Rant

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There are 157 posts filed in Rant (this is page 5 of 16).

Scratch another Honda Odyssey

Remember four years ago when the transmission in my 2002 Honda Odyssey disintegrated? Remember when Honda jerked us around and I said I’d never buy another Honda again?

I should’ve stuck with that.

On my way to work this morning, the transmission died in our 2003 Honda Odyssey. You know, the one that Leith Honda assured us wasn’t susceptible to the low coolant flow problem like our prior Odyssey. I was heading west on Wade Avenue at Ridge Road when the transmission began slipping. I was fortunate enough to hobble the car over to Kelly’s office nearby, rather than get stuck out on I-40 which is what could’ve very easily happened.
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University, Inc.

I’ve often considered going back to college. Then I read stuff like this from NCSU Chancellor Randy Woodson, citing the reasons for a massive 29% tuition hike:

With classes in some cases growing from 200 students to 300, faculty members struggle against a growing tide of test grading and other mundane chores, Chancellor Randy Woodson told the trustees committee.

“It takes them out of the business of being scholarly, of doing research and of moving the economic engine of this state forward,” Woodson said.

Let me translate this for you: “Those pesky students who are trying to learn are keeping us ivory-tower types from trying to pad our resumes and the university’s coffers. They should fork over their money and just shut up.”

Is it any wonder I’m disillusioned with higher education? Is it also any wonder that these schools’ big-time college sports programs get away with what they do?

Appliance rental ripoffs

Highway robbers

I spent Saturday afternoon emceeing the second annual East Raleigh Community Day, which went better than I expected considering it was the make-up day for the original August date. Anyway, I returned to my car to find a yellow paper stuffed under the windshield wiper.

It was an ad for Rent-A-Center, a rental appliance store at the other end of the shopping center. On the paper were the smiling mugs of Hulk Hogan and Troy Aikman, flashing thumbs up signs from the screen of an LG 60″ HDTV. Folks who don’t know any better could have this TV delivered for the special rental price of only $29.99 per week (regularly $39.99 per week). Yes, $29.99 per week. That’s supposedly a deal.
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Southwest bungles our lost bags issue

Update: Southwest listened! See below.

An open letter to Southwest Airlines:

I had a disappointing experience with Southwest’s RDU lost baggage staff today. We had a tight, 35-minute connection at Midway whittled down even further by our later-than-expected arrival so I didn’t expect our baggage to make it on the plane with us. However, I left multiple messages with RDU’s lost baggage desk and none were returned until an hour after I had already schlepped back to the airport and picked up my bags.

The rep in the office this morning never left her seat, never told me “sorry for the inconvenience,” never checked my ID, never checked my claim tickets against the bags I picked up. To top it off, she never interrupted her personal cell phone conversation the whole time I was there. So, while she may not be capable of returning a voicemail, at least I know she is capable of using a telephone.

Frankly, I am shocked.
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Not funny

Dear Facebook friends,

Thanks for thinking of me when you posted that video of some poor soul falling off a table, smashing head-first into an ice-covered lake, or the myriad other unfortunate injuries that occur to people. Though you might think it’s “HILARIOUS!!1!!!!!!!,” I certainly do not and it only makes you look like a callous jackass. I don’t find it funny when people get hurt and you wouldn’t either if the person in question was a friend, family member, or (perhaps one day) you!

Karma is a bitch, y’all. Best not to go there. Show some compassion or one day that poor bastard in the video might be you.

KTHXBYE,
Mark

in Rant | 112 Words

Rush’s Greensboro show postponed

I found out today that the Rush show in Greensboro I was planning to see on Friday has been pushed back by a day. Apparently those wicked “unforseen circumstances” caught Live Nation off guard.

Look, I’m a busy guy. My wife is a busy woman. Even our kids are busy. We all planned for me to see this show months in advance, because that’s what it takes to coordinate all of our schedules. I know Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neal Peart are rock stars and putting on a tour takes a herculean effort, but I was really looking forward to taking a day off of work and driving with my brother to see them play.

Telling fans three days before the show that it’s been postponed is pretty stupid, in my book. Now I can’t go. This sucks.

Live Nation announced today that due to unforeseen circumstances the Rush performance previously scheduled for this Friday, April 1st in Greensboro has been postponed one day and will now take place on Saturday, April 2nd at the Greensboro Coliseum. Doors remain 6:30 pm with show time at 7:30 pm.

After much consideration, as the Toledo performance would have been the 4th show in 5 days the decision was made to delay the show rather than move forward as previously scheduled. The added time between shows will ensure that fans in Toledo are treated to the best performance that Rush can deliver. As a result, the Toledo performance previously scheduled for Wednesday, April 6th will be postponed one week and will now take place on Wednesday, April 13th at Huntington Center.

Tickets for both of the previously scheduled performance will be honored at the rescheduled dates. Fans requiring a refund may do so at point of purchase.

For complete tour and ticket details visit: www.livenation.com and www.rush.com

AOL Mail is hopelessly FUBAR

You've got stupid!

I swear, the folks running AOL Mail couldn’t find their asses with both hands and a flashlight.

First, they lose their customers’ email in a huge crash, taking until yesterday to restore the email archives of users. Then in the middle of this disaster, they mistakenly flag my mailserver on their spam list. Only one anti-spam list (Barracuda Network’s) out of a dozen showed my server as blacklisted, but that was enough to kick me off of many services, as I said before. Barracuda immediately cleared my server but AOL continued to show it as a spam source. When I learned that a friend’s mailserver had also been mistakenly blacklisted, I grew more concerned.
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Southwest Airlines screws the pooch

In a single, boneheaded move, Southwest Airlines just lost me as a loyal customer. The airline’s simple rewards program just got a lot more complicated.

Fans are hopping mad and are burying Southwest’s Facebook page with their comments. It’s sad, considering how much cheerleading I’ve done for them over the years.

The Baltimore Sun’s Consuming Interests blog has a good breakdown on what the changes mean.

Southwest Airlines Co. overhauled its frequent-flier program to add rewards with no black-out dates and redemptions for international flights on other carriers.

The first major revamp of the Rapid Rewards loyalty plan since it began in 1987 should add “several hundred million” dollars a year in revenue, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said yesterday at a briefing at Southwest’s Dallas headquarters.

Southwest, the largest low-fare airline, spent almost $100 million on the project and aims to win new customers and deepen ties to existing business travelers, who generally pay higher prices. The carrier unveiled a related website for passengers today to explain the changes, which take effect March 1.

“If we get our fair share of frequent fliers, the opportunity is huge,” Kelly said. “We’re very confident this is a good investment.”

via Southwest Loyalty Program Gets First Revamp in 23 Years to Boost Traffic – Bloomberg.

“Premium” doctors

I’ve been thinking more about the MDVIP program that my former doctor ran off and joined. The program is pitched as a way to be seen by your doctor much easier than in a traditional medical practice: for the annual fee of $1500 over and above your other healthcare charges.

What’s been bothering me is the ridiculousness of it all. Why should a patient pay extra for something that the doctor should be doing all along: being responsive to his patients (otherwise known as “customers”)? Why don’t doctors already accept only enough patients that they can comfortably deal with? If you load up on thousands of patients where you can only spend 10 minutes with each, you’re doing it wrong!
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