Sunday, April 4, 2010
Elevators - Mini Rant
Elevators. I spent the last month in a hotel, so I know quite a bit about them now. The main thing, however, is this: WAIT FOR THE PEOPLE ON THE ELEVATOR TO GET OFF BEFORE YOU GET ON. You think this would be a common courtesy. Hell, you think this would be plain physics: if there are already twelve people waiting to get out into the Lobby, chances are you attempting to push yourself on first isn't going to help matters any.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
And my bank fails again...
Accidentally get double-charged while using your card? Better hope you're not traveling when it happens.
My job sent me on a month-long business trip this week at the last minute, so in preparation for my new temporary position, I headed out and bought some new clothes the day before I left. When being rung up, the first register had problems with the credit card machine, so they switched me to a second counter and I was on my way.
However, after arriving at my new job, I noticed that both transactions had posted to my account. I emailed customer support, and got a form letter back instructing me to call the customer support line instead.
Filled with dread, I took out 45 minutes of my work day to wait on hold. Finally, I was patched through to a sales associated. Unfortunately, in order to dispute a transaction, they have to send paper documents to my house - and apparently can't send them to a temporary address. So, all in all, I'm stuck with a rather large double bill for the next freakin' month until I get home.
At least I have enough money to carry it for now - good thing it wasn't my plane ticket or car rental - then I'd be in real trouble.
My job sent me on a month-long business trip this week at the last minute, so in preparation for my new temporary position, I headed out and bought some new clothes the day before I left. When being rung up, the first register had problems with the credit card machine, so they switched me to a second counter and I was on my way.
However, after arriving at my new job, I noticed that both transactions had posted to my account. I emailed customer support, and got a form letter back instructing me to call the customer support line instead.
Filled with dread, I took out 45 minutes of my work day to wait on hold. Finally, I was patched through to a sales associated. Unfortunately, in order to dispute a transaction, they have to send paper documents to my house - and apparently can't send them to a temporary address. So, all in all, I'm stuck with a rather large double bill for the next freakin' month until I get home.
At least I have enough money to carry it for now - good thing it wasn't my plane ticket or car rental - then I'd be in real trouble.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Money Mondays: The Extended Edition
I've been working a lot more hours at my 'real life jobs', which makes for a lack of updates, but as it's Monday and I have the day off, I figured it was time for another edition of Money Mondays. And there's lots of stuff since last time. Let's start with the online survey world:
Opinion Outpost - this website is constantly getting good reviews, but I have to admit I almost unsubscribed from this one. It took about two months for me to qualify for any surveys, but within the last few weeks, I’ve had much better luck and actually racked up $11.50 this month! Their minimum payout is $5, so like with Lightspeed a few weeks ago, this is well over usual expectations. The site only pays by check or by Amazon Gift Code, but I received my check in about two weeks.
SurveySpot - this is a tricky one. For years, this site received spectacular reviews, but opinions have drastically fallen since changing to a point system in late 2009. I joined since the change over, and did notice it taking forever for points to be credited, and an absurd amount of surveys only rewarding sweepstakes entries. My suggestion, if you have the time, is to spend your first month and try them all to build up a good history with the company, then just spend time on the ones that actually credit points after that. I managed to cash out instantly via PayPal for $12.00 this week, so it might be worth it to some people to slog through all those bogus invites for the paying ones.
Synovate - this is another unobtrusive site that emails relevant surveys on occasion to it’s members, and I was able to cash out for $5.00 a few weeks ago. Still waiting on the check for this one, though.
Lightspeed - cashed out again for another $5. This time, however, it’s took a bit longer for the PayPal payment to show up. It looks like they just switched to a new ordering system, so they may be working the kinks out.
Viewpoints - If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my urge to join this review site a few weeks ago. While in general this site doesn’t reward writers directly all the time, if you subscribe via MyPoints you can earn up to 500 points in your account. In addition to that, Viewpoints was also directly offering a limited time promotion to contribute 10 new reviews and earn a $10 Amazon Gift Card. I completed the program, so again, I’ll confirm if I actually get the card. In any case, if you like to write, it’s an easy job.
Speaking of MyPoints, my first gift card arrived this week too, and I’m about two weeks away from cashing out my next.
And finally, I managed to write another winning review and score an extra $10 in the process last month.
So if you’ve been keeping track, since starting to do online surveys in my free time from the end of November 2009, I have cashed out $75.50. This does not include the other 10-15 panels I’ve subscribed to where I haven’t met the minimum payout threshold, yet, either. So far, I have to say my experience overall with just making a little extra spending money on the side in my spare time has been very positive - I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a little extra cash.
In the meantime, the free stuff continues to flow in. I’ve received two free samples of Prilosec, three packets of Emergen-C (which is great timing, too, as I seem to be developing some sort of cold this week), some dried plumbs, some artificial sweeteners (gonna try that in my coffee at work this week) and some shampoo & conditioner. One thing I should note at this point, however, that while a lot of the advertisements for these products will show small or travel-sized packaging, in real life I would say about half of the things I’ve received have actually been much smaller - usually just a small package with ‘one serving’, as it were. For instance, the Gold Bond lotion was really just a small plastic/foil packet. Several of the colognes I received were just one-use pads attached to postcards. So don’t be surprised if you don’t get the exact product pictured - but hey...it’s still free.
Opinion Outpost - this website is constantly getting good reviews, but I have to admit I almost unsubscribed from this one. It took about two months for me to qualify for any surveys, but within the last few weeks, I’ve had much better luck and actually racked up $11.50 this month! Their minimum payout is $5, so like with Lightspeed a few weeks ago, this is well over usual expectations. The site only pays by check or by Amazon Gift Code, but I received my check in about two weeks.
SurveySpot - this is a tricky one. For years, this site received spectacular reviews, but opinions have drastically fallen since changing to a point system in late 2009. I joined since the change over, and did notice it taking forever for points to be credited, and an absurd amount of surveys only rewarding sweepstakes entries. My suggestion, if you have the time, is to spend your first month and try them all to build up a good history with the company, then just spend time on the ones that actually credit points after that. I managed to cash out instantly via PayPal for $12.00 this week, so it might be worth it to some people to slog through all those bogus invites for the paying ones.
Synovate - this is another unobtrusive site that emails relevant surveys on occasion to it’s members, and I was able to cash out for $5.00 a few weeks ago. Still waiting on the check for this one, though.
Lightspeed - cashed out again for another $5. This time, however, it’s took a bit longer for the PayPal payment to show up. It looks like they just switched to a new ordering system, so they may be working the kinks out.
Viewpoints - If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my urge to join this review site a few weeks ago. While in general this site doesn’t reward writers directly all the time, if you subscribe via MyPoints you can earn up to 500 points in your account. In addition to that, Viewpoints was also directly offering a limited time promotion to contribute 10 new reviews and earn a $10 Amazon Gift Card. I completed the program, so again, I’ll confirm if I actually get the card. In any case, if you like to write, it’s an easy job.
Speaking of MyPoints, my first gift card arrived this week too, and I’m about two weeks away from cashing out my next.
And finally, I managed to write another winning review and score an extra $10 in the process last month.
So if you’ve been keeping track, since starting to do online surveys in my free time from the end of November 2009, I have cashed out $75.50. This does not include the other 10-15 panels I’ve subscribed to where I haven’t met the minimum payout threshold, yet, either. So far, I have to say my experience overall with just making a little extra spending money on the side in my spare time has been very positive - I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a little extra cash.
In the meantime, the free stuff continues to flow in. I’ve received two free samples of Prilosec, three packets of Emergen-C (which is great timing, too, as I seem to be developing some sort of cold this week), some dried plumbs, some artificial sweeteners (gonna try that in my coffee at work this week) and some shampoo & conditioner. One thing I should note at this point, however, that while a lot of the advertisements for these products will show small or travel-sized packaging, in real life I would say about half of the things I’ve received have actually been much smaller - usually just a small package with ‘one serving’, as it were. For instance, the Gold Bond lotion was really just a small plastic/foil packet. Several of the colognes I received were just one-use pads attached to postcards. So don’t be surprised if you don’t get the exact product pictured - but hey...it’s still free.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Never Paid On Time...
So why is it that it's perfectly acceptable for your employer to not pay on time, but you rack up absurd penalties for turning around and paying your bills late?
As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of freelancing, so I have had quite a few experiences with employers paying me from anywhere to a day to eight weeks late. My frustration increases when these paychecks arrive late...but I still have to pay my rent, insurance, and utilities on time.
I've talked to several experts in the financial realm - accountants, lawyers, etc., and unfortunately there's not an easy answer. If an employer hasn't paid you, you can indeed file a complaint in small claims court, but that can take weeks or months to go through - way past when your bills are due. Or, if a contractor doesn't pay you at all, you can write off you missing check as a tax deduction...but again, that's not really helping with the here and now.
Oh, and the best part is the whole direct deposit thing. I have NEVER been employed by any company who gets this right the first time. I usually go through one to three pay periods before someone gets off their lazy ass and actually types in my information. In the meantime...I'm just waiting for another late check.
As I've mentioned before, I do a lot of freelancing, so I have had quite a few experiences with employers paying me from anywhere to a day to eight weeks late. My frustration increases when these paychecks arrive late...but I still have to pay my rent, insurance, and utilities on time.
I've talked to several experts in the financial realm - accountants, lawyers, etc., and unfortunately there's not an easy answer. If an employer hasn't paid you, you can indeed file a complaint in small claims court, but that can take weeks or months to go through - way past when your bills are due. Or, if a contractor doesn't pay you at all, you can write off you missing check as a tax deduction...but again, that's not really helping with the here and now.
Oh, and the best part is the whole direct deposit thing. I have NEVER been employed by any company who gets this right the first time. I usually go through one to three pay periods before someone gets off their lazy ass and actually types in my information. In the meantime...I'm just waiting for another late check.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Pedestrian Woes
We had a discussion earlier this week about other pet peeves on Twitter, and @andymurd brought up bad pedestrian behavior. Since you're already used to my bitching about bad driving, a lot of these may sound familiar, because they follow the same rules:
1) If you're walking slow or stopping frequently, then stay to the right. This applies to everything from shopping malls to busy sidewalks, to escalators. Other people might actually know where they are going or, *gasp!*, have some place to be, so just get out of the way and let the rest of society get on with their lives.
2) Speaking of escalators, don't freakin' STOP after getting off the steps and look around to see which way to go. There are people behind you, remember? No one is having fun walking backwards on those things while you get your bearings, so just take a few steps and get out of the way while you figure out where you are.
3) Groups: if the sidewalk is only wide enough to let 4 people through, then don't try cramming your whole group together in one line. Other people need to walk on the sidewalk at some point, too, you know.
All in all, just use some common sense. Realize you're not the only one there. Understand that other people have places to go, too.
1) If you're walking slow or stopping frequently, then stay to the right. This applies to everything from shopping malls to busy sidewalks, to escalators. Other people might actually know where they are going or, *gasp!*, have some place to be, so just get out of the way and let the rest of society get on with their lives.
2) Speaking of escalators, don't freakin' STOP after getting off the steps and look around to see which way to go. There are people behind you, remember? No one is having fun walking backwards on those things while you get your bearings, so just take a few steps and get out of the way while you figure out where you are.
3) Groups: if the sidewalk is only wide enough to let 4 people through, then don't try cramming your whole group together in one line. Other people need to walk on the sidewalk at some point, too, you know.
All in all, just use some common sense. Realize you're not the only one there. Understand that other people have places to go, too.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Driving Rant #4.5: A Day in the Life of...
Today we take a brief pause in the planned line of subjects for a full blown rant about my drive home from work today.
I knew the day wasn’t starting out well when I couldn’t even leave the parking garage. I park in the same garage for work every day I’m there, but for some reason today the parking attendant decided to be a head case and demanded to see my ID along with my check card. So I gave it to her...she looked at it, looked at me, and said "That don’t look like you!" Ugh. I’m wearing glasses today, and not in that photo. So after about five minutes of arguing back and forth, reciting my address, and showing her two other forms of ID, she finally lets me pay and go. I mean seriously - I think if someone was using a stolen wallet they’d have better things to buy than overpriced city parking space.
I managed to get about two blocks from the garage when I’m stopped behind a Fed-Ex tractor trailer completely blocking traffic. Now, this is Main Street - there is a fair amount of traffic coming in the opposite direction. So I wait, and I wait, and I wait - in the meantime, a city cop pulls up behind me in line. Finally, a small space opens up in oncoming traffic, and as I begin to pull into the lane, the cop behind me turns into the lane and passes me, narrowly missing the driver side of my car. In the meantime, oncoming traffic approaches, and the cop and the oncoming car are at a standstill next to the tractor trailer. Now, keep in mind the cop is obviously the one going the wrong way - instead of backing up and letting the correct traffic go through, he turns on his lights and sirens and makes all of the oncoming traffic back up so that he can get through. He then turns of his lights and sirens, and continues down the road at a leisurely pace - while the rest of us are still stuck behind the goddamned truck.
As for the truck - dude, seriously, even if the loading dock is full, do NOT block freakin’ Main Street to unload your packages. There is a side street not 20 feet ahead of you that you can pull into and not disrupt one of the major arteries of downtown traffic.
After that fiasco, I headed towards the interstate on one of the main roadways, and got behind a lady who came to a dead stop at a green light in the middle of the three lane road. She then signals to turn right, and as I’m about to pass her on the left, she then swerves to the left at the last minute and signals a turn in that direction. I stop, she doesn’t move, and then the light turns red.
She then proceeds to turn right as originally planned (still in the middle lane, btw), and I’m stuck for a whole light cycle.
I FINALLY make it to the interstate (keep in mind this is just over two miles from my work place, and it has already taken me over half and hour to get there), and merge on - and than am almost immediately run off the road by a handicapped driver who cut in front of me and then slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
Two minutes later, I watch a see of red brake lights light up in front of me as a dump truck crosses four lanes of interstate traffic at once to make a last minute left exit.
It was like America’s Worst Driver’s all rolled into one episode for my viewing pleasure. Oh, wait, there wasn’t any snow. Well, there’s some forecasted again for Wednesday.
I knew the day wasn’t starting out well when I couldn’t even leave the parking garage. I park in the same garage for work every day I’m there, but for some reason today the parking attendant decided to be a head case and demanded to see my ID along with my check card. So I gave it to her...she looked at it, looked at me, and said "That don’t look like you!" Ugh. I’m wearing glasses today, and not in that photo. So after about five minutes of arguing back and forth, reciting my address, and showing her two other forms of ID, she finally lets me pay and go. I mean seriously - I think if someone was using a stolen wallet they’d have better things to buy than overpriced city parking space.
I managed to get about two blocks from the garage when I’m stopped behind a Fed-Ex tractor trailer completely blocking traffic. Now, this is Main Street - there is a fair amount of traffic coming in the opposite direction. So I wait, and I wait, and I wait - in the meantime, a city cop pulls up behind me in line. Finally, a small space opens up in oncoming traffic, and as I begin to pull into the lane, the cop behind me turns into the lane and passes me, narrowly missing the driver side of my car. In the meantime, oncoming traffic approaches, and the cop and the oncoming car are at a standstill next to the tractor trailer. Now, keep in mind the cop is obviously the one going the wrong way - instead of backing up and letting the correct traffic go through, he turns on his lights and sirens and makes all of the oncoming traffic back up so that he can get through. He then turns of his lights and sirens, and continues down the road at a leisurely pace - while the rest of us are still stuck behind the goddamned truck.
As for the truck - dude, seriously, even if the loading dock is full, do NOT block freakin’ Main Street to unload your packages. There is a side street not 20 feet ahead of you that you can pull into and not disrupt one of the major arteries of downtown traffic.
After that fiasco, I headed towards the interstate on one of the main roadways, and got behind a lady who came to a dead stop at a green light in the middle of the three lane road. She then signals to turn right, and as I’m about to pass her on the left, she then swerves to the left at the last minute and signals a turn in that direction. I stop, she doesn’t move, and then the light turns red.
She then proceeds to turn right as originally planned (still in the middle lane, btw), and I’m stuck for a whole light cycle.
I FINALLY make it to the interstate (keep in mind this is just over two miles from my work place, and it has already taken me over half and hour to get there), and merge on - and than am almost immediately run off the road by a handicapped driver who cut in front of me and then slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
Two minutes later, I watch a see of red brake lights light up in front of me as a dump truck crosses four lanes of interstate traffic at once to make a last minute left exit.
It was like America’s Worst Driver’s all rolled into one episode for my viewing pleasure. Oh, wait, there wasn’t any snow. Well, there’s some forecasted again for Wednesday.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Money Mondays, v2.0
(Posting a day early as my internet at home is still out because of recent weather...not sure if I'd be able to tomorrow!)
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
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