Fed up with FedEx

So tell me, FedEx, do you really expect someone to take a day off from work to stay at home and receive a package?  Seems like that is the case.  Yesterday I came home from work to find a FedEx tag on my door telling me that they were there to drop off a package.   It seems the package required a signature so they could not just leave it, no even with specific instructions to do so.  My choices were to be there the next day (or the day after that, they try to deliver three times before returning the package) or to pick it up at the "local" distribution center located about 45 miles from my home. 

This time I was in luck.  My wife was off of work today and was able to be here to receive the package.  This time my anger probably shouldn't even be directed at FedEx, but at the company I purchased the items from.  When I ordered them I had selected USPS shipping.  Not sure why they decided to use FedEx and require a signature.  Even so, this is my second experience with this type of a problem, and the last time it was FedEx that was at fault.

About two years ago I ordered a system from Dell.  Their site offered FedEx Home shipping with delivery after 5PM.  There was an extra charge for the after hours delivery, but it worked well with my schedule, so I paid it.  When the item was delivered, the driver came at 1:30PM.... guess what... no one home.  That time there was no note about needing a signature, so I left a note saying they could just leave the package on my deck.  The note was left at the same spot I had found their note.  I came home the next day to find another note, this time in my mailbox at the base of my driveway.  Apparently they saw there was no car in the driveway so they didn't even bother coming up to the house.  Nice.  This note warned me they would try one more time before returning the item.  I spent the entire night trying to call Dell & FedEx.  The FedEx driver hadn't bothered to leave a tracking number so FedEx couldn't help me.  Dell had failed to properly record the tracking number, they couldn't help me.  I asked FedEx why the package wasn't being delivered after 5PM as I had requested.  I was told that the service was not available in all areas.  I asked why they accepted my payment for the service if it wasn't available, they had no answer.  In the end I took a personal day the following day so I would be home to receive the system.

I am so fed up with FedEx.  I rarely use their services.  If it is not the only option I will always choose UPS or USPS over FedEx.  It's about all I can do to address my displeasure with them. 

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QotD: I wish I could...

Play any instrument or speak any language, which do you choose?
Question submitted by cruftbox.vox.com.

I'd choose to speak any language.  Music is a huge part of my life, but I'm satisfied with being part of the audience, not the star of the show.  I'm an information addict.  As such the ability to speak with people of other nationalities would provide me with even more opportunities to learn, and do so with more direct access to varying viewpoints. 

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Don't tempt me I just might

Civilization IV : Warlords came out yesterday, in case you didn't know.  The first expansion for Civ IV and it has my interest peaked.  I'm saving it for reward though.  I've been putting off studying for my CCNA for too long.  Some thigs have come up that demanded attention but a lot of the delay has just been my normal procrastination.  I determined that I would not buy this expansion until I pass the exam.  May not seem like major motivation, but for me it will probably work.  Civ is by far my favorite gaming franchise and I think Civ IV is one of the best iterations of the game.  The expansion is something I've been looking forward to.  So, I spent much of my evening yesterday studying.  So far, so good.  Hopefully I'll be ready for this in a week or two.  Now, so long as no one tries to talk me into just buying the expansion, I should be OK.

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QotD: Sugar, Sugar

What was your favorite candy when you were a kid? How does that compare to now?

Sugar Daddies were one of my favorites when I was a kid.  Thinking about them, they still would be appealing to this day, but I can't tell you the last time I had one (or even sugar babies for that matter).  I still have quite a sweet tooth though.  Now I am most likely curb my yearnings with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  Whoever came up with the idea of combining sugar and chocolate should be a god (or at least a saint).

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QotD: It's hot in here...

What's the most extreme weather you've been in? A memorable storm? Heat wave? Or something else?

I live in eastern Pennsylvania, not an area prone to extreme weather.  Hurricanes that reach us are not severe, especially since I don't live in an area prone to flooding.  Snowstorms here would seem like flurries to people in Wisconsin, Maine, or many parts of Canada.  We rarely see tornadoes, and those that we do are small.  Earthquakes barely rate the name.  Heat waves suck as they often bring lots of humidity along for the ride, but again, our worst is probably par for the course in Gulf Coast states.  So my weather stories would be very tame compared to others.

One of my most interesting weather stories was when I was taking a flight from Raliegh to Charleston to make a connecting flight back home.  There were severe thunderstorms in the area and we were stuck waiting on the runway for nearly an hour before being cleared for takeoff.  Seeing the storms from above was one of the most memorable weather experiences I've had.  Of course, once I landed in Charleston, I found out that our flight had been the last to take off before from Raleigh the airport was closed due to tornadoes nearby.  Explains the bumpiness of the flight, I suppose.  I'd love to experience that again.

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QotD: Midway Through

What's one thing that you hope to do or accomplish before the end of this year?

I honestly don't currently have one major goal I'd like to accomplish that I expect to complete by the end of the year.  I'm working toward an addition on my house, but plan on having all of my debts except for my mortgage paid off before I undertake that endeavour.  I hope that will be done within a year from now, but not by the end of the year.

More minor goals? 

Paint the basement.  When we bought this house (just over two years ago now), we painted the entire upstairs but have yet to add some color to the basement.... it's still plain white. 

Get my CCNA.  I've been in the industry for several years, but have never actually taken the exam.  Studying for that now.  Should be ready to take it in a month or two, wish me luck.

Take some time to relax.  This year we've decided to take a week and just explore some of the things our local area has to offer.  When I was a teenager, I would go out to eat, see movies, hit local attractions all the time.  As an adult I've tended to plan vacations that have taken me ar from home and I haven't experienced much of what has emerged in the local area (no time to get out with work and other things taking up my time).  Time to catch up.

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Random thoughts

I was thinking earlier: What should I post about? 

I thought back to myself: Just post some random thoughts.

But what random thoughts?

My mind started going through a chain of ideas: Banana daiquiri, alcohol, drinking, abstinence, cell phone ring tones (don't ask me, it just popped in there).  Then I started thinking about the chain of thought itself.  What made me think of banana daiquiri in the first place?  Was it truly just a random thought?  Was it predetermined by electrical impulses in my brain that were influenced by everything in the world around them?  Is there such a thing as a random thought?  I guess it depends on your definition of random and in your beliefs of how the world and your mind work.

I'm generally a logical type of person.  I'm an atheist, I believe in evolution, I believe I have free will, but I believe that our thoughts are electrical impulses that can be affected by the chemicals in our body and input from our senses.  So, does that mean that we really have no free will, that our body is basically a huge computer that is following a set of rules and reacts to countless types of input and influence to act in certain ways?  Are we acting or just reacting?  Who knows?

Look at it this way.  If you roll one ball down a track, you can predict where it will go pretty easily.  Roll a million balls down the street and who knows where they will end up?  Still, give a powerful enough computer a detailed enough description of the scenario and it will be able to come up with a pretty accurate estimate of what will happen (think weather prediction).  Even so, the results, for all intents and purposes, are random.  So, even if your mind is just an extremely complex computer, and there is some algorithm that can predict how you will react to any situation, it would still appear that you are acting with free will to you and any other person.

Is all of this important and life changing?  No, it's just a bunch of random thoughts.

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QotD: Celebrational Muppetational!

Who is your favorite Muppet? Why?
QotD submitted by knitwitology.vox.com.

My favorite muppet?  Heh, never really thought about this one and it hard to choose.  Kermit has to rank up there, the little guy that come from the swamp to make it big.  Fozzie was great, always there for his friends.  Gonzo, trying to figure out what he was and here he fit in.  I have to mention Statler and Waldorf as well here, they always made me laugh with their heckling.  But my favorite?  I'll have to go with Beaker.  No matter what he was asked to do, he would do it.  He knew the outcome was going to be bad, but he'd get in there and do what was expected of him.  He may not have been the most popular. he may not have had much to say, but I loved him. 

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Welcome?

So I'm here.  I've been avoiding this place for a while, even though I've been hearing so many people talk about it.  Nothing against you vox, I'm just generally not a blog type.  But like I said in my request for an invite, I guess resistance is futile and I will be assimilated.

I'll get more posted here soon, For now I just wanted to get the "this loser has nothing to say" default message off of my blog page.  Time for me to sleep now.  Call me in about seven hours, OK?

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