The Ottermanempire.com

While sitting in ER for oh say; six hours I have come up with several ways to improve the process and nearly all of it is to do with data. and one to do with the kind of service that makes me want to put people in ER , sadly they are already there.

In a nutshell.; If you have to have a sign up saying; that your company cares it’s already too late for you.

Erin was carted from the workplace today  after chest pain; with all the accompanying symptoms that suggest something is having a hearty old attack on the main pump. She’s stable and hopefully resting after a long time to get from waiting room to a waiting room to a bed  in the corridor to one in the ward to having the room usurped

Early indications are that nothing immediately serious is present but  we’ll know more in the morning.

There’s 182 thousand cheap people out there that need their head examined. Seemingly the point that most people miss here, and one which I will make sure you do not miss is this!    It’s not the state that makes you safe, in fact they abrogated that responsibility to the people that you want them to protect you from.   So we pay more money  to protect ourselves  to the people that say, nah we trust you . go on knock yourself, and your customers out.  Maybe without so much “regulation” there would be enough money to make cars that work  right the first time:)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors said it will recall 181,516 Chevrolet HHR wagons Wednesday after finding that some of the vehicles don’t meet government standards for protecting occupants from head injury in a crash.

Chevy HHRs not equipped with optional roof rail-mounted airbags and sold between 2006 and 2008 failed GM’s side-impact tests, said GM. Roof rail-mounted airbags are designed to reduce the risk of head injury in the event of a side-impact collision.

GM to recall more 181,516 Chevy HHRs due to side-impact risk - Feb. 13, 2008

Maybe 2 people will get the Young One’s reference above, that’s 2 more than usual:)

Ah today is a rare sick day.   My throat is scratchier than a $5  microphone and  I’m as congested as a Tokyo commuter train.  That being said there are positive benefits.

KLF being one of them.  Maybe it’s worrying that  I consider people that burned  a million pounds , not dollars,”real”  money  back in the day to be less of a problem than the near 2 million they paid in taxes.

I really need a course in miracles. 

It’s a miracle that anybody that brings up “the secret”  is allowed  to escape the law of attraction of my sarcasm to their naivete .  Oops I know I just upset a couple of people I know but consider this an intervention.

“Imperfect thoughts are the cause of all humanity’s ills, including disease, poverty, and unhappiness.” Yes, according to The Secret, people don’t just randomly end up being massacred, for example. They are in the wrong place because of their own lousy thinking. Cancer patients have long been victims of this school of belief. But The Secret takes it to a new and more repulsive level with its advice not just to blame people for their illness, but to shun them, lest you start being infected by their bummer thoughts, too.

Which in my case means  trying to reason people out of their insanity   and if they persist no longer interacting with them  whenever avoidable ( e.g  anywhere outside the workplace)    If the secret works  wouldn’t my desire for them to STFU  have some effect?  

Blues Brothers

Not just a movie but a way of life. . Yep  I sold a revolver to buy  a microphone ..  Technically it’s a shotgun mic  but  at 5oz  it’s going to be hard to incur any damage that wouldn’t make me eligible for the sex offenders list. 

I love it when companies that create a problem  take corrective action against their best customers. actually make that their customers period.  This is the mentality that decides the easiest solution to a health problem that disproportionately affects  a segment of the population has to be  inflicted on the general population that don’t have the same predisposition. 

A real case of the cure being worse than the disease. 

Such a case is Ebay’s recent decision to remove the ability for sellers to rate buyers.Couple this  with a new fee schedule that is  argued by Ebay to mean a reduction of charges for “most” people which seems counter to my experience.  If they mean per 1000 items listed it’s cheaper for mass sellers there’s a case for that.  For the  occasional seller  all I see are increases

It’s an election year after all and   I think they’ve been nicking plays from the politician’s play book.  Reducing an insertion fee by 5c while adding on the

From the Auction Bytes blog.

If
you list 100 items with a starting and ending price of $9 with a 50
percent sell-through rate (50 items out of 100 actually sell), it would
cost you a total of $63.63 in fees under the old structure and a total
of $74.38 under the new structure. This is a fee increase of 17 percent.This
is based on the old insertion fee of 40 cents plus commission fee of
5.25%, and the new insertion fee of 35 cents plus 8.75% FVF. If
you list 100 items with a starting price of $9 and sell 50 percent of
them at a selling price of $35, you would have paid $121.75 in total
fees under the old pricing structure. Under the new pricing, you would
pay $162. That is a 33 percent fee increase.

Which is in most of the cases for my personal use  + paypal fees =  usuary?    I really liked Ebay and  apart from rare items now  I’ve abandoned it. Two reasons.  One  the curse of “perfect information”  There’s just too many people using it with an appreciation for the value of items that  there’s little deviation in the  price of gear.   Secondly I’m   painfully aware that additional fees  are passed straight on to me.  It’s bad for me on both counts. 

 I found the presence of  neg feedback generated by a seller VERY instructive  with regards to demeanor and professionalism of the seller .e.g  “loser didn’t read ad properly  , get a life”     killed my  desire  straight away to deal with them.   Mistakes happen,  it’s the only way you see  where customer service promises transform into action.

 No longer  having that insight is a disservice to buyers as well as sellers and   I swear I  looked up Ebay’s new management to see if they’d used a “buy it now” option to bring in  Fema’s ex director. Yer doing a hell of a job Ebay.

eBay’s new feedback policy: no real feedback

I love it when companies that create a problem  take corrective action against their best customers. actually make that their customers period.  This is the mentality that decides the easiest solution to a health problem that disproportionately affects  a segment of the population has to be  inflicted on the general population that don’t have the same predisposition. 

A real case of the cure being worse than the disease. 

Such a case is Ebay’s recent decision to remove the ability for sellers to rate buyers.Couple this  with a new fee schedule that is  argued by Ebay to mean a reduction of charges for “most” people which seems counter to my experience.  If they mean per 1000 items listed it’s cheaper for mass sellers there’s a case for that.  For the  occasional seller  all I see are increases

It’s an election year after all and   I think they’ve been nicking plays from the politician’s play book.  Reducing an insertion fee by 5c while adding on the

From the Auction Bytes blog.

If
you list 100 items with a starting and ending price of $9 with a 50
percent sell-through rate (50 items out of 100 actually sell), it would
cost you a total of $63.63 in fees under the old structure and a total
of $74.38 under the new structure. This is a fee increase of 17 percent.This
is based on the old insertion fee of 40 cents plus commission fee of
5.25%, and the new insertion fee of 35 cents plus 8.75% FVF. If
you list 100 items with a starting price of $9 and sell 50 percent of
them at a selling price of $35, you would have paid $121.75 in total
fees under the old pricing structure. Under the new pricing, you would
pay $162. That is a 33 percent fee increase.

Which is in most of the cases for my personal use  + paypal fees =  usuary?    I really liked Ebay and  apart from rare items now  I’ve abandoned it. Two reasons.  One  the curse of “perfect information”  There’s just too many people using it with an appreciation for the value of items that  there’s little deviation in the  price of gear.   Secondly I’m   painfully aware that additional fees  are passed straight on to me.  It’s bad for me on both counts. 

 I found the presence of  neg feedback generated by a seller VERY instructive  with regards to demeanor and professionalism of the seller .e.g  “loser didn’t read ad properly  , get a life”     killed my  desire  straight away to deal with them.   Mistakes happen,  it’s the only way you see  where customer service promises transform into action.

 No longer  having that insight is a disservice to buyers as well as sellers and   I swear I  looked up Ebay’s new management to see if they’d used a “buy it now” option to bring in  Fema’s ex director. Yer doing a hell of a job Ebay.

eBay’s new feedback policy: no real feedback

You know the old  piece  about  first they  came for  X  but I wasn’t X so I said nothing. Iterate through several  groups until they come for you and  much to your surprise there was no one left to assist you.   Well that which people  have dismissed me for advancing the idea of the lunch police   being  argument ad absurdum can now look to the nice regulators of Mississippi for proof that  I’m right in concept.You can look to the UK 

Is this a tongue-in-cheek bill, meant to point out how absurd the war on obesity has become? Or do lawmakers actually believe the myths that gluttony is the cause for obesity and that it is the government’s role to force people to eat and live how it deems best?

So let’s get this straight from the UK where nanny always knows best  .They have had 40 plus years of national health and education  yet  the products of this process are now unhealthy  slobs that  have similarly sedentary children. So  the cure to solve this creation of the government is…  go on  

more government.     We’re heading to a  world where possession of a doughnut in a school zone is a federal offense.

Junkfood Science: No fat people allowed: Only the slim will be allowed to dine in public!