Category Archives: Personal Reflections

OMG… the Customer Service…

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Since it’s the end of the year, there are quite a few online sales that go on.  In addition, my credit card also have deals if I spend $X at a particular location, I get $Y back.  In this case, I had to spend $150 to get $30 back.  That is an effective cash rebate of 20%.  And so it happens, I needed some shoes and a fairly popular shoe brand had a sale.  I ended up ordering two pairs of shoes to be able to satisfy the spending requirements.  Each pair was shipped separately but to the same location (a UPS store).

A few days go by and I get a notification that both shoes have been delivered.  However, it turns out, only 1 of the shoe was delivered.  The remaining shoe was still in transit.  I waited two more days and it became apparent that 2nd pair would not be arriving.  I started to investigate the whereabouts of this 2nd pair by calling UPS.  This is where the fun begins…

UPS customer service rep (CSR) tells me that the package was apparently delivered to the wrong address.  Furthermore, the CSR says to start initiating a claim through the UPS.com website.  Ok fair enough.  I go to the CSR Portal and input the tracking number.  And I get an error saying that the tracking number cannot be used to file a claim.  WTF!?  So I called UPS back again and they kept transferring me for no real good reason as I was trying to explain the situation.  Eventually, I got to a person who investigated and said that the shoe brand placed a restriction on the tracking number to prevent customers from making any sort of claim.  My only recourse was to contact the shoe brand and not UPS.  Seriously? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

And so I called the shoe brand.  After explaining the first part of my situation, the customer service rep responded with some sass responding with “why doesn’t the UPS just go back and pick up the package?” and “just log into UPS.com and go file a claim and get me that claim#.”  But after hearing that there’s some sort of hold preventing me from filing a claim, the rep’s sass disappeared and put me on hold.  I guess after consultation with while on hold, I received a fraud#.  The rep opened a fraud claim to have the fraud department investigate.

Ya I don’t know… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

New Car

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I’ve been driving my old car for over 10 years now.  During the last oil maintenance, the mechanic I go to said that any future repairs I needed might not be worth the cost.  Reading on the type of repair needed (new catalytic converter), this repair costs at least $3000 in parts which is more than the current value of the car (~$2500).  He strongly suggested I consider replacing the car.  The car still drives pretty well.  It retains its V6 power and acceleration and it’s engine is still in fairly good shape.

Looking for a new car, I realized that the advances in car “comforts” is pretty amazing.  You now have standard navigation package, bluetooth connectivity, rearview cameras, parking/proximity sensors, lane assists and even braking  sensor and assists!  In all fairness, the standard navigation is now being replaced with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.  Going into the new car search, I knew what kind of options I absolutely wanted.   Unfortunately, many of the cars required additional packages to the base trim in order to have some of these options.

Anyways, I settled on an Acura.  I was offered a really good deal that was too good to pass up.  I enjoy driving it so far.  The acceleration and power is more responsive than my old car.  I’m still getting used to that rearview camera as well.  With all the options, I’m still learning about all the various sensor beeps and warning beeps.  The lane assists is pretty amazing and works well on straight road driving but not so much on curved roads.  I’ve since hit the 100 mile and 500 mile mark already.

One thing I do have to say is that it is a bit frustrating learning about all the different new electronics in the car.  The bluetooth connectivity was a little annoying as I expected a lot more.  But in retrospect, I think my expectations were a bit to lofty and unfounded.  The USB audio option however is still annoying and I’m still working on understanding what’s going on.  It apparently cannot play certain songs on a playlist BUT it’s able to play the song if I search for it manually.  I think I may end up having to just have a few folders that contain all the songs I want to listen via USB audio.  Fortunately, I’m OK with repeating a favorite song over and over again.

Safe Driving!

Plant Based Diet?

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This Netflix documentary “The Game Changers” makes a very compelling case why switching to a vegetarian diet is good for general health, sports performance and recovery, and even the environment.

The evidence presented throughout the documentary makes a compelling case as to why a plant based diet is significantly better.  Some of the people promoting the rationale as to why plant diet is better include…

  • Blood test of subjects that ate meat one meal, then plant based the following day.
  • Firefighters on a 1 week program with average cholesterol drop by 20 and average weight loss of 6 pounds.
  • Weightlifters (Schwarzenegger), football players (select players from Titans), Olympians (a American track cyclist, Australia sprinter)
  • Doctors and specialists who talk about the evidence (of course!)

I have to admit… what the documentary is saying is pretty convincing.  But what about a diet full of fruits and plants compared to just plants only?

Being Sick

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In the past, when I got the flu, it would start with a scratchy throat, maybe a persistent cough.  It was quickly followed by a compromised respiratory system, headaches, sinus issues, fever, chills, puffy eyes and stuffy/runny nose.

After a particular nasty flu, I opted to take the flu shot the following year and every year since.  What has ended up happening, is that I seem to get “flu-like/cold-like” symptoms every year after the shots.  When these symptoms come, it again starts with a scratchy throat, persistent cough and compromised respiratory system.  From here it branches down into various paths “flu-like/cold-like” paths.  Sometimes, I get sinus issues.  Sometimes I get stuffy/runny nose. Sometimes, I get a fever….

It makes me wonder what exactly is happening?  Flu shots do not protect me from ever getting the flu.  The CDC even lists the effectiveness of flu shots to range between 40-60%.  What does this all mean?  My guess is that I may have gotten the flu but the severity of the symptoms were decreased significantly due to the flu shot.

At the moment, I have a scratchy throat, persistent cough and I’m slowly sliding into stuffy nose territory.  =[

The Morey Tweet

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I wonder what the general American populace thinks about the NBA after it initially censored the “Morey Tweet.” Is this a case of where a company lost sight of what it’s values are?

Should you be worried that a foreign government has that much influence on a company?

Should the American government be worried?

No… just no…

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Are you fucking serious!?  Breakdancing in the Olympics?  Squash is a much better deserving sport to be in the Olympics.

Grumpy Cat - No

 

Paradigm Shifts in War

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Watching this new Gundam anime about the origins of Char Aznable, I just realized that the mobile suits were literally a paradigm shift in how war was waged in the world of Gundam.  I’ve always watch Gundam shows more like military movies or action movies where battles had lots of explosions and death.  But in this anime, the creators really made it clear that mobile suits were immensely powerful over the battleships and cruisers.

Hidden Healthcare Costs

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I think that 90% or even 95% of the time,  a normal person would generally figure out the cost of the service or item that they want before actually buying that service/item.  Would you buy a car without first researching the car and how much it costs? Would you purchase a home also without researching the neighborhood?  When you go to a grocery store, would you buy something without at least acknowledging the price first before buying?

But healthcare… healthcare is a totally different beast.  A person goes to a doctor, gets a check up with blood work, and comes back in for a follow up.  How much does it cost?  Apparently depending on whether or not there’s insurance, the insurance company and the type of insurance coverage (Link1, Link2, Link3). All these factors will vary from person to person. The last link is pretty useful to understand the current state of what I think is a horribly inefficient system.  What frustrates me is that I don’t know what anything costs.  I get bills after the fact telling me I have to pay $X amount because that’s what I owe.  Does this not frustrate anyone else?  It’s like going to a McDonald’s asking for a Value Meal #2 and not knowing what it will cost you until after you’ve eaten it and 20 days later the bill comes for you to pay.

Now when the US presidential candidates talk about healthcare, medicare for all and single payer system, what will inevitably be part of the conversation would be discussions of “death panels” (#fakenews from Obamacare)” and “freedom of choice” (a google search has quite a few links on this topic).  Why don’t the candidates frame as a  “Constitutional Right” similar to the “Right to Free Speech” or “Right to Bear Arms”? Isn’t promoting the welfare of the people similar to promoting the health of the people?

In the Preamble of the Constitution… “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Something to Think About…

Conference observations

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So work has sent me to a conference. I noticed that as the conference goes on the dress code becomes much more casual. More people wearing flats (women) and tennis shoes (men and women).