More Crap Again Already?!

Crap. Everything was going so smoothly since I reformatted my hard drive a few months ago. Now this.

I log on and open my IE -- and the top and bottom features are missing! When I move my mouse to the bottom of the screen, the Start/page taskbar appears. But, when I try to access the toppermost options, I can only get the Back/Forward/Stop/Refresh/etc line. I can't type in a URL.

So I spent the past hour and a half installing and exploring in Mozilla. It seems to work fine but for one thing: the graphics suck. The photos display in a rediculously low resolution and so they look all pasty.

Crap!

I've done an Adaware scan and a Spywareguide scan. Adaware found 33 items, and Spywareguide found nothing. I have Norton running continuously. WTF?!

The only thing I can think of that may have brought this on is that I went to a porn site to gather photos of Asian women in the hopes of posting a tribute to Asian beauty. (I haven't dared visited a porn site in years 'cause they tended to, y'know, turn my computer into crap.)

The sad thing is that I found -- in all my searching -- only one (1) .jpeg worth saving.
(Why in the world does nearly everything on porn sites have t'be so frickin' vulgar?! Yecch! I can be such a prude sometimes...)

Now I'm blogging through Juno's default browser (which is just an uncorrupted version of IE).

Crap!!! I don't want to have to reformat again!

*sigh*

Just in case anyone's interested, the only .jpeg I downloaded is in the extended entry. For this photo I have destroyed my browser.

NOT! WORK! SAFE!

It wasn't worth it, but aren't Asian women beautiful anyway?

:)

Errr...

Can't blog.

Watching Brady Bunch marathon/reunion on TVLand.

Thank you for mentioning it, Stevie. I wouldn't have known of it otherwise!

:D

Exclusive: Heinz-Kerry Working for Rodham-Clinton?

BOSTON [A&P;]-- Teresa Heinz-Kerry, wife of Presidential hopeful Senator John Kerry (D-Mass), has been deliberately sabotaging her husband's campaign it has been revealed in secret documents obtained from CBS News.

"There is a method to her madness," said Rebecca Jameson, special assistant to Senator Hillary Rodham-Clinton (D-NY), responding to the outting of Heinz-Kerry's subterfuge. "She's been onboard with us from the git go."

Lacing her speech with words that seem to belie an "anti-social pathology", Heinz-Kerry is "deliberately undermining Senator Kerry's chances for election to the Presidency," the CBS documents reveal.

Telling reporters to "shove it," calling political opponents "scumbags" and "idiots" predicting that Osama Bin Ladin "may be 'found' in the days leading up to the November 2nd election", erstwhile Republican Heinz-Kerry is, in fact, attempting to "pull the rug out from under" Kerry's election effort in an effort to keep 2008 open for Senator Clinton.

"It's just insidious," piped Mary Mapes, producer of 60 Minutes Wednesday. "I saw these documents and immediately said 'You gotta be shittin' me!' But, clearly it's true."

Asked how she knew that it was "clearly...true", Mapes emotionally inquired "Am I the only one who still trusts my CBS's reporting??"

Responding via telephone, Heinz-Kerry has told A&P; that she has "never not supported my husband, dillweed. If you think that I want Chimp-boy to give us another four years of hell then you're not paying attention, twerp.

"And I challenge Shrubette to a debate," she continued. "We oughta have a First Ladies' debate just so's I can expose the scum sucking librarian for what she is: the drawling shillwife of a doofus dork who can make cuter daughters than the Frankenspawn that my current husband made.

"You think I'm kidding, Punjab? Huh? Maybe she's got a well-heeled aura of dignity, but her President says he's trying to make the world safe for peace and Democracy and that lie is as un-American as my accent, assmunch?

Of course I want my husband to win.
No, really.

What...?!"

Developing...

[Update: Wow, that was a pretty lame post, eh?--TS]

Sometimes I forget things...

...Like updating my billing information, or cancelling before the trial period is over.

Back in June, when I was off-line for 5 weeks, I was trying to figure out just where the problem was. Was it in Juno? Internet Explorer? My hard drive? I didn't know.
I installed AOL just to see if I could get on-line with it. If I could then that would narrow the problem to my Juno software. If not then Juno would be ruled out as the infected program.

The AOL disk gave me free service for X amount of weeks --about three months -- during which I would have to proactively cancel the service or else begin having to pay up for monthly service beginning in September.

I installed the AOL disk, fiddled with it a few times, had to put the disk back in again, tried to get on-line, couldn't. I uninstalled AOL.

So, I was able to rule out Juno as the infected software, but didn't bother to immediately phone AOL to cancel my account. Hey, I have three months t' do it and it must have been late in the evening by then.

Long story short: I reformmatted the hard drive and reinstalled Window98 and Juno.

I recieved a letter in the snail mail from AOL telling me that they'd been unable to process a payment for my account. HUH?! Oh, right, I set up an account in June and never cancelled it. Not to worry, though: The problem was that my debit card had expired in 08/04, and I hadn't yet activated the new card.
My options were to update my billing information or call Customer Service. I did neither 'cause I didn't have AOL on my computer and didn't want it.

I didn't contact AOL, but I did activate my new card after that.
-----------------

Like I said; sometuimes I forget things. That's why I go to my bank and ask for a print-out of my checking account once or twice a week. I want to make sure that I didn't withdraw funds at an ATM and had forgotten to mark it down in my checkbook when I got home lest I suffer cascading overdraft fees. Gotta keep the thing balanced as it's been a tightrope walk recently.

I got a print-out yesterday morning and, surprisingly, I had a negative balance. Crap! Why?!
There were two debits posted the night before (Monday) for $47.80 each. WTF?!!!

I phoned the bank and talked to Myra. She identified the debitters as AOL.

CRAP!!! I never contacted AOL to cancel the account that I created back in June and they've gone ahead and tried again to get two monthly payments!!!

I called AOL. It took 45 $#@^&*% minutes of wading through the voice-activated phone web to get an actual live person on the line.

Apparently I was billed $47.80 ($95.60) for two different accounts I'd set up because I had re-inserted the disk to correct what I thought might have been a problem with missing files.
Long story short: Both accounts were closed, but I'd have to go through a reimbursement proceedure if I wanted my 95 bucks back.

I went back to my bank and Myra and Ellie both told me that the bank isn't allowed to cancel a POS Transaction. Shite! I muttered "I deserve to be shot" and left for work again.

--------------

But, while walking back to work, I thought of something.
I phoned AOL again.

Nevermind how long it took to get a live person on the line again. Once I had a guy on the line, and had explained the situation thus far, the conversation went a little like this:

Me: ...And I'm out $95.60. I need you to flag the accounts to return the funds as soon as they come in.

AOL: I see that two accounts were created at nearly the exact same time, that's not unusual. So I'm going to go ahead and settled that second one.

Me: But, I need both of them settled with a return.

AOL: Well, now, you know you never cancelled the account, sir...

Me: I didn't think I had to. The letter told me to either update my billing info or contact AOL. I did neither.

AOL: That doesn't mean we're not going to attempt another debit...

Me: Attempt another debit with what authorization?

AOL: The authorization you gave us.

Me: That expired in August. I never updated the billing information. What you have on record is a card that expured in 08/04, and the billing date was September 2nd. You billed an expired card. AOL has no authorixation from me beyond August 31st. Do you see what I'm saying? I didn't update the billing info and so ya billed me in September on a card that expired in August.....

AOL [pregnant pause] Yes, I see. Let me take care of that second one for you, Mr Jones...

-----------

I don't know for sure if the experation date in my AOL Billing Information entitled me to a reimbursement, but I believed it at the time... and maybe thus convinced the guy on the other end that it did.

Bottom line: My $95.60 is being returned!

I've missed my calling.
:D

The Dreaded Questionaire

I got a questionaire in email from RP. I haven't responded... though, I did pass it on. I received this response from Presidential candidate John F Kerry:

Welcome to Summer 2004 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy or forward this entire e-mail. Change all the answers so they apply to you and then send this to a bunch of friends, including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot more about your friends.

1. What time do you get up? Crunch time.

2. If you could eat lunch with one living person who would it be?
Saddam Hussein. I'd like to threaten him and then appologize for it in person.

3. Gold or Silver? Silver, with a combat V. I also have a Bronze.

4. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein". Someone recommended it saying I might see alot of myself throughout it. I didn't notice anything particularly insightful, though.

5. What is/are your favorite TV Shows? Spin City, The West Wing, I Led Two Lives.

6. What did you eat for Breakfast? Rice paddy, omlette du framage, toast.

7. Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with? Ralph Nadar.

8. What is your middle name? Fitzgerald Forbes.

9. Beach, City, Country or Mountains? What... no Jungle? Beach for windsurfing, Mountains for skiing, City for voting, Country for shafting.

10. Favorite Ice Cream: Ketchup.

11. Butter, plain or salted popcorn? We don't have popcorn in Vietnam.

12. Favorite Color? Grey. .

13. What kind of car do you drive? An SUV... but I don't own it, the family does.

14. Favorite Sandwich? Philly Swiss CheeseSteak.

15. What characteristic do you despise? Singlemindedness. There are so many sides to every issue and we ought to be able to take every one.

16. Favorite flowers? The rose garden.

17. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? The Senate.

18. What color is your bathroom? Chameleon.

19. Favorite brand of clothing? Standard Issue. It's the only brand I've come to trust.

20. Where would you retire? To the White House living quarters.

21. Favorite day of the week? Moneyday.

22. What did you do for your last birthday? Talked about Vietnam. Told some half-truths. Changed my mind on a few things. We really don't make a big deal out of birthdays.

23. Where were you born? In the summer of my 27^th year.

24. Favorite sport to watch on TV? Mudslinging wrestling.

25. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Howard Dean.

26. Person you expect to send back first? Jack Chirac.

27. What fabric detergent do you use? *snort* *chuckle* BWAHAHAHAH!!!

28. Coke or Pepsi? Coke. Pepsi makes me sneeze. [Uncalled for, I know -- TS]

29. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Insufficient information given. Am I answering to a crowd in the morning or at night? M' god, how in the world can I tell you what I am before I know anything at all about ya?!

30. What is your favorite movie? "How To Marry A Millionaire".

31. What is your shoe size? I'll talk to my dentist and get back to ya.

32. Do you have any pets? Of course, not. They poop an' stuff. Though I do seem to remember kissing a hamster once. I'll ask the girls...

33. Who sent this to you? Some crooked, y'know, lying bastard named "Tuning Spork".

Me Be Bad blogger!

Sorry for the lack of posting. I've been busy writing entry-length Comments at others' blogs and have neglected my own these past few days.

I do have a nice post brewing, though, about lucid dreaming. I used to think I knew what lucid dreaming was... until last week.

But, right now, I think I'll just eat my chicken and then hit the hay.

And, dang, but Rather and Mapes think they're foolin' us, eh?!

;)

Pajamasphere™ logo

Fiddling around this evening I created this:

Does it look familiar? Yeah...? Yep, you guessed it. 22 years ago TIME Magazine pronounced that the future would be written in binary code. It didn't happen quite as soon as they thought it would, but it did happen in the end.

Perhaps TIME's 2004 "XXX of the Year" could use this Photoshop image...?

Now I just have to figure out how to add text to it. Feel free to play with this and make it better! :)