Quick and sandy

Well, I'm here, in the sandy place. Things have changed here, as I heard, but not all for the better. Can't go into that, but suffice to say there is plenty of bovine excrement left to go around...

We do have wi-fi now, provided by someone who doesn't limit net access to "work related only," so we have THAT going for us. We also got a new food court... which is a mixed blessing. Used to be, most people came here and spent the time eating right and getting fit (because those were pretty much the only options). Well, now we have Popeye's Chicken, Charley's Cheesesteaks, and Asia Wok (which, if you choose the "make your own stirfry" option, isn't TOOO bad). So people will now be sitting in an air-conditioned mall food court, playing World of Warcraft and eating fried chicken. Good thing it's not really close to where I'm staying...

That's all I've got for now, but I guess I'll be posting now and again from here.

And away I go...

Yep, I'm headed out again. Remember when I posted the photos of "one day I was here in the sand, the next in the snow"? Well, reverse that. Today, I'm in the snow, and by midweek I"ll be in the sand.

I hear things down there have gotten a lot nicer; more opportunities for net connectivity, better supply/shopping facilities, and stuff like that. We'll see.

The cool thing for us is, we have this new cell phone service ("mobile phones," they call them here), and the phone that comes with is this one (link is full of phone geekiness, but there's a picture too). It has GPRS data, which I think will work down there (and we have the "unlimited" option, but there may be international roaming charges). It has a QWERTY keyboard. Best of all, It has wi-fi capability, which makes the next feature best of all: we have a VOIP number in addition to our regular mobile number. Like SKYPE. And the number is a UK number. Which means, wherever I am in the world, if I can connect to the net by wi-fi, I can make and receive calls as if I were still at home. Same price, same everything. So I'm off in wherever, I pick up my phone, dial my home number (no area codes or international dialing, no sir!) and Susie and I chat. How cool is THAT?

The "even more" return of customer service

One of the oddities of my job is, because we move around a lot, we tend to collect bank accounts. OK, not so much now, with internet banking and megabanks and all, but back in the day if you moved to a different state, you pretty much had to get a new bank account. One of the accounts I had was with a credit union. I opened it in 1985, and wherever I've moved, I've kept that account open. Mostly because I think there's a certain cachet to being able to be a member of this credit union. Wherever you are in the world, if you see someone with a credit or debit card from this credit union, you can give a little "hey" nod, and you'll know that they know, and they'll know that you know.

Nope, not gonna tell you what it is, but its name wouldn't mean anything to you anyway (unless, of course, it does, in which case, you already know).

Aaaaaanyway... This account is sort of our "fire and forget" account. I have a small bit of my pay sent there every month, and we never look at the account until we need some extra. Well, the other day, I had reason to try to log on to my home banking account trying to find the interest for Uncle Sam's annual extortion, and it had been so long I forgot my password, and locked myself out. So I call the member service office, and after answering many many questions to identify myself (including "what was your qualification for membership?") the rep reset my password, and said, "When you log in, you'll need to update your address, because we have a bad one on file." I gave her my address, and she said that was the one they had. I told her I had been here for 3 years, likely to be here several years more. She said, "OK, I'll take that flag off the account. Sorry about that." She hung up, I let the mandatory 10 minutes pass (why does everything take "10 minutes to update in the system"?) and I log in. Well, imagine my dismay when I see, every month for the last 6 months, a $10 "invalid address fee." $60... gone... for an invalid address that wasn't even invalid!

I picked up the phone, and called member services again. A different rep answers. "I'm looking at my online account, and I see all these invalid address fees. I just spoke to another rep and advised her that the address you have is correct; can I have my money back please?"

Type type type, I hear.

"That money's already been refunded to your account, sir."

"What?" Refresh the browser. "Oh, there it is... wait a sec. Already? You mean you didn't just do it?"

"No, sir. The rep you just spoke to did it."

"Oh. Wow. That's great! Thanks!"

Yep. Imagine. A bank (OK, credit union, but still..) refunding a fee without being asked. Who would have believed it?

The return of customer service??

Yesterday I went to set up the new TV that I had purchased, and discovered that it was broken. Well, not broken, but certainly defective. When you turn it on, it whistles... a high-pitched tone. It's not from the speakers, it's something... electronic. But it renders the TV unusable. What to do? Well, the box that the TV came in had a big label printed on it, with a phone number. "Tech Support," it said. It offered to help set up the TV if we couldn't, or to help us with problems. "Don't go back to the store, give us a call!" it said. So I called, but they were closed for the day.

This evening I called, and after one ring and a recorded "we record your call for training" message, got straight through to a human. I explained that I had purchased the TV two days ago, and when I turned it on it made a beep/whistle. She said, "Is it all channels and modes?" I said, "It's not the speakers, it's electronic, listen." And I held the phone to the TV.

"My, it shouldn't do that, should it?" she said. "Let me get your address and we'll have a replacement couriered over to you. Is Monday good for delivery?"

>blink<

That's it? No "send it in and we'll fix it, maybe, and get it back to you someday"?? No "bring it back to the store and deal with them"?? No "try all these diagnostic tricks that won't work before we'll have a tech call you back"?? Just "Is Monday good?" And a total of less than 10 minutes on the phone?

And this was the MANUFACTURER. Wow.

I'd post a link to their page, but it's one of those "small" brands, that does house-brand stuff, I guess. Like Medion, or that sort. The brand of TV is Neon, but I saw web references that say the same model is also sold under the Cello brand, but the phone was answered with another name altogether. Don't care, actually. It was a good price to begin with, but with customer service like this... wow.

The first thing to go

Earlier this year, when I was off on a Greek Isle, our kids' TV broke. Not a great tragedy, as tragedies go, and we've been in no real hurry to replace it.

Today, Susie sent me a note, that she had seen a decent looking replacement for a very reasonable price at, of all places, the supermarket while she was out shopping. I poked around the net, didn't find anything to dissuade me, and decided to pick it up after work.

I go into the market, head for the meat section, because I have to pick up steaks for the special dinner we're having tonight. (What's the occasion? Read on...) I buy the steaks, and a little bottle of wine to make a reduction sauce, and head over to the TV section. A brief chat with the counter dude, and he sends a flunky off to the warehouse to get the TV.

This being the UK, there is a license for televisions. It funds the BBC. When you buy a TV, you have to fill out a form, and they report the sale so the government can verify that you have paid the license fee. So I'm filling out the form, and I get to the bottom, where it says, "Date of sale."

I blank. I look at my watch for the date, but it's not displayed. I look at the counter dude, and say, "Um, what's today's date?" He thinks a sec, and then, just before he answers, I remember.

It's January 6th.

My birthday. And the reason I went to the store in the first place was to get the steaks for my birthday dinner.

Sigh.

The Year in Review!

Courtesy of YouTube, by way of my sister, here's a quick recap of the stories we were all talking about this past year:

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Not much to say

We've been busy... and sick.  So not much has been going on around here the past two weeks.  I'll post more later, but I wanted to post something today... or I might completely forget how!

Ciao, and Happy New Year!!!!!!

Greengrocer's apostrophe's

I admit it, I'm a grammar... purist. One of my favorite cartoons of all time is this "Bob the Angry Flower." I think the rules are the rules, and everyone should follow them, unless deliberately breaking the rule for effect. Like I did, up there. I also know I'm not perfect, and I make grammar, format, syntax, and every other error, just like everyone else. But at least I try. Some people don't even make the effort, and it annoys me. What annoys me even more than that are people who are proud of not knowing the rules. You know the type; they're the ones who pick on the smart kids for being smart.

I found a blog a while back written by someone who clearly feels as I do. The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks is, well, just what it says on the tin. I can understand why the things at Engrish.com are the way they are. It's not their native language; it's funny, but it's not their fault. The "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks thing, though... I don't get it.

Which brings me to my point. Susie pointed me to this blog today, which is... well, a bit more saccharine than I care for, but that's my taste. You may love it. But it does suffer from "unnecessary" quotation "marks." Which is bad enough, except... well... I'm sorry, Sandy Toes, if you're reading this, but you were a teacher. You really should know better.

It's good ta be da king!

This new job is great. The atmosphere is worlds apart from the one I just left. Yeah, it doesn't hurt that I'm in charge, so I get to set the tone. But that other job? Tense much? Morale in the crapper much?

It's nice to have a job, to know what that job is, and to be able to do it, without interference from above, below, or laterally. Yes, indeedy.

Just needed to put that out there.

Little irritants

I have a long commute. It's 37 miles, more or less. It takes me almost exactly an hour, door to door. Each way. Why do I drive so far? Because we have a great house in a great village with absolutely the best school ever for the kids. And I don't usually mind the drive so much. It's a nice bookend to my workday, allowing me to ramp into the day, get my schedule for the day figured out, and then, coming home, time to decompress and forget about the little annoyances.

But sometimes the drive has irritants, too. Like driving itself. As you probably noticed, my average speed on my commute is... um... carry the one... about 37 miles per hour. That's partly because the last 10 minutes of it are speed-limited at 15 MPH. But it's also due to the driving laws around here, and the fact that a one-lane-in-each-direction road, with a hard shoulder, is considered a major thoroughfare. The roads here are winding. There are limited opportunities to pass (or "overtake," as they say here). And the speed limit laws don't help.

Know what this sign means?


It means "The national speed limit applies here." Yep, it's a speed limit sign. What's the "national speed limit"? Well, if you lived in the US, until recently, you'd be safe in saying "55 MPH." But in the UK? You have to know the rules. Ready?

All roads with streetlights are 30 MPH unless otherwise posted. Otherwise the national speed limit of 60 MPH applies. Unless you are on a "dual carriageway," which is basically any road with a median (or "central reservation." Then it's 70 MPH.

Oh, wait. That speed limit is for CARS. If you're a truck or a bus, or if you're towing something, it's 10MPH lower (50 on regular roads, 60 on dual carriageways).

What does this mean to me? It means that even though the speed limit is 60 for most of my commute, the traffic pattern goes like this: Truck (doing 50), followed closely someone driving a "sensible" car (Volvo) who, trying to maintain a safe distance, is doing 47. Followed by long gap, then another truck, doing 45. Followed by 3 more cars, doing 43, followed by me, doing 40. The first car behind the second truck can't pass. The next car can't pass both of them, and of course, I'm farthest back. Then a bakery truck comes roaring up behind, passes everyone on a blind curve. The second truck slows to let him in, so of course we all slow. The road straightens. Passing opportunity! Oh, wait. The Volvo won't pass. The bakery truck does, which leaves a gap for the guy behind the second truck, but the guy behind him leaps out first. He whips around the second truck; the formerly first car pulls in behind, and I finally get close enough to the truck to THINK about passing him. Of course, the road starts to wind again, and no straightaways for another 5 miles or so.

Oh, and now there's no empty gap for me to pass into.

Good thing I'm on my way to work. If it were somewhere I really wanted to go to, I might get really upset.