Thursday, November 30, 2006

Thursday November 30, 2006

I see that I haven't had a good rant for a while, time to fix that omission.

As you may have guessed, I feel strongly that the PC should be used as a tool, and that if the tool does not make the job easier then you are using either the wrong tool or you do not know how to use the tool correctly.

I stopped by the UPS depot to ship a package on Monday. Granted, it has been a while (3 yrs?) since I stopped by the UPS depot, but I recall that there was one person behind the counter who took the info from you, typed it in the computer, stuck the label on the package, and took your money.

This time, when I stopped in, there were TWO UPS employees and TWO PC's, one PC and employee at a side counter and one PC and employee at the main counter. I needed to type the addresses into a form and make some decisions about how to properly ship my package using the first PC. There is a second employee there to help you fill out the form.

This is a classic example of what NOT to do!! Customers are intimidated and aggravated by this process. I think that nearly every one of the 6 or 7 people that I saw use this complained about it. First, the PC is in a very awkward place to use. Second, the Mouse is in an awkward position. Third, TAB does not go to the fields in order. Fourth, most of the fields are not needed or required for most customers.

I would redesign the form and make it VERY simple. Type in the name, press enter. Type in the address, press enter. Type in the ZIP, press enter. No tab, no mouse. Add some logic to the form so that if a field is needed they are filled out in order, if the field is not needed it never appears. Install 2 (or more) PC's away from the counter for customer use so that the slower people don't hold up the faster people. Provide space at the console to rest your package (it was not fun trying to juggle a 14 lb package while filling out the form). Heck, maybe provide a scale at each console so the weight can get captured while the package data is being typed in. What a novel idea.

Hello UPS? Ya know, re-writing the software to make it more efficient would save you a lot of money. If you are doing this at every UPS depot, or even 10% of them, that is a LOT of money you could save!!

I hate to imagine what that room is going to look like over the next couple of weeks. Maybe it is a good thing that I don't ship a lot of UPS. I'm lucky, if I really NEED to ship something I can do it from work. Weigh it on our scales, fill out the form on the UPS website, pay for it on the UPS website, print the label, set it out on the dock for pickup.

Thursday November 30, 2006

Well, it is finally cold this morning, NWS says that it is +3F right now (7:30am). The heat in the voyager is definitely better than last winter, but still not as good as I would like it to be. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I am certain that the heaters in the black voyager and the caravan were a lot warmer.

8AM, now NWS says +1F.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Tuesday November 28, 2006

Rain rain rain. According to the NWS nearly half an inch so far today. I guess its a good thing it is too warm to snow.

Friday, November 24, 2006

Friday November 24, 2006

Hope everyone had a good Turkey Day. I had an excellent meal (and there may be enough leftovers).

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Tuesday November 7, 2006

I hate blogging about the gas prices but they are so frustrating. I noted earlier that after our weekend trip they went up here in GR. On our trip to Bemidji last night I see that the prices in Bemidji are LOWER THAN THEY WERE ON THAT WEEKEND!!! So while the prices in Bemidji have gone down the prices in GR have gone up. Explain that one please.

I voted this morning; have you??????

Friday, November 3, 2006

Friday November 3, 2006

The Furnace died last night. Time to go shopping for a replacement. Good thing it's not January.

Thursday, November 2, 2006

Thursday November 2, 2006

A bit of snow last night, just a dusting but it is still on the ground. I also notice that the Round Lake has fringe of ice on the edges. Firearms Deer season starts the day after tommorrow. Turkey Day is just 3 weeks away and Christmas is just 8 weeks away.

Time is a-flying!!

I'm almost ready to start scanning slides. At a rough guess I have probably looked thru nearly 5,000 slides. I am now down to just over 1,000 slides. I have begun a second pass to sort them into rough groups and I am starting to shop for a scanner with a TMA. The scanner I have doesn't have a TMA. I tried to make one following directions on several websites, but the results were dismal compared to what I have seen with several $100 HP scanners, so I guess I will wind up spending the money.

Time to go build a RADIUS Server for experimentation.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Wednesday November 1, 2006

Hey! The weather is changing!! Maybe winter is coming!!

It was cold last night going out to the car after work. It was 26F, but the wind chill (according to the NWS) was 16F. I would have sworn it was colder than that.

I just can't believe how the prices of electronics keep falling. I was at wally-world this morning and saw that the VCR/DVD combo I paid $99 for last year is at $49, the DVD-Burner+-r/rw that was $150 a year ago is $50.

Darn candy wrappers! Can't tear the things open anymore, it requires a sharp object. Gotta go get some scissors.

I casn hardly believe the school rules anymore. Some of the parents here were telling me about kids sent home from school yesterday. Seems that it is against school rules to wear masks (I can see that one), too much makeup, certain clothing, and everything else that used to make Halloween so fun when I was a kid. I can see part of it, the mask thing because these days you need to be able to positively visually ID someone, some of the clothing stuff because of gangs, but most of it seems calculated to take the fun out of things.

I've been trying to collect all of the stories by Kipling that have the "Stalky & Co." characters in them, including the ones not in "Stalky & Co." and "The Complete Stalky & Co.". Really fun, gives me an excuse to read all of the Kipling stories and books all over again.

Past time to work now.