Daily Report: Thank You Mr. Postman

All of my stuff from Amazon.com decided to arrive on the same day, today.

First arrival was my new 1 gigabyte video card. I had purchased it so that I could play Civilization V over 2 monitors, which the 512 megabyte version did not have the power to handle. Unfortunately, once I got the new video card installed, I found that it configured two monitors differently than the old video card, and would not allow Civ V to play on 2 monitors. Sigh. Well, I now have enough video power to do my rendering without it dragging my computer to a crawl.

Next to arrive was my Microsoft wireless keyboard and mouse matched set. I had purchased these items used for $30 from a company in Illinois. Unfortunately, when the keyboard and mouse arrived, they did not work. I spent an hour trying everything: Downloads, updates, reconfiguring... none of it got them to work.

I sent an e-mail via Amazon.com to the seller letting them know that I would be returning their products.

(Now, for any Filipinos and Thai people reading, pay close attention because this is why it seems like Kanos/Farangs are always bitching about "customer service" in your countries: What happened next for me is really what generally happens in our countries when products, companies, and things go wrong.)

Thirty minutes after sending the e-mail, I got a phone call from the owner of the company who sent me the second-hand keyboard. He was very apologetic, and he first took 5 minutes to ask me all the proper questions to make sure I had not missed anything during installation. (He seemed to know this product rather well.) Then, after concluding that neither of us could figure out why the product (used, but determined to be functional when it left his company) was no longer working, the owner of the company told me to put the used keyboard back in the mail (he would pay any costs associated with the return shipping costs), and he would go out and buy a NEW version of the same keyboard today (cost: $60, compared to the $30 I paid) and send that to me instead at no additional cost.

Once I receive the new keyboard, obviously I will be writing a glowing review of that fellow's company both here and on Amazon.com. (And, no: I never mentioned to him that I write online or anything. To him, I was just a guy who had purchased a single item from his company that did not work... that's all. His only concern was that he never have a single dissatisfied customer.)

Next to arrive after that was my 5.1 surround sound speaker set for my computer (Logitech, $60). That set up nicely and without any problem... except that I cannot figure out how to get the center speaker to work. (It's a software problem, I'm sure.) The system sounds fantastic though regardless. The subwoofer is great for the size of the room.

Finally, my pipette arrived for mixology. Now I can make a Long Island iced tea in a cordial glass if I want, and it will taste just like a grown-up version.

Uncle Bob came over for cocktails as per usual, and Cousin Paul invited me over for a roast chicken dinner. (It's hard to clean out the refrigerator if I'm always eating out.)

Work was great. Recently, I've sat down and transcribed and everything seems effortless. Some days it really sucks, where the same amount of effort yields a fraction of the result, but I haven't had any of those days in over a week.

I signed up for Netflix, which allows me to watch high-definition movies over the internet. As a bonus, the BluRay player in the living room has internet access to Netflix, so I can queue up my movie selections on the laptop, and then play them on the living room TV. Anyway, I sat in bed and watched Toy Story 3 on my computer. (Good movie.) Netflix is a good deal if you haven't gotten it yet: $8 a month for unlimited movies streamed over the internet (first month free too). You can also pay an additional $4 per month if you want to have them mail you the BluRay discs or DVD's (free of charge mailing and sending back)... though I doubt they'll mail to Asia. Hey: $8 per month was what I used to spend on the $1 pirated DVD's in Asia, with their handi-cam pictures, muffled soundtrack, and Russian subtitles. (Netflix requires about a 500 Kbps internet speed to function at its best, though it will work on less, if you are interested. Surprisingly, you can share your username and password with as many people and computers as you want — Netflix said so right in their FAQ.)

It's Easter in The Philippines. Epril did her annual Sore Feet For Jesus walk up a 2000-foot mountain at 4 a.m. She was quite happy.