Gossip girl tonight was so awesome. Nate and B? God, I hope so. They are both so beautiful, and V is so trying on the eyes and ears. The music was a bit lackluster in this episode though. MGMT 'Kids'? That is stale.
After GG I watched the J&K+8 season finale. They made the preview look like Jon was finally going to kick that bitch to the curb or walk out. No, he just expressed his lack of enthusiasm for continuing the show. They probably should, before the fame goes to those kids heads. I mean, on the second to last episode they went and sat courtside at a Harlem Globetrotters game, then had a meet and greet at halftime, then had a satellite interview with Oprah the next day. Those kids are going to start doing blow and putting their friends in the ICU from their drag-racing accidents soon. There was actually a blatant product placement in the last episode where I almost just turned off the TV and gave up on the show. Jon was sitting at his computer and he was like, "I talked to my Allstate agent today and he wanted me to look at some stuff online." And then they show the Allstate website home page twice, for waaaay longer than necessary. WTF J&K+8? If I want to watch commercials, I will stop paying for DVR! I watch your show to see your adorable halfer kids, especially Aiden. I do not want to know what kind of fucking spokesperson deal you got this week. Go back to writing books and whoring yourself out for "your children's education" AKA shopping sprees and spa trips.
Kate says, "I love my job." Of course you do! You have a husband you can talk shit to all day, a personal assistant to help you with your kids, a million dollar house, and fame. I mean, who cares if your husband is totally miserable and your kids will end up with heads almost as fat as yours. What a cunt. That show has quickly spiraled into a Kate-centered trainwreck.
It's spring break. I watched a lot of TV today.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
J list is ridiculous, please do not order from them
This is not like my normal rants about companies with poor customer service. This one is funnier. J list is a company which carries Japanese porn along with many fun Japanese items. I have ordered from them 3 or 4 times (fun items, not porn). They are based in Japan and have a distributor in San Diego.
In February of 2008, I ordered a Hello Kitty ice tray, some bento sauce containers, and a book on learning Hiragana and Katakana characters. The ice tray and containers arrived pretty quickly, and I got an email that the book was backordered. Whatever.
At the end of March, I tried to contact them about the book through their website and I got no response. I sent an email directly to someone whose email address I got from the site. No response. I forgot about it cause I didn't care that much. In October, I got a mass email saying that they had noticed I hadn't ordered in a while (?) and if there was any reason. It mentioned they had problems with some of their emails and notification system. The email came from "Peter". I'm using their real names because all of this is true so I can't be sued. I responded:
Peter,
Funny you should ask, as in my last order I never received a book that I paid for. I wrote multiple times to all email addresses I had available for J-list and used the feedback form online, but never received any kind of response. I don't know if there's any way that you could actually make this up to me, as I now have zero belief in the reliability of your service.
I doubt you will respond, as no one responded to any of my past requests.
He surprisingly wrote back and said that he checked the order and yes, they hadn't sent the book through some kind of mistake. He offered to send me a refund or the book. I responded that they could send me the book. Good thing I didn't hold my breath, as the book still did not arrive.
So the other day I was thinking about it, got a little pissed that they still had my money without giving me the book, and reported them to the BBB (in my experience, the BBB is awesome, companies always rush to cover their ass when reported there).
I got a response two days later from a woman working at the distributor in San Diego. She apologized, had me check the site to confirm the book I had ordered, and told me she would ship it right away. I was happy I would finally be getting my book.
Then this morning I received this ignorant email from some other Japan-based jlister.
--------------
Hello,
I was charged on 2/27/08 (I placed the order on 2/11/08). Here is the screen shot. The woman from San Diego claims that she has already sent this book, so I know you don't actually need evidence that I paid to send me the book. It seems like whatever responsibilities you have on your end have been completely ignored, while the unfortunate people who work for you in San Diego can't do business properly because you can't get your stuff together. I shouldn't even send you this screen shot since it's your own problem that you can't manage your business, but I don't like your insinuation that I didn't pay or wasn't charged. If I wasn't charged, I wouldn't be so angry about it or be wasting my time with your worthless company.
I also don't buy that someone was entering this order "late at night" since you are 14 hours ahead of me. I ordered it at 6pm, which makes it 8am your time. If that is late at night for your workers, then it's no wonder you have a problem.
---------
I attached the screen shot of my checking account statement entitled "idiotjlist.bmp". The San Diego woman replied that she was sorry and embarrassed. I would be too, I feel bad for her. Hopefully she can use this evidence of their retarded antics to cut ties with them.
If those Jbastards reply, I'll post it, but I doubt they will. They've probably brought shame upon their families and will be doing seppuku tonight by swallowing a frisbee (that is a ninja guide joke).
When I get my book in the mail, I'm going to use it to write a nasty letter about the mothers of jlist employees.
In February of 2008, I ordered a Hello Kitty ice tray, some bento sauce containers, and a book on learning Hiragana and Katakana characters. The ice tray and containers arrived pretty quickly, and I got an email that the book was backordered. Whatever.
At the end of March, I tried to contact them about the book through their website and I got no response. I sent an email directly to someone whose email address I got from the site. No response. I forgot about it cause I didn't care that much. In October, I got a mass email saying that they had noticed I hadn't ordered in a while (?) and if there was any reason. It mentioned they had problems with some of their emails and notification system. The email came from "Peter". I'm using their real names because all of this is true so I can't be sued. I responded:
Peter,
Funny you should ask, as in my last order I never received a book that I paid for. I wrote multiple times to all email addresses I had available for J-list and used the feedback form online, but never received any kind of response. I don't know if there's any way that you could actually make this up to me, as I now have zero belief in the reliability of your service.
I doubt you will respond, as no one responded to any of my past requests.
He surprisingly wrote back and said that he checked the order and yes, they hadn't sent the book through some kind of mistake. He offered to send me a refund or the book. I responded that they could send me the book. Good thing I didn't hold my breath, as the book still did not arrive.
So the other day I was thinking about it, got a little pissed that they still had my money without giving me the book, and reported them to the BBB (in my experience, the BBB is awesome, companies always rush to cover their ass when reported there).
I got a response two days later from a woman working at the distributor in San Diego. She apologized, had me check the site to confirm the book I had ordered, and told me she would ship it right away. I was happy I would finally be getting my book.
Then this morning I received this ignorant email from some other Japan-based jlister.
Hi Rachel,
This is Dennis with J-list. I wanted to inform you that we did receive an email from my manager in San Diego regarding your purchase and want to apologize for any inconvenience that you're experiencing with the order. I wanted to send you a response incase someone hasn't contacted you yet. This is going to sound very strange, but upon investigation of this order, I was unable to locate a charge for this order, and yet find an email was sent to you stating that the order was paid for. I tried searching several times with various search queries and still have not been able to locate the charge. I also found that the "A Guide To Learning Hiragana & Katakana ~ First Steps To Reading And Writing Japanese" which should have been entered into our shipping database for San Diego to ship out was never entered, which I find also puzzling. I have a feeling that it was a late night, and whoever was processing the order didn't realize their mistake and just sent out your order as being paid, when no transaction actually took place. I would like to know if you were able to locate a transaction on your credit card statement, one that was charged sometime around 4/13/2009 for the amount of "$34.64" and if you could send me a scan or screen shot of that portion of the statement to help me get to the bottom of this situation. From there I can get this straightened out for you and get you the remaining portion of your purchase. Again, my apologies for the trouble.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Dennis
Instead of describing my anger over this email, I will just copy the email I sent back to him, CCing the poor woman in San Diego who has to deal with these fuckups.--------------
Hello,
I was charged on 2/27/08 (I placed the order on 2/11/08). Here is the screen shot. The woman from San Diego claims that she has already sent this book, so I know you don't actually need evidence that I paid to send me the book. It seems like whatever responsibilities you have on your end have been completely ignored, while the unfortunate people who work for you in San Diego can't do business properly because you can't get your stuff together. I shouldn't even send you this screen shot since it's your own problem that you can't manage your business, but I don't like your insinuation that I didn't pay or wasn't charged. If I wasn't charged, I wouldn't be so angry about it or be wasting my time with your worthless company.
I also don't buy that someone was entering this order "late at night" since you are 14 hours ahead of me. I ordered it at 6pm, which makes it 8am your time. If that is late at night for your workers, then it's no wonder you have a problem.
---------
I attached the screen shot of my checking account statement entitled "idiotjlist.bmp". The San Diego woman replied that she was sorry and embarrassed. I would be too, I feel bad for her. Hopefully she can use this evidence of their retarded antics to cut ties with them.
If those Jbastards reply, I'll post it, but I doubt they will. They've probably brought shame upon their families and will be doing seppuku tonight by swallowing a frisbee (that is a ninja guide joke).
When I get my book in the mail, I'm going to use it to write a nasty letter about the mothers of jlist employees.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Retarded children
No, this post is actually not about the kids who live on my street.
I went bowling Wednesday night with Mike, Ryan, Lynn, and Doug. After a little while, Ryan pointed out this girl sitting with an older lady about halfway down the lanes. The little girl was eating something and just sitting there. Ryan informed me that the little girl used to have some crutches and a back brace or something like that. She wasn't wearing them anymore so he thought maybe she had been cured.
A little bit later, we saw the little girl coming our way. Crawling. She went over to the claw arcade machine and was pushing a button but she hadn't put any money in so obviously nothing was coming out. Even if she had put money in, I'm sure she couldn't win a prize anyway. So she was getting upset that there was no prize coming out and she began to ram her head into the machine. She did that 3 or 4 times. Ryan astutely commented that she was not cured. Later we saw her walking a little and she definitely leaned to the side. I know scoliosis doesn't make you mentally retarded, so I think she had a little something extra on top of a crooked spine. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?
I don't know why, but retarded kids really make me laugh. Then later I think how much it would suck to have a retarded kid. Even a non-retarded kid is a huge burden that might not be worth it. In some ways, maybe retarded kids are better, cause you don't get your hopes up that they're going to be president or secure your comfortable retirement.
I used to work with a guy named Luke, who once told me that he had always wanted to work with retarded people. He only wanted to work with them so that when he came home at night he could tell whoever he lived with, "Oh my God, they did this today."
My bowling name was Blair Waldorf, Ryan was lonely boy, and Mike was Edward Cullen. Doug did not know who any of those people were.
I went bowling Wednesday night with Mike, Ryan, Lynn, and Doug. After a little while, Ryan pointed out this girl sitting with an older lady about halfway down the lanes. The little girl was eating something and just sitting there. Ryan informed me that the little girl used to have some crutches and a back brace or something like that. She wasn't wearing them anymore so he thought maybe she had been cured.
A little bit later, we saw the little girl coming our way. Crawling. She went over to the claw arcade machine and was pushing a button but she hadn't put any money in so obviously nothing was coming out. Even if she had put money in, I'm sure she couldn't win a prize anyway. So she was getting upset that there was no prize coming out and she began to ram her head into the machine. She did that 3 or 4 times. Ryan astutely commented that she was not cured. Later we saw her walking a little and she definitely leaned to the side. I know scoliosis doesn't make you mentally retarded, so I think she had a little something extra on top of a crooked spine. God works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?
I don't know why, but retarded kids really make me laugh. Then later I think how much it would suck to have a retarded kid. Even a non-retarded kid is a huge burden that might not be worth it. In some ways, maybe retarded kids are better, cause you don't get your hopes up that they're going to be president or secure your comfortable retirement.
I used to work with a guy named Luke, who once told me that he had always wanted to work with retarded people. He only wanted to work with them so that when he came home at night he could tell whoever he lived with, "Oh my God, they did this today."
My bowling name was Blair Waldorf, Ryan was lonely boy, and Mike was Edward Cullen. Doug did not know who any of those people were.
Friday, March 6, 2009
My life's philosophy
This was a response to my aunt's blog about my cousin not going to church, and it got too long, so here it is.
My sister, brother, and I are all agnostic or atheist, depending on how you define those terms. We were all forced to go to church every week growing up, and I was told that my grandma (o'neill) would be very disappointed if I wasn't confirmed, so I was. When Ian picked me as his confirmation sponsor, I told him if he didn't believe in God he should tell the priest that during their meeting. So Ian did not make his confirmation. I think religion is important enough that if you don't believe, you shouldn't pretend just for the sake of having a religion.
I also don't think that being religious or having faith in something higher always helps when you're in a tough spot. If anything I think that sometimes it can give a person a feeling of hopelessness because they think they can't control their own destiny. Or they sometimes blame a higher power for their terrible circumstances. Sometimes crap just happens and it's random. If you're constantly looking for an outside explanation for things, I think it distracts you from focusing on how to fix problems yourself. People often need help, but you can get that kind of help from family, friends, the government, or medicine.
Often I find myself wondering how religion even came about to begin with. Why do people have to explain everything? When you see geographical formations or how animals reproduce, why does that have to have a great big meaning? Can't it just be how it is? I mean, there are lots of good reasons to study the earth, particularly so we can predict what will happen to it in the future, but does it have a greater meaning? I don't think so. I don't think there's anything terribly wonderful going on with the earth or with people. Maybe something great is happening somewhere else in the universe but I doubt that too. What's the greatest thing you can imagine happening? World peace or an end to poverty or disease? Leaving aside the fact that eradicating disease would create overpopulation and more war, would any of these things matter?
The only things I can say that really matter are the things that affect me, because I'm the only person that I have control over or whose life I can directly change. I don't say that in the manner of, "Fuck everyone else, I'll throw my cigarette butts on the ground if I want," I just mean it in a practical sense. Do I care if over a third of Americans are obese? Only because it directly raises my insurance costs. If they want to kill themselves with overeating, it's not my concern. If we found a cure for obesity, I wouldn't sleep any better at night. If I were the one responsible for curing obesity, what would that get me beyond a big salary and some fame? Nothing. Because there's no goal in life. Whether you save millions of peoples lives or spend your whole time on earth mopping bathrooms in a high school, you die the same way.
If you think that something happens after you die, then my philosophy does not apply to you. If you are a person who believes in heaven or hell or reincarnation, then maybe what you do in life makes some difference later. There are a lot of people who believe this, and if it's true, then someone else is making the judgment call on how "good" my life was. Whoever it is, I have no way of knowing what they consider "good" or "bad" and so I think people who believe in an afterlife should still just be doing what they want.
Anyway, that's my life philosophy. Do whatever you want to the extent that it doesn't harm other people. Harm is also a relative term. If you're in sales, you're probably causing people to buy things they don't really need. It's debatable whether that harms them or not. I'm just going to do what makes me happy (with a future benefit to current cost analysis) for the rest of my life. If you're not doing what makes you happy then you should change what you're doing. If you can't change what you're doing then you should kill yourself and save yourself the misery of being alive. If saving the world makes you happy, then try for it. If working in customer service makes you happy, then do that, and don't be ashamed of it. Just don't pussy out and act like you have no control. Oh, my boss sucks, I hate my job, well then change careers, switch departments, take a pay cut to be happy, don't be a miserable asshole your whole life just for some job security. When you're about to die you'll just regret your life, and you don't get another one.
My sister, brother, and I are all agnostic or atheist, depending on how you define those terms. We were all forced to go to church every week growing up, and I was told that my grandma (o'neill) would be very disappointed if I wasn't confirmed, so I was. When Ian picked me as his confirmation sponsor, I told him if he didn't believe in God he should tell the priest that during their meeting. So Ian did not make his confirmation. I think religion is important enough that if you don't believe, you shouldn't pretend just for the sake of having a religion.
I also don't think that being religious or having faith in something higher always helps when you're in a tough spot. If anything I think that sometimes it can give a person a feeling of hopelessness because they think they can't control their own destiny. Or they sometimes blame a higher power for their terrible circumstances. Sometimes crap just happens and it's random. If you're constantly looking for an outside explanation for things, I think it distracts you from focusing on how to fix problems yourself. People often need help, but you can get that kind of help from family, friends, the government, or medicine.
Often I find myself wondering how religion even came about to begin with. Why do people have to explain everything? When you see geographical formations or how animals reproduce, why does that have to have a great big meaning? Can't it just be how it is? I mean, there are lots of good reasons to study the earth, particularly so we can predict what will happen to it in the future, but does it have a greater meaning? I don't think so. I don't think there's anything terribly wonderful going on with the earth or with people. Maybe something great is happening somewhere else in the universe but I doubt that too. What's the greatest thing you can imagine happening? World peace or an end to poverty or disease? Leaving aside the fact that eradicating disease would create overpopulation and more war, would any of these things matter?
The only things I can say that really matter are the things that affect me, because I'm the only person that I have control over or whose life I can directly change. I don't say that in the manner of, "Fuck everyone else, I'll throw my cigarette butts on the ground if I want," I just mean it in a practical sense. Do I care if over a third of Americans are obese? Only because it directly raises my insurance costs. If they want to kill themselves with overeating, it's not my concern. If we found a cure for obesity, I wouldn't sleep any better at night. If I were the one responsible for curing obesity, what would that get me beyond a big salary and some fame? Nothing. Because there's no goal in life. Whether you save millions of peoples lives or spend your whole time on earth mopping bathrooms in a high school, you die the same way.
If you think that something happens after you die, then my philosophy does not apply to you. If you are a person who believes in heaven or hell or reincarnation, then maybe what you do in life makes some difference later. There are a lot of people who believe this, and if it's true, then someone else is making the judgment call on how "good" my life was. Whoever it is, I have no way of knowing what they consider "good" or "bad" and so I think people who believe in an afterlife should still just be doing what they want.
Anyway, that's my life philosophy. Do whatever you want to the extent that it doesn't harm other people. Harm is also a relative term. If you're in sales, you're probably causing people to buy things they don't really need. It's debatable whether that harms them or not. I'm just going to do what makes me happy (with a future benefit to current cost analysis) for the rest of my life. If you're not doing what makes you happy then you should change what you're doing. If you can't change what you're doing then you should kill yourself and save yourself the misery of being alive. If saving the world makes you happy, then try for it. If working in customer service makes you happy, then do that, and don't be ashamed of it. Just don't pussy out and act like you have no control. Oh, my boss sucks, I hate my job, well then change careers, switch departments, take a pay cut to be happy, don't be a miserable asshole your whole life just for some job security. When you're about to die you'll just regret your life, and you don't get another one.
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