Honey - Rant and Rave

I love the Honey plug-in for Google Chrome.  Have you ever bought something from a website, and you felt like a total loser because you didn't have any secret codes to punch in to the "Coupon" box?  You close your eyes and imagine some arrogant twits in cardigans, giving each other high fives as they save 20%, 30%, or more with their special codes.

Well, Honey helps with that.  You click the Honey button on your checkout page and it tries a bunch of codes for you until it finds the best one.  I've actually found that it works about half the time.  So Honey is pretty cool.

Now you may be asking what my rant is about Honey.  Well, here you go:

When I installed Honey on my new computer, they confronted me with the above decision - my choices were to either share my friends' personal information or click a button that says I'm a selfish jerk.  This is almost as bad as the lady at the grocery checkout who makes me admit that I hate kids with cancer every time I buy a 6-pack.

Sorry honey, the buzz is not in your favor this time.

Convenience has never tasted so ... Good

I saw this Chicken 65 sauce mix in the store and I just had to laugh.  The picture at the top shows that all you need to add is some chicken and a little oil to the box mix to make some yummy Chicken 65.  Read more carefully under "Ingredients required by the customer" and you found out that you really need to add...

• Chicken
• Cooking Oil
• Eggs
• Yogurt
• Edible orange red colour (wtf?)
• Curry leaves
• Green chillies
• Cilantro
• Mint leaves

Convenience has never tasted so ... less convenient.

One Platers

I hate people who take only one plate of food at a buffet style restaurant.  You know the type.  After you declare that you are going back to the buffet for another plate of food, they smugly push their plate forward and declare themselves "full".  Oh really, after a small salad and a tiny scoop of cottage cheese, you couldn't possibly eat another bite?  Then why the hell did you go to a buffet style restaurant?  Sometimes the answer is because they ate something beforehand.  Why would you eat just before going to a buffet restaurant?  Oh, and the timing is intentional.  They wait until you announce your second plate intentions before they let you know that they are one-plating it so they can rub it in with their smug attitude. 

My strategy is to maximize the value of what I eat.  I skip the cheap and filling stuff like bread and head straight for the good stuff (seafood is often a good choice).  By the time I leave, I want the manager shaking his head in fear that they won't afford to stay open if more people like me come to eat.  When you go to a buffet restaurant with a one-plater, you have to eat even more to make up for them.

Mardi Gras Chaos

According to Fed Ex,  delays are expected in THREE states due to Mardi Gras.  I hope everyone gets their beads on time.

So much for  "When it Absolutely, Positively has to be there overnight" or "The World On Time".

From the FedEx website:

FedEx anticipates local delays in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana Mar. 1-4 because of Mardi Gras 2014 celebrations.
As a result of closed roads in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana, unavoidable service delays are anticipated. FedEx is committed to providing service to the best of our ability and will continue to do so in areas that are accessible during this time.

Workout Class Groupons

I don't know what the impossibly attractive lady in the above picture did to achieve that physique.  Probably some combination of starvation and photoshop.  But if it had anything to do with that ridiculous kettlebell, I will eat my hat.

Hulu Privacy Fail

Hulu has recently come under fire for illegally sharing users' viewing history with Facebook and other companies.  Because of this, I decided to check my account options to see what kind of privacy concerns I might have.  I was disappointed to learn that Hulu is tracking the websites that I visit.  I was even more disappointed that they have an Opt-Out rather than an Opt-In approach to this intrusion of your privacy.  Reading the description of their policy, I am not even sure if I opt out now that I will be 100% out as they mention something about storing cookies on my machine.  Does that mean I need to opt out on every computer that I use?

I Wasn't Finished With That

Dear Waiter at Lucia's,

You did a great job for most of my lunch.  You got my order right and re-filled my drink.  But, without asking, you took my plate away that had food on it that I was still eating.

I'm sorry, but that unfortunate event lowered your tip from 20% to 15%.

Yours Truly,
Rants

FIOS Fiasco

After years of frustration with Comcast (see this or this) we finally decided to switch the household over to FIOS.  Here are a few of the annoyances discovered within the first week of ownership...

SPAM

Within days of getting the new account, spam started showing up.  This is despite that we never even USED the email, let alone gave out the address.  How are the evil spammers able to figure out our brand new email address?


STANDARD TROUBLESHOOTING

After having some difficulty with my digital voice line, I followed Verizon's online troubleshooting guide to figure out the problem.  The first step in solving the problem was to power off the equipment.  No, not the router sitting on the desk, the FIOS box outside in the shed.  And, because it has battery back-up, you have to first remove the access panel, remove the battery, and wait a few minutes before plugging it all back together.  I used to think that unplugging the router all the time (a common occurrence with Comcast) was annoying,  but I can now say that having to go outside into the shed to troubleshoot is much worse.

 

Infinite Loop at the Gym

Thank goodness I bring my own music to the gym, because the music they play has the following play list...

1. Blurred Lines (Robin Thicke)
2. Brave (Sara Bareilles)
3. Safe and Sound (Capital Cities)
4. Titanium (David Guetta)
5. repeat...