On Being A Loud Mouth

I suppose I've never really been shy about expressing myself. I have the most fascinating conversations with complete strangers sometimes - whether on line at the supermarket or waiting for a seat at a local restaurant. Seriously. In fact a couple of days ago I had a conversation with an older couple about the social implications and undertones of the 80's movie Fatal Attraction. Don't ask how it came up because I don't remember.

It's kind of nice living in a world where self expression no longer gets me sent to the principal's office. However being so opinionated (I have an opinion on practically everything) can take its toll. I tend to get stressed out. Luckily there's a form of catharsis almost built in. I write letters. At least four or five a week.

In the past week I wrote the president to let him know exactly what I think of his current policies (I managed not to use a single curse word but it still wasn't pretty), the town where I live about the massive hole in the road (no it's not just a little pothole - trust me on that) as well as a congressman and senator or two. Not that any of them care what I think. But it feels good just to get the words onto a sheet of paper. And chances are some underpaid aides will at least glance at the letters before they are unceremoniously dropped into a garbage bin.

Not all of my letters are about complaints though. No, don't get the wrong idea. I recently wrote this company in Canada that manufactures the most delicious chicken nuggets ever invented (email me if you're curious). To my complete surprise, I received a personalized reply today from them thanking me for my kind words. They even sent me a cute kitchen magnet.

I doubt many people write to companies unless they are upset or want something. It must be kind of thrilling for someone who deals with complaints all day to get a letter essentially saying "I like the job your company is doing. Thank you and keep doing what you're doing!" Try it sometime. Pick a product you like, find out what their contact mailing address is and tell them that you really enjoy it. You probably won't get a response but just sending the letter feels good. Trust me.

Not Trusting the Internet

In an age of Twitter and Facebook and billions of dollars in internet sales, it's hard to imagine that anyone is still uncomfortable placing an order online. But there are. At my job, I get calls every single day from people who refuse to place their order online and insist on having a real person place it for them.

What they don't understand is that I'm entering their information into the same system they would, and their information is actually less secure that way since they're giving a live human being their credit card information. There is a market for credit card information, you know; a black market where there are sales like "buy 20 credit card numbers, get two free". It doesn't really matter because I'm not an unscrupulous person. But plenty of people are.

I guess they're just old fashioned. It's not that hard to understand. I mean I'm twenty two and the internet was in widespread use by the time I was a teenager. But for someone who's over fifty and not overly educated the internet could very well seem to be a mysterious and untrustworthy invention. You enter your information and where exactly does it go? How is it protected? You and I understand the basics of internet security and encryption, but they don't.

These are the same people who write checks and letters and like doing business with a real human being. As old fashioned as that is, I can see the appeal. Yes I buy almost everything online and have been banking online since the moment I turned eighteen. But I'm from another generation. One that's more plugged into technology and less interested in genuine human interaction. You know, the kind that doesn't involve text messaging or social networking sites. Just sitting and having a chat.

Yes technology is awesome and convenient, but I think there is still some value in unplugging every so often. Otherwise humanity will end up eventually resembling the blobs in Wall-E. How's that for food for thought.

Ten Ways to Get IDed at a Bar

Some bars are really strict about IDing anyone and everyone. I know this because my grandmother once got asked for ID. And there's no way anyone's mistaking her for someone under twenty one. But even the most lax bars will ask you for your ID if you make one or more of these ten mistakes:

1. Giggling and/or whispering. Dead giveaway.
2. Acting nervous.
3. Dressing like a high school kid.
4. Glitter. Anything with glitter. Especially eyeshadow.
5. Looking like you broke into your Mommy's makeup bag. Less is more, girls.
6. Ordering a drink as if you've never done it before. Research what you want beforehand and order it as if you've done it a million times before.
7. Drawing unnecessary attention to yourself by being louder than everyone else.
8. Coming in groups of more than two. When you have three or four people it's much easier to spot under-agers.
9. Displaying a fake ID when you're not even asked for ID.
10. Annoying the bar tender.

If you dress and act like you're over 21, chances are you'll be able to enjoy your time at the bar in peace.

Disclaimer: I do not condone underage drinking, nor do I admit to having done it myself.

My Conversation With CitiBank

He called himself a "moderate" but my economics professor was decidedly left of center. It was a year ago, and he was extolling the virtues of the new credit card bill which would supposedly make things "fair" for consumers. Expecting me to rail against the idea (since conservative leaning libertarians are heartless), my professor asked me what I thought. I pointed out that the bill looked fine on paper but would likely have unexpected consequences. When you make it more expensive for credit companies to do business, they can be expected to raise rates, and the most pressure would be put on the poorest among us. That gave him some food for thought.

Fast forward to the present and we are already seeing the credit card companies' response. Practically everyone has received letters in the mail stating that rates are going up. For those people who are carrying a balance, that will hurt significantly. I don't carry a balance, but I don't like the idea of my rates going up anyway. One day I will apply for a mortgage and I want to have a solid history of low rates on my credit lines. So when I got my very own letter, I picked up the phone and called Citibank, the issuer of my Driver's Edge card.

After wading through the phone menu, I spoke with a lovely Indian woman who after screening the call as she was trained to transfered me to an American woman in the credit department. I explained that I knew the credit environment had changed as a result of the recession and the new credit card bill which is scheduled to kick in soon, but I think that based on my excellent credit history - no late payments, low credit utilization etc as well as my long time as a customer my rate should be negotiated individually.

The fact that I was calm, nice and rational about the whole thing shocked the woman I was speaking with. She asked me if I was a finance major. I laughed and told her that I majored in economics. Then she proceeded to level with me. Basically, they have no wiggle room to negotiate until February because of the current upheaval. The company expects thousands of their customers to call up yelling and screaming and their response is to tell the employees to just take the abuse but not budge. But when the dust settles they'll be able to negotiate lower rates for truly low risk customers.

Amazing what you can learn when you're nice to the person at the other end of the phone. I'll be giving them a call back in February.

How To Remove Netflix DVD Labels

I would like to preface this by saying that I have personally used this method successfully many times, however use it at your own risk. If anything at all goes wrong, that's your problem - not mine. Anyway, now that we got the disclaimer over with, let's begin.

Netflix, my favorite DVD rental company, recently started putting little white circular stickers on their DVDs to help make things more efficient. That's all well and good, but certain ancient DVD players (such as the one in my laptop) have a hard time with the slight difference the sticker makes and refuse to play DVDs that have them on.

Here's the easiest way I know of to remove them.

Materials:

Tweezers (don't use your girlfriend's - get your own)
Goo Gone (I like the spray gel form available at Walmart and other retailers)
Sink or water bottle
Disposable tissue or toilet paper
Disposable paper or plastic plate

Directions:

1. Put the DVD onto the disposable plate.
2. Apply Goo Gone to the sticker on the DVD.
3. Let it sit for two or three minutes.
4. Wipe off the Goo Gone with a tissue or some pieces of toilet paper.
5. Holding the DVD in one hand and holding your tweezers in the other, slide one side of the tweezers between the sticker and the DVD.
6. Squeeze the tweezers shut and gently pull the sticker off.
7. Put the DVD back onto the disposable plate.
8. Apply more Goo Gone to make sure any sticky residue is removed.
9. Wash the DVD and then dry it with some more tissue or toilet paper.
10. Enjoy your movie.

It's important to use a disposable plate so that the surface underneath your DVD (such as a wooden table) isn't damaged by the Goo Gone. The purpose of the Goo Gone is to loosen the sticker from the DVD and remove the residue the sticker leaves behind. And using tweezers is much smarter than using your fingernail. I learned that the hard way.

Anyway, hope that helps. Please comment if you find this information useful.