What’s everyone in the Maryland area doing for E-ZPass? I moved my E-ZPass over to Peace Bridge’s E-ZPass (now E-ZPassNY I believe) some years back because E-ZPass Maryland was going to start charging a monthly maintenance fee. At the time, and I believe still now, E-ZPass Peace Bridge/E-ZPass NY wasn’t charging the monthly maintenance fee.

However, I don’t know if you can start an E-ZPass outside of your state anymore. Which may not be that big of a deal because I think E-ZPass Maryland ‘s monthly charging system has changed and it only charges you the $1.50 for the month ONLY IF you have used an E-ZPass toll in maryland less than twice a month.

The reason I am asking is because we need to create another E-ZPass Account in my family. Between mine, my wife, parents, and brothers’ cars, before we didn’t have E-ZPass transponders in all our cars because we didn’t need it on the ones we had which we usually didn’t use for long distances.  Since we don’t have Tolls around us that was fine.

But now with ICC, I think that’s going to change. And since an account maxes out with 4 transponders we now have to create two accounts between us to accommodate all 5 transponders.

We had been with FIOS for a few years at my family’s house and decided it was time to make the switch to a different provider after the bill had gotten so high.

On 10/6/2011 at 3:23pm I called Comcast and set up service to be installed at my house on 10/18/2011. The breakdown of our plan was going to be as follows:

• $99 for the Digital Starter Package which included phone, 16Mbps (or mbps) Internet, and the first 100 cable channels (FX, ESPN, AMC, etc).
• $$7 for the modem (I had gotten an old Comcast modem from my brother in law and was even told that it would work but later learned it wouldn’t because a newer modem now came with Comcast if you had phone service with them).
• 2 HD DVR boxes for $9.95 each
• 3 non-HD, non-DVR boxes for $2.50 each
• Zee TV and SET Asia for $24.99
• 300 International Minutes for $14.99 (I confirmed that the countries we usually call would be included and that calls to mobile numbers would be included as well)
• HBO for $6

The total monthly cost was $172.38 before taxes, fees, etc.

On the day of install the Comcast Service person brought just one HD DVR box and a non-DVR HD Box. I was told to call Comcast to get the proper box sent. For now I could live without the HD DVR box so I just left it to do later.

A short while later, I received the 10/21/2011 dated bill which showed a lot of charges I wasn’t expecting and different pricing for some of the items I was expecting.

The two big issues were that:

1. I was charged $182.14 in installation and activation fees. I was never told about these fees. I had even called again a few days later to confirm the order and still wasn’t told about the fees.
2. Those non-HD, non-DVR set top boxes were 9.25 each not $2.50

The first month’s bill was $405.28, almost double what I expected.

The next two bills dated 11/07 and 12/07 were even worse because they had international call charges. I know we’re not going over our 300 minutes a month that are in our $14.99 international package (for some reason Comcast doesn’t give a breakdown of these international calls) a month so that means either the countries we call aren’t included and/or calls to international mobile numbers – the main way to reach people overseas- aren’t included.

These two bills were $231.06 and $226.23. The one plus in the two newer bills was that I now somehow was getting a $5 promotional credit every month.

Trying to resolve these issues has not been easy. In my first call I spoke with Barry(?) Rep ID 10195649. He offered $40 off installation cost which was a ridiculous resolution to the problem. Then he said the issue was above him and he created a ticket (ticket #003171964) and told me a supervisor would call the next day. No one called.

I then called again..
(Also, note that for me to make these calls is really annoying because I am first transferred to a bill collections person who has to manually transfer me to a live comcast rep. This is because I haven’t paid the bill yet and refuse to until I am charged properly)
… And worked my way up to a supervisor who fortunately was in. Her name was Suba Banister, she was out of the Manassas office, and her direct line # was (703) 789 8171. I told her about the unexpected charges. She said she would listen to the original recording to see what was promised by the representative who set up my service and would call me the next day.

Also on the call she adjusted the package for me on my request so I had the next 100 channels for $10 more a month (my dad wanted some more channels which were not in the starter package).

There was no call received from Suba the next day. Today, I have called and left a message for Ms. Bannister. I am waiting for a call back.

I called Comcast again, got a hold of someone else, and am now actively working with her. She started reviewing the original recording with her supervisor while I was on hold and then decided it would be better for her to just call me back after the call was reviewed.

I am waiting for the call to come back.

This whole situation has been incredibly annoying as I’m sure you can tell by reading this. I have spent hours in fgurig out what’s going on and trying to get this resolved. It’s also been a ton of cellular airtime too at my expense.

Even this post took a long time to write but I can’t think of anything else to do except write everything all out and hope someone from Comcast who really does care tries to help me.

I wanted an iPhone when I first saw it during that famous Steve Jobs presentation. But I hated AT&T so much at the time (and still do).

Finally, with Sprint, I get to finally be an iPhone owner. (The other two iphones – the white 4s and the black 4 are for my wife and mom).

This also marks the first time I left t-mobile as my primary service provider since I think ’04.

Last week someone hit my IS 350 mirror in the morning.  When I walked out to my car, this is what I saw:

Some more pictures:

I took it to Lexus of Silver Spring the next day.  They said the actuator was broken and I could either replace the Actuator Sub-Assy (87908-53250-B0) $319.86, with labor $455.  Or I could get the Mirror Sub-Assy (87901-53070-B0) which would be $372.17 but easier to install.

Below are scans of the documents I brought back from Lexus of Silver Spring:

Update:

I posted on ClubLexus abbout this issue and a member had a used actuator for sale.

I purchased that in late October and finally in early December, had a chance to take the car to the Lexus dealership with this actuator. I was told then that the actuator was not enough and that the entire sub assembly and glass were needed.  Since the Sub Assembly included the actuator and you could not buy the sub assembly without the actuator, I had to purchase the actuator even though I had one.  But perhaps this was for the better because I don’t think the Dealer could use the used actuator for what was needed (I asked for them to try and leave the new actuator part untouched).

I Was also told the actual glass for the mirror was needed as well.

I went with Sewell Lexus for the parts since they seemed the cheapest there with my ClubLexus discount.  The Mirror glass was $274.10 and the sub assembly was $219.34.  The total with shipping and the two windshield wiper inserts I ordered was $528.66.

I placed the order for this in Late December and yesterday I took the car in to the dealer. The dealer said the cost of labor would be higher now at $200 because the studs needed to be found.  They said they couldn’t use the used Actuator but were able to use the old glass.  That means that I can return the new glass to ClubLexus and get a refund for that (as of right now, I have just submitted the RMA and am waiting approval).

I have started a thread in the member’s classifieds section of ClubLexus to try and sell the Used Actuator I never used and am including the remains of my broken, replaced right side mirror as well in case anyone finds it useful.

The MacBook Pro was purchased on 9/26/2010

I bought my MacBook Pro on 9/26/2010. On 10/4/2011, I remembered that I was supposed to put Applecare on it.

I gave a call in the daytime to Applecare and spoke with a rep but was told it was too late to put on. I asked to speak to the supervisor, and he said he would see what he can do. But then the called back later and said he couldn’t put it on.

I tried my luck and called again in the evening. I told the new rep that the same thing: that I wanted to put Applecare on and was only a few days out. He looked and he said, “uh, according to this, you bought this laptop last week.” I replied that I didn’t and that it was a year and a week ago. He said, “nope, says here it was a week ago.” I stopped arguing. And with that, I got it put on. He even let me use my student discount for $239.

Attached is a screenshot showing that the Applecare now ends on 10/7/2013 which makes no sense since it shows the laptop wasn’t in fact bought a week ago like the Rep said was in his system but the date doesn’t match today (10/4) either.

I wonder if the earlier rep or supervisor felt bad he/she couldn’t help and moved my days up incase I tried again? Who knows.

Update: On October 6th I got an e-mail saying that my Applecare date had been updated to September 2014.  Below is an updated screenshot of my Computer’s warranty according to Apple:

I recently saw this MEN’S
BULOVA MARINE STAR 98B151 watch in the October 2011 Car and Driver Magazine. I Think I want it. Here’s the an image (and link to a higher resolution image) of the ad:

Life used to be good with my contact lenses.i think the last time things were good was in 2008 to 2009. I had the CIBA Vision Night & Day and looking at my e-mail, I ordered them last on July 25th 2008:

Then a year-ish later I ordered replacement contact lenses, but they were Air Optix Night & Day Aqua this time (in between I got another box of 6 from the eye doctor):

Not a big deal I thought at the time. But I Was wrong. When I started using them sometime a little later (after finishing up my non-aqua supply), they were killing me. I started looking online and realized I wasn’t the only one. Here was one page I commented on ( http://www.straightfromthedoc.com/50226711/allergic_to_contact_lens.php) on 2/26/10. I was looking for advice and saw the BioMedics55 and ProClear mentioned.

I’m not sure what I did for that time. I know on 2/21/2010 I saw a new Eye Doctor at Visionworks and we tried out some contacts. The Contact Lens prescription wasn’t filled out until 5/16/2011 so I think that’s when we finally decided on the contacts. I am not sure of the exact ones.

In early 2011, as my supply of contacts was wrapping up, I tried out a new eye doctor and told her about my contact lens woes. I tried out a few different ones with her and we settled on the Biofinity Contact Lens. On 6/6/2011 I ordered a box of 6 contact lenses:

But over the past so many weeks, I’ve been noticing trouble. I thought it was an eye infection or something else, but I think it’s the contacts causing the problems. So now I have to figure out what I can do.

Now that I have some familiarity with doing my oil changes, I thought I would try to do it on my wife’s 2007 Accord i4 and my dad’s 2007 CR-V.  Yesterday I swung by the dealer and picked up two of the Honda Oil Filters and washers (I should have prepared better and bought these online – or at least taken a printout with me to get these prices down):

I looked online and found the Changing The Engine Oil On The 2007 CR-V, Photo Essay thread.  This mentioned the oil filter wrench so today, I swung by Advance Auto Parts to pick it up along with the oil I would use: two Mobil 1 5w-20 5qt jugs, which came with a mobil 1 oil filter for $33.99 total each set.

I got home, got my brother and got to work.  We started with the CR-V.

After doing the first steps of warming up the car and removing the oil cap and cleaning it, I tried doing the next step of removing the oil drain plug.  Unfortunately, it was on too tight for the tools I was working with – a Stanley Socket Set Driver and Gearwrench flex wrench (both 17mm):

I did have a longer 1/2″ Ratchet but only SAE sockets (which I bought for using w/ my IS 350′s Oil Filter Wrench during the last oil change).  I needed a 17mm one:

I thought I would try to put the car on ramps now – the OP of the CR-V thread said not being on the ramp  would be harder but would be better.  But, I thought having more room would help:

But it didn’t, we still couldn’t get the oil drain plug off with either tool:

I gave up at that point.  The only thing I can think of now is to get the 17mm socket with a 1/2″ connecter for my longer ratchet.  Hopefully the more torque will help.

I tried my luck with the Accord 2007 i4 next (7th generation):

For that, I found this thread: DIY: 7th gen I4 oil change, filter from top

I repeated the same initial steps of warming up the engine and cleaning around the oil cap area and leaving it loosely on.  With the oil drain plug being so accessible from the front, this was much easier and I had the oil drained in minutes after beginning:

Unfortunately I didn’t lay enough newspaper down though because there was some splatter:

To deal with this, I threw some liquid detergent over the oily areas RIGHT before a heavy thunderstorm came through.  I’m not sure how good that dealt with it but it’s the only thing I knew that could work.

With the oil pretty much drained, I reached from above and pulled the oil filter out.  It came out pretty easily, I didn’t even need the oil filter wrench.  I threw it in a zip lock bag (tip from the DIY: 7th gen I4 oil change, filter from top thread).  I then took the new oil filter and put a little new clean oil in it (Wasn’t sure how much I was supposed to put in) and also applied oil around the circular opening parts.  My brother and I both struggled to put the oil filter back on, it was a little more difficult but finally did.  Then threw a new washer on the oil drain plug and put that back in.

Next I started putting the oil in which was most of the 5qt Mobil 1 5w-20 jug in but not entirely.  I knew it wouldn’t take all 5 quarts and I was on ramps and needed to be on flat ground to see how much I needed.  I took the car off the ramps and got onto a flat surface but by then it started raining.  Tomorrow I have to put the remaining necessary oil into the car.

I came back after the rain and also resetted the maintenance minder:

This oil change was done at 49,623 miles and the car was -5111 miles past when the maintenance minder wanted me to do the oil change. I have to do some more research now to figure out how far I can take this oil, if I can change the filter and push the oil longer (like I plan to do in my IS 350).  Also, if it’s ok to use the Mobil 1 M1-110 Oil Filters that I got free with the mobil 1 oil.

My Nokia N95 8gb pretty died recently and for the first time since 2005, I have been using a non-Nokia phone as my primary phone.  The phone right now is the BlackBerry Bold which I hate more and more every day because of something new that I discover it can’t do.  But moreso, it’s RIM that I’m most amazed with because I can’t believe that a phone this recent has these kinds of flaws.  If the company make features like these, I fear it’s ability to last in a mobile world where anything is supposed to be possible.

This post has started on 7/12/2011, but I will keep revisiting it to fill in the things I’ve already found but haven’t documented yet and also the things I discover in the future.

Reason 7/12/2011- I had a bunch of images on my phone and connected to my Mac’s BlackBerry Desktop Software to pull off but it wouldn’t pull them since they weren’t on a media card (since I don’t have one):

So I thought, I would just pull off via BlueTooth, but turns out the BlackBerry bold doesn’t have the necessary services to pull off the images:

So I went to initiate the bluetooth transfer of the images from the phone within the Files program (file manager/explorer equivalent) but it turns out you can’t select multiple files.  So I had to manually send each one of my 40+ imagesand accept the transfer on my mac each time (maybe I could have turned this auto-accept in retrospect).  Then go back and manually delete each one off my phone.

More later..

These are all the car cleaning supplies I have as of right now: