New Energy Source?

I was so hopeful that someone had found an efficient way to turn flour into energy.  But no, it's just Home Depot being illiterate.  Darn.

Inability to Spell.....Not Just Americans

Refreshingly...or sadly?...the inability to spell isn't just an American thing.  A few menu boards in New Zealand had some errors, including:

Avacado salad
Ceasar salad
Vegeterian falafal

Note to restaurants: if you can't spell the food item name properly, why should I trust that you'll make it properly?  As is my custom at home, if the menu is illiterate, I'm not going to dine at that establishment.  The only exception is if something is labeled as "krab", because then I know you're telling me it isn't real crab meat, but that fake whitefish stuff (which I actually like, anyway).  And if I order krab and get the real thing, well, I win, don't I?  :-)

A Dream Come True

I recently asked one of my managers if she had any advice on what I could do to improve communication with someone who is being a bit difficult, since polite-grams and smiley faces weren't getting me anywhere.  Her answer: be blunt.  lol!   It's a dream come true!

Why Insurance Companies Suck

We had a little fire incident - that thing called the Monument Fire, which some people may recall.  Filed a claim, and after some f**king around by the "restoration" company, managed to get the damages documented, and we were paid, damages fixed, etc.

So of course the next shoe to drop was...what will happen to our premium?

Answer: MORE THAN DOUBLED.  And heck, to my mind, we weren't even talking about a major claim - the house didn't burn down, after all, just some stuff outside like water tanks, a fence, 192 oak trees, etc.  (And no, we didn't try to get 192 mature oak trees replaced.)

I started scouting around for alternatives and got quotes from several reputable companies (and better yet, not from any I was advised to avoid, like Farmers), better rates, and they all said the fact that we filed a claim really only accounted for about a $50 difference in the quote.  So I called our current company and got a different story, namely that filing the claim completely explained the huge increase.

What's sad is, I'd probably have just shrugged and said ok, fire, premium went up, all the companies are charging more now (or denying coverage), just take it.   It's still a relatively decent deal in the cosmic scheme of things.   But it rankled anyway.  My company, whom I suppose I shouldn't rat on specifically so I'll just use initials - AAA! - just seems to be taking advantage of the situation.  So phooey on them.  They were good to us when they needed to be, but this little maneuver loses our business.  So there.

I Love Caller ID

Caller ID is a great thing when you are trying very hard not to use your Outside Voice.  Instead of having a telephone conversation that you're fairly certain will degenerate into unpleasantness, you can see who is calling, choose not to answer the phone, and thus avoid sticking your foot in your mouth.  It also has the side benefit of completely annoying the person who is calling you, who probably deserves it anyway.

That said I know a couple of people who intentionally block Caller ID on their outbound calls.  This doesn't help you - I know who you are, and I still may not answer.