Tag Archives: email

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A Small Rant That Won't Fit In a Tweet

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Most universities these days OFFICIALLY communicate with students via email– that is to say, electronic communication is every bit as important as the very few items you might get by post.  Oshkosh went as far as to collect signatures from students on a form that said, “yes, I understand how to check my email and that I have to read it.”  Milwaukee does not do that, but it doesn’t change the fact that most departments do not send out mail.

The most common grumpy comment from a student on that front?  “Oh, I don’t check that address; I just have [insert popular webmail app here].”  That is all well and good, because forwarding your campus mail to another address is dead frakking simple, takes 2 minutes, and you NEVER HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT AGAIN.  I cannot understand why this is such a huge hurdle for people.  What is it that makes them not do it?  Laziness?  Ignorance?  What?

Sometimes I want to slap people.

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Digital Packrat

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As I pulled some old “archived” mail out of backup and dumped it back into my main profile in Thunderbird (thinking “what the hell, I have plenty of disk space”), I realized how insane it’s getting, the amount of email that I’m collecting (and I’m sure plenty of you are, too).

I have archives back to 2002, and I’d have all my mail clear back to 1998 if it hadn’t been for a few unfortunate accidents shortly after I moved to Bozeville.  All together at this point, we’re talking about roughly 16,500 messages.  That’s really not even that many in 6-plus years.

But the thing I got to thinking about is, “what am I DOING with all this stuff?”  Is it just a mental barrier to overcome, that even if I never look at those messages again, they’re not really taking up any more physical space in my life?  After all, harddrives are only getting bigger, and even as it is, that T-bird profile is just barely over a gigabyte.  So the space issue really shouldn’t bother me.

Is it the organization, then?  I used to try to file everything really carefully in folders, but the advances in search within my client (and on the Googles, for that matter) have really made organization a moot point.  I still keep a few folders around for things that definitely need their own distinct space but might not have common qualities or attributes (thereby, making “searching” them a more difficult proposition), but my single largest folder is the general archive, called “_DONE”.  This is where mail goes when I have read it, replied to it or taken other action as needed, and it’s OK to be moved out of the inbox.  My point is, it’s not like it’s going to be easy for me to find something in there.  I could do a search on that folder if I knew what it was I was looking for, but…

I guess it’s the relative uselessness of all the mail that is bothering me here.  I look at that “_DONE” folder and think, what purpose is that giant pile serving? It seems like there should be some other function that I can leverage from a store of data like that.  Seems there should be something about that much information that should make my life easier.

I guess I got a blog post out of it, but that’s not saying much.

I come back to the idea that it’s a mental hurdle to overcome– I have been trained to know that keeping a lot of junk around that you don’t need is bad; that a person needs to sort through that stuff and get rid of it if it’s not useful anymore.  Furthermore, as far as email specifically is concerned, for about the first 10 years that we had it, unless you were POP’ing into your account and keeping messages on your own computer (i.e., you had webmail only), you HAD to get rid of mail.  It was a daily/weekly/constant battle.  Now our space is virtually unlimited, and as more and more of our information moves into a digital space, maybe that sort of thinking just isn’t relevant.

What are you doing with all your mail?  Are you still throwing any of it away?  Does it all just sit in your ever-expanding inbox, or do you do something else with it?

General, Uncategorized

Useless

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So I tried to figure out how to log in to the website for WorldPerks, the Northwest Airlines frequent flyer club. I haven’t bothered doing that in years, since I haven’t actually flown on a Northwest flight for almost five years.

Why would I be trying to do this again, in that case? Well, I had a mailing reach me here on Wright St somehow that said I have about 12,000 miles saved up, but they expire at the end of this year. The mailing suggested that I could immediately redeem these miles for a bunch of shitty magazine subscriptions that no one has time to read. I thought to myself, “well hell– if I’ve got miles saved up, I might as well see if I can redeem them for anything, flight-wise, and then seriously contemplate booking something before the end of the year…”

So I get on to this website and I can’t remember my silly PIN for their site. I don’t even know what the hell my email address might have been back when I registered with these people. I tried a couple things I thought it might be, and soon I was locked out, but the page suggested that I try a “live chat” with a CSR.

So I put in my info (which, as I said, was on the mailing that I received) and say, “look, I don’t remember hardly anything about my account, much less what the PIN would be for their online service, but– well, y’know, here is a transcript that they emailed to me. Peruse for your enjoyment:

Q: Re: WorldPerks PIN Reminder
From:
Jason Bock
6524 W Wright St
Wauwatosa, WI 53213

WorldPerks Number: some number
Haven’t logged in on the web in a very long time. Can’t remember PIN or even what email address was at the time I registered.
A: Hello, you have reached Blanche with nwa.com Customer Service.

I am unable to verify the address you provided with the information on file in your WorldPerks account. Please respond with any other mailing addresses and ZIP codes that may be associated with your account, including past residential, business, or post office addresses.

I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested information.

Sincerely,
Blanche
nwa.com Customer Service

Q: 470 N Main St apt E
Oshkosh, WI 54901
A:
I am unable to verify the address you provided with the information on file in your WorldPerks account. Please respond with any other mailing addresses and ZIP codes that may be associated with your account, including past residential, business, or post office addresses.

I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested information.

Q: I’ve moved several times since I opened my WorldPerks account. Not sure what address you might have. Somehow, though, a mailing reached me at my current address.
A: I would be happy to assist you with your PIN. For security
purposes, please reply back with any full postal address, including ZIP code, that may be associated with your WorldPerks account. Once I have verified this information, I will delete the PIN and you will be able to create a new one online. I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested information.

Q: 2080 Dickinson Ave
Oshkosh, WI 54904
A: I am still unable to verify the address you provided with the information on file in your WorldPerks account. Please respond with any other mailing addresses and ZIP codes that may be associated with your account, including past residential, business, or post office addresses. I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested
information.

Q: 2716 Woodridge Ln
Waukesha WI 53188

606 Nelson Story
Bozeman MT 59715

Johnstone Hall, Rm 4415
Bozeman MT 59715
A: I am unable to verify the address you provided with the information on file in your WorldPerks account. Please respond with any other mailing addresses and ZIP codes that may be associated with your account, including past residential, business, or post office addresses. I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested
information.

Q: You have to be kidding me. Is this a real person or a machine?
A: We are indeed real people.
I am unable to validate the address or zip code you provided with the information on file in your WorldPerks account. For security reasons, this verification is necessary before I am able to reset your PIN. If you are unable to provide the correct address and ZIP, please answer the
following questions:
– Last flight activity on the account
– Last redemption activity
– Last non-flight mileage posted to the account
– Birth date
– Telephone number
– E-mail address

I trust that once we have all the necessary information we will be able to assist you. Please click “Reply” to provide the requested information.

So anyway, I’m gonna get Sports Illustrated, Time, Esquire for 2 years, Cigar Aficionado, and US News & World Report. I predict that I will read barely any of these, but I might get some ideas for haircuts or wardrobe in Esquire.

What a waste of 90 minutes.

General, Uncategorized

A Man Walked into a Bar Quick-Moving 4×4 Peppered With Giant Spikes

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This is probably my busiest “processing” week of the year at work. We got started on the upcoming aid year, and trying to juggle two at once always presents a lot of time-consuming issues. On top of that, I have to get a whole mess of nursing students set to go in the next couple weeks…

I understand that for most of you, what I do at work is not really interesting or relevant, but I thought I would just mention “what I’ve been up to.” Yesterday, as I communicated to a few different people, my brain was mushy enough at the end of the day that I just wanted to be beaten over the head repeatedly with a heavy, blunt object. Like a 2×4. Or something. Next week will probably be better. Opening day on Monday, anyway…

In other news:
Joe & April had a good time in Germany, judging from the reports I’ve received. April’s folks are coming into town this weekend, now that the Knitts actually have enough room to house guests at their domicile. I was surprised that I didn’t get any feedback about the wallpaper that was on the computer when they got home, but I decided that there is probably some revenge scheme afoot that I’ll be surprised by later.

Jim Droste asked me to read at his wedding in June. I graciously accepted ((I also just realized that saying I’ve known someone for 10 years really isn’t that mind-blowing anymore. This fall, I will have known people I’ve known only since college for 10 years. That really doesn’t mean much, I guess, other than 10 years used to seem like a significant segment of time.)). Unfortunately, Michelle won’t be able to join me, since that’s also WILS seminar weekend. I’ll be looking forward to it either way…

I caught myself up on some things about the house last night that have been nagging at me, so I’ll feel OK doing some “recreational tinkering” this evening. I think I might get a HDTV tuner card for the PC. I’m curious about the sort of reception I’d be able to pull through the air. I guess I should go the Internet to find the facts about how well that would work.

I’ve had to type the word “verification” in a number of emails this week. Makes it seem strange that I have consistently been misspelling it– most often, it’s “verfication” instead. Spell check is good. I think you should consider spell-checking all your email before you send it. Even the casual/personal messages. Just push F7. That’s it. Every time. Make it a habit. F7 to check, then F9 to send. Unless you do the mail through the interwebs, then I don’t know what the hell you got going on.

I’m really just rambling here, time to tune in for Brewers baseball ((Yesterday, I sent the guys an email with the subject line “Could someone please pot Kent up?” but if my experience in broadcasting is any indication, the message was met with a middle finger, and the delete button. Doesn’t hurt to ask, I guess)).