Andriod 2.2 on Droid
I'd have to say I'm less than enthused with the latest release from Google. I woke up on Friday morning and my phone had been updated. So, I restarted it and everything seemed fine. That was, until I put it in my car dock to go to work. See, I listen to a lot of music on my Droid during the 25 minute drive to work. It used to stay brightly lit so I could see what songs were playing or see the map if I was in navigation mode. Apparently Google decided that the display should follow the auto dimming feature, regardless of whether it's plugged in or not. I've noticed the same on my media dock at home, since I use it for my alarm clock too. It used to have a nice display that had a dim background at night. It would even show you the weather forecast for the next day. However, since 2.2, it now just shows the time in a night vision goggle type of color. Such a shame. I want my 2.1 back...
GM and Chevrolet’s Grand Bailout Milking Scheme
I have to admit, General Motors has to have one of the best scheming, I mean, advertising, departments in the world! The 2011 Chevy Volt rolls out at the end of this year and it's a doozie! It will cost you $33,500 for an electric car that will drive you 40 miles with NO gas. That's right folks. All you have to do is fork over $41,000 to Chevrolet and then file a tax credit with the Federal government on your tax return. Nothing like giving Chevrolet a little more bailout money from the government, eh? No thanks Chevy. Electric and green or not, the Volt isn't worth that price tag. Especially when your getting $7,500 per sale from the government, in a round about way.
Think Ford Cares About You? Guess Again!
The most recent correspondance from Ford's customer relations department:
Dear Ronnie Sherard,
I truly regret if the Dealership in Iowa was unable to duplicate your problem at the time the concern first happened. I would just like you to know that Ford and Lincoln-Mercury Dealers are independent businesses from Ford Motor Company. They are privately owned and operated. As such, we are unable to intervene directly with their services, such as diagnosing a vehicle concern.
It is unfortunate that you have lost confidence in our products, and you no longer wish to be part of the Ford family. On behalf of Ford Motor Company as a whole, I truly regret the circumstances which caused you to write. I sincerely hope that we might have the opportunity in the future to restore your confidence in our products and service.
Sometimes e-mail communication does not allow us to gain additional information that may be helpful in responding to your inquiry. Should you feel that we have not adequately addressed your questions, please feel free to contact us via telephone at (800)392-3673 between the hours of 8am and 5pm, local time, Monday through Friday. Hearing-impaired callers with access to a TDD may contact 1-800-232-5952. Please provide your 10 digit reference number - 0631482070.
Sincerely,
Harold
Customer Relationship Center
Ford Motor Company
That's right. Dealers are independently owned and operated and Ford Motor Company doesn't give a rat's ass what they do to you or lack to do for you!
Multiple PayPal IPN Scripts
So, I had an issue. I have multiple sites using PayPal IPN scripts, but only one PayPal account. A Google search will yield scripts which cost you around $20-100 to buy. Folks, save your money! It's as simple as this:
Save that code to any one of your domains. For example, http://www.yourdomain.com/payipn.php. Then, log into your PayPal account and set that link as your IPN script. Now any time an IPN is requested, the script will look at the receiver's email address and redirect to the appropriate IPN script to finish the transaction and post your data. I've tested it on a couple of my domains and it worked like a charm. All for FREE! Enjoy!
The Great Ford Debacle
In 2004, prior to moving back to the U.S. from our assignment in Japan, we bought a 2005 Ford Focus ZX5 SE through the Overseas Car Sales program. They had one sitting out in front of the base exchange, and we really liked it. So, we pulled the trigger and made the purchase. This car has literally been all over the country. We've driven it from Nebraska to Kansas, Nebraska to Colorado, Nebraska to Wyoming, Nebraska to Florida (twice!), and it's been from Florida to Tennessee and back. The car gets GREAT gas mileage and has been extremely reliable for the almost six years we've owned it. The only problem we've had with it began just over two years ago with the front suspension, when the car had around 55,000 miles on it. Incidentally, that is where my issue is with Ford.
I took the car into the dealership in July of 2008 for my regular maintenance. I've followed Ford's guide to servicing my car from the very beginning. However, this time, I spoke to the technicians about a creaking and popping noise I had coming from the front end. They assured me they'd check it out and let me know what they found. It turns out, they couldn't replicate the issue. Then, in October of 2008, we went to the races at Kansas Speedway. When coming out of the parking lot, the front end was creaking like crazy when going over the uneven ground in the unpaved parking lot. So, when I took the car in for the next checkup in December of that year, I again asked the guys to check the front end and explained to them what we had experienced. Again, they told me they were unable to find anything wrong. I managed to put up with it until September of 2009, reminding them each time that the front end was making noises, when I found information that led me to believe that either my struts were going bad or my sway bar end links needed replaced. I then took a look at my ExtraCARE Extended Service Plan I had purchased when we bought the car and discovered everything was covered. I went back into the dealership specifically to have them give it a thorough check, especially since I was nearing the end of my warranty. They came back and said they couldn't find anything wrong, but put some plastic shims in the struts to alleviate the issue. I returned in February of 2010, prior to moving to Florida, for regular service and again asked them to check out the front end. Again, nothing wrong.
Upon arriving in Florida, I called the local dealership and explained my problem. The technician said it sounded a lot like the sway bar end links. I told him that my warranty had since expired, but the dealership in Iowa could never find anything wrong with the car, nor could they ever seem to hear the creaking and popping. He told me to gather the paperwork and he would try getting Ford to cover it under warranty, since I'd been having the issue for about 25,000 miles and it began while I was still in warranty. Their diagnosis of my car was the end links were fine, but the struts definitely needed replaced. Unfortunately, Ford would not honor warranty service, since I was out of warranty now, but the dealership would, as an act of good faith, cover 50% of the cost. This would leave me with a bill of $446. At first, I told them to go ahead with the repairs, but went back the next morning and picked up my car. I just simply can't afford that much right now. I also began to question why I should be paying for this! So, I wrote some letters.
I wrote a letter to Ford explaining all of this in the same detail I have here. I also provided them with copies of my service records from 55,000, 60,000, and 65,000 miles to show them that this was a constant problem that was NEVER resolved prior to the expiration of my 75,000 mile warranty. I also sent copies to the Federal Trade Commission, the Iowa Attorney General, and the Florida Attorney General. I had sent Ford an email prior to sending the letters, providing them the issues on my matter. I have since heard from them and they want more information. This could be a good sign, but I don't really know for sure. The one thing I do know is that this while issue started nearly 30,000 miles ago while I had an extended warranty and NO technicians felt obligated to resolve it for me. Now I either want Ford to fix it under warranty or refund me the $899 I paid for my warranty, since their technicians felt no obligation to allow me to use it in the first place!
AirTran Update
An update to my ordeal with AirTran. After a couple of emails to their customer service, we were given a courtesy refund of our $98 fees. Also, when I checked us in for the return, I was credited with $18 back on the reserved seats because I changed our seats. So, pack light or take more bags and don't reserve your seats in advance, unless you absolutely must. If you do reserve seats in advance, check seating at check-in and change them if you can. I still think it is absurd that an airline charges you for seats to ensure you can sit together, period. NO other airline I have flown has such a ridiculous fee. As such, we won't be flying AirTran again. The flights and the crews were good. However, the fees outweigh any good part of the trip.
Happy Birthday America!
Just a quick post to wish our great nation a very Happy Birthday! Hopefully the weather cooperates for fireworks tonight!
Daytona in July
I'd have to say, this July was pretty exciting at Daytona. It was good to see Dale Earnhardt Jr. put the #3 Wrangler Chevrolet into victory lane on Friday night. He followed that performance up on Saturday night with a fourth place finish in the Coke Zero 400, even though he said his car was really not that great. Of course, he had a little help with a huge crash with 12 laps to go. Still, it's a top five finish for a guy who has been struggling for quite some time. Everyone thought that Junior's move to Hendrick Motorsports would put him in the spotlight. However, that has yet to materialize. I'm not really sure what's going on with Junior. It seems like he has a good week followed by several bad weeks. Bad driving or bad decisions on tuning the car? I'm not really sure I know, to tell the truth. Hopefully this good weekend lights a fire and gives Junior a stronger desire to drive harder. He's not very aggressive and maybe that is some of the issue at hand. Next up: Chicagoland!
AirTran = AirRipoff
Never again will I fly with AirTran. First, the fee horror story begins with booking the flight on priceline.com. I selected my seats to ensure my wife, son, and I would be sitting together, especially since our daughter is riding on our lap. I get my confirmation from AirTran, only to see that my seat assignments have been removed. I then had to pay AirTran $36 for my seat assignments. Again, just to ensure we all sat together.
The next fee horror was at check-in. We decided to pack one suitcase for the four of us for the week. Keep in mind, we were each allowed one bag of 50 pounds for $15 each. That's a grand total of 150 pounds for $45. Well, our bag weighed 56 pounds and was a few inches too big. So, we were slapped with $98 in excess baggage fees. In my eyes, we still had an additional 94 pounds! So, this trip is our first and last with AirTran. You may have milked us for all the fees you could, but we can go elsewhere next time. Like they say, the first impression is the most important.
LancherPro for Droid
I'll have to say, I really liked LauncherPro on my Droid. However, early testing would indicate my hunch is true with the latest version. My phone wouldn't even hold a charge through the night. So, I removed it and all seems well again. Anyone else have battery drain issues with it? At first I suspected the phone, but it runs fine without LauncherPro.