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Apparently Murfreesboro Electric Department thinks it's Ticketmaster now

by on November 13, 2009, in around town, Internet, WTF?

To whom it may concern,

I visited your website to pay my electric bill today and noticed that you have instituted a “convenience fee” for online payments. I have been paying my bill online for a long time now and today is the first time I have seen this fee. I am curious as to why your business model now includes charging customers for something that is easier for both them and you, but also cuts down on waste? Have you had to hire additional employees to handle the online bill processing? Have you had to hire additional IT professionals or pay more in database or web hosting? I’m just wondering what the extra $5 is being used for.

The customer service rep I spoke to on the phone when I called to ask about this new fee made it painfully clear that Murfreesboro Electric Department has no intention of embracing any kind of technology (she was not aware of how email addresses worked, telling me I should send my email to “murfreesboroelectric.com, there was no ‘anyone @’ in this email address”), despite almost every other business in the country encouraging its customers to move to paperless billing and online bill payment not only to help cut down on paper waste but to make things simpler for everyone involved as well.

I realize that Murfreesboro Electric Department is a monopoly and I am going to have to either pay your convenience fee or suck it up and buy more checks and stamps, but I wanted to voice my displeasure as a customer in case you put any stock in your customers’ opinions. It’s sad that when Murfreesboro is making such great strides in moving toward being a more progressive town, its largest utility company is working to hinder its progress.

I look forward to your response, as I’ll be sharing it on my blog, Twitter and Facebook with other Murfreesboro residents.

Best,
Megan Morris

Apparently Murfreesboro Electric Department thinks it's Ticketmaster now

——

UPDATE: See below for the email I received back. You’ll notice it doesn’t answer my question as to what the $5 is going toward. Also, apparently I can use a check, but not a credit card, and that doesn’t require a convenience fee. (Who the F uses checks still??) I guess my answer is that the $5 charge is to cover the cost of processing credit card payments to their processor. Which is still bullshit. EVERY merchant that accepts credit or debit cards pays a processing fee. Would you pay an additional fee at the grocery store or a clothing store to be able to use your credit or debit card? Why is it OK for the electric department to charge one, then?

Apparently Murfreesboro Electric Department thinks it's Ticketmaster now

Comments { 4 }

Dear Tennessee,

by on June 1, 2009, in jump aboard the crazy train, photography, stupid assholes, WTF?

Dear Tennessee,

Every time I think I’ve fallen in love with you, you go and do something shitty like this.

Please grow up and stop being a racist, bigoted jackass.
Megan

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Conversational media FAIL (or, a letter to WGNS Radio)

by on May 7, 2009, in around town, hahahahaha, Internet, media, news/politics, technology/yes I am a geek, WTF?

Dear WGNS Radio,

I think it’s great that you’re on Twitter. A lot of old media (newspapers, AM radio, etc.) seem to be resistant to the idea that Twitter is important, but I can assure you that nerds early adopters like myself get a lot of their news—especially breaking news—from the platform. So I’d like to commend you for not turning your nose up at it, as many have been wont to do, and instead embracing it and using it to drive people to your website.

However, the point of Twitter is to have a conversation with your audience. (FYI, this includes me). So when I tweeted yesterday about finding funny your tweet about boys buying girls’ jeans and commented that your website has grammar issues, you had several options of how to respond.

You could have taken the opportunity to let me know why you don’t feel it necessary to ensure your website, a news outlet, is grammatically correct. You could have told me that you don’t have a copy editor, or maybe that the guy who posts to your site never went to J-school and doesn’t understand AP style, or maybe even basic syntax and grammar rules. You could have called me out and asked me to point out some places where I found errors.

Conversational media FAIL (or, a letter to WGNS Radio)But you chose to respond with snark via direct message, letting me know that you’re radio people and you can’t spell. (I get that you were joking with “right,” but do you also realize that “thanks” isn’t spelled “thank’s”?)

And when I tweeted about your reply to me, you sent me another direct message telling me that your reply “wasn’t that crazy” (I never said it was), and that AP style is “for the papers” (technically it’s used by many more news outlets than just newspapers). So I guess you’re saying that crappy grammar is the official style you’ve adopted then?

Conversational media FAIL (or, a letter to WGNS Radio)Oh, and telling me “Bye-bye,” and removing me from your followers?

Way to add to the conversation.

But see, you’re not just radio people. You have a website, so you’re web people now. You have a Twitter account, so you’re social media people now. People don’t just listen to your radio station for the news—they come to your website to seek out stories and information. And I would think, seeing as how you are in the news-gathering and news-disseminating business, you would understand the importance of spelling and grammar.

Just like it’s important to pronounce words correctly on air, it’s important to relay your online news with grammatical correctness as well. Because if you don’t, you lose credibility. And if you lose credibility, people won’t take you seriously. And then they’ll stop visiting your site. And fewer visitors to your site means fewer advertisers, and we all know what that means.

WGNS has been on the air since Dec. 31, 1946. You’ve made it through the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Desert Storm and whatever this bullshit we’re doing in Iraq is being called lately. You’ve been around longer than Barbie dolls, the Frisbee and birth control pills. You’ve outlasted 11 presidents, the Studebaker and telegrams from Western Union. Hell, is there even anything older than you in Murfreesboro? (Oh, right: Bell Jewelers.)

Look, WGNS, I like you. I visit your site to get a hyperlocal take on the news that often I can’t get from the DNJ or the Murfreesboro Post (I don’t even bother with The Tennessean for Murfreesboro news anymore). I try to look past much of your poor style, which includes your penchant for reporting the race of (non-white) individuals involved in accidents and crimes and your inexplicable need to affix a dash after almost every number (“3-Arrested on Drug Charges Near MTSU“).

But I implore you, WGNS: You’ve been through so much in your 61 years. Is it really too much to ask that you report the news on your website with grammatical correctness?

Comments { 7 }

This is worse than the Beatles breaking up

by on February 24, 2009, in music is like air, but for my ears, WTF?

A few minutes ago I checked Twitter to find out that Steven Page is leaving the Barenaked Ladies to pursue a solo career.

Please hold while I have a cry.

:’(

…

……

I don’t know if I can actually put into words how much the Barenaked Ladies’ music has meant to me over the years. I first started listening to them back around 1998—they instantly became my favorite group EVER. I was going through some emotional shit at the time and they provided me an escape. At a time where every song I heard on the radio only reminded me of how shitty I felt, Barenaked Ladies provided relief in the form of dark humor, self-deprecation and fucking awesome melodies.

I have always associated songs and artists with other people, other times, other meanings. But not the Barenaked Ladies. I kept them for myself, and any time I needed a reality check, a laugh, or hell, just a good song with clever lyrics, the Barenaked Ladies were there for me.

And their concerts fucking rule, even if you’re not a fan. Just ask the people I’ve talked into coming with me. They all loved the shows.

I guess if I were a look-on-the-bright-side kind of gal, I could take comfort in the fact that they’re not completely breaking up—Steven Page is going out on his own and the rest of the gang will continue on. So at least they’re not dropping off the face of the earth.

But I still have a lump in my throat. This is my “rock is dead” moment.

I knew a day like this would come eventually.

But I still feel abandoned.

Comments { 1 }

No money, mo' problems

by on December 14, 2008, in around town, automóviles, quandaries, WTF?

If there were ever a time I needed to win the lottery, this would be it.

Evil Twin is still sick. Besides the diabetes, for at least two weeks he’s been painting the catbox brown—when he manages to get it in the box. Sometimes he just explodes on the floor. We’ve probably spent around $1,000 on him since finding out he had diabetes in July, and we just can’t keep hemorrhaging money to find out “nothing’s wrong, it’s just his diabetes.” But we also can’t keep changing the catbox every day, cleaning shit up off the floor and wall, and worrying if he has some other sickness that could spread to our other two cats.

On to the second money-pit problem.

For about two or three months I’ve been hearing a roaring sound coming from the back wheels of my car, and as time has passed the sound has gotten louder. The car also shakes a bit when I get up around 70-75 mph. When I took my car to Reddell Honda for an oil change yesterday (I only take it to the dealer for oil changes because they send me coupons that make it cheaper than a Jiffy Lube type of place), I asked them to take a look.

They called and told me the rear control arms on the suspension were defective—something Honda “put a bulletin out on a few months ago” to all their dealers. The problem affects several Civics made in 2006-2007, mine included, but not enough to warrant a recall. It’s not a safety issue, but it causes my rear tires to wear unevenly, making the roaring noise and the vibration.

Then they dropped the bomb: I had to replace the rear control arm kit, get an alignment and two new tires. For $600.

Now, my first question to them was “I bought a new car from Honda under the impression I was getting a NEW car with no problems. If THEY made a defective product, THEY should have to fix it.”

The tech’s response was “Your car is no longer under warranty. You should have bought an extended warranty.”

My thought was “No, you buy an extended warranty in case something goes wrong AS THE CAR AGES. You don’t buy an extended warranty to protect against stuff that the manufacturer fucked up from the get-go but never told you about.”

The weird thing is that when the service tech called, he said he had already spoken to the service manager and they were willing to split the cost of the control arm kit with me. Now, that immediately set off alarms in Ian’s mind. Why, if Honda was not reimbursing them for fixing it, would they offer to split the cost of the repair with me? Right off the bat? They also told me that they would only honor the “we’ll split the repair with you” for another 5,000 miles. No explanation as to why.

I have never had any problems with this dealer before. Actually, after we dropped my car off for the oil change, I remarked to Ian how nice they always were. Hmm.

We looked online and found several people talking about this issue, but most people—in and out of warranty—are getting the repair done at no cost. Some have to pay for tires, some have to pay for alignments, but most are getting the rear control arm kit covered for them because, duh, it’s Honda’s fault.

So we are thinking either one of two things is happening:

  1. Honda is reimbursing their dealers for the entire cost of the repair, and Reddell Honda is trying to get $600 out of me by making it look like they are being kind
  2. Honda is not reimbursing their dealers for the repair, but the total cost really is $600. Reddell is just saying they’re splitting it with me to make me go ahead and do it

I have a hard time believing that a defective part—something that has been defective since the car was made and is just now manifesting itself because the tires have 51,000 miles on them—would not be fixed by Honda. I have had three recalls on the car and had them all fixed free of charge. Only one was a safety issue; the other two were just like this. Just defective parts that could cause more problems down the line.

This repair HAS to be done. If I don’t fix the rear control arms, every pair of new tires I purchase will wear unevenly and be ruined. I will never be able to rotate my tires because moving the front, good condition ones to the back will ruin them. My alignment will always be out of whack.

Why the hell would Honda not cover that, in or out of warranty?

I’m hoping that when I call Honda on Monday I will find out. This all smells funny to me.

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Comments { 2 }

What really grinds my gears

by on December 10, 2008, in stupid assholes, what grinds my gears, WTF?

You know what really grinds my gears?

When I read shit like, “Mom Inventor Overcomes Fear of Flying to Invent The Worlds Easiest Luggage ID.”

Why the hell is it important to point out she’s a mom? Do we say, “Dad Banker Asks Government for Bailout Money,” or “Dad Doctor Researches Cure for Cancer”?

No, we fucking don’t. But apparently, women today are still not able to have identities that aren’t tied to their reproductive status.

Nobody ever asks a dude when he wants to have children, or how many he wants to have. Women get asked that shit all the time. When a married woman gets knocked up, people ask her, “Are you going back to work after the baby is born?” Nobody asks the man that shit. Because, duh, the man is going back to work; to do otherwise would mean he had some sort of mental disorder. On the other hand, women who put the kid in childcare and go right back to work are looked at like they should be reported to children’s services.

So how about this, America: Unless there’s some compelling reason to note the parental status of someone you’re profiling in an article, just leave that modifier out. Mkay?

And that, my friends, is today’s installment of “What Really Grinds My Gears.”

*Note: There are two other things that piss me off about this article:

1. The inventor says she invented it because she wanted to be able to recognize her plain black bag on the airport carousel easier, yet the writer insists on including the fact that she is divorced and a mother of two as though it were the reason for the invention.

2. The headline states that she overcame a “fear of flying to invent…” But the actual story never mentions her being afraid of flying. And even if she were afraid of flying, it obviously had nothing to do with why she invented the product, which was because she couldn’t recognize her black bag among all the other black bags on the luggage carousel.

Comments { 2 }

Please stop e-mailing me that Obama is an evil Muslim named after Saddam Hussein

by on October 27, 2008, in hahahahaha, jump aboard the crazy train, news/politics, stupid assholes, WTF?

Over the last week or so I have been getting random e-mails from old acquaintances and seeing Facebook postings/status updates, etc., that refer to Barack Obama as “Hussein Obama” or otherwise try to convince me that he is Teh Evil Muslim.

I would like to respond to this asshattery with two points:

1. Muslim does not equal evil, and insinuating such just makes you look like a racist asshole.

2. Just stop. You are smarter than that. There are actual, valid reasons to not vote for Barack Obama, and you have got to be able to come up with something other than “His middle name is the same as Saddam Hussein’s last name!”

Sending along these e-mail forwards just makes you look stupid and uncultured. Do you not realize that Saddam Hussein was only a kid when Obama was born? Why the hell would his parents name him after some random-ass Middle Eastern kid they had never heard of?

But more importantly, do you really think there is only one Hussein in this world? You do realize it’s a very common name, right? And so, to illustrate the monumental idiocracy of your “he’s named after a bad person!” shtick, I’d like to play a game with John McCain’s name—another very common name—to help point out how stupid you are. I tried to play it with his middle name, Sidney, but apparently that name sucks so bad there’s nobody besides Sidney Poitier who’s got it. And he’s not really all that bad. So instead, I bring you:

Famous Assholes Named John That John McCain Is Named After and Therefore You Should Fear Him

John Wilkes Booth: Shot Lincoln
John Dillinger: Violently robbed a shitload of banks in the 1930s
John Hinckley, Jr.: Shot Reagan
Jon Bon Jovi: Has been committing acts of terrorism on our eardrums since the 1980s.
See also: John Michael Osbourne. Better known as Ozzy Osbourne. I think he’s pretty cool, but you McCain-voting types probably don’t like devil worshippers too much.

But you see?? You see how stupid that game is? Shit, the last three didn’t become famous until after McCain was born. I guess he technically could have been named after John Dillinger or John Wilkes Booth, but I’m not going to waste my time perpetuating that myth because I AM NOT THAT DESPERATE. I can think of real reasons not to vote for him. I don’t need to resort to made-up ones.

So please, people. If you aren’t going to vote for Barack Obama, do it because of the issues. Don’t resort to some made-up bullshit excuses that just make you look like a fool grasping at straws.

Comments { 7 }

This aggression will not stand, man!

by on October 15, 2008, in Apple, computadores, technology/yes I am a geek, WTF?

First they take the open-apple symbol off the keyboard, now they remove FireWire from the MacBook?

WTF is wrong with Apple??

Ok, so I get the open-apple symbol isn’t functional and I’m just being a nostalgic nerd by being pissed about it being gone. But also: Seriously, the new thin keyboards suck giant balls. I HATE the keys. HATE THEM.

But taking FireWire off the MacBooks completely? Are you serious? How the hell are you supposed to boot into target disc mode? YOU CAN’T with USB!

Also, if you’re transferring a shit-ton of stuff, put FireWire and USB 2. 0 in a pit together and ask them to fight to the death. FireWire will kill USB 2. 0, bring it back to life, kill it again and then go catch you a delicious bass all before USB 2.0 will be able to even understand the question.

AND my freaking iPod (well, just one of them, but my faaavorite one) is FireWire. WTF am I supposed to do if I get rid of my two desktops and two laptops that currently support FireWire?? (Haha, but seriously: I store all of my music and sync my iPods from my desktop, which I have seriously thought about replacing with a MacBook and a great cinema display from time to time. Well, that dream has been killed. JUST LIKE FIREWIRE. Also: That dream might have already been killed when the economy shit the bed. Or before that, when I realized nobody really needs seven computers, not even me.)

If all this is happening because Steve is sick and not able to kick ass as much as he usually does, what is going to happen when he actually kicks the bucket? Excuse me while I go weep for the former shell of Apple.

Comments { 1 }

11 reasons why The Scene's "Best of" poll can suck it

by on October 15, 2008, in around town, hahahahaha, stupid assholes, WTF?

  1. Corky’s BBQ is listed as best ribs. Corky’s should only be listed on a poll under the header “Best place to feel like shit as soon as you start eating and then go home and barf up your entire dinner. Twice.”
  2. Kirkenburt’s is not listed as best barbeque. Yeah I realize it’s not technically in Nashville, but it’s That. Damn. Good.
  3. Subway is listed as one of the winners of best sub sandwich. At least it wasn’t Jimmy John’s. I would have to stab someone if that were the case.
  4. People actually think they are getting fresh seafood from Whole Foods, Publix and Fresh Market.
  5. Corrieri’s Formaggeria is listed as the third best specialty/gourmet store. AFTER Whole Foods and Fresh Market. Jesus fucking Christ, what is WRONG with you people? Are you that scared of anything that’s not a chain? I guess so, since there had to be “not a chain” disclaimers in this poll. I’m surprised people didn’t vote Whole Foods and Fresh Market as the most original menu or best sushi restaurant, too.
  6. This doesn’t piss me off, but I did chuckle when I read there is a restaurant called “Red Pony” in Williamson County.
  7. Who the fuck nurses a hangover at Noshville?
  8. Sunset Grill is a late-night eatery? I thought they were a regular restaurant. Who goes there when they’re drunk or has the munchies?
  9. What record exec forced his minions to vote for Kenny Chesney 600 times as the best concert of 2008?
  10. So church is the best place to meet single men and women, but it’s not the best place to meet intelligent ones? I don’t have experience with this, but I am inclined to agree.
  11. OMG WAIT. I just got to “Best Local Author.” No. 1 is Ann Patchett.

That’s it. I’m done. Fuck this poll.

Comments { 5 }

On today's episode of "WTF??"

by on October 14, 2008, in but in our house we never get bored, I hate my neighbors, stupid assholes, WTF?

So our shitty property management company has been promising to pressure-wash our buildings for about two weeks now. I get home today and have a note on my door from the pressure-washing company (in Smyrna, I should’ve known they would be shitty. I kid! Kind of) saying that they will be washing my building (that’s me and four other units) and—get this—they need to use OUR water to do it!

So not only do we pay the property management company $75 a month in association fees that is supposed to cover the maintenance of the outside of the building (the roof, the brick, the siding, the landscaping, the front door), now we’re supposed to pay EXTRA for them to take care of it? Oh, and not just ours. Because we paid MORE initially to purchase an end unit, now we’re going to have to pay for them to wash the ENTIRE building?

I don’t think so. Is this even legal?

I sent an email to the property manager and the other people on the board (I love how at the meeting when they elected me to the board they talked all about the pressure washing but neglected to mention I would be paying for it), but of course have heard nothing back. We keep our outside water turned off by default (when they first built our place the building company used our water to water the lawn and we got a $400 water bill—which WAS reimbursed), but if we want them to wash our house we will have to turn it on.

So do we risk a seriously expensive water bill? (Ours is normally $40-$50 a month for just the two of us—yes, this is high. We have county water, not city water, and pay about $20 more than city water peeps do) Or do we keep the water off and not get the mold and shit cleaned off our house?

We have to make our decision before we leave the house in the morning at 8 a.m. I doubt I’ll be able to get in touch with anyone at Ghertner (the WORST PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY IN THE UNIVERSE) before 9 a.m., when they open.

Comments { 1 }
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