2-10 Home Warranty Post #2

Guys, I know that I haven't posted anything since April 1, but I am planning to make my way back to posting regularly again in the near future. That's almost SIX months, so only those who have put me in their feed reader will even know that I am posting this. It's amazing that a big dose of insomnia coupled with another solicitation from a horrible company like 2-10 Home Warranty might spur me to posting again. If you followed me before you know that I promised if I ever got another mass marketing postcard from 2-10 Home Warranty, then I would write a "2-10 Home Warranty Post #2." Well, a few days ago I got another offer in the mail that gave us the opportunity to renew or restart my home warranty from 2-10 Home Warranty. Basically, after our previous experience with them, they were asking if I want to set $460 on fire in my outdoor pottery fireplace. This company was so bad, that to avoid the wrath of Kristy, the Better Business, Bureau, and a fraud lawsuit, they sent us a reimbursement check for their technicians' visits to our house. They KNEW they would lose BIG TIME!

Here is the list of prices on the postcard that reminded me how much I dislike this company:

• Basic Coverage -- $460
• Enhance HVAC -- $75
• Additional Pool/Spa -- $150
• Swimming Pool/Spa -- $150
  
• $60 Trade Fee -- $20 (I don't know what this is)
  
• Water Softener -- $40
  
• $45 Trade Fee -- $40 (I don't know what this is either)

Along with the prices for their warranty, they gave this list of expensive items that they would not actually pay to repair if they broke at your home that was supposedly covered by their warranty (again, based on my experience with them):

• "Replacing your home heating system could cost $3,100."
• "A major plumbing repair could cost $1,900."
• "Replacing a water heater could cost $700."
  

Again if you missed "2-10 Home Warranty Post #1," let me be clear about what I am trying to say about this company: 2-10 Home Warranty Company sucks! If you are going to waste your money on a home warranty, DON'T BUY your coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty. Find some other company to waste your money. I don't have any recommendations on who is trustworthy in this regard. If you are getting a home warranty (paid for by a seller) for a new house, DON'T BUY your coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty.

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For a second time, I apologize for this rant after the fact. When we finally got rid of the coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty about 18 months ago (it was purchased by the seller of our home), I promised myself I would write a "2-10 Home Warranty Sucks" post every time I got an email, mass mailing, or "personal" note from the company. Hopefully, there will not be a "2-10 Home Warranty Post #3," but I am pretty sure that 2-10 Home Warranty will send me some more direct marketing materials. I can only hope that someone will stumble on this post about 2-10 Home Warranty from Google and back out of buying a new or renewal policy from 2-10 Home Warranty because 2-10 Home Warranty sucks.

For those that don't know, I am trying to increase the number of times I write 2-10 Home Warranty in this post so that it will increase the odds that this post will be found when someone searches for 2-10 Home Warranty.

Inflation? What's Inflation?

I often wondered about the best way to define or describe inflation and have never found a way to present it in a way that satisfies my understanding. Statements like "Too many dollars chasing too few goods" or "an increase in the price of a basket of goods and services that is representative of the economy as a whole" have never had any real meaning to me. That is why when I heard Neal Boortz explain it a few weeks ago, it finally clicked for me. This is how he explained it:

• Imagine that you are at an auction buying items from all over the world. You have a certain amount of money, someone else has half that amount, and someone else has three times your amount. The auction is going along, and the people bidding on things have some idea of what they are willing to pay for the items being sold. Now, let's say that someone calls timeout on the bidding and brings in a few stacks of hundred dollar bills. He sets them on the table and walks away saying, "Have at it, boys!" After the orderly scramble to get your share of the piles of money is over, the auction resumes. Now, think about what will happen to the bidding after everyone has more dollars to bid. The prices "sure as hell" aren't going down.

Now, our government has decided to put 10,000,000,000 hundred dollar bills (that's $1,000,000,000,000 for the Tceh graduates out there) into the U.S./world economy. Does anybody want to take a guess about what is going to happen to the price of EVERYTHING in the next couple of years? My bet is that we will look back on the Carter years with fondness after this stagflation hits us in the face.

Here's some free advice (I am sure it's worth what you paid for it): If you have credit card debt, pay it off. If you have adjustable rate loans tied to the FED rate, find a way to get out of it to something fixed. Basically, get out of debt as fast as you can. Interest rates are going to skyrocket once this inflation train starts rolling. With that cheerful thought, have a good evening.

Return to Illumination Hour

I am re-posting this rant from last March. It was one of my first few posts (March 26, 2008). We are planning a similar party this year for Saturday, March 28. We will have help from 4 more people because my brother Adam and his family will be visiting. Illumination Hour will take place between 8:30 and 9:30 pm. Join us from your house if you get the chance.

As a side note, Rush Limbaugh jumped on this Thursday afternoon during his show. I am wondering if he was an early adopter of MPU as a daily read. Also, the "on the hour" radio news this morning has noted that there several businesses around the country doing Illumination Hour rather than Earth Hour.

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"Who Doesn't Want to Wear the Ribbon"
Originally posted March 26, 2008

Over the years I have been amazed at the absolutely meaningless gestures that people will go through to prove that they care about something. Many of you will recognize the post title from Kramer's run-in with some "street toughs" over his refusal to wear an AIDS awareness ribbon.



I guess everyone on the planet except me knows that having more ribbons on your lapel than Patton means that you care more about the rain forest, AIDS research, breast cancer, etc. than someone who doesn't wear them. Somehow this makes sense. Which brings me to what has many jazzed today, Earth Hour.

In case you don't know (I didn't until this morning), Earth Hour is a ritual that the inventors of Earth Day have brought us this year. Next Saturday (March 29) between 8 and 9 pm, we are supposed to power down "non-essential" electrical appliance and turn off all of our lights to show that we care about energy conservation and reducing our carbon footprint. Basically, the idea is to produce a voluntary blackout for an hour to reflect on the evilness of our comfortable but very energy intensive lifestyle. Jay Currie has a very different idea.

I have never read his blog before today, but from this post I get the idea that he is just about as tired of empty gestures as I am. He has decided to "Just Say No!" by keeping his lights on (ALL of them) during Earth Hour. I get confused on the inspiration for the idea but Tim Blair has planned an Illumination Hour on March 29 between 8 and 9 pm. As my buddy Chip would say, "What are the odds?" A couple of Tim's dedicated readers have decided to take it a step further and have a Carbon Party.

That is my kind of activism. During their HOUR OF POWER, it sounds like they plan on some sort of steel cage death match between the AC unit and the furnace with the winner getting to dominate the household environment for an hour. They also plan to run their vehicles, all electronic equipment, oven, and the washer and dryer. The hope is that they will consume enough electricity during the hour to more than offset any conservation accomplished during the Earth Hour.

If you're interested in becoming part of Illumination Hour to make a mockery of according to Samantha Burns, "Earth Hour stupidity, and all it represents," then visit her web page and sign the official online petition. If you don't have the activist, petition-signing bent, just forget what your Dad always told you for an hour and leave the light on when you leave a room this Saturday night.

Or better yet, you could call Motel 6 and ask them to keep several lights on for you.

Where Does My AGW Skepticism Originate?

For those of who have discussed this with me, you know that I have discounted MAN-CAUSED global warming for a long time. In fact, based on things like the Surface Station Project, I wonder if we have any way of providing a long term climate record sufficient enough to say anything about climate trends. If you don't know, Anthony Watts (whose blog is a daily read for me) started a project to physically survey each of the climate stations in the United States Historical Climatological Network. He has completed 854 of the 1221 stations. He has found the following using the NOAA criteria for assessing the error in the data:

• 11% of the sites have errors less than 1 degree C
  
• 20% of the sites have errors between 1 and 2 degrees C
  
• 58% of the sites have errors between 2 and 5 degrees C
  
• 11% of the sites haves errors greater than 5 degrees C

Now, we have been told that an increase in the global temperature by 2 degrees C will lead to all kinds of disasters. I don't think that I have been sufficiently convinced that a global temperature has any meaning. However, for the sake of argument, I will go with that assumption for the moment. In the U.S. (where the best climatological data is found because we have $$ for it), 69% of the sites in our historic record set have errors greater than 2 degrees C. So, we can't measure temperature in the U.S. to a point where we can distinguish between measurement error and the catastrophic temperature signal. Combine that this presentation on the debunking of the famous "hockey stick" by Steve McIntyre, and it leaves me very skeptical that man is changing the global temperature by taking an SUV to soccer practice.

• Do I think that the earth warmed in the 20th century? Yes.
• Do I think that the warming was the result of man's emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases? No.
• Will the earth be cooler or warmer 50 years from now? Yes.
  

Here is the point. Climate changes all the time, and there is very little if anything we can do about it (unless we figure out a way to control that big ball of fire in the sky). Today's climate is not perfect and tomorrow's won't be either. The best way (i.e, the cheapest and most proven way) to deal with a changing climate is to adapt. Here is what I mean:

• If it's brutally hot in the summer where you live, move or live in a house with AC.
• If it's brutally cold in the winter, move or live in a house with a good heating system.

These things are what humans have done throughout history. Why should we be any different?

TOTUS Has A Brand New Blog

Ok. I can't help but laugh (Hey! it is either that or cry) about the fact that our current President is completely at a loss for words without the aid of a teleprompter. Apparently, POTUS doesn't even register the words he is saying. It's either that or he was hammered from the St. Patrick's Day party. I am hoping it is the former.

As the White House St. Patrick's Day party was winding down, President Obama, in a speech to those in attendance,





PAUSE





He can't even talk to those handpicked people at the White House without the teleprompter....





THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A SECOND





END PAUSE





thanked President Obama for inviting everyone over.



Here is a link to the story. That's funny! I don't care who you are (Sorry, Larry). So, yesterday I found out that the Teleprompter of the United States (TOTUS) has his own blog. Here is the link for this piece of brilliance. That was a million dollar (or more) idea right there. I truly wish I had thought of it. Enjoy and let me know if you think this is as funny and sad as I do.

2-10 Home Warranty Post #1

A few days ago I got an offer in the mail that gave us the opportunity to renew or restart my home warranty from 2-10 Home Warranty. Basically, after our previous experience with them, they were asking if I want to set $460 on fire in my outdoor pottery fireplace. This company was so bad, that to avoid the wrath of Kristy, the Better Business, Bureau, and a fraud lawsuit, they sent us a reimbursement check for their technicians' visits to our house. They KNEW they would lose BIG TIME!

Here is the list of prices on the postcard that reminded me how much I dislike this company:

• Basic Coverage -- $460
• Enhance HVAC -- $75
• Additional Pool/Spa -- $150
• Swimming Pool/Spa -- $150
  
• $60 Trade Fee -- $20 (I don't know what this is)
  
• Water Softener -- $40
  
• $45 Trade Fee -- $40 (I don't know what this is either)

Along with the prices for their warranty, they gave this list of expensive items that they would not actually pay to repair if they broke at your home that was supposedly covered by their warranty (again, based on my experience with them):

• "Replacing your home heating system could cost $3,100."
• "A major plumbing repair could cost $1,900."
• "Replacing a water heater could cost $700."
  

So, let me be clear about what I am trying to say about this company: 2-10 Home Warranty Company sucks! If you are going to waste your money on a home warranty, DON'T BUY your coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty. Find some other company to waste your money. I don't have any recommendations on who is trustworthy is this regard. If you are getting a home warranty (paid for by a seller) for a new house, DON'T BUY your coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty.

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I apologize for this rant after the fact. When we finally got rid of the coverage from 2-10 Home Warranty about 6 months ago (it was purchased by the seller of our home), I promised myself I would write a "2-10 Home Warranty Sucks" post every time I got an email, mass mailing, or "personal" note from the company. Hopefully, there will not be a "2-10 Home Warranty Post #2," but I am pretty sure that 2-10 Home Warranty will send me some more direct marketing materials. I can only hope that someone will stumble on this post about 2-10 Home Warranty from Google and back out of buying a new or renewal policy from 2-10 Home Warranty because 2-10 Home Warranty sucks.

For those that don't know, I am trying to increase the number of times I write 2-10 Home Warranty in this post so that it will increase the odds that this post will be found when someone searches for 2-10 Home Warranty.

Anyone Else Embarrassed?

As a nation, we should be saying, "I'm REALLY, REALLY sorry about this!" to the United Kingdom (our staunchest ally and truly great partner in the world). I am sure that you are asking what has put this burr into Russ's saddle, so I will tell you.

Last week, as PM Gordon Brown made his trip over here to meet the President, he brought a gift with him: Ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet - once called HMS President.

By the way, these sorts of gifts are traditionally exchanged when new US/UK leaders meet for the first time. Bear in mind that these gifts belong to the American and British people, and the President and Prime Minister are just stewards while in office. What did Mr. Obama give the British people? I am sure you are thinking that it has some real historical significance and meaning, and you would be WRONG.

Here is the gift that we gave them. Can I have a drumroll, please? ... ... ... We gave them 25 classic American films on DVD.

I will admit that, when I heard this on the Rush Limbaugh Show, I thought that Rush was having a little fun as he often does. I. Then, I realized that this is the sort of thing that Rush CANNOT spoof or parody, AND I felt really sick to my stomach. SOOO, I did a search and found this article in the UK Mail Online.

It appears that PM Brown tried to hide the gift from the British people and their press, and I don't blame him. I wish we hadn't given this gift either. What an embarassment!

Millenials To Meet Real Life?

About 2 months ago, I read this Wall Street Journal editorial on "millenials" or kids born between 1980 and 2001. As I look at what is going on today in our political climate (see this previous post or google/youtube "Henrietta Hughes" or "Julio Osegueda"), I think this editorial sheds light on how we might have gotten there. The first paragraph of the main article is VERY telling:

• "When Gretchen Neels, a Boston-based consultant, was coaching a group of college students for job interviews, she asked them how they believe employers view them. She gave them a clue, telling them that the word she was looking for begins with the letter 'e.' One young man shouted out, 'excellent.' Other students chimed in with 'enthusiastic' and 'energetic.' Not even close. The correct answer, she said, is 'entitled.' 'Huh?' the students responded, surprised and even hurt to think that managers are offended by their highfalutin opinions of themselves."

These students believed that someone who was meeting them for the first time had as high of opinion of them as their parents. To me, the real issue is that these young people entering the workplace expected (think they were entitled, maybe?) to have their jobs shaped to fit into a convenient box in their lives.

I think that the school of hard knocks is in store now that we are facing the worst economic conditions since the recession of the early 1980's (Don't be fooled by the "since the Great Depression" talk. We have seen this cycle in my lifetime.). I have a feeling that employers may use these lean times to rid their workplaces of the millenials who don't complete assignments because the manager or co-workers "didn't remind me." Here is a true recipe for disaster:

• "Millennials also want things spelled out clearly. Many flounder without precise guidelines but thrive in structured situations that provide clearly defined rules and the order that they crave. Managers will need to give step-by-step directions for handling everything from projects to voice-mail messages to client meetings. It may seem obvious that employees should show up on time, limit lunchtime to an hour and turn off cellphones during meetings. But those basics aren't necessarily apparent to many millennials."

Until these basics become apparent, I predict that many will be living in their basements with their parents. As the article points out, the managers of these unmanageables are the results of the managers' own style of parenting. These indulgent parents are dealing with those indulged children in the workplace.

Ahh, the irony of baby boomers paying the piper for some of the problems they have caused. I guess there are good things that come out of hard economic times.

Good News and Stuff

Guys, we finally made it home from the Mayo Clinic at about 11:45 Christmas Eve. Kristy finally saw a doctor that knew what was wrong with her. So, after about a year of hearing that she was normal (according to the test results) while not feeling anything close to normal, someone told her that he understood what was causing her such problems. We have some tough "vestibular rehabilitation" ahead but at least we know that there is a path to true normality (well, as close as Kristy gets to that).

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For those that don't already know, I had a no-holds barred battle with 4 (that's right, FOUR!) corneal ulcers during our trip to Minnesota. Thanks to those ulcers, both of the adults in our DePriest clan now have Mayo Clinic patient numbers. If you want to hear about a awful course of treatment, try this one on for size: Place one drop of Vigamox (ophthalmic solution) in left eye every hour for 7 days. That was the description on the prescription bottle. It included the hours during the night while sane people are sleeping. So, for two days, I woke up every hour and put a drop of magic eye potion in my left eye. After those first couple of days, I was able to reduce the frequency to just before bed and right as I woke up. So, that was a really restful few days of the holiday season.

Things are essentially back to normal now with the exception of maintenance drops every few hours and an oral antibiotic. I am just glad that I am not being fitted with a "glass" eye as my Christmas miracle. I had decided that if I lost the eye, then I would go with a glass eye with a laser beam that shoots out (sort of like the Terminator).

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In a previous post, I let you know about nominating Kristy for a 2008 Weblog award. It turns out that she is a finalist for the "Best Parenting Blog." Voting begins on January 5 and ends on January 12. Please be sure to stop by the Weblog Award Voting Site and vote for "Life on the Reflux Rollercoaster".

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I hope that I will get back to writing about the stuff that started this blog early in 2009. Life, politics, and economics have taken a priority over bad science for a few months. Maybe as Kristy begins to feel better, I will have the time to out the bad science that I see regularly in the media and scientific journals.

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Happy New Year!

Enough Already!

Ok. I am sure that you have noticed some of the substitutes for real conversation enhancers that that have started to be accepted as valid over the last couple of years. They have really started to get on my nerves because they really just deflect questions or provide convenient excuses. That is how I have started to use them. Here are a few of my favorite (or least favorite).

• "At the end of the day, ..."
• "It is what it is."
• "We are gonna shock the world." (In response to being an underdog)

Please feel free to add a few of your own.