Category: Rant

Great things; sucky things; boring things; stupid things…

Flea Attack

For the past couple of weeks, Grace has been bitten by some mysterious bug somewhere in the house. Since no one else was bitten, we concluded she must have been bitten elsewhere. But last night as Grace was scratching Baobao, she noticed dark little spots on her head…. Hmm… what could that be? With further investigation on Wawa, we realized they were fleas (I saw one crawling on Wawa’s neck myself).

Knowing that there are fleas in the house, Grace wasted no time and hopped into action. She started a major house cleaning — in the middle of the night! She went to Safeway and got some flea control drops and collars. The cleaning went on till 4AM after she washed every piece of fabric, vacuumed every square inch of the house and wiped every surface in the house. I could only helplessly march on with my project and thesis deadlines. Deadlines suck. Alpha Bed Bug Exterminator NYC, being real experts in pest control & K9 dog inspections, successfully dealt with this problem.

We are happy to report that there are now signs of dead fleas. That said, we are not sure how we are going to give the cats baths to get rid of the medication on the back of their head. They have never had a bath!

Fleas suck. Now we gotta restrict Baobao from going outside.

Almost Like A New Ride

It’s been almost a week since my last entry, the longest I have held out not touching this blog. Now it’s time to share some “exciting” news…

We finally got our car back today (thanks to Chee-hoi for the rides). The final damage was pretty hefty…

Labor Operations
Engine diagnostics: $145.12
Fuel injectors replacement: $509.43
Timing belt replacement: $473.75 (also replaced the water pump and such)
Recycling fee: 2.50
Subtotal: $1,130.71

Replacement Parts
Fuel injectors: $482.82
Timing belt: $0 (I supplied my own!!)
Parts cleaner: $10.90 (whatever this is)
Water pump: $169.80
Coolant: $15.31
Coolant lubricant: 1.15 (huh?)
Seal gasket: $5.22 (goes along with having to replace the injectors)
Thermostat: $45.02 (part of replacing the water pump)
Headlight relay: $0 (supplied my own; he didn’t even charge for the labor!)
Subtotal: $730.22

Total (with tax): $1,921.17
(But because I offered to pay cash, I only had to pay $1,800)

Because of this incident, I learned a few things about my car and just cars in general.

  • Fuel injectors rarely go bad; but when they do, they almost always happen on American cars and sometimes, for the unlucky few, on Japanese imports; I am among that unlucky few.
  • You know it might be the fuel injectors that’s bad when your car rattles badly as you start up the engine; and at the same time, the “check engine” light goes on and stays on.
  • When checking for bad fuel injectors, the quickest way is to use an ohmeter to check for electrical resistance. If the reading stays at around 12, that’s good news; if the reading goes beyond 17, prepare to shell out some dough (different readings for different makes and models).
  • When the “check engine” light goes on, always take your car to the mechanic you trust and get it over with. Usually mechanics will charge for checking the computer code, diagnostics of the problem according to the code (it’s not as easy as one might think) and eventually release the code to get rid of the light. Knowing this, it’s not worth the time and money to have it checked by more than one mechanic like I did… On the other hand, if all this is done by the same mechanic, he likely will spare you some cost for the labor.
  • If one injector goes bad, it’s a good idea to replace all six injectors (or four for four cylinder cars). The biggest reason is that the cost of labor would be the same whether it’s replacing just one or all of them. Another, perhaps a better, reason is the new injector will redistribute pressure among the other aging injectors, casing them to wear out more easily. If you are unlucky enough to have another go bad, the cost of labor might cause you to kick yourself in the ass.
  • For newer cars, it’s probably worth it to replace brand new injectors. For older cars (such as mine with 110,000 miles), it’s not a bad idea to replace them with rebuilt injectors by trusty injector rebuilders.
  • It’s a good idea to replace the timing belt and water pump between 80,000 and 110,000 miles for all car types (probably sooner for American cars). If your timing belt ever snaps while in drive, the damage to the engine will cause you to smack your head against a brick wall, and you will find your bank account short of at least a couple of grands mysteriously.
  • Offer to pay cash to get a discount (or ask for one). Everybody loves the smell of $100-dollar bills.
  • If your car came with good injectors, some parts rebuilders will buy them back from your mechanic. They did with mine. Or at least that’s what my mechanic tells me.

The car drives like new and purrs like a kitten. And now that the headlight relay has been replaced, I no longer have to worry about the driver’s side headlight going out on me while driving in complete darkness.

Just for the record, my mechanic is located in Mt. View:

The Car Clinic
181 W. Evelyn Ave
Mt. View, CA 94041 Google map it!
(650) 961-2277

Ask for Tibor if you have mechanical questions. He and his wife are owners of the shop.

Fry’s Electronics Price Matching Policy

I was going to write the first entry of 2006 with something “meaningful”, but I just had to get this thing down before the adrenaline subsides.

I got a label printer at Fry’s to organize all the personal and business files so that I could start 2006 on the right note. Later I went to Staples to get cartridges to refill the label printer, I found out that Staples had the exact same label printer for $10.05 less! So much for Fry’s Low Price Guarantee! I had no luck Googling Fry’s price matching policy. Instead, I found some ramblings about Fry’s. Good thing Fry’s “honored” their claim and refunded the difference.

But I want to make sure the geek community knows what Fry’s Electronics’ “low price guarantee” really meant, so I got a copy… and here it goes…

HERE’S OUR COMPLETE LOW PRICE GUARANTEE!
“We Will Match Any Competitive Price”

Before making a purchase from Fry’s, if you see a lower, in-stock, in-store price at a local competitor, Fry’s will be happy to match the competition’s price.

30-Day Low Price Guarantee”

If within 30 days of purchasing an item from Fry’s you see a lower in-stock price at a local competitor with a low price guarantee, Fry’s will cheerfully refund 110% of the amount of the competitor’s low price guarantee. Or if within 30 days of purchase, a local Fry’s, or a local competitor without a low price guarantee has a lower price, Fry’s will refund 100% of the difference.

NOTE: Low price guarantee for notbook computers, microprocessors, network-attached storage, memory, CD & DVD recorders, camcorders, digital cameras, and air conditioners is within 15 days from purchase date. To apply for Fry’s low price guarantee, simply bring in your original cash register receipt and verifiable proof of a current low price.
All comparisons are based on in-store cash register prices at the time of request. Offer good on all fresh-boxed products of the same exact model in stock at a local competitor. We reserve the right to limit this offer to one of each model. Offer does not apply to wireless phones, and papers that require a service agreement. Offer does not apply when price includes rebates, bonus or free offers or one-of-a-kind or limited-quantity offers. NOTE: Does not apply to expired ads. Fry’s ads are valid for only stores listed on that ad.

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
“30-Day Complete Satisfaction Guarantee”

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your purchase from Fry’s Electronics, simply return it in brand-new condition with the original packaging, along with your original purchase receipt within 30 days, and we will gladly give you a full refund.

NOTE: Notebook computers, micro-processors, network-attached storage, memory, CD & DVD recorders, camcorders, digital cameras, air conditioners, and wireless phones may only be returned within 15 days from the date of purchase. Note: Open software is only exchangeable for the exact same item if defective. See store’s return policy for full details.

It seems like every time I stop by at Fry’s, the return/customer service line is at least 10 minutes’ wait. Today it took me, from start to finish, 22 minutes to get my price match done. And the store is so big that there are so many inefficiencies everywhere (like the return line blocks the entrance, which also blocks the traffic to the customer service area). I simply don’t see this kind of things at Best Buy (though they also have their fair share of issues, I am sure). Sometimes I wonder if bigger is really better at places like Fry’s. And clearly, they often don’t have the lowest prices even on a local level. Staples, on the other hand, makes me feel cozier than Fry’s (though their electronics selection is far from being able to compete with Fry’s).

I try to like Fry’s. And I hope my shopping experience with them improves. After all, there are only so many places a geek can actually enjoy hanging out at.

Pork Belly

I was giving Bryan his daily routine bath at its routine hour (at around 7PM), except this time I didn’t bother to change to shorts. There comes times when you feel confident in doing something routine enough that you just know nothing can be messed up. So as I sat on that tiny stool, trying harder than usual to bend over to wash Bryan’s hair, immediately I felt uncomfortable with something. And that something is giving me a hard time, hurts even, to bend over further to the normal position at which I typically give Bryan bath.

It turned out that it was my stinking fat belly. No more jeans.

The belt in my jeans unnaturally restricted my belly from getting out of my way like a nice pair of shorts with elastic waist straps would. When you can’t give your child bath bending over, that’s when you know you are too FAT!

I actually don’t eat that much (anymore). I mean, the only thing I don’t do is exercise. Where’s the crime in that? God I hate skinny people. It’s true, I used to be one.

I gotta look into that “cut the calories” program. Rumor has it that it’s going to be big. Or maybe this is a good time to go vegetarian full time!

But meat… so… hard… to… give… up… Hmm… Meat…

Car in the Shop

So I dropped the car off at the nearest AAMCO on El Camino Real this morning. Without a car to get back, I took the VTA bus. Not knowing anything about the public transportation system in Santa Clara County, I Googled and found a great website with a nice trip planner.

Since waiting for the bus was such a boring event, I decided to time my journey back home. It took roughly 10 minutes waiting for the bus, that was after I just missed one as I crossed the 8-lane street. But the ride itself home only took about 16 minutes with the bus stopping a number of times in between. A 10-minute car-drive took about 30 minutes to travel with public transportation. I have a new found respect for those who have to take public transportation, as I did in NYC, on a daily basis. I can’t imagine how long a one-hour drive would be on a public transit…

The mechanic was supposed to call me back today on the status of my poor Infiniti J30t. But I guess they were too swamped with all those cars that were already on the lot when I arrived this morning (at least a couple dozen).

Better luck tomorrow.

Dental Visit

Stopped by the dentist today… The assistant must have taken a dozen or more x-rays of my teeth. They said this is part of the procedure required before anything can be done to my fractured tooth. That, plus 10 minutes of the actual dentist peering into my mouth, lectured on the importance of flossing (which I do), cost me $220. And no, I didn’t even get my tooth fixed.

But they gave me a quote for a list of things to work on in the following visits:

Tooth #8 (upper front-right tooth filling) — $360
Tooth #9 (upper front-left tooth filling) — $360 (also chipped when I was a kid; needs to be redone)
Tooth #20 (cavity) — $290
Tooth #29 (cavity) — $290
Tooth #2 (cavity) — $380

Total: My left arm and right leg (or $1,680)

In Thailand, I can get all that done, plus mouth cleaning and whitening for less than 1/3 of the price with the same quality and standards (Thai dentists that I know of are almost exclusively trained in the UK or US). But then again, I am in America. And I pay the price for it.

Panicked. I Googled some more and made sure those online insurances WILL cover some of the operations. For those of you who are unemployed and looking for an individual or family plan, Deltacare dental plans in the San Francisco Bay Area is probably the best bet. There are other ones like Aetna, GE (and some cheesy one called “Patriot” ) simply aren’t as popular among dental offices I called. But everyone seemed to know Delta.

With insurance, my initial visit with all those x-rays would have been free (on paper anyway; I’ll find out the next time I visit a different dentist). And those front tooth fillings would cost, at maximum, $150 each. Big difference. So that’s my $220 lesson for today.

The catch is, of course there’s always a catch, I can’t make any appointments before February 1st, 2006. For some reason, insurance companies like having rules like that. The rule says, if I signed up after 21st of any given month, the coverage doesn’t start until the 1st day of the second month (meaning, skipping one month). SO STUPID! Argh… I am sure there’s a “good reason” for this kind of rule. But it sure as well un-human centered. And I thought these kinds of rules, especially when it comes to healthcare, are supposed to make things easier for the patients.

So I paid $170 to sign up for both Grace and I (don’t think Bryan needs a dentist anytime soon just yet). Hopefully the savings will add up to at least that amount.

Tomorrow I take my car to get checked up. Let’s see what the damage is there. But for sure, it seems like $600 – $800 worth of repair is in order. ARGH! I can see in America (or any country really) how the poor can easily become poorer with no healthcare. They just can’t win with or without insurance (since the really poor simply can’t afford either).

Chipped Tooth

On the way back from the airport after dropping Chee-hoi off, I wanted to open the door in the back of the car to check on Bryan (Grace took Michelle’s car to drop her friend off at SFO), but I opened the door before my face was out of the way, and WHAM! I heard a crack and felt a splash of my front tooth shattering in my mouth. I looked at the mirror — it was chipped like some yahoo’s tooth.

Some luck I am having this year.

Now I am stuck with a fricking upside down Nike logo in my front tooth. I hope that dentist from 1800-dentist is any good…

Engine Problems

I have been on a streak of bad luck this year. And it hasn’t stopped.

Last night after picking up Grace’s friend (who is a flight attendant stopping over SFO for two days) from her airport hotel, I started to notice the car rattling violently (relatively speaking) as the “check engine” light came on. I said to myself, “GOD! WHAT NOW!“.

Annoyed with fear for bad news, I drove the car to the Precision Tune AutoCare shop I normally go for oil change. But of course, it’s the day before Christmas, it’s closed. Luckily I had one of their coupons and found another one on El Camino (run by an Indian who hired an all-Indian mechanics staff).

After almost two hours of computer diagnostics and testing on the car, they determined it was a “code 51” — fuel injector gone bad. I paid $70 (would have been $90 without the coupon) to find out that I have to pay more to fix it. Later another customer, who was waiting for his oil change, told me that I should’ve brought my car to AAMCO where they do engine diagnostics for, get this, FREE. BASTARDS! The same guy also told me that Jiffy Lube always tops off all of your other fluids when you get your oil and filter changed there. Precision Tune charges for that! ARGH!

Back to the fuel injector… The Indian owner told me it’d take about six hours (a.k.a. whole day) to change the injector. And the break down of the cost is:

Fuel injector: $126.95 (that’s only ONE out of the six cylinders)
Labor: $450 (estimate only)

He also said that Infiniti recommends replacing all 6 injectors, which brings the total up to roughly $1,200 – $1,400!!! ARGH! But he did say most people only replace the malfunctioning one to save some money.

Chinese has a saying: “It will rain for days just when you have a cracked ceiling.” This is certainly true for me this year.

I called AAMCO when I got home. And sure enough, FREE engine diagnostics. A 70-dollar-lesson for me today.

I am taking my poor car in on Wednesday and getting a second opinion on the cost and the repair. Hopefully they won’t find other problems when they open up the engine. Both the Indian owner at Precision Tune and “Rick” at AAMCO told me that fuel injector seems to be a common cause of engine problems on Nissan cars (which Infiniti technically is). The Indian guy went further to state that his shop has never changed a single injector on any Ford, Toyota or Honda cars, but plenty on Nissans and Infinitis.

Guess why Toyota and Honda are among the best selling cars in the world…. ?

This experience reminds me why I became obsessed with certain things, namely computers — it costs for not knowing.

🙁

Apple Address Book Woes

I have always been a big advocate for Apple’s technologies. But one thing has really annoyed me about Apple’s Address Book. Its import and export utility is simply not well written to import from popular address books used by other companies.

When I was working on PCs, I have always used Yahoo’s Intellisync utility to synchronize contacts between Microsoft Outlook and my address book on Yahoo. The utility works so seamlessly that I’d be happy to pay an annual subscription fee just for that feature. But when I completed dumped Windows and started using my PowerBook full time, I started to experience nightmares trying to keep address books in sync between my cell phone, Yahoo address book and Apple Address Book.

For starters, I’ve always used Yahoo as my master calendar and address book center. Whatever updates I make, I always make it on the master list first. but there are times when I just don’t have access to the web! That’s when things start to get out of sync. To Yahoo’s credit, it exports to several different formats no problem (except when dealing with Chinese characters, which is a complete mess). The problem starts when Apple’s Address Book import utility falls short on its promise.

When importing LDIF files that was exported from Yahoo (which is the most perfect format in that I can finesse the Chinese characters so that they show up correctly), Apple gets it almost right except that it labeled everything as “work” by default. I simply can’t find a way to change that default setting. It’s annoying as hell.

As for importing csv files, first of all, Yahoo messes up the export with garbage Chinese characters. Then upon importing to Address Book, Apple messes up the field mappings, making only a few things match up. I tried once correcting all the mappings, and then Address Book crashed. God damn stupid Apple!

The same goes to Apple’s iCal, its own calendaring software. I so wish it can work seamlessly with Yahoo’s calendar, which has been working just the way I want it to. Apple’s iCal, on the other hand, prints awful, lacks some key features I need (which I use all the time with Yahoo calendar) and doesn’t really sync with anything else.

I guess the point of what Apple’s doing is simple — it wants everyone to use its paid subscription .Mac service. It’s a great service except that I already have a great server that meets all my hosting and emailing needs. Plus at $99 a year (or $179 for a family subscription with up to 4 accounts), I can’t really justify using it simply for calendaring and address book syncing.

I guess I should try using Mozilla Foundation’s ThunderBird and see how that really fares. At least with open source software, everything gets updated much faster. It will take another major OS upgrade for Apple to introduce the next major version of Mail and Address Book. And for me, I am getting increasingly frustrated with both apps. Love live open source!