Something Is Trying To Tell Me Something

I went shopping for my new USB Thumb Drive on the net. I started with the Lockergnome version of a price grabber search and then tried yahoo shopping. At Yahoo I found a good deal on a 128MEG Apacer drive with a neato docking station/extension cord thingie for $49 from here. I placed my order using the info in my Yahoo Wallet and within moments received a confirmation email. So far, so good.

Later that night I got an email informing me that for security reasons they won’t ship to a different address than my billing address. I am informed, in a way that lead me to believe that English was not the author’s original language, that I need to fill out the attached form and fax it back to them. The them in question is a outfit called SuperMediaStore.com not the dvd-rw media .com I thought I bought from. The return email address is supermediastore_annie@linkyo.com, so I type in www.linkyo.com into the address bar of IE and I get a generic “we haven’t been built yet” page from yahoo/Geocities hosting. Now things are not so good, the warm and fuzzy I felt on originally ordering is all but gone, but being a red-blooded American consumer, the low price offered kept me in the game. It was too late to call the phone number in the email, even with the West Coast time difference, so I figured I’d wait until I get to work in the morning and fax the authorization in.

This morning I checked my email before heading off to work and I discovered an email from DVD-RWMedia.Com AKA Selvi@linkyo.com promising me a free pen drive if I bought a 25 pack of DVD-RW discs. Jeez, spammed already, I don’t remember any place to opt in or out of email offers during the checkout process from these folks.

Still intent to go through with the purchase, I went down to the fax machine and loaded up my form. After several rings, I could here the announcement in the background, “The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again.” I check the number on the paper against the number I dialed and they match. Well, that was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back, I’ve got to find another place to get my drive from.

When I tried to call the number that was listed on the web page for canceling, I got the same “no longer in service” message that I got when faxing. Then I went to Annie’s email and below her name was an 888 number and a different fax number (it probably works.) After listening to the 8 branches of voice mail tree I selected Customer Service and was connected to probably the same person who would have answered any of the selections. Judging by the voice, it was probably Annie Ang, author of the email. After seeing that the order was on hold in her system, she told me, “No problem, I’ll cancel it.”

There was a place that was close to getting my business yesterday, so I hunted them up in the history file and went back. Ordered a 128 MEG drive from a place called Wolverine Data. No fancy docking station, but it does come with a couple of different color covers so I can match it to my wardrobe or mood. 🙂 Like yesterday, I got an almost instant confirmation email. So far, so good.

Today I got an email telling me the drive had shipped.

Mainstream Hollywood Offering

I’ve always had a short lived loud lifter clatter when ever it was time to change the oil or the level got kinda low. But the last few mornings I’ve gotten a very quiet little tick that sometimes takes several miles to go away. Hmmm, wonder what this means?

We watched Igby Goes Down this evening and now I seem to back on a hot streak of picking good movies again from Netflix. Tadpole, Playing Mona Lisa and The Business of Strangers to name a couple of others worth looking for at Blockbuster when whenever you find the shelf with the latest new mainstream Hollywood offering is empty.

Purchased Today: zip
Money spent since 03/03/03: $208.98
Started down, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 88

1.3 Episodes

That is how many I managed to slog through of the cult fave show, “The Osbournes”. I tried, I really did, but I couldn’t do it. The novelty of actually hearing the “F” word instead of bleep wore off rather quickly. Partly because it was used so frequently by every member of the household, including, I think, the dogs and partly because I guess I’m old fashioned. And poor addled Ozzy, I think he had too many nights of living the high-life. He shook when he was sitting on the couch, sad. I kind of like his music, I have a couple solo CDs and a Black Sabbath one as well, but when they showed him making a Tonight Show appearance and he sang, it sounded the same as every thing he has done before. Mostly though I am not a big fan of “reality” shows, I have enough angst living my little life without peering into the sordid little lives of others.

Wobbly Tables

Is it quality control at the factory and they are shipped out that way? Is it that when shipped they are damaged in transit? Are they so cheap that after a short time in use something bends? We have been in 2 local restaurants in the last 2 days that have only been open for 2 months or less and both times we got a table that wobbled. Yesterday’s was cured by 6-8 napkins folded in half. This after moving from the first spot we tried because the table there wobbled too. Tonight’s table required the handle of Donna’s knife (approx. 3/8″ thick) to steady it.

No Smelly Bathrooms

Totally bailed on the drive-in event with the Club. It wasn’t all because we had spent most of yesterday with the group either. Several other factors entered into it. First off being that we have been on the go for the last 2 weekends and not being lovers of living in the fast lane, we wanted some down time for ourselves. Second, the more we thought of going to the drive-in to see a movie, the more we realized why people stopped going to them in the 70s. So instead we did the 90s thing and watched a DVD in the comfort of our living room. No mosquitoes, no stale tasting popcorn, no kids running around, no mini-vans in front with there tailgate in the air blocking the view and most importantly no rickety, smelly bathrooms.

Speaking of minivans, I saw my first Chrysler Pacifia this evening, this is the minivan that a man wouldn’t mind being seen driving.

Purchased Today: $0
Money spent since 03/03/03: $208.98
Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 85

Dawn Launch

Gassed up for the dawn launch. We are leaving the house 30 minutes earlier than we would if we were going to work. It will be a long day, over 300 miles, but it should be worth it. Panoz here we come. Not only are we touring the street car factory, but the race car site and the racing school facilities as well.

Purchased Today: $14.50 in gas
Money spent since 03/03/03: $195.73
Started down, went up, went down again, still down.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 82

Every Man Has His Price

Rainy day. Tonight after work was a busy one, first it is our every 4 week haircut appointment and then we had just time enough to get a bite to eat before going to 2 hour class on the basics of understanding stocks. It was put on by a local Edward Jones Investment Advisor and was intended as an intermediate course in evaluating stocks. I wasn’t interested in going, but Donna said she’d pay me $25 to go with her, so I did. Every man has his price and fortunately for her, mine is really low.

Purchased Today: nothing
Money spent since 03/03/03: $181.23
Started down, went up, still up.
Top Transitions since 02/02/03: 77