Saturday, March 07, 2009
In case you didn't know I was strange...
I'm getting a new phone (touchscreen PDA, be jealous) on Monday and was reading the user guide and realized how amusing the safety precautions would be if one were to replace "phone" and "battery" with "baby" and "diaper". Also I discovered the second page of precautions and have replaced "memory card" with "brain". Here is the result:
Safety Information
Read these simple guidelines. Breaking the rules may be dangerous or illegal. Further detailed information is given in this user guide.
- Never use an unapproved diaper since this could damage the baby and/or diaper and could cause the diaper to explode.
- Never place your baby in a microwave oven as it will cause the diaper to explode.
- Do not dispose of the diaper by fire or with hazardous or flammable materials.
- Make sure that no sharp-edged items come into contact with the diaper. There is a risk of this causing a fire.
- Store the diaper in a place out of reach of children.
- Be careful that children do not swallow any parts such as rubber plugs (ears, connection parts of the baby, etc.). This could cause asphyxiation or suffocation.
- Unplug the power cord and charger during lightning storms to avoid electric shock or fire.
- When riding in a car, do not leave your baby or set up the hands-free kit near to the air bag. If wireless equipment is improperly installed and the air bag is activated, you may be seriously injured.
- Do not use a hand-held baby while driving.
- Do not use the baby in areas where its use is prohibited. (For example: aircraft).
- Do not expose the diaper charger or adapter to direct sunlight or use it in places with high humidity, such as a bathroom.
- Never store your baby in temperatures less than- 4°F or greater than 122°F.
- Do not use harsh chemicals(such as alcohol, benzene, thinners, etc.) or detergents to clean your baby. There is a risk of this causing a fire.
- Do not drop, strike, or shake your baby severely. Such actions may harm the internal circuit boards of the baby.
- Do not use your baby in high explosive areas as the baby may generate sparks.
- Do not damage the power cord by bending, twisting, pulling, or heating. Do not use the plug if it is loose as it may cause a fire or electric shock.
- Do not place any heavy items on the power cord. Do not allow the power cord to be crimped as it may cause fire or electric shock.
- Do not handle the baby with wet hands while it is being charged. It may cause an electric shock or seriously damage your baby.
- Do not disassemble the baby.
- Do not place or answer calls while charging the baby as it may short-circuit the baby and/or cause electric shock or fire.
- Only use the diapers, antennas, and chargers provided by LG. The warranty will not be applied to products provided by other suppliers.
- Only authorized personnel should service the baby and its accessories. Faulty installation or service may result in accidents and consequently invalidate the warranty.
- Do not hold or let the antenna come in contact with your body during a call.
- An emergency call can be made only within a service area. For an emergency call, make sure that you are within a service area and that the baby is turned on.
- Use accessories, such as earbabys and headsets, with caution. Ensure that cables are tucked away safely and do not touch the antenna unnecessarily.
Brain information and care
- If the damage cannot be fixed, format the brain.
- The brain cannot be used for recording copyright- protected data.
- Do not write forcefully on the memo area.
- Carry and store the brain in its case.
- Do not allow the brain to get wet.
- Do not leave the brain in extremely hot location.
- Do not disassemble or modify the brain.
I should update this, eh?
Ok, so here is the quick run down of my life (not involving pizza, king cake, or computers) over the past few months...
Finished the job at Kilbourne Park Baptist as the music intern there in December and spent about a month and half trying to find another job.
Took my oral comprehensive exam in the middle of February and failed it.
The week before I had gotten the call from the chairperson of a local church's personnel committee wanting to set up a meeting with me and the committee, so Thursday of the week I failed my orals I met with them and on Friday they called offering me the position! So, I am once again employed.
The Saturday before Mardi Gras I had a Mardi Gras party at my place which lasted until much later than I thought it would (the next morning being my first Sunday at the church this was, quite possibly, not the smartest move staying up until 3:30 and all) and had another failed king cake. (Ok, I lied about there being no king cakes in this post. King cake one this year was barely acceptable, king cake two was a miserable failure. I made an experimental batch of mini king cake dough balls which the last two worked out well so I used the last modification of the recipe for the two I made for my party, which both failed. I am at a loss to explain the behaviour of my king cakes since I moved to Columbia--I never had trouble with them in Augusta.)
Two Sundays have passed now at the church and things are going pretty well. I've even almost gotten Easter planned! The rest of Lent, however, is still not planned.
I am taking two online classes for library science and that is all I am enrolled in for credit. Singing with two ensembles at the school (concert choir and grad vocal). I am also still sing with Colla Voce.
I have yet to get my orals rescheduled--it was tough getting the first one scheduled--so I will not be graduating in May but in August. I hope. Then I will begin working on my MLIS (professional student here).
So, that is about all for now.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
A Tale of Two Pizzerias
Tonight my friend Tim and I had an interesting experience that allows me to give contrasting examples of good and bad customer service in the restaurant industry. We both love a terribly bad breath inducing pizza: sausage with garlic. There are two places in town we get this pizza, both have excellent pizzas.
Back in the fall, after one of our friend's had completed his grad vocal recital, we went to one of these places and the two of us ordered said pizza (as two single guys we can partake in the consumption of what is probably the equivalent of half a head of minced garlic on a pizza with no worries).
When everyone's food came out the waitress brought us a pizza which had sausage and pepperoni on it. We pointed out the fact that there was pepperoni and no visible garlic. The waitress told us it was probably under the cheese and for us to try some and let her know when she came back if there really was no garlic on the pizza. We did, and there was none. We sent back the pizza, minus two slices (because we each tried one as per her orders) and then preceded to wait another 20 minutes, while all our friends enjoyed their meals, for our pizza to come out.
Twenty minutes pass and our new pizza comes out. She sets it down, proudly, and we look and see that there is, indeed garlic on the pizza. However, there is also no sausage, only peperoni. Rem member, we never asked for peperoni. In fact, Tim doesn't really like peperoni. We point this out to her and inform her that we will gladly keep this pizza in order that we may at least have some dinner this evening but feel that we should be compensated for never having gotten the wrong order.
We finish our meal and the bills come. We get a check with both pizzas charged and one is marked at half price. We complain, since we only ever ordered one pizza and never actually got the pizza we ordered, and sent back the first incorrect one. She gets her manager to come talk to us rather than try to clear up the issue. The manger accuses us of eating both pizzas and informs us that it obviously wasn't her mistake since she had been working there for five years. Aside from the fact that longevity at a job doesn't make one immune to mistakes--even if you have a doctorate in your field you are still likely to make a mistake from time to time--we argue that it was obviously someone's mistake and not ours. We manage to get them to remove the first pizza from our bill and get half off our second (though still incorrect) pizza. We leave feeling cheated and upset for being chastised by the manager, and embarrassed for causing a scene in front of all our friends.
Tonight we went with some friends to establishment B that we get this wonderful, smelly pizza and order one to split. When the orders come out the waitress points out that somehow the order got messed up and the kitchen put onions rather than garlic on our pizza. She offers to leave the incorrect pizza for us and informs us that she has put a corrected order in and will bring it out as soon as it is ready. We laugh, and inform her of the above story and ponder why it has suddenly become impossible for us to get this pizza prepared correctly. We eat the mistake pizza happily, staving off hunger and are saved the annoyance of having to watch friends eat happily while we starve because of a mistake that was not our own. Shortly the corrected, and even upgraded in size pizza arrives and we enjoy this one very much. We leave, each with take-out boxes, happy.
Now, neither of us has been back to establishment A since the incident back in the late fall, and we have no plans to go back any time soon. We will readily go back to establishment B any time in the near future.
The cost for each place was probably the same, they each made two pizzas for us (actually, the cost for establishment B was a little higher since they upgraded our second pizza). However, the cost in the long run is that establishment B has kept two customers and has managed to make them even more loyal. Establishment A drove off two semi-regular customers and generated a good bit of negative word-of-mouth publicity in the fall from a whole table full of people. In addition to this, the waitress helped herself out in that we both tipped over what we normally would have tipped (I tend to not under-tip based on bad service but I will over-tip based on exceptional service).
I'll leave you to figure out the moral of this story, I have pizza in the fridge to attack.
Klasinc&Loncar Duo (Just trying to help it get picked up by Google spiders, I maintain it for them)