Kevin's Watch

I LOATHE abridgments! It ruins the literature for the sake of "readability" or "accessibility"... whatever that means... I mean, if you are not committed to experience the book as it is, why bother? You are not reading the same book, you almost might as well just read a summary as read a filthy "abridged" edition!

And I find it insulting! Essentially, the editors of these abridged editions are saying that we, the readers, are too stupid to appreciate the work for what it is, that we have no idea how to use an encyclopedia or library to research unfamiliar concepts... and that the best way to get these ignorant masses to appreciate literature is to amputate its limbs to make it more like some Clancy thriller or whatever tripe it is that we are suppose to be into!

Bah!

I never understood that either. The only abridged work I have is my edition of Canterbury Tales, as it was the only one I could find at the time that was still in Middle English rather than a modern rendition of the text.

I also hate abridgements. Even as a child, I was pissed when I realized that the edition of Little Women I bought through a Scholastic Books sale at school was the abridged version. I wanted the full version.

Sorus wrote:'Chaos Engineer'

Ooh, I like that.

--A

You know what I hate? Automated phone systems that never let you speak to a person. So frustrating.

Seconded on that last one.

I, too, accidentally checked out a copy of Little Men, I think it was, that was an abridgement.
I don't know; I think there can be a place for abridging some works.. but the ones that are sneaky about it, and you only notice later, grrr...

I am peeved that store bought frozen pizzas say to just put them on the rack.
I'm pretty sure that if I did that, it would result in stuff falling off the edges and burning.

Also peeved that my normal mode is...not too concise!

MsMary wrote:You know what I hate? Automated phone systems that never let you speak to a person. So frustrating.

I don't have it bookmarked, but I do remember someone once sending me a link to a website that lists a ton of large US companies and the button sequences to press to get to a real live person quickly.

michaelm wrote:

MsMary wrote:You know what I hate? Automated phone systems that never let you speak to a person. So frustrating.

I don't have it bookmarked, but I do remember someone once sending me a link to a website that lists a ton of large US companies and the button sequences to press to get to a real live person quickly.

That would be handy.

In this case I tried the online chat option. The person I was chatting with gave me a different number, but it had the same automated options, with no option to speak to a person. When I tried to open a chat again, it failed twice. I gave a negative review of my chat experience. Then I got in the car and drove to the closest company storefront (which, fortunately, was closer than I had thought).

MsMary wrote:

michaelm wrote:

MsMary wrote:You know what I hate? Automated phone systems that never let you speak to a person. So frustrating.

I don't have it bookmarked, but I do remember someone once sending me a link to a website that lists a ton of large US companies and the button sequences to press to get to a real live person quickly.

That would be handy.

In this case I tried the online chat option. The person I was chatting with gave me a different number, but it had the same automated options, with no option to speak to a person. When I tried to open a chat again, it failed twice. I gave a negative review of my chat experience. Then I got in the car and drove to the closest company storefront (which, fortunately, was closer than I had thought).

Found it:

gethuman.com/

michaelm wrote:

MsMary wrote:

michaelm wrote: I don't have it bookmarked, but I do remember someone once sending me a link to a website that lists a ton of large US companies and the button sequences to press to get to a real live person quickly.

That would be handy.

In this case I tried the online chat option. The person I was chatting with gave me a different number, but it had the same automated options, with no option to speak to a person. When I tried to open a chat again, it failed twice. I gave a negative review of my chat experience. Then I got in the car and drove to the closest company storefront (which, fortunately, was closer than I had thought).

Found it:

gethuman.com/

*Bookmarks*

With a voice-activated system, if you say, "I want to talk to a person!" it sometimes works.

Also, dialing "0" will sometimes do it. But not always.

aliantha wrote:With a voice-activated system, if you say, "I want to talk to a person!" it sometimes works.

I find that swearing at the phone while it tells you it did not understand your request works too.

It also makes me feel better.

I think the programmers bowed to the inevitable and programmed that stuff in.

All this brings to mind a thing that was going around the internet at least 10 or 15 years ago, where some company had an option that said, "If you want to hear a duck quack, press 7."

Anyone remember that?

No, but that's hilarious! Was it AFLAC?

aliantha wrote:No, but that's hilarious! Was it AFLAC?

No, it was Natural Bond Buyers of America or something boring like that.

Good times, back in the halcyon days...

MsMary wrote:You know what I hate? Automated phone systems that never let you speak to a person. So frustrating.

I have a few peeves from that. You finally get a real person and then:

1. They tell you that you have the wrong dept and then say they will transfer you, only to put you back into the automated sequence.

2. You get to a person who says they cant help you, they pass you to another person who says they cant help you and the next thing you know, the person you talked to first answers again.... they just pass you back and forth.

3. You ask to speak to a supervisor, and they put you on the phone with someone pretending to be a supervisor..... Grrrrrrrrr

Oh, yes.

Charities being exempt from the do not call list - it's not that I object to charities fundraising or highlighting that people need help, I just don't need them to call me from withheld numbers and then ask me for money. Especially when they are working from a script that is essentially based around emotional blackmail....

once the power went out at our house. i get the power company on the phone and he tells me the electricity is on. I ask him where he is, he says Seattle. I have to convince the power is out here in this part of Texas.