Summer's Shenanigans

You would think that someone that practically lives in a nightclub, would at least have some sort of game when it comes to bustin' a move...No? No...

Paris HIlton was judging the Miss Turkey pageant when one of the contestants pulled Paris on stage for an impromptu dance:

{ Warning: The following video is awkwardly painful to watch }



Seriously? If I made a living off of hanging out in night clubs, I would spend a little of daddy's money on some dance lessons so I don't look like a drunken arthritic chicken on the dance floor.

Labels: Celebrities, Funny, Videos

Labels: Fun, Funny

The government is giving away free money! The IRS will give you up to $600 if you file your 2007 taxes this year. Here is the letter I just received from the IRS:

"Dear Taxpayer:
We are pleased to inform you that the United States Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed into law the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which provides for economic stimulus payments to be made to over 130 million American households. Under this new law, you may be entitled to a payment of up to $600 ($1,200 if filing a joint return), plus additional amounts for each qualifying child.

We are sending you this notice to let you know that based on this new law the IRS will begin sending one-time payments starting in May. To receive a payment in 2008, individuals who qualify will not have to do anything more then file a 2007 tax return. The IRS will determine eligibility, figure the amount, and send the payment. This payment should not be confused with any 2007 income tax refund that is owed to you by the federal government. Income tax refunds for 2007 will be made separately from this one-time payment.

For individuals who normally do not have to file a tax return, the new law provides for payments to individuals who have a total of $3000 or more in earned income, social security benefits and/or certain veterans' payments. Those individuals should file a tax return for 2007 to receive a payment in 2008.

Individuals who qualify may receive as much as $600 ($1,200 if married filing jointly). Even if you pay no income tax but have a total of $3000 or more in earned income, Social Security benefits, and or certain veterans' payments, you may receive a payment of $300 ($600 if married filing jointly).

In addition, individuals eligible for payments may also receive an additional amount of $300 for each child qualifying for the child tax credit.

For taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) of more than $75,000 (or more then $150,000 if married filing jointly), the payment will be reduced of phased out completely.

To qualify for the payment, an individual, spouse, and any qualifying child must have a valid Social Security number. In addition, individuals can not receive a payment if they can be claimed as a dependent of another taxpayer or they filed a 2007 Form 1040NR, 1040NR-EZ, 1040-PR or 1040-SS.

All individuals receiving payments will receive a notice and additional information shortly before the payment is made. In the meantime, for additional information, please visit the IRS website at www.irs.gov."

While that is all fine and dandy, why is the government excluding people that make over $75,000? They are the ones that paid the MOST in taxes, which is what is funding this government giveaway...

Labels: Money, Taxes

Don't you love it when you email a customer service department, wait a few days for a response and the response has nothing to do with what you are inquiring about? It's kinda like no one even bothers to read your email before going into some longwinded response. The latest example is compliments of the stellar customer service department at Adobe.com. Here is the email I sent:

"Hello, I just purchased an upgrade for Fireworks, since Fireworks MX does not work on my Macintosh (operating system: Leopard). Unfortunately the upgrade I purchased does not work with the education version of Fireworks MX that I have. Please cancel/refund this order. Thanks."

And here is Adobe.com's response:

"Hello Summer,

Thank you for contacting Adobe Customer Service.

Due to the Support Portal being closed on weekends, we were unable to respond to your e-mail. We sincerely regret any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate your patience.

I understand that you want to return your Adobe Fireworks CS3 upgrade order (Order Number AD001450636) and claim refund, since you are unable to install the previous version, Fireworks MX on the Leopard operating system due to compatibility issue.

Summer, this is to inform you that it is not necessary to install the previous version, Fireworks MX on the Leopard operating system, in order to install the Fireworks CS3 upgrade version.

While install Fireworks CS3 upgrade version, you will be asked to enter the previous version name and Serial Number. Please follow the steps prompted and you will be able to install the upgrade successfully. However, if you are unable to install the upgrade, please contact our Customer Service at the below mentioned number and our representatives will assist you in unlocking and installation of your Fireworks CS3 upgrade.

Since the unlocking process must be completed in real time, please call Customer Service at (800) 833-6687 to speak to a representative. We are available 7 days a week, 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Pacific Time.

Please be at your computer when you call, and have the serial numbers of your previous version and the upgrade version available.

Summer, however, if the previous version, Fireworks MX was part of a suite product like Studio MX, you will be unable to upgrade it to Fireworks CS3. In this situation, please return the product and claim refund.

For more information on Adobe's return policy, please visit us at:

http://www.adobe.com/go/tn_15327

Summer, we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause."

The problem I'm having has nothing to do with operating systems, it has to do with the fact that I was sold an upgrade that does not work with the version of Fireworks that I have. Oh, and the return policy that they reference tells you to email customer service (which is what triggered this amazing response to my return/refund request).

I'm so sick of people wasting my time. I emailed them back that perhaps they should re-read my original email and if a refund is not posted to my credit card by the end of the week, I will simply file a chargeback with my credit card company.

So maybe I'm a day late, but here are some funny Easter cartoons:

Labels: Fun, Funny, Holidays

Has anyone else notices all the websites with "faux" customer service? They employ these "bells and whistles" types of customer service (Live Chat for example), but the live chat is either never online, of they just run you around in circles until you just give up. For example, here is a Live Chat I just had with SteveMadden.com's customer service:

Please wait for a site operator to respond.

You are now chatting with 'John'

you: Hi, My shipping address does not fit in your "address" field

John: Hello! How may I assist you?

John: Please put the additional info in the "Address 2" field.

you: There is no Address 2 field

John: Can you provide me with more details about your problem please?

you: Okay. My address doesn't fit in your "address" field and there is no "address 2" field.

you: Company: » First Name: » Last Name: » Address: » City: » State/Province: » ZIP/Postal Code: » Country: » Phone:

you: These are the fields available. My address does not fit on the address line. There is no address 2 line.

John: I am very sorry for your inconvenience.

I have the same problems with site5.com, which is where I host my dedicated server. They were catching a bunch of flak because the only way to contact customer service with via their "Help Desk" email ticket system, so they had this big fanfare about launching "Support Chat". I have tried it 5 different times and EVERY single time this is what their response is:

"You're going to need to email our help desk".

Oh, great. Thanks for the reallllllly helpful support that serves one purpose, which must be just to waste my time.

I have a new iMac and quite honestly, I think the new Leopard operating system pretty much SUCKS. And that is pretty harsh coming from a die-hard Apple lover...

I have had nothing but problems with the Leopard operating system. It was so bad that I just went back to using my MacBook (which has the Tiger operating system), but I finally figured that I had better get some use out of my new iMac, since I just spent $2000 on it. So, I started calling Apple support and going through a bunch of bullshit trying to get the stupid computer to work properly.

First off, my Lexmark printer was not compatible with my iMac. I was having flashbacks of trying to set up a printer with our office PC. I finally searched through some forums and found some sort of patch.

Then, the bluetooth wouldn't work. I had to call Apple support and they fixed it.

Then Stuffit Expander wouldn't work. So I decided to make a list of all the crap that didn't work before I called Apple support again. By the time I finally called them, these are the issues that I was having with the stupid Leopard operating system:

- Stuffit Expander immediately crashes whenever opened.
- Adobe Fireworks MX will open, but if you try to do anything it will immediately freeze up.
- Could not open Sims 2 because at least 1 MB of available disk space was needed (It's a brand new, maxed out iMac, come on now...)
- Adobe Photoshop would immediately crash whenever opened.

These are all things that HAVE to be attributed to the Leopard operating system because I have several Macintoshes running every operating system for the past 3 - 4 years and I have had no problems whatsoever.

Apple support has fixed all the problems, EXCEPT for Fireworks MX. I did some digging and Fireworks MX is just not compatible with Leopard. I have no idea if Mac is trying to fix this, but Adobe doesn't care. They are not going to release an update to fix the compatibility problem with Leopard:

http://www.adobe.com/support/products/pdfs/leopardsupport.pdf

(And by the way, I can't even open that PDF. I had to check it out here.)

But realistically, Fireworks shouldn't have to fix Leopards problem. Fireworks MX works on all my other Macs so I perceive that as a Leopard flaw, not a Fireworks flaw.

Oh, and for whatever reason my fonts are acting crazy too...They used to work just fine. Stupid. Apple shouldn't have tainted their Macintoshes with PC parts (Intel processors).

Labels: Computers, Geeky Stuff, Macintosh

What would you do if you were driving drunk and/or high, slammed into a semi and then a wall and found that your girlfriend/passenger was unconscious?

Personally, if I was in that situation, I would do anything in my power to help my passenger. Well, Ricco Rodriquez found himself in that exact situation and instead of trying to resuscitate his girlfriend (and mother of his child), he assumed that she was probably dead, dragged her into the driver seat and blamed the crash on her.

Ricco Rodriguez is an Ultimate Fighter whom held the championship title in 2003 and got suspended in 2006 for drug use. Him and his girlfriend (who survived the crash) are still together. True love...

Labels: Celebrities, Weird

Alcoholism is not a disease. You are not born pre-determined to be an alcoholic. Drinking alcohol in excess (or at all) is your choice, why do so many people try to blame it on someone else? What a fucking piss poor excuse...

Wah, I'm lonely. Boohoo, I was abused. Sob, "enter excuse here".

If you're old enough to blame your liking to party on someone else, you're old enough to take responsibility for your own actions. You were not born with a bottle of tequila in your mouth, you chose to put it there and cry like a little bitch when someone tells you that you should probably do something more productive. And now you want me to feel sorry for you? Cry me a river, Boozy the Clown.

Oh, and let me guess. Your fat because you have fat genes, not because you consume a ridiculous amount of calories each day.

And don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-alcohol. I'm anti-excuse. I have so much more respect for someone that say's, "I just like to get fucked up all the time", then someone that says, "I can't help it. I'm an alcoholic, so it's not my fault that I get fucked up all the time."

I recently set up my business to have "legitimate" employees and instituted payroll. I have had employees for a while, but I've been paying them their wages and simply 1099ing them at the end of the year. Basically, I was paying them as contractors, rather then employees, because, well, it's just easier that way. Since my girls have been working with me for a while now, I figure I better legitimize the whole employee thing, since we are going to be hiring more employees soon.

After going through this process, I totally understand and AGREE with why every big company in the USA is outsourcing overseas.

In order to be able to legally pay someone to work for you, you need to apply for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) with the federal government. Then you need to apply for an EDD (Employment Development Department) account with the state (California in my case). Both the government and the state then send you piles of shit to read and forms to fill out, which you need about a week to read through and a college degree in Human Resources to understand.

Then, of course, comes the taxes. Which is the only real reason why you are required to "register" with the government and the state.

I ran my first payroll last week and paid $1368 in wages to my employees. I then had to turn around and hand an additional $486 in taxes to the government and to the state. So I have to pay almost $1000 a month to pay employees $2800. Does that seem right to you? I get fined (taxed) for creating jobs in the state of California. Great fucking plan, America.

So this brings me to my point: Everyone wants a piece of my pie.

- Just being self employed incurs an additional 15% Self Employment Tax from the government. This is on top of the everyday taxes that everyone pays.

- You have to pay the County Recorder to register a business name.

- You have to pay the city annually for a business license AND they require that you pay them a percentage of sales (WTF?!).

- You have to pay the government and the state in order to employ people.

The list of "taxes" keeps growing as my business grows and it's really annoying. The business keeps grows but I keep making less money. Nonsensical...

Labels: Business

Heather blog tagged me, so here goes!

What was I doing 10 years ago?
... In 1998, I was living in Pacific Beach, CA with roomates (Erin, Kip and Jim).
... I was dating someone that was 10 years older then me.
... I was working as a receptionist at Simply Internet (I think).

Things On My To Do list
... UPS/FedEx quotes
... New warehouse
... Hire receptionist/CSR rep
... Gmail w/Linz
... Met with QB ProAdvisor
... Swim email
... Invoice to UPS
... Instruction on adding products
(I literally just copied these from the To Do list on my whiteboard)

Bad Habits
... Procrastination
... I stay up WAY too late
... I'm horrible at returning calls (but I'm working on it)

Places I have Lived
... All over San Diego (Ramona, Poway, Pacific Beach, South Park, Clairmont, Cardiff, Carlsbad)
... Big Bear, CA
... Rincon, Puerto Rico

Things Most People Don’t Know About Me
... I have anxiety
... I'm extremely competitive
... I play Texas Hold 'em poker 3 nights a week

Now, I am going to blog tag: Bulbboy, Stefan and Jashana

Labels: Blog Tag