Showing posts with label Late. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Late. Show all posts

May 14, 2021

Broken Uber and Stupid Airport

 

So we are going to the airport early this morning and everything seemed to go wrong.

Because we needed an Uber early, we used the app to reserve one in advance.

I get an email that Uber charged us and the app says the driver is on the way.

However, it doesn't identify any driver or car. 

It turns out that Uber never reserved any driver and no one was coming to get us and we had a flight to catch.

So much for reservations that go unreserved!

So we cancel the darn Uber and instead try to get a Lyft, but after many minutes trying in vain to locate a driver, we gave up on this as well,

Thank goodness, I could still call a regular cab!

The taxi company says he'll be there in 10-20 minutes. 

Over 35 minutes later and 3 phones calls and he still hasn't arrived and it's getting late for the flight.

Finally, finally, he shows up and says they called up and he came from bed to pick us up. 

Wow, that's pretty amazing--I was impressed and grateful.

He get us to the airport and we run in and through security.

We head to gate 30 for our flight and the picture shows you what we came up against.

Gate 29 and gate 31 in the corner of the airport, but no freakin gate 30 anywhere in sight!

After a swing around the other corners, we finally found it.

Why gate 30 isn't after 29 and before 31, I will never understand!

Moreover, why Uber takes reservations in advance for a car, but doesn't actually arrange a driver is also a complete mystery and a very broken business model.  ;-)

(Credit Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)


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December 28, 2020

Vaccine: Too Little Too Late


So just about everyone I know now has Covid going all around them. 

Heard from 2  people in the last 2 days, and yet a 3rd person that died miserably from it this past week. 

Aside from almost 120,000 currently hospitalized, including 20,000 in the ICU, this thing is spinning rapidly out of control!

I am now convinced that by the time they get the vaccine out (and it's going awfully slowly so far), it will be too little too late and almost everyone will already have had Covid. 

Incredible how many billions of dollars have been spent on the vaccine research, manufacturing, and now on the distribution, and frankly it will have been another great big wasted boondoggle.

Vaccinate away...despite the valiant efforts by many, it's basically a throwaway for this round of the virus, and it all points to our woeful state of unpreparedness to begin with! ;-)

(Credit Photo: Pixabay)


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January 17, 2020

Airplane Art

Why aren't airplanes really decorated like this?

It would be so much more fun to get on a plane that displayed some pizzaz!

All we hear about are plane delays, cancelled flights, mishandled baggage, and involuntary bumping.

Oh, and don't forget the ever more cramped seating and the entertainment system that is habitually broken.

How does this industry get away with all this crap? ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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April 10, 2018

On Time Is Late

Smart saying I heard today on time management:
Early is on time.
On time is late.
Late is unacceptable.
Having grown up in a very precise environment,  I can certainly appreciate this. 

Seriously, from a Yekke (Jewish German background), we were taught to be 15 to 30 minutes early--i.e. on time--for everything. 

I remember starting to get "little" reminders to get ready and get out the door well in advance and numerous times before the clock struck. 

Fashionably late or any other type is not in the vocabulary and frankly is a complete f*ckin insult. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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January 1, 2016

Homesick or Heresick

It's funny, my dad used to tell a joke about not being homesick, but being heresick (wherever that "here" may be for somebody--they just want to get out of there)

Recently, at work though, I have found there are many people that don't want to go home at the end of the day--and it's not because they always still have so much work to do (although sometimes certainly they do). 

Yesterday, I asked someone at work--on New Years eve--what they were still doing there late in the day.

Someone with a fairly new baby at home, jokingly winced at me, and said something about it sometimes being better to stay a little later at work, because when he/she gets home, they start all over again with the spouse and kid(s)--like so many of us. 

It's strange to me, because I love and value home. 

And it's like the old rhetorical question about do you work to live or live to work. 

Just yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, there was a book review about someone who opined about how home is where the heart is--and in anthropological terms--it's always been that way!

Home is our sanctuary, for ourselves and our beloved family, it is where we are "king of the castle," and where we do everything from shelter, comfort, reproduce, share, and generally love and care for each other. 

Yet, back to work, many people these days don't want to go home to crying babies and dirty diapers, nagging spouses and the evening fights, encroachment on private spaces, and errands galore (it's a 2nd job almost)--cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, and bills--or even just plain loneliness there. 

So people hang out at work--they schmooze, they snack, they Internet, they may go to workout, or they dilly and dally--just so they don't have to go home. 

As someone recently said to me, "It's quiet. I like it there. Nobody bothers me there."

They are homesick--not missing and yearning to be home, but some almost to the point of sick at the thought of going home. 

Work or anywhere else then becomes a refuge from the home that home is supposed to be. 

Sometimes it's just a temporary thing at home, sometimes it's more ongoing or permanent.

Everyone has a different home--for everyone it should be a true home. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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December 31, 2014

A One Taxi Town Of HELL!

So coming back from vacation today was a tear.

We had an early flight--before dawn--and when we woke up, I called the town’s single cab company to confirm our early morning pickup (of which the reservation had been made the prior day by the front desk manager at the hotel). 

When we awoke the morning of the travel, I called the cab company to confirm they were on their way.

A man picks up the cab company’s phone and says curtly:

- "I am the dispatcher and also your driver this morning."

- "I have another person to drop off near your location and will be 15 minutes late."

Upon which he just hangs up, and we readjust our schedule slightly.

Then I receive a text message 20 minutes early that says the cab is downstairs. 

We rush downstairs, but there is no cab.

15 minutes later he arrives.

He says in a commanding voice:

- "Don’t you put the luggage in trunk, it can damage my computer [we don’t know what computer he was talking about]."

- "Shortest person sit behind me!"

We look at each other at how strange this cabbie is behaving, but again it’s the only “game in town.”

We get in the back seat, upon which he proceeds on the “dispatch computer” set up in the front seat to ignore us with mild apologetics and  works to handle calls, texts, and other people arrangements, while we are waiting in the back [already late because of his prior excuse] to get to the airport.

After what seemed like forever, he turns to me and says, “How are you going to pay?”

I ask, “Can you take a credit card?”

He says, “Yes, but the card reader may have interference at the airport [from this tiny airport, really?], and the ride will be 50 bucks!”

Realizing he was playing some sort of game with us to rip us off, since this was a meter cab, I try to explain that it seemed he was overcharging us saying “Well, we took a cab with you company from the airport just the other day and only paid around $40 and that was in a snowfall [today were clear skies and roads], so I’ll pay you the same $40.”

He turns angrily to me this time, and says threateningly, “You‘re trying to lowball me!  How about I just drive you around in circles and charge you by the meter even more?”

At this point, we could tell this guy was seriously off his rocker, and I try to deescalate this and ask, “Why are you giving us such a hard time with all of this?”

He seemed to calm down for a second as he was ostensibly trying to figure this out, and said okay, “We’ll do the meter [and you’ll pay]!”  

Now we were running late to the airport, this driver had our luggage hostage in the trunk, and he has threatened us to take us for an unwanted tour of the city instead of to the airport and overcharge us or potentially even make us miss our flight altogether.

I looked at my wife and daughter and they were clearly understanding the danger we were in of losing the flight, luggage, and so on; but as we discussed later, they were afraid of even worse physical danger from this person. 

He starts the car and with the dispatch computer screen still open [he angrily slammed open and closed the laptop multiple times], he drives on the highway while simultaneously, still working on dual duty as dispatch…we were terrified.

About halfway to the airport, he turns to me again, and says “Okay, I’ll turn the meter off [before] 40 bucks and you pay me 40!”

Afterward, my wife told me she thought he was going to pull over before 40 bucks and just drop us off somewhere in the middle of the highway.

I ask, continuing to try and calm this guy, “I don’t understand how can the meter be going higher than when we made the same trip in reverse in a storm just the prior week?”

Note, there wasn’t [barely] another car on the road and unlike in big cities, there was no signage with the driver’s picture, name, identification, etc.

He says, again in a threatening manner, “Oh I can also take the back roads to get you there cheaper, but you wouldn’t want me to do that, would you?”

Then he pauses, thinks again, and repeats, “Just pay me $40 cash {and he reaches to turn off the meter).

Soon after, we reach the airport terminal, and the taxi driver jumps out, dumps our [hostage] luggage on the side and holds out his hand. 

I gladly give him the $40 and thank G-d that we are at the airport and safe.

This was really an eye-opening lesson about what can happen when you are in the car with someone and they are in total control over whether you get where your supposed to go, make it in time, get your things, and get out safely.

In these small towns, it is no help that the cab company is a monopoly and probably the dispatcher/driver is probably also a part owner and maybe even has friends at the local airport, hotel, police, and the courts, etc.

I don’t think for a second that we were his first victims, and hope that people reading this will help make this his last! 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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July 20, 2014

Better Early Than Never

So I learned a new word/concept today...PREcrastination (New York Times)

It's when you do things early!


The better known opposite word is PROcrastintion.



That's when you put things off or delay...often until the very last minute.

We know why people procrastinate--they don't want or like to do something, have more important things to do, may be overwhelmed with too many taskers, or perhaps they are just plain lazy. 


But why do people precrastinate?


Well, it's sort of the inverse of the above--they may like doing it, it may be a priority, or they just may want to get "ahead of the curve" on all the things they have on their to-dos, or they may be a Type A personality and don't rest until they've "got a handle on things."


Getting things done at the last minute (procrastination), can push off stress until later--perhaps a better time to deal with it, but getting it done early (precrastination), can help eliminate stress by just getting it over with. 


Some of us who get things done right away, may be doing extra work, because at times, the necessity of the moment is "overcome by events" (OBE) later on or we may start something before we even have all the directions or information and do it wrong altogether. 


While others who dilly-dally, may find that they waited too long to get the job done or have other things going on later that precludes them from meeting the timeline--as they say, "if you fail to plan, plan to fail!"


Is there a right or wrong in terms of Pre/Procrastination?


I want to tell you now, but I think I'll wait until later. ;-)


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

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February 27, 2014

Newspaper, Identity Thief

So, true story.

I know identify theft is a serious matter, but really...

I'm heading out of the driveway and I see the newpaper delivery guy just pulling up.

He's running a little late, but I figure I can still get the paper in time for morning reading on the Metro. 

I walk over to him and ask if I can get the Journal that he's deliverying to me.

He says, "No, I only deliver the Wall Street Journal and the Post."

I say, "Yeah, the Wall Street Journal, can I get it, since you're running a little late this morning."

He says. "I'm never late!"--actually, he is and sometimes doesn't deliver at all (the other week, I got 3 papers in one day). 

I say, "OK, but I can take it from here."

He says, "No, I only deliver to the door."

I say, "But I'm right here."

He says, "How do I know you are who you say you are?"

I say, "I am, and thank G-d, I really don't need to steal a $2 newspaper from you, Sir."

He says, "Okay, but I'll need to see an id!"

I say, "Are you serious?"

He says, "Yeah," pulling back to safety the pile of newspapers he is holding is his arms. 

Reluctantly, I flip open my wallet and flash my license to him.

Not good enough...he insists I take it out so he can read it. 

I finally got the paper, but we wasted what seemed like 5 minutes between the negotiation and proof of identity exercise. 

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his diligence, but I think this type of scrutiny over access and identity would be better placed squarely on our cyber assets--somewhere where we really need them! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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