Customer service?

 And Then I Lost It.

Fair warning - this is a rant.  I am steaming.  I just got off the phone from the 4th person I talked to at Hewlett Packard.  Life in this world of technology is really driving me insane.  Funny farm, I'm on the way.

It all started with a new desktop computer.  Having gone through constant mishaps with my former Gateway computer I decided to go back to 'old reliable' HP.  That's where I made my first mistake.  It arrived with Windows 7 professional and I had been using Windows XP.  This entailed a slight learning curve, but that was simple and then I started downloading all of the programs that I lost with the last, and final, crash of my Gateway.


The first thing I noticed was that both Norton and McAfee were installed.  I removed McAfee (or so I thought).  It kept coming back until I was successful in removing all the cookies it had cleverly stowed in my hard drive.  Several weeks later I needed to use a word processor.  One of the features pre-installed was supposed to be Ofice standard with the word processor.  Office was in the menu and on my installed menu, but it wasn't on my hard drive.  After hours on chat and the phone with tech-support it was determined that I didn't have Office in my PC.  Their solution was to go back to a clean start and reinstall it.  Or I could pay for Office or I could use a free word processor (which, by the way would never download.)  None of this was acceptable to me and they would not send a disc to use for installation.  Grrr.

The next problem I discovered was that the latch to open the expansion bay was broken.  Another happy time chatting with Tech Support.  The solution was to send me a new bezel and a link on how to install it.  This involved taking my computer apart to do the installation.  Gail told me that if I did that, I would void my warranty.  Fortunately the bezel still hadn't arrived a month after I talked to the guy in the PHillipines (or some other far away place).   Luckily I had not installed it before learning this.   In fact, I am still waiting for it.  I will have to call tech support again and will be passed from one person to another.  I think they do this so you will just give up and stop bothering them.


When Gail was here she fixed everything that was giving me fits on my new PC.  In so doing she found a program that had been pre-installed by HP.  It was one designed for technicians and the first program was written in 2005.  It was followed by a series of updates that were taking up a ton of storage space.  Gail thought I may have gotten a refurbished computer instead of a new one and called tech support.  She was told that they couldn't find me in their system and that I must have purchased the computer from a third party.   She informed them that I had purchased her computer directly from HP and also gave them the date from my credit card debit on when I had purchased mine.   He turned her over to someone else.   (Big surprise!!!)


Once again she was passed around until the third person told her that the program was installed for the benefit of technicians in the event they needed to work on the PC.  Again, a big  HUH?


The final blow came when I discovered that my 4 year old HP printer was not compatible with Windows 7.  Here I go again, thinks me.  Back to Tech Support in Timbuktu  (or who knows where).  I started with chat on line again and only had to talk to two people this time.  I thought I was talking to tech support when I  had  actually been transferred to sales.  Aren't they the funny ones, though?   I wanted to know if there was a driver or something that would make the printer work.  Instead I got talked into trading it in on a new printer and would get a big credit for sending the old one in.  I finally weakened and told him to go ahead and process the transaction and gave him my credit card number.  He kept stressing that I would get 2 years warranty for $1.00.  He was so proud of this fantastic deal that he kept repeating it.  While he was processing my credit card number I woke up and realized I hadn't even seen the printer and had no idea what I had obligated myself to buying.  (Everything slows down with age and the mind is no exception.)  I  told him I was sorry for putting him to all the hard work,  but I changed my mind and didn't want to complete the transaction.  By now I guess you know that I was foolish to think it would be that simple.  He informed me that he couldn't cancel because he had already issued the warranty.  Huh?  Of  course if he had been honest he would have said that he had already charged my credit card.   I may be old and slow but I am not completely stupid.  (Although I do think tech support is well on it's way to making me so.)


 I am a wee bit sharper in the morning so the next day I decided to look on line at the printer I had purchased.  What do you know?  It was the same price on the HP web site that I had agreed to with no trade in required.  I could have bought it without having to mess with sending one back.  Now I was vexed and determined to cancel the order.


Oh happy day.  I get to chat with those nice people sitting in their little cubicles again, thinks I.  It took two hours and four people to finally agree to cancel my order and credit my Visa card.  Because the printer had not been shipped yet I told them to not ship it and if they did I would refuse delivery.   Four days later I found the printer box sitting by my front door.  The FedEx guy hadn't even rung the doorbell to let me know it was there.  There was a big red sticker on the outside of the box that said "Return instructions inside."  


Damned if I was going to unpack the blasted printer to get at the instructions and mess with shipping it back.  I called Fed Ex and told them to come get it because I was refusing delivery.


This was January 6 and the charge has not been credited to my account to date.  And this brings me full circle to the beginning of this rant.  I just spent 2 hours being passed around again to - you will never believe - four people to find out why I am not seeing a refund in my Visa account.   The final woman told me (after a long research of my account) that it would be credited the next billing cycle.  I asked her when the next biilling cycle would start and she asked me when my credit card billing cycle began.  My mouth must have dropped open as I realized they meant my billing cycle.  She had been very condescending and I was becoming angry.  I indignantly told her that it only took 2 mintues to debit my credit card but it was taking 2 billing cycles to credit it.  I asked her why.  Her inane reply was, "That's just the way it is".  If I'm lucky I may get my money back by next Easter.  


When my daughter has to deal with these idiots who don't listen and make mistakes she wonders why they have a job and she doesn't.  Life is strange.


Now I feel better.  It really does help to let off steam.  I hope you are laughing as you have undoubtedly been through similar experiences when dealing with cubicle  people who are paid to drive you nuts.

 If you can't laugh over my computer woes here are a couple of giggles to change the mood:

A Courageous Woman

By now you have probably viewed the sad announcement on TV that Gabrielle Gifford's recovery was not fast enough for her to be able to continue serving Arizona as our outstanding Congresswoman. This loss is not only Arizona's, but it is the nation's loss as well.  Gabby's dedication and common sense approach to the nation's problems was refreshing in the halls of idiocy  Congress.  She has been, and will continue to be, sorely missed.


As one of Gabrielle's constituents I can vouch for the fact that she kept us constantly informed with frequent detailed e-mails about what was happening in Washington.  She is the first representative that has ever done so in my State.   Her staff have continued to send e-mails during her recovery.  I will miss hearing from her office after her resignation is official.  They love her, as do we.


When I opened You Tube to download this video I was completely disgusted to discover that some sick individual(s) had been writing despicable (Thank you, Newt, for resurrecting this word) comments about her.   What kind of warped mentality would do this; especially under the circumstances in which she had been wounded?  If they have different political views you would think that simple compassion would stop them from spilling their hateful slime all over the Internet.  Thankfully, some of Gabby's admirers are stopping the comments by labeling them as spam.  One word that was used to describe Gabby was "retard".  That will show just how vicious and unprincipled this person(s) is.  The comments have been made under several aliases, but I'll bet it's just one ignorant ghoulish red-neck. 


To know the kind of courage and hard work Gabby has been going through to achieve the remarkable recovery she has made is to stand in awe of her tenacity.   I have had personal experience with a brain damaged person.  My husband had multiple malignant brain tumors and, after a tissue biopsy, was unable to speak.  
He was only able to talk twice after the biopsy and both times was when he was under great stress.   So I know the kind of hard, exhausting work that Gabby continues to do to get better.  I realize that the remarkable progress she has made is due to her wonderful medical team. But it also is due to Gabby's determination to fully recover.   My hope is that she will be able to serve Arizona again after another year of recovery.   It would be wonderful to have Gabby as our governor replacing that lame brain, Jan Brewer, who sits in that chair now.


Keep working hard, Gabby.  We love you and your beautiful smile.

Oh Lonesome Me !

The back of the Catalina Mountain Range

  


Fat Saguaros on a hillside.






Loews Ventana Hotel and Resort.

Craggy Rocks in Catalina State Park.

A tough guy Saguaro?  He is wearing his western cowboy hat, has a long pipe in his mouth and his arms end in either fists or thumbs up.  Use your imagination.

My pretty neighbor who joined us for the birthday dinner.


It's back to the old grind after having my slave here for a week.  I can't tell you how wonderful it was having someone I could crack the whip over; a worker who would willingly do all the tasks I had set out for her.  My bushes are trimmed, my carpets shampooed, my computer problems solved and my Kindle is now functioning.  Gail did so very much more for me that my house is rejuvenated and so am I.  Okay, so I have not been made young again, but I feel 100% better to have these things accomplished.

It wasn't all work.  There were lovely evenings when we talked over good wine and I actually was able to stay up beyond my usual early bedtime.    We took one day to visit Catalina State Park.  It is located on the back side of the Rincon Mountains.  My back yard faces the front side.  Then we celebrated Gail's birthday at a posh restaurant, the FLYING V, in Loews Ventana Canyon Resort.  


Here you see the fun night.  Gail blowing out her candle and her proud Mom next to her.
 








 
I tried moving the photos so all of the birthday celebration would be together and all of the park would mesh, but Blog Spot  started giving me trouble again and when I try to do more editing I usually lose a photo or some other dumb thing happens so you can just organize the page in your mind.

A Shirker, Non- Lurker, and the National Debt

Now that the old year is finally a thing of the past we can look forward to new beginnings.  I doubt that this year will be much better economically or politically, but we always survive and will do so again.   Keep up the good fight and we will persevere. 

I have been a bad girl and haven't been reading blogs recently.  If you announced wonderful news about a new baby, wedding, job or other exciting events and I did not respond please forgive me.  Worse, if you had bad news to relate and you did not see my name offering sympathy I do profoundly apologize.  

My life has been hectic and that isn't going to stop for a few weeks.  My daughter will be arriving Sunday for 9 days ( 2 days traveling) thus giving me a week of sheer joy.  To have her all to myself is going to be the best gift I could ask for.  I love my granddaughters, but when I visit they do require attention.  My daughter is the typical soccer mom busy providing a taxi service for her kids.   The  house is usually full of teenager noise leaving little time to have long chats with Gail. 

I plan on making the most of our time together and our one-on-one time will be uninterrupted.  I will also put her to work doing those chores I can no longer tackle.  She has been forewarned and is okay with it.   Of course, after a working visit she may never want to come again, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.  

Now on to serious matters.  

One of my favorite quotes is this one from Henry Wheeler Shaw:  "The trouble with most folks isn't so much their ignorance, as knowing so many things that 'ain't so'."

I thought I understood the National Debt, but I didn't have a clue.   I suspect most people look at it the way I did.   I equated it with a family's debt.  You know, your income doesn't reach far enough to pay cash for all those goodies you just must have, so you borrow money from your trusty banker and buy that car you really can't afford.  When you borrow more than you can repay it accumulates with interest.  

I really thought that Uncle Sam owed China, Germany and other countries all that money and they were the equivalent of the bankers in my illustration.  This is what the politicians would like to have you believe so you can envision a time when China calls in their markers and our country is owned by them.   Instead of repossessing the car, China repossesses us.  The message (sometimes subliminally) is that the biggest crisis facing our country is our debt.    And to acquire more debt would spell disaster.  Are you convinced yet?  The Tea Baggers certainly hope so.  They probably believe it or else why try to destroy our country with this nonsense?

A better illustration to the National Debt would be that, instead of borrowing all of the money from a bank, you borrowed from your savings plan.

Paul Krugman, bless him, set me straight and I hope to pass his message along.  Here is the 'skinny'.  (Is that slang word passe?) 

Excerpts from his New York Times  Op-ed piece on defecit reduction:

(I have taken the liberty of highlighting points I think are important.)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The economic “experts” on whom much of Congress relies have been repeatedly, utterly wrong about the short-run effects of budget deficits. People who get their economic analysis from the likes of the Heritage Foundation have been waiting ever since President Obama took office for budget deficits to send interest rates soaring. Any day now! 
 

And while they’ve been waiting, those rates have dropped to historical lows. 

Deficit-worriers portray a future in which we’re impoverished by the need to pay back money we’ve been borrowing. They see America as being like a family that took out too large a mortgage, and will have a hard time making the monthly payments. 

This is, however, a really bad analogy in at least two ways.

 

First, families have to pay back their debt. Governments don’t — all they need to do is ensure that debt grows more slowly than their tax base. The debt from World War II was never repaid; it just became increasingly irrelevant as the U.S. economy grew, and with it the income subject to taxation. 

Second — and this is the point almost nobody seems to get — an over-borrowed family owes money to someone else; U.S. debt is, to a large extent, money we owe to ourselves.  

This was clearly true of the debt incurred to win World War II. Taxpayers were on the hook for a debt that was significantly bigger, as a percentage of G.D.P., than debt today; but that debt was also owned by taxpayers, such as all the people who bought savings bonds. So the debt didn’t make postwar America poorer. In particular, the debt didn’t prevent the postwar generation from experiencing the biggest rise in incomes and living standards in our nation’s history. 

It’s true that foreigners now hold large claims on the United States, including a fair amount of government debt. But every dollar’s worth of foreign claims on America is matched by 89 cents’ worth of U.S. claims on foreigners. And because foreigners tend to put their U.S. investments into safe, low-yield assets, America actually earns more from its assets abroad than it pays to foreign investors.  If your image is of a nation that’s already deep in hock to the Chinese, you’ve been misinformed. Nor are we heading rapidly in that direction. 

Now, the fact that federal debt isn’t at all like a mortgage on America’s future doesn’t mean that the debt is harmless. Taxes must be levied to pay the interest, and you don’t have to be a right-wing ideologue to concede that taxes impose some cost on the economy, if nothing else by causing a diversion of resources away from productive activities into tax avoidance and evasion. But these costs are a lot less dramatic than the analogy with an overindebted family might suggest. 

And that’s why nations with stable, responsible governments — that is, governments that are willing to impose modestly higher taxes when the situation warrants it — have historically been able to live with much higher levels of debt than today’s conventional wisdom would lead you to believe. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

II hope you now have a better understanding of the National Debt.  I do.

Coda:

Happy Birthday Gail

January 8, 2012 is the big day and it's also the day you arrive.  We will celebrate this momentous and happy occasion in style.  

Happy 2012

 For the child in all of us I give you "Charlie Brown"

And for all the children young and old may I present the only type of fireworks that I hope you have in 2012.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas

Love is what the season is really all about.  I hope you are with your families and sharing the joy of the holiday season.








Merry Christmas to all of my dear friends.

Small Children and Love

Happy Holidays

For the rest of this year I do not want to think, or talk, about politics.  I will leave you with the wisdom of the very young.  Out of the mouth of babes comes the definition of love.  I hope you enjoy taking a few minutes from your busy schedule to ponder these wise words from the innocent among us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Professionals posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year olds, "What does love  mean?"   Here are their sweet answers.

"When my grandmother got arthritis she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.  So my grandfather does it for her all the time even when his hands got arthritis too.  That's love."

Rebecca - Age 8 

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."

Karl - Age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of  your French Fries without making them give you any of yours."

Chrissy - Age 6

"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."

 Terri - Age 4

"Love is when my Mommy makes coffee for my Daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him to make sure the taste is OK."

Danny - Age 7

"Love is when you kiss all the time.  Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.   My Mommy and Daddy are like that.  

They look gross when they kiss."

Emily - Age 8

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."

Bobby - Age 7

"If you want to learn to love better you should start with a friend who you hate."

Nikka - Age 6

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day."

Noelle - Age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are  still friends even after they know each other so well."

Tommy - Age 6

"During my piano recital I was on a stage and I was scared.  I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.  

He was the only one doing that.  I wasn't scared anymore."

Cindy - Age 8

"My Mommy loves me more than anybody.  You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."

Claire - Age 6

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."

 

Elaine - Age 5

 

" Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."

Chris - Age 7

 

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."

 

Mary Ann - Age 4

 

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."

 

 Lauren - Age 4

 

"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."

 

Mark - Age 6

 

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor, and elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

 

Upon seeing the man cry the little boy went into the old  gentleman's lap, and just sat there.

 

When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor the little boy said, "Nothing.  I just helped him cry."

   

Something Rotten in Denmark?

Shakespeare had Marcellus say "There is something rotten in the State of Denmark."  Well, there is something rotten in our country, too.  I just read a long editorial and I will furnish the link if you have the desire or time to peruse it.   There was a massive cover-up over the Iran-Contra scandal during Reagan's administration.  In collusion with the so-called 'liberal' media the facts were kept from the public and only one investigative Journalist had the courage to uncover it. Gary Webb, the reporter, later committed suicide over this because the media not only refused to cover it, but they spread dis-information about the scandal and dismissed the truth.  Before going further, here's the link.



http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/276-74/8838-the-warning-in-gary-webbs-death


If you are wondering why I am resurrecting this old scandal  about Saint Reagan, I think it provides a good illustration of why we need to do our homework.   Too often we accept news items without questioning.  When someone does tell the truth it is ignored because there are so many talking heads countering it with lies.  And when the major newspapers  conspire to aid and abet the politicians by hiding the truth it becomes more difficult to find the real facts.  The major newspapers, including the most so called ' liberal'  New York Times, helped to bury the Iran-Contra story .  It is a shameful thing that we can no longer trust our news media to tell the truth or do investigative reporting.  

Here's a clip from the article that illustrates my point;

Meanwhile, those journalists who had exposed these national security crimes mostly saw their careers sink or at best slide sideways. We were regarded as "pariahs" in our profession. We were "conspiracy theorists," even though our journalism had proven to be correct again and again.

It's no wonder that whistle blowers are rare.  So often they are persecuted for being good citizens.

Here's another item from the article that illustrates how manipulation of the news happens:

So, that combination - the propaganda skills of Reagan's Contra-support team and the fragile consensus for continuing Reagan's pet Contra war - meant that any negative publicity about the Contras would be met with a fierce counterattack.

Going to Editors

The neoconservatives were also bright, well-schooled, and skilled in their manipulation of language and information, a process they privately called "perception management." (emphases mine).  They proved adept, too, at ingratiating themselves with senior editors at major news outlets.

By the mid-1980s, these patterns had become well-worn in Washington. If a journalist dug up a story that put the Contras in a negative light, he or she could expect the Reagan administration's propaganda team to make contact with a senior editor or bureau chief and lodge a complaint, apply some pressure, and often offer up some dirt about the offending journalist.

There has always been disinformation and misinformation in politics, but since the advent of TV and the Internet it is a way of life.   The deception is so blatant that it is accepted and condoned.    Outright lies are not confronted by interviewers on TV; thus it  appears that the liar is being honest.   It becomes imperative to find a news service and/or a reporter that you trust to ferret out the facts.  Among others, I like RSN  (Reader Supported News) for information and Paul Krugman on the economy.  Why do I like these?   Paul Krugman has been proven right time and time again with his prognosis on economic issues.  And RSN finds interesting articles not covered elsewhere.


How easily we humans are brainwashed.   Being human, we are apt to believe those that support our prejudices and not question them.  I find myself guilty of doing so.  That's when critical thinking must be used.  And sometimes, to use the vernacular, you just have to go with your gut and ask if what they are saying makes sense.  


Meanwhile, stay informed.  Our democracy is in peril and this is no time to become complacent.