Bank of America

No, not for the reason you think. They do NOT issue credit cards to illegal immigrants. You just don’t need a Social Security number to get one. They don’t care WHY you don’t have a social security number. As the saying goes, if you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question.

My beef with them is that they claim that this is a benefit to the Latino community. They are just helping the poor working class man and woman out by providing a credit card with a $99 deposit up front, $500 credit limit and 24+% interest rate. They are fairly certain their customers won’t complain.

Bank of America – friend of the working man with or without a Social Security number.

Triad Job Search Network (TJSN)

Another free resource is the Triad Job Search Network that meets at The Covenant United Methodist Church, 1526 Skeet Club Road in High Point (about a mile west of the intersection of Hwy 68 / Eastover & Wendover / Skeet Club Road) each Tuesday from 9 AM to 11 AM.

TJSN won’t get you a job, but they will help you learn the skills you need to get a better job quicker.

There is a volunary $3 donation at the door. It pays for the coffee .

Professionals in Transition (PIT)

This group is run by a group of volunteers, all of whom share a common denominator: they’ve been laid off and been in the job search and want to give back to those who are now seeking work themselves.

PIT is primarily a self-help networking group.  The facilitators’ purpose is to assist people in giving each other leads and advice. No outside solicitation is allowed.

 PIT meets at the Greensboro Jaycees (401 N Elm) on Wednesday evenings from 7 PM to 8:30 PM. They also meet at the Winston-Salem Red Cross on Thursday evenings at the same times.

If you are looking for a new job whether you are still employed or not, check it out. It’s free.

How American Airlines Tried to Kill My Family (Part II)

A lot of people have 9-11 stories. Two of the four hijacked airlines were American Airlines. There must be a reason why terrorists choose American.

My brother-in-law’s appointment in the towers was pushed back from 8:30 to 11:00 AM. He planned on having lunch with his brother and wife who both worked in the towers. They planned on barely making lunch as they were at the OB doctor for a sonagram.

Family communications were accomplished via New York to North Carolina to Portland, Oregon back to New Jersey.

Microsoft

It was only a matter of time.  My problem with the evil empire today has to do with its latest download.  Microsoft has been known to release upgrades that do more harm than good. Because of this I opt to download upgrade but not to install them automatically. I let a day or two go by and then I check the boards to see if anyone is having problems with it before I install it.

The download-but-don’t-install option is no longer an option. Now when you download the upgrade, you have the option to install it immediately or Microsoft will install it for you AUTOMATICALLY when you shut down the computer. You’re getting the upgrade whether you want it or not.

It’s typical Microsoft; you, the user, are too stupid to run software and they will go to all lengths to keep you from doing harm to yourself. Of course, they keep you from doing anything useful too.

It started with DOS. Delete a file? ARE YOU SURE? Of course I am! I grew up with Unix. If you wanted to cd / and then rm -r *, the computer assumed you had a good reason for doing so. I hear Vista is the same way; you can’t run a command without verifying it.

American Income

These guys aren’t really bad guys in that they won’t try to scam you out of your money. It starts like this. You post your resume on Monster and people pick it up. Then you get the voicemail, “This is so-and-so from American Insurance. I’ve received your resume. We’d like to invite you for an interview“

They have received my resume. I never sent one to them. They want to interview me?

I fell for this once before on a previous bout with unemployement. It wasn’t American Income (or at least I don’t think it was) but it was the same idea. It wasn’t an interview, it was a sales pitch. They want financial consultants and that’s fine if you want to be a financial consultant.

 If you get a call like this, ask first what it’s all about. Save yourself some time if that’s not what you want to do.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car

I used these guys a lot when traveling to the various Marine Corps bases on the East coast with my fromer assignment with my company (You go Devil Dogs). They were always courteous and efficient. Since they are closed on Sundays, Sundays are essentially free.

Both locations from which I rented arranged so I could park my ‘85 Tempo in a secure area. (Now you know why I didn’t drive my own car).

On one occassion, I was at the city limit on my way to Camp Lejeune when I got a call from the office to abort the mission. I turned around and came back. I had the car for at least 45 minutes. I know I had to have burned a gallon or two of gas (although the needle was still on “F”). Yet they didn’t charge me.

I liked their services so much, and their cars, that I bought my car from them. It was the easiest experience buying a car I’ve ever had. I got exactly what I wanted at a price well below sticker price at other lots. The only problem with the car is it wasn’t my first choice of color.

Netscape

I use Netscape in addition to IE because I don’t want all of my favorites available to every application on my machine. Also while on the road, my IE is set up for the company’s network, and Netscape is set up for hotel network browsing.

Starting with Netscape 9.0 a couple of weeks ago there is a disturbing change in the way they do updates. You are now asked, do you want to update Netscape now or when you launch it next? The option of NOT installing an update is NOT available.

Given the fiascos that sometimes happen with updates, I usually wait a day or two and probe the net to see if there is any reason why I should not apply the update. In the case of OS updates from Microsoft, instead of a day or two, I usually wait a service pack or two. . 

Free Gasoline

If you have been keeping track of another post you will know that at the moment Wilco / Hess is selling gasoline at 16 cents a gallon less than Exxon / Mobile.

At that price, after you buy 19 gallons of gasoline at Wilco / Hess, the 20th is free as compared to buying the gas at Exxon / Mobile. In other words, 19 gallons of Exxon gas costs as much as 20 gallons of Hess gasoline.