The bed and breakfast

Posted on | July 4, 2009 | No Comments

I’m always fascinated by the bed and breakfast idea. I’ve stayed in a few and always end up chatting with the owners. We’re in Cedaredge CO now at the Cedaredge Lodge. The town is 2.1 square miles and has about 2100 people. It is. very small but cute. The Lodge is also small and not as cute but still very serviceable. The difference is the hospitality. The staff are the owners and as such have vested financial interest in the success of the business. Every proprieter of a bed an breakfast I’ve ever met has been warm and friendly.

Maybe it’s the nature of the business or maybe the nature of the people but they are all the same. I suppose it’s a prerequisite, after all it is the hospitality industy. But the thin I find interesting is the fact that customer service isn’t just something they talk about and pay lip service to but it is something they genuinely eat, sleep, and breathe. This is after all, their livelihood. I guess what I wonder is; did they get into the industry because they’re service oriented people or has the industry forced them to focus on service? Eithe way I have nothing but praise for the bed and breakfast business, they certaily get custome service.

How to lose a customer in seven minutes

Posted on | July 1, 2009 | No Comments

So I bought the new iPhone 3GS the day it came out.  As a long time Verizon subscriber I can say their network is superior.  I converted everyone I know to Verizon and ditched them all for the lure of iPhone goodness, and is it good!  Verizon has made a lot of poor choices in the way they cripple their phones and passing on the iPhone was huge.  I have nothing against Verizon, and if they had the iPhone I’d take it on their network any day.  So needless to say, I’m high on Apple’s iPhone awesomeness and then the worst thing that could happen did happen.  My touch screen, specifically a band about a third of the way up, stopped working.  It rendered my phone unusable since it was right over the “dismiss” button and I couldn’t clear the message that popped up.

Now I understand manufacturing defects happen particularly when you overcharge for something and maximize those profits by making your products in a Chinese sweat shop.  Customer service isn’t about how you treat the customer before the sale, it’s how you treat them when something goes wrong.  Using that as our measuring stick Apple failed miserably.  I first went to the AT&T store in Lone Tree at Lincoln and Yosemite by Target.  I bought the phone here and this would be my third visit.  The sales associate took one look at it and said it was broken and that he’d happily replace it but they had none in stock.  Understandable, it is rather popular.  I decided to try the Apple store at Park Meadows Mall.

When you get the the Apple store on a Sunday it’s packed.  You would think Apple were the biggest retailer of computers and gadgets on the planet judging by the number of people here.  They’re not, not even close but they do make some cool stuff and some horribly over hyped crap.  So I speak with someone at Apple and she looks at the phone.  She inspects it like a doctor using the same thing he’d use to look up my nose.  She takes it into the back and confirms two things; there is no water damage and it is broken.  Great, let’s swap it out and I’ll be on my way!  She then proceeds to tell me I’ll need a “genius” appointment and gets me set up on the iMac behind me to schedule one.

I’m starting to fume.  It’s a simple replacement, take one off the shelf, put my sim in it, and send me packing.  No, I have to make an appointment and the earliest is two days away on Tuesday.  At 6 foot 7 inches and about 250 pounds I can be a very intimidating person but rarely do I get angry.  I’m very understanding almost to a fault.  My wife doesn’t like how much it takes to get me actually mad.  I was ready to toss people through walls.  All I wanted was a working phone.  Two days I’d have to wait without my iPhone which in a week, had become the single most important device I owned.

So Tuesday finally rolls around.  I can only describe it as the longest wait since Christmas when I was a kid.  It didn’t seem like it would ever get here.  I get to the store they’re running 5-10 minutes late which just adds to my frustration.  Once I finally get to the “genius” he takes one look at it and says it’s broken.  He said they don’t have replacement screens so he’ll just replace it.  Between his “analysis”, the paperwork and print out, signing things, and swapping it the process was about seven minutes.  Seven minutes is all it took to make me happy but at the same time it’s all it took to prove that overpaying for your computer and gadgets to Apple may not be all it’s cracked up to me.

I get the sex appeal of Apple, it’s undeniable.  There is an outrageous price premium that comes with that though even though Apple has lowered their prices to more modest levels.  Apple should have the best customer service in the industry, after all what are you paying for?  It’s the same cheap Chinese parts in their computers as in Dell regardless of what Mac fans will have you believe.  As a software developer I find the Unix underpinnings appealing but I can get a Dell and Ubuntu and have Linux under the hood and I find it more usable than the very dated Mac OS X.  If this is their customer service why not go cheap.  At least if it were a Dell I could have called up and had them send me a replacement and sent the defective item back.  The process would have been about the same and I would have felt like the wheels were moving.  Instead Apple messed up and made such a simple task infinitely more complicated.

For the record I own an iMac, a Dell machine with Ubuntu, a Windows Dell laptop, an Asus netbook with Windows and Ubuntu (always in Ubuntu), and a smattering of other laptops and desktops.  I’ll say this, the iMac is nice but it’s not much different from Windows and Ubuntu.  It’s another tool at my disposal to solving problems.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28

Posted on | June 28, 2009 | No Comments

• Skype with the $2.95 Skype out option on the iPhone is the greatest invention ever. Fairly free phone calls over Voip and the internet. #
• The Crowd Rent offices. http://twitpic.com/83zly #
• I would kill seared Ahi tuna from P.F. Changs right now and then some Mongolian Beef #
• Colorado starts the year in the hole a $384 million. This isn't looking good! http://bit.ly/jlLjw #
• Farmers' markets are sprouting up all over Colorado: http://bit.ly/BHP0Z :: Cheesy wordplay sprouting up on my computer! #
• You are tragically correct sir, Ed McMahon dies in LA: http://bit.ly/1S4FIW #
• Kindle gnaws at books' shelf-esteem: http://bit.ly/zraZK The Denver Post is very punny today! See my farmers market post previously. #
• Stockpiling food and ammo? It's Phoenix not some remote Amazonian village! At least a remote village would be nicer! http://bit.ly/82nR3 #
• I was born and raised in Phoenix by the way so I get to make fun of those backwards people all I want, I'm one of them. #
• Web cam Oceanside Oregon beach. I was so close to moving to the Oregon coast and working from home! Gorgeous http://bit.ly/tnZEg #
• Water heater went out, cold showers and I have a fever. Feel sorry for me… #
• @GreeneyedMomstr yes sympathy! I love it! And thank you for your sympathy. in reply to GreeneyedMomstr #
• Daytime TV is horrific! #
• Between 7:45 am and 11 am I've used 50% of my iPhone battery. I barely used it I swear! #
• @designcurve Hands down the best reason to work! Avoiding daytime TV! in reply to designcurve #
• Fixed the hot water heater. No joke Up Down Left Right Left Right A B A B select start and works like a champ. #
• I won't lie, I was listening to 1999 by Prince just now. I will not hang my head in shame! #
• @almostyourlover You know you love that tiny man and his music! He's like 5'2"! in reply to almostyourlover #
• @almostyourlover yes and yes. Everyone is little and i'm 6'7" and there is nothing wrong with Prince, I'm just jealous in reply to almostyourlover #
• @almostyourlover Hell yea! That would be the killer item to offer. in reply to almostyourlover #
• Going to school today is much different than 10 years ago when I did my undergrad. The Internet has a lot more resources these days. #
• Saw a tweet today about prospectors rarely finding gold but those who sold them supplies getting rich. Reminds me of "Internet marketers" #
• Anyone else notice a decreased in the signal to noise here on twitter? More and more noise #
• Parker CO is about to get nailed with another major storm…hold on tight #
• No joke, Michael Jackson broke the internet. It's so slow! #
• @jasoncrouch LATimes and CBS News have confirmed it. in reply to jasoncrouch #
• Serious lightning in Parker CO #
• The one advantage to being and not able to sleep, watching the eternal struggle of night and day http://twitpic.com/8gdqi #
• Don't text and drive please: http://bit.ly/6YJFa #
• Good morning from the front range of the Rockies: http://twitpic.com/8ghyn #
• @designcurve no working I'm sick and couldn't sleep in reply to designcurve #
• RT @Karl_Bode: As if most news wasn't fake enough already: http://bit.ly/IpNIN #
• @Amareisreal Say it isn't true Amare! Not the Lakers! in reply to Amareisreal #
• The puppies are out cold, the wife is at yoga then the pool, I'm sick still but getting things done! I love a quiet home. #
• The "installation process" on a Mac is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen. I have to drag it into the App folder? Stupid #
• When I use my Mac I feel like I'm using the mouse always which slows me down. I can move through Windows quickly without the mouse. #
• Jesse Jackson is the biggest blowhard in this history of blowhards! #
• I get more accidental phone calls from people with iPhones than any other phone. I'm listening to my wife checkout at the grocery store! #
• Sunsetting over the Rockies: http://twitpic.com/8munk #
• I find that the netbook is used much less now that I have an iPhone…it's sort of a palmboook… #

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Cutting the cord

Posted on | June 22, 2009 | No Comments

I suppose it’s not actually cutting the cord when you cancel satellite TV service but it works.  I cancelled DirecTV last week and bought an aerial antenna to get local HD service.  First off, the antenna is amazing and with a bit more aiming and once the local stations move to Lookout Mountain here in Denver it’ll be perfect.  The picture quality make your cable or satellite provider look ridiculous.

Now, as for DirecTV, I cancelled for a host of reasons but the big motivator was the money.  It was costing $80 for two TVs, HD, middle of the road programming, and no premiums.  And what do you get?  No service in storms when there is a tornado in the area, cable and free antennas worked during the storm.  You also get crap like Fox News, MTV, and Home Shopping piped into the house.  I hate the Hills and Fox News is more “reality TV” than news and we all know how close to reality reality TV is.  Hell even CNN has become an entertainment network.  Good news and good journalism is lost and I doubt it’ll ever come back in this era.

So $80 gets you no TV in storms and when it is working you get crap.  Everything I’d really want to watch is either on Discovery/Science/History channels or air TV.  With my schedule I don’t really have time to waste with TV.  I’m not going to sit here and say I’m one of those “intellectuals” who doesn’t own a TV, in fact I own $4000 worth of TVs.  I enjoy watching it but I just don’t have time and I find when I do watch it, I waste a lot of time.  I also waste a lot of time on the Internet but you can take that over my dead body.

I guess the bigger shift has been in the way I want to be entertained.  I want it on my terms and my schedule and TV doesn’t offer that.  The DVR and the Internet were the beginning of the end.  My wife watches a lot of shows online at abc.com and whatnot.  I prefer to read gadget sites and other technology oriented sites on the Internet.  I get all the entertainment I need and it’s $40 a month to Qwest for DSL not $120 for TV and DSL.  The biggest loss would be live sporting events like the NBA playoffs.  They’re always on cable until the finals so we will miss that.  And if my Phoneix Suns are good next year I’ll really miss it.
We plan to set up a DVR to record over the air things we want to watch and use Netflix for the rest like Weeds.  This way we blow through a season in a lazy winter weekend and don’t have to wait each week.  We’re not caught up in the Jon and Kate plus 8 drama.  We’ll spend more time at the gym, more time together with our dogs, and more time doing useful things all while keeping $80 in our pockets each month.  I spent a considerable amount of time as a kid lobbying my parent’s to get cable and now I’m without it for the first time in nearly 20 years and I’ve never been happier.

iPhone

Posted on | June 22, 2009 | No Comments

So the wife and I bought the new iPhone Friday. My wife said it best “how did we ever live without these?”. I almost fell over laughing. Now we’re not big Mac nerds but we are gadget nerds and it is the best gadget ever. It does everything and more and it does it better than any phone I’ve ever used. In fact, I’m typing this on My phone now. I’ve had an iPod before and we own a Mac now. I was impressed by both but the iPhone blows them away.

Doing 30 minutes of cardio at the gym is easy with one of these since I can read the news or other sites while I pedel off the pounds. I can stream Pandora or listen to my own music. I can rip movies to it and post to Facebook. The best is Skype over wifi. I made two 30 minute calls to my parents this weekend and it worked great. My dad, a tech nerd like me said it sounded great. So if you’re in the modod for a new phone and more get the iPhone, it is amazing.

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-21

Posted on | June 21, 2009 | No Comments

• Why doesn’t iPhone support push gmail? Blackberry did #
• Watching Out Cold. Terrible movie #

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Twitter Updates for 2009-06-20

Posted on | June 20, 2009 | No Comments

• The line at th AT&T store is out the door and not moving! Do I wait in line or come back later? #
• @almostyourlover you’re fantastic, thanks for the mention in reply to almostyourlover #
• @almostyourlover I did, I posted that from my iphone. Today is a lost day for real work, it’s all play today! in reply to almostyourlover #
• #FollowFriday @almostyourlover, @designcurve, @vBSetup Had great conversations with all of them this week #

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Twitter Updates for 2009-06-19

Posted on | June 19, 2009 | No Comments

• Reading “Beginning iPhone Development” #
• I just got a conf email saying my iPhone is at the AT&T store. The contrast between Apple and the “Your iPhone is here!!!” from AT&T is huge #
• Apple is polished and professional AT&T looks like frat boys started a company while still drunk. #
• PETA unhappy about President Obama’s fly swatting prowess! http://bit.ly/3k7mH Think of the flies people! #
• Bunny lady arrested again in Oregon! http://bit.ly/cPCXW I have 5-6 baby bunnies under one of my AC units, so cute! #
• Colorado to HOAs on alternative energy, suck it! http://bit.ly/G9EN3 :: I hate my HOA with a passion, they’re useless. #
• Some days I want to post my resume online and say “Computer programmer sick of programming” and see what other careers I could find. #
• @almostyourlover I’m very tempted to at the moment. It’s been one of those days. I should be a forest ranger in Alaska! Quiet I bet in reply to almostyourlover #
• @designcurve Programming professionally since 01 after my undergrad and working on a masters in CS which I fully regret. in reply to designcurve #
• @designcurve It’s time consuming and prepares me to work the rest of my life. I really would like to slack at a semi-pro level! in reply to designcurve #
• @designcurve I didn’t mind my undergrad, it got me going but then again, now I hate programming professionally. For fun is where it’s at! in reply to designcurve #
• I won’t lie, I don’t much care for the Objective-C language. #

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Twitter Updates for 2009-06-18

Posted on | June 18, 2009 | No Comments

• RT @girlmeetsweb: How to be a tall person at work | Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist http://bit.ly/Qk5aC. ::I’m 6′7″ a lot of truth here #
• @vBSetup When I tell people my employer bills clients at $135 an hour for me and it would take 100+ hours or so they’re shocked. in reply to vBSetup #
• @vBSetup I don’t think people appreciate how expensive custom coding is. No wonder companies outsouce! in reply to vBSetup #
• @vBSetup If I had a nickel for every guy who thinks “if I could just program I’d be rich” then I’d be rich. Website does not mean millions! in reply to vBSetup #
• Downloading the iPhone 3.0 SDK…2.1 gigs? That’s unreal! Now, to learn Objective-C in the next…31 minutes…30! #
• Two days til I join the cool kids with an iPhone! #
• Anyone caught posting ads on their twitter account will be shot. Well at least unfollowed. Did I mention http://crowdrent.com? #

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Twitter Updates for 2009-06-17

Posted on | June 17, 2009 | No Comments

• We moved the iMac downstairs into the kitchen family room area and I’m actually starting to like it. Who knew! iPhones on Friday! #
• Reading “Time, Clocks, and the Ordering of Events in a Distributed System” **PDF LINK** http://bit.ly/1edo0I #

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