Julie Barrett is a freelance writer and photographer based in Plano, TX.

Is it morning, yet?

Fresh when it gets here from Julie Barrett
Thursday, July 3, 2008


Yes, I know: It IS morning, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I took an OTC sleep aid last night. My unwritten rule is that if I have two bad nights in a row, then on the third I take the med. I got to sleep ... then woke up a couple of hours later. I did manage to get back to sleep, but this morning I could not wake up. I spent the morning stumbling around like a drunk. Two cups of coffee later, and I don't feel too much better. Ugh.

Maybe I'll take Chris down to the coffee shop in a bit and load up on more caffeine.

I did manage to get a few things on my to do list knocked off yesterday, even though I only had a couple of hours to spare. One of the major items involved getting hotel rooms for upcoming conventions straightened out. Turns out I can't do anything about one room yet because our plans are not firmly fixed, but they will be in a couple of weeks. I tried to rebook for a larger room for another convention only to be told the rooms haven't been released to the convention block yet. I'll try again at another time. And finally, I got my room for the LA trip booked. That gets my next few conventions taken care of, save the transportation to LA.

My other bit item was something I managed to take care of on Tuesday: I finally got the extra line dropped form our cell phone account. Calling Sprint customer service an be an adventure sometimes. First, I called the number on the bill. That turned out to be a special number for folks who have a corporate discount (which we get courtesy of Paul's present employer), but they had to transfer me to the correct department. One thing I will say is that these folks have much better music on hold. The rep made notes on the account, transferred me to the correct department, and after a few rings I got the "out of service" message. Lovely.

I grabbed a number from the web site and called again. One thing Sprint is trying to do (to improve service, I think) is replace the pusbutton menus with voice menus. That's a help on one level. If you're on a cordless phone or a cell phone and not using the speakerphone feature, then by the time you've found the button, pressed it, and put the phone back to your ear you've missed half the options in the next menu. Of course, it helps if the voice recognition actually works. Then there's the bit where they ask you to punch in your cell phone number. I did that twice at both places, only to get transferred to a rep who - are we surprised? - asked for my phone number. I was calling from the landline (the phone was on the charger), but shouldn't they be able to keep that bit of information with the call?

I finally got connected with the correct department, where - after providing my phone number yet again - they dropped the line with only a token plea for me to keep it going.

All that mess reminded me of the Monty Python sketch where the couple callse the fire brigade for help and spends five minutes answering all sorts of questions and then handing over their shoe size before they get any help. I tried to find that video to embed, but had no luck. I did, however, find a Terry Gilliam gem that I haven't seen in years called The Miracle of Flight. This is separate from his Python work, but still very much in the same style. Our PBS station used to air it as filler years ago, and I always wanted to find a copy. Thanks to the miracle of You Tube, I finally did. Now I'm inflicting it on you:

(Sigh. The video is no longer available.)

Remember that next time you go to the airport.

Off to get some work done.

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