Shopping for Jewelry

"Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising."
 - Mark Twain

Mr. Twain must have seen the Internet coming, specifically as it applies to trying to buy jewelry online. 
By my own account I'm a pretty good husband and father, but a lousy jewelry buyer. I wish I could say it's because gold is at an all-time high. That has nothing to do with it. Then I realized that it's the industry's fault. The online jewelers take small items and make them look gigantic. I don't know carat weights and millimeters and so I have no idea what they're selling. And no confidence hitting the buy button.

So I ventured off to the mall to see some jewelry in person. Jewelry stores have everything in glass cases pretending that it's all about security, when they know perfectly well it's so you have to interact with the salespeople. The salespeople unfurl a tiny tag to decipher the code so as to give you a price. They present every price as if it's the greatest bargain in history. I see an item the size of a pencil eraser that costs more than my first car. It's a huge disconnect.

Thankfully the fine folks at Tapper's jewelry, a family-owned chain in Michigan chose to educate me instead of sell me, like many of their competitors. So how can I safely post this weeks ahead of a milestone wedding anniversary? Because there's no surprise to be ruined. I was encouraged to finish the shopping process with my wife. She knew basically what she was getting and now she can help ensure I get the right piece, the right size and even the right price.

As long as I get the credit for "buying" the perfect gift.

Consumer Escapes - List of Lists

My hand-written To Do list says "blog post" every day. Most days I get to it. On many others it gets shoved to the next day. That's my own list. Lately in perusing the web and print publications I've noticed an explosion of lists: Top 5 ways to get the best airplane seat, Top 100 Beatles songs, Top 100 Wines, etc...

In a blatant ploy for more readers my Labor Day aha was to create a list of the best lists. Sorry if this takes you back to a 1977 bestseller, but here goes:

10. Money Magazine's Top Places to Live
9.  Alexa Top U.S. Websites
8. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Safe Picks
7. AFI Top 100 Greatest Movies
6. New York Times 31 Places to Go in 2010
5. Top found grocery lists (funny stuff)
4. Maxim Hot 100 (not all of my Internet time is productive)
3. Thoroughbred Champions: Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century
2. Car and Driver 10 Best
and at #1 considering I have a high school sophomore and junior and college dominates all conversation U.S. News and World Report College Ranking

Consumer Escapes - Running while Seated

I love to run, I love good music, and I love new things that make you go, "wow." Point your Google Chrome browser to The Wilderness Downtown and enjoy all of those coming together from the comfort of your favorite chair. Or couch. I won't pretend to understand the technology behind this experiment. But I'll bet we'll be seeing more things like it soon. Enjoy.

Should I add another entertainment option?

Until now my blog posts have been about things I've done, places I've gone, gadgets I've purchased and experiences I've enjoyed. Now I'm hoping to get some feedback on a product/service I'm considering, Netflix. Seemingly every five minutes Netflix emails, pops-under or shows up in print fashion with a free trial offer. I'm intrigued, yet question how I'll find the time to enjoy the movies let alone make the streaming thing work. So when you're finished with the latest dvd (hopefully in HD) from Netflix please give me some feedback.

An American Badass

My iPhone photo of Kid Rock & The Twisted Brown Trucker Band 8/15/10

Billboard Magazine's August 7 cover shows a deflated beach ball and the headline, "Cruel Summer. Ticket Sales Down. Tour Dates Canceled." Last week in struggling Detroit, Kid Rock packed 'em in for three nights running at DTE Energy Theatre. (Or Pine Knob as Kid Rock referred to it throughout the show.) I was fortunate to attend the Sunday evening show with my wife and friends (thanks Greater Media) and we had a great time. A fantastic "escape." Rap, country, blues, a bottle of Badass American Lager, slow ballads and raw energy for over two hours. The crowd never sat down. When Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson came to the end of "Turn the Page" none other than Mr. Bob Seger came on stage to belt out his signature "there I go" which brought down the house. That beach ball might not be pumped up, but "with the echoes of the amplifiers ringin' in your head," we still are over a week later.

Shameless plug for Cyber Clean

If you're like me, you eat and use the computer/phone at the same time. As a result food and dirt get in the keyboard. I've tried using the compressed air cans to clean my telephone and computer keyboard. I can't quite manage like the experts on CSI and simply end up freezing the dirty keyboard.

In the Air Mall magazine I saw a blurb on Cyber Clean and thought, "I've got to try this stuff." I did and it works. It has the consistency of green, gooey Silly Putty. You press Cyber Clean into the crevices and it lifts out the gunk.

Go get a container. Then you can surf the Internet and freely eat trail mix all day long.

Cancelling a Vacation

I love planning a vacation. Even before the actual escape, it's a great escape and it's certainly something I don't get to do often enough. Last September my daughter and I were watching a PBS show on the lodges of the National Parks. The cabins at the Lodge at Bryce Canyon caught our eye. On a whim I said, "see if there's an availability next summer?" (My daughter always has her MacBook in her lap.) She found a cabin available for what would have been  dates last week. I showed her how to reserve it using a credit card and a trip plan was hatched. Based on that one cabin we then snagged a room at the Lodge at Zion National Park, booked a rental car, found frequent flyer flights for four to Las Vegas on Northwest and added hotel and activities in Las Vegas for the days before heading home.

My family was excited about this trip. With the long build-up we could read about hikes in the park, gather up gear, plan to see Vegas shows and tell our friends about the planned vacation.

Unfortunately a week before we were due to leave a major presentation was scheduled smack dab in the middle of this planned trip. As much as I enjoy vacation planning, vacation unraveling is another story. Canceling the rental car, Vegas hotel and even the lodges was no big deal. Two components proved difficult. The first, Jersey Boys at the Venetian has a no-refund, no-cancellation policy. I understand that policy and they very nicely worked to accommodate us by allowing deferred use of the tickets.

That brings me to Delta Airlines. I have nothing nice to say about the acquirer of Northwest. The original flights we reserved for a measly 100,000 miles were changed by Delta on five (yes five) separate occasions. Each time they sent the same form email informing us of schedule changes to our upcoming itinerary. Can I charge them for making change after change? No way. In the world of round-trip air travel the relationship between airline and passenger is decidedly one-way.

Now I found myself having to make a change to our itinerary. (If I remember chemistry class, doesn't Delta mean "change"?)That change couldn't be made online so I called Delta. After navigating the prompts I finally spoke with a live agent. She informed me that I would have to pay $150 per passenger to cancel these "free" mileage tickets. That's $600 for the pleasure of NOT getting to go on vacation and to get the miles re-deposited into my account. Call me crazy but that seemed a bit unfair. The next morning I wrote a level-headed complaint on the Delta website. A day later I received a voice mail at home (my office number was on the complaint form?) from Delta online support. I returned that call to find that Delta was unwilling to do anything for me. I must note that I'm a Silver Medallion frequent flyer and have had some sort of elite status with Delta and predecessor Northwest for 11 straight years! I did my homework and was able to point out that in the disclaimer copy it notes that the change fee is only $100 for tickets booked before June, 2010. Why did I have to bring that to Delta's attention? Still egregious but $200 better. The $400 charge to say bye-bye to our trip went on my American Express card. I'm sure Delta's happy to add it to their heap-o-fees. I also hope they're happy to have me think of the pain EVERY time I consider future travel plans.

Sometime soon I'll begin thinking about a future family vacation. Maybe we'll drive ...