jonasio.net

The Crisis of Credit

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:43:00 +0000

I found a fantastic video on youtube that explains, handily, the credit crisis. It's clear, concise and fun to watch. Have a look:

part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0zEXdDO5JU

part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhDkZjKBEw&feature=related

Goldilocks and the Four Bears

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 18:14:00 +0000

I found this online chart which shows the current recession in comparison with other historic bear markets. Informative, if inconclusive. With so many bears, let's hope Goldilocks manages to get us out of this scrape!

Cicero Shows Off

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 03:25:00 +0000

I've been playing with Windows Movie Maker lately, so I shot this video of Cicero a couple of days ago. Cicero is adorable, as always, as he shows off his talent at doing a few tricks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1uqQW1OxDI

My Gold's Gym Adventure Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:35:00 +0000

For the last day or so I've been wasting my time helping Gold's Gym deal with a security issue with their One Pass purchasing system. Simply put, this is the system that lets you buy overpriced energy drinks and ice cream bars with your membership pass, rather than having to carry cash into the gym. Well, immediately after I canceled my two memberships at Gold's (one for me, one for Lynn), I started to get unauthorized charges on my bill. After some weeks of this, I called to complain. This led to a series of emails, which culminated in my most recent email to Kristen, the customer service manager, below.

We'll see what happens.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Kristen,

You’re welcome for the help. I hope your investigation is fruitful and the problem is quickly resolved.

My cancellation is accurate. Unfortunately, my experience with Gold’s Gym has been disappointing.

Also, on further investigation, I discover that Gold’s has raised the monthly fee for my primary membership by $3.25 per month in the two months since I gave notice of my cancellation, specifically on 11/18/08 and 12/6/08. I paid a $300 sign-up fee for the privilege of keeping my rate constant, which Gold’s Gym has honored for several years until now. Notice of cancellation does not constitute an excuse to raise my monthly rate.

Therefore, by my accounting, Gold’s Gym needs to credit my account for unauthorized charges for a total amount of $47.00.

I have logged slightly more than three hours of time helping Gold’s Gym resolve this security breach, which is quite frankly not my problem or responsibility. Gold’s Gym has thus far made zero effort to compensate me for my time and inconvenience, nor made any kind of gesture to offset its incompetence in billing standards and security.

As a gesture of goodwill, I will consider my time pro bono. I hope that, in a reciprocating gesture, you will review your company’s unreasonable practice of billing for two additional months of membership after cancellation. It is avaricious, grasping customer service like this that has ruined Gold’s reputation. One month of additional fees already strains credulity, and two months is egregious. In my case, Gold’s has charged my account $114.70 since I cancelled my two memberships. If you would refund these charges, I will consider the matter resolved.

In any case, I am preparing a review of Gold’s Gym, which will include my frank opinion of the company’s business practices, as well as its willingness to resolve customer complaints such as mine. I will refrain from posting this review on the standard review sites until I our matter is concluded.

Sincerely,

Jonas Miller

I'm Giving Gold's Gym a D-minus

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:12:00 +0000

I used the gyms at Burnet@183 and at Lincoln Center. The gym facilities are adequate, but I often found myself waiting a few minutes for treadmills, machines or freeweights on weekdays. It slows down your workout. My GF often complained that the low-weight dumbbells would disappear and not come back. Personal trainers would take them to some remote corner where they could work one-on-one with their clients, and the rest of us be damned.

I had my membership for four years or so. I was paying $21.64 for myself and $32.46 for my girlfriend as a family add-on. When I canceled my 2 memberships (mine and my GF's), both memberships had completed their contracts and gone month-to-month. However, the desk rep informed me that I would be billed for 2 additional months for both memberships (for a total of $112.) Check the small print if you doubt it. The monthly fee for my primary membership immediately jumped $3.25 to $24.89. Didn't I pay a $289 sign-up fee to "lock in" my monthly rate? The corporate representative told me that there has been "a nationwide rate increase." Which just happened to coincide with the time I canceled my membership? And which only affected my primary membership, but not my GF's? I'm not buying it.

Finally, also coinciding with my cancellation, a series of ten $4.00 charges began appearing on my credit card. Apparently somebody in Washington DC is now buying Ice Cream Bars on my credit card. A manager at Corporate is working on this problem currently, but they seem more concerned with their own security issues than with my time or customer satisfaction. I give Gold's Gym Two Stars for an adequate workout experience, but it's an Epic Failure in customer service.

Cool Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:10:00 +0000

Ro and Saki are Lynn's cats. Now that she's moved into a safer neighborhood, they're exploring the Great Outdoors for the first time in their nine lives. I snapped this shot the other night as we were walking the pets up and down the street, just helping them get used to having some sky above them. Ro is on the left, Saki on the right.

"Ro" is short for "Hiroshima" and "Saki" is short for "Nagasaki." Yes, indeed. Lynn has a strange sense of humor.

Cicero Is Having a Rough Year So Far

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:11:00 +0000

Yesterday I was worried. Cicero was really dragging, couldn't manage more than a walk and refused food. For a dog who normally climbs trees and looks ready to take leave of his skin whenever I make a move for the door, he was definitely not acting like the happy puppy we know and love. I watched him carefully as he moped around the house for a few hours and then decided to take him to the park. He perked up to about 50% when he spotted the fat little squirrels at Central Park, but then started dragging again. I agonized over how I would feel if I made the wrong call here, then took him to the vet.

Dr. W. at the animal hospital was really very nice to the both of us but had no idea why C. was feeling so bad. Complete blood tests showed that last week's adventure with rat poison was not the reason. At least he seems to be clotting well, which was the big worry. At the end of a two-hour visit, all the good doc had to offer was a few guesses, an anti-nausea shot, and the bill.

This is the second time Cicero has done this to me. Three years ago he got stung by a wasp out at Enchanted Rock and acted like such a wimp I thought he might have broken his leg. The vet diagnosed a bee sting and charged $150. This time I was deeply grateful he wasn't dying of internal bleeding from the rat poison. We still haven't figured out what the problem actually is, but I'll take what good news I can get. I've upgraded his food to real boiled chicken and rice, and his appetite is coming back. He even chased his tail this evening after I gave him some yummy stew. While he still doesn't want to jump or run, he seems to be slowly recovering some strength.

So to me, it looks like Cicero the Dog, in addition to recovering from eating rat poison, is healing from some kind of injury. Maybe he slipped a disk or wrenched a muscle. In any case, if he doesn't get back to full health in a couple of weeks, I have an offer from the family chiropractor to give him an adjustment. Now THAT would be fun to see.

Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 20:50:00 +0000

Lynn and I joined some friends for a New Year's Eve party at Marc and Jenna's house. I took a few photos. My favorite is, of course, the one of Lynn looking ravishing in her little black velvet dress.

Christmas on the Hill

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 21:02:00 +0000

We joined some friends for a Christmas Party at Kris and Jeff's house in Manor. Kris and Jeff were wonderful hosts, as always, even though they now have the added distraction of a son to keep them busy. Even though I think I forgot my photography skills at home, I did manage to get two photos of five beautiful people:

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:27:00 +0000

Lynn and I went to a Christmas party at the home of our friends Damon and Cynthia. We got to see some great folks we haven't seen since their wedding. Damon and Cynthia are great hosts. The party was tremendous fun, the food was amazing, and sometime in the middle of the evening we were surprised by Christmas carolers! It was a wonderful moment. Oh, and I finally got to try out the video feature on my Canon SD800. I know the quality is low, but certain sacrifices must be made for the Web. Plus, on my new 8GB memory card I can record 337 hours of video!

I've Got Friends in Strange Places

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 07:20:00 +0000

I snapped a couple of cute pet pictures at Lynn's house. Cicero is chillin' on the cat house and Saki is investigating a new centerpiece platter which Lynn received for Christmas. Pets express themselves through their physical presence more insistently than people, since they obviously lack the power of speech. I do get to enjoy an amazing level of communication with Cicero however. He communicates with his eyes. He'll come up to me at my desk, for example, and put a paw on my leg. When I look at him, he'll stare at me and then repeatedly glance over to the object of his yearning (like the back door) until I get the message.

What's that, Cicero? There's a fat squirrel up in our tree? I guess I'd better let you go chase him then!

Saki communicates with vigorous purring, leg-rubbing, meowing, shedding, licking, caterwauling, and pooping in the tub.

DogPile

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:36:00 +0000

I captured this amazing moment the other day, not realizing what a complete gem of a photo it is. Now the more I look at it the harder I laugh. Starring Cicero the Dog in his tuxedo sweater, Margot and Alan sharing a warm smother on the couch. LoL!

Lynn Has a New House

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:42:00 +0000

Lynn has worked her magic and built a new 3-bedroom house in Mueller, a great neighborhood right next to downtown. She's even overlooking a neighborhood park. She's on a corner lot, so her side porch faces the street as well as her front porch. The park across the street has a playground, basketball court, swimming pool and a big field for Cicero to romp around in. Here's the front view of the house with her recycling bin on full display.

Speaking of the blue bin, Austin has an incredible recycling program. Everything goes into this one enormous bin. Paper, plastic (all 7 kinds), glass, cardboard, paperboard, metal -- it all gets tossed into this amazing blue bin and whisked away to be sorted and reprocessed into wonderful new stuff. We recycle so much of our trash now that we hardly produce half the trash that we used to. It's amazing.

There's no back yard, so the small yard you see in front and the fenced area on the side are pretty much it for personal lawn care. She doesn't mind, though, since she's not a yard-work kind of girl. I think her favorite part of the house must be her custom shower, which is family-sized with two shower heads and a bench to sit down on. My favorite part is the kitchen, which is huge and beautiful. Lynn doesn't cook very much, so it will probably remain pristine for quite some time. I wouldn't mind doing a little cooking there, though, and I'm hoping we get a chance to have a housewarming party for her soon.

18th Month-aversary

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:41:00 +0000

Lynn and I celebrated our 18th month-aversary at North by Northwest. We got a romantic table by the fireplace and apparently looked so handsome together that someone came over from another table and offered to take our picture.

Happy 18, Lynn!

Halloween Party

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:02:00 +0000

Ah, Halloween, the time of the year when we get to dress up like goofballs and hang out with our buddies. This year I was Indiana Jonas and Lynn was a biker chick. Other costumes included cows, chickens, bees and etc. Apparently the theme of the party was "animals," but we didn't get the memo. Ah, well. I got to wear my fedora.

In case you're wondering what we're all staring at in the second picture, it was UT losing to Texas Tech with two seconds left on the clock. In their defense, UT took that one second and did their best to pull off the play of the century. But alas, it was not to be.

I just love Kris in her bee outfit. Jeff was the bee-keeper. Smooth.

The UT Tower Dominates All

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:53:00 +0000

Here are a few shots of the UT tower that I've taken around campus over the Fall 2008 semester. I'm a student at UT, majoring in English and Philosophy.

The first photo shows the UT fountain in the foreground.

The second photo is taken from Speedway, with Waggoner Hall, home of the Philosophy Department, on the right.

The third photo shows the tower lit orange after a big UT football victory over OU. I was on campus late after a long study session, and managed to snap the photo while waiting for a bus.

As for the last photo, the UT tower overlooks one of a series of sculptures on loan to UT by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Let's just say that the recent installation of this particular sculpture at this spot on campus indicates either a gross error or a magnificent challenge to our rivals.

Pics From Our Euopean Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Lynn and I recently returned from a two-week vacation to Europe, and I’ve picked my favorite photos for sharing. Since this is my first adventure into Europe, I took a bunch of pictures, with the idea of creating a photo-journal of the trip. Well, finally I'm done. These albums follow our journey from Amsterdam to Schloss Neuschwanstein to Munich to Berlin to Buxtehude, where we attended the wedding of our friends Etta and Dan. Lynn and I have added descriptions and captions to the photos where we thought it would be helpful. Lynn was especially helpful with the German names, since she took German in school.

It was a great vacation and we hope you’ll enjoy checking out these galleries -- Enjoy!

Kurt and Alana Get Married

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:26:00 +0000

Lynn and I attended the wedding of our friends, Kurt and Alana. The wedding and reception were held at the Driskill in Austin. The party was hopping late into the night with live music by the Sophisticates.

Jacob Bradham is Born

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:32:00 +0000

In spite of her tiny size, Kris has managed to grow a bouncing baby boy. A group of family and friends went to the North Austin Medical Center to lend our moral support and witness this monumental event.

Home Again

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:02:00 +0000

The Road Home contract has wrapped up in NOLA and I'm back home in Austin. I'm taking a position as an IT consultant with a local firm, and I'm excited about the opportunity to stay in my hometown for a while. I'll miss Mardi Gras in New Orleans, though.

Settling back into Austin is pretty nice. Reconnecting with some old friends, making some new ones. Getting back on track. It's amazing to me how much time it takes to build a life and the relationships that reinforce it. No wonder I was having a bit of a hard time dating in the field!

New Orleans

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000

I'm having a great time in New Orleans. Everything is going well. Even the Saints are having a great season! Meanwhile, the Road Home Program is sorting through some of its problems, so things have gone more smoothly. New Orleans is truly a city where there's always something going on.

Road Home

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 01:55:00 +0000

I'll be staying in New Orleans for a while, doing disaster relief work with The Road Home, a state program designed to rebuild after Katrina. The program is jacked up like you'd expect (it is Louisiana, after all -- land of corruption) but otherwise I'm enjoying myself. It's great here! I've never heard such music or eaten such food. Plus, the people are fantastic. James and I are staying with his Aunt Rita, the sweetest woman you could ever ask for.

Slow Season

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 12 Mar 2006 05:57:00 +0000

It's a slow season. I've resumed working the IT field again. I'm also playing World of Warcraft now, on the Whisperwind server. The guild is called "Bandits Reborn." It's a good group of folks, and since it recently absorbed the Legion of Valor, a lot of my old online friends are still here.

Acadiana

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 07:19:00 +0000

Our friend Laura is getting married in Mexico, but we didn't make it to Playa de Carmen. Katrina was a real witch, and Rita and Wilma were her evil stepsisters. So best wishes to the newly married Laura and Carlos -- I wish I could have been there.

Christmas is coming in Acadiana, and the little town of Abbeville is lit up like one big tree. I'm getting to like this town, and Lafayette, too. The more I get to know my way around, the better I feel about a place. Today, for example, I had a fantastic pizza at la Pizzaria, off of Ambassador Caffery, while i did paperwork.

Now that I've paid off all of my debts, I'm starting to plan my return to college. The University of Texas is stuffed to the gills right now and not being very cooperative, so I'm beginning to consider schools nationwide. It would be nice to finish my degree in sunny Hawaii, wouldn't it? But seriously, I'm going to have to work on UT to get them to let me in. I originally moved to Austin so I could go to that school. I won't be thwarted!

Still Going

noreply@blogger.com (Jonas Miller) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 18:48:00 +0000

Still going! FEMA just dramatically changed the rules on how we handle "no contact" inspections, and re-issued 35,000 LA applications back to the field for processing.

I've started playing World of Warcraft in the evenings with Jamie. Since I have a good internet connection, we're able to spend time together virtually, even if we're far apart. We're on the Whisperwind server, and we joined a guild of friendly firemen called "Legion of Valor."