aubreyturner.org

I’ve never had an AOL account, so I’ve always been grimly amused by the crap that people go through just to cancel one.  However, I think this incident takes the cake.  The AOL user, suspecting he was going to be mistreated, decided to record the call himself.  The recording has been posted and linked in numerous places (accessible from the above link).

However, this guy also has a weblog, where he recounted the story.  In the comments I found this jem, which may just perfectly summarize AOL’s business practices with respect to cancellation:

An AOL account is like herpes. Once you’ve got it, you’ve got it for life.

Heh.

When I got Verizon FIOS internet service and cancelled my Charter cable modem, the Charter rep asked why I was cancelling.  I told her that I’d gotten FIOS.  She had no clue as to what that was, and I had to explain it to her.  I also explained to her that there was no discount or anything else they could do to keep me, other than to offer comparable bandwidth (which given their cheesy 256Kbps upload caps I just don’t see happening).  I think that last bit finally convinced her to give up on the stupid retention script and cancel the service.

They still didn’t have a clue when I got FIOS TV and called to cancel my subscription.  But at least they didn’t hassle me too much.  That was last fall.

Last night I got a call from Charter’s telemarketers.  It started out with some spiel about how they had an offer that could save me money over FIOS.  I didn’t let her finish the sentence, as I’ve learned from long experience that you must never let them get their flow going.  Which is why I took a deep breath and said, “I have absolutely no desire to go back to Charter; please put me on your do not call list.”  I try to include the do-not-call part in one quick sentence, so they can’t hang up fast enough to claim they never heard it (which I’ve had happen with some telemarketers; as soon as you say “do not call” you hear a click). 

She stumbled for a second, and then branched to the standard long-wait to get on the no-call list speech.  If Charter is such a high-tech company, why does it take them 30 days to take you off their call lists?  Sounds like an excuse to keep bothering you for another month.

Not that it really matters, because they can take their crappy bundles and cheesy slow “high speed” service and stuff ‘em.

Another lesson learned from my stay in Dalhart:  always keep some cash on your person.

I have a habit of not usually having more than $20-$30 on me at any one time.  Almost everything I buy these days is done with my debit card.

When I got to Dalhart, I only had about $15 in cash.  I was lucky in that the local pizza delivery places would take credit cards, or otherwise I would have had to have walked several miles in the heat to get to the nearest ATM.

So, I think I’m going to get $40 or $50 extra when I go to the ATM today and fold it and stash it in one of the compartments in my wallet.  That way it’s out-of-sight until I should need it in an emergency.  I also used to keep a couple of $20’s hidden in the truck, but got out of that habit.  I may do that, too, when I get the truck back.

I used to think it was a bit paranoid.  But perhaps it was just prudent.

A while back I bought a universal travel charger kit for my Palm Tungsten T3 (I also remember that I only paid $19.95 for it at the time, which is amazing as I’ve never found it for that price again; perhaps I was the lucky beneficiary of a mispriced item).  It consisted of a “wall wart” with interchangeable plug inserts, so it could be used in different countries.  The bottom of the wall wart has a USB connector.  It also included a USB sync cable for the T3.  So I can charge the T3 directly from the wall via USB or I can connect it to a computer (if the computer has a powered USB port).  Finally, the kit included a 12V cigarette lighter adapter with a USB port on the end.

It turned out that this was also handy for charging my iPod, given the USB power port.  It made things a bit easier to use the same wall wart for either device.  Someone also gave me a handy little kit that included a ZipLinq universal USB phone charging cord.  It was retractable, had a USB connector on one end, and an adapter plug on the other.  You simply selected the right adapter for your phone and you were in business.

So, my traveling kit usually consisted of the wall wart (with the U.S. plug), the 12V adapter, the T3 cable, the iPod cable, and the ZipLinq cable.  It sounds like a lot, but it’s significantly less crap to lug around than keeping a separate wall wart and separate vehicle charger for each device.

But my charger harmony was disrupted by the LG phone I got when I switched to Verizon.  The ZipLinq kit contained several LG adapters, but the folks at LG, in their fiendshly clever ways, had changed the plug ever so slightly from the previous models, making them incompatible.  According to the ZipLinq website, I needed the newer “LG3” adapter, which they list as being in “beta test,” hence it wasn’t available in any store I could find (online or off).

The only other USB solution for the LG is the USB data cable, and Verizon wants $39.99 for the kit that it comes with.  Asking at the Verizon store about just a USB charging adapter was like asking for a tofu sandwich at a barbecue cookoff (blank stares from the sales staff).

Enter eBay.  I found a complete kit with 12V adapter, wall-wart, and USB data cable for $11.93 (after shipping/handling, etc).  While I didn’t need the other two items, everyone else wanted $19.95 for the USB cable.  IMNSHO, companies should start using standard connectors.  I saw a phone the other day that had a mini-USB connector on the side.  Since this is a standard type of connector, any cable could be used.  Of course, this doesn’t give the companies an excuse to sell overpriced “connectivity kits.” 

Now I only need to pack a single wall wart and a single 12V adapter, which has restored my travel charger harmony. 

Last year I mentioned a device that uses high-frequency sound to deter teenagers from loitering around an area.  It works on the idea that as we get older our ability to hear high frequencies decreases.

Well, the teenagers have turned the tables and begun using the sound as a ringtone so their phones can’t be heard by adults (or so they think).

The article links to an MP3 of the sound.  According to the inventor of the teenage-repellent device, people over 30 aren’t supposed to be able to hear it.  Just for grins I decided to try it out.  Even at the advanced age of 35 ( ), and with my ears still bothering me from an infection (I finally gave in and started taking the steroids today), I could hear it.  In fact, it was quite annoying and almost painful.

It reminded me of a combination of monitor whine and the sound of an overloaded phaser from Star Trek.  If I heard someone’s phone making that sound I’d be inclined to throw it in the nearest trash can to contain the coming explosion. 

To get around having their products kept behind the pharmacy counter and limited and logged, some allergy/cold products are now being reformulated to use Phenylephrine HCl instead of Pseudoephedrine.  You can see this in the labeling, which usually features “PE” somewhere on it. 

I call my packing habits when on long trips the “+1 plan.”  I tend to pack one extra of everything, which paid off yesterday (being the 11th day of my 10 day trip).  However, I forgot to pack an extra day’s worth of Claritin-D.  I found an ALCO store within walking distance of the hotel on Sunday and went there in search of allergy medicines.  This store doesn’t have a pharmacy, so they didn’t have Clairitin-D or any of the generic equivalents.  Instead, I tried to make do by getting a package of loratadine (the allergy-controlling portion of Claritin-D) and a package of Phenylephrine HCl (PE).

On Monday I discovered that I don’t get along with the PE very well.  Unlike pseudoephedrine, the PE makes me extremely sleepy.  Perhaps for some people it’s an acceptable substitute, but it definitely won’t work for me. 

As usual, an effective product is being replaced by an ineffective one due to government regulation.  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by now.

I just hope that the makers Claritin-D and the generic equivalents don’t give up completely on it due to the meth madness regulations.

I guess I’ve been indelibly scarredmarked by being born in the 70’s, as there are just certain things where CB slang comes immediately to mind.

In this case, the Chevrolet dealership in Amarillo arranged for a rental car through Enterprise.  Since GM is paying, they chose the economy model, so I ended up in a Cobalt.  I immediately dubbed this car “The Roller Skate,” in honor of CB slang for a small car.  And it is definitely small, especially so for someone accustomed to an Avalanche.

This car was also pretty much bottom-end when it comes to options.  I’d forgotten just how much of a pain it is to deal with manual locks and just how much I’ve come to depend on cruise control (as the occasional foot cramp I experienced last night will attest). 

After spending Sunday in Dalhart with nothing to do (and only a couple of pizza-delivery joints to choose from for sustenance), I was at Langen Chevrolet bright-and-early on Monday morning.  The service manager was a very nice young man who immediately put someone to looking at the diagnostic codes to try to determine if the problem was electrical or mechanical.  The procedures indicated replacing the TCC solenoid as the first step, which would take a couple of hours.  Once installed, they would have to then check for any mechanical problems.  Unfortunately, while the solenoid did indeed need replacing, its failure caused damage to the gears due to overheating, which means that the transmission has to be rebuilt or replaced.

The dealership in Dalhart didn’t have anyone who could do this, although they did get agreement with the GMC dealer across town to have the work done.  The problem, though, was that there were no rental agencies in town, so I couldn’t get the rental car specified in my extended warranty, and I couldn’t afford to sit in a hotel for a week while they did the work.  The service manager went to work with GM and finally got clearance with them to have the truck towed to Westgate Chevrolet in Amarillo, where they could perform the work and arrange a rental. 

I have to compliment Chris Bell at Langen Chevrolet on working through all the red tape with GM and getting me and my truck to a place where it could be serviced and that allowed me to get back home.  I’m definitely going to send an email to the dealership about it.  I seem to spend so much time complaining about bad service that I can surely spend a little time to compliment good service when I see it.

I set out yesterday in the hopes of making it to Amarillo by evening, where I’d spend the night before continuing on to Keller today.  But my plan was not to be, as I was let down by my Avalanche.  Somewhere between Raton and Clayton, NM, I noticed that it seemed to be having trouble getting up hills and was revving a little high to maintain speed.  Right after Texline I got the first “Transmission Hot” message, so I had to pull over and wait until it cooled.  It was also getting progressively more sluggish.  After babying it into Dalhart, I stopped and checked the transmission fluid level, which appeared to be OK and then let it sit for a while.  This didn’t help, as it was worse than before.  The transmission would be OK up to 35mph, then it would kick and feel like it was slipping.  Which seemed to be the final impetus for the thing to post a diagnostic code, which set off the engine light. 

The OnStar folks were able to read a fault in the transmission control system, so I got them to send a tow-truck.  Luckily, for both me and the dog, we were able to get back to the truck stop we’d just been at and we could run the engine for air conditioning while waiting. 

So, now I find myself stuck in a hotel in Dalhart, TX, waiting for the nearby Chevrolet dealer to open at 8:00 tomorrow morning.  On the upside, the hotel is right next to the dealership, and I’ve got a high-speed connection and cable TV to while away the rest of the day. 

I do have to say that as breakdowns go, this one has been fairly civilized.  I just hit the OnStar button, got transferred to Roadside Assistance, and they dispatched a tow truck.  They also called me back on my cellphone with the estimated time of arrival and the number of the wrecker service as well as the number of the dealership.  Finally, they called me back at the end of the estimated time to verify that the tow truck had arrived.

Now we’ll see just how good GM’s warranty service is at the local dealer…

I know it will seem hard to believe, but even with all its pain-in-the-ass record-keeping requirements, the new Federal pseudoephedrine law seems marginally better than the Texas one.  Or so it seems to this frustrated allergy sufferer. 

Before this asinine law was passed, I used to buy the generic stuff at Sam’s in 30-packs.  That was very convenient, as it was approximately a month’s worth (it was also a lot less expensive at about $18 for 30, compared to the $10-or-so I pay for a box of 10 now).  Now, the stores following the Texas law appear to be tied into some kind of database that keps you from buying or possessing more than about 10 Claritin-D 24 pills at a time.  I don’t know this for certain, but I do know that after buying a piddling little 5-pack at Wal-Mart, I tried going to Target and was told that I couldn’t have any, as it would put me over the limit.  This was becoming increasingly frustrating to me, as it prevented me from keeping any extra on hand.  I pretty much had to run out of them before I could buy more. 

Now one of the local pharmacies is observing the Federal law.  The Federal law limits you to 3.6g of pseudoephedrine per day, or 9.0g per month.  As it happens, a 10-pack of Claritin-D 24 is 2.4g, so I can at buy one per day, up to the monthly limit.  30-days of Claritin-D 24 would be 7.2g, so at least I can accumulate a month’s worth.

Regardless, though, this situation sucks.  I can almost buy a gun with less paperwork (the pharmacy clerk had to fill out almost as much info as is on the 4473; all that seemed to be missing is the set of yes/no are you a felon/fugitive questions).  I can certainly buy ammo with less hassle.  I asked the pharmacist if I could get a prescription and get around this nonsense.  The answer?  Nope.  Prescription doesn’t matter.  I’m tempted to ask my doctor for a prescription for Allegra-D.  At least with that I can get it online from my drug plan in 90-day increments (delivered right to the door without nanny looking over my shoulder).

And if I hear one more idiot droning on about how “It’s For The Children™” I’m going to slug them.  Right after I finish blowing my nose…