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| Sunday, September 28, 2008 |
| Weekend Quote - Goals |
Arise, awake and stop not till you reach the goal.
- Swami Vivekananda |
posted by Ruby @ 8:55 AM
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| Saturday, September 20, 2008 |
| Problems with wireless connectivity |
I have a Dell Latitude D620 laptop and use it to connect to the internet frequently using my WI-FI/wireless network. I was able to connect to the internet without any problem until recently, when all of a sudden, I could no longer connect to the internet. I was getting the following error:
 Wireless Network Connection Not Connected. Right-click here for more options.
Searches on the net recommended that I check my router as well as my wireless network adapter.
My router and other wireless networks were working fine but I could no longer view the available networks – neither my own wireless network nor anyone else's in the vicinity. Using the Device Manager functionality (to access it, go to Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Systems Tools > Device Manager in Windows XP), I troubleshot the Dell Wireless network adapter but it indicated that the device was working correctly. I then updated the Dell driver. While I still couldn’t connect to the internet, I started getting the following error:
 The Dell Wireless WLAN Card is still disabled. Slide the Wireless ON/OFF Switch to enable it.
I wasn’t aware of any Wireless ON/OFF Switch and initially had problems finding it. Finally, I found that it was located on the side of my laptop, next to the slots for the microphone and speaker. Sliding the switch restored my wireless internet connectivity and finally, life appeared to be good again! Seems while cleaning my laptop, I must have accidentally turned off the switch which led to all these problems.
As always, it was a good learning experience - all problems in life provide a valuable lesson. I should have been more careful while cleaning my laptop. However, fixing the problem was a bit of confidence booster as I'm a novice when it comes to computers but just by doing searches on the internet and playing around with various computer settings helped me resolve the issue, while saving me a trip to the repair shop as well as some money. |
| posted by Ruby @ 8:25 AM
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| Sunday, September 14, 2008 |
| Weekend Quote - Wisdom, benevolence and courage |
The man of wisdom is never of two minds;
the man of benevolence never worries;
the man of courage is never afraid.
- Confucius |
| posted by Ruby @ 7:40 AM
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| Saturday, September 13, 2008 |
| Frequent Flyer fee chart for various airlines |
The Wall Street Journal blog post provides a very useful link to a chart of various fees imposed by different airlines for booking frequent flyer fees. The chart was compiled jointly by SmarterTravel, Airwatchdog and FrequentFlier. Fee listed include award ticket fee, booking fee, mileage redeposit and reactivation fees.
We frequently fly United and Continental airlines and was surprised to see a whole bunch of fee that these and other airliners have started imposing. That's why, these days I always use credit cards that pay back cash rather than frequent flier miles. After going through the hassle of getting a ticket, don't want to spend more bucks paying for some of the additional fees listed in the chart.
One of the readers' comment to the the Wall Street Journal blog post aptly sums up my feelings about the airlines credit cards:
As you said, the notion of “free” doesn’t apply anymore. Soon the airlines will charge us for fresh air to breathe in their flights !! I have reduced my usage of the mileage-bonus cards since I can never find an award ticket when I need it. It is best to stick with cash rewards, or other points programs on credit cards that can be redeemed for gift cards.
For complete article and chart, see:
WSJ.com: The Ultimate Guide to Frequent-Flier Fees
Smarter Travel Media: Chart - The Ultimate Guide to Frequent-Flier FeesLabels: mile |
| posted by Ruby @ 8:01 AM
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| Tuesday, September 09, 2008 |
| 20,000 Delta Frequent Flier Miles - the Bosley consultation experience |
As mentioned in one of my previous posts, Bosley was recently offering 20,000 Delta Airlines frequent flyer miles for scheduling a free consultation with them and another 150,000 frequent flier miles for hair restoration. My husband set up an appointment and here’s what he has to say:
I was hesitant about going to the appointment as I thought it would be a waste of time and not worth the time even if I will be getting 20,000 frequent flier miles. My initial appointment was for August 16. However, as something came up that day, I called them around 8:00 AM and hung up when no one picked up the phone; I thought that it was probably too early to call them. However, within a couple of minutes, I heard my phone ring. It was a guy from Bosley. He mentioned that someone had called from this (my) phone number and that’s why he called back. I told him it was me and wanted to reschedule the appointment. He was very polite and we rescheduled it for Aug 20th.
However, later on, I needed to change the appointment again and on Aug 18th, I called them and we rescheduled the appointment for a later date. Prior to all these three appointments, I received reminder phone calls from Bosley as well as directions and a letter and a disc in the mail informing about the Bosley; I thought that was nice of them.
On the day of my appointment, I was again hesitant and of two minds on whether to go or not. However, considering all the reminder phone calls and mails that Bosley had sent me, I went to their office. I was 5 minutes early and there was no one at the reception desk. After about 5 minutes of wait, a gentleman came to the reception desk and told me that he will be with me in about another 5 minutes. In the mean time, I went ahead and filled out the customer information sheet.
The gentleman came back within about 5 minutes and took me inside a room. I asked him if he was a doctor and he replied no, he was a counselor and mentioned that he could answer most of my questions. We sat down in a nice looking room and he asked me what brought me there. He also told that I see that you were referred to us by Delta.
I told him about my hair loss, and what I could do about it. He said that there are a couple of things I could do: I could take drugs such as Rogaine or I could go with hair restoration. He mentioned that he would suggest hair restoration as I have some hair loss on the top of my head (I have been experiencing some hair loss and thinning but haven’t reached the stage of baldness yet). He then showed me a chart which had 1-6 stages (or may be it 1-7 stages - I forgot) of baldness, with the higher numbers indicating a greater degree of hair loss. He asked me what stage I thought I was in. Looking at the photos in the chart, I told him that I thought it was either Stage 1 or 2. But he mentioned that I was probably on Stage 4 or 5. He told me that I can’t see the extent of hair loss just by looking at the mirror but from where he is standing, he has a better picture. He then took some shots of my head and came back with color printouts of the front, top and back portions.
The front and back portions were fine as there wasn’t any hair loss but I was surprised to see the degree of hair loss on the top and agreed that it indeed was closer to Stage 4 or 5. He then went over the hair loss procedure and how much it will cost. He said that most likely I will need about 1200 grafts which meant it would cost me about $9,600 (about $8 per graft). He also mentioned that there was another $495 fee for medicines and about $300 for something else - so overall the procedure would have cost me over $10,000. I told him that that was a lot of money. He mentioned that I may be able to get financing from Capital One Healthcare financing and then he showed me the financing options and payment schedule. He also mentioned that if I do the hair restoration, I will get another 150,000 Delta miles in addition to the 20,000 miles I was getting for the meeting that day.
I asked whether the graft will just restore the hair I have already lost or will it also do something to prevent the existing hair from falling. He mentioned that it won’t – to prevent that loss, I will need to use Rogaine or other similar drugs. I thought that defeated that purpose of hair restoration since I still will have to use Rogaine etc even after undergoing the restoration. I told him that I am not currently interested in the hair restoration. The gentleman was fine and polite, and did not put any pressure on me to go through with the restoration. We shook hands and he then walked me out to the door.
Overall, despite my initial hesitation of going through with the consultant, I am glad that I went for it. It was definitely an eye opener regarding the extent of my hair loss and it was good to know about the available options. I didn't know much about Rogaine or hair restoration procedure prior to this meeting, so it was a good learning experience. The whole meeting took about 25 minutes. For the most part, except for a subtle reminder of getting additional 150,000 Delta frequent flier miles at one point, the gentleman didn’t put any pressure on me to undergo treatment (considering that Bosley probably spent $40-$100 in getting a lead, I didn't mind such pitches for restoration). He did take my contact information and asked if it was OK to call me in about couple of weeks and I gave my OK (so far, haven’t heard back from him). As for going through with the hair restoration procedure in the future - I don't know. At this time, I am planning not to go through with it but will see if anything changes in the future. Regarding the Delta miles, so far, I haven’t received the 20,000 miles in my account but hopefully, will get it soon.
Points.com eLearners Earn Rewards at MyPoints.
 Labels: mile |
| posted by Ruby @ 6:36 AM
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| Tuesday, September 02, 2008 |
| Links for redeeming frequent flier milers for magazines from various programs |
Recently, a reader asked a question regarding redeeming United Airlines miles for magazines. So decided to do some search and get direct links for redeeming miles offered by some of the major airlines. In most cases, the magazines are provided by a company whose customer service number is 1-800-586-9632. In some cases, when the links below don't allow miles redemption for miles, it may be possible to call the company by phone and ask for redemption.
The links are provided below and seem to be correct. However, let me know if there are any broken links. Also, some airlines may not always offer mile redemption for mags. In that case, you can take a look at Points.com site which is a free site and allows mileage redemption for miles, gift cards and other merchandise from several different airlines.
Redeeming frequent flyer miles for magazines is good way to make use of unused miles as well as create an activity in your frequent flier account which in turn renews them for another 18 months on many airlines' programs.
Here're the links:
American Airlines: American Airlines: Magazines for Miles
Continental Airlines: Continental Airlines: Magazines for Miles
Delta Airlines: Delta Airlines: Magazines for Miles
Hawaiian Airlines: Hawaiian Airlines: Magazines for Miles
Midwest Airlines: Midwest Airlines: Magazines for Miles
Northwest Airlines: Northwest Airlines: Magazines for Miles
United Airlines: United Airlines: Magazines for Miles
US Air: US Air: Magazines for Miles and US Air: Magazines for Miles
For miles redemption for magazines and other merchandise (applies to American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Aeroplan, Delta Airlines, Frontier Airlines and Iceland Air):
Points.com
Points.com eLearners Earn Rewards at MyPoints.
Labels: mile |
| posted by Ruby @ 12:32 AM
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| Favorite Quote |
"If you look at what you have in life, you will always have more. If you look at what you do not have in life, you will
never have enough".
- Author Unknown
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