| Banks |
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| 09:09pm 24/11/2009 |
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mood:  touched music: KC and the Sunshine Band - That's the Way (I Like It)
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Today I had the unpleasant experience of having two credit cards declined while trying to buy train tickets. I called the first company (Citibank) and spoke with two people (because the call was dropped the first time), the second of which was clearly reading from a script and not even listening to what I was saying. Got the business done, but it wasn't particularly pleasant. Which seems like kind of a funny thing to say about dealing with banks - I mean, are they ever pleasant?
So then I called the second bank (Bank of America) and had a completely different experience. The person answering the phone spoke perfect english and was very pleasant. No pauses while she read the prompts or fiddled around with the computer. After a minute she transferred me to another department where I spoke to another person who was likewise very pleasant but businesslike. He also efficiently answered my questions. I came away with an impression of being treated respectfully.
Normally I don't think much about these things, but the difference between the two encounters was striking. I know which bank I prefer to do business with. |
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Read 2 - Post |
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| I don't got game... |
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| 06:47pm 18/11/2009 |
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mood:  depressed music: The Coral - Who's Gonna Find Me
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One of my gamers canceled at the last minute again today. One has been in South Africa for the past five weeks and will be returning soon, but it means that if we have just one more absence, there's no quorum for a game. And so I'm at home tonight instead of running the final climactic encounter of the current plotline.
I really miss the Chicago peeps - we had a really great game, and we used to play three weeks a month instead of the once every four-five weeks the current group manages. Someday we'll be back there, and I hope those great people are still around Chicago and still interested in gaming. It's something I foresee myself doing for a long, long time.
The current group are four of my coworkers that I taught the rules. It's a lot of fun for me to watch these guys discover the rules and the pleasures of the game - a critical hit at just the right moment, encountering a creature's special attack for the first time, a narrowly made save that made the difference between life and death. But they're not hard-core gamers who are willing to arrange their lives around a dedicated timeslot (at least, not all of them are). Too much to ask, I suppose - after all, we're in it for the fun, and these are young guys without partners (mostly) who are enjoying life in a lively city.
But I think I'll have a nose around some of the other groups meeting around London to see if I can meet some more people who share my gaming style. Did this once before not long after we moved to London, but I didn't really stick with it very well. Time to give it another try... |
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Read 9 - Post |
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| Good chili |
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| 09:28pm 03/11/2009 |
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mood: full
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Damn, that's the hottest chili I've had in years. Perhaps ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) pitufina had a point when she said "Are you sure a half can of jalapeños isn't too much?" |
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Read 3 - Post |
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| ZOMG |
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| 06:30pm 24/09/2009 |
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mood:  silly music: Armin van Buuren - A State of Trance Episode 270
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A movie about Morris dancing. After watching the trailer, I'm actually kind of interested in seeing it ;) |
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Post |
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| No fatalities! |
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| 01:06pm 22/09/2009 |
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mood:  working music: Onslaught - The Devil's Legion
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We're back from our weekend on the Llangollen canal with zero deaths and zero injuries! And zero sinkings*!
Highlights include Ahoy Kitty (An inflatable Hello Kitty with an added eyepatch and an inflatable cutlass), a home-made pirate flag, a flight of three locks, the meres of Shropshire, and an 80m tunnel. Will try to make some time to work on photos this evening - quite a lot to get through.
This weekend are several office moves and birthday drinks for a coworker. Hopefully my portion of the moves will go quickly and smoothly, but it looks to be pretty complex, so I'm expecting to spend all night Friday and all day Saturday working :(
*That one doesn't really count - it was already riding pretty low in the water when we came upon it. |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| Lump hammer? |
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| 07:14pm 17/09/2009 |
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mood: silly
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Lump? Hammer? Lump hammer!?!?!
Can someone explain to me what is this "lump hammer" that our narrowboat comes equipped with? |
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Read 3 - Post |
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| Narrowboating |
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| 01:06pm 17/09/2009 |
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mood: working music: Noisex - Ignarrogance
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Tomorrow morning we set off for Wrenbury to start our extended weekend of cruising on a narrowboat. Along for the ride are gazman, pitufina, and Uncle Traveling Matt and his wife. We'll be cruising the Llangollen canal and will try to get as far as Chirk before turning round. There's some really beautiful scenery down near Llangollen, but we won't make it that far. We'll be going over an aqueduct, pass near the location of Watership Down, and in general spend three days in life's slow lane. Can't wait! |
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Read 2 - Post |
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| Pew! |
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| 02:56pm 19/08/2009 |
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mood: working music: Godflesh - Angel Domain
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London smells like rubbish and piss when it's warmer than 25. |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| Bathroom Break! |
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| 02:23pm 17/08/2009 |
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mood:  amused music: Individual Totem - Flow
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While reading a movie review, I caught a reference to a website that tells you when is an appropriate time to take a bathroom break so you miss as little important stuff as possible. The idea is so unexpected, it caught my attention. Not sure if I'd ever have the foresight to look it up ahead of time, but for those with mobile devices that can access this kind of information, it could be really useful. |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| Sunday == boardgame day? |
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| 05:34pm 11/08/2009 |
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mood: working music: Hank Williams - I Saw the Light
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Who is interested in an afternoon of games at the Landseer this Sunday? I've got Steam, Civilization, Agricola, Pandemic, Bang!, Puerto Rico, Settlers of Catan, and Fearsome Floors. If it's a group of hardcore gamers, we'll try out the epic but-oh-so-fun Civilization. If it's a more reasonable crowd, we'll try a mix of easier and shorter games. Who's in? |
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Read 1 - Post |
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| Cheeeeeeeeese |
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| 04:43pm 05/08/2009 |
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mood: working music: Forma Tadre - Date Unknown
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Anyone up for Club de Fromage this Saturday evening? We've got a small group going if you want to come along... |
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Read 4 - Post |
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| Crazy people |
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| 12:21pm 05/08/2009 |
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mood: working music: The National - Mistaken for Strangers
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One of my coworkers likes to spend time trawling right-wing blogs and news sites to keep up with the latest ramblings of what seem to be an increasingly marginalized and desperate segment of the populace. You may remember during the election campaign that there were questions over the authenticity of b. HUSSEIN obama's birth certificate. This controversy has refused to die, and the movement has gained the name of 'the birthers'. It's all very mockable, since their claims are easily refuted.
Despite the assertions that millions of Americans are involved in the birther movement, signs point to the fact that it really is a few hundred nutjobs. I understand that these people feel their country's election has been hijacked by an ill-informed majority with potentially disastrous consequences (much what many American liberals had felt for the previous 8 years), but this really isn't a good way to protest. |
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Read 4 - Post |
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| Happy Sysadmin Day, Everyone! |
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| 04:28pm 31/07/2009 |
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mood: working music: Fear Factory - Genetic Blueprint (New Breed)
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Since many of you are sysadmins, I will raise a pint glass in your honor in about 32 minutes. |
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Post |
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| Ha! |
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| 05:18pm 29/07/2009 |
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mood: working music: Silver Bullet - Bring Forth the Guillotine
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Good, unclean fun. A bit childish perhaps, but that's part of the fun, isn't it? |
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Post |
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| Beastie storage |
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| 06:58pm 28/07/2009 |
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mood:  frustrated music: Sasha - Airdrawndagger
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Man, I really need to get something to store my minis in. I have a little portable case, but there's far too many minis to fit in there. Some piece of furniture with dozens of small drawers or compartments. pitufina says it's a curio cabinet, but from pictures, that doesn't seem the right thing. What did Victorian gentlemen keep all their mounted butterflies and primitive idols and maps and adventuring-type looted knick-knacks in? That's what I need. Someone help me out with a name here.
A few years ago we saw some kind of old wooden filing system in a used furniture store near Angel - that would have been perfect. Why didn't I buy it then and there!? |
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Read 8 - Post |
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| Phewph |
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| 10:40am 24/07/2009 |
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mood: working music: Die Form - Unreal Cinema
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In February I ordered a new disk for my external disk enclosure I use for offsite backups of our computer. It came right away, I put it in the disk enclosure, and it failed to spin up - I could hear the motor start to spin the disk, then there was a clunk, and silence. I wondered if maybe the disk enclosure didn't have enough power to spin up this very new, very large disk, but I put it aside and didn't do anything further with it.
Until yesterday, when I finally got round to putting the disk into an old workstation at the office, where it also failed to spin up. I should have figured it was DOA and not let it sit round for six months before confirming. Fortunately, I contacted the company I bought it from and found out there is a 1-year warranty, and within just a few minutes of chatting to a knowledgeable, friendly customer service rep, he arranged for a courier to pick up the failed disk and drop off a new one! I will definitely do business with this company again (Ebuyer.com)
In other news, I'm taking summer hours this afternoon, since I spent last weekend working on office moves and maintenance tasks. It's stressful trying to fit all the work that needs to be done into the first four hours of the business day, but I'll be glad once I'm at home with a beer this afternoon listening to hordes of new music courtesy kleinehexe242. Thanks kleine hexe! |
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Read 4 - Post |
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| There's no place like... |
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| 03:28pm 13/07/2009 |
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mood: working music: Beth Gibbons & Rustin Man - Romance
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It's good to be home again. The kitties are quite affectionate, and must have lost about 2 kilos from shedding. I need to give the place a good vacuum today. Grocery shopping, clothes ironing, vacuuming all await, but it's back to a regular schedule now :D
BTW, for those of you in Goth Valley - last night we had really good grilled salmon at the new(ish) Mediterranean place near Archway. The meze was delicious too. (Edit) Harman is the name of the restaurant. |
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