Digital Arcana

This is a test.  It’s also a very funny image…

December 18th, 2009 | Category: Moblogging | Comments (2)

If you’ve been around me lately, you know I’m working on a cursed project. It’s been one Murphy’s Law moment after another. Witness the latest example.

You see, things were finally going right. The stars had aligned and we were ready to execute a successful test. I was optimistic. At the start of the test I said, and I quote: "Let’s set this infrastructure on fire."

Oh boy.

We were almost the entire way through a successful test – in the home stretch. Then everything fell apart. Connections disappeared and we lost everything. At first we thought the test had simply failed. Then we saw the firemen.

Yup. Our data center is on fire. I took a picture, got in my car and came home. Oh well… Maybe next week if there’s anything left to run a test on.

Go on. Tell me I’m not cursed.

»This post was processed by PostMaster

May 21st, 2009 | Category: Moblogging | Comments (6)

I figured that the time spent helping my lovely wife figure out how to blog from her phone could be leveraged to give me expanded blog powers too.

Here’s hoping it works. For your amusement, here’s a shot I took at our local liquor store.

»This post was processed by PostMaster

March 13th, 2009 | Category: Moblogging | Comments (3)

Thanks to Hugeness for inspiring a rare blog post here at Digital Arcana.

We gather here to mourn the loss of an old friend:  Customer Service.

Let us bow our heads and remember a time when you could walk into a store or restaurant and be greeted in a friendly manner by a store employee that did not assume that they were automatically entitled to your contribution to their paycheck.

Lovely wife and I have been in several stores and restaurants lately and been greeted by the now-common employee on a personal phone call.  I’ve only just become aware that chatting with your BFF on your cell (or on the phone line paid for by their employer?!) is a marketable job skill.  I’m not entirely sure how this contributes to overall sales, especially in this economy, but it’s apparent that there are thousands of these skilled professionals employed in all areas of retail, food service and technical support.  They are joined by other skilled professionals who have been trained in the fine arts of looking bored or total incompetence.

The worst part is that we’re being conditioned to accept this as normal behaviour.  I was recently in a local store looking for fire logs.  An employee noticed me looking and asked what I was looking for.  At first I was confused.  Normally only employees working on commission in electronics or car sales ask (assault?) me with questions about my needs.  I recovered and asked about the location of the fire logs, expecting the standard answer:  “Yeah, man… I think we have those somewhere.  That’s not my department.”  What I got was the precise location of the fire logs.  I was so stunned, I don’t remember anything after that.  I found myself standing in the parking lot with a box of fire logs, a receipt and a terrible urge to run back into the store, find a manager and demand that the employee be promoted immediately for actually doing his job. Yeah.  They’ve got me trained.

I think it’s about time we do a little training of our own.  There are many reasons to regret our current economic situation, but I think it affords consumers a unique opportunity.  More than ever, the consumer wields the power and it is our responsibility to use this power for good.  Remember:  we are revenue and employees are expense.  Allow me to make a proposal.  We can remind businesses, employers and managers that bad service can still result in the loss of a sale.  If you’re treated badly, you can and should just walk away after letting someone know that a sale was lost and why.  Here are some ground rules to keep everyone honest:

1. This might be inconvenient.  You might have to take the time to go to another store to follow through on your vow to take your business elsewhere.  This is probably the hardest part. (The part that the worst offenders are counting on.)  We are all so busy with work and family that it’s hard to take the time to stand up for ourselves, but it’s worth it in the long run.
2. Be prepared for the fact that the manager might be just as rude as the employee.  It might be necessary to take the time to work your way up the chain of command.
3. Be polite.  It doesn’t have to be an argument.  It’s far more effective to calmly inform someone that they have a problem with their business and walk away.  Your credibility will be improved if they can’t just dismiss you as a raving lunatic.  (This is the hard part for me.)
4. Pass it on.  I know I don’t have a large readership (any readership?!).  One consumer is an anomaly, ten or a hundred are a reason to change a policy.  If you read this and it helps you feel better about the money you spend, tell a few people and contribute to the resurrection of our dearly departed Customer Service.

Most of us work hard for our paychecks.  When you go to spend your hard-earned money remember that you deserve to be treated like someone who isn’t getting paid just to talk on the phone.

January 29th, 2009 | Category: Personal | Comments (6)

Yummy.

Ok.  Everybody’s doing it.  It would figure I’m gray…

Still… The description is fairly accurate.

December 6th, 2008 | Category: Personal | Comments (4)

Mostly, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in prose and dialog.  The last few thousand words have been like pulling teeth, and I’m sure I have a few edits to do before it’s anywhere near ready for prime time.  But it is DONE!!!

It’s been an interesting experience for me, since I’ve never set out to write anything longer than a short story, but it has indeed been the best of times and the worst of times.

I can guarantee that, had it not been for the encouragement of NaNoWriMo and my patient and supportive wife, this novel would have been gathering dust at ten thousand words.  As it is, I can guarantee that many of the scenes near the end are going to need a ton of work.  I was lurching for the finish line, throwing words at paper (or its digital equivalent) like a truly desperate man.

However, I have learned a few things during this writing process that will be useful as I work on editing this novel and maybe even beginning another:

1. You have to keep writing.  You’ll write crap, and you’ll hate yourself for it but you have to put it down there and keep moving.  No novel writing exercise ever ends with the first draft and there is always time to go back and fix it.  However, if there’s nothing to fix, then you’ve just blown several hours looking at a blank screen when you could have been writing a big steaming pile of words, gotten past that section and into something good.  Once the entire novel is written, that section can always be wrapped up in its literary diaper and thrown out with the other trash.  Its replacement will be a thousand times easier to write when you can look at the novel as a whole.
2. Deadlines are your friend.  You will hate them.  They will loom at you.  You really can’t do it without them, at least I have found that I can’t.
3. I hate writing dialog.  I can’t stress this enough, so I’m going to say it again:  I HATE writing dialog.  Hate it.  Hate it. Hate it! Setting out to write dialog starts out with forgetting the natural rhythm of every conversation you have ever had and putting to paper the most stilted and uncomfortable conversation anyone has ever seen.  The characters you love so dearly are now gibbering morons.  Whoopee!  However, remembering Lesson 1 above, you soldier through.  You’ll get to know your characters better and they really will start to speak through you… eventually.
4. I love my little laptop.  My Dell Mini running Open Office went above and beyond the call of duty, running smoothly, quietly and without a hint of fuss or slowdown through 50,752 words.  I eventually plugged it into a spare full-sized keyboard and monitor to save both fingers and eyes, but the screen and keyboard were more than adequate for the shorter writing sessions.
5. Being done with a first draft feels GOOD!
6. I’m sick of writing for awhile.  Have a good holiday weekend and keep an eye out for Mad Eyes on your local bookstore shelves… eventually.  ::fingers crossed::

November 29th, 2008 | Category: Personal | Comments (7)

Listening to the radio on the way into work this morning, I heard about a new website and their desire to bring independent film to more viewers on the web.  In this case, it’s a good cause in many ways, because they are currently showcasing films in remembrance of the losses of 9/11.

September 9th, 2008 | Category: Personal | Comments (1)

I usually don’t like these things, but this one sounds fun, and I’m having a really bad day, so here it goes:

- Choose a singer/band/group
- Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group
- Tag 7 more people. Or not.

I choose: Rush. (You HAD to see that coming.)

1. Are you male or female? Working Man
2. Describe yourself. Finding My Way
3. What do people feel when they’re around you? The Camera Eye
4. How would you describe your previous relationship?  Lessons
5. Describe your current relationship. Making Memories
6. Where would you want to be now? Rivendell
7. How do you feel about love? Hope
8. What’s your life like? The Way the Wind Blows
9. What would you ask for if you had only one wish? Freewill
10. Say something wise. Roll the Bones

No tagging for me, but thanks to my wonderful wife for the meme.

September 7th, 2008 | Category: Personal | Comments (5)

I set myself a task during yesterday’s trip to the MD Renaissance Festival:  To get as many pictures of “food on a stick” signs as I could.  The results of my labor:

And last but not least: People on sticks. Not food, but they are on sticks.

I love the Renaissance Festival!

September 1st, 2008 | Category: Personal | Comments (10)