Category: Rant

I’ve been playing phone tag with my car insurance company to see if they could match my house insurance with another company.  On the phone, it sounded like this would not be possible but when I received a package in the mail outlining the details of their package, it turns out that they made a mistake and it reduced the price I pay for current house insurance by $100 a year.  Bonus!

Thinking this would be the best route to follow, I decided to phone up my current home insurance company to see if they could ‘give me a better price’ on my home insurance.  I never mentioned that I had sought out other quotes, I just wanted to see what they would do.

Faithful readers of this collection of my thoughts are by far more wise than I therefore I can only assume that you already know what I’m going to say.  Turns out that the representative on the other end of the line said she would look for any ‘discounts’ that she could apply and sure enough she found one.  Turns out that I have (surprisingly) have a good credit rating so this equates to a 14% reduction in my annual insurance amount.  So now I basically saved myself $100 a year on home insurance and it comes out to $1 less a month than my car insurance company.  They said they would apply this immediately which means I get a $2 deposit in my bank account for this month’s insurance and next month the new amount coming out starts.

Let’s think of a few things..

•  My new annual payout is $50 less than what I paid last year.  Could I have received this ‘discount’ last year?
• They sent me a renewal notice which had the exorbitant amount on it.  But after a simple phone call, they lower it by $100 a year.

And here’s where my thoughts on customer service come into play.  Instead of feeling great about being with this company, I feel shafted.  I feel that their automated systems should be able to see if there are any ‘discounts’ they can apply every month.  Imagine the feeling you would have if you received notice that they just automatically discovered that your credit rating is amazing so they will be reducing the amount you need to pay.  Congrats!  It’s like winning the lottery!

But no, what am I thinking?  I guess insurance companies don’t really have us to think about, right?  It’s all about them and if they can keep goughing me for monthly payments that are higher than what they really need, heck, why not?

Good samiritans abound.

Case in point, I guess I know that it’s up to me to investigate these things and this is my public service message for the day: Call your insurance companies and ask them the simple question “Is there any way we can lower the amount I pay?”.  That’s all I did and I have now lowered the amount by $100.  I have this feeling that I should leave them anyhow for not following strict Wal-Mart customer ideals, but something tells me the next insurance company is no better.

iplaying: If The World – Guns N’ Roses (Chinese Democracy – YES, it’s finally out after fifteen years and it isn’t bad at all.)

I work in the province of Quebec yet live in Ontario.  I phoned to order a Cancer Society lottery ticket today and the person on the other end of the line said she was unable to process my order because I did not have a phone number which resided in Ontario.  I did explain that I did live in Ontario and wondered if I could still order the ticket but alas, this was not the case.

Now, call me crazy, but as a charity, wouldn’t you want to accept anyone’s credit card as sufficient information to process a ticket purchase?

Strange.  Hey, I just noticed it was for the Canadian Cancer Society, not the Ontario Cancer Society!  What gives?

http://www.reportonbusiness.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080904.wrzoom04/BNStory/Business/home

So as you may have heard, Zoom Airlines shut its doors and now people are stranded all over the world trying to get back home.  Granted, some of them are stranded in the Caribbean…I can think of worse spots to be stranded.  But at the same time, if I’m stuck in the airport for that time, ick.

But where did the integrity go to?  Have we lost our ‘Good Samaritism’?  I would like to think that if I had a business and I knew I would be closing up shop, I would leave my customers in a fine fashion, not leaving them disappointed.  Sure, Zoom Airlines doesn’t really have anything to lose in the future if they should ever open up their doors again.  They’ll just change their name and even if they do have good rates for flights, people will probably forgive the fact that they had to strand a bunch of people across the globe.

I just don’t get it.  Has business become so cut throat that you can’t have a conscience anymore?  It’s all smoke and mirrors these days and you can’t very well knock on the door of the President of Zoom Airlines and say “It just took me three weeks to get back to Canada because of you.  What were you thinking?”

It kind of disgusts me to start putting our world under a microscope and realize that the Samaritans have moved on elsewhere nowadays.  That’s why I don’t like to pay attention to these matters and focus on the funny papers.  Oh Calvin, you so funny.

Here’s my rant du jour.  Let’s talk about the online community and local shops.  Clearly there is a vast difference in pricing available online vs. buying from a local shop.  Local shops have quite the overhead to think about (building costs, etc.) whereas an online business can get by with just having room for all their storage and perhaps some staff members (or a lot of them if you are Amazon).

While I try to buy stuff at the local shops, I can’t bring myself to doing it in some cases.  If an items is a few bucks more, no worries.  But when you see a vast increase on the price, you have to wonder how you can justify spending it.

Let’s talk about comic books for a moment.  I was taking a look at some back issues of X-Men in the store yesterday and I was finding prices ranging from $3-$5.  Now, I (like every other collector) would love to sell my comics at prices like these but in reality, with Ebay, it just can’t happen usually.  I managed to snag a big lot of X-Men comics back near Christmas which came out to around $1 an issue.  So really, what would entice me to spend upwards of $2-$4 extra on a comic book?  I understand the concept of supporting a local business but I’m wondering if there is something they can change in their operations to match what online competitors can offer.

In the end, I think retail will be vastly changing in the future (if it hasn’t already).  I know that if I lived up North still, I wouldn’t even bother with big trips down South.  I would just order everything on-line and take advantage of any free shipping deals I could find.

So unfortunately, while I would like to support the local community, I realize that there is a limit to my generosity and paying upwards of 30% extra for an item is nowhere near my limit.

How do others feel about this?  I think it partly comes down to fiscal ability (how much money do you actually have to spend?) vs. community support (would you rather see a local shop rather than a giant conglomerate come into town?) but at what point do you feel that you can’t justify NOT going to the big name retailers or online to purchase things?

iplaying: Burning Wheels – The Trews – No Time For Later

Sara definitely called me on my “harsh stereotype of indie rock”.  I agree.  It was a little off the wall but I attribute it to the Monday morning talking.  Really, I enjoy indie rock and it should not receive such a blatant accusation as I have given them.  I retract that statement.

But I hate, hate, hate the label of indie rock.  As Sara pointed out in her comment, the only distinguishing feature of ‘indie’ is that the band is not signed to a major label.  Well, what does ‘indie rock’ have to do with the musical label associated with it?  You can’t honestly tell me that if my band is indie rock, that we will sound the same as the other dude who is labeled indie rock who sounds nothing like us but is still deemed indie rock because they are not signed to a label.

Somewhere, some long time ago, someone went a little haywire with the musical genre naming convention.  It most likely started with ‘alternative’.  Let’s go to Wikipedia for its all knowing source of knowledge:

Alternative rock (also called alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative; known primarily in the UK as indie) is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. The term “alternative” was coined in the 1980s to describe punk rock-inspired bands on independent record labels that did not fit into the mainstream genres of the time.[1] As a musical genre, alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as grunge, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop. These genres are unified by their collective debt to the style and/or ethos of punk, which laid the groundwork for alternative music in the 1970s.[2]

Let’s talk about this for a bit, shall we?  Back in the nineties, if you said you were into Alternative music, chances are you liked the heavy guitars associated with grunge, or something of that form.  But then in a few years after, rock just morphed its way from being the hair metal rock that we all know and love, to some decent music coming out of the Britpop scene or just straight out rock that just didn’t fit into the 80s scene.  It started getting wishy-washy.  Then alternative became this weird term…”Do you really like the alternative music (the underground) or do you like the alternative music on the radio (Oh, Nirvana, how the mighty have fallen).

Take a look at the definition of alternative in the UK.  So is their indie music the same as our indie music?

Wikipedia says that in the United States (Indie):

During the first half of the 1990s, alternative music, led by grunge bands such as Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana broke into the mainstream, achieving commercial chart success and widespread exposure. Shortly thereafter the alternative genre became commercialized as mainstream success attracted major-label investment and commercially-oriented or manufactured acts with a formulaic, conservative approach. With this, the meaning of the label “alternative” changed away from its original, more counter-cultural meaning to refer to alternative music that achieved mainstream success and the term “indie rock” was used to refer to the bands and genres that remained underground.

So I guess the bands I used to listen to in the 90s were indie rock, but as soon as they signed to a major label, they just shifted to Alternative, or in my case, grunge rock.  Fine.  At least I knew what I was getting into if someone told me I was listening to grunge, although I sure hope no one labeled The Smashing Pumpkins as such.

So now we are in here in the year 2008 and the music genre naming convention is a mess.  Look at some of the terms found in Wikipedia under indie rock: post-punk, garage rock, no wave, baroque pop, new prog, post-rock, dance-punk, post-punk revival, post-post rock, psych folk, post-post-post rock.  Is there no end?  Even Indie rock doesn’t even know what the heck it is anymore in terms of definition.  So why the heck are we still using these really nonsensical terms to describe a type of music?

When someone asks me what The National is like, I really can’t pinpoint it.  I suppose there’s a beauty in that considering not all music has to be the same (unless you want it on the radio of course!) but it does make it hard to define.  I would not define The National as indie rock as the other bands which form my general stereotype of that musical genre are definitely different than The National.

Is anyone else out there frustrated with the naming conventions of musical genres?  Or are you loving the fact that in this day in age, everything flies and in the end, they are beyond naming conventions and when it comes down to it, it’s all about the music, man.

Let’s save my rant of service fees for tickets until another day shall we?

Let’s talk about credit card numbers.

More specifically, the magical code on the back of the card known as the CARD VERIFICATION VALUE.

What is this number used for? Let’s look into some history here for a moment. Time machine ahoy!

The second code, and the most cited, is CVV2 or CVC2. This CSC (also known as a CCID or Credit Card ID) is often asked for by merchants so that they can secure “card not present” transactions occurring over the Internet, by mail, fax or over the phone. In many countries in Western Europe, due to increased attempts at card fraud, it is now mandatory to provide this code when the cardholder is not present in person.

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Card_Security_Code (otherwise known as the Encyclopedia Galactica)

Now, I don’t know about you, but I swear everytime I have used my credit card over the phone or over the Internet, there is always the need to state this magical CVV2 number. They claim that this ensures that you have the card in your posession.

Hogwash. Let me ask you this…when you have to lend your credit card number out of to your wife for her to order some books on Amazon.com, what should you give her? You give her the 16 digit code and the expiry date.

You shouldn’t also have to give her another 3 digit code since every website asks for it! It’s just three more digits to write down/memorize/whatever. It is hogwash (I’m loving this word today) that by stating this magical 3-digit number will automatically mean that you have the card in your possession. Huh, sure wasn’t the case when I borrowed Mom’s credit card information to order some Eric Clapton tickets. I just grabbed everything I needed – the account number, the expiry date…oh and let’s not forget the newfangled invention which is the CVV2 number.

Honestly, what are businesses thinking?

However, I must say something here in their defense.

“Online merchants who require the CVV2 in their transactions are forbidden[3] in the USA by Visa from storing the CVV2 once the individual transaction is authorised and completed. This way, if a database of transactions is compromised, the CVV2 is not included, and the stolen card numbers are less useful.”

Hmm…that’s an interesting concept. So are they saying if I choose to store my credit card information on a website (like Amazon.com), that everytime I go back, I have to at least type in the CVV2 number to confirm that I in fact would like to use my credit card information which is stored in their database? Interesting.

By the way, for those who are out there storing their information in someone’s database, shame on you. Well…what I should say is that you must leave your doors unlocked during the day and night also. Actually, you have no need for locks in the first place if you leave your credit card information in supposed safe databases. All it takes is one goofball who wants revenge on some lousy job to steal a hard drive worth of information.

I have heard from various people that they did not hand out candy this year to the little ones. Let’s list a few valid reasons for choosing not to do so:

• You have a kid that you have to bring around the block. Totally understandable. You can’t be in two places at once. They need protection, plus you have to swindle a few extra treats out of the Scrooges.
• Your dog has just died. Totally understandable.
• You live in an apartment building. Totally understandable. It’s not like you’re going to camp out in the lobby and give out candy to the kids. But if you choose to do that, bravo! You’re a star!
• You’re living day-to-day on funds. Totally understandable.
• Your religion forbids it. Totally understandable. Don’t even try to pawn off one of those ‘personal religions’ in your defense.

Now for those of you rotten no-good adults who have chosen not to give out candy because:

• You didn’t want to be bothered.
• You feel there’s enough houses on the block that you don’t need to be one. The kids will get their own candy.
• You’re cheap.
• Some other lame reason that I haven’t thought about here.

Here’s my message to you Scrooges. Yeah, I know, Palmer shouldn’t have an opinion and he should remain politically correct. Well not today.

If you choose to not give out candy, you should be ashamed. We ALL know that we have all enjoyed a good Trick-or-treating event when we were younger (unless religion prevented it…are there any that boycott Hallowe’en? Perhaps the Jehovah’s Witnesses.) and that you should pay your dues. It’s your duty as an adult who lives in their own domain. Now, for those who still live with their parents, heck, let your parents hand out the candy. It ain’t your house.

Honestly, you are the lowest of the low, the scum of the Earth for not handing out candy. I think that if you decide not to hand out candy just because you can’t be bothered, then your children should pay the price and when every other kid on the block is getting some candy, you will have to explain to your kids that they cannot because you are a Scrooge. Or, at least, you were a Scrooge ONCE in your life because after you read Palmer’s Rant you realized that you will never make this mistake again and will hand out candy. In that case, everyone can make a mistake ONCE, and their children shouldn’t have to pay for your crimes. But if you so much as do this mistake TWICE, your child is getting worms to chew on at Hallowe’en.

This goes out to those who decided not to give out candy for lame-ass reasons. I know you’re out there because you’ve told me in person. I hope the look on my face at the time haunts you.

If any of you has a lame-ass reason that wasn’t listed here and you wish to ask me if it’s a good enough reason not to hand out candy, please feel free to send it to me and I will be judge as to whether or not you should be shamed or not.

Vero has competed in Improv games since in high school. Improv is like “Whose Line is it Anyways?” for all the English folk out there. The Francophone community definitely knows what improv is.

She did not participate in the past year due to other obligations, but a few weeks ago her old team asked if she could take part in the semi-finals since a girl dropped out. Plus, she kicks ass and would guarantee a spot in the Finals. She’s great.

So the semi-finals were last night and they were getting ready and the girl who dropped out comes back and they end up taking her back onto the team – leaving Vero in the dust.

Then the guilt sets in of course and they say stuff like “Don’t worry, we’ll bring you into the Finals with us!” and “We’ll make sure your name is on the cup!”

//begin rant
What the hell man? This is a classic case of Nice People Getting Screwed. Here is helpful Vero taking time out of her night to do something she’s really excited to do, and then she gets thrown to the wayside.

If I was in the team, I would have said “You know what? You bailed on us and we had to get a replacement. We appreciate that you’re back, but why don’t you sit this one out and when we get to the Finals you can come on back.”

Or, in a less polite manner “You vermin, get bent.”

In the end, Vero gets screwed and nice people shouldn’t get screwed. I especially like how the team said “Yeah, come on back for the Finals!”. Right…so she can just not play in the games again?

Word to the asses of the world: If you’re going to be an ass anyhow, don’t feel guilty about it. Step up like a man (or whoa-man), say you’re sorry and end it like that. No one needs to hear your pitiful speech. It just makes people laugh at you.
//end rant

*disclaimer* In no way do I hate bus drivers usually. I think they provide an excellent public service and that they have timelines to adhere to and can’t stop for every joker who can’t make it to the bus stop on time.

But sometimes you just have to be in the right mood to get pissed off at these guys.

The Scene: End of my class. 9:00 at night. Busses don’t flow that regularly. Especially the 95x out to my car.

The Scene: 95x pulls up to the stop. I see it from down the street. I sprint.
95x pulls away from the stop but 50 metres later there’s a red light. He’s on one side of the intersection, I’m on the other trying to get over to the other side.

The Problem: Can’t really make it across…traffic pretty heavy. I wait it out. I wave to the driver. I’m thinking “This guy is going to be one of the nice one’s. He’ll open up his door and pick me up so I don’t have to wait 1/2 hour for the next 95x. It’s the dead of the night here…no one is out here. He can afford the time. ”

The Action: Light turns green, I start running across the street with the bus pass waving in my hand and my eyes meet with his.

He pulls away. This guy had the look of “Oh well, sorry, nothing I can do.”

Bullshit. There is something you can do. Be a human being and let the poor guy on the bus. It’s the middle of the night, not during rush hour.

Like I said before, I know that bus drivers have schedules to keep and sometimes they can’t be bothered to pick up some straggler who is 50 meters away from the bus stop. But let’s be honest here…I was close enough to touch the bus when I locked eyes with him.

I would like to think I would pick up every straggler along the route just so I can create an ethical relationship (that’s a new term I learned last night) between a stranger and myself.

I think we should have a guest interview of Joe’s brother to hear the inside scoop. I bet he’s one of the good ones, but I bet he also has some days where he can’t be bothered to pick up a straggler.

It would be the equivalent to…the guy in the meeting room who always forgets his agenda and you have to share yours with him. Get your own dang agenda boy!

No one should step in the way of Palmer when he is pissed about getting an emergency phone for the road. They will feel the wrath which is KALIMA! (this is in fact a nod to the day of Inidiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when the guy yells out KALIMA! and then rips a guy’s heart of his chest. I don’t even know if Chuck Norris could hold back his roundhouse kick to achieve such a feat.)

Here I am thinking that in this world of nice, civil society who want to help out each other, that I can switch to an emergency pay as you go plan so I can leave the cell phone in the car and just use it if there’s an emergency (like running late getting to Vero!).

But alas, no, the cell phone companies are big money mongers. As far as I can tell, you CAN get a prepaid card with ‘x’ amount of minutes on it for emergencies…but the card expires after 60 days of purchase! So if I don’t use them, voila, they are gone! And if I don’t use them, voila, I have to buy another freaking card!

What a scam. $25 every sixty days for an emergency phone. One may think, “Hey Palmer, this isn’t a bad deal when you think about it.”

I suppose if you think about what you would pay in an emergency for a phone, then no, $12.50 a month ain’t that big of a deal. But still…are there no TRUE emergency cell phones out there?

I’m calling out to you, my loyal readers to point me to a true emergency phone. That, in the need of an emergency, I don’t really care if it costs me $5 a minute…as long as I don’t have to pay anything until I use it.

This is your mission. Accept it.

iplaying: Crown of Love by The Arcade Fire – Funeral