Entry tags:
NO U: The customer is not always right
Customer service is so important to me. It's why I love working for the company I do, because the company holds customer service to a higher standard than so many other organizations.
That said, we may be in the "customer service" era, and people have come to expect a lot out of customer service, but the customer is NOT always right, let alone "king."
I went to a Subway here in the San Fernando Valley tonight, about 10 minutes before closing. I always get the same thing whenever I go to a Subway, but there was a girl ahead of me--bedhead, super-tan skin, bleach blonde hair and a sliced-up sweatshirt dangling off her at a weird angle. She looked stoned. She was slowly drawling something about the different kinds of bread available, then decided on 9-Grain Wheat, and asked for "everything on it."
Now, every single Subway has a sign that shows with words AND pictures, just what "everything" means without charging you extra. So the guy starts loading up her footlong sandwich as requested, and then by the time she gets to the end of the counter, she starts complaining: more of this, NONE of that, she asked for THIS, not THAT, and on and on. The guy did his best to try and make the changes, but the girl was so out of it (or something) that she just got snotty and said "You know you're so rude!" She started going on this tirade, to which the guy responded, "I'm sorry miss," and repeated what he thought she'd asked for, but then after the whole sandwich was made, she just said "Ugh, forget it, I don't want it, you don't have what I want, anyway" and she walked out.
The guy was tired and no doubt more than a little irritated, but he never snapped at the girl. True, he didn't exactly offer to scrap the footlong and start over, either, but the girl cut him off (by insulting him repeatedly) before he could. And she didn't seem to really know what she wanted, anyway.
There are all kinds of customers--all kinds of people--in the world. Some people are ready to buy, and some people just want information. But while there's never any reason for a salesperson to ASSUME anything about a would-be customer, there's also never any reason for a customer to be rude to the person trying to assist them. If they're not helping the way you want, take a deep breath and ask for assistance from someone else. Explain what's not working for you. Don't immediately get angry, get rude, or get egotistical and start complaining.
And if service is THAT bad? Ask to speak to a manager, or simply leave and write a review on Yelp or something.
That said, we may be in the "customer service" era, and people have come to expect a lot out of customer service, but the customer is NOT always right, let alone "king."
I went to a Subway here in the San Fernando Valley tonight, about 10 minutes before closing. I always get the same thing whenever I go to a Subway, but there was a girl ahead of me--bedhead, super-tan skin, bleach blonde hair and a sliced-up sweatshirt dangling off her at a weird angle. She looked stoned. She was slowly drawling something about the different kinds of bread available, then decided on 9-Grain Wheat, and asked for "everything on it."
Now, every single Subway has a sign that shows with words AND pictures, just what "everything" means without charging you extra. So the guy starts loading up her footlong sandwich as requested, and then by the time she gets to the end of the counter, she starts complaining: more of this, NONE of that, she asked for THIS, not THAT, and on and on. The guy did his best to try and make the changes, but the girl was so out of it (or something) that she just got snotty and said "You know you're so rude!" She started going on this tirade, to which the guy responded, "I'm sorry miss," and repeated what he thought she'd asked for, but then after the whole sandwich was made, she just said "Ugh, forget it, I don't want it, you don't have what I want, anyway" and she walked out.
The guy was tired and no doubt more than a little irritated, but he never snapped at the girl. True, he didn't exactly offer to scrap the footlong and start over, either, but the girl cut him off (by insulting him repeatedly) before he could. And she didn't seem to really know what she wanted, anyway.
There are all kinds of customers--all kinds of people--in the world. Some people are ready to buy, and some people just want information. But while there's never any reason for a salesperson to ASSUME anything about a would-be customer, there's also never any reason for a customer to be rude to the person trying to assist them. If they're not helping the way you want, take a deep breath and ask for assistance from someone else. Explain what's not working for you. Don't immediately get angry, get rude, or get egotistical and start complaining.
And if service is THAT bad? Ask to speak to a manager, or simply leave and write a review on Yelp or something.
Entry tags:
Sick of this B.S.
They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
--attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller
Why is this quotation relevant today, decades after the Nazis? Because the problem highlighted by the Pastor here is still present: we keep our mouths shut about the unfair treatment of people who aren't "Us," but by the time that treatment becomes unfair to "Us," there's no one left to speak on our behalf.
So I'm speaking up. I think it's bullshit that people are saying a mosque shouldn't be built near Ground Zero (or anywhere else in the U.S., for that matter). This country was founded on the principle of freedom of religion (among other core values), and that includes the religion of Islam (any argument trying to cite that Islam is not a religion is null and void. Don't even waste your bytes).
Some people have generalized all Muslims as extremists that want to see the fall of capitalism, the destruction of America, etc. etc. and that's ridiculous. It's just as ridiculous as previous notions of Protestants or Catholics being more sinful than the other, or Jews causing entire nations to go bankrupt. It's STUPID. You really don't need to rub two brain cells together to realize this.
I get that we're at war with Muslim nations. I get that not all Muslims like the United States of America, want to be American, or share the same ideals that many Americans do. But that doesn't mean that we have to mistreat the Muslims that are here in America, those Americans who HAPPEN to be Muslim, etc. The more you oppress any party, the stronger they will get, especially if it's here in a country that prides itself on the whole "rags to riches, phoenix from the ashes" concept, where the strong survive even the toughest of scenarios.
Yes, some Muslims may be extremists, and they may be in America right now, or will be in the future. They may have some unsavory plans for us, the same way that the terrorists behind 9/11 did. But can we stop them by being racist, by being hypocritical, or by being narrow-minded? No. America's strength lies in its diversity, in its acceptance of others, and of the country's ability to make a "melting pot" of even wildly divergent cultures and ideals and somehow turn them into something stronger, more beautiful, and better than before.
We can't just take everything that we've learned from all the wars that have come before and toss it out the proverbial window just because it's convenient.
And yes, we're not always going to agree with what every culture does. Sometimes it won't be "fair" by our standards, how they treat others, but who are we to be judge, jury, and executioner? Why is it so hard to respect differences? What happened to the drive to LEARN about the unknown, to explore it, instead of just fearing it outright?
Burning Qurans is wrong (flat-out, always). Depicting the prophet Mohammed is wrong (to Muslims). You can disagree with me, and that's fine: I respect your opinion. I would hope you would do the same for me. We can agree to disagree, and I feel that no one has to "come to arms" because of that kind of a disagreement. It seems so petty to get worked up over things that seem like basic politeness to me: you don't burn a book to make a statement (any book, any statement). You don't intentionally do something offensive to prove a point, especially when you can do something less offensive that will have a more positive, lasting impact.
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.
--attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller
Why is this quotation relevant today, decades after the Nazis? Because the problem highlighted by the Pastor here is still present: we keep our mouths shut about the unfair treatment of people who aren't "Us," but by the time that treatment becomes unfair to "Us," there's no one left to speak on our behalf.
So I'm speaking up. I think it's bullshit that people are saying a mosque shouldn't be built near Ground Zero (or anywhere else in the U.S., for that matter). This country was founded on the principle of freedom of religion (among other core values), and that includes the religion of Islam (any argument trying to cite that Islam is not a religion is null and void. Don't even waste your bytes).
Some people have generalized all Muslims as extremists that want to see the fall of capitalism, the destruction of America, etc. etc. and that's ridiculous. It's just as ridiculous as previous notions of Protestants or Catholics being more sinful than the other, or Jews causing entire nations to go bankrupt. It's STUPID. You really don't need to rub two brain cells together to realize this.
I get that we're at war with Muslim nations. I get that not all Muslims like the United States of America, want to be American, or share the same ideals that many Americans do. But that doesn't mean that we have to mistreat the Muslims that are here in America, those Americans who HAPPEN to be Muslim, etc. The more you oppress any party, the stronger they will get, especially if it's here in a country that prides itself on the whole "rags to riches, phoenix from the ashes" concept, where the strong survive even the toughest of scenarios.
Yes, some Muslims may be extremists, and they may be in America right now, or will be in the future. They may have some unsavory plans for us, the same way that the terrorists behind 9/11 did. But can we stop them by being racist, by being hypocritical, or by being narrow-minded? No. America's strength lies in its diversity, in its acceptance of others, and of the country's ability to make a "melting pot" of even wildly divergent cultures and ideals and somehow turn them into something stronger, more beautiful, and better than before.
We can't just take everything that we've learned from all the wars that have come before and toss it out the proverbial window just because it's convenient.
And yes, we're not always going to agree with what every culture does. Sometimes it won't be "fair" by our standards, how they treat others, but who are we to be judge, jury, and executioner? Why is it so hard to respect differences? What happened to the drive to LEARN about the unknown, to explore it, instead of just fearing it outright?
Burning Qurans is wrong (flat-out, always). Depicting the prophet Mohammed is wrong (to Muslims). You can disagree with me, and that's fine: I respect your opinion. I would hope you would do the same for me. We can agree to disagree, and I feel that no one has to "come to arms" because of that kind of a disagreement. It seems so petty to get worked up over things that seem like basic politeness to me: you don't burn a book to make a statement (any book, any statement). You don't intentionally do something offensive to prove a point, especially when you can do something less offensive that will have a more positive, lasting impact.
Entry tags:
The whole Gizmodo iPhone 4 thing
Not having nor really wanting to own an iPhone so long as it's tied to AT&T in any size, shape, or form, I missed the news about an Apple employee accidentally losing a prototype of the new iPhone, and how someone else found it, tried to return it, got stonewalled by Apple (because they don't even tell their own employees everything), and then ended up selling* it to tech blog Gizmodo for $5K.
(* This is kind of disputed - keep reading.)
Until tonight, when I watched Jon Stewart's "Appholes" clip on a referral from a classmate. I didn't know it had escalated to the point where, though the phone had been returned by the Gizmodo editor who bought it (Jason Chen), Apple got San Mateo authorities to raid Chen's house on the suspicion that he had actually STOLEN the device, despite Chen's compliance with Apple's formal request to get the device back, and Gizmodo's posted (I think) reports on the device and how they acquired it.
Of course, Gizmodo's initial report DID leave some things out...like why they paid $5K for it (supposedly this was an "exclusive access fee" and that Giz would help to return the device after their report. Still not cool, still legally gray, if not outright illegal in that it seems to be aiding in the "theft" of something that's clearly not theirs, bricked or not. Why did it take more than a month between the loss date and Gizmodo's first posting about the device? WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE MEANTIME? Or did it take weeks for Giz to even get the device, and it was the scuzball source who took so long hanging onto property that wasn't his?)
The person who found it had tried to contact Apple instead of the Apple employee whose name was so readily findable on the phone through the Facebook app, and was stonewalled due to Apple's own policies, but to go from there to trying to sell the device to tech blogs? Where the hell's the logic in that?
I can understand, at least in part, why Apple decided to call it "stolen" at that point: the employee lost it, couldn't get it back at the place where he lost it (presumably), couldn't get the contact of anyone who had found it (presumably), and was relying on that person to find him. Did they? No, apparently not, despite having access to his FACEBOOK account! (For at least a little while before the phone got bricked, anyway. But maybe not long enough to remember and find any useful contact information, but geez, there's way more to be done than that when a device like that is lost. But I guess people rightfully don't have much expectation of others being at all generous when their phone is lost or stolen, especially these days....)
So, who's in the wrong here? Well, one, for Gizmodo, for buying the phone and continuing to report on it, instead of directly contacting the guy who'd lost it or trying harder than their source to get in touch with Apple immediately. In that sense, they were handling stolen goods, rather than just something that was lost and found.
Two, the source, for not trying hard enough to contact the original Apple Engineer, for trying harder to get ahold of someone higher up at Apple, and of course, for selling the damn thing, which automatically seems to make the person less of a good samaritan and more of a profiteer. (Disclaimer: he was drunk when he found it, probably not-so-sober when he may have glanced at the Facebook app and seen the owner's real name, but not thought to write it down, and too late the next day when the phone got bricked. Could he still have done more? Yes, in my opinion. But maybe I just have high expectations/standards of people. Figure it this way: if you'd want me to go the distance for you and your property, I would: if you would for me. I don't have to know you, but I would, because to me, it's common decency.)
And yeah, Apple's in the wrong for pushing on the San Mateo authorities to the point of STORMING a journalist's home and taking his personal electronics, data, etc. (Maybe. It's possible that Apple really had nothing to do with it outside of providing them with the information that here was this guy who'd obtained a phone that they'd determined was Apple's property and he may have aided in a crime by purchasing it. Apple reports potential crimes! Good for them. Or something.) Supposedly they charged in during dinner--no knocking ahead of time, no calling on the phone. (ETA: "Dinner" being "out of the house." This wasn't made clear initially, so thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
azhp for clearing it up. And Chen was told he could get reimbursed for his bashed-in door. Why don't police just hire a lockpick?)
I agree with Stewart: "Appholes!" But I personally dislike them more for their partnership with AT&T than for this, because no matter what they told the SMPD, it's the police's fault for following bad information and for acting the way they did.
Gizmodo is staying silent on the issue of Chen's house more or less being raided on the iPhone posts, but they did share Chen's experience with the search online. They're also apparently promoting those blog posts/comments that agree with their POV and standing by Chen. On the one hand: good. They should stand by their reporter. Don't pretend that he's not/Gizmodo's not, because then Chen getting raided is only the result of their already dumb behavior, especially in regards to the Apple employee's identity and activity that resulted in the loss of the phone in the first place. (But the phone was bricked the day after it was lost right? Does that mean that Gizmodo's source didn't pass on the info about the Apple employee whose name was in the Facebook account?) They have a chance of fighting the SMPD's behavior toward Chen and possibly Apple if they stand by the fact that they're journalists and protect their sources with the shield law. But I don't know if their "source" deserves that kind of protection, even if Giz is otherwise a news organization.
Rival Engadget is not making a big deal out of this issue, likely because people already know that they were offered the same deal to buy the lost phone as Gizmodo was. Good for them.
Some people are thinking this was all a huge Apple PR stunt. I disagree: they're notorious for their secrecy, and I doubt that would abruptly change just to garner hype for an upcoming device. They do have controlled tests of their products, some of them going out into public in the hands of employees, and I think this was along those lines. The veil of secrecy gig works much more for them than "leaked product!1!!" does.
I'm basically confused here, because on the one hand, as a journalist, I value the shield laws more than the average person might. But I'm also an Apple fan, iPhone and AT&T opinions aside, and I know their attitude when it comes to corporate secrets. I don't always agree with it, but I know that if I trusted an employee with something, he accidentally lost it, and I tried to get it back, I'd defend him and anyone who didn't get in touch with either of us comes across as a thief.
I'm more pissed at the source that hung onto the phone than anyone else, and even as a journalist, even if I treat Gizmodo as a news organization despite THEIR poor decision-making, what benefit does it serve ANYONE to protect that source? I say: let 'em burn. He deserves whatever lawsuit is coming his way.
(* This is kind of disputed - keep reading.)
Until tonight, when I watched Jon Stewart's "Appholes" clip on a referral from a classmate. I didn't know it had escalated to the point where, though the phone had been returned by the Gizmodo editor who bought it (Jason Chen), Apple got San Mateo authorities to raid Chen's house on the suspicion that he had actually STOLEN the device, despite Chen's compliance with Apple's formal request to get the device back, and Gizmodo's posted (I think) reports on the device and how they acquired it.
Of course, Gizmodo's initial report DID leave some things out...like why they paid $5K for it (supposedly this was an "exclusive access fee" and that Giz would help to return the device after their report. Still not cool, still legally gray, if not outright illegal in that it seems to be aiding in the "theft" of something that's clearly not theirs, bricked or not. Why did it take more than a month between the loss date and Gizmodo's first posting about the device? WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE MEANTIME? Or did it take weeks for Giz to even get the device, and it was the scuzball source who took so long hanging onto property that wasn't his?)
The person who found it had tried to contact Apple instead of the Apple employee whose name was so readily findable on the phone through the Facebook app, and was stonewalled due to Apple's own policies, but to go from there to trying to sell the device to tech blogs? Where the hell's the logic in that?
I can understand, at least in part, why Apple decided to call it "stolen" at that point: the employee lost it, couldn't get it back at the place where he lost it (presumably), couldn't get the contact of anyone who had found it (presumably), and was relying on that person to find him. Did they? No, apparently not, despite having access to his FACEBOOK account! (For at least a little while before the phone got bricked, anyway. But maybe not long enough to remember and find any useful contact information, but geez, there's way more to be done than that when a device like that is lost. But I guess people rightfully don't have much expectation of others being at all generous when their phone is lost or stolen, especially these days....)
So, who's in the wrong here? Well, one, for Gizmodo, for buying the phone and continuing to report on it, instead of directly contacting the guy who'd lost it or trying harder than their source to get in touch with Apple immediately. In that sense, they were handling stolen goods, rather than just something that was lost and found.
Two, the source, for not trying hard enough to contact the original Apple Engineer, for trying harder to get ahold of someone higher up at Apple, and of course, for selling the damn thing, which automatically seems to make the person less of a good samaritan and more of a profiteer. (Disclaimer: he was drunk when he found it, probably not-so-sober when he may have glanced at the Facebook app and seen the owner's real name, but not thought to write it down, and too late the next day when the phone got bricked. Could he still have done more? Yes, in my opinion. But maybe I just have high expectations/standards of people. Figure it this way: if you'd want me to go the distance for you and your property, I would: if you would for me. I don't have to know you, but I would, because to me, it's common decency.)
And yeah, Apple's in the wrong for pushing on the San Mateo authorities to the point of STORMING a journalist's home and taking his personal electronics, data, etc. (Maybe. It's possible that Apple really had nothing to do with it outside of providing them with the information that here was this guy who'd obtained a phone that they'd determined was Apple's property and he may have aided in a crime by purchasing it. Apple reports potential crimes! Good for them. Or something.) Supposedly they charged in during dinner--no knocking ahead of time, no calling on the phone. (ETA: "Dinner" being "out of the house." This wasn't made clear initially, so thanks to
azhp for clearing it up. And Chen was told he could get reimbursed for his bashed-in door. Why don't police just hire a lockpick?) I agree with Stewart: "Appholes!" But I personally dislike them more for their partnership with AT&T than for this, because no matter what they told the SMPD, it's the police's fault for following bad information and for acting the way they did.
Gizmodo is staying silent on the issue of Chen's house more or less being raided on the iPhone posts, but they did share Chen's experience with the search online. They're also apparently promoting those blog posts/comments that agree with their POV and standing by Chen. On the one hand: good. They should stand by their reporter. Don't pretend that he's not/Gizmodo's not, because then Chen getting raided is only the result of their already dumb behavior, especially in regards to the Apple employee's identity and activity that resulted in the loss of the phone in the first place. (But the phone was bricked the day after it was lost right? Does that mean that Gizmodo's source didn't pass on the info about the Apple employee whose name was in the Facebook account?) They have a chance of fighting the SMPD's behavior toward Chen and possibly Apple if they stand by the fact that they're journalists and protect their sources with the shield law. But I don't know if their "source" deserves that kind of protection, even if Giz is otherwise a news organization.
Rival Engadget is not making a big deal out of this issue, likely because people already know that they were offered the same deal to buy the lost phone as Gizmodo was. Good for them.
Some people are thinking this was all a huge Apple PR stunt. I disagree: they're notorious for their secrecy, and I doubt that would abruptly change just to garner hype for an upcoming device. They do have controlled tests of their products, some of them going out into public in the hands of employees, and I think this was along those lines. The veil of secrecy gig works much more for them than "leaked product!1!!" does.
I'm basically confused here, because on the one hand, as a journalist, I value the shield laws more than the average person might. But I'm also an Apple fan, iPhone and AT&T opinions aside, and I know their attitude when it comes to corporate secrets. I don't always agree with it, but I know that if I trusted an employee with something, he accidentally lost it, and I tried to get it back, I'd defend him and anyone who didn't get in touch with either of us comes across as a thief.
I'm more pissed at the source that hung onto the phone than anyone else, and even as a journalist, even if I treat Gizmodo as a news organization despite THEIR poor decision-making, what benefit does it serve ANYONE to protect that source? I say: let 'em burn. He deserves whatever lawsuit is coming his way.
Entry tags:
Trash
I just came home from Downtown. After an allergy test (which I "passed" by being allergic to lots of things, especially dust mites), I met Mom at the St. Francis and hung there for an hour before Mom and I headed homeward. Or at least I did; Mom had an appointment, so we parted ways at Fillmore.
I was reading "Eat, Pray, Love" because I'm not the type to get "carsick" (or "bus-sick," as it were) and because I feel a strange resonation with Elizabeth Gilbert, the book's author. She could be me in a few years, though I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. I'm not done with the book quite yet, but the interesting thoughts that have crossed my mind while reading the book are not the subject of this entry.
As the bus neared the avenues, an older man in the single seat in front of mine saw the back door across from us open at a stop. He chucked a Coke bottle out and then turned back to face the front.
I was disgusted. To the point of wanting to throw up disgusted, which is a pretty severe reaction for someone who's just witnessed littering. It shouldn't such a big deal, but I was mad. I shot a disgusted look at the guy, who didn't see me, of course, but the girl across from me, an African-American girl with a pretty headscarf, a hoodie that didn't match, and an ever-present yellow lighter, did. Neither of us said anything, not to the man, not to anyone.
I couldn't concentrate on the book anymore because I felt this rage, this fire in me. But I kept trying to temper it down with questions like "Why do you care?" and "Why is it a big deal?" Some people litter on the bus, and frankly trash could be a lot worse than a Coke bottle. The guy could have hung onto it, could have tossed it out when he got off the bus, or he could have dropped it on the bus and let it roll around hitting people's feet and get caught behind the doors.
I contemplated throwing trash on him, but I didn't have any. I somehow managed to lose my transfer between the allergist's and the hotel, and the other transfer I intend to keep until it's expired--just in case. Besides, a transfer isn't really "trashy" enough to teach a litterbug a lesson. I needed some expired chop suey or something, but that would be pushing it, right?
I thought about just calling him a pig as I walked out of the bus, but what if the guy was really some violent Mafia felon (I blame the Mafia train of thought on the book, because I had just finished reading the final portion about Italy and Sicily and the cheap concrete filled with bones of people who displeased the Mafia)? I thought about saying it in another language, but my stop was coming up and the word for "pig" in Japanese escaped me.
So I got off the bus without saying or doing anything, and I felt wretched as a result. What kind of world is it that we live in where we can just throw things away like they're nothing, like the Earth is nothing and we don't even expend a little bit of effort to do the right thing, like "recycle," as if we're really making SOME impact? I try and tell myself even a little bit helps, that even an individual can start something, but I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut because sometimes you can't make an example out of others without making an example of yourself first--and not in a good way.
Did I miss out on a chance to teach someone a lesson, or is it even my place? I did make eye contact with that guy as I got off the bus. Turns out he wasn't some ferocious Mafia guy, just an old Asian guy with flip-flops and crusty white feet. I wonder if he saw the exhaustion in my own eyes, the "sick of the world/sick of you" attitude I felt at that moment, because I'd already swallowed the disgust and anger and decided it wasn't worth it. He looked tired too, or maybe just ambivalent, uncaring, apart from the world. Not his problem.
Thinking about it makes me angry again, but like a wave, it recedes away into exhaustion. I can't change people: they have to want to change, they have to be provoked into desiring to change. Can I be a provocateur? Maybe, but only if I stop fearing the consequences. And maybe opening my big mouth, even if it's to reprimand someone "politely" ("Excuse me, but you could have thrown that in a trash can." / "So? What am I going to do about it now?") or to dare to insult a stranger, even if it's in a foreign language, or to just GLARE at someone, hoping that my anger is clear will get me in big trouble one day, but you don't know if you don't try, right? And I'll keep being angry at the world, at others, and most of all, myself, if I don't even TRY to make a difference, small as it is.
Is it weird, wanting to be an example, standing up for what I believe is right? Shouldn't it come naturally, for the things I care about most? It's not like recycling is my big champion cause, but I've just grown up with the habit that you don't toss Coke bottles out of the back doors of buses onto the street.
All I'm left with is a sigh. I don't know what to do with myself, let alone others who piss me off.
I was reading "Eat, Pray, Love" because I'm not the type to get "carsick" (or "bus-sick," as it were) and because I feel a strange resonation with Elizabeth Gilbert, the book's author. She could be me in a few years, though I don't know whether that's a good thing or not. I'm not done with the book quite yet, but the interesting thoughts that have crossed my mind while reading the book are not the subject of this entry.
As the bus neared the avenues, an older man in the single seat in front of mine saw the back door across from us open at a stop. He chucked a Coke bottle out and then turned back to face the front.
I was disgusted. To the point of wanting to throw up disgusted, which is a pretty severe reaction for someone who's just witnessed littering. It shouldn't such a big deal, but I was mad. I shot a disgusted look at the guy, who didn't see me, of course, but the girl across from me, an African-American girl with a pretty headscarf, a hoodie that didn't match, and an ever-present yellow lighter, did. Neither of us said anything, not to the man, not to anyone.
I couldn't concentrate on the book anymore because I felt this rage, this fire in me. But I kept trying to temper it down with questions like "Why do you care?" and "Why is it a big deal?" Some people litter on the bus, and frankly trash could be a lot worse than a Coke bottle. The guy could have hung onto it, could have tossed it out when he got off the bus, or he could have dropped it on the bus and let it roll around hitting people's feet and get caught behind the doors.
I contemplated throwing trash on him, but I didn't have any. I somehow managed to lose my transfer between the allergist's and the hotel, and the other transfer I intend to keep until it's expired--just in case. Besides, a transfer isn't really "trashy" enough to teach a litterbug a lesson. I needed some expired chop suey or something, but that would be pushing it, right?
I thought about just calling him a pig as I walked out of the bus, but what if the guy was really some violent Mafia felon (I blame the Mafia train of thought on the book, because I had just finished reading the final portion about Italy and Sicily and the cheap concrete filled with bones of people who displeased the Mafia)? I thought about saying it in another language, but my stop was coming up and the word for "pig" in Japanese escaped me.
So I got off the bus without saying or doing anything, and I felt wretched as a result. What kind of world is it that we live in where we can just throw things away like they're nothing, like the Earth is nothing and we don't even expend a little bit of effort to do the right thing, like "recycle," as if we're really making SOME impact? I try and tell myself even a little bit helps, that even an individual can start something, but I bit my lip and kept my mouth shut because sometimes you can't make an example out of others without making an example of yourself first--and not in a good way.
Did I miss out on a chance to teach someone a lesson, or is it even my place? I did make eye contact with that guy as I got off the bus. Turns out he wasn't some ferocious Mafia guy, just an old Asian guy with flip-flops and crusty white feet. I wonder if he saw the exhaustion in my own eyes, the "sick of the world/sick of you" attitude I felt at that moment, because I'd already swallowed the disgust and anger and decided it wasn't worth it. He looked tired too, or maybe just ambivalent, uncaring, apart from the world. Not his problem.
Thinking about it makes me angry again, but like a wave, it recedes away into exhaustion. I can't change people: they have to want to change, they have to be provoked into desiring to change. Can I be a provocateur? Maybe, but only if I stop fearing the consequences. And maybe opening my big mouth, even if it's to reprimand someone "politely" ("Excuse me, but you could have thrown that in a trash can." / "So? What am I going to do about it now?") or to dare to insult a stranger, even if it's in a foreign language, or to just GLARE at someone, hoping that my anger is clear will get me in big trouble one day, but you don't know if you don't try, right? And I'll keep being angry at the world, at others, and most of all, myself, if I don't even TRY to make a difference, small as it is.
Is it weird, wanting to be an example, standing up for what I believe is right? Shouldn't it come naturally, for the things I care about most? It's not like recycling is my big champion cause, but I've just grown up with the habit that you don't toss Coke bottles out of the back doors of buses onto the street.
All I'm left with is a sigh. I don't know what to do with myself, let alone others who piss me off.
Entry tags:
The only good thief is Aladdin
I really, really hate thieves, of pretty much any kind. Except MAYBE the fictional ones, and those only rarely.
Several talented Sailor Moon fanartists have had their work stolen by this person on DeviantART. I've already begun reporting the Deviations, but I could use your help locating the original artists of many more of these works--I honestly don't believe very many of this user's deviations are theirs at all, and if you happen to recognize another artist's work in this person's gallery, I'd appreciate you either reporting the deviation or supplying me with a link to the original art so I can.
One such artist is Alan Guiterrez (stardriv on DA), and what I find especially laughable is that some of the "Artist's Comments" for the stolen paintings (which Alan did as a commission and charged $2400 for the whole series, so some diehard fan is considerably less wealthy after getting these paintings and deserves to have them indicated as FOR HER BY HIM on HIS terms) try to "credit" Alan by a) spelling his name wrong and b) not even bothering to link to a site where his work can be found, such as...uh, his DeviantART account?
Now, I'm not the biggest DA fan in the world, since they've got a pretty lousy policy on fanart as it is, and don't tend to consider Senshi edits as anything but "Scraps," but that's a post for a whole other day and time.
Your help is appreciated, Sailor Moon fans and artists!
Several talented Sailor Moon fanartists have had their work stolen by this person on DeviantART. I've already begun reporting the Deviations, but I could use your help locating the original artists of many more of these works--I honestly don't believe very many of this user's deviations are theirs at all, and if you happen to recognize another artist's work in this person's gallery, I'd appreciate you either reporting the deviation or supplying me with a link to the original art so I can.
One such artist is Alan Guiterrez (stardriv on DA), and what I find especially laughable is that some of the "Artist's Comments" for the stolen paintings (which Alan did as a commission and charged $2400 for the whole series, so some diehard fan is considerably less wealthy after getting these paintings and deserves to have them indicated as FOR HER BY HIM on HIS terms) try to "credit" Alan by a) spelling his name wrong and b) not even bothering to link to a site where his work can be found, such as...uh, his DeviantART account?
Now, I'm not the biggest DA fan in the world, since they've got a pretty lousy policy on fanart as it is, and don't tend to consider Senshi edits as anything but "Scraps," but that's a post for a whole other day and time.
Your help is appreciated, Sailor Moon fans and artists!
Entry tags:
The Basics Still Elude Them
How is it that nearly 15 years after the CONCLUSION of Sailor Moon, people still fail to do the basic things that would make for a good fic? I'm sure this could be translated to almost any fandom, but as I was perusing through the Sailor Moon section on the new "Archive of Our Own", I noticed several things happen again and again.
Maybe it's just my bad luck, picking fics that sound interesting without paying attention to whether the author's different each time. Usually, if an author writes something that causes me to click the "Back" button, I won't give that author a second chance unless the summary sounds really good. Which means if an author "sux at summeries," then they're screwed trying to get me back as a reader. Boo, I'm sure they'll find some less-discerning n00b who doesn't have my standards.
But it's kind of sad, how the fandom doesn't improve with age, as a great fandom like Sailor Moon ought to.
How is that people are still writing fics where:
* The Japanese character names are used, but the dub attack names are, too?
* Regardless of original vs. dub, the wrong season's attacks are used? (I get that the other Senshi, like Mars, Mercury, and so on might reuse their old attacks, but SAILOR MOON NEVER DOES. Especially not her wand-based attacks. In other words, she can't do "Moon Healing Activation" (dub) with the "Cutie Moon Rod," a.k.a. that thing she's got in Sailor Moon R.
* There's the still use the tried-and-trite cliché of the Senshi lambasting Usagi, not noticing she's actually hurt or something? It was made canonically clear in the anime (the one version of the series where they really ganged up on her, and where the whole Rei vs. Usagi thing is a bit of a recurring joke) that the only time they've ever fought is to get the attention of the bad guys--not because they actually believe any of it. They all know without Usagi, they'd be screwed. The planet would be screwed. Telling her she's klutzy, useless in battle, etc. is sort of useless--even if any of them actually had the stupidity to believe it for a split second because Sailor Moon was "late" to a battle for whatever reason.
* No one can take an ill/amnesiac/stuck-in-her-transformed-state Usagi in except Mamoru (who recently broke up with her but MINOR DETAIL)? Ami lives with her mother, a doctor, who knows and likes Usagi, though she's hardly ever home because she's a workaholic at the hospital. Makoto doesn't live with anyone, though it's very possible she's got an anal-retentive landlord that disallows visitors. It happens. But what about Rei? The girls have had plenty of meetings or sleepovers at the temple! And Minako's parents might be bitchy (in the manga, she made it sound like she really disliked them), but I think in an emergency, they might be fine...assuming they're even home.
* Basic Japanese words are not translated. I admit I was guilty of it when I first started out, but with the Internet being so damn prevalent and so many hundreds of thousands of SM fics in existence (lots of "best of" and "top 10" lists to refer to for quality fiction), it seems silly that people still do this. Stop using "Nani" and "onegai" and "konnichiwa!" and stuff. The only Japanese people can honestly get away with are: a) words with ambiguous translations; b) words with no English equivalent; c) words that are culturally significant, like honorifics. I don't see a point in using "Onii~san" and stuff when "Big Brother" or "Older Brother" or "Mister" (assuming you, the author, know who is talking to whom and whether or not they have a real familial relationship, let alone a respectful one) work just as well.
* Mixing up of manga facts and anime canon. Mamoru breaks up with Usagi only in the anime. Evil!Endymion is in both the anime and the manga, but the way he acts and who he is seen with differentiates the two. Ice prison, senshi death, and black-eyed Endymion? All manga, all the time. Don't mix them up!
I'm sure there are others, but yeesh, to have so many in a few minutes of one fic should give me reason enough to click "Back" and really swear off this author once and for all, right? Forget "Transformative Works," a crappy fanfic is still a crappy fanfic. Plus, the more clichés that serve as plot devices, the more that sour taste in my mouth intensifies...really now, some excuse to revert Usagi into Serenity just so Mamoru can have a flowery guilt complex over his breakup and then Serenity can somehow "connect" or turn back into Usagi and everything is explained and all are happy? Baaaah!
Maybe it's just my bad luck, picking fics that sound interesting without paying attention to whether the author's different each time. Usually, if an author writes something that causes me to click the "Back" button, I won't give that author a second chance unless the summary sounds really good. Which means if an author "sux at summeries," then they're screwed trying to get me back as a reader. Boo, I'm sure they'll find some less-discerning n00b who doesn't have my standards.
But it's kind of sad, how the fandom doesn't improve with age, as a great fandom like Sailor Moon ought to.
How is that people are still writing fics where:
* The Japanese character names are used, but the dub attack names are, too?
* Regardless of original vs. dub, the wrong season's attacks are used? (I get that the other Senshi, like Mars, Mercury, and so on might reuse their old attacks, but SAILOR MOON NEVER DOES. Especially not her wand-based attacks. In other words, she can't do "Moon Healing Activation" (dub) with the "Cutie Moon Rod," a.k.a. that thing she's got in Sailor Moon R.
* There's the still use the tried-and-trite cliché of the Senshi lambasting Usagi, not noticing she's actually hurt or something? It was made canonically clear in the anime (the one version of the series where they really ganged up on her, and where the whole Rei vs. Usagi thing is a bit of a recurring joke) that the only time they've ever fought is to get the attention of the bad guys--not because they actually believe any of it. They all know without Usagi, they'd be screwed. The planet would be screwed. Telling her she's klutzy, useless in battle, etc. is sort of useless--even if any of them actually had the stupidity to believe it for a split second because Sailor Moon was "late" to a battle for whatever reason.
* No one can take an ill/amnesiac/stuck-in-her-transformed-state Usagi in except Mamoru (who recently broke up with her but MINOR DETAIL)? Ami lives with her mother, a doctor, who knows and likes Usagi, though she's hardly ever home because she's a workaholic at the hospital. Makoto doesn't live with anyone, though it's very possible she's got an anal-retentive landlord that disallows visitors. It happens. But what about Rei? The girls have had plenty of meetings or sleepovers at the temple! And Minako's parents might be bitchy (in the manga, she made it sound like she really disliked them), but I think in an emergency, they might be fine...assuming they're even home.
* Basic Japanese words are not translated. I admit I was guilty of it when I first started out, but with the Internet being so damn prevalent and so many hundreds of thousands of SM fics in existence (lots of "best of" and "top 10" lists to refer to for quality fiction), it seems silly that people still do this. Stop using "Nani" and "onegai" and "konnichiwa!" and stuff. The only Japanese people can honestly get away with are: a) words with ambiguous translations; b) words with no English equivalent; c) words that are culturally significant, like honorifics. I don't see a point in using "Onii~san" and stuff when "Big Brother" or "Older Brother" or "Mister" (assuming you, the author, know who is talking to whom and whether or not they have a real familial relationship, let alone a respectful one) work just as well.
* Mixing up of manga facts and anime canon. Mamoru breaks up with Usagi only in the anime. Evil!Endymion is in both the anime and the manga, but the way he acts and who he is seen with differentiates the two. Ice prison, senshi death, and black-eyed Endymion? All manga, all the time. Don't mix them up!
I'm sure there are others, but yeesh, to have so many in a few minutes of one fic should give me reason enough to click "Back" and really swear off this author once and for all, right? Forget "Transformative Works," a crappy fanfic is still a crappy fanfic. Plus, the more clichés that serve as plot devices, the more that sour taste in my mouth intensifies...really now, some excuse to revert Usagi into Serenity just so Mamoru can have a flowery guilt complex over his breakup and then Serenity can somehow "connect" or turn back into Usagi and everything is explained and all are happy? Baaaah!
Entry tags:
She will be better (she has to be)
Tonight our dog Mokie (Mokee) was attacked by a neighborhood German Shepherd (I think it's a mix, but it might also be a young G.S.). Mokie was out on the front lawn just doing her business and was sniffing near a tree. It was shadowed over there, and I went to get her to make sure she wasn't in the street, and the next thing I knew, this dog comes tearing from across the street and starts attacking her.
Mokie is just a small, old toy poodle. She doesn't usually like other dogs, but she did nothing whatsoever to provoke this attack. This dog just came out and attacked her--three times, apparently, because Mokie yelped quite loudly and I kept kicking the other dog to get it away from us. Mokie was on the street, her eyes wide with shock and not moving, and I was so terrified that we'd lost her in that instant.
I picked her up while I yelled and kicked at the other dog, which didn't bite me or tried to get up on me. But it kept coming after me and Mokie, even when I ran across the lawn to get into the house. Baba and Grandpa, who were out on the front lawn with me because we'd been saying bye to Erin, Calvin, Joyce and Neal (they came over for dinner and were going to see a show afterward), saw the dog and recognized it as a neighbor's, but the neighbor was nowhere in sight. The dog had a collar, but wasn't on a leash.
We got inside and closed the door had put Mokie in her dog bed, and it was readily apparent she was very hurt--she was bleeding badly, stumbling, and only barely whimpering. Finally she collapsed in her bed and I frantically called everyone I could--Erin, Adam (who volunteers at a pet hospital), anyone. Baba opened the door again to see if the dog was still out there, and we saw the owner right in front of our house in a dark SUV. The dog was nowhere in sight, so we assumed the owner had gotten the dog back inside the car. I screamed at them, but they just sped away down the street toward Superior. Baba and I are going to where we think they are tomorrow and talk to them--hopefully they'll be honest and do something to help us. What kind of horrible human beings wouldn't?
Erin came back before Adam could call me back with an emergency-hours pet clinic, so we sped off to this place we remembered on White Oak. There was so much blood on my hands--I tried to put pressure on the one wound of Mokie's I could see, but I don't know if it helped. Erin assured me that Mokie was at least conscious and making noises, but I felt so awful that I hadn't kept a closer eye on Mokie, that I hadn't gotten that other dog off of her sooner.
Thankfully there was a vet at the clinic and we got in with no trouble, and the vet soon reported Mokie had been attacked three times--shoulder, rear, and flank, but there didn't appear to be any severe damage to internal organs, and as long as they got her on IV, she would be treatable, hopefully without surgery. She's staying there overnight now, but I want to know what to do about this other dog. I want the owner to pay somehow--if not for Mokie's hospital bill in full, then something. A vicious dog like that should not be wandering around the neighborhood at night, let alone without a leash or an owner nearby.
I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. Please, if you can spare a moment, pray for Mokie. Thank you.
Mokie is just a small, old toy poodle. She doesn't usually like other dogs, but she did nothing whatsoever to provoke this attack. This dog just came out and attacked her--three times, apparently, because Mokie yelped quite loudly and I kept kicking the other dog to get it away from us. Mokie was on the street, her eyes wide with shock and not moving, and I was so terrified that we'd lost her in that instant.
I picked her up while I yelled and kicked at the other dog, which didn't bite me or tried to get up on me. But it kept coming after me and Mokie, even when I ran across the lawn to get into the house. Baba and Grandpa, who were out on the front lawn with me because we'd been saying bye to Erin, Calvin, Joyce and Neal (they came over for dinner and were going to see a show afterward), saw the dog and recognized it as a neighbor's, but the neighbor was nowhere in sight. The dog had a collar, but wasn't on a leash.
We got inside and closed the door had put Mokie in her dog bed, and it was readily apparent she was very hurt--she was bleeding badly, stumbling, and only barely whimpering. Finally she collapsed in her bed and I frantically called everyone I could--Erin, Adam (who volunteers at a pet hospital), anyone. Baba opened the door again to see if the dog was still out there, and we saw the owner right in front of our house in a dark SUV. The dog was nowhere in sight, so we assumed the owner had gotten the dog back inside the car. I screamed at them, but they just sped away down the street toward Superior. Baba and I are going to where we think they are tomorrow and talk to them--hopefully they'll be honest and do something to help us. What kind of horrible human beings wouldn't?
Erin came back before Adam could call me back with an emergency-hours pet clinic, so we sped off to this place we remembered on White Oak. There was so much blood on my hands--I tried to put pressure on the one wound of Mokie's I could see, but I don't know if it helped. Erin assured me that Mokie was at least conscious and making noises, but I felt so awful that I hadn't kept a closer eye on Mokie, that I hadn't gotten that other dog off of her sooner.
Thankfully there was a vet at the clinic and we got in with no trouble, and the vet soon reported Mokie had been attacked three times--shoulder, rear, and flank, but there didn't appear to be any severe damage to internal organs, and as long as they got her on IV, she would be treatable, hopefully without surgery. She's staying there overnight now, but I want to know what to do about this other dog. I want the owner to pay somehow--if not for Mokie's hospital bill in full, then something. A vicious dog like that should not be wandering around the neighborhood at night, let alone without a leash or an owner nearby.
I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight. Please, if you can spare a moment, pray for Mokie. Thank you.
Entry tags:
Urge to drop Time-Warner Cable rising...
As far as I'm concerned, anything is better than AT&T. They had such downright foul customer service and price gouging that I swore them off for life, which is why I'll never buy an iPhone so long as it's tethered to AT&T. I'm of the opinion that people should be able to pick the phone that suits their needs and then pick the service they want for the area they're in (or plan to be in), rather than be stuck picking a specific service to get a certain phone with certain features.
And then there's home cable/digital phone/Internet service. See, my grandparents wanted a convenient way to pay all their bills at once, and we switched to TWC's "All The Best" to supposedly save some money on our bills. We set up Auto-Pay, got some new cordless phones, and we were off!
Except I've noticed when we receive phone calls on the landline, I get booted off the Internet. The schmucks who installed the cable modem here put it in the same room as our TV, but not anywhere convenient for our computers, so wireless was a necessity. Of course, TWC has their own boxes and service, so if we wanted to use wireless through them (officially supported), we'd have to pay extra. Seriously, WTF? I pay a one-time fee to customize my own box with better security and a typically more stable connection--why WOULD I bother going through them?
So I've been using the AirPort Extreme Base Station, and other than these few minor glitches, it works well. But the glitches are getting annoying, and when I called TWC to find out what I could do, they had be go through this whole tech support rigamarole that involved restarting and rewiring every connection, all to no avail.
See, if I disconnect my Apple router from the cable modem, I then have to restart the modem (and sometimes the laptop) just to get it to recognize the ethernet connection. And this isn't a convenient location for the ethernet connection anyway, so it seems like a pointless exercise, even when it does connect me to the Internet "the old-fashioned way." I'm supposed to "observe" this connection for the next two hours to see if it gets interrupted by an incoming phone call, all for the sake of seeing if it really is a hardware issue like they initially told me it was (which, apparently, was a mistake, since I couldn't have been using the digital phone to talk to them if there was a hardware issue; it either ALL works or it doesn't work at all). And even if it is...uh, well, they want to charge me to replace the box, even though again, initially, they told me I could do it for free, and get it replaced at the TWC store nearby. Nope, apparently not.
So not only do they want to lock me into using their hardware, their way (I get that they'd prefer I use their hardware so they don't have to familiarize their support agents with the procedures for setting up or restarting countless third-party routers and other devices, but to CHARGE me for the privilege? WTF!?), but they want to charge me now for something that before they said I could get swapped out for free, because repeated customer service calls seemed to point in the direction of it being a genuine hardware issue. Hardware's where I fail, so I believed them, but apparently I was talking to a doesn't-know-it-all, and now I'm back to square one.
Just for fun, I looked up Verizon FiOS online, to see if they have it in the area. They advertise on the TV so incessantly (I hate the commercials, though) that I thought they would, but Verizon's own website says no (or rather, it's not sure, since it seems to think I live somewhere I don't, and even when I accept the wrong address, it asks me to enter it again). Yet, a bundle-searching service says yes-AND that they're cheaper than TWC. Of course, I don't know if those quoted prices are promotional and are really for the whole bundle of TV + Internet + Phone, but still...
The whole idea is, I should be able to get fast internet using a combination of my hardware and theirs without being price-gouged for it. I should be able to have a secure home Internet connection that doesn't disconnect when I make or receive a phone call, just because I have phone service tied into it. I should be able to put my boxes wherever I damn well please, because it's my (or rather, my grandparents') house! And if there's an issue, I should be able to either diagnose it in a relatively quick phone call (that I didn't wait 3 hours on hold to get in the first place) or get it replaced promptly and FREE.
Is this too much to ask? Am I living in "De Nile," having these expectations about home TV/Internet/Phone service? Is there such thing as a good home connectivity company!?
All this and I'm still sick. Gaah.
And then there's home cable/digital phone/Internet service. See, my grandparents wanted a convenient way to pay all their bills at once, and we switched to TWC's "All The Best" to supposedly save some money on our bills. We set up Auto-Pay, got some new cordless phones, and we were off!
Except I've noticed when we receive phone calls on the landline, I get booted off the Internet. The schmucks who installed the cable modem here put it in the same room as our TV, but not anywhere convenient for our computers, so wireless was a necessity. Of course, TWC has their own boxes and service, so if we wanted to use wireless through them (officially supported), we'd have to pay extra. Seriously, WTF? I pay a one-time fee to customize my own box with better security and a typically more stable connection--why WOULD I bother going through them?
So I've been using the AirPort Extreme Base Station, and other than these few minor glitches, it works well. But the glitches are getting annoying, and when I called TWC to find out what I could do, they had be go through this whole tech support rigamarole that involved restarting and rewiring every connection, all to no avail.
See, if I disconnect my Apple router from the cable modem, I then have to restart the modem (and sometimes the laptop) just to get it to recognize the ethernet connection. And this isn't a convenient location for the ethernet connection anyway, so it seems like a pointless exercise, even when it does connect me to the Internet "the old-fashioned way." I'm supposed to "observe" this connection for the next two hours to see if it gets interrupted by an incoming phone call, all for the sake of seeing if it really is a hardware issue like they initially told me it was (which, apparently, was a mistake, since I couldn't have been using the digital phone to talk to them if there was a hardware issue; it either ALL works or it doesn't work at all). And even if it is...uh, well, they want to charge me to replace the box, even though again, initially, they told me I could do it for free, and get it replaced at the TWC store nearby. Nope, apparently not.
So not only do they want to lock me into using their hardware, their way (I get that they'd prefer I use their hardware so they don't have to familiarize their support agents with the procedures for setting up or restarting countless third-party routers and other devices, but to CHARGE me for the privilege? WTF!?), but they want to charge me now for something that before they said I could get swapped out for free, because repeated customer service calls seemed to point in the direction of it being a genuine hardware issue. Hardware's where I fail, so I believed them, but apparently I was talking to a doesn't-know-it-all, and now I'm back to square one.
Just for fun, I looked up Verizon FiOS online, to see if they have it in the area. They advertise on the TV so incessantly (I hate the commercials, though) that I thought they would, but Verizon's own website says no (or rather, it's not sure, since it seems to think I live somewhere I don't, and even when I accept the wrong address, it asks me to enter it again). Yet, a bundle-searching service says yes-AND that they're cheaper than TWC. Of course, I don't know if those quoted prices are promotional and are really for the whole bundle of TV + Internet + Phone, but still...
The whole idea is, I should be able to get fast internet using a combination of my hardware and theirs without being price-gouged for it. I should be able to have a secure home Internet connection that doesn't disconnect when I make or receive a phone call, just because I have phone service tied into it. I should be able to put my boxes wherever I damn well please, because it's my (or rather, my grandparents') house! And if there's an issue, I should be able to either diagnose it in a relatively quick phone call (that I didn't wait 3 hours on hold to get in the first place) or get it replaced promptly and FREE.
Is this too much to ask? Am I living in "De Nile," having these expectations about home TV/Internet/Phone service? Is there such thing as a good home connectivity company!?
All this and I'm still sick. Gaah.
Entry tags:
Mer at AX09
Typed the first few paragraphs last week and then procrastinated to all hell for posting this. Oooops.
Ah, back from Anime Expo. Actually, I got back late on Sunday night, but yesterday I was so exhausted that I ended up taking Monday off work and sleeping a lot. When I didn't sleep, I played my newest acquisition: Final Fantasy Anthologies, featuring FF5 and FF6, neither of which I've ever beaten. It's making me nostalgic!
I probably should have posted entries each night after I came back, but I was usually so exhausted from volunteering that I didn't. I did do some Live Tweeting though, so I'll touch on a few of the things I mentioned then.
( Day Zero )
( Day One )
( Day Two )
( Day Three )
( Day Four: THE FINALS )
Ah, back from Anime Expo. Actually, I got back late on Sunday night, but yesterday I was so exhausted that I ended up taking Monday off work and sleeping a lot. When I didn't sleep, I played my newest acquisition: Final Fantasy Anthologies, featuring FF5 and FF6, neither of which I've ever beaten. It's making me nostalgic!
I probably should have posted entries each night after I came back, but I was usually so exhausted from volunteering that I didn't. I did do some Live Tweeting though, so I'll touch on a few of the things I mentioned then.
( Day Zero )( Day One )( Day Two )( Day Three )( Day Four: THE FINALS )
Entry tags:
- airlines,
- argh!,
- me,
- ow!,
- stupid people
Some good, some bad
Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE Southwest Airlines? I mean LUV LUV LUV.
A few things you should know (or could probably guess) about me:
(1) I am NOT a light packer; I've tried: I've failed.
(2) I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.
Keeping those in mind, it's not hard to imagine that, despite having returned to L.A. prior to Thanksgiving, the stuff I brought back with me wasn't nearly enough. On the way from LAX to SFO the first time around, I got charged $25 for an overweight suitcase.
I've taken to checking in baggage because, with my back and the fact that people simply aren't courteous ANYWHERE anymore (not that I have low expectations of others, but it's easier not to assume and make an ass out of myself by whining when no one helps short little me get my bag out of the upper baggage compartment), it's just easier.
My suitcase, when full, just barely skims the 62 total inch limit-- it's 30 inches long, 20 inches wide, and around 9 inches thick. STUFFED, it can easily surpass the 62 inches, but I've never seen anyone whip out a tape measure and check my bag for that. Weighing it, on the other hand....
Anyway, I was nervous about how much my bag weighed for the trip back to L.A. today, because even though it was mostly vacuum-sucked clothes bags, I also had all my shoes, two hard drives, random books and papers, and a bag of cosmetics.
The total? 77.5 lbs! WTF!?
So I started by taking out my Jewish cookbook (it's sitting behind my CD album in my wheelie carry-on), and that knocked it down to 73.5. I didn't want to try and take out much more that wasn't flat, but was somehow still substantial enough to knock down three pounds, if only because I'd have no place to put it. I'm already hefting my PS2 and 2 stuffed animals (ssh!) as my "personal item." Thankfully, the guy at the baggage check outside was super-nice, and let me slide for the extra 3 pounds, so he said he'd have to take me inside to pay the $25 fee.
I gave the guy my WaMu debit card, because I checked the balance last night AND this morning, and there was enough in there to cover the fee (I KNEW I was going to get some fee) and my cab once I get to the Van Nuys Flyaway. But for some reason, it wasn't going through. They suggested I go to an ATM. I got to the ATM, expecting MORE fees, but it says "Card not authorized" or some shit. Freaking out (because my Macy's Visa wasn't working either, and that didn't surprise me; I owe the most on that card at the moment, and I think they've been calling me incessantly -but never leaving messages- but my payments haven't been the full amount. They've been whatever I could manage, but apparently THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH), I called my bank.
When I finally got hold of a live person, he told me that while my checking account was still open, my debit/MasterCard had been closed since NOVEMBER!? WTF!? They didn't even notify me, not even on the site, which I check fairly regularly! So I had to be transferred to another line, explain the whole situation again, and have them "reactivate" the card (with the stipulation that the "activation" might not actually take effect until midnight).
Then, by the time I got back to the SWA counter... the guy said "It's okay, go on."
NO FEE.
I LUV SOUTHWEST!
So yay to that, and yay also to the taxi ride from Van Nuys FlyAway that was cheaper than I expected. Yay to Grandpa shelling out $12 because the guy didn't want to try swiping my potentially-bad card.
NOT YAY to the fact that I may have lost my USB stick. I called Mom to see if she could spot it in the areas where I was hanging out, but she didn't see it. Then again, she was half-asleep. I'm hoping it turns up somewhere really obvious -here or there- and I can get it on my hot little hands again. I DON'T want to have somehow lost it at SFO or LAX or on the plane or in the taxi. I'll call the airports if I haven't found it within 3 days, because that particular USB drive is important, but hopefully it's extremely identifiable, WHAT WITH MY NAME PRINTED ON IT AND ALL.
Think positive, think positive.
YAY to the fact that Baba and Grandpa now have an iMac! Sure, it's a G5, but it's working pretty well! Plus Erin left all of her awesome software on it, so if for whatever reason I don't or can't use my laptop, there's this one. It's not on Leopard, but because it's a PowerPC, I can run old-school Mac programs! WHOO!
Anyway, mom's been nagging me to make sure I get enough sleep lately. My problem is that I stress too much about things (LITTLE things, both literal and figurative). I think I should just chill and be glad to be home safe and (mostly) whole. I somehow managed to scrape a piece of skin off my right hand earlier at SFO when calling WaMu. I don't know how, but it hurts. :P
Ah well. Emails to read and send, LJs to catch up on... I can only relax by feeling accomplished somehow.
A few things you should know (or could probably guess) about me:
(1) I am NOT a light packer; I've tried: I've failed.
(2) I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.
Keeping those in mind, it's not hard to imagine that, despite having returned to L.A. prior to Thanksgiving, the stuff I brought back with me wasn't nearly enough. On the way from LAX to SFO the first time around, I got charged $25 for an overweight suitcase.
I've taken to checking in baggage because, with my back and the fact that people simply aren't courteous ANYWHERE anymore (not that I have low expectations of others, but it's easier not to assume and make an ass out of myself by whining when no one helps short little me get my bag out of the upper baggage compartment), it's just easier.
My suitcase, when full, just barely skims the 62 total inch limit-- it's 30 inches long, 20 inches wide, and around 9 inches thick. STUFFED, it can easily surpass the 62 inches, but I've never seen anyone whip out a tape measure and check my bag for that. Weighing it, on the other hand....
Anyway, I was nervous about how much my bag weighed for the trip back to L.A. today, because even though it was mostly vacuum-sucked clothes bags, I also had all my shoes, two hard drives, random books and papers, and a bag of cosmetics.
The total? 77.5 lbs! WTF!?
So I started by taking out my Jewish cookbook (it's sitting behind my CD album in my wheelie carry-on), and that knocked it down to 73.5. I didn't want to try and take out much more that wasn't flat, but was somehow still substantial enough to knock down three pounds, if only because I'd have no place to put it. I'm already hefting my PS2 and 2 stuffed animals (ssh!) as my "personal item." Thankfully, the guy at the baggage check outside was super-nice, and let me slide for the extra 3 pounds, so he said he'd have to take me inside to pay the $25 fee.
I gave the guy my WaMu debit card, because I checked the balance last night AND this morning, and there was enough in there to cover the fee (I KNEW I was going to get some fee) and my cab once I get to the Van Nuys Flyaway. But for some reason, it wasn't going through. They suggested I go to an ATM. I got to the ATM, expecting MORE fees, but it says "Card not authorized" or some shit. Freaking out (because my Macy's Visa wasn't working either, and that didn't surprise me; I owe the most on that card at the moment, and I think they've been calling me incessantly -but never leaving messages- but my payments haven't been the full amount. They've been whatever I could manage, but apparently THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH), I called my bank.
When I finally got hold of a live person, he told me that while my checking account was still open, my debit/MasterCard had been closed since NOVEMBER!? WTF!? They didn't even notify me, not even on the site, which I check fairly regularly! So I had to be transferred to another line, explain the whole situation again, and have them "reactivate" the card (with the stipulation that the "activation" might not actually take effect until midnight).
Then, by the time I got back to the SWA counter... the guy said "It's okay, go on."
NO FEE.
I LUV SOUTHWEST!
So yay to that, and yay also to the taxi ride from Van Nuys FlyAway that was cheaper than I expected. Yay to Grandpa shelling out $12 because the guy didn't want to try swiping my potentially-bad card.
NOT YAY to the fact that I may have lost my USB stick. I called Mom to see if she could spot it in the areas where I was hanging out, but she didn't see it. Then again, she was half-asleep. I'm hoping it turns up somewhere really obvious -here or there- and I can get it on my hot little hands again. I DON'T want to have somehow lost it at SFO or LAX or on the plane or in the taxi. I'll call the airports if I haven't found it within 3 days, because that particular USB drive is important, but hopefully it's extremely identifiable, WHAT WITH MY NAME PRINTED ON IT AND ALL.
Think positive, think positive.
YAY to the fact that Baba and Grandpa now have an iMac! Sure, it's a G5, but it's working pretty well! Plus Erin left all of her awesome software on it, so if for whatever reason I don't or can't use my laptop, there's this one. It's not on Leopard, but because it's a PowerPC, I can run old-school Mac programs! WHOO!
Anyway, mom's been nagging me to make sure I get enough sleep lately. My problem is that I stress too much about things (LITTLE things, both literal and figurative). I think I should just chill and be glad to be home safe and (mostly) whole. I somehow managed to scrape a piece of skin off my right hand earlier at SFO when calling WaMu. I don't know how, but it hurts. :P
Ah well. Emails to read and send, LJs to catch up on... I can only relax by feeling accomplished somehow.
Entry tags:
I've never made one of these before
You Are a Gingerbread House |
 A little spicy and a little sweet, anyone would like to be lost in the woods with you. |
I want to participate in a holiday challenge. Is
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif){kind=small}
yuugiouxmasfic still around? If not, anyone want to do a holiday challenge of some kind? I'm up for almost anything... ( Three birthdays in one! )Anyway, I've got school work that I've been procrastinating on to do, so... off I go!
Entry tags:
BREAKING NEWS: Twilight fans lamer than ever
SAN FRANCISCO -- Over 3,000 fans of the young adult vampire book series "Twilight" gathered early this morning (and that's saying something, considering it's still only 9:22 am as I'm writing this) outside San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria shopping center, vying for the chance to meet Robert Pattinson, the 22-year-old British star of the upcoming movie adaptation of the same name. After the crowds grew too unruly, police were forced to cancel the event.
Fans were reportedly crushed against mall doors until at least one nose was broken and one person nearly collapsed from asphyxiation.
The event, which was scheduled to take place at the mall's "Hot Topic" store, required fans to purchase a specific "Twilight" item (and thereby support author Stephenie Meyer in her donations to the Mormon church, which funds anti-gay rights measures like Proposition 8, recently passed in California and Arizona) before obtaining a wristband so they could return to the store to meet Pattinson at 6 p.m. Only the truly insane and hardcore were at the mall this morning, as normal folks and fun-loving Twatlighters were scheduled to show up much later in the afternoon and enjoy the LULz over fresh tortilla chips and a margarita.
Hearts have likely been broken by the event's cancellation, but in a posh hotel room somewhere within the Bay Area, Robert Pattinson is likely breathing a sigh of relief, having safely and quite deftly (vampire skillz, whut) avoided yet another encounter with fangirls who make "the sound like you hear at the gates of hell."
The lesson, ladies and gents? Never travel more than 5 miles to meet a celebrity. Never get so excited about someone or something so as to be likened to a creature squealing from the gates of hell. And for the love of God and sparkly vampires, be a Twatlighter, not a Twilighter (or Twihard, for that matter)!
Source: KCBS
Fans were reportedly crushed against mall doors until at least one nose was broken and one person nearly collapsed from asphyxiation.
The event, which was scheduled to take place at the mall's "Hot Topic" store, required fans to purchase a specific "Twilight" item (and thereby support author Stephenie Meyer in her donations to the Mormon church, which funds anti-gay rights measures like Proposition 8, recently passed in California and Arizona) before obtaining a wristband so they could return to the store to meet Pattinson at 6 p.m. Only the truly insane and hardcore were at the mall this morning, as normal folks and fun-loving Twatlighters were scheduled to show up much later in the afternoon and enjoy the LULz over fresh tortilla chips and a margarita.
Hearts have likely been broken by the event's cancellation, but in a posh hotel room somewhere within the Bay Area, Robert Pattinson is likely breathing a sigh of relief, having safely and quite deftly (vampire skillz, whut) avoided yet another encounter with fangirls who make "the sound like you hear at the gates of hell."
The lesson, ladies and gents? Never travel more than 5 miles to meet a celebrity. Never get so excited about someone or something so as to be likened to a creature squealing from the gates of hell. And for the love of God and sparkly vampires, be a Twatlighter, not a Twilighter (or Twihard, for that matter)!
Source: KCBS
Entry tags:
- argh!,
- fuck,
- me,
- stupid people
It won't be Paranoia Survivor MAX
I actually dared to go out today. Actually, Baba and Grandpa were supposed to go to their swimming class at CSUN, but Grandpa wasn't feeling too well, so we held off on that, and instead went out later in the day. I went to WaMu and got the money order (originally intended for Disney so I can sever my ties with them completely; after what I've been through lately, they can stand to wait a few more days!) refunded, closed my checking account, and opened up a new one. So there's no chance this guy's going to get ANY of my money beyond the measly $15 that was in my wallet. Haha, sucker. Haha.
I also put a 90-day fraud alert on my credit, notified the DMV, made an appointment for a new CA ID, and have been running around getting all my other cards replaced. I'm handling the last of them (at school and the mall) tomorrow. Already got a new Vons card (even though I never use it; I always enter the phone number to get the club discount; it's so much easier!), but Blockbuster's computers were on the fritz, so all I got was a new account number; the guy couldn't close my old account or print me a new card. -_-
I was afraid that when we came back from lunch and shopping at Vons, we'd return to the house and find it ransacked or on fire. Neither, obviously, as I'm sitting here typing at my laptop in my still-intact room. I'm glad.
On the one hand, I want to believe these guys were pathetic and petty, but the escape vehicle was (if I remember correctly), a new dark silver Lexus SUV (it may have been a Honda, which is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but something in me is saying it was a Lexus). EIther these guys are spoiled brats who think they need to commit a crime to have fun, or they jacked a car and are a lot smarter/more dangerous (not necessarily both) than we thought. I'd rather overestimate them than underestimate them, hence the complete changing of all the locks throughout the house. We're also going to get a new mailbox-- our old one is pretty crappy, anyway.
I have been a lot more wary of walking by myself; I'm more attuned to hearing what's around me. Mom thinks I should act like a crazy person so people won't come near me. (Don't I act wacky enough "normally?") Dad wants me to take a self-defense class. (Part of me wants to *legally* get a gun. Bad Mer, bad! But there's nothing illegal about pepper spray, right?)
I'm a bit paranoid of silver SUVs, of which there were a lot in the neighborhood. But none of them were the car I saw yesterday. I might use my Google-fu to see if I can find out just what model it was and then call the detectives with that info, assuming they haven't already tried that avenue; I left them a message this morning but haven't heard back from them yet. I hope that's a good sign, and it means they're doing their job.
We went driving up Donna St. where the guys made their getaway; Baba thought that maybe they went through my purse, found there was next to nothing in it and threw it out. Or maybe they didn't recognize it as a designer purse (I argued that the fact it was a D&B purse was probably what made me a target in the first place) and threw the purse out, keeping the wallet. No luck. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means we didn't see the purse or wallet lying anywhere visible from the street as we drove down. Someone from the neighborhood could have found it, if that happened, but if it was just the purse, there's nothing in it to identify it as mine, and if it was the wallet... *shrug* Well, maybe they'll return it? I'm not going to get my hopes up.
My new policy is to always have pants with pockets and put whatever I need in there. If it doesn't fit, I don't need it. And I'm going to make copies of everything and write down all my memberships and numbers. And then I'll put it in my safe where NO ONE BUT ME can touch it (unless I burn to a crisp, in which case the firemen can get to it, but it won't matter anymore :P).
In the meantime, I plan on getting my endorphins up and keeping my back in shape by playing some DDR. Might as well be strengthening my legs if I want to kick anybody in the kneecap, should the occasion arise. ^_~
I want to thank everyone who responded to my past two posts/notes. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, everyone; not only has it helped me remember other lost cards, but it's made me feel a lot better and not so freaked out.
Andobabscribbler, thank you for the fic. It definitely brought a smile to my face. I wish I had a Yuugi/Yami no Yuugi and a pair of former gang members (well, Jounouchi and Honda, rather than some random Crips or Bloods) as my best buds. But I'll settle for vicarious living through Anzu-- she always makes me feel better. (BTW, I don't see metal trash cans anymore. Otherwise I totally would have grabbed a lid and flung it at that guy's head... or the SUV's windshield. HAHA!)
I also put a 90-day fraud alert on my credit, notified the DMV, made an appointment for a new CA ID, and have been running around getting all my other cards replaced. I'm handling the last of them (at school and the mall) tomorrow. Already got a new Vons card (even though I never use it; I always enter the phone number to get the club discount; it's so much easier!), but Blockbuster's computers were on the fritz, so all I got was a new account number; the guy couldn't close my old account or print me a new card. -_-
I was afraid that when we came back from lunch and shopping at Vons, we'd return to the house and find it ransacked or on fire. Neither, obviously, as I'm sitting here typing at my laptop in my still-intact room. I'm glad.
On the one hand, I want to believe these guys were pathetic and petty, but the escape vehicle was (if I remember correctly), a new dark silver Lexus SUV (it may have been a Honda, which is on the opposite end of the spectrum, but something in me is saying it was a Lexus). EIther these guys are spoiled brats who think they need to commit a crime to have fun, or they jacked a car and are a lot smarter/more dangerous (not necessarily both) than we thought. I'd rather overestimate them than underestimate them, hence the complete changing of all the locks throughout the house. We're also going to get a new mailbox-- our old one is pretty crappy, anyway.
I have been a lot more wary of walking by myself; I'm more attuned to hearing what's around me. Mom thinks I should act like a crazy person so people won't come near me. (Don't I act wacky enough "normally?") Dad wants me to take a self-defense class. (Part of me wants to *legally* get a gun. Bad Mer, bad! But there's nothing illegal about pepper spray, right?)
I'm a bit paranoid of silver SUVs, of which there were a lot in the neighborhood. But none of them were the car I saw yesterday. I might use my Google-fu to see if I can find out just what model it was and then call the detectives with that info, assuming they haven't already tried that avenue; I left them a message this morning but haven't heard back from them yet. I hope that's a good sign, and it means they're doing their job.
We went driving up Donna St. where the guys made their getaway; Baba thought that maybe they went through my purse, found there was next to nothing in it and threw it out. Or maybe they didn't recognize it as a designer purse (I argued that the fact it was a D&B purse was probably what made me a target in the first place) and threw the purse out, keeping the wallet. No luck. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means we didn't see the purse or wallet lying anywhere visible from the street as we drove down. Someone from the neighborhood could have found it, if that happened, but if it was just the purse, there's nothing in it to identify it as mine, and if it was the wallet... *shrug* Well, maybe they'll return it? I'm not going to get my hopes up.
My new policy is to always have pants with pockets and put whatever I need in there. If it doesn't fit, I don't need it. And I'm going to make copies of everything and write down all my memberships and numbers. And then I'll put it in my safe where NO ONE BUT ME can touch it (unless I burn to a crisp, in which case the firemen can get to it, but it won't matter anymore :P).
In the meantime, I plan on getting my endorphins up and keeping my back in shape by playing some DDR. Might as well be strengthening my legs if I want to kick anybody in the kneecap, should the occasion arise. ^_~
I want to thank everyone who responded to my past two posts/notes. I appreciate your thoughtfulness, everyone; not only has it helped me remember other lost cards, but it's made me feel a lot better and not so freaked out.
And
obabscribbler, thank you for the fic. It definitely brought a smile to my face. I wish I had a Yuugi/Yami no Yuugi and a pair of former gang members (well, Jounouchi and Honda, rather than some random Crips or Bloods) as my best buds. But I'll settle for vicarious living through Anzu-- she always makes me feel better. (BTW, I don't see metal trash cans anymore. Otherwise I totally would have grabbed a lid and flung it at that guy's head... or the SUV's windshield. HAHA!)Entry tags:
- argh!,
- fuck,
- me,
- stupid people
Photographic proof. Not photogenic, not gory.
Pictures "for posterity" of the events of 9/10/08. Read the previous post for details.
( It happened, it hurt. )
( It happened, it hurt. )Entry tags:
- argh!,
- fuck,
- me,
- stupid people
What happened
Just got mugged. Can't think straight, can't eat my breakfast (got a late start).
I was about 20 yards from home. I could see my backyard. Corner of Ballinger St. and Donna Ave. I had my iPod on (stupid, stupid, stupid!) listening to some Utada Hikaru. I was thinking of scenes for WDKY. I was thinking, if I were a superhero, I'd want all the awesome powers, not just one. I was thinking how it was a nice day out-- sunny but not too hot, nice breeze. I was thinking it'd be nice to take my bagel and iced tea and curl up in the rec room and watch some Ceres: Celestial Legend.
Someone tugged on my Dooney and Burke (I saved up for that purse! It was my anniversary present to myself...) purse (which I never take out; I usually take my now-crappy sparkly change purse with just one card and an ID in it; why did I choose today to take my purse AND my wallet, with all my cards in it?). I thought for a second, it was a "friend" surprising me. Someone saying "Hi Mer, so glad to have you back in the neighborhood."
The moment I turned, the guy started running. I dropped my bagel and iced tea, tore out of my flip flops, started running after theguy motherfucker. He had a fucking accomplice parked in a dark silver SUV on the corner of Donna. I heard someone in the car say "Come on man, let's go" before the door slammed and they gunned it north down the street.
I only remember the first four number/letters or so of the license plate: 5LJP or something like that. It was a new-looking SUV with a silver icon-- Honda, Toyota, Lexus, something, I can't remember. (I know it wasn't a Scion. I know it wasn't a SAAB or a BMW, with a colored icon. But it still doesn't help.)
The guy was Hispanic, wore a gray baseball cap with no logo, cargo shorts (I think they were light khaki), and a blue or gray t-shirt. I called the cops immediately. I talked to a few other "witnesses" (guys from AT&T that heard me scream bloody murder-- can't fight back, can't run, but I'll be damned if I can't scream louder than anyone on the fucking planet. I probably woke the dead) and then trudged back to my soggy bagel and broken iced tea bottle.
Got home, cried my eyes out. Called the credit card company, my bank, my mom, Kaiser. Trying to remember any other cards. But there was only $15 in cash in there, and with the two credit cards blocked, I doubt these guys will find anything worthwhile. They might try and sell the purse, but who gives a fuck about D&B anymore? I don't know why I ever cared so much about that P.O.S. I'll just get an ugly Buxton bag.
Never going to listen to my iPod while out again. Never going to carry a purse worth more than $20. Always going to know just what's in my purse and wallet. No more mystery cards... "did I have this?" and "did I have that?" I still don't remember everything. Shock is a funny thing. All the stuff you think you can do, suddenly you can't. It happens too fast. (No one's told me my lips look white. But I feel... hollow inside, but also like if I have anything inside, I'm going to throw it up. It's a wonder I'm as coherent as I am.)
I still feel stupid. But I'm okay. Could have been worse. I'm okay.
I wish I knew kung-fu.
ETA: Haven't heard back from the police detectives, so I'll give them a buzz tomorrow. Question for anyone reading this (and no, Capital One has no taken over my brain): "What's in your wallet?" No, really. I'm trying to remember what I may have lost, if there's anything critical in there that I *should* be worried about that I may have forgotten or missed. My SSN wasn't in there, and everything else vital (credit cards, debit cards, IDs) I'm already on the way to replacing. I should be going to CSUN tomorrow anyway to get a new ID there. But can you guys think of anything else that I might have lost, critical or otherwise? What kinds of cards do you have in your wallet?
My list so far of cards lost and hopefully replaceable, some of which have already been processed:
* DSW Membership Card (getting a new one once their "system" is back online)
* Borders Rewards
* myISIC Student card
* CSUN Student ID
* Student Advantage card
* CA ID
* WaMu Debit Card
* Macy*s Visa (I JUST FUCKING ACTIVATED THAT TODAY YOU RAT BASTARDS)
* Apple ProCare card (would you believe Apple's customer support had no idea what this was?)
* Library card
* Kaiser card
* Southwest Airlines card (printed a new one; now to laminate it or something. Hey, I could always stick it in an old Yu-Gi-Oh! card sheath, yeah?)
* JCPenney Salon Loyalty card (I was so bloody close to getting my discount! But my stylist there likes me, and maybe they can "look up my account" or something and punch in 6 holes on a new card because I'm cute and sweet -literally on that last one!- and honest)
* ???
I was about 20 yards from home. I could see my backyard. Corner of Ballinger St. and Donna Ave. I had my iPod on (stupid, stupid, stupid!) listening to some Utada Hikaru. I was thinking of scenes for WDKY. I was thinking, if I were a superhero, I'd want all the awesome powers, not just one. I was thinking how it was a nice day out-- sunny but not too hot, nice breeze. I was thinking it'd be nice to take my bagel and iced tea and curl up in the rec room and watch some Ceres: Celestial Legend.
Someone tugged on my Dooney and Burke (I saved up for that purse! It was my anniversary present to myself...) purse (which I never take out; I usually take my now-crappy sparkly change purse with just one card and an ID in it; why did I choose today to take my purse AND my wallet, with all my cards in it?). I thought for a second, it was a "friend" surprising me. Someone saying "Hi Mer, so glad to have you back in the neighborhood."
The moment I turned, the guy started running. I dropped my bagel and iced tea, tore out of my flip flops, started running after the
I only remember the first four number/letters or so of the license plate: 5LJP or something like that. It was a new-looking SUV with a silver icon-- Honda, Toyota, Lexus, something, I can't remember. (I know it wasn't a Scion. I know it wasn't a SAAB or a BMW, with a colored icon. But it still doesn't help.)
The guy was Hispanic, wore a gray baseball cap with no logo, cargo shorts (I think they were light khaki), and a blue or gray t-shirt. I called the cops immediately. I talked to a few other "witnesses" (guys from AT&T that heard me scream bloody murder-- can't fight back, can't run, but I'll be damned if I can't scream louder than anyone on the fucking planet. I probably woke the dead) and then trudged back to my soggy bagel and broken iced tea bottle.
Got home, cried my eyes out. Called the credit card company, my bank, my mom, Kaiser. Trying to remember any other cards. But there was only $15 in cash in there, and with the two credit cards blocked, I doubt these guys will find anything worthwhile. They might try and sell the purse, but who gives a fuck about D&B anymore? I don't know why I ever cared so much about that P.O.S. I'll just get an ugly Buxton bag.
Never going to listen to my iPod while out again. Never going to carry a purse worth more than $20. Always going to know just what's in my purse and wallet. No more mystery cards... "did I have this?" and "did I have that?" I still don't remember everything. Shock is a funny thing. All the stuff you think you can do, suddenly you can't. It happens too fast. (No one's told me my lips look white. But I feel... hollow inside, but also like if I have anything inside, I'm going to throw it up. It's a wonder I'm as coherent as I am.)
I still feel stupid. But I'm okay. Could have been worse. I'm okay.
I wish I knew kung-fu.
ETA: Haven't heard back from the police detectives, so I'll give them a buzz tomorrow. Question for anyone reading this (and no, Capital One has no taken over my brain): "What's in your wallet?" No, really. I'm trying to remember what I may have lost, if there's anything critical in there that I *should* be worried about that I may have forgotten or missed. My SSN wasn't in there, and everything else vital (credit cards, debit cards, IDs) I'm already on the way to replacing. I should be going to CSUN tomorrow anyway to get a new ID there. But can you guys think of anything else that I might have lost, critical or otherwise? What kinds of cards do you have in your wallet?
My list so far of cards lost and hopefully replaceable, some of which have already been processed:
* DSW Membership Card (getting a new one once their "system" is back online)
* Borders Rewards
* myISIC Student card
* CSUN Student ID
* Student Advantage card
* CA ID
* WaMu Debit Card
* Macy*s Visa (I JUST FUCKING ACTIVATED THAT TODAY YOU RAT BASTARDS)
* Apple ProCare card (would you believe Apple's customer support had no idea what this was?)
* Library card
* Kaiser card
* Southwest Airlines card (printed a new one; now to laminate it or something. Hey, I could always stick it in an old Yu-Gi-Oh! card sheath, yeah?)
* JCPenney Salon Loyalty card (I was so bloody close to getting my discount! But my stylist there likes me, and maybe they can "look up my account" or something and punch in 6 holes on a new card because I'm cute and sweet -literally on that last one!- and honest)
* ???
Entry tags:
I'm failing to come up with a coherent subject line for this one
a_white_rain stole all the good subject lines for this issue, so I'll just be honest and comment "this is an awfully apt song title for the context, innit?" Read on.The Bush Administration is trying, yet again, to tie religion to government, and therefore control people's lifestyle and choices. I'm all for people being able to practice their religion how they please, so long as that doesn't mean shoving one's religion down the throats (or up the uteruses, in this case) of others, forcing them to change their lives to suit those views.
Basically, they want to let medical clinics define "abortion" willy-nilly, based on a poll where NOT EVEN THE MAJORITY of people believe that life begins at conception (vs. implantation) and where the accepted medical definitions (from across several organizations) DIFFER from this whole "at conception/fertilization" point.
As is mentioned in some of the pages AWR links to, this is going to give power to religious right medical clinics, doctors, etc. to say that abortion can take place at a point when a woman doesn't even know if she's pregnant. There is NO definite way to know that an egg has been fertilized-- no blinking red light, no incontrovertible signs. Doctors can "opt out" of assisting a woman with getting birth control and/or an abortion, and there is no legislation that provides for a woman in this scenario: no alternatives she is given to seek, no transportation should the next nearest place be hundreds of miles away, nothing.
They call this a "conscience" act, as if to imply that doctors that DO assist women with birth control and/or abortions don't HAVE a conscience. What a bunch of bullshit! (For the record, I'm on birth control and have been since I was 16. I haven't been sexually active for that long; I've just had horrible, horrible, debilitating PMS and MS cycles. But will that minor detail stop a "conscientious" doctor from denying me my medication? No. And then I'll be S.O.L. for a good week out of every month. Thanks, Bush!)
*groan* I could probably rant on this for a while, and half the things I'd say might come out wrong because it just makes me that furious. Check out AWR's links, read up on it from various sources, and then ACT. I don't care if you're a man or a woman, young or old, religious, spiritual, or anything else in-between. Hell, even if you're not a U.S. citizen, write to our government and tell them how STUPID they're looking to the rest of the world and how, for a supposed world-superpower and global leader, we're sure acting like we've just popped into existence from the Middle Ages! (Actually, that's insulting the Middle Ages.)
I already sent out emails to both friends and family, and to the government in protest of this. It's bullshit and I won't stand for it as a woman or as a U.S. citizen.
Details, links, and more:
AWR's first post, including links out
Naamah Darling's rant on the subject, very nicely worded, with more links out
AWR's second post, with some more links out
Entry tags:
The Death of FanLib, Twilight, and HSM
In order of appearance:
FanLib's going to disappear, as everyone predicted it would when it first made its bright, shiny appearance some 15 months ago (or so). I think it improved a whole lot since the wankfest first started, which is why I bothered to sign up against it, but I'm not crying over the loss. It's not like half the stuff there is any good anyway, whether that's writers or readers/reviewers. Anyone I did bother to read there I knew from other sites, namely this one, DA, and/or Fanfiction.net.
The thing that sucks is that they didn't just come out and say why they're going under, nor did they invite discussion of the topic on their homepage. Everyone on fandom_wank says it's because they're out of their $3 million (srsly!?) investment, which wouldn't surprise me, but since I haven't seen any sort of official statement regarding the "why," I'll take that with a grain of salt.
Twilight - Cause for fangirls of all ages to be bitches, mainly because the poor sap who's playing Edward in the upcoming movie is "hot." Me? I haven't heard anything good about the book series OR the upcoming movie, but my roommate (who is a few months older than me) got into the series via her (14-year-old) sister. She admits that the series is targeted toward a younger audience than even Harry Potter (thus making both her and her sister part of that oddball crowd of fangirls), but she likes it so far, as it's a "simple read." I cringed a bit when reading the back cover, but don't dare to actually explore beyond that (yet?).
Why? Well, I went to the Anaheim Public Library tonight after work and finally got myself some other books: two on the craft of writing (one's a standby favorite on the Middle Ages, which I use as a great reference for "The Rose Chronicles"), one dark rewrite of "Snow White" and other fairy tales (love those sort of stories!) and one Myst novel (because I've never read them and I thought it was high time I ought to). Oh, and a High School Musical book.
High School Musical - So, working at Disneyland means I see this High School Musical stuff every day, and I often dealt with (child) Guests who would come up to me screaming about how HOTTTTTT Troy is (If I had to pick between Zac Efron and Robert Pattinson or whatever his name is -even if he was in Harry Potter before- I'd pick Zac any day of the week. The other guys IS somewhat cute and has nice eyes/hair/smile, etc. but Zac just seems... well, more human. And this is my impression of Rob based off an interview where he WAS NOT in Vampire!Mode) and I would have NO idea what they were going on about. I took a glance at the Junior Novel and decided that it sounded fluffy enough for me to warrant getting the movie as soon as it came back into our Clubhouse rentals, so I grabbed it as soon as it did. And... it's pretty darn catchy! The acting isn't half-bad, either, which is saying something, especially when you look at some of the other Disney Channel stuff (*cough*Camp Rock*cough*) So I got the second one too, and I like it a lot! I'm really looking forward to HSM3 coming out on the silver screen in October, and I'm betting I'll get a first-hand look at some of the merchandise before it hits the shelves, too! :D
That said, I'm already half-in the fandom, but in the way a cat might be in a bathtub-- one paw in, hackles raised. At FFnet alone, the tripe level is at an all-time high; people can't seem to summarize AT ALL in the HSM section (and again, this is FFnet, so that's saying something!, and they confuse the real-life actors with their characters, so you'll often see pairing portmanteaus like Zanessa or Zashley. Uh, hello, people? Zac =/= Troy, Vanessa =/= Gabriella, and so on and so forth! Let these people have lives outside their movies, please! Besides, RPF isn't even allowed on FFnet! (If everything that was RPF got taken off there, I'm sure 75% of the section would be gone.)
But for every 100 or so horrible fics, there might just be one good fic (emphasis on the might there). I've already read a few, but usually once I do, I discover one of two things:
* I can get through the author's other good HSM fics (assuming there are any) rather rapidly, even if they're multi-chapter; I'm still left wanting more
* If the author DOES have other HSM fics, they suck, and then I'm back to square one; it's one of those "rare moments of genius" circumstances, and then I don't know what to tell the author that, moments ago, I'd been praising and now want to thwap with a Clue-By-Four
That's a dangerous place to be in, mind, because it's got me thinking "I could do better than these people!" Especially with writing challenges like those of ZAAngels (or something like that), which explore topics that Disney will NEVER EVER do, e.g. how Gabriella officially became Troy's girlfriend (because at the end of HSM1, they were just "best friends," and by HSM2, they were quite clearly in a romantic relationship, broke up, and got back together again in time for HSM3), or Troy and Gabriella's first time. ^_~
FanLib's going to disappear, as everyone predicted it would when it first made its bright, shiny appearance some 15 months ago (or so). I think it improved a whole lot since the wankfest first started, which is why I bothered to sign up against it, but I'm not crying over the loss. It's not like half the stuff there is any good anyway, whether that's writers or readers/reviewers. Anyone I did bother to read there I knew from other sites, namely this one, DA, and/or Fanfiction.net.
The thing that sucks is that they didn't just come out and say why they're going under, nor did they invite discussion of the topic on their homepage. Everyone on fandom_wank says it's because they're out of their $3 million (srsly!?) investment, which wouldn't surprise me, but since I haven't seen any sort of official statement regarding the "why," I'll take that with a grain of salt.
Twilight - Cause for fangirls of all ages to be bitches, mainly because the poor sap who's playing Edward in the upcoming movie is "hot." Me? I haven't heard anything good about the book series OR the upcoming movie, but my roommate (who is a few months older than me) got into the series via her (14-year-old) sister. She admits that the series is targeted toward a younger audience than even Harry Potter (thus making both her and her sister part of that oddball crowd of fangirls), but she likes it so far, as it's a "simple read." I cringed a bit when reading the back cover, but don't dare to actually explore beyond that (yet?).
Why? Well, I went to the Anaheim Public Library tonight after work and finally got myself some other books: two on the craft of writing (one's a standby favorite on the Middle Ages, which I use as a great reference for "The Rose Chronicles"), one dark rewrite of "Snow White" and other fairy tales (love those sort of stories!) and one Myst novel (because I've never read them and I thought it was high time I ought to). Oh, and a High School Musical book.
High School Musical - So, working at Disneyland means I see this High School Musical stuff every day, and I often dealt with (child) Guests who would come up to me screaming about how HOTTTTTT Troy is (If I had to pick between Zac Efron and Robert Pattinson or whatever his name is -even if he was in Harry Potter before- I'd pick Zac any day of the week. The other guys IS somewhat cute and has nice eyes/hair/smile, etc. but Zac just seems... well, more human. And this is my impression of Rob based off an interview where he WAS NOT in Vampire!Mode) and I would have NO idea what they were going on about. I took a glance at the Junior Novel and decided that it sounded fluffy enough for me to warrant getting the movie as soon as it came back into our Clubhouse rentals, so I grabbed it as soon as it did. And... it's pretty darn catchy! The acting isn't half-bad, either, which is saying something, especially when you look at some of the other Disney Channel stuff (*cough*Camp Rock*cough*) So I got the second one too, and I like it a lot! I'm really looking forward to HSM3 coming out on the silver screen in October, and I'm betting I'll get a first-hand look at some of the merchandise before it hits the shelves, too! :D
That said, I'm already half-in the fandom, but in the way a cat might be in a bathtub-- one paw in, hackles raised. At FFnet alone, the tripe level is at an all-time high; people can't seem to summarize AT ALL in the HSM section (and again, this is FFnet, so that's saying something!, and they confuse the real-life actors with their characters, so you'll often see pairing portmanteaus like Zanessa or Zashley. Uh, hello, people? Zac =/= Troy, Vanessa =/= Gabriella, and so on and so forth! Let these people have lives outside their movies, please! Besides, RPF isn't even allowed on FFnet! (If everything that was RPF got taken off there, I'm sure 75% of the section would be gone.)
But for every 100 or so horrible fics, there might just be one good fic (emphasis on the might there). I've already read a few, but usually once I do, I discover one of two things:
* I can get through the author's other good HSM fics (assuming there are any) rather rapidly, even if they're multi-chapter; I'm still left wanting more
* If the author DOES have other HSM fics, they suck, and then I'm back to square one; it's one of those "rare moments of genius" circumstances, and then I don't know what to tell the author that, moments ago, I'd been praising and now want to thwap with a Clue-By-Four
That's a dangerous place to be in, mind, because it's got me thinking "I could do better than these people!" Especially with writing challenges like those of ZAAngels (or something like that), which explore topics that Disney will NEVER EVER do, e.g. how Gabriella officially became Troy's girlfriend (because at the end of HSM1, they were just "best friends," and by HSM2, they were quite clearly in a romantic relationship, broke up, and got back together again in time for HSM3), or Troy and Gabriella's first time. ^_~
Entry tags:
It's probably a good thing, right?
Yesterday, I got so mad at myself that I had energy to burn, and decided to play DDR. I selected DDR Extreme, which, it turned out, I mysteriously had no PS2 memory card data for. After I tired of that (making new data by playing said game), I played Kingdom Hearts, which also had no data.
I can't remember what got me so mad at myself in the first place. It's probably a good thing, though, right-- I was mad for "no good reason," which is why I can't remember now, after a long, good day in which, for the first time in a long while, I haven't stayed indoors all day OR blown a boat-load of money? (I spent almost all day today at Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland, as a Guest, and managed to spend only $7 or so throughout the entire day-- and that was on lunch)
I can only consider lame possibilities, which (in retrospect) don't seem like enough to get me so mad I'd think "ARGH! I HAVE TO PLAY DDR TO GET RID OF THIS ANGER! STOMP STOMP STOMP!"
* I forgot to sign up for an event
* I forgot to go to an event
* Kaiser screwing me over with my prescriptions was frustrating me
* I'm spending way too much money on things I don't need, like a hand blender, and looking at my bank account statement frustrated me
* ??? (Do I really want to know!?)
Oh wait, I remember: OKCUPID DELETED MY ACCOUNT. BASTARDS! (I emailed them about this fiasco and hopefully they'll get back to me so it can be fixed.)
In real (as in "true, honest, genuine") bad news, and reason why today SUCKS (though not a lot): I lost my pretty blue jewel cell phone charm. The likelihood of it just happening to be on the floor somewhere is slim to nil. Considering all the ground I covered in both Disney parks today, and the likelihood that, if someone DID find it, they'd just pick it up and keep it (because ooh, it's a pretty blue gem!), I'm never going to see it again, and that makes me sad.
I want a pretty, STURDY cell phone charm that's not so huge that I'll sit on it if it dangles out of my pocket and then it comes undone and is never seen again, or gets horribly dirty or something. Suggestions?
I can't remember what got me so mad at myself in the first place. It's probably a good thing, though, right-- I was mad for "no good reason," which is why I can't remember now, after a long, good day in which, for the first time in a long while, I haven't stayed indoors all day OR blown a boat-load of money? (I spent almost all day today at Disney's California Adventure and Disneyland, as a Guest, and managed to spend only $7 or so throughout the entire day-- and that was on lunch)
I can only consider lame possibilities, which (in retrospect) don't seem like enough to get me so mad I'd think "ARGH! I HAVE TO PLAY DDR TO GET RID OF THIS ANGER! STOMP STOMP STOMP!"
* I forgot to sign up for an event
* I forgot to go to an event
* Kaiser screwing me over with my prescriptions was frustrating me
* I'm spending way too much money on things I don't need, like a hand blender, and looking at my bank account statement frustrated me
* ??? (Do I really want to know!?)
Oh wait, I remember: OKCUPID DELETED MY ACCOUNT. BASTARDS! (I emailed them about this fiasco and hopefully they'll get back to me so it can be fixed.)
In real (as in "true, honest, genuine") bad news, and reason why today SUCKS (though not a lot): I lost my pretty blue jewel cell phone charm. The likelihood of it just happening to be on the floor somewhere is slim to nil. Considering all the ground I covered in both Disney parks today, and the likelihood that, if someone DID find it, they'd just pick it up and keep it (because ooh, it's a pretty blue gem!), I'm never going to see it again, and that makes me sad.
I want a pretty, STURDY cell phone charm that's not so huge that I'll sit on it if it dangles out of my pocket and then it comes undone and is never seen again, or gets horribly dirty or something. Suggestions?