happythoughts

i told my son, "you have adult responsibilities and an adult life.
your parents are just other adults, other people.
you can accept or reject our behavior."

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Having worked in the wireless industry for 5 years I find this interesting. What was your source?

clicky

lots of articles. some provide a non-quote from an industry spokesman. why do they bother to ask them?

i agree with what you wrote. all providers are setting limits.
it just irritates me that there is no clear definition of
what the limits are. yet, if you violate the undisclosed
limits/rules, the contract is somehow legally binding.

i worked with landline billing years ago. this is business as usual.

i just need to vent sometimes.

last night, i ran into "that guy".

he was pretty good at it. first, he comes in and finds the
youngest girls in the bar (probably the ones with the least
experience at this moment).

then, he starts picking on them. making fun of them in
a way that finds an insecurity (weight, education, future).
but - he positions himself as having all that. she is not worthy.

he is assertive and talks down all women. they don't
know "the way out", the solution to all their problems.
if they were good enough...

if he makes them mad enough, he can wind them up.
they get furious... but stick around to argue.
(that is the sign. they want to fix him)
once they are mad enough, the flip. he apologizes (bad day). says they are probably mad at him.

now they say it is ok. they offer a solution. it is going somewhere.

here is the skill. he holds out that solution, but yanks it back. love and money are there.

he can help them get that new car for some time in his club
or a few pics.
he's a master of human nature and a pimp.

of course, anyone can use those skills anywhere.
i think of that guy when i see someone in a really frustrating argument that isn't going anywhere, maybe.

Interesting. Vz is all about their deal to sell the 4g equipment.
It lets you multi-task - phone, net, downloads - all at the same time.
Smart phones.

So, if you buy those phones, it worries Verizon that you
might use it that way.

The new contract includes a concept called "throttling".
If you are determined to be using too much traffic,
they can slow down your response time, or just stop it.
Or, they can "degrade" your data. Making JPEGs a little
fuzzier.

Also, the "unlimited plan" is only temporary.
Kind of the telecommunications version of "bait and switch".

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Verizon Wireless will charge $30 per month for a so-called “unlimited” data plan paired with the new iPhone 4 Apple designed to be compatible with Verizon’s CDMA network. However, Verizon also published a terms and services document that explains that it may downsample and transcode media, as well as throttle the network’s heaviest users.

The “unlimited” plan is the only data offering from Verizon, which made it clear this would be a limited-time offer, as well. Afterwards, it’s likely to switch to a two-tiered service much like it and AT&T offer for all other phones.

The best parts of this will feed upon themselves.
1- They start out with an unlimited plan.
2- That is great, because you want unlimited with your new 4g smartphone.
3- Then, they cut the "unlimited" portion and charge you for "extra" use.
4- They can cut you off for "too much bandwidth".
Guess who defines what "too much" use is ?
5- Fortunately, the policy isn't clear enough to face legal action. Self-creating loophole.

none of the rednecks around here will jump because
someone told them that they must have a "pair of shoes". ;)

the questions are known to everyone. we use them every day, in every situation.
at work, in the grocery store, among family.
all contact with other people is a level of relationship.

we evaluate what behavior is not acceptable, what behavior
is desired, what are "red flags".
we let their behavior determine their place in our life.

all situations except one. in the elusive search for "The One".
in that case, all caution and usual thought are tossed to the wind.

how is this accomplished?
ask the question, "what do you want?".
the rephrase is, "what do i have to be, or change to?"

quickly, turn on the mental tape recorder. "click"

wait 15 minutes, "well... i'm like..." "click" as it goes to play mode.

people answer the questions all the time.
the problem is reacting to the answers in the normal valid manner.

I was imagining 6 really beefy nurses trying to move
him from bed to gurney.

Get well soon.

Celebrate the day that the first US accordion patent was granted.
Everyone must dress up as their favorite accordion.

Before the end of the party, you must squeeze all the other accordions.

(The evening goes well)

it seems to be illegal in some places (or being told so) to video events involving police - even if done from a distance and in a non-interfering manner.
is this illegal nationally ?
if you provide such video to anyone, could you be arrested ?

at wffc, i saw a local underage kid get arrested for underaged drinking.
8-10 cameras. no problem.

there are always bad examples of everything. single examples are not the
basis of large scale decisions.
personally, i have nothing to fear from grainy, poor quality, unedited video.
it is an additional viewpoint. additional information. video has no self-interest.

10 individuals with cell phones should not be told to stop recording.
10 views. i fear people who fear the truth.

in the link i posted, the person with the camera was not interfering, but
was threatened. that is a single instance of a bad example who does
not wish to be discovered. fear of the facts.
the police are paid to defend the public from abusive people.
they should welcome that information. good cops hate bad cops.

writing everything down is valuable as long as...
everyone is honest. "well...i generally agree, but we can discuss it again later" is not the same as agreeing.
nobody changes.

the purpose of such writing is to get a framework of guarantees.
"these are the things that make me happy. guarantee that they will continue forever".
the problem is people. not only the other person, but the input of their family and friends in the future. they will change their expectations.

even if people are initially honest, there is no guarantee.
that is just life and relationships.

if anyone ever says, "my friend says...", the response is, "if i start dating them, i will take it into consideration".

I would think that video would be supported by
the officers who are doing their job with professionalism.

1- It would be pretty solid evidence of events.
2- It would get rid of the "bad apples" that smear their reputation by association.

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My ex girlfriends dog passed a prodigious amount of gas.





...she said.

"What is wrong with that dog, he did it again..."

You didn't really... let the dog take the blame?


Chuck

I knew it wasn't me and I suspected that it wasn't the dog.

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I think it should be mandatory to video record ALL interactions with the police in this country. Maybe that would keep them a little bit honest.

it is illegal to film the police in some places

my fav line - "do you want me to smash it on the ground?"

My ex girlfriends dog passed a prodigious amount of gas.





...she said.

"What is wrong with that dog, he did it again..."

That's my problem. I don't know shit about this stuff.

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Why put anything in writing? Total waste of time unless you're getting married again. Hopefully you've learned your lesson and wished you wouldn't have did it the first time.

I plan to get a pre-nup that guarantees me half of
her assets if we divorce.

"What? I'm not signing something like that."

"...but honey... it only applies if we get divorced.
If you don't believe that we will be together forever,
maybe we shouldn't get married."

It's just a test. A true believer will sign.

(I know, it only sounds silly when men say it.)

my buddy's wife maxed out $6k in credit cards while she
was overseas visiting her folks.

"Honey, my credit cards won't work."

"They will. I just need a little time to pay them off, then you can buy return tickets."

a big pan of buttered popcorn and a soft drink will be ideal.

only at work. i have no free time at home. ;)

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Just because someone said on the radio that the Democrats made credit card rates go up doesn't make it so.

Wendy P.

I didn't say someone on the radio said that. The show I watched was on one of the network channels and with my credit cards through chase it was chase that said what the reason was.

Fox news did an interview with Connie Prater of creditcards.com
(neither a leftist info source)

It is a fairly balanced discussion and addressed your concerns.
Rates went up, but mainly because cards went from fixed to variable rates.
All of a sudden, hidden costs were not hidden.
you are overlooking many other primary facets.
payments pay off the highest int card first.
you have 21 days to pay before a late fee.
all changes require 45 days notice.
stopping "universal default" (that isn't even logical).
people with poor credit should get not aggressive marketing.

go to creditcard.com and review the pos/neg side of this.

that is the misinformation that i spoke of.

the issue was that the rates were being arbitrarily raised without
informing a customer. or raising them because you lived in a geographic zone. the rates were already that high, they just weren't published.
also, there were fee schedules that added to that.

the changes were made to correct these problems. it caused a revenue
problem for the companies because they had been abusing the process.
people were getting hidden rate hikes and fees that they overlooked.
you need to read information from multiple sources.
these laws help the consumer.l

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If rape is about power and violence then why is there porn of it?

If its in no way a sexual act then why are there simulated rapes made for purely pornographic purposes?

for the reason that some people enjoy watching the power that violence shows.

a similar reaction can be seen on cop shows when the cop beats a rapist.

rape is a violent act and some people enjoy using violence for control or just to injure. not all violence and control offenses against women are done by men either.

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so, your point appears to be that nothing should be done because the whole lending system is not perfect ? most systems are fixed a piece at a time. the "payday advance" part can be next.

also, the changes were not specifically for the worst case card users.
companies need to disclose their rates.
companies should not be able to arbitrarily change rates.
being late one time should not change your rate to the max rate.
these changes affected everyone.

the card industry was primarily forced to abide by written and disclosed practices. every other business works with written agreements that do not change without consent of both parties.

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No the people should be taught to read and understand the agreement they entered into and use the credit responsibly. the leaders should lead by example and show that they are fiscally responsible by not abusing credit by indebting every person in this country and their children. leading by example is something our government (and many adults) seems to think is not their responsibility.

short of hiring, or being, a lawyer, i doubt that 1 out of 50 people actually know what their credit card agreement actually means.
second, there were clauses that allowed the change of rates because of
events unrelated to the cardholders credit history. you could pay on time
and still get an increased rate.

you have the idea that the issue lies with irresponsible card use.
some of the changes are certainly designed to help that group.
however, most of the changes will help all cardholders.

a lot of this misinformation, or misdirected focus, was promoted by the card
industry to protect their practices.

so, your point appears to be that nothing should be done because the whole lending system is not perfect ? most systems are fixed a piece at a time. the "payday advance" part can be next.

also, the changes were not specifically for the worst case card users.
companies need to disclose their rates.
companies should not be able to arbitrarily change rates.
being late one time should not change your rate to the max rate.
these changes affected everyone.

the card industry was primarily forced to abide by written and disclosed practices. every other business works with written agreements that do not change without consent of both parties.