IT IS WHAT IT IS. . .
Another day, another fruitful journey into the mind of a mad wonderer.
I usually like to go a few more days in between posts, but when my brain is consumed by certain thoughts, I must, inadvertently pull the plug and just let everything run out of my mind.
It's Wednesday afternoon, the trance music is in full effect and yesterday was a very interesting day to say the least. If nothing else, it confirmed my idea to start my own company (Logo below) so I can get paid for telling people how to use their cellphone. This way, I can at least start to change the perverbial paradigm that at times is so overwhelming to people. So who's the culprit?
THE FREE PHONE (Lesson 1)
Ever since the cellphone industry took the value out of their product, the entire world of the wireless cellphone consumer has been amiss. This explains why. when they bust or loose their phone, they're all under the impression they can get another phone for virtually nothing, or worse, for free?!
It's as if they ACTUALLY believe the phone they bought for $39.99 ACTUALLY costs 40 bucks. Okay, look at the picture below and tell me if you think the phone pictured ACTUALLY costs $39.99.
ummmmmmmmmm, yeah - right. Think about all of the technology it takes to put a phone like this together, the features, the color LCD, etc, etc. Then think somebody had to assemble this phone. It's not like putting plastic toys together - it takes some amount of skillful labor. then think about how the phone got shipped from Korea to the US. Then think about all the labor it takes to get this phone to a distributor, then to the dealer and finally to you the consumer. NOW TELL ME HOW THE FUCK SOMEBODY DOES ALL THAT FOR UNDER $40!!!!!!
So then, I get all these A-holes in my office complaining nobody told them about insurance and how much thier phone ACTUALLY costs. Which starts with another long tirade by me, telling them their phone actually costs $249.99 and we "buy down" the cost off the phone by offsetting the cost with the commission paid by the carrier on a new activation. This in turn is followed by me railing on the very industry I work in. I see this as a total failure by the carriers to give us (the salespeople) ZERO incentive to sign up and keep loyal customers. Ohhhhh no! How fucked up does this seem?
Lemme see if I have this right. . let's take this guy, who you have no idea how good his credit is, or if he will even stay on long enough for the carrier to re-coup it's cost. Let's give this individual the WORLD and fuck the customer who's been with the carrier for 10 years, has rock solid credit and has never missed a payment. It's no wonder the entire wireless world relies solely on ARPU (average revenue per user) and CHURN statisitics (the amount of customers jumping from one carrier to the next). When your entire business model is based on how many customers you loose each month, you would think they would change something - but they don't, and they won't.
Like the post says - it is what it is.
Which leads me to my picture of the day. I've always had a love affair with black and photography. It just strips everything down to it's bare essentials. To me, it reveals the raw emotions. Since I have a little dark place in my heart, it always taps right into those feelings. Nothing could do more than todays picture. Alas, the trance music stopped and the big band, Frank Sinatra tunes are quietly playing in the background. Dig this kiddies. . .
This is Bill Bradley on a cold Iowa day in 2000. Shortly before he would abandon his presidential race and succomb to Al Bore errrrrrrrr Al Gore.
Need I say more?
LATE
WHERE ARE WE GOING??
I have for the last month or two swayed away from posting stuff politically related. The last week we've seen terrosits murder 12 sudanese citizens, two russian planes dwoned intentionally, and finally. . a russian primary school overrun and in the seige, possibly hundreds of school children lost their lives.
This is the pic that really got me. . .
I have a son that is 9 and this made my heart ache. I can't imagine taking my son to school and having this happen. It's just like seeing the Nick Berg decapitation. I just go totally numb. Emotionally, physically. I don't know what this world is coming to.
There is soo much hate in my heart for these Islamo Fascists that have zero honor, zero morality, zero intelligence and think this is somehow furthering their cause. I have become so anti-muslim it's not even funny. Instead of crying out against this sick shit, the ENTIRE muslim world sits on its hands while this goes on. This is TOTALLY unacceptable to me. Until I see something positive coming out of the nation of islam, I will continue to distance myself from people who are muslims, and I will refuse service to those who are muslim. This is my little protest to those who support this unholy religion and offer hate, bombs and murder in the face of peace, faith and freedom.
I'm sitting in my office at work, and I want to sob for these people, but cannot. I hear the radio in the background but my mind is totally silent. I am, paralyzed. I don't know how to wrap my head around this.
I'm just glad I have this outlet to document how this affects me.
This is all I have.
GODSPEED to those survivors, you are in my prayers. Please, please, please keep the faith.
Prayer for Peace
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; to be understood, as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
OUT
