Well, my fledging blog here really gets just a trickle of traffic, but I’ve been watching carefully to see what’s popular. Clearly, two posts I wrote stand out. They’ve gotten the most views, and the most (but pitifully few) comments. They are:
Superior Subscriptions and Buying Magazine Subscriptions on eBay - Seems I was a little naive here, most likely. While the idea seemed good, and many happy people did buy subscriptions on eBay, eBay shut this down soon after I posted, and even told me to try to get my money back. I did, in fact, get my money back from PayPal. I don’t yet know for sure if I did or didn’t get the magazine renewal. But in any event, enough people got scammed to lead them to my blog post to see what I had to say. Everyone was nice - but basically said I was an idiot. Seems that was pretty accurate; I’m sorry if anyone followed this advice to their peril. Then again, if anyone took the idea and did well, great! One thing I learned here is that PayPal’s protections really work - I got my money back with very, very little effort. So always pay by PayPal or credit card if possible; that way, you get some recourse in the event the situation turns unfortunate.
Infiniti G35, FX35, and Maybe Nissan 350Z Exhaust Noise - I guess whining and complaining is really what I do best, and it seems I tapped a nerve with this one. And now, these cars bug me even more. Here’s the idea: these were tuned to make tons of noise, perhaps to make it seem that the drivers of these vehicles are too cool for school. I think it’s just plain-old noise pollution. Apparently, so do many others (including, it turns out, some owners). So Nissan and Infiniti: Why not offer an option? Disturbingly noisy, or quiet? It seems crazy that you’re putting cars on the road emitting any more noise than need be. Please stop!
OK - that’s my wrap up. As I check my stats, I see that my info about Freedom Financial Partners is gaining ground here . . .
Just an update here on what I’ve been receiving from my Tierra Miguel Farms Community Sponsored Agriculture box. Frankly, I feel like it’s a little light this week considering the $40 price tag. It’s generally all very delicious (the strawberries this week are amazing, and the avocados last week were luscious). But I had the idea that starting in the Spring, I’d be getting more produce. Instead, the size has shrunk since the winter.
Here’s a pic of my latest box’s contents:
The include jar of honey looks pretty good . . . that’s the first time I’ve received something processed in my box.
We went to Celadon last night. This is the newest restaurant in the space that recently housed Tahiti, then Yi. So now it’s Celadon. It’s an expensively furnished, fairly large restaurant. The location, being near the Grove, is pretty good, but it seems to be in a bit of an awkward stretch, which may account for the problems with restaurants in that location.
The menu claims to feature “Authentic Global Tapas.” I don’t really know what that means. Wouldn’t authentic tapas necessarily not be global, but just Spanish? Do they mean something like “authentic plates from around the world?” That’s probably closer to reality, although I wouldn’t claim any of these to be authentic. They are from around the world, but they have much more of a fusion quality than an authenticity about them.
A large portion of the menu, probably half, are Asian-based dishes, like noodles, rice, and dim sum. Frankly, the Asian dishes were definitely inferior to the European style dishes. Of all the Asian dishes, I think only the shrimp toast was any good. The samosas were really not good at all. The rice and noodle dishes basically had no flavor.
They have a section of crudo, and those dishes were pretty good. They’re a bit more like innovative sashimi than they are like Italian crudo, but they were tasty, and well presented.
There were actually two standout dishes to me: the sliders and the hummus. Sliders are so often overdone hard discs of meat. These were juicy and served medium, with good bread and sauce. I was pretty surprised - I would definitely get these again if I go back. The hummus had artichoke hearts, fava beans, and fennel seeds on it. Great combination - and the bread served with it was grilled and spiced.
I’m not too sure that I’d go back. So many dishes weren’t great - I think we did about 50/50 which, with the great restaurants around here, isn’t good at all. The place was pretty empty, the music was some hip fusion nothing, the place really had no style. And it was large - it didn’t have either the comfortable small feeling, or the glamorous large feeling. Service was fine (20% gratuity added to parties of six or larger, rather than the 18% I usually see).
EDIT: Forgot about the scallops. Avoid the scallops. At least, the night we went, our two scallop dishes were NOT good. If they can’t get good scallops that day, they should 86 them from the menu . . .
We just got a letter from Freedom Financial Partners. I thought it was a routine “Do we have a new loan for you!” letter, and I tossed it. But my wife had seen it first and was worried that it said our house was in jeopardy due to a loan default.
So I fished it out of the recycling, and sure enough, she was right - the letter did say that.
OK - first, some background info on the wonderful Freedom Financial. Their website seems to be here. Note the link to the BBB. I’m really not a big fan of the BBB. As a business owner myself, I feel like they extort a yearly fee in exchange for a good review of your business. But click the Freedom Financial BBB link. Nada. No reviews. But they link there. Pathetic.
Next, the ways to contact them. On their website, they have a comcast.net email address. On the letter, it’s a gmail address. For a company with a domain name and a website, this seems a bit strange. Is it operated on public computers where they need webmail?
As for physical location, their area code (724) puts them in Pennsylvania. But their BBB info puts them in Utah. Their whois info is hidden. You guys really know how to gain the trust of your customers.
Here’s the key line from the letter: If none of this is true, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you by sending this letter. Wow. So if you’ve scared perfectly mortgage-paying homeowners into wasting their time, and possibly calling you, you’re sorry. Even in Stockton, California (with its 10% foreclosure rate - reportedly the highest in the country) you’d only be right up to 10% of the time, so you’d be wrong 90% of the time. In the rest of the country, you’d be wrong 90%+ of the time. Truly pathetic.
Freedom Financial Partners: Please! Have some personal integrity! Do the right thing here! Does scaring people into contacting you ever work?