Dont waste your time with Mr. Appliance

My $1300 Whirlpool washer died on me finally. I was stupid and did not buy the extended warranty for it. I cant still buy it but they want me to wait 60 days before I can have a service call. I can be with out a washer for 60 days. I came back home from a trip overseas for work and had about 8 loads of laundry I had to do. Laundry at a 24 hour landromat is no fun. Especially when you are the only one that speaks english.

Before I left I called Mr. Appliance to fix my washer. I had called another guy out from a place in San Marcos who told me that to get my washer to work was to tap the top of it like the Fonz. It worked untl the tapping on top did not work any more. The guy from Mr. Appliance came out twice. The first time to replace the door lock mechanism. He was 100% sure that is what the problem was. Of course, I told him it was not the issue and he found out he should have listened to me. He called Whirlpool and they told him it was the wiring harness. He brings out a Wiring harness and was going to charge me $300 for the whole job. I was out of town when he came out and had a friend of mine meet them at my house. The guy was supposed to come out that Tuesday and did not show up to Friday. The wiring harness did not fix the problem and he proceeds to charge my friend $69. I called the Monday I got back and told them that the guy never fixed anything and he owed me $69. I was supposed to get a call back Tuesday and never did. I was told that the tech was going to stay on hold with Whirlpool until he could find out what was going on. I called Wednesday because I had not heard back from the tech. I was told that the tech was going to call me directly and I have yet to hear back from him.

If you plan to call Mr. Appliance to fix your Appliances, DO NOT. They do not stand behind their work or service. If I do not hear back from the tech within the next 24 to 48 hours, I am going to get the Better Business Bureau involved as well as the Attorney General because of their business practices. I will know better the next time my washer dies on me. I am soo close to treking on down to the local Conn's get a new Washer and get 36 months minimum payments no interest.

Windows Vista the "Wow"

I get this wild hair and figured I would break down and be an early adopter of Windows Vista. I checked my computer online and it says Vista will run on my machine. In fact, I am supposed to get some sort of free Vista upgrade for it anytime now. I goto dinner with my parents and brother for his birthday and my dad hands me Windows Vista Home Premium. I get it home and start to install it. It gets to the product key and it hangs there. I know that the Upgrade CD has the full blown version of the software, so I followed the instructions to do a "Clean" install without destroying the file I have on my box. The trick to it is that when you install it you leave the product key blank. It will install the software and then when Windows Vista starts up, you need to put the CD in and have it do an upgrade with the product key. A few hours later, I had Vista installed.

First of all, the "wow" starts now is a lie. The only "wow" I had is realizing what a moron I was installing Windows soo early in the game. I worked Tech Support in the past and the rule of thumb for any OS is what for Service Pack 2. It is a little cleaner thant he pervious versions of Windows and has a slick interface. On the other hand, Microsoft in true Micosoft fashion has ripped off Sun Microsystems and the Apple OS X. Microsoft needs to totally scrap Windows and start from scratch. They need to stop putting band aids on their OS's. I have only had Vista for less than a week and I already have 14 updates from Microsoft for it. It is also a memory hog. I have 1 gig of RAM and will need to get 1 more gig. The minimum system requirements are 1 Gig ram and 128 meg video card? Given, most systems meet or exceed that. Luckily, my dad got this version of Vista on an Academic price at $69.95. The funny thing is you can get CDROMs of the software for $9.99 if you need them. It goes to show that you should not have to pay over $100 for an OS. I think Microsoft needs to be like Linux and allow you download the OS for free and if you need tech support for it or want a CD or DVD of it you have to pay for that. It is amazing that the latest version of Ubuntu Linux is a heck of alot better than Vista. Microsoft needs to stop stealing other people's ideas and come out with a legit OS that works out of the box and it not going to lock up or freeze, instead of wasting my time and money on this Vista crap.

Thanks but I will go back to using Linux and OS X that is on my MacBook.

Madam Fu's in South Park Meadows Shopping Center, Austin TX

I had seen a sign for this place "Madam Fu's Asian House" that just opened in the South Park Meadows shopping center here in South Austin. I figured I would give it a try. I rolled in and ordered a beef with garlic sauce bowl, a chicken garlic sauce bowl, lo mein for Josh and 2 hot and sour soups. I was amazed when the bill came out to be $40. I have eat Chinese food all over Austin. I have never paid more than $40 for lunch. There were no lunch specials at all. The meals were $8 and the soup was over $3. I was told by the lady at the register that the food was good with large portions. I paid and sat down.

I was brought the food about 7 minutes later. The hot and sour soup was spicy and was good. The veggies were fresh and and the garlic sauce was flavorful. I did not think the portions were large at all. I have had better food at Food Shui in NW Austin or The China Bowl in NW Austin. I will not be going back to this place. If I wanted to spend over $40 on lunch I should have gone to Johnny Carinos or some good steak place. The food was fresh and flavorful but not earth shattering.

If you are considering checking this place out, I'd skip it. You would be better off going someplace else.

I broke down and bought a new car.

I got bitten by the new car bug. I traded in my beloved 2004 Honda Accord EX. I loved that car. It got descent gas millage. It was in fairly good shape, other than the time that some young 17 year old kid decided he could take a left right in front of me as I was going through an intersection. He tells me, "Dude, I had a green arrow." I had then pointed to the light and asked, "What green arrow was that?" There was no damage to his truck but he took my front end off. The car was not drivable at all. It sat at the body shop for over 3 weeks because he apparently screwed up my air bags and the seat belt.

To start off, I have owned a 2000 Honda Insight Hybrid. I loved that car. It did not have a lot of power, but got you where you needed to go. I got anywhere between 50 MPG and 70 MPG. It was a 2 seater and did not have a lot of room and was also a 5 speed, which was a pain to drive. It was fun going to gas stations and people would ask, "Where do you plug that thing in?" or "Can I see the engine?" It was interesting meeting all kinds of people when I would pull into a gas station. The main problem was that it was not a 4 door, so taking more than 1 person was not possible. I traded my Insight in on a 2004 Honda Accord which was a Honda Certified car. It had barely 12K miles on it.

The first place I hit was The Town North Nissan store off 183 just past Burnet. They had a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid with like 30K miles on it. It was white and was an automatic. They wanted $14.9K for it. I thought it was a great deal, especially since they went new for $24K. I was told to as for a guy named Boon. On my lunch hour, I ran over to take a peek at it. I walked around the car and it was in great shape. The interior looked brand new. I met with Boon who hopped in the car for a test drive, only to jump out as we were leaving the dealership because he had another customer. He tells me, "You take it for a drive. As long as you want!" I am thinking to myself, "Gee. They are being very brave letting me take this car by myself, without having any of my contact info." I drove it on 183 south for a little bit and drove it back. I checked the millage because this odometer will tell you how many miles per gallon you are getting. I noticed it was reading 29 mpg. I also noticed the check engine light on. I get back to the dealership and there is another guy waiting for me to get back because he always wants to look at it. I am curious about the check engine codes, so I grab my scan tool and go scan the trouble codes. There were 3 codes that came up and they were all manufacturer diagnostic codes. Honda is notorious for having funky check engine codes but many of them are minor. The other weird thing was that 2 of the LEDs on the battery indicator to tell me how charged the batteries were were out. Once you got past those two LEDs, the rest were lit so I knew the batteries were being charged. I asked Boon if there was a warranty and he tells me there was no factory warranty but they would give me a 1000 mile warranty. I think to myself, "Gee, I would do 1000 in a few weeks." I take his card, writing down the trouble codes and head back to my office. When I get back to my office, I check my own sources for these trouble codes because this will be the 5th Honda I have owned and I do all of my own mechanical work. I find out that the 3 codes are basically problems with the IMA charging motor. (This is the unit that basically makes this car a hybrid and helps it get such great gas millage.) In this case, there was a reason why it was only getting 29 mpg and not the over 40 mpg that it should get.

The second placed I looked was the Leif Johnson Ford dealership off Airport. They had a 2005 Honda Hybrid for 17.9K which was the special internet price. I had called and spoked to a guy who told me to ask for him and set up a time for me to come in. When I got to the dealership, I was referred to another salesperson named Amy who in turn turned me over to a 3rd sales person. We go to peek at the car and this car was a dark grey. It was also in great shape. I hope in and was immediately disappointed it was a 5 speed. The sales lady asked if I wanted to go for a test drive and I said sure. I asked if she wanted to drive it off the lot because that had been the practice where the sales person would drive it off the lot and then let you take the wheel. She looks at me and tells me she can not drive 5 speed. I hop in and we take off down 290 south. We got to talking and she was a very down to earth and sweet girl, telling me she had been selling insurance prior to selling cars. She also proceeds to tell me she has only been in the car business less than 90 days. I know that the car business is one of those businesses where people come and go and many folks tend to change dealerships like they change socks. It is always a red flag to me for a person young in the car dealership because negotiating a deal is always harder because they have very little experience. I come back to the dealership and was then assisted by Amy. She tells me they will basically give me book value for my Accord. I do have some negative equity with this car, even after paying more every month towards my car payment. At 6% APR my payments at 72 months would be close to $386, which is not too bad. The good thing is the windows are tinted already but the down side is that it is a 5 speed and I hate to drive a 5 speed in bumper to bumper traffic on Mopac during rush hour. I tell her that I am going to run numbers with my bank and I will get back to her. Ironically, Amy and the other sales person called me in addition to the Sales manager all weekend long to see if I had made a decision if I wanted the car or not. That weekend was Joshua's birthday party and I had family in town, as well as having to work sound. I called Amy on Monday and she proceeds to tell me they have raised the price of the car $1000 but will sell it to me at the $17993 price they quoted me. I tell her that I am going to go look at a gas version of the Civic because they get 30 city and 40 highway, which is close to what the Hybrid gets but also is like $16K for a 2006 Honda Civic Coupe.

The third place I looked was the Howdy Honda in South Austin. They had this 2006 Honda Civic coupe with the new body style. It was very sporty. I walked in and was immediately given to someone else because this car salesman had a delivery. The new salesman, Kasey, was very personable and down to earth. We took this 2006 Civic coupe on a test drive. I liked the way it handled. It drove great. I was impressed by how calm he was, even with Josh in the back seat asking when we could go home. I took Josh with me for the simple fact that if things took too long, Josh would not stand for it and raise a fuss. We get back to the dealership and they appraise my Accord. He comes back and says, "I have good new and bad news." He hands me a Car Fax report which shows my car had been in an accident. He asked me if my car had been in an accident. I told him it had and was repaired at a 5 star repair facility, using nothing by Honda parts and paint. He tells me because it had been in an accident, they were going to give me $7700 for it. He then tells me that I could come up with $3000 cash, that would help with part of the negative equity and might make the numbers look a little better. I had told him that I was not really looking to put anything down on it since I was not really looking to buy a car. We end up leaving the dealership and heading home.

The last place I decide to goto was Honda of San Marcos. Josh's mom had bought her 2003 Honda CRV from them, so I was familiar with the dealership. They were under new ownership so I figured since it was so close to the house, I could go it and see what they could do. I had figured if worst came to worst, I would just go back to Leif Johnson Ford and buy that 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid that had a 5 speed. I was met by a guy named Patrick. He was an older gentleman from Houston who was new the San Marcos area. He had told me he had been in the car business over 27 years. He was this down to earth, country boy kinda guy. I test drove the Honda Civic. Ironically, I knew most about this car that he did. We get back and he asks me if I want to buy it. I tell him that I am interested in seeing what the numbers look like. His manager, Mr. Macy, hops in my car and takes it for a test drive. Mr. Macy is from Florida where he had this huge house but is having problems selling it. His wife had gone back to get some furniture for their new house in Kyle where they just moved and was rear ended buy some foreign folks. He was not in the best of moods; but, with everything going on in his life, I can see why. Patrick comes back and hands me a Car Fax and tells me the car had been in an accident. He then tells me they are only going to be able to give me like $8500. I think to myself, "Wow, thats a bit more than Howdy Honda was going to give me but Leif Johnson is still going to give me full book price." I explain that to him and he goes back to Mr. Macy. They try to get me to put some money down to help work out the negative equity; but, I am interested in seeing how far they are willing to go to make the deal work. Mr. Macy then tells me he will give me close to almost book value for my trade. I tell him that I would like to see what the numbers would be and it comes out to $399 at 6.5% APR at 72 months. They take me into financing and the best rate they can give me is like 6.99%. I call USAA and they tell me 6.5% and basically tell me they are going to ship a check over to the dealer. I did wind up with a 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid. This car is white and is automatic. It is a clean car. It had like 29K miles on it. I was told the car was owned my an Engineer who had a mid-life crisis and wound up with a Honda S2000 Roadster. The windows were tinted on this car as well. I drove it home that night.

What is my overall opinion of the Civic Hybrid? It is smaller than the Accord. I did slam my right elbow into the head rests getting into the car the other day. The A/C controls are a little funky. It will take some getting used to. The radio will need to be updated but I have my sights set on a CD player that has a LCD display in it and will probably update the speakers as well when I upgrade it. I am getting 41 to 49 MPG. I drove for over a week on a little over 1/2 a tank of gas. Gas was a little expensive in San Marcos so I put $10 in and that put me just under 1/2 a tank and I am still driving on that tank. In my Accord, I would have had to put in $20 twice already. The Hybrid does take a little getting used to. You have to drive it differently than a regular car. You have to keep your eyes on the battery charging as you drive it. I tend to put the cruise control on and let it ride. I am overall impressed with this car. I decided to move away from the Accord since I drive over 100 miles a day 3 days a week and figured if I could just about double my mpg, it would benefit me in the long run. The 2004 Honda Accord average MPG was 28 MPG. In the Honda Civic Hybrid it is 47 MPG. You figure in a 10 gallon tank the Accord could go 280 miles. In the Civic Hybrid I could go 470 miles. I figured I would save probably $20 a week in gas alone and almost $1000 a year. Thats not too shabby.

So I walk into Crate and Barrel....

Its been a long long time since I have been in this place. They are having this 30% off sale on Elfa. I start to look around and start thinking to myself, "Oh my! I have seen most of this crap at Target for like a 1/3rd of their prices." There are people in there buying hundreds of dollars worth of shelving and organizing crap. I am totally amazed. I walked out without buying anything. I did get some organizing ideas. I still have to put up some shelves in my office that I bought over a week ago. If I need organizing stuff, I will hit the Home Depot or Lowes. I might end up at Target. I am sorry to the folks who love this place. Its not all that.

So I get this phone call from my brother

He leaves a message on my machine that says something like, "I just did something and you are going to laugh. I can not leave it on here for fear of it biting me in the ass." I called him back within 10 minutes. He proceeds to tell me that he met this girl off Quest Personals named Christi. I was like, "Ok." He proceeds to tell me it is my ex.

She and I dated years ago around 1997. She was a very sweet girl but there was an issue of her being very immature. I did not see us moving forward, so we broke up. Ironically, she tells me brother she broke up with me by throwing a promise ring in my car, which is a crock of crap. I never gave her a promise ring. What is even more ironic is that evertime I bump into her only, she tells me that she would take me back in a heartbeat, that she loves me still and will always love me.

My brother tells me that he almost needed Viagra just to have sex with her after he found out who she was. The funny thing is that it did not click to her that she and I are brothers. My brother tells her that he and I were roomates but thats it. I get an IM from her later that night asking what the names of my former roomates were. My brother tells me he is done with her; yet, Christi still text messages him that she wants him. What is even more funny is that she is dating some guy as well.

Christi send me an IM a day or so later. I told her that I can not believe she had sex with my roomate. (I did not tell her Daniel is my brother. I would have thought she would already know that.) She tells me it was a one time deal and that was it. Christi started going to my parents church and was big time involved with the church. When I asked her what God would think about her having sex with my former roomate and still having a boyfriend, she tell me "I repented and was a one time deal." Of course, I know better because she texts my brother all the time telling him she wants him.

I have suggested my to my brother that he needs to keep her on a short leash. He needs not to lead her on like they are going to see each other again because she will end up stalking him. All she has is his cell phone. She does not know where he lives or his last name. Once he moves in 3 weeks, he should be in the clear of her trying to hunt him down because he will have disappeared.

The good thing to come out of this is that I found out that she moved to the other side of town and does not goto my parents church any more. I am sure she will find some other crazy person that is just as screwed up as she is and Daniel will be a distant memory. It is kinda funny because when I see my brother, we just look at each other and kinda laugh.

DO NOT buy from Capital Kia in Austin, TX

So Josh's mom on her final attempt to get a van decides she wants to go check out the Kia Sedona's in North Austin. They do have a 5 star crash rating and have front and rear A/C controls standard. I called up Kia and spoke to Chris Coker the Internet Sales manager. Chris tells me to come on out at 5pm on Saturday night. I had to go because Josh's mom did not want to get the shaft so I tagged along. We get there and they ran numbers on a 2006 Kia Sedona. Chris tried and tried but told us the payments would be over $500 and we wanted them around $350 to $375. I then asked if they had any demo models or certified preowned. He looks and tells me his Used location at IH35 and St. Johns has 2 2004s starting at $14k. He offers to meet us over there. We drive over there and were met by Matt who showed us the two Kia Sedona's. Both were basic models with power windows, locks and CD player. There was a green Sedona and a blue Sedona. Both Sedonas looked in rough shape. In fact, the detailer left wax streaks all over that van. I could have done a better job. We walk inside and they start running numbers. They start to present us with a deal when I tell Josh's mom that I am not getting good vibes from this and we should leave. She tells me she wants the van and wants to see what they can do. I come back and Matt pulls up their version of a "CarFax". He tells me there has been no repair work done to this car. Josh's mom decides she wants to go ahead and signs the paperwork. She has a "blank" check from USAA that she can use that had a better rate than they were offering but they were trying to get her financed that night because they get a kick back from finance places that use their service. Their rate they offered her was almost 3% higher in APR than she had but they worked on the numbers to eat the over $6000 in negative equity in her Honda CRV up. They get her payments a few dollars below what she is paying and they close the deal. It takes them forever to get this thing situated. You would think that you could just go in, buy a car and be in and out in less than 2 hours. Not this place.

She gets the van home and the next day she tells me, "I am spooked about this van. I should have listened to you." I figured they had a 48 hour return policy, she takes Monday off to go drop off this van at 9am when they open. She calls me from the parking lot and tells me one of the sales persons is refusing to help her that Matt or the Manager would have to assist her. She leaves to take the van over to the main Kia Dealership off 183 and Anderson Mill to get serviced because the van was making a noise which was coming from the suspension. I had hear the noise she was talking about. Chris Coker promised us a full detail for the van and promised to take care of the noise since it was under warranty. She leaves and calls Matt and the Manager from the used car start 3 and 4 times only to be told they were in "meetings". She even had Chris call him and he told Chris that he knew of the situation and he would "talk to him later". How ironic that over 3 days later, still no phone call from Matt or the Manager from the used store and its past the 48 hour turn in time.

I decide to poke my head under the hood of this beast to find out what the deal is because I am mechanically inclined and been working on cars for over 20 years. I do not have my own shop but folks tell me all the time that I should open one. I decided to change the oil and transmission fluid to straight synthetic. I also drained and replaced the power steering fluid with synthetic. I even ran fuel injection cleaner through the fuel system. Given, it is probably overkill on all that but you figure for a van that is 2 years old, it should have been in better shape that it was. I am impressed that www.kia.com has TSB's and technical repair data on their site for free. I have access to diagrams and tear down diagrams for any part of that Sedona. They even show you how to diagnose particular problems as well as list recalls. Ironically, the noise has since gone away. The Sedona shifts much better and runs quieter.

I am amazed at service we got from the used car department of Captial Kia. You would think they would stand behind every product they sold, but they do not. Once you buy a car or truck from them, you are on your own. I give Chris Coker praise for putting up with our ranting and trying to do whatever he could to try to fix the situation. He could not do anything about the whole returning the van business but tried to do what he could to make us happy. I plan to file a complain with the Better Business Bureau with these guys as well as the Attorney General. I also plan to contact the owner of Capital Kia who apparently owns the Auto Mall here in Kyle as well a few other dealerships in Texas. I am sure that it probably will not go fa, but what they do not realize is that word of mouth travels far. In fact, I asked a fellow co worker who is a Honda/Toyota fanatic and is from Japan what they thought of Kias and he was like, "I do not trust them. They are crap." I myself will never buy a Kia. I will also stick to either Honda or Toyotas. My 2004 Accord has over 85K on it and is still running strong. I will probably drive it until the wheels fall off.

If you are in the market for a new or used Kia, Do not goto Capital Kia. Do not listen to their tv ad about if they can not beat a Kia deal, they will probably just give it to you. That is a bold faced lie. They might "woo" you with great numbers but after the sale, you are on your own.

Car Shopping!

So Josh's mom has talked me into going to help her buy a new van since I used to work in the banking industry. I ran the numbers and know basically she can get her new van at $350 a month for a 2006 Mazda MPV LX since they have tons of rebates. She had me call one dealer in North Austin. I spoke to the internet manager who was very nice and friendly. I told him I would have my 8 year old son with me, so if he needed anything he would need to get that so everything would be ready when we rolled in today. I call the guy today and he is at lunch. We fight 5 0'clock traffic to get up there. He calls me and he is back from lunch and tells me to come out. We roll into the dealership and he tells me they have this demo 2006 Mazda LX with DVD player and he can get me out the door for $350 a month. We go back into the showroom and he goes to talk to his manager twice. He tells me he can get $390. I told him basically that we would do $365 tops. I told him to meet me in the middle and give me more money for my trade. For every $1000 dollars its an extra $20 payment. I tell him to put $2000 somewhere so we can leave. He proceeds to tell me that all the paperwork is locked in his boss' office and he would have to call me on Monday so we can work the deal.

First of all, I am amazed that this dude would even consider me coming back on a Monday even after telling him that I was bringing my 8 year old son and I did not want a long, drawn out car purchasing process because Josh would not go for that. Secondly, he told me at first that the demo had more room to play with numbers and would work out for Josh's mom. He then tells me that perhaps another model might be better. Another model? Didnt you tell me on the phone that everything was ready to go? Why make me come back to go through MORE hassles? I left pissed off and went over to the other Mazda dealer in South Austin, thinking that they would work out a deal for me. I walk in and was told that all salesmen had gone home. I told the lady, "Most car sales are done when a dealership is closing." I then spoke to the Internet Manager. I explain my situation to him. He tells me that their deal is a better deal than the other Mazda place was offering and show it to me on paper. The one dealer had an SV model and they offer an LX model. Josh's mom picks out a color and they get to working the deal. I started playing dealers against each other when I told them the one dealer was offering me $1500 more than they were offering me. This guy would not budge. They wanted to offer her $420 a month. I was amazed that they did not want to budge on their price. I had thought that it being the end of the month that they would give me some sort of break, especially since they are not going to be offering that model any more since they are going to the CX7 and CX9. He suggested I go over to Carmax and see if they will give me more for my trade and then bring that over to them so they could work something out with that. I told him I was NOT going to goto Carmax. He could either earn my business or I will wait for the first bone head to call me on Monday.

My first mistake was offering to help Josh's mom buy this new van since I was in the banking industry at one time. It is exhausting. It would be nice to be able to walk in to a place and have them give you a fair price without trying to poke your eyes out. I thought I was avoiding all that by contacting the dealer first, providing him my information and then going into the dealer a few days later.

Michael Richards Rant

I recently saw on the news that Michael Richards during a comedy show went off some hecklers and said some racial things. Given, I will agree he did step outside the bounds and should not have gone off like that. No one should ever say racial slurs like that. What is interesting is the 3 gentlemen from the audience is now coming forward and wanting to sue Micheal Richards.

What is this world coming to? Just because a comic makes a bad judgement or goes on a rant, you are going to sue? If thats the case, I am calling my lawyer and and George Lopez and Carlos Mencia are going DOWN! Now you wonder why we need tort reform in the US Justice system. Why tie up the courts with a stupid case like that? You goto a comedy show and expect some sort of off color humor and now you want to run and sue someone because you are offended?

The Canadian Fraudsters are BACK!!!

o after playing around with Canadian fraudsters. I get and email from the fraudsters again. Apparently they want to do business with me again. This time they want to wire me money. Of course, I am too smart to fall for that one. I will probably have them try to send me something to prove they are not trying to scam me. I have tried them to get them to send cash as a token that they are serious. They never fall for that. Perhaps I should ask for something material, like a GPS? hehehe Here is the email stay tuned for more Canadian Fraudster fun.

Subject: GET BACK TO ME
From: "ALEX WALTER"
Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2006 03:07:33 -0500 (EST)

Dear Willie Brilliant,


Long time, this is Mr. Alex Walter of REXCO GLOBAL IMPORT AND EXPORT CO UK, I believe you remember me.

My dear, how are you doing lately, hope fine?

You remembered that we had some business issue before, you have not hear from me for long because I have tried reaching all our clients to ask them to always make sure that their mode of payment will always work to make you happy.

I plead to ask you back to business with us as our pay collection representative as it was before, the good news is that things are better now, as our clients will be paying through you to us using a more simpler process and your percentage has also improved to 15% of every payment made through you to us.

The process our clients told us that they would like to use in paying through you to us is via their LINE OF CREDIT or their EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT, I believe you understand what I meant.

If you accept this proposal do get back to me in 48 hours and I will tell you what next and business continues, we for sure like to remian in business with you.

Whatever be the case my friend, do get back to me. Have a nice day.

Alex Walter

Austin's Red Light Cameras

There has been a recent story here in Austin, TX that they want to put in Red Light Cameras to take pictures of vehicles that run red lights. I heard one guy on the radio say that it was an "invasion of his privacy". The DJ on the radio replied, "If you did not run red lights, we would not need cameras."

I have seen countless people run red lights all over the city of Austin just to beat the light. I have been hit by one guy who ran the red light because he thought he "had the right of way" then proceeded to tell me that he would appreciate it if I would not call his insurance, that he would pay for my damages out of pocket. I am all for these Cameras. I get tired of seeing people run red lights just to make up for extra time and think the fine should be at least $100. The max amount is $200 that can be fined but $100 would probably keep more people from running the red light. These cameras have been in Germany for over 20+ years.

Now, if they could just put spike strips for those morons who decide at the last minute to jet over on Mopac when their lane is either ending or exiting because they are too impatient to wait in traffic. (Which causes more of a traffic headache during rush hour.) I would be a happy man. :)

Mom of the year!

These are pics of a girl who has her pictures of her kids online. I had to laugh. Here are her kids holding up a gun showing they look "tough". I am amazed at what would go through a parent's head to even consider having their kids do this. With all of the violence in this world going on and problems at school, you wonder where the common sense of these folks are.

The mom of the year award goes to the mom of these girls. Sister, get a freaking CLUE! I am surprised CPS has not knock down the door of this lady's house.

Circuit City's Credit Card

My computer died and I figured I would get a new one. Circuit City had no interest but minimum payments for 15 months, which takes the bite out of having to buy a computer. I had asked the kid who rang me up, to make sure he put in 15 months no interest and he said, "Oh yeah. I have to request that." I have had this machine for almost a month and just get statement which says I have 6 months no payments or interest. I had a slight problem at Sams Club when I bought tires and called Customer Service and they took care of it. I call up Circuit City's credit card deparment which is handled by Chase. As getting through the menus, I get an Indian customer service rep who has a heavy accent. I explain the situation and she tells me I am not eligible for this special financing deal. I had explained I had the ad that I could fax it to her. She became very arguementive and started yelling at me to go into the store where I bought it. I ended up hanging up on her.

When I went into the store to get it situated and mentioned my rude customer service rep. The lady working customer service smiled and said, "Oh yeah. They will yell at you. They are not very friend nor provide great customer service." This goes to show that if companies continue to outsource customer service to companies in India who provide reps who have a hard time understanding simple English and are rude and inconsiderate, I will start to not to business with those companies. I had dumped Sprint because you would call and the Indian customer service rep would say, "Sir, you owe $25 on your bill." Yet you would call in the next day and they would tell you, "No, that guy was incorrect. You owe $250."

I do not blame Circuit City. Given, if the guy who rang me up would have correctly rang it up I would have not had to go through all of this. I seriously think that Circuit should force Chase bank to bring back those Customer Service jobs to the US just like AT&T has started to do.

Smoking

I was coming back from lunch and I ran into a Speedy Stop off Duval and 183 before heading back to work for some chips and a drink. As I walk in, there is a sign that says "This is a NON smoking store." Ironically the manager and another employee were outside that place smoking. There have been times that I have been in that store and have smelled someone smoking in the back.

Now, if there is a sign that says, "NON smoking" and you are not supposed to smoke 50 feet from the gas pumps, why do people still do it? It makes you wonder where people's common sense is. I dont mind people that smoke. I just have a problem with it when its too close to the gas pumps and in my face as I walk into the store. I just think its hillarious that you see something that says "DONT DO THIS" and you see someone do it. Kinda made me want to go, "Here is your sign!"

Ran into an old friend

So I the other day I run into an old friend of mine that I had met when I was working at another job. She and I had never met but she used to call me all the time. Our schedules never could mesh to where we could meet. We lost touch and I never heard from her again. Over 2 years later, I get an email from this same girl. She happens to work at my work. We start talking again and apparently her whole attitude has changed. She is not the sweet woman she once was. I suggest we meet up since we are finally in the same place at work and she tells me she is not going to talk to me or meet up with me unless I start sending flowers to her at work. (Apparently she is this type of woman that likes the attention she gets when something gets delivered and all the co-workers want to know who its from, etc.) So basically I come right out and ask her, "So you wont talk to me or meet me or get to know me unless I start sending stuff to work" Isnt that a little materialistic?" She response (and I quote), "Yeah. I am a Bitch now and if you do not give me anything then I want nothing to do with you."

Excuse me, but WTF? Here I am happy to run into an old friend and she is trying to act like a gold digger to see what kind of crap I will send her to her work. I dont mind the whole flower sending or bringing flowers to someone, but at least let me get to know you first. I had asked her on more than one occasion to allow me to get reacquianted with her again before we start the whole sending flowers to work business. She refused that. I guess it is all well and good that I found out early on that she had issues before it came out later on.

Vonage and VoIP

I finally broke down and got a home phone with Vonage, figuring it would not hurt having a home phone so I would not have to use my cell phone when I call into conference calls for work. I had heard good things about Vonage so I figured what the heck? I tried calling 3 times in order to get service. Each time I got some Indian representative who was trying to sound American but could not understand normal English. The third time was a charm and got an Indian guy who acutely spoke GOOD English and was able to place my order. I received the package with the IP phone router and instructions on how to install it. It was fairly easy to set up and POOF! I was up and running. My big complaint with Vonage is they recycle their phone numbers because on a daily basis, I get phone calls from some girl who skipped town on her creditors and they think I am hiding her in my house. I asked one lady who called for this woman, "Does she owe you money? Because if she does she is LONG gone." My second complain with Vonage is their customer service reps are totally clueless. I had a minor issue with my voice mail and I had to call once again 3 times to finally get someone who had a clue what he or she were doing to get my voice mail situated. Ironically, that last guy was an Indian guy. The other problem with Vonage is they outsource much of their customer service people. It is very frustrating to call in and get some Indian person who does not understand you and you sit there for over 20 minutes trying to explain to the person what you are trying to do, repeating yourself 3 and 4 times. It has gotten to the point where if I ever have to call to speak to a rep and I get an Indian rep, I hang up and dial again until I finally get a US rep. When I had to call to speak about my voicemail problem, the rep would pick up the phone and I would say, "I have a question about my voicemail." They would respond, "You have a question with your voicemail?" Gee is there an echo in here? Please do not repeat my question. Secondly if you are going to answer my question, do not sit there and go, "Ahh... ah....mmm... ahhh." If you do not know, tell me "Sir, let me take a look at that for you." and then put me on hold.


I am amazed at home many companies out there that are moving to outsourcing because it’s more cost effective. I am all about saving the company money but if people hang up and keep dialing in to finally get a person that has a clue what is going on, how much money are you really saving? Secondly, please do not have some Indian representative trying to "sound" American. To me, that is a slap in my face. Perhaps I should start responding sounding like an Indian person when I get these people on the phone. I have seen too many people lose their jobs to outsourcing. What is ironic about it is that these outsourcing people think if a person loses their job in America, they can easily get another one and that is just not the case. I am not trying to single out anyone. It is not just Indian people. Its any company who outsources to another country and you get a rep on the phone that tries to sound like they are from here, yet can not understand words like "right" and "correct".

I will say with my bad experience with Vonage I am considering canceling my service with them. I would almost be willing to pay the extra $10 a month to Time Warner Cable for VoIP phone service because I know I am going to get a rep that is not outsourced and know that if I have a problem, they will respond quickly instead of having no idea what I am talking about when I ask a simple question about voicemail.

Cell Phone Jammers

If you are like me, you get sick and tired of seeing people driving in their cars on the highway, not paying attention. There are some I have almost had accidents with. A study released in April 2006 found that almost 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds of the event. The study, The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study, conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), breaks new ground. (Earlier research found that driver inattention was responsible for 25 to 30 percent of crashes.) The new study found that the most common distraction is the use of cell phones, followed by drowsiness. However, cell-phone use is far less likely to be the cause of a crash or near-miss than other distractions, according to the study. For example, while reaching for a moving object such as a falling cup increased the risk of a crash or near-crash by 9 times, talking or listening on a hand-held cell phone only increased the risk by 1.3 times. The study tracked the behavior of the 241 drivers of 100 vehicles for more than one year. The drivers were involved in 82 crashes, 761 near crashes and 8,295 critical incidents.


My problem is these drivers cause traffic to clog up during rush hour. I use to joke, "Gee, just buy a $10 headset." I have run into people who tell me they refuse to use it because they can not hear and have admitted to talking on their phone while driving and almost getting into an accident. There is a company that sells a Cell Phone jammer that will cause these people to have "No Service" with a 10 meter radius. It would be great to get behind someone who is on the phone and have their service go out. Meanwhile, what if there is an emergency? You would not be constantly jamming their service. Besides, once you passed them in your car they would have service again. I have heard movie theaters starting to install these. In fact, Every sunday at church there is always someone's cell phone that goes off in the middle of the service. On pastor said to someone whose cell phone was ringing, "Better answer it, might be God calling you." The down side to these jammers is the price. I found a portable one for $249. There is a UK company that sells them too. I am sure the FCC would probably step in if a bunch of people came in and started jamming cell phones. Its a nice thought to be able to go, "Gee Mister, stop being so rude and inconsiderate and HANG UP AND DRIVE!" and have people have to start paying more attention to their driving, rather then being on the cell phone causing accidents.

iPod repair

I finally broke down and purchased an iPod 2 gig. I have only had it a month when the docking cable go stuck and when I tried to wiggle it out the cable became frayed and came apart. I requested service from Apple who sent me a nice box within 48 hours of my request. I shipped it back to them and was told they would not fix it because the casing was damaged. They stated, "This type of damage is excluded from coverage under the Apple One (1) Year Limited Warranty or extended service contract, such as the AppleCare Protection Plan. The repair is pending your approval of the following quote for repair costs: 205.95 USD plus tax." Yikes! $209.95? Thats more than I paid for my iPod Nano. I declinded the repair and having them ship it back to me. I found a few places on the web that would sell me the back casing for $20 if I needed it. Apparently its fairly simple to replace. That will volid my warranty with the Nano, but if I need to replace the casing, I am willing to take that chance. The other downside to that is that I will lose my engraving.. C'est La Vie. I will give Apple props for being on the ball and sending me a box to ship it to them and getting to looking at it soo quickly. It is a little disheartening that they will not fix the case because it was damaged before I got it. The upside is that is an easy fix and I can do it myself for 1/10th what Apple wants to fix it for.

Not on my side

I got in an accident on 07/06/06 with some young kid that thought he had a protected left green arrow and plowed into my car as I was entering the intersection. He called his mom who showed up with her neighbor. She was very nice and told me, "I appreciate you being such a gentleman with these kids." Ironically, I had not said a word to either one of them. What is even more ironic is that it is not the first time this moron had pulled the same stunt. On two other occasions, he had done the same thing. The cop that showed up at tha accident tried to be smart and say, "Oh, your car just needs a little buffing to get that out." I replied, "Sir, my car's bumper is on the ground. It needs a little more than buffing." The mom of the kid that hit me tried to offer to pay for my damages directly without getting insurance involved. I told her I would consider it. (Knowing that it would cost more money than they wanted to pay.)

I called the kid's insurance company that morning. (I will not mention names but I will say this, they are NOT on my side.) I immediately spoke to an adjuster who took my information and told me she would call me back once she spoke to the insured. I got a call back in 30 minutes and she told me I could take it to any body shop I wished. I had called my insurance company too when I got home after 1 AM that night. I decided to take my car to a place where my insurance and his insurance considers it a "5 star" body shop. I brought it in that day and got a rental. At first his insurance told me that they were not going to pay for a rental car over the weekend because my car was drivable. I was told by the Server Manager at the body shop that my car was NOT drivable. Since I drove a 2004 Honda Accord, the rental place gives me a Buick La Crosse. Nice car. Gas millage is awful in it. I can assure you, I did not get 30 miles per gallion highway. In fact, every other day I put $20 more in gas. I was going to fill it up by the fear was if I got my car back, then I would have a full tank in the rental. I made a few more calls to the insurance adjuster, who was great in getting back with me that day I dropped my car off, but then she dropped the ball.

I pick up my car about 3 weeks later because there was damage to the airbag sensor. Airbags did not deploy but had to get airbag service on it. The car looks great. You can not even tell anything had happend. The body shop did awesome work. I was thankful to get my car back finally. I was then told by the car rental that the insurance company had not approved the rental for the Buick. They gave me a compact rate. The car rental place had all along said that I am entitled to an equal car for whatever I orginally drove. I made the offer to bring the Buick back and they could have given me a compact but the car rental manager told me not to. I have called the adjuster 4 more times, left messanges and even went as far as calling her manager and left him a message. On top of that, the car rental place sent this company 4 messages through their system.

I am amazed at this insurance company's handling of my claim. They started off great but after the 2nd day, customer service went out the window. This insurance company is NOT on my side and if they are on your side, then I would seriously considering dumping them because they are worthless.

Use your freaking turn signals!

The 57 percent of American drivers who say they don't use their turn signals for changing lanes.
In a survey commissioned by Response Insurance, these were the reasons given:

· 42 percent said they don't have time.
· 23 percent said they are too lazy.
· 17 percent said they don't because they forget to turn it off.
· 12 percent said they change lanes to frequently to bother.
· 11 percent said it's not important.
· 8 percent said they don't because others don't.
· 7 percent said not doing it adds to excitement.

The survey also found 62 percent of men leave the turn signal alone when changing lanes; the number was 53 percent for women. Seventy-one percent of drivers ages 18-24 don't signal, but 51 percent of those 55 to 64 do.



I can assure you on my way to work and my way home I see countless people who drift into lanes, will cut through 3 lanes of traffic without staying in each lane for 3 seconds and do not use their turn signals. I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Turn Signals are NOT a factory option". I just wish people would be courteous enough to let people know you are going to change lanes instead of just jetting over with no warning and having me slam on my breaks because you are being impatient.