Poojan (Wagh) Blog

Very catchy tune. One of my favorites, from the album “Team Boo”:

Thanks to Freud, catharsis theory and psychotherapy became part of psychology. Mental wellness, he reasoned, could be achieved by filtering away impurities in your mind through the siphon of a therapist.

He believed your psyche was poisoned by repressed fears and desires, unresolved arguments and unhealed wounds. The mind formed phobias and obsessions around these bits of mental detritus. You needed to rummage around in there, open up some windows and let some fresh air and sunlight in.

The hydraulic model of anger is just what it sounds like – anger builds up inside the mind until you let off some steam. If you don’t let off this steam, the boiler will burst. If you don’t vent the pressure, someone is going to get a beating.

He was wrong. Read more here: Catharsis « You Are Not So Smart.

Or buy this book.

The nest is the striated layers near the bottom of the picture (close to the shadow of my Pre that I used to take the picture). That fuzzy stuff near the top is insulation, which the bees seem to have either compressed or consumed. I have no idea what that yellow thing with the bird in the lower left is.

Here are pictures of the framing in which they made their nest:

Basically, there was a gap in the boarding under the window, which allowed them (and likely some water) to get in. You can see that the wood is damaged—probably by both the bees and the water.

Curious thing is that knowing I had to remove this hive filled my brain for a few weeks before I actually did it. I somehow imagined that they were flying underneath the floorboard. When I actually did remove it, it wasn’t as easy as I imagined, but somehow, much easier than I feared.

This is a very uplifting, poppy song. I can’t remember exactly whom this band reminds me of…

…No, I don’t think its themselves.

I recently came across this article, that states that it usually doesn’t make sense to buy the extended warranty at (for example) Best Buy, because most credit cards (MasterCard, Visa, and American Express) offer extended warranties provided you bought the item with the card.

So, for kicks, I went through the process to see what it’d take. First, go Visa’s Warranty Manger page:

Then, from there, you’ll go through a secure connection that asks you to register your card:

I paused here for a moment, because even though the site is secure (the text in the location bar starts with https://), it points to https://portal.newcorp.com/visaclaims/servlet/VisaClaimsProcessRunner?USER_ACTION=ShowWelcome. I’m not sure who newcorp is. However, it was linked to from visa.com, so I took a small chance.

You enter a bunch of information (address, email, phone number, etc.) and when all is said and done, you end up here:

At which point, you can formally register a product:

I don’t know exactly what the warranty covers, but here’s the good thing:

Is there any advantage to registering my product?
Yes, Warranty Manager registration service helps you take full advantage of your warranties, because you can get key information about your coverage. And if you send us your sales receipts and warranty information, we’ll keep everything on file – so arranging for a repair becomes much easier. It also helps expedite the process in the event a claim needs to be filed later.

Fairly soon after registering a product, I got the following email (likely to be  sent via postal mail as well):

So that we may expedite potential repairs for your product, please return this form with the
following required documentation, in the enclosed pre-addressed envelope:

1. A copy of your itemized sales receipt;
2. A copy of your credit card slip reflecting the purchase of your item;
3. A copy of your manufacturer’s written U.S. warranty information. (required only for products
   with a purchase price over $100.00).

Please note that all documents must be legible and any omission of required documents or
information may result in the delay of any future claims.

Should your product ever need service or if you have any questions regarding the VISA Warranty
Manager Service, please call our customer service department at 1-800-231-3250, or you can visit
us on the web at www.visa.com/eclaim. Representatives are available to assist you 24 hours a
day, 365 days a year.

Please note: this item may be eligible for an extended service agreement known as a Visa
Performance Guarantee (underwritten by Westchester Fire Insurance Company). Call 1-800-231-
3250 for details!

We appreciate the opportunity to serve you.

Sincerely,

 

Customer Service
Warranty Manager Program

That’s pretty cool. I’m all about having someone else file my receipts. Sure, I have to send it to them, but that’s easier to do than finding them when the TV/camera/etc. breaks.

When I came home from work this evening, low and behold: two warranty replacements sat in my foyer. One was that 1 TB Hitachi drive. The other was the Eagle Tech speakers.

I was more excited about the speakers. Except they didn’t work. Same exact problem as last time: the LCD that’s supposed to show volume/treble/bass didn’t work. I know what most of you are thinking: are you sure you set them up right?

I can tell you that I tried every possible setting on the thing (there aren’t that many). If anyone has any recommendation on a good set of 2.1 speakers suitable for a small home office, let me know.

I just got the following speakers yesterday:

I had to send them back today, because the LCD that’s supposed to show volume/treble/bass didn’t work. No lighty.

I had the option of getting an exchange or refund. However, it seems like Amazon’s exchange means you just buy a duplicate item and send back the defective one. It seemed like I’d be responsible for the shipping charges. The alternative, simply returning for a refund, meant that they’d pay shipping charges.

Returning was very easy: since I still had all the packaging and shipping box from the item, I printed out the UPS slip. put the RMA in the box, taped it up, and took it to a UPS store. At the same time, I ordered a new one, because I really want those speakers (provided they work).

The first set took a month to get here. This second set says it’ll ship on the 23rd. I’m really hoping that they’re not waiting for me to return the defective pair so they can just ship it back to me.

Wonder of wonders. I also found out today that a replacement for a defective 1 TB hitachi drive has been shipped today.

I need to remember around Christmas time that when I buy all this tech crap, I only end up sending a good chunk of it back mid-winter. From now on, I stick to online gambling.

Great, high-energy song to work (and work out) to:

Didn’t really care for the rest of the album, though.

I recently went back on my previous decision to avoid B&N. There prices on audiobooks were pretty good (compared to both Audible and eMusic). So, I bought this (note the Amazon link):

Read the rest of this entry »

A coworker of mine stumbled upon the web site Swoopo:

My understanding of the web site proceeded in stages:

1. It’s ebay
2. They’re losing money
3. You can game the system
4. It’s a gambling site Read the rest of this entry »