David S. Atkinson's Blog, page 265

I Don’t Think Amazon Even Cares Anymore

I’m really starting to think that Amazon doesn’t even care anymore about how they package books for shipment. Maybe they just don’t care about me in particular since I try to buy from my local independent whenever I can, but sometimes I do buy from Amazon (particularly when it’s the only place I can get a book) and I’m seeing their packaging efforts really go downhill.

From my most recent purchases I’ve encountered at least 5 or 6 instances where they just tossed the books in a box without any kind of packing materials inside. This could be fine if the box was approximately the same size as the books, but it usually isn’t. The instances I’ve seen recently they just tossed paperback books in a box that had at least an inch or two of room between the sides of the paperback books and the box. As anyone with at least half a brain could imagine, the paperback books got banged up during shipment.

They have to not care at all. I mean, they used to wrap plastic around the books to make sure they didn’t move and even put a cardboard stiffener inside that to ensure sure the plastic wrap didn’t warp the books. Sometimes they even put a little paper or whatnot in the gap between the books and the box to make sure things didn’t move. But, to just toss books inside a box with no packing materials of any kind? No one does that unless they just don’t care.

Granted, sometimes they do still pack right. Sometimes they do still use at least some packing material. However, I’m seeing less and less of this as time goes on. They are just getting worse about even trying to pack books correctly. I’ve even gotten one shipment recently where they used a box that hadn’t even been fully put together before they used it. That’s right, one side of the box hadn’t even been glued together and they just went ahead and used it anyway.

Most mystifying about this is their somewhat recently implemented ‘packaging feedback.’ They started prompting you to tell them how well they packaged stuff, almost like they knew they were having problems at their warehouses. That would be great, if they were actually listening to the feedback. However, I’ve been consistently leaving feedback detailing the problems I’ve been having and I haven’t seen any improvement. I haven’t even heard back from them about any packaging feedback I left. The only thing I can think is that they put this up there so people can vent and feel slightly better about a lack of care that Amazon has no intention of changing. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it seems most likely given the fact that the packaging feedback seems to do nothing.

Frankly, this is just poor and I see no good excuse for it. I’m already disappointed enough in Amazon for some of the other things they do. This just drives me further away from their company.

 

Message On My Band-Aids Fails To Reassure Me

I noticed this morning that my Band-Aids had a message on it that was doubtless intended to reassure me. “You’re going to be just fine!” it said. However, that exclamation point worries me a bit. After all, if I’m really going to be “just fine,” then why are they screaming?

Think about it. Imagine a scenario where you have some concern as to whether or not you are going to be “just fine.” Suddenly, someone screams at you: “YOU’RE GOING TO BE JUST FINE!”

Feeling reassured yet? I’m betting not. I’m betting you’d feel more apprehensive than you did before. How about if they, seeing you were not reassured, again shouted: “YOU’RE GOING TO BE JUST FINE!”

I’m imagining that you would become even more concerned. In fact, I think you’d become more and more worried each time this odd person shouted: “YOU’RE GOING TO BE JUST FINE!”

Why does Band-Aid feel the need to scream? What do they know that I don’t? Is it that all evidence suggests that regardless of the healing of my minor cut nothing is every going to be “just fine” but they think I’ll be happier if I’m deluded into thinking so (which might actually be the truth)?

Regardless, the fact that they feel the need to scream their reassuring message puts me on edge. Perhaps they should have just used a period instead of an exclamation point. That would have felt more reassuring. For the moment, the last thing I believe is that I’m going to be “just fine.”

If You’re In The Denver Area Then Tonight You Should Be At The FREE 4TH OF JULY POP-PUNK PARTY!! – Dividing the Skyline / Disposed / Dawn of Exploration / Ryan Werner (Spoken word) / Justin Daugherty (spoken word) / more TBA @ 7th Circle

Are you in the Denver area? Take solace then. I already know what you should be doing tonight: FREE 4TH OF JULY POP-PUNK PARTY!! – Dividing the Skyline / Disposed / Dawn of Exploration / Ryan Werner (Spoken word) / Justin Daugherty (spoken word) / more TBA @ 7th Circle!

That’s right. It starts at 8:00PM over at Seventh Circle Music Collective (2935 W. 7th Ave., Denver, Colorado 80204) (map and directions).

Ryan Werner (author of Murmuration) and Justin Lawrence Daugherty (author of Whatever Don’t Drown Will Always Rise) will be there reading as part of the Passenger Side Books Obscurity Pact Summer Tour.

There’s also going to be some great pop-punk and a spectacular view of what I’m told is the greatest fireworks show in Denver. Best: it’s free. Obviously you should donate if you can when you show up to support the venue and all they do, but that’s optional. You can just show up and have a good time.

I know I’m going. (Note: I posted this a bit early today so more people would have a chance to see it and get to the show.)

I Feel Like I Just Bailed On A Vacation

I just got back from helping my wife drive to her masters program in French up in Middlebury, Vermont. The plan was we’d drive up and spend a few days around Niagara Falls, tour Toronto (including the CN Tower), and a few other things before I’d catch a flight back to Denver from Burlington, Vermont and my wife would drive on for the next 6 weeks to Middlebury. We did that, but it kind of feels like I just bailed on a vacation.

After all, thought this was planned, we were doing vacation sort of stuff right up until today. And, my wife wasn’t going home. She was continuing on, but I went to the Burlington airport and hightailed it home.

Doesn’t that sound like I bailed?

I feel like I just got fed up in the middle of a vacation and said: Screw this, I’m going home. (Note: feel free to read that preceding thought in a Cartman voice if you so choose, but it’s up to you.)

Of course, that isn’t what happened. I was sad to take off for home without my wife, and she was sad I was leaving. However, work would start to notice if I hadn’t come home and I would have been quickly discovered at her masters program since the only French I know is how to ask if someone washes after they get up. No, this was the right way to handle things…but it still feels weird.

Bizarre NJ Bus Story Reminds Me Of A Fun Bus Driver I Once Met

I was reading this article about how a NJ bus driver decided to take his passengers on a bit of a frolic, resulting in what is normally a 45 minute trip taking over two hours. I got a little bit of a chuckle out of it, wondering what the real story was, but then it made me remember one of the funnest bus drivers I’ve ever met.

He was a driver on a route I used to take daily to go to and from college. He’d occasionally do things like pull up to where someone was standing on the curb, open the bus door, hold out the handset from the bus radio (the one that communicated with the transit company base), and say: “It’s for you.” When the person on the curb would sputter in confusion, he’d close the doors and drive off.

However, that kind of incident wasn’t what reminded me of the above NJ driver. There was one time that someone rode my bus and told this driver that they needed to transfer to another bus. He was good enough to call ahead to make sure the second bus didn’t leave before he got there, but the second bus took off early anyway. However, this driver didn’t take it lying down. He told everyone to hold on and proceeded to chase the second bus, driving about six blocks out of his way, until he caught it and the passenger was able to make the connection. The whole thing only took a couple of minutes and I think everyone on my bus was so impressed that this driver had done this for a passenger that no one was upset about the detour. I still got home on time.

Anyway, I’m fairly sure that this isn’t what was going on for the NJ bus driver, considering that the article reports that he yelled at passengers when they asked to get off after he drove them beyond the bus terminal. Still, it reminded me and I thought I’d share.

I Have Suspicions About The Judging At The 25th Annual World’s Ugliest Dog Contest

I had no real reason to be interested, but I happened to notice this article about a Beagle-boxer-basset winning ugliest dog at the 25th annual world’s ugliest dog contest. After being weirded out that there was such a contest and being concerned about the poor doggies self-esteem, I started wondering about the judging in this contest.

After all, just look at this dog:

Is he a little funny looking? Yes. Is he really that ugly? In my opinion, not for a dog. There are definitely uglier dogs I’ve seen. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Aren’t these uglier than Walle (the beagle-boxer-basset pictured above)? I certainly think so.

Perhaps I’m just not qualified to judge dog-ugliness, and perhaps this contest just didn’t have particularly ugly entrants, but I have my suspicions about the judging at the 25th annual world’s ugliest dog contest. Seems fishy to me.

Dear Gap Inc.: I Received Ties Instead Of The Confidential Employee Files I Ordered

I’m really starting to become concerned about what is going on over at Gap Inc., Banana Republic, and so on. I just saw this article about how Emily Dreyfuss’ fiance ordered a tie and pocket square from Gap chain Banana Republic’s website and instead received 20 employee confidential files (including social security numbers and W4 tax forms) from Gap Inc. I can certainly empathize, as I received a tie and a pocket square from Banana Republic instead of the confidential employee files I ordered from Gap Inc.

I mean, what the heck is going on over there?

This has to change. If Gap Inc. and Banana Republic can’t keep my order for confidential employee files straight from Emily Dreyfuss’ fiance’s tie order, how do they expect to remain in business? This kind of sloppiness just isn’t excusable.

There’s been a lot about Emily Dreyfuss’ fiance, but none about me. I still don’t have the confidential employee files I ordered. Sure, they got the right stuff to Emily Dreyfuss’ fiance okay, but what about me and my confidential employee files? How am I supposed to finish my collage project?

(Unrelated note: if it isn’t July 2013 yet and you haven’t voted for story of the month over at Bartleby Snopes, consider popping over and voting for my story “The Des Moines Kabuki Dinner Theatre.” You don’t have to sign up for anything, give any personal information, or install any apps to vote. Spread the word.)

Twinkies Return July 15 So I Can Go Back To Not Eating Them Again

As I’m sure everyone is aware by now, Twinkies and many other Hostess items will be returning on July 15 (via Daren Metropoulos, principal of Metropoulos & Co.). For Twinkie junkies, this is great news. For me in particular, it means that I can go back to only eating them once a year, if not once every other year, and don’t have to care anymore.

Don’t get me wrong, I was as sad to see Twinkies go as most…but mainly because of the iconic nature of the product. Though I like Twinkies, and many other Hostess products, just fine, I just didn’t eat them very often. I only ate them a couple times a year at most, with Twinkies in particular being something I had at most once a year. I just don’t have a big sweet tooth.

I cared when they weren’t going to be around anymore and made sure to have some last ones before they were gone, but now that they’re coming back I’m probably going to stop caring again. I might have one to celebrate the return, but then I’m probably going to go back to my old habits. I’ll eat them once in a long while, but that’s about it.

I sure hope that not everyone is in the exact same situation as me. If so, the return won’t last for long. However, given what I understand of the United States, I’m sure it’ll be okay.

(Unrelated note: if it isn’t July 2013 yet and you haven’t voted for story of the month over at Bartleby Snopes, consider popping over and voting for my story “The Des Moines Kabuki Dinner Theatre.” You don’t have to sign up for anything, give any personal information, or install any apps to vote. Spread the word.)

Does Anyone Else Find It Kind Of Creepy That The CounCil Bluffs Odd Fellows Had Human Remains In Their Ceremonial Coffin?

I ran across a headline about how the police had gotten involved when a Council Bluffs man tried to sell a coffin and I thought it was a bit ridiculous. However, that was before I realized that he’d apparently been trying to sell a coffin with human remains inside. Instantly, I took my indignation back. I now have no problem that the police had gotten involved.

Apparently, the coffin had belonged to a now defunct Council Bluffs chapter of the International Order of Odd Fellows. As the article reports, the chapter had used the coffin in ceremonies to represent death and Dave Burgstrum put the coffin on Craig’s List to try to repay property taxes owed on the organization’s hall. However, police got involved when they realized that the coffin had a skeleton inside (though apparently not original to the coffin, instead donated by a doctor who retired in the late 1800s).

This all seemed a little strange. Why did they use a coffin with a skeleton inside as a symbol of death? That isn’t so much a symbol as actual death. It’s human remains. Couldn’t they have just used the coffin? Were the bones the draw for the sale? I’m assuming so, if Burgstrum was asking $12,000 (though he claims to have only been interested in selling the coffin, something I’d imagine would fetch much less than $12,000), but if not then why not just get rid of the bones and avoid police involvement?

Regardless of whatever is actually going on here, I’m thinking that the “Odd Fellows” name is seeming kind of apt right now.

(Unrelated note: if it isn’t July 2013 yet and you haven’t voted for story of the month over at Bartleby Snopes, consider popping over and voting for my story “The Des Moines Kabuki Dinner Theatre.” You don’t have to sign up for anything, give any personal information, or install any apps to vote. Spread the word.)

I Found At Least One New Thing I Like About My iPhone

Well, I found at least one new thing I like about my iPhone. I downloaded the Goodreads app for it and happened to notice that it had a “scan” element. I checked it out and figured out that it let me add books to my Goodreads shelves by just scanning the barcods with my iPhone’s camera.

You have no idea how much easier this makes my life, not having to type long numbers in on a phone keyboard (or worse, a virtual keyboard). Mistakes often could be made in a long string of numbers, requiring reentry. Sure, I could have just searched by title or author, but sometimes that would yield a different edition with vastly different page numbers or such. No, I preferred to have the right one and previously ISBN search was the best way to do it. But, this is better.

I love this feature. I picked up six books this weekend and had them added to Goodreads in seconds. The only one that gave me trouble was a really old book (apparently some older books don’t have their bar codes tied to their ISBN numbers or some such thing). Even with possibly still having to add one or two books manually because they are too old to scan their bar code, I love this feature.

Now, I don’t know if the Goodreads android app has this feature, but the app I had on my old HTC sure didn’t have it. Maybe I just hadn’t updated the app in a long time, but it never prompted me to so I always assumed there wasn’t a new version out there with more advanced features.

Whatever the situation is, even if getting the iPhone just caused me to get the newest version of the Goodreads app that always had this feature and I never knew about it, the iPhone is at the very least the reason I got the updated app. For that, or whatever other reason I have this feature now and didn’t before, I’m pleased with my switch to the iPhone.

(Unrelated note: if it isn’t July 2013 yet and you haven’t voted for story of the month over at Bartleby Snopes, consider popping over and voting for my story “The Des Moines Kabuki Dinner Theatre.” You don’t have to sign up for anything, give any personal information, or install any apps to vote. Spread the word.)