Cranky About Gas Pumps

Finding a quiet moment for yourself in our 24-hour news cycle, internet, text, and phone world is challenging.  Sometimes we find little pockets of time (like when I walk my dog) where no one can reach us and we get a short break from an otherwise frenzied world.

I don't especially like pumping gas because its kind of a 5-minute boring errand but on the bright side its a few minutes of peace and quiet...just me and my car and all the traffic whizzing by the road.  I have always enjoyed knowing that, for that brief moment in time, I am not in touch with the world at large. But now even that little break has been ruined by technology.

Technology can be a wonderful thing.   Technology has brought us laptop computers, huge TVs, online shopping, internet porn, the ability to share 5 gazillion cat photos/videos with our friends, and the ability to pay for things with your credit card just by swiping it in point of service (POS) machines like gas pumps.   

Remember when you used to have to pull up to the gas pump and then get out of your car and walk into the store to pay for your gas before you pumped it?  Annoying.  And if it was raining or snowing, a pretty messy errand. But probably a good thing for shop owners who had a decent chance at selling you convenience store items while you were inside paying for gas.

Enter the automated gas pump. Now we can quickly pay for and pump gas without having to leave the vicinity of our car and (bonus) not have to talk to anyone.  Its a quick and conversation-free experience...which, when it comes to pumping gas, is my favorite kind.  Or at least it was until technologists and marketing people got involved and conspired to ruin my nice quick and quiet gas pumping experience.

Now, when you pull up to a gas pump, there is an excellent chance that it will talk to you and spew information ranging from public service announcements (don't drink and drive!) to sales pitches (would you like to purchase an additive which will clean your engine while you drive?) to advertisements (Cottonelle is on sale for $2.99 today only so come into the store!).

It annoys me beyond reason.  I view the time that I am pumping gas as a few quiet moments where I am not available for phone calls, email, texts, or any conversation at all. And now that 5 minutes of peace and quiet have been stolen from me.

OK so they have stolen my peace and quiet and for what? So that they can try to sell me an additive that can automatically be added to my gasoline at the pump to clean my engine.  Well if it is that freaking great and SO important to the overall well being of my car why isn't it already in the gasoline? If it was that important I would hope that Exxon or Chevron would already put it in my gasoline. Are they withholding a crucial ingredient to my car's well being?  I doubt it; and that is what pisses me off even more - they are ruining my nice quiet gas-pumping time to try to sell me an additive that I don't even need.

I don't really mind the public service announcements as much because I figure that the police probably need all the avenues of communication they can get to tell people not to do stupid things when they drive. However I still don't want to be sold to or talked to by a machine while I am putting fuel in my car.  That is my time, not yours.  So to the marketing and tech assholes geniuses that thought up this grand new opportunity to communicate with the public: you can suck it.

That's all I have to say about this.

I Am Being Stalked by Crazies at the Nielsen Ratings

A few years ago I was very excited when I got a call from the folks at Nielsen ratings because for years I had been dying influence TV programming.  In my dreams I envisioned channels devoted entirely to Law & Order, James Bond movies, Lord of the Rings movies, Indiana Jones, and Criminal Minds.  Fortunately some wise person created TNT and A&E for exactly this purpose but I swear I thought of it first and dreamed of being asked to join what I imagined were the elite ranks of the Nielsen Ratings Viewers.

And one day my dream came true.

But it turned out that you should be really careful what you wish for because the ratings forms are a pain in the ass to fill out. And you have to keep one in every room in which you have a TV; we have 5 TVs in 5 different rooms.  Then you are supposed to literally mark the form in great detail every time you watch anything.  

Needless to say I screwed it up right out of the box.

And then I started forgetting to fill it out.

Then I started just making stuff up because I felt guilty for forgetting to fill out the form last time I watched TV.

I felt guilty all the time because I figured I was singlehandedly screwing up an extensive survey.

Then one day I had to send the form back and I realized it was a total mess because some days I hadn't filled out anything and other days I tried to mark every channel I flipped to.  I am apparently not smart enough for the Nielsen ratings.

But the experts at Nielsen apparently recognized my genius and called me again in early 2013.

This time, however, I realized the folly of my ways and declined to participate.  But they don't take "No" for an answer at Nielsen.  I politely said no to the first lady who called me during dinner and explained that filling out the form was just too much work and I screwed up last time anyway.  She cheerfully explained that they had simplified the form and really wanted my opinion.  I declined again.  Finally she let me off the phone.

I thought that was the end of it.

No. The second time I saw Nielsen ratings appear on my caller ID I thought there had to be a mistake but, no, it was yet another creepily cheerful person on the other end of the line explaining with passion that, "Your opinion matters, Liz!"  I declined again, this time more forcefully.

I thought it was over.  But the terror was just beginning.

They kept calling and I just started screening any phone number that said "Nielsen". This went on for a few weeks.  Again, I thought it was over.  But then I went to the mailbox and found the oh-so-familiar package from Nielsen that I knew held their complicated forms. Forms I had refused.  WTF??? Then I knew that they were stalking me. And I got scared. Really scared.  Like tinfoil over the windows scared.

I thought the tinfoil would keep the radio waves or TV waves or whatever the hell witchcraft they use to detect my presence but it didn't work. They sent a postcard to make sure I got the packet but I think they were just fucking with me because they had to have known I had received it.  I ignored the postcard, immediately called my therapist, and started taking psychotropic drugs. I stopped walking anywhere near the windows in my house.

Today was the last straw.  My caller ID said, "unknown caller". So I answered the phone. And it was ANOTHER guy from Nielsen who wanted to know if I had gotten the ratings forms.  I lost my shit. 

I yelled at him and told him I meant business and that I was NOT going to give them my opinion on TV shows. He said cheerfully, "But Liz, your opinion is important!"  And I replied, "Apparently not to you guys or you would have accepted my opinion that I should not fill out your stupid ratings forms and stopped calling me.  And I will not fill out the forms that you sent because I don't want them."  

Then he had the nerve to say, "So you have the forms? You still have them?"  I screamed, "Yes. I have them and I don't want them!!"  And he said, "Can you mail them back to us?"

No this is not a joke - he really said that.  I think I may have had a small stroke when I heard his words. And I hung up.

I normally love giving my opinion but I fear that my spirit is now broken and I may never again share an opinion about anything.  Maybe.

Febreeze

What is up with those Febreeze commercials?

Let me just say that while I am working I like to have the TV on in my office for background noise.  The TV is actually not on my desk so I can't see it unless I turn around so sometimes strange commercials or newscasts interrupt my concentration and I have one of those Scooby Doo, "Duhhh???" moments where I say to myself, "Did I hear that correctly?"  Today I heard a Febreeze commercial that I have probably seen before but never noticed and it kind of got me thinking....and it freaked me out.

Ok let me break it down for you in case you haven't seen these commercials.

The Febreeze people create a horrible smelly situation by, say, leaving raw meat and fish in a hot car for a few days and then putting a Febreeze air freshener in the car. Then they put a blindfolded person in the car with the dead rotting flesh and the air freshener and ask them what they smell.  The people always say things like, "Wow, it smells like fresh flowers and a field of daisies." Or, "Wow I have never smelled anything so fresh in my life!"

What is wrong with this picture?

Are the Febreeze people advocating using their product to simply mask filth? It seems that way to me. I mean if you don't live in a garbage dump who the hell has a house that is so smelly that it requires the unnaturally strong powers of an uber-air freshener? 

Don't get me wrong, I live in a house with 4 dogs so I often have a candle burning and I actually keep a sachet under the seat of my car to drown out any residual canine smell from when the dogs ride with me.  But a candle could never mask the smell of a rotting carcass. No way.  So why would you need something that strong unless you were living in the kind of filth that would render you in need of a visit from the people on that show, "Hoarders"?

It makes you wonder who the target market is for the Febreeze super-strong air freshener product and how the Febreeeze people found out about them? Did they do market research on really smelly people? If so, you have to think there are an awful lot of them in this country because Febreeze airs commercials all the freaking time.  I wonder how large a target market has to be to qualify for a corporate television ad campaign? 

If the U.S. has a population of about 300 million people wouldn't a corporation need to target at least a few million of them to make an ad campaign cost effective? Do really smelly people who live in filth have TVs?  Do they vote? Where do they live? I have SO many questions.  But at the end of the day I think that if we live in a world where the only thing that can kill the smell of a dirty home is a super powered air freshener rather than, say, soap & water, flowers, candles, or just opening a window then we are doomed.

Cranky With People Who Can't Answer Questions

Actual conversation with a potential client who has no resume at all and no Linkedin profile (so I know nothing about his background) whom we will call Mr. X:

Me: Are you starting an active job search?

Mr. X: Well I have been in merchant services for many years and I started out my career selling cell phones for my cousin and then I got into this field and now I make about $30,000 per month which is a really good living...

Me; (interrupting) What can I do for you? Do you need a resume?

Mr. X: Yes I need a resume but I am so unique that its hard for me to talk about what all I have done and....

Me: (interrupting) Are you starting an active job search?

Mr X: Yes I am starting an active job search because I am sick of my industry and I want to sell my portfolio and get a job doing something else.

Me: What do you want to do?

Mr. X: Well I have only really been in merchant services and I don't know anything about other industries like nanotechnology so I need a resume so I can find a nice place to land but I make really good money....

Me: (interrupting) If you don't have any idea what you want to do I really don't see how I can write a resume for you. Also, what does nanotechnology have to do with anything?

Mr X: Oh someone mentioned nanotechnology to me. How am I supposed to figure out what to do next if you don't brainstorm some ideas with me?

Me: (want to kill myself about now) Look, my job is to help you get what you want and I do that by interviewing you and helping you craft a resume and plan to get the job you want....but if you have no idea what you want I can't be effective. Also you are all over the place when you talk about your background...you need to be able to succinctly tell someone what you do....sales, marketing, product development or whatever.

Mr X: Oh, OK...so what do I need to do so you can write me a resume?

Me: (bang head against desk until I pass out)

The end. (yes this conversation actually happened but I probably got some of his comments a little wrong because he was very scattered)

Cranky for No $@!??$% Reason

Today started off OK and for no reason, this afternoon I became cranky and irritable. I have a headache, my stomach hurts, and virtually everything is annoying to me.  It reminds me of that Jimmy Buffett Song that goes, "my head hurts, my feet stink, and I don't love Jesus".

Maybe one of the government drones that I have heard so much about lately is sending evil signals to my head which is causing my headache. Sounds reasonable.

My dogs are being well behaved today so they are, for once, not making me cranky.

It's cold outside (for Austin) and I love that so the weather is not affecting my mood.

I really want some Taco Bell which I can't have because (a) its not really that tasty once you actually eat it, and (b) I am not supposed to be eating junk food right now.  That could be causing some cranky.  Yeah unmet food cravings will do it.

I have some pretty nice clients right now and Lana, my new assistant, is making my life easy so it's not work.

The fact that I can't pinpoint the source of my crankiness is making me more cranky....its a vicious cycle that I just can't break.  

I guess for today I will just have to report that I am cranky for no reason and leave it at that.  Also I should probably not be around people for the rest of the day.

Random List of Things That Make Me Cranky

1. Slow Drivers (if you are driving more than 20 mph below speed limit you are slow)

2. Allergies (mine)

3. People who waste my time and/or being forced to spend time with people I don't like

4. The fact that my boot camp has made me so sore I can barely move

5. The crossing guard by the school near my house. Seriously, do you have to run out in traffic with your handheld stop sign (at a corner where there are already 3 stop signs) and wave your arms wildly so that drivers who are already stopped do not decide to rev up their engines and drive over people walking their dogs??  Yeah that's right, the crossing guard near my house doesn't restrict his overly enthusiastic job performance to the children who attend the school. He thinks we are so stupid that we won't stop at a stop sign that we have to stop at ALL THE TIME and will just run down pedestrians and dogs at will.  

6. Apple. Every time my iPhone needs an update it takes at least 20 minutes and half the time it deletes my Audible books and I have to re-download them. And you call yourselves a technology company.

7. Windows 8. I don't have Windows 8 but I fear buying a new computer in case I get saddled with this crazy and poorly reviewed version of Microsoft Office. Why do the people at Microsoft think I want to learn a new version of Word? I don't. I like the version I have.  No. More. Change.

8. Why is Senator Kerry our new Secretary of State? I can think of at least 5 reasons off the top of my head that he should have been laughed out of the room for even being nominated.

9. Fat calories. They are in everything. I am only supposed to eat 31 grams of fat per day if I want to lose weight. Do you know how hard it is to only eat 31 grams of fat? I love data and I love puzzles so trying to figure out how to ingest only 31 grams of fat while also eating 140grams of carbs and 140 grabs of protein is an interesting problem to solve. And no I don't want to drink nasty protein shakes. I want real food.  This makes me cranky just writing about it.

10. Those super sad ASPCA commercials. OMG I have to turn the channel every time these commercials come on TV or I will cry.  Where do they get footage of dirty homeless dogs and why are they filming them instead of scooping them up and rescuing them right then and there?  If I ran across an animal in those circumstances the last thing I would do would be to pull out a video camera.  For the record I donate $20 per month to the ASPCA and am passionate about animal rescue (all of our pets are rescues) but I cannot stand the sight of abused and neglected animals and wish they would take those commercials off the air.

Clients Who Make Me Cranky

I write resumes for a living.  Seems like a pretty simple job right? I ask people questions and create a resume for them.  Most of my clients are executives yet, based on things that actually happen to me on a regular basis, I wish that I could post the following on my website:

Dear Potential Clients:

If you want me have the tools and information necessary to create a resume that makes you look like a superstar here are a few tips for you:

1. When I conduct your 1 hour phone interview please don't take your dog to the dog park during the call and expect me to be able to hear you over 50 barking dogs.

2. During our interview please don't drive while talking on your cell phone because you will hit "dead zones" where I can't hear you, or our call will be cut off, or you will get distracted by traffic accidents.

3. Read the first draft of the resume I send you so you will have some idea of what questions I am going to ask you. If you have done no homework and can't remember basic information about your own career history you waste my time and yours.

4. Know the chronology of your career. If you can't tell me the names of every company you have worked for it's going to be hard for me to tell your story.

5. If you can't, off the top of your head, list all of your job titles at a former employer please look that information up before I interview you.

6. Please do not talk to other people in your home, office, or at the dog park while I am trying to interview you.

7. When I ask you what you accomplished in a specific job, do not tell me what you learned. I just want to know what you did and if there are metrics that support your achievements.

8. When I ask you how many people you managed, don't list the names of all of the people you worked with and expect me to count them up. Just say "7".

9. When I ask you if you were recruited to a company or why you made a career move don't tell me, "well Bob Johnson recruited me" because I have no idea who Bob is. Just say, "the CEO recruited me" and leave it at that.

10. Do not describe yourself as a team player. Ever. Unless you are a professional soccer or football player, then it's OK.