The other day I was shocked to discover that the interest rate on my Citibank MasterCard was 17.5%. I called Citibank and asked the customer service representative why I had a worse interest rate than some people who never pay their bills and file bankruptcy (probably a slight exaggeration). His response was that my card was tied to the Prime Rate and had risen as that rate rose over the last year.
We both knew that was bullshit.
However, he said, because I was such a valued customer and had been with Citibank for so many years, he was prepared to offer me either 8.99% non-variable or 1.9% for 6 months followed by 11% variable. I opted for the 8.99%. Stability is good.
Now you might think I’d be excited about cutting the interest rate in half. Of course, it’s nice.
But if I were really such a valuable customer, why have they been shafting me all this time?
29 October, 2005
Technology
Anna wants me to get a cell phone so that she can keep track of my movements contact me in an emergency. Like a good husband, I agree to this request, but I stipulate that I want a phone that will sync with my Mac.
Apple lists quite a few phones on their iSync compatibility page, however, I’m having trouble actually finding one to buy.
I don’t really have strong feelings about which provider I choose — any one of Cingular, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon will probably be just fine. But none of their Web sites have a filter category for iSync compatible phones. For example, on the Cingular Web site, I can filter on Bluetooth support — and my understanding is Bluetooth support is pretty much required for iSync support.
I also don’t really want a flip phone. I just don’t like `em. That leaves only one phone from Cingular: the Audiovox SMT 5600, which runs Windows for Cellphones. Even if it were compatible with iSync, I’m not running Windows on my phone. For gods sake, I want to be able to make a call not fume at a blue screen of death.
Verizon offers several non-flip phones with bluetooth: Kyocera and Motorola walky-talky phones and a Nokia 2128i. None of which is compatible with iSync.
Sprint basically doesn’t offer any non-flip phones and won’t let me filter by bluetooth support anyway. T-Mobile offers 2 phones with bluetooth (and three BlackBerries).
I give up. It’s really impressive that Apple boasts so many iSync compatible phones. I just can’t seem to buy one.
We’re deep in the throws of releasing a new product. And I’m the guy building the user interface. While that’s fun, our rather over-ambitious schedule — delivering frozen code by 11 November — means I’ve had to crank out massive UI goodness in minimal time.
This includes a complete framework for building user interfaces in our product — which otherwise has no visible front-end. Just a little challenging.
As a result, I haven’t had time for pleasantries: calling friends, being nice to my pregnant wife, and taking poor, long suffering Augustus for walks.
Thank gods the weekend is coming. Augustus will get his walk after all!
