Thanks JZ!

I had to set up a funds transfer through BofA, to Russia

I'm not worried about the difficulty. I don't want to give my account information to someone I don't know. My sister knows her, but I don't really care. My father is pretty adept at transferring money to me (har, not recently). But we both agree to eat the costs whenever that happens, and I trust him with my deets.

They want to avoid the cost of traveller's cheques, and getting a Jamaican bank to cash a Swiss cheques...just, irritating. No one has paypal, for aforementioned irritating.

So, I know some banks let you set up temporary credit cards to limit exposure--I was wondering about something along those lines of protection.

Had a raised voices argument with LA Yellow Cab. I used them because my wonderful app lets me book through them without speaking to anyone. Best case.

Last week, the cabbie went to the main entrance of the hospital, despite me specifying both ER and the correct street where the entry is in the notes. The app lets you see where the car is, so once it had been sitting in the wrong place 5 minutes, and I'd gotten the text and the call saying they were there, I called the company back, and told them their guy was in the wrong place.

"No, he's not. Just wait."

What actually ended up happening was the original cabbie left because there was no client, and they had to call a new one.

Same shit this week--I call, and they say, wait, on their way, yadda yadda.

I asked to be escalated, and the guy I was escalated to told me that I'd ordered the cab on my account for 8:30 at 8:25, so of course they weren't there yet-- the fuck? I got the call saying the cab was ready at 8:13, and I waited until 8:18 to start calling and complaining...and I don't have an account...

Then the cab showed up, and he hung up.

I asked the driver if he'd initially been in the wrong place, and he said yes--the guys had redirected him (I peeked over at the screen, and the notes to the ER were visible) to the ER.

I called back when I got home to tell them that they were wrong, and the supervisor was pretty testy with me. Told me I wasn't supposed to call--the cabbies would call when they couldn't find the customer. I said, "Look, last week when this happened, the cab just left, and I had to call another one...the dispatcher didn't notice he was in the wrong place either."

I ask him what I'm supposed to do next week if it happens again. Wait until the cabbie called it in, he said. So I ask--why does everyone tell me I'm wrong when I call in? He rattled off the number of customer service and hung up on me.

Thanks, Tim, of LA Yellow Cab--you're really great. I will take the customer service number and call Tuesday morning, and then sadly go back to using a cab company where I have to speak to someone to order a cab, but at least, less fighting.

And, man, if they only had *1* wrong pickup location that they go to, I could just wait for them there. But they have two wrong locations, so I can't predict shit.

Okay, I just went to comparison shop online for Rooibos--I went to the other store in the mall, you know, the one that's cheaper than Teavana?

I think I broke my maths. The rooibos blend from Teavana that I like, Rooibos Tropica ("a paradise of peach pieces, strawberry bits and rhubarb") is $11.60 for 4oz. Lupicia, where I went yesterday, has a very tasty Rooibos Jardin Sauvage going for $14.00 for 3.52oz. And that's the cheapest rooibos blend Lupicia sells. Lordy lord.

I'm also comparing Upton and Adagio--Upton on Scola's rec, and Adagio because it's fandom's hot new thing--not only do they have a fantea section of their site, but when you search for them, their SEO means that Sherlock teas are right there in the google results page in the domain listing.

Upton's Praetoria blend has hibiscus, rose, (continued...)

( continues...) marigold and other florals. It's more like the Vie En Rose I also got from Lupicia, it seems. Upton's selling it for $5.28/100g ($6.60/125g), and Lupicia is $14 for the same amount. Good lord.

And Adagio is about half Lupicia's prices for similar looking blends.

I can't believe I walked right into that.

On the other hand...this rooibos jardin sauvage is fucking delicious.

ita, I understand that Twitter is a good place to go for customer service problems. If you can call out the cab company in public, you might get a better response from them.

Connie,

there has to be a revenue for the states. getting my birth certificate was so expensive (and a passport to boot). these fees are going somewhere.

Oh lord that's pricey tea, yet still cheaper than my visits to Coffee Bean.

OHMYGOD! Yesterday, I walked to the CB on Wilshire and 8th, so it's close-ish to the beach. There were two couples there together, with an adorable kid in a stroller. ALL of them were inside in line, with their beach chairs, one of which was the kind that you can wear as a backpack.

And yet, only one person ordered (incorrectly fwiw). WTF? It's beautiful. Go wait outside on the patio because they are taking all the space.

Also, that CB has a frozen yogurt bar? What?

I will just say we have the feliway diffuser and Oz still pees. But it does seem to calm him otherwise.

Yeah, it's not effective for all cats. I wonder if using the spray for spot-shotting an area has a different effect than a diffuse application?

They want to avoid the cost of traveller's cheques, and getting a Jamaican bank to cash a Swiss cheques...just, irritating. No one has paypal, for aforementioned irritating.

This sounds like a hell no situation. Alo, who even uses travelers checks anymore? If she doesn't have a debit or credit card, you can get those prepay ones all over the place

You might be able to get a Visa gift card that works like a credit card. That is what we do for designers at the theatre instead of petty cash.

I am trying to decide if I grew up in some sort of lower class liberal bubble or if things have really changed so much. It seems to me, as a child of the70's, that it was clear that"the man" was to be fought, that unions were good, that Archie Bunker was to be pitied, that wars were bad (mash), that equality was good. I know I was raised in that weird place where libertarianism met socialism, but I even feel that the pop culture shows espoused this idea, and even my social studies classes posited reform as good, from the Protestant reformation to the Ladies Garment Workers Union.

I also used to have Santa Claus Dad. Now, he is more like the Grinch.