"Temporary" Venting Thread V

[Rían]

Grrrr! stupid aggressive telemarketers! They're irritating enough, but there are some decent ones out there ... aaaaand there are the really nasty ones. This guy called and tried to sell me on home improvements with a non-stop monologue (how did he breathe?) I finally broke in and said that we had a handicapped child and we were in debt from major medical stuff. He said "well, that's no problem because I show you're pre qualified for credit!" I said that we didn't need to get into more debt, and no thank you. He said oh, it's no problem at all, you really need these improvements to make your house worth more, and just kept aggressively talking. Most people will at least say oh I'm sorry for your medical issues, but NO, this was one of those truly obnoxious people. I said "and get into MORE debt?! Goodbye!" and hung up. Grrrrrr!

[Rían]

and another grrr - government officials! We're trying to start getting some benefits for our handicapped son because of the overwhelming medical costs, so I call a number and tell them that he is handicapped - he has no legs, but he is fine mentally - so they transfer me to developmental disabilities! (i.e., mental disabilities). Maybe because they thought his legs didn't "develop"?

Anyway, after about 7 phone calls, I finally got someone that knew something, and I think we might be able to get some help!

[Mari]

Well, that last part is good at least.
I never listen to telemarketeers. And if they won't let me tell them so politely, I hang up.

[Earniel]

God, annoying telemarketeers, I hear you.

I'm always polite because, hey, they've got a job to do. But sometimes...

Last time I had a woman on the phone who was trying to scare people into ordering tap water analyses from them. I politely tried to decline. But no.... not good enough. She tried to up the scare factor, did I know what was in the water?! Now, I studied water recycling and treatment in college pretty close-up, so frankly I know what was in the tapwater and even how it's treated. Maybe I should have said that instead, but I tried to be shorter and less arrogant so I said we cook our water anyway. And then she was like but OMG you throw away all the good minerals and nutrients! At that point I thought: nutrients? In teawater?! Weren't you the one trying to convince me in the first place that our tap water was poisonous? Seriously? So I gave up and told her I was going to hang up and wished her a nice day.

I fumed about it quite a bit later, the gall of some people, trying to scare people off tap water so they can make lots of money off people's fear. Water analyses aren't exactly cheap, depending on their scope.

[Varnafindë]

So what is the nutritional value of poison?

[Earniel]

Yeah. Heck, in toxicology everything's a poison, depending on the dose. An overdose of just plain water can kill and has. Vitamins too. But I don't think she knew that much of this. I suspect she got cooking vegetables and cooking water mixed up. She obviously had heard something about cooking removing nutrients but didn't appear to remember how it quite worked.

[Earniel]

'Dear' customs officer,

A hefty and very obviously totally arbitrary 'import tax' is just what I needed to make my holidays complete! I'm almost surprised none of contents of the package stayed behind in your sticky bureaucratic fingers. Legalised theft appears to come quite naturally to you, after all. Heck, I guess I should count myself lucky you were satisfied with a whooping third of the package's value. Could easily have been more. I hope you enjoy your thirty pieces of silver. Happy new year and kindly go and sit on something sharp.

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

'Dear' customs officer,

A hefty and very obviously totally arbitrary 'import tax' is just what I needed to make my holidays complete! I'm almost surprised none of contents of the package stayed behind in your sticky bureaucratic fingers. Legalised theft appears to come quite naturally to you, after all. Heck, I guess I should count myself lucky you were satisfied with a whooping third of the package's value. Could easily have been more. I hope you enjoy your thirty pieces of silver. Happy new year and kindly go and sit on something sharp.

Consider your experience an opportunity to learn. Next time, order the item online and have it shipped to you, saving yourself the grief of schlepping it about. Your total cost in money and in bother will probably be lessened.

Unless of course your item is an electronics good, in which case my government will divert it for a few days in order to insert some kind of malware into it.

Merry Christmas!

[Earniel]

I think you misunderstood me. It was ordered online and shipped as it was a special item I never would have found in any store here. But since it arrived from abroad, it goes through customs all the same. I could see on the tracking website my package had been at customs for almost a week, so I had already an inkling something was up. (Funny how you can see a package whisking across an entire continent in mere days, while it will sit at the border of a tiny, tiny country for longer than it took to traverse a continent.)

The nasty thing is that customs can get the post office to demand their taxes for them. Meaning you get your mail man at the door with the package in hand and he can't release it to you unless you pay the custom tax. You can't yell or complain at your post man because he can't do a bloody thing about it either. All you can do is shut up, pay and grumble about it later.

The thing is mostly, I don't mind paying taxes when they're due, but these were so obviously random and excessive. They claimed it was a VAT charge but I've had similar items shipped with no charge so it isn't the item itself that triggered the taxation and VAT on them should have been only 6% on the main item and 21% on the rest, not a bloody 33%. Also I only seem to be charged these taxes around new year which makes no sense other than customs officers wanting to reach target quota instead of applying actual rules.

The last thing is... disturbing. If that's what happened to my other package, I wish the NSA good luck in loading malware on what were to be my nephew's wooden dinosaur toys...

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

...I only seem to be charged these taxes around new year which makes no sense other than customs officers wanting to reach target quota instead of applying actual rules.

End-of-period budget shortfall coverage is universal. In the United States, the story goes that police departments across the country hand out more speeding tickets at the end of the month to meet quotas.

Originally Posted by Eärniel

I wish the NSA good luck in loading malware on what were to be my nephew's wooden dinosaur toys...

You can’t blame them for trying, right?

[Valandil]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

:
:
:

The last thing is... disturbing. If that's what happened to my other package, I wish the NSA good luck in loading malware on what were to be my nephew's wooden dinosaur toys...

Sorry. Got them working for me on where you keep all your chocolate.

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

You can’t blame them for trying, right?

I'll be keeping my eyes on them toys (they actually arrived on new year's eve) just in case an antennae to transmit data pops up when they think no one's watching. But if the eyes suddenly start to glow red, they've probably installed Skynet by accident instead and we're all doomed anyway.

Originally Posted by Valandil

Sorry. Got them working for me on where you keep all your chocolate.

Hah, good luck with that one. You think I'd risk crossing the border with that?! With them impoundhappy custom people?! Nosirree.

[Mari]

You've been watching too much Dr. Who :P

My cats just tortured (and hopefully for it) killed a fly. They are such tigers when their opponents are much smaller than them and can fly :roll:

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

But if the eyes suddenly start to glow red, they've probably installed Skynet by accident instead and we're all doomed anyway.

Just a matter of time, me dear, me dear.

Drones that can choose to deviate from a set mission and hunt in ‘swarms’ could be patrolling skies within the next 25 years, according to a new roadmap. Unmanned aircraft carrying stronger chemical weapons could also be on the horizon, the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) revealed in its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap. While the document sets out plans for unmanned maritime, land and air vehicles, there is a lot of focus on the future capability of controversial drones, which, if the plans come to fruition, could deviate from mission commands set by humans if they spot a better target.

[Mari]

Good lord, I hope someone starts using their brain before implementing that one! o_O

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Mari

You've been watching too much Dr. Who :P

Maaaaybe.

But still. Government and software are not a match made in heaven.

My cats just tortured (and hopefully for it) killed a fly. They are such tigers when their opponents are much smaller than them and can fly :roll:

You should see our trauma kitten with spiders. She disects them and leaves all nine parts for me to clean up.

(I should really stop calling her kitten, she's twelve, even if she 's just smaller than the boys.)

Originally Posted by Alcuin

Just a matter of time, me dear, me dear.

Drones that can choose to deviate from a set mission and hunt in ‘swarms’ could be patrolling skies within the next 25 years, according to a new roadmap. Unmanned aircraft carrying stronger chemical weapons could also be on the horizon, the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) revealed in its Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap. While the document sets out plans for unmanned maritime, land and air vehicles, there is a lot of focus on the future capability of controversial drones, which, if the plans come to fruition, could deviate from mission commands set by humans if they spot a better target.

There's a very scary sci-fi short story and movie about that, where the killer drones from both sides decided to join together and gang up on all humans instead. I forgot by whom. Still chills me to the bone, thinking of it.

But then, if it is true that the nuclear launchcodes in America were for a long time 0000... I stick to my previous point about governments and software.

[Mari]

*nods in agreement*

[Earniel]

Gaah, I think I pulled a muscle. Hurts so freaking much when I cough. And I need to be lugging full cardboard boxed around in two days. Gaaaah.

[tolkienfan]

I’m feeling discouraged by the fact that I will have to work much harder (an estimated 2.5 x more productive) than my white male peers in order to have the same opportunities in my field (synthetic organic chemistry). Unless something drastic happens in the next few years (and culture shifts are never drastic). I'll have worked an average of 80 hours/week for around 10 years, only to very likely be held back by something outside my control.

I know that if this is really what I want then all I can do is to keep trying my best. But small reminders of continued inequality are bringing me down. And these reminders are only getting more frequent as I advance to higher levels.

[Mari]

I'm sorry, Earn. That's no fun. Good luck with the lugging!

TolkienFan, what kind of inequality do you mean? I'm afraid I can't really picture it. Education is pretty equal most of the time.