David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 196

What About A Spell Correction Bee?

We’ve had spelling bees for a long time. Other than adding new words and such, they haven’t really changed too much. Let’s make things a bit more interesting. How about a spelling correction bee?

Think about it, a contestant would be given a misspelled word. They would have to recognize what word it was supposed to be, and how that word was correctly spelled.

Seems like that would be a significant variation on the spelling theme, requiring a different set of skills. Modernly, those skills may even be more useful than standard spelling (though I still maintain that knowledge of spelling is still necessary in the modern era of spellcheck and auto correct). At least, it seems like it would be an interesting bee.

I mean for other people, by the way. I certainly woudn’t want to do it.

Be Wary Of Posting A Joke On Facebook

Be wary of posting something on Facebook as a joke. I should know better, but apparently I don’t. I posted something quick as a joke, making a reference to making a reboot of a reboot. The comment chain rapidly got out of control.

Part of my mistake came from forgetting how much little things like this can matter to people. It mattered to them way, way more than me. My post was really kind of flawed to begin with, though minorly funny (in my opinion) in concept, and the comments just kept rolling in.

Really, I had my definitions too sloppy to begin with. And, the modern trend of reboots and/or remakes isn’t new at all. My commenters had plenty of evidence. An overabundance of evidence in fact. They were more than happy to share that.

Were they wrong? No, it was an issue they cared about. Further, I’d put it out there for comment and was too sloppy in drafting anyway. They had every justification for getting involved, educating me and correcting me, or even just commenting.

I just wish I’d remembered to think more before getting involved in all that. I really didn’t care as much as the work it took to keep up.

Wait…I Don’t Have To Do That!

I used to have homeowner’s and auto insurance through a company. My wife insisted we were paying too much, but the intertia to change was big. As part of our recent move, we cancelled homeowner’s and switched to renter’s for a while. Then, my wife found new homeowner’s and auto that was way cheaper than what we were paying before. We finally didn’t need the renter’s or old auto so I called to cancel the old company. They said I needed to send them the dec pages from both. This seemed like a huge hassle, and even more so when I realized they wanted the dec pages from the new insurances. Then I realized, wait…I DON’T HAVE TO DO THAT!

Seriously, the agent presented this as if I had to do this to cancel. Once I thought about it though, I realized it was just a request…but not phrased as a request.

After all, all that is required to cancel coverage is notice to cancel. I’d given them that. I didn’t need to provide details of my new insurance to affect cancellation, that was just to show them that their coverage might be overpriced. It would be helpful to them, and possibly to other people they insure…but it didn’t do crap for me.

Why would they expect me to do any additional work? I’ve got enough going on with moving. Screw that. I told them no.

I Also Hate The Aftereffects Of Moving

I’ve been repeatedly talking about how I hate moving. Due to the extended move I’ve been suffering, I’ve talked on here about how I hate moving, how I still hate moving, and how I continue to hate moving. However, I now have something new to indicate my hatred of.

I hate the aftereffects of moving.

I hate unpacking. I hate transferring services. I hate updating addresses. I hate taking care of the endless little problems that always come up.

I hate all of it.

Just so you know. Wouldn’t want to be incomplete.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

I couldn’t find a pic of Quackers and a BBQ, and didn’t feel like going through the effort of trying to cobble one together myself with my extremely limited graphic software skills, so here’s a pic of Tom and Jerry at a BBQ and then a pic of them with Quackers:

That works, right?

Anyway, Happy Easter!

Is Jeb Bush Going To Have a Tense Holiday?

I haven’t really looked into this, but I’ve heard that Jeb Bush has been occasionally trying to distance himself from his brother George W in recent months, such as on Iraq and spending. I’m sure it’s more complicated than that, but that’s the way it’s seemed. I can understand too. Jeb has to make his own way politically and though many people liked W, many people didn’t…and maybe too many of W’s old supporters are already pledged to other candidates. In any event, I think the bigger question is whether all of this will make Jeb’s holidays tense.

I mean, does W understand? Does he care? Or, does it make him a little miffed?

Just imagine:

Jeb: “George, would you pass the turkey?”

W: “Bite me, Jeb.”

At least, that’s the way I imagine it. I’m sure W takes it all in stride and understands why Jeb thinks it’s necessary…but my way is funnier.

 

Here Are Some Other Things North Korea Faked

North Korea apparently claimed to have fired a ballistic missle from a submarine. However, the U.S. and various experts claim that the photos North Korea advanced as proof of the launch were faked. Whether or not the missile launch photos are faked, here are some things North Korea did fake photos of:

– Photos of Kim Jong-un were doctored to turns his ordinary bowl cut into the stylish do we all associate him with.

– Photos of Kim Jong-un and Dennis Rodman were all faked. Actually, it was Moses Malone in the pics. North Korea just didn’t feel Malone had enough street cred with modern kids. Malone still isn’t sure what he was doing in those pics.

– In many military photos, several flags were removed because officials thought they made the troops look “cluttered.”

– All photos of North Korea have had their color adjusted since 1982 since a strange atmospheric effect makes all photographs there come out with a blue tint.

– Frowns/grimaces were added to several military leaders in the photo below because North Korean officials thought they looked too jovial. You figure out which:

Do I Still Hate Moving? Let Me Check….

I’ve posted on here how I hate moving. Given that I’ve been involved in a move that, due to circumstances, had to extend over several months, I even updated that I continued to hate moving. However, it’s been a little bit. One might wonder…do I still hate moving?

Hang on, let me check….

Yup, I still hate moving. It doesn’t appear that will change any time soon. Hopefully the move will be done soon, though.

I Love The Billy Bookcase At IKEA

I just want to say that I love the Billy bookcase at IKEA:

I have a lot of books. Somwhere between 1000-2000 (I haven’t counted recently). I never buy really nice shelves because I want the most room for books and want to spend most of my money on books. For years, I’ve been buying the 5 shelf bookshelves at Walmart or Target.

However, these shelves have increasingly sucked over the years. The particle board has been getting flimsier and flimsier, and the attachment mechanisms have been getting cheaper and cheaper. We won’t even discuss the instructions.

Seriously, the last ones I bought at both Walmart and Target had the main sides come in two pieces that attached together by dowels or plastic pieces, and not even securely. They would barely hold together, and two broke recently when I tried to move them completely empty. I was done.

But the Billy? I just put my first one together and love it. THe sides are actually one piece, so much stronger. The wood is better. The attachment mechanisms are better. Even the instructions are better. The whole thing is better. It even is a bit taller, having one more shelf while still fitting under the standard ceiling height. I won’t ever buy the ones at Target or Walmart anymore.

Is it more expensive than the ones at Target or Walmart? I think so. I can’t find the one at Target any more. They may have gotten so crappy that Target stopped carrying any to avoid the bad press. Walmart still appears to sell some for $40 or so, but the extra $40 is well worth it.

I’m not going back. I have too many books to do otherwise.

I Wish My Bank Had Better Fraud Prevention Handling

I wish my bank handled fraud prevention a little better. I probably shouldn’t reveal who my bank is, so I won’t. That prevents me from calling them out on this a little, but I still want to complain so I will do so.

My debit card got declined recently. I guessed that a fraud alert had popped up on my account. Eventually I confirmed and fixed this, but my bank was less than helpful.

For example, my bank didn’t call me. They didn’t call, text, leave a message, email, or anything. They just put a fraud alert on my card and waited for me to figure it out and call them. This is not the first time they have done this.

So, I call. I enter my account number and several pieces of verifying information. Eventually, I get a person on the line who has me provide my account number and several pieces of verifying information. This person confirms there is a fraud alert. However, they cannot help me. They have to transfer me to someone. This transferred someone has me provide my account number and several pieces of verifying information before confirming that there is a fraud alert. However, the transferred person also can’t fix it. They have to transfer me to an automated system. The automated system also has me provide my account number and several pieces of verifying information. Finally, the automated system has me confirm my last three transactions and lifts the hold.

Guess what? The original person confirms that the hold was put on because I authorized a purchase at a gas pump and then went inside to buy something.

Really? Given how many gas stations require you to pay first if you don’t pay at the pump, is that really so rare? Is this a signal for fraud that I wanted a soda in addition to gas and didn’t want to go in to get the soda and pay for gas at the same time when I didn’t yet know how much gas I needed? Really?

I wouldn’t even mind, if I didn’t have to sit on the phone for twenty minutes as I was transferred between three different entities who each needed me to provide the same information. Or, if my bank actually bothered to tell me.

Mind you, one of my other financial providers sends me an email when an alert pops up. I can confirm from the email whether the transaction was correct or not. Not only do they actually notify me of a potential issue, they let me take care of it easily if it isn’t anything.

Nice, unlike my bank.

Anyway, I’m just whining. I’d call them out on it specifically if it wouldn’t probably be a bad idea to publicize where I bank. Also, I doubt they listen. Most other standard banks are probably antiquated on this too. Even switching probably wouldn’t help.