|
|
|
large car payload
Friday, August 19 2005
I had a computer housecall beyond Red Hook today, one of the subcontracted kind for a national warranty fulfillment company. The broken computer in question was a massive Alienware laptop as big as a suitcase. My job was to replace its backlight ballast circuitry. "Oh, it's easy!" the fulfillment director had told me on the phone. "You just remove five screws, blah blah blah, it's all on our site." Well, the info hadn't been on their site and no, removing those screws did no good. I called tech support for my fulfillment company and they said I'd have to call Alienware. They were, in other words, leaving me twisting in the wind. In the end I managed to do the work, but it reminded me of how shady and exploitative these sorts of companies are. I keep expecting them not to pay me as part of a routine business decision to increase their profitability (or, more probably, lower their losses). I'm constantly amazed by the systemic incompetence of an organization that usually sends me on several trips to repair one computer because they're so hopeless at diagnosing what's wrong over the phone.
But when the Alienware laptop was working, the customer was so happy he gave me a $5 tip. I'd never gotten a tip before.
On my way home, I stopped at Lowes for lumber and ladders. I needed eight foot four by fours for railing posts on the new solar deck and I needed a cheap twelve foot ladder to provide semi-permanent access from the laboratory deck. What was interesting about all this was that I was not driving the truck; I was in the Honda Civic.
Some background is necessary here. During my Virginia vacation Gretchen had been been left with the truck and this intimately acquainted her with its relatively low gas mileage. "We make fun of people driving SUVs, but your truck isn't any better!" Gretchen insisted. Well, she wasn't completely right about that, but she did have a point and together we decided to arrange our lives such that we wouldn't be driving the truck as much, particularly now that the party is over, and gasoline will be expensive until we've had another Carboniferous.
We're even entertaining the idea of replacing the truck with a small hatchback. The truck's payload capacity is rarely needed and not that impressive (at least when compared to a full size Chevy pickup). Gretchen is especially excited about the idea of maybe buying a hybrid (which I would immediately proceed to hack).
At Lowes I ended up buying a sixteen foot extension ladder, a little four foot step ladder (for upcoming solar-related basement work), and three eight foot four by fours. By putting down the back seats and allowing stuff to stick out of the trunk, I had no difficulty carrying this contractor-style load in the Civic.
For linking purposes this article's URL is:
http://asecular.com/blog.php?050819 feedback
previous | next |
