Wednesday, June 11, 2008
ScarJo isn't dumb, but she is naive
Scarlett Johansson is an Obama supporter. Unlike most dopey celebrities, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she actually thinks about issues before she speaks. She reads The Economist, for example. I'm not trying to say that The Economist is a paragon of intelligent writing, but it's an interesting, well-written magazine that's not completely beholden to left-wing ideas.
So she e-mailed Obama once, and he replied. They have since had correspondence via e-mail (this can't make Michelle Obama very happy). Anyway, this "shocked" Johansson. Victorino Matus at The Weekly Standard has a list of other things that shock her:
Her personal trainer has time for hands-on demonstrations.
Her masseur cancels other appointments to prolong his massages free of charge.
Her cable installer shows up 30 minutes early and checks and double-checks the cable connections. In her bedroom.
Bartenders make her fancy cocktails on the house and they never skimp on the alcohol.
Air-conditioning repairman returns her call in minutes, offers same day service as well as dinner.
Auto mechanics offer to reupholster her carseats for free and keep the old ones for themselves.
Waiters are constantly bringing her free food and feeding her by hand because it’s “family-style.”
So she e-mailed Obama once, and he replied. They have since had correspondence via e-mail (this can't make Michelle Obama very happy). Anyway, this "shocked" Johansson. Victorino Matus at The Weekly Standard has a list of other things that shock her:
Her personal trainer has time for hands-on demonstrations.
Her masseur cancels other appointments to prolong his massages free of charge.
Her cable installer shows up 30 minutes early and checks and double-checks the cable connections. In her bedroom.
Bartenders make her fancy cocktails on the house and they never skimp on the alcohol.
Air-conditioning repairman returns her call in minutes, offers same day service as well as dinner.
Auto mechanics offer to reupholster her carseats for free and keep the old ones for themselves.
Waiters are constantly bringing her free food and feeding her by hand because it’s “family-style.”
Hillary's enemies list
Hillary and the Clintonistas have apparently taken note of who supported Obama over her in the Democratic primary, and they plan on remembering:
"I won't forget these people," said Susie Tompkins Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing company and a longtime friend of the Clintons who describes herself as "a soul sister" to Hillary Clinton.
When asked to name "these people," Buell specifies "all the women who sold out Hillary." She declined to volunteer names on her list but answered "all of the above" when read a roster of prominent women supporting Obama that includes Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.
"I won't forget these people," said Susie Tompkins Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing company and a longtime friend of the Clintons who describes herself as "a soul sister" to Hillary Clinton.
When asked to name "these people," Buell specifies "all the women who sold out Hillary." She declined to volunteer names on her list but answered "all of the above" when read a roster of prominent women supporting Obama that includes Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Cheap pizza this weekend
For you locals, I got a flyer in the mail from the Domino's at 2455 W. Fullerton. It has a coupon for as many 1-topping large pizzas as you want, carry-out only, for $3.99 each. If any of you want the coupon to either entertain a crowd or just get fat, you can have it. First come, first serve.
UPDATE: I forgot to write that it's good from 10 AM to 5 PM on either Saturday or Sunday.
UPDATE: I forgot to write that it's good from 10 AM to 5 PM on either Saturday or Sunday.
Help! Some of you are enterprising...
I consider myself to be pretty good at tracking things down on the interwebs through Google due to my tremendous gift for knowing the right phrase to use. However, my weakest area, by far, is shopping online.
For example, I'd like to have some headphones that I can plug into the elliptical machine at the gym so I can hear the Simpsons episode I'm watching. However, I'm too tall to use regular headphones because the cord isn't long enough. I'd love to phone some regular, lightweight headphones with an extra long cord, and I'd think they exist somewhere. I just can't find them. Can anyone help? Any ideas on where to look, either online or brick-and-mortar? Please post suggestions in the comments.
Also, I'm note sure what happened to the format of this blog, but for some reason it's become harder to read due to no space between the main text and both the headline and the signature line. Does anyone know how to make it go back to having a space? I could (I suppose) just put in extra return lines at the top and bottom of each post, but that's kind of ghetto.
For example, I'd like to have some headphones that I can plug into the elliptical machine at the gym so I can hear the Simpsons episode I'm watching. However, I'm too tall to use regular headphones because the cord isn't long enough. I'd love to phone some regular, lightweight headphones with an extra long cord, and I'd think they exist somewhere. I just can't find them. Can anyone help? Any ideas on where to look, either online or brick-and-mortar? Please post suggestions in the comments.
Also, I'm note sure what happened to the format of this blog, but for some reason it's become harder to read due to no space between the main text and both the headline and the signature line. Does anyone know how to make it go back to having a space? I could (I suppose) just put in extra return lines at the top and bottom of each post, but that's kind of ghetto.
Obama's chief economic advisor hearts Wal-Mart
This is quite an interesting development. I had Obama pegged as basically a socialist on economic policy. Today he hired his chief economic advisor on his campaign, and it's a guy who likes Wal-Mart (from a liberal point of view):
So there's quite a lot of grumbling in labor circles today about his bringing on Jason Furman as his chief economic policy advisor, because Furman wrote a key, 2005 defense (.pdf) of Wal-Mart from the left, titled, unironically, "Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story."
The piece makes two arguments. The first is that Wal-Mart lowers prices, so low-income people (and others) can buy more. The second is that Wal-Mart's low-wage jobs are consistent with the Clintonite philosophy of making work pay, and that the right fix is to have government subsidize the low-wage workers' salaries and help provide them healthcare. He denies that Wal-Mart lowers local wages.
Except for having government throw tax money at poor people, I agree with the rest of the points as summarized here. Organized labor, which hates Wal-Mart with a passion even as many of its members love shopping there, is less than thrilled:
Furman's arrival is one more mark of the transition to a general election in which labor may grumble, but really has nowhere else to go, and in which virtually all major unions backed his rivals in the primary -- . giving them seriously diminished clout on his campaign.
Here is the kicker, which helps to soften my anti-Obama stance somewhat, at least given that he's a Democrat:
But is the hire reflective more broadly that Obama's more a Clinton-style centrist than a man of labor? The case has been made that that's a false distinction, but there's not much evidence (aside from a couple of weeks in Ohio) for Obama as an economic populist.
Indeed Austan Goolsbee, another economist and key Obama advisor, also seems capable of mentioning Wal-Mart without spitting. He wrote in his Times column last year, in making the case that American workers are more productive htan others, that "companies like Wal-Mart seem to be more adept at translating technology into productivity than anyone else."
So there's quite a lot of grumbling in labor circles today about his bringing on Jason Furman as his chief economic policy advisor, because Furman wrote a key, 2005 defense (.pdf) of Wal-Mart from the left, titled, unironically, "Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story."
The piece makes two arguments. The first is that Wal-Mart lowers prices, so low-income people (and others) can buy more. The second is that Wal-Mart's low-wage jobs are consistent with the Clintonite philosophy of making work pay, and that the right fix is to have government subsidize the low-wage workers' salaries and help provide them healthcare. He denies that Wal-Mart lowers local wages.
Except for having government throw tax money at poor people, I agree with the rest of the points as summarized here. Organized labor, which hates Wal-Mart with a passion even as many of its members love shopping there, is less than thrilled:
Furman's arrival is one more mark of the transition to a general election in which labor may grumble, but really has nowhere else to go, and in which virtually all major unions backed his rivals in the primary -- . giving them seriously diminished clout on his campaign.
Here is the kicker, which helps to soften my anti-Obama stance somewhat, at least given that he's a Democrat:
But is the hire reflective more broadly that Obama's more a Clinton-style centrist than a man of labor? The case has been made that that's a false distinction, but there's not much evidence (aside from a couple of weeks in Ohio) for Obama as an economic populist.
Indeed Austan Goolsbee, another economist and key Obama advisor, also seems capable of mentioning Wal-Mart without spitting. He wrote in his Times column last year, in making the case that American workers are more productive htan others, that "companies like Wal-Mart seem to be more adept at translating technology into productivity than anyone else."
Chicago drivers are complete and utter a-holes
In other news, the sun came up today.
Here's the set-up:
It was a true Chicago moment. Amid the taquerias and Polish sausage shops and fortune teller storefronts and factories, a lone undercover officer took his life in his hands Monday.
No, he wasn't working narcotics. He simply stepped out onto Belmont Avenue.
The goal: see if people would stop for him in the crosswalk.
The result: 101 drivers were pulled over -- and received warnings -- in less than two hours.
This piece of human garbage wins the award for being a lying jerk in about three different ways:
One highlight: the Blazer driver with a handicapped sign who shouted: "Get out of the street!"
He changed his tune by the time police stopped him down the block, officers said.
"No speak English," he said.
Here's the set-up:
It was a true Chicago moment. Amid the taquerias and Polish sausage shops and fortune teller storefronts and factories, a lone undercover officer took his life in his hands Monday.
No, he wasn't working narcotics. He simply stepped out onto Belmont Avenue.
The goal: see if people would stop for him in the crosswalk.
The result: 101 drivers were pulled over -- and received warnings -- in less than two hours.
This piece of human garbage wins the award for being a lying jerk in about three different ways:
One highlight: the Blazer driver with a handicapped sign who shouted: "Get out of the street!"
He changed his tune by the time police stopped him down the block, officers said.
"No speak English," he said.
Monday, June 9, 2008
More illegal alien sob stories
The New York Times checks in today with more crying about how hard it is on all those poor, hard-working illegal aliens out there who are getting caught up in the dragnet of racism spreading across the US against them.
Or so they tell it.
Of course, I think it's great. Conspicuously left out are any stories about all of the crime caused by the waves of illegals here, from identity theft to violent street crime. So much to choose from, here's just a part:
Meanwhile, at Emerald Coast Interiors, three employees — one black, one white, one Hispanic — independently said the police did, in fact, chase a handful of Hispanic employees who ran. Three women, they said, were caught in a ditch behind the main building.
Luis Ramirez, the plant’s operations manager, said the officers asked to see documentation only for the workers who fled. “It was racial profiling,” Mr. Ramirez said.
So...it's racial profiling because Mexicans (not a race, a nationality) were caught because they were running (not a race, a behavior)? Oh, the PC contortions!
Or so they tell it.
Of course, I think it's great. Conspicuously left out are any stories about all of the crime caused by the waves of illegals here, from identity theft to violent street crime. So much to choose from, here's just a part:
Meanwhile, at Emerald Coast Interiors, three employees — one black, one white, one Hispanic — independently said the police did, in fact, chase a handful of Hispanic employees who ran. Three women, they said, were caught in a ditch behind the main building.
Luis Ramirez, the plant’s operations manager, said the officers asked to see documentation only for the workers who fled. “It was racial profiling,” Mr. Ramirez said.
So...it's racial profiling because Mexicans (not a race, a nationality) were caught because they were running (not a race, a behavior)? Oh, the PC contortions!
Jason Peter liked to party
Jason Peter played in the NFL and has a bother who did/does too. I don't care enough to look it up. Anyway, I guess he wrote a book about how much drugs we was doing. With Leather has more.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Europeans are damn weirdos
So here I sit watching the first game of the Euro 2008 (some soccer tournament for the national teams), and there is some kind of opening ceremony. It's a bunch of goofy music and cubes and costumes. Since it's live, I don't have a video link to offer. Trust me, it's lame.
The worst part is the poor announcers. These guys are just here to call the game, and they have to describe all of this artsy crap. They must want to kill themselves.
Yet I can't turn away...
The worst part is the poor announcers. These guys are just here to call the game, and they have to describe all of this artsy crap. They must want to kill themselves.
Yet I can't turn away...
Friday, June 6, 2008
I can't top this
Great post on With Leather regarding Two-Meter Peter and his hella-attractive girlfriend. Snippets (but definitely click the link to see pictures and read it all):
Most notably, striker Peter Crouch went to the Caribbean with girlfriend Abigail Clancy, who you may remember from that time she wore a see-through dress or that time she frolicked on the beach or that time my boner tore through my underwear.
...and...
So Crouch, a scarecrow-lookin' dude who isn't particularly good at what he does, gets to date the lingerie model with low self-esteem. If anyone needs me, I'll have my head in the oven.
Most notably, striker Peter Crouch went to the Caribbean with girlfriend Abigail Clancy, who you may remember from that time she wore a see-through dress or that time she frolicked on the beach or that time my boner tore through my underwear.
...and...
So Crouch, a scarecrow-lookin' dude who isn't particularly good at what he does, gets to date the lingerie model with low self-esteem. If anyone needs me, I'll have my head in the oven.
Mancow on Chris Farley
Mancow Muller has a long Sun-Times column remembering his friend Chris Farley:
From his tiny “script room,” there was a million-dollar view of Lake Michigan outside, and inside was a mountain range of cocaine only Scarface or a movie star could afford. No fat kid from Madison, Wis., ever prays for that when they grow up. No, that was a gift from Hollywood U.S.A. I never did cocaine with him. But after he died the lure of it was unbearable, and I wanted to. What is the attraction? He would joke that it kept him skinny. He was ashamed and embarrassed if I watched him do “the toot! The nose candy! The booger sugar!” He would ask me to look away. In his heart he hated that he had become a slave to addiction. Around the time Chris was born, there was a classic “Star Trek” episode called “The Doomsday Machine.” In that episode there is a destroyer of worlds that would snort up planets. When Chris did cocaine, in my mind’s eye I saw Chris as the “Doomsday Machine” vacuuming up cocaine and barrel rolling into oblivion.
From his tiny “script room,” there was a million-dollar view of Lake Michigan outside, and inside was a mountain range of cocaine only Scarface or a movie star could afford. No fat kid from Madison, Wis., ever prays for that when they grow up. No, that was a gift from Hollywood U.S.A. I never did cocaine with him. But after he died the lure of it was unbearable, and I wanted to. What is the attraction? He would joke that it kept him skinny. He was ashamed and embarrassed if I watched him do “the toot! The nose candy! The booger sugar!” He would ask me to look away. In his heart he hated that he had become a slave to addiction. Around the time Chris was born, there was a classic “Star Trek” episode called “The Doomsday Machine.” In that episode there is a destroyer of worlds that would snort up planets. When Chris did cocaine, in my mind’s eye I saw Chris as the “Doomsday Machine” vacuuming up cocaine and barrel rolling into oblivion.
Chicago Sun-Times tackles the tough issues
Who has hotter fans: Sox or Cubs? It's an interesting question. Cubs fans are quite snobbish at even considering it, but it's pretty close.
Girls at Cubs games tend to be more understated in their dress. They will more often (seemingly) wear a hat with shorts and a t-shirt like the former sorority girls many of them were.
Female Sox fans, however, have the South Side trashy look going. When I write trashy, I mean that in a good way.
It's a tough call, so I won't vote. I bet the Cubs will the poll due to their reputation, though.
Girls at Cubs games tend to be more understated in their dress. They will more often (seemingly) wear a hat with shorts and a t-shirt like the former sorority girls many of them were.
Female Sox fans, however, have the South Side trashy look going. When I write trashy, I mean that in a good way.
It's a tough call, so I won't vote. I bet the Cubs will the poll due to their reputation, though.
UPDATE: Um, this picture comparison they put on the website isn't fair:
Airlines are run by clowns
No surprise, but some in the airline industry are considering charging people more if they are heavy:
American now charges $15 for one checked bag; Delta charges $25 for a phone reservation. Since record high fuel prices are a big part of the problem, some airlines have been looking to boost fuel efficiency, too, by eliminating extra weight. Could the next step be fares based on a person's size?
Not a big deal to me, even though at 220 pounds (give or take) I'm sure I'd have to pay more. No big deal, that is, if I also get a more spacious seat than the usual little one I have to jam my huge frame into. Something tells me that no one thought of that, though.
American now charges $15 for one checked bag; Delta charges $25 for a phone reservation. Since record high fuel prices are a big part of the problem, some airlines have been looking to boost fuel efficiency, too, by eliminating extra weight. Could the next step be fares based on a person's size?
Not a big deal to me, even though at 220 pounds (give or take) I'm sure I'd have to pay more. No big deal, that is, if I also get a more spacious seat than the usual little one I have to jam my huge frame into. Something tells me that no one thought of that, though.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Happy birthday, Theresa!
The girl whose character helped mess up Ryan's life turns 31 today. That means she's exactly two days older than my brother, for you trivia buffs.
Just say no, IOC
Chicago is one of the four finalists to host the 2016 Olympics. I couldn't be more cranky.
First, our taxes are high enough! This will just lead to more and more as the city will have to piss away money on all kinds of spending initiatives. And do the Olympics ever make money? No, they always cost far more than is projected and lose money, unless Mayor Daley hires Mitt Romney to run them. As if he would ever hire an extremely competent Republican with a great track record when he could instead hire one of political machine cronies to screw it up.
Second, if I am still living anywhere near the city, I don't want thousands of stupid foreigners running around. They are just going to clog everything up with their odd customs and practices.
Third, what's the point, other than Daley's giant ego? We already have a good city, and we don't need to host the Olympics to prove it. If people around the world don't think much of us, who cares? They are the ones living in third-world stinkholes.
First, our taxes are high enough! This will just lead to more and more as the city will have to piss away money on all kinds of spending initiatives. And do the Olympics ever make money? No, they always cost far more than is projected and lose money, unless Mayor Daley hires Mitt Romney to run them. As if he would ever hire an extremely competent Republican with a great track record when he could instead hire one of political machine cronies to screw it up.
Second, if I am still living anywhere near the city, I don't want thousands of stupid foreigners running around. They are just going to clog everything up with their odd customs and practices.
Third, what's the point, other than Daley's giant ego? We already have a good city, and we don't need to host the Olympics to prove it. If people around the world don't think much of us, who cares? They are the ones living in third-world stinkholes.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
MLB draft preview
The baseball amateur draft is tomorrow, and Kevin Goldstein over at BP has been on it like white on rice (or, at least on white rice). Today is his mock draft. I think it's open to non-subscribers, so check it out.
If Kenny Williams gets Justin Smoak (as Goldstein predicts), I will be a happy guy. Slugging college first basemen drafted high tend to do well (or so I hope), and the last time the Sox took one was in 1989 with Frank Thomas. With Jim Thome in the last year of his contract and Paul Konerko's deal expiring after 2010, the Sox could easily move Konerko to DH in 2010 and have Smoak as the everyday 1B. I'm giddy at the thought, especially since the farm system is bereft of impact hitters (I love you, Josh Fields, but you don't count). The Sox haven't drafted this high since 1990, which ended a streak of 4 years of top ten picks of Jack McDowell, Robin Ventura, Thomas, and Alex Fernandez. That was the backbone of those stud early 1990's teams that couldn't quite get past the Blue Jays and then Indians.
Goldstein is also going to have a chat over on the site later today, and it may also be open to non-subscribers.
If Kenny Williams gets Justin Smoak (as Goldstein predicts), I will be a happy guy. Slugging college first basemen drafted high tend to do well (or so I hope), and the last time the Sox took one was in 1989 with Frank Thomas. With Jim Thome in the last year of his contract and Paul Konerko's deal expiring after 2010, the Sox could easily move Konerko to DH in 2010 and have Smoak as the everyday 1B. I'm giddy at the thought, especially since the farm system is bereft of impact hitters (I love you, Josh Fields, but you don't count). The Sox haven't drafted this high since 1990, which ended a streak of 4 years of top ten picks of Jack McDowell, Robin Ventura, Thomas, and Alex Fernandez. That was the backbone of those stud early 1990's teams that couldn't quite get past the Blue Jays and then Indians.
Goldstein is also going to have a chat over on the site later today, and it may also be open to non-subscribers.
Why Hillary lost
The Boston Globe has an article today with a solid wrap-up of how Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic Presidential nomination that a year ago looked inevitably hers. Here's the part that I think really nails it, at least on a practical grassroots level:
...Her campaign had not set up grass-roots organizations in states that came after the initial four contests, analysts said, and was counting on her superior name recognition to carry her to victory in the Super Tuesday contests.
On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, while Obama concentrated on building support in smaller states with caucus systems, where he could take advantage of his more enthusiastic backers, Clinton set her sights on the big, traditionally Democratic states. She won most of the biggest voting that day - including California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts - but ended up no better than even with Obama in delegates.
The Democrats' proportional system of awarding delegates gives special advantages to candidates who win states by large margins - and Obama cleaned up in the smaller states that Clinton had ignored while remaining close enough in the larger ones to minimize her gains in delegates there.
While her remaining hope the last few months to superdelegates was to say that she would be the stronger candidate in November due to her having more popular votes in the primaries, caucuses reward candidates with very intense suport, even if it's smaller. Hillary's base of old people just isn't going to turn out for them. Obama did a great job of taking advantage of the system (and I don't mean that to be negative).
...Her campaign had not set up grass-roots organizations in states that came after the initial four contests, analysts said, and was counting on her superior name recognition to carry her to victory in the Super Tuesday contests.
On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, while Obama concentrated on building support in smaller states with caucus systems, where he could take advantage of his more enthusiastic backers, Clinton set her sights on the big, traditionally Democratic states. She won most of the biggest voting that day - including California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts - but ended up no better than even with Obama in delegates.
The Democrats' proportional system of awarding delegates gives special advantages to candidates who win states by large margins - and Obama cleaned up in the smaller states that Clinton had ignored while remaining close enough in the larger ones to minimize her gains in delegates there.
While her remaining hope the last few months to superdelegates was to say that she would be the stronger candidate in November due to her having more popular votes in the primaries, caucuses reward candidates with very intense suport, even if it's smaller. Hillary's base of old people just isn't going to turn out for them. Obama did a great job of taking advantage of the system (and I don't mean that to be negative).
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Computershare is a HORRIBLE company
I now have found a company that is even worse than Overstock.com (at least they refunded me for the incredibly late Christmas delivery). That company is Computershare.
"What is Computershare?" you may ask? Let me tell a story...
Back in the old days, I entered a Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP) for a certain stock. That way my dividends would be automatically reinvested in additional stock rather than paid to me in cash. In addition, I could have monthly deductions from my checking account used to purchase more stock. The company that ran this service was called Equiserve, and it was an excellent company.
You see, under Equiserve, I could easily find my complete transaction history (good for finding my cost basis) and make changes to my account preferences (such as how much to deduct my my checking and changing my mailing address). After all, that's what the internet is for, right?
A few years ago Equiserve was purchased by another company that (apparently) does the same kind of shareholder services. It's called Computershare. It's an Australian company, and since I liked Young Einstein and Crocodile Dundee and Andrew Gaze, I figured it would be just fine. I have never been more wrong.
(By the way, go ahead and try to get on to their web site above. I'll still be here. If it actually comes up, you aren't too unlucky.)
At first, it was very slow and I couldn't do everything I wanted (such as changing deductions or my mailing address). The site wasn't good, but I figured they were new or integrating the Equiserve stuff or something. The options weren't there, but maybe they would be integrating them in when they saw how awesome Equiserve's ideas worked. So I gave it some time.
That time has passed. I am officially ticked off at these guys. This morning, I tried to get my transaction history for purposes of calculating my cost basis. The site just dies when I do AS IT ALWAYS HAS. How is this possible? Their name is COMPUTERSHARE! It's not 1993 with dial-up internet access! What more does an individual investor want? I am afraid to sell any stock because I'd never be able to calculate my cost basis for capital gains tax purposes.
It's unfathomable that this can occur in 2008 absent a huge temporary server migration or something. So Computershare, you are now on my Enemies List as the worst company I have ever dealt with. You win due to the tremendous longevity of your incompetence and indifference to customer service. I am now going to punch the next Australian guy I meet and tell him it's for you, and I will not drink a Foster's again until you fix your problems.
"What is Computershare?" you may ask? Let me tell a story...
Back in the old days, I entered a Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRIP) for a certain stock. That way my dividends would be automatically reinvested in additional stock rather than paid to me in cash. In addition, I could have monthly deductions from my checking account used to purchase more stock. The company that ran this service was called Equiserve, and it was an excellent company.
You see, under Equiserve, I could easily find my complete transaction history (good for finding my cost basis) and make changes to my account preferences (such as how much to deduct my my checking and changing my mailing address). After all, that's what the internet is for, right?
A few years ago Equiserve was purchased by another company that (apparently) does the same kind of shareholder services. It's called Computershare. It's an Australian company, and since I liked Young Einstein and Crocodile Dundee and Andrew Gaze, I figured it would be just fine. I have never been more wrong.
(By the way, go ahead and try to get on to their web site above. I'll still be here. If it actually comes up, you aren't too unlucky.)
At first, it was very slow and I couldn't do everything I wanted (such as changing deductions or my mailing address). The site wasn't good, but I figured they were new or integrating the Equiserve stuff or something. The options weren't there, but maybe they would be integrating them in when they saw how awesome Equiserve's ideas worked. So I gave it some time.
That time has passed. I am officially ticked off at these guys. This morning, I tried to get my transaction history for purposes of calculating my cost basis. The site just dies when I do AS IT ALWAYS HAS. How is this possible? Their name is COMPUTERSHARE! It's not 1993 with dial-up internet access! What more does an individual investor want? I am afraid to sell any stock because I'd never be able to calculate my cost basis for capital gains tax purposes.
It's unfathomable that this can occur in 2008 absent a huge temporary server migration or something. So Computershare, you are now on my Enemies List as the worst company I have ever dealt with. You win due to the tremendous longevity of your incompetence and indifference to customer service. I am now going to punch the next Australian guy I meet and tell him it's for you, and I will not drink a Foster's again until you fix your problems.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Ozzie vs. Kenny
No matter how busy or uninspired by the day's news I am, I am going to try to satiate the masses' thirst for my writing and opinions by posting at least once every day from now on. Racking my brain this afternoon, I thought this story would work.
After the Sox lost 4-3 on a 10th inning walk-off home run by Gabe Gross (which led to them losing 3 of 4 to the surging Tampa Bay Rays), manager Ozzie Guillen got a little worked up and said this:
"I expect [general manager] Kenny [Williams] to do something Tuesday. Because if we don't do anything Tuesday, there's [going to be] a lot of change in the lineup. That's all I'm going to say about the offense," said Guillen, whose comments were spiced with an occasional expletive.
My first thought was that this is just stupid. They have a veteran team, and the main guys who are no performing were also their projected best hitters: Jim Thome, Nick Swisher, and Paul Konerko. What else would change? Who would replace these three?
The rest of the mine-up is at least acceptable, and the whole pitching staff is doing a good job, so they aren't going anywhere, either.
What I didn't think about was that Williams would be mad at Ozzie for this tirade, but it makes sense since Ozzie just crapped all over the team he built:
"It's just not a good idea to throw your boss under the bus, especially when that boss has had your back as much as I have had his," Williams wrote. "I expect this team, if the leadership remains positive and the players stick together and continue to play hard, it will be a fun summer.
"The offense will begin to produce when collectively they say the hell with all the theories, stay loose, pick the pitch you want to hit and hit it hard. It will be nice to see them lighten up and have some fun."
That's basically right. This team is set to win now, and there is no organizational depth to replace the thumpers in the lineup.What exactly would Ozzie propose he do? I am sure he's just trying to motivate them, but since these guys have all been around a while, I wonder if even that would work.
Another common Ozzie move, though, is to blow up in the media to take the attention off his team and put it on him. The problem with that here is that the media is focusing on both his team and him.
After the Sox lost 4-3 on a 10th inning walk-off home run by Gabe Gross (which led to them losing 3 of 4 to the surging Tampa Bay Rays), manager Ozzie Guillen got a little worked up and said this:
"I expect [general manager] Kenny [Williams] to do something Tuesday. Because if we don't do anything Tuesday, there's [going to be] a lot of change in the lineup. That's all I'm going to say about the offense," said Guillen, whose comments were spiced with an occasional expletive.
My first thought was that this is just stupid. They have a veteran team, and the main guys who are no performing were also their projected best hitters: Jim Thome, Nick Swisher, and Paul Konerko. What else would change? Who would replace these three?
The rest of the mine-up is at least acceptable, and the whole pitching staff is doing a good job, so they aren't going anywhere, either.
What I didn't think about was that Williams would be mad at Ozzie for this tirade, but it makes sense since Ozzie just crapped all over the team he built:
"It's just not a good idea to throw your boss under the bus, especially when that boss has had your back as much as I have had his," Williams wrote. "I expect this team, if the leadership remains positive and the players stick together and continue to play hard, it will be a fun summer.
"The offense will begin to produce when collectively they say the hell with all the theories, stay loose, pick the pitch you want to hit and hit it hard. It will be nice to see them lighten up and have some fun."
That's basically right. This team is set to win now, and there is no organizational depth to replace the thumpers in the lineup.What exactly would Ozzie propose he do? I am sure he's just trying to motivate them, but since these guys have all been around a while, I wonder if even that would work.
Another common Ozzie move, though, is to blow up in the media to take the attention off his team and put it on him. The problem with that here is that the media is focusing on both his team and him.
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