Author Archives: jik

Jordan’s Furniture warranty: buyer beware

About a year ago, my wife and I bought an expensive sleeper sofa from Jordan’s Furniture.  Well, actually, our parents bought it for us.  We paid a lot of money for it because we wanted the American Leather sleeper sofa, which has a rather unusual design.  The mattress is actually several separate foam cushions mounted… Read More »

Grammar Police on patrol

For those whom this might amuse: From: Jonathan Kamens <jik@kamens.brookline.ma.us> To: info@commutercheckdirect.com Subject: Typographical error on “Commuter Benefits Order Fulfillment” email OK, so admit it, I’m ridiculously picky, and this is a ridiculously trivial thing I’m writing to you about.  Still, on the off chance that someone there might care about it…   The “Commuter Benefits… Read More »

height of comics.com single-panels now limited automatically

For users of my comics aggregator… When comics.com switched to their redesigned Web site, they started exporting much larger versions of their single-panel comics.  This is annoying, so I’ve fixed the aggregator to notice comics from comics.com taller than 400 pixels and restrict their display height to 400 pixels.

Administaff disappoints

A little less than a year ago, my employer, Tamale Software (since acquired by Advent Software, in what I would happily classify as the fourth successful acquisition of the five in which I’ve been involved), decided to outsource its human resources function to the Professional Employer Organization (PEO) Administaff (note: Tamale used Administaff, but Advent doesn’t,… Read More »

Citi Smith Barney incompetence

November 14, 2008 Branch Manager Chase Group 2775 Sand Hill Road, Suite 120 Menlo Park, CA 94025 To whom it may concern: I am writing to complain about Citi Smith Barney’s poor service, incompetence, gouging me out of a bogus $95 fee, and then trying to snow me into believing that it wasn’t your fault.

Recs for downtown Boston businesses: Long’s Jewelry, Minuteman Coin & Jewelry, Watch Hospital, Downtown Barbers

I went for a walk downtown today to get a new battery for my wife’s watch, and I was pleasantly surprised to have positive experiences with four different businesses.  So here’s a shout out to… Long’s Jewelry and Watch Store at 100 Summer Street (617-426-8500).  I stopped here first.  The woman who helped me was friendly,… Read More »

On sugar bowls and psychology

We have a ceramic sugar bowl with a loop on the side which holds a small sugar spoon. When the spoon is inserted with the open side of the spoon facing the bowl, it fits properly, all the way into the loop. When the spoon is inserted with the rounded bottom fo the spoon facing… Read More »