May 07, 2008
New Cell Phone Law
I can't wait for the new California cell phone law to go into effect. I believe that cell phone use causes lots of accidents (and I know that hands-free doesn't help). What galls me on a daily basis are the little discourtesies, the obliviousness at intersections and in parking lots. The offending gabber usually drives on by never noticing the cars that made quick stops or gave up their right-of-way to accommodate their idiotic habit.
Posted by John at 08:47 PM | permalink | Comments (0)
October 04, 2007
MLB.COM scam
So this really pissed me off today:
If one were, for instance going to be without cable tv for the baseball playoffs because, for instance, one is in temporary housing thinking one will move to permanent housing any week and thus never got cable, and if the new permanent home where one is actually moving in a day or so can't be wired for cable tv right away because the cable guys only come on Wednesdays and today is Thursday, one might go to the site of Major League Baseball on the Net, mlb.com. There one would see a little box with games in progress. A series of icons points to ways to follow the games: a tv icon to watch, if one is a paid subscriber, the game on mlb.tv; a speaker icon to listen to (paid subscription) audio; and a baseball diamond icon to get the free, live cartoon game representation call "GameDay." If one is frugal, like yours truly, GameDay suffices during the regular season. If one were to think, however, "Let's see how much it costs to see the playoff games" and then clicks on the TV icon, one is transported to a page which looks like this: View image.
The page says, "to access this content, you will need to purchase one of the subscriptions below." The options are for "2007 MLB.TV postseason domestic package" or "2007 MLB.TV postseason international package." If one reaches the logical conclusion that, being based in the US, the domestic option will allow one to "access," i.e., watch (because one has just clicked the tv icon and then connected "watch" with "access") all the games online and clicks the purchase button, one sees this: View image.
One then clicks "proceed to checkout," and pays the $14.95. Then if one returns to the link and tried to watch, say the Cleveland-New York Game 1, one is told that the "game is blacked out in your region." One thinks, hey, I live in California, this is a mistake. Then one notices the message that if one thinks this is a mistake, one should call such-and-such toll-free number. One does and quickly learns that the blacked-out regions for ALL the games are: the United States (all of them), Guam, Japan, Korea, and the Virgin Islands. What the are actually selling - accessed via the TV link and under the name "MLB.TV package" - is live AUDIO of the game, and delayed, "archived" video. There is, you will notice in the images, a little tiny link to more information which lays all this out, but how much more information would a normal, intelligent person need for a "2007 MLB.TV postseason domestic package"?
When one calls the number and yells five or ten versions of "WTF?", one is quickly promised a refund "within seven to ten days" and assured - fake conspiratorially - that this confusion has happened one or two times before.
Criminy!
Posted by John at 10:10 PM | permalink | Comments (0)
September 28, 2007
A new gripe, a new blog category
I write a lot of letters of complaint, sometimes with real expectations of results, sometimes just to cool off. Usually I send them, sometimes not. I will inaugurate this new category with a letter I wrote last night after hearing the clink of chains and running downstairs here at our Brighton Park exile to find a tow truck about to haul our car off. The gripe letter will be in the mail today. Grrr. Idiots.
Dear Brighton Park Management:You tried to tow our car at 9:30 p.m. last night. I heard the noise and forestalled this with only seconds to spare. We have several objections which we wish to put in writing.
First, our understanding, confirmed by the manger who responded last night, is that unregistered cars cannot be parked in the open spaces after 10:00 p.m. So what were you doing hooking our car up at 9:30?
Secondly, we only received one warning. You have two stubs for warning tickets, so obviously one of them must have fallen off or been taken off by someone else. We had no idea that we were at risk of being towed for just one infraction. This possibility, of course, is one reason responsible management makes every effort to give fair warning before towing a car.
Having a car towed is expensive and a huge inconvenience. As property owners in a nearby condominium and active participants in the condo association there, we know that sometimes cars need to be towed and sometimes even residents’ cars, but we take this step only after making every effort to resolve the issue in some other way and giving ample warning. Since we have several times requested temporary permits for this car and it is clearly known to the security patrol, you could have called us or left a notice on our door or even fined us, for instance. We would have been doubly careful to move the car into the garage on time (not that that would have helped us this time!).
Third, your parking policy is unfair. Reasonable residential complexes assign two parking spots, often one outside stop and one inside spot, to two-bedroom apartments. If a resident has only one car, they can choose which to use. Your policy, under which we have been unable to register our car because we only have one, is patently unfair. It also, of course, encourages dishonesty, which we did not employ, but in retrospect we now think we should have told you we had two cars and registered the actual car for outside parking. In our case, our garage is far from our unit, and we have a toddler, so parking in the garage is a burden.
Finally, rules are of course important for the smooth functioning of a residential complex, but when, as we have observed here, management routinely charges infractions for petty things—the occasional bicycle (in a complex without bike racks!) or, gasp, a car that backs into a spot (what is that about?), this generates ill-will, low morale, and even lower rates of compliance. We have noted this in the complex where we own. Lighten up.
But most of all, if you’re going to be sticklers about rules, at least follow them precisely. We are conscientious and try very hard to follow all the rules. Nine-thirty is not 10:00, and we expect an apology.
Posted by John at 12:05 AM | permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack