Luminous Mandamus...

Dish Network SUX

Dish is one of those companies that I have regretted getting involved with from the beginning.  "Better TV for All" - My A$$!!! 

I got pulled in by the misleading $19.99 for 100 channels crap...ofcourse there were extra fees that mysteriously brought the first bill up to $46 (Not to mention the start-up which was another $45).  Oh, and they happened to forget to mention until they had already installed everything (which took 4 hours and 2 guys) that if i wanted to take advantage of the "$19.99" deal that I actually was committing to 18 months.  Otherwise it was gonna push the flat rate up about twice as much which would probably actually end up being $70 a month or something ridiculous with all their stupid excuses for fees.  So I allowed myself to commit to an 18 month contract which was stupid of me, but I somehow felt bad for the inadequate men who had taken 4 hours to install our system already.

Did I mention that the installation man stalked me as well?  He called me 10 times within 24 hours of the installation because he "happened to be in the area and wanted to drop by to check and make sure everything was running smoothly" - ha!

OMG - it's the bane of my existance, this is why i steer clear of contracts and commitments.  I'm not happy with the service, and yet if I cancel it i'm out quite a bit of cash (also somehow mysteriously more than I had originally been told).  I've had the service about 6 months and if I cancel now, I'll be paying $186 just to tell them to f*ck off.  Wow, is it worth it?  Do I cancel the crap service and throw away $200?  Or do I learn to cope with their crap and save $200?  Wow, surprisingly tough.

Severly irritated right now.  I feel sorry for the guy I talked to who tried to save my acct as well.  It's not his fault his company is corrupt and evil.  But man, everything they tell me just makes me more and more upset.  I like to know facts upfront, PERIOD.  Any other way and you're just gonna piss people off.

Maybe I will stay with Dish for the next year to save a couple hundred bucks, but you can bet that I will cancel them with pleasure the minute that contract expires.  It will be a joyous day.

I conquered SpyDawn!

So I got that annoying SpyDawn virus/trojan/malware/spyware/whatever the hell it was thing.

Was pretty annoying, came in and made itself my homepage and kept insisting i download more things, yes-very tricky...luckily i wasn't that naive...and!  i actually got rid of it!  pretty gratifying to kick it out.  i used the info here.  I recommend it.  all is back to normal now...i think ;)

Thank You Mom, Thank You Dansko, Thank You EBAY, Thank You Lifehacker...

for providing me cool shoes with good arch support for xmas, and the knowledge to break them in faster...

behold! my melodies...

   

Tagged: Five Things You Don't Know About Me

OK, OK...i can't let the chain stop with me...i've been tagged by that dutch boy Richard, and i'll do my duty to keep things going...short and sweet.  5 things YOU don't know about me...here goes:

1-i can't stand not brushing my teeth.

2-i have to have chapstick to sleep comfortably.

3-i need water with me at all times.

4-i blush more easily than anyone i know.

5-while in Java, a married man asked me to be his 2nd wife (i declined).

k, well i'm gonna branch out into myspace now...there are two people with blogs on myspace that i will tag, my old co-worker Becky and my cousin Tessa.  TAG!  You're it!

My First Pendulum

At the end of clas today I bought a pendulum from my teacher.  I didn't know what it was or what it represented, but I could tell it was the right one for me.

I believe it is Blue Kyanite.  I'm stoked because it does something that I have been needing assistance with.  It does not retain negative energy.  I've been tending to take on strange energy during some of the sessions, so hopefully this will help ground me.  Kinda cool how things you need just come to you.  Anyhow, here's a blurb about it and a pic too:

Kyanite is a stone of channeling, altered states, vivid dreams, dream recall, and visualizations. It gives protection during these states. It brings loyalty, honesty and tranquility, and diminishes anger and confusion. Kyanite does not retain negative energy and never needs energetic cleansing. It does align and balance all chakras, often very suddenly. Kyanite can remove energy blockages. Blue kyanite is associated with the throat chakra and is a boost to meditation. Black kyanite is also a boost to meditation, and is associated with the root chakra. Black kyanite is also very protective and deflects negativity.

Did I mention that Fry's Electronics SUCKS?

Yes, it gets WORSE!  They didn't fix the problem!  They effectively erased my hard drive for NOTHING!  Grrrrrrrr....

Oh, and get this.  I decided to call ahead to see if I could cut down on the time it would take at the store (seeing how last time it took over an hour).  The guy at the Service Dept in Concord actually said "all I can tell you is that the loan program is on 'hold' at all Fry's stores until Monday".  Uhm, what??? Ofcourse this sounded fishy, so i called the store in Fremont.  Sure enough, total BS. 

I decided to drive half an hour further to Fremont in hopes that the people would be somewhat more adequate.  But no, if possible, I think they actually took longer.  It took them over 2 HOURS to take my laptop and give me a loaner.....

My experience with Fry's truly has been unbelievably horrible.  I'll never buy hardware from them again.  Absolutely every aspect that could be fucked up was fucked up.  What a pain in the ass.

Fry's Electronics Deeply Disappoints

i finally got my laptop back from the Fry's Electronics servcing dept.  How much did I pay for that 3 yr warranty?  It was was not worth this... 

Those F*CKERS erased my hard drive and reinstalled a new OS.  I lost EVERYTHING!  no more pics, no more music...I lost hundreds of dollars worth of irreplaceable material...all i needed was a new bulb and a new dvd drive...and it took them 6 weeks to do that, and i had to drive 240 miles in the blazing heat with no ac.....did i mention that their service dept was the slowest, most incompetent, most depressing environment i've ever been in?   Fry's Techinical Service Dept needs help...

So, be sure you make a back-up of everything if you send in your computer for service.  You can do it yourself for the price of a dvd.  I would have done this, but I was told by Fry's staff that it wasn't necessary (HA!).  Be prepared to fork over $150 if you have them do it (apr. a 1000% mark-up).

Eaglets!

check out the webcam on these cute little eagle chicks in austraila.

click here

Is Expired Ice Cream Safe??

Surely there is a reason for the date on the bottom of the ice cream container?

I recently discovered a store known as Grocery Outlet.  I love the store, they have great deals on some great stuff....However!  They are also selling expired ice cream (in some cases, very expired!).  Is this safe?  I was astonished at the price of dreyers dreamery ice cream (2 pints for $1.00)!!  Because it was such a good deal, I became curious and flipped it over, and yep...it expired a couple months ago....hmmmm

SO i didn't buy it...but now i wonder...is it safe?  Is it just the texture that goes downhill, or could it actually be a health risk?  surely they wouldn't sell it if it were a health risk....right?

   

Cheapest Gas Prices...

Speaking of Gas....

Try this link to find the cheapest station near you...