This is the week for small but annoying issues, I guess. The Beetle has been in the shop since tuesday morning, with all the extra hiking and bus-riding around that that entails. It was supposed to be a simple same-day-in-and-out trip to get a handful of items taken care of. Three days in, and it’s been a constant stream of “oh that part is out of stock, oh that part didn’t come in until very late, oh we screwed up something last time and will fix it for free now”. Must remember not to take my frustrations out on the poor schmoe I’m giving a job interview to.
Archive for the ‘stuff’ Category
A Million Paper-cuts
Thursday, May 5th, 2011The Mold Strikes Again
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011Another respiratory funk, ‘thankfully’ it’s only a very painful sore throat that hasn’t moved into my ears this time, yet. I wonder if hot chocolate is good or bad for whatever it is.
Totally Extreme!
Monday, April 18th, 2011For all the talk of kids these days being over-protected, over the weekend I found a bike playground so dangerous I hurt myself just taking pictures of it. Raised wooden platforms, banked turns around and through tree stumps, narry a sign of padding anywhere just a warning marking the course as “intermediate” and “no alternate routes are provided“
Cat Frak
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011Like a car that’s just clocked the first mile beyond warranty coverage, my cat seems to be finally showing the signs of age. Vet called today to give me results for the follow up blood testing for his radiation treatment, and while it looks like the hyperthyroidism is under control now, this time his urine has gone from too dilute to too strong AND shows signs of white blood cells. ‘Hopefully’ it is just a minor UTI. I’m not looking forward to giving him the meds, or rather my fingers aren’t looking forward to the inevitable biting.
The vet’s office just called a second time to tell me the exact same thing, but this time also make an appointment for the follow visit for after the antibiotics. oy vey.
Starbucks Spies at work?
Monday, April 4th, 2011We use a kanban board at work. Somewhen between friday and monday, someone put a card up in my section, as a highest-priority-customer-affecting-issue, “Get Coffee”, with a number that doesn’t appear in our bug tracking system. No one in our department admits to putting it up there, and I don’t drink actual coffee at all, haven’t for years. I did use to go with my morning breakfast buddy to the nearest Starbucks so he could drink his water down coffee (aka Americano), and I used to be able to get a half-decent hot chocolate, until they dropped the Signature line. Maybe someone from Starbucks corporate broke into the office over the weekend to encourage me to start going again?
I don’t recall doing anything stunningly sleepy last week that would provide a cognitive neighborhood in which to place such a card, as a joke, so I’m really at a loss as to why it’s there.
UPDATE: d’oh, I dunno how I spaced on Friday being april fools, or that 040111 parses into 04-01-11, not 040-111. I have marked the issue as blocked due to Starbucks no longer carrying the Signature hot chocolate.
WoW Done
Thursday, March 31st, 2011As I sat at home last night, I realized it has been days since I put in any serious WoW time. Being uninterested in joining a serious guild, there’s just not much there for me after getting my primes leveled up to 85. I could spend another 6 months leveling up my private guild, but there’s so much more fruitful endeavors I could engage in. I probably won’t, but at least the time will be free =p
Phone Phishers try again
Thursday, March 10th, 2011So I’ve been getting the occasional call from some group of fraudsters trying to phish for banking details by claiming to be from a bank’s security department. They aren’t very smart fraudsters though, since they use a low quality text-to-speech system that is obviously not from any professional organization, which even when using an automated system, are going to spring for a voice actor to record the script. They have gotten a little smarter in that they now use a two stage system so that the first number forwards you to a second number, presumably in hopes that it will take longer for them to get shut down if there’s an extra hop in the process. Who knows, maybe the second number is out of the country.
D’oh on them though, the second number has been shut down or is otherwise not working correctly, so you end up in a loop with their computer never getting to the part where it tries to get your info out of you.
UPDATE: Since these people keep calling, I wonder if pursuing legal action as if they were a stalker might be more effective.
Found a houseboat for sale
Monday, March 7th, 2011I found a houseboat for sale, just down the waterfront from work even, and ‘affordable-for-seattle’ at just under $200k. If only I had cash-on-hand for a 20% down payment.
I suspect the mold
Monday, March 7th, 2011I suspect the mold.
Cash The Check
Friday, February 25th, 2011Dear Charities,
When I send you a check for my donation, to save you the transaction fee costs of using a credit card style payment, it would be really nice if you could deposit that check within a month of my sending it. I’m sure the reason you aren’t getting to the bank on a timely manner is that you are overworked, but the impression it gives me is that you just didn’t need the money as badly as you claimed up front, and it discourages me from donating to you next time, in a small and subtle way. Its hard to deny that there aren’t people with a more immediate need than you.
X