With all of the ridiculous bullshit that's happened at and with my two rental houses, one thing had been conspicuously absent. That one thing happened this past week.
On Saturday, I met with the parents of one of my tenants, who, a few days before, had apparently tried to commit suicide in spectacular fashion - driving his car, sans seatbelt or identification, at full speed down the street into a busy intersection. He crashed the car, luckily not into someone else, totalling the car, but sparing himself physically. Evidently this was the second attempt he's made in the past year (once before he moved into my place, which was news to me), and he is now expected to stay six months in a mental health facility.
As he was paid up through the month, from a landlord perspective this isn't going to create any problems. I'll get someone else in his room (arguably the best of the rooms in the house), and that will be that. But, especially in a week in which someone else close to me apparently tried to slit their wrists, it's a bit of a drag. I'm glad that the tenant survived and is ok, at least physically, but this is all getting just a bit too ridiculous. I kind of feel like Jim Carrey in "Truman Show," when he realizes something is odd.
Anyway, sorry about the unfunny post.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Select, Start
Have about 10 minutes to kill? Check out this Nintendo 8-bit system themed quiz!!
I scored 13 out of 25 (average score, according to the site, is 45%). I'm most proud of answering the question about Super Mario Bros. correct.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Because YOU'RE my number one
Have you noticed that TV commercials are really bad lately? I have, and I've noticed that they seem to fit into four general categories:
1.) Elitist (aka "You can't afford this, so we'll make you feel bad about it")
Remember the Grey Poupon commercials? What made this commercial work was that it presented this gourmet dijon mustard as a product for elite tastes, but when you got to the supermarket, you learned that you, yes you middle-classer!, could afford it. Maybe one day YOU would be the one saying, "But of course" to mustard! Not to mention it's some damn good mustard.
But lately, I've noticed the opposite has occurred. First of all, I'm not sure why Mercedes and Cadillac and BMW are even advertising, much less during reruns of Seinfeld at 7:38 PM on a weekday. But clearly it's to rub their balls in our face. Except for a brief stretch of Tiki Barber driving over the Brooklyn Bridge in his Escalade, the drivers of these cars in these commercials ("When you turn your car on, does it return the favor") are all clearly upper-class white pricks. Also, they're smugly driving at a speed that betrays their lack of concern for anything else on "their" road. I happen to live in an area with a lot of Mercedes and Beamers driving around, and they are, by far, the second worst group of drivers around.
2.) You're a Bad Person Because...
a.) You pay for items with cash instead of a Visa card
b.) You don't drive a Hybrid
c.) You didn't get her jewelry from Jared's
d.) You got caught by "To Catch a Predator"
3.) Insult to Our Intelligence
The best, number one, example of this is the set of Apple IPhone commercials. First, we get the pilot (or flight attendent?) who claims he averted a long delay by checking weather patterns on his IPhone, while the air traffic controllers are apparently distracted by a blow job fest or something. My neighbor is a pilot, and I asked her about this. She laughed and totally called shenanigans on that. She confirmed what anyone with half a brain knows - if the weather's cleared up, uh, yeah the controllers got that. Second, we get the NY/Jersey guido wearing a t-shirt with sleeves short enough to show that his guns are unholstered, so, you know. Anyway, he starts talking about how the IPhone is saving him from having to carry around his usual accoutrement, which apparently includes a cell phone, a PDA, a douche for his man-gina, a purse, a second purse, man-makeup, keys to his Camaro (because you know that's what he's driving), a sock to stuff down his pants, and his giant ego. Thank God for this one device which takes care of all of those tasks AND allows him to retain his pretentiousness! Huzzah! This one's my favorite, though...
The other good example of this is the set of commercials in which we discover that Walmart is saving the world from high gas prices, keeping families together, and protecting this nation from terrorists. I'm not anti-Walmart at all, but, seriously, I've tried, and I just can't follow their logic on this one.
4.) Completely Unwatchable
a.) Verizon's "You're My Number One"
b.) Really, any phone commercial
c.) Taco Bell's "Cha!" Rules of Life/Pizza Hut's "How to eat a pizza, son"/KFC "I hope dad doesn't try to cook again, IDIOT!!" [All three owned by the same company]
d.) Domino's Oreo Beard Commercial....just kidding, that one's still awesome.
1.) Elitist (aka "You can't afford this, so we'll make you feel bad about it")
Remember the Grey Poupon commercials? What made this commercial work was that it presented this gourmet dijon mustard as a product for elite tastes, but when you got to the supermarket, you learned that you, yes you middle-classer!, could afford it. Maybe one day YOU would be the one saying, "But of course" to mustard! Not to mention it's some damn good mustard.
But lately, I've noticed the opposite has occurred. First of all, I'm not sure why Mercedes and Cadillac and BMW are even advertising, much less during reruns of Seinfeld at 7:38 PM on a weekday. But clearly it's to rub their balls in our face. Except for a brief stretch of Tiki Barber driving over the Brooklyn Bridge in his Escalade, the drivers of these cars in these commercials ("When you turn your car on, does it return the favor") are all clearly upper-class white pricks. Also, they're smugly driving at a speed that betrays their lack of concern for anything else on "their" road. I happen to live in an area with a lot of Mercedes and Beamers driving around, and they are, by far, the second worst group of drivers around.
2.) You're a Bad Person Because...
a.) You pay for items with cash instead of a Visa card
b.) You don't drive a Hybrid
c.) You didn't get her jewelry from Jared's
d.) You got caught by "To Catch a Predator"
3.) Insult to Our Intelligence
The best, number one, example of this is the set of Apple IPhone commercials. First, we get the pilot (or flight attendent?) who claims he averted a long delay by checking weather patterns on his IPhone, while the air traffic controllers are apparently distracted by a blow job fest or something. My neighbor is a pilot, and I asked her about this. She laughed and totally called shenanigans on that. She confirmed what anyone with half a brain knows - if the weather's cleared up, uh, yeah the controllers got that. Second, we get the NY/Jersey guido wearing a t-shirt with sleeves short enough to show that his guns are unholstered, so, you know. Anyway, he starts talking about how the IPhone is saving him from having to carry around his usual accoutrement, which apparently includes a cell phone, a PDA, a douche for his man-gina, a purse, a second purse, man-makeup, keys to his Camaro (because you know that's what he's driving), a sock to stuff down his pants, and his giant ego. Thank God for this one device which takes care of all of those tasks AND allows him to retain his pretentiousness! Huzzah! This one's my favorite, though...
The other good example of this is the set of commercials in which we discover that Walmart is saving the world from high gas prices, keeping families together, and protecting this nation from terrorists. I'm not anti-Walmart at all, but, seriously, I've tried, and I just can't follow their logic on this one.
4.) Completely Unwatchable
a.) Verizon's "You're My Number One"
b.) Really, any phone commercial
c.) Taco Bell's "Cha!" Rules of Life/Pizza Hut's "How to eat a pizza, son"/KFC "I hope dad doesn't try to cook again, IDIOT!!" [All three owned by the same company]
d.) Domino's Oreo Beard Commercial....just kidding, that one's still awesome.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Virginia is now 1-15 in the State of Florida
Damn. Way to...um...Groh.
UVA 48, Miami 0 AT the Orange Bowl.
Bring on Tech. Wahoo-wa.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Perhaps It Was An Ill-Advised Purchase
So, today is Day 846 of The Great Real Estate Investing Experiment. I thought it would be fun to reflect on the two plus years of this, and what I've had to go through. In that time, I've endured:
-2 house purchases
-2 failed house sales
-1 major housing downturn
-Roughly $80,000 in combined housing value drops, due to said housing downturn
-20 different tenants
-4 of which were mentally unstable and/or substance abusers
-1 of which was a phantom pooper
-4 water leaks causing extensive damage
-Including two in the past week
-Two sets of carpet replacement
-Two sets of hardwood/laminate replacement (one of which was due to one of the aforementioned water leaks)
-Two grease fires...in the same house...in the same kitchen...by two different tenants...within a month of each other...both made somewhat worse by their attempts to stop the fire by throwing water at it...the worst possible thing you can do with a grease fire
-0 condo association meetings attended
-2 condo fee increases agreed upon by those who actually attended those meetings
-1 pest problem
-1 of which was caused by the filthy, disgusting tenants and their filth
All of which has resulted in:
-1 Disgruntled Investor
-2 house purchases
-2 failed house sales
-1 major housing downturn
-Roughly $80,000 in combined housing value drops, due to said housing downturn
-20 different tenants
-4 of which were mentally unstable and/or substance abusers
-1 of which was a phantom pooper
-4 water leaks causing extensive damage
-Including two in the past week
-Two sets of carpet replacement
-Two sets of hardwood/laminate replacement (one of which was due to one of the aforementioned water leaks)
-Two grease fires...in the same house...in the same kitchen...by two different tenants...within a month of each other...both made somewhat worse by their attempts to stop the fire by throwing water at it...the worst possible thing you can do with a grease fire
-0 condo association meetings attended
-2 condo fee increases agreed upon by those who actually attended those meetings
-1 pest problem
-1 of which was caused by the filthy, disgusting tenants and their filth
All of which has resulted in:
-1 Disgruntled Investor
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The C Stands for Crap
So I'm watching the Patriots-Colts game on Sunday, and aside from the terrible "Because You're My Number 1" Verizon commercial and the commercial about the idiots who didn't know they were Swedish, the one that stuck out most to me was the preview for the new "Beowulf" movie.
The Beowulf movie, as you probably know, is done entirely in CGI animation. This has become the new trend in special effects. It's supposedly a step up from hand-drawn animation, and is supposed to be as realistic as possible without it being...well, realistic.
I think CGI has set back special effects at least 30 years. Movies that rely on it look like video games from the late 90's, with exaggerated facial expressions and mouth movement that doesn't quite sync up with what they're actually saying. Even the Hall of Presidents at Disney World did a better job at both of these things! Hell, even Chucky Cheese did a better job at that!
Anyway, to prove my point, I would like to present a few examples to show how we've gone from robotics and animatronics that looked real to this lazy weird shit CGI.
Example 1: Sharks
Alright, I'm starting off with kind of an unfair example, but I think it's funny.
Exhibit A is Jaws. You might have heard of this indy film about a shark that terrorizes a beach, directed by a little known director named Steven Spielberg (before he became Senor Spielbergo). Here's Jaws - a mixture of real shark footage and a robot shark - attacking Brody in a cage.
This was 1975, and was made for a very non-Speilbergian budget of $7 million (a lot, but not nearly like what they spend now). The shark looks real, and more importantly, Spielberg doesn't fluff it up with gratuitous shots of a menacing CGI shark. It's a mixture of robo-shark and quick cuts of Brody in the cage. It's pretty awesome.
Fast-forward to 1999. As Dave Chappelle said (as Samuel Jackson), "Deep Blue Sea? They ate me! A fucking shark ate me!" And so I present, Exhibit B:
Which shark looks more real? The one made 25 years prior. Still, that was a pretty fucking funny scene when Sammy L. gets eaten by the shark.
Advantage: Robot/Real Shark
Example 2: Turtles, Ninja
How awesome was 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? Fucking awesome, that's how awesome. When I was a little kid and saw this movie for the first time in the theatres, I lost my shit. But, it was so friggin' great, I stayed in that theatre in my shitty pants and sat through to the end. I had previously seen "Howard the Duck" and my expectations for this movie, even at the tender age of 10, were pretty low. But, holy shit, they actually had four actors in turtle suits doing ninja moves and it looked like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the comics. I believed that I was seeing four turtle ninjas kicking ass. Then again, I was 10, but still. Here's the original trailer for the movie.
Holy shit look at Shredder! God that's a great movie.
So, this is somewhat controversial, since my friend Kyle says he loved this movie, but what I've heard from most people about 2007's "TMNT" is pretty mixed, and the major complaints are similar to mine. Here is an argument between Raphael and Leonardo about who's better...
...and then they fight. I'd have put it in here, but then you'd have to wait forever for it to load. Again, this one is difficult because they do look turtle-ish, and you can see the advantages of CGI in this, but at the same time, you get the over-eggagerated facial and body expressions. Also, is this film trying to be a cartoon or a Beowulf-like live action shot in CGI? Plus, if it is supposed to be a cartoon, then where is the improvement over the awesome 1990's cartoon series? Is the CGI really worth it here? The jury's still out on that I think.
Advantage: Somewhat of a wash, but since it's my blog, the 1990 movie wins.
Example 3: Aliens
In 1979, and later in 1986, the "Alien/Aliens" movies created quite possibly the best special effect in film history by producing the most real looking alien (based on all of the aliens I've seen personally, of course) ever. Honestly, I don't even need commentary on this, here it is (might be slow-loading, and it's kind of long, but nonetheless worth watching):
Absolutely ground-breaking for that time, and it continued to get better as they picked up UVA grad Stan Winston for the sequels. All robots, all real.
As opposed to...this...
Not real at all.
Advantage: UVA
And finally, Example 4: Dinosaurs
CGI...
vs. LIVE ACTION!!!
Advantage: Clearly, live action. That dinosaur boss on the TV show was one mean ol' guy.
In conclusion, the point I'm trying to make is that CGI tries too hard to seem real, but generally doesn't get it right. In small doses, it works, but puppets, robots, and elaborate costumes will always win out.
1990 represent!
The Beowulf movie, as you probably know, is done entirely in CGI animation. This has become the new trend in special effects. It's supposedly a step up from hand-drawn animation, and is supposed to be as realistic as possible without it being...well, realistic.
I think CGI has set back special effects at least 30 years. Movies that rely on it look like video games from the late 90's, with exaggerated facial expressions and mouth movement that doesn't quite sync up with what they're actually saying. Even the Hall of Presidents at Disney World did a better job at both of these things! Hell, even Chucky Cheese did a better job at that!
Anyway, to prove my point, I would like to present a few examples to show how we've gone from robotics and animatronics that looked real to this lazy weird shit CGI.
Example 1: Sharks
Alright, I'm starting off with kind of an unfair example, but I think it's funny.
Exhibit A is Jaws. You might have heard of this indy film about a shark that terrorizes a beach, directed by a little known director named Steven Spielberg (before he became Senor Spielbergo). Here's Jaws - a mixture of real shark footage and a robot shark - attacking Brody in a cage.
This was 1975, and was made for a very non-Speilbergian budget of $7 million (a lot, but not nearly like what they spend now). The shark looks real, and more importantly, Spielberg doesn't fluff it up with gratuitous shots of a menacing CGI shark. It's a mixture of robo-shark and quick cuts of Brody in the cage. It's pretty awesome.
Fast-forward to 1999. As Dave Chappelle said (as Samuel Jackson), "Deep Blue Sea? They ate me! A fucking shark ate me!" And so I present, Exhibit B:
Which shark looks more real? The one made 25 years prior. Still, that was a pretty fucking funny scene when Sammy L. gets eaten by the shark.
Advantage: Robot/Real Shark
Example 2: Turtles, Ninja
How awesome was 1990's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie? Fucking awesome, that's how awesome. When I was a little kid and saw this movie for the first time in the theatres, I lost my shit. But, it was so friggin' great, I stayed in that theatre in my shitty pants and sat through to the end. I had previously seen "Howard the Duck" and my expectations for this movie, even at the tender age of 10, were pretty low. But, holy shit, they actually had four actors in turtle suits doing ninja moves and it looked like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the comics. I believed that I was seeing four turtle ninjas kicking ass. Then again, I was 10, but still. Here's the original trailer for the movie.
Holy shit look at Shredder! God that's a great movie.
So, this is somewhat controversial, since my friend Kyle says he loved this movie, but what I've heard from most people about 2007's "TMNT" is pretty mixed, and the major complaints are similar to mine. Here is an argument between Raphael and Leonardo about who's better...
...and then they fight. I'd have put it in here, but then you'd have to wait forever for it to load. Again, this one is difficult because they do look turtle-ish, and you can see the advantages of CGI in this, but at the same time, you get the over-eggagerated facial and body expressions. Also, is this film trying to be a cartoon or a Beowulf-like live action shot in CGI? Plus, if it is supposed to be a cartoon, then where is the improvement over the awesome 1990's cartoon series? Is the CGI really worth it here? The jury's still out on that I think.
Advantage: Somewhat of a wash, but since it's my blog, the 1990 movie wins.
Example 3: Aliens
In 1979, and later in 1986, the "Alien/Aliens" movies created quite possibly the best special effect in film history by producing the most real looking alien (based on all of the aliens I've seen personally, of course) ever. Honestly, I don't even need commentary on this, here it is (might be slow-loading, and it's kind of long, but nonetheless worth watching):
Absolutely ground-breaking for that time, and it continued to get better as they picked up UVA grad Stan Winston for the sequels. All robots, all real.
As opposed to...this...
Not real at all.
Advantage: UVA
And finally, Example 4: Dinosaurs
CGI...
vs. LIVE ACTION!!!
Advantage: Clearly, live action. That dinosaur boss on the TV show was one mean ol' guy.
In conclusion, the point I'm trying to make is that CGI tries too hard to seem real, but generally doesn't get it right. In small doses, it works, but puppets, robots, and elaborate costumes will always win out.
1990 represent!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
This Blog Is Going To Rip Off At Least 56 Others
So, UVA football beat Wake Forest 17-16, despite Al Groh's best efforts, bringing us to a respectable 8-2 and first place in our division/conference/division again. Miami, who is currently stuck in Bizarro World, is terrible, and we get them next. We should beat them, but then again, we should have beaten NC State and Wyoming (which, like Golden, isn't really a state). Then we get an utterly beatable VA Tech team in Charlottesville.
This has arguably been the worst season of UVA football in recent history. Let me explain.
My first two years at UVA as a student were the last two years of the George Welsh coaching era. If you like not going for it on 4th and a centimeter in enemy territory, and instead punting into the end zone, then you clearly enjoyed the George Welsh era. He was replaced by Al "My son beat Florida State!" Groh, a former NFL by-default head coach who owns a Super Bowl ring. Hopes were immediately high.
However, Coach Groh soon found an affinity for North Carolina, specifically the Continental Tire Bowl, where we found ourselves most years, happily beating West Virginia or Pittsburgh most of the time. Hooray!
But then last year we didn't make any bowls at all. That's what happened in the Welsh era! Heeeyyy!
So, then this year happened. Looking at our early season schedule, it quickly became apparent that it was formed with a 11-1 finish in mind. I mean, Wyoming?!?! Yeah, we got that.
Then, we visited Laramie, Wyoming.
So, the calls for "Groh Must Go" began. Also, from me.
UVA fans were faced with a not unique dilemma. Hope for the best (like, for example, 8-2), or hope they tank. Like the 2006 Celtics, we thought, this might be the way to get rid of Doc Rivers...I mean Al Groh.
Then, we're 8-2. At worst, we'll finish 8-4 and make a non-Boise based bowl. And, really, that's pretty likely. We should beat Miami. We should beat Tech. But, with the Cardiac Cavs, who knows?
Regardless, despite AD Craig Littlepage not exercising Groh's option year last year, it'd be a surprise if we don't get Al "Mike, who beat Fla. State, says go for it on 4th and a long 2 when a field goal would put them away" Groh back.
If we beat Miami, then Va. Tech, then Boston College in the championship game, then some SEC school in the BCS bowl, then, OK, Groh can stay another year.
But, is that really going to happen?
Shit, at least we shouldn't end up on a blue field again. Right?
This has arguably been the worst season of UVA football in recent history. Let me explain.
My first two years at UVA as a student were the last two years of the George Welsh coaching era. If you like not going for it on 4th and a centimeter in enemy territory, and instead punting into the end zone, then you clearly enjoyed the George Welsh era. He was replaced by Al "My son beat Florida State!" Groh, a former NFL by-default head coach who owns a Super Bowl ring. Hopes were immediately high.
However, Coach Groh soon found an affinity for North Carolina, specifically the Continental Tire Bowl, where we found ourselves most years, happily beating West Virginia or Pittsburgh most of the time. Hooray!
But then last year we didn't make any bowls at all. That's what happened in the Welsh era! Heeeyyy!
So, then this year happened. Looking at our early season schedule, it quickly became apparent that it was formed with a 11-1 finish in mind. I mean, Wyoming?!?! Yeah, we got that.
Then, we visited Laramie, Wyoming.
So, the calls for "Groh Must Go" began. Also, from me.
UVA fans were faced with a not unique dilemma. Hope for the best (like, for example, 8-2), or hope they tank. Like the 2006 Celtics, we thought, this might be the way to get rid of Doc Rivers...I mean Al Groh.
Then, we're 8-2. At worst, we'll finish 8-4 and make a non-Boise based bowl. And, really, that's pretty likely. We should beat Miami. We should beat Tech. But, with the Cardiac Cavs, who knows?
Regardless, despite AD Craig Littlepage not exercising Groh's option year last year, it'd be a surprise if we don't get Al "Mike, who beat Fla. State, says go for it on 4th and a long 2 when a field goal would put them away" Groh back.
If we beat Miami, then Va. Tech, then Boston College in the championship game, then some SEC school in the BCS bowl, then, OK, Groh can stay another year.
But, is that really going to happen?
Shit, at least we shouldn't end up on a blue field again. Right?
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Completely Expected
NC State 29, UVA 24
The good thing about being a Virginia football fan is that these losses are not in the least bit shocking or surprising. It helps to numb the pain of losing to a (previously) 2-5 team that hadn't beaten an ACC opponent in 9 straight games. Way to Groh, Al. ACC Coach of the Year!!
Still, it could have been worse. We could have lost on a play like this...
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Oh, right, I have a blog...
So, I met with my new realtor yesterday, having secretly fired my old realtor (secretly because he doesn't know - or probably care - that he's been fired). The new one used to work with my dad and now does real estate full time. It's been lucrative for her, but, like anyone who's dabbled lately, she's pretty bitter about the state of things right now. Basically, exactly what I'm looking for in a realtor. Also, she came prepared with research and marketing materials for whenever I decide to try to sell one or both of my places again. Her commission is a little higher, but I've already learned that you get (or don't get) what you pay for (or don't pay for).
After exchanging pleasantries and catching up with my dad, she got right down to her market outlook, specifically for my two houses. In a word, the market is: shit. But, that's fine, it's what I expected to hear and a lot better than the smoke my old realtor was blowing up my ass about being able to sell my house for $50K above market. Her advice was basically to re-do my W-4 employment worksheet so I'm getting less taxes taken out of my paycheck. Also, she recommended refinancing one or both of my houses. Helpful, because Countrywide is suddenly all over that. In fact, I just got an email today specifically offering to refi my accounts at no cost to me.
Therefore, my new strategy is to do both of these things and, as she suggested, wait it out. This might mean waiting it out until 2009. I hate bleeding money (though the two above acts might halt or lessen that), I hate being a landlord (no help there), I hate the plague of plagues heaped upon my houses each month, and I hate that these two houses tie me to this place and this job until I can get rid of them. But, the alternatives (short sell, foreclosure, burn to the ground for insurance money...wait, you didn't read that last one) aren't much better.
So, the Disgruntledness continues! Huzzah!
In other news:
-Turns out $150,000-aires are the new millionaires!! Keep those incentives for bettering ourselves financially coming, boys!
-To be fair, this was the second part of his Make-A-Wish wish. (Seriously, though, how are pit bulls still legal? Does it ever end well when one owns them?)
-Naked sleepwalkers in hotels!! That reminds me of something, but I can't quite remember what...
-The Onion predicts the future!!
-And finally, a tip o' the hat to Tom Brady, who has single-handedly saved not one, but two of my fantasy football seasons. Thanks, Tom, I'd gladly watch you shower anytime you wanted.
Friday, October 19, 2007
GILF
This lady rules. As an aside, my Comcast-provided internet is not working (I'm "borrowing" a neighbor's unsecured line), not that that colors my opinion of this...
From Yahoo!...
Woman fined for hammer fit at Comcast
BRISTOW, Va. - She was fined and got a suspended jail sentence, but Mona Shaw says she has no regrets about using a hammer to vent her frustration at a cable company.
"I stand by my actions even more so after getting all these telephone calls and hearing other people's complaints," she told The Associated Press in an interview Friday.
Shaw, 75, and her husband, Don, say they had an appointment in August for a Comcast technician to come to their Bristow home to install the company's heavily advertised Triple Play phone, Internet and cable service.
The Shaws say no one came all day, and the technician who showed up two days later left without finishing the setup. Two days after that, Comcast cut off all their service.
At the Comcast office in Manassas later that day, they waited for a manager for two hours before being told the manager had left for the day, the Shaws say.
Shaw, a churchgoing secretary of the local AARP branch, returned the next Monday — with a hammer.
"I smashed a keyboard, knocked over a monitor ... and I went to hit the telephone," Shaw said. "I figured, 'Hey, my telephone is screwed up, so is yours.'" [ed. note: Fuck that's a great quote!)
Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable company, disputes Shaw's version of its customer service record and calls Shaw's hammer fit on Aug. 20 an "inappropriate situation."
"Nothing justifies this sort of dangerous behavior," Comcast spokeswoman Beth Bacha said.
Police arrested Shaw for disorderly conduct. She received a three-month suspended sentence, was fined $345 and and is barred from going near the Comcast offices for a year.
The Shaws did eventually get phone and television service — with Verizon and DirecTV.
She said many people have called her a hero. "But no, I'm just an old lady who got mad. I had a hissy fit," she said.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Hillary Clinton Health Care Plan
From CNN.com
Brits resort to pulling own teeth
LONDON, England (CNN) -- Some English people have resorted to pulling out their own teeth because they cannot find -- or cannot afford -- a dentist, a major study has revealed.
Six percent of those questioned in a survey of 5,000 patients admitted they had resorted to self-treatment using pliers and glue, the UK's Press Association reported.
England has a two-tier dental care system with some dentists offering publicly subsidized treatment through the National Health Service and others performing more expensive private work.
But more than three-quarters of those polled said they had been forced to pay for private treatment because they had been unable to find an NHS dentist. Almost a fifth said they had refused dental treatment because of the cost.
One respondent in Lancashire, northern England, claimed to have extracted 14 of their own teeth with a pair of pliers. In Liverpool, one of those collecting data for the survey interviewed three people who had pulled out their own teeth in one morning.
"I took most of my teeth out in the shed with pliers. I have one to go," another respondent wrote.
Others said they had fixed broken crowns using glue to avoid costly dental work.
Valerie Halsworth, 64, told British television's GMTV she had removed seven of her own teeth using her husband's pliers when her toothache became unbearable and she was unable to find an NHS dentist willing to treat her.
Halsworth admitted that the first extraction had been "excruciatingly painful." But she added: "It got that painful that I just had to do something... When you have taken a tooth out... the pain has gone."
Sharon Grant, chair of the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health, which commissioned the survey, said: "These findings indicate that the NHS dental system is letting many patients down very badly.
"Where NHS dental services are available, people are happy with the quality of treatment provided but many find the NHS fee system confusing and expensive, with some patients taking out loans to pay for treatment or more worryingly taking matters into their own hands."
Monday, October 15, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
The Disgruntleds
I'm having a pretty frustrating and long week, so this seemed as good a time as any to initiate a new semi-weekly/monthly feature: The Disgruntleds. This, simply, is a list of the things disgruntling me right now. Feel free to add your own in the comments.
1.) Crocs. They look ok on kids, but pretentious and stupid on adults. As I told the Disgruntled Girlfriend yesterday, I'm not gay, but some of those color combos have just (snap) got (snap) to (snap) go. Mmm-hmmm...
2.) People talking into their cell phones like they were walkie-talkies. You don't look cool, asshole. And your phone is not a walkie-talkie.
3.) Walkie-talkie cell phones.
4.) When co-workers (like my boss, who's office is next to mine) dial using their speaker phone, then when the other person says, audibly, "Hello?" the co-worker (or boss) picks up the phone and starts using it normally. What the fuck is the point of doing that?
5.) "Bro"/"Brah"
6.) The New York Times
7.) Fantasy football weeks ruined by "game-time decisions" (conversely, accurately predicting these decisions makes me less disgruntled)
8.) Robot marriages?
9.) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his body odor
10.) Goddamn fucking real estate
Have a disgruntled day!!
P.S. Look who just turned 18!!
1.) Crocs. They look ok on kids, but pretentious and stupid on adults. As I told the Disgruntled Girlfriend yesterday, I'm not gay, but some of those color combos have just (snap) got (snap) to (snap) go. Mmm-hmmm...
2.) People talking into their cell phones like they were walkie-talkies. You don't look cool, asshole. And your phone is not a walkie-talkie.
3.) Walkie-talkie cell phones.
4.) When co-workers (like my boss, who's office is next to mine) dial using their speaker phone, then when the other person says, audibly, "Hello?" the co-worker (or boss) picks up the phone and starts using it normally. What the fuck is the point of doing that?
5.) "Bro"/"Brah"
6.) The New York Times
7.) Fantasy football weeks ruined by "game-time decisions" (conversely, accurately predicting these decisions makes me less disgruntled)
8.) Robot marriages?
9.) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his body odor
10.) Goddamn fucking real estate
Have a disgruntled day!!
P.S. Look who just turned 18!!
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