Dell xps m1330 Exchange

although i was quite pleased with my last xps m1330 last month, i wanted one with the lighter led screen (normally $150 more). i returned my last computer and ordered one with the similar price and stats (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache), 120 gb hard drive, 2 gb sdram) as the old computer but with the led screen. i received the computer last friday and the led screen did not work. i called dell customer service immediately for an exchange. the new exchange arrived today and i am quite pleased with it. not only did the exchanged computer arrive quickly (only 4 days), the stats are much better (Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache, 250 gb hard drive, 3 gb sdram) plus the 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M video card was included as well as a bluetooth travel mouse. very nice of dell to upgrade.

Sending a cell phone text message from an email address

American Airline has a 'flight notification service' on their website of any of American's flight departure/arrival information and gate information by sending a text or voicemail to your cell phone 2-4 hours prior. very convenient service. i set up my iphone to receive the text messages. flight for someone i took to the airport was at 5:30pm. i received a text 2 hours prior with gate number and flight status on time. 35 minutes later (i had just arrived at the airport), i received another text message with delayed flight notification of 1.5 hours. i wish we had been notified sooner of the flight delay.

of course, you can send a text message to a cell phone from any email address:

Cingular: phonenumber@txt.att.net
T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com

the cell phone can reply back to your email address as well, rather than a cell phone number. how wonderful.

Filing Federal Taxes Free

i did my taxes over the weekend. i had previously used turbo tax, but they wanted to charge me $49 since i had to use the schedule d (capital gains/losses) form. turbo tax online has a selection titled "start for free" but by the time you end up entering all your information, it is likely that it is not free unless you are filing the 1040 EZ. i actually filed my federal taxes this year for FREE through taxact (www.taxact.com). taxact also has deluxe versions and you can file both federal and state for $17.95. i found it similar to turbotax and calculations for my taxes were exactly the same. perhaps for more complicated taxes, it is best to choose turbotax. i really don't know since my taxes aren't too complicated. i chose to do only federal for free using taxact and filed the california state tax forms myself (which only took me 10 minutes to fill out the 540A Form), so i didn't spend a dime.

Ross Dress for Less

in hopes of finding 2 similar outdoor chairs that i purchased from ross last year, i decided to stop yesterday after seeing their advertised commercial for "outdoor event" happening now. sunday is not a good time to go or any weekend for that matter. all the times i've been there on the weekends, i have had the same experience. it is similar to a playground. parents tend to think it's ok for their children to run around (some even unattended) playing with items that ross sells. yesterday i had the pleasant experience of hearing a small child consistently bouncing a basketball with his sibling. the store was a mess by the time i arrived late afternoon so i usually try to go early morning when the store is most organized. the checkout lines are ridiculous which is another reason to avoid ross on the weekend. other than that, ross is a great place to get really good deals for clothes, outdoor, kitchen, shoes, luggage and bath. stock changes constantly so what you see and decide not to buy probably won't be there next time. i did buy one nine west bag yesterday for $25 (orig. $69).

Hurry Curry of Tokyo on Sawtelle

Reasonable priced curry/japanese spaghetti. Dishes only $8-11. i knew i should have gotten the curry. instead i got a spaghetti dish called tarako ika described as 'the finest cod roe sauteed with calamari, lightly tossed in noodles garnished with nori'. i actually didn't know what to expect. a pink pasta arrived with generous amounts of white cod roe stuck to every inch of pasta. squid garnishings mixed together also. strange texture on my mouth after, although the pasta itself wasn't to greasy. i ate it all but i probably would not order it again, nor would i recommend it.

on Sawtelle (near olympic). another one in pasadena on fair oaks (near colorado).

FIDM Scholarship Store - 9th and Grand

After a long hiatus, I thought I'd stop by the FIDM store, since I used to purchase lots of fabric inexpensively here. Clothing/fabric is donated (all new) by certain companies. All types including damaged clothing, samples or over inventory. This place has a lot of tadashi evening type dresses (I personally had never heard of him) and Reference/Forever 21 donated clothes. Sizes are limited. Small selection of clothing/bags/costume jewelry/shoes You have to look hard to find something you like and something that fits, but it is worthwhile if you do find something you like. Damaged clothing was only $1 for tops and $2.50 for bottoms. Most other clothes were an additional 50% off ranging from $10-$30. Plus i saw a selection of very formal wedding gowns also an additional 50% off prices ranging from $100-$150 (some slightly dirty - i didn't look too hard so i don't know what the sizes were). A $50-$75 new wedding dress is unheard of these days, if you can find your size there. i purchased 9 yards of fabric at $1/yard yesterday. i certainly would not recommend the store for clothing/shoes or bags, but fabric deals are great. forever 21 regular clothing at the store is so cheap anyway, how much would you possibly need to save? especially for "not so perfect" new clothing?

Mirage Hotel Las Vegas Review Cont'd - 100% Refund of my 1 night stay

After a lengthy letter to the Director of Hotel Operations at the Mirage listing all my complaints about my 1 night hotel stay at the Mirage, I spoke with the Director's assistant earlier this week. She had gotten approval from the manager to credit back 100% of my stay. Yes!! She had given me the option to get a future night stay at no cost or credit back my previous stay and of course, i chose the latter. i'm still confused about the receipt i received in the mail the week before i spoke to the assistant. it was a Mirage T statement that stated the deposit of $206.01 on one side and a credit on the other side of $206.01. i had thought mirage already credited my credit card but had not received a credit on my statement in over a week, so i contacted the mirage and they put me through to the Director's assistant. i don't believe it, but she said that they had just received my letter that same day i called (i had sent it over 2.5 weeks prior). she told me she would make it a priority. 4 hours later, she called me to tell me the good news about the refund. she apologized and was so courteous saying 'she hopes i will stay at the mirage again'.

i know mirage is remodeling but i had more of a motel 6 experience, with the very outdated and dirty room, broken faucet, sagging old bed and bad customer service. it was unacceptable to me given there are so many other better, newer choices on the lv strip. i had not stayed in a room outdated like that in recent years. it was more of a 2 star hotel. i should not have to complain about the room assigned to me before getting a better room. too bad they just didn't assign me originally to an updated room.
__________________________________________________________
response letter from mirage

Dear customer:

Thank you for taking the time to write a letter and contacting my office regarding your recent stay at The Mirage. Our guest comments are important to us and we appreciate your valuable feedback.

On behalf of the mirage, please accept my apologies for the disappointment and inconveniences you experienced with check-in, problems with your guest room, and billing issues after check out. i have forwarded your comments to the appropriate departments for their immediate review.

guest rooms are currently being remodeled....although this remodel is planned, it certainly doesn't excuse the poor condition of the room you recently stayed in. we have issued a 100% credit to your credit card.

we hope to regain your patronage and are confident that your next visit at the mirage will be nothing less than enjoyable and memorable-exactly what you should expect when staying with us. thank you for giving us the opportunity to address your concerns.

sincerely,

Exec Dir of Hotel Operations
cc: director of engineering, director of front office, accounts receivable manager, front office manager

mirage seems strangely behind in updating rooms, especially with all the competition of new /newly remodeled hotels on the strip. the response letter included a pamphlet of the remodeled rooms (completed by march 2008) at mirage which will include 42" lcd tvs, ihome ipod docks, sealy pillow top mattresses, feather pillows, media hub , neutral color palettes.

i hardly would consider feather pillows an upgrade. i prefer down since the end of the feathers sometimes stick out and poke at your head. the most important upgrades to me would mostly be the pillow-top bed and lcd tv.