Today, I am no longer a subscriber to Sirius Satellite Radio. After two years of loyal subscribership, the company tossed me away like I was nothing. I loved it, wanted to keep it, but they feel like I owe them more that I should and I have to draw the line somewhere. Let me explain.

Two weeks ago, I noticed my radios stopped working. I tried to log into my account, no dice. I was baffled, but didn’t have time to call until today. After 15 minutes of frustratingly yelling instructions to the automated teller I finally got to a real person.

Paul seemed like a nice guy. He quickly pulled up my account and informed my that my account had been closed. “What”? I asked, immediately confused. “You were canceled for non-payment” he said. I replied that I had been on auto bill from my debit card and his reply was, “Yes, I see that but the last transaction didn’t go through, you’ll have to call the bank to find out why”. “Oh, well” I said… “Not sure what happened, but let me take care of it right now.” This is when the hammer fell. Paul informed me that I needed to pay the past due ammout (a whopping $12), and then pay a whole new setup, and activation fee to start a new account.

So, after two years, something happened, the bill wasn’t paid, and they just cut me off? No calls, no emails, nothing. They must not want me as a customer. Listen, I’m not sure how his happened, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to give them more money just because of some bank issue. The account has been fully funded since I opened it.

So, after that long conversation on the phone and several angry emails, I give up. Sorry Howard, I will miss you. I pulled the radio out of my car and threw it in the trash. I don’t need it that bad. Besides, there’s always bittorrent.

Today marks my official step into the blog world. I wrestled with idea of weblog for a long time. Initially I was hesitant because it seemed that an attempt would be futile. Who would read it? Then, as blogging became more and more popular, it seemed to be the thing all the important kids were doing and I felt as if I’d be conforming to some pathetic attempt at being cool. Now, I feel different.

I realized that this is a great way to voice my opinion, even if no one reads it. I’ve been in the web industry for a long time as a kind of silent partner. I read to stay up on trends, find the latest marketing advice, coding techniques, etc. The inevitable opinions would arise from time to time about some new technique or trend. But, my voice was always limited to my little audience of friends.

I finally decided I would have a blog, if only to get my ideas on paper. See, I don’t much care if people think I know what I’m talking about. I just want to know that I’m sure. So, sit back, relax, grab a cup of whatever and enjoy. Welcome to mockedup.com