Important Information Regarding a Change to Your 411 Service

Recently I received this email from my otherwise fabulous home phone service, Vonage:

Dear BRIAN MEGILLIGAN,

We'd like to share with you some important information regarding our 411 Directory Assistance service. We're expanding our 411 service to include 411 Direct Connect. With 411 Direct Connect, when you dial 411 from your Vonage phone you'll be directly connected to the residential or business listing you've requested at the new rate of $1.49, effective August 17, 2009.

Not sure of the name or business you're trying to reach? Vonage 411 Direct Connect will allow you to search by category or keyword to find listings even when you don't have a name and address.

Remember, Vonage 411 is not just about phone numbers. You can also continue dialing 411 from your Vonage phone to access movie listings, airline flight times, ATM locations and more...all for $1.49 per 411 call!

We strive to provide an excellent customer experience and want to be sure you're getting the best value from your Vonage phone service. If you have any questions, please call us at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357). We operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. One of our Customer Care representatives will be happy to assist you.

Best regards,

Vonage

Did you catch that? They would be happy to charge me just $1.49 a call to connect me when I dial their information service. Seriously?

I couldn't resist. Here was my reply:

Hello,

Have you ever heard of Google?

Google is this great online search engine. You can type things you're looking for into it and it will bring back results.

Google has this service kind of like yours. What you do is you call 800 GOOG 411 and tell them the city/state and what you're looking for and it returns the results pretty well.

And just like you, it connects you right to that business you're looking for. Pretty cool eh?

Oh, but unlike you, they connect you for FREE.

So as I consider which directory I'll call out of convenience knowing that I can be hooked directly to it when found, I'll weigh carefully weather I will call through the service that is gonna charge me or the service that is going to let me connect at no cost. It will be a hard decision.

Brian

So surprised I haven't heard back from them.

The Socialist Solution to the Crisis

An interesting Op-Ed appearing in the Wall Street Journal today from
POUL NYRUP RASMUSSEN, the former prime minister of Denmark (1993-2001). We could be much closer to global socialism and a one world government than we think:

The simplistic dictum of more markets and less government -- championed by Reagan, Thatcher and their ideological heirs -- has failed on a momentous scale. In the White House, President Hope has replaced President Tax Cuts for the Rich. As we go into the G-20 meeting in London, even European conservatives such as Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are calling for a new global financial architecture, better financial regulation and a crackdown on tax havens. The previously unimaginable idea of a "Global New Deal" is suddenly on many people's lips.

Are Rebates Worth it?

I recently bought 4GB of memory from a Tigerdirect retail store close to my house. The appeal for this particular brand was simple. I could get "4096MB PC6400 DDR2 800Mhz" RAM for $20.00. Yeah!

First, I have to pay $45.00, the get my $25 rebate. The catch, of course, is the rebate process. I can just picture the execs sitting in a room dreaming up ways to help people loose heart in cashing in on their rebates.

The process begins by going to a CompUSA (really?) web site, typing in the part number I purchased. (This was not easy to find, by the way). So after typing "C13-6082" into the little form, I get a list of possible rebates I could be eligable for depending on the date of my purchase. Once I find my date range, I have to download a pdf document that then instructs me to go to ANOTHER web site to really begin the rebate process. OK.

This web site is happy to send a check for $25 in 8-10 weeks (really?), or in 5-7 days, they'll send me a gift visa or wire me money for a small $3 fee.

No thanks.

I click to get the full rebate of $25, even though the value of the dollar will probably fall enough to make it worth the $22 I am now being offered to get my rebate sooner.

So now, after surrendering my address, phone number, and TWO email addresses (just in case), I am directed to another pdf to print. I then receive an email (at both addresses) featuring these instructions:

1. Verify all fields on the rebate application including name, address, order number, serial number etc. are filled in completely and the information is accurate. The name and address that appear on your invoice or purchase receipt must match the name and address on your rebate application.
2. Print out and Sign the completed rebate application. (Your rebate application cannot be processed without your signature)
3. Attach all required documentation as specified in the rebate application including your invoice and the UPC barcode. Depending on the rebate offer, Serial numbers and other proof of purchase may also be required. The rebated product must appear on your invoice or purchase receipt.
4. Send your completed and signed application along with all required documentation to the PO Box address indicated on the rebate application. For your convenience the rebate application contains a mailing label with the address preprinted.
5. Be sure to have your completed submission postmarked on or before the "postmark by" date on your application. This date is usually 30 days from your original purchase date.

Why is the signature so important? If I can produce the serial number, surely all this could be done instantly and online.

I am going to do it all. I am not going to give them the satisfaction of "forgetting" to complete the process, thereby giving them an 80% markup!

The question I have yet to answer, and may never really know for sure: "Is it worth it?"

Wallet update

My wallet post generated quite a stir. I guess there's a lot of pent-up insecurities out there among guys trying to do the right thing with their money while feeling secure, but not looking like they've got a small print edition of Crime and Punishment in their pocket.

I glanced down my page at an ad that appear for thin wallets. Maybe this is something that can be a solution for us all!

What's in Your Wallet?

A few weeks ago I made a decision to stop carrying a wallet. There were a couple of reasons for this. First, I fairly unscientifically concluded that while I think everything is ok, sitting on a lump of leather and plastic on one cheek, but not the other can't be good for the lower back over the long haul. Second, I had a fear, rational or not, that my wallet could easily slide out of my back pocket and could disappear all together. This would happen not in my office or in my car, but in some place like a food court at a mall, where I would likely never recover it again. Finally, I've noticed a specific kind of wear in my pants, right along the fold or edges of the wallet, where some of the fabric is beginning to tear. Fabric of my pants, not the wallet.

Wallets for most guys are a microcosm of most women's purses. Most guys, if they were to dig their wallets out of their pants right now, would find business cards, receipts, the phone number to the local Chinese restaurant, a couple pictures, a miniature day planner, calculator, various credit cards, drivers license, and maybe a stick of gum or something. Even if you don't carry a wad of cash around (and who does these days anyway?), some tri-fold wallets can mount to an inch or more in thinkness. Who needs that?

So back to my decision. After considering a money clip, I opted for a band. Not just any rubber band--but a band designed specifically to snugly hold items the size of credit cards.

So here is my question. Forced to be minimal, what items do you carry? For me, it is my key card to get me around the building at church, my drivers licence, a credit card, my ATM card and my heath insurance card. Other near necessities I've considered adding: my Qdoba card, Blockbuster card, and the AAA card.

What else should I be carrying?

High Gas Prices Yield unintended consequences

I was reminded of Guy's post of a couple months ago regarding the high cost of gasoline when I saw a brief blurb today about how higher gas prices leading to fewer people driving are leading to fewer highway fatalities.

"...For every 10 percent increase in gas prices, there was a 2.3 percent decline in auto deaths. For drivers ages 15 to 17, the decline was 6 percent, and for ages 18 to 21, it was 3.2 percent."

Should I be gaining any increased sense of security heading into our Iowa trip later this summer?

Tax Rip Off

If you are filing your taxes using Turbo Tax, be warned: The fees they are charging now for the convenience of having your returned wired to you has increased.

It was just a few years ago they charged about $10 for the federal return to be wired to you. Now, the states have evidently caught on. It's now going to cost a lot more to get your money back using Turbo Tax.

Mac and Cheese Sales Increase Equals Recession?

From one of my favorites, the Freakonomics blog, comes speculation from this story about how the sales of Mac and Cheese may be interpreted as an economic indicator. What do you think?

I recall buying Mac and Cheese for 25 cents a box during special sales in college. Yes, better than just about any other meal a college student living off campus could possibly afford, Mac and Cheese became at least a weekly staple.

What would you do with $800?

I awoke this morning to news of the potential of an economic stimulus plan that would involve sending money our way. It could be as much as $800 for a single person, or up to $1600 for a couple.

Of course the details still need to be worked out. The political parties need to come together. There has to be some agreement. But hey, we could get a little tax refund, and then a tax refund advance. Cool!

OK, so what could we spend it on? We can't just save it. We've got to spend it. After all, it's an economic stimulus plan!

Maybe we could get a nice HD TV with it. That would help stimulate the economy.
Or how about a new iMac?

We need to do some little things around the house. Maybe a new garbage disposal. Oh yeah!

Paint. We need to paint some stuff around the house.

Curriculum. There's always something one of our kids could use to further their education.

A vacation. YES. We could make a nice trip with that! Now THAT would help the economy, wouldn't it?

But wait.

Is this a good idea? Not the vacation, the dispersion of dollars on families throughout the land. On the one hand, yeah, we wouldn't mind a little financial windfall (is there any other kind?) for our family. But from a macro-economic perspective, is this a good idea? What will be the long-term consequences?

This is probably like what a child must feel like when they fall and hurt themselves very badly or something and we attempt to pacify them with a lolly-pop. We can name more things that a wrong with the country's economic state than we can name that are right: The weakening dollar; The sub-prime mortgage crash; The lowest housing starts in years; The imbalanced trade deficit; The rising federal debt; The insurmountable consumer debt, etc, etc.

So does anybody really think handing out a few dollars to people is really gonna help? Proponents would argue that this same action in 2001 is exactly what it took to pull us out of a rising recession. But the circumstances this time around are quite different.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake said "Fiscal stimulus that comes too late will not help support economic activity in the near term, and it could be actively destabilizing if it comes at a time when growth is already improving," Who has the wisdom to discern if this short-term solution to an economic downturn is timed correctly, will yield the desired results, or even substantial enough to matter?

Thank you, I would like some cash, but no thank you, I don't think this is going to do our country any good. Are most Americans going to feel the same way or will they just thank Uncle Sam for the "gift." We'll pay for it one way or another.

"Armageddon is here" - Jim Cramer

Meltdown:

Sober Truth from David Walker

This is truly alarming. If you have ten minutes, this is worth watching. What do we do about it?