Who Knew?!
Did you know that it takes over 48 hours for a parcel with a particular parcel delivery service (not UPS) to travel approximately 300 miles between two major cities? Then, that said package would languish in the 2nd city for over 24 hours? Mind you, this package was being sent by "next day" service. It had also been flagged to be held for pick-up since a signature is required and I work all day. Needless to say, despite the fact that even the tracking website clearly states in ALL CAPS that it is to be held for pick-up, a delivery attempt was made at 1pm today. So I called the parcel delivery service and inquired as to what was going on. I was advised that I should expect a phone call within the hour as to what time I should go to the delivery service's local office. When I didn't get a phone call after two hours. I called them back and was advised that I did indeed have a voice mail left for me which stated I could pick it up after 5pm. I guess my work voice mail system hates me and is stealing my messages.
On arrival at the parcel service office, I was informed by the cheerful man behind the counter that my delivery person rarely gets back to the station before 5:45pm, but he did go out into the warehouse to double check just to make sure. He also told me that the people I called about what was going on are not actually local to me, but in a city that is 90 minutes away so they are sometimes wrong about how things work. He did assure me that he would keep my delivery person from leaving with my package in the morning so that I could pick it up at the counter. Then he had to let me out of the office because they have a trick doorknob that only opens if you turn it just right.
For all that I was aggravated about not getting my cell phone today, when it should have arrived YESTERDAY, the cheerful, prompt and polite customer service really brightened my day and made me a whole lot less cranky about the whole thing. With that said, I'll be leaving rather unpleasant comments for the delivery service's overall performance and make sure the cell phone replacement company knows how crummy the delivery service works, given that they paid for next day delivery and it's really arriving via 2nd to 3rd day delivery.
On a lighter note....
it was snowing this evening as I was leaving work. Had I not been tired and in need of some food, I'd have gone for a walk in the snow. The neighbors haven't seen me do anything crazy in weeks.
I did have some absolutely delicious barley-vegetable soup for lunch today. I made it last weekend, but didn't get around to eating any of it last week. I think I was worried it would taste awful. I am quite pleased that I was wrong about that. I'll end up eating it for lunch the rest of the week with either a salad or some frozen veggies on the side.
This evening, I did something silly. I was feeling rather braindead, so I figured I'd try watching network television. Wow. I thought I was braindead earlier. I still felt my intelligence being sucked out my eyeballs. It's bad when the most interesting part of watching network TV is that occasionally the commercials are entertaining. Between "reality" shows and the completely uninteresting characters on the regular fictitious shows, it's just a giant waste of electrons. I should have just climbed into bed early and read. Or blown things up on the computer.
A Thought
This morning on the radio, one of the DJs was decrying the state of today's youth--their lack of a work ethic, their behavior, etc. He wanted to know where these kids learned this [bad] stuff and why aren't they more like he/his generation was at the same age. Well, I'm guessing they learned this stuff from watching those people around them, be they real people or on television/in movies. Here's a novel idea: if you want kids to learn something, try *teaching* them what you want them to do or at least set them a *good* example to follow. Don't just expect them to automagically figure out what you expect and then disparage them when they aren't perfect. Don't screw up or goof off and then wonder why those who follow you are doing the same thing. Why not try teaching them either directly or by example, instead of just complaining about them and tearing them down? If you know how they're supposed to behave and what they're supposed to do, why not share your enormous wisdom?
Alas, it's easier to just blame the younger generation and/or their "idiot" parents, who, oddly enough, tend to be the same generation as the complainers. It makes me wonder what the kids of the complainers are like and whether or not they behave "properly".
I suppose that rather sums up my approach to a lot of negative things in the world. Why complain about it when you could spend just as much time working on fixing the problem and actually end up making a positive difference? Hmmm....
On arrival at the parcel service office, I was informed by the cheerful man behind the counter that my delivery person rarely gets back to the station before 5:45pm, but he did go out into the warehouse to double check just to make sure. He also told me that the people I called about what was going on are not actually local to me, but in a city that is 90 minutes away so they are sometimes wrong about how things work. He did assure me that he would keep my delivery person from leaving with my package in the morning so that I could pick it up at the counter. Then he had to let me out of the office because they have a trick doorknob that only opens if you turn it just right.
For all that I was aggravated about not getting my cell phone today, when it should have arrived YESTERDAY, the cheerful, prompt and polite customer service really brightened my day and made me a whole lot less cranky about the whole thing. With that said, I'll be leaving rather unpleasant comments for the delivery service's overall performance and make sure the cell phone replacement company knows how crummy the delivery service works, given that they paid for next day delivery and it's really arriving via 2nd to 3rd day delivery.
On a lighter note....it was snowing this evening as I was leaving work. Had I not been tired and in need of some food, I'd have gone for a walk in the snow. The neighbors haven't seen me do anything crazy in weeks.
I did have some absolutely delicious barley-vegetable soup for lunch today. I made it last weekend, but didn't get around to eating any of it last week. I think I was worried it would taste awful. I am quite pleased that I was wrong about that. I'll end up eating it for lunch the rest of the week with either a salad or some frozen veggies on the side.
This evening, I did something silly. I was feeling rather braindead, so I figured I'd try watching network television. Wow. I thought I was braindead earlier. I still felt my intelligence being sucked out my eyeballs. It's bad when the most interesting part of watching network TV is that occasionally the commercials are entertaining. Between "reality" shows and the completely uninteresting characters on the regular fictitious shows, it's just a giant waste of electrons. I should have just climbed into bed early and read. Or blown things up on the computer.
A Thought
This morning on the radio, one of the DJs was decrying the state of today's youth--their lack of a work ethic, their behavior, etc. He wanted to know where these kids learned this [bad] stuff and why aren't they more like he/his generation was at the same age. Well, I'm guessing they learned this stuff from watching those people around them, be they real people or on television/in movies. Here's a novel idea: if you want kids to learn something, try *teaching* them what you want them to do or at least set them a *good* example to follow. Don't just expect them to automagically figure out what you expect and then disparage them when they aren't perfect. Don't screw up or goof off and then wonder why those who follow you are doing the same thing. Why not try teaching them either directly or by example, instead of just complaining about them and tearing them down? If you know how they're supposed to behave and what they're supposed to do, why not share your enormous wisdom?
Alas, it's easier to just blame the younger generation and/or their "idiot" parents, who, oddly enough, tend to be the same generation as the complainers. It makes me wonder what the kids of the complainers are like and whether or not they behave "properly".
I suppose that rather sums up my approach to a lot of negative things in the world. Why complain about it when you could spend just as much time working on fixing the problem and actually end up making a positive difference? Hmmm....
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