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This will be quick. Today is reading day and I’ve spent it trying to cram for my Econ final that’s tomorrow at 8:00 in the morning. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped on my exam yesterday. I got 187 out of 250. I’m a little disappointed because I studied really hard for that test. I hope I do better on the final, but if I don’t, I’ll still end up with a B in the class. It’ll be a low one though and I was hoping to be able to raise my grade. But then, the test was worth 250 points and there were only 40 questions on it so the questions were worth a lot and if you miss one then that’s a lot of points. More later on.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m watching a show on the Science Channel about a group of card counters from MIT.
The slant is that you’re supposed to feel sorry for the cassino owners, but I’m not buying it.
If you live by the sword, (which all cassinos do), then you’ll die by it, and just because someone or even a group of someones beats you at your game doesn’t mean you should receive any pity.
It’s all about statistics, and the cassino owners should have realized that someone would figure it out.
No reason to whine and throw a temper tantrum.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

It’s a rainy, windy day here.
I’m still recovering from a major sinus infection on top of bronchitis.
It’s not even 08:30 yet, and I’m sitting back here at work, sitting at my desk.
I’m the only one back here.
Everyone else is up front.
I’m sleepy.
And I can’t believe I actually had to come in here, just to sit around.
I’ll be glad when the hampster wheel stops spinning.
We’ve exhausted all options as far as testing the software is concerned, so now we get to deal with the politics of the situation, hopefully as frankly as possible.
Division of Services for the Blind will be involved in these discussions, because they’ll most likely be helping with the expenses surrounding my switching jobs.
I’m hoping to have this taken care of within the next week.
I don’t have any time to move at the speed of government, and I don’t want to squander the opportunity this new job presents.
I hope to get back to posting regularly within this week.
God knows I have nothing else to do except hurry up and wait while I prod and push for meetings with the appropriate people here at work.
More later.

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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I started reading the Diary of Anne Frank this morning.
It’s so sad to realize that the girl who wrote this never made it past sixteen, and died in such a horrible manner, just because she was Jewish.
Every once and a while, some phrase or other makes that especially poignant.
I’ve never read the diary in full, but plan to finish it over Shabbat.
I read somewhere that she was made an honorary citizen this week.
I imagine that rings especially hollow for her surviving relatives, because if she had been allowed to enter the United States while she was alive, she never would have died in a concentration camp.

  

Current Mood: none
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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I heard the alarm go off this morning, and had resolved to get up at about 06:00.
The next thing I knew, my phone was ringing, and it was 06:20.
My mom was on the other line from Ohio.
I got up, and managed to be ready for work on time, but I’m still tired, and I really wish I didn’t have to be here today.
The application process is going right along, but I can’t discuss it further.
I’ll be glad when today is over.
I don’t have anything that isn’t normally on the schedule to do this weekend, and I get to sleep in.

  

Current Mood: none
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Originally published at Customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I was reading through my LJ Friends page, and came across a post by a new ex-Christian.
She says she used to work for the 700 Club’s prayer hotline, which got me thinking about all kinds of humorous things.
Like, what would happen if I called and told them that I’m blind, gay and Jewish, and I’m so ashamed of myself I want to commit suicide, and I need someone to pray for me?
And then, wait a month or two, and write a letter telling my story, and now, thanks to J, everything’s peechy.
Yeah, don’t mind me, I’m sick.

  

Current Mood: none
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In attempt to make life easier for myself, I’ve copied the audio lectures I have onto my PacMate, for listening away from the computer.
(Actually, I did this Tuesday before I left work, so I’m not sure if it counts as part of today’s progress report, but anyway).
I plan to edit the files down to smaller size pieces, separating them into sections for easier consumption.
This morning, I listened to the first and second files again, and I also plan to retype the notes from those two files in a better attempt to glean what’s important from them.
Up until now, I’ve been focusing on typing the files verbatum, which has slowed me down.
I also plan to get in touch with Belinda to see about getting together this weekend to compare organization techniques, study together, ETC., since she’s been at this longer than I have.
My goal is to have all of this done by Tuesday of next week.
My files are in complete disarray right now, so among the tasks I’ve set for myself to have completed by Tuesday is imposing organization on them and their contents, which I feel will be accomplished by everything I’ve outlined above.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

For me, 11 September, 2001 dawned just like any other
Tuesday morning.
I got up, and started getting ready to go to math class.
I turned on the radio, and the announcer was saying that
a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the World
Trade Center.
I immediately assumed that the plane had been some prop
job, and that the pilot hadn’t been paying attention to
where he was going.
I remember asking myself how someone could miss a
building that big.
I never once considered it could be a terrorist attack.
It wasn’t that I thought America could never be
attacked, it was just that no one, especially me, had
ever heard of planes being flown into buildings being
used as a method of terrorism.
Then the announcer said a second plane had hit the other
tower, and I knew at that point we had been attacked.
They played music for a while, and it seemed so out of
place.
Then, a little before 10 in the morning, the announcer
came back on and said that the Pentagon had been hit as
well.
I remember thinking to myself, “What are we going to do
now?”
Who the hell would do something like this?
And I still had to go to class.
Luckily our professor, (a graduate student named Robert
Lee), made a short announcement about our upcoming test,
told us both towers had collapsed, and told us that we
could leave if we wanted to.
I don’t think anyone stayed.
I remember walking back to my apartment, and noticing
that no one was laughing, or joking, and that Everyone
was talking in hushed tones.
When I got back home, I found my friend Daniel and my
roommate Joseph sitting in front of the TV watching the
coverage.
People from every nation were sending their condolences,
and then that message came in from the Taliban at around
13:00, saying that they weren’t responsible.
No condolences, just “We didn’t have anything to do with
it, and we don’t know where Osama is.”
Later on, we all saw the video of the Palestinians
dancing in the streets of Gaza, handing out candy, and
it mane everybody very angry.
For the rest of that day and for some weeks after that,
our nation seemed so much smaller than usual.
Everyone wanted to help, and everyone was kind and
polite to each other.
Anybody who displayed extremist partisan tendencies was
very swiftly put in their place, especially the people
who tried to say it was America’s fault, or who tried to
give the dancing Palestinians an excuse.
For a while it seemed like we had the answer, and we
knew what we had to do, and we didn’t care how long it
took, or what the cost would be.
It was America’s “Never Again.”
Unfortunately, we seem to have lost our resolve.
We’re just as partisan as ever now, if not more so.
People seem to have forgotten that the people who did
this haven’t gone away, and no amount of trying to
appease them is going to make them do so.
People keep moaning about the rights of those imprisoned
being violated, or the methods being used by the
security services in order to try to combat what can
effectively be called wild card warfare, without
providing any alternative, practical solutions.
Healthy debate is always a very good thing, but this
discussion has degenerated into a free-for-all on both
sides.
We need to stop all this bickering and one-upmanship
amongst ourselves, bite the bullet, and do what needs to
be done: Go after anyone who either commits terrorist
acts, or supports terrorism, international law be
damned.
Anyone who thinks taking the moral highroad by applying
the Geneva Convention to those not signatory to it, even
going so far as to extend its parameters beyond what
would be required if we were engaged in traditional
combat, is the right thing to do is hopelessly naive.
We don’t have time to sit here and engage in serious
navel-gazing, especially when it comes to an enemy who
isn’t really interested in whether or not we repent of
the sins they accuse us of.
And let’s be real clear about who that enemy is, because
it’s a very real one.
That enemy is anyone who either commits terrorist acts,
gives money to terrorists, sympathizes with them, or
gives them shelter.
It doesn’t matter whether the terrorism is committed
against America, or against its allies.
It’s not a very pretty view from where we sit right now,
but unless we keep these things in mind, and really
start acting accordingly it’s going to get a lot worse.
I, for one, am not interested in waking up one day to
find a bigger blood bath has been perpetrated on our
shores, nor am I interested to find out we’ve become the
latest addition to the one world government known as the
Caliphate.
I think we know which path to take, even if we all agree
it won’t be easy.
Here’s hoping and praying for a better, more peaceful
future, for everyone who wants such things.

This is an open trackback post.
If you have a 911 tribute, link to this post, and send a
trackback, and I’ll display your links at the bottom of
this post.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I never made it a point to blog about this Friday when I got it, for a number of reasons.
First, I was still exhausted from the monster sinus infection I spent most of last week recovering from, and secondly, it left even me speechless, which is one hell of a feat.
That only happens when something is either so touching/moving/inspirational that I’m humbled and awe-struck, or the stupidity factor is so great that it takes me a while to come up with a suitable response.
Unfortunately for me, this fits into the latter category.
The monumental, earth-shaking solution is, (drumroll please): Disable the Jaws for Windows virtual cursor.
Just so that non-Jaws users have an idea of what I’m talking about, the Jaws for Windows Virtual cursor is an extra cursor that allows Jaws to track what’s going on on the screen, and gives you all the neat Jaws functionality beloved by Jaws users the world over.
No virtual cursor, no Jaws hotkeys, which means no Jaws functionality.
Anyone who has worked with Jaws for Windows as long as these people are supposed to have worked with it would know this, especially if they’re the technical type.
Hell, my mom figured it out, and she’s the least-technical person I’ve ever met.
I’m thinking maybe they should put this stroke of brilliance to better use before it runs out.
If they did, they could have the problem of world hunger solved in a matter of hours, and if they work really hard at it, could probably usher in the Messianic Age all by themselves.
Then, the Messiah could assume his throne with no effort at all, and when God asked how he got all that work done in so short a time, Messiah could just say he outsourced the job.
There has to be a limit to corporate stupidity, there just has to be.
I’ll probably find that when I find a self-help phrase that hasn’t been incorporated into some work-related publication.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I knew there was a reason to tell Embarq, (Sprint’s latest incarnation), to bite me.
I’m having problems with my earthlink mail, and since Embarq provides their email through earthlink, I figured I’d have to call them.
The “tech” who picked up the phone asked me four times what my phone number was, then if I could connect to the internet, then was I sure I could connect, then was I *sure* I could connect, before telling me that I had to call Earthlink because they’re not responsible for the mail side.
I wonder if Embarq uses Convergys to outsource their calls.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they do.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Today will most likely be very long.
I was up and down all night blowing my nose and coughing, (yes, I know, not the most pleasant thing to read about), and have been up since about 04:00 this morning unable to fall back to sleep.
I hope I don’t get very many calls today, and I probably won’t.
I also hope to post more today than I have in the last little while.
Lately I just haven’t felt like posting any of my own work, and am thankful for the blogburst material to keep the pings coming from this blog to Technorati and the fifty or so ping services I have listed for that purpose.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I just had an agent come to me with a situation in which a member received some medication from us on June 15th, and who says they’re concerned because some of the pills look different, yet neglected to call us about it until this morning.
It’s now August 9th.
Obviously you weren’t that concerned.
I let it through, because if a member calls and says their meds look different, then we have to transfer it just to avoid liability.
I can’t say I wasn’t tempted to deny it though.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I’m going into this weekend with a full paycheck, two extra days off thanks to PTO (or however John ends up putting it in, but either way, they’ll be company-free), and my guest will be here by 14:00 tomorrow.
Consequently I’ll be incommunicato after that point, until Tuesday morning.
I’m glad for this weekend.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

It looks like I didn’t manage to miss Ghetto Idol, the May/June/July Edition.
The prizes?
The lucky winners get their own parking space, their own work station, (yes, they’re at a premium), a certificate, (probably printed in black and white on regular paper because the company doesn’t want to spend much money on such things as color paper and color printing), and a $15 Target gift card.
I have to give Merick credit, he’s really trying to boost the morale.
I just hate spectacles, especially the ghetto kind.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

Apparently people have been transferring callers to the pharmacists without submitting an alledged errors referral.
It’s been stated since day one of this project that, whenever you transfer a call to the pharmacy, an alledged error referral has to be submitted.
Yet these people need to be told to make sure they submit the referral.
When will evolution take its course?

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I didn’t realize that Greenville has an authentic Middle Eastern restaurant.
I love Middle Eastern food, and when I found the listing on the Restaurant Runners site, and started looking through the menu, my mouth started watering.
The restaurant is called The Olive Grove.
They have Schwarma, and falafel, and hummus, and a whole bunch of other mouth-wattering foods.
Definitely yum, and definitely part of tonight’s menu.

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Originally published at customerservant.com. You can comment here or there.

I just finished setting up an account at Flickr, and the thing that struck me about it is how accessible it is.
Now I just have to get around the issue of people uploading photos and not adding descriptions, but at least I can say that’s the users’ problem and not the actual company’s problem.
I hope to be able to use the service to find some photos for the site, as well as pass on photos, since I probably won’t be taking any pictures myself, although I know blind people who are photographers.