Broken Little Person Sitting On A Tree Limb

Hmmm ...I tried adding just a terribly witty comment to the most recent post by 3XHAR on his blog, but his blog is under 'Blogger', and they won't permit comments if you don't have a 'Blogger' account yourself (which is rather odd, since I've posted comments on 'Blogarula', which is under the 'Blogger' banner as well). Regardless, I don't want a 'Blogger' account as I'm quite content with the one I have under 'Blogspirit'. The inability to post a comment to '3XHAR' stinks of fascism ...fasicism I say! ...(to paraphrase Dictionary.com: Suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship / Oppressive, dictatorial control) and I'll have none of that. So, I guess I'll just have to keep my terribly witty comment to myself ...good day sir ...I said good day sir!

As most of the postings on my blog illustrate, I've tended to refrain from commentary on weightier issues. Similarly (out there in the real world), while I'll participate in political discussions with friends, it typically takes a few beers to get me stoked up enough to engage in any real type of debate. My views are my own, and truthfully I don't feel any sort of need or inclination to have the opinions of others mirror mine. If we agree, fine. If we don't, that's fine as well. Debate simply for the sake of argument seems like a lot of work to me, and the time can be put to better use (naps, staring at the walls, sitting in the dark bemoaning my fate, etc.). My links to '3XHAR', 'Manual Override', and '2 Minute Sidebar' direct you to those much more adept than I am at commentary re/events of the day. However, seeing as how I've been fighting my most recent bout of insomnia over the last few nights I'm a bit testy and have decided to enter the fray. If nothing else, my views tend to be a bit more left of the stein than others in the Kilbot consortium, so a different perspective may be offered within. Idiocy can be found on both the right and left side of the aisle, so let's see what we'll find.

Two of my pet peeves are a general lack of civility in the world today (most noticeable in the political arena), and those who only see things in black and white and are adamant and hell-bent to disavow, ignore, or generally demean viewpoints other than their own. To illustrate this (and taking a page from the Reverend over at 'Manual Override', and using a variation of his "Idiot of the Day"), I share with you my "Insufferable Windbag of the Day".

Per dictionary.com, Insufferable: Difficult or impossible to endure and Windbag: A talkative person who communicates nothing of substance or interest. Yep ...that pretty well sums it up. To christen the feature we have a triple-header ...


Karl Rove
Mr. Rove, in a speech Wednesday evening to the New York state Conservative Party just a few miles north of Ground Zero, said,

"Liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers." Conservatives, he said, "saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war."

Hmmm ...nothing like making a sweeping generalization to exaggerate your point, is there Mr. Rove? When Howard Dean made his foot in mouth comments re/the GOP a few days ago he was (correctly in my opinion) taken to task (including by some in the Democratic Party). Granted, many of the Democratic hierarchy have jumped on Mr. Rove's statements with a bloodthirsty gusto, but quid pro quo seems to be the method du jour of interaction with each other for our elected officials (i.e. monkey see, monkey do). Mr. Rove's comments elicited this response from White House press secretary Scott McClellan saying the president's chief political adviser was,

"simply pointing out the different philosophies and different approaches when it comes to winning the war on terrorism."

I question if we'll see similar tisk-tisking across party lines as we did with Mr. Dean's verbal faux pas.


Much of the European public
International polls taken by the non-partisan Pew Research Center in various countries from late April to the end of May (with samples of about 1,000 in most countries) indicate that communist China is viewed more favorably than the U.S. in many long-time Western European allies.

In Britain, almost two-thirds of Britons, 65 percent, saw China favorably, compared with 55 percent who held a positive view of the United States.

In France, 58 percent had an upbeat view of China, compared with 43 percent who felt that way about the U.S. The results were nearly the same in Spain and the Netherlands.

Interesting ...I'm wondering how much foreign aid (in terms of economic development and military assistance) China has provided to those countries over the years. While I'm not the biggest fan of many foreign policy aspects of the Bush administration, it still gives one pause (in a head scratching way) to see that we're viewed less favorably than China by much of the populace of many of our 'allies'. Perhaps there's something to be said for an isolationist approach after all ...no, but sometimes you just have to wonder.


Supporters of Alliance for Life Ministries
Ahh, nothing like inflammatory statements and pictures meant to solicit heated, emotional reactions ...appearing in the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday, 06/23 was a 2/3 page advertisement paid for by the aforementioned supporters of Alliance for Life Ministries with the caption Terrorism! and a picture of the burning Twin Towers. Within the text of said advertisement was the following statement ...

"On September 11, 2001, approximately 2,800 people lost their lives because an act of terrorism concerning the World Trade Center in New York City. That same day, approximately 3,561 Americans were killed through the terrorism of abortion. The World Trade Center attack was the result of foreign intervention, whereas abortion deaths are the result of Americans killing Americans. It is a documented fact that the terrorism of abortion instigated within our borders has been responsible for terrorism coming from outside our borders. When Iranian mobs, under the direction of Ayatollah Khomeini, overthrew their government (before invading the U.S. Embassy), they first ransacked the offices of Planned Parenthood. Terrorism will exist as long as abortion exists."

Hmmm ...so if Roe v. Wade is overturned, terrorism will cease to be ...who knew.

Abortion is a topic that solicits strong views on both sides of the issue. Whatever views and beliefs a person has are theirs, and they're entitled to them (and to share them if they so desire) ...that's a little thing called free speech. I'm not prompting a debate re/this within the meager pages of this blog (and as such have no intention of engaging in any sparring with anyone who posts their opinion). What I do take exception to though are zealots. Zealot is defined by dictionary.com as A Fanatically committed person ...Fanatic is described as A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause. Yep ...if you're going to try and sell the comparison of terrorism to supporting a woman's right to choose, you're pretty much a zealot in my book.

So, I'm moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. As preparation for this I contacted my good friends at Charter Communications to get my cable and internet transferred to the new address. Now, having spent a goodly number of years working in a call center (whether it be as rep, supervisor, or manager) I'm well aware of the challenges that can exist re/staffing and training in said environment, however, I'm rather doubtful that even the most liberal application of the term 'customer service' could be used in this instance.

My grand adventure began by waiting on hold for 30 minutes to speak with a rep. This in and of itself is bad enough, but the fact that the 'on hold' music was a charming mixture of generic pop tunes and cringe-inducing ballads helped to heighten the experience (much the way that the experience of having your teeth drilled is heightened when the novocaine wears off). When finally connected, the incessant 'sing-song' demeanor of the rep (who we'll refer to as Rep #1, and who felt it a requirement to insert numerous cheery, chipper, and non-business impacting observations into the conversation) added to the occasion and lengthened the call (which, to my understanding of call center operations, is probably not a good thing if you have customers sitting on hold for 30 minutes in the first place). 'Cheery' and 'chipper' are two adjectives that I (and I imagine most of my friends) would not use to describe my typical state of being, so her attempts at levity were lost on me. Unfortunately (since my new apartment complex has a 'bulk' deal with Charter and is including a reduced cable rate in the rent), Rep #1 informed me (although in a cheery and chipper manner) that she would not be able to assist me, but needed to transfer me to the 'business accounts' department.

I then proceeded to wait for another 20 minutes to speak with the 'business accounts' department whose 'on hold' music was periodically interrupted by a looped announcement (roughly every 30 seconds) stating that if I wanted to pay my bill using the automated billing system I could. I, however, did not want to pay my bill using the automated billing system since 1) if I did I would have chosen option '1' at the onset of the call which would have enabled me to do so and 2) I don't have a bill due ...on the plus side, the persistent (although not quite so cheery and chipper) recorded announcement was somewhat less annoying than the music that was playing. I eventually reached a rep (let's call her Rep #2), however she informed me (in more of a courteous and apologetic rather than cheery and chipper manner) that no, since I was an individual customer I would need to speak with the 'residential accounts' department, so ...back I went. On the plus side, I didn't have to wait another 30 minutes (like I did at the start of my grand adventure), but only 20 ...huzzah!

The courteous and apologetic (and thankfully again, not quite so cheery and chipper) rep I then spoke with in 'residential accounts' (to follow a consistent pattern, let's call her Rep #3) was a bit perplexed, since she too (like the first rep) was under the impression that I needed to speak with 'business accounts' to get my internet transferred to the new address due to the set-up that the apartment complex has re/the cable. So (once again) I was courteously and apologetically transferred (one more time) to 'business accounts'.

With only a 15 minute wait this time I was (again) connected with a rep in 'business accounts'. I explained (to she who I shall refer to as Rep #4) the travels I'd experienced so far in my grand adventure and she seemed to understand what needed to be done. However ...upon perusing her records she indicated that it seemed that the apartment complex (although having informed me of the 'bulk' cable deal they have with Charter and including the designated dollar amount in my monthly rent) had not yet actually set up paperwork with Charter for the aforementioned arrangement, so (you saw this one coming, didn't you), I would need to work with 'residential accounts' to get things taken care of. I was courteously (although not quite so apologetically) transferred back ...on the plus side, I was speaking with more members of the opposite sex (outside of my immediate circle of friends) than I had in quite awhile, so I had that going for me ...huzzah!

With only a 10 minute wait this time I was (again) connected with a rep in 'residential accounts', who coincidentally turned out to be Rep #3 who I had spoke with earlier. We laughed and laughed about the many twists and turns I'd taken so far on my grand adventure and, after I explained why I was again speaking with her, she seemed to understand what needed to be done. Since the 'bulk' cable account hadn't been set up yet with the new apartment complex, they'd transfer my whole kit and kaboodle over 'as is' (both cable and internet) just so we could get the work order filed, and I'd have to get a credit from Charter for the cable portion on my individual bill somewhere down the road. Fine ...I could live with that. A bit of a hassle, but what's that compared to the almost hour and a half of fun and exciting exploration of the inner-workings of Charter's automated phone system and departmental transfer procedures that I'd experienced this evening. Huzzah! ...Rep #3 was entering the information and the conclusion of my grand adventure was in sight. However ...it was at that point that the call dropped.

Not knowing if Rep #3 had completed everything needed before the call dropped, I adopted a cheery and chipper outlook (they'd beat it into me by this point) and once again called Charter. My resolve was strengthened by comparisons to the fact that, although having cleaned the Augean Stables, Hercules still had 7 labors to go before he was finished. Remarkably enough there was only a minimal wait of a few minutes before I spoke with Rep #5. I explained that I had been speaking with Rep #3 and that the call had dropped. Rep #5 courteously and apologetically transferred me back to Rep #3 and we laughed and laughed at how you can't scale the peaks of Mt. Everest without freezing to death a few Sherpas. She courteously and apologetically completed the work order and at long last, my grand adventure had come to a close. Weary from the experience I cheerily made my way to my refrigerator to pop open a cool alcoholic beverage to toast completion of one more item on my moving checklist. However ...it was at that point that I discovered I was out of beer.

I wonder if it's too late to switch to DSL?

I like William Shatner. I also like the fact that he's comfortable enough with his acting abilities and his place in pop culture to do something like this little film ...check it out here.

Yow! A sizable number of new DVD's came out over the last few weeks that I was interested in (as you can tell by the new additions to my DVD list). I did, however, exercise admirable restraint and refrained from getting 'The Seed Of Chucky'. What willpower!

Well ...not really free money, since 8 years of payroll taxes had come before this, but regardless ...I received my first unemployment check today. That got me thinking about investigating the origin of unemployment pay and how exactly the formula was derived. Upon reflection however, that seemed like a lot of work, so I took a nap instead.