Monday, January 16th, 2006 | 2:29 pm
I’m quite disappointed that I am not allowed to archive my email messages at work locally. Our Lotus Notes mail server allotment is a 200-megabyte pittance that I often bump into, even with careful pruning of large attachments. (Honestly, thank you so much for emailing the entire team 60 megs of wedding photos, unnamed person on my team.)
Part of this problem is that I’m a packrat, both online and in meatspace. I am enamored with the idea of being able to reference all of my email communication back over the years and dig out any of the important details, and I’ve already used Gmail countless times to backtrack in different ways. Where is that source for cheap batteries? Is that item I purchased still within the warranty period? What was I up to that day I supposedly earned a parking ticket?
Alas, I can’t move any of my messages to local storage for future reference. It’s understandable, as our software setup is predicated on the idea that we could pick up and do all our work from any PC on the network without any downtime, but it’s still frustrating to have to go through and delete valuable emails every few weeks. I’ll never get that data back!
Monday, January 16th, 2006 | 12:47 pm
Soon, the web html-rendered form of this blog will fall silent for an unknown amount of time. If you’re an RSS subscriber, no worries; all you’ll miss out on is commenting (And let’s be fair, not a whole lot of you comment anyway). If you don’t use RSS or you’re not sure what that even means, please leave a comment on this post so that I can tell you what’s going on.
Thursday, January 12th, 2006 | 5:10 pm
I saw an intriguing Gmail ad when I was checking my email just now, and I clicked it. Let me just say that it really makes me swell up with pride and feel like America is the greatest country in the world when I see these two simple words: Subscription Beef.
Cue mental images of a cowboy slicing into a thick steak with an American flag waving behind him, all in slow motion…
Thursday, January 12th, 2006 | 2:21 pm
Here’s me, 4 months ago today, predicting that New Orleans will use eminent domain to their benefit in the aftermath of Katrina:
I wonder if any of the governments in New Orleans will take it upon themselves to sieze the flooded homes, since the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Kelo v. New London gives them every legal justification to do so. They could bulldoze everyone’s homes and sell them to condo developers! Thanks, Supreme Court!
Here’s the Washington Post, today, in an article discussing the rebuilding plan in New Orleans:
Angry homeowners screamed and City Council members seethed Wednesday as this city’s recovery commission recommended imposing a four-month building moratorium on most of New Orleans and creating a powerful new authority that could use eminent domain to seize homes in neighborhoods that will not be rebuilt.
Thursday, January 12th, 2006 | 2:20 pm
A serious-looking invoice appeared in our mailbox in early December, in which some company offered a stern warning:
Our records indicate that there is an unpaid parking ticket issued to a vehicle registered in your name.
Of course, the wording of that first sentence alone seems to me an incredibly roundabout way to say “You have an unpaid parking ticket.”
Instead, they want me to know what their records indicate. It kind of makes me want to ask for a second opinion. I’d like to pay them a visit to see these records, and possibly say “Personally, I think your records indicate something entirely different. In fact, these records seem altogether inconclusive as a whole. Have a nice day.”
And of course, the ticket is issued to a vehicle registered in my name, not to me. This is kind of like the “guns don’t kill people…” adage. As it’s impossible for a vehicle to itself commit an infraction, they’re being excessively polite here, aren’t they? Fine! If the ticket was issued to the vehicle, let the vehicle pay the ticket! I’m tired of covering for my car’s sorry ass for so long…
Your failure to respond to the original notice has placed this account in a delinquent status. As a result, the City of Atlanta, through LDC, is seeking legal means to satisfy this debt.
My failure to respond? That phrase made me laugh, because there never was an original notice. This is the first I’m hearing of a parking ticket in my name. Oops, I mean in my vehicle’s name.
In the VIOLATION/LOCATION section, the notice just reads “PEACHTREE ST”. I’m pretty sure that in Atlanta, that would count as “not very damned specific”. I called the phone number on the notice, and they can’t give me any information about the ticket whatsoever; I’d have to arrange a court date to even fight the thing, they tell me.
So, for this ticket in July that I never actually saw, they want $25 for the fine, and a $25 late penalty. I think these numbers are engineered perfectly so that people just pay it to be done with it. I’ve thought about it for many days, and there’s not really any way I can justify drudging through the City Municipal Court system to try to fight this thing for just $50. Anyone with experience disputing one of these things can probably back me up on that.
The worst part is that I fully accept that I probably actually deserve this ticket. I’ve been known to park illegally now and then; if there had been a ticket on my windshield, I would have paid it. But there wasn’t, and now I get to send almost a week’s worth of groceries to some collection company who probably gets at least half.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 | 5:26 pm
I also really like the tone of this column for Reuters Business. We can all use a little extra motivation to be self-reliant.
Oh sure, you owe your employer an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay, and it’s good to take pride in what you do. But it is foolish to expect long-term care from a corporation. Money in the bank is worth more than a company promise.
This is not bad news, it’s simply the killing of a myth that has long existed and been dangerous to workers for generations. At their height, traditional pensions never did cover more than half of the workforce, according to Labor Department figures. Massive layoffs of earlier generations before they ever cashed in, coupled with pension raids, lead to pension protection laws in the first place. Now, at least, smart workers know the score and can set about to protect themselves.
It’s true. There are two ways to deal with the facts. You can either bitch that your employer isn’t going to be your daddy, or you can be absolutely sure you can rely on yourself. I desperately want always to do the latter.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2006 | 4:57 pm
I came across a fantastic article (it’s almost just a blurb) entitled There Is No God by Penn Jillette. I think it’s a really good read, no matter what your religious orientation is.
So, anyone with a love for truth outside of herself has to start with no belief in God and then look for evidence of God. She needs to search for some objective evidence of a supernatural power. All the people I write e-mails to often are still stuck at this searching stage. The atheism part is easy.
Monday, January 9th, 2006 | 1:26 pm
So, I wrote half a post about our vacation and how I had very little to do at work upon my return, but I never finished it. It’s the strangest thing; for some reason, the more free time I have on my hands, the less inclined I am to post here.
I do have an inkling of what has been taking up some of my free time, though… (Keep reading)
Presents
Even though we’re through the part of the year where most of us unabashedly display our consumerism and material lusts, I can still show off my favorite Christmas presents. Heather scored me an Xbox 360 with a little help from one of my friends. The in-laws, god love ‘em, had a new iPod waiting for me under the tree. My parents came through with a hot new game to accompany the hot new Xbox.
So, like I said, that’s what’s been occupying much of my time lately. I spend much of my time at home fleeing the authorities and winning World War II, though I do take some time out to blast aliens now and then, as has been my preference for 14 months now.
In additional, exciting news, Heather and I are headed to Acapulco in just under 2 weeks for a long weekend. Why would we go to Mexico just for the weekend? The tickets were nearly free. Back in November, American Airlines (accidentally?) offered round trip tickets to Acapulco for $0. After paying only the taxes on the tickets, we were confirmed and booked for a quick weekend getaway. My mom is coming along with us for the 3-day trip. We’re going to try the Hotel El Mirador Acapulco. At the least, it’ll be quite an adventure.
Link Action
These two links may have identical syllabic grouping, but that’s where the similarity ends–
The Consumerist
Do you enjoy Clark Howard, but a) you’re anti-semitic or b) you haven’t used an AM radio in years? Frustrated but savvy consumers air their gripes, tips, and trends. Some of the commentary is hilarious, and most of the posts contain good anecdotes to store away for future reference in your consumer dealings.
The Superficial
The best way to describe this site would be “People Magazine for people who absolutely hate People Magazine”. You have to be incredibly snarky and witty to get me to care about any kind of “celebrity news”, so this is a true feat.
