HAT and FAPPY

Listening to

2017-04-02T07:11:00.002-07:00

Hello, Adele
Higher, Edenbridge
Texas, Chris Rea
Swollen & Halo, Baroness
Pins and Needles, The birthday Massacre

NBCSN

2017-01-22T06:38:00.001-08:00

This is definitely not news, just thanks to NBC for spending the money and hiring the talent to provide a superior product to fans of the English Premier League. Multiple games on weekends, knowledgeable commentators & studio talking heads absolutely love it. I've lived in the USA since 1984, Fox did a horrible job, NBC is showing them what a professional network looks like.
Plus NBC has started adding Rugby Union games, I assume time allowing. More props.

Listening to

2016-03-13T18:37:00.001-07:00

Dark Star, Poliça
Dark Star, Poliça
Dark Star, Poliça

Has SiriusXM given up?

2016-01-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

My infrequent posts on how much SiriusXM sucks tracks my contact with the horrible, dysfunctional, incompetently managed company. Somehow management took what should be an enjoyable pleasurable great business & fuck it up. (You're selling subscriptions to commercial free music of many genres and adding other radio options, it should be fun & easy).
Instead you sell subscriptions at too high a retail price, wait until after the existing sub expires, send a renewal notice after the new term has started then auto bill customers credit cards at the inflated prices. wtf.
I am pleased to report they appear to have stopped fighting. My latest 6 months at $30 subscription expired, the new sub notice arrived, days after the old one expired(you have 6 months to send a renewal but you wait until term expires to auto-bill at the higher rate), rate is now $111.74 for 6 months.
Called to cancel, indian lady transferred me to account rescue lady in the US ( I presume). She gives me another 6 months at $30, credits the few days at the higher rate and I pay via ACH directly to SiriusXM without waiting for the invoice.

Note: I have never given SXM my credit card, I'll gladly pay the $2.00 paper bill fee to keep their thieving hands away from my credit card (or bank info for direct debit).
No fight, no pointless discussions, no threats, no circular logic arguments, maybe I lucked out, maybe SiriusXM realize people have choices and fighting a company that has made so many mistakes they don't deserve to be in business is not a smart business strategy.

Nah pretty sure I lucked out. This company is one of the worst. Luckily for them I like the flexibility & simplicity of their service while I'm driving.

Listening to

2015-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Invisible Sun, Police
Form, Poliça
Little Red Corvette, Prince
I'm Qualified, Joan Osbourne

Listening to

2015-11-06T18:49:00.001-08:00

It's Bad You Know, R.L. Burnside
Hit Me, The Whigs
When The Lillies Die, io echo

Not van Gaal he's hyped up to be.

2015-08-30T10:22:00.001-07:00

I'm beginning to think Louis van Gaal is not the managerial mastermind he was advertised to be. The look of blank confusion we see when the camera pans to the Man Utd bench is worrying. His bland, sometimes contradictory and often derogatory player statements when interviewed are far from Sir Alex Ferguson's pointed and intelligent pearls.
The lack of focus or any plan when Utd have the ball & move forward is sad to see. High value skilled players will make most teams look adequate and score a few goals. Formation, tactical and player changes during a game that counter and out maneuver the opposition are what makes a great manager. So far we are seeing the other team make better changes. Example Swansea game that ended 15 minutes ago w/2-1 defeat.

Wikipedia has a detailed history of Mr van Gaal's career which makes scary reading for a long time Man Utd fan looking for signs we are going to get better.
Saddest of all is the fact vaan Gaal has already announced he is retiring from football when his 3year contract w/ United expires. Not at all reassuring he is putting 100% of his brain into making Manchester United the best they can be....
Image stolen from skysports.com.

Listening to

2015-08-16T17:56:00.000-07:00

Into The Grey, Everest
Say Hello, Jesse Thomas
Hollywood, Codeine Velvet Club
Ari Up, Hollie Cook

Amazon.com: world domination & no comments allowed

2015-08-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

For all those financial guys who bought Amazon shares and are waiting for the payoff, good luck. Mr. Bezos has no intention of giving you his money. Amazon is his sand pit and he is not sharing. Any surplus money will be spent by him on new, improved processes/ideas.

I started to write a bitchy whine about Amazon sales & service and I will. Have you noticed if Amazon fulfills your purchase you cannot leave comment on the seller. Sucks Huh? Part of Bezos' plan to take over any aspect of life he wants, right now selling shit, (let's be grateful he's not into mind control), requires him to be right and smarter than you & I.

Hence when his company (or subcontractor) fucks up you don't get to grade them or complain. I purchased brand new double cds from "Amazon" both cds arrived in damaged cases, not damaged in transit, deliberately packed in damaged jewel cases. How do I know: there was no plastic bits in the either case. I buy a lot of cd's if the case is damaged I am happy with couple of bucks off the price, every seller would rather credit $ than mess around with returns-if the cd is good I am good.

With Amazon as the seller you don't get the opportunity to negotiate, you have to return the product, in my case one cd will be replaced the other I am credited $, no option to replace even though the listing on Amazon states the disc is manufactured on demand in CD-R format. Another example of Amazon fucking with the customer under the "we know better than you".

Remember if Bezos destroys all competition, the consumer will not be able to grade, comment or negotiate with anyone on any purchase.

DraftKings, FanDuel games of skill-really?

2015-08-15T11:13:00.004-07:00

So DraftKings, FanDuel & the rest of these sites are games of skill not gambling? I understand it's too late to stop them, both have financing from respectable sources including Fox Sports, Kraft Group (owners of New England Patriots) and numerous Hedge Funds and Investor groups.

Aside a hand full of US States that have specific gambling laws; Fantasy Sports is ruled by US law to not be gambling. Picking a team to win a game is gambling, picking 8 players to score more (points) than another 8 players is a game of skill....

Endlessly debatable.If you control the money coming in by controlling the buy ins/entry fees, payouts and every facet of the game's cash contribution, it will only take a minute to calculate the payout using computer modeling & data projections, then you control the profits.

Las Vegas' opulence & larger than life excesses is testament to how profitable casino gambling is, expect these "games of skill" to dwarf the profitability of Vegas.

US Government needs to either legalize gambling to level the playing field or expect some serious issues with these "games of skill".

Listening to

2015-06-14T06:36:00.002-07:00

Woke Up This Morning, Alabama 3
The Night We Nearly Got Busted, Alabama 3
Dark Star, Polica
Woke Up This Morning (Chosen One Mix) Alabama 3

Listening to

2015-05-17T07:55:00.001-07:00

Summer Breeze, The Isley Brothers
That Lady, The Isley Brothers
Jeopardy, The Greg Kihn Band
Diamonds, Herb Alpert
The People Who Died, The Jim Carroll Band.

Listening to

2015-04-05T06:56:00.001-07:00

Simply Red

Listening to: same stuff as last year..

2015-01-01T18:40:00.001-08:00

Dark Star, Poliça
Hey Baby, Here's That Song You Wanted, blessthefall
When The Lillies Die, io echo
I'm Not Dead Yet, For All Those Sleeping
Fuck You I'm Famous, [Explicit] (King Of Big Remix), Dead On TV
Front Row Seats To The End Of The World, Funeral For A Friend
The Hop, Radio Citizen
Beautiful Things, Natalie Renoir & Banda Do Sul
Higher, Edenbridge
Cry (Vocal Mix), Hollie Cook, Horseman

Yes, UPS sucks too

2014-11-15T06:56:00.003-08:00

Seems like UPS has a better reputation than Comcast or SiriusXM however in my limited experience they lie just as much. Yesterday is the 3rd time in 3-4 years (only 5 or 6 packages) their Agent has lied.
"Yes sir your package is on the truck, yes sir you will receiver it today, yes sir I understand it's past our 8:00pm delivery window, our drivers will deliver it tonight, I understand item was shipped next day because you need the contents tomorrow."
Next morning surprise surprise (in Gomer Pyle voice) no delivery yesterday. Call UPS customer service "No sir, no one is at our facility to explain why we lied to you, no sir you cannot pick up your package today from our facility, it's closed, I have no idea why our agent lied to you and sir, as you can tell from my voice I don't give a fuck". Thank you for calling UPS.

Image stolen from quickmeme.com, go there & buy stuff.

Sharpusa.com customer service rocks

2014-10-17T16:06:00.001-07:00

Thanks to the power of the internet I know I have the power to help and spread the good word. Both of my readers probably do not own Sharp LCD Televisions. I have a model LC-46D85U purchased April 2009 still works & looks great.

Until 30 minutes ago.

Picture went black, green power light in front center flashed on and off.(no frequency of flashes just on and off) Went to sharpusa.com web site, dialed the customer service number 800-237-4277 hit one, 15 seconds later on the line with a live person in the USA. He took my name, address, model & serial number asked when i bought it. He denied he could see my registration info although I suspect he was checking I was original owner.

Told me to unplug power cord, press input & down volume buttons on the side of the TV simultaneously as I plugged power cord back in. A hard reset. Screen came back as white noise, I set correct input on TV (to hdmi 9 in my case) TV works great. I cannot believe how easy the fix was and how great it is to talk to a helpful, cost free tech person who actually fixed the problem, was pleasant and more than competent.

At 5.5 years old my Sharp Aquos 46" LCD 1080p 120Hz TV is living on borrowed(Sharp) time, I will buy another Sharp.
Sharpusa rocks. Thank you & well done.

Image used without permission, ask me & I will remove it.

British Corner Shop is fast

2014-09-27T09:57:00.001-07:00

I am not sure this comment is gonna been seen by anyone but my 2 loyal readers(you know who you are). There is nowhere on britishcornershop.co.uk's web site to leave a general compliment. They encourage product reviews not general reviews.

Order received today in Memphis Tennessee. Today is Saturday delivered in person by a USPS employee at my front door. (FYI I live in an apartment building 10th floor, everyone drops mail, boxes & big boxes in the leasing office or on the floor in front of the leasing office). Cudos to USPS who really seem to be trying hard to stay alive.
Reason I am so gobsmacked is my order shipped from Bristol UK on 9/24. Today is 9/27. Parcel weighs 25kg (55lbs). Is there an airport in Bristol? My box apparently arrived in New York yesterday shipped by Parcel Force Worldwide, did they put my cardboard box in a truck & send it directly to my building in Memphis? I suspect there are life saving body organs that took longer to reach their destination than my box of British stuff.

To say I am impressed is an understatement. The stars must have aligned, winged my package full of Schweppes Bitter Lemon, Robinson's Fruit Squash drinks & Jacob's Twiglets to me. I will be fat & happy, just for today.

If this is my 'Stars Aligned' for the year moment, then the Lottery ticket I will buy this afternoon will not be a winner..

Listening to

2014-08-31T07:20:00.002-07:00

We Move Like the Ocean, Bad Suns
Luck, American Authors
Stupid Me, MAGIC!
You're Happening To Me, Schuyler Fisk

SiriusXM Better than Comcast..

2014-07-19T09:19:00.001-07:00

Kinda like saying Lenin was better than Hitler...
Here's another post on my ongoing experiences with one of the worst companies ever.
The only reason SiriusXM are not worse than Comcast is Comcast has in many cases an effective monopoly on their services, be it TV programming or internet access.
SiriusXM provides music and radio programming that nearly all of us can get from another company, cancelling service is not going to piss off the family or stunt the flow of entertainment into our homes.

My latest story: my son's SiriusXM radio in his car service was expired. As usual SiriusXM waits to invoice their customers until after the new billing period has started. 6 days in my case. New invoice was $42.14 (including $2.00 for paper invoice) for 3 months programming. Ask anyone who gave SiriusXM their credit card whether it's worth $2.00 per invoice to get a paper bill.

I called Customer (dis) Service ready to cancel programming, my son was happy to listen to another source of music. Told the lovely Lupita (sic) price was too much, I was ready to cancel. I usually settle for $25 for 5 months with free set up. Lupita surprised me. She advised I had not taken advantage of the free trial on my son's radio so I could have 3 months free. Wtf. And she would credit the 6 days I already owed at the full price.
No whining, no transferring me to the cancellation department, she did put me on hold for couple of minutes-maybe the cancellation department was backed up. Kinda took all the fun out of messing with SiriusXM, I suspect a sign they are getting more desperate as technology overtakes their old model.

My car radio is up in a couple of months, I'll be back.

Image viciously stolen from pettracker.com Visit their web site, above offer expires January 6, 2013.

Listening to

2014-06-26T19:30:00.002-07:00

It's Nice To Know You Work Alone (Album Version), Silversun Pickups
If And When, Michael Haaga
On The Corner, The Twilight Singers

Listening to

2014-06-04T19:29:00.001-07:00

Paths Are Frozen, Inland Traveller
Carolyn, Jimmie Allen & Colour of London
Settle Down, Kimbra

Listening to

2014-04-19T13:27:00.002-07:00

Pendulum, Pure Bathing Culture
Away For The Weekend, Social Studies
Sleep, The Cast Before The Break
Why Aren't I Home, Athletics
Day After Day, Our Lost Infantry

Listening to

2014-03-08T07:32:00.004-08:00

Fuck You I'm Famous, Dead On TV
Asshole Pandemic, Phew, Phew, Phew (Gunshots)
Questions, Suburban Studs
Skin Deep, Guns N' Wankers
Feeding The Fire, No Use For A Name

Listening to

2014-02-23T08:07:00.002-08:00

When The Lillies Die, io echo
Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Tears For Fears
Blue Gowns, Blue Hawaii
Demon Be Gone, L'Ame Immortelle
Where Is The Music (Spread The Music)(Radio Edit) (feat. Alexandra Star), Enzo Darren
Silver Tongue, Zulu Winter

SiriusXM It's the same old song..

2014-02-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

As you both know I like to update on my experiences with the worst Satellite Radio service in the world (sic).
Received paper invoice for service on my son's car. As always SXM ensures you receive the invoice after the new period has begun so you already owe, in my case 6 days service at their "standard rate".

Thanks to all the music options available my son would not starve for music if I cancelled his SXM service.
Secure in the knowledge cancellation is an option, I call SXM customer service in (I presume) India.

No, I don't want to pay $95 plus fees for a year's service or $42 plus fees for 6 months. A 50% saving off their standard rate. I am quickly transferred to the Cancellation dept who realize I'm not paying full price.

The operator can see my payment history and I presume the fact I have cancelled other radios in the past. Even though the first operator advised the 5 months for $25 deal is no longer available, the 2nd operator is happy to offer to avoid me cancelling service.

She tries to make me pay for the delayed invoice 6 days at the standard rate by starting the 5 months for $25 today. Quickly I tell her no, she caves reduces the new bill by $2 and after I decline to give her credit or bank card info for the $26.06 I owe she reminds me I will pay a $2.00 paper invoice fee. No problem.

As readers who have given SXM their bank or credit card info will attest a $2.00 paper invoice fee is a small price to pay for not getting f**ked by Sirius XM.

Obviously Sirius XM is still in business, their shares are strong and no one's life was lost in the making of a crappy satellite radio service. My gripe is that they could have been so much better. They pissed away money buying mediocre on air talent, they could have the best traffic & weather reports on the radio, in the country, instead they have the worst. They could have billed customers fairly for a quality product, instead they try & screw every customer & face law suits & investigations for bad billing practices throughout the country. In the words of Mr Dury, "What a waste".