Technology | Piss and Moan

Warranty Department

Posted on April 15, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by JÉSHOOTS on Pexels.com

With a phone number and instructions to have tools, batteries, and chargers on had when I call the number, I called this morning to make sure that I was calling during East coast hours.

The call was answered by a machine and the instructions were the same as I received in my call yesterday. Then it proceeded to read back my phone number and ask if I would like a call back when someone to handle my call was available, if so, press 1.

And now I wait? Until when? It’s been two hours so far. Am I just supposed to wait all day by the phone, in the garage, staring at the tool that doesn’t work?

So, the saga continues…

A tool story

Posted on April 14, 2020 by backuphill

Technology in today’s day and age allows companies and customers to better interact.

That could mean that customers have better access to product information and new offerings from a company. It could mean that companies provide better support and customer care when issues arise with it’s products. It could mean that customers are able to communicate with the company their needs for tools and features they need.

Regardless of what could happen, customers should have a good experience with the product and the company. It’s what keeps them coming back to the company and it’s what also has them recommend the company’s products to people they know.

A little over a year ago, I decided it was time to update my power tools so I decided that having something with lots of tools and one battery system would be the best since they are all interchangeable. The answer was…

Ryobi.

In general, I like the tools. They 18v One+ system is a great idea because of the variety of tools that will work off one battery system. No need to have a bunch of different battery sizes and no need to have to buy new and newer tools since other companies keep changing their batteries all the time.

So, I invested. I bought a multiple tool set and over the last year I have added several more tools and a new set of extra batteries with a quick charger (30 minutes to be exact). It’s been a little less than a year since I did this and everything has worked as expected until now.

That 30 minute charger just up and died…used it two weeks ago and it work and then went to use it last week and it didn’t. Nothing. No power.

So, I wanted to find out what now. It is less than a year old and is probably under warranty. I logged into their website, ryobitools.com, and navigation is PAINFULLY SLOW! It takes minutes just to get their page to load, let alone navigate from one place to another once you actually get there.

All I could think as I wait and wait and wait is, “Really?” With a company this large with that kind of budget, they can’t get a website that is zippity-do-dah fast? Kind of not really great customer service, ya know?

When I finally get to the “Contact” page I called the Power Tools phone number for support, 800-525-2579, and their navigation system is garbled and hard to understand…and the number they say to push for help sounds like “8” but when you push that number is says it is invalid. I called several times and finally pushed “2” (sounds nothing like “8”) and got through. WTH? Seriously. I am not joking. Call it yourself.

So, besides having a painfully slow website, they also have a call system that is garbled and hard to understand. Makes total sense for a company trying to get and keep customers, right?

Oh, and after I talked with someone I have to call another department (East coast times, mind you) to get warranty help. I’ll let you know how that goes…

197

Posted on April 13, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Zachary DeBottis on Pexels.com

Today marks the return back to work, from vacation.

Coming off the “worst” vacation ever (see previous Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 posts), getting back to work is still tough.

Last night as I enjoyed some down time I began to think of the things that would need to get done on my first day back to work…several things that didn’t get done before I left and, knowing there would be a crap ton of emails while I was gone, newly assigned things for my return. As you might imagine, the dread for the coming work day started.

Not to disappoint, 197 emails filled my inbox. Fortunately, that is likely a number that is down from the usual vacation absence since schools are not operating as normal so support needs have dwindled slightly. So, I have been wading through those this morning. After an hour and 15 minutes, I still have 87 more emails to get through. Yes, there are some that just need deleted as they are quick communications between team members for innocuous things. I am glad for those. It makes that number go down faster!

Anyway, I better get back to those emails. Oh, and I have a meeting right off the bat too.

Where’s my coffee?

Bust it out

Posted on April 2, 2020 by backuphill

man sitting in black leather chair near window

Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com

To say that we are living in strange times these days is really an understatement, and not even necessary at this point since lots of people have already said it. But, I said it again. LOL

I have been working from home almost three weeks straight now. I have a scheduled vacation coming up next week.

It has been planned since the beginning of the year and it involved traveling on a jet plane to the land of upside-down (California) to see family. With much thought and general angst, that trip has now been postponed to a later date (TBD). But, that didn’t cancel my vacation. It will not just be a lock-down staycation…yeah, that’ll be fun…

BUT, before I go, I just got assigned a special assignment (like literally 10 minutes ago) that I have to complete in two days. Normally such a project takes two weeks.

So, I’ll be self-isolating myself to my garage home office to make it happen.

Isolated while being isolated.

That doesn’t have a nice ring to it.

Small minority

Posted on March 27, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

Why should a small minority dictate to the majority what is appropriate and acceptable, or what is not?

Case in point: schools are closed in WA and they are trying to figure out how to go forward as this corona virus thing continues. It was communicated out from OSPI (our state superintendent’s office) that districts couldn’t continue to educate their students if they couldn’t guarantee “equity” for all students it serves. Or, at least, they couldn’t require students to attend because of equity (lack of internet, ELL, SpEd, etc.).

OK, on the surface, that makes sense and it looks great on the PR side of things. However, it doesn’t make sense when you start looking at the numbers. That closer look ends up making the policy a complete “F” in my book.

The closer look:

So, we’re not going to educate 90% of the students because 10% can’t participate because of various challenges?

What if it was 50/50? Is that still too low to continue offering education to those who can participate? You can play with the numbers however you like, but at just about any point you can’t justify depriving a larger group of people from something because of a smaller group. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Do you scuttle the sailboat because there is no wind?

Do you throw out the baby with the bathwater?

Do you cut off your hand because you got a splinter in your little finger?

Do you cut off your foot because you broke a toe?

Do you demolish an entire building because a couple rooms in it aren’t or can’t be occupied?

Catch my drift?

Why do we let small groups of people dictate what happens with the larger groups? Seems a bit backwards, doesn’t it?

Remember the saying, “Greatest good for the greatest number“? Why doesn’t that apply these days? Or any day? How did we get so far away from an idea that mostly works?Sure, I know we have to make sure the “minority” group doesn’t get abused by those who are more powerful or has the most resources, but there is still something true about this thought:

What is the greater good when it comes to educating our students?

Serial “like”r

Posted on March 24, 2020 by backuphill

close up photo of man wearing black suit jacket doing thumbs up gesture

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

Are you a serial LIKEr?

You’re probably asking, “What does that even mean?”

Urban Dictionary

It’s not a perfect definition though. I think it should be adjusted to mean “people on social media platforms who ‘like’ posts or blogs to generate interest in their own accounts, never actually reading or interacting with the ‘liked’ post or account.”

Does that make more sense?

You have probably noticed it too. People who “like” your blog often but have never left a comment of any sort in the past, nor do they intend to in the future. I am not saying I haven’t been known to leave a like or two without comment, but I try to interact with every blog at some point. It might not be on a regular basis, but leaving a comment now and then (one that actually demonstrates that you read the blog) goes a long way for building loyal readers and followers.

If you just “like” with the hopes that someone visits your blog, well, your “like” is disingenuous and you didn’t really “like” it at all.

Leave a comment. Spark a conversation between you and the blogger, or other readers of the blog. Create some interaction. Then those “likes” at other times might be appropriate and actually considered genuine.

Otherwise you’re just a fake “like”r. Don’t be a fake.

Without notification

Posted on March 16, 2020 by backuphill

airline flight schedules on flat screen televisions

Photo by Josh Sorenson on Pexels.com

Someone left town to visit family this weekend. Flying in these times is a rather curious endeavor now and there was already anticipation that some flexibility would be needed. The thought was that returning home might end up being a problem (that still remains to be seen). So…

Night before flight, 11:23pm: Flight is on time for an 8:00am departure.

Morning of flight, 4:11a.m: Flight cancelled and booked to another flight at 10:21am.

If I hadn’t checked of my own volition, the change would not have been known until arriving at the airport.

Did you catch that, “of my own volition”?

That’s right. Not a single notification from the airline that the flight details had changed. No text. No email. No call. That last one I didn’t really expect, but not even an email? Is that how they handle flight changes now?

Really disappointed in Alaska Airlines.

Granted, for the first leg of the trip the flight is not on their actual airline, but the trip was booked through them and they are the “confirmation number issuer” so you would think they were the ones responsible for notification.

I have always liked flying with them. They take pretty good care of you and they fly to most places I want to go for a fair price (most of the time). But, this taints the relationship a little. She luster is now gone. Oh, I’ll still probably fly with them but there is a little love lost now.

I may have a wandering eye, checking out the other options available. Fair warning Alaska, fair warning.

Expenses and new adulthood

Posted on March 6, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Craig Adderley on Pexels.com

Here’s a TOUGH question for you?

At what point do you have your adult children fend for themselves?

Specifically, a child has graduated from high school almost a year ago and is now 19. Oh, and I’ll add that the child is not currently living in your home. Said child has college expenses covered already (tuition and housing), but has no job.

What do you think?

What do you continue to support/provide and what do you not? What would you consider “extra” versus necessary?

There are some difficult discussions coming up and I am curious how you see this topic. I realize this is a bit of an open ended question and can be taken in a lot of different directions, so I am open to any and all responses.

Power(less)

Posted on March 4, 2020 by backuphill

Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com

Traveling in the electronic age is rather interesting, or frustrating, depending on your point of view and experience.

On my vacation last week, I had the opportunity to visit four different airport concourses. All were Southwest Airlines concourses, but I am not actually sure who is responsible for setting them up. Obviously the airport maintains them (cleaning, etc.), but as far as designing and then implementing the design, as I understand, that is up to the airline.

The interesting thing is that all four airports had vastly different designs and amenities. Seattle’s hub, surprisingly, was the most comfortable and there were AMPLE places to plug in the electronic devices. Between a bar looking setup with plugs to all the chairs having plugs and USB ports, there was no fighting over access. As such, there was no possibility of running short on power, but I was just starting my trip so everything was fully powered already.

San Jose’s Southwest concourse was rather dinky and probably the least comfortable of all four, but again the chairs all had plugs and USB ports available so now finding a place to top off the devices wasn’t difficult. Find an open seat (maybe more difficult since it was a small place) and plug in.

Phoenix’s Southwest concourse was actually comfortable, but access to power was rather sparse. Again, I was fully charged so I didn’t need a place to power-up, but if I had there seemed to be a few “bar” looking places spaced throughout the concourse, but the plugs available at these were limited. The seating had no charging capability at all, at least not at the gate I was at and it didn’t look any different any place else.

Finally, Southwest’s Sacramento concourse was a decent size but again the power options were really limited. Again, there were a few of those “bar” options, but again nothing in the chairs. Fortunately, there wasn’t anything that needed topped off for me at this point in my trip. I was conserving power fairly well.

The return trip home was rather eye-opening. I fully expected that what I had available to me on my trip down would be available to me on the way home. That was not the case. I was a little surprised that the airline didn’t have the same amenities available in all of it’s concourses, at least as far as access to power goes. Yes, I know size of the airport and what other comforts available depend highly on the design of the building, but the easiest and most effective way to offer power options to your flyers is to add the chairs with power access right in them. The last two airports, not so much.

So, if you haven’t flown in a while, be prepared to be “powerless” on some legs of your trip. You may have to supply your own as the battle for outlets continues to increase in our electronics driven lives.

Morning flight

Posted on February 26, 2020 by backuphill

man walking on the road holding black luggage during sunset

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Travel day has arrived! To say that I am excited might be an understatement. Sun, baseball, buddies, beer, food,…yeah, it’s gonna be a blast.

Unfortunately, the start hasn’t been completely smooth.

I left the house one time and got the the airport exactly as anticipated. Grabbed the small suitcase, pulled up the handle for better handling while rolling, and headed to check in for my flight. I was checking the bag (it’s free) so I didn’t bother to check in early.

I got to the kiosk, checked in, and went to put the handle down on the suitcase and it won’t go down…like not move, at all….I pushed. I shoved. I pulled. I pounded. I tried finessing it. NOTHING. It isn’t moving. Great.

I am not unpacking this thing to see if I can get the bars for the handle to move from the inside. Oh, and I didn’t happen to bring my hacksaw with me so I can’t cut the dang thing off.

I asked the luggage people what I should do. They said, “We’ll still check it.” REALLY? Thank goodness!

Stress melted away.

Coffee is being consumed and I am waiting to board my flight. Let’s hope that is the only challenge faced during this trip.