Bad way to do business. It’s hilarious what people do just to get a few bucks.

Every time I try to pay my ATT bill it’s always a hassle. Their automated message systems and the people are extremely incomptennt. Here’s how my call went.

1. I get an automated message and get transfered to an operator.
2. I say my customer number to the operator #1, she says ok and puts me on hold.
3. While on hold, I get transfered back to a different automated message.
4. I manage to speak to operator #2  and tell her my customer number.
5. She can’t deal with my type of account, so she sends me to somebody who can do that.
6. Operator #3 will have to charge me a fee, if she processes my payment, which is weird because I’ve done it before with an operator for free. I tell her I’ll just use the automated message system to pay.
7. I give the automated message system my customer number and it transfers me to operator #4. She finally takes my payment without fee.

It took 18 minutes and four different operators to pay my bill.

This isn’t the first time, I’ve been juggled around the ATT support network; they’re so big that they can’t give the correct training to…

I’m sure ya’ll have heard of Facebook, but check out studivz.net and xiaonei.com. Do you notice anything similar? Well, both sites are 100% knockoffs of Facebook. The interesting thing about both those sites is, they’re making a lot of money.

Studivz is the German equivalent of Facebook and is the 120th most visited site on the internet. Xianonei is the Chinese version and isn’t far off from Studivz, being the 370th most visited site. What’s funny is Xianonei is almost completely like Facebook; it even has the same color scheme.

I don’t know much about international law, but if either of those companies were US based, they would be cooked alive by Facebook. But since both sites are based outside of USA, I’m assuming anything goes; Xiaonei was actually purchased in 2006 for some big bucks and Facebook didn’t do anything!

Usually people build on ideas, but Studivz and Xiaonei show how it’s possible to even make money if you just totally steal an idea.

Yeah.

#1. All their cards have all the rewards and benefits that Visa and Mastercard provide, whether it’s 1% cash back or airplane mileage.

#2. If you buy something, below $300, and the merchant refuses to refund your money, Amex will pay you for it; however, you can only redeem up to $1000 a year doing this.

#3. If you buy something with a warranty Amex will match that warranty, up to a one full year.

#4. Most cards have travel insurance. In case you get sick or die, while traveling, Amex will  pay the covered person up to 1.5 million for their loss. It depends on what type of card you have. In case of “loss of  one hand and one foot” the coverage is between 50,000 to 1,500,000.

#5. When you rent a car with a qualifying Amex card, you’ll be covered under their Car Retnal Loss and Damage Insurance Plan. So you don’t need to buy insurance from the car renter!

#6. Don’t be scared to lose your bags when you travel, because Amex has Baggage Insurance. Eligible members are allowed to claim $500 for checked bags, and $1250 for carry-on baggage.

The thing you…

Tonight, I went to Amy’s Ice Cream and wasn’t too pleased with the service. The line wasn’t long when I got there, but it took at least 15 minutes to get my ice cream. I really don’t get how tough serving ice cream and shakes can be. But apparently the three employees had a hard time.

 
I was with two other people and we were going to order together. One person served all three of us, rather than all three helping. I don’t get the logic here, but one of the employees refused to serve me because there was somebody else helping my two friends. That employee also took the time to chat with a coworker, after turning me down. My first impression of Amy’s Ice Cream is that it has a really relaxed atmosphere. But that guy really ruined it for me, and made Amy’s Ice Cream seem like a haven where slouches can work. This is a perfect example of how a successful business gets bad publicity.

 
Let’s talk about making money.

Anyways even with bad employees, Amy’s Ice Cream is totally a cash cow. Their return of investment…

I was fooled into buying this book, because of it’s excellent reviews on Amazon. If you lack common sense, this book is for you: It didn’t cover anything that I wouldn’t have thought about alone. Don’t be fooled by this book’s 554 pages; the font is ridiculously big and it has over 100 pages of index and useless pictures.

 
I was surprised at when the book was written. The technology used to measure drinks is extremely outdated; they used a windows 95 machine with an old palm pda used to keep inventory. Additionally, the stock pictures used looked like they were from the early 90’s.

 
If you think this book will hold your hand through the hard things, like getting liquor license and legality, think again. The favorite phrase is in this book is “check with your local government” or “visit this website”. I bought this book to be more informed about the laws and regulations, but this book did not deliver; however it’ll tell you to search for the information yourself.

 
This book is a giant advertising scheme. It’s parent company, Atlantic Publishing, advertises their website over a dozen times…

I’m not sure I want to open a karaoke bar anymore. I talked to a few friends and I’m pretty convinced that it won’t be a good idea, because people go to bars to socialize-not sing. Besides, the crowd I’m aiming for-college kids- really don’t dig karaoke that much, well the majority: The Asian crowd is crazy about karaoke but that’s less than 20% of the population.

I still want to start a bar though! I’m 100% sure I don’t want to work for a corporation after college. I don’t like taking orders, or working under somebody. It really sounds like I’m a really stuck-up person, but I’m not! I have plans in the future to travel around the world, and working 9-5pm isn’t going to cut it. The average salary for an undergrad is 46k with benefits. I’ll admit 401k plans are badass, but I don’t like the fact that I’ll be earning 30k+ after tax. That’ll take me years to earn enough money to live out my dreams! I don’t feel like climbing the corporate ladder either, that’ll take forever; by the time I’ll be 40, I’ll be making 100k,…

I’m at my little sister’s bday party at  ITZ. Imagine an indoor carnival filled with little kids running around and being surrounded by a sea of noise, that’s ITZ. This place is pretty nice; it’s built in a Home Depot store, very spacious and high ceilings. However, the service is really horrible and inconsistent. Our party host didn’t have a great attitude and wasn’t friendly. She even asked the children(all around 13) if they wanted to listen to Lil Wayne for the party music. For those of you who don’t know Lil Wayne, he is the best rapper alive but his lyrics are full of adult content and innuendos, definitely not suitable for kids.

The atmosphere around this place is lively, but a little much. There are plenty of screaming kids that are constantly running around; i’m actually scared someone will knock my laptop over.

The people that come here have very diverse backgrounds. From individuals that dress suitable for rap concerts, tattoos on their arms and dragging shorts, to the indie crowd,  people that wear very tight jeans and handmedown tshirts. I’m not saying this diverity of people is bad, but i’m just not used…

I wrote a post about contract law and apparently it caused a lot of controversy, mostly with people that know nothing about law. I sent my article to my professor, who is a licensed attorney, and she agreed that it was correct( except for the 70,000 requirement for Federal Court, it’s actually 75,000); therefore, I highly doubt there is anything wrong with my article besides the diversity requirement for the Federal Court. But I receive emails and comments telling me that I’m completely wrong.

 

I want my hit back.

When you look at your traffic log, please remove 1 hit from todays hits (March 24, 2008). I accidentally clicked on the link from the eBay thread on M3Post.com forum.

Oh, and I disagree!

Wow, you come across as a completely arrogant, abrasive douchebag on the m3 discussion.

Enjoy your nights alone, and crying yourself to sleep over fighting other people’s battles when you’re completely wrong.

 

 
What a great method to argue: First you criticize the writer, then you say the article is wrong but say nothing to support your argument. When you send me emails…

I went to Jimmy Johns sandwich shop for lunch, and saw 11 people working there. It would be reasonable if there were customers, but I was the only one there. I bet they have to pay 9 dollars per person, so $9 x 11ppl = 99 dollars per hour for just Direct Labor. How many sandwiches do you have to sell to even pay for direct labor? They charge $5.25 a sandwich, which would mean they have to sell 19 sandwiches a hour or one per 3 minutes. Even if they break even with Direct Labor costs, they still have Direct Material, Overhead and Fixed/Administrative Costs to deal with.

 I don’t know how much Direct Material they need to buy to make the sandwiches; I would assume 20% of the price, so 1.05 lost per sandwich. For Overhead costs they have the sandwich dressing, wrappers, bags and napkins, all of which aren’t much individually, but when combined can cost a fortune. Direct Labor, Direct Material, and Overhead constitutes the product cost; the $5.25 per sandwich is set because management tried their best include all those costs in the product. But with the massive surplus of…