I will start at the end and get to the beginning... You got to be kidding me!... Catch 22 and Best Buy is seriously screwed up. One hour of going back and forth with a "Geek Squad" member... let me describe him... About five foot eightish... spiked in the middle black hair, drooping in the swamp cooler air... black and white spiral guages in his ears.. also looking droopy and somewhat sad. His eye were dark brown and his eyelids never got past half open.. his speech patterns were slow, slurry and broken in cadence. As usual he was wearing that old not quite white shirt, clip on black tie which was okay but had speckles of dandruff on it... black dockers that saw a crease about two weeks ago.. slouching around and mumbling his responses he tried to help me.
Unfortunatly he was stuck. Tapping on the cash register keyboard just brought him to a dull look at the screen... about three minutes of dead silence then, he keeps saying, "oh, I have to ask about this". Over and over again. I interject, Can you give us a store credit for the iPad wifi we are returning and buy the 64 gig iPad with Verizon 4g? "Yeah, sure" he said. Mumbling to himself he goes back to ticking away.. tick ticky tick. The line behind us starts growning.. The woman behind us is moving her cart back and forward coming within inches of wacking my heels. A baby in the seat is crying.. The lady.. looking harried... string hair.. exasperation on her face start singing quietly.. still just inches away from smacking me. So splitting my attention between her and the gauge geeky guy now wandering away to find some other Best Buy assistant. He steps in the way of one girl and asks why he cant get the order done. She looks at him with these, well, moo moo eyes.. sniffs and says that she "dont know that and he should just talk to a manager."
Here is the problem as I can fathom at the time. He can take the 64 gig wifi iPad back and credit it but we cant buy a 64 gig 4g iPad because they dont have one in stock and cannot order it nor can they sell us one that isnt in the store because they need the code from the box for the cellular hook up even though we are not going to start up the cell service now. Whew!!! The program for ordering it or the geek guy and the manager cant figure it out. They look at me... now both of them totally lost... Staring at me like I can give them answers to the meaning of life! I, while protecting my ankles, ask them... can you give me store credit for the 64 gig unit and put that towards a 32 gig cell version.. you do have one of those in stock right. You can hear the crickets chirping.
Mr. Geek start tapping the keys again... trying to explain to me exactly what I just told him... Lady and baby are at last told to go sit down and wait to be helped.. I barely save my legs from being pinned against the counter by the cart. I have to remind the manager that its tax free also. I get another "uh ... Right" look. Slowly and with great concentration he at last let me slide my card... enter the " I agree to wash your car every Thursday" notice and sign the screen that is so slow that it makes my signature look like a small whale. Etch a Sketch would work better. The manager looks over Mr. Geeks shoulder. As an afterthought he asks if I would like a bag... Nope I say.. I'm gonna kick it out the store on the floor. Really, I said.. yes please and put the recipt in the bag.... please! Saying thank you to the back of his head I escape!
Lesson learned. Darned if I can understand what the hell it was. Perhaps, something about you cant lead a goof ball to the answer, or buy online and you have a program that dosent wear guages and is half asleep? Um!?
And I think now you understand why I can take pictures but cannot tell a story worth a damn.
Here are some pictures.. At last you say!
Gotta, gotta, gotta print some. Please someone help me get to Sams club to do a few.. maybe twenty... LOL
Here are some links... since I like links.... I like the word "Links!"
link link link link.... PERNOD!
Hahaha...
So as a Tim Power's book lover today was a font of Powersian subjects.. I wonder why.. but I was laughing.. If you have read Earthquake Weather.. you will relate..
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/26/Hey-Girl-by-Edison/
This was interesting by the viewpoint of the artest. I think the comment below the caption is full of it but thats neither here nor there... its pretty funny.
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/26/Mrs-PJ-Gilligans-Saloon-for-Ladies/
What interesting things happen in our mundane world. First phone call.. First radio broadcast.. Through Winnemucca NV. ( been there, done that, not much there ) and onward. Only 10% of americans had a radio in 1924 and it is 2013! Less than a hundred years and we are wireless on almost everything.. could they understand then what is basic boring now? What is to come in the next 80 odd years?
And..... Read Declare, again by Tim Powers and you can get a feel for this era and technology..
http://gizmodo.com/the-invisible-radar-force-field-that-saved-great-britai-1202976887
As a technician working first at SAC Headquarters at Offutt AFB and then in Italy at a forward listening post what I thought was boring was in fact very exciting. Well.. not then. I remember a story I will tell tomorrow about that time in my life. Its better than my Best Buy story.
Have a great night and here is a last non Powersian link.. unless he hits the deck here or there...
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/08/26/Hardcore-Skateboard/
Okay.. here is a link to the new Power's novel... not bad at all.. LOL.. I am joking.. Its very good
http://www.amazon.com/Salvage-Demolition-Tim-Powers/dp/159606515X/ref=sr_1_1?
ie=UTF8&qid=1377566018&sr=8-1&keywords=Salvage+and+Demolition
Yes, five links today! Lucky you!
