So I railed on HP for not holding up their end of the bargain I made with them when I bought my new computer. The salesman on the phone did tell me it was 12 months same as cash, yadda yadda, so I took the opportunity to know I wouldn’t have to deal with interest rates for a year to pay it off and use that tax incentive check (cough, cough) to pay down another CC. Gotta love those CCs (sigh).
I put my account in dispute because I know what I heard on the phone - it wasn’t 3 months same as cash it was 12, dammit. The first letter I received was from HP claiming that the only promotion they offer is 3 months same as cash. Na uh.
Yesterday in the mail came a letter from the HP Home & Home Office cc account. And yes, they corrected my account to reflect the same as cash with payments 12 months, which expires 4/4/09.
There is some justice in the world after all… and it just goes to show you - fight for your consumer rights!
HP - I forgive you, because I love my new computer!
So … I woke up the other night around 3 a.m. in a cold sweat. My student loan will be jumping from $144/month to over $400/month. I don’t have enough blood to sell to cover that payment. Is this all part of the credit crunch mortgage meltdown thing? Is it trickling down to us shlubs that have student loans we’ve been paying on forever?
Well… part of it is my fault, I guess. I was under their income sensitive payment plan because, let’s face it, in this economy all our income is pretty sensitive. I knew it would end within the year. And yet I had no plans on how I was going to cover the extra $200/month I’ll now need to pay it.
I know there are loads of people out there going through this same thing. Student loans, unfortunately, are a necessity these days if you want to go to college. Sad, isn’t it? In Europe most get their education paid for (unless they opt to go to an ivy league European equivalent school) and yet we, in America, get to become indentured slaves for the rest of our lives while we pay off massive amounts of money for an education that rarely gives us the salaries we need anymore to pay for the loans in the first place.
I mean… my mortgage has a smaller interest rate than my student loan!
I wrote to Suze Orman for help. Maybe she has a few ideas. I’ve searched the Internets for things I can do. And, unfortunately, I can’t join the Peace Corps, Americorp or any other corp that doesn’t promise a living wage. I can’t teach in an urban environment (I’m not good in a classroom filled with kids), I can’t join the military (too old, wouldn’t want to anyway)… So the choices for someone like me are limited. I already used up my income sensitive payment plan and any deferments I might have been able to do. I’m not unemployed, a part-time or full-time student, nor can I claim a hardship deferment. I just simply don’t make enough to cover the usual bills - mortgage, etc. I’m single and have one income aside from whatever freelance stuff I bring in.
Sigh.
I wonder if my orange, snakeskin heels will bring in some money from ebay…
Recently, I purchased a spankin’ new computer. After 5 years of a previous refurbished HP, I wanted a faster, sleeker model. I also wanted a wide screen monitor.
All that in hand - I searched Dell and sought out one of their salespeople. Let’s just say, by the time I could figure out what he was saying I had already tuned out on my own price configuration using their online customization service.
I had the same situation at Best Buy, though the sales person was quite knowledgeable and very helpful.
I decided I would go to the source, HP themselves, since that’s what I was looking for. I found the configuration of the machine I wanted - that part of the task on their Website was easy - but calling for a sales person proved difficult. Throughout a 24-hour period I spoke to 4 different sales people! I should have given up at that point and moved on to the local computer shop near me that does custom-built machines.
Nah. I through it. I was finally given credit to buy the machine and a promotional, discounted price (which they play haggle you for but if you ask for it they’ll give it to you - it’s the ol’ used car salesman trick. Off something at a “discount” but you’ll get them later in the backend). After another 24 hours of waiting for the credit to come through (so I could buy the machine) I call back and discover that I have to go through the entire process all over again with yet another sales person. Now, I was originally told, as well, that this would be a 12-month no interest deal, which also helped cement my reason for purchasing the HP through HP’s site.
After explaining the discounted price I was told I would get, the 12-month no interest deal and the configuration I wanted the computer was set and due to arrive within two weeks.
One must remember - if HP ships anything to you make sure you’re HOME. They instruct UPS NOT to leave any packages so if you don’t have anyone AT YOUR HOUSE to sign for it you’ll have to wait for the next day when they return to your house again. Luckily, I just happened to be home the day UPS came.
At any rate, everything worked fine. Hallelujah. I did call them at one point for help but they couldn’t offer it. I found what I needed online anyway.
Several weeks went buy until I received the first bill and on it they state the promotional deal (not the discounted price but for the no-interest for 12 months) was ending in June - that’s only 90 days from the date of purchase (which was the day I called it in) but I just received the bill over the weekend, which meant there was only one more bill in the cycle until the interest kicked in. I called HP - bad move on a weekend. No answer, though I was on hold for over an hour waiting to find out they weren’t working then. I tried again Monday. I was on hold for over an hour again - their phone system REALLY needs updating.
I was told the bill would go into dispute, but basically it boils down to their words against mine. Guess who’ll win that one?
I probably won’t get the 12 months no-interest as they promised me. It was probably some desperate sales person who wanted to make a sale and made it sound as good as possible. Otherwise, why else do they NOT give their names or operator numbers when you talk to them? Nor do they send you confirmation of your call with the details of the sale.
I searched online for an answer, but all I got was a bunch of HP Sucks sites. I will say it again - I do like their machines, but their customer service royally sucks. I guess that’s where my tax rebate check will go even though every part of the machine is made outside of the U.S. So whose economy am I helping?
My friend Sherri and I walked around the Inman Park Art Festival yesterday in between thunderstorms. It was a beautiful day, really, other than the rain that flanked us in the morning and again in the evening. But I love the rain, so that didn’t bother me at all.
My favorite part of the festival was seeing Pete the Cat. Lame, I know. But I love Pete! I bought a t-shirt.
Of course, plenty of art caught my eye as well as sculpture, furniture and the homes… gorgeous homes.
This is James Dean, the artist who paints Pete the Cat in his new t-shirt. The t-shirt I bought is not listed on his site yet. It says Rock’n'Roll Pete and has Pete with a guitar on it. Much awesomeness.
Or should that be fun with the HOA? HOA meaning Home Owner’s Association. I’ve been on the board for a year and am scheduled to remain as Vice President for another. At least I can honestly say I’ve been the Vice President of something. Hopefully, that’ll be something Barack Obama can say when he concedes to Hillary and then the two run together on the Dem ticket.
It’s not that I want Hillary as President, though that would be cool given it’s my namesake, too. I definitely want a sticker! But I do think she can kick better Republican ass than Barack can, at the moment. He needs a bit more time to season in the boiling pot that is Washington, D.C. Though, if he does get the nomination I’m there 100%.
At this point, I don’t think it matters much to most Democrats - whomever is chosen we’ll be behind them all the way. We have to. It’s the only chance we’ll have to partially save the mess this country is in.
And don’t think for a moment that either of them will make drastic changes. They still need to deal with lobbyists, corporate and otherwise, the Senate and the House. If Congress remains predominantly Democrat a lot more things will happen. If not, there’ll be gridlock, as there is now.
Just my opinion on the matter.
And now… I’ll go do my Vice Presidential job at our annual HOA meeting and hope that I can help keep the group from arguing for higher monthly dues. Thank goodness our HOA President is a Democrat, too…
My friend Ric lives in Austin, TX and just had a whirlwind adventure with SXSW. Since I didn’t get to go this year I asked him what his stand out bands were, which he marked in his program book:
1. Die Die Die from New Zealand - “They were kinda like a hard-driving, punk and rock’n'roll band. They had a lot of good stage presence - good performers - they were jumping out into the crowd and grabbing people. Like, when they were singing they were grabbing people and bringing them up to the mic with them. Really entertaining. Lots of energy. Lots of sweat. 3-man band.”
2. Does This Offend You, Yeah? - “They’re from the U.K. They’re a 4-man band. They were like an electronic, rap, techno, dance band. They had a bass guitarist and two electric guitarists, one of them played keyboards, synthesizers and then a drummer. They had two keyboards set up - the guitar player would switch off to the keyboards. They were also high energy, hard-driving, jumping all over the damn stage and they didn’t even have a CD out. They don’t have a frickin’ CD out and they sent SXSW an MP3 and they really liked them and booked them. They also made it on the KEPX broadcast out of Seattle. They’re a really good band and I really liked them a lot. I tried to order their CD online. You can find them real easy - just Google them. It’s going to be great. Everyone should have this in their collection - it’s fun, it’s hoppy-poppy.”
3. One Mississippi - “Another 3-man band out of Austin - bass, guitar, drums. I happen to be there to listen to someone else and they came on. They were really good, high energy - like a punk rock’n'roll band, too. At times it reminded me of Credence Clearwater, a little bit, they did a Credence tune - I forgot which one, but it was one I really didn’t recognize but they said it was Credence. They were just a really good, hard-driving rock band. Everyone has that punk edge to them these days, you know? That rebellious edge.”
4. Beangrowers - From St. Julian’s, Malta - “3-person band. The lead was a girl who reminded me of an early Alanis Morissette. Great voice, good energy. I don’t know what type of music she was doing - I don’t know what the hell she was but she was good. Pretty attractive gal, too. I made a comment to that affect to her and she said, ‘thank you.’”
5. Do-The-Undo - “After I saw [Beangrowers] I saw a band from Amsterdam at the same venue called Do-The-Undo and they were a 4-man band - guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. They were like a kind of a pop band. The first song I wasn’t real crazy about but thought I’d give them a chance and the second song really took off. Being from Amsterdam their English was great and they were really entertaining. They had the crowd really growing. If they weren’t signed, they needed to get signed.”
6. Austin City Limits Studio - The Ravonettes - “They’re a 3-man band - one guy played bass, one girl who played guitar and keyboards, the other girl played percussion. They are from New York and Amsterdam. If you haven’t heard them you need to listen to them - they’re a band to be seen. They’ve got one or two CDs out. They’re a stand out band of the festival, everyone was raving about them. It’s a simple, eclectic, meaningful music - there’s depth in every song they sing, a story in every song they sing and it reminds me of U2 even more broke down from what they did.”
7. The Digitalism - “They were out of Hamburg, Germany. Two young guys just cranking out the jams. It was one of those Moby scenarios. I had to work hard to move up into the crowd to get to a place where I could dance. They were spinning vinyl and were really into it. They had these two women that were dancing that were barely clothed and they were dancing really erotically and I thought, ‘oh God, I gotta go home by myself.’ This was a swanky place. They had areas of the club that were tied off for special parties and stuff. They were playing a good techno, industrial dance music to bring the house down. It was the last official SXSW showcase I saw. They were great.”
“Out of all the bands I saw that week, and I saw a bunch of them, this is another standout - Carbon/Silicon they’re part of the members from The Clash, from London. I wouldn’t mind buying one of their CDs.”
One more note…
Damage - “They were a band from Osaka, Japan and they play a kind of dark, electronic, industrial music. I didn’t love them, but I did like them because I like the electronic/industrial music. They were on a darker edge. I like some dark stuff, but not all dark stuff. I dig Trent Reznor, big time, and like all his stuff, even though some of the lyrics are way out there. After a while Damage kind of sounded like the same old thing so I split. A lot of people liked them - they got the crowd going but I thought I could probably enjoy another band more so if I just left.”
I’ve been busy working on developing sites for people and some of them are coming along. Here’s a preview of a hobby site: www.webbilicious.com and then there’s my fun little site potterparodies.com.
I’m sitting here chatting with my old friend, Ric, in Austin, TX when all of a sudden I hear a BOOM! A transformer blew out and put our entire little complex in the dark. Of course, I had no matches in the house and had to dig around to find a lighter using the light of my laptop monitor (running on battery power). So laptops do have another use after all…
A few months ago Flagpole magazine in Athens, GA threw a 20th anniversary party. I posted my recollections of working for the magazine here and if you’re interested there’s a link to read what others have to say.
My head is filled with
the sound of the sea
I hear waves pounding
upon my temples
crashing
behind my brow
a slightly salty taste
lays on my tongue
but I think I’m imagining that
It ebbs and flows
roaring briefly and then retreating
I can see myself running away from
the oncoming flow
of water washing up
on the shore.
The foam rises in my sinuses
and crests in my nose
a kleenex would do well
to break up
the swelling tide
I reach for the bottle
that will alleviate the
pressure of the sea
against my head
The Litter Box 
So … I woke up the other night around 3 a.m. in a cold sweat. My student loan will be jumping from $144/month to over $400/month. I don’t have enough blood to sell to cover that payment. Is this all part of the credit crunch mortgage meltdown thing? Is it trickling down to us shlubs that have student loans we’ve been paying on forever? 
Recently, I purchased a spankin’ new computer. After 5 years of a previous refurbished HP, I wanted a faster, sleeker model. I also wanted a wide screen monitor.
My head is filled with
