My son turned thirteen today. I’m thankful that he is a good kid who loves God, respects his parents and has a fantastic purpose for his life. I’m glad he feels he can talk to me about everything from sex to video games. My prayer is that our bond stays strong as the next 13 years of his life will define him as a man.
Happy Birthday, son. Let’s do it real big 
This entry was written by , posted on 4 March 10 at 1:28 pm, filed under Thoughts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I read the story and watched the videos. I encourage you to do the same before reading on.
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This entry was written by , posted on 24 February 10 at 4:35 pm, filed under Thoughts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I understand that we’re human and the occasional customer service faux pas is bound to happen. But when there’s a clear pattern of blatant issues, I’m compelled to raise my hand and call it / them / you out.
This week, Company X = United Parcel Service (UPS) because their service – in my neighborhood – wreaks of suckage.
For the past three years, nearly every interaction with UPS has been a nightmare. My wife and I try our best to make sure they do not handle/ship our online purchases (e.g., eBay). If a seller emails us that dreaded UPS tracking code, we cringe.
We want this to change, so we’ve condensed our experiences into four (4) recurring reasons why our UPS service sucks:
1. UPS NEVER deliver our packages when they’re supposed to be delivered
The Tracking # is a joke as it gives no true indication of the location or ETA of the shipped item. While UPS policy gives a generous delivery window of 9am – 7pm – the tracking detail of last night’s delivery clearly shows where they’ve missed the mark. Unfortunately, this is the norm.
2. UPS lies and say they tried to deliver, but they NEVER came by the house
I experienced this firsthand where my wife has called UPS and the CSR states the driver had attempted delivery; meanwhile, I’ve been at home ALL DAY and never saw/heard a UPS truck come by. There’s no sticky note on our door. Nothing. Not sure whose fault it is, internally, but blatant mistruths like that insult our intelligence.
3. They loose our $#%* too much
Once, we ordered a camera lens and a Halloween costume. Both were scheduled to be delivered the same day.The costume arrived, but the lens – despite being tracked as on the SAME truck – was “lost.” My wife needed the lens for a Saturday photo shoot. The driver assured us that he’d return later in the day (Friday) to deliver the lost lens. The lens showed up on our door Monday afternoon.
4. The pick-up (at the facility service) sucks because you can’t pick up the same day they “supposedly” came by to deliver
There have been two instances where a package was attempted to be delivered (see Reason #2) and the CSR instructed us to pick it up from the customer center. We drive 7 miles to the nearest customer center only to discover that the package is STILL on the truck and the center was closing in a few minutes. Wasted trip + no package + try again tomorrow = FAIL
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There are more instances of mis-scanned packages, wrong addresses and late deliveries but you get the idea. The most recent events have happened over the past 18 months and has had a negative impact on our personal and professional endeavors. This is not a faux pas, it is a pattern that must be changed.
I look forward to writing a follow up post entitled, “X Ways UPS Reconciled.” In the interim, my prayer is their shipping solutions stop causing so many problems.
Until next time.
This entry was written by , posted on at 11:12 am, filed under Life, Thoughts and tagged customer service, help, rant, shipping, suckage, ups. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Word on the street Twitter is Lalah Hathaway is still accepting demos to possibly use on her next project. She had the same call to action on her Facebook status last week — only it had a deadline of 24 hours. I saw it while riding the train, but it didn’t stop me from pulling out my moleskine and writing something for her on my way home.
Yes, it’s that serious. This is Lalah.
When I got home, I took my chicken stratches and rough vocals (I recorded on my iPhone) into the lab and started writing the music. Within 30 minutes, I had the structure. Two hours later, I had the arrangement. It was all coming together so beautifully. Then I played it back.
I hated it.
It was a traditional Lalah Hathaway template: 3/4 time, jazzy, groovy, etc. It’s a good track but it sounded more like I was trying to make room in a very small musical box when there is so much room on the outside. I hit “Save” then “Close” and proceeded to start from scratch. Something edgier and funkier while retaining the melodic charm indicative of Lalah’s sultry voice. I stayed up until the sun came to greet me again. . . and it was worth every tiresome moment. I happily e-mailed my song to her the following afternoon.
Now that I know she’s still accepting submissions, I think I’ll revisit that jazzy track and add some more seasoning. Maybe I’ll think of something (else) totally out of the box. There’s no guarantee that she’ll use any of them — but creating music for someone you have admired for years is a blessing in and of itself.
One thing I’ve learned in the past year is that your gift will make room for you and dreams definitely come true to those who never give up. Giving Lalah a song that she can feel is a dream whose edges are crisp with the vibrant hues of reality — even though it is but a wish inside my heart.
This entry was written by , posted on 18 February 10 at 5:25 pm, filed under Life, Music, Thoughts and tagged facebook, lalah hathaway, logic, moleskine, Music, songs, soul, tracks, train, twitter, voice. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Day Nine of my master cleanse and I’ve conquered the psychological triggers of hunger while finally gaining a sense of clarity. It took longer than I anticipated but I’m there. I’m still hungry, but I use those physiological prompts to eat as reminders of why I’m going through this process. It isn’t about weight loss as much as it’s about mental dexterity and spiritual focus. I needed to enter this year with more of the aforementioned and this process has facilitated that.
One revelation is my immediate need to re-configure my online presence. I manage a plethora of websites to support my music, podcasting and photography — but those only require weekly, if not monthly maintenance. There’s also the addition of DJ Markus Gramm that brings me a new kind of fulfillment (e.g., it’s fun and easy to do).
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This entry was written by , posted on 7 January 10 at 12:10 pm, filed under Life, Thoughts and tagged analog, facebook, Life, master cleanse, Music, online presence, photography, physical, podcasting, psychological, spiritual, twitter. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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