To what you might ask? Something like "14 Hour Fitness" - I'm not joking.
Tonight I got my ass in gear and decided (around 7PM) that I had enough energy to get to the gym, which is the hardest part. Once I'm there I'll exercise, but that motivation to actually drive somewhere to get sweaty to come back home again is a bitch.
Anyway, I drive up to the gym at 7:24 or so. Closed. On a Saturday? The door says 8PM (which still is a bunch of crap) - but they've decided to pack up shop even earlier tonight. I was able to salvage the little time I had left by going over to the next closest location - I got about 20 minutes worth of exercise before it closed.
Why did I join Bally's? For one, my parents are both members. Other than that, everyone I know is with 24 Hour Fitness. Not to mention that (although the name does lie) a lot of locations are actually 24 hours. Which is a bonus for me, considering my messed up schedule. A friend of mine worked out at 2AM the other night. Could I do that if I wanted to? Nope.
I forgot to mention somehow the contract got signed with a three-year clause in it. Which means I'm stuck paying for this crap for another two years and change. I never signup for anything that long, so I'm curious as to why that got past me (perhaps because other people who are pretty good at catching that looked at it too...) - all I know is that I am quite disappointed with my choice.
Yet another patch (actually the same one, but copied for version compliance.)
Patch file:
wordpress-2.0.7-mysqli.patch.txt
Apply with: "patch -p0 < wordpress-2.0.7-mysqli.patch.txt" in the WordPress install directory.
Our cellular networks are growing. The data portions are being upgraded. There is additional capacity out there. So why are text messaging prices being raised by 50%? Three of the big four have raised them now, with T-Mobile being the only company that has not raised the rates yet.
- Verizon: Just announced, will be $.15 starting March 1, 2007.
- Cingular/AT&T: $.15 as of January 21, 2007.
- Sprint: $.15 as of October 1, 2006.
- T-Mobile: Still $.10. Stay strong guys.
This is crazy to me; if anything, the rates should drop marginally since they have become extremely popular. It will keep people comfortable paying only a fraction less, which in turn will probably spur more messages - ultimately more money for these companies. However, greed will prevail, and I guess smarter people than I have determined this is the best way to make more money. It is an easy way to get people motivated to buy bulk plans, which I assume typically go unused (so they get away with using less capacity for the same price.)
... but they're a big company, and big companies can be useful.
I won't mention the obvious bad points - the stupid salespeople, incompetent techs, people getting arrested for using two-dollar bills...
Instead, I'm going to share my positive story tonight. Best Buy pulled through for me, as I had hoped. Most big companies will price match (especially in the consumer and office electronics markets) and I'm always looking at the weekly ads. Not just to look for a deal, but just to get a general feel for how the prices are rising and falling.
Anyway, this week Fry's had a sale on Seagate 750GB PATA hard drives for $309.99 - not an amazing deal, but I am in need, and I had a gift card to Best Buy, so the timing was right. I took the ad to Best Buy and had them price match that (after the salesperson told me "750GB PATAs don't exist" and I had to correct him...) - on top of that, because at one point or other Best Buy decided to add me to their mailing list, I get monthly coupons for 10-12% off of various things; this one sounded promising. It said only "external hard drives" on it, and I was hoping it wouldn't be an issue. Sure enough, they either did not care or did not know that it wasn't applicable to my item.
Anyway, now I am the proud owner of another 750GB drive, which is good, considering the 400GB in my Linux box is about to die. Total price: $272.79 (original price was $399.99 - a 32% savings.) While most people can't use the coupon since it's mailed to individual people, the Fry's price match is still valid for anyone to use, so if you want a 750GB drive without the drive to the local Fry's, I encourage you to price match it.
I recently called Fellowes to see what my options were for fixing my nearly broken shredder. There's a one year limited warranty, and a lifetime warranty on the blades. For some reason a few months ago something in my shredder apparently came loose. To use it required shaking it around a lot until the motor got started.
Anyway, I was told that they would not cover anything except the blades - but he said they wouldn't leave me hanging out to dry. For the price of the replacement part ($48) I was able to get a brand new shredder that was supposed to comparable. However, it wound up being even better.
I purchased my old shredder for $189 if I recall; this one retails currently for over $200 still. Not a bad deal. Brand new shredder including shipping for $48. Fellowes will get my business in the future!
Just take a look at how much larger the new one is (on the right) compared to my old one:
WordPress 2.0.6 was released earlier today. Shortly after I made the 2.0.5 patch. Oh well. Simple enough to make one for 2.0.6.
Patch file:
wordpress-2.0.6-mysqli.patch.txt
Apply with: "patch -p0 < wordpress-2.0.6-mysqli.patch.txt" in the WordPress install directory.
