You might recall back in February when I posted about wanting to cancel my service with Verizon Wireless.  After almost 10 years of service with the company I felt completely let down as a loyal customer and was ready to walk.  At the time it was my second attempt to try and upgrade my phones early and get some sort of break, but the company refused to budge.  Even after speaking with multiple sales people and a store manager, I left the Corona Crossings location empty handed.

After a few months of shopping other providers I was teetering on the idea of whether or not to give Verizon another chance.  After all for over 7 years now the company has had exceptional service, it wasn’t until this past February that they really disappointed me.  So today, when my wife went to pay our cell phone bill and inquired about upgrading and was told we could upgrade to the Blackberry Storm at a significantly discounted rate, AND charge it to our monthly bill I decided now was a better time than ever to give Verizon Wireless a chance…Boy was I wrong.

This evening my wife and I went into the store tinkered with the Blackberry Storm for a bit and both decided it was in fact what we wanted.  The sales manager we were dealing with confirmed that we were in fact eligible for the upgrade as well as the Blackberry promotion to buy one get one which made the two Storm’s and a few accessories just over $200.  When we expressed that we wished to charge it to our account the manager told us that he wouldn’t know if we were eligible for that until the end (Something the other salesperson that my wife spoke with earlier failed to mention).

Though wary because of past experiences like this I told the sales manager to go ahead and proceed and after about 20 minutes in the store we are disappointed to find out that we are apparently ineligible to receive the charge to our account because we have had a few late bills and a few instances where our phones were shut off.

I’ll admit that we don’t have a perfect track record, but even in the instances where our service has been disconnected we have paid the amount needed to have it reconnected within an hour of it going down EVERY time.  Not to mention if you look at my nearly 10 year history with them it’s only gotten to that point over the last year or so due to various hardships we had run into.  Again after some serious aggravation and discussion I again was forced to leave the store empty handed because the manager couldn’t do anything for me.

My biggest problem with this situation isn’t that we were denied billing the phones to our account, I get that there are consequences for late payments and such; my problem is that the salesperson my wife spoke with previously said we could and he had our account information in front of him at that time.

Even more so I am upset because this is the second time this particular Verizon Wireless store has let me down.  The biggest kicker here?  They won’t let me out of my contract until August yet they have failed to hold up their end of the contract and provide me the kind of service I expected from them when I signed that 2 year agreement.  Why are so many companies during these tough times doing even worse to keep customers happy?  Why in a down economy do you want to turn away customers willing to spend the money, it just doesn’t make sense.

After the success of my Twilight Soundtrack What Plays When post I got a ton of requests to identify other songs from the film, songs that weren’t on the soundtrack, but on the motion picture score.  For sometime now I have been meaning to do this post, but just hadn’t had the time to sit down and compare Carter Burwell’s score to the DVD.  Finally with the help of fellow Where Is Edward Cullen staffer, Kristina Sanchez, I have been able to complete this post.  One of the annoying things about the Twilight score is that the album release of the score doesn’t follow the order of the film, so keep that in mind as you run down the song list in this post.

How I Would Die: ‘Twilight’ is quick to get into the score of the film, and How I Would Die starts immediately.  As soon as the Summit logo fills the screen Burwell’s composition begins.  The song continues through Bella’s monologue until Full Moon by The Black Ghosts begins.  How I Would Die also introduces us to a theme from Bella’s Lullaby which reoccurs through songs in the film.

Who Are They: Who Are They is the intro song for everyone’s favorite vampire family, The Cullen’s.  As the Cullen’s walk by the cafeteria window before making their big movie entrance the song starts.

Treaty: Treaty is the name of the song which plays in the background as Jacob tells Bella the Quilieute legend about the Cullen’s first coming to Forks and the treaty, which was established between the Quilieute tribe and the Cullen’s at that time.  The song starts out really faint, so you barely notice it at first, but picks up as the story progresses.

Phascination Phase: Phascination Phase sets the tone for the relationship between Bella and Edward.  The song plays in science class as Bella and Edward first start getting to know each other.  The song starts right as Bella tells Edward, “It’s complicated” in regards to why she moved to Forks.

Humans Are Predators Too: Humans Are Predators Too, as the title suggests, brings us to the one point in the film where humans really are the danger to Bella.  The song begins playing as soon as we see the front of Thunderbird and Whale, the book store Bella visits in Port Angeles. The song continues through Bella’s confrontation with the drunken men in the alley.

I Dreamt of Edward: Don’t most of you die hard female Twilighters? I Dreamt of Edward doesn’t actually begin when Bella thinks she’s having hallucinations of her vampire love interest, it actually starts at the hospital when her and Edward are discussing him saving her and he says, “I hope you enjoy disappointment.”

I Know What You Are: Most people would think this is the song that plays in the background when Bella says those same famous five words, but actually this song begins playing when Bella puts all the pieces together and realizes what Edward is.  This song begins as soon as the body of Walon is wheeled away in front of Chief Swan’s station.

The Most Dangerous Predator: The Most Dangerous Predator is the follow up song to shiny, sparkly Edward in the forest.  After Edward “exposes himself” to Bella and they enter the cover of the forest again song starts.

The Skin of A Killer: The skin of a killer is a fitting title for this song because of when it begins in the film.  In the forest when Bella says to Edward, “You don’t go out in the sunlight” the song begins.  Obviously we find out that he doesn’t go out into the sunlight because the skin of a killer is glittery.

The Lion Fell In Love With The Lamb: “And so the lion fell in love with the lamb”; one of the classic lines from the Twilight novel and the tie in to the song that begins playing while Edward is in the tree and Bella gets up in his face as he tries to explain to her what he is and why she should fear him.

Complications: That thing that happens when the love of your life’s father is best friends with a member of a tribe that wants to kill you and your family…Complications begins playing as Bella and Edward are discussing her coming over to meet his family and he stops suddenly. Bella asks him what is wrong and he simply says, “Complications”.  That complication of course is the arrival of Billy and Jacob.

Dinner With His Family: Dinner With His Family begins as we see Edward and Bella in the silver Volvo making their way down the windy path to the Cullen household for dinner.

I Would Be The Meal: This one is a bit more obvious since it starts right when Bella says the line, “I would become the meal.” When addressing Rosalie and Emmett’s concerns about Edward and Bella being a couple.

Bella’s Lullaby: The romantic piano piece which finds its way into a number of other songs on the score plays in its entirety starting when Edward jumps out of his bedroom window with Bella on his back.  This of course is also the song which we see Edward play on the piano.

Nomads: Much like Bella’s Lullaby themes from Nomads can be heard throughout the film, but it doesn’t actually play until we are introduced to Laurent, James, and Victoria in the baseball field.  The song begins right as Alice yells out, “Stop!”

Stuck Here Like Mom: Stuck Here Like Mom begins right after Bella tells Charlie she has to go home during the scene where she pretends her and Edward broke up leading her to want to leave Forks for good.

Bella is Part of the Family: Bella is Part of the Family is the climactic piece that begins after Bella and Edward leave Charlie’s house.  The song starts as soon as Emmett lands in the bed of the truck.

Tracking: Tracking mixes a bit of romance and suspense by bringing themes from Bella’s Lullaby and Bella is Part of the Family together along with a number of other themes from the film.  Tracking begins as soon as Edward closes the trunk of the car in the garage and continues through the scenes of the Cullen’s helping Bella escape forks.

The Place of Someone You Love: When Bella gets the call from James while at the hotel in Arizona this song begins. It of course leads up to the big showdown at the ballet studio.  Interesting thing to note is that it carries themes from How I Would Die and in the monologue that is recited by Bella during How I Would Die she says, “I’d never thought about how I was going to die, but dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go.” see the tie in?

Showdown in the Ballet Studio: This one, again, is pretty obvious.  It’s the song that plays during the confrontation at the ballet studio and starts right when Bella enters the studio.

Edward At Her Bed: Edward At Her Bed is the song that begins while Bella is in the hospital after her mom leaves the room.  Right after Edward tells Bella she needs to go to Jacksonville the song begins.

Happy Friday everyone!  Welcome to my second installment of the new feature on my blog, Fuel for the Weekend, where I will review five energy drinks on flavor, energy factor, smell, and more.  Last week I took on five from Monster Energy and this week I decided to take on Mountain Dew’s Amp Energy.

Amp Energy

The original energy drink from the makers of Mountain Dew doesn’t fall far from the tree.  When you crack open a can of Amp Energy you get a wiff of a familiar citrus smell that Mountain Dew drinkers will quickly associate with, but the Mountain Dew kick doesn’t stop there.  Amp Energy carries a citrus flavor, with a strong lime kick that reminded me a lot of Mountain Dew itself.

One thing I noticed about Amp Energy is again, much like Mountain Dew, the drink creates a bit of a film in your mouth and keeps a citrus flavor for a significant time after drinking it.  Fortunately for fans of Amp, I found that the flavor consistency continued even after the drink sat at room temperature so this drink can last you through the morning and still be pleasing to the pallette.  The downside I found to Amp Energy is that the energy factor just wasn’t there for me.  I didn’t find the kick to be much more than that of your everyday soda.

Amp Energy Sugar Free

Amp Energy Sugar free is the “diet” version of Amp Energy.  Boasting being “low on calories, high on power” Amp Energy takes their classic flavor and strips it down for the more health concious drinkers.  Sadly they stripped Amp of much of it’s taste with this dieth makeover as well.  Amp Energy Sugar Free has a very light citrus smell that isn’t noticable upon opening the can.  Sadly, what it lacks in scent it also lacks in flavor. Amp Energy Sugar free tastes like a watered down version of Amp Energy.  It still has the citrus taste, but nowhere near as strong as that found in Amp Energy.

Amp Energy Sugar free also packs a bit of a punch in the carbonation department.  I found that Amp Energy Sugar Free had a bit more of a bite to it in terms of carbonation when you drink it.  What I found most interseting about Amp Energy Sugar Free was that as it got warmer the taste got sweeter.  It’s almost as though the sweetness is somehow enhanced by warmth.  Again, the energy factor is sub-par in my opinion and only packed about as much punch as your average soda.

Amp Energy Overdrive

What many would call the “Red Amp”, Amp Energy Overdrive is the cherry flavored variation of Amp Energy.  Cracking open a can of Amp Energy Overdrive gives you a sweet inviting smell of cherry when you first open the can.  Sadly, the sweetness ends there.

The flavor of Amp Energy Overdrive reminded me a lot of drinking grenadine straight.  It doesn’t posess the sweet cherry flavor so many soft drinks have come to posess.  Instead it contains the more bitter flavor similar to that of a real cherry or grenadine.

Like the Amp Energy Sugar Free, Overdrive has a bit of a bite to it in terms of carbonation and doesn’t go down as smooth as the original Amp Energy.  Long term falvor on Overdrive is also lacking since it seems to get worse in taste as it reaches room temperature.  The one plus to Overdrive is that the yerba mate ingredient seems to give this one a bit more of a kick in comparison to other Amp’s.

Amp Energy Elevate

The “blue Amp” introduces us to the berry variety of Amp Energy.  It’s scent is very pleasing when you first open the can and reminds me of my days as a youth enjoying the rasberry blue Blow Pops.  This enjoyment continues with your first drink of Amp Energy Elevate as the berry flavor tantilizes your taste buds, but sadly the great taste is short lived.  Amp Energy Elevate is quick to have a bitter after taste, which screams of artificial flavoring.  Over the course of the morning the bitterness in flavor got worse, which leads me to beleive that this is an energy drink that should be consumed almost immediately.  The energy factor with Elevate was so-so, but definitely had more kick than the original Amp Energy.

Amp Energy Traction

Grape variations of any soft drink are always hit or miss in my opinion.  Grape seems to be one of those flavors that has to be spot on or it just doesn’t cut it.  When you first open a can of Amp Energy Traction you are introduced to a very pleasing grape aroma, sadly it is misleading.  What follows in flavor is terrible.  Amp Energy Traction screams artifical flavoring, and to me tasted like I was drinking grape Kool Aid powder.  The flavor is tart, chalky, and just overall unpleasant.  I choked this one down in hopes it would at least still give me a jolt, which fortunately it did.  Aside from the energy factor and pleasant aroma Amp Energy Traction is a terrible energy drink…

Overall this weeks winner is the original Amp Energy, but only for flavor alone.  The energy factor is not enough to make me want to go out and buy Amp again and when comparing it to the other options available this week it’s strong lime flavoring was superior to the artificial flavor travesty found in its other varieties.