For Your Information...

Today, a man of high stature and considerable influence in our nation (at least at one time) passed away. The man, William F. Buckley... the "spirit of conservatism" and friend to such people as Joseph McCarthy, Johnny Carson, Barry Goldwater, & Ronald Reagan. Obviously, not a personal hero of mine but I am sorry for his family all the same. Interestingly enough, my dad was once assigned to him as a personal body guard on the campus of Ripon College (not only where my dad went, but also a young unknown man named Harrrison Ford). My dad said this of Buckley, "he was interesting and very well-spoken, in a creepy and weird way." Maybe there is hope for my dad after all?

Whatever Happened to Customer Service?

Lately, I have seen a trend in the companies I deal with on a regular basis. It seems corporations are getting so big, that they have no need to extend any kind of customer service.

1. Take the truck we rented from U-haul recently. After the woman who rented us the truck agreed to one price over the phone and a certain pick-up time, she was an hour late with no real warning. After checking the truck over and taking it home we found that the truck had paintballs in the back that had been in the side-rails of the walls. These paintballs stained our mattress and made a mess. I called the woman who rented us the truck and she assured me that she would help us out and work something out for us. Not only did she not help us, but she overcharges us an additional $10. When my wife spoke to the area manager for the company he had the nerve to raise his voice to her over the phone. Well, they will never get our business again... and I intend to tell all my friends!

2. My wife has bought textbooks on Half.com for college/graduate school pretty reguarly over the last few years. Similarly, we have sold many books, movies, & cds on the site as well as selling things out of my Ebay store. Recently my wife spent $60+ on two books from Half.com, after several weeks of not receiving them we contacted the seller and complained. He did not feel inclined to respond so we sent a complaint through Half.com. After investigating they sided with him because he produced a delivery confirmation number & an insurance number. When we looked into this with the post office, they told us that yes the books were delivered... but the insurance was bogus. Now that Half.com has closed the matter, they have refused to talk to us about it anymore... and we are left with no way of getting our money back. Buyer beware... sounds like a scam to me.

3. Even my favorite company seems to be pulling a fast one as of late. We have been members of Netflix for almost 5 years, and I personally have reffered over 5 people who have at least stayed members for 6 months. In the past I have been able to get my new movie within 2-3 days at the most, usually 2 days. Over the last 6 months I have seen a dramatic slow-down in how quickly I receive the movies. Now it takes 4,5, or even 6 days just to get a movie... that is ridiculous. I complained to them and (of course) they blamed it on the postal service. Oddly enough sometimes they report a movie returned to me in the morning and then the new one doesn't even ship until the next day, late afternoon. That just doesn't seem right to me...

I know that corporations are a necessary evil in the modern world. But, doesn't it seem like the idea of customer service has gone out the window?

Now I May be Desperate

Since it is that time of year, and we are completely tapped out of money until we get our tax return... I was thinking of alternate ways to bring in some cash. I have considered making my own drugs, but I have never been good at science (and there is some sort of a moral issue involved with that). I could eat my dogs to save on money for food, but they are part of the family as annoying as they can be sometimes. It just seems that I can not find a legal/moral way to make some money... until I came upon this:


Apparently the rewards for the "Jersey Devil" have never been claimed, but are still standing. In 1909 the Philadelphia Zoo posted a $1,000,000 reward for the capturing of this creature. Similarly, merchants in Camden offered a $10,000 reward in 1960 for the same creature. So, if I can work out some way to claim both of these rewards... I will be in some serious cash! Therefore, I am enlisting the help of my good friends Matt, Dustin, Mark, & Keith. A fair 5-way split of this cash would give us all $202,000.00!!! I ask that you go to the wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Devil and read up on this. There are also similar rewards for the Sasquatch, Wendigo, Big Foot, & Skunk-Ape. We could really clean up on this... besides after this I am out of ideas!

Shrivled Bananas... ehh?

Seriously...

No more banana bread, no more choclate dipped bananas, no more bananas foster pie, what is the world coming to? Go check out the story yourself, and maybe even pick up the book... I will.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19097412

One to Grow on...

I gotta be honest, I thought I would do better...



I have taken 9 zombie survival on-line tests, and I have received scores ranging from 42%-78%. Well here you go... just for your own safety!

A little light that flickers out...

Tonight the only place that ever felt like home caught fire. I know it may sound ridiculous to be attached to a building... but for a couple of years Old Saint George was our home. I lived there with friends who were closer than family, my wife & I were married there, and for two years I worked in the building. I have such great memories of doing concerts, cleaning up after events, and staying up all night with some of the strangest/greatest people I have ever known. There are so many memories that took place in each room. I just can't get over the feeling that a little part of all of us who invested so much time & frustration into that place might have burned out tonight. If you never got to experience it... I am truly sorry. I fear now that the people with power & money may take this opportunity to knock the rest of it down. I pray that is not true.