My name is Jessica. For the last several months, I have tracked over 130 events, all of which included Republican Presidential Candidates (oh and I tracked for 2 days at CPAC, which was a blast!). I tracked town halls (including invite only, private, closed, corporate, etc), house parties, rallies, parties, speeches, "events", press/media avails, tours, and every other type of campaign event. I was able to gain access to events no other tracker could get into. I was told and known by many people and organizations as the "best tracker in the country." What can I say, I have a gift.

I tracked for an organization that provided me with the top notch equipment that made my job easier. I had a Macbook and Final Cut Express for editing, a sweet Canon HD Camcorder, a nice microphone that captured great sound, a fancy Manfrotto tripod, the cords and adapters to plug into a mult box, a digital voice recorder, and more.

So, Washington State Democratic Party, if you want to track and ensure that the crook Dino Rossi doesn't win, and ensure a Darcy Burner victory so that douchebag Reichart loses his seat, I suggest you not only keep tracking their events, but you invest in equipment that will capture great images and, more importantly, GREAT sound.

Call me. I'll help you. I'll be in Seattle by August 11th, see you then.

Sincerely Yours,

Jessica

One of my former bosses, who I adore, has passed my name along to someone in the political consulting industry. I was able to have a phone coversation with them and met with them today to talk about getting a position with the consulting firm. The problem is that I am lacking in some of the qualifications they desire. They asked me to have two of my references call them and gave me a homework assignment. The assignment is a writing project, but the project is a type of project I've never done before. Yikes.

The pay would be about a $500/month cut in pay, but the experience I would get would hopefully trump the cut in pay. They actually told me when they mentioned the pay that it would probably be more than what I was making at my last job...not quite. I got a promotion and raise in February.

My main concern, aside from the homework, is approaching my boss about these medical issues I am having with that damn car accident. I really should be getting physical therapy 2x/week. The appointments are only about 30 minutes, and I can walk there in about 10-15 minutes from work. So I only need a few hours a week. However, if I do get this job and start right away, I will still need to schedule time to go see a Neurologist and go get that MRI.

The most unfortunate thing about campaign work, and this job would essentially be a campaign job, is not just the pay, but the hours really kick you in the ass. You don't work 8 hours a day, and scheduling needed appointments around a campaign schedule can be exceptionally difficult.

So any advice on approaching my potential boss if I get the job about appointments would be greatly appreciated. I figure as soon as she opens the door to accepting the job would be my time to ask her if it's "possible" to go see my physical therapist twice a week. Frankly, I'm content holding off on the MRI until I get more physical therapy.

In August of 2005, I purchased a Fujitsu laptop. It was a perfect laptop with beautiful screen. But the honeymoon didn't last forever. Having worked at a Circuit City a few years ago, I knew the importance of extended warranties for electronic items, especially laptop's. Note: this isn't a blanket endorsement of all extended warranties, as you shall read below.

A few weeks ago, I started noticing that even when the AC adapter was plugged in, my computer wouldn't show it as charging or on AC power. I would have to move it around a little to get it to actually show that it was plugged in. The problem gradually grew worse and could very well be related to the issues I was having with either my hard drive or motherboard (boy, do I sound like I know what I am talking about)! The problems reached its peak when I had a week left of school and still had 5 papers to write. I had done 4 system restores, including a complete C: drive erase and this ate up my time like no one can believe-all of this during that last week of school!

My parents were flying into town for my graduation and I knew I would just send my laptop with them to take to Fry's, where I purchased my laptop and extended warranty, so they could fix my hard drive, motherboard, and the AC adapter (the jack, specifically). I was shocked and pissed when my step-dad called and said I would have to pay AT LEAST $200 for them to fix the jack as they considered that "physical damage" which voids the warranty.

However, the warranty contradicts itself in that it specifies that it would repair anything caused by "normal use" and the jack broke through normal use. Also, they wouldn't even run a diagnostics test on my laptop until I fixed the jack as they said the two problems (problem iwth hard drive and/or motherboard) could be related. I called and spoke with the store manager and tore him a new one. When I finally calmed down, he stated that they would fix the jack and run a diagnostics test for free if I would purchase a new jack online, which I did. He did this not because he bought my argument about the warranty but because of customer service, which I definitely appreciate.

Yet this reveals a significant problem with Fujitsu laptops and Fry's as Fry's could claim that any problem someone has with their computer is "physical damage" and in essence, their warranties cover nothing. And, I would argue that their warranties are contradictory as they claim to cover anything that breaks under normal use but won't fix that which is classified as physically damaged. Argh. The problem with Fujitsu jacks became even more of a problem when I was told my sister, with an earlier model of the same laptop, had the same problem with her jack.

I have called and spoken with Fujitsu and they claimed that if the jack had broke while it was covered under their warranty, unless the broke jack occurred because of abuse or neglect, they would fix it for free.

So, my warning is that you read every word in an extended warranty and you avoid Fujitsu laptops until this jack problem is resolved. Well, and maybe we should all switch over to Mac's because I am so sick and tired of crappy computers, the problems with Windows, and all of that.

God be with those of you who have a Fujitsu, enjoy that beautiful screen while you can, and those of you who have an electronic item covered under a Fry's extended warranty.

With that said, any recommendations for extended warranties (who has good ones, who has bad ones), laptop brands that are good, or any other advice relevant to this post, would be greatly appreciated.

I've banked with Washington Mutual for 8 years but their claims of superior customer service are just that, claims. I've banked with Bank of America as well since I got a car loan through them, but I only used them to make car payments, but my car loan is through someone else now. I find the Bank of America local branch has long lines and I am not totally sold on banking with them 100% yet.

Who do you bank with? Who should I switch to? I am just looking for a checking account, one that doesn't require a minimum balance or anything special. A debit card is a must, as I only write 2-3 checks a month (rent and car payment). I live across the street from Idaho Central Credit Union, which is nice, but I haven't heard anything about them. I have a lot of friends who use US Bank, but that doesn't mean much. Idaho State University has a credit union but I have never used a credit union before.

HELP!