They say beer is the new wine

It's true. If you go to a respectable high class beer bar, you'll find not only a wide variety of beers, but a level of quality that has been increasing, and will continue to increase as more and more breweries compete to offer the "finest products available." Let's take a look at some of the finer quality beers available these days. I'm sure if you have the time and money for a tasting, you won't be disappointed in any of these samples, and your money will be far better spent than on that six-pack of Schlitz cans in your fridge right now.

I have recently become more and more interested in some of the less well-known Belgian styles currently being produced by a few local breweries. It's well worth the money to drop $10 on a 750 mL bottle of any of the Allagash Brewery's phenomenal Belgian ales. If you're not familiar with the brewery, try the award-winning Allagash White, a superior wheat beer that is great for a hot and sweaty afternoon. When you're feeling more adventurous, try one of their more intense Belgian Dubbels or Tripels. These are bottle conditioned ales that are cask-aged for serious flavor and serious alcohol content. Some of their brews are well above 11% ABV. For example, right now the Allagash 10th Anniversary Ale is available, and it is dynamite. It's a stronger and spicier version of their White beer, and it packs a punch at 10% alcohol by volume. Notice in their description of the beer, the brewers make a note for food pairings. Truly this is a beer that is to be respected for its craftsmanship. Finally from the good folks at Allagash, be on the lookout for the reappearance of their Curieux ale. It's a Belgian Tripel that is aged for a year in Oak bourbon barrels still moist with bourbon, and then aged another year in the bottles. It is highly alcoholic and must be treated like a fine wine with its high alcohol content and complex flavor.

If you make it out to Milton, Delaware, be sure to take a tour of the Dogfish brewery. These guys seriously know their stuff. Featuring abour a dozen beers regularly, and about another six seasonal beers, there is no shortage of diversity among the brews. With such a wide selection, it can be difficult to choose what to taste. I reccommend starting with the 60 minute IPA. At the beginning stages of the beer making process, this brew undergoes a 60 minute continuous hop addition before it is cooled and yeast is added. What this means for us, the beer drinkers, is an extremely hoppy beer with a crisp, long-lasting finish that makes you want another and another and another. My current favorite Dogfish beer is their Raison d'Etre. It's another Belgian style ale with a twist. You will definitely taste lots of raisin flavor in this beer, and you might even be surprised to learn it is brewed with beet sugar (of all things). Don't let the beets scare you off, this beer is truly amazing. Another caveat though, watch out for the alcohol content. At 8.5%, you could be horizontal a lot more quickly than you realize because the beer is deceptively smooth. Finally, if you can find it, check out the tongue-in-cheek Liquor de Malt which comes in a 40oz bottle complete with a hand-stamped brown paper bag.

Another brewery specializing in Belgian Ales is the Cooperstown, New York-based Ommegang brewery. They are seriously into the old style of brewing, actually aging some of their beers in a local cave. If you want to try a selection from this brewery, I reccommend their original, the Abbey Ale. It's a rich bottle conditioned ale that is extremely complex in flavor and very high in alcohol content. Note, again the brewers' reccomended food pairings, one sign of a truly remarkable beer.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but just a few ideas for some experimentation with beer-tasting that will be sure to liven up any evening. Just think, you have a date over for dinner, you've just put an awesome meal on the table, and instead of wine, you break out a bottle of Fin du Monde, pop the cork and regail your date with the intricacies in the flavor of this fine [Canadian] Belgian Trippel. It's sure to impress. And get you wicked drunk.

What's happeing with Dell these days?

It seems like Dell Inc. has some explaining to do after some recent developments that may constitute fairly shady business practices. Dell Inc. has gained world renown for it's success in business, but it has had its share of criticisms and unfortunate incidents with some parts of the company.

Earlier this year, Dell was named the "most amirable company" by Fortune in February of this year, topping a list that included such other Evil Empire notables as Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and Southwest Airlines. Southwest, who have recently introduced their "Ding" campaign, now offer software which is nothing short of Adware that you can download for your "convenience." Personally, when I see a company that wants me to put software on my computer just so it can tell me to spend money, a little red flag goes up. Okay, a big red flag. You might as well download this piece of IT trash along with all the other programs like it that amount to no more than wolves in sheep's clothing.

But I digress. Dell's customer service has always had a good reputation, and their claims are pretty lofty:

"Dell's commitment to customer value, to our team, to being direct, to operating responsibly and, ultimately, to winning continues to differentiate us from other companies."
-Dell.com's Company Background Page

However, their commitment to customer value isn't always what it may seem. Sure, if you are a large business and you work with Dell computers, your customer service is excellent. I learned just recently that tech support for Dell's products used by large companies mainly just involves an outright replacement policy. Sounds great: you never have to worry about a bad drive fan, a shorted out power supply, or cracked heat sink again. Dell will just replace your hardware.

Now if you are just a simple home user, you might run into some problems. First, it seems that Dell has its priorities straight as far as the business world is concerned. They see profit as the number one goal, and nothing, not even customer complaints can stop them. There have been a number of complaints, mainly from individual users, that claim Dell was apathetic, curt, and even outright rude to the complaints of its customers. I for one have experienced the agony of Dell customer "service" firsthand as the unfortunate owner of a Dell PC.

Here are some tips for dealing with Dell over the phone:

1. Never ask them to change your address in their files: They won't do it. On one occasion, I sent in my bill with the "new address" box filled out, only to find out later that they had ignored it, and kept sending the bills to my old address. I then called customer service twice before my address was actually changed and my bills started to come to the correct address. I have moved once since the last time I changed my address with them, and believe it or not, I had the exact same problem. After 12 minutes on hold, an impatient voice told me, "maybe you didn't actually call us to tell us about the change of address." Are you kidding? I actually had to make three separate phone calls to customer service to finally get my bills to come to the correct address. You would think a simple change of address would be just that: simple. But with the Dell team at work, it's far from it. It is downright impossible.

2. When your machine breaks, always demand replacement parts: Dell is a huge company with a vast amount of resources at its disposal. As I mentioned earlier, in the corporate setting, when a component or a whole machine goes down, Dell replaces them almost immediately, with little or no attempt to repair the malfunctioning item. If they can afford to do that for companies, the can certainly afford to send you a new DVD drive when yours breaks under warranty.

3. Play as dumb as you can: I mean really ham it up. Let the tech support person think you are retarded if you want. In my experience, Dell's first response to "my computer won't work" is to have you fix it yourself. They have someone to walk you through all the steps to getting your computer back up and running. They will spend literally hours on the phone with you before they will send a tech out. Why? It's way more cost effective in the short-term to frustrate your customers to violence over the phone than have someone who actually knows what they're doing help you out. So when you're on the phone, here are some of my favorite lines to drop when you're trying to get the most out of your tech support call: "Which one of these thingies is the mouse?" "So what should my interweb look like?" "It's making a really strange noise right now..." and the coup de grace, "Ohhh... it just says, 'critical system error: cannot recover' and the screen is all blue." One of those should help you on your way to better technical support.

4. Make them repeat everything: As I have learned, you never know when customer service is actually listening to you, or if they can even understand you. The fact of the matter is that much of Dell's customer service is outsourced to call centers in India. Surprising? Not really. Frustrating? Entirely. I understand the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing jobs, and I hold no ill will toward the Indian population, but it's just really really difficult to understand some of the operators through their thick accents. "Dear Dell, you can outsource wherever you want, but I would really like to be able to understand the people I'm talking to. Thanks a mill." If you make the operators repeat everything you tell them, you can make absolutely sure your point makes it across.

5. Take names: Most people who work in call centers don't care about you. I know if I worked in one of those places and got angry and confused calls all day, I would certainly be close to a meltdown at the end of a week. The people who work in "customer service" are trained to do exactly that. They are supposed to avoid confrontation, solve problems effectively, and avoid complaints. It's one thing to complain about the company, but it's quite another for a call center employee to be personally involved. At the end of every call, request the operator's name, call identification number, and whatever else they will give you so that you can document the call and your complaint. That way if anything goes awry - like if they forget to change your address - you can call right back up and tell a supervisor exactly who promised you something would be done. It's just my little way of motivating the operators on an individual level.

6. Ask for the supervisor: If the call isn't getting anywhere, and you feel like you are being ignored or given the brush off, ask to talk to the supervisor. They have to let you talk to him if you keep asking. Mind you, they will do whatever it takes to keep you off the phone with the boss. Here's where you can try to make a deal. Start saying things like, "Well I'm aware of the situation, and as I recall, this isn't my fault.... What are you going to do for me?" At this point, you can get things like late fees waived, more affirming promises of real actual technical support, change your payment date (if you have credit with them,) even extend and/or modify the terms of your loan. If you're still not satisfied, talk to the supervisor, and s/he will likely be able to calm you down from your seething rage, or offer you something to shut you up.

7. Write a letter: Seriously, write a letter. Write a new one every day. Tell them exactly how you feel. The more letters they get, the more they will be inclined to stop doing what pisses people off. Be vocal with your complaints. Post to the complaint forum if you want, but I still think postal mail - and lots of it - is the best way to really irk a company into fixing its problems. If you have a complaint, send it to this guy:



Dell Corporate Headquarters, care of CEO Kevin Rollins
One Dell Way
Round Rock, Texas 78682


Even if just one of every thousand complaints reaches this man's desk, I would consider it a success.







8. Don't buy from Dell: If you have learned anything from Dell customer service, you'll know not ever to buy from them again. In my experience, and in the experience of others, I have learned that Dell seems to care little about the every day consumer. I'm certainly not speaking for businesses here - you guys can do whatever you want. But if you are a home user, looking to buy a PC from a company with a "reputation for great support," look elsewhere. Buy it locally from a place you can go to with complaints, concerns, and technical questions; where they will actually listen to you.