Customer Service!

Why don't people understand the value of customer service? Especially when it comes to insurance!

Last week we found out that one of our clients won't pay unless we have general liability insurance. No problem. I sent a request to 4 insurance agencies.

One Stop Insurance Agency in Costa Mesa responded the same day. 2 days later, the second company responded. The third company responded on Friday, and the last one contacted me a few minutes ago.

Even though some gave a lower price, I still went with One Stop because of the quick response. I knew that if I ever needed anything, Angie Herrera (our agent) would take care of it the same day.

People! Get it through your heads! This is 2006, you can't wait more than a day to contact a client! Just having the word "customer care" in your name doesn't help if you take a week to respond!

If you want good service:
One Stop Insurance Agency
Angie Herrera
Ph. 866-853-9600 x 200
Fx. 949-574-7429
angie_onestopins@yahoo.com

Stats!

I started looking at the logs for this website, and saw some very interesting stuff:




Other interesting search phrases that lead to my website:
17 where's waldo
24 homeless
31 t-mobile sucks
35 confidence vs. cockiness
47 new strain of gonorrhea
48 essay comparing and contrasting yourself now with years ago.
50 odd but true

Apparently, I'm also the number one hit on Google when you search for George Carlin The Planet Is Fine!

Most Used Browsers:


Damnit people, download Firefox!!


Ok now for the page views, this year has been slow (could it be from me not posting for jack shit? Who knows!?!?):



So for now I'm averaging around 7,500 - 8,000 page views a month.

2005 looked like this:



I guess I'm not doing THAT bad! I would really love to start writing more articles (instead of linking to funny stuff on the web) but I don't know what to write about! Give me some ideas ladies and gentlemen!!!

Edit: The reason my hits for this year are higher than last year, as I just researched and found out, is because of the link on my myspace account, which is actually only for testing purposes.

Alright, I have nothing more to say. My brain feels like it was overbleached with Colorox. Bye.

Cutting Losses

Sometimes you have to sit down and list all the things in your life that are causing you to be even slightly unhappy. Making the list is the easy part, it's what you do with it that is usually so difficult. Sometimes it involves hurting other people's feelings and "burning bridges." That's life. If you don't do it, you will be miserable.

The all-important Life Lesson in all this?

Admit your failings and cut your losses
as soon as you realize them.

this one goes out to VOA

Best Online Game EVER!

Try it, I dare you! I beat it!!! (click the picture to go to the game)

Blacklisted: 1&1 Internet, Inc.

I'm going to start a new series, Blacklisted. These will be entries written from time to time of products, companies, restaurants, people, etc that I consider horrific enough to want to banish forever.

First on the list is 1&1 Internet, Inc. These guys provide domain registration and web hosting and they have a VERY aggressive marketing campaign. They are literally spending tens of millions on advertising, yet their product is absolute shit.

A while ago, they had a promotion for free web hosting for a year. Not bad, thought I. I signed up and hosted my website, chaparyan.com on it. The back-end administration can easily cause a grown man to openly weep. The web-based email system is so slow, you are probably better off mailing in your letter through the good ol' United States Postal Service.

I emailed them about why their service is so horrid, and they responded with a nice form letter telling me how to setup Outlook Express to get my mail. Utterly helpful!

If not 1&1 (the self-proclaimed leader in all things web), then who? I have had very good experience with Dreamhost. Although I have heard that they temporarily take down websites if there is a sudden spike in traffic (such as rrrrthats5rs.com), they have a VERY friendly staff and are willing to bend over backwards for their clients.

Product Review: Motorola PEBL

I bought the Motorola PEBL last week to replace my dying V600. It's a beautiful, small, and soft phone that is very subtle yet attracts a lot of attention. The keypad is identical to the RAZR, which might be a bad thing based on your personal preference.

The main feature of the phone is the way it opens. You slide down the top slightly releasing the magnet holding the top closed. This causes the cover to open in a very smooth rotation. It takes a short bit of practice (initially it might fall out of your hands as you open it) but once you get the idea of it, it's very cool.

As far as features go, the only difference between this phone and the V600 is the video camera. You can now shoot and save video with sound. Of course, nearly all cell phones have this feature nowadays, so it isn't anything special.

Now for the list of things I don't like about the phone.

1. First, the slot to put the charger is at the top, unlike most other phones. This is extremely uncomfortable if you are trying to talk on the phone while charging it.
2. It's 2006. No cell phone should have a 0.3 megapixel camera. I was expecting at least a 1.3 megapixel camera, which is the low-end standard these days.
3. Volume during speakerphone conversations are very low, even with the volume set to high.
4. The PEBL runs on almost the same software as the V600, which means very little improvement as far as speed.
5. The keys on the keypad, just as with the RAZR, are very small and they aren't separate keys, so dialing without looking is a problem.
6. Update: When the phone is open, it is nearly vertical, unlike the wide V angle of most other cell phones. This makes it extremely difficult to hold the phone to your ear using your shoulder when you need to multitask. HUGE problem!
   

Overall, it's a great sexy phone that gets the job done. Nothing too fancy, nothing too boring. If you are in the market for a unique T-Mobile cell phone, you can get this one for $29.99 after all rebates from Amazon (price might not show on Amazon until after you have chosen a rate plan).


Overall Rating: B-

Disabled Drivers

Why are disabled drivers suck assholes?

Death and Taxes: A visual look at where your tax dollars go.

This guy spent a year researching and gathering information to make this beautiful chart of where your money goes in the good 'ol US Government:


Click here for the page.

It's All Relative

Movie Review: Firewall

IMDB Summary:
With his family held for ransom, the head security executive for a global bank is commanded to loot his own business for millions in order to ensure his wife and children's safety. He then faces the demanding task of thwarting the kidnapper's grand scheme, which makes him look guilty of embezzlement.

To be honest, I'm going to be a lot more lenient on this movie because anything is better than the horrid History of Violence (see my previous movie review).

The acting was decent and the story line, while mind-numbingly obvious, didn't bore me. The computer screens are one of the more believable ones I've seen in movies (Outlook and Windows as opposed to weird 3d virtual worlds).

While some would say that the plot was not realistic, something similar did take place in England only 6 days after the release of this movie (See: securities depot robbery)!

As Emin mentioned, an ending similar to Fight Club or A Beautiful Mind would have made this movie a hell of a lot more interest. Nonetheless, I think the movie is a fairly good use of 105 minutes of a boring rainy day.

Overall Grade: C+

Movie Review: A History of Violence

First, a summary from IMDB:
"Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is the tale of Tom Stall. Tom is a loving family man and well-respected citizen of a small Indiana town.

But when two savage criminals show up at his diner, Tom is forced to take action and thwart the robbery attempt. Suddenly heralded as a hero who took the courage to stand up to crime, people look up to Tom as a man of high moral regard.

But all that media attention has the likes of mobsters showing up at his doorstep, charging that Tom is someone else they've been looking for. Is it a case of mistaken identity or does Tom have a history that no one knows about? Either way, someone's about to find out if there's a history of violence."

This movie is definitely up there with "2001: A Space Odyssey" although it is much better only because of the graphic death scenes. In other words, it is shit.

Yes, shit. You heard me. Watch it and argue otherwise! The only good acting is by William Hurt who only has like 10 lines in the entire movie! The acting is horrible, as is the half-baked plot. The movie is only 96 minutes long, which tells you a lot about how well the movie is thought out.

When it ends, you feel like you have been watching an episode of a cheesy drama series on FOX and need to wait for next week to see what happens.

I want my 97 minutes of wasted life back! If I had known it was this bad, I would have spent my time playing Pushover (yes the 1992 game with the ant).

Overall Rating: D (brownie points for the graphic imagery)