Business FAIL: Western Union... AGAIN!!

So...

If you missed my post about how Western Union is the poster child for bad business, you might want to read HERE first .. just to bring you up to speed.

Or not ...

The short and curly version is that I tried to wire money online but because my cell phone number isn't technically in my name, they refused to finalize the transfer and cancelled the order. I then had to go to my local super market and do it in person.

That's the gist.. with all the other nonsense in between.

Ok..

So earlier I went online to check my bank statement and I'm not seeing the balance that I should see. I dig a little deeper and guess what? My bank took 105.00 in over draft fees.  WFT?? I seldom.. seldom.. if ever.. over draft. Since online banking started, I check my account at least four times a day .. when you don't have money you kind of get anal about doing that. So I KNEW I didn't over draft ANYTHING and the funny thing was, if you looked at the transaction history, there was NO NEGATIVE BALANCE.

And then it hit my like a ton of bricks.

The whole Western Union Snafu.

If you remember, the original transaction of 438.00 was cancelled. Could it be that Western Union didn't put my money BACK as fast as they took it? Hmmm...

Luckily, my bank ENCOURAGES you to call customer service 24/7 .. I call and talked to the ever personal Jamal. No kiddng.. he was a nice guy. I explain everything to him and even though he's sympathetic to my plight he tells me that TECHNICALLY at the time I used my debit to buy you know.. FOOD.. I didn't have the funds.

I was just about thisclose to unleashing the Italian when he tells me that what I HAVE to do is call Western Union and that they are liable to pay for the overdraft fee since they did not return the money that they took.

Oh.
OH!!!

So I call Western Union and I half expect to hear that Jamal was full of shit and just telling me ANYTHING to get me off the phone. But when I explained the situation to the customer service rep, he switched me to a women whos name I can't pronounce even though she spelled it for me.. and SHE matter of factly told me that yes, they will reimburse the over draft fee.

She took my info and the banks info.. told me that she will forward it to her supervisor for approval and then they will contact the bank to transfer the money.

So we'll see.. just seems TOO easy to me.. even though by doing what they did would open them up to all kinds of lawsuits which would cost them more then 105.00.

I'll keep you posted.

Review: Tangled

Ok..

First of all, let me just say that I'm not into "kid" stuff .. Never watched cartoons as a kid.. or a teen.. or an adult for that matter and since I've never had kids of my own I didn't have to deal with Barney or the Wiggles or the whatevers.

I count my blessings every night.

But back in July, we took Josh to see Despicable Me and while we waited for the movie to start, they showed a trailer for Disney's Tangled.

And I absolutely adored it and committed myself by telling Tim that I wanted to see it when it came out. His blue eyes lit up like candles where behind them because anytime he can get me to watch anything "family", he thinks he scored big.

Except for Space Chimps or Moon Monkeys or whatever that stupid movie was called. That one is completely off limits.

Anyway.. back to Tangled.

I had the opportunity to watch it tonight and let me tell you.. I LOVED.. LOVED.. LOVED IT!!

If you can't already guess, it's a tweeked version of Rapunzel .. the chick stuck in a tower with miles and miles of hair.

But it's smart .. it's better then "well written" .. the CGI is so amazing that you sometimes forget that you're not watching real people .. well.. until the animals talk and sing .. but you know what I mean. It's just clever and you never get the sense that you're watching a kids' movie.

Definitely one where I'd recommend going to the movies.. buying the big bucket of popcorn AND spring for the cheesy nachos. I guarantee you'll love it!

Business FAIL: Western Union

OMG...

FAIL is such an understatement. Really.. there are no words.

If you never had to send money via Western Union and find yourself in the position of having to.. remember this:

DO NOT DO IT ONLINE

Especially if you are using a phone that is not in your name.

Because one their "security" checks is your phone number and if it isn't in YOUR name then guess what? You can't send money.

I know this because I went through this earlier today. I never had to send money WU before and so I did what probably every person with a laptop and internet connection would do.. I went to their website. Filled out their information, including their request for TWO phone numbers, and hit send.

A message popped up with the transaction information and instructions to call their customer service department so that information cold be verified.

Never having to do this before I thought it might be because it was a new account.. or maybe because I was using my debit card? Have no idea.

So I call and get a lovely foreign women named Monica. :: In case you didn't catch on, that was heavily laden with sarcasm :: She asks me questions.. I give her answers .. and then she asks me if my cell phone is in my name.

It is .. but it isn't. It's a long story but it has to do with my once flourishing career and the fact that I had built an awesome reputation with my original name. Like most professional women, keeping that intact once you get married is just a matter of having two names. Or hyphens... but Italian names and Lithuanian names do not make good hyphenated names.

And there in lay the problem because Western Union will NOT... I repeat.. WILL NOT.. transfer money through an online request if YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS NOT IN YOUR NAME.

Let me ask you this.. who's name is your home phone under? On a family cell phone plan? Who's name is THAT under .. ?? Using that as a security is just.. plain.. STUPID.

I'm going to go into more of the story on my personal blog but let's just say that Western Union more then knows my personal opinion on their little rule.

But here's the best part:

If you happen to go into a supermarket that handles WU, you don't have to show ANY FORM OF ID WHAT SO EVER ...

So yea.. for me? Western Union is a HUGE FAIL!

Good Eats: Cheddar Bagel Twist

It's 3:15am and I'm starving...

That's what happens when you can play Black Ops for four hours straight because everybody else in the house is asleep and you can't watch the Skating With The Stars show you DVR'd because certain people can't sleep with the tv on..

Sorry.. I'm over-tired.

Anyway...

So I'm starving and even though the house is loaded.. and I mean LOADED with stuff to eat nothing is cutting it.

I know what I want and the only place I'm going to find it is five blocks away.

Did you ever have a Dunkin' Donuts Cheddar Bagel Twist? OMG!! Think soft chewy bagel all twisted up around melted cheddar cheese. And not that funky cheese that they put on their sandwiches. Or maybe it is.. it just takes a whole hell of a lot better when it's melted and bubbly and there's little crunchy edges.

And they're HUGE!! Like the size of two bagels. Not great for the hips but using your thumbs burns us A LOT of calories!

Hey! Just feed into my delusion, ok??

There are other flavors like cinnamon raisin, chocolate chip, tomato basil .. but the don't tickle my fancy.

At any rate.. next time you swing by, do yourself a favor and grab one. You'll wonder how you lived with out them!

Web Watch: Swayable.Com

Have you ever been undecided about something? Or can't decide between this or that?

Duh! Stupid question!!

Check this website .. it's not only filled with either or's but you have the opportunity to make your own THIS or THAT .. It's cool and I really, really like it so check it out!

swayable.com

Review: Stone

I was looking forward to seeing this movie for a few reasons:

1. Nobody plays a psychotic/sociopath prison like Edward Norton. Just watch Primal Fear if you have any doubts.

2. I've been a fan of Robert DeNiro since 1978's The Deer Hunter

3. Milla Jovovich is definitely under rated as an actress and even though she's been is a slew of movies, she's unfortunately tagged with being the Resident Evil bitch

I was in the mood for a good movie.. one that I could really wrap my head around and mentally invest myself in.

DeNiro plays Jack, a parole officer a few weeks shy of retirement. One of his last cases is Stone, an 8 year inmate played by Edward Norton.

Doing time for setting his grandparent's house on fire after his cousin kills them, Stone is bugging to be paroled and enlists his wife, Jovovich to help by contacting Jack.

The movie starts with a lot of questions and never quite seems to answer them to my satisfaction, at least.

Was Jovovich's actions the initial intent?
Is Stone's new found religion a ploy?

There are a lot of subplots that are never really fully integrated into the story line. The opening scene shows a young Jack threatening to throw his child out a second floor window after his wife says she's leaving him. That scene is never discussed again and gives no insight to psyche.

The film ends with even more questions and while sometimes film that do that, do that well.. I was left feeling like I spent a few hours mixing up puzzle pieces only to lose one in the mix.

Or this may be the kind of film that you have to watch a few times to really get it's meaning.. I'll have to get back to you on that.

If you do see it, let me know what you think. Maybe I missed something. I hope so because it would be a shame to have let all that talent go to waste.

     

Review: Downsized

When I saw the trailer for this new WEtv show, I wanted to watch it... but then I didn't want to watch it.

Like many of us .. too many of us .. Todd, Laura and their mix of 7 kids have been hit hard by the economy.

They lived the high life.. a home.. an investment condo.. a million dollar plus construction business.. but then the economy tanked and so did their roughly 15,000 a month  lifestyle.

I feel their pain. Without the big home, investment condo, million dollar business and 15,000 a month  lifestyle, their story could be mine and that's why I was reluctant to watch it.

Like me, they have a hard time making their rent. On this episode, they were 300.00 short and two days late on the rent and Laura resorted to calling her father and stepmother. And when she told them that she felt like a failure for having to call them, I was right there with her.

Having to recently close our business and with only 5 months left on my unemployment, our anxiety level is beyond high. Trying to move to reduce our rent and not finding anyone willing to rent to us because of our financial situation keeps us too late at night worrying about keeping the house.. providing for the kids, etc.

You feel lost.. you over analyze every decision you've made in your life even though you can't go back and change anything.. a lot of tears are shed.

But anyway...

Todd's reaction to Laura calling her parents is common. It's a blow to the ego.. especially when it comes with a lecture. Been there.. done that. And what makes it worse is when you have to tell the kids. I'm a firm believer that kids should remain kids for as long as possible but sometimes they need to know what kind of situation the family is in.

But it's obvious that Todd and Laura raised some good kids because upon hearing that the rent was short, the boys (all teenagers) tried to come up with ways to make money. Their solution was "dumpster diving" for plastic and glass to recycle. Honestly, I'm not sure if that was done for the cameras or not but the scene where the family searches the furniture and van for change to turn in at the bank could be written out of my book of life.

The family does receive food stamps and in this episode, one 16 year old daughter was beyond embarrassed in the only way a 16 year old girl can be because she didn't have enough to pay for everything she needed to get.

By the end of the episode, with still a 100.00 short on the rent and the stomach knot because the landlord has to be paid, the day was saved by one of the boys who sold his prized baseball glove for a hundred bucks.

And even though I should have gotten the warm and fuzzies, I got to thinking that maybe that was a little bit of a coincidence and perhaps maybe a little set up. While I don't doubt that the family has to make a huge adjustment, it dawned on me that they're getting paid to let us look in their window.

The majority of us in the same situation aren't.. and what might have been sympathy very easily turns into resentment.

Review: Buried

Considering that Ryan Reynolds is this year's People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive you would think that spending two hours watching him and only him would cause any red blooded woman to sit back and swoon.

You would think that.

Sadly, I think I'd rather sit and stare and the People Magazine cover for two hours instead of watching this movie.

Reynold's plays a private contractor in Iraq. His convoy of kitchen utensils gets attacked and the next thing he knows he wakes up in a box, buried alive. He has a zippo, a flask, his anti-anxiety meds (what?) and a cell phone.

That's all you know too. There are no flash backs.. no other actor's ( other then voices ).. no third person view.

I guess the intention was to have the audience in the dark as much as Reynold's character was.. but that just made it harder to form any kind of bond with the character. Did he take this job because his house was about to be forclosed and his wife was pregnant with his sixth child? Dunno. Did he need the money to help his alcoholic father pay for rehab? Dunno.

All you know is that he's in a box.

The cell phone is the supporting actor in this movie. The kidnappers use it to demand 5 million dollars.. then 1 million ( would you take the price of a movie ticket? ) .. and Reynolds uses it to first call 911 (really?) and then the company he worked for (seriously?) and then finally, the FBI and State Department.


Now, I can't say what my demeanor or thought process would be if I was working for a private contractor in Iraq and woke up buried alive in a box with a cell phone but something tells me it wouldn't be what his was. 911? Really?

Seriously, there were SO MANY things this dude could have done that would have helped the people trying to help him.

I'm not going to tell you whether he gets out of the box or not .. if I spent two hours waiting for this movie to make any sense then the least I can do is give you the option to do the same .. and maybe, give you the opportunity to offer your take on it.

Maybe I was just having a bad night.. but I don't think so.

Recap: The Fashion Show S2E1

Y'know sometimes imitation ISN'T the sincerest form of flattery.

Sometimes imitation is just another way of saying OMG! We Fucked Up!

Which is what I think Bravo was thinking when lost Project Runway and witchery stitched The Fashion Show.

Even thought I wasn't impressed AT ALL with Season 1 and basically just watched it because it was the only thing On Demand at 3am I figured I'd give Season 2 a shot.

Truth be told, I had forgotten all about it. But beings that it is now 2am and the opener is on BravoTv.Com I figured what the hell.. I had too much coffee so sleeping isn't an option right now!

Isaac Mizrahi (didn't he used to be like.. a BIG deal back in the day?) and Iman are the hosts and I have to tell you, I haven't even been though the opening credits yet and hearing Iman say ".. yull owt uf fasheen" is starting to great on my nerves.

Even though the designers had to put on a fashion show in the first five minutes of the episode, the premise this season is one "house" versus the other with the gaggle of designers split into two teams .. um.. "houses".

Stand outs were Calvin Tran .. who really SHOULD have stood out since he owns three stores in three major US fashion markets, don't you think?

I like Rolando Tamez Jr. but I think it's only because he's adorable. Sort of like a young Lou Diamond Philips (MAjor crush when I was a teen!)

I really dug Tamara Jones's coat and her attitude. She's a 'hood girl and I mean that with all the love and respect another 'hood girl can give her!

I would definitely wear Eduardo Del Las Casas confection.. that is, if I was 20 with legs that went on for miles and a size -0 ass!

Anyway.. so after the runway show, Iman tips out like she's had Botox IV'd in her joints and tells the designers that they were to use her as their muse for the first challenge and then drops the bombshell that they're going to be in teams.

Their looks are priceless.. especially the ones who were already talking smack about their competitors!

The blue team, renamed NAMI ( Iman backwards.. get it?) consists of Mike, Dominique, Cesar, Rolando, Edwardo and David,  all seem calm, laid back, open to suggestions and definitely working like a team.

The green team, renamed EMERALD SYX (don't ask) is the polar opposite. Calvin, Tamara, Francine, Golnessa, Cindy and Jeffry all have strong personalities and Calvin is nothing short of a complete diva bitch. His best line of the night was ".. I am the team, you have no opinion". Like I said.. diva bitch!

Time leading up to the runway show is just what you expect... bickering.. panic.. trash talking.. same old same old. What I did like about TFS's runway is that it's a production. The Houses' work with a runway producer so it's more then just PR's drab catwalk. Kudos.

Emerald Syx presents their collection first .. a drug induced rainbow of bright yellows, purples, navy and some other color that I can't remember right now. Honestly wasn't impressed. All the pieces, except for Calvin's gown, looked like something coming out of a freshman sewing class. Or maybe that's just the way it came off on tv.

Nami's collection is a study in white, as we'd say in my old art school days. And let me tell you.. I'd wear every single one of those creations... if I could fit in them!

Hands down, the clear winner is Nami. No question.

I'm not going to go into individual pieces because there are so many designers and this post is already long enough.

Ceaser won the individual honor with is subtle grey printed one shoulder gown.

The losing designer... the one who's owt uf fasheen was Franchine.

But not before Calvin got a dressing down for his attitude.

While I think this may be fun to watch when there's absolutely nothing better to watch, I'm still giving it a thumbs down.

Review: Apocalypse, Pa

A few things you should know before reading this review:

We are in the process of making a move to the mountains of upstate Pennsylvania

As long as I've known Tim, he's desired nothing more then to become self-sustaining. Believe me, this man could survive on just twigs, berries and a bow.

So he was nothing short of bursting out with corn grain when he happened to come across this show on the History Channel.

No Frank, you are NOT crazy!

If men can become BFF's then I'm sure Tim and Frank Belcastro, the show's focus would be it.

Belcastro and his family (wife, daughter and son) live in rural Pennsylvania. I know where they live and it's not as "Pennsyl-tucky" as it's portrayed but still not like your in the middle of Philadelphia.. if you know what I'm saying.

At any rate, Frank wants to be self-sustaining. Get back to living like Americans lived back in the day.
He says he wants to be prepared .. and believe me, Frank.. I know the feeling.

In the episodes that aired tonight, him and his boy converted an old truck from running on gasoline to wood chips or manure because what if there was a time when there was no gasoline. Believe me, we've had those conversations.

What was really funny was when he sent his wife and daughter to buy goats.. initially for the milk but as he said to his son, "... there are other uses for goats" and states that he hopes his daughter isn't getting too attached to them. Meanwhile, she's taking the baby goat to the feed store to have it's picture taken with the Easter Bunny! Again, me and Tim have had those conversations before.

I liked the show.. I liked where Frank was coming from even though in interviews he appears to stay level on the actual reasons for his belief. Maybe this is just something he's always wanted to do.. or maybe he sees what we see and knows that there will be a time very soon where you either survive or you don't.

At any rate.. if for nothing else, you'll be entertained by his quirkiness.. his wife's reactions to his ideas and to the things he builds.

If you're of like mind.. you'll be taking away much, much more.

New episodes, I believe, will be airing after Thanksgiving but the History Channel hasn't decided if they're going to pick it up as a series yet.

I hope they do.

Review: Call Of Duty: Black Ops

Um..

I would have reviewed this sooner ( it was released on 11.09 ) but I've been too busy playing the damn things.

I'll be honest with you.. I can't really give you an unbiased opinion because Call Of Duty is my favorite game to play on PS3.

And PLEASE can we forgo the PS3 vs Xbox rants? It's old. Honestly, it is. And since most of the people going back and forth about it are adults, can we just put our high school letterman sweaters away and just agree to disagree?

One other thing.. save your time and don't waste mine with the hate mail, ok? If you don't like my review... then write your own. It's that simple.

Ok.. so to me, Black Ops is a well made hybred of World at War and Modern Warfare 2. The think I liked most about WAR was how the guns had some body to them and didn't fly all over the place when you shot. MW2 is a bitch of a game to play because I could never shoot steady. Again, that's me. With BO, set in the Vietnam / Cold War era (supposedly) I can manage the guns so I don't appear to be a total noob when I first played.

One thing in this game that wasn't in other COD games is that you can purchase your weapon attachments. Prior to, all you did was rack up kills and your reward for those kills was a scope or extended mags or whatever. Now, you bank enough COD dough and you can buy whatever you want whenever you want. Some things do require you hit certain levels to unlock but it was cool getting extended mags right off the bat.

There are also a lot of other neat little things that you can "buy" .. you can change the colors of your sight lens or change the actual dot into something cool like a heart or smiley face. Gives you a giggle on the kill cam!

The RC exploding cars are cool .. but you have to make sure you use them when you know where an enemy is because they're blow up on you and the crossbow is as cool as hell.

Like MW2, you get additional points for doing stuff like revenge kills or buzz kills or payback kills and you have the option of picking your killstreak rewards.

I'm not sure if the simulation is in other games.. never checked. But, yknow, getting used to new maps is a bitch especially when you are up against people who live in their mother's basement and have already prestiged up twice so the simulation is an awesome way to learn the maps and find the little nooks and crannies.

So if you're a PS3er, keep an eye out for WarKittenz.

Cause that's me holding two paws up!

Review: Easy A

Emma Stone plays Olive .. one of those witty, snarky high school girls that you really don't appreciate until you're seated next to them at a high school reunion and you think, Damn.. why wasn't I friends with you then!

Look.. I'll be honest with you.. if you have half a brain you're going to know how the movie turns out as soon as it begins... but if you just sit back and roll with it, you're going to laugh your ass off. It's hard to decide which line is the funniest because there were so damn many and I'm not going to spoil any of it for you.. so don't ask.

I will say that Olive gets herself into situation when she lies and says she's hanging out with a college boy because she wants to get out of a camping trip with her best friend and her family.

Classic scene. Do NOT miss the camping scene!

BFF's being BFF's.. she kept pushing Olive for details and so Olive does what every high school girl does when backed into a locker .. lies. Makes up this over the top story about what went on which, of course, is over heard by the school's Queen of Christianity.. Mariane.

Amanda Bynes' Mariane is nothing short of a trip. I always liked her as an actress and this part was just over the top enough to make me forget that silly little kids movie she did a while back.

Unfortunately for Emma Stone, the movies also stars Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson as her parents and Lisa Kudrow as the school's councilor. The three should be charged with burglary because they steal every scene they're in .. especially because I am of an age where I could have a daughter in high school. Really.. can you imagine me as a parent? Yea.. well.. take that thought and apply it to Olive's parents.

The script is just smartly written.. better then I thought it was going to be.. so definitely worth a trip to the theater with popcorn AND the 15 buck mega meal!

It's that good.

Definitely two thumbs up!

Review: Teach - Tony Danzy

Let me start off by saying that I had NO DESIRE WHAT SO EVER to watch this show..

But thanks to the 2am boredom gods and On Demand, I am SOOOO GLAD that I watched the first four episodes.

THIS IS A MUST SEE... seriously, a MUST SEE

I think just about everyone my age knows Tony Danza, primarily from his role in Taxi. He's the kind of actor that you had posters of plastered all over your walls and then 20 or so years later when he pops up somewhere you're like OMG!! HE was HIM??

Anyway, the premise of the show is that pushing 60 (OMG again) he has the desire to teach, something that he originally wanted to do back before he showed up on the small screen. And so he does.. at Northeast High School in Philadelphia.

Let me just interject here that as a Philly girl, it was nice to see the city represented in a kinda good way although I don't necessarily think that NE High is the most accurate representation of an urban high school. I can think of a few others right off the top of my head but at least the school is diverse and has the right mixture of kids that make a reality show entertaining.

But make no mistake, this was hard to watch.

Hard because Danza is soooo sincere in what he wants to do. So much so that it is painful to watch him and his self-video commentaries. He is over his head.. he knows it.. he doesn't know how to reach the service.

Like I said, his motives are sincere. Just the amount of tears he sheds when he's trying to get through to the kids, teachers and principal that he's there for the right reasons and not to just make a television show.

One hardship in particular is a scene where he issues his first quiz on "Of Mice and Men". Three of his students want to head to the school's resource room and he tells them to stay in the room.. give the quiz a shot.. they might surprise themselves with how much they actually do know.

The problem is that these kids were on IEP's (Individualized Education Program) and if they want to go to the resource room then it's basically illegal not to send them.

The administration and the teaching consultant (I think that's what he is) get all in a tizzy and Danza is like all he wanted to do was gives these kids the opportunity to try and maybe if they try and they get a good grade it will snowball into them believing that they can do the work.

In being reproached  by the powers that be, the flat out tells them that he doesn't agree with IEP's.. that they've made the kids believe that they need special help when maybe all they needed was to be pushed to working harder.

A - freakin - MEN!!!

The point is, that this guy is trying, Hard. With the cards stacked against him. And like I said, it's painful to watch sometimes because if anything, you believe from the get go that he really wants to be that teacher that makes an important impression on a student that stays with them a lifetime.

He made a comment on one episode, "... get smart early or get smart late".

Watch this show early ... or watch it late.. just watch it,

NOTE: I purposely did not include commentary on the kids in his class because you really need to watch it for yourself and draw your own opinions.