Monday, February 27, 2006
Taking control of your life (but only if they let you). A modern tale.
In January, I got a notice from a Vice President of Century Telephone informing me that, to keep costs to customers lower, they were involuntary switching me from my chosen intralata ("local toll') supplier to their own Century Toll service. Of course, my monthly charges would be somewhat higher due to the nasty surcharges and taxes that the gummint forces them to impose.
Well, I am not your average idiot. Some years ago I responded to monthly "access fees" for interlata ("long distance toll") service by telling them to get stuffed. I elected a "No Pick" option, for no long distance provider to avoid the fees that are charged even when you don't make any long distance calls.
So now I tried, via the internet, to access my Century Telephone account and change the "local toll" to the same No Pick status. I could find no place on their web site that permits a customer to control his own account by changing service levels or by cancelling service.
So I called them. "Hi there" they said. "What's your password?" "Password?" I replied. "What password?" "You have a password on your account," I was informed. Well, if I did this, I don't recall. But the upshot was, no password, no talk. They told me to go to my local office, show a picture ID and have the password removed.
Friday I went to the Lorain office of Century Telephone and talked to the lady behind the bulletproof glass. "I need to make some changes to my service" I said. She pointed me to the phones in an adjacent area to talk to customer service. "They won't talk to me," I explained. She looked up my account and asked me for my password. The upshot was, no password, no talk.
I showed her my driver's license. She asked for my SS number. Since they are not the IRS, I do not use my SS number for casual ID. So she looked at her screen, wrote my SS number on a scrap of paper and asked me to confirm it. Unfortunately, now my SS number was sitting on a scrap of paper for everyone could read. Fortunately (I think), it wasn't my SS number.
So I have a phone account with Century Telephone. I cannot change or cancel the service because their files say I am not me. Like the lady said: "No password, no changes." I filled out an account freeze form to prevent any changes to my toll providers, and have called several times today to try and review progress. Voicemail messages and no callbacks yet.
And then, my bank just called. But that's another story for later.
Posted 2:11 PM by Andy (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Back from the event horizon. There exists one truly able and effective soul at Century Telephone who actualy HELPS people. Her name is Norma Phillips, and she works at the Lorain Office. She went above and beyond in acting as my advocate within her own company. She got the blocks removed, the account changed per my wishes, and even took it apon herself to check for unexpected costs or fees. There is a fee of $10 to change toll provider choices, but Norma said that this has apparently not been charged to my account. She told me to contact her if it does and she would try to get it waived. This level of help is astounding in my experience with Century Telephone. Ever since I was a telecom worker in the 1970s Century (then Lorain Telephone Company) has been a hotbed of stubborn monopoly and obstruction. I am astounded that someone of her sensitvity survives in that fetid swamp of self-absorption. She goes on the list of people I would want to hire for my own company, had I one.
Friday, February 24, 2006
I was asked to examine a toaster oven recently. The reported trouble was that smoke was issuing forth from one of the controls. The little solenoid (coil of wire) that acts to make the toaster portion go "pop" when the toast is suitably brown, stuck closed, overheated, and melted. The real surprise to me was the relative crudity of the entire circuit assembly. When I removed the plastic end panels, I saw bare wire rods that carry the 110V electricity criss-crossing back and forth. The only thing that keeps them from being fourth-of-July spectacular is stiffness and careful routing geometry. The heat generated inside the end housings where all this lives makes the spring-metal thermostats open and close. Solder would melt away. So every connection is welded. The stiff wire circuit rods are welded where they intersect, are welded to the switch and thermostat terminals, and are welded to the resistors for the pilot light. Look at a 1920-1930 toaster in an antique shop. Similar technology. Nothing wrong with it, but if one is ever dropped or severely jarred, the voltage conductor rods could bend and touch. Then you, and a few close personal friends from the fire department, WOULD see the fourth of July. I went to a consumer site and found many postings from customers reporting toaster oven death at 1 to 1 1/2 years of frequent use. That seems to be a "norm" for these hot boxes. Moral - get inexpensive ones and don't pay extra for bells and whistles.
Toaster ovens can solve other problems. Crude technology in service to home-brew high-tech can be seen here.
Another interesting set of facts are "everyday" sources of radioactive products that you maypurchase. The four currently sold are salt substitutes (Potassium chloride), gas lantern mantles (Thorium), ionizing smoke detectors (Americium), and self-glowing watch faces (formerly Radium but now most likely tritium, a hydrogen isotope). Go to the Howstuffworks
page titled: Radioactive Products and Other Sources of Radiation to read more.
Posted 11:45 AM by Andy (2) comments
Comments:
- T'was my toaster oven Andy took a look at. Well, kind of. It belonged to my mom (I brought it here with the other things from her apartment) and I know she used it a lot. First time I tried it I ended up with smokey toast. Thankfully it decided to go bad on me and not her.
I followed the Radioactive Products link but alas, did not see a toaster oven there. Maybe, if you had enough of them, the Tritium Glow Lights would work? Andy - please advise.
Post a Comment- No tritium glow lights on your toaster oven. Night sights on pistols have small tritium capsules, two at the back notch and one at the muzzle blade sight. Your toaster oven was not of that caliber.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
I look forward to Leonard Pitts' column every week. Just in case you are low on outrage this week. MiamiHerald.com 02/20/2006 More security is no substitute for less freedom. I wonder what our favorite librarian would do.
Posted 8:01 PM by Terri S (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- Leonard Pitts is carried in The Chronical too. The Bush quote ("there ought to be limits to freedom,") intrigued me so I Googled it and found this.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
On the road again. Went to Indianapolis, went to Florida, now Indianapolis again enroute to St. Louis. New job? No. Wanderlust? Not especially. Just riding along with my buddy Byron as he delivers Lexii to and from dealers and customers. I don't want to be a trucker. Bumpy, very bumpy. Boring, very boring. Nothing to do but watch the road roll by and play with the XM satellite radio and the often profane CB and the uncomfortable air-seats that act like pogo sticks on corrugated surfaces. What fun! See you later.
Posted 8:25 PM by Andy (1) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- During my trips, I got to borrow time on a Compaq Presario laptop. Large screen, DVD, network connections via dial up modem, ethernet RJ45 jack and built-in WiFi. The hotels we stayed in, with one or two exceptions, all had free wireless. As Russ has noted, these unsecured networks can be hotbeds of cyber pestilence and corruption. Without something to give you tight control of what comes into and goes out of your computer, anything is possible. I loaded Zone Alarm, Ad Aware and Spybot S&D on this computer to give it a fighting chance. I explained and showed this to the computer's owner. But the next time he powered it up he forgot what I had told him, didn't recognize the icons and desktop shortcuts, and deleted everything I had added. When I pointed out to him what he had done, and enumerated the consequences, he said he only used it for email so it didn't matter, and that he just didn't care. You just can't help some people.
“He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.” - George Orwell
U.S. Reclassifies Many Documents in Secret Review:
"In a seven-year-old secret program at the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from public access thousands of historical documents that were available for years, including some already published by the State Department and others photocopied years ago by private historians."
Posted 6:47 AM by whatley (0) comments
Comments:
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
U.S. Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies - New York Times:
"The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years."A Valentines Day gift from our government to their buddies in Big Oil (aka business as usual).
"It's one of the greatest train robberies in the history of the world,' said Representative George Miller, a California Democrat who has fought royalty concessions on oil and gas for more than a decade. 'It's the gift that keeps on giving."
Just so you don't feel left out here's one for you.
Posted 5:29 AM by whatley (1) comments
Comments:
Sunday, February 12, 2006
How's the weather out there?
We're getting all of our snow for December and January today. Seems they were backlogged but got a big shipment in and sent it all at once. The lack of traffic makes walking the dog easier although the 35mph headwind makes walking itself somewhat problematic.
More breaking news as it occurs. Film at 11.
!!UPDATE!!
Everybody survived here. We had a little over a foot of snow.
New York got creamed. 26.9" in Central Park! Most since 1869 for a single snowfall. My brother, Alex, said they had no transport problems inside the city as long as you used the trains. Perhaps a lesson to the powers that be in this? Unlikely.
We hunkered down for the day and baked some gooey bread confections, walked the dog a few times and by this morning the sun was shining, the roads had been cleared and we were able to get to our various assignations as though nothing had happened. Good thing the storm didn't hit on a Wednesday. In that scenario all bets off. They'd be moving stranded vehicles into next week with the concomitant delay in basic snow removal. All in all it made for a laid back Sunday at home. Let's do it again next week!
Posted 9:27 AM by A. O. (2) comments
Comments:
- Aw, Marsha didn't even get a snow day off.
It's been a mild winter here so far. We got hit by that storm a day or two ahead of you with about the same result. Par for the course around here.
Post a Comment- Fifty degrees here by beautiful ice-free Lake Erie today, and 55 projected for tommorrow. I am playing the role of an unpaid towtruck operator. My biking buddy, Byron, has a post-retirement job ferrying Lexusses (Lexii?) around the country for a large local dealer. Uses a flatbed rollaway carrier built on an International truck chassis. Can put one car on the bed and tow a second behind with the wheel-lift "stinger" that extends from under the truck. We were Indanapolis yesterday, and will Florida tommorrow for the next few days. My job? Sit in the passenger seat and entertain. It doesn't pay, but it gets me out of the house. Conincidentally, the Daytona 500 will be on when we are there. SRO infield tickets are $125 each. I will watch from afar should the opportunity arise. Won't know the destination until tomorrow AM. Could be Key West, could be Tallahassee, could be the far- flung Isles of Langerhans. Ta.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
A new type of real estate site came on line Tuesday called Zillow.com. By new type I mean that it's free and can be accessed by anyone. I'm sure agents have had pay-for-play resources like this for a long time. They describe themselves thusly: "Zillow.com is an online real estate service dedicated to helping you get an edge in real estate by providing you with valuable tools and information." I fooled with it for awhile using my own address and, as far as I can tell, it seems pretty accurate. You can also look at trends, comparing your house value over time against the median by zip code, city, state, etc., in an easy to read graph. Warning: if you live in Lorain County the news is depressing.
Posted 6:39 AM by whatley (5) comments
Comments:
- I checked it out and according to their records there are no homes in Jamestown and very few in RI. This place might be ripe for colonization, but I hear the natives aren't all that friendly.
- Oh well. They've only been running two days. From what I know about real estate conditions around here they (sad to say) hit it on the nose.
Post a Comment- I was watching an interview with the CEO of this company on CNN this afternoon while at the gym.
I would be happy about my home's value if I were going to take the money and run. If I sold and stayed in Palm Beach County, the taxes on the new place would put me in the poor house.
Maybe I should consider moving back to the old home town with my profits.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
The End of the Internet?: "The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online."
This is bad stuff. Worse than bad, it's pure evil. Add to this AOL and Yahoo's little maneuver to start charging for each email and hey, do I smell a trend? Are the big boys thinking that the Republicans are in trouble? That they best open the piggybanks now and get their sleazy legislations passed within the next two or three years? It'll be worth gazillions to them if they can pull it off so you know they're gonna try. It'll break my heart if they succeed.
Posted 4:28 PM by whatley (2) comments
Comments:
Post a Comment- re: pirate satellite
We need to start a new domain. Something like: "Contact our Outer Links group at www.pirateweb.arrrrgh!"
Friday, February 03, 2006
"Founded in 1889, the American Dialect Society is dedicated to the study of the English language in North America, and of other languages, or dialects of other languages, influencing it or influenced by it. Our members include academics and amateurs, professionals and dilettantes, teachers and writers."They do a cool thing called "Word of the Year". This years winner is "truthiness". The winners and nominees in various subcatagories are available in pdf form.
Posted 8:29 AM by whatley (6) comments
Comments:
- If you want a new word to succeed, don't use it to make a joke. Don't brag about it; better yet, don't even mention it. Just slip it in where it will seem natural and pass unnoticed.
—Allan Metcalf, American linguist, Predicting New Words, 2002
I was reading Russ' post about the American Dialect Society, went to the link, and saw their Executive Secretary's email was AAllan@aol.com. That's ME! Well, actually, it is Allan Metcalf, whose quote is noted above. Other Allan wisdon is seen at Word Spy, highlighting Allan Metcalf, American Linguist. Word Spy is an Oxford English Dictionary Lite for the Internet Age.
- My mother and I signed up for a class at LCCC. Titled "History of the English Language," it was to run one hour each Thursday for four weeks. Just for fun, you know? Well, Mom called me on Wednesday and said "The College just called me." I guessed: "They cancelled the class." "Well..." she replied. I added: "Only two people signed up." "Did they call you?" she asked. No, they hadn't called me. I was just projecting a pessimist's view of the current state of language awareness. Watch television and analyze the style and method of communication. Likewise, read a newspaper story and seek enlightenment. Eavesdrop on checkout line conversations. Woe betide! So no class (pun intended). I was disappointed but not particularly surprised.
- Odd that Mr. Metcalf would caution not to use the word as a joke then vote in "Truthiness" which was coined, or at least resurrected, by Stephen Colbert to make fun of the current occupant of the White House.
Regarding your LCCC class. It probably wouldn't occur to the instructor to form a group unsanctioned by the Educo-Industrial establishment to pursue the subject privately. The point being, his interest in the subject may stem more from the fact that he is paid to teach it than a love of it.
- As Mr. Ralph can attest, the adjunct faculty slaves at LCCC (and CCCC, and everywhere) are not in it for the money because there isn't any. The instructor was noted as "Staff". I saw it as another example of the college force-offering a class and giving the hapless instructor no choice and no input into the process.
"Truthiness" merely "rightspeaks" the criticism of our exalted administration. Everyone is running out of accurate and inventive ways to endlessly illuminate the lack of internal illumination at the helm. I am just worn out by the monomaniacal persistence of the White House in pile-driving the same hollow and hackneyed policies that have never worked and never will. Unbelievable and unsupportable. That should the be requiem for the "W" era.
Post a Comment- In the "truthiness" category I came across this article that should twist Andy's knickers up so hard he'll be singing the Queen of the Night's aria from the "Magic Flute". Check this out and get back to me when catch your breath.
"The Nutri-Energetics Infoceuticals are based on 25 years of research into the human quantum electro-dynamic (QED) body-field"
Now there's something to warm the cockles of an old science geek hippy's heart. We would have been all over this at the Schoolhouse.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Biomass or bio-mess? The accounting is not yet done. Techno-mavens and adherents to the faith may argue until they are purple, but nothing moves the needle like a hard look at the system. Tony and I have argued in the past about where to draw the circle. How much of the universe do you include in the analysis? If you include the whole thing, nothing matters because the equation is balanced. If you include too little, inequalities appear. For example, "throw it away" means you don't see it any more. See it where? In your kitchen? In your house? In your city? In the ground? See what I mean? Who benefits and who is affected? There really ain't no such thing as "away", but you can draw arbitrary boundaries for analysis.
NPR Morning Edition (Feb 2, 2006) hosted an article about the current attractions of bio-fuels. Hear it at "Professor Attacks Enthusiasm for Bio-Fuels." Read a text article at "Cornell ecologist's study finds that producing ethanol and biodiesel from corn and other crops is not worth the energy." Another article, about UC Berkeley results, is " Ethanol Stirs Eco-Debate." Professors from Berkely and Cornell made an accounting of the "gozintas" and "comzoutas" of the ethanol process. They found that the current processes use more than they produce.
Arguments against their results include "Why should they include the environmental costs of building the farmer's tractor?" Looking at it one way, the farmer buys the tractor and drives the market production, so the costs are included. Looking at it another way, the farmer will use any old tractor and just switch fuels, if possible, so the costs are excluded.
So, where do YOU draw the circle?
Posted 12:20 PM by Andy (4) comments
Comments:
- Andy if you haven't read it check out this book
By William McDonough & Michael Braungart
North Point Press, 2002
They reference the rehab of the Rouge River plant, which I hope won't be too painful, and put forward the mantra that "Waste is Food". They tout chemically engineering producs that can be infinitely recycled at the same level of quality rather "down cycled" thru degrees of degradation til they become garbage.
There's obviously a social mindset hurdle to overcome with the attendant effort required to jump it, but it's an appealing idea in that it doesn't simply advocate retreat to some Hobbesian prehistoric lifestyle.
My future daughter-in-law gave it to for Christmas last year. The book itself is produced according to the principles it expounds which gave it some credibility.
- I'll check it out. The Rouge plant makeover was on three levels. 1) The least important was to keep the historical heritage and continuity of Old Henry's vision. Actually, the Rouge is dissected. The steel operation, the glass-making operation, and other elements were sold outside of Ford many years ago to shed fixed costs and aging equipment. 2) The public benefit of making a commitment to keeping jobs locally, and in a "green" and environmentally friendly manner. Given the size and scope of the industrial operation, the surface and air effluents are only reduced when compared to legacy installations. When compared to an average residential neighborhood outflow, it is still an overwhelming output. 3) Most importantly, the damn thing has to make money. Given a large and expsnsive set of tooling, it has to be as changeable as an erector set to handle new stuff. Total flexibility would allow them to build small plastic kiddy cars intermixed with full-sized SUVs, but that is an extreme view. Modern retooling must be done between shifts with no loss of production, and without extensive bricks and mortar changes. Flip some supports, turn some screws, and voila! The new vehicle fits the assembly line. The modern manufacturing plant must have "generic" written all over it to stay competitive.
- Check out how the Germans do it. Great pictures of the VW Phaeton factory where they make the Phaeton and the Bentley.I'm not sure how "generic" it is,but it sure is cool. I always thought factories were supposed to be greasy at least.
Post a Comment- When you are paying $110,000 for a Volkswagen, I guess you should be able to get a hand-built one, and to see how it is assembled. New factories are largely bright and neat and clean. After 30-40 years, grime settles in the overhead, and festoons of cables appear, old abandoned conduits and pipes hang about and things start to look a bit worn around the edges. After all, remove the magnum mysterium of it all and what you have is a mechanical creature that eats parts and excretes vehicles.
Notice how the Dresden factory looks like a Frank Lloyd Wright design for a medieval castle? Moat, defensible bridges and all.
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