These rhymes are Daryls, but the burgers are RONALDS!

Rachel and I went to two different bowling alleys in Williamsburg this weekend: "The Brooklyn Bowl" and "The Gutter" (my favorite of the two). I've been bowling thrice in the last 30 years, but I somehow wound up at two alleys in one night(!?!) Anyway, as we exited the Brooklyn Bowl, I walked by the one and only Daryl McDaniels of RunDMC fame. I was so excited that I smiled and gave him a head nod (that's about how excited I get these days). I was a huge fan of RunDMC back in the day... here's a gem from a million years ago (rest in peace Jam Master Jay).

I think I just spoke to the ghost of Paul Lydne...

I have this strange obsession with the 60's comedian Paul Lynde. It dates back to my childhood when I used to watch "The Hollywood Squares." Lynde, for some reason, always made me laugh. Perhaps it was his delivery, as I'm sure most of the adult-themed (and gay) references went way over my head.

Anyway, I just spoke to a prospective client who sounds exactly like Mr. Lynde. I had to immediately look for Youtube clips and came upon this one:

simpsons opening with real people...

great rendition of the simpsons opening bit... notice that it's shot in the UK.

Come Home To The Simpsons from devilfish on Vimeo.

today's horoscope

according to today's horoscope on MyYahoo, that bastion of clairvoyance...

"You're good with a crowd. You know how to tell jokes, shake hands and remember names. Today you'll very likely be doing all three. Even if it feels harder than it looks, it's good to put yourself out there. Don't overstrain yourself, though. Just go out there and trust your natural abilities. You might be surprised at how much easier it can be when you don't really make an effort. Some things, you know, are like that!"

in actuality, i'm horrid with crowds, i dislike shaking hands and i almost never remember someone's name, even moments after i meet a person. and today i shan't do any of these three as it's a holiday and virtually no one is at TechSpace (aside from two colleagues and myself).

the end of blogging?

i imagine most people blog so their ideas, thoughts, jokes will get viewed by their friends. rachel and i were just discussing this the other day. i prefer that no one read my sad little blog, while rachel prefers that complete strangers read hers so that new connections, friendships might be forged.

according to the ny times, the blogging community is rapidly dwindling and former bloggers say they are too busy to write lengthy posts and are uninspired by a lack of readers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html?_r=1&hp

yeah! friday night! time to stop working!! give me the music make me jump and prance!

our daily bread...

One of our agents sent me a thank you note the other day for...

"... continuing to oversee the quality scripts that EP has most recently been developing. There's nothing like a script that makes agents proud and enthusiastic about the product, to make a call center rise to stellar heights!"

The agent went on to say...

"... I especially would like to call your attention, regarding this matter, to the on-point e-mail [recently sent by EP] stressing ethical approaches we should take as we seek our daily bread. It is wonderful that you (and the rest of the staff) are so accessible. It's wonderful to be an expert on this planet!"

What's interesting is A) that an agent would be excited about a telemarketing script, and B) the number of agents who use religious references like "our daily bread" in their emails, or in their signature line (e.g., "God Bless").

I wonder if J.C. would have been a good call center agent, and would he use company emails to proselytize the agent community.

this charming marr...

i spent the entire night trying to learn this gem by johnny marr. it didn't come out nearly as well as this guy's rendition:

Sears sucker...

This rambling note that I sent to Sears' "senior case manager" explains it...


Hi Robert (or anyone who can help),

My name is Peter DeLuca and I'm the customer in the case referenced below. I've had massive difficulty with this particular order (# 207827487).

Feel free to contact me when you can at 917-xxx-xxxx.

To summarize the recent series of unfortunate and brand-deteriorating events:

• On January 29th I purchased four distinct items online from Sears.com: a washer, dryer, stacking kit, and installation service for the dryer (i would later find out that installation service should not even be available for an electric dryer, as there's no installation necessary).
• On the evening of February 2nd, I received a call from Sears telling me that the washer was set to be delivered the next day (Feb. 3rd) at 10:45am and that I needed to be present at home to accept the delivery. I asked the representative about the dryer, and she had no record of me ever purchasing the dryer(!)
• The above issue then triggered a series of time-consuming calls to ostensibly incompetent Customer Service agents to determine why my dryer purchase was not being recognized by Sears Home Delivery, never to be resolved.
  
• On the morning on February 3rd, I received a call indicating that my dryer was going to be delivered between 11am - 3pm. Interestingly, this representative had no knowledge of the washer purchase. At this point I assumed both were going to be delivered that day. But I was wrong. Neither was ever delivered! This triggered another series of calls to Sears Home Delivery, and more confusion.
• Sears Home Delivery finally told me that the washer delivery was unfortunately delayed and had never even made it to the warehouse (even though I had received a call the night before saying it was ready for delivery) and that it will be arriving on Friday, February 4th. But I had already taken the day off Thursday, February 3rd and I wasn't even going to be in town on the 4th.
• I received a separate call from a different Sears department indicating that my dryer was also not available, and that I never should have received the delivery appointment call in the first place.
  
• Now it's several days later, Tuesday, February 8th, and I have (again) been told by two separate Sears departments that deliveries will occur today. However, neither the washer delivery group, nor the dryer delivery group recognizes that the other product was ever purchased (obviously a massive disconnect with Sears' internal systems). We'll see how everything turns out.

During one of the many calls I've made over the last week, I asked for a discount on the total purchase and the removal of the installation service, which I never needed in the first place. I've received no confirmation that this charge has been removed, or that any discount has been given. Needless to say, Sears is almost certainly going to lose a customer for life.

Thanks,
Peter

karaoke...

Saturday night Rachel and I went to a karaoke party with a bunch of her fellow Wharton students. I was the oldest by about 10 years. I didn't sing along to any of the songs because A) I didn't really know many of the songs, aside from Beat It by MJ, and B) I cannot sing in front of people I don't know -- unless I'm sauced, which I wasn't. But if I had joined in, I surely would have picked a gem like this old Elvis tune, which would certainly have gone over poorly with the others...

One of the Beach Boys' best...