Rants & Raves
Uh-oh, something has pissed me off, or, Woo hoo! I’m ecstatic about something!
This is Me Winning
0
I had 16 listeners on my show this past Monday. The previous week I had 14 and the week before I had 13. Each week I had the most listened to show. I feel successful. This is like that time I broke the record for most sales ever written in a single day in J&R history. That’s a record that still stands, it will always stand. I’m a hall of famer!
Russell Stover Raspberry Whip Egg
2
Candy of the month (yeah, new thing) is the Russell Stover raspberry whip egg. This candy is seasonal (and appropriate for this time of year). Why is this candy so amazing? Why the raspberry specifically when there’s various other flavors? I love raspberry, I love dark chocolate and I love whips. That came out wrong.
Case in point, this candy is a great combination. I used to love Cadbury Creme Eggs the most around Easter time. Suddenly, I find myself loving these way more. Maybe it’s the lighter nature of the whipped raspberry filling. Also, as I grow older, dark chocolate tickles my fancy way more. I don’t know if it’s seasonal nature makes it more appealing, but this candy gets M2J’s Candy of the Month stamp of approval. Everyone run out and try this.
My Pet Peeves
0- When I want people to do something or try something and they refuse over and over again. Later on, they tell me that they finally tried whatever it was that I wanted them to do, without me, and of course, they did it completely wrong and had a horrible experience. Now they never want to do it again as long as they live. Example: I tell you that you need to try penne alla vodka. You explain to me time and time again your silly reasons for not doing so. Then one day, I catch up with you and you tell me that you tried it and it was terrible and you aren’t going to eat it ever again. When I ask where you tried it, you tell me it was at some roadside diner in New Jersey at 3 AM. Do me a favor and try sky driving without an parachute, that way when you do mess up and do it wrong, you can’t complain about it afterward.
- When people vanish while we have (tentative) plans. Seriously, don’t make me chase after you. If I’m expecting to hear from you, don’t just vanish on me. It always ends the same way, I get a text, not a phone call, that you have decided that today/tonight is no good. That’s fine, but you could have just said that to begin with. You didn’t need to waste my time having me wait so you can tell me last minute that you aren’t going to chill with me. Usually this happens when people actually have no plans of incorporating you into whatever they’re doing, but do not want to disappoint you, so rather than saying “no,” they decide it’s better to say maybe, with the intention of saying “no” later. I’ll say “maybe” to you next time you need a ride to the hospital. After all of your loved ones die in the hopsital because I made you wait a few hours, I’ll text you to tell you that I’m going to take a nap instead.
- People who always say “no” when you invite them anywhere, yet the one time you don’t invite them, they flip out and act like you have wronged them somehow and claim that they definitely would have come. Seriously, you dug your own grave. when you say no, the person who usually invites you out starts feeling not only like they’re wasting their time, but like they’re being a nag who isn’t taking the hint. Nobody wants to be “that guy” and keep asking you to hang out if you always say “no.”
- People who ask you a question repeatedly when you already have told them that you don’t know the answer. How many times as someone asked you a question and you respond, “I don’t know?” You mean that. It’s fact. You do not know. What’s 2+2? It’s 4. I know that. 2^219? I don’t know. Now, not much is going to change that. If I find out, I’ll probably tell you. If I tell you I do not know, then you ask me again 2 minutes later, I’m still not going to know. Please, stop asking me.
- People who don’t yield to the right! Simple etiquite here in the States, when head on with someone and walking in opposing directions, you yield to the right. There is no way to mess this up then, because everyone is doing what they’re supposed to be doing. If you yield to the left, you’re probably a Nazi or a terrorist.
- People who say “you don’t understand.” How many times has someone tried to explain to you that you don’t understand something, when you simply do. Usually this is a method of feeling like one is better than the person they are complaining to. You are relaying to people, when you tell them that they don’t understand something, that you have some sort of life experience that they do not have anything even similar to. Your life isn’t that special, most people deal with the same problems. Unless you’ve had children or have been bombarded with nuclear waste and have strange new powers and cannot articulate the sensations your body is feeling, it’s probably understandable.
- People who say “excuse me,” seemingly to get past you, and then when you move aside for them they stand in the spot you were just in as if they somehow had some claim to it. This usually happens on the subway a lot, but also just happened to me at a concert. A guy said excuse me, I took a half a step back to let him pass (he looked like he was going to continue as well) and stopped right in front of me! Then just stood there, occassionally leaning over awkwardly as if he was looking for someone and contemplating going further, but just stood there abnormally close to me and invading my space. He also smelled like b.o. and was bopping to the rhythm of a song, making him even more in my way. I was going to walk in front of him again, but once I realized he smelled awful, I simply moved to away from him in any direction I could.
- People who change history to retrofit stories and make stuff look better. Seriously, I’m sure you all know these people. Usually it’s relationship driven and I’d say girls are worse offenders than guys. Typically, the party will put down an significant other shortly after a break-up, downplaying many of the other party’s finer character traits. Likewise, when the ex is in one’s good graces and the new flame is starting to die, the ex will suddenly rehash “bees’ knees” status. Consistency people, it goes a long way!
- Infatuated individuals who praise those they are interested in with generic details that can apply to anyone. Fellow dudes, have you ever been into a girl, but she just isn’t feeling you back? One day, she’s into a new guy, what reasons does she place him on a pedestal for? “He’s ambitious.” “He’s polite.” “He made me food.” “He held the door for me.” Just about anything that a guy trying to impress a girl would do, but for some reason, with this guy, it’s a big deal. At least guys don’t do that, not that I’ve seen at least.
What are these F*cking Charges?
0Like a lot of people, I have an iPhone 3G. Sadly, I stayed with the AT&T network. AT&T is not the worst network in the world, they’re the second worst. So I was looking over my bill and decided I wanted to break down all these nonsense fees I seem to have and make sense of them all, because they add up. On any given month, I seem to have between 10 and 15 dollars worth of fees, which is in the neighborhood of 150 dollars a year! That’s nothing to sneeze at, let me tell you, especially in this economy. So let’s see what I’m getting for my money. (I searched various links via search engine and since I’m not a journalist, I’m not citing sources, take my word for it or look it up yourself.)
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge
“The purpose of this charge is to recover our costs. The fee will help AT&T recover those costs associated with providing state-to-state and international long distance service, including expenses for national regulatory fees and programs, as well as connection and account servicing charges.”
In other words: AT&T is passing the buck on this one. Although an occupational hazard of owning a telco, they are making the customers pay. Although I said I wouldn’t cite sources, this comes from AT&T themselves. http://www.consumer.att.com/ccrf/faqs.html
County Gross Receipts Surcharge
“Also known as state/local surcharge, or state tax surcharge, applies to calls between states and some long distance calls within the state. The interstate surcharge is approved by the FCC. This is not a tax imposed on the customer, but a surcharge to recover the higher taxes…”
Ok, so telcos have to pay a tax and somehow that translates to us receiving not the tax, but a surcharge. Got it.
Federal Universal Service Charge
A.K.A. Carrier Universal Service Charge: “Because telephones provide a vital link to emergency services, to government services and to surrounding communities, it has been our nation’s policy to promote telephone service to all households since this service began in the 1930s. The USF helps to make phone service affordable and available to all Americans, including consumers with low incomes, those living in areas where the costs of providing telephone service is high, schools and libraries and rural health care providers. Congress has mandated that all telephone companies providing interstate service must contribute to the USF. Although not required to do so by the government, many carriers choose to pass their contribution costs on to their customers in the form of a line item, often called the “Federal Universal Service Fee” or “Universal Connectivity Fee”.”
Again, passing the buck to customers.
MTA Telecom Surcharge
“This surcharge recovers telephone company expenses associated with mandated New York State temporary metropolitan transportation business tax surcharge (Section 184-A Tax), and applies to customers located in the New York metro area only.”
Oh, the joys of city living, although the stretch of the “metro area” is also a good portion of surrounding area to the 5 boroughs. Apparently this tax has also been temporary for a long time.
State Telecommunications Excise Surcharge
“The Federal Excise Tax was introduced in 1898 by the federal government as a temporary tax to support the nation’s efforts in the Spanish-American War. The tax revenue from the Federal Excise Tax goes directly into the Federal General Fund.”
Yes, when I did research on this tax, this was the CLOSEST thing I could find that seemed to fit what this tax was. It may not be, but the lower on the bill we get, the more shady these “taxes” become.
9-1-1 Service Fee
“Most states require all telephone subscribers to pay a monthly fee that is used to expand and maintain emergency service. The fee is either an amount per line or a percentage of revenue. State law mandates the fee. ”
Ok, fine, it’s 911.
Local Wireless 911 Surcharge
…this one has me stumped.
NY State Sales Tax
Ok, fine, it’s sales tax.
NY State Telecom Tax
This one, I could find nothing on, it almost appears to be named this way on purpose as all of these taxes are “telecom tax.” I do need to note that this is one of the most expensive on the list.
City Sales Tax
Ok, fine, it’s sales tax. …even if redundant.
City Telecom Tax
Again, like its state counterpart, this one is shady. It’s actually more expensive than the state telecom tax. I wonder if these telecom taxes are just being pocketed.
City District Telecom Tax
This one completely has me stumped. Seriously, what is the difference between this and the above?
If anyone has ANY insight to what some of these are, please email me, leave a comment, something! I really don’t understand why it’s okay to increase bills between 15-20% on people with charges that seem completely made up. There seems to be no explanation. I “thumbed: through this out-dated piece of crap: http://www.tax.state.ny.us/pdf/stats/policy_special/telecommunications/2000/local_telecommunications_taxes_and_fees.pdf Good luck finding more recent accounts of what these charges are if you can: http://www.tax.state.ny.us If I turn up anything, you’ll be the first to know. Here’s another list of some explanation I turned up: http://www.dps.state.ny.us/TelecomTaxesSurcharges.html, but plenty of the charges appearing on the bill are not present here. (Wow, I ended up citing some sources after all.)
I guess the lesson here is simple folks, if you run your own business, add a surcharge of some sort. Make it $5. If you can get 5 dollars from every customer just because they’re your customer, think of the extra money you’ll make over the years.
Venting about Extra Credit
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Extra Credit Question
Resolution 1280 x 720 pixels, File size 800K
Resolution 1280 x 720 pixels, File size 83.6K
…just sayin’. I still love my professor in a non-homo way.
*Images provided by http://twitter.com/JasonInNJ
I Prove Jeff Jarrett Sucks
0
I’ve been watching wrestling for almost 19 years. I have seen a lot of faces come and go. One face, however, that should have gone a long time ago, but managed to stick around, is that of Jeff Jarrett. Jeff Jarrett is not enjoyable to watch at all. I never was excited about him, either for or against him. I just didn’t like the guy, not in the “I boo the bad guy” way either. Disliking a bad guy in wrestling (for you non-wrestling fans) is known in the business as “heat.” A wrestler gains “heat” by appealing negatively to the fans. Jeff Jarrett has simply bored the life out of me whenever he is taking up precious TV time. As a heel (wresting jargon for “bad guy”) he generates no heat, the fans just want him to go away. As a good guy, he’s just boring. Both sides of that coin see him doing the same thing, breaking a guitar over someone’s head. Unlike the Honky Tonk Man who predates him, nobody cares when he does it, partially because he did it way too much.
So after being a unentertaining wrestler for a long time, he founded his own company and has been there ever since. He made himself champion, of course, for a while. It took several years before I think he may have finally realized just how lousy he was to watch. But onto my main point, how do I actually prove that Jarrett sucks?
This is Barry Horowitz
Barry Horowitz was what is known as a “jobber.” This means that he basically lost every match to major superstars who were being made to look good. He collected a paycheck and moved on with his life. Horowitz, however, shocked the world once, by winning a match against a then-superstar known as “Skip.” Skip claimed this was a fluke and the two tangled again, only to see another victory for Horowitz. The feud came to a head at Summer Slam 1995, so you have this jobber appearing on a major pay per view event. For only a minute, the entire world rallied behind Barry Horowitz hoping he would overcome the evil Skip. To those of us who remember this, I ask you, have you ever cared about any Jeff Jarrett match nearly as much as this one Barry Horowitz match? To those who only are finding out about this now, I’ll answer for you, “no.” Jeff Jarrett has never garnered as much interest as this one match with Barry Horowitz. I cannot think of any further evidence I need to present to relay this message any clearer. Barry Horowitz, who was not particularly interesting as a performer still managed to perform on a level higher than Jeff Jarrett has been able to attain.
The Birthday Massacre Meet and Greet
1We arrived at about 1:30 PM for the meet and greet scheduled for 2 PM. We got a good place in line and headed on in. It was cute to see some fans so excited. There was a nice intimate setting, so one could actually have a dialogue with the band and not feel rushed. We got in, I told Chibi I was the guy that freaked last year and told her the album was Thriller caliber, she remembered! She signed my CD, signed Ana’s iPod, we took some pics, and I told her to visit Trash and Vaudeville. Finally, being a geek, told them I’d be honored if they’d follow me on Twitter. It was really awesome! The other band members liked my shirt, we chatted about wrestling for a moment. Only M2J would talk to The Birthday Massacre about wrestling, I know.
My Trip to Texas for WrestleMania
1So, after the previous mentioned debacle getting to Texas, we finally arrived the morning of April 3rd. After getting our rental car, a PT Cruiser, we headed out to Stafford to check in to our room. Doing some research led me to select the La Quinta. It was a nice little place, 2 star hotel, but received exceptional reviews. The lady at the desk greeted us, “How ya’ll doin’?” Oh yeah, we had arrived. Surrounding us was an IHOP, Hooters and some Konichiwa place. We checked in and I almost immediately crashed. I stayed awake the entire night in Atlanta and had to take a break. It was roughly noon and we had planned to attend a charity event with wrestlers appearing, one of which was Jake Roberts. We discovered that there were two events taking place back to back, and Jake’s portion would take place from 4-7 PM, giving me a chance to sleep a little while longer. First, we ordered pizza. It was horrible. See the picture below for a glimpse of what a horror that was. Then I crashed finally. Sean managed to revive me at about 5:30. I quickly showered and we headed out to catch the tail end of the event. We got to the convention right as the wrestlers were packing up. We ran to meet Jake, and meet him we did. I apologized for holding him up and he told me (playfully) to take my shirt and stick it up my ass. Then we posed for the picture Jake requested that we not grab his ass. Then Sean showed him his Halloween costume to see his response. Jake quickly responded “You’re a sick bastard.” After walking away, I was overjoyed with how unique of an experience it was to have your childhood hero tell you off. I called my dad and told him immediately. Then we went back to the hotel, chilled a little bit more and tried to make dinner plans with Dennis (who was also in Houston). We told him we wanted to try Hooters, which was near an IHOP off of whatever the highway was, I think 59. Chance would have it that he would end up at another Hooters right next to a different IHOP right down the road. We just ate at our respective Hooters. It was decent food, everyone was cheering watching a basketball game. The waitresses were all super hot. My waitress touched my shoulder and I fainted. Then, I ventured somewhere that I never thought I would be again, to Austin. Why was I venturing there? I was going to see someone whom I never thought I would see again, Holly.
We arrived at Holly’s at about 1 AM. She started a barbecue as a small shindig for us and it snowballed into a huge party. I met a ton of people and saw a few people who I hadn’t seen in 9 years. I couldn’t believe how much time passed. Sean and I took over the music and Holly, Logan (her boyfriend), Sean and myself all caught up and chatted for a long time. Holly was an awesome host, she even got a six pack of Becks, since everyone else in Texas drinks Bud Light. We had a blast talking again. It was really a trip, I really never thought I’d be crossing paths with Holly ever again realistically. Thankfully, the WWE held Wrestlemania at a venue geographically desirable to do so. Sean and I hung out till around 6 AM or so and headed back to Houston. We arrived back at the hotel around 9 AM or so, I was ready for bed.
I woke up mid-day and just wanted to lounge and catch my breath. We really hadn’t taken a break since we got there. We ordered more pizza. We know, we know… we wanted to go out and get like, meat, steak, hamburgers, but it was Texas and we were lazy. We wanted to order and all we could find were more pizza places and Chinese. We opted to try pizza from a different place one more time… This is what resulted…
We watched the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony on USA and then coordinated an evening out with Dennis and his friend Kevin. We got started at about 12:30 on our way out, and Kevin informed us that in Texas, last call was 2 AM. For a group of NY boys, this wasn’t cool. We then hit traffic and discovered that Texans don’t handle accidents like NYers. The whole highway was shut down. People just got out of their car, talked and hung out with each other. We got to downtown Houston at about 1:30. We didn’t really have time to do anything so we just drove around and just scope out the city. It was a quaint little place, felt like Tribeca. We then got some grub from Whataburger and called it a night.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Waffle House. On the menu, under hash browns, it gave the options of “smothered” or “covered.” Dennis remarked that the lyrics of that Bloodhound Gang song now made more sense. What a catch! I had grits for the first time. They were good. I told the server that I didn’t want pulp in my orange juice, he replied, “What’s that?” We had a long conversation about wrestling with most of the employees and some customers. We grabbed some beer at a gas station. I sensed Moon Pies when I walked in, and found them, and Sean got me the entire thing. Then it was time for Wrestlemania.
Although it was hard to see the ring from out seats, despite them being close, being there is just amazing. The production is second to none. There were quite a few surprises, some were good, some were bad. The entire crowd was on the edge of their seats for Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels. The Hardy match was excellent. John Cena having Edge and Big Show on his back, if even for just a second, was a great sight. I think everyone in the arena was expecting Randy Orton to win the title, but he didn’t. The only let down of the night (other than Mickey Rourke not doing the Ram Jam) was Triple H winning.
We bounced, got back to our hotel and Sean and I hit up a diner. I had a huge burger which was excellent and a carmel cheesecake dessert which was outstanding. We got some sleep and sadly, the next morning was the time for us to depart. We checked out got on the plane and got back to Atlanta. After a slight delay, we got to NY, took a cab home, and IMMEDIATELY WENT TO ROSA’S. Seriously, we didn’t wait, we went to the car and got real pizza. We returned to my apartment and watched Raw. This traveling thing is fun, I want to do it more.
AirTran Sucks
5I sit here in the Atlanta Airport at 4 AM telling this story.
Upon arriving for our 5:35 departure from LGA (flight 288) we were told that there were delays going to Atlanta (which was the original plan) and that there would be a 12 hour layover and our flight to Houston would depart at 8:30 AM. Shaniqua was very unsympathetic and didn’t seem to care what we were told previously by other employees, or what our boarding passes (which had been printed moments before) said. The plane continued to be delayed. Several members of our party checked online, called airtran customer service and one person (Jade) spoke to Chantell, who said everything was fine, despite the delay, we would be heading to Atlanta and then Houston on the same flight (as planned). Another employee (a gate agent) relayed the same info.
We waited on the runway for a very long time, in addition to the delay. We finally took off around 10, for a flight that was scheduled to leave at 5:35. We arrived in Atlanta at about 12:20. We were then informed that the flight to Houston, Texas was indeed in the morning. We were again greeted by a bitchy woman who cleverly hid her nametag with a scarf. We snapped a picture, however.
She was very controlling and impatient with us, as if we were doing something wrong. She wasn’t able to help us very much and sent us to customer service. We then spoke to Keith and Barbara, both who also didn’t offer us any help. They gave us a telephone number for customer care and told us to try them in the morning. We were offered a voucher for a DISCOUNT at a hotel. In other words, we’re sorry we stranded you in a city you didn’t intend on staying in, spend more money. By the time we got to the hotel, we would have about 4 hours before we would simply have to leave, it was a slap in the face.
Having plenty of time to kill, we chilled out for a while (Sean, Jade, and myself) and ate, chatted, and then they slept. I reformatted my Mac for some reason, and then tethered my iPhone again to us as a modem instead of paying their nonsense Wifi fee. I googled “Airtran sucks” and surprise surprise, quite a lot of stories that matched my own. This is the most unprofessional airline ever. If you have ever been fired from a job, fly airtran and you’ll feel like a Fortune 500 CEO.
I’m done for now, hopefully the next post I have is more happy news.
flow
i agree
2 months ago
karloce
Simple Mobile sucks!!!!!!
Simple Mobile sucks, I have used it for 3 months and paid ahead of time and they still had the phone […]
3 months ago
jay
my name is mr.patel and i place an order for new simple mobile sim card and $40 unlimited talk text and web + $10 unlimited ild
my reciept […]
3 months ago
