This was supposed to be part II of my rant against the current state of customer service in California.  I wanted to share with you some sweet tips for saving money and getting the service you deserve.  Part of my rise to guru status was the new and FREE wireless router I got from AT&T.  However, my step by step guide to getting what you want, when you want fell apart when said router failed to meet minimum operating standards.  The big issue: it doesn’t connect to the server.  (In case you are wondering, yes, it is a Gateway 2Wire.)  I will put my proven methods to the test once more and be back in two weeks with my foolproof method for getting the customer service you deserve. Until then, I will ask you for your thoughts on something I’ve been ruminating on for the past few months and that’s memories.  We all have them.  If you’re following the beating of Brian Stow story then you know how unreliable eyewitness testimony of a crime is.  But, what about simply being an eyewitness to an event that only holds significance for you and you alone? I ask this because this past weekend my wife and I took our son to a Huntington Library Members event.  The event included live music and the option of picnicking on their lavish grounds during sunset after regular hours.  It was beautiful, but that’s not what I’m going to remember. My wife, mother-in-law, and I set a blanket down and had fruit, sandwiches, chips, and cold pasta salad, unfortunately forgetting the wine and dessert at home.  My blue-eyed, blonde-haired son grabbed a peeled banana, one of his favorite fruits, and simply walked away.  After about ten feet he dropped his...

Fiercely Anticipating Please, tell me its going to happen soon – the end of the NBA Lockout. No, not football, the NFL season is firmly in place, not that I care. What I care about is basketball, specifically basketball playoffs. I love a good playoff series. However, to have a good playoff series, you must have a good season and so far it seems the NBA 2011-2012 Basketball Season is likely to be cancelled. Trouble started right after the end of last season in June. Despite a good revenue year for basketball, the NBA lost about $300 to $500 million for the season. The owners are howling. Renegotiating the contract between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) David Stern, NBA Commissioner, and Billy Hunter, NBPA Executive Director, laid out competing positions. Neither has moved in more than a month. The NBA has filed a legal complaint claiming that the players aren’t negotiating in good faith. The players are starting to look around for overseas contracts to fill in their apparently inevitable “gap year”. FIBA – the world governing body for basketball has decided that it will allow NBA players to choose an international FIBA team to play for during the lock-out, but only during the lockout. A number of NBA players, from lesser known to superstars including Boston Celtics E’Twaun Moore and the Laker’s Kobe Bryant – are interested. This doesn’t give me a good play-off season to look forward to however. While I sometimes enjoy games during the season, by the playoffs, basketball has become an aggressive interplay of strong, assertive players, sneaky moves, and astonishing throws and catches – what’s not to like? Now that I’ve got you riled up, you can track the developments here:...