E*Trade Bank

I have an account at E*Trade that my ESPP shares and stock options are deposited into by my employer. Their interface is clean and quick, so I decided to click on the banner ad that they have for E*Trade Bank. Free ATM withdrawls, on-line check payments, etc., so it looked like something I would try and if it worked out drop my local bank.

I went through the sign up process and was given what I thought was my account number and set up my direct deposit to start with $500 each pay into the account to get started. When I could not see the deposit, I called them and found out that they had not "opened" the account and that to do that I needed to wire them money.

Now my paycheck is $500 short and the money is in cyberspace somewhere..... I understand the fact that the account was not opened and expected them to open it so my next deposit would go right in and I could clean up the missing deposit with my employeer.

Here is the kicker, they would not open an account and give me an account number so I could just start sending money each pay. They required me to wire them some money in order to open the account. What type of crap is that? Just open the accont and then in two weeks they would start by getting $500 and potentially a good long term customer.

Dr. Phil in New Orleans

It's been a while since I posted, but I have been a little busy. HOWEVER, tonight put me over the top! Dr. Phil who I think is a crackpot from the get go is reporting from New Orleans. Now I know these people have been through something that I cannot imagine, but having this wack-hump showing up has to make it even worse!

He is as bad as Charles Groden back in the OJ trial days. Remember him? All he could say was "The blood, the blood......" -- he had no other journalistic value.

Groden was a "hump" in all the sence of the word and so is Dr. Phil. I could only watch Groden for two minutes in the old days because he used to piss me off so bad..., and now this.

Dr. Phil needs to get a grip and get the hell out of New Orleans. Is there not a guy with two brests, lives in a trailer, likes his sister, screwed a cousin, and a weird rash on his ass available to talk?

On Time My Ass

So this one is not that new to many of you that fly... I get to the airport about 50 minutes from the departure of my flight, check in at the kiosk, and everything looks fine. I grab my ticket and as I walk by the depatures board I give a quick glance to my flight and everything is on time at 3:40pm. What caught my eye was the fact that the Delta flight to Atlanta was delayed 60 minutes, and my USAirways flight to Atlanta at the same time was showing right on time.

I went through security and took off my shoes for those of you that read my previous post. As my bag was going through the x-ray, I heard my phone start ringing and when I grabbed it on the other side, a person that I was meeting in Atlanta was calling to tell me that he was on a two hour ground hold in DC on his way to meet me in Atlanta. OK, now I have a Delta flight from Pittsburgh delayed an hour and his flight delayed two hours, so I check the board agian... mine is right on time.

I grab a piece of pizza and head to the gate. Yep, the board says that I am on time at 3:40. I walk up to the counter, and ask if we are delayed -- they ask why I ask that and I give them the facts above. They ask that I "keep quiet" while they are checking with the pilot, and I am fine with that. After about 15 minutes they do confirm that we will be delayed, and post 4:00pm departure time on the board at the gate.

Now I don’t know the data the pilot had, but if other flights are being delayed for 2 hours, what makes him think that he is going to get us out of there in 20 minutes. About 15 minutes later they push the time back to 5:30pm, which is what they should have done the first time.

I don’t know what they are trying to acomplish from delaying the flight a couple of times, when they could just say we believe that we will be leaving at the time they have clearence for or a time that is more reasonable. They always put the caveat on the delay annonucemnet anyway, “Please stay close to the gate because if we get an eariler clearence we will board quickley.” Are they afraid that if the put the truth out there you are going to go rent a car and drive te 500 miles?

Airport Security

My job takes me across somewhere via airplane each week. Ever since the creation of the TSA back in 2001, I am amazed at the inconsistencies across the country each week. Take a simple example -- shoes. I decided to keep track of where they require shoes to be taken off, and where you can go through the airport with them on.

Being that I live in Pittsburgh I go through the Pittsburgh Airport each week, so that was my benchmark. Since Pittsburgh is not a real high profile place, I was not surprised that you could keep your shoes on when you go through security there, but at Washington National you must take them off.

So a few weeks ago they told me at Pittsburgh that you need to take the off as part of new rules that went into effect, so I figured that now I need to do it on the way out of town and the way back, and chalked up the "free passes" that I was getting in Pittsburgh to a thing of the past.

However, I just went through the Philadelphia Airport and the Chicago Ohare in the past week, and they both let me through with my shoes on. What gives? How hard is it to set a policy for all airports and enforce it?

Don't even get me started on the people that seem to take 20 minutes to put there shoes back on while they stand by the X-Ray machine holding up the line...

One last thought, there is free WiFi access at the Pittsburgh Airport -- saves you $9.95 vs. Cingular.

Pizza Hut - Ordering over the Web

I was sitting in the living room watching the NCAA Tournament and wanted to get something to eat. My wife wanted wings and I wanted a pizza. The local bar down the street has good wings, but that required getting in the car and going out in the rain, so it looked like pizza.

The next challenge was which pizza place to call. We have about 5 or 6 that deliver and then it occured to me that Pizza Hut was now offering delivery and I could put together an order on the web.

I went to the PC and went to the Pizza Hut site and found out that I already had an account that I created before. It pulled up my default local store, and I selectd it and went off to create my order. It took a while to create the odrer since ther were many options and I was new to the site.

When I was all done, it turned out that the location that I was ordering from was not delivering that night. Now why did it not tell me that before I went through all the steps to create the order? My guess is that once I had all the time invested they thought that I would just jump in the car and go pick it up.

Wrong – I ended up not getting the pizza and don’t know when I will go through the effort on their website again.

Paying my MCI bill

I get an automated call from MCI today asking me to call in to verify my account. Turns out that they are looking for a payment and it's their fault that they did not get it.

A few months ago, they sent me a payment reminder and part of the reminder was that I could pay my phone bill via credit card by checking box 1 and hitting "go". There was also a box 2 that I could click to set it up so that I could pay it going forward via credit card each month automatically.

The problem came in where I was given the two options. When I selected the second option, I would have expected that it would have paid the current bill, and then set up the automatic payment process going forward.

Not at MCI. I was set up for the automatic payments, but it did not pay the current amount that the reminder was sent to me for in the first place.

What a pain in my.......

Windows XP CD required to add Windows options

I tried to send a fax from my laptop today to the IRS of all people. When I selected the "Set Up Faxing" within the Faxes and Printers section of the control panel, it came back asking for the Windows XP CD. When is the last time you actually got the XP CD's with you laptop. They always include some form of OEM software that supposedly has all the stuff you need, but I could not get it to work.

I don't understand why microsoft does not allow you to go to their web site to add a component like this. If they are worried about you stealing their software, then the horse is already out of the barn, because you you have windows installed.

They need to really safeguard their core component of the operating system and then allow you to install all the others that you need. They allow you to upgrade and download the media players..... I guess that they want you in that space to sell you something else.

Matrix Marathon

I was watching TV last night and at 10:00pm flipped the channel to HBO and one of the Matrix movies was on. I tuned in a few minutes late and was not able to tell which one of the movies it was and hoped it was the III one since I had not see that one. After a few minutes I figured out that it was the first one, but since I had not sat a watched it in a few years and never really watched it start to finish I decided to watch it.

After about hour I noticed the HBO guide beside me on the nightstand and picked it up to see when the third one was on and to my delight it was on later that night. After the first one, came the second one, and finally the third one starting at 2:40am. Since I was in a hotel there was no way to TiVo it, so I was screwed.
Ended up staying up to watch the second one, but could not convince myself to stay up to watch the third one since I needed to get up at 7:00am.

Pisses me off that they started the three movie set at 10:00pm – had the done it at 8:00pm, I could have justified watching the third movie starting at 12:40.

So bottom line I still don’t know how the Matrix ended.

FM Radio Stations Used for Sirius Radio

So there is another thing that pisses me off on this XM and Sirius Radio thing. If a radio does not have any input jacks you can have the unit broadcast to an unused FM station of your choice and play the music through your radio that way. Pretty simple, pick a low frequency and away you go.

The issue arises when you are traveling and the unused radio stations vary and you have to change the frequency that the unit uses every hour or so. Can't the government say "wait a minute, lets pick one frequency and not use it so that any proximity device that wants to use it can." This is not the first time a device was invented that broadcasts over the radio. I seem to remember this method being used since the first portable CD players.

Also how hard would it be to put a quarter inch stereo plug in the front of a stereo for input, the things cost $500 from the dealer anyway.

XM Radio Antenna Pointing

I got a Sirius satellite radio for Christmas this year. I had been looking at them for a few months and my wife put one under the tree. It was not that hard to set it up and get it activated, took more time to crawl behind the stereo and move around a bunch of wires that needed cleaned up for months anyway.

I next pointed the antenna out the window and started to get the "standard" station that you get before you activate. Everything's going good so far, so I log in and activate the service. I listened to it for about an hour or so and then off I went for the day.

Now the next day I am listening to it and it keeps cutting in and out -- having trouble getting the signal. The antenna has not moved, pointed out the same window. It will work for about 10 minutes then go "searching for signal" for a few minutes and then it plays again. Now the antenna is not moving and the satellite is not moving, so what gives.

Now I have to go down the path of figuring out if it's the direction I am pointing it, rain, sun, heat, or who knows what the hell else...... pisses me off!