Apparently the newest annoying word for some time away is Babymoon. It’s better than Daycation or Staycation, but still annoying. The word is annoying, but the actual time away isn’t. With the impending arrival getting closer and closer, many online pregnancy-related websites & email lists suggest taking a babymoon. This goes especially for first time parents, as a nice little last fling before all of your apparent freedoms disappear.
We decided a while ago that a nice little getaway to a cabin would be the way to go. We have been tent camping at Forest Ridge Cabins and Campgrounds before, but had never tried out the cabins. They always looked quite inviting. The campground itself is always clean, and the owners are quite hospitable. The prices are competitive with other places that we checked out online, and really quite affordable. Important for the babymoon aspect, it’s not that far away. Cabins are our thing now I guess… since we honeymooned in one in Gatlinburg, TN. It all just seemed to make sense.
We booked the date a while ago, assuming that since it was spring we’d have a nice warm weekend. It was a nice weekend, but there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground, and the temperature never got much above freezing.
We stayed in the Allegheny cabin, and it was warm & cozy inside. We brought along some DVD‘s, cooked some s’mores (with peanut butter cups) around the campfire, and just had a nice relaxing weekend. The kitchen was stocked with all kinds of cookware and utensils, we made a nice steak dinner on Saturday. I also made a friend in Oliver, one of the campground cats. He strolled up as I was waiting for the last log to burn out on the campfire, then followed me up on the porch to hang out a but on top of the hot tub cover. He liked to look in the window at us, then look away when he saw that we were looking at him.
I think we’ve decided that Forest Ridge is “our place” as far as camping when we’re not going camping at Living Waters.
Check out Forest Ridge on Facebook, Twitter, & Yelp, and check out some of our photos…
This is my letter to anyone within the Sprint, HTC, and Android organizations who will listen to my plea for an actual quick and final solution to my phone problem…
✉
Hello,
I’m writing to inform you of a problem that I’ve had with Sprintcustomer service, HTC‘s hardware, and Android‘s operating system. I’m not sure what kind of answer or resolution I’m looking for. I just feel the need to tell someone or everyone how unacceptable Sprint’s service (or lack thereof) has been lately as related to multiple HTC or Android errors.
It started about two weeks ago, shortly after I applied the latest update as prompted by the phone. My original HTC EVO 4G LTE purchased only in September started going crazy. The screen would freeze, become slow or completely unresponsive. It would eventually load a screen that looked like TV static… only not moving. Naturally, I took it to the Sprint store. They also tried to blame the problem on various apps and settings. They did a soft rest, a hard reset, and even apparently looked up the problem on the internet. I had to leave my phone overnight and pick it up the next day. Well, the next day I was given a new or refurbished phone. The store employee said he couldn’t tell if it was new or refurbished. He said it might be new because the phone itself was rather new and they might not have refurbs yet. I find it hard to believe he couldn’t tell a new phone from a refurbished one.
So, after updating the new phone, reinstalling some apps, and setting everything up the way I had it on the old one… I started to notice a minor annoyance. If I opened a browser link through Facebook, email, or Twitter it would immediately close after it fully loaded. I took it to the Sprint store that Saturday morning. Again, they did the soft & hard resets, and tried to blame it on an App. They changed some settings in the phone that were telling the phone to look for a 4G network. When I went back in after leaving the store & running into the browser-closing problem again… The next guy changed that setting back and told me that I shouldn’t have changed it… and wouldn’t listen when I told him the last guy had just changed it. Oddly enough, I was told that the 4G network would be in the area by January when I purchased the 4G phone. When I told the person helping me at the Sprint store that I was told that… he says they were never given a timeline. Is lying part of your training as a Sprint customer service representative or sales person? What about intimidation and making someone feel like they’re not using their phone properly?
I was persuaded out of getting a 2nd replacement phone. I was told to delete all of my apps, add them back one by one to see which was causing the problem. The browser-closing problem was happening even without any added apps. Now it was shutting the phone off each time the browser crashed. I can assure you that I’m not an idiot when it comes to technology. I was told I was part of a percentage of HTC users that were having a similar problem, and that a replacement phone could potentially have the same issues… and to wait for HTC to make the next update. So, the solution was to wait?
My phone has taken to shutting itself off all week at random intervals. I can be talking on the phone, using Facebook, or not even be near the phone. It just shuts itself off. It comes back on, and I send HTC an error report. Where do these error reports go? Do they do any good? Is anyone working on the problem? Is this an HTC problem, or an Android problem?
Well, I waited a week. This Saturday I went back to the Sprint store, looking for a replacement phone. I work on the road & I have a pregnant wife. I need my phone to be functioning properly all the time. Again, we went through the hard reset option, and my apps were blamed. “Unfortunately Android is an open system” they said. “It must be a bug.” What about this mysterious problem that a certain percentage of HTC users had encountered? (I wish I could remember the percentage, I was told 10% or 20%, I believe.) A week has gone by with an apparently large bug issue, and nothing has been done about it?
All clean!
I was advised to install the Lookout app. I guess that app’s OK. I was told it would hunt out any apps that were messing up my phone. So, another thing to add to my monthly bill… Of course it’s not free or a one-time fee. As I tried to download & install Lookout, my phone shut itself off. I handed it to the woman assisting me, and it shut off for her again. She took it back to the technician. Again. Their advice was to run this app, and hope for the best.
Upon walking out of the store, I ran the app & it found no problems with any of my installed apps. I went back into the store, and this time they decided to put in a “ticket” for a replacement phone. I really have to wait again? A phone may be in by Tuesday. Again, I will have to re-download my apps, re-import my contacts, put all of my settings back. This will be the 5th time within the span of three weeks.
I left the store hoping to go on about my day, & my phone went into some “HD media link” video after hanging up on my wife in the middle of a conversation where I was expressing to her my exasperation with the entire situation. I went back to the store asking for the next level of solution. An entirely new phone? I’m not eligible for anything other than the ridiculously outrageous full prices because I’m not eligible for a new phone, or wouldn’t be singing up for a new line. I have been a Sprint customer for over 10 years. You would think that would carry some sort of weight. You would think I could “split the difference” in purchasing a new phone with some kind of discount. You would think a quick affordable solution would be offered instead of feigned apologies & being told to wait. I feel like I might as well have been talking to the brick wall in front of the store. It would have offered the same resolutions & peace of mind.
The early termination fees are the moral equivalent of extortion. I am tempted to move all five lines in our plan to another carrier. For what we pay for 5 lines total per month, you’d think Sprint would like to keep us happy. Once all the 2 year limits are up (and they’ll all be happening around the same time), we will be moving to another carrier. I know that Verizon has better signal/coverage in our area anyway.
I think that HTC and Android may find it interesting that Sprint employees routinely verbally (pardon the expression) shit all over the hardware, firmware, software & apps before any diagnosis is even made. Perhaps you ought to review your arrangements with how Sprint “supports” your products.
HTC ought to be a little more transparent as to where the error reports go… and maybe perhaps respond to them? Let someone know that you’re working on the issue. Maybe let Sprint or other carriers know if you’re having a major issue or if you get 10+ error reports from the same phone in one day.
If anyone can offer a solution or explanation that doesn’t throw another entity under the proverbial bus, I’d love to hear it. I just wanted to let everyone involved see how poorly their products & services are being represented. Writing this & eventually blogging it will hopefully be therapeutic. It’s an added bonus if it helps bring to light a seemingly never-ending careless customer service loop, and even better if it gets something resolved.
Thank you for your time in reading of my misadventures, I hope to hear your thoughts.
So, did you read the last post about the Guitalele & Guitar Center’s price match guarantee? The whole thing is pretty awesome, especially if you’re a musician and you actively purchase gear. It’s worth checking out, so click that link.
Once you’ve read that, this will make sense:
Free Gig Bag From Guitar Center! (2)
Free Stand From Guitar Center! (1)
Free Gig Bag From Guitar Center! (1)
Free Stand From Guitar Center! (2)
The gig bag & the stand are a perfect fit! Thanks again to Luke for the excellent customer service, and to YaJagoff for sparking it!
On the Saturday before Christmas, we were headed to a family gathering & gift exchange. On the way, we stopped at Guitar Center in Monroeville so I could pick up a book of Christmas Carols that I had seen at the Guitar Center in Robinson. I didn’t find the same book, but was pleased with two that I did find.
Guitalele GL1 (Photo credit: matsuyuki)
Usually, I’m the one who lollygags in guitar stores, but the wife has taken up the ukulele, and over the past few years she’s the one that lingers near the ever-growing uke section at music stores. In Monroeville’s Guitar Center, the ukes were right by the music books, so we both started looking. Bethany was the first to spot our newest acquisition… The Yamaha GL1 “Guitalele“. We both were fascinated by it, and I played with it a little as she asked “Do you want this as an early Birthday present?”
At first, I said no and went to hang it back up, but flipped over the price tag and saw that it was $99.99. She gave me the “just get it” look, so we both new I just landed an early birthday present. I do enjoy the wife’s ukulele, but the GCEA tuning did always mess with me. Now I can play the ukulele without having to play the ukulele. Although, if tuned “properly” the guitalele should be ADGCEA. Of course, I dropped it to E because I didn’t like pretending it was a guitar with a capo on the 5th fret. Although, I may have to get thicker strings or just suck it up & put it back in the A tuning. They’re sort of like rubber-bands at this point.
Well, that’s just the first part of the story. The second part stems from some interactions on Twitter. I’ll try to post it all here as it happened, thanks to @YaJagoff and Luke from Guitar Center.
Photo: Stopped at Guitar Center today to buy a book of chords for Christmas carols, and Bethany bought me an... tmblr.co/ZexcVyZxAvZi
A simple question. I gave the easy, flippant, and predictable answer. Rock musicians are supposed to rail against the establishment and big business, right? Well, Guitar Center proves to be awesome here…
@YaJagoff hmm... Local shops always beat Guitar Center. Ha ha. Pgh Guitars on South Side is awesome.
Musician’s Friendhad the Guitalele itself for $79.99 (It’s oddly now up to $99.99 on the website — aren’t Musician’s Friend & Guitar Center the same company? From Wikipedia: “Guitar Center’s sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Music & Arts, Musician’s Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Woodwind and Brasswind and Harmony Central.” …Interesting.)
I only half-jokingly asked “Any chance I could get a gig bag or stand for free?” I mean, it never hurts to ask, right?
I was met with a response saying I was getting both of them for free! We discussed shipping details & the right size gig bag in a few more email exchanges… but they’re now on the way to me via UPS.
I’ve written to companies before, but I’ve never had any of them seek me out on a social media platform in a conversation that wasn’t even addressed to them. It’s pretty cool that Guitar Center believes in their price guarantee so much that they actively go after any perceived detraction. It’s also cool that they’ll not only go up against brick-and-mortar stores, but online retailers too.
That being said, the “little guys” could argue that they have no way to compete. They can’t buy in quantities & therefore probably not at such a low price… so there’s no way they can pass on such savings. Free enterprise, supply & demand, competition, it’s all very interesting & a continually evolving battle.
At any rate, I win out here… with a free gig bag & stand. So, thanks to Ya Jagoff!!! & Luke for helping to set the whole thing into motion! I’ll post some photos of the gig bag & stand as soon as I have them.
So, does the Guitalele count as a guitar in my “13 Guitars in 2013” goal?
I’ve posted advice for existing and aspiring bands before, and I thought this email from a pro would be useful. It was sparked when I saw his Facebook status the other day: “Great way to start the day: my favorite venue in the country complimented my email skills in contacting them to booking a date. It’s the highest praise I could hope for.”
The status went on to some comments & basically the author said he’d share the knowledge with those who cared to learn. I asked if I could post it in a blog, and here we have it. If you’re in a band on any level, pay heed to the advice below.
As far as background on Bengt, he’s in a band (& been in many), he records bands, he’s booked bands, and he’s generally been in every part of the scene. He knows what he’s talking about.
Action Camp
On to the advice & the guest part of this guest post:
♪♫♩♬♩♫♪
Alright, so here is what we usually send like 99% of the time. There always a bit of customization but this is the basic format:
1. Greeting, name the booker if you know it (usually listed on indieonthemove.com or their website)
2. Band name (with a link to the website), genre, location.
3. Date(s) requested in bold. They love that, it makes it easier read. If you can swing 3-5 dates that’s best, it gives them room. Do them a favor and check the website for those dates first, they appreciate that a ton. Also make sure to follow their booking procedure to the T. A lot of places have a specific way they like to work (Facebook message, Sonicbids, email format, etc). If you do it right it shows you listened so you’re already at the top of the pile.
Also, if another band that’s played there before suggested it, tell them so. It’s like introducing yourself to anyone else and starting with saying you have a mutual friend. It’s a job reference.
4. Links to music, video, press – let them decide if they want to book you. The more you talk about how awesome you are and why you should be booked, the more they think you probably suck and are trying to gloss over it. It’s like handing someone your demo and saying it’s not your best work.
5. If you played there or in the city before tell them. If you know what you drew and stuff be honest, they love that.
6. Offer to help build the bill, and specifically name bands you know or have contacted already.
7. Thanks in advance, Thanks for your time, etc.
8. ALL of your contact info including phone numbers. It shows you are easy to reach and you have your shit together.
One final thing: DON’T say someone famous produced your record, quote random blog reviews, list facebook or twitter numbers, anything like that. No one cares about that if they know what their doing in the working touring circuit. Steve Albini producing your record won’t make 100 people come out in Dayton on a Monday night, and facebook and twitter followers are ostensibly your imaginary friends that only you can see. Plus, even you have 4,000 people odds are only 10 of them are near the venue you are trying to book.
We are Action Camp, an art rock duo from Pittsburgh, PA.
We’re looking to see if you have Friday February 15th or Saturday the 16th available to book in the Revival Room – both look open on your calendar but I wasn’t sure if you would do a full house those nights. Our music is pretty different from what’s going on those nights so I’m not concerned about audience bleed over. This would be our 4th time to Southgate, 7th time in 3 years in the Cininnati/Newport scene. We know plenty of bands so we’d throw a bill together with 2 or 3 locals to help support.
If these are unavailable I’d love to work something out in the future. Southgate was/is by far our favorite venue on tour, I can only assume the new house is great. Sincerely, I (Bengt) booked a venue in Pittsburgh, and based many of my practices on the way SGH was run by Rick and his crew.
Previous dates:
Parlour 10/1/2010 (Gallery Opening, free show, 100+ attending)
Parlour 1/2/2010 (w/ Duppy a Jamba, 97 paid)
Parlour Summer 2009 (Flux Capacitors last show, well attended, don’t have stats)
Our most recent dates in the area were both in Cincinnati:
12/8/2012 The Comet Cincinnati, OH (100+, free show)
7/5/2012 Sitwells Coffeehouse Cincinnati, OH (smaller acoustic show, last minute add on tour)
Thanks in advance, can’t wait to see the new place,
So that’s it, pretty simple. Just be honest and to the point. I also should point out that this was 1 of 10 venues we emailed on Christmas, and he got back just a day later with this response:
“Thanks for writing. Those dates aren’t announced yet, but they are spoken for. How about Wed Feb 13, or Sun Feb 17?
“PS – very well done email, especially listing previous show turnouts. You’re way ahead of the curve on that one, and it did persuade me to jump on this, and get you in!”
I always email every venue that would work for us in a city, it’s better to have choices than no show at all.
So, there you have it. Got it? Good. Doing research in advance before you ask for dates seems like a no-brainer, but apparently it needs to be said. I guess some bands naturally put more thought into stuff.
I’m not sure how you’d approach this if you had no previous gigs in an area… perhaps we can get Bengt to comment further for new bands, first time tours, etc.?
Wendy’s cares! Ha ha. Has anyone else ever run into this problem with impenetrable croutons? I’m not exactly sure what they’ll be able to do about it. Tougher forks? Softer croutons? Maybe I’ll get a free Frosty? Will they start handing out sporks? What about a metal Wendy’s fork that I can carry with me at all times? I guess the possibilities are endless.
On a weird side-note… Zemanta picked up my photo as a suggested image from Flickr. How crazy is that?
From: Waldo Lunar <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Aug 7, 2012 Subject: Re: The Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster To: The Cryptid Hunters <thecryptidhunters@gmail.com>
Hello Raptorguy14,
Nice to “meet” you! Sorry to hear that several of your people have become inactive. Hopefully they haven’t all mysteriously disappeared while searching for cryptids. Good luck in your quest to revive the group!
I understand that you’re not affiliated with MonsterQuest. If I understand correctly, MonsterQuest isn’t even being made any more? I find that to be such a shame. I can only watch the Hatfields & McCoys or How The States Got Their Shapes so many times, but I could watch MonsterQuest or UFO Hunters all day long.
I’m not sure if the tunnel monster is a hoax, but if it does exist… it has special powers that slow down traffic in the morning, afternoon, and during concerts or sporting events. I have more artist renderings attached if you’d like to tell me if they’re perhaps more accurate?
Have you heard about Tunnel Monsters out west, or anywhere else around the world? I would like to see this one captured…so I can get to events on time.
Onward & Upward,
-Waldo
P.S. – Your parents are very forward-thinking. Raptorguy is the coolest name ever, but to include a number like we’re in a science fiction novel? That’s just awesome.
These photos were attached (thanks to my faithful readers…):
This was the reply:
From: The Cryptid Hunters <thecryptidhunters@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Aug 14, 2012 Subject: Re: The Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster To: Waldo Lunar <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
No, they’re perfectly fine, they just haven’t been active. I still converse with them on occasion.
That’s right, MonsterQuest is no longer in production. TV networks often get rid of good quality shows for some reason, but I suppose that’s how it works.
Again, I must reiterate my opinion that the tunnel monster is a myth being used to make people drive more carefully in tunnels. Tunnels can be more difficult to drive through than conventional roadways, so one must be more careful. And the fact that the monster targets speeders and wrecked vehicles strengthens this opinion; it makes people think, “I don’t want to encounter this ‘beast’, so I should be more careful in the tunnel.” The likelihood that this creature is real is very low.
To my knowledge, no tunnel monsters (myth or otherwise) exist in the Western United States. I’m not sure about the rest of the world, though.
What?
We’ll find that tunnel monster someday, & prove Raptorguy14 wrong!
OK, so remember my post about the Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster & the artist renderings? Well, I just got this reply. It came a little late, and it came from someone who couldn’t pick up on the fact that I was goofing around. I mean, I don’t even know how I should respond to this. Should I tell them, or keep it going? Surely a quick Google search of my email address or “Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster” would have landed you here? I kind of feel bad that this cat didn’t “get” it.
I poked around several forums and web pages until I found email addresses or forums or anywhere where I could post my goofiness. They mostly all fell entirely flat (Fail 1/Fail 2/Fail 3). This email eventually found someone, I guess.
Date: Fri, Aug 3, 2012 Subject: Re: The Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster To: Waldo Lunar <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Hello, and thank you for emailing The Cryptid Hunters.
Firstly, allow me to introduce myself. I’m Raptorguy14, currently the only active member of this group. We used to have several people, but they’ve since become inactive. I’ve been thinking many times about reviving this group, and I may do that soon, but for now I can only investigate reports of cryptids in the Western United States.
Secondly, I, nor anyone else in this group, do not represent MonsterQuest or anything/anyone affiliated with it. I understand that the link to our email is on the History Channel website, so I apologize for any confusion. We are simply a group of amateur cryptid hunters.
Thirdly, the photos definitely appear to be fake. I know that you said they are artist renderings, but I’m certain that it’s impossible for creatures that look like those “renderings” in the photos to exist. After some preliminary research online, I can conclude that the Pittsburgh Tunnel Monster is likely a hoax, an urban legend, as no solid evidence has turned up yet. As I said, I would be open to investigating, but at this time I can only investigate cryptid reports in the Western United States (specifically the Intermountain West). I will try to find somebody to investigate, but I find it unlikely that any evidence will turn up. More than likely it’s just a myth that makes drivers be more cautious in the tunnel, as tunnels can be very dangerous places if certain driving precautions are not taken.
~Raptorguy14
I guess I should write back.
Also, if I neglected to post your artist rendering, please send it again! I was sitting on a few until I had another related post… wanna make sure I don’t miss any. Here’s one from Valley of Steel‘s Eric Yano:
I see this email reply as an (incredibly boring) invitation to go in to your local Best Buy & monkey around with everything. Especially the alarm clocks. Does Best Buy even sell alarm clocks any more? If they do, do set them all to go off at weird intervals after hours… or even 10 or 15 minutes before they close. If they’re clock radios, put them on the classical station or talk radio. Do it on the demo cell phones if you can too.
This was their only [yawn] reply:
From: online.communities <online.communities@bestbuy.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 12:05 PM
Subject: RE: A Formal Apology
To: Waldo Lunar <world.and.lunar.domination@gmail.com>
Hello,
We always encourage you, our customer, to come in and look around or even test out our products, so you know what you like or don’t like about them. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us and I’ll be sure to pass this along to our Leadership Team.
I guess they didn’t “get” it, or find it amusing. Of course setting all the alarm clocks is an innocuous thing to do at best, but I was acting like it was a big deal. That’s why (I thought) it was funny. Wow. Best Buy popped my funny balloon.
What a boring dud.
English: Vintage clock radio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
<shameless plug> Oh yeah, while you’re at it… set all the browsers to http://www.ErnieAndTheBerts.com, too. </shameless plug>
