The [crash of Felipe Massa][1] during the Forumula One practice today seemed eerily similar to the one that killed Dale Earnhardt–head on into a wall. At least he was on the brakes. At least the wall was made of tires. May he recover well.
[1]: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/racing/more/07/25/massa.crash.ap/index.html
Old National Bank likes to tout their “[STANDARD UNBEATABLE BENEFITS][1]”, including “Free eStatements with online check images”. Except they aren’t free, because to be able to get them you have to give up the ability to get paper statements in the mail. I could try it out for a month, just to see if the eStatements are usable, but then there would be a fee to change me back.
Unbeatable? [CharterOne][2] sure beat your offerings, right up until the point they were bought out and I got shafted into the Old National family.
[1]: https://www.oldnational.com/Personal/Checking-Savings/Checking/Types-of-Checking-Accounts/Free-Checking.asp
[2]: https://www.charterone.com/home/
Apparently all of the “The Simpsons” are the same—[Amazon][1] thinks that because I have bought an [The Simpsons][2] I am sure to like [The Very Best of Ashford & Simpson][3]. Um, yeah.
[1]: http://www.amazon.com/
[2]: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000000OZV/
[3]: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002F3BP18/
[Thorzdad][2a] does a good job of summing up what is wrong with America [in his comment][2b] and why we are in this financial crisis:
> And, honestly, you can’t put card problems down just to over-consumption.
We always lived in our means.
This starts out good.
> But, then I lost my job and, almost simultaneously, we got hit with a succession of major
expenses…transmission work on the car, medical expenses, AC in the house died in the middle of summer, etc.
Then he had a run of bad luck. It’s good that he planned for a rainy day and had some money saved for when bad things happened.
> We **_simply had to_** turn to plastic to make things work.
Uh, no you didn’t. This is where you start contradicting your first statement of “always living within your means”. Always means all of the time. Even now.
> This, on top of draining our savings to pay the other
bills, like health insurance.
At least you weren’t using the plastic for everything.
> So, yeah, a lot of credit problems probably ARE due to unrestrained buying. But I have to think a lot of it is also due to simply “shit happens.”
I think you will find that much less “stuff happens” to those who are prepared.
_Response to the [Consumerist][0] post on [How Credit Cards Are Getting Meaner][1]._
[0]: http://consumerist.com/
[1]: http://consumerist.com/5315420/how-credit-cards-are-getting-meaner
[2a]: http://consumerist.com/people/Thorzdad/
[2b]: [1]: http://consumerist.com/5315420/how-credit-cards-are-getting-meaner?t=14246121#c14246121
Normally, [Consumerist][0] has some good stories about people who were wrong by companies. Unfortunately, they tend to lose this credibility by posting stories like [this one][1].
* Man buys piece of equipment
* Works great through warranty period
* After warranty, equipment starts goes bad
* Six months later, equipment is really bad
* Company selling equipment refuses to help
* Therefore, company selling equipment is evil
I would post on their site, but they have a policy against blaming the consumer in the story and calling him a moron, which is exactly how this would turn out.
_Response to the [Consumerist][0] post on [Gateway Won’t Help Customer Replace Monitor][1]._
[0]: http://consumerist.com/
[1]: http://consumerist.com/5318274/gateway-wont-help-customer-replace-monitor
[Greg](http://greginthedesert.net/) says he heard that [Quicken for Mac has been delay again](http://greginthedesert.net/2009/07/quicken-for-mac-delayed-again/). I forgot they were even working on a new version.
I guess it’s good to know that they will eventually come back with something new,
as opposed to the big bag o’ crap that they had been repackaging year
after year. New doesn’t have to mean better, but it would be hard to be
worse.
Quicken only has two things going for it: it’s name and it’s interface. The interface may not be the best but at least it is familiar. If they [completely change the interface](http://www.macworld.com/article/138867/2009/02/quickenfinanciallife_preview.html), is there any reason to stay?
As for Greg’s wish to be a beta tester: being a quicken beta tester was an exercise in frustration.
I keep thinking that people will stop complaining about [Amazon’s “free” shipping][1]. They haven’t. People still want a free lunch.
[1]: http://nslog.com/2009/02/08/the_falsity_of_amazons_shipping
I got a mailing the other dat from G. H. Hermann Funeral Homes and _The Gardens at Olive Branch_:
> By building a finer more modern facility and providing a caring knowledgeable staff we want to be the honost cemetery to put your trust in
With no less than three mistakes in a single sentence, I’m not sure I would put my faith in a funeral home that can’t even afford the services of a proofreader.
Even it is one of the [biggest flops][1] [McDonald’s][2] ever had, I still miss the [Fish Deluxe][3] (as a part of the Arch Deluxe family).
[1]: http://money.howstuffworks.com/5-failed-mcdonalds-menu-items.htm
[2]: http://mcdonalds.com/
[3]: http://money.howstuffworks.com/5-failed-mcdonalds-menu-items3.htm
Being outside the USA has given me a new perspective on customer service—Americans put up with way too much bad stuff.
This evening, after eating dinner at [a cafe][1], I came into the restaurant at [the hotel][2] to talk to one of my co-workers. As I was leaving, one of the waitresses asked why I we were no longer coming down for the free continental breakfast. (I really would enjoy coming down, but the bus for work leaves at 7:30 now instead of 8:00, and since the restaurant doesn’t open until 7:30, we can’t make it down.)
So, to sum it up, the staff wanted to know why I was not longer taking advantage of their **free** service. That is customer service.
[1]: http://today.od.ua/buffalo/
[2]: http://www.hotel-continental-odessa.com/restaurant
