Wayne and Erika Pfeiler

This is very cool. I've added a new utility to the website that lets you upload ringers, images, animations, and even java applications to your cell phone. All for free.

If your cell phone carrier charges you for ala carte data usage, you might get a per kilobyte charge. Otherwise if you have Sprint Vision, or a similar plan with your carrier that lets you access the internet or download ringers and wallpapers, it should be totally free.

I've been working on it for a while, so check it out. Just click on "Free cell phone uploader" on the left sidebar, or you could click right here too.

Posted by Wayne at 01:24 AM | Permalink

Finally!
About 3 weeks ago, we ordered a new bed from a Dormia retail store in the mall. We were tired of squeezing into our old one, and we wanted something bigger. We're both tall people (over 6 feet) so we got a "California King" size bed. If you didn't know and you're interested, this CK size is slightly narrower and slightly longer than a normal king size bed. We also opted for a memory foam style mattress - I'll have to see how that works out.

To make an arduously long story short, Dormia gave us lots of problems with delivery.
They'd promise a day, then cancel, then again, then we had to wait... Erika threatened to cancel the order if they didn't get it to us by Saturday... then it came on Friday. We ended up getting two free memory foam pillows since they gave us so much trouble. In summary, think of their "promised" delivery dates as estimates, and if you do have trouble, be prepared to make numerous phone calls to get it straigtened out.

So anyway, they delivered it today. It was the funniest thing. The mattress comes shipped in box the size you'd use to store an artificial Christmas tree. Inside that, the mattress is rolled up like a burrito. Then they unroll it and remove the vacuum-sealed bag. In a few minutes the mattress expands to the size you'd expect. Very weird. I'm sure it's great for reducing shipping costs. Think how many of these they could fit into a delivery tuck! As usual, I took some pictures and posted them for your viewing pleasure.

If you're wondering, all King or California King size beds use a foundation or box springs that comes in two pieces. It almost looks like two twin size beds beneath the mattress. The reason for this is that you couldn't fit a one-piece king size foundation through doorways and corridors in many houses.

Posted by Wayne at 04:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was looking through pictures I took on the way back from Tennessee and I found this one. I took this along I-74 north of Winston-Salem without knowing what it was. Turns out this thing is called Pilot Mountain. It's a technically a quartzite monadnock that stands about 1400 feet above the surrounding ground, and it's part of the Pilot Mountain State Park. People can't climb on top of the "Big Pinnacle" because some endangered birds use this as a nesting grounds. If you click on the photo to enlarge it twice, you can see a bird flying near the left corner of the mountain. I read there used to be a series of metal ladders on the side that people could use to climb up to the top. Just imagine what the view was like. Supposedly, this was the source of the fictional "Mt Pilot" on the Andy Griffith Show too.

Posted by Wayne at 05:40 PM | Permalink

This actually happened a while ago, but I hadn't posted the pictures until now. My folks gave us a Homedepot gift card for Christmas, so we ran out and bought a new digital thermostat for our house. We thought this would be infinitely better than the old one (we weren't even able to tell what temp it was set to) and it might also save a little money in heating/cooling costs.

First, I took the faceplate off the old thermostat:

Then I disconnected and labeled all these wires.

Then I hooked the wires to the new thermostat, and called their tech support, since the install guide didn't have information on some of the wires we have. Turns out my guesses were right. So far we love it. This new one has a backlit touchscreen control and even shows the humidity in the house. We have it set to an "EPA approved" energy saving program that turns the heat up and down throughout the day to save money.

Posted by Wayne at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last thursday, Erika got the itch to cook a dinner and invite some friends to come, so we did that Saturday evening. It also gave us an excellent excuse to clean the house up a bit. We had a good time, Ruwan, Shantha, Carla and Phil joined us for dinner, a movie and then a round of Cranium.

Posted by Wayne at 01:20 PM | Permalink

We stayed home and painted the kitchen on Monday. I say "stayed home" as if we laid out since technically the university was closed, but graduate students always end up feeling guilty when they aren't at work. I think this was worth it though. Erika had wanted to paint it red for a long time, and we just haven't had the time to do it. As usual, we posted several pictures to check out. Here's a quick before and after:

Before painting:

After painting:

Posted by Wayne at 02:32 PM | Permalink

Here's a transcript of my online chat with a Dell support person. Remember the coupon codes they gave me a while back for all the camera ordering problems they gave me? Well, the $75 coupon code was invalid, so for the last month, I've been trying to get it replaced. This is about how each chat goes. Note the interesting new info about coupon codes (green/red).

Session Started with Agent (Nandini Gokul)
T Wayne Pfeiler: "Still awaiting response to case # x"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "At the end of this interaction you may be offered the opportunity to provide me with feedback. In order to do so you will need to click the "End Chat" button rather than using the "X" at the top of the screen. You may rate this interaction on a scale of"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Hello Wayne."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "hi"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Please allow me 2 minutes, I will check on that."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "thanks"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "For verification purposes, may I please have your name, full address, phone number and email, while I check on the status?"
T Wayne Pfeiler: "T Wayne Pfeiler, ...x"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Thank you for the verification."
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "I find the request was submitted on Jan 5."
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "You had to get the coupon through email 2day, I suggest you to wait on tomorrow, in case you do not receive the code, please contact us back, we will be able to assist you."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "well"
T Wayne Pfeiler: "the previous chat agent said "I am extremely sorry for this. I will reissue you a $75 coupon right away and make sure that you receive it within next 24-48 hours.""
T Wayne Pfeiler: "and it's been nearly 96 hours since then"
T Wayne Pfeiler: "Are you able to check the status, to see if Agent (Parul Nagpal) has submitted a request for this?"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "I understand your concern, I find request was submitted to send you within 48 business hours, unfortunately as there was no stock of coupon codes, it is delayed."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "You mean coupon codes are not automatically generated?"
T Wayne Pfeiler: "But you have some sort of periodic quota or ration of coupon codes?"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Yes, you are right."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "Alright, I'll wait until tomorrow"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Sure."
T Wayne Pfeiler: "That's all I need, thanks."
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Is there anything else I can assist you with?"
T Wayne Pfeiler: "No thanks, goodbye"
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "You are welcome and have a pleasant day."
Agent (Nandini Gokul): "Thank you for visiting Dell Consumer Customer Care online chat and allowing me the opportunity to assist you. I have included your case # x to reference our interaction today. Please keep this on file; it will assist you when contacting Dell Inc"

We'll see... But I won't hold my breath.

Posted by Wayne at 01:09 PM | Permalink

We watched the big shiny ball drop last night as Dick Clark counted it down. Bless him, I'm glad he was feeling up to the tv appearance despite the stroke he's had. We celebrated with some sparkling white wine from California. Today we took down all the Christmas decorations, lights, and tree. That's always a little sad since it means we have to go back to normal work schedules soon. The short break from school was very much appreciated. I think Annie really liked the extra time with us during the holiday break. She's been really good about traveling lately, and she acted fairly well while visiting everybody. I don't really like the idea of new years resolutions, so I try not to make them. If there's something I think I should do, I usually just do it. I hope everyone has a good 2006.

Posted by Wayne at 03:14 PM | Permalink