Prattlings – Page 9 – Random Thoughts

Telemarketers

A few days ago some old feller called and wanted to talk me into upgrading my service with Comcast by bundling telephone in with our TV and internet. I reminded him (as politely as ever I could) that he was talking to me on the telephone, therefore I HAD telephone service. For the service we were using, I pay $30 a year. If I went with Comcast phone I’d be paying $30 a MONTH and get no better service on a device I rarely use anyway. He objected to that, and I told him that I am not at all impressed by Comcast’s internet service. It was quite good once, but lately it just crawls along and we can’t do much of what we expect to be able to do much of the time — things we were able to do before Comcast developed faster services. Yesterday it was so bad it was like being back on dial-up: it took me 27 minutes to upload a 35 SECOND video clip. I am looking for an alternative because their prices keep going up and my service keeps degrading.

“Oh, well if you upgrade to a faster package, I’m sure you will be pleased with the internet service…”

“So you want me to pay more money (about double what I’m paying now, as I recall) to restore the service that I’m supposed to be getting? And how long will it be before you decide you want MORE money from me and throttle back my service again so you can “encourage” me to upgrade again?”

“Well, I don’t know about the internet services.”

He went on with his sales pitch for the phone service and I ended up telling him, ”I appreciate that it is your job to try to convince me to buy more services from Comcast. You have made the call and tried. I am NOT going to be giving Comcast any more money as long as I am displeased with the service I’m already getting. Pursuing your attempt will only waste your time and mine. Have a nice day and good by.” And I hung up.

I really wanted to yell at him because I’m not happy with Comcast: but that’s (probably) not HIS fault. He is (probably) just some poor shlep who took the job of telemarketer trying to sell people more services. But I wasn’t going to let him waste a lot of my time either. Polite, but firm. If that had not worked, I was going to turn him over to Cochise and let THEM discuss it.

Running Water: An Oft-overlooked Convenience

It is often the little things in life, the things we tend to take for granted, that will make you sit up and take notice when they are no longer there. We flip a switch and a room lights up, we turn a knob and water flows, we twist a key and transportation is available to go most anywhere we desire.

But when the engine doesn’t start, or no water flows, or the room remains dark, is when we realize how much we have come to depend on these little “conveniences”. Not all at once though … a brief power outage is a mere inconvenience, but extended power loss will teach you how much you rely on electricity.

When my wife and I got up on Thursday morning, we found we were without water: most likely the bitter cold had frozen a line somewhere. I found I had no water in the workshop either, and Mom was waterless as well. There is a point where the water line comes up out of the ground under the workshop to connect to the pressure tank that feeds well-water to all three buildings. I considered this to be the most likely freeze-point that would affect all three buildings. There is no heat tape on this because it is a strange, Rube Goldberg-like assemblage of assorted plumbing. I reasoned that if I were to inject heat into that area, the pipes may thaw out. A light bulb might do.

I went looking for some sort of portable lamp that had an incandescent bulb in it. It was a longer search than one would think because nearly all of my lights have been converted to CFL bulbs: those give off no heat and would be useless for this task. Finally, in the back of a closet in the workshop, I found a pair on small interior spotlights that Marie had bought at a garage sale some years ago. They were intended to provide illumination above the desk in my office but were never installed. One had a spotlight in it. Would it work? I plugged it into an outlet and pinched the roller switch: it lit up! I grabbed a 50-foot extension cord and headed outside.

There is a hatch in the skirting under the mobile home that serves as my workshop that gives easy access to the plumbing in question. This is good, for “things” live down there: the dogs hear them scurrying about and are fascinated. I know the shop has a problem with mice, I keep D-Con packs in strategic places to deal with them. Once in a while I am in the yard and hear a “thump” as something bangs into the metal skirting from inside. I imagine a pair of young possum wrestling down there, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I have caught Copperheads crawling out from under there as well. All manner of things *could* be down there and the last thing I want is to crawl in there and slither about in that tight, dark cavern. Reaching in through a hatch is much more to my liking.

The story continues …

What an Ice Surprise

For several days it has been very cold: down to 2° F. one morning. We’ve had an ice storm followed by sleet and snow. It’s warming up now: around 30° at the moment, and we are expecting a high in the upper 40s. All that packed snow on top of the ice that has been kind of crunchy and easy to walk on when in single digit temperatures is now getting wet and SLICK!

I was just out playing with the dogs. As we came in I was coming up the dog ramp. I know it’s slick from the ice I could not scrape off, so I was being careful to hook the tread on my boots over the cleats. But it wasn’t enough: I slipped, feet went flying and I went down, bounced off the ramp, slid between the wall and the ramp and ended up in the snow underneath the ramp. Blondie rushed over and stuck her nose in my face, “Are you Okay? You’re not dead are you? Who will feed us if you’re dead?”

Fortunately I fell on my head, not something fragile. I went in and Marie administered first aid. It was bleeding a lot, but tuned out to be just a small cut right next to my eye socket. I put pressure on it until it stopped bleeding and used ice to quell the swelling. Marie says I may end up with a black eye, and the whole side of my face feels like someone smacked me with a 2×12, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

The ironic part is that Marie ordered me a pair of ice gripper things that attach to my boots to prevent just such a spill…they should arrive in the mail this afternoon. :-/

Social Media Advertising Can Be Spooky

I know advertisers team up with social media platforms to track users and target social media advertising to those user’s specific needs. Many have been the times that I’ve searched for something, and for days afterward versions of what I was looking for pop up in on-site ads and in the sidebar of Facebook.

One time my buddy was telling me in an email how relieved has was that he finally backed over his weird mailbox and destroyed it. He sent me a link to a store page for a box that was very similar. I agreed, I’d be relieved to be rid of it too. In this case I did not search; I used a direct link in an e-mail. Still these Victorian mail boxes kept popping up all over the place. I had to do a couple of searches for things I didn’t care about just to be rid of them!

Marie puts the annoyance of social media advertising to work for her. When she wants a new pair of shoes or a skirt for work, she does a search and checks her favorite places. If she can’t find what she wants, she stops looking and goes into Facebook. More often than not, there: in the side bar, is just what she wanted.

But the ad I saw today really got my neck hair up on end:

That is a photograph. Does this advertiser have some utility that stamps a name on a stock photo and serves it up on Facebook? How do they avoid stupid stuff like “Lopez, another Celtic legend”? Can it be that it’s hooked into a database that actually makes a good guess at a name’s origin? I had to know…

I see a lot of sweatshirt ads. Most are stock designs that have something to do with being a writer, or supporting pit bulls, or bear an encouraging bible verse: these things I expect to see because they are broad spectrum interests as well as being things I talk about. A lot of people would buy those. But “Bittinger” shirts? Continue reading “Social Media Advertising Can Be Spooky”

Routine

They say that human beings (most living things really) are creatures of habit. I know a few people who claim they hate being locked into a routine and would much prefer to live spontaneous and free. Perhaps they’re exceptions to the rule; perhaps they’re only fooling themselves regarding the construction of their lives. As for me: I like routine. An established routine is like a warm blanket that gives me security by knowing where I will be and what I will be doing. Normally. Life is never quite that simple. Perhaps if I were an inmate in a prison, but in life as a free citizen: stuff happens. Continue reading “Routine”

Do the Clothes Make the Man?

I sent this cartoon to a relative of mine because he’s a runner and participates in marathons. I thought he’d get a kick out of the poke at modern sports psychology. He wrote back saying, “Sadly, I have entered a race, got the t-shirt, and then not actually ran in it. Just once though! And I always felt guilty wearing the shirt!” But it reminded me of a couple of stories from my own life.
Continue reading “Do the Clothes Make the Man?”

Keyboard Adventure

Last night I replaced the keyboard in Marie’s laptop. I did that because she slopped coffee on the original and half the keys stopped working. Nothing went up in smoke and she could still do things with the mouse, so I figured it had not leaked through the keyboard and onto the motherboard or into other touchy stuff inside.

I ordered a replacement a couple of days ago. I noticed that some were half the price of this one, but were billed as “without frame”.

“What is a ‘frame’” I asked the screen. It did not answer. It never does, but I tend to ask it things anyway.
Continue reading “Keyboard Adventure”

Goal Setting and Hindsight

I try not to engage in too much scrutinizing of past events and actions. People who are wiser than I say that such scrutinizing will only lead into an ever tightening spiral of self absorption. We need to keep our gaze fixed on the here and now; today, with an occasional glance up to the future so we know we are still on course. When exceptional events occur we should make note of contributing factors in the log book, but we should not obsess over them.

While wallowing in the past can be detrimental to mental health, this is one day; New Years Day, when I make it a tradition to go back over my notes and review the things I’ve done, the results of those actions, and how I may be able to build upon – or avoid repeating – said results in the future. Knowing how I got to where I am helps me know how to get where I want to be… assuming I know where I want to be. Continue reading “Goal Setting and Hindsight”

Treevelanche! Fun with Snow

This article was pulled from the files: one published elsewhere and the copyrights have expired so I may use it here. Enjoy!

I am SO easily amused!

Our white Christmas turned into a VERY white Christmas. This morning I measured 5½ inches of snow laying on top of our porch sides. That makes it the largest snow fall we can remember… and it’s still snowing!

Yes, I know… this is nothing at all to those of you with 12” or more on the ground already. But if you think THAT is lame… read on!

The trees are loaded down too, making a gorgeous winter wonderland of our yard, or at least it was until a bit of a wind kicked up. Then I experienced one of the most entertaining things I’ve seen in a while.

I’m sitting on the sofa watching out the window when a gust would wiggle the upper branches of a tree, dislodging some snow. This would fall down onto branches below, dislodging more snow, which fell and dislodged even more, suddenly this tree would go into a “white out” condition with the snow flying all around and I could hear a “fwoop-woomp-woomp” sound as the whole batch smashed into the ground.

It was wonderful! Ah the joys of simple living! Or maybe I should say life as a simpleton! Laugh if you want, but I’m having a great time!

Riding in the Internet Fast Lane

Please note: this article has been resurrected from many years ago. Service and reliability of the companies discussed may have changed since them… but I doubt it. This is offered as a humorous adventure story, not as a commentary or review of these firms.

We have been looking, longingly, at high speed internet deals for over a year now. The trouble is that there really are few viable options available to us here on our mountain side. DSL is not available and will not be available anytime in the foreseeable future, according to AT&T. There is one local wireless internet company, but they say their towers are at capacity and are not accepting new clients. That leaves satellite, cell phone or cable.

My research indicates that satellite service is not especially reliable (or affordable) in locations such as ours – trees block the signal, or more accurately, moisture in the leaves of trees block the signal as do clouds and fog. We live in a forest. The Great Smoky Mountains are famous for the fog and mists that rest on our mountain overnight. Some are lazy and refuse to get up and fly way at the crack of dawn, so atmospheric water content is an issue especially for sending (uploading) which is most of what I do here. That leaves cell phone or cable.

To be honest, I’m afraid of cell phone companies. I know too many people who complain loud and long about their cell phone bills and the way they were duped into a two year (or more) contract for services that don’t work well. Air time is expensive, and the internet is a major player in our household and business. No, I don’t think a cellular account would suit us at all. That leaves cable. Continue reading “Riding in the Internet Fast Lane”