now watching: Extras

for those of you who haven't heard of or discovered the comedic majesty of ricky gervais, do yourself a favor and watch bbc's the office, and then, once that has become one of your favorite shows, then go watch his latest series extras. you have to listen carefully, but the rewards are immeasurable really.

ebay negative feedbacks

since i started selling on ebay in october, i've accrued numerous negative feedbacks. i'll admit, there are few things more frustrating than when people leave a negative feedback without "warning" me that they are unsatisfied. i think people in general are wonderful, they are patient, understanding, and willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. i really appreciate that, i've had a lot of problems this winter with the usps losing orders, and i've had to replace nearly $400 of merchandise, and most people have been very understanding (especially when i give them partial/full refunds)

a couple of these i can understand why the people were upset, as it took roughly two weeks to get their items shipped, and the usps tracking # was faulty. some of these i think are the result of people thinking/assuming/expecting/demanding that we operate like some sort of official responsible company.

however, some people i honestly think are just waiting to leave a negative feedback. i think it is a way to feel powerful; to feel like you are somehow delivering some sort of justice for an online transaction that did not go according to your expcectations. i get the distinct sense from some people that they are way too tightly wound, and need to stop being so passive aggressive (aka leaving a negative feedback without any warning of dissatisfaction) and start trusting in the goodness of mankind, more specifically, in my willingness to leave customers satisfied.

i don't think people realize that this business is run almost entirely by one person, that is frantically scrambling to make orders and get them shipped out as fast as possible. sometimes, an email falls through the cracks, and sometimes (2 times actually) my delayed response to one email can lead to someone feeling wholly ignored, while i don't intend to ignore anyone. like most artistic types, i am a scatterbrained, procrastinating, unorganized business type - who much prefers to put my energy into making cool clothes. i am also, however, fully cogniscant of the need to run a responsible business, and am more than willing to make up for my ineptitude in shipping etc with sending free stuff, discounted shipping and other forms of compensation.

i don't want to make excuses for my failure to "please" every customer, becuase that is my goal for this business, but i think it is fair to consider how vulnerable i am to the likelihood that amidst the hundreds of people we serve, some of them are a bit trigger happy with the negative feedback.

west virginia

explains it

mandatory: watch "your face" in its entirety

this is one of the most beautifully haunting vids that i first came across probably over a decade ago while under some sort of influence of substance. it appeared on mtv's liquid tv, which was pure gold for such instances. and for some reason, i never forgot about it ... i'd even sing that creepy falsetto to myself (when i was feeling really low). the other day, almost as if by inspiration, i searched you tube for it, and sure enough, there it was in all its glory. now i'd like to share it with the bakers dozen who checks this blog annually. here's to you, and your faces.

to sum up today

I went to help Jamie who ran out of gas, only to have the nozzle of the plastic gas container snap off in her gas intake, which I was subsequently unable to remove after an hour and a half of trying, and which cost her $45 dollars to get fixed at Firestone.

Sylvia created a pattern for our measuring schematic, which will likely increase our productivity by 60 %.

We got an amazing deal on an old Mac G3 from Slug Magazine (thanks Angela), which will enable Sylvia to start running Redemption Department, to have myspace interns, and makes our company feel somehow more legitimate.

I found out that I got scewed on the 512 mb compact flash card I recently bought from Wal-Mart for $30 after I saw a 2 gb card at Staples for $40.

While printing shipping labels, our 2 year old laser printer decided to eat a shipping label and then started making marks on everything, thus rendering it effectively useless. I took it apart and examined it like I had some sort of purpose, but it did absolutely nothing.

I decided to cruise around with my daughter Mira and look at new laser printers, we went around to compusa, best buy, office max, and staples. I wanted to get a good deal on a laser printer.

I purchased a laser printer from best buy for about $130, only to find out 20 minutes later that before Christmas, the very same printer was for sale for $70.

While my imac immediately recognized the new laser printer, it wouldn't print anything. After over an hour of searching on the internet for some sort of solution, I found the fix in the form of an alternate driver that was on the cd that came with the printer.

Other than that, I pretty much got nothing done today.

an unfortunate craving

the other day I was handed a candy unlike anything I had ever seen, it looked like a laffy taffy, but instead it was a sweetarts chew. i proceeded to eat it, and it was perhaps one of the best candies I've ever eaten. I only had one piece, and I couldn't get it out of my head; I even looked at two different grocery stores, but to no avail.

tonight, I reminded Lisa about how much I have been obsessing over that one sweetart chew that I had the other day, and how discouraged I was that I couldn't find them anywhere, and she wisely suggested that I look them up on the internet. after some googling, I discovered that the sweetart chew is indeed an elusive item, as it comes exclusively as a part of the nestle carnival mix, along with traditional sweetarts, bit-o-honeys, and spree. I thought about buying some online, but I don't need an entire case of 12 bags. I will now be on the lookout for nestle carnival mix at my local grocers.

getting screwed by the post office this holiday season

we were really busy lately with holiday orders, and i've busted my butt getting orders done right, and getting them out as soon as i could. but apparently, i sabotaged my efforts by using the united states postal service, which lost from 10-15 packages that were sent in december. as a result, i've had endless complaints from customers over delayed/lost orders, and i've had to either make stuff again or refund peoples' money when they bought one of a kinds. don't be surprised if we start using ups in 2007.

if we weren't a government subsidized socialist quasi corporation, there's no chance we'd stay in business!

how I feel about getting my masters in political science

yes, after two years, and a painful concentrated effort to finish my thesis, I finally did so in glory and distinction. My thesis: The EU and Democratization in Serbia, evolved into a paper that represented two years of my life, my self-educating as to post-communist democratization, and intensive analysis of Serbia's democratic development. In the end, I defended successfully without having to make any changes, a feat that is rare among grad students.

"I can hardly contain my elation!"

Now I have so much more time to make clothes! (and apply and get real jobs, watch out redemption department, you're days are numbered...)