Customer Service is a Zombieland

I haven't blogged in a LONG time. I've been considering embedding a Blogger account in the site, and also redoing the look and feel but haven't had time.

Things that have happened since the last time I blogged. Well, I'm married. Thanks to eHarmony I met a great girl. We honeymooned in the Western Caribbean, awesome time on a Carnival Cruise on Carnival Valor. We were supposed to go on a Mexican Riviera cruise, but the swine flu put a damper on that when they rerouted Carnival Splendor to Canada (we wanted Sun and Fun!). Carnival did a great job switching us over and their customer service was awesome.

Since then though I've had some customer service experiences which have been nightmares. Things which just won't go away. It's like Zombieland in customer service at some places it seems.

Number 1. American Airlines

They promised me vouchers for the flights to LA we couldn't use due to the changes to our honeymoon related to the swine flu. Well, been six months, I've called back over and over and they haven't helped. I spoke to someone at corporate who seemed competent, and promised to email them to me but they never arrived, and weren't blocked by any Spam filters. Further inquiries, no response, no help. In short, American Airlines doesn't care about their customers, or at least me as a customer.

Number 2. Verizon Wireless

For six months I've been dealing with the fallout from a rep in May telling me they wouldn't charge me an ETF (early termination fee) if I left early. In July when I decided to leave, they told me the rep had misled me, but they would make it right and waive the fee. For three months now they have billed it to me, I call, they correct it, then they re bill me. Each rep is different, some are helpful, some are neutral, but the issue never gets resolved. I get angry, go through stress and anxiety, and they just don't seem to care. Every time they tell me not to worry, it's taken care of and I won't be billed again, I get billed again. There seems to be no way to resolve the issue in a manner which is satisfactory, it's like nobody there cares as well. It's like they don't want there to even be the possibility I might want to be their customer again in the future.

I'm not sure what is happening to customer service in this country. It used to be that the customer was always right, but these days the customer is always wrong. The customer isn't appreciated, the customer is reviled almost. To me, as a customer, it is very sad to see things grow so dim and dire. With the economy in such sad shape, you'd think companies would be working hard to impress and make their customers happy. But it seems every store I go into is short staffed, not anyone to help, or there are only two registers open (Wal-mart) and 8 carts in each line, or equipment is broken (Valero gas pumps anyone?), or something, or something.

Zombieland

There are two places I've been that haven't been that way. One is O'Reilly's Auto parts can you say service? Fast? for an oil filter and oil so I could service one of our vehicles. The other, Regal Cinemas Breckenridge, great customer service and staff, and the funniest movie I've seen in years. Zombieland. That movie has me thinking that Zombie movies appeal to everyone so much because there are no bills to pay, no customer service to deal with. Yeah, you gotta survive the zombies, but it's a self-service world, the customer is always right, and even if the zombies catch you they don't ever charge you an ETF.

Back to the drawing board

So much to do, so little time.

I have two Pelican Viper Kayaks for sale, their Sit-On-Top Kayaks. I will take $300 for them both (includes paddles, an extra skeg, and some extra parts), or $160 each. They're light blue, and lots of fun. I've gotten a canoe though to replace them, and need the space in the garage. :-) I'll also be listing them on craigslist btw.

I need to finish the garden, and will need to start my tomato plants soon. Likely going to plant my new dwarf trees this weekend and cover them with plastic.

I am back to drawing. I drew a bookmark for myself today with my new prismacolor markers. I had 13 from college, which dried out, and I had a few other art markers which suffered the same fate. So I replaced them with a 48 set that I would have died for in college. It didn't include ANY gray markers though, so I will have to get some of those, some vellum, and some other supplies (like a decent eraser). I also need to locate my sharpies, I have a big set of thick and fine line ones. While not as good as the prismacolors, they are versatile for some projects.

I'm planning to do some watercolor illustration as well, just have to do some preliminary sketches of what I have been thinking of.

My dad's health is continuing to decline, he needs prayers. I am very heartsick and worried about him. I am hoping for the best. But he said today he is having vision problems, and experiencing dizziness. He won't go to the doctor, and his next appointment is next month. I have to help him with his taxes this weekend. So I am going to talk to him about trying to move that up.

I also need to get serious about my diet again, and to begin exercising. My Achilles is healed and I am regaining strength in the leg, I just need to walk the dogs some and ride my bicycle to get it back up to par and shed all the weight I gained since last years back and Achilles injuries.

Oh, and my webhost fixed the issues. :-)

Snakes and Sparklers

$2.17 for Fourth of July entertainment, the finest you can get... Snakes and Sparklers!

• Joe Dirt: So your gonna' tell me that you don't have no black cats, no roman candles, or screaming mimis?
• Kicking Wing: No.
• Joe Dirt: Oh come on man. You got no lady fingers, fuzz buttles, snicker bombs, church burners, finger blasters, gut busters, zippity do das, or crap flappers?
• Kicking Wing: No, I don't.
• Joe Dirt: You're gonna stand there, owning a fireworks stand, and tell me you don't have no whistling bungholes, no spleen spliters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker donts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or one single whistling kitty chaser?
• Kicking Wing: No... because snakes and sparklers are the only ones I like.
• Joe Dirt: Well that might be your problem, it's not what you like, it's the consumer.

Favorite Movies + Tank Girl

Oh, I forgot to add I watched Tank Girl today. My favorite movies are Bladerunner, and Brazil... but I think I need to add Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and Tank Girl to the list since my favorite movies are usually ones that I can watch over and over and Tank Girl and Hitchhikers have both proven to be films which fit that category.

Tank Girl is regarded by a friend of mine as a stupid movie... but it's entertaining, and I seem to see something new in it every time I watch it. I also really dig the music, Lori Petty is really hot and very funny in this role (so is Naomi Watts as Jet Girl (Lori on the left, Naomi on the right) she was SOOOOO young and hot in this movie. Loved her as a brunette) and I really dig the music from the movie. So call it one of my few vices!

Someone is setting off fireworks tonight (just heard them going off). I hope they don't get a ticket, it's only legal to do so from 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning to 10:30 p.m. tomorrow night.

Indiana Jones

Well, I went and saw Indiana Jones. I was supposed to go see Prince Caspian with my friend Martene, but she knew I really wanted to see Indiana Jones so that's what happened. It was awesome. I love Harrison Ford, they tied up a lot of the old stories and tied things back to Raiders too which was awesome... and Indiana now has a successor. Some of it was way over the top. A couple of scenes in fact... Indy's successor is a motorcyclist BTW and there are a lot of scenes featuring his bike. I figure any future films will feature that. I'll get it on DVD when it comes out for sure.

I had no clue that they were gonna make a new Indy Movie last year when I finally bit and bought myself some fedoras. I've really enjoyed having them, and seeing Indy wearing a Brown Fedora with a Black Gosgrain ribbon in the new movie made me happy I went with the Jaxon Crushable Safari II in the same color. My black fedora is just as nice and the summer fedoras I bought are really cool. I like the white one the best though for summer wear.

Stereo and Hats

Well the Magnavox stereo is in the house. Here's some lovely photos from my camera phone....

Beauty Shot:

The turn table:

Me with one of my new woven fedoras:

Science Fiction Podcasts

I've been listening to Escape Pod at escapepod.org now for maybe a month and a half? two months? I donno. Steve Ely puts on a fine production, and the other Escape Artists sites: pseudopod.org (horror), and podcastle.org (fantasy) are good as well. They offer basically short stories, that you can listen to, movie reviews, etc... The player is flash based, and easy to use. They take monthly and one time donations. Recently though I've seen starshipsofa.com advertised heavily on other sites, like MySpace. I checked it out, and it's also another sci-fi podcast. Where Escape Pod, and it's sister podcasts have a new feel and new look to them starshipsofa looks like older print publications I remember seeing at cons. It has Spider Robinson (love his work), but I can't help but feel it would have been great if they'd collaborated with Steve. I realize that there are splinter groups in fandom, and groups split and politics can prevail at time and everyone wants to be the captain of their ship... but I love Escape Pod, and what Steve and the Escape Artists are doing. I'm gonna try and give starshipsofa a chance, because when I run out of stuff to listen to on Escape Pod I am always looking for more.. but I wish they'd get a flash player because I like listening to podcasts on the page versus using Windows Media Player.

Sniffles

I'm sniffling right now due to the pollen. I mowed the yard - front, back, and behind the fence today. I also edged the driveway and the front walking path. It was sprinkling as I was doing it, but it never really rained enough to get things soaked. It's supposed to rain today though. My privet hedges are still growing, flowering out with leaves and my pyrocanthus hedge is covered in tiny white blooms. I'm hoping for good growth out of them and the rose of sharon hedges this year. Four of my six fruit trees have leaves on them. I'm going to try shedded paper mulch around them this next week, we'll see how that goes. I bought $15.00 worth of supplies to fix my rain barrels, new taps (again), PVC threaded adapters to go inside, PVC cement, and construction adhesive. I'm got one completely new barrel, and I need to turn it into one, and then fix one of the barrels using plastic from the one which I am going to retire. I'm gonna cut the bottom out, and cut it into two pieces and use them as composters.

I got my grandmother's old Magnavox stereo yesterday. Sitting on the turn table was a 45, Chicago. :-) Talk about taking me back. I used to love Chicago. The music always seemed dreamy and romantic to me. Songs about love, love lost, those kinds of things. I took the back off of the stereo, vaccumed it out, dusted it, and then wiped the whole thing down with Honda Spray Cleaner and Polish (it's what I had on hand). I then wiped the tubes off, cleaned the electrics inside, and plugged it in. It worked like a charm. It has such a rich sound since it has tubes, and I never realized the speakers inside were so BIG. I reinstalled the back and the sound was even warmer. It looks almost like new, except it's from an era 50 years in the past. It picked up KLove really well. I'll need help hauling it into the house, and I've got a spot set aside for it where I can plug it in and listen to it. It'll give me a place to put all my old records. The only thing I need for it to be perfect is I need to get a needle for the stylus and wipe it down with some furniture polish. I'll post a photo when I get it in the house.

Tonight

I know I get down, but when others are down I am at a loss to cheer them up... and wish I could do something.

I added a plug-in from playlist.com to my MySpace page tonight, pretty nifty. Playlist of eclectic music that I like, mixed with sound effects, old retro commercials. The music runs the gamut from the 1920's to today, and includes some old TV themes, the Indiana Jones theme, and even Rick Astley and the Starland Vocal Band! :-)

Chuck and Reaper

Well, I just read that Chuck is being renewed for another season! But there will be no new episodes aired until September due to the Writer's strike.

The writers may have killed a bunch of series too, one casualty which may end up happening is Reaper! Ugh! Stupid writers! I really love that show, and this time it won't be network execs killing something I like, it'll be network execs with a bunch of writers killing something I like! Thanks!

Read more about it here at the Mercury News.

Knight Rider

Well, I finished watching the new Knight Rider. I was a big fan of the original, of course I was a kid, so the whole Michael Knight in tight leather pants with permed hair didn't bother me much. The new Knight Rider is true to the original, it's spirit and the story. I was quite pleased with the theme song at the beginning, and the voice of Val Kilmer as KITT. The car, while a Mustang and not an F-Body GM vehicle is pretty darned cool.

There was some political commentary on Blackwater Security, in the form of a bunch of Mercs working for Blackriver Security in the show. Mike made a remark about working with them in Iraq and them being "all about the money". He said it with a measure of disdain. Glad to know that some TV producers aren't trying to be PC. Star Trek used to not pull any punches when it came to commentary and societal innuendo.

Rumors abounded on the web that David Hasselhoff would do a cameo. Well he did, but it was more than that, but considering it was at a funeral and was very subtle I was quite pleased with it. It wasn't over the top or cheesy. The end of the movie also alluded to that the new KITT would be doing international missions by them dropping KITT and Mike off in the Czech Republic (of all places, where my ex-wife is from) for a mission.