AT&T Rethinks Subsidy

Quiet | Sounds of a Power Washer
According to AT&T they will be offering subsidized pricing for the early adopters of the iPhone 3G. You can check for the upgrade price by dialing *NEW# (*639#) on your AT&T device and it will send you a text message with the upgrade information. The changes to the upgrade pricing Is slated to occur on Thursday 18JUN09.

I held my breath for all of two seconds when I sent my request to see if I was upgrade eligible; I have provided a screen shot of the result. AT&T Fails again.

-- Posted From My

Fluffy Cat

Quiet | Sounds of HVAC

I'm currently testing the BlogPress functionality from my iPhone. Since I haven't been posting as regularly as I would like; perhaps this method will give me a less cumbersome way to jot down my brilliance on the move.

A little bit about the cat that you see. Her name is Emily, all of that poofiness hides the truly big cat that she is underneath. She likes to spend a lot of the time on her back lazing about. Her one unusual trait is the fact that she will play fetch. Having her around is like having a dog that you don't have to walk. Her biggest flaw is the fact that she doesn't quite get the concept of how to cover things in the litter box. I guess you can't win them all.

-- Post From My

Bank of America

Quiet | Sounds of Silence



In case you were unaware, the economy is going through a rough spot at the moment, President Obama has been combating the economic meltdown with a series of financial institution bailouts. I can understand the need to bolster banks in a time of need, but as you and I know these bailouts will cost the American populous money out of their pockets since it is tax payer dollars footing the bill for this fiasco we currently call our economy.

Bank of America received $25 billion dollars from the bailout fund that Congress had ratified on October 3, 2008 and received additional funding for $20 billion dollars on January 16, 2009 making a total infusion of $45 billion dollars in tax payer money in order to keep Bank of America from going belly up.

I expect that Bank of America to take this infusion of taxpayer funded bailout money and spend it towards needed changes to their business strategy. Instead the powers that be over at BoA decide to spend $10 million of the bailout bucks towards the "Super Bowl Experience" which according to the bank was an agreement that was inked last summer.

In my opinion, I feel that due to the current economic climate, I am sure that the National Football League could do well and good by letting BoA back out of this contract considering the fact that they may become insolvent if they spend their bailout bucks unwisely.

I currently carry once credit line with Bank of America which was originally held by MBNA Corporation until it was acquired by BoA in 2005. I do not carry many credit lines because there is a certain limit in the amount of plastic debt one should have in their wallet. This particular credit line is what I consider my "Oh crap, we have a problem card" to help out in a short term.

I will caveat this by saying that I have been a card toting member since 1992 and so I have spent a considerable amount of time ensuring that this credit line has been held clear and always paid on time when carrying a balance and usually stayed paid off when no crisis exist.

I was the proud recipient of a notice that came from Bank of America Card Services outlining my new agreement. Let's summarize with bullet points to make it a bit easier"

1. Rate for Balance Transfers - Variable APR of 15.74%
2. Rate for Cash Advance Transfers - Variable APR of 25.74%
3. Rate for Purchases - Variable APR of 15.74%

I am not about to go into the formula utilized to determine these rates, but the facts remain the same for me:

1. Current Rate for Balance Transfers - Fixed APR of 3.99%
2. Current Rate for Cash Advance Transfers - Fixed APR of 3.99%
3. Current Rate for Purchases - Fixed APR of 9.99%

Why would a bank penalize someone with a good credit score who has never been late with repayment of their account and then think that this rate hike is OK? As you can tell, this particular mailing did not make for a happy Sunday experience. So what do you do as a consumer? Call your bank.

It was Easter Sunday but this issue was important enough for me to give Bank of America a call. I flipped over the card and dialed in their 1-800-421-2110 24-Hour Customer Service number to see if I could get a better explaination for the rate change.

I was connected to Tiffany who went through the normal security features put in place to ensure that I was indeed the card holder. (I am happy when someone challenges me in this regard, this at least tells me that my account information is secure.) I explain the situation to Tiffany who proceeds to tell me "This is an across the board change for all Bank of America customers", I knew that this would require an escalation. I politely ask Tiffany if there is another person that I can speak to regarding the disclosure and the fact that I was not happy with what I was reading.

Tiffany put me on hold and quickly escalated me to her supervisor. I was connected with Sandra Harger, Supervisor for Card Services who reviewed the notations made to my account. I quickly related my issue with the changes and made sure that they were aware of how long I have held open this line of credit and the fact that I do not keep many lines of credit open on purpose. I asked if there was anything that she could do to not have this rate change take effect on my account.

Ms. Harger did a review of my account and was able to verify my claims and thankfully she was able to grant an exception to my account since I had been a long standing member with the bank. I was very glad to hear this news, and requested that she please add a notation in regard to her accepting this agreement to not change the account to the variable rate product.

Caveat emptor, I will be relieved when I see my July statement, this is the time that the rate hike would have taken effect. If the rate hike does not take effect, then I will sing the praises of Ms. Harger. If the rate hike does take effect then we move onto stage two; escalate to the powers that be.

Bistek - Filipino Stir Fried Steak

Quiet | Sounds of Silence



There were some basic recipes that my mother always prepared when we were younger. I consider this dish Filipino comfort food. The dish itself is actually very simple but the combination of the ingredients and the ease of preparation really lends itself well as a weeknight dinner idea.

Bistek

Ingedients

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 lbs steak sliced into 1/4 inch thick strips
• 1 large onion sliced into thin rings
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp of warm water

Preparation

1. Combine the lemon juice, soy sauce, salt, sugar and water in a non-reactive container.
2. Add the beef slices to the marinade mixture and allow to sit for at least thirty minutes
3. In a skillet add the oil and over medium heat saute the onions in the oil until transparent. (Do not carmelize the onions as this will change the flavor of the dish)
4. Add the beef with the marinade to the onions and stir fry over high heat between seven and ten minutes.
5. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the liquid and continue cooking for an additional two to three minutes.
6. Serve over rice, this dish should be enough for three or four servings.
   

Carpocalypse Now

Quiet | Whirring of Server Fans


Photo Credit:Flickr: Uberculture

We have the Carpocalypse upon us as the big three await the US Federal Government bailout. The nation is in an official recession so what are we to do? Well in my family whenever there was a problem, you need to check the basics that will sustain you, in the famous sage words of my mother:

Well, at least we have SPAM.

You may laugh, but she was dead serious, in a Filipino household if all else fails, the shelf life of SPAM is capable of sustaining you with minimal fuss. My mom used to joke with us and call it Filipino bacon; she would slice it near wafer thin and then fry it up crisp. Normally we would get served the Filipino bacon and some eggs on top of garlic rice. For those of you who are too hung up on the ingredient label for SPAM, try opening up your mind a bit, when it is served this way, it really is not that bad at all.

Let me put it into perspective you know it is bad when you are on a SPAM diet for the near term but it must be Armageddon when you are trying to pass of Scrapple as a food source. I have to admit, I don't mind Scrapple either, if you don't think about what's in it. Of course I think there was a problem with the way they market the product, especially when you can construct anagrams out of the letters or do a word find case in point S[crap]ple.

Worse case scenario if we do fall into those hard times, we'll just have to huddle in the Spammobile and take it as it comes.