Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 23:46:22 -0500
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Sender: The Internet TourBus - A virtual tour of cyberspace
Comments: Resent-From: crispen@netsquirrel.com
Comments: Originally-From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
From: Patrick Douglas Crispen
Subject: TOURBUS -- 17 AUG 00 -- MORE ANIMALS ON PARADE / COMPGEEKS
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TOURBUS Volume 6, Number 09 -- 17 Aug 2000
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FIVE YEARS of Searchable Archives at http://www.TOURBUS.com !!
TODAY'S PLUS BUS STOP(S):
More Animals on Parade / Compgeeks
TODAY'S PLUS BUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.ahponies.com/
http://mermaidsonparade.com/mermaids.htm
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/features/sesqui/corncurb.html
http://www.compgeeks.com/default.asp
Howdy, y'all, and greetings once again from sultry Tuscaloosa,
Alabama! :)
You may have heard that, according to the Princeton Review, the top
five US party schools are, in order,
1. Louisiana State University
2. University of Alabama
3. University of Texas
4. Florida State University
5. University of Colorado
As an alumnus of the University of Alabama, words cannot express my
disappointment at hearing this. The only consolation I can find is in
the knowledge that last year was, in fact, a rebuilding year for the
University of Alabama. Bama returns over 75% of last year's starting
party line, we've had a good recruiting season, and I have complete
and total faith that my alma mater will topple LSU in this year's
party bowl. :P
TOURBUS is made possible by the kind support of our sponsors. A big
thanks to Fun Bets, Shirlene's Gifts Galore, and Annotate.net for
keeping the Bus rolling. Please visit and say thanks!
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
On with the show ...
---------------------------------------------
Even more animals (and other stuff) on parade
---------------------------------------------
Let's see. We've talked about how cities around the world have
deployed herds of decorated fiberglass cows, pigs, buffaloes, fish,
horses, moose (mooses? meese?), and Snoopys in an effort to boost
tourism. You'd think that pretty much sums up all of the artistic
fiberglass beasties there are in the world right now, wouldn't you?
WRONG!
Fellow TOURBUS rider Arlene writes that
After viewing Animals on Parade, I am eager to send you a site
so you can see our PONIES on PARADE in Arlington Heights, IL.
We have 42 beautiful ponies on display throught out town.
Arlington Heights, a community of 75,000, plus, is located about
30 miles northwest of Chicago.
http://www.ahponies.com/
Enjoy the ponies!
Gare Allen writes
Okay Okay - after the last Tourbus, I had to add our parade of
art from Norfolk Virginia. This past Spring, the Mermaids on
Parade made their debut and can be found scattered around
Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and other outlying cities.
http://mermaidsonparade.com/mermaids.htm .
Finally, the charming town of Bloomington, Illinois, decided to skip
the animal theme altogether and instead focused on something they
have plenty of: CORN! You find out more about Bloomington's "Corn on
the Curb" project at
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/features/sesqui/corncurb.html
I'm not sure which project name I like the most, Cincinnati's "Big Pig
Gig" or Bloomington's "Corn on the Curb." :)
---------
Compgeeks
---------
I usually shy away from writing about online stores. After all, there
are so many of them and, sadly, relatively few are worth writing
about, let alone recommending.
And if you think I am a tough judge of online stores, you should see
my dad, the Rev. Bob "Bob" Crispen. So you can imagine my surprise
when my dad, out of the blue, sent me a "riders revenge" post
recommending an online store I had never heard of: Computer Geeks
Discount Outlet at
http://www.compgeeks.com/default.asp .
Since my birthday is coming up next month and I want to get on my
dad's good side before then (so I can get more loot!), here is what my
dad wrote about Computer Geeks Discount Outlet (oh, and by the way,
the folks at the Outlet have absolutely NO idea they are being
featured in today's TOURBUS post):
You gotta love a place that shows its visitor count in decimal,
hex, and octal!
Computer Geeks is YACRSOTN (Yet Another Computer Remainder Store
On The Net) -- a store that buys up lots of discontinued and
refurbished computer gear and sells them at a deep discount.
Stores like this always make me think of a seedy looking guy
sitting in little cubbyhole, smoking heavily, surrounded by piles
of orders written on the backs of envelopes and pizza boxes, and
one of these days he intends to look in the back room to see if
he actually has any of the stuff that's been ordered.
Computer Geeks gives exactly the opposite impression. First,
they have a complete spec sheet for everything they sell, telling
you exactly what's in the box, what isn't, and what you need (CPU
speed, cables, etc.) to make it work. You think everybody does
this? You haven't been shopping on the net much, have you? This
is rare. Maybe unique.
They also put some care into building a usable package. For
example, a refurbished Acer CD-RW drive I bought came with a
decent audio cable, screws, Adaptec Easy CD Creator and DirectCD,
instructions, and a blank CD-RW. Other places on the net sold
just the bare drive (some of them for a higher price than I paid
at Computer Geeks).
The next surprise is the absence of rip-offs. No handling
charges, they don't pad the shipping charge, and the default
shipping method on the form is the cheap one.
When you place your order you're given an option to comment to a
third party auditing organization on the ordering process, and
after your order arrives the third party follows up to find out
how satisfied you were with your order.
Once your order is confirmed, you can revisit the site, enter
your order number, and click through to UPS's package tracking so
you can watch your package as it travels from California to your
house.
All these little touches tell me Computer Geeks is fanatical
about honesty, service, and customer satisfaction. If you have a
complaint (I didn't), I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they asked
you to speak to their process improvement council.
Like most computer remainder stores, they don't have everything,
and what they have is generally a couple of months off the
cutting edge, but if they happen to have what you're looking for,
I believe you'll be just as delighted as I was.
Cool, huh? That's it for this week. Have a safe and happy weekend --
especially if you are at the University of Alabama -- and we'll talk
again next week. :)
TODAY'S PLUS BUS STOP(S):
More Animals on Parade / Compgeeks
TODAY'S PLUS BUS ADDRESS(ES):
http://www.ahponies.com/
http://mermaidsonparade.com/mermaids.htm
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/features/sesqui/corncurb.html
http://www.compgeeks.com/default.asp
---------------------------------
TODAY'S SOUTHERN WORD OF THE WEEK
---------------------------------
PAY-UH-PER (noun) -- a seasoning.
Usage: "Bubba, git me some salt and pay-uh-per."
[Special thanks go to me for today's word]
You can find all of the old Southern Words of the day at
http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html
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(\__/) .' ) )) Patrick Douglas Crispen
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