Free publications and print overload

The only publications that I "pay" to subscribe are Reader's Digest, Entreprenuer (did not renew), Fast Company (did not renew), Wired (did not renew), and the Wall Street Journal (did not renew). It seems that I get 11 other publications including eWeek, CIO, Computer World and a bunch of other print publications that I get because I am an "industry professional." The only problem is that keeping them is a chore, leave alone reading them all. Me, a mid-level management person. I really have respect for corporate-America's CEOs now. No, wait - I don't. It seems that us Americans are overworking and multi-tasking ourselves into chaos. Instead of working productively, we are working harder and toiling deeper. We need to work smarter - after all, we're not Indians. If we continue this trend, pretty soon, we'll be the ones opening up call centers, or cultivating rice - not that there's anything wrong with it ;)
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KFC - 'bad' has a whole new meaning

I like to eat out - so the other day, my about-to-be-divorced friend and me went to a KFC joint in The Woodlands, TX. Nestled amongst gorgeous trees and bushes lanscaped to perfection, you would think the food would be great. To the super inquisitive, the last time I had KFC food was in Rawalpindi, Pakistan (which I must say was finger-lickin' good!). So my friend and me order the KFC snacker (a teeny weeny sandwich) since both of us are not hungry - and behold, the stained teeth waitress serves us two hastily wrapped wrappers When I opened the wrapper, I almost threw up. The fried chicken strip looked like a tail from some animal - a shrimp shaped debacle. The buns were icy white - not even remotely close to what was displayed in the in-store advertisement (in vivid colors, of course). American fast food companies with stores in the US should realize that people will pay more if the quality is better - what happened to American values?
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Impressed with Avis... they do really try harder!

I normally hate car rental places - you stand in line forever to get a shitty -smoky car (not to mention the infinite bull you have to hear about their insurance coverage). My work wanted me to go to Chicago (I work for Hewitt Associates) and so I rented with Avis (their preferred vendor). I registered for their membership and was warmly received by a (irate) bus driver who would have been cussing and showign the bird (if not for me). He did promptly leave me at the preferred counter building (no shitty lines and frustrated employee - this is business class stuff). Needless to say, I was impressed. My return was even for convenient - I didn't even have to go inside the building!
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Bloody V-Tech phones!

I bought a heavily discounted cordless V-Tech 5.8 GHz phone from Wal-Mart recently. The box had a picture of a nice-looking phone with speaker-phone and a whole laundry list of features for $30! When I took it home, the product turned out to be a return and defective - seems like once you make a call, the only way to end it is to hit Talk again, and then hang-up via putting it back on the cradle. I spent two hours of my precious life on buying, setting up, and returning this piece of garbage. V-Tech: Please do not make phones which do not work the way they're supposed to! And yes Wal-Mart: please work on training your associates and give them a good pay and benefits so that's they're happy - making ads with happy employees is false advertising!
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McDonald's meal at O'Hare airport

On a recent visit to Buffalo, I had a stop-over flight in Chicago. Being hungry and cranky (considering the air carriers rarely give you anything besides a salty pack of pretzels and flat colas), I stopped at a McDonald's. Let me be very, very straight - I hate McDonald's. But since I could not find Chilli's, or Subway or anything decent, I had to settle for McD's. I have a word to say for McD's management - please stop giving those freakin little nasty ketchup packs and give the ketchup in little containers like WhataBurger does. Learn from them - and maybe, just maybe, you don't have to settle for 49c burgers and fries to obese (or going-to-be-obese) kids!
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SBC's Pathetic Customer Service

It was just two days ago that I called SBC Communications (million complaints, here are 1,2 ...) about a huge bill ($205) for a residential phone line. I have DSL and a basic phone line and I never exceed $80 average per month. So you can see that this month was a shocker. When I transferred my service, I asked repeatedly that whether my contract would be renewed and the CS at the other end conveniently said "No".

I did not want to renew my contract because I want to try out Time Warner's Road Runner or other cable internet providers. I was informed of a transfer fee and was fine with that. When I called SBC, it took me a good 30 minutes to get to a high-school customer service drop-out person at the other end. Her fourth language was English so I had to teach her as I explained her my problem. She told me that I had to "pay the bill" regardless.

I explained her while clenching my toes that I will but I need to know why my contract was renewed when I was explicitly told that it would not be but she hell-bent that I had to "pay the bill" and was "sorry if somebody gave me the wrong information." So basically, companies have a license to spew lies as long as "some other associate/customer service person" gives the information. What did she expect - that I'll give her the associate's name in a second as to who "lied" to me?

Finally after hearing her muttering and her frustration sighs (she was frustrated more than me and I am the one who has to fork the money), she transferred me to an "advanced billing specialist." This specialist immediately transferred me to another customer service when I told her my problem - apparently she told me to hold and transferred me without any notice whatsoever.

After 4 hours and the phone glued to my ear, I gave up. I had lost hope with SBC. That's when the God of Mercy came down and granted me an "English-speaking" woman who at least gave me a $25 credit. I had by then obviously decided to cut SBC from my provider and life. I have vowed not to part a single cent of my bloody income to SBC. These guys are A+ crooks!
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