OEM Shop on Amazon.com, A Great Vendor

OEM Shop is a vendor that sell many gadgets and electronics on Amazon.com. I recently purchased apple earphones with a mic from them. The reason I chose them over other vendors was because they offered free shipping, the cost of these earphones was almost half off the price Apple was selling on their website. The reason I bought these was because I cannot find the earphones my iPhone came with, quite possibly because I might have misplaced them when I moved from my apartment. I was not going to shell out $30 for earphones, good thing Amazon had them for little over $15 sold by OEM Shop. I ordered the earphones and they came in less than 5 days (I chose the free shipping route).

I tried on the iPhone earphones with my phone, placed some calls and I was definitely satisfied with my purchase. It was definitely worth the price and it was delivered to me exactly when they would. However, with keeping my phone in my pocket and pulling on the earphone cable I noticed that the plastic covering that shields the copper wires was lose. I did not think much of it at the time and continued to use my earphones. It did not make any difference in the audio for me at that time.

So I like to do dishes while listening to music. I enjoy listening to music because it helps me concentrate on doing dishes without cussing under my breath about having to do dishes. Just like any other day I put on my iPhone earphones on and get Pandora app started on my iPhone. Just when the music starts playing I am hearing music but only from my right ear. For a good minute I thought it was me, I switch earphones onto different ears, now no music blasting in my right ear (because I switched earphones from one ear to another). I am very disappointed, I go find my Apple iPod earphones from the last decade and put them on. Music to my ears! But, I just paid $15 for Apple Earphones with mic that don't work! argh! Million thoughts run in my head. What am I going to do with this now useless earphones? It was just over a week ago I got them in my hands and they are going to the trash? I couldn't just let that happen.

So the very next day, I thought to myself. I've read plenty of stories on Consumerist.com to know that I should at least try to see if I can return these earphones or at least get a replacement. So I am scavenging through Amazon's website trying to figure out if I can return them. I look all over My Account. I read all the fine print after finding out I have a defective or just broken product. I should have read them BEFORE I bought them. I needed original packaging etc etc. These earphones came wrapped in a little plastic bag, covered by an Amazon cardboard box. I don't have any of that! Oh yes not to mention, I threw out the twig tie that kept these earphones nice and tidy in the plastic bag. I'm screwed, could I fool these guys by sending the earphones back in a zip lock bag? Well I didn't have the balls to try it. So I contacted OEM Shop. Filled out my little Amazon form and now I was part of the waiting game.

I didn't know if anyone was going to respond, they could've easily pressed Delete for this email i just sent. I wasn't angry with them. After all its a thing, and all things can break at some point. Giving them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't send me a defective product. So 24 Hours have passed and I get an email from the OEM Shop. I am scared to open it, will it be filled with reject? Will they call me names? Will there be a "too bad sucker" in size 72 font as a reply? Well of course not! Les thats the guy or girl who replied was apologetic, and said they've issued a replacement set of earphones in my name! Wow, they went well above and beyond for my $15 earphones. So the least I could do was write a big THANK YOU to Les and everyone at OEM Shop. You made my day with your excellent customer service.

Best Sony Blu-Ray Player Under $150

I recently purchased a Sony Blu-Ray Player and I am in love. Remember when DVD and DVD players first came out? Remember the excitement that surrounded DVDs and the far superior quality of viewing movies? Well this Sony Blu-Ray Player Model #BDP-BX37 does more than just play DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. It is entertainment for the entire family right in your living room.

Here are the reasons why I fell in love with this Sony Blu-Ray Player. First of all its a Blu-Ray Player! Blu-Ray Players are the new "it" thing to have in your living room besides a 3D Television set. I can't remember the last time I saw an advertisement for movies being released on VHS. So if you are still watching movies on VHS it is definitely time to upgrade. You should skip getting a DVD player as well because with a Sony Blu-Ray Player you can also watch DVDs. Yes DVDs still function on a Sony Blu-Ray Player, it might even look better on your TV with a Sony Blu-Ray Player.

The other reason I love this Sony Blu-Ray Player is because of its ability to let its users watch content from the Internet. There are plenty of streaming options preloaded with this gizmo as well. If you have a Netflix account you can watch shows and movies right through your Sony Blu-Ray Player. All you need to do is create an account Sony Style's website so you can link your Netflix account with your Sony Blu-Ray Player. Once this is done you can stream endless hours of movies and television shows right through your Sony Blu-Ray Player. But wait, there is even more!

You can listen to Pandora radio through your Sony Blu-Ray Player as well. Put in your Pandora account information and you are set. Now your Sony Blu-Ray Player just became the media hub for you. Want to play music, but don't want to be too cheesy? Then linking your Pandora account to your Sony Blu Ray Player is a great option. Your guest can enjoy the music and they can view the information of the artist right on the TV screen. There are tons of other apps for other sources of entertainment on the Internet, such as Crackle, Youtube, Epicurious and much more. If you want to watch the latest movie without paying your cable provided, or you just don't feel like driving out to the nearest movie rental store then Amazon On Demand will let you rent movies straight through your Sony Blu-Ray Player. It takes just minutes to setup and you can watch movies right away.

My only issue with this Sony Blu-Ray Player is that it does not come with a built-in Wifi adapter. It is optional and can be purchased however it is not worth the price. I have mine hooked up right into my cable modem and I don't have to worry about spending the extra cash on the wifi adapter. There are newer models of Sony Blu-Ray Players that come with Wifi built-in, but if you don't need it then I would definitely recommend that you skip it.

Do you have a Blu-Ray Player? What do you think of your Blu-Ray Player?

Wendy's Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad

Advertised: This image is taken from Wendy's website

Actual: This image is taken from my phone after I ordered it

Toes in sand

Motivation

How do you motivate yourself? How do you keep yourself going when you have tough task at hand or a task that is just so unpleasant that you would rather quit, but quitting is not an option. This blog post was insipired mostly by Wisebread's weekly Ask the Readers post. But I think I need to write down what motivates me as well for my own sanity.

In my household we are all weight conscious, my fiancee and her daughter recently purchased gym memberships and somehow the discussion turned on me. How if I worked out I would be in better shape. Prior to this conversation I had no motivation of joining a gym. In my previous experience with joining the gym, I went when I got motivated to go (which was never), so I ended up wasting a lot of money on gym memberships. This time around I decided not to join the adventure because of the fear of failure of losing motivation after one month and wasting money on a membership I am really not going to use.

So I recently started to go jogging after dinner has settled in my belly. The motivation was me being called a marshmallow. I should have taken offense to that but in reality it is in fact true. I am over weight, my doctor called me obese. I need to lose 25 lbs and lose the ever growing pot belly. So in addition to being called a marshmallow my motivation was to lose the 25 lbs and be healthy, it is about damn time I got off my butt and did something about it. Plus a stranger calling me obese just hasn't sat well with me for a while now. To keep this goal going I have set a date to reach my goal of losing 25 lbs by August 25th, 2010. I'm not buying any gym memberships or buying crazy equipment, I am simply running at least a mile 4-5 times a week. Can I do it? Yes because I plan to get married sometime this year and I need to look good and I need to be there for my family for a long while, if that isn't motivation enough I don't know what is.

Parking Authority of Stanton California

Dear Parking Authority of Stanton, California,

I have been living in the city of Stanton for over two years now. I received a parking citation in the mail yesterday and what boggles my mind is that I didn't receive a parking ticket while my car was "supposedly" parked illegally. I know what happened. I dropped off my fiancee at the curb and I was just ensuring she got past the gate of our security complex. I didn't shut my car off, I didn't put on my blinkers I just dropped off my fiancee at the curb. Now since its a busy street with lots of cars, I waited for traffic to clear till I could merge back into the street. Now one of the cars going north on Western Avenue was of this parking authority personnel. As soon as he pulled up behind me and I noticed no cars coming I merged with traffic and carried on to my destination. The violation supposedly occurred on March 19th of 2010. The parking douche bag was able to write down the license plate of the car. However, he did not write down the correct registration expiration dates on this ticket he wrote up. I am going to fight this ticket but I sure as hell am not paying for it. This parking guy is out of control.

From the oldest brewery in America