yesterday, pushed the awful No Child Left Behind Act, raised $600,000 for the RNC, and left. Oh yeah, you blocked up traffic all along my commute home, so a 30 minute ride took nearly an hour. Thanks!

    [tags]Bush, VW, Volkswagen, Customer Service[/tags]

    Categories
    Gadgets Random Web

    Mini Deep Fryer

    Deep FryerIt’s a mini deep fryer. You know, for when it’s just too much work to take your Fry Daddy out and make some greasy fried foods.

    What’s next? One for taking on the road? One for the bedroom?

    If you just need to have something like this, chance are, you probably really don’t need it. Chances are, nobody needs this.

    Then again, you can fry up some Coke and avoid going to the state fair all together.

    [tags]Fried, Food, Snack-Size Deep Fryer[/tags]

    Categories
    Home Julia Photos

    Picture Showcase #10

    There are some more posted pictures in the gallery. Lately, she has discovered that apples taste pretty good, but finds that her gums don’t work very well when trying to eat them. On the tooth front, there is one that is clearly visible. It won’t take too long until that tooth is chomping away at an apple.

    4230 4315 4350

    [tags]Pictures, Photos, Julia, Family[/tags]

    Categories
    News

    Oil Cheaper Than Coke?

    An oil exec claims that oil is cheaper than Coke.

    So?

    Oil is cheaper than a lot of things. Like a house, or a car, or bottled water. Well, fancy bottled water. Maybe it’s even cheaper than Pepsi.

    I see an important distinction between Oil and Coke. I don’t have to (and I don’t) drink Coke, or any sort of soda for that matter. If I want to work, I need to drive to work. And since nearly every car out there runs on some sort of petroleum, I have to buy gas.

    Statements like these just attempt to confuse the matter. But in reality, it makes the exec look quite foolish.

    [tags]Oil, Coke, Coca-Cola[/tags]

    Categories
    Home

    A Quick Rant, Part 2

    Continuing from my rant last week, I find myself again in Panera, again waiting for my car to get fixed. And as with the problems last week, there were problems again today.

    I came prepared this time. I dropped off the car, went across the street to Costco to get some pictures developed, then got a hair cut. Only after waiting for two hours did I finally get an update. The part I had originally mentioned last Monday, was ordered on Wednesday, delivered on Friday, and found to be missing parts today.

    I had waited two hours to find out I would have to go through this whole process again. They are ordering another kit (or whatever it is), and wait for it to come in again.

    The suggestions here are obvious. First, when I want to bring in my car to get fixed, and specifically mention what part needs to be fixed, how about verifying the part is in inventory? Second, check to make sure said part is in inventory before starting any work on the car. Third, include a parts list with any kits that are ordered. Check the parts list against what actually came with the kit to make sure that nothing is missing.

    These suggestions not only help me out, but they help out VW. I don’t have to waste my time waiting on my car. VW doesn’t have to waste their mechanics’ time essentially doing rework. Their throughput increases, and they are happy. I only have to wait once to get the work I want done, and I’m (relatively) happy.

    [tags]VW, Volkswagen, Customer Service[/tags]

    Categories
    News Web

    Track Your Politican’s Voting Record

    I don’t have a clue where I found this anymore, but you can track any politician’s voting record through the Washington Post. There are even RSS feeds to integrate into your favorite reader.

    I’ve already put all of my representatives in my reader, and have noticed two things. First, they vote a lot. Maybe it’s just because the session is winding down, and they rush everything important through to say they actually did something. Second, the meanings of each bill don’t really mean much to me. I think this service would be much better if it used plain English instead of something like this:

    Question: On the Amendment.
    Bill: S 3930
    Vote description: Levin Amdt. No. 5086; In the nature of a substitute.
    Result: Rejected, 43-54, with 3 not voting.
    Elizabeth Dole voted No.

    Huh? In the nature of a substitute? What does rejecting it mean in terms of the bill?

    Anyway, I think this is a great service as it makes it easier to track what your representatives are (or aren’t) doing in Washington.

    [tags]Politics, Washington Post, Voting[/tags]

    Categories
    Travel Web

    Farecast

    If you’re going to travel soon, but haven’t purchased airline tickets yet, check out Farecast. You enter where and when you want to travel, and it tells you if now is a good time to buy. For example, if you are planning to travel from, let’s say, Newark to Greensboro around Christmas, Farecast says that prices are holding steady. And they have 80% confidence that you should buy now.

    The flight selection interface is similar to Kayak. For just comparing flight prices I would go with Kayak. But with the fare forcast, I would give Farecast a shot too.

    [tags]Farecast, Kayak, Travel[/tags]

    Categories
    Home

    A Quick Rant

    So I’m killing time here at Panera waiting on three things to be be done to my car: an oil change, an inspection, and a cable replacement on the emergency brake. When we first moved into the house, the car sat on a hill quite a bit, and stretched out the cable, so the car won’t pass inspection now.

    I call VW on Monday, and made an “appointment” for Wednesday. I rattle off the three things I need done, they ask when I want to come in, I tell them Wednesday. I inquire how much the cable would cost, and I’m transferred to the parts department. Everything seemed fine, and I went on my way.

    Of course, it hasn’t been so far. I get to the dealer, and they don’t seem to have any idea what I am talking about. I repeat what I need done. It’s not a big deal as it’s not very busy, so I give them my info and I’m off to Panera.

    After reading about the sad state of the Justice Courts in the NYT (it was a very interesting read, read all three parts), I get a call, and they tell me that they don’t have a cable in stock.

    Wouldn’t it make sense to find out if that part needed is in stock before making me waste my afternoon? Now I need to repeat this whole bit on Friday, when when they actually have the part. I can understand it if there is an unexpected repair, or they are not sure of what they need. I would think that by making an appointment, and with them knowing what they needed, the parts would be here.

    Quite the concept, making parts to service appointments. What am I missing here?

    [tags]VW, Volkswagen, Service[/tags]