Quick Thoughts 6/26

• Yes, it is still illegal to wear headphones while driving a car. Pass the word because based on my observations, this is happening a lot more often now. (Thanks iPod.)
  
• Is it really too hot right now to shut your car's engine off while filling up with gasoline? I bet it will be a lot hotter when it explodes.
• Do people really care what Paris Hilton was wearing when she was released from jail? Is that really news? For that matter, is anything she does news-worthy?
  
• Oh, here's a press release about the project I'm working on.
  

Quick Thoughts 6/21

• Hopefully I still have a few readers left after my blogging hiatus.
  
• I realized the other day that being a Cubs fan is like being married to an abusive spouse. You love them, and firmly believe that they will change, so you endure the pain they inflict on you. But when it's all said and done, they just make your life miserable.
• Don't go picking a bouquet of wild parsnip.
• Take a live look at what's going on at Rochesterfest.
  

Theme Music

Blog inspiration struck me yesterday while attending a Rochester Honkers baseball game. It seems that these days, all baseball players have a song that is played when they come up to bat, or in some cases, closing pitchers have a theme song too. So that got me thinking, what would I use for my theme song when I come up to bat? I have narrowed it down to intros of the following three songs:

• "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC
• "Enter Sandman" by Metallica
• "Stand up and Shout" by Steel Dragon (Theme to the movie Rock Star)

What song would you use as your baseball theme song?

Cody Christopher Evans

Please welcome the newest member of our family, Cody Christopher Evans. He was born at 12:19 PM on April 3, and weighed in at a hefty 9 lbs 6 oz, with a length of 20.25 inches. Holly did a great job and had a much easier labor than what she experienced with Payton. She was able to give birth without any medication, and from start to finish, labor only lasted about eight hours this time. More pictures can be found here.

Ping

I just downloaded the new BlogJet 2.0 software.  Ever since I switched over to the Blogger Beta in October, my old BlogJet software stopped working.  I’m not a big fan of the default way of posting via the Blogger website, which is one of many reasons I haven’t posted much lately.  So maybe this will jump-start my blogging again.

Say What?

I used to think that Reader's Digest was a respectable publication. For several years I subscribed to RD and enjoyed the short articles that are ideal for a bathroom reader. But as time passed, I grew tired of the magazine, and decided not to renew my subscription anymore. I received the final issue of my subscription in August, and figured I'd put RD behind me. However, they still send me notices from the billing department about once a month. I'd like to share the content of one of these letter with you.

IMPORTANT - YOU SHOULD READ THIS CAREFULLY

By failing to pay the sum of $17.98 now seriously overdue in regard to several issues of a magazine subscription mailed to the above address, we must assume that there is no doubt that you owe the amount shown on the attached bill. It is our responsibility to collect.

Take notice, we are giving you this last opportunity to make payment to us. So that we may both avoid unnecessary expense, we strongly urge you to MAIL YOUR PAYMENT TODAY in the enclosed reply envelope.

--BILLING DEPARTMENT

IF THE ACTION REQUIRED BY THIS NOTICE IS TAKEN BEFORE THE DATE SHOWN NO FURTHER ACTION WILL BE TAKEN WITH REGARD TO THIS NOTICE.


I had to read that letter about five times to make sense of it. It's so wordy that I can only assume they are trying to scare and confuse me into thinking I am late in paying. Also, there is no customer service phone number on the letter anywhere, which I find unacceptable given the context of the letter. Since I think the majority of the RD subscribers are age 50 and up, I find this to be a very shady practice of trying to deceive older people.

For what it's worth, I paid for a year's subscription in August 2005, and just as I expected, August 2006 was my last issue. Because of the wording of the letters I am receiving, I will never subscribe to Reader's Digest again, and I encourage you to boycott them as well.