VW GTI 2012 - Follow Up Review

It's been two months since I've been living with my new GTI, and I thought it was time to do a follow up to my earlier review.

So I still like the car a lot.  It has proven to be practical, fun, and still feels as well built as an Audi.  I have not had any issues or need to contact the dealership about it.  I've driven about 2500 miles so far.

I stand by all the positive first impressions I had of the vehicle, but living with a car for a few weeks has given me some time to reflect on the minor annoyances that any car will give you from time to time.

So the first annoying thing is the internal fan on the base model.  It has four on positions and often times I wish it had more.  I think a variable control would have been better, and I'm guessing that option comes if you spring for the climate control option.

Then there's the seats.  They are extremely comfortable, and supportive, and remind me how much I missed having cloth seats in a car.  My last three cars have been leather equipped, and I just don't really see the point.  With the BMW is was leather or pleather, and the latter blows chunks so I had to go with leather.  But I'd probably have been more happy with cloth.  All that said, I do think that the bucket portion of the seats is a little narrow, and suspect that a typically large American butt or a woman with wide hips might find it a little annoying.  Only marginally annoying, but annoying nonetheless.

I was watching Top Gear the other day, and Jeremy Clarkson was sarcastically commenting on the fact that one of the vehicles they were driving had a button that had to be depressed for ten seconds in order for it to function.  Similarly the GTI has a very annoying rocker switch that must be held for three seconds to do select the root menu on the multi function display.  And even when you hold it for three seconds, sometimes it goes to a different menu, in which case you have to exit and repeat the procedure.

After such meticulous attention to detail, and such a good design, I cannot for the life of me understand why this system was chosen.  So to switch the display from whatever your default is, to say fuel range, is a bit of a chore and a little annoying.

But really these are the only three issues I have with the car.  Other than that, driving experience, and overall fun factor remains high.  I still cannot think of another similarly priced car on the market today that I'd prefer at this time.  I'll do another follow up after some long term driving.

Herman Cain Mocked

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Inside the Political Curtain with John Oliver - Herman Cain
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Wow, how they got Cain to do this is quite beyond me. Very funny though, love John Oliver.

The Ricky Gervais Diet

Today is day 64 of my diet, and I've lost 28lbs.  Since many people have asked me how I got to this point, I figured I'd blog it.

I've been stateside for 12 years now, and have sampled much of what passes for food in this country.  Sadly I sampled far too much and far too often, couple that with my love of red wine and I was starting to look like a stuffed pig.  Not good.

So 64 days ago I was inspired to open a new chapter in my life and get in shape, and here's how I did it.

First off, I guess I should mention that there are a tiny percentage of folks who are overweight due to a medical condition, so please know that the comments I make here are aimed at people who are just overweight because of lifestyle choices, not because of some underlying health problems.

I've seen various diets that seem to be quite clever.  Atkins got famous a few years ago, and later South Beach.  But the problem with all these fad diets is that you have to follow the rules no matter how easy they try and make the diet sound.  So if you're on Atkins eating all the lean meat you want, but then fancy a couple of glasses of wine, you just screwed your carb count and will likely fail.

The reason I call my diet the Ricky Gervais diet is because the idea came from a stand up comedy he performed where in his usual blunt style he laid down the following words of wisdom (and I'm paraphrasing here, not quoting):

It's a simple equation:  Anything you put in your mouth is fuel for your body.  If you consume too much fuel (calories) your body will store it as fat.  So you have a straightforward choice.  You can choose to consume less fuel or choose to burn more fuel by exercising.

And that really is it.  You can either put fewer calories in or burn more of them by exercising.  So you need to choose if you'd like to be a gym rat, in which case you can probably eat just about whatever you like.  You can choose to radically change how you eat.  Or you can do a little of both.

To be clear, I have not read anything that tells me exactly how Mr. Gervais personally lost the weight, it's not relevant, but I called it the Ricky Gervais Diet because he got me thinking the right way about losing weight.

Starting Out

In the first couple of weeks I downloaded an app called My Fitness Pal.  It's an amazing iPhone app that also works on most other smartphones, laptops, iPads and other tablets or computers.  Everything you eat, you tell the program.  It can be as simple as scanning the barcode on the thing you are eating, or doing a text search in their massive database.  It 'knows' over a million food items, so most of the time anything you eat is already in the system.  Super easy.  If you can Facebook you can do this.

My Fitness Pal will also track your weight, give you a calorie goal based on your BMI and gender and give you other pointers too.  If you exercise you can tell it, and it will show you how many extra calories you 'earned' to 'spend' that day.

The first couple of weeks suck.  I'm not going to lie.  If you over eat your stomach is going to be growling and complaining about not being full with pizza and chocolate.  But tough luck, you just have to suck it up.

For me though, the cool outcome of the first fortnight is that my stomach appears to have shrunk.  In days gone by I could eat huge meals.  Half a stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut.  No problem.  Perhaps even with some bread sticks as an appetizer.  That's all the calories you should eat in a day, right there in one meal.  Oh, and did I mention two days worth of sodium intake?  And that's not even including the appetizer, drinks or dessert items.

But after a couple of weeks, a small and sensible 250-350 calorie meal would satisfy me for hours.  With a bit of patience it's amazing how quickly you can retrain your body and mind.  If you also had the willpower to work out for an hour each day (which I don't), I could only imagine what could be achieved.

Moving On

Once you have passed through the first couple of weeks, your body has stopped being mad at you, and the scales are giving you good news.

I began to enjoy the My Fitness Pal app as a game.  If I eat this, then I can eat that later etc.  The app also helps you avoid hidden traps that exist all over America.

For example, Buffalo Wild Wings clearly doesn't sound like diet food.  But their naked tenders are basically grilled chicken with only 43 calories in each one.  Eight of them isn't an unhealthy meal from a calorie standpoint at 344 calories, even if you have some dip it's under 400.  Sadly though that same meal is your entire safe sodium intake for the day, right there in one meal.  Don't even get me started on why American food is so completely overloaded with sodium, it's unreal.  But the app helps you spot things like that and adjust accordingly.

Simple Food

When I'm at home I do like a simple meal I can eat in the kitchen that's easy to prepare.  Without much imagination you can recreate seemingly unhealthy food in a relatively healthy (or at least diet friendly way).  You can buy wraps that are tasty and have only 50 calories in.  If you shop wisely you can buy lean hot dogs with only 40 calories in that taste great.  Add a little light pimento cheese or spicy hummus or mustard, and you have a hot dog that's well under 150 calories.

Many grocery stores sell cooked chicken, you just have to peel off the meat and shovel it into your face.  Filling, full of protein, and tasty.  Got to watch the sodium on some of them, but still, you could do worse.

Then there are all those healthy or ethnic frozen meals you can buy.  If you shop around there are a ton of tasty meals that weigh in at well under 360 calories.  And once you have gotten your stomach out of the habit of bad food, one of those meals and a large glass of water will fill you up very nicely.

When I'm travelling for my job, I try to limit restaurant meals to chains where they have easy access to their nutritional information.  I'll often buy meal in a grocery store and eat it in my hotel room.  Or I'll buy a sandwich from a place like Subway that has clear nutritional information available.  If you avoid their stupid sandwiches you can easily have a decent and filling six inch sub for well under 400 calories.

Supplements

I'm not really an expert in this area, but I have found that Tonalin CLA consumed with a meal, while on a diet is really effective.  I detected no side effects, and the product is stimulant free.  The one week of my diet that I ran out of these pills was the one week that I lost the least amount of weight.

I also take a men's multi vitamin just in case I am missing some key nutrients with my diet.

Exercise

When you're overweight the thought of exercise is about as appealing as taking a cold shower, at least for me.  I remember a time when exercise was effortless.  I'd cycle miles to school in full uniform and not even be sweaty or out of breath!  I don't think I could do that today!

So if you're not in to the whole gym thing, you can still lose weight controlling the calories and watching the sodium intake.  But you can make simple life changes that all add up to making a difference.

When I'm in an airport, I'll walk to the gate, and if I have time, I'll take a nice long walk to the other end of the terminal and back, briskly.  The other day I was in a 14 story hotel, on the top floor.  On two occasions I walked the stairs to the room, rather than taking the elevator.

When I park, I'll deliberately pick a parking space further away from where I am going, so I can walk just a little bit more.  These are all just little things, but they add up, and keep you in a losing weight mindset.

Danger

You have to watch out for dangerous hidden calories too.  Like those naked tenders from BWW with the hidden evil sodium.  But non-diet drinks, alcohol, it all adds up.  So make sure you keep using the tracker to gain some perspective of what is going into your body.

Portion Size

Here in America a typical appetizer could feed a small non-American family for a day.  So it's really important to get your mind around eating sensibly.  Sadly we are often taught as children the absurd lession that finishing an entire plate of food is such a good idea (even when we're full), that the reward is a yummy desert item!  So not only are we teaching our kids to eat way beyond the point of sensible consumption, but we are then using a grossly unhealthy sugary sweet containing a bunch more calories as reward for the aforementioned gluttony!

It's so easy to carry this behavior on into adulthood; finishing every bite of food on the plate and then squeezing in an unhealthy desert.

For me personally, even after just 64 days, my stomach is content with much smaller portions, and if I start to feel full, I simply stop eating and notate in My Fitness Pal app that I did in fact not eat the whole thing, thus saving me calories I can use later if I get hungry or fancy a beer!  Why waste calories stuffing your stomach, making your stomach expect and demand larger portions in future, when you could eat a tasty snack or drink a nice glass of wine later on instead?

This mindset is really hard to get used to, because we are taught this behavior in many different ways as a kid, and some of that bleeds through into adulthood.

Day Off

I think it's okay to have a cheat day from time to time.  Maybe once a week.  Just don't go crazy with it.

Water

I think water is very important to a diet, especially in America where our food is dripping with sodium.  I try to consume at least one very large glass with every meal, one in the evening, and other smaller amounts throughout the day.  These days I just use a filter in the fridge, but some people prefer bottled or flavored.  The key is to force yourself to drink plenty, as I believe a lack of hydration will not help the diet one bit.

Stick To It

Even if you have a bad day, a cheat day, someone forces you to eat a cake.  Keep going back to the program, and don't give up.

Visualize

You have to keep reminding yourself why you are doing it.  You have to accept that you deserve to look your best, deserve to be healthy, and you owe it not only to yourself but to your partner, family and friends.  Being fat is a personal choice (for the vast majority of people who are fat), and personally I just made the decision that enough was enough.  I am not going back to that life.  Getting old sucks anyway, without being fat as well!

Weighing In

I believe the app I use suggests weekly weigh ins.  It's a great idea I think, because too often fluctuations in your weight, time of day etc can be discouraging.  But for me, as long as I stick to the program, I've found a steady and progressive weight loss that has been fairly consistent.

That's It

So that's how I've done it so far. I've quite a few more pounds and pant sizes to go before I am done.  With this diet you can simply tell the app you are just looking to maintain and it will up your daily calorie allocation accordingly.  Now you have more calories to 'spend' on the things you like to eat.

I hope you have found this article somewhat interesting or useful.  I'll be sure to blog again in a few weeks and let you know my further progress.

New Car Review - VW GTI 2012

Almost two years ago the lease on my BMW 3 Series was up, so I purchased a Chevy Camaro V6 which I rather enjoyed.  However interest rates are in the toilet right now, and I realized that if I traded, I could pick up a new car with a new warranty, get something more economical, and score a lower interest rate that would make my car payment considerably less.

After doing my usual research I noticed that just about every review of the VW GTI (or VW Golf GTI in Europe) was very positive.  Even a reviewer for Consumer Reports did a whole You Tube video about the GTI being the car he would buy if he were personally making a purchase.

Intrigued by all the good reviews, even ones made by Americans who would normally shun a hatchback I took a test drive.  I suspected that the drop from 312HP of my Camaro to 200HP in the VW would be a bit of an issue.  But the lighter smaller car made the 200HP more than enough, delivering exciting, fun and impressive road manners.

In fact considering this was almost a downgrade for me, the VW being $4,000 cheaper than what I paid for the Camaro, it actually felt like an upgrade.  The materials in the GTI put the Camaro to shame, it really does feel as upscale as a decent Audi.  The steering is a perfect weight.  The automatic gearbox is a dual clutch system so efficient it outperforms a stick shift in both fuel economy and 0-60 times, despite being a shade heavier.  The DSG provides paddle shifters for manual mode, a sports mode which is pretty aggressive, and a regular D mode for better fuel economy.  But shifts are as fast (1/10th of a second) and smooth as any automatic I have ever driven.

My old car only had a year of warranty left, had a major crack and chip in the windshield, and so I decided that switching cars now would give me three more years of warranty, free servicing for three years, save me from having to replace that windshield at an insurance deduction of $250, and save me on gas, since the GTI is capable of 32 MPG and even in mixed driving is going to score better than the Camaro.

Despite the logic of the move I was a little skeptical that the dealer could pull off a deal that would lower my payment sufficiently.  Kelly Blue Book and the dealer's Black Book both gave me disappointing numbers for my trade.  Yet when I came to working the numbers, the first deal the salesman presented was actually far better than I had imagined.  In fact the impulsive side of me told me to just sign the papers.  But I kept my poker face and told him I needed to see a better deal.  To my astonishment the salesman returned with an offer of $1,000 more than any trade appraisal I had seen on my trade, along with invoice price for the new car.  Oh, and the interest rate was excellent too.  When all was said and done my car payment dropped $120 a month.  Too good a deal to walk away from, so I took it.

It's still early days for the VW.  Far too early to write about reliability and quality.  But as of right now, I can say that the car is way more fun than the Camaro.  More comfortable driving position, better seats, better driving position, better visibility, better fuel economy (although admittedly it uses premium, so the savings will not be out of this world), easier parking, and so on.  It's just a superior car that manages to feel way more expensive without compromise.

Sure, I'll miss the head up display of the Camaro, but the clean black and white gauges with the precision German red needles look way better than the Camaro's retro greenish dash illumination.  I don't regret my ownership of the Chevy, but for now I want to head in a different direction.

Another thing that impresses with the GTI is the attention to detail.  Peer into the headlights and you'll see that the diffuser is a VW logo.  When the doors are locked the illumination changes to let you know.  VW took the time to trim the window rockers and mirror adjusters with aluminum.  The Bluetooth downloads your address book and then can simply respond to verbal commands like, "Call John Smith on his cellphone" without any prior training, set up or programming.  It just works.

As the many reviews will tell you, the GTI is not the fastest hot hatch out there.  So if out and out power, handling, or 0-60 is key for you, then this is the wrong car.  But the GTI wins out not because of specs on paper, it is what the sum of all its components equal.

I really feel like I got a very upscale and quality car, at a bargain basement price, and thus far I'm very happy.  I'll post again when I have logged a few more miles in this thing!

Hotel Elite Status

I travel a lot for my job (I am after all an International man of mystery ), and since I stay in hotels about 150 nights a year, I figure I should get the most out of it that I can.

When I first started this travelling job two years ago, I was a little naive about how it all worked.  I would simply use a travel site like Expedia.com or Hotels.com (who I think are owned by the same company), and find something affordable and within the budget my company considers 'reasonable.'

Hotels.com have a rewards program that gives you one free night for every ten nights you stay, and Expedia have a new program that from what I can tell absolutely blows.  The other reality of using these kinds of web sites is that generally the rates are about the same as booking direct with the hotel, and because Expedia and sites like them charge a commission to the hotel, the hotel treats you like garbage when you arrive and puts you in their cheapest nastiest room, and refuses to give you any loyalty points.

So I learned pretty quickly that it was better to choose a chain and stick with it, and for me that chain was IHG.  This group includes Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, and a few others that are less common, or more geared towards extended stay; which I avoid like the plague.

This chain has a great network of hotels, and pretty much every town I ever visit has a property with a few minutes of the place I need to be.  Despite staying at dozens of hotels, I've only found three individual properties that I disliked and refused to stay in.  One wasn't bad, but was just run down.  One was by the sea, and smelt as if it was rotting like an old wooden ship.  And the other was an extended stay that smelt of feet and despair.

Other than those unfortunate examples I've found the properties to be pretty reasonable.  Ranging in price from $80-$130 depending on location.  The rooms are very consistent, so you are rarely if ever surprised by the room.  It always has a refrigerator and microwave.  Usually a table to sit at, a desk to work at, a bed of course, and a reasonable bath with shower.  I rarely eat in this kind of hotel, so I'm not going to get into describing the food.  But generally the Holiday Inn Express has a selection of simple basic food for breakfast.  The Holiday Inn usually has a restaurant, so breakfast there can vary tremendously depending on property.

As well as the consistency and convenient locations, I enjoy the hotel's loyalty program known as Priority Club.  You get 10 points for every dollar you spend, and once you earn Platinum Elite status you get a 50% bonus on your points each night.  Priority Club also have amazing promotions, frequently offing double points, or specific bonus points for visiting certain hotels.

The promotion they had in the last quarter of 2011 was so good it yielded 58,500 bonus points for me in January of 2012, which combined with a few stays jumped me right to Platinum Elite Status through 2013.  Woohoo!

I probably would have continued to use their properties on an ongoing basis, but an incident happened at one hotel during a rare air conditioner servicing where some kind of allergen got into the room and gave me severe allergies for a whole day.  (Don't worry, I was well compensated for this!)  As I spent the day in a rival hotel being annoyed at my runny eyes and nose, I began to consider trying out another chain.

The problem with just simply trying another chain is that you have to start at the bottom of the ladder when it comes to all the perks of top elite status.  No more free upgrades to suites, no more free drinks or food, no more bonus points.  Or so I thought.

Seems like the sneaky hotels have realized that they have to offer an incentive to win over rival loyal customers, and they do, but it's all hush hush under the table and behind closed doors.  I stumbled across a web forum for people who like to discuss hotel points and air miles and found out a little secret that was quite interesting for someone in my position.

Status Match

In the price range I stay my choices really boil down to Marriott, IHG, and Hilton.  There are others, but they are not common enough to find in all the places I need to travel.  And there are others that are aimed at a cheaper market and therefore many of them suck.  And of course there are those aimed at people who do my bosses job who have the ability to spend far more at hotels.

When it comes to Hilton properties, the sub brand that most closely meets my needs in terms of price and locations would be Hampton Inn.  And frankly, I hate the logo, and the look of them from the outside.  They just put me off.  They are not that bad inside, but nothing to get excited about.

Marriott on the other hand have their regular Marriott brand, Courtyard, and Fairfield, all of which can, depending on location, fall into my travel budget.

So after a little research I found out you can simply email Marriott and ask them for a status match.  They review your elite status with another rival chain and offer you what they call a 'challenge.'  In my case because I want their top status (which normally takes 75 paid nights to obtain), they told me I must stay 18 nights in 90 days, and if I do that not only would they give me Platinum Elite status for the 90 days, but I would earn it for the rest of the year if I successfully completed the challenge.  On the down side, if you miss the challenge even by a single night you are downgraded back to your original status, and you can only apply for one challenge per year.  So if you are going to take a challenge, you might want to be careful of when you begin the challenge.

Sure enough I opened a new Marriott Rewards account (I had previous just used my wife's because I used Marriott so rarely it seemed pointless to have my own) and within 48 hours they had upgraded me from member to Platinum Elite.

So now when I visit a Marriott property I get the free room upgrades, the free stuff they give Platinum members and a general ass kissing on check in.  More importantly I now earn free nights in their hotels more quickly and get to stay in a nicer room, which when you travel is a big plus.

Time will tell how I like Marriott compared to Holiday Inn.  But so far so good.  Because Platinum Elite is generally much harder to earn than Priority Club, they seem to treat it a bit more seriously and provide more perks.  And although the rewards don't seem as generous as Priority Club, having a decent number of points at two chains will radically open up my travel options when I travel for free on my own time.

And speaking of points, consider too that the best value for them seems to be spending them on free hotel nights.  Priority Club was recently offering $100 in Amazon.com gift cards for around 31,000 points.  Which is pretty awesome.  But for 35,000 points you could have a night at the Crowne Plaza in Time Square NYC, worth $400.  So spending the points on non-hotel items may not be the best use of them.

I'm not going to dump Holiday Inn, they've been a good chain, and I have some favorite properties that are so convenient and new that I will still use those.  For now though everything else will be Marriott until I complete my 'challenge.'  Then I'll let you know how it went.

Mitt Romney Tax Information - At Last

I've not been watching the Republican debates, because frankly I'd rather stab myself in the face, and because if I want to know what happened in them I can just watch the news where they will regurgitate the main points over and over ad nauseum for 24-48 hours after each debate.

However, I was aware of the issue where Mitt Romney acted shady about his taxes for a while and then made a quip about not earning much from his speaking engagements (over $350,000 a year if you're interested).

Well bowing to pressure from his opponent Newt Gingrich he apparently released his tax information today.  While he pays a healthy dollar amount on his vast fortune as his critics suspected his tax percentage is lower than many middle class Americans.

Rather than pay 35% tax, he pays closer to 15% and has money 'invested' in the Cayman Islands and Switzerland, which he assures us is NOT a tax shelter.

But more disturbing than his $200+ million dollar fortune, his insane income of $42m a year, for me was the fact that per Mormon tradition he pays some 15% of his income to the Mormon cult church.  Yep, that's right, a guy who wants to have his finger on the nukes, and become leader of the free world, is so besotted with the cult leaders at his 'church' he gave them $7m between 2010 and 2011.

I'm all for religious freedom.  But when you feel compelled to give SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS to the church every couple of years, you have to wonder what kind of control they have over this man.  What decisions would they be guiding him in if he, Joseph Smith forbid, becomes president?

Romney has already shown himself to be a slick salesman.  He tells people exactly what they want to hear, moving his position with the changing wind of public opinion.  I for one don't believe a word out of his smarmy mouth, and I certainly don't trust anyone who feels the need to continually send millions of dollars to their church.

The last President would keep telling us that God had told him what to do.  And that was bad enough.  But what's going to happen when Mormon elders are dictating our path to their obedient servant and donor?  Pretty scary stuff.

Oh, and for those of you who don't think the Mormon Cult is in fact a cult, consider the opinion of hundreds of ex-Mormons who keep a great recovery site for those who escape the cult here.

Happy New Year 2012

2012 has already started well with the news that some of the scary bat-shit crazy presidential candidates have been forced to drop out of the race.

First Herman Cain stepped down, after giving stupid and ignorant answers (or simply yelling 9-9-9 - which rather aptly in the UK is the emergency services number like 911 in the States).

Now after Iowa, Michelle Bachmann found out the hard way that bat shit crazy wasn't enough to make it in politics.  And I'm not just harping on because I'm a liberal, this woman was so crazy, so stupid, and such a fucking bigot, there is no place for her thinking she can run for president of the free world.  I wouldn't trust her to run a gas station.

Also good news, Rick Perry, or George W. Bush II, got slammed, polling double what Bachmann managed; a measly 10% of the vote.  While he pledges to continue the fight, it's only a matter of time before that dumbass is kicked out of the race.

We've still got a VERY scary field out there, Mitt Romney; the cult member who will say anything or adopt any policy to get elected, and another bigot in the shape of Rick Santorum.

Since he came within 8 votes of beating Romney, I thought I'd share some of his world views:

1. Says he will annul all same sex marriages since gay marriage 'destabilizes' a society.
2. Says he will repeal all funding for birth control, and even allow states to ban the sale of birth control.
3. Says he will reinstate don't ask don't tell, and then made a bunch of homophobic statements about gay people in the military.
4. Claimed that because obesity rates are high in America, we should do away with food stamps.
5. Claimed that his child, who was born with a serious medical condition, would have died under socialized medicine.  Odd then that our infant mortality figures are in the gutter given how great our system is.
6. Back in August he said that poor people who 'whine' about affording health care should cut back on 'luxuries' like having a car or phone.
7. He sided with insurance companies who believe in charging more or denying coverage to people with 'pre-existing conditions.'

It scares me that some radical asshole like this can actually have a real chance at running for President.

I guess it's going to be an interesting and scary year.

CashForSmartPhones.com Review

I recently admitted that I am now Apple's Bitch.  There's no denying it.  I have decided to simply buy every new phone Apple make after my horrible AT&T / Android experience.  But this leads to a problem, because of the business model of cell phones these days, specifically smart phones, early upgrades tend to cost a lot more money than the price they advertise on TV.  And we all know why, and it's no big deal.  So what to do with the old phone?

I found a web site called CashForSmartPhones.com (part of the Cash4Laptops.com company) and they seemed to have a very reasonable sales pitch, credible reviews, and decent ratings.  You type in the smart phone you have and they give you a quote for what they are willing to buy it for.

So I entered the Samsung Infuse 4G, and my old Apple iPhone 3GS.  They quoted me $240 for the Samsung and $80 for the iPhone.  Not bad.  So I decided to take them up on the offer and filled out my information.  Within a few days a box and shipping label arrived at my home.  All I had to do is reset my phones back to their factory settings (although this company claim to erase the data themselves upon receipt), and send them in, shipped free via UPS.

A few days later I got an email saying the devices had been inspected, I called and they offered me $220 for both units.  I accepted, they PayPal'd the money right away.  Easy money.

Now you may notice that the price they offered was lower than what they paid, and I'm fine with that.  The iPhone was old and crap, that's why I replaced it.  The case was cracked at the back, the battery was in poor shape, and I had neglected to supply the charger or cord with it.  And despite the newness of the Infuse, the case was already getting worn thanks to the cheap ass crappy materials Samsung used in the construction.

I probably could have pushed for a bit more money, or tried to sell them on eBay, but then you have to deal with random buyers, the usual eBay bullshit, fees, etc.  This was straight up an easy transaction by a company that did what they promised and gave me money for something that frankly would have been left sitting in a drawer if I hadn't found this web site.

It's always exciting to see a company doing business the right way, and really I had no complaints about this whole transaction.  The $220 they paid me easily offset the penalty for early upgrade, and when the iPhone 5 comes out, I suspect I'll be doing the same again.