work and stuffies

so where have i been lately? work. work has now effectively taken up just about all my weekly hours. basically i get to school around 7:30am and don't leave until about 6:30 everyday. usually i get home around 7 or 7:30 because i've been trying to take the bus home. by that time i'm hungry and so tired, so i eat dinner and am in bed by 9:30... repeat, repeat, repeat. i'm pretty exhausted.

but, the good news is that i really like it. the kids are cool (for the most part), and the teachers are excellent. i was nervous before about how much i would actually be able to teach, but i have already done some large group lessons as well as a lot of small group and 1:1 work. i'm very impressed with how the school is really able to challenge each student, at all levels, in particular in math. those math vitamins are really great!

now, of course the downside to all of this challenge for the students is that it takes a lot of time for the teachers to think of an idea, plan, write, edit, try out, create a brainstretcher, type up, then write on the board... almost one per day. needless to say, there are a ton of planning meetings. every week we have: a resident meeting, a first floor meeting, a tower (which is the first and second floors) meeting, a whole school meeting, at least two 2/3 planning meetings, and of course daily informal meetings during lunch. we literally have one planning period during the entire week... for one hour on thursday. there are tons of specials that the kids go to, but we only send half the class at a time, which leaves the other half to work with in small groups. i think that will be really neat, and give a lot of valuable instruction time, but it means "up time" all day long.

so that's where i've been....
that, and making stuffies!!!

so i bought a book that has all sorts of really cute patterns for sewing small Japanese "mascot dolls". i bought it for mary. so like any gift, you really should try it out to be sure, absolutely sure, the other person will like it. and that's what i've done.


this is my first attempt... before i had a sufficient felt supply. (trust me, now i have a sufficient stock!) his body is made of wool roving and needle felted into a rough body shape. he's a little more homely in real life than the picture lets on...
here is bunny, my third creation. he's pretty cute, i think. they are only about 2-3 inches tall. i just noticed his little pot belly!

here's panda, the really adorable one. his legs are stuffed into the keyboard, and his ears blend into the background, but isn't he a cutie?!

mary, i'll have to do a few more just to be sure you'll like it.... :)

Nefarious Agents: Redux

I'm on the phone, at this very moment, with a Geek Squad Agent. She has not only said that the agent in the store was wrong, but that "it sounds like he's trying to make a few bucks".

Fantastic.

I'm about to work on getting some kind of assurance that there is no reason for them to work on, access, throw out, or worship as an unholy object, my hard drive.

I'll take a moment, since I'm on hold and being treated to a very cool, if too short, action-techno-something-matrix, to defend the agent at the store. It's entirely possible that he was told that I could lose all my data, and that he's just trying to help me out. It's also possible there were extenuating circumstances I didn't witness the other day when an old man walked in saying they had taken one of his cables, to which the agents in the store replied that he must have dropped it on the way out to the car. Which maybe he did, but since it's not a far walk, I think there were myriad opportunities to try and ensure customer satisfaction there. But it's not like they can give out free cables, like they just did to the girl in the tight shirt in line before me, smiling and saying it's no problem, she didn't need to pay for it, he has another. Now, in my two times here, I've only seen the agent interact with about 6 customers (including myself), but this was the first time I saw him shake someone's hand and make chit-chat. She probably buys a lot of hardware there. A lot.

So I just talked to "Rob". "Rob" says to tell the agents at Best Buy that he said he'll call me if there's a problem. Just call "Rob". Who Geek Squad has hired, knowing that they would never allow another employee to take that name. When I said that was great, and that the agent in the store said he wouldn't call me, "Rob" said he'd need to talk to his supervisor.

Great googly-moogly! People, just don't screw with my freaking drive! Can we do that. Can we say "We won't touch your hard drive, no matter, what. If we can't fix the problem without touching your hard drive, we'll just send it back. Really it's no big deal to us." No. No we can't. Fascists.

"Rob" is back! Great! And...each store has a different policy? And, now he can't guarantee they'll call me? And there is no Santa Claus?

Crap.

OK, people. You win. I'm backing up my data, and then I'm going to a Best Buy, and I'm handing over my computer. And so help me, if you for some reason erase my data, I'm going to turn my incredible (and delectable) brains from the task of music education to corporate finance, and one day I will own you.

From there I will use your capital mercilessly, regardless of the harm it does to your company, buying pieces of other companies, and selling them off, leaving in my wake a barren landscape dotted with the ruined remains of various corporations, until I hold more wealth thought possible by man.

I'll further use my wealth and standing to invest in foreign powers, manipulating their governments and people around the globe, causing civil unrest and amassing even more power, wresting it from the innocent and guilty alike.

Finally, having complete control of the world's resources, I will ensure humanity's doom, and, if necessary, the destruction of the planet itself.

Do not allow this to happen, Best Buy. Don't screw with my hard drive.

On Best Buy, Geek Squad, and Nefarious Dealings

Case File #375: The Nefarious Agent Dilemma (or, NAD)

Background: Over a year ago, I bought a laptop from Best Buy. Knowing that I'd be bringing this back and forth to work every weekday, I paid for a three year extended warranty that would "fix anything that happens to it, short of you (me) pounding nails through it on purpose"¹. I should state that I have never tested this extreme by accidentally pounding nails through my laptop, though in case any of you scoff at such an idea, I should point out that I have accidentally nailed a backdrop to a stage, accidentally sawed into a table (with a hand saw, not a power saw), and accidentally received a 3.98 one semester when I handed in all my final exams late, ranging from 2 weeks to 3 months (one professor called that "unusual", and gave me my only A-, resulting in a 3.98 instead of a 4.0)².

I have, however, tested the basic premise of this, approximately one year ago, when my power input ceased to function in the proper way. It was still really good at getting incredibly hot, so much so that the cable on my power supply is a little melted, but its primary function, that is, delivering power in any way to my laptop, started to be as successful political ethical reform in New Jersey³.

I was pleased that I got exactly the service I paid for, though it seemed excessive to me that they, according to their agent, had to replace the whole motherboard. Please note that no mention of warnings, possible problems, or anything similar were given to me before, during, or after this process. In other words, this background has no NADs.

Current Proceedings: My laptop exterior has begun to split apart. While it still functions properly, and I've used it for some time, I'm worried since the damage seems to be progressing. I did not get it fixed during the school year because after my desktop died⁴ I had no way of actually doing any work without it. This summer had been too busy, but now that I bask in the joy of unemployment while my girlfriend works from 7:30 am - 6:00 pm every day, I figure I can spare a little time⁵.

So I traveled to a Best Buy, and therein approached their resident Geek Squad Station. Little did I know I was about to confront a NAD.

I should have been tipped off! While waiting in line, this agent advised a woman ahead of me that there was a problem with her motherboard on her current desktop, and the only solution was to purchase a new machine. From Best Buy. And then, because all their machines have Windows Vista on them, and the lady did not previously have Vista, she'll have to purchase all new software. From Best Buy. And she'll have to have all her old files transferred over to the new machine. For $99. From Best Buy. Or Something⁶.

I should have said something to the woman, perhaps, but I was a little stunned, next in line, and not completely sure of myself. For example, I think that with the help of someone with some computer expertise, she could probably just install a new motherboard. Worse case scenario, this person fails, and she's out one motherboard, which on pricewatch.com ranges from about $300 to about $30, depending on your needs. I also think that Vista might be backwards compatible (4th paragraph in) with some Windows XP software, but then again I don't know what she was running. Finally, I'd imagine someone supposedly knowledgeable in computer hardware could install her old hard drive as a second drive in her new computer, so she could access them without paying for a transfer and ending up with a drive she won't know what to do with.

Nah.

So I approach the agent next, unaware that a NAD was looming, just out of sight, behind the counter. I tell him my problem, and he informs me that the problem can be fixed, but I'll want to have my data backed up first. For $99. Or, if I'm up to it, if I think I can master the challenge, scale that peak which is data retention, and yea, burn something to a CD, then I'm welcome to do it myself.

Wait, what?

My exterior is broken. Yes, but they'll want to fix it in the fastest way possible. But the problem is around the monitor. Yes, but if they decide to replace the hard drive, I'll get a new one back and have lost everything. Why on earth would they provide me with a new hard drive for a broken exterior?

Because in some cases, the fastest way to fix a broken computer is not to put your hard drive in a working computer and send it to you, but to put a new hard drive in your broken, old computer, and then extort you in any way possible⁷.

So, according to the Geek Squad employee at this Best Buy, company policy is to issue a warning that your hard drive might at any moment be removed and sacrificed to some ancient god⁸ the second it leaves your hands, without warning, consent, or particular attention to personal hygiene (he was kinda oily).

Recent Developments: Not taking this NAD lying down, I took my computer home. This morning I called the national hot line and told a very nice lady my tale of woe. Her immediate response was "Um, I don't think that's a company policy. Can I go talk to my supervisor?" I always like it when people like that ask me permission. It makes me feel as though I could say "No! Now pray with me, to the great god Odin!" Luckily for her, I kept my proselytizing in check, unlike certain Evangelical Christian Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy. When she was back from her conference, she informed me that in fact saying that the hard drive needed to be backed up was not company policy, and that if the people servicing my laptop decided they needed to to anything to the hard drive, they would have to contact me and get my permission before doing so.

I immediately felt relief that this agent solved my dilemma, instead of presenting me with another NAD.

Conclusion: I head back to Best Buy today. I feel better armed with this knowledge, and if I encounter any more NADs, I will deal with them in the appropriate manner. I also feel better about the Geek Squad as a company, since this is probably just the doing of a single employee, and not the result from a culture in higher management, demanding that they make as much money as possible, and leaving it up to the people on the "ground" to figure out how, regardless of ethics.

Besides, they've never had any other NADs.

Have you ever had to deal with some NADs⁹? Tell us your tale in the comments section!

1.Random Best Buy employee
2.Curse him!
3.Topical, and funny.
4.The horror! The horror!
5.Don't hurt me, sweetie!
6.Ok, what he really said was, approximately, "You'll need a new computer. And since ours only have Vista, you'll need new software. And you'll need your old files transferred, for $99 up to 9 gigs." Then he sprouted devil horns and danced a merry jig while a choir of damned souls rose around him and sang a song of despair and agony in their joyless counterpoint.
7.This is actually proven by Dijkstra's algorithm, if by "Dijkstra" you mean "Best Buy" and if by "algorithm" you mean "taking all your money and laughing at you and then beating you up and laughing some more and then pulling down your pants in front of the whole school so they all laugh at you, and then you get in trouble for it and they never do."
8.Mercury/Hermes was known, in part, as a god of profit.
9.There were 9 in all. Kinda clever, huh?

blogging is hard!

and we have several posts "in the works". in the mean time, however, I'm here to distract you with a little flash and sparkle.

Algorithm March

There now, wasn't that nice?

As I was saying, blogging is difficult. Actually, i was saying it was hard. There's always the temptation to fill the page with foolish crapola, hoping you keep a readership after you haven't posted in a week and a half. Of course, you'd never know if anyone read the thing anyway, because no one except your mother leaves comments...

So! What have we got coming up? A part two, on food and shelves. Homemade stuffed animals, the moon, and various and sundry activities that remain undefined. Like dividing by zero.

Stay tuned! Actual content will be up sooner than you'd think! I hope!