I’m just sick of everything. You name it, I’m sick of it. If there is one particular thing that I am sick of, though, it is PEOPLE.

Today, I had my windshield broken by a rock thrown from a semi. I was going 50, as was he, and about a dozen rocks literally flew off the back of his truck. One of them hit my windshield directly in front of my face, causing a nickel-sized crack that has since spidered out to about 6″ across.

So now I’m going to have to spend nearly $250 do get a new windshield, all because some trucker decided not to check his truck for debris before getting on the road. Prick.

I memorized the USDOT number and called the company. I spoke with “Larry” who said I needed to talke to the manager, “Larry.” Yeah right. He said that they have tons of trucks, and that without the license plate number, I was basically out of luck.

I tracked down his insurance company using the USDOT number and filed a claim with them, but I’m not expecting anything at all.

Of course, this all comes on the heels of my last accident. When I say it was “my accident,” that is only because I own the car. I was not driving, and the car was not moving. It was parked. Some ass hit my car in the middle of the night, and then just drove away. It cost me $250 and about 4 weeks of non-stop daily fighting with my insurance company to get it repaired properly. It took 3 different repairs to get it done, and it still isn’t right. I’ve just given up. My fuel door no longer has a spring and flops in the breeze. My trunk trim is falling off because, after the second repair of the trunk trim, it was not repaired properly. I’ve just given up.

And, add this into the fact that my car has been hit twice before, NEVER while moving. The time previous was a drunk driver with no license, registration, insurance, or brakes. The one before it I was stopped when a dumb girl talking on the phone rear-ended me at 35mph without any attempt to stop at all, pushing me into the stopped vehicle in front of me. Substandard insurance; they offered me 55% of the damages, which totalled nearly $6k. The idiot girl was talking on her cell phone, surprise surprise.

So, let’s wrap it up.

Since I’ve owned my car:
3 accidents total
0 while the vehicle was moving
0 my fault
1 while vehicle actually being driven
3 claims against my own insurance
$1,250 in deductible payments

Since I’ve lived in Savannah:
2 accidents
0 while the vehicle was moving
0 my fault
0 while vehicle actually being driven
2 claims against my own insurance
$750 in deductible payments

1 destroyed windshield
1 identity theft and drained bank account

And to top it off, the stupid citizens of Savannah voted yesterday to increase our sales taxes by 2% so that our failing education system can continue to fail, but at more expense to the tax payers, and increasing our sales tax by 33%.

Seriously. What is wrong with people? How do so many people make it so long in life without being hit by a bus or fried while making toast in the shower?

I’m at the point that I do not give anyone the benefit of the doubt. My first impression of a person is that they are a liar looking to improve their own situation first and foremost. I haven’t been proven wrong yet.

And hell, I don’t even hold the door for people anymore. I used to have a nice big smile as I held the door for the person behind me, figuring it is the least I can do. But not anymore. NOBODY says thank you. Well, if I held the door for you, you say thank you. I just don’t hold doors anymore.

I’m done doing nice things for people. Until people give me a reason to do something nice for them, they are on their own.

Mike

United States Code Title 4 Chapter 1 — The Flag
§3. Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag

Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court.

Put simply: Hey– you– have some respect for the FLAG and do not WALK ON IT.

Oh well, at least he stopped autographing flags.

I’ll tell you right now, tennis is the next soccer.

No, I’m not talking about the advent of a new class of wide-bottomed prozac-in-solution tennis moms. I’m not saying that the rules of tennis will be altered to ridiculously disallow the use of the most dextrous part of the body. Nor am I implying that the tennis gods will come up with a way to incread the number of tied matches after somehow figuring out a way to remove the likelihood that either players actually score.

What I mean is that tennis, much like the world cup of several months ago, is going to be crammed down our throats via constant unearned media coverage.

The attempt will be made to somehow make every non-tennis fan feel inadequate for not paying attention to the adults playing kids games for inappropriately-large sums of money. And for some, it will work.

Not me, though. I see tennis for what it is: a sport I do not wish to watch.

First soccer. Now tennis. Up next, either cricket or rugby. Or maybe some hurling. Hurling is good.

Mike

Well, I am truly disappointed in Parker’s Market in Savannah, and in particular Greg Parker, the owner.

I have been a steady customer there for about four years now, spending an average of $30 to $50 per week at their store. Add it up and we’re looking at roughly $6,240.

Today I went in to make a purchase. My items came up to about $3.50. I was then told that I would have to purchase another $1.50 in goods in order to break the $5 minimum Visa purchase requirement instated yesterday by the store.

Now, I know for a fact that this is not permitted under any Visa Merchant Agreements. There is no question in the matter. I ask for the manager.

I am surprised to get the owner himself, Mr. Greg Parker. How this guy became a success, I have no clue.

I informed Mr. Parker that Visa did not allow minimum purchases. He said I was wrong. I said I was right. Obviously we disagreed.

He offered many times to explain how Visas work– how he is charged a transaction fee as well as a percentage. I knew all of this already, and told him that frankly I did not care how much Visa charged him. I explained that he has chosen to accept Visa, and that he has chosen a public-facing business. He must now conduct business according to the agreements he has made.

He did not like that, insisting that if I did not care about his profitability that I was not welcome to shop at his stores.

Obviously, I will not shop at his stores. But, I will file a complaint with Visa because, after all, I am right (per usual):

Source: http://www.corporate.visa.com/ut/faq.jsp?src=home

Can merchants set a minimum purchase or charge a fee for using my Visa card?

Visa has certain regulations that all merchants that accept Visa cards must follow. One of those rules is that Visa merchants are not permitted to establish minimum transaction amounts, even on sale items.

If you run into a problem like this with a merchant, please notify your Visa card-issuing bank. Visa member banks have access to the appropriate Visa rules and regulations as well as to the Notification of Customer Complaint forms which should be used by the bank to document and file merchant complaints.

Looking into the matter further, I find that not only are they violating Visa’s Merchant Agreement, but they are also in violation of state law. See, Parker’s Market in Savannah prints your full name, credit card number, and expiration date on your receipt.

This is illegal. Parker’s Market in Savannah is breaking the law by printing more than five digits of a credit card number on customer receipts, and Parker’s Market in Savannah is also breaking the law by printing credit card expiration numbers on customer receipts.

The law that Parker’s Market in Savannah is breaking:

Source: http://www.legis.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/gl_codes_detail.pl?code=10-15-3

10-15-3.
(a) A merchant who accepts a payment card for the transaction of business shall not print more than five digits of the payment card´s account number or print the payment card´s expiration date on a receipt provided to the cardholder. This subsection applies only to receipts described in subsection (b) of this Code section and does not apply to a transaction in which the sole means of recording the payment card´s account number or expiration date is by handwriting or by an imprint or copy of the payment card.
(b)(1) Effective July 1, 2004, subsection (a) of this Code section applies to receipts that are electronically transferred by a payment card processor and printed using a cash register or other machine or device that is first used on or after July 1, 2004.
(2) Effective July 1, 2006, subsection (a) of this Code section applies to all receipts that are electronically transferred by a payment card processor and printed, including those printed using a cash register or other machine or device that is first used before July 1, 2004.

So, Mr. Parker, it’s time for me to start writing letters in order to force you to uphold your end of the deal you have struck with the public– you sell us stuff and follow the law, and we buy it.

30 stores and you haven’t learned this yet? Why does that not surprise me.

Mike