Cytherene Wolfe-Dracion

In other news...

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 01:09:19 GMT

Work on the novel proceeds as usual. In a fit of blahs, I figured I'd lay out their latest hidey-hole. As spartan and forbidding as it is, and as boring as their location tends to be, I have only one thing to say.

Damn, can I design a swanky pad. I'd want to live there, if I were more suited for colder temperatures and didn't mind not having windows. Or having absolutely no cell-phone reception. (And no other form of phone.) Basic creature comforts are mostly out, too. Still sounds like somewhere I'd like to go, even if only for a weekend.

This is quickly becoming a rant journal.

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:11:52 GMT

I was hoping this wouldn't just be a rant journal, but as it appears that's much of what I'm posting...that's probably what it'll be. Ah, well; skip to the next entry on your friends list, if you should so choose.

So, to catch up to the current situation: I am preparing to participate in National Novel-Writing Month (henceforth known as NaNoWriMo, or just NaNo). This is a good thing; last year was hectic, but it WAS fun, and a very worthy challenge to my writing skills and mindset. I also didn't participate in the forums much, mostly because I was a bit too focused on the writing. I couldn't afford to do anything else. It appears I should've at least paid a secondary glance to the boards last year, before signing on this year for pre-registration. Oh, things started out well enough...but now it's almost starting to resemble a MySpace comment section. The topic that stood out to me was the off-topic "But he's my friend and I love him"...and in it, this person crows about a friend of hers getting a Wikipedia account and editing the Chronicles of Narnia page "to be funny"...then providing a link so that people could see the page "before they made it more serious again."

Am I the only one that fails to be amused? Sure, it's Wikipedia, and it's likely to continue being extremely vulnerable to idiotic traipses through the Interswamp. However, it seemed somewhat disrespectful--aside from the obvious stupidity--to go editing a page referencing a literary classic just for shits and giggles. Maybe I'm taking this entirely too seriously, but it bothers me. The page has already been fixed, for which I am grateful, but I still think it's stupid.

Then, there was the guy who posted a topic in all-caps who asked "Why are there a million forums" (no question marks) to post two sentences of two words each: "Hey, guys. I'm new." That's great. There's two or three open intro threads, too. Search button, scroll, or GTFO.

Speaking of GTFO, those fucking MySpacers can back the hell off my Shelfari, too. I signed on to Shelfari SPECIFICALLY because the crowd was far more intelligent, discerning, and had a unified interest in books beyond the cover or what character's best boning who in what setting. Now I'm starting to see shit like "OMG HARRY'S SO HOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!" for reviews of the Potter books, comments requesting friendship and trying to link off-site (generally to MySpace), and pointless two-word posts to extensive discussion threads (or just kicking off a useless thread). I hate this shit, I don't want it on my page, get it the fuck out of my group.

In case it's not horribly obvious, I'm an anti-MySpace snob. At least with LiveJournal/GreatestJournal/etc., one can almost pretend the particularly stupid don't exist. You don't have much of your life details laid out in a pretty little sidebar under your picture (Speaking of which, I don't know you. No, you can NOT see my picture, now kindly FUCK OFF! Fucking random MySpace people...). And, perhaps most importantly, it's not a world-ending event if either goes offline. (Oh, their users will argue with me; as I'm on both GJ and LJ, I will confess to being annoyed, but there are better things to do with my time than fuss about text in a box online. If no one else is in that position, their computers need to be reposessed and their relations need to check them in to a good therapist, STAT.) I don't know what Tom's doing, and I don't fucking care; going to visit a MySpace page drains my intelligence and self-respect (not to mention my respect for the user in question) by about ten points for every minute I spend. It's not the Devil, as some might claim, but it's up there for Most Monumental Waste of Internet Space in my books. Doesn't say much, but it's not like I care.

Wow. No one should have that much built up over the course of a couple days.

Well, that went well.

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:39:55 GMT

Thankfully, there haven't been any more customer-service related faux-pas to relate. Actually, I've had a pretty good time of things--well, except when the weather's playing games, but when isn't it?

Hit up the local metaphysical convention today, and much fun was had by all. Caught up with a few old acquaintances (and even made a couple new ones) and brought home lots of nifty things. I think one of the booth owners creeped out my husband, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be recovered from; lots of people in a small space will always mean closer proximity than normal, and he's an even bigger fan of his personal space than I am of mine. Afterwards, we hit Borders (always a good time there), got food, and headed home. It was looking like the afternoon might be quite active, so we figured it was the best place to be. Fortunately, all we really got was wind and some (chilly) sprinkles. Keeping my fingers crossed that it's the same way for Tuesday and Friday. With all hope and good faith, I won't have to concern myself with this variety of severe weather in three weeks; as much as I hate cold, I am completely down with winter weather at this point.

Work on my novel continues; once Chapter 25 is complete, I'm four chapters away from accomplishing my goal set in December of last year (Hoo, boy, I'm coming up on that year faster than I thought!), and there's every possibility of it expanding beyond the original chapter count--be it before or after the editing process. Even if this thing never makes it past the evaluation stages (entirely possible, but anything is), I'm hanging on to it; if not now, then maybe later it will come into its own.

And now, to work on my next project:

In preparation for NaNoWriMo, among other things, I'm going to...shoot myself in the foot.

Yes, you read that right. Those who might be worried (wait, this is CommieJournal...nevermind, might as well, anyway), never fear: I don't own any firearms, and I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if I did. As such, both of my feet are perfectly safe. However, I'm doing an Autumn Cleaning. How does this shoot me in the foot, I ask you?

1.) Now that the spider mating season in my area is on the wane, I have a few spare cobwebs in hard-to-reach places to get to. They have collected dust the likes of which I haven't seen since we discovered the fan on my computer stopped working, and that's going to send my allergies into overdrive. No matter what I do, it's going to take me quite a while to properly recover from doing all this.

2.) The Great Clothing Switch. Living in a moderate climate has its benefits and deficits. One of those deficits is morphing from summer-class clothing to winter-class clothing. One can't do it ALL at once because Autumn's a tricky season and likes to play games. (Well, unless you live in North Dakota or somesuch, in which case you can probably name the hour you need to switch, just like DST.) On top of that, we need to make a trip down to the Goodwill to take care of some of this excess.

3.) Spider migration, and the forcing thereof. It's part morbid fasination/tolerance, part policy, that there be at least one spider (Daddy Long-Legs, generally, even though they are not technically spiders. I forget why, but they aren't.) in each room to help take care of the spring and summer pest problems. DLL's and some other species like to cannibalize other spiders, which is another way they pay their rent; they make sure that if I spot a Brown Recluse, I won't be spotting it again. Maybe another one, but...well, that's the joys of living in Recluse Territory. Regardless, clearing out the inactive webs will also, unfortunately, evac the spiders who have also been paying rent. What can I say, the vaccum is an indiscriminate sucker. I don't want to kill the beneficial guys (any freeloaders are fair game), but this place needs a proper vaccuming like serious whoa...and we just got our vaccum fixed.

Aside from that, I'm actually looking forward to getting this all behind me...especially as it'll make things feel much less claustrophobic.

Customer Service Vent # 1

Sat, 15 Sep 2007 09:31:52 GMT

Now, I'm naturally a blonde, so I have had my fair share of jokes thrown at me. However, my parents raised no idiot children, and one of my specialties happens to be Customer Service. As a matter of fact, I'd probably be training insurance agents in the fine art of dealing with the fleecy masses if things had turned somewhat differently, but we're not here to discuss that. What I'm going to provide here are samples of what I've just sat through, and (for those who might be curious) how to properly handle the situation. Those in the hospitality industry are welcome to correct or chime in with their thoughts; life is a learning experience, and if I'm acting the idiot, the clue-by-four should be swift and merciless. Just like I wanted to be.

The Situation: We enter the late-night dining establishment, and are promptly seated by a cheerful and engaging host. All seems to be going well, as he also takes our drink orders and makes sure they are processed promptly. Unfortunately, the server begins to make a few unwise decisions.

1.) Two gentlemen arrive fifteen minutes after we do. They are the only other people in our section, and only two more of a small handful throughout the entire restaurant. However, they have their drinks and their meal orders taken before our drinks arrive.

Solution: In all sympathy, this could easily have been a case of any number of things: slight slowdown in the kitchen, complications with orders in another section extending wait--anything could have been distracting. However, the big thing I learned when I worked in food service was that wait times should be kept at a minimum. Yes, even in sit-down, whenever possible.

2.) When our drinks are finally delivered, our waitress immediately asks us "Are you good, or are you gonna order something?"
Solution: NEVER, under ANY circumstances, automatically assume that a customer who just came in and sat down isn't there to eat. After all, why go to a restaurant if you're not hungry? An exception can be made in the case of known regulars. (Note: we are not regulars of this establishment, though we have been there before. We have never seen this waitress previously, and we have always ordered meals at those other visits, so we have no clue how she got that impression.) Combined with her blase tone and almost complete and utter inattentiveness, I found it to be outright rude--very off-putting for any sort of customer, let alone a diner. Even if you're having the Night from Hell, put on your Happy Mask just as tight as you can. It's hard, but the payout is sometimes higher tips...or just more material to vent about on break, but hey.

3.) She proceeds to take my husband's order without incident--save for not using the pad she has in front of her. However, knowing full well there is another person at the table, she begins to turn and walk away to start putting in his order. It takes both of us to slow her down long enough to take MY order.
Solution: The first part is forgiveable; it's a very common thing for starting waitresses at an establishment to have the pad as a backup, but try to memorize their orders. Normally, I have no problem with it, but we'll touch on it again later. As for the second part, it was an Instant Tip Kill. Actually, if I were a worse person, that would warrant a talk with the manager, because that is absolutely appalling! NEVER IGNORE A CUSTOMER! Yes, it's in all-caps, and of course I'm angry that it happened to me, but even putting all that aside, it should never have happened.

4.) She has to make constant return trips to the table to be reminded of not only our order, but the order for the other table in our immediate area--the two gentlemen. I noted that, when she took our order, she broke out her pad again...but never wrote on it.
Solution: Use it or don't. If you know you're having an off-night, no one is going to seriously complain if you take a couple extra seconds to break out a pen to write things down if it means you'll get it right the first time. (And those that do...well, they're douchebags, and they'll probably find any little thing to pick on anyway, so just grit your teeth and good luck.) If you're not sure and just want to have a couple of quick notes to jot your memory, great. If you're confident enough in your memory to not use your pad, don't bring it out.

5.) When the order comes (all in one piece and correct, thankfully), she opens up with "Hmm, seems rather messy." (The presentation was fine, actually; it was better than I normally see.*) She also asked if we needed some napkins--but didn't stay long enough to get an answer, as when I turned to reply, she was gone. A full five minutes later, she comes back with a thick stack of napkins, dumps them on the table, and leaves just as quickly as she had last time.
Solution: Keep any delivery comments polite and civilized; regardless of intent, her wording and delivery implied insult where none should be. Asking if customers would like more napkins (or other such relevant materials) is appropriate, but wait until you have received an answer!

6.) We were checked on exactly once--when she dropped off our ticket. In that time, I got a single refill on my tea, and my husband was able to get no refills on his drink. Once the ticket was left, she was gone. Not out-the-door gone, as in off work, but una desaparecida.
Solution: If you can, try to make your rounds as often as other duties will let you. Pay as much genuine attention to your customers as you can; after all, they are technically paying your wage. (Of course, you don't have to LIKE it--everyone knows Customer Service is all about Appearance and Illusion. Just like Hollywood, but without the trailers, fame, and multi-digit paychecks.) Once the ticket is left, it's acceptable to leave the table alone, though if they're still sitting there after about twenty minutes, make at least one more pass to ensure there isn't anything else needed.

We paid and we left. I was not able to locate a manager on duty, and did not see the need to escalate a private situation, so we settled on leaving no tip for the waitress. Weak, yes, but a notable statement (I think) on the state of her service. It's not something my husband and I do normally, but for once, even his inestimable patience was tried.

* = The order: (Me)Scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. (Husband) Buffalo strips. Both orders were beautifully and neatly presented--more so than I have normally seen from this establishment, and something with which I credit the cooks.

As for the waitress...I have no idea what her issue was. Initially, I figured it had just been a long day and she needed a smoke break, but when she practically forgot I was there, I began to wonder if she hadn't already had a smoke break--and picked the wrong cigarette?

In other news, work continues on the tattoo design. I'm on to Phase Two.

Just a day.

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:27:48 GMT

Yep, it's been one of those.

1.) At the very least, I appear to be getting over my Monster Cold fairly quickly. The intervention of Zicam, orange juice, frequent tea drinking (I'm starting to run rediculously low), and Benadryl (ah, nothing like eight hours' sleep and being able to breathe--all at once!) seems to have helped.

2.) While I have no active interest in forming a boycott or anything, I don't care HOW GOOD Cingular/AT&T might be, they won't get my service so long as they keep butchering the English language in their commercials. I already hated the commercial with the kid talking as if she was in the "Under 18 and Uneducated" chatroom, but getting adults into it? GRANDPARENTS?! I swear, if my grandparents ever caught me talking like that, they'd give me a righteous sound boxing of the ears.

Of course, the easy thing to do is just turn away from the commercial when it starts rolling. If it was just some petty commercial that only had a couple of offensive elements, I'd probably do that--or just hit mute and go into the kitchen for a second, or something equally quiet and inoffensive. However, the idea that chat/netspeak in place of legitimate English speaking is acceptable--nay, popular--in society as a whole (on an offline scale, anyway, since I have serious doubts the Internet can be salvaged) is just so horrifying that a little part of me dies every time I just think about it. It reminds me of the time I was talking to someone, and they actually got on my case for using full words and complete sentence structure because they thought it was too formal.

Too formal? Hell, I didn't realize that acting like I actually paid attention in class was formal. If I didn't go to school to learn, then what the fuck was I doing there to begin with?!

And this came from someone who claimed to be about a year younger than I am. The writer and the English teacher within me wept bitter, bitter tears. I mean, I'm not flawless or anything, but if using full words and complete sentences with at least 98% proper sentence structure and grammar is too formal, then yes, I do have a log the size of a fully-grown California Spruce shoved up my ass, thank you for noticing!

Ahem. Moving on.

3.) So I've considered getting a tattoo in the past. This has been complicated by three things: design, duration, and discomfort. Finding a design I like enough to have permanently stuck on my skin has been a significant challenge over the years, as there really hasn't been much that says "me". There have been many that have popped into my head vying for the position, but interest has waxed and waned over time--definitely not good candidates for a permanent inking. And finally, there's the discomfort angle: needles and I don't have the best history. Giving blood was fine, injections were fine--well, except for the surgery. Student doctor + angled needle + first-time surgery and reapplying anaesthesia in a place the original didn't extend to? OUCH. (Yes, I was awake for that procedure. Wouldn't you be?)

However, in the end, I think I've actually come up with something I wouldn't mind. The exact design is still in the revision stages, but all the basic elements are there. Of course, even in black-and-white, it's going to probably be obnoxiously expensive, and even adding the single colored element is not going to be pocketbook-friendly, but it's there. Now, I just have to get it exactly where I want it.

More later. Campaign notes to write, design revision to work on, and a novel chapter to finish.

Heh.

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 01:37:45 GMT

This should be interesting. It's nice to have a place where I don't have to be actively concerned that "ZOMG! Someone's gonna read something in my journal, flip out, and take all sorts of wonky vengeance!" Or some crap like that. We'll have to see how it goes, but I'm liking it already. Nothing fancy--just functional.

Oh, and let the records show: I hate colds.