Dean Barlow » Rants

So many scams out there

Dean — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 22:47:00 +0000

I have been astonished to find out how many scams are “out there” nowadays. So many advertisements for “working at home and making a million dollars” are tempting the people who are having a difficult life to send in their hard earned dollars to sign up for a “pie in the sky” scheme. I feel so badly for the thousands of desperate people who are scammed by these piranhas of society! Even I have been the target of some scams where someone sent me a fraudulent money order and wanted me to cash it at my bank and send them money by Western Union. What is coming of this world?

Freecycle

Dean — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:29:10 +0000

I think Freecycle is great, but it has its limitations. We get (and give) some great stuff for free, but there are times when it can be aggravating. For example, when you are trying to negotiate a pickup or dropoff, the other party involved doesn’t seem to want to exchange telephone numbers, they simply state that they are leaving something by the curb for you to pick up at a certain time. But sometimes that certain time is simply impossible to meet, and when you send them an email about it to try to let them know (and renegotiate) they don’t always respond. So it can get quite frustrating! And if you are trying to give something away and the person doesn’t show up to get it, and doesn’t call you to let you know that they aren’t coming (or got lost) or to renegotiate a different time, that is very frustrating as well!

Maybe they ought to develop a rating/ranking system like e-bay, where feedback is given. I think that would make it a lot easier to use!

Bad girl!

Dean — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 22:46:40 +0000

I have to give my niece a little bit of credit for creativity, although I’m not too happy about it. What is it I’m not happy about? Well, apparently she has been giving out my cell phone number as a “can be reached” number on a number of her credit accounts. And you can guess what happened next, right? Right, she has fallen behind on paying her bills, and now I’m getting a lot of debt collection calls for her on my cell phone!

Well, that is, admittedly, one way to Stop Debt Collectors from harassing you – giving out the wrong “can be reached” number! When the telephone call is being made by a real live human being, I don’t mind it too much because I explain that they have reached a wrong number and then they update their records, don’t bother me again. What I DO mind, however, are the collection calls that are dialed by a machine and when I answer the phone I get a recorded message that the call is for so-and-so and if I’m not that person, to hang up.

Shrinkage

Dean — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:48:33 +0000

I am outraged at how the consumers are being ripped off once again at the stores. Companies are raising their prices and providing less product, both at the same time. This means I often have to buy two of a product when I would normally only buy on. When I think of how much more plastic and cardboard is being wasted and put in landfills, just so I can have the products I need, I get really upset. We are paying more money for a product AND creating more waste at the same time. This really bothers me a lot!

The aggravation of owning vehicles

Dean — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 01:04:05 +0000

Today I suggested to my wife that she drive our son’s car to work so I could work on her car. Her car needs new brakes. So off she went in the Subaru, while I started to tear apart the Lumina. Well, the new brake kit I had bought was the wrong one, so after I had torn apart her car for nothing I had to put it back together and order the right kit.

And then when my wife got home from work she told me that the Subaru was making a bad noise. She insisted I go for a short drive with her so I could listen to it. Well, she was right, there IS a bad noise. I don’t know if it is a bad wheel bearing or a bad brake, but I’m going to have to tear it apart tomorrow and find out! When it rains, it pours!

Mowing the lawn

Dean — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 00:45:23 +0000

I love to mow the lawn. Some people may think I’m crazy, but it really is something that I love to do. I love riding around on my Walker zero-radius mower. I mow the lawn in practically no time at all! The challenge this year has been to find a time to mow the lawn when it hasn’t been raining! Seems to me that every time I want to get out there and mow, it starts to rain. Although I have mowed the lawn before when it is wet, it just doesn’t look as nice as when it is dry. We’ve been having a spell where it has rained every day for over a week, and it is killing me watching the grass grow and not being able to mow it!

Can we talk?

Dean — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:14:24 +0000

I have been observing the rapidly growing number Spanish-only speaking residents there are living in the area, and I have noticed how many English-only speaking residents there are that are reluctant to learn how to speak Spanish. There is a lot of hostility on the part of the non-Spanish citizens, and I often hear remarks like “If they are coming to this country then they need to learn English.” I also hear a lot of anger about how our tax dollars are being wasted on illegal immigrant families. I’m not sure that is really happening, but the general perception is that it is happening.

I am trying to understand both sides of the issue, and I just want to say that I think it is important that we ALL learn to speak BOTH English and Spanish. Eventually we are all going to need to know both languages in order to get along in every day life here in America. And I think it is important that we all get along!

Missing the Sunday paper

Dean — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 00:41:56 +0000

We subscribe to the Sunday paper so we can get coupons and the television guide. That is essentially the only reason we subscribe to it. Every Sunday morning I walk down to the newspaper box, dragging the trash can behind me (trash pickup is early Monday morning) and leave the trashcan at the end of the driveway and then bring the newspaper back up to the house. It’s not something I enjoy doing, but it needs to be done and my wife has asked me to make that part of my routine. So I do it to make her happy.

It is very aggravating when I get down to the newspaper box to find that the Sunday paper is missing. I don’t know if someone swiped it or if the delivery person didn’t deliver it; I just know that it isn’t there. No coupons, no television guide. I know that I can call the paper and complain and they will give me credit for the missing paper, but that still leaves us without the coupons and television guide, and the inconvenience of having to run to the store to pick up a copy if we really want it that badly.

Newest Bad Word

Dean — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:13:33 +0000

There have always been a handful of words and phrases that become popular and get overused each year, especially by the younger people. Some of the words I hear way too much include, “Are you serious?” and “I don’t know, right?” which drive me crazy.

So, with all of the tragedy in Japan and the still unresolved threat of a nuclear meltdown in Japan, the newest bad word that I’ve heard used a lot these past couple of days is “radioactive.” It is an adjective used to describe someone or something as extrememely bad.

Sometimes it is hard to be gracious

Dean — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:52:12 +0000

My wife is always telling me that there is never an excuse to be rude, and that we need should be gracious at all times. That is a challenging thing to do! For example, my brother sent our kids Christmas gifts that were obvious regifts and/or free things that he had gotten in the past. Like those free Gevalia coffee cups that you get just for trying Gevalia coffee. Or a used book. This guy has more money than he could ever dream of spending and he gifts things like that as gifts to family? It is really hard to be gracious when you get gifts like that. They say that it’s the thought that counts, and I’m thinking that he’s thinking of ways to be cheap. And that’s not a good feeling.