Commentary | Piss and Moan

IT department

Posted on August 2, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Leah Kelley on Pexels.com

Chris in IT called yesterday.

From another state. With an accent from a foreign country. Weird, I thought IT was just down the hall…

Anyway, he called to tell me that my computer had a virus and it wasn’t operating at it’s best capability.

I told him I didn’t know that my typewriter could get a virus but was wondering if that is why the “B” key was sticking so badly. I let him know that it would just write an upper case “B” all the way across the page and sometimes I had to take the paper out before it would start the next line.

He said that my typewriter could get a virus…and then hung up. He hung up! That isn’t very good IT service.

Do people really fall for this crap? I supposed people probably do since we keep hearing about it.

Well, Chris from IT, see if you can figure out how to hack my typewriter.

How do you like to mess with these fraud calls or telemarketers? What’s your favorite tactic?

Read the fine print

Posted on August 1, 2019 by backuphill

photography of a woman sitting on the chair listening to music

Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

Actually, the print isn’t really even that fine. It is in BOLD, and in CAPS.

Anyone else out there notice this trend?

So, once in a while I come across stuff in the house or garage that is still in good shape and would likely be useful to someone else. It could be worth a little cash, so I have tried selling this stuff on OfferUp and Facebook Marketplace. I have even tried Craigslist. I am not trying to make bank and if it doesn’t sell within the first couple weeks of being posted it usually ends up getting donated to one of the thrift stores in the local area.

BUT, there seems to be a trend of people who don’t really read the description and only look a the price. Here’s the scenario I encounter all too often: I have an item marked “Price is firm” and yet I get low-ball offers that no one in their right mind would accept. Do people really believe items are priced with no prior research? I know what it is worth and I have researched it so it isn’t the highest priced item. I want it to sell! But I am also not going to necessarily give it away either (unless it is truly something that can be donated).

The other trend is that people don’t actually READ the description. An item I have posted right now has been inquired about at least 30 times. It always starts with the “Is it still available?” question. I always follow up with confirmation that it is indeed available but ask if they read the description. Shortly thereafter they respond that they are no longer interested. Obvious proof they haven’t read the description, which clearly states in caps that the tool is NOT CURRENTLY FUNCTIONAL. It needs repair, but it is beyond my capabilities. It is nearly new (as far as use goes) so someone could get some value out of it. However, people are just wasting my time by not actually reading the description and just clicking a button. They are totally distracted by the price.

Anyway, it’s kind of frustrating. But, actually, it doesn’t surprise me anymore. People only see what they want to see.

Have you experienced something similar?

Can’t get no service

Posted on July 31, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Gratisography on Pexels.com

Hotel restaurant – you are the weakest link.

Last year, the food took a long time and the missed one order for someone in the party. Didn’t even get the order put into the kitchen. So someone didn’t even get to eat.

This year, the waitress took forever. The orders came out wrong. Some people had to wait to order after others had already ordered. The kitchen was taking forever and people who were already done had to wait 30 minutes for their bill.

Um, can you say fail? What’s worse it that for two years in a row it has been poor service. Glad I didn’t choose to eat here, but I feel bad for my co-workers did.

The rooms are OK, but the service in parts of the hotel leave a bit to be desired.

Elevated

Posted on July 30, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Michael Morse on Pexels.com

I don’t know what it is about me. Do I look like I really like elevators?

I don’t know why this is, but every time I have traveled for work in the last three years and stayed in a hotel I have been in the room directly across from the elevator.

If you have traveled much, you know that is an issue because people getting off the elevator generally aren’t quiet. They are loud and noisy in the elevator and as they get off the elevator. They typically quiet down as they turn the corner to head down the hallway to their rooms. As such, anyone in the room closest to the elevator gets the brunt of “offload” or “load” noise.

It’s irritating, really.

It definitely doesn’t elevate my stay.

What about staying in a hotel annoys you?

Getting real old

Posted on July 29, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

This last weekend was for the ages.

I went to two birthday parties for old people. My grandmother turned 90 and my father-in-law turned 79.

This isn’t really a complaint about relatives getting old. I love them. But what it is a complaint about is that people are getting old, and that just means the inevitable is getting closer…and I don’t like it.

Not only is it getting closer for them (it’s hard to admit, because really it could be any time), but it is getting closer for me too. That’s the frightening thing.

Not that I am scare of death. I know where my Peace is.

But, I am scared because there seems like there just isn’t enough time and there are places I want to go and things I want to do and suddenly I feel selfish because I feel like I have to let those things go. I am scared because there are things that will happen in the future that I might not get to see, experience, enjoy with my daughter (and grand kids, when she has them in the future). Time just keeps on ticking and often I think I am no closer to some of my goals now, than I was 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago.

I look at the people I love in my life and they’re getting old and time with them is slipping by. There aren’t as many at family gatherings as there used to be. Oh, to have that time back, right? Just make the best of it now. Cherish it.

Getting old is getting really old. My body feels it. My mind knows it. My eyes see it.

How do I move forward and make it not feel this way?

Do you worry about getting old? Do you wonder what will happen in the next 10-20 years for you? What do you take solace in?

Deep breath

Posted on July 26, 2019 by backuphill

Time to breath.

It was rushed this morning. Not that it isn’t most mornings, but when you’re leaving town directly after work and not returning home beforehand, well that adds an extra dimension of stress.

Did I get everything? What am I forgetting? Have I taken care of everything at home so I don’t have to worry about it while I’m gone?

Yeah, it might be a bit of self-imposed stress but it is stress nonetheless.

The thing is, we don’t really need to stress about it. If we forgot something, just go to the store. Right? Yeah. Not really that big of a deal, but we do it to ourselves anyway.

So, I sit in my cube and recount the morning…check, yes, ok, check, check, um…check, alright. Let it go.

Just let it go.

Get it right

Posted on July 25, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Snapwire on Pexels.com

Anyone else annoyed by words that don’t get pronounced correctly? What’s worse, is the word is pronounced so incorrectly that it is actually a different word, with a completely different meaning.

I listen to a lot of audio books because I spend so much time in the car commuting to and from work. As such, you get to hear a lot of different people read books and become accustomed to their cadence and inflection. But there are some, no matter what, you just can’t get used to because they can’t pronounce certain words correctly. Each time it happens, I find myself yelling at the narrator to GET IT CORRECT and pronouncing it the correct way for him. Crazy, I know, but sheesh already! Why didn’t someone correct him when he was recording it?

The word being mispronounced? Cavalry.

It’s being pronounced as calvary.

Yeah, totally different thing.

GET IT CORRECT already!!

What words get mispronounced or misused that annoys they hell out of you?

Quiet time

Posted on July 24, 2019 by backuphill

black and white black and white depressed depression

Photo by Kat Jayne on Pexels.com

I like my quiet time.

I like time to be able to just be. I don’t do it often, but when I do I want it quiet. There are also some expectations when it comes to times of the day when it should be quiet…like when it is time for bed.

Now, I don’t mean silent. That would just be weird. Crickets singing. Birds chirping. Fan blowing. None of those really disturb the “quiet time”. However, there is a reasonable expectation that something won’t be louder than those things, which would then be a disruption to the quiet time.

Neighbor’s barking dog. Disruption of quiet time. Neighbor’s barking dog for hours in the evening and into the night, like after 10:00pm (the presumed quiet time of the city)? Yeah, down right infuriating.

Noisy, loud campers at a campground. Disruption of quiet time. Noisy and loud campers in a campground carrying on until after the POSTED quiet time of 10:00pm? Yeah, down right infuriating since the walls of a tent are literally paper thin.

What’s up with killing the quiet?

Don’t answer that. Keep it to yourself. That question was rhetorical.

I am trying to be quiet over here.

Quiet.

Red alert!

Posted on July 23, 2019 by backuphill

background conceptual contemporary creativity

Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

Quick, batten down the hatches! Secure the doors! Turn off the lights and be silent!

No coffee in Cubicalville today and the two cups during the commute are not going to suffice. Plain and simple.

If you have the capability, send coffee QUICK!

**If you tuned in yesterday, you know why this is an emergency and you now know it was not remedied over night. The hero of this story will likely die.**

There will be no joy today. There will be no productive things accomplished. There will be no exceptional customer service today.

There will be grumpiness. There will be pining for coffee. There will be sleepiness. There will be desperation.

OK, I better get off of here and go try to see if I can suck the value out of someone’s used up coffee pod from the garbage. Maybe I can just stuff some of those used coffee grinds in between the gum and cheek…

There will be no spitting today.

Down to the last

Posted on July 22, 2019 by backuphill

Photo by Foodie Factor on Pexels.com

I had an important errand to run over the weekend and forgot all about it. It crossed my mind at least once…there is something I need to do but what is it?

Now, as I sit in my cube this morning getting ready for the day I remembered what I needed to do. It is glaringly obvious at the moment.

I have no coffee creamer and I am down to my last coffee pod.

This is a problem. One that can’t be remedied today.

I can drink coffee black, but I don’t prefer it that way. I know there are lots of people out there who do like it that way, but I look at drinking coffee like a black and white TV – sure, I can watch TV on it but I prefer my picture in color. It’s just better that way. The same goes for coffee.

The real question is, how am I going to make sure there is no coffee crisis in the morning when I return to work. I don’t have time today, or this evening to get coffee pods. This is the real crisis.

I just might die shortly after the start of work tomorrow.

**Old TV announcer style voice: Tune in tomorrow for the next episode to see if our hero survives. Will he make it? Will the forces of evil prevail? Don’t miss tomorrow’s program to find out more.**