Like History? A Must Listen Podcast

If you are a hardcore history buff or even just casually enjoy history, there is a podcast that you must try.

Hardcore History by Dan Carlin is, in this author's opinion, the finest podcast available today.  Dan Carlin is the master of the podcast media.  His years of experience in broadcast media, his unique and attention grabbing vocal skills, his strong background in history, and his impeccable research skills have sent this podcast into the stratosphere.  Dan consistently takes his listeners through a historical journey that they have never traveled; he enables his listeners to learn history from a completely different perspective and will energize their interest in history.

I strongly recommend giving this podcast a try - I believe that after 3 episodes, you will be hooked.

Poor Service Abounds

I finally found the time to resurrect this blog. I'll try to post more often from this point on.

Something that has really been bothering me lately is poor service; it is everywhere and does not appear to be improving anytime soon.

Here is my complaint letter to the Super 8 Motel in Sierra Vista, Arizona. Unfortunately, I had to spend two frightful nights in this establishment.

This is a combination of complaint letter and humor so please enjoy.

July 4, 2005

Dear Sir or Madam -

On April 4, 2005, business travel took me to Sierra Vista, AZ where it seems that the securing of lodging at an auberge is quite a challenge, for even the most savvy traveler. On what started out as a pleasant spring evening in the desert, I checked into Innworks' Super 8 Motel. Soon thereafter, all the pleasantries of that evening tranformed into an unsettling horror.

Upon opening the door and peering into the darkened chamber, I engaged the light switch assuming that it would provide some sort of illumination that would allow me to find my way through the room in an unencumbered fashion. When the light switch did not work, I was forced to meander through the maze of cheap furniture and so-called bedding to find a lamp. When the aged yellowed light of the lamp cast its glow on the room, I quickly realized the advantage of the light switch not working. The filth on the carpeting and throughout the room stared back at me with what seemed like a mocking grin. It was at this point that I was overcome by the stench of the room -- having never encountered rotting flesh, I can only hope that it is less pungent than the malodor that encompassed this room. As I continued to scan my frightening new surroundings, my eyes were drawn to what seemed like an artistic array of random cruor coloring on the wall behind the door. I later ascertained this collection to likely be the remnants of some ghastly event from this chamber's tormented past.

After settling into this hovel for the night, I had the opportunity to lay down on one of the beds in the room. Afraid to pull back the covers and expose the pathogens harboring in the subtending layers of bedding, I reposed on this sack. After a few moments on that bed, I learned that it is possible to make mattressing material that is harder than concrete. I can only assume that this is a specialty of Innworks, Inc. that was not advertised as one of the so-called amenities.

During the two forgetful nights spent in your flophouse, I was able to acquire less sleep than a chronic insomniac during a caffeine binge. One of the happiest moments of my life was the arrival of the morning of my checkout. Such elation and a sheer sense of relief are rarely felt in one’s lifetime.

Needless to say, I was wholeheartedly dissatisfied with my stay and will never be returning. My many co-workers, whose travel also brings them to Sierra Vista, have been fully briefed on your establishment and they, like myself, have blacklisted your establishment.

Sincerely,

Imaginary X

What follows here is the lackluster reply from Super 8.

Dear Imaginary X,

Thank you for contacting us and Super 8 Motels' Customer Service department concerning your stay this past April at our Super 8 Motel in Sierra Vista. Our hard-working associates at the property do their best to ensure that each guest has a satisfactory stay with us. We sincerely apologize that our service and accommodations did not meet your expectations. We wish that you had made your dissatisfaction known to our staff so they could have taken measures to remedy the situation. At this point, more than three months after your stay, it is difficult to research the specific deficiencies you mentioned, such as the light switch not working, the cleanliness of the carpet, and the odor in the room. At present, the room appears to be satisfactory to recent guests who have occupied it.

As for the relative firmness of the bed, this is a matter of personal preference that varies greatly from guest to guest. The standard hospitality bed sets we purchase from a national manufacturer tends to be middle-of-the-road in terms of firmness. We are sorry you found this to be uncomfortable. Again, had we known this was a problem, we could have allowed you to try different beds in different rooms so that you could have been more comfortable on the second night of your stay.

We realize that our guests have the opportunity to choose from a variety of accommodations when traveling to Sierra Vista. We appreciate that you gave us a chance and regret that we were unable to provide a better experience for you. We thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns so that we can again reinforce with our staff the importance of proactively addressing operational and housekeeping issues before guests arrive.

INNWORKS CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM

And So It Begins Today

Blogging. It's everywhere. Brings to mind the "million monkeys with typewriters" quotation -- I'm still pretty sure blogging has not reproduced Shakespeare's works, but maybe that's okay. I finally decided it was time for me to join the phenomenon and provide my strange and curious musings to the global weavings of bits and bytes. I think the overall goal of this blog will be to make you think. My hope is that somewhere, somehow, my ramblings may stir up that dormant brain cell which leads you down the path of discovery.

I suspect the topics of interest for this blog will be Software Development, Technology, and probably a myriad of unrelated issues for which I feel like standing on a soapbox.

Here's to the start of something big!

Oh yeah, one more thing, the answer is "no." Tilting at Windmills is not going to cover my thoughts of Don Quixote, well, unless something quixotic happens to be on my mind on a particular day.