Bits and Pieces

I'm upgrading my Office 2003 with a technical refresh. I need it to fix a problem in FrontPage and a problem in Publisher. The only way to do it is to click on 'install' and that starts the download from hell. A 195,923 KB file. We don't have the fastest internet pipes here at the office. It's not a big deal. I can still get to my email through the web and I can update LJ - so I'm managing to keep amused.

Every quarter the Sales team gets together for 2-3 days of the most boring time on the face of the earth. If they had a session watching paint dry, it would give the agenda hope. As part of the marketing team, I'm forced to go. In the recent past I've used the days to pen LJ missives, read journals and leave pithy but ever so clever comments. At least we have had internet access.

I was in a meeting this morning where someone mentioned the sales meeting next week. I sent a note to the sales admin (who is new) telling her that I hadn't received anything about it - time, dates, etc. I said in the note that if I wasn't expected to attend, then great.

She sent a note back saying I wasn't on the list!! YAHOOO!!! Except I'm pretty sure she just fucked up. Tomorrow, my manager will be in and will likely get me on that list. The bitch.

At least this time it is only for 2 days. That's something.

20,000 kb's to go

Bits and Pieces

I'm upgrading my Office 2003 with a technical refresh. I need it to fix a problem in FrontPage and a problem in Publisher. The only way to do it is to click on 'install' and that starts the download from hell. A 195,923 KB file. We don't have the fastest internet pipes here at the office. It's not a big deal. I can still get to my email through the web and I can update LJ - so I'm managing to keep amused.

Every quarter the Sales team gets together for 2-3 days of the most boring time on the face of the earth. If they had a session watching paint dry, it would give the agenda hope. As part of the marketing team, I'm forced to go. In the recent past I've used the days to pen LJ missives, read journals and leave pithy but ever so clever comments. At least we have had internet access.

I was in a meeting this morning where someone mentioned the sales meeting next week. I sent a note to the sales admin (who is new) telling her that I hadn't received anything about it - time, dates, etc. I said in the note that if I wasn't expected to attend, then great.

She sent a note back saying I wasn't on the list!! YAHOOO!!! Except I'm pretty sure she just fucked up. Tomorrow, my manager will be in and will likely get me on that list. The bitch.

At least this time it is only for 2 days. That's something.

20,000 kb's to go

Love that 'no shipping'

So a couple of weeks ago I ordered some clothes from a place I'd never dealt with before. They arrived and they were all too small. I called the place and said that I wanted bigger sizes but I didn't want to wait for the round trip. I asked if I could just send these back for a refund and order up new, have my card charged twice and then get a credit when they got the first stuff back.

I thought at the time that I was just not explaining myself well as the woman on the phone took several tries for me to get the question across to her enough to get an answer. Finally she said, yes, that would be fine. My credit card would be credited.

Today I got a call from the place saying they were not able to process my refund until they talked to me. Call this 800 number. So I did. I was put on hold twice. My call, however, was very important to them.

Then I finally got a woman who said they weren't going to refund my money as it was obvious that the clothes had been worn. To get a refund, I have to return them within 30 days and in the condition I got them. ???? It was really clear that she didn't get this job because she had been laid off from her rocket scientist position so I tried to be kind. I really did.

I said that I was well within the 30 days and had not worn the clothes but had tried them on to see if they had fit. Had they fit, I would have kept them. Since they did not, it was not possible that I had worn them. She then said she could give me a 50% store refund for my trouble.

Man, this woman was just too easy a target. I stayed kind and explained that her option sure didn't seem fair especially since when I had called they had told me I would get a full refund.

Anyway, we went back and forth and she put me on hold a lot and finally she said I would get a full refund just this one time. "Next time you try this, we won't be able to help you - those are the rules, really. And, we can't refund any shipping charges." Ya gotta love it.

The end of the story is that I was just looking at the copy of the invoice to make a note to make sure and look out for it, when I noticed they had given me free shipping! Ha!

Love that 'no shipping'

So a couple of weeks ago I ordered some clothes from a place I'd never dealt with before. They arrived and they were all too small. I called the place and said that I wanted bigger sizes but I didn't want to wait for the round trip. I asked if I could just send these back for a refund and order up new, have my card charged twice and then get a credit when they got the first stuff back.

I thought at the time that I was just not explaining myself well as the woman on the phone took several tries for me to get the question across to her enough to get an answer. Finally she said, yes, that would be fine. My credit card would be credited.

Today I got a call from the place saying they were not able to process my refund until they talked to me. Call this 800 number. So I did. I was put on hold twice. My call, however, was very important to them.

Then I finally got a woman who said they weren't going to refund my money as it was obvious that the clothes had been worn. To get a refund, I have to return them within 30 days and in the condition I got them. ???? It was really clear that she didn't get this job because she had been laid off from her rocket scientist position so I tried to be kind. I really did.

I said that I was well within the 30 days and had not worn the clothes but had tried them on to see if they had fit. Had they fit, I would have kept them. Since they did not, it was not possible that I had worn them. She then said she could give me a 50% store refund for my trouble.

Man, this woman was just too easy a target. I stayed kind and explained that her option sure didn't seem fair especially since when I had called they had told me I would get a full refund.

Anyway, we went back and forth and she put me on hold a lot and finally she said I would get a full refund just this one time. "Next time you try this, we won't be able to help you - those are the rules, really. And, we can't refund any shipping charges." Ya gotta love it.

The end of the story is that I was just looking at the copy of the invoice to make a note to make sure and look out for it, when I noticed they had given me free shipping! Ha!

New Google Toolbar!

One of my favorite things in the world is my Google toolbar. Did you know that if you type in a phone number, chances are it will do a reverse look up for you? Type in an address (526 first ave s. seattle) and you'll get a link to that address at Mapquest OR Yahoo. Even my Mom uses the verb google so much that her non-computing friends know she means that she's looking for something. (Ok, so when she googles for the backup butter in the fridge, I think she's going a bit far...)

But still, Google rocks. and now it's even better.

Google Toolbar 2.0 Beta. Fill-ins (with credit card behind password if you like) and popup blocker. Manomanachevitz. I love Google.

New Google Toolbar!

One of my favorite things in the world is my Google toolbar. Did you know that if you type in a phone number, chances are it will do a reverse look up for you? Type in an address (526 first ave s. seattle) and you'll get a link to that address at Mapquest OR Yahoo. Even my Mom uses the verb google so much that her non-computing friends know she means that she's looking for something. (Ok, so when she googles for the backup butter in the fridge, I think she's going a bit far...)

But still, Google rocks. and now it's even better.

Google Toolbar 2.0 Beta. Fill-ins (with credit card behind password if you like) and popup blocker. Manomanachevitz. I love Google.