The problem: Each time I try to open a video file, I get the infamous message “windows explorer has encountered a problem and needs to close”.

The solution: Uninstall the Xvid Codec via Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, and then install the newest version of the Xvid Codec.

There are all kinds of suggestions out there for fixing this problem and they all sound like way too much work, ie: scan the registry and reinstall certain files, go into Safe Mode and do blah blah blah, reinstall Windows, etc. Removing and reinstalling the Xvid Codec worked, and it was easy!

This is where I found the answer:  http://www.xvidmovies.com/faq/#3.4

It looked brand new and still had the cardboard support thing inside. Now I need to get it dirty cuz John Deere hats don’t look right when they’re all shiny and new.

Big Beef from Portillo’s: better than Mr. Beef mainly because the peppers are hotter

Great Italian beef but the giardiniera peppers weren’t hot enough!

I usually ignore my phone bill and I just now figured out that some asshole company called ESBI has been adding $19.95/mo to it for the past four months. Who the hell is ESBI? No idea, never heard of them. Of course the dicks at AT&T said to call ESBI directly, which I did, and now ESBI is supposedly going to be refunding my $80 on my next phone bill.

According to the ESBI guy, this is who he had in his records for my signup:

Ashley Hinton
283 W Dickens Ave
Chicago IL

Bitch! Fake bitch, I’m sure. And how could AT&T let this fraudulent charge make its way to my account? Don’t ask them, it’s not their problem. Of course.

Check your phone bill! If this is what you see attached to the end of it, you’re getting hosed.

Un-fucking-believable

I’ve finally decided to cancel my membership at Bally’s after almost a year of not going.

I called the guy at the location where I joined and he told me I needed to call some phone number (866-402-2559). Turns out it’s just a recording with canned instructions on how to cancel if you move or lose a limb.

So I dug my contract out from under a pile of crap somewhere in my apartment, and it turns out the contract states that (a) I have to notify them in writing to cancel, (b) it takes 30 days to cancel during which they’ll still charge me, and (c) I’m supposed to pay them a $25 cancellation fee!!

Fuck them. I just called Citibank where my monthly payments were being billed and reported the card lost/stolen. Bally’s was set to bill me for another month on 2/21 which shouldn’t be happening now since all charges will be blocked, at least in theory.

FUCK YOU BALLY’S! Dicks.

I also have a major problem with Citibank which I’ll bitch about later.

9/3/2009 edit: Since this post seems to be attracting all kinds of people who are looking to cancel their Bally’s memberships, I’m gonna make it nice ‘n’ easy for everyone by posting the number right here:

(562) 484-2000

Press 0 to get the operator who will send you to Customer Service. They’ll tell you how to cancel your membership.

Good luck!

P.S. Here’s a great story about how some guy used Twitter to shame Bally’s into submission. It’s a little long, but it’s worth reading (the only part I skipped was his email to Bally’s).

I’m really liking this ToyCamera app on my iPhone

I took this pic on my iPhone using an app called ToyCamera

This past weekend I hatched a plan! That’s all I’m saying.

2008 wasn’t ALL bad, but it was far from great. These are the personally significant events that I can remember from the past 12 months:

• Aunt Ronnie died.
  Ronnie was sick for a long time and her maker called on April 1. She was actually my great aunt and she was 96.
• I met a bunch of local-ish Korean Adoptees through “Katch” by way of Facebook.
  Generally speaking I like the people I’ve met through this oddly-named organization, but I’m pretty sure that at least two of the “leaders” of the group absolutely can’t stand me! But these girls keep inviting me to shit because it is… and probably will always be… a very small operation. Hilarious!
• My brother Pat and I took our Dad on the first annual Reliving-Our-Childhood fishing trip.
  The venue was Edgerton, WI (which will probably change in the future) and the occasion was Dad’s birthday (that part will stay the same). It was a lot of fun but we couldn’t catch a single fish that weighed more than my hairy ballsack.
• I met Kyle Orton at a Play for Life fundraiser.
  But I chickened out on asking him to autograph my chest. 
• I sunk like $50,000 into a car I hardly ever drive just so I can keep driving it.
  Yeah I know, I’m super smart. And it was closer to $2.000.
• I bought an iPhone and started a mildly successful iPhone website, and then another site that I’m hoping will do just as well.
  And then another, but just for SEO reasons.
• I had three visitors from Korea: Suzanne, Grace, and then Lee
  Lee and I got fucked up with Clayton while the Bears won on MNF. 
• My partners and I pulled the plug on Naperthrill.com.
  I still believe the site could have made it if we had the time and money to make it happen. Unfortunately seven years of being broke and usually busy is a recipe for failure.
• Pat got engaged to Heather.
  Are his-and-hers Bears jerseys inappropriate gifts for your brother’s wedding?
• I went to Pat & Heather’s Halloween party dressed as an iPhone Douchebag
  And while talking to Pat during a smoke break I stopped in mid-sentence to hurl on the sidewalk. 
• I donated any hope of getting a Christmas present to charity in accordance with family wishes.
  I really don’t mind, but it would have been nice to have been asked instead of told about the plan.