And now, the ongoing saga of why I hate UPS so very much…

I had ordered a bunch of equipment based on a rental that I had gotten from a client. This client is supposed to come pick up this equipment today at 4 pm. On Monday, I told Sennheiser (the company that I ordered from) that I needed the equipment by Thursday. They told me that a certain item was backordered, but that the important stuff, the stuff I needed for this rental, was in stock and would arrive on Thursday. On Wednesday night, when I got home, I discovered a box from Sennheiser that contained all of the items they told me had been backordered, but not the items that I really needed. When I asked them about this on Thursday, they told me that they screwed up, but that they would ship the items overnight at their expense. This would be fine, I told them, so long as they were sent “no signature required”, as I would not be available to sign for the packages on Friday morning.

As I’m in the shower this morning, I hear the dog barking, so I assume that UPS has arrived. I don’t worry about it, because it was sent no signature required, so they should just be leaving the packages, and isn’t it great that the stuff is here before I leave? When I got out of the shower, I went to check for the packages, and what did I find but a note on the door from UPS saying that they had tried to deliver the packages, but no one was available. So I called Sennheiser, and I asked what the deal was.

Well, here’s the deal. The package was sent “no signature required.” UPS, apparently, reserves the right to ignore those instructions if they feel that the neighborhood is questionable (although, that makes you wonder why they even have that option to begin with). Now, let me explain something to those of you who don’t know where I live. It’s the middle of whitebread suburbia. It’s a new development, everything is clean, it’s all residential homes and families. UPS leaves packages on my door almost every other day. This driver, however, apparently thought my neighborhood was questionable.

“Driver, why didn’t you leave that package that was requested as ‘no signature required’?”
“Well, boss, the neighborhood looked questionable. There were….CHILDREN’S TOYS outside of people’s houses!!!!”
“WHAT? You did the right thing, driver. Good work!”

Yes, friends…UPS. Screwing up every delivery they possibly can….

Lewis Black, referring to Celine Dion’s new Vegas stage show:

“I call it the second worst thing happening in a desert right now.”

Found some amusing stuff this morning. First, here are some safety tips for you, in the event of a terrorist attack.

Next, enjoy these images, selected from a much larger collection of images…
(Sorry about the size of the first one, but you really need to be able to read the small print)

I’m not sure why, but this struck me as funny. This is from USAToday and it’s a quote in response to Bush’s call for Saddam Hussein and his family to leave Iraq within 48 hours:

Earlier, Saddam Hussein’s elder son rejected the demand, saying instead that Bush should resign. In a statement distributed by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, 39-year-old Odai Hussein said that Bush is “unstable” and that the U.S. leader “should give up power in America with his family.”

Here’s an interesting little historical tidbit for those of you who have seen Gangs of New York and are dorks like me:

I’m reading the book upon which the movie was based right now. The book is not fiction. It’s actually a history book. Anyway, the Draft Riots, during which the movie takes place, occurred during the Civil War and more specifically in 1863. Bill Poole, a.k.a. Bill the Butcher (a.k.a. Daniel Day-Lewis) was killed in 1855.

Scorcese seems to have taken many such artistic licenses. Still, it was a good movie, and it got me interested enough in the actual history to find out more about it.

WHY GOD, WHY?
(I’ll be adding my own comments into this article….)

Grease trucks get ‘fat’ closure
By: Joel Landau, Staff Writer

03/12/03
————————–

The rule of the grease trucks told to every incoming first-year student at orientation is that after eating too much of its greasy food, it will start to catch up to you.

The Middlesex County Health Department finally caught up to Rutgers’ own special little sandwich shops across from Scott Hall on the College Avenue Campus.

The six grease trucks, known by people throughout the country for their specialty “fat” sandwiches, were closed sometime yesterday afternoon, and signs issued by the department were displayed in their windows. The sign was a copy of a sanitary inspection report stating the grease trucks have been marked unsatisfactory. [sniff...sniff....]

A representative from the health department [bastards]could not be reached by press time.

The Rutgers University Police Department was not able to release any information about the matter at press time.

The grease trucks have become a staple of the University community over their 20 years, despite absorbing criticism by some for their unsightly appearance and food.

However, many current and past University students have amassed an emotional attachment to the trucks, as they have become a reminder of some of their favorite college experiences. [Emotional attachment? Try MECCA, buddy!]

Brendan Doohan, a Rutgers College sophomore, said the grease trucks are a “milestone of Rutgers,” and shouldn’t be shut down, but the health of students should be of the utmost concern. “Hopefully they can get their act together. There’ll be a lot of drunk people without food,” he said.

Rutgers College senior Eric Johnson said the grease trucks are a landmark at the University, and it’s unfair that now someone decided they should be closed down.

“I’ve eaten at Brower [Commons] and Tillet, and there are some pretty unsanitary conditions going on in this [University].” [It's true...]

Dinine Galante, a Rutgers College junior, said, “I was always afraid of them, for good reason I guess.” Galante, who never ate at the trucks, said the regulations by the Health Department are not unfair.

“They should have sanitary food and sanitary conditions. It’s unfair they serve food like that.” [Don't listen to her. She's probably a Women's Studies major.... ]

Wanna know why your Verizon bill is so high? Every month, Verizon sends my business a bill telling me that I owe them nothing. EVERY MONTH. A 5 page paper bill telling me that I owe them NOTHING.

That’s maximizing your profit margin right there…

I just got back from seeing Tears of the Sun. It’s that new Bruce Willis movie that you’ve probably seen the trailer for a million times. He plays a Navy SEAL who goes into Nigeria to rescue a doctor and ends up trying to save a bunch of refugees as well. It’s a really well done film, but that’s not what I want to write about.

I spent half the film thinking about the electrician at PDS who is in the active reserves as a demolitions specialist. He’s a really nice guy and has been very good to me and the performing arts program all year long. I was talking with him the other day, and I asked him if he thought he might get called up. He said it was very likely. Watching this movie, and watching really brave, extremely disciplined soldiers who seemed like really nice, very helpful guys reminded me very much of this man from school. It reminded me that very soon he may be leaving for Iraq, and leaving to go to war. It really…I’m not sure how to describe it, but it struck me with emotion. I don’t really know the guy all that well, and yet I admire him so greatly for having the courage to serve, no matter what his reasons are for doing it. It bothered me to know that he could be going to war, and even more to know that he could not come back. If he goes….well, I’m not religious, but I will certainly be praying for his safe return.

Y’know what I just realized? I suck at video games.