Away From Reality

So, I've tried twitter and I love it. What it did for me is simply get me re-energized for some old school blogging. Now that I've got some time to sort my thoughts, I am going to be more active in sharing them here.

I have recently been shopping for a new car; there are lots of models in the segment that I am interested in all the big players have offerings in the four-door sedan class Acura, Lexus, BMW, MB, and Audi. What I have seen in the last 36 months of new cars is that many of these companies have sterilized their entry vehicles to such an extent that a passenger can hardly tell what car they are in without looking at the badge on the steering-wheel.

The idea behind a sporty four-door sedan is that you can still have fun but not forget about the practical things in life like Costco runs and Ikea adventures. I expect to be able to fit a reasonable amount of food/water/boxes in the trunk of my practical car, but on the other had I don’t expect to fit much beyond a baseball cap and jacket in a convertible – typically thought of as impractical.

The car that struck my fancy was the new Lexus IS 350, it has the most character out of all the competition, you all get a very comfortable place to be, a ton of power, all the fun toys, and best of all - two extra seats (middle back seat is an afterthought). The thing that I didn’t pay much attention to was the fact that the rear seats do not fold down. A friend was quick to point out that in a car with a small trunk opening the only work-around is that you can put things in through the passenger doors and slide them to the trunk, but without seats that fold down this is not possible.

So, the question I asked myself was “Would I be pissed off with my new car if I had some boxes to load in the trunk but couldn’t get them to fit through the opening by just an inch or two?” I would be furious! Having chosen the practical four-door sedan I expect to be able to use my trunk space, not just have it there. I quickly rang up the Audi dealer and placed myself on the list for a convertible to be delivered in July/August the only feature I didn’t order it with is expectations.

I just got off the phone with a good friend of mine in the mobile IT business. He had a client today who had their account suspended without notification, after a call to Cox support he was told that the customer's account was disabled because of an 'open wireless access point.' After some further questions he found out that now have vans driving around in various customer areas throughout Orange County and San Diego.

Anyone else heard of this going on? What are the implications of this? Is Cox connecting to customer networks without their permission or just scanning to see for a AP without WEP? What are the chances of Cox turning off a customer that has an AP (without WEP) powered on but not connected to the net? What is the deal with not telling customers they have been turned off and still billing them?

I have heard so interesting stats about Costco recently regarding their lightning fast inventory turnover rate, but the most important thing about Costco is that they know how customers want to be treated.

Example: I ordered a camera yesterday, Canon SD550, to replace my not-so-Ritz-y camera purchase. Today I noticed that they had dropped the price by $50. Costco Customer Service didn't even ask for an explanation, credit card number, or account number - they just credited me for the difference after I told them my order number.

So stick to what you know - I know that Costco offers a much better experience than that of retailers that try to lure you in with deals that are too good to be true.

Not since "No Checks Accepted" signs have I seen such a backlash against taking money than in the last few months.

I am not one to speak highly of debit cards, the comfort that a credit card provides is something that I like. Recently, I have encountered two separate movie theaters with the policy of, "No Credit Cards." I can understand the rational behind only accepting debit, the beef I have with that policy is that they disclaim their failure for offering choice to their customers with "there is also a $2.00 fee" - once I hear that I simply pay for my movie and cross them off my ever so short list of tolerable theaters.

My experience yesterday was one that blew me away; I was told that they only accept debit, everything other than Bank of America and Wells Fargo... that sounds a bit ridiculous... when one in three dollars passes through BofA alone each day what are the odds of a person having a debit card that is something other than either of those? I mean when you customers have only a Wells Fargo and BofA card you should just let them in for free.

Anyone that takes a look at my Flickr photostream will be able to see the approx. 1500 new pictures I took from London, France, and Greece. If you look closely you will also see many pictures scarred by blobs of dirt. These blogs based on other posts around the web are a chronic problem with the Sony DSC-P200 camera.

I purchased the camera from Ritz Camera and also got their great sounding extended warranty, where they say if the camera is identifiable they will replace it with a new one. What they don't tell you is that regardless of the problem if you want any warranty claim you need to wait 8 weeks. They can do nothing in the store. So by the time you get your camera back you don't even want it any more.

Thats the first and last time I purchase anything from Ritz Camera. Costco has yet to disappoint however.

For ages I have been adamantly against starting a blog of my own. Why? I don’t know… Perhaps the fear that no one will care? I doubt it… The potential for mediocrity? No ways… So what good reason did I have? None… So that time has come for me to break out of the anti-blog mentality and start contributing to the blogosphere that I enjoy tracking so much. I am not too sure what direction I want to take this thing in - only time will tell. Over the next few weeks expect the scenery to really mature around here as I get to tinker in my own ways.