Bytes + Beans

Today I get a call from my buddy Patrick, where he explains a weird error with his computer a Dell Inspiron | 1501.  I decide to give Dell’s wonderful Chat with a Tech Support Agent service and following is an actual transcription of a tech support chat session I had with a Dell representative.  The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Well, mine anyways.

System:

Thank you for choosing Chat support. The next representative will be available to assist you shortly. While waiting, check some of our self support options above. No fear, you won’t lose your place in line!

Session Started with Agent (160019_Dan)

Agent (160019_Jerry):
Thank you for contacting Dell Technical Support. My name is Dan and my rep ID number is 160019. How may I assist you today?

Badr:
This is my third time trying. I was disconnected the previous 2.  I have an Inspiron 1501 and I am getting 2 error messages when I try to boot the computer.  PXE-E61: MEDIA TEST FAILURE, CHECK CABLE and PXE-M0F: EXITING BROADCOM PXE ROM.  I get the error messages when I turn on the power and it tries to boot.  Once the error messages show up, when i hit any other key it just beeps.  The only thing it will let me do is turn off the power.  I Googled the messages and the results were not conclusive.

Agent (160019_Dan):
I am really sorry for the inconvenience caused as we are facing some problem with the network.  I’ll be glad to assist you. Please provide me the service tag of the system.  Please give me 2 to 3 minutes to pull up your account information.

Badr:
Service tag: XXXXXX

Agent (160019_Dan):
Please try to wiggle LCD cable.

Badr:
What?

Agent (160019_Dan):
This is the problem with the LCD.

Badr:
Ok. What LCD cable?  The LCD screen works fine. The computer will not boot.  Last time I check an Inspiron 1501 was a laptop and has no external cables to “wiggle”.

Agent (160019_Dan):
Please let me know if you have external monitor with you?

Badr:
No. Laptop.  LAPTOP!

God save us from outsourcing.  Is this what I have to look forward to now that the McDonalds in Hawaii are starting to outsource their drive-thru’s?

When my friend called me again I explained him it was a HD failure.  He asked me what he should do, and I gave him the best advice I can give a friendf of mine.  I told him, “Your machine is 2 years old, runs windows, dell’s support sucks… Go buy a Mac”.

Hello all. Things have been going fairly well. Our life has gone back to normal, well as normal as it can be. We are both looking for work, playing the game, “Beat the month”, before the bills come in and kills us. Its difficult but, its life.

Amikolle, my fiancee is doing her meetings, she has a home group at Free Spirits, which is the place I also go to my Nar-Anon Meetings, and she shares and is trying to make the best of it and is really doing a great job. She is also looking for work, and has had already a couple of interviews. She is really happy about an interview she recently got for Content Manager, so we are looking forward to her getting that position because its super close from home, in a nice looking company. We also got our Marriage license, and we got some nice silver wedding bands. The plan is to in a couple of months get married through the civil court, then in June next year have our religious ceremony in a beach in Rincón, Puerto Rico. We are going to Pre-Canna classes in our local church.

As for me I am looking for work as well. I have had some interesting interviews, but the most recent one that I am hoping I get chosen is the one working for the Office of the Comptroller of Currency in Washington, DC. Basically I was “hired” already. But because this job requires a clearance to work there, until I get my clearance, I cannot start. I finished already with the part of the clearance, so I am just waiting till the results come in. So lets all hope it works out. There is another job position I am pursuing, that is with the team of scientists that analize the Hubble Telescope photographs, that looks interesting as well.

4th of July weekend, we spent it with our friends Adi and Carlos and their daughter Keilani in Dover, De. We drove there on Friday July 4th, then we spend it at Adi’s cousin’s house till the fireworks went off. Isaac has 6 new friends when we go there, they are the 6 kids of adi’s cousin and her husband. They are a troop but a lot of fun, everytime we go there we have a blast. We spent Friday and Saturday in Dover, then Sunday around 2pm we drove back. Sunday was kind of shitty because I helped Carlos with a washing machine and I injured my back. Amikolle gave me a nice backrub when we went to sleep and today it doesnt hurt as much. I hope to get better in the next couple of days.

On friday July 4th Amimkolle’s parents had an unpleasant surprise for her. These people are like we say in my country, “Le gusta predicar en calzoncillos”, or in a rough translation, they like to preach in their underware. Basically what happened was, her father in trying to force her to pay some bills and limit her again so that she freaks out and flips her switch, took her car away. The car is on her name and her name only. They took the car, locked it up, restrained it with a wheel lock, and didnt let her use it, until she payed some debts with her father (no debts for companies or services, but some money she owed her dad). Seeing as she has been in treatment and not having a job that she could pay off her despotic father (the guy is an asshole), her father often showed how little he cared for his daughter’s opinion or even her boundaries, by taking her car without her permision and driving it around. But on tis week the drop that filled the glass was when on July 4th we learned that her father RETURNED the car to Volkswagen (She drives a 2008 Jetta), and told the dealership that she had been missing all this time, and that they didn’t knwo where she was and that they didnt have any contact with her daughter since she bought the car. Where all this is a lie, because we have been receiving calls from them in our cellphones, and we have proof they have had constant knowledge where their daughter lives and how to find her. This is just an example how ill they are, and how they have resorted in lying, cheating, manipulating and deceiving people to accomodate them to do their bidding and taking pity of them.

So to make the story short, Amikolle called the police and asked what she could do and after the cops explained, she called the dealer and the dealer general manager told her, her father sounded fishy with his story. He told her not to worry, that her car payments were up to date and that they would hold the car for her until she picked it up on monday and that no one else could move it from there. So although we had a happy ending for this, this situation put her in a lot of anguish, stress, and is a good example of the emotional mistreatment these people put in her daughter. This is why I decided to not care about them anymore, and certainly I dont want anything to do with them and their sob stories. They dont do anything for themselves and they dont do anything to help her daughter and her campaign for getting better.

So today monday we are picking the car up. And just continue with our schedule. Will talk to you all later.

On monday I wanted to give Danielle a surprise by giving her the SPORE Creature Creator as a welcome back home gift.
So I go to the EA Store, and order the game through their new Direct Download service.  According to them, I could buy the game and when its released they shoot me an email and I download it… So I said, alrighty lets do that and she will have it this afternoon.

Right?

No.  The game got pushed for June 18 (the next day), but that is fine… A day won’t hurt.  Well Today is June 19.  I still have not been able to download the game.  This is what I get for being Honest! I should have just grabbed the copy in The Pirate Bay or at Demonoid.  But no, I had to do the right thing, and bought it.  Bah.

I shot a support email to the helpful EA staff and this is their response:

Hello Badr!

Thank you for contacting Electronic Arts Technical Support. I do apologize for the inconvenience you’re having with Spore Creature Creator.

There is an ongoing issue with the EA Download Manager version of this game, as it seems that the game is not yet showing up even though the game has already been released today. We are aware of this issue and currently looking into this issue for a solution. We do not have an estimate time when it will be resolved, so in case the game doesn’t show up, I would suggest to try logging to your account at a later time. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience this issue caused.

Should you require further assistance about this or any Electronic Arts game in the future, please visit our website and review our extensive Self Help Knowledgebase (http://support.ea.com).

Thank you!

Camille T.
Technical Support
Electronic Arts

I have tried to cancel my order, but the EA Store wont let me.  EA says in their policy they don’t refund games purchased as Direct Downloads from their store.  I don’t even have the key to the game.  So its a sit and wait for me to deposit my $9.95 of the Creature Creator, from their poor bank account.  I have already made my miind that I lost 10 bucks.  I also went ahead and bought the game for Danielle at Gameshit (er stop).

Today I got an email from my boss which I am going to share with all of you:

Hey Man, I’m sorry to let you know I will not be needing you anymore for this assignment, I have tried to work with you, but you have missed too many days and I keep finding myself having to explain to your users why you are not here, this is very hard because I know what you have going on, but unfortunately I have to make this discussion. Therefore, you need to call your recruiter and see if they can find you another assignment. I will not tell them anything bad and if you need to you can email and get my contact info and use me as a reference if you need to.

This is my reply:

to: kgeorge@cnmc.org
from: gilbertpalau@gmail.com
subject: work…

Dear Kevin;
Fuck You!

Cordially;

Gilbert

ok.. ok… that was not my reply… this was:

to: kgeorge@cnmc.org
from: gilbertpalau@gmail.com
subject: work

Kevin;

I think this is not right.  I had to pick up my GF from her release form the hospital a day early.  I had no way to go around this.  I didn’t have an early warning as if I had known as early as friday I would have made better arraingments, but you know as early as last week that tomorrow or today I was going to be doing that.  So it was very easy to explain our clients I had an emergency or a personal matter to attend to.  Its not like other people in the team have not taken personal days off to deal with somethings.  What do you tell the customers then? As I have been there, they usually tell them, that X or Y person is not available that day and they help them anyways.

I got out of my way many times for the sake of issues the team was not prepared to handle and in many ways used my creativity and technical background to help the team when some things came up.  I always worked hard to meet the demand, and I always fixed myself when there were things I needed to get better at doing.

You have put me in a very difficult spot as of right now, because this entire situation was something that has been very difficult, draining and stressing and I was clear when I explained myself to you, that as soon as she was back I would not have this issues anymore.

This is really letting me out to hang dry, when I never let you guys or the team hanging dry.

But I guess this is how it is.

Good luck with the rest of your endeavors.

Gilbert

PS. I have never been let go or fired over email.  Thanks for always displaying your professionalism.

I hear sound coming form my daughter’s room. It isn’t even 6 yet, already she is up! How long has she been up? I went to bed last night at 2AM. I can only seem to get housework done after 9pm when she gets to sleep.  Usually I start cleaning at around 11. I need a few hours of downtime to unwind after a hectic day with K. Seems like today will be another long one.  I get up and open the door to her room. The stench is overwhelming. She is in her closet, covered in her own crap. Again. I am not careful. I step on her diaper. It has been partially gnawed at. Great! Laundry today again, since she has pulled out her clothes from the closet. She tried them on and has dirtied them with her caca. Oboy.

To the bathroom we’re off, I draw the water. Same temperature every day, for it will be hell if it is hotter or colder. Her hair has dried doodie. I know a struggle is afoot, she hates the water in her hair when there is shampoo and scrubbing involved. Damn!  I hate to see her upset. I better invest in some blindfolds, ‘cause this will be upset to the nth degree.  I start to put shampoo in her head. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! She screams, cries, pulls,kicks…………AAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!
I start to sing various Wiggles’ songs, she seems to like the Wiggles! Maybe it will distract her. She is struggling with me! I have no idea where she gets the strength! She punches me and tries to jump out of the tub.  She is slippery as I grab her and she gets loose.  I drag her firmly back in. The water is brown and I start to drain it. It looks like a torture scene. I wonder if the neighbors can hear. I wonder if they will call the cops, thinking I am hurting her. I wonder if she thinks I am trying to drown her. I wonder if she knows I love her. I wonder if she will ever stop. I wonder if I should shave her head! I wonder if I am doing the right thing. She is still crying as I rinse the shampoo out of her hair, careful as I can to not get it in her eyes. I am crying right along with her.  It is 6:45 AM

I am moping up the floor with my own clothes, since I have stripped naked. I too need a quick bath. I go to my daughter’s room to put on the TV for her while I bathe. It stinks. I tackle the mirror. I flip the mattress over, I will clean the caca later, now she needs a place to sit while I get dressed. I squirt Febreeze everywhere except up my nostrils. I sit her on the bed and tell her mommy will be with her in a few minutes, and Barney is teaching her about colors and numbers, yeah! I let the hot water run over me, and I pray it takes with it my frustrations. I pretend I am getting doused with patience and understanding. It’s not her fault, it’s not her fault, she doesn’t do it on purpose… this is the mantra I repeat over and over, while I struggle between the desire to escape down the drain with all the water and the knowledge that if I don’t get out of the shower fast enough I won’t know what is waiting for me.  I peek in her room. She isn’t there. I nervously go into MY room, dreading another shitty episode in my bed or closet. Hell, it’s been known to happen! Nope. Not there. I go down the stairs. There she is! Wait a minute.  What is that on her hair!  What is she doing?!?!  Is that my book?!  “KEILANI!!!!!!  NOOOOOOO!!!!!    Off she goes, before I can get to her!  She gets up with matrix like motions, I can see the room almost from every angle. Damn she’s fast!  Before I can reach her, she is under the dining room table. She won’t look at me. She is shaking her head no, as if to negate my existence. I wonder what she’s thinking. She looks oddly at peace.

Didi
valan1@msn.com

Hello all!

My name is Keylani and I am a 7yr old Autistic girl.  This is how a typical morning went for me.  I was 4yrs old:

I awaken to pull out own hair and eat it, I defecate and play with own feces, spread it all over walls, mattress, mirrors, doors
proceed to eat portions of diaper, I grab doll, chew on dolls fingers and hair, I grab book, pull out pages, chew on book.
lick the walls, eat plaster and paint.  … it’s not even 6AM yet.  When mom wakes up, she will not know what awaits her today, until she opens the door to my room to find me in my closet covered in my own waste from head to toe again, and again drag me to the bathroom. I don’t like the feeling of soap on my hair or the towel on my skin as she bathes me so I will fight her with every bit of strength I have. I don’t like water or soap on my hair!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!. I scream, I kick, I cry… Mom cries with me. She is tired. She soothes me, telling me she wants me to be clean and happy and healthy and pretty. I don’t care. I don’t want soap in my H A I R. She begins to sing, and doesn’t seem to care I am punching her.  It is 6:45 AM.

I run downstairs. Mommy is mumbling something or other. I go under the dining room table. I am safe. I flap my arms and wave my hands in front of me. It sooths me to see the patterns that emerge. 10 fingers become 30 as I wave them back and forth rapidly.

OOOOOOOOHHHHHHOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH WWWWHHHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWHHHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I am bouncing in place. I know I am supposed to be upset but I don’t know why. I am overcome by the sense I should be doing something. I spot a book on the couch. I run over. It looks interesting. I rip the cover off. I munch on it. I don’t swallow. I stick the mush on my hair. I do this about three times. In the meantime, I am ripping apart the pages of the book, careful to notice the sound of the paper tearing. The pattern the break leaves. The size of the paper, so the next one is nearly the same size. It is hard to be precise. I am only 4 years old. Out of nowhere, I hear “KEILANI!!!!!!!! NOOO!!!!”.  Here she comes. I am faster. I run back under the dining room table. I am safe.

As I was speaking this weekend to my friend from Highschool, Didi, she was telling me about her daughter Keylani and how has been her struggle with her and the fight with Autism.

Didi wrote a piece that is very interesting.  Its divided in two parts, the first part is written from the perspective of her daughter, and the second piece is from the perspective of Didi (mother).

I read them both and I am going to put them in separate posts.  It is rather crude but realistic.

I hope you like them all.

Monday could be my last day of work at the Children’s Hospital.  I overheard several of the bosses saying they are going to cancel all the contractors because of lack of funding…

This is not good.

While everyone else was calling the iPhone the greatest device of all time and putting Steve Jobs on that pedestal he enjoys so much yesterday, AT&T quietly told its investors that the revenue sharing deal it had with Apple for the past year has ended.

At first glance, that development may not matter to most. After all, that agreement really only affected Apple and AT&T and consumers were still forced to pay the same price regardless of the revenue sharing.

But if you take another look, you might find that there may be more to this story than meets the eye.

Now that Apple and AT&T have squeaked out of the deal, what’s holding the two companies together? Certainly some would say that it’s that oft-mentioned exclusivity agreement the companies signed, but I don’t know of one person who actually read the thing and no one really knows if Apple can get out or not.

But if I had to take a guess, step one in getting out of its contract with AT&T revolved around the revenue sharing deal. And before you know it, Steve Jobs’ latest blockbuster may be on other carriers.

It may be hard to believe right now, but rest assured that the chances of AT&T and Apple no longer working with each other are greater than you might think.

Now that AT&T isn’t sharing revenue with Apple, the agreement between the companies is all too similar to that between any other device manufacturer and a carrier. In essence, the carrier subsidizes the price of the phone and the device manufacturer offers the phone to the carrier. Nothing more, nothing less.

But in that same agreement, most of those device manufacturers sell the phones to other carriers too. And why not? In a market where competition is everywhere and the chances of rising to the top are so low, why wouldn’t the manufacturer sell the phone to as many carriers as possible to (hopefully) profit off their investment?

Of course, Apple won’t have too much trouble profiting off its investment, but why wouldn’t the company explore other opportunities and try to offer the iPhone to as many customers as possible?

Last year, Apple’s deal with AT&T made some sense after we heard about the revenue sharing deal. But now, I just don’t see why the company would even consider maintaining its exclusivity deal.

When the revenue sharing was in place, Apple stood to make much more on an iPhone that was on AT&T’s service than an unlocked device. But now, the tables have turned. Instead of caring which carrier the iPhone is on, Apple couldn’t care less. As far as Steve Jobs is concerned, an iPhone sale means a one-time profit regardless of the service its connected to.

Hard as I might try, I just can’t see why AT&T would want out of the revenue sharing deal unless it has some sort of bricking plan up its sleeve. Think about it: the company has said that it will subsidize the cost of the 3G iPhone to encourage more customers to its side, but what if that customer buys the iPhone, unlocks it and puts it on T-Mobile’s service? AT&T not only loses the monthly revenue, but its subsidy, as well. All the while, Apple walks away with a solid profit and a smile.

So if AT&T really didn’t want out of the revenue sharing deal (and the more I consider it, the more I don’t think it did), but it happened anyway, what does that say about Apple? Doesn’t it hint that the revenue sharing deal was the only thing holding the company back from going to other carriers? Doesn’t it tell us that its plan is not to be in bed with one company, but to offer its device to any and all customers? Doesn’t it tell us that it’s sick and tired of a limited customer base?

AT&T is trying to put its own spin on the demise of the revenue sharing deal, but it knows all too well that it was the only thing keeping Apple on its side. Now that it’s gone and Apple will enjoy the same benefit from selling the iPhone regardless of the service its connected to, the companies’ tie is as flimsy as it has ever been.

And it’s for that reason that Apple, smelling greener pastures and more customers, will find a way to sneak its way out of the exclusivity agreement and bring the iPhone to every major US carrier.

When? I don’t know. But rest assured that it could happen sooner than you think.

That is the headline on this appalling article which belabors the analogy about breasts and Apple products and adds that “the press and bloggers have been `pussy-whipped’ by Apple PR’s team” and features the image (above) of boobs on an iPhone.

I’ve blogged about this a lot in the past but I am not going to give up the crusade. Friends, it is wrong to objectify women in order to sell products or drive traffic to your Web site. So please stop doing it. I know most of you agree with me on this, and I know you also agree that the only way to stop these outrages is to keep calling attention to them, every time they happen. I know it’s awful to look at it. It makes you sick. As it should. It does that to me too. But we must be strong.