Double entendre du jour

I love the tag line for this "4' 4 inch personal massager" and the misspelling makes it funnier.

Best Buy In-Store Pickup Waste of Time

I purchased a Seagate Hard Drive from Best Buy today (good deal after rebates).

It was out of stock online, but available at my local store. Rather than stand in line and search for the product, I decided to use their in-store pickup service. This was the wrong decision.

This service is actually more work than going over to the store, getting the item off the shelf, and checking out through the standard checkout line.

Here's the way the process works.

1. You need your ID, the same credit card you used online, and a special printout that they email you. It took 15 mins to get my special email telling it was ok to come pick the item up. That's not a big deal.
2. When you get to the store, must go to a special pickup line. There's no one there. Wait for someone.
3. Present your ID, your special printout, and your credit card. Clerk leaves with these items. Why? They show I have the credit card and I am who I say I am.
   
4. I assumed the clerk was going to the back room to get my purchased item. Instead, she leaves and goes out into the regular merchandise and has to locate the item and get it there. What was to prevent someone from purchasing my hard drive before I got to the store? Why isn't this done already? What's the purpose of this service?
   
5. Clerk returns with my ID, the hard drive, and...a receipt to sign. Huh? How is this any different than the standard checkout?
   

I learned my lesson.

That's Not Disenfranchisement

This morning the NPR Technology report talked about the conversion to digital television from analog.

Dennis Wharton of the National Association of Broadcasters is quoted as saying that people who cannot receive the new digital broadcasts [presumably because they cannot purchase digital equipment] are "disenfranchised from any access to local television service".

So people in rural areas who are unable to receive analog OTA broadcasts are disenfranchised?

If I have satellite but cannot get local stations, am I disenfranchised?

What if I can't afford a television at all, and not just a digital one?

What about people who simply have no local stations at all?

The ability to receive local broadcasts via TV -- OTA or not -- is neither a right nor a privilege. It's just a commercial transaction.

Talk about hyperbole.

Another darn excuse to drink beer

I found out today that I passed the BJCP certification and am now a certified beer judge. I didn't score high enough to be Recognized Certified, which is a little bit of a let down, but at least I passed.

Someday someone will explain to me how I passed the beer judge certification test, but failed to be Certified.

Buggy buggy

I like a car with a carburetor.

Old, proven technology.

Reliable.

I fear the next car I buy might have debilitating software flaws.

George Will's Miers Commentary

I am no big fan of George Will, but damn did he write a very lucid and straightforward article about Bush's latest pick for the Supreme Court.

Here's the thesis: The President can't be trusted to pick a guardian of the Constitution when he clearly can't be trusted to defend it himself.

Ouch.