Sweet Catastrophe

So I sent in a message to tech support, providing tons of details about a problem. The simple answer I got was that even though their system was showing I had something installed, they couldn’t find it when looking at my source code.

*sigh* If you’d bothered to read the full message I sent, maybe you’d have noticed I mentioned working with that code recently. Hmm…maybe you could look for that example and see if the code is working there, if so, well it’s obviously there. It would’ve taken glancing alllll the way back to, gosh, just page 2?

So you just added to your workload by putting me off until tomorrow, and added to my dissatisfaction.  How genius of you. Also, let’s not even think about the point you looked over in that IF I didn’t actually have the code properly installed, there’s still something wrong with your system since your system is showing that it is. Hmm.

I just HATE when tech support/customer service automatically assumes I’m an idiot. I once had to take my computer in to be worked on because the motherboard had been literally burnt (long story.) When all was said and done, they asked if I wanted to bring in my Norton Antivirus disks so they could install them for me. Um…no, I don’t think I’ll give you any reason to charge me more for set tasks and hours of labor on something I’m perfectly capable of doing on my own. No joke, our conversation was no less that 25 minutes of them trying to convince me that it would be hard and I might mess something up. Thanks, but I’ve uninstalled and installed Norton quite a few times. It doesn’t take a genius. I have boobs, but I assure you I’m quite capable of handling technology.

There was one member in particular of the Geek Squad at Best Buy who I would avoid when I went in. He’d always talk to me like an eleven year old who’d been living in a bomb shelter until just last week. Oh gosh, it’s not plug-n-play?! How ever shall I figure out how to do this?!

I’m certainly not saving myself any time when I do this, but I always assume customers have a basic understanding of things. I wait for a blank stare before I slowly start dropping in levels of how I’m explaining things. It’s just insulting when you automatically talk to the person like an idiot. Wait till you’re sure they really are

Back in High School, for half a year, we worked with stocks. We were given a set amount of money to invest in 3 different companies and we had to track them for the semester. We were allowed to sell and buy a new stock once per company after midterm. At the end of the semester, we wrote up papers about our results, what we thought influenced our stocks, etc. It was definitely an interesting project and piqued my curiosity about investing.

Ryan and I always talk about investing if/when we have a decent amount of extra money to do so with, but truth is, we wouldn’t know where to start. I think that’s why I was really interested when Kristi mentioned this Fantasy Investing game.

MyWallSt.net is home to the rookie challenge. Registration and participation is free! Participants are given $100,000.00 to invest however they choose. The process is limited to buying and selling, for a basic understanding of the system. Data is based on a 15-20 minute delay, and operations are Monday thru Friday, 10am-4pm, same as real life operations.

It’s a great way to get a decent understanding of how things work, and I haven’t mentioned the best part yet–real cash! Every week, the top-ranking Rookie in each of the six categories gets a cash prize of $1,000. I’m pretty sure you can’t argue with that.

Remember, registration and participation is free. Registrants receive a free hat, and participating offers you a better understanding of investing! Something you might actually be able to use. Vigorous participation could find you $1,000 richer!