The New Math

According to a letter from a KitchenAid warranty provider, this company suggests I pay $517 for a 5-year warranty on a 10-year-old mixer that now costs $340 new. Who’s with me?

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Fixing an Unreadable Smart Card?

Anyone have any tips on fixing unreadable smart cards with chips like those seen below? I’ve got $45 stuck on this parking card and nowhere to go with it because it gives a “card error” message every time I try to use it…

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Lance Armstrong + Oprah: Here’s How It’ll Go Down

Here’s a digest so you don’t actually have to watch the Lance Armstrong shame-fest. Gosh Oprah, it feels so good to finally admit to the doping. Living with this shame for years has really been impossible. I’ve let my fans down. I’ve let America down. But mostly I’ve let myself down. I take responsibility, but…

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Stuff People Give Out at Food Drives

Spent several hours going door to door with my son’s Cub Scout pack this morning collecting canned goods for the San Francisco Food Bank. Among the items received for donation: A jar of “Goober Grape” PB&J combo A bottle of Trader Joe’s Thai curry sauce Multiple 12-packs of Coca-Cola Bag of dried lentils from a…

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Why “New York Times Bestseller” Means Nothing

What does it take to get on the New York Times Best Seller list? A lot of money, that’s all. Here’s how publishers looking to cash in on those golden words do it. The secret: “bulk sales” — where a few bookstores receive massive orders driven by a small number of buyers. The NYT now…

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Columbine at 13

Everything you remember about Columbine is wrong. A new book out reminds of what really went down. One interesting tidbit from this page: Myth #5. There were no warning signs that could have prevented the Columbine massacre. Truth: Other parents had complained about Eric Harris, multiple times. Both Eric and Dylan had been arrested before. Thirteen…

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One Two Three Four

This is what I’m reminded of when all the students doing jumping jacks at my kids’ karate class. iy9Etpp5tpyB0.gif (GIF Image, 466 × 331 pixels).

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I Really Do Understand

It can be hard to remember everyone’s email address, but can you at least remember your own email address when you fill out a form or even email something to yourself? Is it that hard?

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You Can Only Blame Yourself

For the second time in a year, a motorist has been ticketed in South Carolina for displaying a replica of testicles on a vehicle. Another testicle ticket written in South Carolina  – Weird News – The Charleston Gazette

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Debt Collectors Reach New Lows

There is no occupation I dislike more than the debt collector. Here’s another reason to hate them. Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside. This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts,…

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Anger Management

Just off the phone with a debt collector for Providian who literally screamed at me: “Why don’t you pay your debts!?” Only problem: I’ve never had an account with Providian. Wrong Chris Null.

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