July 2003 Archives

Having a very strong client service background, I always find it interesting to see how poor some people/organisations are at providing it..

Today one of the members of my team needed to reset an end users password on a 3rd parties computer system that we sometimes access. Not knowing the phone number of the support centre of the 3rd party, he figured he would send them an email..

So he did, he sent them an email advising them that he needed to have the users password reset but he didnt have their phone number and asked if they could return email it to him.

They promptly replied with the phone number.

The member of my team rang the number they had provided and told the telephonist that he needed a password reset. The support staff members reply almost made him laugh/cry. They said that they couldnt change passwords over the phone and that he would need to email it through.

I have been on a shopping binge today.. with this and this and this and this.

Have just this minute finished the final mix of 'Noise Plantation", another fine song by Interactive Particle Theory... I will see if I can get a sample up in a few days..

Last night I re-watched one of my favourite movies. We watched the director's cut.. it was the first time I had seen that version. I had heard that most people preferred this version, Im sorry to day that I didnt.

So do you think Deckard would dream of sheep? It's a bit of a long running debate- isnt it? I dont think he did. I dont think he was a replicant. I just think he fell in love. Pure and Simple.

Last night I went to see Goldfrapp - oh my gosh.. what a show.. I was blown away.. I didnt expect too much from Ms Goldfrapp, and to tell you the truth, whilst I enjoyed their music, I was mostly going to the show to spend some quality time with a mate of mine.

Did I get a nice surprise.. the show would have to have been one of the best shows I have ever seen. The band was tight, the music was cooler then cool and Ms Goldfrapp herself was a stunner! Hats off.. I only wish they were playing another night in Sydney town.

Thanks to someone else who's picture I ripped off..

I am really getting to the new Dandy Warhol's album "Welcome to the Monkey Business".. it is a piece of art. The fact that Nick Rhodes produced and played on it has nothing to do with it - seriously. Its a brilliant album and captures pure pop the way it should be presented in the year 2003.

The good news is that the Dandies are playing here in Sydney at the Metro this very month! Woo hoo! The bad news is that they are only playing one show and its sold out. Thats a shame.. because I would have gone to see them - from all reports they put on a good show.. over 2 hours long..

I dont normally drink one bottle of wine in one sitting.. but I can tell you thats its *enough*

Today I had to fly down to Canberra for a meeting for work. Oh what an interesting day.

Apart from the fact that I had to get up 2 hours earlier to get to the airport in time for my flight - I thought was this going to be a normal day.

Tip #252 - dont wear shoes with buckles on them when you have to fly. Walking through the security metal detector, I set it off and made it all light up like christmas tree. 'Please take all of the items out of pocket and walk through again sir'. BEEP BEEP BEEP.. WHOOT WHOOT! ok. 'Please take your watch off sir and walk through again'.. DWEEP DWEEP HOOT HOOT!. 'Hmm.. Sir can you take your belt off please, and try again'. BEEP WHOOT DWEEP HOOT!

I can see the security dude look down at my shoes, Sir, its probably those buckles on your shoes. Arhh.. ok. I think to myself.. solved. I can continue on my way now.. 'Sir. Can you remove your shoes and put them through the X-Ray machine please'. What?! Why?! No! You might discover that I have a nuclear warhead in the toe of my right shoe..

And so they X-rayed my shoe.

Flying down, I was on a small time airplane.. nothing worthy to note except that these suckers really move around alot.. Im not a nervous flyer.. I figured I was getting more value for my money.. I get to travel to work and get the thrill of an amusment ride which I would normally be too scared to go on. :)

I get to Canberra.. and arrive at my meeting. Are you ready for this..

At the meeting there is this guy who looks exactly like George Costanza from Seinfield. Im like.. oh my gosh.. he is the spitting image.. althoughout the meeting I was waiting for him to do the 'T-Bone' routine.

But thats not all.. the guy sitting next to George baby, looks exactly like Bill Murray. Im thinking to myself.. what the heck is going on here. But wait.. as silly as it seems, the guy next to him looks just like Steve Martin! I kid you not.. these guys didnt just look a bit like them, they could have been their stand in's in the movies.

But the fun doesnt end there thrill seekers.. there is another guy who, if you closed your eyes sounded just like Grahame Richardson (the ex Labor Pollie here in Oz).. but the same guy looked just like one of the journo's out of the West Wing. And to top if all off, the guy who was sitting next to him had a name very similar to John Cleese. He didnt look like him though. But he did write in his notepad sideways. If you know what I mean.

How about that for an all star meeting?

So the meeting was quite interesting and I headed home. Got to the airport earlier then expected and was able to reschedule onto an earlier flight! Woo hoo!

Walking through the security check point in Canberra Airport I heard a WHOOP WHOOP! DWEEP!.. I stopped.. looked down.. my shoes.. yes I had to take them off again and have them x-rayed..

.. can cause you some distress.. I accidently deleted some of my code in my main template.. of course by the time I realised it was too late. so after much huffing and puffing, I have managed to restore things the way they should be. The panel on the right is a back up though.. I will find time to update it later in the week.

In other news - well its not news really.. but I caught up with some friends for dinner on Saturday night, it was good except I had to get up pretty early Sunday morning, so I couldnt make a big night of it. It was fun all the same. Good food, good friends, good entertainment and good conversation.

Infact I think the quote of the night was from my mate Jason "Rob you can share my prawns, but you cant share my girlfriends" - thats not in the spirit of a porn and prawn night is it :)

Had a quiet night at home last night, catching up with one of my oldest and best friends.. Mr Larry himself.. we have known each other for many many years.. and have been through quite a bit together.. good and bad.. whilst we dont seem to catch up with each other as much as we probably should - its reassuring to know that time hasnt really changed much between us.. we still laugh about the same things and have the same connection which started our friendship all those years ago.

Thanks Larry.. for being a good mate.. as I hope I am to you.
You are going to kill me for this but.. here is Larry and one of his other fans :)

Why is it that my computer performs all so well - right up until the time when it is the worst possible time for it to break down?

Its always the case isnt it? Murphey's Law I think they call it. Expect everything to go wrong at the worst possible moment. Grr!! Just at the time when I need to rely upon it.. my PC decides to chuck a 'mental'.

Its taken me the last 40 minutes to get it back to a state where it boots and it operates enough for me to do the basics, but try and do anything else and it sort of looks at me stupid and says 'what? you want to do that?!'.

I know alot about computers, so it doesnt bother me too much that I have to back everything up and reinstall this fine operating system and all of the associated 'essentials'. But not tonight.. I dont have time tonight.. I need it to work tonight.. sigh..

Heck.. its time I should upgrade it anyway..

Just a quick update.. last few days at work have been quite busy and I have actually achieved a quite alot.. presented quite a few deliverables which I have been eating away at for a while now, so it was good to actually move them and mark them off as 'finished'. Have also done alot of work to polish off a few more big ticket items in the next few weeks. Having said that July and August are going to be very very busy.

I have secured a ticket to see GoldFrapp, thanks to my mate Anthony. So that should be fun.. he also reports that Kraftwerk have a new CD slotted for release pretty soon.. could be interesting!

Reading: `Tard Blog (yeah, sure its not politically correct.. get over it)
Listening to: Dandy Warhols - Welcome to the Monkey House
Watching: Big Brother (yeah well get over that too!) 'Go Reggie!'
Thinking: About Yesterday
Drinking: Brokenwood

omg, this has to be my current fav. site.. thanks to Kurt's blog at brokengod.net

It is funny.. but its not for the faint hearted or those who are easily offended. Rusty you will love it.. bookmark it :)