Yin and Yang
Good news: Al Franken running for Senate
He really knows his stuff. Bad radio host, but he’ll make a good senator.
Bad news: Molly Ivins dead
She really knew her stuff. Great writer. Would’ve made a great senator.
Archive for January, 2007
Beware of Sprint: No longer fair nor flexible
Bastards…I hadn’t liked their new PowerPack plan because overage minutes are 45 cents, so I had them switch me back to my old Fair and Flexible plan, where overage minutes were just 10 cents. This was two weeks ago. I looked at my plan-switch confirmation and found my overage minutes were going to be 50 cents a minute.
I called Customer Service for the eighth time in the past month (it’s a longer story than I shall present here). Tara explained how Sprint has gotten rid of Fair /&/amp; Flexible and is trying to get its customers on to the new PowerPack plans. I was aware of this, but I replied that I was also aware that Sprint has allowed customers to remain on quite outdated plans where customers wish to benefit from some feature beneficial to them. Could she not just switch me back to exactly the plan I had a month ago? My last bill cited me for 584 peak-time minutes. Under my old plan the 84 minutes over 500 were just 10 cents each, or $8.40. Had I not discovered the change to my plan, 84 minutes over 500 in the future were going to cost me $42!
After much back-and-forth, during which I insisted that I should be able to keep my old plan and Tara kept trying to sell me on the new PowerPack plan, I gave up. Score one for Sprint. “I’ll take the new plan,” I said in a defeated tone. No, I don’t want my evenings to start at 6:00pm instead of 7:00pm for another $10. At least, not yet. I can get a bucket of 50 minutes for $5 by calling them anytime, Tara told me. I made need that.
Why didn’t I just dump Sprint? Believe me, I’ve looked into it a lot over the last couple of months. But despite the occasional glowing testimonial about Verizon or Cingular or another, I’ve seen no solid evidence that’s it’s really worth it to switch. So I’ve got Sprint for another two years. They’re neither fair nor flexible, and they still have that bitch Claire answering the customer service line. (Claire is a computer-generated voice who thinks she can help you. I also just spout nonsense to her until she says, “OK, I’ll transfer you…”)
Senator Norm Coleman: I’m a big tough man
“Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) returned to Capitol Hill this week with a prominent gash on his forehead after he was knocked nearly unconscious back home in St. Paul while — of all things — dumpster diving,” the Washington Post’s Mary Ann Akers reported Friday afternoon in an almost unnoticed item.
“I’m a big tough man and my woman digs it.”
Norm Coleman is best known for dumpster diving back in 2002, when he exploited the raw grief of mourners for his senatorial opponent Paul Wellstone for political gain.
Tags: NORM COLEMAN | Politics
Bush officials misled public on global warming
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic chairman of a House panel examining the government’s response to climate change said Tuesday there is evidence that senior Bush administration officials sought repeatedly “to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming.”
Hardly a shocker, but I rank this as even more grotesque of a deception than the fabricated evidence that misled us into war in Iraq. Failure to act on global warming will have consequences more disastrous on our country and our planet than what we’ve done in Iraq. Twenty years from now, Bush’s failure to act will be looked upon with utter revulsion as the world struggles to deal with catastrophes that could have been avoided had the U.S. taken the lead.
Tags: Global Warming | Environment | Bush | Politics
2007: I finally have a phone with a camera
A and Z observe me and Herman outside (camera phone)
Originally uploaded by toastie97.
I’m finding it’s awfully convenient. Without my cell phone, I’d be unable to capture a photo like this of Aremid and Zellouisa upon returning from a walk with Herman (unless I had purposely brought my regular camera).
After hours of struggling to get Bluetooth to work, first with Jason’s laptop yesterday and today with Chris’s PC at work, I realized that my phone came with both an SD card adapter for the microSD card and a USB cable, so I need not use Bluetooth nor Sprint’s $5/month PictureMail to get at my photos.
More photos from the mobile (just three posted at the moment)
Al Franken out, Thom Hartmann in, at Air America
NEW YORK – Air America Radio, a liberal talk radio network, said Monday that it had reached a tentative agreement to be sold to the founder of a New York area real estate company. The network also said that Al Franken, its longtime headline personality, would depart next month.
Source: msnbc.msn.com
Al’s program had been stale ever since his partner Katherine Lampher left over a year ago. He never did develop good radio skills. I still like him, and I appreciate his contribution to the progressive cause. However, Thom Hartmann is a far more articulate progressive voice. I’ll look forward to listening to his show.
Tags: thom hartmann | Radio | liberal | Al Franken | Air America | Politics
New phone
New phone. Bought over the weekend through Costco. Red Samsung M500. I like it.
Move #8: Done
Aremid, Zellouisa, and I left Raleigh at 11:17PM, 43 minutes before my lease expired. Shortly thereafter, we reunited in Durham with Herman. The reunion, thus far, has not gone so well. I have three very stressed animals. Herman is making high-pitched whimpers I haven’t heard in awhile. The cats are hiding under the bed. I’d like to take a deep breath and congratulate myself on being done with the move, but it all hasn’t quite sunk in yet. With any luck, I’ll get some sleep tonight.
I can’t sleep in too long. Herman has a vet appointment. I need to find out what’s up with his fatty deposit, his dry lips, and his chin lesion.
Faux News Channel’s Steve Doocy is a liar
Host Steve Doocy said that Obama spent ‘the first decade of his life raised by his Muslim father as a Muslim and was educated in a madrassa.’ It is almost impossible to tabulate how many false claims are in that sentence.
I’m so glad my simple 60-channel DISH Network plan doesn’t include FNC. I used to always need to have a can of Lysol handy in case I accidentally landed on it. FNC calls what they peddle news; I call it garbage.
Tags: Steve Doocy | outlets | EDUCATED | steve | Politics | Obama | news | Muslim | DOOCY | Barack Obama
Herman hides his bone
Herman hides his bone
Originally uploaded by toastie97.
No photos of Herman posted in months. This isn’t even one of the better ones, but I just took it and wanted to get one up there.
