Something Random

Fushigi

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
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Illinois, USA
Took the week as vacation. So far I've shampooed carpet, picked up supplies from multiple stores (we're hosting Thanksgiving this year), took the dog to the vet (she strained her ACL that was repaired in August), complained at Best Buy for messing up the deliver schedule for the TV I bought on Sunday (fixed; the set was delivered @ noon today), etc.

For some reason I thought vacations were for relaxing. :errr:
 

Fushigi

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
2,890
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Illinois, USA
We're use it or lose it. I still have 4 or 5 days to go & am not sure when I'll use them.

I also will hit my 10 year anniversary in a couple of weeks so next year I'll have yet another week to take, or try to take.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
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Feb 4, 2002
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Horsens, Denmark
I haven't even started accumulating PTO yet; this is only my second month (90 days are "trial"). The whole company is vacation without pay from before Christmas til after new years.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
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USA
I've only 56 hours remaining for December. It should be enough, given that 25th and 26th are holidays.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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I have this discussion with my boss annually. The people I work with can't stand that I want to be at work and don't want to be on vacation. I think it makes them feel bad or something.

I don't really feel like I have anything better to do than show up for work. I know exactly how lame that is but so far I have not found anything else I particularly want to do. I have forced time off between Xmas and New Years and I pretty much end up sleeping through as much of it as possible.
 

LOST6200

Storage is cool
Joined
May 30, 2005
Messages
737
I don't really feel like I have anything better to do than show up for work. I know exactly how lame that is but so far I have not found anything else I particularly want to do. I have forced time off between Xmas and New Years and I pretty much end up sleeping through as much of it as possible.

You neede a WOMAn!
 

Fushigi

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
2,890
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Illinois, USA
Older than what?
Dirt, perhaps?

Coug, not sure if you're joking or not but by anniversary I meant years with my employer, not birthdays.

This past October marked the 10th anniversary of meeting my wife. We met in '98 and married in '02.

Birthday-wise, our dog's 11th birthday is today. As she was about 4-5 weeks old when my wife received her as a Christmas present and the exact date of her birth is unknown, we mark it as Thanksgiving. Unfortunately on Monday she strained the leg that had the torn ACL back in summer. She's one expensive bitch.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
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17,478
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USA
I have this discussion with my boss annually. The people I work with can't stand that I want to be at work and don't want to be on vacation. I think it makes them feel bad or something.

You are not alone. I went to the office and worked for a few hours today. It was completely quiet for a change, and of course there were none of my employees to be thinking about.
 

udaman

Wannabe Storage Freak
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
1,209
Who is back at work today? I was here at 6:45AM :(

More than enough time to get in some early Blk Fri. sale shopping, return the XSi for the BlkFri sale priced D60 :p



D700 vs F5, which is better- film or digital Neekon :D

http://fwd.five.tv/videos/challenge-blow-up-part-3

^^^"my, that's a big one" I'd like to have that printer, or a 4k+ projector.

(btw Deeana Reegg was way hotter in a blk leather skin suit...back in the day of the Avengers, filled out quite a bit in her old age :( ).
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
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Horsens, Denmark
Stupid UPS was supposed to deliver between 7AM and 10AM, it is now past noon and no sign. I have no idea what I'll do if I don't get the machine they are supposed to deliver (emergency replacement for a $22k box at one of the plants).
 

Stereodude

Not really a
Joined
Jan 22, 2002
Messages
10,865
Location
Michigan
Stupid UPS was supposed to deliver between 7AM and 10AM, it is now past noon and no sign. I have no idea what I'll do if I don't get the machine they are supposed to deliver (emergency replacement for a $22k box at one of the plants).
Call and scream! That's how you get UPS's attention.
 

CougTek

Hairy Aussie
Joined
Jan 21, 2002
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8,728
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Québec, Québec
Who's the moron who sent you anything important via UPS? UPS is the least reliable delivery company. It's only good for sending surprises (maybe, only maybe, you'll receive something...). For a twenty-two thousand part, I would NEVER use UPS. Ever.

I started 45 minutes after you this morning and finished at 5pm. Tomorrow, I begin at 7am and I have no idea when I'll come back home.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Jan 17, 2002
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I am omnipresent
I like UPS a lot better than FedEx. I think it depends more on your regular driver than anything else. But I've had FedEx do more stupid, irresponsible shit than UPS ever has.

My mother managed to injure herself on Thursday (she broke her foot), so I wound up being largely responsible for preparing food for my extended family's Thanksgiving dinner. I had the kind of interesting experience of being on the phone with mom, who was sitting in the Emergency Room, and figuring out what she meant by things like "Just put enough in until it looks about right." She did talk me through most of her recipes and that part turned out OK, but my dad ended up taking her dinner at the hospital because in 16 hours they couldn't get anyone to actually help her.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
Joined
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I like UPS a lot better than FedEx. I think it depends more on your regular driver than anything else. But I've had FedEx do more stupid, irresponsible shit than UPS ever has.

My mother managed to injure herself on Thursday (she broke her foot), so I wound up being largely responsible for preparing food for my extended family's Thanksgiving dinner. I had the kind of interesting experience of being on the phone with mom, who was sitting in the Emergency Room, and figuring out what she meant by things like "Just put enough in until it looks about right." She did talk me through most of her recipes and that part turned out OK, but my dad ended up taking her dinner at the hospital because in 16 hours they couldn't get anyone to actually help her.
 

LunarMist

I can't believe I'm a Fixture
Joined
Feb 1, 2003
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USA
Who's the moron who sent you anything important via UPS? UPS is the least reliable delivery company. It's only good for sending surprises (maybe, only maybe, you'll receive something...). For a twenty-two thousand part, I would NEVER use UPS. Ever.

We use UPS to ship hundreds of millions of dollars of high-value goods per year, with minimal problems. The nice part about UPS is that they have such a range of integrated services, not just the shipping, e.g., depot storage, logistics, import/export (incl. restricted regulated materials), complaint handling, customer service, etc. Of course dedicated vehicles are available for important shipments.

I prefer Fedex white glove service for an unscheduled urgent shipment that absolutely needs to get to a site in one piece.
 

ddrueding

Fixture
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Feb 4, 2002
Messages
19,723
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Horsens, Denmark
UPS typically does alright for us, our usual driver is great. Of course, with that being the day after thanksgiving, it wasn't our usual driver. Here is the story.

I called our vendor at around noon, asking for the tracking number and other info. It was being shipped directly from their depot with UPS as their shipping department was closed. I had to call the depot with my order number to get the tracking number. Then I called UPS' main number with the tracking number and was informed that the driver had attempted to deliver the package, but the office was closed. Further, he said that the warehouse was closed until Monday and there was nothing they could do. I went to the video surveillance we have of the street, and it showed the FedEx guy, and the USPS guy, but no UPS even drove past on the street! This is when I was ready to start yelling. What it finally took was for our vendor to threaten to pull all their business with UPS in order to get a guy from the UPS office to put the package in their car and drive it over here at 8PM. End result? I waited 13 hours for a package, and spent the next 5 installing the device. Fun.
 

Fushigi

Storage Is My Life
Joined
Jan 23, 2002
Messages
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Illinois, USA
I've been less than fond of UPS ever since I bought some books online. I tracked the shipment from Reno to Louisville to Indianapolis to Addison, IL (the local depot) then back to Indy then Louisville then Indy then Addison etc. After three or four round trips between Kentucky & Illinois my books eventually back to Reno/the seller. I was calling UPS regularly to point it out & they still could pull their heads out of their collective asses long enough to get the package to me.

The package, when I got it some three weeks after it was shipped, was clean; there was no dirt or anything blocking any bar codes or printed addresses. There was no excuse for UPS botching the delivery, especially since I called them & provided the tracking number to explicitly try & get the package to the destination.

Do I still use UPS? Yes, when it's the appropriate (free) shipping option. Otherwise I prefer FedEx or even the USPS. And those two are the only carriers I personally will ship with.
 

udaman

Wannabe Storage Freak
Joined
Sep 20, 2006
Messages
1,209
UPS typically does alright for us, our usual driver is great. Of course, with that being the day after thanksgiving, it wasn't our usual driver. Here is the story.

I called our vendor at around noon, asking for the tracking number and other info. It was being shipped directly from their depot with UPS as their shipping department was closed. I had to call the depot with my order number to get the tracking number. Then I called UPS' main number with the tracking number and was informed that the driver had attempted to deliver the package, but the office was closed. Further, he said that the warehouse was closed until Monday and there was nothing they could do. I went to the video surveillance we have of the street, and it showed the FedEx guy, and the USPS guy, but no UPS even drove past on the street! This is when I was ready to start yelling. What it finally took was for our vendor to threaten to pull all their business with UPS in order to get a guy from the UPS office to put the package in their car and drive it over here at 8PM. End result? I waited 13 hours for a package, and spent the next 5 installing the device. Fun.

You want to talk about fun, you can't handle fun!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedEx
In 2001, FedEx sealed a $9 billion deal with the USPS to transport all of the post office's overnight and express deliveries
I would imagine you could get the same kind of excuses from lower level employees at each of the above. Could be the boneheaded UPS driver (over the years, no matter who the various dumbarese, BF lazy, braindead, on cruise-control, couldn't give a darn USPS postal carriers...with same street number addresses for nearby streets, or if they are extremely lazy, they just grab the stack of sorted mail in their bags and give your neighbor, 1, 2, or even 3 address #'s away, you mail or vice versa) did try to deliver, just went to the wrong street by mistake, with the same/similar numbered address?

Funny, overnight/next day with USPS costs less, for small envelopes/packages than FedEx, yet FedEx planes are the ones moving that USPS freight, talk about quantity discounts :p

Another potential problem which UPS doesn't have AFAIK. FedEx, in order to reduce costs/be more competitive, is now using independent contractor trucks. IOW, lots of those FedEx painted delivery trucks are *not* owned by FedEx.

If the independent contractor (don't know if this applies to all FedEx or just Ground service) can't make a delivery on a Friday, there is some screwup with delivery, the indy's going to take their truck home for the weekend, they don't have a 'public' central warehouse where you can drive to after hours to attempt pickup.

I had this problem with some old/rare wine that I did not want to bake inside such a truck over a hot weekend earlier this year. When I found out...uggh, I did make 1/2 a dozen angry calls, to FedEx Houston call center, they claimed there was no direct phone I could call herd in LA to the local central office, and that only Houston could call, to find out when they closed for the evening. But they gave me the wrong address (was 5 numbers long, not 4...so I drove helplessly in the dark in the wrong industrial section of south/downtown LA...not gang hood, but not a place I wanted to be), I had to call back, got some guy with Indian accent, no supervisors at the time, getting later at night, I can't see, my contacts are starting to glue to my eyes :D.

Guy tells me there is no public pickup at FedEx central warehouse. I tell him fine, I don't want to argue, can he just confirm the street address. I got that, 5 numbers, 5 miles to the east, in the city of Vernon, contiguous with dwntwn LA, but independent with lower taxes or something, cause most of the city is one large industrial wasteland for commercial shipping and what not, lots and lots of semi-trucks out there late at night. At the very end of a wandering street I hit a deadend and small sign on chainlink 15ft high fence, says FedEx with an arrow :p.

Drive some more along fenced pathway (no razor wire at top as I recall), zigzag circuitous pathway, get to security guard gate/check station...now 10:30PM, lol. I am asked to park along the fence. I go inside, see they have a metal detector, and I have to temp surrender my pepper spray. I'm told to head 300ft off in the distance to a docking warehouse, elevated 6ft up from the road so as to be at a height for unloading semi-trucks. Earlier, Houston FedEx had called LA central FedEx, which then paged the Indy with instructions to return my package to FedEx central, where at 11PM I finally was able to retrieve it. I asked them if I was there late, as I thought I was told they close for the weekend @10PM? They informed me, hourly wage young women, one preggers, and men in their 20's; that 'technically' they were already closed at 9PM, but "it's alright, we're here all night"...everyday of the year!

And so ended yet another episode of the Twilight Zone of my 'reality bites' life...to be continued....more bizarre tales




:drunk::tgif::b-day:Happy B-day jtr!
 

mubs

Storage? I am Storage!
Joined
Nov 22, 2002
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4,908
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Somewhere in time.
My mother managed to injure herself on Thursday (she broke her foot) ... in 16 hours they couldn't get anyone to actually help her.

Sheesh, that sucks. An emergency room that isn't really one. Hope your mom is better now. How long will the cast be on?
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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Sheesh, that sucks. An emergency room that isn't really one. Hope your mom is better now. How long will the cast be on?

Six weeks I think.
My brother had a 14 hour wait last spring for a compound-broken arm and some really bad abrasions after he got "bumped" by a car while he was riding his bike.

Do people who go to the emergency room with anything less than gunshot wounds and cardiac arrest really get decent treatment? Ever?
 

ddrueding

Fixture
Joined
Feb 4, 2002
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Horsens, Denmark
Do people who go to the emergency room with anything less than gunshot wounds and cardiac arrest really get decent treatment? Ever?

I suspect it depends on your emergency room, or more specifically, your neighborhood. If there are a significant number of people without health insurance, they go into the emergency room for anything, so they get flooded with patients who don't pay, so the hospital stops putting resources into a loss center.
 

Mercutio

Fatwah on Western Digital
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My parents live in a very wealthy community, in a very wealthy neighborhood and they are in fact rather wealthy. The hospital is three blocks from their house.

My neighborhood, I have no idea. I won't go to the doctor unless I'm sure I have something that's immediately life threatening. I've taken the well reasoned position that all medical care amounts to a scam for insurance companies and no one involved actually gives a shit about your well being. They just want you to sit quietly or to go away.
 

paugie

Storage is cool
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Messages
702
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Bulacan, Philippines
Congratulations, Dave! Enjoy yourself at your wedding.

I'll settle for leftover pizza.

Here's what usually happens here.
The neighbors come over to help cook food for you. You're glad they've come to help. So they're gutting the pigs, chickens and whatever else you've raised just for this occasion. Then they start cooking. Then serving. The food starts flooding the dining hall and you're happy. You're welcoming everyone and urging them to eat, eat, eat! There's more where that came from.
What you don't know is that half of the food is already finding it's way across the fence to the cooks' homes.
 
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