So true
This place is full of depressed, worn out, and bitter people. It will wear you out and, before you know it, you will be depressed and bitter too. Take a walk around and you will see what I mean. People are untidy and wearing wrinkled clothes, smelly winter coats full of cat hair, long untidy hair and with that charateristic sour face. People have facial hair, nasty moles, crooked teeth, worse so than in one of the slums of London. They also like butter on everything. It is simply unbelievable. It is so expensive that no one has any cash in their pockets which only adds to their misery. Doctors and lawyers live in small old buildings without elevators, central air or parking. It seems like the women don’t have money for make-up, manicures, or perfume.
More golden humor like this here: http://www.bestplaces.net/city/Boston-Massachusetts.aspx
Goodbye, Verizon DSL
So we have to move. Grrr at landlords who spring news of putting the house on the market at the last minute. Grrrr more at real estate jerks who “accidentally” give free reign to all other sketchy “realtors” to come barge in the house at any time.
I was debating whether to continue with Verizon as a DSL provider. It would be easier to just transfer my account to the new address… but I have been paying $22.99 for a few months now (for a DSL “dry-loop”–no landline phone service), up from $19.99 for the first year, up from the original $14.99 bait-and-switch offer.
Could I do without *gasp* home internet all together? No, I thought, not that!
Then today I got an email:
Dear Verizon High Speed Internet Customer,
We are writing to inform you that the rate for your High Speed Internet package is changing to $29.99* per month, no sooner than 30 days from the date of this email.
This new price should appear on your bill within one to two billing cycles. Your service will automatically continue, with no term commitment or early termination fee. If you have recently changed to a different plan, please disregard this notice.
You can learn about additional money saving Verizon plans, such as Verizon Triple Freedom which combines Verizon High Speed Internet, TV service and unlimited calling for one low monthly rate by calling 1-800-567-6789. Or sign up online at www.verizon.com/bundle1 today.
Thank you for choosing and staying with Verizon High Speed Internet. We appreciate your business and we look forward to continuing to serve you.
Verizon Online
To quote my hero, Whitney, “Aw, hells to the no!”
I called to cancel. The CSR sounded slightly stoned. And very Southern, so kudos for Verizon for not outsourcing customer service to India just yet. He couldn’t offer me a better deal because “you’re already… paying… only $22.99.” Only? And that about to change this month to $29.99? So long, Verizon.
According to a smam email I got today…
magic is limited. magic_is_LIMITED
You know what? Magic is limited. As are most things, but of course, it’s evidently rather sad and urgent when it’s magic. Do you believe in magic? In a young girl’s heart? As sung about by Ronald McDonald?
I’m in a funny mood today. At a crossroads in my life, really. Yet I feel more likely to watch Crossroads than to make any real progress on my decisions.
Why you shouldn’t leave the place you love, even for a year or two…
The places you cherish from your childhood all close before you can get back…. RIP Hellas.
Free shipping at AnnTaylor.com this weekend! No minimum purchases or codes!
March 21, 2008
Filed under deals, shopping
Tags: ann taylor, clearance, deals, free shipping
I just got a long-sleeve tee for $3.88! Go check it out!
Stephen Crane– Line XL
It is sometimes forgotten that Crane wrote poetry–or anything other than The Red Badge of Courage, for that matter–and in his collection The Black Riders, from which this selection comes, he himself referred to them as “lines” and not poems.
XL.
And you love me
I love you.
You are, then, cold coward.
Aye; but, beloved,
When I strive to come to you,
Man’s opinions, a thousand thickets,
My interwoven existence,
My life,
Caught in the stubble of the world
Like a tender veil –
This stays me.
No strange move can I make
Without noise of tearing
I dare not.
If love loves,
There is no world
Nor word.
All is lost
Save thought of love
And place to dream.
You love me?
I love you.
You are, then, cold coward.
Aye; but, beloved –
Close a store card, the FICO score goes up 10 pts…
March 20, 2008
Filed under PF, money
Tags: credit, credit cards, FICO score, money, PF, shopping
So, I recently closed some store cards which I stupidly opened in my college days, to save that big deal 10%. Best Buy (actually this was my second credit card ever, when I was 18), Target, and Target Visa were long since closed due to inactivity. I closed my Kohl’s card. Good riddance. And my FICO score shot up 10 pts from last month, kinda like Lifehacker said it might. Not bad, eh? So today I remembered I had opened an Express card as well. That one was still open, though it had only been used once in 2005. I shut that sucka DOWN, and it feels good. Wondering if I have more of these out there somewhere…
Here’s one for the Ann-Arborites
You can get a free “Let’s Go Blue” ringtone at phonezoo.com. For my fellow Wolverines, you know this is huge. Usually you can find many permutations of “The Victors” but none of the other songs and ditties, many of which echo the fun and pride of Wolverine games just as much as hailin’ dem victors does.
Tomorrow is Forever
March 13, 2008
Filed under PF, money, work
Tags: film, Orson Welles, personal finance, PF, retirement, TDA
(Tomorrow is Forever is a fantastic film starring my all-time favorite actor, Orson Welles. It is tragically not available on DVD, and VHS copies go for what now feels like a ridiculous price to pay for VHS.)
I don’t know if it’s optimism, Pollyannaism, or just laziness, but I seem to have a block when it comes to planning for the long-term future. I waited six months after starting my job to set up my retirement account. Even then, I left it for a year with employer-only contributions. I wonder what that $1300, with some modest growth, will buy in 2048…? Oh yeah, not much. Thanks, inflation!
So I finally got around to setting up a tax-deferred account (filling in that circle on the employee website was so labor-intensive!). Who knows, I might even start an IRA. Probably not before I turn 25 in August, but you never know. Tomorrow is another day.
Fit Flop Hooray
March 9, 2008
Filed under boston, deals, fitness
Tags: apostrophes, flip flops, shoes, shopping
Well, it took a bit of searching both online (about a dozen unfinished FatWallet cashback transactions) and in-store (ended up touring metro Boston by T), and finally ended up getting my FitFlops at Macy*s in Burlington. If you haven’t heard, they’re supposedly a current fitness craze in the UK: a sandal that tones your legs and hindquarters as you walk around. They’re really comfy, and make my achin’ back feel nice, so that alone is worth the $40. And if the claims are more than just hype, well, I won’t be complainin.’ (Once you start usin’ folksy talk, you just ain’t gon’ stop.)
