Saturday, March 25, 2006

Car finally fixed

Well my car is finally back together. There is one minor thing that needs to still be remedied - a small clip on the trunk liner was not re-attached properly. This too will be noted to the shop that did the work (see below). Here is a picture of the motor mount that was damaged in the accident. Initially the insurance company claimed that it wasn't caused in the accident and was likely just worn or pre-existing. I think had they not agreed to pay for it these photos would have certainly proved my point.

Large Photo
Large Photo
Large Photo
The body shop that did the work: Ryan's Auto Body in Ocean Township New Jersey was unable to detect what was making the clunking sound I had described after having the car for two full weeks. When they put it up on the lift they noticed that the drive shaft moved a little when it was put into gear and that seemed a little bit odd to them, but they didn't know what to do to investigate or repair the problem. I will be sending them a rather unfriendly letter about their stunning ineptness.

More mediocre performance - this time Continental Airlines

Contained below is a message I sent to Continental about their excellent web site and their President's club. Let's see what happens. During the last tirade I netted 2,500 miles.

Subject: More tiring experiences with your company

Message: On Monday March 13, 2006 I was anticipating an mid-morning flight and needed to avail myself of the use of the Presidents Club early the next morning. Thinking erroneously that online would be a nice fast easy way to get my membership and have a temporary card in my hand for the morning, I went to the web site to sign in. It dutifully took all of my personal information, including credit card data and One Pass number. When the process was completed it said to check my email. Great I thought, I'll go over pick up my temporary card and go into the club in the morning. Instead, I received this email:


>Thank you for purchasing a Presidents Club membership.
>Your application should be processed within 48
>hours and you may begin enjoying the benefits of
>membership at any of our Presidents Club locations.
>If you visit a Presidents Club prior to
>receiving your card, simply provide the clubroom
>representative with a copy of this e-mail and
>photo identification.


There was no warning that this process was not an instant process and that there would be delays that I should anticipate. So I did as the mail said and took the printout and my id to the club. How unfortunate for me that the system didn't know anything about me and I had to hold up the line while waiting for the people at the club to determine that I should be granted access. To this date I have not received either permanent or temporary card so while I may be able to get into a Contintental club, I can not avail myself of the services of any of your partner airlines clubs. Thank you once again for continuing to meet my ever decreasing expectations on my dealings with Continental and your wonderful hub airport of Newark NJ, which 80% of the time has broken AirTrans, and generally miserable service.


It is so nice being nearly held hostage by hub and spoke airlines.

Friday, March 24, 2006

9/11 Government Conspiracies

Have you heard the latest Charlie Sheen tirade. Charlie apparently thinks there is some conspiracy about the collapse of the third building in the 9/11 attacks. Is it just me or can someone who is a notable womanizer, both in real life and has made a fairly good career of representing this role on Spin City and Two and a Half Men, really expect to be take seriously? I'm not actually saying that he's even wrong in his accusations, for all I know there may have been some grand conspiracy to cover up whatever actually caused the collapse. It just seems to me that he lowers awareness for this issue rather than raising awareness. I mean seriously I for one thought: "this just has to be a farce if he's behind it". Yet CNN was reporting it the other day, and seeing if "Now that Sheen is behind it maybe the story will get some legs", seems like wishful thinking.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

World's Largest Microsoft Error Message

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You asbolutely gotta love this, Network world had an article about one of the giant screens in Times Square displaying a Windows Error message. Not sure if this is the kind of advertising Bill Gates really wants. Additionally, a few weeks ago I was returning home from Detroit and the lane markers that tell you which security lane is open and which is closed on a 17" TV screen (why are 4:3 TV screens always odd numbers?) had a virtual memory error displayed on it. This screen simply sits there with the equivalent of a screen saver (well not really because I'm sure it will burn in) on it and yet it had a virual memory error.