maychorian: (should've known better)
I was too tired yesterday to really explain why I'd had such a nasty customer service experience (along with my already frustrating day), so let me explain.

I had a flat tire earlier this week and needed a new one. This is stressful, of course, because I don't have a lot of money and car expenses are scary. On Thursday I called a tire and wheel shop owned by one guy, who my family calls the Tire Nazi because he is kind of like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld, as in, really bad customer service. I've dealt with him before and didn't mind when he was short and didn't explain things. His tires are definitely the cheapest around--I've gotten used ones for twenty dollars, that sort of thing. He said he could have a tire by the next day and I said that would be great.

Friday I went to work and my computer had quit working, so I couldn't do my job, so that was stressful already. I tried logging in several times, turned the computer on and off, the office manager tried his admin password, and it just wouldn't log on. Said the trust relationship between this work station and the primary domain had failed. Everything I do at that job involves a computer. So, SO frustrating, I can't even tell you; I already had piles of papers on my desk with information waiting to be entered into the database and I COULDN'T DO MY JOB.

Also, my back has been hurting a lot for several weeks now. It gets so bad it makes me sick to my stomach, and one day I was dizzy for several hours, which I think was related. It's annoying and there's no quick fix, just back exercises and rest. The chair I use at the computer job does not help and may in fact make my back worse, but it's the only one available and I'm just a temporary worker, so I do what I gotta do. This doesn't come into the story at all, but I just want you to understand that when I say I've been having a bad week, constant, grinding pain is a part of that. Very wearing.

Anyway, Dad suggested I go ahead and get my tire fixed while I was waiting for IT to come. So I called the Tire Nazi to ask if my tire was in. And he said it would be...if it had been ordered, but I didn't order it. He seemed mad at me already. So I asked, confused, "You mean...after we talked yesterday, you didn't order it?" And he yelled, "No, YOU didn't order it!" So I said, as calmly as I could,"Well, would you please order it for me, then?" And he said, very snippily, that he would and it would be in Saturday. He said "two fifteen" which I took to be the price, which surprised me, though later my aunt said it could have been the time the wheel would be in.

But I hung up, kind of shaken, and told my dad that he'd said two hundred and fifteen dollars, which is ridiculous for one tire. He suggested I call the discount tire place down the road. So I did. The guy I spoke to over the phone was very friendly and cheerful, which made me feel better about life, the universe, and everything. He said they had the tire I needed in stock and I could come get it installed in half an hour. Made me an appointment and everything. And he said it would be 108.88. So yeah, I told him to sign me up for that.

Then I called the tire guy back to cancel my order. It couldn't have been more than five or ten minutes after my first call, I swear. I said, "I'm the person who called earlier asking you to order that new tire, the P215..." (and I heard this kind of disgusted snorting noise down the line) "...I'd like you to cancel that order, please."

And he yelled at me. "You can't order it right and you can't cancel it right! Have a nice day!"

I hung up. I stood there shaking for a little bit, told my dad I was going to go. I clocked out, went out to my car, and had a little cry. I felt so, so stupid, but I just couldn't stop it from happening. It felt so horrible and demeaning. I know I'm oversensitive in a lot of ways, and I wish I wasn't, but it's the way it is. I'm good at avoiding things that will hurt me, most of the time, but when it just leaps out at you like that... So yeah. I'm never going back there again. I value my peace of mind more than I value cheap tires.

When I calmed down, I drove to the discount tire store and got my new tire. They were very nice, very professional. I felt so much better about everything, even though it took forever, as it always does. Afterward I drove to a little pet store in the same shopping area and played with their ferrets and hamsters before going back to work. Goodness, I love those ferrets, so friendly and playful. I'd take all of them home if I could. And this tiny little black hammy with white feet--he was like a cotton ball in my hand, so tiny and soft and sweet. Most of the hammies I picked up jumped out of my hand the second they could, but that tiny black one just sat there and sat there until I put him down. Sweetest little thing ever. ♥ I might go back and buy him if I can get my parents' permission. (I hate having to ask my parents' permission about buying pets, but I'm living in their house again, so it is what it is.) And I talked to a lady who worked there about small animals and how much we love them, and it was just exactly the moment of relaxation I needed in my day.

The bad day wasn't over--computer problems were ongoing and still aren't resolved. But the folks at the tire place and the pet store really made me feel better. And that's why I wanted to tell you guys that customer service is important, it really, really is. Thanks for being the awesome people I know you are. ♥
maychorian: (do you have your homework?)
So my last day on this job is officially November 29th.

I'm... REALLY looking forward to it.

Currently brightening screenshots. I hope to get them uploaded to the net before I head for Huntington, and maybe I can work on my review down there (when it's not my turn to kill stuff with my crazy-cakes half-elf bard). The broken screen on my netbook does make it annoying, though.

Pandora.com is AWESOME. In case you hadn't heard. They even have a bunch of the super-obscure indy Celtic bands I love, like Enter the Haggis.
maychorian: (cas - don't hold back)
Holy smokes! Team Gen won the Writer Olympics! I totally wasn't expecting that. Major kudos to ALL of my teammates. We are awesome.

In other news, I was gonna do my 5.7 review today, but now I'm not. This morning when I got to my client in Columbia City (forty-five minutes from home) and stepped out of the car, I smelled burning rubber. And yep, my tire was flat. Too far to go home on the spare, I felt, so I found a tire place there and got a replacement. Of course they didn't sell used, so I had to get a new one, and...there goes my extra money for this month.

SO.

DAMN.

TIRED.

So, review tomorrow. And I'm not playing D&D tonight, either. They'll just have to kill those undead without me.

I've been considering quitting this job for quite a while, so I could concentrate on getting a career I actually want, develop the skills I need. I had finally decided to give my notice today, and this just confirms my resolve. This job is just TOO much driving, too much hassle, too much aggravation, for way too little money and no prospects at all. It just doesn't make sense for me, never mind that it's not even what I want to do with my life.

I'm gonna email the office now. Yep, I'm quitting over email. Ain't technology grand?
maychorian: (Dean wake up)
Wowzers. Here I was thinking that I would spend today writing or comment-answering, but instead I have been sleeping like a...like a...like a very tired person. See? Even my simile-machine is broken.

Here is what happened yesterday:

5:50 Hit the snooze button on both of my alarms.
6:00 Hit the snooze button on both of my alarms.
6:10 Got dressed and drove to house of client who I help every morning.
6:30-7:30 Work.
7:45 Arrived home. Cleaned car. Unzipped podfic files of [livejournal.com profile] twasadark reading an epic Dean-whumper by [livejournal.com profile] oselle to listen to on epic road trip. Searched a teensy bit frantically for the audio cord to connect netbook to car radio. Reassured mother five times that I wasn't going to be killed by an axe murderer from the internet, that it was a woman, and there would be a bunch of us, and we were meeting in a public place, and no, I didn't know her real name but she didn't know mine either, so it was fair. Gave her the address of the restaurant so she would have something to tell the police.
9:15-11:30 Drove to Indianapolis while listening to said podfic. Got very caught up in story.
11:30 Missed my turn and had to backtrack. Twice. Blamed [livejournal.com profile] twasadark and [livejournal.com profile] oselle for being unfairly awesome. Good thing I gave myself that extra half hour--knew I'd need it.
11:55 Worked up the courage to actually go inside the restaurant and not turn around immediately and drive back home. Cursed my social anxiety for making this so difficult. Went inside.
12:00-2:30 NON-STOP SQUEE. Lunch with eight of the most intelligent, witty folks there are within a few hours' drive of Indianapolis, received a Dragonsmish. Also, I ate a baby.
2:30 Sadly left.
2:45 Missed the exit for I-69. Shook fist at [livejournal.com profile] twasadark and [livejournal.com profile] oselle.
5:00 Arrived in Fort Wayne. Taco Bell for supper.
6:00-9:00 Work. Much walking and singing the same nursery songs over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Hate that itsy bitsy spider SOOOO much. Exhausting.
9:00 Root beer float cures all ills.
9:45 Home. Assured family I was not dead. No murder on this trip. Checked email.
10:30 SLEEP BLESSED SLEEP.

And now it is 1:00 PM of the following day. O.O

Wow, I have things to do.
maychorian: (xkcd love)
In case it wasn't clear, when someone makes a thread for you in the love meme you are supposed to link it in your journal so that your friends can love on you. ♥ ♥ ♥ Some of you guys totally need to get on that, since I, you know, made you threads and you haven't linked them in your LJs yet. THAT'S RIGHT, I'M WATCHING YOU.

I still need to make some more, mainly for my non-SPN friends. Very busy today, though. Work, and I had CPR training, too, which was strangely exhausting. I've never done it before. A little stressful, knowing that someday it may be up to me to save someone's life. And doing compressions is HARD WORK, yo. I'll be busy this evening, too, with church. (Yes, I am going to church again. Sort of. Sometimes.)

Also I need to reply to comments. OMG so many. ::dies::

So anyway, here is my thread: YEY, PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO ME! ♥ You guys who have posted there already rock my socks off.
maychorian: (Dean + Paperclip = OTP)
I'm, like, a thrifty ninja. Or a really lazy chick MacGyver. I'm very proud of this, and feel compelled to share. The story:

This morning I was driving to one of my clients' houses, you know, through all the lovely Fort Wayne traffic, about ten minutes from my destination. At a stoplight I happened to glance down at my shirt and noticed that a thread was hanging off one of the buttons. I decided to give it a tug, maybe snip it with my teeth.

This was a bad idea. If you ever see a thread hanging off your button and think, "Oh, I should pull on that," DON'T DO IT. Deny that ridiculous impulse! THE CAKE IS A LIE.

So yeah, I pulled on the thread, and the button popped right off. This was bad news. It wasn't like the button was way down low on the shirt so I could tuck it into my skirt or anything--it was right in front of my bosoms. My shirt had a gaping hole.

Instant panic. Ten minutes from work, no spare shirt or anything to cover up with besides my winter coat, BIG FAT HOLE IN FRONT OF BOSOMS. I began frantically casting about in my mind for what could possibly be in my car to fix it. No travel sewing kit (which I should totally start carrying around for these situations, for real), no safety pins, no paperclips, not even a bobby pin.

BUT! For months now I have had a twisty-tie holding the left side of my glasses together where the screw fell out. It's probably visible in that video I posted with Mini!Cas. That little blue bump? Yeah, twist-tie from a bread bag. Ignore how this points to my extreme laziness in never fixing my glasses for real. It was a very good thing I had that today.

While still at that same stoplight, I took off my glasses and unwound the twist-tie and snipped it roughly in half WITH MY TEETH. While continuing to drive, I stripped off the plastic, threaded it through the button, stuck the two ends of wire through my shirt where the button had been, twisted the wire together, and stuck the ends into the fabric so they wouldn't poke me. By the time I got to my client's house I was fine.

I felt UTTERLY BADASS. I am a car-driving, problem-solving, wire-snipping NINJA.

\o/

So yeah. That was my day. How was yours?
maychorian: (Castiel longing)
I keep forgetting to do this, dang it. Maybe I should do it longer in penance. Anyway.

SPN: This fandom is so awesome, really. I ask for more Dean and Castiel gen, and it is provided! OVER HERE, LOOK, LOOK! It's a...um...it's a Robin Roundrobin. With Dean and Castiel, and Sammy too! Yes, really. You can participate! GO. DO. Make it long and twisty, in accordance to my whims!

RL: Today the gentleman I help with his morning routine thanked me for my sweet smile. ::grin:: You can sure believe he got another one for that. I felt warm all morning.

YAY TODAY

Feb. 2nd, 2009 04:59 pm
maychorian: (Jack's solution)
Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
4,358 / 20,000
(21.8%)


!!!

Also, got through the eight-hour training/orientation, and I already have work! ::happy dance::
maychorian: (wee!Sam *glee*)
I just applied for a job that may very well be exactly what I need. It'll be helping people, sort of in a social work setting, though I don't have any training in that. But the ladies at the office where I applied seemed very happy to see me and excited about me working there, and I have a little bit of experience with this sort of thing, so I'm not a COMPLETE n00b. Plus they really like Tim M., my buddy who recommended me to them. (He's in my Thursday D&D group.) And it won't have anything to do with computers. And it may very well end up being full-time, though at first it will be part-time. There will be an orientation meeting next Monday that I'll go to--they told me to come before I even finished filling out the application. And I've always wanted to work with people, really, honestly. I sort of fell into the office job. Maybe that's why I eventually fell out of it.

So... ::cautious glee dance:: This might be it! Oh, I hope this is it.

It might not be enough MONEY, but, y'know.... It's something to start with. And in the meantime, I'll keep trying this freelance thing.
maychorian: (Sam - busted)
You know what movies I like to watch when I'm feeling down or crappy? Kill Bill. Both volumes. So I just did that, and I feel better about the world. It may say something about me, that I prefer stylized violence as a pick-me-up instead of chick flicks or rom-coms.

But then, I also like to play the damage-dealers in D&D and similar games, which once led to me musing out loud in a rather soft, dreamy voice, "I like killing things. I guess I've always liked killing things." And now my friends quote me on that all the time, because they find it hilarious. I look so harmless, but I get positively giddy when I get to kill things. In games. When I get to kill things in games.

Played D&D last night as well as Left 4 Dead on the XBox, and I'm finally starting to get the hang of the two-joystick thing. Still makes me nervous, but I did enjoy shooting the zombies. Even though my character didn't make it in the end.

I looked more into doing freelance today, set myself up on a couple of websites, took the "editing skils" test at elance.com and scored in the top five percent, so that makes me feel good. It was a hard test, too, way harder than any grammar/writing test I took in school. I also have a couple of job leads from friends that I'll look into. And my former employers are giving me a little bit of severance pay so I have some time to find a new job, so I'm not quite so panicked now.

And now I want to write. I have one of my prompt fics half-finished, and my big bang is going well. I like writing, too, with or without killing things.

WHOA

Jan. 13th, 2009 05:01 pm
maychorian: (Awesome)
GUYS. Google Docs is so awesome. Fo reals!

See, sometimes, I start thinking, with all this techy news I read for my work, about this or that development and marketing and business and everything. And I thought, you know, with the internet so ubiquitous, and since I have a good connection both at work and at home, it would be cool if I could just keep my fanfic WIPs in something like email, so I could work on it both at work and at home and not have to constantly email it to myself and copy and paste between processors, because that gets annoying and sometimes I forget to hit the send button. But keeping it just as a saved draft in an email box is inconvenient, because it doesn't have all the tools I need, not like a word processor. And while we're at it, if it's on the internet, it would be cool if I could have, like, a password, so if I wanted someone to beta it I could give them the password and they could come read it on the internet and leave comments and then I could check it later. That would be awesome. Or, if I didn't want them leaving comments, they could get, like, a read-only password, so they could see it but not touch. This would be good if I decide to do Big Bang, because I would like to have people read along and keep me enthusiastic, because without feedback I will probably start to second-guess absolutely everything I do, because I'm an insecure feedback whore. So that would be nice. I wonder what it would take to make something like that?

Well, you know what?

THE TECHNOLOGY EXISTS.

I'm so going to be using this forever now. Farewell, Microsoft Word! Your time has passed.

I'm Back!

Dec. 29th, 2008 07:34 am
maychorian: (LEG GUITAR!!! (squee))
Hello! I am back from family Christmas visit to Illinois. It was awesome, but the most exciting thing was that I drove through Pontiac, Illinois on the way back, and yes, I was thinking about Dean and Sam for THE ENTIRE TIME.

Got some pretty cool lootz for Christmas, but the awesomest thing was a webcam from my parents, which I didn't ask for and wasn't expecting. So you may be getting some videos from me in the near future, if I can figure out how to work it. I am quite excited about this.

Work is going to be rough for the next couple of days, lots of projects that have to be finished by the 31st. I am not excited about that. But then I get January 1 and 2 off, so yay!

More later.
maychorian: (Remy loves spices)
I have a co-worker who bakes stuff that is out of this world. And then she brings it in and gives it to us. This is how I am able to live on about three dollars a day and still not really be dieting--I eat tremendously fantastic cookies and cupcakes and brownies and other assorted bad-but-good things that sit on the break room table for free.

And what did she do today? Well, she made brownies. With Ghirardelli chocolate. And then she made those dense little fudge bombs into balls, and dipped them in more Ghirardelli chocolate. And drizzled white chocolate over it. And brought the resulting bon bons here for us.

I have had three.

I do believe I am floating in a chocolate haze right now. It is soooooooooo good. Heh heh heh.

Hey, hey, you know what guys? You know what? Have you ever stopped to just, like, look at your HANDS? Hands are amazing! The way they move and do stuff. Like useful flesh-colored spiders.

I can see music.

And smell colors.

They all smell like chocolate.
maychorian: (Jesus Saves)
I have FiOS at home now! Yippee! This is my first xanga blog entry from my apartment, not from my parents' house or work or the library. Pretty cool. I suspect I'll be posting a lot more from now on.

Oh, you want some news? You silly people. Anyway, it seems that I have a life now. I get together with different groups of friends at least twice a week, soon to be thrice. I tell ya, I just love D&D. It's so fun to play around with friends and make up stories and worlds.

Speaking of making up D&D worlds, the work on Wrath & Gunfire continues apace. I now have a bb board website to archive everything that we've been writing. So far I've written two stories for it that I think are good and stand alone--"Why the Hunter Hates the Rabbit" and "How the Prism Got Her Wish". I've sent the first one to strangehorizons.com, a very professional sf/f webzine that actually pays for the stories it publishes. It's been a month now since I've submitted it, so I expect to hear from them soon. If it's rejected, I'll send it to Realms of Fantasy, then Fantasy & Science Fiction, and then try some of the more obscure sf/f magazines and webzines. Yes, I have plans. If it's rejected from everywhere, I'll make the post on my LJ public--it's already posted there under f-lock. Then I'll go through the same process with "How the Prism". And then I'll do it again with whatever I write next, which probably be called "The Wager of Wolf and Tiger" or something like that. I'm still figuring out the optimum title, but it is about the Tiger and the Wolf and a wager they make to prove who is the most skilled at hunting.Read more... )
maychorian: (Default)
So, I guess it's time for a monthly newsy update, huh? I think it is! I'll just type away here between bites of my chicken salad sandwich. My grapefruit may have to wait. It's hard to eat grapefruit and do other things at the same time. Nay, it is impossible.Read more... )
maychorian: (Default)
I know I haven't posted for awhile. Didja miss me? It's mostly because I'm not supposed to blog at work anymore, and when I go home to my parents' house (where I am now) or to the library, I usually have a bunch of other stuff I'm trying to catch up on. Like email. Sheez, I have about twenty unread emails in my box right now.

Anyway, I'm still doing pretty good. Getting a bit discouraged with work. I keep hoping that I'll get more hours, and finally be full-time, but it just doesn't happen. Last week I worked about twenty-five hours, though I'll be paid for more because I was sitting around there, waiting. Meanwhile they just keep hiring people, including another copywriter, and I keep thinking, if there's so much work, why isn't there enough for me? I'm living from paycheck to paycheck, I can't seem to get caught up on bills, and I always feel insecure financially. I'm not saving and I'm not planning ahead, because I don't know how much money I can count on getting. I have little stomachaches, sometimes, just thinking about it. It's not a pleasure to go to work, not like it was at the beginning. I guess that's normal, but still. I LIKED it when I enjoyed my work.

Like I said, discouraging.

Read more... )
maychorian: (not a good day)
Dear Work,

Please don't give me anymore giant proofing projects for the rest of November, okay? Especially huge ones that need to be done the next day. Is not fair.

Love, Laura


Dear NaNo Book,

Okay, Muffin and Limey wanted to speak in slang. That was fun and okay. But, oh, Malonki Rube, why must you insist on being ENTIRELY alien with your very own way of looking at things and describing them in twice-removed language in your head? You make things difficult. On the other hand, is very pretty language and me likes.

Love, Laura


Dear Weather,

WHY YOU SO COLD TO ME???

Love, Laura


Dear Tortilla Chips and Cheese,

You were not a satisfactory dinner.

Love, Laura


Dear Bluff Cheque,

I'm coming!!!

Love, Laura
maychorian: (-pwns grammar-)
There's no need to invent another noun when one already exists, now is there? I'm looking at you, repellence/repellency.

I ask you.

maychorian: (Default)
Things that make me smile every single time, in no particular order and without formatting because I'm lazy (and at work):

1. The L'Chaim scene in Fiddler on the Roof
2. Walking in the front door at Jill's house
3. Bethany getting indignant when we argue about something dumb
4. "Hey Julie" by Fountains of Wayne
5. Someone letting me know that my writing touched them
6. The "Spacemonkey" scene in Stargate: SG-1
7. Baby laughter
8. Dew pearled on a spider web
9. Someone saying, "I appreciate you."
10. The smell of chai

Also Christmas, going to the movies, the greeters at Wal-Mart, my little sisters, Andrew improvving something, my mom being herself, and anything to do with Thai food.

I also find it funny that when I find and mark some little editorial thing here at work while I'm proofreading, people will say, "Good catch." Kind of like editing and proofreading is a sport, and I caught the high fly ball that ended the inning, and that will keep us from losing lots and lots of money in reprinting costs.

I have to say that hearing someone say that probably feels just as good to me as any pat on the back would feel to a baseball player.

What's on your list?

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