I'm always amazed at what people assume you will automatically know or do when they send you a vague e-mail message with a vague request. At Summersault, we get messages sent to a generic "webmaster" address on a regular basis where people say "This website isn't working" or "I have a question about this website" and that's it. Of course, we host hundreds of websites, so it's kind of hard to figure out what they're talking about. Just today, someone posted a time-sensitive billing request for their local cable company on my web page about local ISPs that happens to mention said company. Sure, ma'am, I'll just update their billing records for you the next time I'm logged in to their system. I'm sure she'll be more confused when her service is shut off and she claims "but I sent you a message through some guy's website!".
Year: 2004
As we dive into May, the month that restores honor and dignity to the season of Spring after the treachery enacted by March and its bastard stepchild April, I thought I'd mention a few favorite "May" things:
Continue reading "Celebrating all things May"
Fair warning: this post is pure rant.
I have a Sprint PCS phone that I use as my primary, and only, home phone line. There are tons of reasons why I like this arrangement, which I won't go into here, but I've been a loyal, pay-on-time Sprint customer for several years now. Which is why it was maddeningly frustrating to go to make a call today and get a note that my account had been shut off because I was over my spending limit.
Continue reading "Sprint PCS needs to run cron jobs more often"
Spam of the day:
From: peters mikel <petersmikel@yahoo.ca>
To: chris@summersault.com
Subject: my good friend reply me quick.
I am very happy to write you email, i hope you are in good condition of health. as for me iam fine. my name is mike chris am living in spain i want you to been my good friend. please, I dont have any friend, i will have only you with love forever. i want a good relationship that will develop forever . email here my tele number 34606367081 call me i hope to hear from you god bless you Amen.
Thanks
mike chris.
This piece was written for submission to the Palladium-Item during my time on the board of Main Street Richmond-Wayne County. It never made its way to the paper, but I thought I'd post it here since it's still relevant.
It still strikes me how little we knew about everything that goes into running a business when we founded the technology company I work for, Summersault, in 1997. We were very confident about the services we wanted to provide and very focused on the clients with whom we wanted to work, but had plenty to learn about accounting, legal matters, hiring employees, and all of the other necessary but complex areas of knowledge one must dive into when doing business.
Continue reading "Business incubation contributes to long-term health of community"
It's "you can't make this stuff up" day here on the Internet. Today's highlights include Woman tries to pass fake $1 million dollar bill at a Wal-Mart and It's every other state that's confused about time changes, not Indiana. And we wonder why people on the U.S. East and West coasts consider everything in between to be a vast wasteland...
I use more words than I should
More than I mean to
I wish I could just mumble
and be understood
Just smile quietly
And ignite a connection.
Words have meaning
But meaning is life force
And it's a shame to
use it all up just
getting acquainted
When the real joy
Lies ahead
In the unsaid
A convergence of funny things going on on-line has hit me this week, so I should share some of those. First you have the "e-mail virus wars" that have broken out between the Bagel worm and the NetSky worm. The two apparently wage war on each other on your vulnerable desktop, including cursing, malicious uninstallation, sounds on your speaker, and more...follow the drama here. Then you have the Dishonest Dubya lying action figure, which, regardless of your political views, is just a fun toy to play with. 🙂 Then you have your culturally insensitive parody of a Microsoft product. And finally, you have the latest issue of The Onion, with news stories such as "Virulent Strain Of Soy Flu Traced To Single Tofurkey" and "Jesus Demands Creative Control Over Next Movie". Enjoy.
I've just concluded my adventure of getting a seed-starting area set up at my house. It's something I've been meaning to do for a while, but I think the combination of missing the crops at Elkhorn Ranch as spring approaches, paying an arm and a leg for a few withered basil leaves at the grocery the other day, and seeing Hopi's setup inspired me into action. A few hours at my local home improvement superstore, a few hours putting up the table and equipment, and a bit of cursing later, I'm ready to get my garden going. (I have issues with instant gratification - I could have bought the equipment tonight, gone to bed at a reasonable hour, and installed it tomorrow, but no...) Now there's just that whole "not murdering the plants" part to worry about.
This wins the "spam of the day" award:
------------------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2004 19:07:22 From: GOURANGA <NITAIGOURANGA@AOL.COM> Subject: GOURANGA Call out Gouranga be happy Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga Say Gouranga my friend Gouranga.... That which brings the highest happiness
------------------------------------------
I so hear ya, dude.