Away

Have you ever been on a vacation and the only thing that you can think about is home? I never have until today. I'm out of town at the moment, we are in Acme Michigan at the Grand Traverse Resort. There's nothing to do here except spend money on stuff, swim in the kid infested pool and some really lackluster outdoor events that we went to yesterday.

But that's the point - right? Isn't a vacation supposed to be about doing nothing? Want to know where the wife is? Doing the same thing that she does everyday. Working out. Yes she is in the resort gym. Now that's crazy, I would've went with her but I have the current viral epidemic thats going around, I can barley breathe as I write this.

Back to my main point.....I'm worried about what jobs are going on this week - I'm trying to plan ahead. I'm thinking about the snow that I will have to shovel when I get home. I'm thinking about all kinds of stuff.....I'm on vacation! So, this is my first step at relaxation, I'm browsing the internet, reading and writing this blog. I'm current reading Cash: The Auto-Biography (Johnny Cash) - It's good, OneBigHappy let me borrow it. I'm thinking that I will read a little bit and have some coffee.

Well, this has been the most humorless, pointless blog I've ever written. So I'll leave you with a short side note:

You know those dancing sign holder people, sometimes they are in a costume and they are dancing with the sign that points to the business that they want you to go to. Have you ever been driving down the street and seen one of these dancers and said to yourself, "Hey, I think I might just go get a pizza right now" or " Geez, I guess I do need my taxes done - and look I happen to have all of my tax documents with me!" - so you make an at speed turn into the place and actually buy their product? It just seems like wasted dollars on advertisement to me. They don't entice me into buying their product.

I love the ones that are totally not into it, they are on their phone texting some one and they are holding the sign under their arm. If you don't have a good work ethic when you're only job is holding a sign where people can see it - All hope is lost.

That is half of the current unemployment problem. So I say, don't cut dollars for education, increase them or at least leave them the same. The last thing that we need is less educated people.

(Vote for Hagaman 2015)

Don't take this the wrong way I actually agree with most of the changes that Gov. Snyder is making. It's just a joke.......is it really a joke if you have to explain it?

My thought for the day.

Peace.

Starbucks

Scene opens with Tom walking into a Starbucks chain coffee house. He walks up to the counter and is confusingly looking at the menu while waiting in line behind a slightly larger, balding man in a similar winter coat. The man finishes his order and then, almost as if human nature provided him with the knowledge of knowing where your recently ordered product appears before you, went to the "pickup area". This is the location at which you meet your destined drink and depart to your table of choice or exit the store, making sure to wrap your now "to go" beverage with the appropriate, free, cup sleeve. This man reaches this location as Tom walks toward the counter, still unsure of the proper drink to summons from the magical "pickup area". He pause for an acceptable amount of time before asking the clerk:

"How's the light mocha?......does it taste ok?"

The clerk, trapped in an awkwardly long pause, only responds with noises that insinuate that he in fact does not know the answer to the question.

Tom then interrupts the "caveman noises" coming from the clerk and says:

"What's good?....In your opinion."

The clerks attitude changes, as if his human body was just encompassed by an alternate spirit. He quickly says:

"Do you want my opinion? Or Starbuck's opinion?"

Tom pauses for a very brief second, and in this second he has determined and judged this clerks character. He has concluded that he has no desire to be in the current establishment and that his opinion may be, if not accurate, then at least somewhat amusing. So he decides to hear the clerk out. He says:

"Well...your opinion."

The clerk quickly, as if he already knew what Tom's response would be, says:

"I don't drink anything on this menu."

Tom, being somewhat amused by the clerks comment and failure to contain any loyalties to his current employer, chuckles under his breathe and says:

"Ok then, should I go to another coffee shop?"

The clerk says:

"Sure, if you want to."

Tom, kind of blown away with the last "cherry-on-top" comment, thinks to himself: "I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for this stupid gift card". Then Tom, as if he has just been defeated in an arm wrestling match, says:

"Just give me a Cafe' Mocha...Thanks"

".....for nothing" are the next words that Tom mutters in his head.

The clerk continues to ring up the order and then moves to the bar area to Tom's left and begins talking to what appears to be a regular in this self proclaimed crappy coffee house.

Tom then instinctively moves to the magical "pickup area" and awaits his settled upon beverage. Then prepares the cup in it's "to go" garb and carries it to his vehicle. The entire journey to his car he thinks of a witty way of writing about this on his blog....but comes up blank.

Order# 15614

Happy Saturday Everyone,

For some reason I love releasing my customer service debacles on this blog. I hope that its not boring for the 13 readers that I have.

I own a business and I strive for 100% customer satisfaction - It's not an option for a good business, it's a requirement. It makes me so angry when companies that you feed your money to wont give you the time of day - or they are rude - or they just don't care. It's insanity.

This is my latest fight: I ordered four HP 92 ink cartridges - I received four HP 94 cartridges. All that I want is the correct order.....not too hard right. But this company that I order from (at least once a week, sometimes more) doesn't have a phone number (I know, rediculous right?) so they will only communicate via email. Stupid, that's what that is. Well they just wont respond to me, and in the mean time, it makes me look bad because my clients are waiting.

Here's the thread:

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 11:13 AM, Thomas Hagaman wrote:

Hi - I ordered four HP #92 and I received four HP #94. Are they the same cartridge?

Thanks for your time.

- Tom Hagaman

_______________________________________________________

On Fri, Jan 21, 2011 at 7:25 PM, Thomas Hagaman wrote:

Hi,

I emailed you about this order at 11:13am this morning - I have a client waiting on this order and if its wrong, I need the correct order ASAP. I ordered four HP 92 and received four HP 94.

Thanks

- Tom Hagaman

___________________________________________________

On Sat, Jan 22, 2011 at 1:42 PM, Thomas Hagaman wrote:

Good Afternoon,

I have done some research on my own and found that these cartridges are not the same and cannot be used in my clients printer. I would like the correct cartridges sent to me as quickly as possible.

I use your site almost exclusively for ink purchases, but with this lack of quick response to your clients I am considering going with one of your more expensive competitors because they will respond to emails in a timely fashion and they have a phone number.

If your only means of communication is going to be email then you need to respond to it quickly. Within a few hours would be acceptable, thats not a ridiculous request - that's good business. I respond to my clients, via email, within an hour - in this age of technology thats not very hard.

Please let me know that this matter is going to be handled.

Tom Hagaman

Am I being too hard on them? - I mean if you called a company on Friday morning and left them a message wouldn't you expect that they would call you back that day?

What do you think?

The Flip

Just because I love bashing companies that screw over the consumers....Here's the latest Tom vs. The World:

I got a Flip Ultra HD for Christmas.........Christmas 2009. Well it's not working right all of a sudden, and wouldn't you know it - just weeks after the warranty expired. Awesome.

Here's the online chat (for those of you who have nothing better to do)

Lindy Pres S. (29971) has joined this session.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Hi, I have a Flip UltraHD and the battery died while I was filming - when I recharged it the video that I was filming is not there and the amount of time that the video was is missing.....if that makes sense.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have deleted everything off of the device and it only has 1hr 02 min left - which is way less than it used to have.... Can I reset the device to factory defaults somehow?

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
So, your concern is to regain full record time of the camcorder, right?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Alright.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Let me help you with this one.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
By the way, is this your first time to contact us regarding this device or question?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes it is

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks. May I know what State or Country you're from?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Michigan, United States

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Kindly look underneath the device, look for the model number and the possible version. Also, include the serial number.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Flip UltraHD (2nd Generation) Model: U2120B

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Serial: MB0921805990

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks for that.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
What operating system or version of Windows is used on this computer?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Windows Vista

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
Service pack 1

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Thanks.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
I would like to give you a link that gives you the steps on how to fix this problem.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Is that alright with you?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Here is the link:http://www6.nohold.net/CiscoFlip/ukp.aspx?vw=1&docid=56112267de184b20a70ff485759361
d2_KB20625_EN_v1.xml&pid=4&respid=0&snid=1&
dispid=0&cpage=search

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have already tried that

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
it didn't fix the issue

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Okay.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Are you willing to delete the contents of the camcorder?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I have already deleted everything

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
so yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Okay.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Please plug it into your computer.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok - done

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Now, click on Computer and look for the Flip drive.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Please delete everything inside the Flip drive.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
thats done

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Now, unplug the camcorder and check the record time.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
now it says 1hr 03min

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
gained 1 min

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
it used to be almost 2 hrs

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I plugged it back in and it said that it needed to update the camera software and it started installing it automatically

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
after that ...it now says 1hr 02min again

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Have you powered it on and off 8 times alternately?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
If that is so, then the device may already be defective.

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
When did you purchase the device>

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
just a little bit over a year

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Do you still have the receipt of the device?

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I probably do, I don't know where it is at the moment

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Because the device may already be defective.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
ok, but I thought that it only has a 1 year warranty

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
Yes, based on your serial number, it is already out of warranty.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
so there's nothing that you can do?

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
If you still have the receipt showing it is not more than a year old, we can have it replaced.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
I just told you that it's over a year old - but just barley

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
which is usually when devices stop working - about the minute that they are out of warranty

from Lindy Pres S. (29971) to All Participants:
We have actually tried all the possible solutions.

from Thomas Hagaman to All Participants:
yes - I understand. I'm the one stuck with a faulty device that's out of warranty. Here's a solution: make a better product.

This American

I'm a fanatic when it comes to this musician- I love his music, I love his lyrics - but most of all I love the way that he acts - that's really a lost art in this age. He's a respectable person in real life.

I have had a few experiences where I've meet the artist and found out that they are just jerks that make great music. It's nice to see someone out there that's.....well........normal.

It's inspiring.

If you don't know yet, I'm talking about Joe Purdy.

He doesn't have a record label, but he's accomplished. He has now released 12 records since 2001.

That's even more inspiring.

I'm writing you this to let you know that Mr. Purdy has decided to release a new album (just 5 months since his last) and for the month of December - it's FREE on his website. Just follow the link below to get your free copy.

http://joepurdy.com/

As my friend Mark says: "Free is the good F word"

Peace

Just Sayin......

OK, haven't wrote on here in a while, But....I needed to just complain about this one little thing and then I'll get out of your hair.

This little saying popped up a little while back and now it's spreading like wild fire. I can't figure out what the origin is, but it's climbing into the rankings with the likes of:

"Talk to the hand"

"Can you hear me now?"

"Doh!"

"Watchu talk bout Willis?"

"That's what she said"

"Just do it"

"I'm just chillaxin"

"Your mom went to college"

"What up Dawg"

and

"You'll end up living in a van, down by the river!"

(Well maybe not that last one)

Here it is: "Just sayin"

I'll give you an example:

"Did you see Sara's new haircut?"

"Yeah, it looks good"

"Well, I think it looks like crap, Just sayin"

It's like someone just gave you free reign to say whatever you want, and as long as you say: "Just sayin" at the end then you're all good - can't be mad at me because I'm just sayin...........

(I said no offense)

At no other time throughout you're day is it important to tell people what you just did.......

While walking up the stairs: "Good morning, Just walkin"

While typing: "Sorry hold on a sec, Just typin"

While eating lunch: "So how have you been, Just eatin"

While driving down Eureka Rd.: "What is your problem? why can't you just learn how to drive, Just ragin"

Other people disguise that fact that they are really just pushing their opinions onto you - in a somewhat subtle way (but not really).

I'm "Just sayin" that's all I'm doing. I'm not "Just tellin" you how its gonna be

or

I'm not "Just screamin" at you for leaving all the lights on

or

I'm not "Just stadin" up for what's right....nooooooooo... I'm"Just sayin" so that means that it's not as offensive.

It's just another way for people to take a neutral standing on something.......While actually having a strong opinion on the matter...........

Just sayin

This is so last month

I currently have almost no time at all to write, read or even skim over blogs. The only time that I can do this is at lunch or during occasional lulls at work. Today I found a blog that I really enjoyed. Instead of reiterating the same thing, I thought that I would just link over to it.

Here is a teaser - the first line of the blog (you'll want to read the rest):

" Islamic Fundamentalism is to Islam as __________ is to Christianity.

The Answer?

The KKK."

http://www.aintyomamasblog.com/in-honor-of-911-something-to-remember-while-we-never-forget/