One Dimensional Fool in a Three Dimensional World
Thursday. I've had better days at work. Not that today has been that awful, but there's enough going on to keep me teetering just at that perfect level of annoyance and frustration without going over. First off, the network response time today has been completely terrible. The slightest task I ask my computer to perform seems to take forever, as if I am asking it to devote every single system resource to join in to accomplish it. Now, this wouldn't be too bad, however, today is website upload day and I am trying to move information back and forth across a server 800 miles away. Something that usually takes me about 20 minutes to download took about 2 hours today. The compiling macro has been running for over an hour now. Uploading the database back to the pick-up site usually takes two hours in itself. At this rate, I might have to start it when I leave and hope that it is done by tomorrow morning...
On top of all of this, one of my customers issued a formal complaint against our company because of shoddy work and materials provided by one of the installation firms that we contracted out to perform their requested services. Even though none of the many issues are our fault directly, because we are the procurement firm that arranged the services, we are by default liable. The customer is ticked off, the installer refuses to acknowledge their complaints, and we are stuck in the middle. There is a very strong possibility of this going to court if we don't resolve it all by the 31st. Since the sales rep failed to secure a signed labor contract between the two parties, we pretty much have nothing to work with should it actually go to litigation. This situation has caught the attention of several of the high-ups, and I just finished a fun little teleconference with the sales rep, the customer service manager, the Big Boss Lady, and several other directors of sales, operations, etc. Let's just say no one is really happy about this development, and it only seems to be getting uglier. This could seriously jeopardize our relationship with this end user, and with over $700k in receivables on the books, we have to do the best we can to not lose them. I'm seriously crossing my fingers that this all works out. Otherwise I may be dealing with legal issues for the next two years. Yeah!
On a more positive note, I listened to the second half of Ben Harper's Both Sides of the Gun this morning and I totally dug it. The acoustic portion was all right, but these tunes were what I had been waiting for. I lamented yesterday that Mr. Harper's usual calls for radical change and cures for social injustice were all but absent on the first half of this album. I ended the post with my fingers crossed that they would appear on the second half, and I am very happy to say that I was not disappointed. Mr. Harper is back to his trademark self on tracks like Black Rain and Gather Around the Stone. This was the Ben Harper whose music I fell in love with long ago. I just had to be patient.
Although the B-side of Both Sides of the Gun is intended to be more rockin' than first and takes on more confrontational themes, these songs are not depressing or too heavy. In fact, the title track actually has a bit of a funky feel to it. Most of the other tracks are fairly upbeat as well, including Engraved Letter and the feel-good Better Way. I loved the second half of this album, and while the acoustical tracks are enjoyable, I am basing my recommendation on the strength of the second half alone. It's that good. I can't wait for the drive home so I can listen to it again...
On top of all of this, one of my customers issued a formal complaint against our company because of shoddy work and materials provided by one of the installation firms that we contracted out to perform their requested services. Even though none of the many issues are our fault directly, because we are the procurement firm that arranged the services, we are by default liable. The customer is ticked off, the installer refuses to acknowledge their complaints, and we are stuck in the middle. There is a very strong possibility of this going to court if we don't resolve it all by the 31st. Since the sales rep failed to secure a signed labor contract between the two parties, we pretty much have nothing to work with should it actually go to litigation. This situation has caught the attention of several of the high-ups, and I just finished a fun little teleconference with the sales rep, the customer service manager, the Big Boss Lady, and several other directors of sales, operations, etc. Let's just say no one is really happy about this development, and it only seems to be getting uglier. This could seriously jeopardize our relationship with this end user, and with over $700k in receivables on the books, we have to do the best we can to not lose them. I'm seriously crossing my fingers that this all works out. Otherwise I may be dealing with legal issues for the next two years. Yeah!
On a more positive note, I listened to the second half of Ben Harper's Both Sides of the Gun this morning and I totally dug it. The acoustic portion was all right, but these tunes were what I had been waiting for. I lamented yesterday that Mr. Harper's usual calls for radical change and cures for social injustice were all but absent on the first half of this album. I ended the post with my fingers crossed that they would appear on the second half, and I am very happy to say that I was not disappointed. Mr. Harper is back to his trademark self on tracks like Black Rain and Gather Around the Stone. This was the Ben Harper whose music I fell in love with long ago. I just had to be patient.
Although the B-side of Both Sides of the Gun is intended to be more rockin' than first and takes on more confrontational themes, these songs are not depressing or too heavy. In fact, the title track actually has a bit of a funky feel to it. Most of the other tracks are fairly upbeat as well, including Engraved Letter and the feel-good Better Way. I loved the second half of this album, and while the acoustical tracks are enjoyable, I am basing my recommendation on the strength of the second half alone. It's that good. I can't wait for the drive home so I can listen to it again...
posted by john at 3:38 PM
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