Hi Ho The Derry-O
The eyes have cleared. The drops have done their thing and gone away (I hope.) Yeah, that's right - I'm back AND in full effect. Just like Kris Kross. Jump! Jump! Daddy Mac will make ya....
Oh, who am I kidding? Kris Kross is not back and in full effect, and neither am I. Three quarters effect would be more like it. My computer is acting up to the point where I (a guy who fixes computers for a living) can do nothing about it. It's nothing huge, but it is annoying. Among the symptoms are random shut off's, inexplicable error messages, and an inability to correctly render certain web pages involving complex flash. Basically, it's old as hell (This thing was made when Christ wore knickers!) and therefore suh-lowwwwwwwwww.. It really isn't good for much other than surfing and the occasional Word document - and even that's pressing it.
Lately it's gotten even worse, and I've been doing all my blogging (or lack thereof), MP3 ripping & burning, writing, etc.. on my work machine. This poses a few problems. It's highly irritating to have to stay late to do all this stuff (because I would NEVER perform extracurricular duties during work hours, nosiree.) It is also pretty unprofessional to have more .mp3 files than Excel spreadsheets on your work computers hard drive. WAY more. I shudder to think what would happen if the higher ups found out.... er, actually, I don't shudder - at all - but the fact remains.. certain activities should be done outside the workplace.
So for the past couple of days I've been doing some online shopping in addition to whatever else I try to do to skirt work. I should mention that I am SUPERB at wasting money, but the purchasing of big ticket items has always made my hair stand on end. The thought of spending a whole chunk of money at once is just... I don't know... the words 'scary as shit' come to mind. I would much rather waste my money in small amounts over time. Why make a lunch when you can go out and buy one? One more CD to the collection? Whatever - it's only $12 bucks. I mean yeah, you could say "This stuff all adds up", but only if you're willing and smart enough to do the math. I'm not - which is one reason why I'm reading Personal Finance for Dummies. I haven't finished it yet though, so the bad habit remains. In fact, my last two big ticket purchases (my beloved Flo - that's the name of my car, not a mail order bride, people - and my as yet unnamed high definition television set) were all made when the sellers in question were offering "0% financing for the life of the loan" deals. So, I could spend small(er) amounts over time, pay no interest, and still end up with the goods. Yay me.
As luck would have it, Dell Computer is offering one such deal through their website. If you're a well qualified customer, you can get 0% financing until January of 2007 on purchases made through their online store. Perfect. That solves my problem. Dell makes a very good machine and I can make the purchase secure in the knowledge that I'll be buying something reliable and that will hopefully last me a long time. It will also get my annoying Mac using friends off my back (Seriously, have you ever known anyone as overzealous as a hard core Apple computer user? They're downright scary at times. OK - the machines are better. Now leave me alone.)
I spent the better part of two days researching machines, comparing prices, and determining what I'll need. After all was said and done I had customized a machine that came to about $1,700 dollars. Yikes. But soft! With zero percent financing that's only about $114 a month, right? That's doable...... maybe. Before I could make the purchase, I had to apply for the financing. I filled out the online application, answered four or five questions so they could verify my identity and got............ a mixed response. It seems Dell Computer is only too happy to give me a nice hefty line of credit, but they won't qualify me for the 0% financing promotion. What? You don't like the fact that I pay off my bills by the required time thereby depriving you of ridiculous finance fees? Does your definition of "well-qualified customer" mean someone stupid enough to pay interest charges? Fine, then consider this a well-qualified snub.
So, I balked. What did I tell you about big ticket items? Freakshow. $1,700 all at once? I'll keep studying up on finance, thanks. I'll get the computer eventually, but I won't be using Dell's line of credit. Nope, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way and save up. *sigh* How very mundane. This, my friends, could very well require a paper route. In the meantime, I'll burn the midnight oil here at work, make them think I'm actually doing some unpaid overtime and, who knows, maybe get a raise.
Oh, wait. We don't get raises here at work. Well - paper route it is.
P.S. Is nothing immune to spam anymore? Check out the comment posted in the post below this. Just ridiculous. Spammers suck. Especially that one. I'd like to take a hedge clipper and turn him into half the man Lance Armstrong is.
Oh, who am I kidding? Kris Kross is not back and in full effect, and neither am I. Three quarters effect would be more like it. My computer is acting up to the point where I (a guy who fixes computers for a living) can do nothing about it. It's nothing huge, but it is annoying. Among the symptoms are random shut off's, inexplicable error messages, and an inability to correctly render certain web pages involving complex flash. Basically, it's old as hell (This thing was made when Christ wore knickers!) and therefore suh-lowwwwwwwwww.. It really isn't good for much other than surfing and the occasional Word document - and even that's pressing it.
Lately it's gotten even worse, and I've been doing all my blogging (or lack thereof), MP3 ripping & burning, writing, etc.. on my work machine. This poses a few problems. It's highly irritating to have to stay late to do all this stuff (because I would NEVER perform extracurricular duties during work hours, nosiree.) It is also pretty unprofessional to have more .mp3 files than Excel spreadsheets on your work computers hard drive. WAY more. I shudder to think what would happen if the higher ups found out.... er, actually, I don't shudder - at all - but the fact remains.. certain activities should be done outside the workplace.
So for the past couple of days I've been doing some online shopping in addition to whatever else I try to do to skirt work. I should mention that I am SUPERB at wasting money, but the purchasing of big ticket items has always made my hair stand on end. The thought of spending a whole chunk of money at once is just... I don't know... the words 'scary as shit' come to mind. I would much rather waste my money in small amounts over time. Why make a lunch when you can go out and buy one? One more CD to the collection? Whatever - it's only $12 bucks. I mean yeah, you could say "This stuff all adds up", but only if you're willing and smart enough to do the math. I'm not - which is one reason why I'm reading Personal Finance for Dummies. I haven't finished it yet though, so the bad habit remains. In fact, my last two big ticket purchases (my beloved Flo - that's the name of my car, not a mail order bride, people - and my as yet unnamed high definition television set) were all made when the sellers in question were offering "0% financing for the life of the loan" deals. So, I could spend small(er) amounts over time, pay no interest, and still end up with the goods. Yay me.
As luck would have it, Dell Computer is offering one such deal through their website. If you're a well qualified customer, you can get 0% financing until January of 2007 on purchases made through their online store. Perfect. That solves my problem. Dell makes a very good machine and I can make the purchase secure in the knowledge that I'll be buying something reliable and that will hopefully last me a long time. It will also get my annoying Mac using friends off my back (Seriously, have you ever known anyone as overzealous as a hard core Apple computer user? They're downright scary at times. OK - the machines are better. Now leave me alone.)
I spent the better part of two days researching machines, comparing prices, and determining what I'll need. After all was said and done I had customized a machine that came to about $1,700 dollars. Yikes. But soft! With zero percent financing that's only about $114 a month, right? That's doable...... maybe. Before I could make the purchase, I had to apply for the financing. I filled out the online application, answered four or five questions so they could verify my identity and got............ a mixed response. It seems Dell Computer is only too happy to give me a nice hefty line of credit, but they won't qualify me for the 0% financing promotion. What? You don't like the fact that I pay off my bills by the required time thereby depriving you of ridiculous finance fees? Does your definition of "well-qualified customer" mean someone stupid enough to pay interest charges? Fine, then consider this a well-qualified snub.
So, I balked. What did I tell you about big ticket items? Freakshow. $1,700 all at once? I'll keep studying up on finance, thanks. I'll get the computer eventually, but I won't be using Dell's line of credit. Nope, I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way and save up. *sigh* How very mundane. This, my friends, could very well require a paper route. In the meantime, I'll burn the midnight oil here at work, make them think I'm actually doing some unpaid overtime and, who knows, maybe get a raise.
Oh, wait. We don't get raises here at work. Well - paper route it is.
P.S. Is nothing immune to spam anymore? Check out the comment posted in the post below this. Just ridiculous. Spammers suck. Especially that one. I'd like to take a hedge clipper and turn him into half the man Lance Armstrong is.
posted by Eric at 5:37 PM
5 Comments:
Don't buy it. I just got the same message on my blog. And I thought I had a fan *sob*
I know - I'm seeing this message in blog comments everywhere but always with a different person posting it Methinks it's another spam attempt, but I can't understand for what. Have you seen the blog that the link goes to? A park ranger cracking down on trash dumpers? People are weird.
Oh, and feel free to count me as a fan. Your blog is nothing short of stellar.
I refuse to look at this noxious spam blog, on principle. Park rangers and trash dumpsters be damned.
Of course, I'm a fan of your blog, too. That is, when my eyesight permits me to read it. I'm nowhere near 20/20, even with contacts :-)
Apple Earns PC Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards
PC Magazine reports, “Once again, Apple achieves scores that are far and away the highest for all vendors in our survey, earning Readers’ Choices in both desktops and notebooks. For Apple, in both the desktop and notebook sections of the survey, every single score is significantly better than the industry average for Windows machines. No exceptions.”
Tom Krazit reports for IDG News Service, “U.S. consumers lambasted Dell Inc. for poor customer service in a survey conducted last quarter, sending the world’s largest PC vendor into a virtual tie with the rest of the PC market behind the industry-leading efforts of Apple Computer Inc. For the second year in a row, Apple received the best rating from PC buyers in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), said David Van Amburg, general manager of the ACSI.” [Aug 17, 2005]
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