Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Saturday In Portland, Proper...

Hey its out of order, but so am i...

On Saturday we went to Typhoon to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of M's arrival in Oregon. We were invited by secret persons A & D.
After the spicy Thai feast, we went across the street to:



Live jazz quartet, drinks with friends, Thai feast. Pretty awesome i must say...

Sardines, the Internet and You....

Go here:

http://sardinesociety.blogspot.com/

Passion? Obsession? Canned Fish? All i want to know is how do i get a bottle of
Secret Aardvark Hot Sauce???

Friday, January 23, 2009

Asian Bistro. Newberg Oregon.

i was treated to dinner tonight, possibly as payment for elevating my blood pressure whilst dealing with TELCOs. or something. The Asian Bistro is located deep in Newberg next to AutoZone. A few things i'm used to in Chinese restaurants; a bottle of shoyu, a little pot of chinese mustard, perhaps a jar of of chili oil or sambal, and a pot of tea at your table. They had tea. Disaster? Abort? No.

The short review: It rocked, great Chinese food ( pretty much the real deal, they just need more noodle choices ) great service. It was crowded and i was not the only asian..

so there.


*ok. The menus are in english, and the more exotic stuff is nowhere to be seen.. but i stand by the review! 5 Char siu baos is my rating.

An easy road to graying hair...

Greetings... as the title suggests, we will be talking about phone/call center based technical support and the escalation of support requests.

Apple and ATT, you fucking suck.  Do not pass go, do not collect your money. 

1: All groups responsible for a system or systems that impact customer experience must be  CUSTOMER FACING.  As a customer and a consumer i would like to have access to the groups or persons allegedly fixing my issue. Am i not allowed to speak to the mechanic? Can i not discuss with the chef? Sure we're not supposed to talk to the bus operator or the pilot, but the group that's doing moves adds and changes for the VVM systems? Unless its a matter of national security, forward the fucking call if i ask for esca -fucking -lation.

2: Update trouble tickets in a timely fashion. Don't leave resolution times open ended or say XX hours after which we will update you. Uh, no. TWTC and other Telco facilities will open  a ticket and take at least two contact numbers for status updates...which BTW are sent out on an hourly basis until resolution

3: Don't think the customer is too stupid to troubleshoot. It's a bad assumption, and i might be very pissy that day. Test/Troubleshoot/Test, replicate the issue and test again. Present findings to the support group or customer service reps in a timely fashion.

4: i can stay on hold for a very very long time...the hold music for most call centers i find...very soothing.

5: see number 4. i live in a rural remote area, lots of time ...tick tock, tick tock..

What is all of this leading to ? The line might have been crossed, the final straw placed on the ship of the sandy seas.. that is to say, my abode might be infiltrated with a RIM crackberry.. Oh irony, thou accursed and foul creature!

Post tenebras spero lucem 

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Commitment


While the islands of Hawaii are one of the remote places on earth, it is a part of the USA. With the exception of certain rural areas and Ni'ihau, one could make the assumption that it is pretty easy to the things that we 21st century Americans have grown accustomed to, like say....saimin, or food in general? Making the assumption for Oahu, i think you would be spot on; a modern supermarket/shopping center/7-11 is just MINUTES from where you live. Unless you live at Turtle Bay, or Kaena Point. By minutes i mean pop to the store, pick up your twinkies and copy of 0-60 (or Automobile or Scientific American) pay the lady, go home. Total round trip, 15 minutes. If that.

Let us contrast and compare with rural Yamhill. Lets say you need a USB flash drive for your latest OpenBSD project or Hackintosh backup. Mcminville or Newberg? Fred Meyer or WalMart? East or West. Just to get there? Half an hour, maybe.

This means you are cruising down pastoral landscapes, while obeying any and all posted speed limits, cranking your favorite 70's era disco CD. The heater gently saute'ing your knuckles. Once you arrive and obtain your tiny piece of technology, you realize that you might as well get anything else you might need. Where is the Sambal? The KimChee? Paper Towels... we need this too... and food, that's going to run out. Ooo.... Steven Sagal DVDs..

You see how this is turning out? Even if you have a list, there is no such thing as a quick hop to the store. Unless you are going to the T&E General store.

So now, you head back to the vehicle and make the voyage back to Yamhill. While you and your knuckles are being slowly crock pot'ed by the heater, the strains of Meshuggah waft through the cabin. It doesn't make the trip any faster. Total elapsed time, round trip:

  • If you are on top of it, and get what you need and BAIL: 1 Hour
  • If you get side tracked, distracted or are prone to impulse shopping: 1.5 Hours to 2+ Hours
  • If you said screw this, we're going to Portland: 2, 3+ hours
  • If you decided to hell with it, i'm not going anywhere: 0 Hours

It's all about commitment..

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The road appears, the road is gone..

Let me just state for the record, that as an actual Ewa Beach-ite, it totally and truly sucks giant ass to drive in Yamhill County winter fog. Giant scary fog ass. Imagine fluffy pillow induced blindness. Now add highway speeds on country roads with a surprising lack of reflectors, road signs, and the ever present overhead sodium light. Ya feeling me? Wait, it gets better! Add tail-gaters, stir and enjoy!

We are talking so much fun, so of you might require a diaper. Or a pacifier.


Thankfully, the chores are done and i can indulge in paranormal tv night.

Aloha.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Meltopolis

Here is a pictorial synopsis of the Winter of 2008 in Yamhill:




Sunday, January 4, 2009

Poeme.

Skidding on ice
hidden by white snowy darkness
the tarmac waits to give rubber shoes
a way home.

Low Highbeams pollute the quiet of our county.
With this , the pony heads for the barn

One foot at a time

Friday, January 2, 2009

Figure of Speech.

When it rains, it pours. Funny thing is, this is the first time i've seen the big yellow ball of light in quite some time. Yes, i'm commenting on something else. What that something is...well, that's something else too.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

MMIX

Happy New Year! First Post.

0b11111011001

0x7D9


The strangest thing for the night of 31 Dec, 2008, was the quiet. Very, very quiet.


May this new year bring you peace,prosperity, and happiness.