big brother is watching you.. still.

i was surfing the net looking for information, a specific software to talk to my boss about.  i went to maybe about five or six different company websites just to get an initial overview.  about 15-20 minutes after going to a website, the front desk gets a call, "hi.  i'm from a_company.  someone from your marketing department is on our website.  i would like to speak with them to find out what it's in regards to."  so the admin girl calls me, "i have someone from a_company saying that someone from marketing is on their website and they would like to speak with that person."

first of all, if our company was huge, how in the world would the admin girl know who to transfer to?  second, stalker much?  i track who goes to our websites and see what they do.  we don't necessarily act on it cause that only scares people away - "you're watching me?!"  enough people are freaked out about big brother in regards to the government as it is; we don't need to remind them that companies do this too.. lead generation through a website should be on an opt-in basis.  it's not like a physical store where you pounce on every single person who walks in.. people expect some level of privacy when on the internet (funny concept, i know.. maybe i should say pretend privacy cause nothing on the internet is actually private.)

i didn't want to talk to the lady.  if i want more information or a demo i will call or email you.. gah, leave me alone crazy woman.  so the admin girl gave the normal schpiel, "i'm not authorized to give names, you can fax or mail information and if they're interested they will call you."  the woman's reply?  "that's okay.  i'll figure out who it is."  uh.. what?  now THAT creeps me out.  i hate aggressive sales people, so this is certainly not helping this company in the least bit!

how to keep a 2 year old occupied for an hour, step 1: call usps.

the united states postal service is driving me mad..  i'm trying to call them to have postage pre-printed on return mailers.

me: *dials 800 number*
automated voice: thank you for calling the united states postal service.  para español, diga español.  blah blah blah tax information blah blah please contact the irs blah blah blah.  would you like to find a location in your area?  say yes or no.
me: no.
automated voice: ok. *silence*  you can say get a zip code, mailing rates, track and confirm a package, or delivery services, or say more options.
me: more options.
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *silence*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *presses 0*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *presses star*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: grrr..
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *hangs up, dials again*
automated voice: thank you for calling the united states postal service.  para espanol, diga espanol.  blah blah blah tax information blah blah please contact the irs blah blah blah.  would you like to find a location in your area?  say yes or no.
me: no.
automated voice: ok. *silence*  you can say get a zip code, mailing rates, track and confirm a package, or delivery services, or say more options.
me: delivery services
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: oh you've got to be kidding me..
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *hangs up, dials again*
automated voice: thank you for calling the united states postal service.  para espanol, diga espanol.  blah blah blah tax information blah blah please contact the irs blah blah blah.  would you like to find a location in your area?  say yes or no.
me: no.
automated voice: ok. *silence*  you can say get a zip code, mailing rates, track and confirm a package, or delivery services, or say more options.
me: *presses 9*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *presses 8*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *presses #*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *slams head on desk* i hate you.
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information.
me: *hangs up, converses with co-worker for 10 minutes, dials again*
automated voice: thank you for calling the united states postal service.  para espanol, diga espanol.  blah blah blah tax information blah blah please contact the irs blah blah blah.  would you like to find a location in your area?  say yes or no.
me: no.
automated voice: ok. *silence*  you can say get a zip code, mailing rates, track and confirm a package, or delivery services, or say more options.
me: more options.
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information. you can also say other information or main menu.
me: *shocked and speechless.. it gave me an OUT!*
automated voice: ok, you can say change of address, passport information, buy stamps, or for post office hours and location say post office information. you can also say other information or main menu.
me: other information
automated voice: ok. describe what it is you are looking for.
me: business services
automated voice: we are transferring you to customer service *i swear a beam of light was shining on my phone at that very moment with angels in the background singing "halleluja, halleluja, halleluja.."*
customer service rep: united states postal service. *woah.. notice the lack of how may i help you? well a good f'ing morning to you too!*
me: good morning.  i'm preparing a return mailer and we'd like to include pre-paid postage on them.  i'm having problems navigating your site, so i'm not sure how to go about doing this.
customer service rep: *silence * (for like a minute)
me: hello..?
customer service rep: i don't understand what you're saying. *i don't think this woman is a morning person*
me: we're preparing a postcard that we'd like mailed back to us. i would like to include pre-paid postage on it.  i'm looking for a system that lets me include the postage on my artwork so that the printer can print it rather than putting a stamp on the page.  i'm having problems navigating your site to find out how to go about doing this.  can you help me?
customer service rep: well you just create an account online and put money in.  you will get the postage necessary.
me: well that seems easy enough.  thank you for your help!
customer service rep: alright.  thank you for calling. *could my very own ears be teasing me..?  was that POLITENESS?!*
me: you're welcome.  have a good day!
customer service rep: *click*

maybe i was too perky for a wednesday morning..

google transit!!

many people know my hatred for the ttc and most other transit systems in toronto. the only place the ttc actually does its job properly is downtown.. otherwise, it's a sinkhole of inefficiency. really, the only one i like is viva cause it's so well planned and properly implemented.

one of the reasons i hate the ttc so much is the lack of a route planner on their website. is that so hard to implement? okay, it is difficult.. but it's a necessary tool for transit systems these days. especially since the internet is so easily accessible - even on your phone! and i make a point of internet accessibility because the transit system here fails to even post their phone number at their bus stops.

anyway, the point of all this: google. it continues to impress me! they now have google transit - a public transit route planner. it's only available in certain cities while in beta (vancouver, montreal, and fredricton as far as canadian cities are concerned).

i tried finding a route in montreal: from the train station to the airport. i'm impressed with the result! it gives you different options for routes, the estimated time, and cost for fare depending on the route. it does exactly what a route planner should do.

if toronto were to get onto this, maybe the project would be significantly subsidized because it's google (let's redirect some website funds to improve our services). hey, not a bad idea. now if all the transit systems in the gta were to get on this, how great would that be?! people would have the choice of taking a faster route vs. a cheaper route at the touch of a button. it would be easier to sell more transit services (metropass) because you're justifying it with the route planner. i'm sure google could jig it to suggest purchasing certain passes based on routes found (excellent marketing). and it's google.. more people are likely to trust the information given.

ah.. a girl can dream.

r-e-e-*click*-a

lady on the phone: remind me again, what's your name?
me: reena.
lady on the phone: r-i-n-a?
me: actually, two e's.
lady on the phone: r-i-e-e-n-a?
me: uh.. no i.
lady on the phone: r-n-e-e? and your last name?
me: wait. let's get my first name straightened out before we move on to my last name. r-e-e-n-a.
lady on the phone: oh! it's reena! that's an easy name.

who knew my name could be so complicated..

pinky up!

i love coffee. i love the smell, i love the taste, i don't love the effects. coffee makes me sleepy - actually the caffeine does. if i drink two coffees in a week i'd look like a teenager at 7am.. very zombie like. this is basically the reason why i stayed away from tea since tea has far more caffeine than coffee does.

last month i was perusing the coffee section at the grocery store, as i have a tendency to do, to take in the wonderful smells.. mmm.. i know, i'm weird. i've come to terms with that long ago. with the teas in the same aisle, i decided it wouldn't hurt to check out the selection. i bought one pack: twinnings herbal lemon and ginger. it's naturally caffeine free, so i figured it's probably worth the try. i've been drinking this daily, sometimes twice a day. you know the impressive part of this? i feel HEALTHIER! who knew?! i guess everyone was right.. ginger is good for you :P

today i used my last pack, so off to the grocery store i went for a refill. ah.. just my luck. it's nowhere to be seen on the shelves. not even the shelf labels. boo. :( so it took me a good ten minutes just to figure out an alternative. other companies had a lot of herbal teas, but they were labelled "bedtime". ugh. i ended up settling for lipton's ginger twist and lipton's lemon - both herbal and caffeine free. (lipton's website is very, very, very poorly done by the way. i gave up looking for the tea list after 3 minutes..) i figured i could probably just combine the two and perhaps recreate my healthy tea experience. WRONG. ugh, it tasted horrible :(

so now i'm on the great tea search 2008. hopefully one store around browntown will carry it.. or toronto for that matter. and when i do find it.. i'm stocking up!