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One of my goals in life has been to steal cable (either I have low ambitions or I’m more morally ambiguous than I realized). Free Cable is like the Holy Grail to this cheapskate. I like the idea of having cable, but I can’t fiscally justify it. Cable bills run north of $60, and I simply can’t see getting $60 a month of entertainment out of television. If I had an extra $2 a day to spend on something, I would blow it on food. A supersize here. A soda there. Maybe even upgrade from London broil to rib eye. Mmmm….rib eye.
I also take great joy in the idea of stealing cable. I hate the pay-TV services. Satellite, fiber optics, cable–they’re all the same. They toy with packages and plans–trying to outdo each other and market the lowest price. But the truth is, they’re all the same. Because $19.99 might seem like a great deal for television. But then you need to add a $10 box rental fee, another $10 for HD–oh, and that $19.99 price only includes local channels (ya know–the free stuff you get with an antenna). If you want TBS, ESPN, or USA that’s a different . . . . .
Dear PayPal;
I recently added a bank account to my PayPal account but I think doing so created some sort of major glitch in your system. The bank account was somehow removed from my PayPal profile. When I tried to add it again, the account was disallowed. An error message told me to fax over a recent bank statement and a cover letter provided to re-add the account. I did as told and received another email telling me that I now needed to fax over a copy of my driver’s license and a copy of my most recent bank statement on a paper with bank letterhead. Meanwhile, I’ve been having all sorts of problems making transactions. My most recent purchase was didn’t go through and was canceled by the vendor because PayPal didn’t transfer the funds. What’s going on?
I receive paperless billing and don’t have access to my bank’s letterhead to print out a statement. Plus, I feel real uncomfortable spending copies of my driver’s license and bank statements to some foreign fax machine far away from me.
What gives? Why am I having problems? PayPal is supposed to be easy. If I knew there would be these ridiculous . . . . .
The company Christmas party is coming up and we’re feeling the affects of a fleeting economy: we went from a catered affair to a potluck dinner. On top of that, my employer is requiring a $5 donation to attend the Christmas party. They told us they’re collecting the money for a charity to “help those less fortunate than us.” While I suppose technically, it’s a ‘good’ cause I’m still very uncomfortable with it. This isn’t just because I don’t believe in charity–I really don’t like the idea of being forced to donate. The loophole around this is probably that this isn’t a required event and attendance isn’t mandatory. But I know if I spend the afternoon in my office, it’ll be a bad PR move. What right do the party planners have to say there’s other people in more need of money than me? I have about $3 of disposable income every month–people should be collecting donations for me. I get paid jack squat. My rent goes up. The cost of food goes up. The cost of gas goes up. Why doesn’t someone pass the hat around for me?
One time I was having lunch with The Wife at Wienerschnitzel . . . . .
It’s official: The Wife is legally mine (I initially penned that line “The Girlfriend”–old habit do die hard). She received her new social security card this week with her new last name–mine. And since she has my name on her that makes her my property. That’s not chauvinistic–it’s life. Kinda like when you’re a kid and you write your name on your football. You do it so everyone knows it’s yours. I’m not going to take a Sharpie and write on The Wife’s forehead, but that doesn’t change the fact she has my name and is now my property.
I’m hardly an expert and there’s a good chance I don’t even know what I’m talking about–but that’s never stopped me from giving my opinion. With that in mind, I think I’m opposed to a potential government bailout of US automakers. It’s my taxes and I don’t wanna see it wasted. I know we’re talking about putting a lot of people out of work–but I don’t see why the US government has to save a company that pushes products no one wants. That’s all it really comes down to. Isn’t the whole point of capitalism and free markets about letting the . . . . .
When life gets too busy or I have nothing to complain about, I just reach back and find something I wrote earlier but never posted (usually because it was uninteresting or poorly written…or maybe even both). This is one of those stories.
I don’t mean to be a troublemaker–things just sorta happen to me. I think the reason why is because I’m a fighter–I simply don’t lay down when unjust situations arise. I don’t wanna inflate my own ego here, but I believe strongly in my convictions and I’m never going to back down. Some might call it stubborn, but I prefer ‘determined’–it puts a positive spin on things.
The Girlfriend and I went to Jack in the Box because she was craving one of their fruit smoothies. “Should I buy the small one for $2.69 or the large for 3.39,” she asked after studying the menu.
“Go with the small,” I told her. She rarely finished drinks like that and it didn’t make sense to spend the extra 70 cents on something she wasn’t going to drink. We went through the drive-thru and ordered the smoothie. The cashier didn’t tell us a total–only to pull up to the window.
. . . . .
I don’t like to tell stories other people told me because it’s gossip and I generally don’t like being involved in such innuendo. One the important things to remember when telling someone else’s story is that you never know how truthful it is. That’s not to say people lie (some do). But when you’re telling someone else’s story you’re only hearing one side of it. Different things can be interpreted different ways. And if there’s anything I’ve learned in life, it’s there’s always two sides to every story. That being said, I hafta share a story someone told me today. I heard this from a coworker.
A while back, my employer purchased a bunch of computers from a small, privately-owned computer store. We bought eight computers at around $500 each. The store was very eager to work with us in hopes of having more business with the station in the future. Even though the little store was in a different county, the owner offered to drop the computers off at our offices just to show how eager he was.
That is a fact ’cause I saw it firsthand when the computers arrived. But the next part of this tale is . . . . .
A coworker was telling me about his experience meeting Fergie (who–thanks to The Girlfriend–I recently learned is a musician and not an English aristocrat). He talked about her bodyguards, fancy cars, and massive, obviously expensive jewelry. “That girl is rolling in cash,” he said.
I’m tired of making other people rich. Actors, singers, sports stars, CEOs–all of them are getting rich on our dime. Every movie we see and every CD we buy makes the rich richer. We don’t think about it when we go shopping–we just buy stuff because as Americans we love buying stuff. But the entertainers we make rich are already loaded. They have more money than they could every possibly spend (well, except MC Hammer). Imagine what it’s like being Fergie. She doesn’t hafta worry about $4-a-gallon gas. She doesn’t complain about rising food costs or worry about whether or not her boss will give her a raise. That girl is rolling in cash.
Must be nice.
Meanwhile the rest of us–people who live in the real world–struggle to make ends meet. I don’t wanna get all communist here, but it’s a load of garbage. At some point is there ever enough? No one needs that . . . . .
During a baseball broadcast, I heard a promo specifically encouraging Dodger fans to vote. Yeah, that’s what American needs: Dodger fans determining how the country is run. Not every uneducated literate with a criminal record deserves a voice. It’s this sorta propaganda that pisses me off. I hate voting season.
I’m not completely helpless. The Girlfriend might think I am, but there are plenty of things I can do on my own–one of which is basic car maintenance. I took a year of auto shop in high school. I like working with tools. I wouldn’t call myself a man’s man–but I can perform rudimentary vehicle maintenance like replacing air filters, changing spark plugs, and jump-starting a battery.
One of the things I won’t do is change my own oil. Sure, I could do it–but it’s just too darn messy…especially when I can take my car somewhere and get the oil changed by a professional for 20 bucks. It seems like money well-spent.
I needed an oil change and opted to go to Jip-U-Lube. It’s right near work and I had a coupon for a $20 oil change. It was for the deluxe package that includes the 14-point inspection. Personally, I . . . . .
It’s that time of year again. All the little Girl Scouts are setup at supermarkets, shopping malls, and even your front door, knocking their delicious treats. I’ve always been pro-children, but I’m not sure how I feel about Girl Scout Cookies. It’s one of my personal policies to pull over and buy lemonade whenever I see a kid sitting at his own lemonade stand. I’ve always felt adults should reward positive behavior. If some eight-year old girl has the initiative and drive to sell lemonade at 50 cents a glass, adults should take three minutes out of their day and buy some. You might not be thirsty, but it doesn’t matter. Just think how much you made that kid’s day. They might have only made $8 for six hours of work, but $8 to a kid is like winning the lottery. Besides, at least this way they learn how to work for a living instead of having everything given to them. I just believe in reinforcing positive behaviour–and the lemonade stand issue is one of the things I live by.
That being said, I feel uncomfortable buying Girl Scout Cookies. While I applaud the kids for their effort and I . . . . .
I’m getting tired of fighting the good fight. Corporate America keeps screwing up and I’m the one who has to fix it. I’m starting to realize why most folks don’t care–it takes too much time resolve a billing error. Too much stress. Too much hassle.
I can’t even begin to tell you how much time I wasted with my credit card fiasco a few weeks back. Easily three or four hours. Not too mention all the stress it caused me. And for what? It was a situation that was entirely not my fault.
Well no more. See, all the corporations have no problem charging us extra here or there because most people don’t notice or care enough to do anything about it. But not me (I only get dicked over by family). I call and complain and get the situation resolved.
But it doesn’t seem fair. Why should I hafta do this? Why should I have to waste my time to fix your screw up? The companies don’t care about your time–it doesn’t cost them a dime. Well not anymore. An idea came to me this week when T-Mobile screwed up my phone bill: restitution. The way I see it, . . . . .
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