The Computer Curmudgeon

Jim Strikes Again

2009-06-19T21:09:00.004-08:00

What a moron!

Jim polluted my inbox again with more of his leftist bile.

If he is such a warm, caring concerned person, why doesn't he respect my privacy?

Here is my response:

Dear Jim:

When you were running for office I demanded that you take my name off your e-mail list, and was generally unsuccessful.

Now you are sending me your e-mail again.

I have done the polite thing that used your unsubscribe feature.

Now I will do the unpolite thing: Take me the *&*% off your list. You are the only one on the planet who uses this e-mail address.

By the way – I blog your rudeness at http://www.spectregunner.blogspot.com/ and will continue to do so.

Warmest regards,

websavvy@gunships.org

Jim Pederson

2009-06-07T11:18:00.003-08:00

Just like a nagging headache that won't go away, Jim Pederson (developer, former chair of the state Democratic party, and unsuccessful candidate for statewide office) and his cohorts at "Stand Up For Arizona" never found an e-mail address he refused to keep using.

I chronicled my efforts to get off of his mailing list when he was running for office, and thought that this was a dead issue. But no, apparently Jim and his buddies have no problems with refusing to honor requests from people who don't want to listen to his left-wing socialist rants.

He visited my mailbox again late this week.

What a buffoon. And the claptrap he put forth in his e-mail was just like the blather we heard from him on the campaign trail: smarmy and disingenuous. Hope I never meet the man, because if we shook hands I'd feel obliged to see if I still had my watch and ring.

I completed the "unsubscribe" link on the form e-mail he sent, I'll let you know when I get the next e-mail, since he showed no signs of honoring unsubsribe requests last time around.

More Sprint Stupidity

2009-05-27T21:54:00.002-08:00

A follow-up memo to the fools who are running Sprint.

Please read my previous posting.
T-Mobile will match my current plan and give me a new phone -- including some awesome PDAs
According to your website, you'll give a brand new customer a better deal than you will give me when my contract expires. So much for brand loyalty.
You have officially lost a customer.

Interesting month

2009-05-26T19:57:00.003-08:00

Been an interesting month. Have done very little editing at Best of the Web -- I'm suffering from editor burnout, a not uncommon malady of directory editors. One morning I'll wake up with a bug up my butt, and go on an editing rampage.

Visited the world's worst Outback Steakhouse in Northwest Albuquerque, just down the hill from Rio Rancho. Great service, worst prepared food I've had in a long, long time.

Even the San Marcos Resort managed to thoroughly disappointed me. We went in a couple of weeks ago for the Saturday Night Prime Rib Buffet that I've bragged on in this blog. Got there at 5 past 5, dining room was empty and this snot nosed kid asked if we had reservations. I said no, and he said we had to sit in the lounge. Hey, stupid, we showered, the dining room is empty, it is the middle of a recession and we are paying customers. He showed us to the table in the bar area and left. We never sat down, just turned around and walked out the door. We haven't been back. May not be back, either. Screw 'em. They don't need my business, I don't need their food. Or attitude. Yet people wonder why so many restaurants are failing.

If you own a restaurant, understand one thing. You are not doing me a favor by being in business. I'm the one doing you a favor by walking through your door. If you don't meet my expectations, I won't come back and if that happens to enough of your customers, you'll be in the newspaper listed as another failed restaurant. That is if the newspaper doesn't fail first.

And while I'm on a roll, I have a few unkind words for the marketing droids at Sprint/Nextel. My contract expires in a few months. I've been following your website to see what kind of phone I will get with my credit. *poof* Apparently on May 1 you changed the rules of the game. I can only get a new phone if I increase my service level by one notch. Push-to-talk this: there are plenty of other cell phone vendors -- despite your marketing you are all essentially the same -- and I'll switch before I get jacked up by you. So tell the marketing genius who decided to try and jack my rates that he lost a customer -- and I was the best kind of customer because we rarely used our cell phone, so the money we paid was virtually all profit. Not a lot of profit, mind you, but profit nonetheless.

This recession is going to wipe out a lot of companies that have done little more than consume oxygen for years.

A wonderful Saturday and the nuts were out

2009-04-25T18:15:00.004-08:00

It was a beautiful Arizona Saturday, it was the first day of the NFL draft, and the anti-Covance nut jobs were out in force.

It was fun to watch as they marched up and down the sidewalks in front of - no,not Covance, that might make sense - the restaurants and shops at Gilbert and the 202. So, the servers inside of Chili's were busy watching the loose lugnuts rather than watching their customers.

Great fun.

By the way, if the people protesting animal cruelty and exploitation bring a puppy to their protest alongside a major throughfare, aren't they equally guilty of animal exploitation?

A Couple of Things

2009-04-24T23:56:00.003-08:00

Why is Chevron gas almost always the most expensive?

Kudos to the City of Chandler for cracking down on the illegal signs (litter on a stick).

Apologies for the delay

2009-04-15T20:26:00.001-08:00

Been a while since I posted...I've been tied up in a series of right-wing extremist meetings, and trying to dodge the people from homeland security.

Miserable MEAL

2009-02-28T15:08:00.003-08:00

We went to the IHOP on South Gilbert Rd. last night, and had one of the worst dining experiences in memory.

We were greeted and seated almost immediately. it would have been ice if they told us about the problem with missing cooks.

Our server, Tina/Trina, was attentive and efficient. The only real good part of the meal!

Apparently, two cooks had called out, and the manager was in the kitchen trying to fill orders while they attempted to get one of the morning cooks to come in for an additional shift. In addition, the manager apparently was not feeling well, and with the location of our table, we could hear the constant litany of complaints coming out of the kitchen.

Food delivery was slow -- very, very slow. We were just getting ready to get up and walk out when our food was delivered. We should have left while the leaving was good.

Mrs. Curmudgeon had the fish and chips with unseasoned fried and cole slaw. The fish was prepared properly, the french fried were seasoned and the cole slaw was a yellow-mess that smelled bad and was bitter to the taste.

My burger had to be sent back before it even got to the table, because they forgot the fries. Then, with it did get to the table, they had forgotten the egg. We won't spend a lot of time here criticizing the fact that the burger was not cooked toorder, but was precooked and slightly warmed. How slightly warmed was it? Not enough to melt the cheddar cheese.

We ate what we could, paid and left. Some 24 hours later, the bad taste over the dining experience is still in my mouth.

Bargain Eats

2009-02-24T19:23:00.003-08:00

Given that we go out to eat a lot, I thought I would share some bargains we have discovered:

Tuesday Nights - Valle Luna Restaurant. Senior discount, restricted menu (but regular size portions), buy one, get one of equal or lesser value for free. Be prepared to beat the snowbirds back with a stick, but still worth the wait.
Wednesday Nights - Village Inn. Free pie with entree and a drink (not water you cheapskate!).
Tuesday Night - Native New Yorker - 30-cent wings. Woo hoo!
Any weeknight - Abuelos. Early bird special, limited menu with smaller portions before 6 p.m. Solid deal.
Any weeknight - Abuelos. Save your receipt (then call for a $5 discount on your next meal.)
Any Weeknight - Outback. Early bird special, order must be in the computer before 6 p.m., limited selection of smaller portion meals.
Wednesday - Black Angus. ½ lb. Prime Rib and Mud Pie for $14.99
Sun-Thu - San Marcos Hotel. Nightly $9.99 entree. Limited seletion, but nice.
Fri-Sat - San Marcos Hotel. All you can eat prime rib buffet for $11.99
Anytime - Black Angus. Go to their website and sign up for their diner's club, get a free dessert for signing up and a free steak dinner on your birthday.
Anytime - Marie Callendar. Sign up for their birthday club, get a coupon for $5 off your meal during your birthday month, and everyone who dines with you get a free slice of pie. Yum!

I'll share more in the future.

The Rich boy

2009-02-23T18:36:00.000-08:00

More wisdom from my inbox.

-------------------------

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country
with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, 'How was the trip?'

'It was great, Dad..'

'Did you see how poor people live?' the father asked.

'Oh yeah,' said the son.

'So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?' asked the father.

The son answered:

'I saw that we have one dog and they ha d four.

We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.

We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.

Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.

We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight.

We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.

We buy our food, but they grow theirs.

We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.'

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, 'Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are..'

Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!

Pass this on to family, friends and acquaintances and help them refresh their perspective and appreciation.

'Life is too short and friends are too few.'

Exercise of People Over 50

2009-02-22T20:29:00.002-08:00

Found in my inbox:

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of
room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from
your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full
minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit
longer. After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you
can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight
for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

Dining Out

2009-02-20T22:50:00.003-08:00

While Mrs. Curmudgeon is a fabulous cook, the day to day pressures of life mean that we eat out a lot. And we tend to visit the same restaurants on a regular basis.

What continue to amaze and befuddle me, is how two restaurants from the same chain can consistently deliver different levels of performance.

Some examples:

Stuart Anderson Black Angus:
Near the Chandler Mall -- perfect in every way. Clean, smells good, great service and attentive management.
Near Superstition Springs Mall -- we won't go back. It gives us the impression it is dirty, service is mediocre, and there seems to invariably be something wrong with the food.
Near Fiesta Mall -- usually smalls stale/bad. Horrid. I'd rather go hungry.

Red Lobster:
Near the 202 and Gilbert Road -- fantastic. Service, food cleanliness. they have their act together.
Superstitions Springs -- mediocre in every way. Indifferent. I've got to be really hungry to go there.

Olive Garden:
Chandler Mall -- always a superior meal with great service and well-prepared food.
Fiesta Mall -- another big winner. Never disappointed there.
202 & Gilbert Road -- is now on our personal do not dine list. I think the half-cooked pizza was the final straw. It might have been one of the snooty servers.
Superstition Springs -- doesn't stand out one way or the other.
Casa Grande -- new store, strong first impression.

Marie Callander:
I-10 Chandler Blvd -- very consistent, clean (although the men's room could use a refurb), good salad bar, strong managements.
Dobson in Mesa -- just fair, lots of items on the Salad Bar are frozen (yecch - frozen cucumber). Dark, gives the appearance of being dirty, even if it is not. Even the pie case looks boring.

Old Country Buffet:
Superstition Springs -- always good, always sparkling, food is always fresh and the dining room attendants are top notch.
60 & Stapley/Cooper -- an enigma. Great location, history of horrid management, dried out food and indifferent servers. Drive past this store to get to Superstition Springs. Must note, however, that the new manager Harold is making a difference, but it is still going to be a long, hard climb.
Warner Rd, Chandler -- this is actually a Hometown Buffet franchise -- somehow fitting that it is next to a car wash. We speed up when we go past, not worth stopping there.

----

I think it comes down to the local managers and if they are more concerned with taking good care of their customers than with squeezing evey possible penny of profit.

Thoughts on the Big 6-zero.

2009-01-28T20:31:00.003-08:00

I turn 60 this week, and frankly I'm having a hard time with it.

Sixty. The economy is in the tank, the Democrats successfully sabotaged the bush administration, the cult of personality won out in the election, and full-blown socialism is on our doorstep.

Sixty. I'm too old to find a new job -- so I pray that I can keep mine. I doubt I'll ever see Social Security or Medicare, the Cardinals made the Superbowl (quit strutting around Bidwill, all your family ever did was institutionalize mediocrity for 61 years), the D-Backs let Randy Johnson go to San Francisco.

Sixty. Chandler is in reasonably good financial stead, my local HOA is solvent, Fulton Homes filed for bankruptcy (that will put a stop to all those construction defect lawsuits for a while).

Sixty! I never figured to make 40. Heck, there were times when I never figured to survive 1971.

Sixty! Who'd a thunk it???

Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino

2008-12-27T12:53:00.003-08:00

We had another disappointing meal last night at Harrah's Ak-Chin Casino in Maricopa. Friday and Saturday night is their all-you-can-eat seafood buffet at $19.99 a person. We arrived, and got into the longest line because we are only Gold Card Members. that's fine, the have to give some priority to the Diamond, Platinum and Seven Stars guests. Still, we were in line for more than an hour as they only seated about one-in-ten tables with Gold Card members.

Now Mrs. Curmudgeon likes their buffet because she is a seafood lover, and the crab legs are exactly what she wants. Since I am not a seafood eater (allergy) I have to eat the non-seafood items. That's OK, and I'm moderately comfortable with not receiving as much value for my meal, since I don't get the crab legs, salmon, clams and shrimp. Mrs. Curmudgeon is happy, so that make me happy. Well, it did until last night.

A number of year ago, the non-seafood entrees included roast pork loin, prime rib and often some other type of cooked beef, along with fillers such as fried chicken.

The prime rib was replaced a couple of years ago with sirloin. The pork loin has long since vanished, and while the fried chicken remains, there is no other beef to be found. There is a bunch of chinese-style food.

Now, to my dismay, even the sirloin is gone, replaced by brisket. Yeah, brisket, one of the least expensive cuts of beef you can find. Of course the guy cutting it, and serving up tiny portions, is proudly proclaiming it to be roast beef, and serving three-bite portions.

No longer with the $40 bucks, no longer worth the 15 mile drive. My gold card is now about to take one last trip -- to the trash can. We won't be back.

Merry CHRISTmas

2008-12-25T11:01:00.002-08:00

Found in my e-mail, too good not to post!

To All My Democrat Friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.

Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishes.

To My Republican Friends:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Stopping Piracy

2008-12-02T21:51:00.003-08:00

We need to put a stop to the piracy happening off of the coast of Africa, and I know exactly how to do it.

During WW-I, the British navies employed Q-boats in a move to thwart German submarines.

With no fanfare at all, the US and Russian navies should acquire a number of freighters and equip them with hidden gatling guns and other small, rapid fire ship-to-ship weapons. Then they should start running these ships through the shipping lanes where piracy is the strongest.

When the pirates attack, the sides of these ships should drop down, the weapons should appear, and they should be used to compeltely annihilate the pirate boats. No mercy, no niceness,, no political correctness. Just blast them into dust.

When enough pirate attack boats vanish without a trace, piracy will stop. the minute CNN finds out about it, the battle is lost.

Advantages of Getting Older

2008-11-19T20:26:00.002-08:00

Another gem from my inbox:

Perks of reaching 50, or being over 60, and heading to/or over 70!

01. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.

02. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.

03. No one expects you to run--anywhere.

04. People call at 9 pm and ask, did I wake you?

05. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.

06. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.

07. Things you buy now won't wear out.

08. You can eat supper at 4 pm.

09. You can live without sex but not your glasses.

10. You get into heated arguments about pension plans.

11. You no longer think of speed limits as a challenge.

12. You quit trying to hold your stomach in no matter who walks into the room.

13. You sing along with elevator music.

14. Your eyes won't get much worse.

15 . Your investment in health insurance is finally beginning to pay off.

16. Your joints are more accurate meteorologists than the national weather service.

17. Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.

18. Your supply of brain cells is finally down to manageable size.

19. You can't remember where you saw this list.

And you notice these are all in Big Print for your convenience?

Forward this to every one you can remember ---- now!
And never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night

The Layoff

2008-11-18T20:18:00.001-08:00

Found in my e-mail:

Fellow Business Executives:

As the CFO of this business that employees 140 people, I have resigned myself to the fact that Barrack Obama is our next President, and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way.

To compensate for these increases, I figure that the Clients will have to see an increase in our fees to them of about 8% but since we cannot increase our fees right now due to the dismal state of our economy, we will have to lay off six of our employees instead. This has really been eating at me for a while, as we believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who will have to go.

So, this is what I did. I strolled thru our parking lot and found 8 Obama bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the first to be laid off. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. These folks wanted change; I gave it to them.

If you have a better idea, let me know.

Sincerely,

BOB

Definition of a Veteran

2008-11-18T20:03:00.003-08:00

When listening to XM radio on the way to work on Veteran's Day I heard the following:

A veteran is a man or a woman who has written a check payable to the United State of America for any amount up to and including his or her life.

Car Washes and Glass Nazis

2008-09-26T21:32:00.002-08:00

When I go the the car wash it is with the expectation that my car will get washed.

I do not want some dude pressing his thumb on my windshield hoping to make a small star turn into a long crack. Half the time they have a sharp object concealed in their hands. It is all a big scam.

It has gotten to the point that I now sit in the car until the glass Nazi come up to my windshield, and the minute he reaches for my glass I lean on the horn. Pisses them off. Mightily.

Solution is simple -- stay away from my windshield.

I've also begin telling the car wash managers that they are about to lose my business if they keep renting out space to the glass Nazis.

Francis & Sons car wash in Gilbert has lost my business because of this practice.

Bill Heard Chevrolet

2008-09-23T21:50:00.001-08:00

Just a quick comment on their failure in Arizona:

We may be a bunch of dumb cowboys, but we outlasted your sorry posterior. You will NOT be missed.

Guess Whose Coming to Dinner

2008-09-13T22:47:00.002-08:00

I would bet that you could never imagine what greeted me in the middle of my driveway on Friday morning.

Looks like the Chandler Republic was able to successfully stop delivery for exactly four weeks.

I remain unimpressed.

Stupidity at Frys

2008-09-05T20:41:00.002-08:00

We were shopping for some produce at Frys at the corner of Chandler Blvd and Gilbert Road tonight.

At 9:15 they turned off all of the floodlights over the product racks, plunging the area into dimness.

There were three families shopping for produce, and we all basically walked away at that point.

So, while they are congratulating themselves over how much energy they saved, I wonder if they thought about how much they lost in sales.

My only conclusion is that the idiots who ruined Albertsons have now found new jobs at Frys.

Security Theater

2008-08-13T22:10:00.001-08:00

One of my many-times-a-day read is the Evolution of Security blog that is put out by TSA.

In it, the bloggers unsuccessfully try to present their agency as a dedicated group of security professionals who have the safety of traveling public foremost in their minds.

Instead, they have successfully managed to demonstrate that they are a rogue agency that plays fast and loose with civil liberties, that cares not a wit about the US constitution, and that uses draconian techniques to stifle their critics.

I actually feel sorry for the team that does the actual blogging -- I'm certain that they often feel very, very sick when they are finished making post that is clearly not of their making.

So what have we learned about the TSA:

There is no scientific validity in their liquids ban. If there were, then all of the confiscated liquds would be treated like hazardous waste, rather than just tossed in a trash bin next to the security station.
If you are a journalist, and you write bad things about them, your name will go on a list and you will be subjected to additional screenings every time you try to fly.
They have no Constitutional basis for demanding ID as a requirment to enter the departure area.
They have no legal authority to prevent someone from flying, but act as judge, jury and executioner by dealying people who don't cooperate long enough that they miss their flights.
Their newest scanners are basically electronic strip search machines.
They will accept a driver's license that is based on fraudulent Mexican ID as proof of identity, or even a Costco card, but will not accept ID that is produced by NASA, the Department of the Interior, etc.
They claim that they do not maintain their own private watch lists - but they do. Or at least they did until yesterday when USA Today called them on it.

I could go on and on. And I think that TSA will be a regular topic in this blog from this point forward. Just take a look at their blog. Read the comments, especially from the commenters who use their names or their net names, like Trollkiller, etc. The routinely call TSA's bluff.

TSA is dangerous, it is out of control, and it is your rights that it is running all over. And, despite their pretty badges and law-enforcement type uniforms, they are NOT law enforcement. They have no more arrest authority than the old guy in the green vest at Wal*Mart. They just act like they do.

The Chandler Republic

2008-08-07T20:11:00.003-08:00

I've been trying, with no success, to get the people who distribute the Chandler Republic to stop throwing free copies of their newspaper in my driveway once or twice a week or so.

I don't want it.

I called customer service on two occasions and politely asked them to stop. I was assured it would stop.

Obviously it has not.

I tersely called the Southeast Valley General Manager of the Chandler Republic, Mr. Paul Maryniak at 602-444-7785 and told his voicemail that I didn't want him littering my driveway and insisted that he stop delivering the paper. I wondered aloud if I would need to collect the papers and redeliver them to his home address in Mesa, but that did not get him to stop.

I don't understand. He is involved in nice charities, being on the boards of Save The Family Foundation, The Mesa Arts Center Foundation, East Valley partnership, and others. One would think that with that degree of civic responsibility he would have the power to stop the delivery of the newspaper to my home -- but apparently not.

So, dear blog readers, I am soliciting ideas on how to (legally) get the powers that be at the newspaper to stop littering my driveway.