brothers
I’ve talked about my brothers before. Both currently in the Marines. Both have served time in Iraq. And soon both to be in Afghanistan.
John, currently there sent me this pic of himself from the combat camera:
Dusk
My youngest brother will be heading over there sometime shortly.
And if you know anyone over there, send them a care package. Include some powdered milk, its something they can use while out on patrols.
in memory
One show I have watched since the beginning is Discovery’s Deadliest Catch. Seeing these guys battling the elements just to bring many of us something we love to eat, hooked me from the first episode. And early on, I latched onto Phil Harris as one of my favorite Captains.
And during the filming of Season 6, Phil had a massive stroke and died. This was known before the show even started its season run.
Phil had a huge heart. Absolutely loved his kids and crew and anybody else he befriended. And seeing how the fleet reacted to the news of his stroke eventually got to me and I had tears spill forth.
To me, this showed me just how much of an impact that one person who I’ve only met very briefly, but have watched 6 years, can have on you.
Go check the clips out they have on their site in the link at the beginning of this post.
yikes!
This update brought to you by Folgers. The Best Part of Wakin’ up.
Not really, but that’s what i’m drinking in any case.
So things seemed to have been picking up lately at work, which is a good thing. It means people are finally starting to spend money again. Which of course will die a bit again when all these new taxes kick in from the regime in Olympia. And lets not even think about the impact this will have on small business. Three friends that have their own small business are now worried because of the hiked B&O tax.
But I digress.
Speaking of work, I’m glad I only have to do on-call 2-3 times a year. Being on-call tires you quite a bit. Not only working your normal hours, but then running trouble calls at night and not getting home until midnight, only to get back up at 5:30 wears on you pretty fast. Meg says I become an ass when i’m overly tired. But then again, she say’s i’m an ass all the time. *shrugs*
Anywho, we’ve gone to Muckleshoot a few times now to play Bingo! and have had fun. Tried my hand at two cards and it was rather difficult considering the caller for some reason felt he needed to speed the games along. Even the people that live in the bingo hall were having trouble keeping up with their normal 4 cards.
Updates:
Movies – None (didn’t have time with on-call and some other things going on lately)
Music – Ever had a song stuck in your head for a day? Try for 5 days straight! Jet City Woman – Queensryche But I’ve been digging on http://www.kingcitysf.com/flash_radio/index.html lately. Loved their music after seeing them in concert with Cake. Its just really fun music and you can tell they have fun playing it! Makes it all the more enjoyable.
Games – Still doing Borderlands
Books – 
Just finished up with with Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Great book and leaves you wanting more. Available in Paperback
help thy fellow PAXonian
I don’t usually pass things like this along that often, but this one hits semi close to home.
A fellow compatriot of mine, Lori, who is an Enforcer (some know what this is, for others Please read this), was diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder known as APS and may possibly have lupus. Because of this, she will have to have one of her legs removed.
Lori, along with her husband, have opened there house multiple times to us Enforcers to just hang out, play games, talk, or be rowdy. And we are now helping give back in what ever way we can to help these two friends of ours out.
Another Enforcer and friend of mine, who goes by the name of Liger, is hand making her own version of the LiveStrong bracelet. Please visit her site and take a look, and please purchase one if you can afford it.
curing with a walk
Lately Meg and I had been getting a bit edgy. Some of it dealing with the planning of the wedding, some of it due to medical issue’s, and other times I now believe because we haven’t been doing things together.
Well, not like we used to. Going on walks. Drives to places. etc.
Things like this:
This was Memorial Day, a nice walk down a beach in Seattle. Was refreshing and enjoyable. Need to get out and do more of this type of stuff. Get the bikes fixed and take rides. Go for drives.
customer dissatisfaction
*I recommend not using the company I name. Two times now i’ve been screwed over*
I’ve been using deepdiscount.com for a few years. The prices they had on movies, books, ect were really good. And they always touted Satisfaction Guaranteed and ‘GUARANTEED LOWEST TOTAL PRICE’.
What happened was this:
Meg and I saw a movie we thought would be really good. So I did the typical google search and DD had it for $20.97 in the Blu-Ray format. I thought great! We’ll order when we get home. Even though tower had it 1.50 cheaper, I stuck with DD.
Later when I got home. I went to DD’s website and noticed the price was now $23.97. I then went back to google and noticed it was still $20.97. So I wrote an email, which stated this: “Google shopping shows you have Vexille Blu-Ray for 20.97, but your site shows 23.97. Is this a mistake or can I actually order it for this price?”
I had included the link in the email and recieved a response the next day stating: “Yes, we sell our products through other sources. To get that $20.97 price, you would need to purchase it through Google.”
I order it. Week later, I get it in the mail. Only one problem. Its not the blu-ray version. Its the normal version.
Now, i’ve had an issue before with a HD-DVD I received that the case and dvd were cracked. It was a bit of a hassle to get a replacement, but after 2 weeks, it was. So I was thinking the same with this.
But no. Not that simple. Here is a run down of the emails:
I just recieved my order today, order # #########
It was a regular DVD version of the movie, not the Blu-Ray version which I had ordered. I used the link below when I had asked you about the pricing difference. Now it doesn’t even show in the google shop for blu-ray.
I had emailed thinking that it could of been an error, but your reply to me was that it was fine and to get the price, order it through google.
Their reply to me:
Thank you for contacting DeepDiscount.com!
We do apologize for the error. If you like, we can send you a prepaid label to your email to return the item and a refund will be issued upon receipt of the return. Please let us know what you would like to do.
Ref# ************
Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscount.com. We appreciate your business.
Regards,
Customer Service Department
cs@DeepDiscount.com
At this point, I thought maybe the individual didn’t read the email fully or I hadn’t explained what was wrong clearly enough. So I sent this:
Customer (David Wyble) – 04/25/2009 02:11 AM
You say a refund? Does that mean I would not receive the blu-ray version instead as I had originally ordered? Please refer to quoted text below for full explanation of what has occured.Thank you.
And once again, they obviously didn’t read it, cause this is what I got:
Response (ms) – 04/25/2009 03:55 AM
Thank you for contacting DeepDiscount.com!If you wish, we can process an exchange, however, there would be an additional charge for the Blu Ray since it is more expensive than the DVD.
Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscount.com. We appreciate your business.
Regards,
Customer Service Department
cs@DeepDiscount.com
Me:
Customer (David Wyble) – 04/25/2009 12:12 PM
There seems to be a break down in the communications with you folks. As I
had explained, the link AND the description from the Google shopping site
had it listed as Blu-Ray for 20.97. It is NOT my fault that the link is no
longer available since it has been removed and that it was actually the
normal DVD version. This is also not the first time i’ve had issue’s with
orders from your company. Broken cases, cracked dvd’s, etc.In the original email, I had pointed this out and was told I would have to
order it through Google as prices sometimes are offered lower else where.
The link:
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=vexille&hl=en&cid=7773483330369722890&scoring=p#ps-sellersAs you can see, you are no longer listed there, yet there are others with it
much lower then the 20.97 you had offered. But I still had chosen to go with
you as I had for multiple other transactions. It is now not the point of the
price, but of principal that you will not stand behind an obvious mistake of
someone in your company for mislabeling a link or what not, and then want to
charge me to rectify it.Please send me the return label and I will request my refund.
Even though I’ve been a long time customer, I will now just bring my
business else where and no longer recommend your site.David Wyble
And the final straw:
Response (ms) – 04/25/2009 08:00 PM
Thank you for contacting DeepDiscount.com!We do apologize for the inconvenience. We have sent a prepaid label to your email and a refund will be issued upon receipt of the return.
Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscount.com. We appreciate your business.
Regards,
Customer Service Department
cs@DeepDiscount.com
I just sat there looking at that post, feeling as if I had been told ‘and?’
But being the stubborn ass I am, I called this time and spoke with a lady who’s name was unintellegible. I had asked to speak to a manager, she said she would need to know why, and I told her i’ve already dealt with the entry service reps and will only speak to a manager. She wants to put me on with her lead, but I say again, manager.
A guy by the name of Jose gets on. I explain the whole situation to him and first words out of his mouth are ‘It obviously was a mistake on googles part as their prices aren’t always up to date with ours. But the Blu-Ray is $3 more then the normal DVD.’ Even though I had just explained to him that everything I have says it was the blu-ray version, even the confirmation email for the order. But he wouldn’t budge, not even after 10 mins of conversation.
I then gave him the same response, that I will take my business else where. I will take their links off my website. I will no longer recommend, but discourage people from using them because they refuse to honor their Customer Satisfaction Guarantee, at which point he stammers ‘I never said we wouldn’t, I will be more then happy to exchange it for you and I will place the order for you right now for the Blu-Ray at $20.97.’
I was flabbergasted, I kindly, and yes, kindly, informed him it is to late. To finally give me that offer after all this over $3, was actually insulting.
Yes, I know some of you are thinking, why didn’t you just do pay it? That’s not the point. Its principle of the matter. To many companies now are just walking over customers, and I for one will not deal with a company that treats its customers that way.
pimpin again
I’ve talked about Scott Sigler before, who has now published 2 books, the 2nd one getting onto the NY Times Best Sellers list. All the while still releasing his books for free in an audio format on his website.
Today, he’s released The Rookie for pre-order on his site. This is a hardback limited edition (only 3000 copies) that will be released in Sept. If you like football and scifi and mafia type stories, get it. You will love it.
The Rookie
spotlight
Yesterday, after having arrived at work, my supervisor handed me a card. It was addressed to me, which was rather strange, as I do not recieve mail at work. This happened to be from the West Division President. My supv said he didn’t know what it was.
Upon opening it, I read the following hand written:
Dave,
Congratulations on being named a finalist in the Circle of Success – Hero of Valor Award. I know that when people like you see something that needs to be done – you take action. Thank you for setting an example for us all in saving the poeple and animals from the burning building!
Good luck!
Brad
I was rather shocked, as this was something that happened last year. I’ll let the article in the Employee Newsletter explain it:
Comcast Techs Rush to Aid Fire Victims:
A fire broke out last week inside a four-story apartment building across the street from the Seattle office. Smoke and flames shooting were from the third floor, and three Seattle technicians, David Thomas, Dave Wyble and Eric Laumatia quickly ran across the street and into the smoke-filled building. They went door-to-door to alert residents and help them vacate the building. But their aid didn’t end there: they also rescued animals from the building. In addition, one resident had advanced stage multiple sclerosis and was unable to leave the building without emergency help, and Eric Laumatia sat with her until rescue crews arrived.
This was totally unexpected and I had not sought any type of acknowledgement or such. Just the thank yous from all these people was enough. So i’m very thankful for being selected as a finalist.
Oh, and the free luncheon at the awards ceremony. 
Its a small world
While i’ve got a few mins to work on the site, I decided to actually make a post here instead of on twitter.
Saturday night I was doing my normal getting ready for work the next day routine. One of these is plugging my ipod in to get some of the podcasts I listen to while driving from customer to customer (section coming soon on which I listen to).
One of these, Slice of Scifi, had a newer ep up and in it, was this name that I recognized. Derek Colanduno. An old friend who I used to LARP with when I lived in Vegas before he moved to Atlanta, Ga.
I left Vegas in ‘02 and he had left several years before me, and through the rigors of life, we had lost contact. Last I had known, he was getting married and I was unfortunately not able to attend his wedding. I had wonder from time to time what he was up to and it seems he’s been very busy. New job, his own podcast named Skepticality, along with being very involved with Dragon*Con.
After locating his email, I fired off a small note and to my pleasure, he responded. What came next was a surprise. Even more so then the thoughts I had of it truly is a small world.
It seems back in Sept ‘05, Derek had a stroke, a bundle of vessels in his skull had ruptured.
In his own words in an email to me, he had this to say:
Basically, I was at dinner after I got home from a business trip, went to dinner with a bunch of people… had to go to the bathroom. On my way back to the table to eat my food, I started to get a very strange head-ache, then had to vomit suddenly… Next thing I know I am waking up in the hospital with tubes coming out of the top of my head and stuck in me everywhere. I was confused and had no clue where I was. I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t walk, or get up, I was strapped down. When I finally started to ‘come to’ my wife came and told me the deal. I had just woken up from a coma which lasted a tad more than a month. They had to drill several holes in my skull to let out all the pressure, and they didn’t know how much brain damage I had.
Then about 2 months of in the hospital stuff happened. They got me back on my feet so I could move myself around and such. Around that Christmas I started to go to full time 8 hour a day rehab to learn how to talk and think and remember stuff again. The speech part was the WORST. I had to start from the beginning and learn how to make the words with my mouth and tongue again. At least I didn’t have the common damage which ALSO makes it so you don’t realize you are saying the wrong words. So, I KNEW I was saying the wrong thing so I was able to re-learn fast. They used the, at the time, experimental music therapy to get me to talk again like a normal person. So I don’t have that ‘stroke stutter’ that people know from most stroke victims. So, you wouldn’t really know if you hear me on the audio show now. Actually it was my podcast which helped that, the speech doctor loved that he was able to listen to HOURS of my old speech so he was able to use it to get me back to normal. I slowly regained my ability to taste different flavors over the first year, which is good, I HATED that everything, no matter what it was, tasted like… nothing…
I sat there stunned. Both Derek and I are around the same age, so lots of things went through my head. Two of the biggest ones were happiness and guilt.
Happiness that he is ok and continues to get better. That he has a strong loving wife and friends who all were there for him to help him get his life back.
And guilt, that I hadn’t tried harder at maintaining a viable friendship with someone I honestly think is a totally down to earth guy.
Because of the net, i’ve re-located a friend and hope to recover that friendship and at the same time, it has caused me to re-think some of the things I take for granted.
So back a week and half ago, I was at PAX again. As an Enforcer, again. And I just can not describe in words the amount of fun I had. The people I worked with, met, and hung out with, were all absolutely a blast.
PAX itself was amazing this again this year. Even though it was quite a bit bigger, it never lost any of its community feel. And seeing Freezepops, The One Ups, and Jonathan Coulton in concert was alot of fun, along with the staples of PAX, The Minibosses, MC Frontalot, Optimus Ryhme and the Neskimos.
Anyways, back to Bioshock, the best game to come out in quite awhile and grab my attention.
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Currently playing Bioshock: *Gamestop Exclusive* Limited Edition (Xbox 360) |
