Emergency Post- Comcast

So... I am home sick today when I get a sales call from Comcast.. seems their every-other-ad-for comcast-phone isn't enough coverage for them.. now they need to call their own subscribers to give them a "DEAL".. of course it's not any better than the "deal" they would give any one else off the street.

They guy starts by asking me how much I pay now for phone service.

"$17.99" I reply.

With out a skip, he begins reading his prepared text... for only $19.99 per month ( for the first year) ...... after that only $39.99 per month.

Wait lets get this straight ... gee I can pay $2.00 more per month now and double that after only 12 payments .. wow do I feel stupid... I should jump right on that!!! But hey, he's just a mouth... he's reading a script.. so I cut him some slack. Unfortunately he uses the slack to make his most powerful plee.

"But OUR service does not require you to use a computer or even have a computer" he states feeling vindicated that he just put a fantastic deal out on the table.

"Nor does mine" I state flatly.

"Really?" he protests "I didn't know that was possible, are you sure?"

OK ... hey look I am 46 years old... don't call my house on sales call and then proceed to 1) offer me a deal that costs more ( and not give up) 2) call me a liar, or challenge what I know to be true.

" I have been working with computers for over 23 years, I have extensive network and server experience, yeah I know what I am talking about... thanks for the call."

"Sir.. we don't charge for installation..."

"thanks for the CALL." Click.

OK folks heres the deal:

There are a very few "systems" that do require a computer of these only SKYPE has any real following. Skype is from free to maybe $20.00 a month.. Certainly not $39.00 a month. The other is magic jack. Both do require a computer to be on and running to use.

http://www.skype.com/

ALL OTHER SERVICES RUN WITH OUT A PC ON OR EVEN PRESENT.

So when you get a call from Comcast. Thank them, and then check on your own. Here's is what I found to be true:

The MOST expensive cable phone serive available is COMCAST @ $39.99 .. every other service beats them.

Second most expensive is Vonage, They have two main tiers; a limited service for $17.99 and an umlimited for $24.99. and yes, I use Vonage.

All other servies are cheaper, but usually not by much, the cheapest I found was $9.99. I started to sign up with them, then forgot, then tried the next month... they were gone. Others took thier place at $9.99, but I was uncertain of thier stability. I do think a good service could be found with unlimited called for $15.00 or so. But for $3.00 more (and a limit on calls) I went with a big dog vendor. I probably will change if I see a significant change in the market as my main house phone is nothing more than a method for sales people to call me ( ala' Comcast).

How does it work:

Either you buy your own little box or they sell/rent you one much like your cable modem. The box will need to go between the cable modem and house phone. I my case, I have 2 "wired" computers, a server, and an access point PLUS the phone adapter; therefore I have cable router and even a network switch in order to plug all that up. No, it's not complicated .. less so that most VCR recorders were back in the day. One luxury I do have is UPS- Uninterrupted Power Supply. A UPS is basically a combo - battery, battery charger, and DC to AC converter. When the power goes out the UPS uses power stored in the battery to keep things running for a short time. I figure mine is good for about 2 minutes.

So the cable modem plugs into the router.. the router plugs into phone adapter, and the phone adapter ( in my case) plugs into an unused phone jack. All the phones that are also plugged into the phone jacks in the house get a dial tone from that little box. Presto.. same old phone number (no charge), same dial tone, comparable phone quality, plus caller ID! All on my same old standard phones.

Point being: Do not be fooled by misleading scripts by Comcast. They charge MORE for nothing more than any other cable phone service. That is not to say they may not have a good deal .. the triple pack (cable-internet-phone) for $99 a month for a year is a good deal, until the ride runs out and prices return to about $150 a month.

Vonage- http://www.vonage.com/

VOIP- http://www.voip.com/l32/

lingo- http://www.lingo.com/

Got questions? Google is your friend or hit me up at: pinetor@yahoo.com

Can we change banking?

So, last time found Pine bemoaning the fact that knowledge of the problems with banking does not fix them, nor does the weak protests from the site that I last spoke of. Between then and now I did have the oppurtunity to attend a Lending Club "webinar", put on by big-wigs from the internet company. It was all very well done and I have nothing bad to say about it in total. However, putting the two "threads" together did give me an idea. Hold on this is a whopper of a Pine-ism.

So in the Lending Club presentation (in the beginning) they showed how banks did thier lending:
depositors put in money for which they are paid under 2% and borrowers borrow at over 12% with the banks keeping the difference. Gee and I thought I was the only dummy who thought that was how it works! You can go read one of my earlier posts for a full explaination, or heres the short of it:

There is a third party banks use called the FED. The banks put all deposits in the Fed and earn 6% on that PLUS they are allowed to loan 9 times that amount back out. If anything lets say they can do this at PRIME.. but really its more like FREE! So a bank gets money from the Fed currently at 0% percent and loans this at 13%, all while making 6% on the orginal deposit that they pay under 2% for. OK OK; so banks are making a mint .. so what???? Hey I don't really care how much they make .. the problem is each loan creates NEW money, money with no real good or service to back it up (only the PROMISE). Since this fishy money goes into the economy .. all money that was derrived via real goods and services MUST be devalued by the amount of the loan. AND THAT MY FRIENDS IS INFLATION. So the trillions in loans is devaluing the money you WORKED for, your real money buys less. This ONLY occurrs because banks use the FED to loan out money that otherwise does not exist.

BUT Lending Club does not do this. Because Lending Club uses lenders that must fund the loans directly with real cash money, there is no inflationary function called into play. That is to say the Lending Club makes money available without causing inflation which devalues the value of everyones elses money. So that idea of not working for big banks or pulling your meanger sums out, instead use a system such as Lending Club... which does not cause inflation to reduce the loans that do. By golly every true real AMERICAN should endeavor to swich loans and investments to Lending Club.. its the only thing that is GOOD FOR AMERICA!

Yeah, I know.. thats rather over the top. But when even Lending Club is afraid to say the obvious truth its kinda funny ... ole Pine don't care ........ I will.

Back to money

I apologize for being away so long... but then considering that maybe only 5 people have even read my blogs... I feel comfortable knowing that no-one is holding my feet to the fire for another dose of pine-isms.

before we start.. umm I had a drink of wine... this my need to be edited later ;0

So during lunch today, as usual I looked to see what the internet thought of how the real world was doing with its money. In doing so I found this website:

http://www.endfinancialfraud.org/

I spent time I really didn't have reading writing that while similar to mine... left me very flat.

Were I a "big Bank" this guy would be my best friend. Someone with poor communication skills trying to convince the world he knowns something

no-one else does. While he might be right about the "evil" of it all, he is dead wrong about any cure. Not working for big banks

and not banking at big banks... is like spiting in the wind... too little. Knowing the problem, does not make it go

away. But then I am not sure what would make it "go away". Damn Rodenberry, took the easy way out... in his Star Trek fantasy the earth

had figured it all out... but it wasn't show worthy, so we here are wondering how to get there from here. Spock save us!!

I have really really enjoyed my adventure on:

www.lendingclub.com

If you do go there PLEASE use my code of pinetor to either become a borrower ( I get money) ort a lender ( YOU get money).

To date I have made $2.47 on a total investment of less than $450.00 US. This week will see no less than 8 loans come due for there first payment

netting me around $6.50 .. of which 2/3'rds will be my own money back. Still... I am making ( they say) about 12.16% on $450.0 US

and thats saying something! My committment of $250 a month will have me with $950 at the site about the 6th of August.