The Cold and The Snow

So far this past fall, and this winter, we have had several snowfalls here and in the nearby New York metro area. It is pretty unusual to have so many snowfalls as we did before January, and the number of snowfalls seems not to be falling off. This weekend we had two. Of course we only got about a total of 3 or 3.5 inches. Now, the amount of snow is not the issue. Rather, I am just surprised, what with Global Warming and all, that we are having so many snowfalls and that the temperatures here in the New York area have been so cold. I imagine that once President Elect Obama is sworn in as president tomorrow he immediately will have his Global Warming Czar manufacture, in a green way, some ludicrous reason as to why the whole country is experiencing one of the coldest winters in memory. Of course, I figure that reason will blame it on the melting ice caps as caused by Global Warming or something like that. You can bet they will not say that the Global Warming theory is wrong, they have too much invested in pushing the theory and they stand to gain ever so much from propagating it further.

All the best,
Glenn B

Yugo SKS From SAMCO - Update

Well, if you have read along, you know I bought a NEW SKS from SAMCO awhile back. When I received it I immediately noticed repair to damage on the stock and some minor cosmetic damage to the metal parts, and one small but bent metal part. I contacted SAMCO and after quite the wait, and many phone calls, I received a return label. A supervisor at SAMCO, who was very nice and seemed right on top of the issue, told me I would get an exchange, and that was fine with me. Since it was taking so long to get that label I called American Express a couple of times and had the charge put on hold. I specifically told the folks at AMEX to take no other action than placing a hold on that charge until they heard from me but they did not follow my instructions. The rifle was delivered back to SAMCO on January 5, I ordered it on or about November 11th. An annoying amount of time for a turn around. Somewhere in there I also received a letter from AMEX saying they had convinced the seller to give me a refund. I wrote SAMCO an email saying I still wanted a NEW SKS if they could sell me one at the original price I had paid. Then, last week, I guess maybe on Thursday or so, I received a call from SAMCO saying they would indeed send me a new one, at the price I paid.

Since then AMEX has screwed up my credit card account by apparently giving me credit twice for the SKS. I have tried to take care of that to no avail, but will cal them again today. First guy I spoke to told me if they reversed the credit they would also add on another $XXX charge instead of just reversing the credit. After I hung up with him, I called back AMEX and the next person to whom I spoke said that would I would not be charged an additional $XXX if the credit was reversed, but they still have not reversed the extra credit. I know I will never wind up with a double credit in my pocket, and it would be wrong to expect such, so I have to give them yet another call and try to straighten this out before it messes up my accounting of my credit card bill.

As for a new replacement SKS, well someone is supposed to call me this week from SAMCO and tell me when it will be sent out. I was assured this one would be in 'new' condition; and I imagine they will make their best effort to assure such is the case. Time will tell, and if and when I receive an exchange I'll let you know how it turns out.

All the best,
Glenn B