Oct 11, 2019
If true, there are a few companies making a profit from me. My current complaint is Metronet. I’m about |-| close to the “breakpoint.” If you’re playing along at home, that’s corporate jargon used to define how far customers can be pushed before their heads explode.
Did you know that some companies equip call centers with software that analyzes a caller’s tone of voice and pace of speech to determine how upset the person is? And… did you know MANY companies crunch data and use artificial intelligence to determine exactly how angry a customer has to be before they bail? Oh… and they push right to that point.
We wonder why customers are so oftentimes rude, right? Well, maybe that’s because customers are being conditioned to feel the only way to get what they pay for is to demand it.
Take me for example — I found out today that although I’ve paid Metronet for 1000Mbps service for almost THREE YEARS, the equipment they installed for me isn’t even capable of providing that! The second I mentioned switching back to Xfinity, (who also has pathetic customer service), my charges were prorated and techs will be here Monday to install new equipment.
In the meantime, my download speed is a whopping 1.85 (when it should be at least 800). Gracie’s is patiently waiting… but I’m not.
May 22, 2019
The last school day before summer vacation for Coco is tomorrow, but that didn’t stop us from having at least 30 days of classroom activities here today (based upon the number of lunches served). As Principal S, I recognized Mrs. A, of classroom C, as teacher of the week.
Mrs. Brown, (aka Dharma) the gym teacher, and Mrs. Blonde, (aka Gracie), the music teacher, received no outstanding accolades. Mr. X, (Ben), the “lunch man” and Mr. P, (Perry), school counselor, retained their teaching positions for next year that probably begins tomorrow.
The last day of school back in MY DAY (said in my very best old lady voice) was sure different. That was ‘lecture day’ basically… the one where Mom would go through the dreaded summer rules about not sleeping in and not to be thinking it was going to be all fun and games just because there wasn’t school. 🙂
May 5, 2019
I read an article stating that age specialists have identified an entirely new stage of life. It’s called gerontolescence and includes those aged 50 to 75. This phase is supposed to be about self-discovery and identification, and is described as a kind of “second adolescence.” It’s a time to begin new careers or pursue long-dormant hobbies.
That’s all great for some, I guess, but I can’t imagine embarking on a new career at my age. I could go back and do something I’ve done previously pretty easily — like banking — but I figure I’d better do the long-dormant hobby thing instead. Only… I don’t really have any hobby I used to do that I’ve stopped.
At close to 100, Gracie is out of the gerontolescence phase and has advanced to the standard older than dirt phase. Still, she’s into self-discovery — and discovering anything that steps foot in her yard.
Apr 26, 2019
After a week of migrating websites to another server, good ole’ whatifitdid.com came out on the other side intact. The stress of downtimes and other challenges gave Gracie a headache… but Dharma kept her cool and retained her typical diva persona.
Two more sites to migrate — I left the most important ones for last. The official site of my money-maker and the anchor site for the old server. Editing zone files combined with the set-up process the new server uses for SSL certificate installation, the probability of email going down for a bit is right at 110%.
For the record, if you have a site whose main page will load but all others throw a 500 server error… edit the .htaccess file and review your server cache settings. And finally…
Happy birthday to the best son on the planet!
Feb 6, 2019
I’ve been thinking for awhile now about selling this house. I called a realtor and today he’s showing us a few potential homes.
While it makes me sad in one way to think about parting with the 1980s house after I’ve done SO MUCH to it in the five years I’ve lived here — it also makes me happy to think about cutting costs and downsizing too. I have a living room that is NEVER used — except by the dogs as a shortcut to the backdoor. Basically, we use less than 1/3 of the space here.
I have certain things that are a must — a decent sized backyard, 2 bathrooms, a place for a washer and dryer on the main floor and a garage. 1500 square feet is plenty — I don’t need 4000. I don’t want to do laundry in a basement.
So today begins the the search. Gracie could simply care less one way or the other so long as she’s allowed to sleep.
