dead computer

The computer must have noticed me saying nasty things about its maker, because now it won't even turn on. I push the power button, and nothing happens. So I will be talking to Dell, after all. And I will probably be sending my nice new computer back to them and trying again. I'm not happy. But I did see two eagles today, hovering over my apartment and talking to each other. Maybe they are thinking about moving in. And then I managed to get back up to my office on the 18th floor this afternoon (with lunch!) in the short window of time when we were allowed on the stairs during the Burst Water Pipe Incident on the 14th floor . If I had had my ferry pass and phone and ipod and keys, I would have just gone home, but they were on the 18th floor. And I got a work-out at the same time. Which then lead to chocolate, of course.

more oddities

Have you ever thought of buying a Dell? If so, I suggest you look at this website and the links there before you purchase your computer. Hello, Better Business Bureau! That site lists complaints from all sorts of people who have been screwed by Dell. It includes people who ordered their computer, paid by credit card (or waited for a bill), didn't receive an invoice with their computer (Dell sends something separately that looks like an invoice but says "This is not an invoice"), and then instead of receiving a bill or getting the charge on their credit card statement, months later they find out that Dell processed their purchase through their financing department, so now they have a loan they didn't know they had and they have been accruing months of finance charges during the period when they didn't know they had a loan that they NEVER ASKED FOR. Does any of this sound familiar? It sure does to me. The thing is, the charge for my computer did show up on my credit card statement, and I paid it, and my "credit application" was "denied." Should I feel lucky? Perhaps it is standard operating procedure for them to run everyone, regardless of customer wishes, through their financing program? One woman turned down an extended warranty, and they charged her for it anyway and refused to remove the charges even after she complained. That website is full of posts from really angry, frustrated people. It seems like there is no recourse once you get a Dell. If someone tells you, "Dude, you're getting a Dell," you should run screaming from them and change your name.

I'll be sending them that affidavit. And will be thinking about the BBB, too.

Now it's just frustrating

To follow up from yesterday, apparently when this happens you are supposed to put a fraud alert on yourself at all the big credit reporting agencies, which is amazingly easy. Do it at one, and they will alert the others. That's nice. And the FTC has a website on identity theft (which I hope this is not) and on fraud (which this appears to be). If you want that website, here it is: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ (even underlined in blue - I hope the link works). They have forms and information. I haven't filled out the forms yet, but I printed them out, so I guess I know what I'll be doing tomorrow evening. Fun fun.

I tried calling the computer company several times, but unless you have a service code or an account number or something like that, you can't talk to ANYBODY. There is no way to get to a human on their phone service if you have a generic complaint like I do. Or if there is a way, they do not make it obvious. I am at the point where I could spit nails at them, if only they would feel it. aargh! All the insults that I am willing to put here would actually insult entire species who have never hurt me, and so I can't even call them (computer co.) names. Oh yeah, they're evil. I'll just call them Mr. VP.

scary credit things

I was going to write about how I find it hard to think and do work while wearing shoes, but the letter I got in the mail today has scared that thought right out of me. I got a letter from a bank saying that they are denying me credit, but I haven't applied for any! Certainly not from that bank. And the credit report people say that I haven't been denied any credit recently. So someone is scamming me, and I'm not happy about it. In fact, I am pissed. And neither the bank nor their financial services group (or maybe it was the financial services group of this other company that went through the bank) (that company is a well-known computer company from which I recently bought a computer - evil evil evil) make it at all easy to contact them unless you are asking for a loan or buying a computer and the point is that I am doing neither. The computer company called me a couple of weeks ago asking if I wanted to buy the computer that I had ordered (twice) (they called me twice), and I told them that I already had my computer (and am typing on it now). Maybe this is part of that. So now I have to call them, but that is not easy. We all know about calling customer service at computer companies and how horrible it is. Crap. Evil evil evil!

what happened to the title?

Looking at my first post, I realize that the apparent title probably is not the title of everyone's first post. "Saturday, March 24, 2007" is probably fairly rare among first post titles. But the title I typed into the Title window was "I have a blog!" That is a much more likely first blog title. But I don't know what happened to it.

Is that the title of everyone's first post? I bet it is. How exciting to have a blog, like almost everyone else I know. The hardest part (which most of you already know, since you already have a blog) is picking the title. Phronistery, phrontistery, whatever, there are red squiggly lines under both of them. One of them, or maybe both, means "a thinking place" or "a place to study." It really has nothing to do with fish, but fish that are friendly could study and think here, if they could somehow enter the internet.

Why friendly fish? Because fish have friends, just like you and me. When fish school (some fish, anyway), individual fish tend to get together with the same other individual fish each time! So they have friends. And a fish that moves from one school to another can teach the new school techniques to deal with predators that are new to the new school but old to the old school. How 'bout that? And, fish release gases from bodily orifices other than their mouth... just like humans. And dogs. So, fish are just like you and me, but without opposable thumbs. Had to be said.

Let's post this and see what it looks like! Cool.