Tech Support is the bane of my existence

ReceiptWallet and DocumentWallet have done fabulously well, almost beyond my wildest dreams (OK, maybe not, I dream that I can sell 100 copies a day and then I could just sit back and relax). One of the downsides with this success is that support requests are on the rise. Some of the questions are simple and are just inquiries as the documentation could use a lot of help. Some of the requests are crashes; a majority of these crashes are due to poorly written scanner drivers and there is nothing I can do about them. A small number of requests have to do with bugs in the software. While I don't (usually) mind some of the requests that are nicely worded and relatively short (the longer the message, the less inclined I am to read it; bulleted questions have a higher chance of getting a good response), some just drive me crazy. I answer every question myself, even if it is a canned response. I don't like questions unanswered, so I feel the constant need to check my email and answer right away.

This, of course, causes me a great deal of stress as I'm not a very patient person. I do my best to answer questions in a professional manner, but sometimes I feel like answering questions with flippant responses.

Proposed Tax Rebates send the wrong message

President Bush's proposed tax rebates send the wrong message in my opinion to the American people. The rebates stop if you earn a certain amount of income which might be fine, but the purpose of the rebates is to get people to spend money. Americans already have a negative savings rate and this tax rebate (if it is to work as designed) sends the message that people who get it should spend the money instead of save it. Those who earn less money already have a hard time saving money; something should be done to encourage people to save and use credit wisely.

This poor plan didn't seem to go over with Wall Street as it is doing too little to late. I think it is a complete waste of $185 billion dollars that our government doesn't have anyway. While I don't have a fix for this recession, getting those that can't afford to spend more money to spend money by giving them a rebate is not helping anyone. This is completely politically motivated and unfortunately, those that fall for it and think that it is going to help, just don't know any better.

While I'm not a fan of Mike Huckabee, his tax plan is interesting in that it taxes what you spend thereby (in a little way) encouraging people to save. We need more saving and less spending.

Are Chargers fans fair weather fans?

There have been articles recently saying that fans of the San Diego Chargers would only come out in good weather, but that was proven wrong in a recent game when it was raining. However, this post isn't about that type of weather. This is about fans that wear the Chargers colors/gear only when they are doing well. In the past week, we've seen people wearing Chargers jerseys, have bolts on their cars, fly Chargers flags, etc. This is not normal for San Diego. There are some rabid fans that always have their Chargers stuff around, most fans don't. It is only when they're doing well that people come out in full force with their support for the team. Wouldn't true fans fly the Chargers colors in good times and in bad?

Stairs to nowhere

I've been to the Handlery Hotel in San Francisco at least twice, but kept forgetting to take a picture of "the stairs to nowhere". I finally snapped a picture. It always makes me chuckle when I pass by it.