The Future of Plastics - "more plastic by weight than plankton on the ocean’s surface"

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/270/


This is a very nice article about a problem no one is focusing on very much. Plastic is in no way "biodegradable", therefore everything ever made with Plastic still exists in some form on the planet, except for what has burned. As it "erodes" due to the forces of nature, it doesn not "decompose" in any way, except it gets smaller and smaller. At each stage of the food chain, it becomes confused as food from top to bottom...here's a few excerpts from a fairly long and worthwhile article.

Even more exasperating was what his PhD student Mark Browne had discovered while shopping in a pharmacy. Browne pulls open the top drawer of a laboratory cabinet. Inside is a cornucopia of feminine beauty aids: shower massage creams, body scrubs, and hand cleaners. Several are by boutique labels: Neova Body Smoother, SkinCeuticals Body Polish, and DDF Strawberry Almond Body Polish. Others are international name brands: Neutrogena, Clearasil, Pond’s Fresh Start, even a tube of Colgate Icy Blast toothpaste. Some are available in the United States, others only in the United Kingdom. But all have one thing in common.

“Exfoliants: little granules that massage you as you bathe.” He selects a peach-colored tube of St. Ives Apricot Scrub; its label reads: 100% natural exfoliants. “This stuff is okay. The granules are actually chunks of ground-up jojoba seeds and walnut shells.” Other natural brands use grape seeds, apricot hulls, coarse sugar, or sea salt. “The rest of them,” he says, with a sweep of his hand, “have all gone to plastic.”

On each, listed among the ingredients are “micro-fine polyethylene granules,” or “polyethylene micro-spheres,” or “polyethylene beads.” Or just polyethylene.

“Can you believe it?” Richard Thompson demands of no one in particular, loud enough that faces bent over microscopes rise to look at him. “They’re selling plastic meant to go right down the drain, into the sewers, into the rivers, right into the ocean. Bite-sized pieces of plastic to be swallowed by little sea creatures.”

...snip...

The real reason that the world’s landfills weren’t overflowing with plastic, he found, was because most of it ends up in an ocean-fill.

After a few years of sampling the North Pacific gyre, Moore concluded that 80 percent of mid-ocean flotsam had originally been discarded on land. It had blown off garbage trucks or out of landfills, spilled from railroad shipping containers and washed down storm drains, sailed down rivers or wafted on the wind, and found its way to this widening gyre.

“This,” Captain Moore tells his passengers, “is where all the things end up that flow down rivers to the sea.”

It is the same phrase the geologists have uttered to students since the beginning of science.

However, what Moore refers to is a type of runoff and sedimentation that the Earth had hitherto never known in 5 billion years of geologic time-but likely will henceforth.

DURING HIS FIRST THOUSAND-MILE CROSSING of the gyre, Moore calculated half a pound for every one hundred square meters of debris on the surface, and arrived at 3 million tons of plastic. His estimate, it turned out, was corroborated by U.S. Navy calculations. It was the first of many staggering figures he would encounter. And it only represented visible plastic: an indeterminate amount of larger fragments get fouled by enough algae and barnacles to sink.

In 1998, Moore returned with a trawling device, such as Sir Alistair Hardy had employed to sample krill, and found, incredibly, more plastic by weight than plankton on the ocean’s surface.

In fact, it wasn’t even close: six times as much.

...snip...

"Plastic is still plastic. The material still remains a polymer. Polyethylene is not biodegraded in any practical time scale. There is no mechanism in the marine environment to biodegrade that long a molecule.” Even if photodegradable nets help marine mammals live, he concluded, their powdery residue remains in the sea, where the filter feeders will find it.

“EXCEPT FOR A SMALL AMOUNT that’s been incinerated,” says Tony Andrady the oracle, “every bit of plastic manufactured in the world for the last fifty years or so still remains. It’s somewhere in the environment.”

That half century’s total production now surpasses 1 billion tons. It includes hundreds of different plastics, with untold permutations involving added plasticizers, opacifiers, colors, fillers, strengtheners, and light stabilizers.

The longevity of each can vary enormously. Thus far, none has disappeared. Researchers have attempted to find out how long it will take polyethylene to biodegrade by incubating a sample in a live bacteria culture. A year later, less than 1 percent was gone.

...snip...

"Egyptian pyramids have preserved corn, seeds, and even human parts such as hair because they were sealed away from sunlight with little oxygen or moisture,” says Andrady, a mild, precise man with a broad face and a clipped, persuasively reasonable voice. “Our waste dumps are somewhat like that. Plastic buried where there’s little water, sun, or oxygen will stay intact a long time. That is also true if it is sunk in the ocean, covered with sediment. At the bottom of the sea, there’s no oxygen, and it’s very cold.”

He gives a clipped little laugh. “Of course,” he adds, “we don’t know much about microbiology at those depths. Possibly anaerobic organisms there can biodegrade it. It’s not inconceivable. But no one’s taken a submersible down to check. Based on our observations, it’s unlikely. So we expect much-slower degradation at the sea bottom. Many times longer. Even an order of magnitude longer.”

An order of magnitude—that’s ten times—longer than what? One thousand years? Ten thousand?

No one knows, because no plastic has died a natural death yet. It took today’s microbes that break hydrocarbons down to their building blocks a long time after plants appeared to learn to eat lignin and cellulose. More recently, they’ve even learned to eat oil. None can digest plastic yet, because fifty years is too short a time for evolution to develop the necessary biochemistry.

“But give it a hundred thousand years,” says Andrady the optimist—he was in his native Sri Lanka when the Christmas 2004 tsunami hit, and even there, after those apocalyptic waters struck, people found reason to hope. “I’m sure you’ll find many species of microbes whose genes will let them do this tremendously advantageous thing, so that their numbers will grow and prosper. Today’s amount of plastic will take hundreds of thousands of years to consume, but, eventually, it will all biodegrade. Lignin is far more complex, and it biodegrades. It’s just a matter of waiting for evolution to catch up with the materials we are making.”

Frish Sez:

So, it is just a matter of waiting for evolution to catch up! Life "evolves" to take advantage of energy niches, as stated elsewhere on this blog. The potential energy of plastics is simply one more resource for evolution's grinding progress.

However, will the chemicals that plastics have distributed around the planet, and the plastic particles themselves, disrupt biological systems causing chaos or ruin? Seems likely actually, plastics, from bottle caps to the smallest sliver of ground up plastic bag are mistaken for food at every level of the food chain. Krill have been found with plastic inside of them.

This can't be a good thing. They are wasting their energy consuming non-nutritious detritus from our profligate wasteful luxurious but unsustainable lifestyle. And, it is killing them and whales that feed on them...

Here's another source of scientific investigation into the accumulation of plastic in the North Pacific Gyre (a huge part of the ocean between Hawaii and California).

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Plastic-Plastic-Everywhere-Algalita.htm

Here's a little something from Australia about whales around the world and plastic:

http://www.noosa.qld.gov.au/ServicesFacilities/EnvironmentalHealth/StormwaterQuality.shtml

Plastic Bags and Whales
A Bryde"s Whale became stranded off the North Queensland coast in August 2000. Despite the work of volunteers the whale died. The autopsy revealed 6m2 of plastic in the whale's stomach.

The Bryde's Whale is a member of the baleen whale family. Being a filter feeder their diet mainly consists of small shrimp-like crustaceans called Krill. The plastic bags ingested were not even mistaken as a food source. They were just accidentally swallowed when filtering the Krill.

The whale's stomach contained plastics and other foriegn items.

A dead pygmy sperm whale found on a New South Wales beach had a plug of plastic bags in its gut. Presumably these items were mistaken for squid, the sperm whale"s main food.

A sperm whale found dead on a North American beach was discovered to have starved to death because a plastic gallon bottle which it had swallowed had plugged its small intestine. The animal was full of plastic material ranging from other plastic bottles to 12m of nylon rope.

Pope: Other Christians not true churches

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070710/ap_on_re_eu/pope_other_christians;_ylt=AsFBgJ82RMHgP55D38neRN87Xs8F

This is too good for the archive...so here's the article...

By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 10, 3:59 PM ET
LORENZAGO DI CADORE, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI reasserted the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation.

The statement brought swift criticism from Protestant leaders. "It makes us question whether we are indeed praying together for Christian unity," said the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Protestants in more than 100 countries.

"It makes us question the seriousness with which the Roman Catholic Church takes its dialogues with the reformed family and other families of the church," the group said in a letter charging that the document took ecumenical dialogue back to the era before the Second Vatican Council.

It was the second time in a week that Benedict has corrected what he says are erroneous interpretations of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-1965 meetings that modernized the church. On Saturday, Benedict revived the old Latin Mass — a move cheered by Catholic traditionalists but criticized by more liberal ones as a step backward from Vatican II.

Among the council's key developments were its ecumenical outreach and the development of the New Mass in the vernacular, which essentially replaced the old Latin Mass.

Benedict, who attended Vatican II as a young theologian, has long complained about what he considers its erroneous interpretation by liberals, saying it was not a break from the past but rather a renewal of church tradition.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which Benedict headed before becoming pope, said it was issuing the new document Tuesday because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been "erroneous or ambiguous" and had prompted confusion and doubt.

The new document — formulated as five questions and answers — restates key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, "Dominus Iesus," which riled Protestant and other Christian denominations because it said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation."

The commentary repeated church teaching that says the Catholic Church "has the fullness of the means of salvation."

"Christ 'established here on earth' only one church," said the document released as the pope vacations at a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore, in Italy's Dolomite mountains.

The other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have apostolic succession — the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles — and therefore their priestly ordinations are not valid, it said.

The Rev. Sara MacVane, of the Anglican Centre in Rome, said that although the document contains nothing new, "I don't know what motivated it at this time."

"But it's important always to point out that there's the official position and there's the huge amount of friendship and fellowship and worshipping together that goes on at all levels, certainly between Anglicans and Catholics and all the other groups and Catholics," she said.
The document said that Orthodox churches were indeed "churches" because they have apostolic succession and enjoyed "many elements of sanctification and of truth." But it said they do not recognize the primacy of the pope — a defect, or a "wound" that harmed them, it said.

"This is obviously not compatible with the doctrine of primacy which, according to the Catholic faith, is an 'internal constitutive principle' of the very existence of a particular church," said a commentary from the congregation that accompanied the text.

Despite the harsh tone, the document stressed that Benedict remains committed to ecumenical dialogue.

"However, if such dialogue is to be truly constructive it must involve not just the mutual openness of the participants, but also fidelity to the identity of the Catholic faith," the commentary said.

The top Protestant cleric in Benedict's homeland, Germany, complained the Vatican apparently did not consider that "mutual respect for the church status" was required for any ecumenical progress.

In a statement titled "Lost Chance," Lutheran Bishop Wolfgang Huber argued that "it would also be completely sufficient if it were to be said that the reforming churches are 'not churches in the sense required here' or that they are 'churches of another type' — but none of these bridges is used" in the Vatican document.

The Vatican statement, signed by the congregation prefect, American Cardinal William Levada, was approved by Benedict on June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul — a major ecumenical feast day.

There was no indication why the pope felt it necessary to release it now, particularly since his 2000 document summed up the same principles.

Some analysts suggested it could be a question of internal church politics or that the congregation was sending a message to certain theologians it did not want to single out. Or, it could be an indication of Benedict using his office as pope to again stress key doctrinal issues from his time at the congregation.

In fact, the only theologian cited by name in the document for having spawned erroneous interpretations of ecumenism was Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian clergyman who left the priesthood and was a target of then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's crackdown on liberation theology in the 1980s.

Joke comprehension may decrease with age

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070711/ap_on_sc/joke_comprehension_age

By BETSY TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer (From the web, July 10, 2007.)


ST. LOUIS - A new psychology study at Washington University was no laughing matter: It found that older adults may have a harder time getting jokes because of an age-related decline in certain memory and reasoning abilities.

The research suggested that because older adults may have greater difficulty with cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning and short-term memory, they also have greater difficulty with tests of humor comprehension.


Researchers tested about 40 healthy adults over age 65 and 40 undergraduate students with exercises in which they had to complete jokes and stories. Participants also had to choose the correct punch line for verbal jokes and select the funny ending to series of cartoon panels.
Findings were published earlier this month in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.


The research conducted by graduate student Wingyun Mak and psychology professor Brian Carpenter showed that the younger adults did 6 percent better on the verbal jokes and 14 percent better on the comic portion than did older participants, Mak said.


But who decides what's funny?


The researchers, citing past work in the field, wrote that humor research is "rooted in the philosophical notion that humor arises from a sense of incongruity, a conflict between the expected and the actual."


"Successful comprehension of humor occurs upon resolving something that is seemingly incongruous with a logical but less obvious explanation."


Researchers used a verbal joke test developed in 1983 and used in other humor studies. Mak added a new element, though, by showing participants cartoons from the Ferd'nand comic strip, and asking them to choose between four panels to locate the funny ending. Three of the choices for each cartoon were the wrong ones, created by an artist for the study.


Participants had to respond to jokes like this one:


A businessman is riding the subway after a hard day at the office. A young man sits down next to him and says, "Call me a doctor ... call me a doctor."


The businessman asks, "What's the matter, are you sick?"


Participants then had to choose the right ending. For this one, the correct answer was "I just graduated from medical school."


Wrong choices were straightforward answers or conclusions that did not follow from the premise. Among the wrong answers: "Yes, I feel a little weak. Please help me."


"This wasn't a study about what people find funny. It was a study about whether they get what's supposed to be funny," Carpenter said.


"There are basic cognitive mechanisms to understanding what's going on in a joke. Older adults, because they may have deficits in some of those cognitive areas, may have a harder time understanding what a joke is about."


Mak said humor comprehension merits further study because of the potential physical and psychological benefits of humor.


"I think it's really important to note this doesn't mean older adults aren't funny or don't understand humor," Mak, who is from Los Angeles, said.


She said humor comprehension and humor appreciation are tested in different ways. The Washington University study didn't delve into humor appreciation. In fact, Mak said, older study participants who may have picked the wrong answers may also have been laughing at their choices at the time.


Josephine Bertani, 73, of St. Louis, took part in the study. She has some memory issues, and thinks she probably didn't come up with all the right answers.


Even so, she leads tours of senior citizens as a volunteer through St. Ambrose Catholic Church.


"I'll entertain them with jokes," she said, adding that some tour participants bring her jokes that she can read aloud on bus trips. Any cases of the older people not laughing? "Not yet," she said.

Tolerance, why is it so hard?

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/27/news/moscow.php

Gay Rights Campaigners
No surprise, they got beat up
No rule of law.

Tennis Anyone?

I wasn't there. Sometimes one can't know if I was there or not, sometimes I don't tell, sometimes you can't tell if the story is even true, but I believe, on good authority, that this is true, but I wasn't there.

Schultz and Cageman lived about one mile apart.

Their neighborhood had the distinction of being hilly.

Luckily, in Minnesota hills are not common.

Winter being winter, and snow/ice slippery, hills are definitely not recommended.

This particular year had seen a couple of large snowfalls before Christmas. The hills were covered with three feet of snow, and drifts were as high as 10 feet. The lights under the eaves of many houses were buried, the snow luminous and flashing green and red!

Winter in Minnesota is notoriously bad, dangerous, cold, and unforgiving. Strange things can happen when the weather gets as cold as it does, especially when it has been snowing.

Certain streets don’t get plowed often. Others get enough traffic to push the fresh snow down into hard packed ice.

That dark, dirty and hard ice seems to go directly from solid to vapor, since the actual temperature stays below zero Fahrenheit day and night, yet the ice disappears over a few days.

Schultz and Cageman were going to Walleye’s on some important mission. Probably to smoke a lot of pot, then pick up Walleye, since he had wrecked his Dodge Dart several weeks earlier.

Schultz pulls up and honks out the Winto-green gang rhythm, Cageman rounds the corner from his basement cave. A muted "Stairway to Heaven" was blasting on the AM and Schultz’ second-Joint-in-a-mile was being enflamed. As Cageman opens the door, he's hit simultaneously with the odor of pot and the sound from the music...he slams the door as he sits, and takes a hit and away they went.

Rounding the hill, the road covered with a thick sheet of very slick ice, Schultz attempted to make the left turn down a fairly steep slope.

The car began to skid off the side of the road, on the side that had been cut away, and the ice, (an "unwelcome mat"), blended gracefully onto the top of the snow drift...just down the hill was a private home’s tennis court, thoroughly covered in thick snow.

Schultz had one hand on the joint and the other on the wheel, looked toward Cageman, as they both screamed "HOLY SHIT" in perfect unison and rather highly elevated pitch.

Fingers never leaving the J, Schultz and Cageman and the car hurtle straight towards the tennis court’s fence. The car hits…WHAM, then the fence moaned GRRRRRRR as it slowly bent delivering the car to the center of the tennis court.

The car, half buried in snow, crunched to a stop. Their screaming stopped soon after that...with the car stalled.

A new grinding sound began as the fence, relieved of the car, shifted slowly to vertical.

Now, inside the court, the car remained, surrounded by car-roof-deep snow, and no visible means on how it could have gotten there... no tracks, no footprints, no nuttin' but the top of the car could be seen from the street above!

The silence was deafening! But not for long…

“Jesus Schultz, you could’a killed me!”

“Eff-off-A-Hole, the joint’s ash didn’t even fall!”

And, as Schultz held up the joint, Cageman saw that it was true.

They sat back, finished the joint, and appreciated the obvious "sign".

It being a weekday, the owners of the tennis court weren’t at home, so, the very lucky friends walked back to Cageman’s house. It was exceedingly quiet, as the snow dampened every noise. Their breath formed Godzilla-like vapor trails, and frost deposits defined Cageman's mouth through the scarf that covered it. Gloved hands dug deep into parka pockets belied the cold...the snow under their boots sang and squeaked as they trudged along the road.

First, lots of snow shovels. Next, dismantle fence. Now attach a cable to the car from the tow truck on the hill and drag the literally unblemished car up…

Insurance took care of everything; these guys led a charmed life.

Freshman Dorm Life: Vending Machines

Once upon a time, in a freshman all-male dorm, there were several vending machines in the lobby.

Most of the time, just across the foyer, there was someone at the front desk (actually a counter behind glass, with a window like a bank).

Well, one night, Belk was on duty, and sleeping like a newborn.

I can't say I was there, but no one is asking are they?

In the morning, all hell broke loose in the lobby.

"Mrs. B" (the hag that was our "Dorm Mother") all the Resident Assistants and their Assistants, and the regular preppy defenders of righteousness, the Campus Police, and even the San Diego Police were all mumbling and grumbling in front of the vending machines, and by the trophy cases, and behind and in front of the front desk...

It was fairly easy for them to figure out:

1. Belk had slept through the whole thing.

2. The vending machines had their contents delivered a spiral coil "untwisting" system. Each unwind of the spiral allowed another bag of snack food to drop into the tray. All it took was to flip the machines around and around and they would have their contents available. (How Belk could have slept through the flipping was a much debated item, considering the noise made by that many loose coins.)

3. The more disturbing thing was the fact that the trophy cases in the dorm’s ground floor “living room” were all empty. The 3 trophy cases each had sliding glass doors, embedded with chicken wire mesh, helping to confirm and remind and enforce that the dorms were modeled on a woman’s prison. Normally there were cylindrical locks with keyholes on metal tongues, that moved off the tongues to allow the sliding glass doors to move.

However, the trophies were no longer inside the cases. And, the locks were placed on BACKWARDS so the key hole was INSIDE the glass...so the doors could not be opened at all.

Now, if you knew what got them in that condition and could resolve it without breaking the glass (can't say I do, won't say I don't) would you offer your assistance?

As far as the trophies, poorly hidden in-between couch seats, in trash cans, and other noteworthy locations; none had gone missing.

No money was lost, none escaped from inside the guts of the vending machines.

The vending machines' contents were never recovered.

Tell me does prayer really help is god listening to us?

Once upon at time there were hundreds of gods. Every creek, brook, stream, river, lake, inlet, ocean had a god. Every tree and rock had a god.

Then, there were only a few gods, like the Greeks or Egyptians had.

Abraham brought the idea of a single god.

As you can see, the whole idea of god is approaching it's true nature, zero. That is, there is no god at all.

Now, can prayer help you?

It is imperative that one "believes" in the "doctor" and the "medicine".

Mind over matter. That is, it is all in your mind. If you decide you'd get better after you pray, maybe you will.

Isn't that the "secret" after all, the power of positive thinking.

It is WITHIN YOU to accomplish what you seek. Trust in yourself, that is the source of everything.

However, some find relying on an outside entity such as "god" helpful too.

So, believe in whatever voodoo works for you.

For me, I lean on myself.

Here's my YAHOO Answers! response to "Why do people who believe in Satan never see him? Why do people who believe in God only imagine they see him?"

There is no reason to believe that god or satan actually exist. Faith is the absence of reason. So faith is literally NO REASON to believe in god.

So, if you like to live your life without reason, be faithful. (see below)

Consider the following:
Kids, when they learn to speak, ask hard questions (like, where did the sun come from, or how old is the earth, or where does the moon go every month, etc.). It is important to have ready answers for such curiousity, and fairy tales fit the bill nicely. God is just another fairy tale to assist in child rearing (for one thing).

However, people do report on near death experiences (bright lights, hooded figures, tunnel) etc.

People also dream about how dead grandma spoke to them and gave them some advice. (Perhaps on a fast horse at tomorrow's race!)

People hallucinate during fever and see all sorts of things they try to relate to us later.

People imagine all kinds of things that go bump in the night.

Therefore, people speak to each other about all these things, and we tend to give them a name. God is a name for all things we have yet to describe! Or, perhaps, the expression "God Knows" says a lot!

People see things, (or imagine they see things), other people give them a name for what they saw, and they accept it as "god" or "satan".

Now, if you'd care to live your life with reason, instead of by faith, you might turn to science and history, and anthropology and other disciplines that describe the world in which we live.

The world I live in looks like this:
It is a world of geology.
It is a world that supports life, self replicating molecules.
Each species of living thing occupies an energy niche, and, when a species "discovers" an untapped energy niche, it evolves over time to take advantage of it.
Human beings are no different from any other living thing on the planet.
We have no spirit, nor anything "extra", beyond the chemical processes that keep us alive.

We do have our culture, language, technology. These items have removed us from the natural order. Our population is no longer in check, we are way out of control.

However, our technology is only an extension of our being living beings. That is, our biological imperative as a species is to efficiently occupy an energy niche. Technology and culture and language are simply means whereby humans can occupy energy niches we wouldn't "naturally" be able to exploit.

That's why we've taken over the entire planet.

That's why we're doomed, since we cannot live sustainably.

My recommendation:

http://www.vhemt.org/

Rocky and the seatbelt

Going to IBM's 100 Percent Club (the event for sales people who made quota) was a pretty big deal. Salesmen all measured each other by how many “Clubs” they had been to, as this indicated that you were successful over time. Being in San Diego, we had several folk who had 15, 20 or even 25 clubs under their belts!

After our second year on quota, both Jamie and I made the club. Being the rookie reps from the office, and with neither of us succeeding in making the club the first year, we were pretty pleased. So, we decided to take a red-eye to Miami from San Diego, since then we could have first class seats at the same price as coach.

We boarded the plane at about 11:30 PM San Diego time, and stopped in Phoenix. We didn’t have to change planes there, which was good, since we were already making a dent in the liquor in the first class compartment. By the time we landed in Atlanta we were so schnockered that we almost missed the connection to Miami. I don’t remember how we got to the Fountainbleu hotel, but when we arrived we actually were barking in the lobby, awaiting registration.

I think Rocky was either with us, or somehow met up with us soon after we deposited our bags in the room. We knew we’d be in for a treat since Rocky was an old hand at 100 Percent Clubs, and knew Miami like the bottom of his beer glass. We followed him, and a bunch of his cronies, to a bar not far from the hotel.

Rocky was greeted by the bartender, who immediately set up tall draft beers all around.

The bartender came from behind the bar, and wrestled a stool down from a bracket on the ceiling.

This was slightly weird as there were plenty of stools and chairs around.

This particular stool had a seatbelt attached to it. He plonked it down at the end of the bar, Rocky took his seat, and buckled himself in.

Another round of drinks, all around.

Jamie and I picked Rocky up three days later...he was still buckled in when we brought the cab around for him...

It is easy to prove that god is imaginary!

http://www.godisimaginary.com/

Haven't we grown out
of Children's Fairy Tales?
We now know a lot!

Miata - IBM Stream of Consciousness Jul/05/2007

I've been told that Miata, the car name that Mazda Motors chose, means "I peed in my pants" in Spanish.

At the "Olympics of Telecom", an international show in Geneva (Telecom '91), I played a role in IBM's booth. It was a 3 story booth, with an elevator. There were about 150 different demonstrations on and about the booth, and I had produced about 50 of them, including a signature recognition demonstration. I also was the voice over for many of the multimedia presentations, and, either ad libbed or wrote much of the copy.

I had a show badge at a pretty high level (some minor Executive) that got me into any part of the IBM booth. I also had pins from other booths, stuck onto my show badge, but only from companies that had strategic alliances with IBM. So, I had an AT&T pin, one from Sony, from Alcatel and TelMex and I knew what each of the alliances with these companies was...and several people had asked me and I told them why I had on the pins and they appreciated the information...however....

The President of IBM Europe (EMEA) wandered by my station on the show floor and saw my pins and told his staffie to tell my management that I was to remove all the pins from my badge, and even though I explained my situation to my management they had me remove the pins, and so, I removed all except the Radio Bejing pin, with which IBM had no alliance, except in tactics!

I worked with a fellow named Bayou Citizen. Bayou was a good old boy from Texas, but he'd been urbanized and urbaneized too. Spoke with nary a drawl. He was the field sales manager and I was the "Friend from the Factory" marketing guy, and together we'd get announcement activities accomplished.

We would measure the project by how many lives it would cost. We could look at a timeframe, and a list of activities, and decide, in 6-12 weeks time, how many people will have to be put into action for how many hours, and that's how we decided what the number of lives it would take to do the project.

For example, part of IBM's response to the 1987 stock market crash was to host 350 NYSE analysts, brokers, et al at a all day event on an IBM "college campus" (Thornwood). I was asked 6 weeks prior what we ought to demonstrate, and what we showed on the day was exactly what I had envisioned. Total Carte Blanche, I had a charge code, and that was that...(not a clue what the total event cost, but our demonstration included a private courier to transport one of only TWO 4MB cards in the world for the then PC (running OS/2!), so that we could do windows during the demo!)

Well, when we did the budget for this event, we figured it was a 3 life lost project. That's how many weeks of how many people's lives would be spent getting the event accomplished...3 lifetimes!

How many lifetimes?
How deadly Is the project?
We had to access!

Once Upon A Time
In a galaxy far far
Justice Prevailed

How Free Time is Spent... July 4th 2007

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/07/04/iphone_hack/


Famed reverse engineer Jon Lech Johansen claims to have discovered a way to "activate" an iPhone without signing up for a contract with AT&T. The hack allows users to use the iPod and Wi-Fi capabilities of the devices, but doesn't allow use of its phone features.


It is so frightening, what people do in their spare time...

Consumerism
Takes up money and free time
Mass's Opiate

Cheney as Darth Vader, Only scarier...

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/29/18431623.php

Dick Cheney as Darth
Not truly conservative
But Greedy as Hell.

Best Wishes to My Mother "Alyse Sue" from those who couldn't come to her 80th birthday from the electonic card invitation site.

Sue, you're just getting started I suspect, now that you're warmed up. Wish I could be there, you have so many friends and admirers that it can't help but be a heckuva bash! Will
fer.z
Wishing you a very Happy 80th Birthday. Like a good wine, you certainly get better with age. All my love, niece Jennifer
geb
Great idea!! We are sorry we will not be able to come. Since "Sue knows the date" we will however be sure to have an e-mail in the mail on time
wdans
All our best. 80's the new 60, so enjoy. Ric and David
fk95r
What great family members you all are. Wish I could be there in person but will celebrate with my wildest outfit. Thanks for thinking of me. You will all be in my thoughts from 5 to 8 (my time zone). Have a fabo celo! Francine
wjmann3
We are so sorry but we are driving to San Franciisco on Sunday to celebrate our grandson's birthday. I think you guys are great to honor your Mom and please accept our regrets- we don't like missing parties! ann and him
(+ 3 guests)
Have a spectacular day! Eat and drink and enjoy yourselves. We'll catch you later in the summer! Much love,
nny
Sorry I can't make what promises to be the party of the year, but will send Sue birthday greetings via mail. Barb tov ---sorry to miss this occasion (+ 3 guests) We will surely be eating a lot of cake.
Flash
Best love and birthday wishes to a great friend and incredible woman. So sorry we can't be there to celebrate with you. love Flash and mum.
dan
Nancy- I cant come , but sent a card to Sue c/o The Terrace and some Doggerel- love to all - dan
puker
je
Sorry i can't make the real party but surely will toast Sue with some bubbly to celebrate her b-day. A great idea to send cards...will get one off tomorrow. Enjoy and give her a hug for me.
jud
Sorry we won't be there to celebrate with all of you-sounds very festive! It will be our pleasure to honor her with a donation. Have fun! Jane, Dave and Arnie.
sa
will be there in spirt!
judy
I will be there in spirit and gretting card. Judy
uzaa
mwlis
We're really sorry we can't make it. We'd really like to celebrate with Sue and visit with the family.
termons
So sorry but I can't make it that wekend. Several parties already in the works tho non as fancy as an 80th b-day. Have a great time and sing loudly for me. Thanks for including me. Love, Cousin ry
Ei
Sorry we can't make it!
rmei
Big birthday hugs when the time is right but alas we three cannot join you--R, F & J
drama
I'll be in Seattle still on Sunday, but I'll see her on Thursday!
gy
I cannot go. Thank you very much! Gy
Khaszkhstan

Sorry, I am unable to attend. Please give your Mom my most Heartfelt wishes for a Very Healthy and Happy 80th Birthday. Jim
jerck
so sorry that we will not be there! happy birthday to sue and we will be sending greetings to the restaurant! hugs and love to all of you! xxx j and p
puls
Sorry I can't make it, but I appreciate your info and will pass it along to a couple of other people from our Control Data days so maybe they will send cards too.
ynellj
We'll drink a toast to Sue on her 80th on Sunday (and Tuesday!). Sorry we can't be there. Jeanne and Burt
bin.bat
Sorry we can't make it over from Stockholm, but perhaps we can call your cell during the event? art
So sorry that Bill and I cannot make the trip from Minneapolis for this festive event. Our best wishes on this most special day! - art
ical
Unable to make it. Enjoy and Mazel Tov!
ioe.eio
I'm so sad to miss this great celebration. Unfortunately, I will be on holiday. Have a great time!
Mr
I wuld certainly add to the surprise! Sorry to miss the fun.
ssrne
I'll send the birthday message right now and of course one on the actual day. Michael, when you give the speech on the day please mention that she has been my inspiration since the 80's in ZIm and especially during my bout with cancer. A fabulous and amazing woman!!!!!!!
raybow
Sad! ;-(
icop2
Nancy and Michael, We'll certianly be there in spirit but unfortunately we won't be able to attend in person. Wow, an 80th birthday. I guess we're all getting a little older. We will certainly send a birthday card, a contribution and call on Tuesday the 26th. Love, icaAn
gmn
I am sorry that I cannot join you in person but I will be there in spirit. I will send a card, tho, and light a few candles in Sue's honor!
aooe
But I'll be there in spirit (and on paper).
sanjb
So sorry to miss the event. I emailed before but maybe you did not receive it. I will be in Las Vegas for that weekend. My best to everyone! JaWii
alon
I am sooo sorry that we will be traveling (taking the family on safari!) and unable to celebrate with you. lanurG
ienat
DAMN! I'm really bummed about this, but I'll be in the greater Seattle area that weekend, and a long planned and sorely needed vacation... I wish it weren't so! I'll wait to convey my best wishes until after the party, so as to not blow the big surprise! Hope you all have a great time, and really sorry to miss it!!
ldngnk
hl0
Darling invite, and so sorry we are 2000 miles away. Enjoy! Ann & Felix

llln
sorry I can't make the party for the BIG 80! I'd much rather be in California than NJ--Alas- Mazel Tov- May we all get together for such happy occasions! Enjoy L

Human Culture - escaping mother nature's restrictions

The economic assumption of a continuously growing population is the basis for all government planning, and stockholder expectation, when it comes to business.

Life is a chemical process, whereby each species attempts to fill an "energy niche" in the ecosystem in which it finds itself.

Humans have used technology (for at least the last 100,000 years!) to thwart the natural boundaries our ancestors faced.

Technological innovation is simply the natural outcome for our species, as it allows human life to exist in more and varied ecological energy niches.

We use technology to overcome nature, which of course is the cause of the overpopulation and destruction of our environment.

Our CULTURE, which is technology plus behaviors plus language etc., is the real culprit, that removed Humans from natural governors on our compulsions.

From tops of mountains
shore to shore, desert, forest
Technology wins

Brain Scans Reveal Why Meditation Works

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070630/sc_livescience/brainscansrevealwhymeditationworks

Meditation and other “mindfulness” techniques are designed to help people pay more attention to their present emotions, thoughts and sensations without reacting strongly to them. Meditators often acknowledge and name their negative emotions in order to “let them go.”

Oh The Eternal
Surrender to the Ether
Let Yourself go now...

Meditation Works?
Mindfullness is meaningful?
Keep breathing through it.

We are chemistry
Breathing affects blood P.H.
Calming us down now.

Why Blogging Is Important!

http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/55269/

"... Right-wing talk doesn't dominate AM radio because of the magical hand of a functional free market, it dominates thanks to multiple market failures. Even worse, those failures represent a strong case for better regulation of what goes out on the public's airwaves."

Capitalism
Barely works regulated
Cannot unfettered

From an article about Congress serving Supoenas on the White House

"The White House contends that its search for would-be terrorists is legal, necessary and effective — pointing out frequently that there have been no further attacks on American soil. Administration officials say they have given classified information — such as details about the eavesdropping program, which is now under court supervision — to the intelligence committees of both houses of Congress.
Echoing its response to previous congressional subpoenas to former administration officials Harriet Miers and Sara Taylor, the White House gave no indication that it would comply with the new ones.
"We're aware of the committee's action and will respond appropriately," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said. "It's unfortunate that congressional Democrats continue to choose the route of confrontation."
In fact, the Judiciary Committee's three most senior Republicans — Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, former chairman Orrin Hatch of Utah and Chuck Grassley of Iowa — sided with Democrats on the 13-3 vote last week to give Leahy the power to issue the subpoenas.
The showdown between the White House and Congress could land in federal court.
Also named in subpoenas signed by Leahy were the Justice Department and the National Security Council. The four parties — the White House, Cheney's office, the Justice Department and the National Security Council — have until July 18 to comply, Leahy said. He added that, like House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., he would consider pursuing contempt citations against those who refuse.
Gonzales, in Spokane, Wash., on Wednesday to discuss gang issues with local officials, said he had not seen the subpoena documents and could not comment on them directly.
"There are competing institutional interests," Gonzales said."

Yes, but the prisons aren't so overcrowded that their "institutional interests" can't be served.

For the full article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070628/ap_on_go_co/eavesdropping_subpoenas

Condom Commercial, men as pigs.

http://www.trojanevolve.com/

Any Condom Jokes?
Meth addicts sharing needles!
"We're wearing condoms!"

Amazon's can't purchase internationally list.

Please note: Buyers outside the U.S. cannot purchase the following types of items via Amazon Marketplace: video games, toy and baby items, electronics, cameras and photo items, tools and hardware, kitchenware and housewares, sporting goods and outdoor equipment, software, and computers.

So says Amazon's disclaimer...middle of the page:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/102-9441889-5548150?ie=UTF8&nodeId=537734

I mean, who is going to buy a hammer and ship it somewhere?

Or, if a customer wants to ship a hammer, who doesn't want them to ship it?

Are there tarrifs involved in these prohibitions, or national security concerns?

Are handguns considered sporting goods?

Sporting goods - Tools?
Electronics/Cameras?
and baby items.

No spatulas please!
Nor table lamps neither thanks.
Sleeping Bags? No Way!

Human Culture

The existence and dispersion of an aspect of modern human culture has now been conclusively shown to be 100,000 years old.

This ain't Adam and Eve; they must have happened several 10's of thousands of years before that!

Even 30 years ago, when I was obtaining my Anthro BA, our speculation was that we could successfully mate (that is, have fertile offspring) with humans from 150,000 years ago.

Guess we were right!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070618/sc_livescience/80000yearoldbeadsshedlightonearlyculture

Benjamin Franklin's Advice to a Young Man on the Merits of Older Women

June 25, 1745

My dear Friend,

I know of no Medicine fit to diminish the violent natural Inclinations you mention; and if I did, I think I should not communicate it to you. Marriage is the proper Remedy. It is the most natural State of Man, and therefore the State in which you are most likely to find solid Happiness. Your Reasons against entering into it at present, appear to me not well-founded. The circumstantial Advantages you have in View by postponing it, are not only uncertain, but they are small in comparison with that of the Thing itself, the being married and settled. It is the Man and Woman united that make the compleat human Being. Separate, she wants his Force of Body and Strength of Reason; he, her Softness, Sensibility and acute Discernment. Together they are more likely to succeed in the World. A single Man has not nearly the Value he would have in that State of Union. He is an incomplete Animal. He resembles the odd Half of a Pair of Scissars. If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

1. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

3. Because there is no hazard of Children, which irregularly produc'd may be attended with much Inconvenience.

4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

7. Because the Compunction is less. The having made a young Girl miserable may give you frequent bitter Reflections; none of which can attend the making an old Woman happy.

8thly and Lastly They are so grateful!!

Thus much for my Paradox. But still I advise you to marry directly; being sincerely Your affectionate Friend.

stream of consciousness, truth, lies, no videotape

A friend of mine just mentioned how hard the job his friend, a NYC police officer, has, and how improbable he'll live to see his pension....got me thinkin...

My mother-in-law was the teacher's union president for either her city or for the state where she lived in Mexico. She knew EVERY politician. At my wedding in Mexico, a Minister of the Mexican Secretary of Interior was a guest, "Senor Juarez". Mstr Juarez wanted to hire me to infiltrate the drug gangs (this was in 1979!). (I thought about it, for about a nano-second, and declined the honor!)

A CHP moved into an apartment below ours in San Diego once. Wow, that was a close call as far as the possible bust was concerned. Jesus! (as in HEY ZEUS). Met him years later at lunch at San Diego State. He was still a trooper and I was a grad student...we talked about how tense it was with him living in the building. No one wanted him there, not the pot-heads nor the drunks.

I'm dating a woman with a 7 year old daughter who HATES MY GUTS only more so.

There was a guy who shared my first and middle names. We were born on the exact same date! He was found, drawn and quartered, in plastic bags, in the trunk of an abandoned vehicle somewhere in NYC. I'm still around.

Was with a group of boys once who abandoned a very large cadillac at the top of a hill without it's brakes...

Someone approached me once with a syringe and asked if I would shoot up to see if it was good or not.

My first scuba dive (without lessons) was to 110 feet, down the La Jolla Canyon, to see squids mating. They had already mated, but their egg sacks were anchored like flowers on the bottom, waving in a tidal breeze.

My second scuba dive, at Moonlight Beach, was almost my last. We went out in a rip-tide (hungover and stoned), 3-6 foot surf breaking on the reef, quite overcast and 65 degrees outside, dressed in a full wetsuit and 2 bottles of air for 45 minutes before marching into the surf, illegal abalone diving with my "buddy" Jeff, I couldn't dive under the surf fast enough to catch my breath, so I put the regulator in my mouth, and the mask on, and literally crawled my way back up to the beach, taking advantage of every inflow of a wave, and holding onto rocks and seaweed to keep the rip tide from dragging me back out, crawling up a river of wet and moving sand, getting knocked down every time I got up, even when the flow of water was ankle height, the steep beach kept me from getting vertical, until finally I was hauled out by the lifeguards.

The snorkel had been ripped from my mask, as had the dittybag from my weight belt. Jeff, my "buddy", dove without me, the lifeguards freaked all over him when he came back on shore, since I could easily have died. Of course Jeff his own self yelled at me later for not keeping up with him (as he had a ditty bag full of abs that he had had to abandon when he saw the lifeguards and me on the beach).

Pizza was the nickname of one of the smallest campers that summer. He was 10 but was as small as the 7 year olds. I was a "jr. counselor", and helped out on the rifle range. Pizza's gun misfired. I told him to put it down, which he did, and I laid down next to him, and he pulled the trigger and the gun went off about 6 inches from my right ear, with the bullet entering the mattress just below my right cheek. I promptly said something crude, picked Pizza up and hung him on a nail, high up a post, so he was dangling there too surprised (and shocked at how close he had come to killing me) to speak for quite a while...

Guinea Pig Love

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/pet/354470002.html

Not sure how long this link will be up, so I've also copied the text of the original below:

6 mo old (guinea) piggie needs some one willing to soak his genitals in oil and water daily to work back his forskin. It got stuck, and now has gunk built up on it. We r moving and I can't stomach doing this. He comes w his cage, and all acc. Please help him.

Secular Prayers

Atheists - Deists
We all have faith - Tomorrow
Much Like Yesterday

Our expectations
are Quality Controling
world's perceptions

We don't see the good.
Picking at scabs, making fun
Humor - someone's Fault.

Faith - Dangerous Curves!

Faith is not a virtue.

Faith is what you go with until you get the facts.

The faithful cannot function without the myth maker.

Faith is no virtue
Faith is literally BLIND
Facts will set you free!

Curvas Peligrosas
todo estas possible
Con despacio

That's Life

Life is a result of geology and chemical processes. The conditions necessary to form life, from a resource and energy standpoint, were extant when the solar system formed. While no one can yet say how molecules began to self replicate, somehow the chemicals bonded that made this happen...that’s life.

Life is simply chemistry, put together with the same care as crystals, and it's "purpose" is to exploit as much of the energy available to self replicate. Therefore, it "evolves" into niches of energy availability. Each species specializes in obtaining and utilizing energy and thereby replicating new forms that can take advantage of the niche.

We think of life as having a beginning and an end, since individuals have a beginning and an end. In reality, life is a continuation of a process that is now billions of years old. Each individual life form comes about and consumes stuff and converts it into more soil and dies. However, the chemistry behind the individual is simply a continuation of the chemistry that preceded it. There is an unbroken line of chemistry of our DNA back to the first self replicating molecule.

So, while life itself had a beginning, any individual is the representation of the self replication molecules at a given point in time. Until that individual passes on its genes to offspring, it is the latest in the long line of self-replicating molecules that manifest themselves in the myriad of forms we observe.

An individual life form lasts but a short time. We are the most fragile of minerals, and wear out very quickly (from a geologic standpoint). But, like industrious ants, our accumulation of knowledge and ability to pass on that knowledge is chipping away at what we don't know...

Management 101 - The Cliffside Story

The problem is how do you get decision makers to make a decision based on the management plan.

If you cannot get them to do this, you cannot modify the plan to make any needed course corrections.

So, Cliffside Software, Inc. was formed and it created PlanAHEAD(tm) All Hazard Exercise Administration and Development, a software tool used to develop simulation scripts to test management plans.

http://www.cliffsidesoftware.com

PlanAHEAD has been sold to:

VA Hospitals
USAF
USN
USCG
IBM
Chevron
Marriott
Gov't of Tonga
Strategic Petroleum Reserve
43 state offices of emergency management
amongst many other agencies and industry organizations, worldwide.

Using this tool the following exercises have been performed:

Bomb Threat - Shelter in Place or Proceed to Collection points?
Power Grid outage due to weather
County wide disaster
Airport Disaster
Network Outage due to bug in recent update (tough to back out!)

Furthermore, PlanAHEAD can assist in:

Formulation of plans - (Table top exercise)
training people in their tasks (functional exercise)
improving plans (table top, functional, full scale, actual incident reporting)

Any management plan can be improved using the methodology supported by PlanAHEAD, essentially a report generator to script the players activities, evaulate their actual response versus what the plan calls for, determine where the failure occured, or, if no failure occurred, what needs to be tested next!

Re: [Frish's Non-Shopping Channel] New comment on Free Speech Issue!. (even if it is "off topic")

Well Bill, let me say this about that. Yes, I know Dave Frishberg, more than one actually. One of them is a surgeon, but that isn't the one you mean. Also, saying "East Coast" instead of NYC in Oregon is DEFINITELY PC.

I'm far more intrigued by the notion that anyone, for any reason, would find my blog and would write to me. Love it.

I've copied the Maestro himself, I'm sure you'll be satisfied in your quest.

On 6/14/07, Bill <mailto:noreply-comment@blogger.com> wrote:

Bill has left a new comment on your post "Free Speech Issue! ":

Off Topic...sorry. Found your site while looking for Dave Frishberg info. I'm from the East Coast and will be in Oregon at the end of the month into early July and would like to know if, by chance, Mr. Frishberg will be performing anyplace. Any help or info. would be appreciate. Thanks!

-Bill

Posted by Bill to Frish's Non-Shopping Channel at June 14, 2007 10:01 PM

--
Cheers,

Frish

Free Speech Issue!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070613/ap_on_re_us/military_protest_hearing

Very interesting story.

Frish Prediction: Supreme Court case pending.

Microsoft Service Rant 3

Just for fun, here's a note I wrote back in November. Got service on 12/18 after much more hassle.


----- Original Message -----
From: MICHAEL FRISHBERG
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 8:56 PM
To: billg@Microsoft.com
Subject: CST49202215ID A complaint and a SUGGESTION!!!

Dear Mr. Gates (and bcc'ed folk some of whom have been cheerleading my efforts for service resolution these past weeks):

As you can see by the note below, I was promised a response within 24 hours. It has now been TWO WEEKS, and I have nothing from this approach, or from any of the other MSN.COM folks I have called (about 8 different 800 numbers). I have been promised things for over three weeks now, and nothing, NOTHING promised has been delivered!

Please see the attachment, a complaint letter. I initially sent this (snail mail) on Nov 14 to an address in Bellevue which was given to me by MSN.COM as a corporate location for complaints. I couldn't get a name of a person, or even the division president's name to personalize the letter. It was returned to me, address unknown. I now have re-sent the returned letter, complete in its original envelope, to MSNIA Consumer Advocate, with no expectation of satisfaction, my expectations a result of the absolutely dismal track record of MSN.COM so far.

I have not heard from MSN.COM, ever, although I have called and spent over 16 hours trying to resolve the problem. I have been promised call backs on at least 10 occasions. Not once has anyone called me or initiated contact, not even an email. But I am beyond angry, disappointed, surprised, upset, mad, frustrated, dismayed, or other adjective you might choose. I have already been through every stage of grief. The situation I find myself in is nothing short of INCREDIBLE.

At this point, I just want to have a simple answer, when will my DSL connection to MSN.COM be available with proper provisioning, a usable router shipped to me so I can stop being on dial-up? Seems simple, yet no one at MSN.COM can answer it!

That includes the call I made to MSN.COM yesterday morning, with the assurance that I would have that answer within 24 hours (seems like a long time), but no one called me today either.
Now, I have a suggestion.
1. You should hire me. I have attached my resume.
2. I am qualified, capable, and interested in helping you and bring a unique product and process to address quality improvement. (See www.cliffsidesoftware.com for a description of Plan AHEAD, I remain the President of Cliffside which is currently not actively marketing our products and services, but I am more than happy to discuss our unique solution for quality improvement with you, call me).
3. Make me VP of Customer Quality and Satisfaction (the incumbent should be summarily fired, based on my experiences).
4. I'll need a salary of $350,000, a budget of $2M and a staff of 10. We'll need significant upside bonus' when we fix MS particular quality problems we can jointly identify when I come on board. Don't forget a signing bonus, relocation and equity, but I don't mean to quibble.
5. I'll also need total responsibility and authority for fixing customer satisfaction across all MS systems and customer support organizations. Blanket authority to fix things thanks.

So, I give you two choices, find out when my line will be provisioned, and when my modem will arrive, or hire me under the terms above so I can move and get service in a new location, since it appears MSN.COM doesn't know I exist where I am today (and where, until I was forced to move to MSN.COM due to the QWEST.NET situation, I had been a happy user of DSL for over 2 years with no technical glitches at all).

I need the DSL service to obtain a job. Obviously, if you get me that job I won't need the service and we'll both be happy!

I am serious about helping you.

Yet, I have not seen anything about MSN.COM that shows they are serious about doing business, satisfying customers, or fulfilling promises. Most of the MSN.COM staff appear extremely sincere in their desire to help, a sincerity only exceeded by their ineffectiveness. As I state in my attachment, I remain eager to be astounded by your response.

At this point, over three weeks into my problem, I will be astounded if anyone responds at all!

Pretty low bar to jump, good luck.

Sincerely,
Michael W. Frishberg
503-788-6424 (home office)
503-816-9159 (Mobile Phone)

----- Original Message -----
From: microsoftcom_contactus@css.one.microsoft.com
Sent: Saturday, November 17, 2001 11:52 AM
To: michael_frishberg@msn.com
Subject: RE: CST49202215ID - Microsoft.Com ContactUS
Hello,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft.com. This auto response is sent to inform you that your e-mail message has been received by Microsoft, and has been assigned a Customer Service Transaction reference number which you will find in the Subject line. This reference number starts with (and includes) "CSTID."

Your e-mail message has also been assigned to a Microsoft support representative. Microsoft responds to most e-mail within 24 hours, seven days a week (excluding holidays).

To keep all correspondence on this subject in one e-mail message, it is important that you include the relevant CSTID in the Subject line of your reply messages. Sending a reply without the CSTID in the Subject line results in a new case being opened. This may result in possible crossed-wire communications and delays in providing you with an answer to your question. Thank you for your cooperation.Sincerely,Microsoft Customer Servicehttp://www.microsoft.com

Microsoft Service Rant 2

Fruther Microsoft (non-)Service
Monica Wallace, from Bill Gates’ Office tried to help. She got me in touch with Mark Jefferies?.

Mark Jefferies? gave me his phone number, he would not give me his email id. His test of my phone line indicated that I had no DSL service at all. I reminded him that if I was to received DSL service it had to be DMT not CAP. He claimed, on 12/5, that he would request shipment of a router to arrive Airborne, two days. And that he would reprovision my line by then to be DMT not CAP. When I opened my front door on Saturday (upon returning from a business trip), I found an Airborne package containing a book and CD, but NO ROUTER.

I had heard from another technician from the Beaverton DSL office for MSN on Friday 12/7 (Paul, who could make outbound phone calls but couldn’t take inbound phone calls (exactly the opposite of all the other technicians that I had dealt with at MSN so far!!!)) that my DSL line was provisioned, but for CAP not DMT, which means it won’t work with the Aristicom modem anyway.

I had warned Mark of this problem on Wednesday, but he seemed to feel he could reprovision the line correctly (his test of my line showed there was no DSL at all to my house, which would have been new news, but Paul’s test on Friday seemed to indicate there was DSL, only the wrong flavor.)

I called into Tech support on Saturday to report my second BUG of the week in the MSN Explorer EMAIL system. Clancy attempted to be helpful in resolving the bug, although at one point she suggested I use either Explorer (native) or Netscape! to get onto Hotmail.com. I said I didn’t even know Netscape was available, and she said it wasn’t supported by her group, so they couldn’t do problem resolution on it. I kindly pointed out that I had had no trouble with Netscape in over two years, but I did have two problems this week with MSN.com email, so I wouldn’t even have to call her if I was using Netscape (joke!).

I resolved the email issue which was kind of simple yet very difficult to debug. The answer was to simply sign off and back on again, to clear some register or other that indicated that I had yet to open an email in my inbox, even though I had already opened. When I went to Hotmail.com directly it showed not one unopened email (as suggested by my MSN Explorer icon and inbox unopened email indicator), but TWO unopened emails. Both of these I had already opened. So, after signing off of explorer and MSN Explorer, and signing on again, I found that the email situation had stabilized.

Clancy also checked by DSL line. She also found that the line was incorrectly provisioned for CAP, not DMT.

I am leaving phone messages for Mark again to see if he can resolve the problems on Monday.

Microsoft Service Rant 1

Written over a period of time, from 11/08/01 to 11/13/01

MSN.COM
Civica Office Bldg
205 108th Ave N.E.
Suite 400
Bellvue, WA 98004

Attn: MSN Complaint Department
Subject: Incredible lack of service from MSN

Dear MSN.COM:

This note cannot possibly express my extreme frustration, disappointment and incredibly low esteem in which I now hold your organization. Just getting the name of the division president, so that I might send this letter to a named person has proved impossible, a further indication of the lack of respect you show for customers. The body of this note is documentation regarding my experience with MSN.COM so far, as an account that is attempting to transfer from QWEST.NET where I was a very satisfied customer for over two years.
I have now been on hold, or speaking to your representatives, trying to obtain service, for close to 16 hours since Sunday November 4, 2001. While this note attempts to explain my situation, I am certain your various databases have more information than I do. I didn’t know I’d have to document everything quite so carefully when I started on 11/04.
My email ID is michael_frishberg@msn.com, my billing telephone number is 503-788-6424 293. My MSN.COM trouble tickets include 47815971, 48318325, 48570270. My QWEST trouble tickets include 7930820 and others as documented below.

Here is a partial list of events so far:
1. Several weeks ago, Qwest.Net informed me that my account would be transferred to MSN.com and I could either do nothing or proactively switchover myself. Either way, in time, my qwest.net id would no longer be valid. I was very unhappy with this prospect, as my association with QWEST.NET had been entirely satisfactory so far.

2. I went online and switched. I could make several comments about this process, but that would be another entire letter, and off the current topic. (I wrote this note over a several day period, see comments at end of this note concerning my switchover, and why it caused me trouble as I tried to solve the problems I faced (item 31i for example).

3. I received a CD in the mail. No one ever explained to me why I need a CD to simply use an ISP on the web. (This too is finally explained below, yet although I have asked more than 10 service personnel why I needed this software, no one could answer the question).

4. I decided to change over to MSN during Sunday afternoon 11/04/01. I installed the CD and read the instructions. It appeared straightforward, so I proceeded to attempt to perform the installation operation. A short time into the installation, I was facing a problem. It appeared that my then current QWEST.NET Cisco 675 Router would not operate with the MSN service since the CBOS was at the wrong level. I had CBOS V2.1 and I required CBOS V2.4.3.

5. I called MSN with a simple question. Since my router and my computer are not in close proximity (my computer is upstairs, the router is in the basement), I simply was trying to find out if I had to have them in close proximity to perform the upgrade operation. MSN Tech support was unable to answer the question, but since I was upgrading from QWEST.NET they gave me a support number at QWEST. QWEST was also unable or unwilling to assist since I was a MSN customer so they sent me back to MSN. The new folks at MSN told me they could not help either, so they sent me to another group at QWEST, those who help folks who are using ISPs other than QWEST. This set of ping-pong calls lasted almost an hour.

6. I finally reached a techie who tried to help. He told me up front that he was not supposed to do so, as he generally helped people at ISPs other than QWEST. I suggested that MSN.COM is an ISP that is not QWEST.NET and he agreed. He asked what was wrong, he followed along with his own disk, we read the Read Me file on the MSN CD together, and he had me download the correct CBOS V2.4.3 firmware. Then I moved my modem out of the basement, and connected the management cable to the router from my machine. We attempted to upgrade, at which time he informed me I would need to download CBOS V2.2 instead, since I could not upgrade V2.4.3 until V2.2 was installed. I took my router back to the basement, reconnected the phone line and Ethernet, downloaded the V2.2 firmware, unplugged the router, went back upstairs and we tried to install it. Understand that each of these iterations took about 10 minutes. We finished trying to load the firmware when an operation fault message appeared on the Hyperlink terminal. Although we tried to recover the router, the technician indicated that it would no longer be operational, ever. (Tried FLASH too, without recovering the router.)

7. At this point, I had spent over three hours on the phone with the result that I no longer had an operational router, nor any means to sign onto the net. I originally purchased this particular computer specifically to use QWEST DSL services, so I never purchased an internal or external modem. The technician reassured me that QWEST would send out a new router by Wednesday 11/07, and although he could not order it directly for me, he gave me a number to call on Monday morning to obtain the modem. Seemed fair to me, and not unreasonable.

8. I called Qwest on Monday morning to discover that they would not send me another router. Since mine was out of warrantee on the existing Cisco 675, and even though it was through no fault of my own that it “got fried” (a technical term I suppose, and not that unusual according to another tech I spoke with later in the week), during the upgrade with their technician, they would not send me a modem to replace it. However, since I was now a MSN customer, I was informed that MSN should help me. I was on the phone or on hold for over an hour with QWEST that morning. I also protested this arrangement, since I was still a QWEST customer when the problem occurred, and I felt I should be getting a new router ASAP from QWEST, as their instructions and “help” determined the demise of my router.

9. Thereupon, I called MSN tech support on Monday, and reached a very sympathetic person. She first asked me “Didn’t they send you a modem with your CD?” The answer was no, of course, the assumption being that all I was doing was changing my existing DSL service, and therefore already had a modem (now fried). So she said she would put a modem on order, and escalate it to arrive on Wednesday or Thursday this week. (This is not the only call I made to MSN that morning, there were several other uncooperative (actually bordering on nasty) people that I spoke with as well). These interactions with MSN lasted about 2 hours. We also had a discussion at that time about CAP DSL vs. DMT DSL, and she went off to a supervisor, and came back on the phone to let me know that this would all be part of the order, not to worry, all would be well by Wednesday or Thursday when the modem arrived at my house. She really was sweet and sympathetic, and I am certain she was sincere, but read on to discover that, in the end, her reassurances were actually extremely empty promises.

10. Wednesday came and no modem arrived. Thursday morning I had a question, so I called MSN tech support to see if they could answer it. I spent about 10 minutes on hold, and then got a human operator on the other end of the line. She asked me at least 10 questions, and assumed I was looking for my modem, before I was even able to tell her why I had called. She could not understand my question, so I asked it a different way. She still did not understand so I took another stab at it. The answer appears that, yes, I will need to have the modem in close proximity to my PC to install something on it via the management cable before I can install it on the Internet. Then she checked into my order. She could find NO MODEM ON ORDER even after all my activity on Monday, and reassurance that things were coming my way. This was after she had already asked me if I was inquiring about my modem. She obviously had seen something that had indicated that I should be expecting a modem, but now was not finding it in the database of on-order modems! She let me know that a modem would arrive in 5 to 10 business days. I believe she put it on order; I still am unclear about this. I asked for her supervisor. After a FURTHER TWENTY MINUTES ON HOLD, Tracy got on the phone to let me know, first that it took her that long to get into some database or other that she didn’t use everyday, and that she had placed me in Escalation Mode, and that I would definitely get a call from the Urgent Customer Care folks within eight hours. I was on hold or speaking to the tech and/or Tracy for 1 hour.

11. So, around 6:45 that evening I wondered why I had yet to receive a phone call. I had waited at home all day, specifically for resolving my lack of Internet access, yet received no call from MSN. I was not even sure why I needed to hear from anyone at Urgent Customer Care, the escalation folks, or anyone else from MSN. They certainly had enough information about what the problem was. I just wanted my router so I can connect to the net. I spoke with a tech, after 10 minutes on hold. He appreciated my situation, and put me on hold while he investigated. He got back on line with me to assure me that, yes, my record indicated I was in escalation mode, and actually had been since Monday, and that since 72 hours had elapsed it was okay that I was in escalation mode. He also pointed out it had not been eight hours yet, since I had spoken to Tracy that morning, only seven. He also suggested that I might not get a call today. Finally, he conceded I might still get a call that night.

12. Right this minute it has been eight and a half hours since I was assured I would be called. It has been four days since I was assured I would have a modem by now. It has been about two weeks since I tried to get a new Internet ID from MSN. I do not have any service yet.

All of the above I offer as evidence for my conclusions so far. Your organization does not understand what service means. It has not a shred of credibility. It cannot make commitments or keep promises. It has inadequate numbers of lines open, and supervisors available. It keeps customers on hold instead of calling them back when you are ready to do something or waiting until you actually know something. You cannot even give me the name of anyone in your organization that will read this letter, or be responsible for resolution.
I feel abused, confused and refused. Where is my modem?
I have already informed my hundreds of correspondents that MSN is my new provider, but I cannot get to my email. I am waiting to hear from several potential employers, but cannot see my email to determine if they have responded to last week’s applications. You are costing me money on a daily basis, and have done NOTHING to help me as far as I can tell. In addition, no one in your organization, in spite of his or her protestations, seems to care a shred about my dilemma, or take responsibility and follow through for me.
I finished the above at 8PM on 11/08/01, and will continue this note when more information arrives.


8am 11/09
13. Called MSN to determine what’s what. Got Chad on the line who asked me questions and then YELLED AT ME when I couldn’t answer some of his queries. When I did attempt to answer his questions, he cut me off in mid-sentence by placing me on hold to allow me to listen to muzak. He got back on line to let me know there were no supervisors available. He did not know if I had a modem on order or not, he indicated the trouble ticket said it had be “re-escalated” whatever that meant. He let me know a supervisor would definitely call me later today, but did not know when that might happen.

14. I called QWEST.NET to ask about DMT vs. CAP DSL service. Jolene answered to tell me that MSN.NET now has complete control of my account, and QWEST cannot even see what service I am getting at the house. (This was not explained in any of the documentation I had received from MSN.COM or from QWEST.NET. I was under the assumption that my physical connection was still owned by QWEST.NET and my ISP connection was owned by MSN.COM.) Therefore, she called MSN.COM with me on the phone. Jim answered, and Jolene started QWEST.NET ticket number 6860107. Jolene had briefed Jim about my DMT vs. CAP question. He put me on hold then came back and asked me my name and phone number again, along with my zip code. I gave him the trouble ticket number. He put me on hold again. Eventually Jim reassured me that Tracy (the supervisor from the prior day) had been involved, the Urgent Care folk knew of my situation, they were re-provisioning the lines since the order had been all messed up, a new modem would be on the way, and they would definitely positively in no uncertain terms call me with delivery information later on Friday. I suggested that even if they put it overnight Airborne it would not get here on Saturday, since Airborne does not deliver on Saturdays. Since Monday is going to be Veterans Day, it probably wouldn’t be arriving then either. Jim suggested that when they called they would leave the air bill number even on my answering machine and I could go to the Airborne office directly and pick it up. I suggested that I had heard all of this before, that no one had ever called me back regardless of the promises made, and that I would wager real money that no one would call me back this time either

15. No one called me. Not the promised call back from a supervisor, nor the escalation folk who supposedly were sending me a router. It is now 3am 11/10.

16. At 942AM on 11/10 I tried calling technical support again. After 10 minutes on hold, Nancy answered the phone and asked me for my email ID. She immediately asked me if anyone had called me. I answered, No they hadn’t. She felt that was surprising. I suggested that she call me back once she knew something, but she asked me to please please please stay on hold. So, I did. After 1 minute on hold she asked me for my ticket number, something I had suggested I give her earlier, and something I assumed she already had in front of her, since she seemed to know I hadn’t had a call back yet.. I gave her the ticket number. She placed me on hold, for 10 more minutes and returned to say I had been escalated again, and should expect a call back within 8 hours. I let her know that I had heard that at least twice before this week. She agreed that it was “a little weird” that I had not had a call back before this. I asked her what I should do now. She said wait the 8 hours and call them back. I asked what good that would do? I then let her know I was writing this letter and would be copying my lawyer and the Better Business Bureau. I figured that would at least get me to a supervisor. However, instead, Nancy said that if I was talking about lawsuits she could not talk to me anymore. I said I was not talking about a lawsuit, and she hung up on me.

17. So, I called back, and after 10 minutes on hold, I reached Harry. Harry did not have a problem with the magic word, “lawsuit”, which had never escaped my lips, but was actually first suggested to me by Nancy. He also sympathized with my problem. However, he also gave me the interesting news that the escalation, urgent customer care department WAS NOT OPEN ON WEEKENDS, so the claim Nancy made that I would hear from someone within eight hours, was moot. I asked whom else I could call, and he suggested I call customer service, at 1-877-327-6744 and select option 1.

18. I called the number Harry suggested and reached someone named Logan (I believe). Logan informed me that their tools were currently down and he could not do a thing. I asked him if there was another number I could try and he gave me 1-800-386-5550 option 7, MSN Customer Support. I asked him what that meant and he said that he worked in Customer Service but Customer Support was another organization.

19. So I called the suggested number, and a person named Logan answered. It could not have been 2 minutes since I had spoken to a fellow named Logan. Logan stated that their tools were down and that he probably could not help me at that moment (sounded eerily familiar and more than a little surreal). I asked him if I had not just spoken to him two minutes earlier. He did not actually deny having spoken to me, “I’ve taken many calls in that time period” but did offer to send an email to his Tier 2 support, so they might give me a call back. However, he also could not guarantee that they would call me, or when they would call me. He also suggested I call back in 20 minutes when the tools were back up. I asked if he would call me back when the tools were back up but he claimed they could not call out of the call center where he sat, that’s was why he had escalated me to Tier 2 via email.

20. One of these people did suggest I would probably be better off canceling my subscription and calling back as a new customer instead, since that would get me up faster. I am not going to do that. If I cancel my service, it will stay cancelled.

21. 11/12/01 5:30AM Called tech support and spoke to Drew who “re-escalated” my situation and suggested that someone would call within 8 hours.

22. 11/12/01 10:30AM Called 1-800-386-5550 option 7 and spoke with Alan who was able to see that I was escalated on Friday 11/09, but found NO BROADBAND ORDER for a modem. He asked if I had spoken to QWEST, as they handle the shipping of modems. I submitted that I had not talked with QWEST about this, since every time I speak with QWEST they tell me I should speak with MSN since MSN now deals with my situation. Alan put me on hold for 5 minutes. He returned to suggest I call the DSL support line within MSN.COM.

23. 11/12/01 10:45AM Called 1-800-826-3110 (MSN Interactive Support? Ostensibly DSL folk). I was on hold waiting for a human operator for 10 minutes. Jenny answered, listened to my situation to report that I had reached anther dept similar to Alan’s with no further knowledge of anything. Jenny suggested that the escalation department got a request on Friday. She further admitted that there was no guarantee that they actually would ever call back within 8 (eight) hours, although in my case they should have. Along with a significant hold time, Jenny and I were on the phone for half an hour. She suggested I call tech support (again), and speak to a supervisor and take it from there.

24. 11/12/01 11:15AM Called 1-877-327-6744 option 2. Darlene answered, asked for my identifying information, sympathized with me, suggested I hold while she got her supervisor, Don on the phone, I waited five minutes on hold, Darlene returned to say that Don was on the phone now with us both, and they promptly hung up on me.

25. 11/12/01 11:25AM I called back, since Don obviously wasn’t going to call me. Scott answered and, after he asked the perfunctory questions, put me on hold while he “got a hold of them”. The obligatory 5 minute wait proceeded. Don got on the phone to try to explain why my call dropped. I wasn’t that interested in why it dropped actually. Then we discussed the broadband order WHICH WAS NOT SHOWING AS HAVING BEEN PLACED. Don was going to give me another phone number to call. I asked to speak to his supervisor, he said there was no one above him to speak to about this. I suggested that I had been assured at least THREE times last week (Monday, Thursday and Friday) that the order had been placed to upgrade me to DMT from CAP, and that a modem was on the way. He did suggest that it being Veteran’s Day and all, perhaps they weren’t taking orders. He also stated his ticket showed that “You had been contacted (about 1:30pm) on Friday 11/09” concerning this order. I HAVE NOT BEEN CONTACTED BY ANYONE AT ANYTIME FROM MSN.COM. Not even a phone message on the recorder. I told Don, unequivocally that I should not have to make another phone call, that he should “handle” this, and that someone ought to be calling me back concerning my situation.

26. 11/12/01 11:45PM Called QWEST TECH SUPPORT. Nicki at QWEST answered and was as sympathetic as anyone could be. She dug into the situation and created a new QWEST ticket 6874977. Nicki suggested that it should not matter if I were CAP or DMT, the router should be capable of doing either. (That seems like truth to me, DMT is a CO function, not a CPE function, if you catch my drift.) So she put me on hold to try to reach someone “who knows something” in the MSN Broadband support org.

27. 11/12/01 12:15PM Nicki reached MSN Broadband support and hung on the line while I discussed the situation with Vicki. Between Nicki and Vicki (MSN Case number 48623009), they decided that QWEST really ought to ship me a CISCO 675 or 678 so that I could get onto MSN.COM right away, but that I also should shut down the MSN order if that was the resolution so that there would be no further delays, later, if the line gets re-provisioned. MSN.COM will work with CAP, it appears. Vicki also cleared up why I needed the CD from MSN in the first place (logon information is burned into it, that is used to program the modem, and an optional MSN browser is included too.) Nicki got Maria from QWEST DSL support on the phone. Ncki, Vicki, Maria and I had a spirited discussion; Maria put us all on hold. I don’t know where Nicki went. Vicki also put me on hold at one point and I was listening to two sets of muzak at once! Vicki came back on, asked me the ticket number of the non-QWEST ISP ticket, which included the blowing up of my original Cisco 675 Router (see paragraph numbers 5,6,7 above), which was 7930820. Then the other muzak stopped. Vicki and I asked if anyone was there, and she then confirmed that my line was dropped from Maria and Nicki, at about 1pm.

28. 11/12/01 1:20pm After mulling over my options I decided to try to get back to Maria. So I called her (probable) number only to find Jim. Jim said that Maria worked somewhere else, but that I should try another set of numbers 1-800218-4443 options 1,2,4. So I did.

29. 11/12/01 1:25PM I tried the suggested number, Kyla answered and said she didn’t know a Maria. I told her the story. She didn’t know any way to fix the current situation, but did let me know that if I completely cancel MSN.COM, then I could do business with a new option from QWEST.NET that they were now offering. It seems that many people were dissatisfied with MSN.COM and now QWEST is offering ISP support for consumers again. However, upon investigation, including another call to MSN.COM, I learned that simply quitting MSN.COM could take 8-10 business days, with another possible 10 days to reactivate my DSL service from QWEST. OF COURSE THIS IS WHAT I WANTED BEFORE ANY OF THIS STARTED, SIMPLY TO STAY WITH QWEST.NET. BUT NOW I’M BEING PENALIZED FOR FOLLOWING THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN BY QWEST AND MSN. I WILL SUFFER SEVERAL MORE WEEKS OF DISRUPTION IF I SIMPLY WISH TO RETURN TO THE STATE I WAS IN PRIOR TO 11/03/01.

30. I GIVE UP! I went out and purchased a dial-up modem and twenty five feet of cabling, so I could at least get to my MSN.COM account and see my email for the last 10 days. This of course completely defeats the purpose of having DSL in the first place, since with dial-up I cannot be on the computer and phone at the same time.

31. For completeness, and to add to the unbelievable set of circumstances surrounding my odyssey so far, here’s what it took to get on the net via dial-up.

a. I installed my modem and cabling.
b. I called tech support to set up my autodial
c. MSN Tech support gave me a set of instructions, and I was ready to dial in
d. When I moved my CPU, I inadvertently hit the off switch on the computer
e. I called MSN back and reached another operator
f. During our discussion, I had to take another call. I asked the technician to wait a moment and clicked over to the other call. I spent no more than 20 seconds and came back to the MSN Techie, who had hung up on me. This seemed a little egregious since I had been on hold most of 15 hours with MSN, and she couldn’t stand a few seconds, but I am not vengeful or bitter, just numb.
g. I called MSN back and reached a third technician. He gave me instructions that differed from the initial discussion I had (item c above), which I found interesting.
h. I tried to logon, but it failed.
i. I called customer service (as opposed to technical support) to get a new password. I would have remembered my initial password, except the screen (when I initially began to convert from QWEST.NET to MSN.COM, several weeks earlier) that confirmed I had converted from QWEST.NET to MSN.COM didn’t print when I needed it to, and by the time I had found out that it hadn’t printed it had gone away. It had all kinds of pertinent information on it, and appeared to print, but it doesn’t. This was a known bug, I discovered during one of my technical discussions with one of the techies this week.
j. I actually was able to connect, and downloaded MSN Explorer. Still haven’t discovered how to change my password, I’ll have to call someone to discover where I do this, since the assigned password is impossible to remember.

So, as I now sit in front of my computer, there is no way to connect to the net via DSL, I cannot use my computer and phone simultaneously, I haven’t heard a word from MSN.COM in spite of at least 5 (FIVE) promised call backs during the last week. I have spent close to 16 hours on the phone, mostly on hold, and only got inaccurate answers, promises broken, and ultimately extreme dissatisfaction.

I call in to find that the operators can’t find my records; can’t tell me about my account; can’t locate even if they have ordered a modem for me or not; can’t tell me when it will arrive; are confused about the procedures I’ll have to go through when it does arrive; give me promises that aren’t fulfilled; give me promises that can’t possibly be fulfilled (the Urgent Escalation department isn’t even open on weekends, but I get promised a call back within 8 hours!); give me tech support that is incorrect; and generally leave me with more questions than when I started. I was without Internet service from Sunday November 4, 2001 through November 13, 2001 through absolutely no fault of my own. I was simply following directions.

I have been told that my Internet connection will be back up and running sometime in the next 10 to 20 business days. When the DSL is re-provisioned for DMT level of DSL they will ship second-day-Airborne a new router (Aristicom?) to me.

I now ask you what you think should happen. The performance of both QWEST and MSN so far have contributed to my current low expectation. I hope to be astonished at your response, and am ready and eager to be pleasantly surprised


Sincerely,


Michael W. Frishberg
1-503-788-6424


cc: Rob Lasko, Attorney at Law
Better Business Bureau of Portland, OR
joe@qwest.com President of Qwest
Microsoft HQ

The "Out-of-Wedlock" problem

What should be done about all the children being born "out-of-wedlock"?


Make it illegal to have children out of wedlock.

Don't let homosexual couples have children, adopted, surrogate, or via sperm donors.

Make it illegal to live together without benefit of marriage.

The U.S. teen birth rate is still the highest among industrialized countries. So make sure that they don't learn about sex in school, since this is obviously where they learn about how to have babies.

Make condoms a prescription only item, so that teens and others will have to see a doctor if they want to have sex.


And, anyone under 18 must have their parents permission to have sex.

Well, if you really think children being born without benefit of marriage is a "problem", here are some other suggestions:
How about more and earlier sex ed.,
easy access to free birth control,
a constant barrage of ads and internet pop ups that speak to the hazards of unprotected sex or having children when one is not ready,
a video game and some pop songs that speak to having children, etc.


Of course, my most sincere suggestion is to promote the Voluntary Extinction of Humans, which, if properly marketed and given the appropriate tax considerations, could greatly reduce the out of wedlock child "problem" if you think it is a problem that is!


http://www.vhemt.org

Meaning of Friendship

Meaning of Friendship
Who can truly say: "What's Friendship"?
Like "art" - Known when seen!

I have lots of friends.
Need lover to keep me happy.
My woman comes first.

Just had a blog flash (daymare?)

Guess blogging is getting into my blood. Sure, I know that it is Posting that is in my blood. However, moments ago I had a flash, looking at my blog, and I thought I hadn't posted on a given day (today actually).

But, luckily I caught myself in time and realized it was a blogworthy moment.

I don't know rules
What can I post, what's stealing?
Must find some info!

Well, I knew somebody was short in spades.

Well, I knew somebody was short in spades.

You'd have to
1. Know bridge
2. Know bridge on line
3. Know bridge online chat
4. Know how funny it would be if a chat on a bridge table said:
Well I knew somebody was short in spades. (at the end of a very tough hand)
Followed immediately by the expression (by the same player)
Well I knew somebody was short in spades. (at the beginning of the next tough hand)

Anyway, either you do understand all that and are now ROFLYFAO or not.