I’ve been out sick since last Thursday. I came home Wednesday night and had been feeling it for most of the day … that familiar tingle in the back of my throat. My tonsils were already swollen and I had a low-grade fever.

Ah, the cold season begins!

So I made a huge pot of soup and made sure there were enough “things that I know I like” to eat. That sounds weird to some people, but I know that when I get sick, I can’t taste worth shit. I’d rather stick to foods that I know for certain that I like — though nowadays I have to stay off spicy foods when sick. (damned stomach turned on me … it’s a conspiracy I tell ya!)

By Thursday morning I was so hoarse that Jessie said I “sound like a frog.” Hrm. Thanks a lot, munchkin.

So anyways … My boss is a really cool guy. We are allowed to work from home when needed, and I did precisely that. Jessie stayed out with me Friday, as she was sitting out a class field trip. (long story, don’t ask)

At one point, she walks up to my desk and peers over my pile of used Kleenex’s, discarded cough drop wrappers, and work-related papers and says to me, “You’re so lucky! You have a whole four day weekend!”

I reminded her that I was working, and this wasn’t exactly a ‘holiday’ for me. She counters with, “Yeah, but you get to spend it at home with me, and we’re going to have so much FUN!”

I said, “I hate to burst your bubble sweetie, but this isn’t exactly fun to me. I hate being sick. I feel awful, I’m miserable, and as soon as your father gets home, I’m going to bed.”

She says, “Yeah, but moms aren’t allowed to get sick; and without you, Daddy and I would starve!”

LOL! Newsflash of the century there. You can’t beat this kid’s logic. She’s a smart cookie … and I’m still hating every damned minute of this stupid freakin’ cold.

On a good note, I seem to be all out of Green Death … hooray for Robitussin.

Oh well. On the upside, I’ve had a good bit of time to update my newest hobby site while waiting on my new laptop to be delivered. I bought a new external harddrive and now have everything backed up to go on the new machine once it’s delivered …

…and God help UPS if they screw this one up!!!!

I was reading the Download Squad feeds and ran across this little gem:

Universal Package Tracking tool tracks shipment progress using Google Maps

From the Why Didn’t We Think of This? department… isnoop.net has a Universal Package Tracking tool that allows you to punch in a UPS, FedEx, USPS, or DHL/AirBorne tracking number into a single field, and the tool figures out which type of tracking number it is and generates an update as to where the shipment is, and an RSS feed so that you can receive updates to the shipment via your favorite feed reader.

Even cooler, the site has employed the Google Maps API to show the actual geographical progress of your package. This is definitely a slick use of the Google Maps API, and it sure seems like package tracking was meant to be this way.

*gasp* I’m in love!

Seriously … how cool is that!!??

And *just* when I start ordering things off the net for the wedding and around the house and am in SERIOUS need of a way to track everything and keep the tracking status readily available.

Neat!

I’ll be the first to admit that some days I just don’t want to deal with people. I’m a big fan of “pay at the pump” and ATM’s. You could say I’ve always thought of myself as a “do-it-yourself’er” and sometimes would much rather deal with an automated counterpart to get what I need instead of having to interact with a human being.

And it seems I am not alone:

NCR chief pushes to expand customer services at ATMs

DAYTON, Ohio - The future of ATMs and self-service terminals lies in multitasking: going from dispensing only cash to selling theater tickets, renewing driver’s licenses and offering other services, NCR Corp.’s chief executive says.

Bill Nuti believes such diversification will play a major role in the company’s growth.

“The ATM is still going strong. But it is changing. The ATM is becoming more of a customer-experience portal,” he said in a recent interview.

Nuti said market research has shown that consumers between 18 and 35 prefer self-service to clerk-assisted service.

“This is the Internet generation,” he said. “This is really a movement.”

Nuti hopes self-service terminals will be used by consumers to pay bills, renew driver’s licenses and buy bus and lottery tickets, gift and phone cards and even casino chips.

[read on...]

While a huge part of me loves the sound of that, I admit that there are times when human interaction is absolutely necessary. i.e. when there is a problem with a particular service or product, or if the ATM/machine malfunctions, etc. After reading that article, I couldn’t help but think back to my last encounter with UPS, and when calling their “customer service” line finding out that the menu presented no options except those that were automated. It was only by sheer luck that I discovered the way to speak to an actual person.

I enjoy the convenience and instant gratification of automated services, but I am also grateful for companies/services which still provide human interaction (and sometimes intervention? LOL).

I love Zooomr and have been a big supporter of their services (as opposed to Flickr, Photobucket, et. al.), but I keep running into a problem that I had honestly hoped would have been fixed by now.

Earlier today, I created a little button for linking to Ben’s Geek on a Bike. I uploaded said button to my Zooomr account and it was resized to two smaller sizes — at first it was no big deal, it automatically creates resized versions of my photos in various sizes. The problem was that it did not keep the original size.

I’ve run into this before, prior to their recent “update” … I simply assumed that the issue was being addressed and was being fixed. Ok, that’s what I get for assuming. I surfed around on the Zooomr site, looking for a help page. Nothing found. I found a reference to their technical support personnel on one page, but there was no contact form, phone number, email address, … nothing.

At this point I’m really irritated. Honestly, I’d expect this from Google or UPS!

Either it’s a bug, or there’s a minimum size limitation that is not documented ANYWHERE on the site. I ended up putting the image on one of my Photobucket accounts that I use mostly for Neopets and free theme sharing. Searching through the last year or so’s worth of emails, I was able to locate my original signup email which listed a feedback email address from Zooomr’s owner/holding company, so I fired off an email asking to where or whom I should report problems with the Zooomr service.

After all, there is a very slight snowball’s chance in hell that they may not know this problem exists … but I won’t hold my breath.

I’ve complained many times over the past few years about poor service from UPS. From mishandling packages (*ahem* my business cards!), to losing packages altogether, generally mucking up the delivery process. In fact, at one point, I had the local distribution center’s number taped to my refrigerator. I’ve written several letters of complaint, but usually only get the generic *lamest attempt at an apology* response.

Boy, don’t I feel special!

This morning I read via Download Squad about a new service they’ve introduced — UPS Intercept. Basically, this service would allow you to: return to the package to sender, deliver to another address, reschedule delivery, or have the package held for pickup.

Sounds like something that may come in handy to those of us who’ve had problems having things delivered via UPS. However, what isn’t noted is that if UPS has already tried to deliver your package that day, these options are to be applied the next business day. A fat lot of good that does then, isn’t it? That’s also assuming that you knew it was to be delivered that day.

EDIT: I’m reading this as it’s only for shippers. If you read the fine print: “This fee-based service for shippers allows you to request the intercept of packages prior to delivery, providing greater flexibility in managing your shipping needs.”

Well, looking on the bright side: at least it saves those of you who ship using UPS a phone call (in most cases I presume), which I’d have to say is the most irritating part of the “dealing with UPS experience.”

If you ask me, they should work on their customer service — or rather, the lack of!