I don't believe you H&R

I do my own taxes. Last year I went to H&R block to see if they can give me more refund than what I would normally do. And they totally did NOT! What they did is exactly what I would have done. So when I see their TV advertisement about this girl who got $2000 more than what she would have gotten if she did her own taxes, I just get ruffled. I feel they use fear to bully people into using them for their taxes. And I feel that woman they used, whether a character or real, is one simpleton for not being able to do her own taxes properly. I feel anybody with a good head on his/her shoulders who really want to do their own taxes can. Anything that H&R can do, anybody with enough smart can. And if it is really that complicated, an actual accountant is needed.

Mismatch???

The Last Song is this upcoming moving with Miley Cyrus, Greg Kinnear and Liam Hemsworth. It opens March 31, 2010. Judging on the trailers I have seen so far, it seems like a cute sweet teen oriented love story drama. I know Miley is big now as a singer but pairing her with Liam Hemsworth seems like a mismatch. Miley is quite plain looking and he looks far hotter than she. It would have been more believable if the couple have the same level of "hotness" or "cuteness". I dunno. Just my thought.

What bored soldiers do (part 8)

Just getting what I paid for.

Many months ago, I bought a refilled printer cartridge from Cartridge World. When I tried to use them the other night, it was all dried up and did not work. I do not have my receipt anymore so I could not return it. And besides, it was bought many months ago. I do not even know when for sure. When I went to Cartridge World to inquire if those printer cartridge they sell have a shelf life, the lady said it should be ok within 6 months. Obviously I did not know this cause their cartridge did not have an expiration date posted nor did they alert me about that fact. So I felt cheated of buying a cartridge I have planned to save for later use. Had I known the fact that I can not store a refilled cartridge for more than 6 months, I would not have bought it back then. So as I step out of the store, I saw the sign posted in their window that says "100% satisfaction guarantee". Well, I was 100% dissatisfied with the product I bought from them. So 2 days later, I bought a new refilled printer cartridge from them and clarified what their 100% satisfaction guarantee covers. After making sure that I could return a cartridge that is dried up, I quietly left their store with the intent to return the one I bought many months ago using the receipt I have from this new recent purchase. And I just did that today. I went there with the old dried up cartridge I got from them many months ago and exchanged it with a newly refilled one. At least I got exactly what I paid for. I perfectly feel I am not cheating them. I feel justified with my actions. Now I just have to make sure to use my printer more so this new refilled cartridge do not dry up on me again. And also make sure to just buy printer cartridge when I need it.

pet peeve - threatening chain email

Once in a while, I will get an email from a relative or a friend. When I open it, it is a chain email about religious stuff or some random stuff. The email then instructs me to forward it to an X amount of people I know within an X amount of time. It will also have testimonials from some people that it works. The premise is that if I follow the instruction and forward the email, I will receive good fortune or my prayers will be answered. The more people I forward it to, the sooner my good fortune will come to pass or my prayers be answered. It is not enough that this annoying email preys on my desires, it also threatens me. If I do not forward the email, I will get bad fortune.

What a load of crap! I do not even know what is the purpose of the chain email. Does it somehow have a spyware program that gathers those email addresses for future marketing? All I know, I NEVER forward any of these chain emails. I am not that gullible!

This cracks me up.

Chest bumps in tennis.

Here are the twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan doing their chest bump to celebrate their win in a tennis match. It is almost a tradition for the brothers to celebrate this way.


And here are Chile's Paul Capdeville and Jorge Aguilar celebrating a point against Israel in a Davis cup match by doing a chest bump. Somehow the way they did it looks just so wrong!

Oil change of $39.99 is actually more.

Some business just try to get as much from the customers that the practice borders to a scam. And if you are not careful and check the bill properly, you get scammed. I was scammed so many time because I did not bother to check until one time when I looked, I noticed all these extra charges. I am referring to the Jiffy lube that I go to. They advertise their Oil change to be $39.99 yet they add a $1.00 "Supply fee" to the actual price. What the hell is a supply fee??? So when I asked them one time about it, they said things like rags and stuffs. Are you kidding me? Rags and stuff? Does the doctor office charge us for supplies like cotton balls, bandages and disinfecting alcohol? Does a restaurant charge us for the bowls and plates? Does a dance bar charge us for the light bulbs and decorations they used? Supplies to run a business are included in the service they provide. If they want to make more money, then they should advertise their price as $40.99 per oil change. Not advertise a lower price and charge an extra.

Another thing, their oil change price of $39.99 includes only 5 quarts of motor oil. And then they end up filling my car with 5.5 quarts and charge me $2.00 for the half a quarts of oil. But there were some instances when they only put 5 quarts of motor oil in. Also, I could put half a quarts of motor oil myself at a lesser price. So today during my motor oil change, I told the mechanics to only put 5 quarts. Lo and behold when I looked at the bill, they put in 5.5 and charge me $2.00 extra. So I had no qualms having them remove that $2. I told them specifically prior to just put in 5 quarts and they did not heed. Perhaps they were hoping I would not check the bill like many others.

So the moral of the story here, always check the details of the bills when you get your oil change. You might be getting scammed and you just did not know it.

Crownie the betta

This was Crownie, my crowntail betta. He went to a betta farm 1 week ago. 3 of his neon tetra friends went to tetra farm 2 months ago. I will miss them dearly for they were beautiful fishes.

pet peeve - stupid questions.

I recently posted an ad in craigslist to sell my 2 old digital camera. This is how the ad was worded:

"looking to upgrade so getting rid of my two older digital camera. no defect at all, just used. I used each of them to take each others photo you see here. $35 each. cash and pick up only at NW Lakeview.

Nikon coolpix L3 (top 2 pics) is 5.1 megapixel with 3x optical zoom that uses two AA battery. for a detailed description and review of this camera, go to
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/CPL3/CPL3A.HTM

Panasonic DMC-LZ3 Lumix (bottom 2 pics) is 5.0 megapixel with 6x optical zoom that uses two AA battery also. For detailed description and review of this camera, go to
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/LZ3/LZ3A.HTM"

Here are some of the stupid responses/inquiries I got:

> $35.00 each or for both?
> I'm interested, but where are you located?
> What kind of memory card does it use? Are memory card included?
> Is anything wrong with this?

People do not read for if they did, they already have the answers to their stupid questions in the ad.