thank you GradImages

When my brother walked across the stage this past June to receive his Bachelor's diploma, we weren't prepared at the side of the stage to capture the look of excitement and relief he was feeling as he took hold of that very expensive piece of paper.

Lucky for us though, GradImages was there. They caught that moment for us in a way I could have never hoped to.



Thank you GradImages for such a spectacular image of that moment. We'll be sure to send our order in as soon as I can figure out which dumpster the order form is in...

let's connect to my network shall we?

Dear Best-Buy,

It was about 4 years ago that you and I first met. I bought my first camera from you. And when I did that, I also bought the 4 year service plan. At the time it seemed like a good investment, however, I haven't had to use it...

Let's keep it that way.

I cannot say the same for my other two major purchases from you though. Two summers ago, my brother accidentally cracked the LCD on my little camera... your warranty did not cover it.

At the time I purchased said camera and warranty, I was led to believe that it would cover literally everything. I asked you if I were to "drop my camera in the toilet and fish it out, would you fix that?" And you told me "YES." I seriously asked you that.

When I brought the camera in for repair, confident that my warranty would fix the problem, you told me that the LCD is not covered. Hmmm... a convenient oversight I suppose... a strategic withholding of pertinent facts. Maybe if I had dropped it in the toilet after the LCD broke, you would have fixed it?

Instead, I had to pay almost $200 to have it repaired. Silly me, I should have just bought a new one as the model I had is probably well below that price now.

But enough with the past. Let bygones be bygones... and let's look to the future.

Last week I helped my mom buy a new laptop from you. And while I was skeptical of your warranties after my aforementioned experience, you did a phenominal job of what I would consider "covering all the bases" and assuring me that the service plan would indeed cover any conceivable problem.

As a result of you convincing me so well, I decided that my personal laptop could use some fixing up. You see, ever since I bought it 2 1/2 years ago, I have been unable to get wifi on any kind of consistent basis. Sometimes it connect, sometimes it doesn't. Does that sound like a faulty wireless card to you? You assured me that if that was indeed the case, you would replace it for me and it would be covered under my warranty.

And while I was at it, I realized that the plan covered battery life as well! Joy came to my heart as I read that part. My current battery drains in a matter of about a half hour... not convenient.

It was hard to carve out the time to give up my precious lappy... but I did it. Confident that giving up a week would fix these problems...

I had noooo problem making this sacrifice.

Until today.

When I received the phone call.

You told me that the diagnostics have shown there to be "nothing wrong with my wireless card as it will hold a connection for over 24 hours on our network."

Key word. On YOUR network.

Of course it stays connected on your network! You are the Geek Squad! You have the most perfect and ideal internet situation probably in the history of man! But it won't stay connected at my house or at my job where the other FOUR laptops in the house DOES stay connected! And there are 4 other laptops!

I would like to explain to you that running further tests in order to recreate a problem that I am "supposedly making up" would be a whole lot simpler if you tried connecting to my network.

Wait, what's that? Oh, you first have to send it out to the manufacturer with a minimum 2 week turnaround time? I'm fairly certain I've already explained to you that my LIFE is on that computer and I want it back. And I want it back FIXED.

I'm not sure a strongly worded letter is going to do the trick. Or even a near hostile phone conversation.

I am pretty sure that I'm going to have to take this further, and that saddens me. I should not have to fight for you to fix my computer just because you're not smart enough to recreate a computer dummy's problem.

If we can't work this out civilly, I'll end up coming into the store to sort this out face-to-face. You may lose some customers.

I am not happy.

Sincerely,

A letter to American Airlines

Dear American,

Recently, I've had the chance to fly with you from Chicago to Buffalo on the last leg of my trip back from Mexico. I would like to share with you my observances, and suggest a possible change in your travel accomodations for the future.

I am aware that flight *** was an intercontinental flight, and there was no real foresight that there would be international travellers boarding. However, when 18+ people are coming from a connecting international flight, I vote that majority wins and the flight is automatically considered "international."

While in Mexico, I aquired a bug of sorts (some refer to it as a parasite, but as the days have worn on, I am more and more convinced that my friend Kyle is no more than a waning bacterial nuisance on his last legs anyways.)

Here in lies the problem. BEFORE I actually discovered that Kyle was only a passing phase, I had to experience some serious one-on-one time with him. Meaning that I spent about half of my flight from Chicago to Buffalo in your airplane bathroom.

This letter is in no way a complaint about the bathroom or the services I received aboard your craft. It is simply a way of bringing something I feel is important to your attention.

During my time in that airplane bathroom, it happened that the "fasten seatbelt" light went on. Not once, but twice. However, I was unable to do so. Therefore, I kindly suggest that you install seatbelts into your airplane bathrooms. This would alleviate the problem that occurs when someone is using your one and only cabin bathroom the majority of the trip and the flight attendant is getting annoyed that "people aren't staying in their seats."

Please consider my idea, if not for practical reasons, then as a safety precaution. After all, it wouldn't be good for someone to have a case of the "igottagonows" and feel unsafe doing so, resulting in "staying in their seat." That could be a problem.

Thank you for your time and I hope to be flying with you soon, with my toilet belt securely fastened.

Sincerely,