It’s complicated – or at least it shouldn’t be complicated. When did it become okay for things not to work as advertised?
Case in point – technology. Today I had to deal with web hosting issues for my workplace, my own hosting like this site, and a few other websites. When I said I had to deal with it, I had to wait until the tech people fixed everything – then discover that things from the last two days were toast. After a few repostings, some checks, everything was back. The downtime was only 15 hours. Fifteen hours! A few years ago, this would have been quicker as I could have made a phone call to the webhost, or even logged in myself and maybe fix it. Times changed. Relying on others means conveying a sense of urgency in getting important things back up and running. It shouldn’t be complicated, but it was. Now I have to deploy my own backup routine (geek speak) because what I pay for doesn’t do the job. The hosting packages said backups, but if those fail and they don’t know about it, and everything dies – then what?
Complain, grab a beer, and start posting stuff over again.
My wife and I own a KIA Soul. It’s a glorified piece of shit. When we bought it, we loved the car. Then the engine acted up, the company played games, offered more warranty, then found a way out of having to honour that warranty. The KIA has been driven mostly by my wife – but this week the ticking time bomb engine decided to screw around. Pulling out to pass, the car lurched, sputtered, lights on the dash flashed and a big puff of white smoke flew out the tailpipe. I’m not a mechanic. Long ago I decided that there are people better qualified than I to make cars work properly. Trading money for expertise is fair here. A quick google search pointed me to two possible issues – condensation in the fuel thanks to changing weather, or antifreeze in the engine block. Condensation is easy to fix; Antifreeze in the engine block means using the KIA as fodder for a Trebuchet. I drove the car, no antifreeze detected, no cough ups by the car either. But I shouldn’t have to worry that the car is going to suddenly cough up an engine block or a piston either. Cars cost enough, and if you maintain them (we do) they should last. NEVER buy KIA or HYUNDAI. Same company, same shit products and bad service.
Where’s the bottle opener?
I love to cook. Yes, I love to eat too. But I enjoy cooking, it’s relaxing. I make my own pizza dough too. At the start of the pandemic I bought a really good set of Meyer cookware. PEI made, stainless, awesome stuff. Outside of the set, I bought a really expensive matching non-stick pan. Proper care and use as always – this thing is worn out. Long before the warranty. The coating is damaged, and not from my utensils either. I haven’t started to bug Meyer yet, but I will. Meanwhile I wonder why something made well didn’t even last the warranty period? I understand something breaking exactly one month and a day after the warranty expires – queue Murphy’s Law. But items wearing out before the warranty doesn’t sound like good business sense.
I also hate PC computers. I’ve been one of those annoying Mac people since Macs were unreliable and used just by journalists and graphic designers. Macs are much better now. A career change by my wife necessitated a new computer for school. I bought her a Macbook – her program specified a PC. I said “install Parallels” which runs Windows on a Mac for those programs that developers having yet clued in that Macs are better. We ended up returning her Mac, and buying a Dell laptop. I used to use Dells for programming when I was in that field. Man, have they turned into KIAs. Junk. We paid almost what we paid for the Macbook, and get half the computer. Windows 11 is unto itself a piece of junk too. The kicker is, half the students in her program use Macbooks with Parallels. Of course.
Enough complaining.
Three things:
Something to read – NHL moving Coyotes to Salt Lake City – I know the report should say moving the Coyotes to Quebec City, but SLC it is. Wonder what they’ll call the team? It’s about time the NHL gave up on Arizona for a hockey market. That’s like getting Inuvik to host a Major League Soccer team at Christmastime.
Something to watch – This week I was in court to observe a sentencing. The story is one I have been following since 2017 and this sentencing does not end things. Observing court is restrictive. No cameras, etc. Old school note taking. I was going to post a link to a video for the notebook I use, a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook (Link goes to Amazon where if you buy one, I see a commission). I say was, because I couldn’t find a video review for this that wasn’t boring, long, or drawn out. The problem with endless data to store video about things, or audio for audio podcasts is – no one knows how to be concise and edit. We don’t need a 27 minute review of a notebook. We only need 2-3 minutes. Maybe I’ll make one of my own. So no video. Just buy a notebook. I also use Tombow Mono Professional HB pencils (link again), and drink Illy Classico coffee K-Cups (link again). Yes, K-Cup pods are bad.
Something to listen to – I wish I could play guitar well enough to have a guitar as worn out as the one in this video. I think I’ve shared this performance before, but oh well. I also wish I had the positive energy that Michael Franti appears to project.
Last word – “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection,” – Mark Twain.