Category: General

Courtesy Appliance & Refrigeration Experts – Piss Poor Customer Service in Tampa

October 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

This last Friday (Oct. 26) the freezer stopped freezing at my mom’s place, which is being currently rented out by my other brother and sister-in-law. They called Courtesy Appliance & Refrigeration Experts of Tampa, FL. The tech came out and replaced the compressor on the freezer. Normal suburban stuff. Here’s the fun part.

Saturday (the next day) the freezer was still not working. So, my sister-in-law calls Courtesy Appliance & Refrigeration Experts back. They say they will have a tech out between 12 and 2. Between 2:15 and 2:30 (not sure of the exact time), my sister-in-law calls back and gets the owner of this firm. She asks when the tech is going to come out because they have melting food. His response: his tech will be out there and “quit your fucking bitching,” followed by a hang-up.

This is the point that my brother (not her husband) calls back and confronts the owner. The owner says he didn’t use “fucking,” but everything else was correct. Brother proceeds to inform owner that such language is totally inappropriate. Escalation occurs. Owner’s final response is that he is going to come to the house, yank out his part, give back the money, and to top it all off, bring a deputy to ensure that he is not locked out of the house.

End of story, he never showed back up and we stopped payment on the check. After consulting another firm, it was decided to just purchase another freezer.

So, if this experience is indicative of how that company runs, please do not call Courtesy Appliance & Refrigeration Experts of Tampa FL for your service needs.

New Pocketknife

October 18, 2012 / / 1 Comment

So, I picked up a new pocketknife, mostly because:

A) I got a raise and
B) I like spending money on sharp pointy things made of metal

So I picked up a CRKT 6803Z. I’d been carrying a CRKT M16Z for almost a year. I was surprised how much heftier the new one is.

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So, I’m showing my new knife to The Brother.

The Brother (looking at the blade): Huh, Cricket?

Me: CRKT.

The Brother: Like I said, Cricket.

Me: This is going up on the blog.

Something else to save up for

October 9, 2012 / / 0 Comments

From Topless Robot comes this.

Fortress Maximus is considered the Holy Grail for many Transformers fans; partially because he was (and still is) the biggest Transformer ever released (two feet tall) but partially because if you drink out of him you get eternal life. I doubt the upcoming re-issue of Fortress Maximus in Takara Tomy’s Masterpiece line will have that option, but you can still get a perfectly in-scale recreation of the 1987 toy in March of next year if you don’t mind ponying up $350 here.

Inner Geek hard to suppress. Must save for March. Must own greatest toy from childhood. URGHH!

GRPC Post 6

September 30, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Although there was a lot of good information from the speakers, there were a few that just turned me off. I realize that the base of the gun rights movement is the stereotypical mature, white, Christian conservative male, and that the speakers pissing me off were probably very good for that demographic. That said, that demographic is shrinking as more and more new shooters come into the community.

I’ll post on the panels more as go over my notes.

What did surprise me was the number of people I met while Kenn and I were smoking our cigars. We met a lot of the Florida Carry group. We also met with Paul Lathrop Raquel Okyay from the Politics and Guns podcast. I found out that Raquel is from my neck of the woods, and we both share a burning hatred of Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee. Kenn even talked to a couple of the guys from Madison Rising.

I swear, if I get to go to another of these, I’m starting a smoking lounge.

GRPC Post 4

September 29, 2012 / / 0 Comments

This is really just me playing with the panorama feature of my phone.

Here’s the GRPC ballroom before most of the people came in:

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This is it with some of the attendees:

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GRPC Post 1

September 28, 2012 / / 0 Comments

So I managed to make it into the hotel, which was a bit onerous. GPS’s are great tools, but mine decided I arrived when I crossed onto the airport.

I can see why people are concerned about carrying here. The hotel is literally above the terminal. I’m actually typing this out on a little balcony that overlooks one of the terminals. I’m good as long as I stay in the hotel. One escalator ride, and I’m committing a felony.

Here’s a pic from my balcony using Apple’s new panorama feature:

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Going down to the floor is forbidden while I have all my toys.

I managed to meet up with Kenn Blanchard of the Urban Shooter podcast. I’ll probably be hanging out with him a lot of the time. Now to find a place to smoke cigars.

I Don’t Care About the Truth, Let Me Tell My Damn Story!

September 27, 2012 / / 0 Comments

So this summer one of my friends gave me this:

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So now I have a fake land mine to play with. There was real temptation to put it out front when the lawn guy showed up. Or when the Jehovah’s Witnesses are running around the neighborhood.

Now, I remember getting the mine as such:

My brother and I are at his house awaiting our friend so we could go see Dark Knight Rising. Friend comes in and holds up fake mine.

Me: “Cool, a land mine.”

Brother: “I don’t know what is more disturbing, that (Friend) has a land mine or that my brother knows what it is.”

My brother has since informed me that me recollection of the event was faulty. I don’t give a damn. My story is better, and that’s all that counts. Maybe. I think. Damn.

Favorite Character of the “Whedonverse”

September 25, 2012 / / 0 Comments

The question of the week for the most recent Squirrel Report was who is your favorite character from the Whedonverse, or those series done or written by Joss Whedon. The big ones are of course the tv series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly. There’s also Dr. Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, Dollhouse, and the movie Buffy. The group brought up some other examples.

For my part, my favorite is still Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. He’s ruthlessly devoted to his set of morals and will go through hell for them. Plus, there is the infinitely quotable line “If someone tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back.”

Sometimes my inner geek screams to get out

August 17, 2012 / / 1 Comment

So I was in training for the last two days for work. Part of the training is identifying stakeholders and the impact of our actions on stakeholders. The instructor’s quip was along the lines of log when we talk about stakeholders, we’re not talking about someone who’s holding a sirloin with a pair of tongs. I’m thinking:

Really? I would’ve gone with more of we’re not talking about a vampire hunter’s assistant.

Then I realized that most of the people around me would have taken a few minutes before catching up with me.

I am such a nerd.

Friday Quote – Lord Chesterfield

July 27, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“The difference between a man of sense and a fop is that the fop values himself upon his dress; and the man of sense laughs at it, at the same time he knows he must not neglect it.”

Lord Chesterfield

h/t Put This On

I could go to work in a polo and jeans everyday, but I make sure to wear shirt and tie. I find that the people I need to influence listen more closely when I’m professionally attired. I will occasionally joke that my foppish side comes out, but this quote comes closer to my true nature.