Ugh… If there’s one thing that I hate it’s when I see data manipulated in a manner such that it can confuse the masses. To this end, a few months ago an article was published on the My FOX NY website that was titled, “NJ: Ban on Cell Phones While Driving Works.” Since the article is short, I’m reposting the entire thing here for you to read before I tear into it.
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Forgetting Student Loans in the Bankruptcy Mix
People are going crazy right now over the economy and how they (and their families) will continue to pay the bills next month or the month after. Some people are looking at their 401k accounts and literally crying due to the literal lack of retirement funding available for them. For some folks, the way out is to declare bankruptcy. Well, as a sort of student loan guru I just wanted to remind the big student loan borrowers out there that student loans are not eligible to be wiped away in bankruptcy court.
One of my new favorite places to go to read about events in the student loan industry is Student Loan Stories. This is a great blog that covers student loans from all angles and was good enough to post the story linked above regarding how student loans are not eligible for bankruptcy. As someone who still owes six figures in student loan debt, trust me when I say that I knew about this years ago! But this is the type of information that isn’t shared nearly enough with college graduates in terms simple enough to understand. And we all know the garbage that has gone on with the student loan companies and certain colleges being offered kickbacks to recommend one company’s consolidation services over the others.
Disgusting.
Anyway, just putting out the grim reminder that you can’t put your student loans into bankruptcy. Sorry!
More Garbage from ESPN
I like ESPN. I really do. But I take issue with the annoying tendency of their broadcasts to feel the need to deal in absolutes. Last night, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox to extend their AL East lead to 1.5 games heading into July 1st. In a division where outrageous spending by the Red Sox and Yankees made it seemingly impossible for any other team to contend, the Rays are defying all logic as they rip through the American League. Here come the lowly Rays- a team that never had a winning season, brutal attendance, and a team that has been an afterthought since its inception in 1997. It’s an underdog story and the public likes that. It deserves the amount of coverage that it gets from ESPN.
However, why does ESPN feel the need to ask questions on Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter like, “Next on SportsCenter: Are the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox the new “Sox-Yanks rivalry”? What the hell is that? The Red Sox and Yankees have been bickering back and forth and annoying to baseball fans across the country for decades. The Rays and Red Sox are battling in 2008 for the first time and played a close game on the last day of June. Calm down. Why must be everything be so hyperbolized? Fernando Vina and Chris Singleton are telling me that the Rays will definitely win the division. It’s 83 games into the season. The trading deadline is 30 days away. Way too much can happen to definitively assess a team’s chances moving forward and to do so is foolish. And anyone who puts stock into this drivel is an even bigger idiot.
Discuss what these teams may do moving forward, their strengths and weaknesses-that’s what these shows are for. But why, after 83 games, does ESPN feel inclined to talk about the Devil Rays like they are Big Red Machine of the 1970’s? The programming in Bristol is simply becoming more irresponsible and less educational by the day. It’s lazy, cheap, and says a lot about what they think of their average viewer.
Slightly Augmented Design for Joe’s Journal
By now I’m sure that you’ve all noticed the slightly augmented design for Joe’s Journal. The header is a little bit bigger (and my mug is a bit bigger in the picture above). I have a few more pictures that I want to wedge into the graphic above, but what you see is pretty much what it’s going to look like in the end.
I also darkened the background of the site because I didn’t really care for the bright off-white color any more. It’s boring, you know?
Plus, you’ll notice the stagnant “JerseySmarts.com” 468×80 banner has been moved from right above the first blog entry to the bottom of the main page. That site (which is essentially this blog in a different format) is ranked higher than this blog by some rankings! What total BS! I think that Joe’s Journal is hurt by not having a specific “.com” name, but since joesjournal.com appears to be owned by a marketing company, I think purchasing that domain is out of the question. Anyway, the Google ad above is an adequate replacement and what’s better – it pays!
For those of you who are tech-heads out there, Joe’s Journal is still operated on the WordPress 2.3.3 database system. JerseySmarts.com is operating on the new 2.5.1 system and the internal Control Panel is a complete disaster. The engineers at WordPress ruined the posting page so that you have to scroll all the way to the bottom to find certain options. Garbage. I have no intention of changing the Joe’s Journal internal structure until WordPress fixes the debacle that is 2.5.1.
The only other change that I made was to make one of the stock text advertisements at the very bottom of this page a little bit smaller. Truthfully, it looks better with smaller text. I might set it off in it’s own box, too.
I hope you enjoy. 🙂
Robbed by Verizon Wireless Again!
By now I’m sure that you all know the myriad problems that I’ve had with Palm’s Treo 700p. This smartphone/PDA is a complete disaster (as you can find out by reading comments on Palm’s own blog on the matter). I’ve had the Treo replaced numerous times and each time I get a new device, it has a technical glitch. This time around the earpiece doesn’t work. In other words, when I have to use a hands-free device while I’m driving (because it’s the law), I can’t use one because the connection doesn’t click. I can hear the person, but they can’t hear me.
It’s a joke. This phone is a damned joke.
So I called Verizon Wireless a little while ago and to make a long story short, there’s nothing they can do to help me with this phone. After some discussion with two folks who, by the way, were very pleasant I asked this question: “I have a phone that I can’t use, I can’t replace, I can’t return, and I can’t fix. So are you telling me that I have a $500 paperweight here?” And God bless the Supervisor I was talking to because without actually saying, “Yes,” she said, “Yes.” That’s skill right there!
She made a point about what other business allows you to return a device months, even years, after you bought it? A clever ploy on her part which I’m sure confounds many people, but I came back with the fact that there are lemon laws in place where if your purchase is faulty you can return it. After reminded her that this would be the FOURTH replacement for this phone in an 18 month time frame, she dropped that argument. But she still saved Verizon Wireless some money because in the end – and without actually saying so – she suggested that I dump this device in the garbage. And there you have it, folks. I have a $500 paperweight sitting on my desk. If you’re interested, I’ll let it go for a mere $400… 😉
At this point, I’m not sure whether or not I’ll stay with Verizon. It’s extremely insulting to have them come back at me with, “There’s nothing we can do. Sorry.” I’ve been a loyal customer who pays his bill EARLY for almost a decade and these bums can’t do anything for me? That’s not right. It used to be that the customer was always right – within reason. I believe that I am far within reason on this issue and that Verizon is trying to save themselves from having to give back a few bucks (or even from replacing this phone) from the consumer. It’s a shame, really.
Apparently my business isn’t worth much to this company. But of course, everyone I know has Verizon so if I go to a different carrier my bill will undoubtedly go up due to the fact that I’m on a new network.
I’m incarcerated by my mobile company!
And now I put this out to you folks – what do I do with my phone? Do I bag it up and demolish it with a hammer? Do I box it up and send it over Verizon Wireless and tell them to keep it? Do I donate it to some group when I know that it doesn’t work? Let me know what you think!
