Current Mood: Happy

As expected, the PCS Wireless manager didn’t call me on Monday. I found his e-mail on their web site and left him a nastygram stating that I’d be contacting Telus to explain why a customer who always pays their bill on time, barely uses their system and rarely complains (the best kind of customer for service providers) is moving to another provider when my contract is up in a few weeks.

Got a call today from his employee, not him, saying that they tracked down my phone. Given that I had stated that I wanted a new phone or credit towards an iPhone, I was less than enthused. I think she picked up on that, as she called me back a bit later to tell me they were going to replace my phone with a Motorola Rival.

Pro: Slideout QWERTY keyboard
Con: No flash for the camera
Everything else is about the same: 2 MP camera, voice control, Bluetooth. Guess it’ll keep me going until the iPhone 4G comes out.

Current Mood: Angry

My cell phone was sent to the factory in early November.  6 weeks ago I called PCS Wireless (my local Telus whozzawhatsis) and left a message…no callback.  I did it again the next week…same, and the week after.  Finally, I went down there and asked where my fscking phone was, since the temp phone I have now doesn’t even have Bluetooth and the handsfree ban is in play.

The guy said he’d find out where the phone was and get back to me.  Nothing.  I went back 2 weeks later and asked again.  The lady said she’d have her manager call me the next morning.  Nothing.  I went in Friday evening and basically said give me my phone, a new phone, or credit toward an iPhone.  The manager will call me back on Monday.  I don’t have high hopes.

The phone’s still under warranty.  Given that it’s had to be sent to the factory 4 times already, each time for weeks on end, I think I’ll invoke replacement anyway.  I went online and found that lots of people were having the reboot issue.  Even if the phone comes back, the problem will return within 9 months…it’ll be a ticking time bomb.

My contract is up in March, I think.  Telus has the least expensive iPhone plan, so it’d be nice if they gave me credit toward one of those and I don’t have to go somewhere else.  Maybe one of the competitors will match it…they can’t have worse service than this, right?  Right?

Current Mood: Borg-like

I think you should use AVG instead of Norton’s bloatware, but these guides are great for your non-tech-savvy friends and family:

http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/guide-scary-internet-stuff

Current Mood: Confused

Yesterday I upgraded my CPU and added more RAM to my computer.  Today I tried to stream some video from my computer to my XBox360 using media sharing and it just wouldn’t see the computer.

Windows Media Player’s Sharing settings could see the XBox360 just fine.  I reset my router, turned off media sharing and turned it back on, I rebooted…nothing seemed to work.

Turns out that even though I didn’t make enough changes to the computer’s config to require a re-registration of Windows, Windows’ DRM settings didn’t like it.  I found the fix here (search for DRM).

Stupid.

Current Mood: Playful

Current Mood: Borg-like

My original power supply had a 4-pin square connector, like this, that fit into a 4-pin receptor on the motherboard. Apparently it’s called an ATX-12V connector:

My new power supply didn’t have one of those, so when I tried to power on the computer it didn’t POST. No video at all.

I thought that my motherboard was too old, so went searching around for an adapter. The 2 computer stores I went to were both confused that my brand-new power supply didn’t have one of those. Uh-oh, I thought…have I missed something?

Yep. There was an 8-pin connector coming right off the PSU and I wondered what it was for (thought it was for newer boards) and it looked like this:

Except mine could be split into two 4-pin connectors, one of which fit nicely into the ATX-12V port on my motherboard. I’m up and running!

Next up:  the new video card!

Current Mood: Bored

Ganked from Toren:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mQJYte4T2Q

https://www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca/index-eng

Not that I get any telemarketers calling my cell, but I’m sure there are people I know who get those damn calls.

Current Mood: Happy

On Saturday Lara and I went looking for an HHR to test drive, or a Vibe.  The GM salesperson told us that they didn’t have any HHRs and we wouldn’t find a Vibe anywhere in BC since the next year’s model is coming out.

We went across the street and took a Dodge Caliber out for a drive.  Nice, but bulky.  Lots of room, and a beverage cooler just above the glove compartment! The salesperson asked if we could meet his manager otherwise he’d “get in trouble”, so we went in.  He then started to price us out on one, but I was curious to see how much it would come to since the Caliber was the least expensive on my list.  After a half-hour of him quoting too-high numbers regarding the overstock of Calibers he had on hand with too many options I stood up, pointed at the Caliber for $277/month sticker that was on his window and said, “that, plus air conditioning and automatic.”  Another 15 minutes and we had $325/month after taxes (I wanted no more than $300).  Tired and hungry, we thanked them and left.

The next day we went to another Pontiac dealer closer to Lara’s place on a lark and found that they had a couple Vibes on hand.  We took one out, liked it (sporty and easy to park), and within 2 minutes of returning he had a quote in front of me that was $50 less per month than the Caliber, which is the less expensive vehicle, especially when you consider the Caliber quote was for $2,000 down and the Vibe just $1,000! Dodge, you have been completely outclassed…for shame!

I’ll be picking up my new Vibe tomorrow after work! Vroom!

Current Mood: Confused

I went and test drove a Mazda 5. It has all the amenities of a minivan but drives like a large car. Very roomy and peppy.

The only drawbacks are that it’s the most expensive of the remaining vehicles on my list, the mileage is worst for highway and second-worst for city, and the engine is a bit loud…the latter two things part of the whole “zoom zoom” image Mazda is trying to project. It is a peppy vehicle, and I liked the rain-sensing wipers, but…not enough.

I also dropped by Saturn in Langley on Sunday and…found it closed. No sale for you! I still want to test drive the Astra so I’ll be going to the Richmond Saturn, which is open on Sundays.