“No, Mommy’s Scared”, I heard from behind me. I was standing on Cooper’s Rock yesterday — taking in the view  and taking photos. I turned to see a young woman with her young son.  She was standing with a sort of death grip with one hand on the post at the entrance to the rock. Her body was bent over in a posture which indicated a good possibility that her upper half wanted to move forward, but the bottom half just wasn’t moving from that spot.   Her other hand was holding the boy’s hand.  I had seen her earlier with another, young child in a stroller.  She was with two other women, which I presumed to be her mother and sister.  She was having trouble getting the stroller along the rocks, so I offered my assistance.  She thanked me and said she could manage.  At that point, I walked onto the walkway leading to the rock overlook. When I heard, “Mommy’s scared,” and saw her there, I said, “I’ll walk him down to look over if you like.”  She asked him if he wanted to do that.He mumbled something and she accepted my offer.  She said, “Hold onto the man’s hand.”  So, I took him by the hand and we walked down to the railing for him to see over.  I pointed out the trees and how high up we were.  He seemed really shy, but I was a stranger and was in full “biker” garb.  I walked back up with him, gave him back to mommy and proceeded with my enjoyment of the rock.

I planned for a few days to take advantage of the projected 68 degree, partly sunny day to make a run the nearly 100 miles to Cooper’s Rock State Park and take photos off the actual rock. I’ve tried for a few years now to get there during the Autumn colors, but it never works out. Our sun (partly sunny) was apparently delivered somewhere else. It still was a good day, though. The riders today were my brother-in-law and the new female rider I’ve mentioned lately. The others couldn’t make it with their work schedules.

We left late because of delays in Sharyn’s morning. Once she was all ready, she phoned and we timed our leaving so we could meet her part way. It was 11:30 as we pulled out. The temp was about 58 and it was cloudy. The air was a bit cool and bearable, but switching to my new HD gloves and HD balaclava made it just right. On the way there, travelling along I-79 South there were spots of absolutely beautiful trees. Even with the less than optimal sun, the colors were wonderful.

We made it there.

We looked around a little, took some pics (Sharyn took some with one of my cameras and I took some with my other camera) and headed back.

When I arrived back, my new close-out priced, full face helmet had arrived. I got another layer of clothes… put on the helmet… and headed to Sharyn’s to get my hair cut. Finally arrived back home about 8:30 having added about another 250 miles on the Vol.

More pics are at these two links.

http://picasaweb.google.com/WVGoldenwolf/SharynSCooperSRockPics

http://picasaweb.google.com/WVGoldenwolf/CooperSRockPics

West Virginians against the new state slogan on the signs entering into WV….. there is a petition to be sent to the Governor.

SEE IT HERE.

http://www.petitiononline.com/open4biz/petition.html

I’ve been riding motorcycles with a woman that I’ve known quite awhile.  We are only friends, although she knows I wanted to date her and was attracted to her. I’m still attracted to her.  On our ride yesterday, we got on the subject of dating and the men she has been “sort of dating” and her relationships.  She met a new man online and sent him a message before we left to say she was going on a ride.  He asked, “With who?” 

Her: “I told him you’re my cousin.”

Me: (making the “shame-shame” motion with my fingers.)

Her: “You know yourself that a man wouldn’t understand a man and a woman going riding together and they are just friends with nothing else going on.”So, if you ever meet him, you’re my cousin.”

Me: “Don’t expect me to keep track of your lies.”

Her: “I’d fess up.  I’d have to fess up the first time the two of you met.  ‘Remember my cousin I told you about?  This is him and he’s not my cousin,’ when I introduced you.”

Me: “If he were smart, he’d stop and back off.  If I were him, I’d have to stop and say, ‘Whoa! This one will lie to me.'”

She seemed taken aback by that statement for a moment.  But, that didn’t stop her justification from continuing.

Her: “No, it takes a special kind of woman to come out and make the truth known right away. To say to someone, ‘I lied,’ and take responsibility for it.”

So, she can justify the lie to fit the circumstances and then twist it to make it ok because of…. “X” — whatever “X” is at the moment.  Because of “X”, she’s not really being dishonest or lying.  There really is no lie because all she’s doing is delaying the truth instead. In her mind, there is still honesty there.

It’s a perfect example of something that I’ve noticed in women in particular.  (And in people in general.)

Women don’t want truth and honesty.  They want truth and honesty when if fits them.  They believe in honesty when they’re forced to or it suits the situation.  If a man does the same thing, he is all kinds of wrong and is disparaged.

I believe in honesty and truth.  Complete honesty and truth.

I joined the Patriot Guard Riders some time ago. A couple of weeks ago, I did my first mission in Columbus, Ohio. I wrote the following shortly after.

Last night, I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning after deciding that I was going to make the Columbus, OH Patriot Guard Mission. When I awoke, I was a bit of mixed feelings about going since I had somehow slept for 20 extra minutes… and the weather was not the best for riding. But, I figured that the soldier made a sacrifice, and some cold and rain and time wasn’t as big a sacrifice. “I have a three hour ride…. so, let’s get moving,” I thought. I left after donning my rain suit. I didn’t have much time to think about what to expect when I got there. With being late, the wet roads, and needing to make up time, I was concentrating on getting there alive. With the lost time, I had to travel the last hour at 80 mph indicated in order to make it on time. By that time, it was daylight and dry, so it was possible to increase my speed.

When I arrived, it was about 20 minutes before “flags up”. I met a couple of people and asked about any special instructions. I didn’t have a large flag, but brought little ones for the bike. I helped hold an outstretched flag with two others. Then afterward, a couple of gentleman helped me figure out how to get them on my bike and even gave me some zip ties.

The police were in full force and very professional and cooperative. There were approximately 30-50 bikes there. As we stood outside the church, more than one person offered an emotional “Thank You” to us for being there.

There were many emotions and thoughts running through my head. This was my first mission and it left some long term impressions on me. There were a few times — even riding the escort — that tears would well up in my eyes and I would get a lump in my throat. I had to force myself to stop thinking about these emotional moments so that I could ride safely.

Three or four images are forever with me. When we were escorting the hearse, the roads were largely closed off; and one thing that struck me was the people who stood outside their cars and saluted or stood at attention. There was a middle aged black woman who was standing at perfect attention, saluting as we rode by. She had stopped her car in traffic and was standing in the middle of the road. Not 100 feet from her, the traffic was stopped on a side road and a middle aged, blonde, white woman was standing with her hand over her heart. Just down the road, a group of boyscouts was at attention and saluting. (Even now, recalling it…. my eyes are welling up.)

Another image is of the young men in uniform, their effort in trying to maintain composure and professionalism visibly evident. At one point, after the ceremony at the cemetary, one young man I had seen many times during the day was walking about in an almost lost manner. You could see the sorrow in his face. I saw him thank a patriot guard member for being there. Another young marine came by afterward and shook my hand and thanked me. I can still see his face and the sincerity in it. I can still feel the texture of his white glove meeting my hand. “He’s thanking me,” I thought. “We should be thanking him.” All I could say was, “Thank you,” and still maintain composure.

When we were waiting to leave, the father of the fallen soldier came over to our group. “May I have your attention please?” So, we all turned to him. “I just want to thank you and invite you all to come back to the church to eat. We have plenty of food and you are more than welcome. I want to thank you for…..” and he had to turn away because he was about to lose his composure. “There is a man who is experiencing great grief,” I thought, “and I hope he is gaining some comfort from our presence.” If so, then what we did today is good and proper.

When all is said and done, I won’t make a great mark on the world. But, I think I/We made a difference to someone today on at least a small scale. And that feels right.

I did another mission this past Monday. It was in New Brighton, PA. Will post pics soon.

Until Further Notice

I rented The Outfit for Xbox 360 and didn’t like it.  I’m not big on third person games and to make it worse, this one seems juvenile and silly in a lot of respects.

One third person game I’ve liked is the Hitman series, so I rented Hitman: Blood Money for the 360, too.  I like it, but I don’t like the camera angles when it is making you watch the “drag a body” or “silent kill” type things.  That’s a small annoyance, since it at least gives me the “first person” view option and has the elements I’ve always liked about them: stealth, thought/puzzles, and not just a shoot-em-up.

I had been trying to play Halo2 and it would play ok on the offline version, but couldn’t work on the “Live” version.  It would error out.  I had bought this one used at Blockbuster and didn’t know it was damaged.  By the time I got around to getting my 360 and then playing it, it was 6 months since I bought it.  So, I decided to try the repair kit I have for CD/DVDs and it actually worked.

There was an article in the local paper that was done by an AP writer about how my town is dying.  I dunno…. but I don’t really have a reason to move anywhere else anyway.  So, it looks like me and my town will die together.

Rode the motorcycle today and saw a deer in a field of corn, a flock of turkeys in a big field, a deer beside the road, and a mama deer with 3 fawns in the middle of the road.  It was a nice ride overall. Thought about people I’ve known and things I’ve seen. 

Just finished watching “Dark Water (Unrated Widescreen Edition)” on DVD.  It is a “horror” movie with Jennifer Connelly and some other very good actors.  I’ve always found Jennifer to be intriguing, beautiful, and an extremely under-rated and under-appreciated actress.  It is not a typical “scarefest” type film.  It is more an emotional or psychological thriller.  I’d like to see the original Japanese version, too.  This was a good film.  I’d say 9 out of 10.

I am a computer repair technician who runs my own small business.  One of the things I pride myself on is the extra attention and help that I give to my clients.  DLink is refusing to be even half as helpful.

In February of 2006, I recommended to a client that they buy a DLink Wireless Router and PCMCIA card to make their two home computers able to be used on the Internet at the same time.  They took my advice and purchased the two units.  A couple of weeks ago, the client called me to troubleshoot a problem they were having after being told by their ISP that it appeared as though the router was bad.  After my troubleshooting the unit for them, I informed them the unit was bad and needed replaced under warranty.  They decided to find the original paperwork to return the unit.

The client could not find information on where to send the unit for warranty repair, so I decided to check the warranty replacement procedures on the D-Link site for them.  On the site, owners needing warranty tech support are instructed to call “or” email.  So, I sent D-Link an email on behalf of the client informing D-Link that the unit needed returned for repair as the lights continued to just blink after a factory reset and that the unit never initializes properly. 

On 7/18, tech support responded, giving me a case ID and telling me “the unit may be defective” based on my description and that I need to **call** tech support because they can’t handle the problem via email.

Ok…. now they are wasting my time by telling me the warranty support can be handled via email when it can’t.  So, I call the phone number which has a voice prompt for RMA’s if you have a Case ID.  If you have a Case ID, you should go to the website address given and get your  RMA.  So, now I’ve had my time wasted twice.  I hang up, go to the url given, only to be told that my number is no good, and that I need to call tech support for an RMA.  So, I call to get an RMA **again** only to be told by the woman who answered that my Case  ID number isn’t valid because it comes from an email and email case IDs are not valid for RMAs, that I need to troubleshoot the unit with tech support.

Do we see a pattern here?  Multiple redirects to dead ends that result in nothing more than time wasting. The first sign of problems is when they falsely direct you to email to handle a problem that they can’t handle via email.  If they can’t handle something via email, don’t tell the user to email in the first place.  Just put the phone number there and tell the user to call.

At that point, I tell the woman on the phone that I need to file a complaint about the very inefficient and poor handling of something so simple as giving someone an RMA on an obviously malfunctioning unit which I have already done the troubleshooting on.  So, I file a complaint by phone. In the meantime, I had already complained to the email tech support rep concerning this matter.  I got a response back that, “….you need to talk to someone in Tech support Live to get help on this because it is Broken and it is going to have to be RMA’d and it cant be done by email.” 

So, I call D-Link again to talk to tech support.  I tell the person who answers that I need an RMA on a dead unit.  I give him the case number, which he reads and I tell him that when power is supplied, the unit either flashes all the lights or all of the lights stay on, even after a factory reset; which is obviously a defective unit.  To this, he responds that I need to troubleshoot the unit.  I informed him that I am a computer technician making my living doing just this sort of thing, that I had already done the troubleshooting, and that it is a dead unit.  He informs me that he can’t help me unless I troubleshoot the unit.  I tell him that I am not going back to the client’s location to hook up and troubleshoot the unit, as it is a waste of time and of my client’s money if they have to pay me another service call to do something that is a waste of time for an obviously dead unit that their email tech support has already acknowledged is dead.

He asks if I want to be connected to customer service to file a complaint.  I instruct him to connect me again, as I have no problem complaining again. 

I never got connected to customer service again despite repeated attempts to call and having sent email to customer service complaining about the handling of this situation. As of late evening of 7/20, D-Link still has not replied nor given me an RMA number to return this dead unit.

I intend to file complaints with the BBB, the Attorney Generals of the involved states and with the Federal Consumer Protection Agency.