All articles filed in Man Bites Dog

God almighty, I hate cold calls from companies.  If I don’t recognize their phone number, I send them directly to voicemail. But earlier today, I received a phone call from “Jeff” at the Goldstein Auto Group, asking if I was aware that my car’s inspection was overdue and if I could bring it in to…

I get it.  Restaurant workers earn tips for their hard work.  And if someone works hard and brings you your food, you should tip them.  How much you tip them is your choice, of course. Then again, this happened yesterday on my way home. I really didn’t feel like cooking – actually, lately I haven’t…

There are people who swear by the social media site LinkedIn. I am not one of those people. Yes, I have a LinkedIn profile.  I haven’t updated it in ages.  I don’t care.  It’s done nothing for me. Oh wait, I should clarify that.  It’s brought me plenty of spam. Spam from people who want…

My regular blog readers will know that I detest robocalls, spambots, telemarketers and cold call swindlers.  I detest them with the same loathing and hatred shared only by those who are dragged to a Smash Mouth / Nickelback concert tour. That’s why I’m excited to hear that Bill H.R. 3375 – the “Stop Bad Robocalls…

“Planned obsolescence” is a term from the 1960’s, it means that a product will have a finite amount of time before it breaks down or stops working.  And this will occur at the worst possible time.  Because it does.  It just does. Case in point. I have my iPod Classic connected to my 2013 Chevrolet…

As you know, I do NOT operate on the theory of “just good enough.” And while I’m working on an art project for Competition Season 2019, I don’t want anything delaying my progress. I shall explain. I’m currently working on the second of two latch hook rug projects.  The first one, which you see on…

So at around 5:00 last night, I was working on a couple of projects – just a crafting thing, mind you – and waiting for a basketball game to stream online. Then the lights went out.  Poof. Darkness. Wait a second.  I paid my light bill.  I ALWAYS pay my light bill.  What’s happening here?…

My morning routine involves waking up (yawn), writing this blog, taking a shower, getting dressed, making breakfast, and then driving from the Town and Village to Downtown Albany.  That’s a short ten to fifteen minute drive, depending on traffic, along Interstate 787. Yesterday, we had the first significant snowfall in the area, and my 15-minute…

As you know, I’ve been battling an increase in telephone solicitation calls, including scammers, spammers and slammers.  They use spoofed phone numbers to trick people into thinking it’s a local call, or they wait until you answer and then they hang up, which confirms that you’re a real person and would like oodles of cold…