Confidential to TGS :
What's up with all the self-indulgent whining and moaning? Get your ass our here for some BEER.
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
My response to the Dell Service customer satisfaction survey
I recently had to talk to Dell's incompetent service techs on the phone, as my new Dell 700M laptop has an anoying problem: occasionally, and without an easily reproducable set of circumstances, when I cause it to Stand By by closing the lid of the machine, the hard drive keeps spinning. This is really bad, since the fan keeps blowing, and the machine gets REALLY hot while sitting in a stuffy little laptop bag, or other bag. Dell's primary advice? Don't use 'Stand By': it's a bad feature. Oh, and they don't like Hibernate either. He told me that if I'm going to not be using the computer for more than 40 minutes, I should ALWAYS shut it all the way down. Huh??? What the hell are the Hibernate and Stand By features for, then?
And yes, for the curious: the problem HAS occurred when I've had it on Stand By for less than 40 minutes.
Since they send out e-surveys which invite narrative comments on what they can do better, I wrote this:
We'll see if they bother to respond.
I recently had to talk to Dell's incompetent service techs on the phone, as my new Dell 700M laptop has an anoying problem: occasionally, and without an easily reproducable set of circumstances, when I cause it to Stand By by closing the lid of the machine, the hard drive keeps spinning. This is really bad, since the fan keeps blowing, and the machine gets REALLY hot while sitting in a stuffy little laptop bag, or other bag. Dell's primary advice? Don't use 'Stand By': it's a bad feature. Oh, and they don't like Hibernate either. He told me that if I'm going to not be using the computer for more than 40 minutes, I should ALWAYS shut it all the way down. Huh??? What the hell are the Hibernate and Stand By features for, then?
And yes, for the curious: the problem HAS occurred when I've had it on Stand By for less than 40 minutes.
Since they send out e-surveys which invite narrative comments on what they can do better, I wrote this:
Having technicians who know only how to follow problem solving algorithms, but lack in-depth knowledge of the systems they purport to provide service for, does Dell a great disservice.
Further, having technicians who tell me that the "Stand By" and "Hibernate" functions included in EVERY modern Windows based computer are dangerous and should be avoided is ridiculous. It is utter nonsense that "Stand By" should never be used longer than 40 minutes, as the Dell technician told me.
We'll see if they bother to respond.
Zion National Park
Was lovely... except for the obnoxious, stupid, loud, boorish tourists. Most of these were so obnoxious because they couldn't understand that not everyone within a half mile wanted to hear their stupid, stupid conversations. The campground (Watchman Tent site) was pretty great, though, in terms of people being respectfully quiet, that is, after the pickup soccer game being shreikingly played on the road outside the bathrooms.
Confidential to the approximately 75 camera toting Japanese tourists in the large group at the Museum of Man on Sunday morning: what the fuck had you done by 10 o'clock in the morning in your loafers and chinos that it seemed necessary to get into a massage train?
I will say, however, that people badmouthing Springdale, Utah, the town just outside the park's boundaries, seem pretty misguided. We were there on a weekend at the end of high season, and the place was pleasant, easy, and nearly deserted. And The Mean Bean coffeehouse kicked serious ass: friendly, pleasant, politically solid, fun people selling great coffee, and great sandwiches.
We enjoyed our hiking at Zion, limited though it was, and were lucky enough to stumble into doing it at the best possible times: late afternoon (after the loudmouths have gone to their RVs and hotel rooms), and early morning (before the loudmouths have awoken.)
Cedar Breaks National Monument, just an hour away by car, is a world away from Zion in culture and pleasantness. The hiking trails were quiet, nearly deserted (though this could have been partially due to the hailstorm that I hiked through the beginnings of, and the fact that I visited on a weekday.) The views and photography opportunities were fantastic, and the loudmouths seem to stay away.
Current value received from the $50 National Parks Pass in the less than one month we've owned it: $34 ($20: Zion NP; $4 Cedar Breaks NM; $10 Arches NP).
Was lovely... except for the obnoxious, stupid, loud, boorish tourists. Most of these were so obnoxious because they couldn't understand that not everyone within a half mile wanted to hear their stupid, stupid conversations. The campground (Watchman Tent site) was pretty great, though, in terms of people being respectfully quiet, that is, after the pickup soccer game being shreikingly played on the road outside the bathrooms.
Confidential to the approximately 75 camera toting Japanese tourists in the large group at the Museum of Man on Sunday morning: what the fuck had you done by 10 o'clock in the morning in your loafers and chinos that it seemed necessary to get into a massage train?
I will say, however, that people badmouthing Springdale, Utah, the town just outside the park's boundaries, seem pretty misguided. We were there on a weekend at the end of high season, and the place was pleasant, easy, and nearly deserted. And The Mean Bean coffeehouse kicked serious ass: friendly, pleasant, politically solid, fun people selling great coffee, and great sandwiches.
We enjoyed our hiking at Zion, limited though it was, and were lucky enough to stumble into doing it at the best possible times: late afternoon (after the loudmouths have gone to their RVs and hotel rooms), and early morning (before the loudmouths have awoken.)
Cedar Breaks National Monument, just an hour away by car, is a world away from Zion in culture and pleasantness. The hiking trails were quiet, nearly deserted (though this could have been partially due to the hailstorm that I hiked through the beginnings of, and the fact that I visited on a weekday.) The views and photography opportunities were fantastic, and the loudmouths seem to stay away.
Current value received from the $50 National Parks Pass in the less than one month we've owned it: $34 ($20: Zion NP; $4 Cedar Breaks NM; $10 Arches NP).
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Selling your whole life on ebay
This is suspiciously similar to bet between Charles & Ben, and later joined into by me. I have to ask Charles where he got the idea, since it now doesn't appear to be precisely original. Of course, that bet has gone nowhere, but this project is distinctly going somewhere:
allmylifeforsale.net . Here is his ebay site where he's selling all his stuff.
I'm almost tempted to bid on this item, it's so funny:
"pay the Speeding Ticket I got on Tuesday morning"
current price: $1.00
shipping costs: Calculate
time left: 6d 11h 28m
Or maybe I'm just sympathetic due to the $341 (grand total cost) speeding ticket that I got for 42 in a 35 just after i turned 18 (the next day, actually) in Sacramento. My family will remember all the fun (ahem) I had going to Laughs For You And Traffic Too Traffic School, which was a chunk of what made the damn ticket so expensive.
Brian Thompson's allmylifeforsale.net project, which has netted $1054.58 as of 8/13/05, is based on an earlier project, John D. Freyer's AllMyLifeForSale.com (capital letters are mine), which led to a
really cool book of the same name. Freyer's project, according to his book, netted $4,906.52, though I suspect the royalties from the book are paying more handsomely than that. That prior link to Freyer's book has a good description of Freyer's project, and links to booksense.com's excellent engine for finding books through independent bookstores.
What a great couple of projects!
The bet, by the way, had somewhat less artistic intentions: Charles was going to list every single thing he owned on ebay, at a starting bid of $50,000. If any single item sold, he had to pay Ben $1000 or something like that. Obviously, it was an essentially risk-free bet for both of them, except for the significant listing fees that Charles would have incurred on ebay (which seem to be limited to $4.80 per item for basic listing fees, for any item over listed with a starting bid over $500.00.) The kicker for ebay would have been the infamous Final Value Fee, which would amount to roughly $7378, or thereabouts. Then again, since that would leave $42,622 minus paypal or other service fees, the deal would work out okay. I just can really see someone dropping 50 grand for, say, a broken guitar string.
This is suspiciously similar to bet between Charles & Ben, and later joined into by me. I have to ask Charles where he got the idea, since it now doesn't appear to be precisely original. Of course, that bet has gone nowhere, but this project is distinctly going somewhere:
allmylifeforsale.net . Here is his ebay site where he's selling all his stuff.
I'm almost tempted to bid on this item, it's so funny:
"pay the Speeding Ticket I got on Tuesday morning"
current price: $1.00
shipping costs: Calculate
time left: 6d 11h 28m
Or maybe I'm just sympathetic due to the $341 (grand total cost) speeding ticket that I got for 42 in a 35 just after i turned 18 (the next day, actually) in Sacramento. My family will remember all the fun (ahem) I had going to Laughs For You And Traffic Too Traffic School, which was a chunk of what made the damn ticket so expensive.
Brian Thompson's allmylifeforsale.net project, which has netted $1054.58 as of 8/13/05, is based on an earlier project, John D. Freyer's AllMyLifeForSale.com (capital letters are mine), which led to a
really cool book of the same name. Freyer's project, according to his book, netted $4,906.52, though I suspect the royalties from the book are paying more handsomely than that. That prior link to Freyer's book has a good description of Freyer's project, and links to booksense.com's excellent engine for finding books through independent bookstores.
What a great couple of projects!
The bet, by the way, had somewhat less artistic intentions: Charles was going to list every single thing he owned on ebay, at a starting bid of $50,000. If any single item sold, he had to pay Ben $1000 or something like that. Obviously, it was an essentially risk-free bet for both of them, except for the significant listing fees that Charles would have incurred on ebay (which seem to be limited to $4.80 per item for basic listing fees, for any item over listed with a starting bid over $500.00.) The kicker for ebay would have been the infamous Final Value Fee, which would amount to roughly $7378, or thereabouts. Then again, since that would leave $42,622 minus paypal or other service fees, the deal would work out okay. I just can really see someone dropping 50 grand for, say, a broken guitar string.
Salt Lake miscellaney
The free wifi at the library is lovely, but consistently and annoyingly buggy. There are ethernet jacks at every table and all over the place in the floor, but so far from testing, only about 10% work. Pisser, especially when trying to make a camping reservation for Zion National Park for this weekend, and having the stupid stupid stupid wifi drop right at the "Accept" page. Looks, fortunately, like it only went through once.
We made an offer on a house, which turns out to be in short sale, so it'll take a while either way (since all leinholders/banks have to approve any sale.) It's a pretty sweet place, with lots of room for visitors, and probably considerably undervalued, largely since it's filthy, and the dopes don't seem to be aware of the hardwood under the filthy carpet. More when we know, which will likely come in dribs and drabs over the next several weeks.
Momma is taking the train to come see us for four days; should be fun, and she will get the chance (with me) to visit her childhood best friend, who lives in Orem, about 40 miles south of SLC.
Lotsa travel planned for the fall: it's getting a little ridiculous, and a little hard to keep track of. Roughly: Brian Head and Zion NP this weekend; Boston from August 26 to September 1; probably Denver for GABF September 29 to October 1; New York City for a friend's wedding October 6 to 9, then heading up to Boston from October 9-13; fly to the bay area for the beer and cooking class with CKI on October 24, then very briefly back to SLC for dinner with my lovely partner on Oct 26, then on to Seattle, only to drive to Portland for the NLG convention, then drive back to Seattle for another friend's wedding reception; then flying back to SLC November 1. Then to Georgia for the SOAW vigil Nov 17-22; presumptively to Sacramento for X-Giving; then likely to Vermont for X-Mas. Phew!
Okay -- need to check some mortgage rates!
The free wifi at the library is lovely, but consistently and annoyingly buggy. There are ethernet jacks at every table and all over the place in the floor, but so far from testing, only about 10% work. Pisser, especially when trying to make a camping reservation for Zion National Park for this weekend, and having the stupid stupid stupid wifi drop right at the "Accept" page. Looks, fortunately, like it only went through once.
We made an offer on a house, which turns out to be in short sale, so it'll take a while either way (since all leinholders/banks have to approve any sale.) It's a pretty sweet place, with lots of room for visitors, and probably considerably undervalued, largely since it's filthy, and the dopes don't seem to be aware of the hardwood under the filthy carpet. More when we know, which will likely come in dribs and drabs over the next several weeks.
Momma is taking the train to come see us for four days; should be fun, and she will get the chance (with me) to visit her childhood best friend, who lives in Orem, about 40 miles south of SLC.
Lotsa travel planned for the fall: it's getting a little ridiculous, and a little hard to keep track of. Roughly: Brian Head and Zion NP this weekend; Boston from August 26 to September 1; probably Denver for GABF September 29 to October 1; New York City for a friend's wedding October 6 to 9, then heading up to Boston from October 9-13; fly to the bay area for the beer and cooking class with CKI on October 24, then very briefly back to SLC for dinner with my lovely partner on Oct 26, then on to Seattle, only to drive to Portland for the NLG convention, then drive back to Seattle for another friend's wedding reception; then flying back to SLC November 1. Then to Georgia for the SOAW vigil Nov 17-22; presumptively to Sacramento for X-Giving; then likely to Vermont for X-Mas. Phew!
Okay -- need to check some mortgage rates!
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