My heart goes out to all the poor people down in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama who got caught up in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. And I do mean poor.

There are two thing that are astonishing to me as I watch this disaster unfold on CNN. One is that every time I think I've seen the worst possible image, I see something that blows my mind. Lines of school buses under water. Not just complete neighborhoods submerged, but everything from one horizon to the next. New Orleans inundated. People escaping from their homes by carving holes in their roofs. People wading neck deep through city streets. Refugees fleeing into and then out of the Super Dome. It's unbelievable. Two is that in almost all these pictures, the people involved are black and poor.

Now I know there's a large African-American population in that part of the country, but nothing that would belie their numbers in the news except that clearly the white folks with the means and the wherewithal to evacuate did and the blacks who had no place else to go tried to stick it out.

I know that the final death toll at this point is unknown, but when it's all said and down and all the bodies are located, I'm wouldn't be surprised if the black/white breakdown is the exact opposite of the national figures, if not worse. It's just an incredible tragedy.

The other thing that I want to briefly mention is that the level of looting and lawlessness is disturbing. This was a massive natural disaster, completely disrupting the normal order, so it's not too surprising. However, what I keep thinking about is that if we're see this level of chaos with this event, which seems that authorities were clearly under prepared for, what's going to happen if we have a major terrorist attack in a large city? After watching the Homeland Security Dept. in action, I don't hold out much faith that they are up to the task. If you look at Katrina as a window into our future, the future ain't pretty.

Posted by andrew at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

What do you when you have a fucktard cat who doesn't understand the litter box and sprays through the seem where the two pieces of the box join? I've tried to hold him down and make him watch his sister use the box. Nothing. I've tried pushing his ass down when he's taking a leak. Nothing. Next step is to just tie tie him to the back of your bumper, but the people from Peta would be all over my ass. So as much as I'd like to inflict seriously bodily harm on the little shithead, I just bought a top entry litter box and am praying to my lord and savior that it does the trick.

I've have the new box in the house for a two weeks to get them used to it. I put some cat nip in there so they'd check it out, which they did, but have pretty much ignored it since. I just put the litter in it and Filemu, the good cat that she is, got right in and took care of business.

So will the fucktard get in there too or will he shit in the darkest corners of the apartment? Stay tuned.

Posted by andrew at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I haven't been posting much lately, but that hasn't stopped me from noticing that when people are trying to comment on the spare posts, they are getting bounced for what Movable Type calls "questionable content". Hopefully this isn't meant as some sort of commentary on my site, although I'd probably agree with them. I don't what's going on or why it's happening. It could have something to do with MT-Blacklist, the spam blocking plugin that stops spam in its tracks, but seems to be shielding everyone, which is rather pointless. Might as well just shut down commenting altogether.

In the meantime, if you want to comment, and you should, just sign up with Typekey. It's free. It's quick. It's a impostion, but relatively painless. You'll be authenticated by the man and you can post away. Up to you.

Posted by andrew at 10:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't know what gas prices are like where you live, but here in Alameda, the cost of unleaded has shot up from 2.82 to 2.96 in the last two days. Is it the effect of Katrina? Is it our lack of refining capacity? Is it demand driven by massive manufacturing in China? Who knows.

I just can't keep watching prices go up and do nothing about it, so today I held my nose a picked up a few hundred shares of Chevron, that's CVX for you home gamers. For me, Chevron is always the gas station of last resort. Their prices are almost always higher than the station across the street or around the corner. But to hedge against paying higher prices, I'm going to get me a piece of that sick petroleum action, as much as it kills me. And if gas prices come down and CVs along with it, I won't have a problem with that, but I doubt it will happen. The big petroplayers like Chevron are always quicker the fleece they public by raising prices at the pump than they are to drop prices when the a barrel of crude drops. But with the price of a barrel hovering around 70, there's a lot of padding in the system. If commodity prices continue to rise, Chevron will just pass on the costs to consumers like you me. If oil drops, that's where Chevron and Shell and Texaco and Exxon cash in because they never, ever react to lower prices of unleaded with the same knee-jerk gauging reaction.

In the meantime I'm looking into buying a hybrid next year when the fat tax credit that might have been the only good part of the "conservative" Energy Bill comes into play.

Posted by andrew at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While I was away back east to do computer training at the behest of my company, my cats (I'm not sure which one, but I have my suspicions) dragged my Chiron fleece from my desk into the living room and annointed it with their foul urine. Think they're trying to tell me something?

Posted by andrew at 11:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's amazing to walk around downtown Philadelphia and come across a sign that reads, this is where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. Don't get much stuff like that out here in California.

Posted by andrew at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is best shot (so I think) from a that I took of my little guys playing king of the hill on the kitty condo a few days ago. I love it when the cats sumo. It's mostly harmless. Mostly. But I almost never have a camera around. It usually happens so fast that If I don't have a camera in my hands when the action goes down, I miss it.

But not this time. This time I had the camera close at hand when Mak & dueled it out for supremacy on the condo. It's hard to capture cats in the middle of doing much of anything but sleeping, so I really feel lucky to have captured this action on "film".

It's not a great shot, technically speaking. I was too lazy to get of my ass and move from the couch where I was sitting to take better advantage of the light coming from the sliding glass doors. And the composition leaves a lot to be desired, but the action, well, the action doesn't get much better. If anyone ever doubts the ferocity of the Samoan Fighting Kittens, all I have to do is bust out this photo for them to behold.

Posted by andrew at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm off the Philadelphia for a week of lovely SAP portal training followed by a weekend in DC visiting my brother. Hard to believe but this will be the first time I've been on a plane in almost two years (United direct to Phily - first class). I've been around, but all my travels have been on the ground. Arizona to Southern California and back. Arizona to Vail, CO. Vail to Northern California. Northern California to Southern California a few times. Alameda to South Lake Tahoe about 20 times. Lots of driving. No flying at all.

I'm looking forward to it. For one thing I desparetely need this training. We're running the web site that I'm producing on it, and I really don't know the first thing about the manage the damn thing. Plus I've never been to Philadelphia and I while I don't think I would ever voluntarily agree to visit during the middle of the summer, I'll take it because it's on the company's dime (and I'm flying first class on the way there - coach, sadly on the way back from DC).

I don't know what my access to the Internet will be, but I should be able to post some pics here and there and maybe even catch on my lazy blogging. Time to pack. See ya.

Posted by andrew at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a shot of my sister, her husband Paris and their boy Mateo who was a champ at his baby naming yesterday. In front about 20 people gathered at my sister's place in Richmond, there was no crying, no tantrums, nothing but smiles as we witnessed him being given the now seemingly apt Hebrew name that translates to "Gift of Peace".

The little guy is really adorable, and I'm not saying that just because he's my one and only nephew. He wasn't exaclty a looker when he came into this world, but he's starting to look like a classic 50s matinee idol with that shock of dark hair and blue eyes. He looks quite a but like his dad, but those blue eyes undoubtedly come from his grandfather, who, in his neglect, failed to hand them down to me.

More photos of the baby naming on Flickr.

Posted by andrew at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Considered by many to be one of the best James Bond films ever made, this second outing moves between Venice, Istanbul and other European locales as agent 007 tries to nab a top-secret Russian decoding machine. Features the first appearance by Q (Desmond Llewelyn), a blond Robert Shaw playing a nasty heavy, and even Bond author Ian Fleming in a brief non-speaking cameo during a scene at the train station.

This is description of From Russia with Love from AMC which is showing the movie as part of it's Complete Bond series. Somehow, in all my years of watching Bond films, I never caught a screening of From Russia with Love. So it was refreshing as hell to see Sean Connery in a new setting with a new plot after seeing all the other films god knows how many times. On top of that, AMC is showing completely remastered versions in, get this, letterbox. Holy fucking shit, will wonders never cease.

Posted by andrew at 07:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I signed the papers today and on Monday, I return my status as a full- time slave to the corporate machine. Ironically, I'm making the make exact same salary I was at the time I left Electronic Arts in 2001. It's almost like the last four years never happened...

Posted by andrew at 05:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm just a bill
Yes, I'm only a bill
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee
But I know I'll be a law some day
At least I hope and pray that I will
But today I am still just a bill.

Okay, the process is a bit more complicated, but still, Schoolhouse Rock did introduce hundreds of thousands of kids to the basic innerworkings of government. Damn liberal television! Wanting kids to learn shit and stuff.

Personally, I like the Simpsons version better:

I'm an amendment-to-be
yes an amendment-to-be,
And I'm hoping that they'll ratify me.
There's a lot of flag-burners
Who have got too much freedom
I want to make it legal
For policemen to beat'em.
'Cause there's limits to our liberties
At least I hope and pray that there are
'Cause those liberal freaks go too far.

Now that we have that little piece of education behind us, take a look at how legislation actually gets passed in this article from Rolling Stone by Matt Taibii. It ain't pretty.

Here's but one juicy nugget about how your government is run under one of the most currupt regimes in the history of this country:

The Rules Committee is supposed to wait out a three-day period before sending the bill to the House, ostensibly in order to give the members a chance to read the bill. The three-day period is only supposed to be waived in case of emergency. However, the Rules Committee of DeLay and Dreier waives the three-day period as a matter of routine. This forces members of Congress to essentially cast blind yes-or-no votes to bills whose contents are likely to be an absolute mystery to them.

Thankfully, we're exporting our version of "democracy" around the globe.

Posted by andrew at 05:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by andrew at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It all started innocently enough, as these things often do. I woke up on my birthday, checked my email and came across this one from Wells Fargo:

Bank Online: It's Easy, Secure & It Pays Get $20 for Accessing Your Accounts Online* Banking online helps you control your finances more easily: NEW! Choose to receive FREE email alerts about account activity See updates of withdrawals, deposits, balances, and more Transfer money between accounts Pay your bills using Online Bill Pay1 It's easy to get started – and to get your $20 just for using your Online Banking to access your Wells Fargo accounts online – in one place, with one password: 1. Go to www.wellsfargo.com 2. Sign on to Wells Fargo Online® Banking by entering your     Username and Password under View Your Accounts 3. Do this three times from August 1, 2005 through September 30,     2005, and we'll credit $20 to your primary deposit account Plus, we guarantee that you will be covered 100% for any funds removed from your Wells Fargo accounts without your approval, while using our Online Banking service2. To get your $20, simply use Wells Fargo Online Banking to access your account three times by Sept. 30, 2005. Get started or call . We're available 24/7.

I hadn't checked my Wells Fargo account in a long time. Maybe that's why they were prodding me back into it. I don't know. Who cares, right? It doesn't take much effort to log into the site three times in a month and if they thought it was worth $20 to do so, I wasn't going to complain.

Just for some background before I continue. I had been planning to close down my Wells account last summer when I moved all my banking over to Washington Mutual. I made the change because Wells had an absurd fee structure which I didn't want to deal with any more including charging 8 bucks a month for online bill pay. Personally I think the banks ought to be paying us for using online bill pay services that saves them money, but that's another story. Banking at WAMU was completely free, including online bill bay, so it was a no brainer to make the switch.

On the day I went into the Well Fargo branch in downtown Walnut Creek, I was talking to the branch manager about my decision and he asked me if I would think about keeping the account open if they eliminated monthly service charges on the account permanently. He said they couldn't not charge me for online bill pay, but if we cancelled the service he would install a permanent fee waiver and the account would be free.

Ok. Cool. I thought, this is perfect. I can keep some cash in the account, around 200 bucks, and if I ever can't find a WAMU ATM, I can use one from Wells without having to suffer one of the abominable ATM service charges. I walked out of the bank a happy guy and didn't much think about Wells.

Skip to the 4th of August, my birthday, and this email from Wells Fargo prompting me to check to accounts online. Since this account is so insignificant, I don't even look at my monthly statements. I know this is wrong, but I can't be bothered. I just open the envelope and file the statement. So I had no idea what was going on in my account. But here's Wells, not only prompting me to check out my account, but offering to pay me to do so. Aw, the sweet irony...

So I go online and check my account. I see the money in there. Good. I dig a little deeper into the transaction history and there's a bunch of fucking monthly service charges. I nearly flipped my computer over. The only reason I keep the damn account is because it's free. And here they are, charging me. Fuck them! I fire off an email.

Hi-

Last summer I came into the Walnut Creek, CA branch to close my Wells Fargo account. I talked to the branch manager and he convinced me to keep my account open by assuring me that my account would be free and there would be no monthly fees for as long as I kept it open.

This morning, I logged into my account my to see that an 8 dollar monthly service fee has been levied for the last two months. Please reverse theses fees and assure me that I will never be charged them again or I will shut down this account and you lose me as a customer.

thanks,

Andrew

Pretty straight forward, right? An explanation of the problem. A simple remedy. And consequences should said remedy not be applied.

A few hours later, I get a response from Jacque Goutchier at Wells Fargo Online Customer Service. For some reason, Wells can't just simply email you a response. They email you a response saying that you have a response. You have to log into your account to read it. Which is pretty funny to me because they just earlier sent me an email prompting me to log into my account three times ("To get your $20, simply use Wells Fargo Online Banking to access your account three times by Sept. 30, 2005") and here it's only the 4th of August, and I'm on log on number two. Anyway, Mr. Gouthier replies:

Dear Andrew Hecht:

In response to your inquiry about Wells Fargo Custom Checking, the account will remain free of monthly service charges if one or more of the following applies:

*Receive a single qualifying electronic Direct Deposit of $100.00 or more per month.
*Maintain a minimum daily balance of $1,000.00.
*Receive a Direct Debit from a qualifying Wells Fargo loan within 60 days of account opening and at least once every 90 days.
*Have a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage or Home Equity Line of Credit payment with a monthly automatic deduction from your account.

If the account does not meet these qualifications, then a monthly fee of $8.00 will be charged.

To see if there is a Wells Fargo account that may better meet your needs go to http://www.wellsfargo.com or call to speak with a banker. Bankers are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

After reviewing your account, we found that your account did not meet the qualifications to waive the monthly service fee. Therefore, these fees will not be refunded.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please email us through a secured banking session or call us at to speak with a banker. Bankers are available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition, when your account was opened, a fee disclosure statement was provided as part of your new account opening kit. To make certain that all of your questions are answered, I have sent you a copy of the disclosure covering your account. Please allow 10 business days for delivery.

Thank you for banking with Wells Fargo.

Basically he whipped his dick out and slapped me in the face with it. Not only are we not going to refund the fees we levied, but, if I don't make changes to my account, they are going to continue to charge me eight bucks a month until my account cannibalizes itself and I won't have to bother shutting down because it won't exist. This is what passes for customer service at Wells these days.

Mr. Goutchier,

This wasn't what I was lead to believe when the branch manager of the Walnut Creek, CA branch convinced me to not close my account. He said there would be no fees whatsoever. I asked him if there were any requirements to maintain that status. He said no.

From the summer of 2005 when this commitment was made to me until the last few months, Wells Fargo lived up to the commitment and no monthly service charges were made to account while it did not live up the requirements you outline in your response. Clearly something has changed. And the fact that Wells Fargo would resume charging monthly fees against my account without informing me and for no reason is completely underhanded and not the type of customer service I've come to expect from Wells Fargo. (n.b. This is a lie. This is exactly the type of customer service I've come to expect from this piddling bank).

I expect you to live up to the commitment. I also expect you to refund all the monthly service charges that have been levied against my account.

thank you,

Andrew

Would this do the trick? Of course not. I would have to wade through the cesspool of another layer of entrenched moronic "customer service" in order to get what I wanted.

Dear Andrew Hecht:

We are sorry that you did not receive the service you deserve and expect from Wells Fargo. We constantly strive to provide you with the highest level of customer service.

I have researched your inquiry about your monthly service fee. It appears that the branch had placed a temporary waiver on your monthly service fee. This waiver has expired and the monthly service fee began being charged to your account again on June 13, 2005.

Although we show that the monthly service fees were correctly applied, we value your business, and in this case, have reimbursed your account for $16.00. You will see this adjustment on your account within 2 business days.

Online Customer Service is unable to add a permanent fee waiver to your account. Please visit your local branch, to speak with a Personal Banking Officer or Branch Manager about a permanent fee waiver.

We appreciate your business and thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us.

Sincerely,
Amy Johnson

Ok. Now. At least we're getting somewhere. I'm halfway home. Fees will be reversed. But if I want a permanent fees waiver. I actually have to go to a branch. The reason Ms. Johnson gives is that these neutered folks at Online Customer Service don't have the power to make the adjustment. What a load of crap. They have the power to levy the fees. And they have the power to piss on my leg and tell me I'm full of shit. Time to stop fooling around.

Thank you for making the adjustment to my account. However I assure you that the regardless of your inquiry, I was promised a permanent fee waiver, as you call it. I only kept the account open because of this promise. Why would I maintain an account with around a $200 balance if it was going to be cannibalized by monthly fees? It's absurd.

It is an incredible imposition for me even to have to deal with and respond to your emails regarding this egregious customer service error, to put it mildly. I'm not going into the branch in Walnut Creek or any branch anywhere to discuss this with anyone. This is the last email I will write about this subject. I suggest that if you want to keep me as customer that you will find someone who can make the fee waiver permanent and that person will send me documentation to assure me that the fee waiver will be permanent. Because the next time I step into a Wells Fargo Branch it will not be to discuss the vagaries of your fee schedule or your pathetic customer service, but to close my account and never return to Wells Fargo.

Good day. I said GOOD DAY.

Dear Andrew Hecht:

I apologize for the poor level of customer service that you have received as a customer of Wells Fargo. This is not the type of service that you deserve. I have placed a permanent fee waiver onto your Custom Checking account so that, going forward, no future monthly service fees will be deducted from your account. The permanent fee waiver is in effect as of today, 08/06/2005.

Again, I apologize for the frustration that you have encountered and hope that you will reconsider your decision to leave Wells Fargo.

I appreciate your business and thank you for banking with Wells Fargo.

Sincerely,
Michael Farragut
Wells Fargo
Online Customer Service

See, if you press hard enough, you'll eventually get what you want. But why the fuck should I have to waste any energy dealing with Mr. Farragut, Mr. Gouthier, or that lying sack of shit, Amy Johnson? I shouldn't. This is a complete and utter waste of my time for an account that is almost next to meaningless to me.

Ironically, because of this farcical exchange, Wells Fargo now owes me $20 for accessing my online account 3 times before September 20th. What a bunch of fucktards.

Posted by andrew at 08:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I probably think about retirement more than I should. I'm not in any hurry to grow old and grey but I am looking forward to not working while I travel around the country and the world. Since travel ain't cheap, it's time to get my finances (back) in order while I still have a 30 year investment horizon.

Since I graduated college, my work experience has been, well, sporadic. A year here. A year there. A year in the Peace Corps. And lots and lots of traveling. I've enjoyed it. But it really does put a hole in your retirement planning when you're globetrotting and not working and spending and not saving or investing. Time for that change.

That said, I'm probably in better shape than many of my peers. I have a decent sized 401K from my years at Electronic Arts, distributed across a bunch of mutual funds which I just rebalanced. I have a Roth IRA. I have a traditional IRA. I have DRIPs with a few individual stocks and am looking to starting a few more. I have a large discretionary investment account with Scottrade that's doing quite well, up over 30% for the year thank you very much, and I actually have a large and growing savings account.

Well it's time to start putting that savings to work in the market. Since the interest rate at WAMU and every other bank for that matter can't even outpace inflation, I'm actually losing money by keeping it parked in my savings account. Time for those greenbacks to go to work for me.

Here's the thing: there are so many investment options it's hard to know what to do. I have a good idea, but I'm no financial planner. I got started this morning opening a few Roth IRA accounts with a couple of mutual funds recommended by my old friend Michael, who produces TV shows for a living, but could easily pack it in and become a market analyst. I started a small DRIP (dividend reinvestment plan) with an energy company called Piedmont Natural Gas (PNY) that offers a modest 3% dividend, but also re-invests those same dividends at a 3% discount, not a gigantic return but a nice ancillary benefit along with the dollar cost averaging of investing the same amount every month, 25 or 50 bucks or so, I still haven't decided. There's still more work to do.

I'm not rolling in dough, but since houses around these parts are outrageous and I rent, I don't have a massive mortgage sucking the wind out of my paycheck. Even though I'd love to have my own house, I don't mind living in an apartment and investing my disposable income in the market.

The big question is where can I put my money to get the best return? Mutual Funds or ETFs? Stocks? Bonds? Gold? Euros? Foreign or Domestic? Targeted or Diversified? Traditional or Technology?

I've been asking friends and colleagues for advice. Getting some good advice here and there. I’d like to hear what the good folks out in internetland have to say. Anyone have some any investment advice?

Posted by andrew at 07:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Stern Grove. I have lived in the Bay Area for most of the last 17 years and until this weekend I had never heard of Stern Grove. Either I'm completely oblivious and I have no idea what's going on around me or there's so much going it's hard to keep track of everything.

The odd thing is I had driven by the grove dozens of times over the years. It's a stand of tall eucalyptus trees in the southwestern corner of San Francisco right off 19th Avenue, the main thoroughfare into the city from the south, one that I used to take whenever I drove up to town from Santa Cruz and Burlingame. I can remember seeing banners hanging there in the trees promoting some event or another, but I never paid much attention, probably because I was too anxious or excited to get to the city to pay attention to what the trees were saying.

On Sunday Jennifer and I went to see some opera music at Stern Grove featuring mezzo-sopranoDenyce Graves who was a last minute replacement for Carol Vaness. But, damn, she was impressive.

The concert started around 2pm, but we arrived at noon to get a decent spot to sit, eat lunch and watch the music. Even two hours before the concert, the place was packed. All the tables and chairs were spoken for. People laid out blankets all across the terraced grass and the granite steps. We had to climb up the hill above most of the spectators to find a seat just beyond last stone wall. We threw down some blankets and settled in, enjoying a leisurely picnic while we waited for the program to start.

I was responsible for all the food and drink. Here's what we had:

lunch
proscuitto and brie sandwiches on french bread
fresh mozzarella with sun dried tomatoes and basil
blue corn tortilla chips with southwestern salsa

dessert
ritter sport chocolate with hazelnuts
trader joe's peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

drink
spanish tempranillo garnacha
organic limeade

I drank most of the wine. By the time the show started, I was feeling pretty damn good laying back on our blankets on a perfect little incline. It was a typical overcast, foggy SF day. The sun was trying to break through the thick marine layer, but without much success. A nice breeze was blowing across from the Pacific through the grove, moving in and out of the massive eucalyptus trees that surrounded the stage and the audience.

A series of people came to the mic to make one announcement or another and then the emcee introduced Denyce Graves who came sweeping onto to the stage in this elaborate red dress fluttering in the wind. As soon as she started belting out arias from Carmen, I knew this was going to be a great performance.

For about two hours we just soaked up the music from an impressive program of opera and musical classics alternately between Graves, baritone Rod Gilrey, who was surprisingly good, and a few other random opera performers. It's really hard to imagine a more blissful way to spend an afternoon than to be serenaded by a world renowned opera performer backed by the San Francisco Opera orchestra in the middle of a gently swaying eucalyptus grove.

Posted by andrew at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My posts have been very sporadic as of late. I don't know why, but I'm finding it harder and harder to sit down and write for this blog. I think about what I want to write all the time, but when it comes down to sitting in front of the computer and actually writing, even though I have tons and tons of time to do it, I just don't have the energy or whatever it is. Just looking over recent post history, there were fewer combined entries for the last two months than the previous one. I just looked again and I noticed that I write exactly 20 posts in June and 17 in July for each of the last two years. Totally unplanned. Must be some sort of a summer slump.

Posted by andrew at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My birthday is coming up later this week. My manager is giving me the day off. Now I just need to figure out what I'm going do.

Posted by andrew at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)