Found this one in a Hershey motel parking lot.
It turns out that these are official DC tags, not some weird protest movement’s idea of a good time!
Category: Oddities
Who’d’a thunk it?
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Counterfeit Memory Stick from eBay
Bogus Memory Stick – Front Last year I bought a “generic” Sony Memory Stick using eBay’s Bidding Assistant to get one of a whole bunch of similar items. Got it for a reasonable price, opened it up, and it turned out to be “too good to be true”: it looked to be a genuine Sony stick in sealed Sony packaging.
I checked the “how to identify a counterfeit Memory Stick” sites and concluded that it really was genuine, what with good printing and laser engraving. Sometimes these things happen; maybe the seller got a pallet of leftovers?
Bogus Memory Stick – Rear It failed a few months later, I mailed it to Sony for a warranty replacement, they concluded it was a fake, and sent it back. Huh. Those cunning Chinese are getting really good at making fakes; maybe this was a “fourth-shift” product from the real Sony factory.
I contacted the seller, who said he sells “generic” products. I pointed out that “generic” means a second-tier manufacturer’s correctly labeled product, but that he sold a falsely labeled item. He offered a refund, I asked for money to cover my shipping, and he agreed. Knock me over with a feather.
So I sent it back and he actually refunded my money, plus shipping both ways. More feather toppling.
Sony Warranty Rejection The term “fraud” did not enter the conversation, but I think he knew he was on thin ice and was willing to do whatever it took to make me Go Away.
From what I can tell, reporting this to eBay has no effect, because they already know and simply do not care.
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Database Follies
My “biz” (I use the term loosely) credit card statement had a $7.25 mystery charge from “NEWARK US CHICAGO IL”. I have done biz with Newark Electronics (and their HQ is in the Windy City), but not recently. Soooo, I gives ’em a call to ask WTF. Got passed from ear to ear, eventually reaching Jolanta in Credit Card Billing.
I described what I knew, she tapped in my credit card number, paused for a moment, then said “Oooooh, I know what happened!”
Turns out that they use “general account numbers” (or order numbers, or some such) for low-budget customers like me and that they recycle those numbers. A while ago it seems “the computer” started
- Assigning some no-doubt-carefully-chosen general account number to the new transaction
- Reaching into the database for, um, data
- Sending the bill to the old account holder
Oops.
She says “the programmers are working on it right now” and she’ll refund the money muy pronto.
Wanna bet that a few somebodys got mystery charges for a few kilobucks apiece?
Uh-huh…
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Bizarre Sink Styling
Or, perhaps, what were they thinking?The lip around the sink works pretty well on the left side, but doesn’t stand a chance on the right.
Although it’s not visible here, there’s a nice water stain on the floor in the corner, plus the runoff you’d expect down the right side of the sink.
Nice styling, but …
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What Every Christmas Tree Needs
Santa's Magic Water Spout … a urinal?
… a way to flood the floor while standing?
… a dipstick!
Saw this one at Adams. Judging from the display, they’re not rushing right out of the door just yet.
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In Case of Accident
If You Can Read This, Roll Me Over Despite its general rotted-out nature (what with being a Jeep, that comes free), nobody’s had to follow the directions yet…
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Retirement Locations: How Can This Be?
Came across one of those “best places to retire” planners and tapped in a few reasonable-sounding numbers & preferences for our alleged lifestyle of bicycling and low-stress living.
The top ten results of a nationwide match:
- Wayne, NJ
- Jersey City, NJ
- Edison, NJ
- New York, NY
- Newark, NJ
- Uniondale, NY
- Hempstead, NY
- Monsey, NY
- Long Beach, CA
- North Laurel, MD
As nearly as I can tell, the fix is in.
Words fail me.
The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning 