New Profile Pic - Next Generation

Check out my latest profile pic on Facebook - that's the next generation Eidson, Shelton, and Pereira boys. All born within 3 months of each other. Perfect timing.....

Customer Service 101

Recently I've had three great customer service experiences, even in the crazy market. Here they are:

Logitech - the #6 on my wireless keyboard broke, I called and they sent me a new keyboard set next day in the mail.

Mr. Coffee - Our coffee pot started rusting on the outside casing, I called him (Mr. Coffee himself) and he is sending us a new coffee pot.

American Standard - our kitchen faucet started leaking from the base, and after 2 HOURS on speaker phone they are sending a new faucet with the condition that I send them a PDF of my original receipt (which I still had from 2005 thanks to the Eidson family filing system).

Get your prints

If you're like everyone you have a digital camera. That means you also are afraid to print pictures for fear of 1) killing your printer 2) killing your supply of ink 3) or killing the person in front of you at the digital picture kiosk at you local pharmacy/big-box store ("if they re-crop that picture one more time, I'm gonna....")

But I digress. My favorite option for printing photos is Walmart.com/photos. Upload, print them as 1hr and pick them up locally or have them shipped to you in 2-3 days. Prices are cheap, and nothing gets killed.

You'd think I was paid for plugs like this, but I'm not. Should probably look into it...

Giving Jay his due

I know a lot of people love Top Gear, and it is a fabulous show, but I have really enjoyed Jay Leno's Garage - it's a series of webisodes where Jay gives you the finer points about his mega-car collection all with an enthusiast's heart and soul. What's nice is the lack of Top Gear "if it's not German we don't like it" attitude and vocabulary that make you run to google search like a scared child. Each car in his collection has a special place, and you can tell he is really excited to show you the car. My favorite is the Chevy Z06 w/ crate engine- cheapest car in his collection, but he is right on with the commentary..."People I know with Ferrari's and Lamborghini's have 7k to 8k miles, but you ask a guy with a Corvette and he has 80k, 90k miles."

Here's another one of Jay's finer moments....

Soap is bad for you

I've been catching bits and pieces on One-Life-to-Live now that it's on the DVR, and I have to say I'm intensely frustrated. I'll be in the office and hear the scene play out on the TV downstairs. The biggest gripe is that words never lead to actions - it's like the mantra of this shows writers is "how can we get the characters to talk about this more, and not actually progress the plot?". It's like Lost but not nearly as fun. Example...

"Jimmy is being held hostage by Jennifer's split personality!"
"What, how? And why? And let's talk about this more"
"Should we go over there and free him?"
"We should? Wait, what?"
"Should we call the cops?"
"Huh?"
"What?"
"Wait, what happened?"
--Commercial Break---
And then we pick up the same conversation for another 10 minutes....someone will be in imminent danger, but no constructive action is taken until the 45 min mark.

As an antidote, take one episode of Friday Night Lights (full episodes on NBC.com) and comment on this post in the morning.

25% off Everything ever made

Here's how to save on your online purchases, including 25% off ebay until Christmas. One really good idea - tires. They max out the discount (about $200), and tire prices on eBay are already very competitive. Here's how it works:

1) Sign-in to Live.com with your Hotmail account (or create a new account)
2) Activate the Cashback feature by clicking on the "Cashback" link at the top of the page
3) Search Live.com for "cheap wii" or "cheap anything" - we just need to activate the cookie
4) Click on the ebay "cashback" link in the suggested search results (see screen-grab below)
5) Once you're in ebay, search for anything you'd like. Tips - it needs to be buy-it-now since the cookie expires in 60mins; to check if an item qualifies for cashback, clcik "Buy-it-now" and before you commit to buy the Live Search cashback will be calculated.

More on Mr. Baby

By popular demand, here are more of my fatherhood musings....

I've taken to calling William "Mr. Baby", and by default started calling Susan "Mr. Mom". Not my best hour as a husband.

Putting lotion on a baby is like waxing a car. I should invent a lotion applicator that's really nothing but a car wax applicator in baby blue or girly pink. Patent Pending as of Nov 19th.

To prepare for holding a baby, practice by holding a football for a couple months and carry it everywhere you go and ask people to try and knock it out of your hands ala "The Program". I also recommend laying in the middle of the road so that when you are run over you can empathize with pregnancy pains.

How to start a fire

The Kindle has been getting a lot of press recently thanks to a Jeff Bezos PR stunt on Oprah (well done Jeff, well done), after all who better to hock your e-reader to than the woman whose book recommendations drive the best sellers list? I got my hands on the v1.0 Kindle a few weeks back, and have to say it was very cool - the e-ink was very natural, and felt easy to read unlike staring at back lit lcd screens. The interface could use some adjustments like adding a touch pad, but overall the ability to quickly scroll thru books and turn pages (the killer app) was right on. Also, it has a FREE 3G connection for downloading books and limited web search.

With v2.0 the Kindle gets a price drop AND the market strategy begins to adjust towards not just casual readers, but education as well. No more printing - type up your book in Illustrator and publish it on Amazon. This also means no packing or transportation costs - only limited infrastructure support and storage on Amazon's cloud.

In the end, I'm not so sure the profit margins on the Kindle are very large. My guess is that it is like an iPod - moderate profit on the device and KILLER profit on the digital content, which is in this case books. If the Kindle takes on publishing like the iPod did music, get ready for some incredible competition, cheaper college textbooks, and an independent publishing boom.

Year of the cheap

Hope you saved a little cash, cause the sky is falling on all sorts of cool stuff...

• Panny 42" 720P Plasma - $693 shipped - still one of the best TVs on the market for the $
• OR Vizio 42" 1080P LCD - $698+tax - Sams has this in store....not bad....
• OR Vizio 37" 720P LCD (refurb) - $499 shipped - this set is only 36.3 inches wide, so it might fit in your current entertainment center
• LG Shine (candy-bar) - $90 shipped - unlocked GSM phone (no contract!) 2MP camera w/flash, MP3 player with MicroSD, stereo Bluetooth, (no 3G)
• Phillips Dual DVD Screens - $99 shipped - for those with kids, this digital pacifier is half-off
• Leathal Weapon (all 4) - $10 shipped - need I say more?
• Polk 10" Powered Subwoofer - $99 shipped - boom goes the dynamite

Another easy way to have the deals spoon-fed to you - sign up for the Buy.com email list. Here's a few recent deals I jumped on:

• HK iPod Drive & Play - $18.95
• Belkin Wireless Game System Adapter - $19.99
• B&D Portable USB Power Pack - $9.99

Keep on truckin'

Yes, another blog post about my truck. The blog is free so deal with it. I've just hit 6 years and 70,000 miles on the Ram, and there's a litany of service items that need litanagizing. Here's some tips from my recent work...

Also, checkout my current crush - 500hp, 22" wheels, 10 cylinders, 9 mpg, 8 liters, and $17k

Tip #1 - Find your service manual online - Usually in PDF form, the service manual will be 2,000+ pages long and tells you everything you ever wanted to know about your car. From how to fill up the windshield wiper fluid to rebuilding the engine. The site http://carservicemanuals.blogspot.com/ is a great starting point, or google "Year Make Model Service Manual"

Tip #2 - Aftermarket pans/covers - If you're lucky, changing the fluids in your transmission and differential is as easy as unscrewing a plug and watching the oil drain. But, if you've got a domestic there's most likely no conventional way to change these fluids without busting the whole pan off and getting covered in oil and RTV. This is the real reason GM/Ford/ChryslerCerebusDiamler are in the hole - no drain plugs. If you're in this boat, you can get aftermarket pans with drain plugs from your local autoparts store for $20-$30. This way you can change the fluid regularly (every 30K) without your garage looking like the Valdez.

Tip #3 - Change your battery every 40K - even if it still has the green light, drop the $30 and get a new one. Odds are the battery will fail when you are most vulnerable - out late, far away from home, lacking Triple A service, and no one is around to give you a jump. $30 now will save you a long night and towing charges later on...

Tip #4 - Walmart is cheap - if you know what you need, hit up Walmart. They're in-house brand car products are cheaper than the autoparts stores. But if you are at all hesitant about what you need to purchase just hit up the autoparts store and be done with it.

Tip #5 - Always give yourself plenty of time. Even when you've done the job before, start early 'cause things will go sideways on you. Don't think "Hey, it's only 4pm, and dinner isn't until 6pm. I have time to put in a new camshaft." That's what she said, and it will not happen before dinner...