Why I've been off Facebook for 4 months...

You know...I'm not sure about this social media and the fall out from it. In the recent past I've embraced this new found connectivity. I've gotten to connect with family and friends I've grown up with and have not seen for years plus I've met some really good people online that have become good friends. Living half way across the world from where I'm from and grew up, I thought Facebook was an absolute blessing. I still see the upside of it all....but about 6 months ago I started seeing the dark side of Facebook and this whole social media phenomenon.

I've copped total shit from certain family members...things they never would have said to me to my face...then my sister started copping shit....my wife and then my daughter. I witnessed atrocious behaviour and total abuse. How easy for someone to abuse another without a care in the world by punching some keys and then loggin off, damage done...pain delivered. This would never happen face to face. I saw the hurt that this type of behaviour caused...the final straw was my in-laws abusing my wife and daughter. I felt like flinging the whole friggin computer, internet...cell phone into the sea! Instead I withdrew from it all, mainly cause I was angry but really to clear my mind and seek perspective.

Off for four months... I missed my true friends that I had been communicating with on FB but I didn't miss the bullshit...the inane status updates or the mindless comments. Why as humans do we discover these incredibly powerful mediums (TV...Internet, Printing Press, Film etc) and then allow the base common denominator to rule? ...."the last one in the cess-pool is a rotten egg". I'm not looking forward to seeing what society is like after generations growning up with this non-accountable type of interaction and communication.

I'm back online, in a limited - conditional capacity...we'll see for how long. I do feel clearer as to what I want to get out of the experience though and that is connection with like-minded, like hearted....like-souled individuals.

Microwave Resolution

Alright....and update to my previous post. After the dust settled to the whole microwave fiasco...microwave in a repair shop , us having been told 5-10 working days to repair. In the meantime we borrowed a buddy's microwave to get us through...secure in the knowledge that we'd have our back by Christmas. HHHAAAAA!!!!

10 working days up and Marg calls the repair shop (ironically called Prestige) and the guy tells her "we're waiting for a part and since we're so close to Christmas the likely-hood of it being repaired before Jan 11th 2010 is very slim"...well you can just imagine what kind of response we had for said repairman. January 11th????? What kind of insanity is that??? We had a brand new working microwave for 3 weeks and its then going to spend 6 weeks in a repair shop???? You've got to be kidding me...

I got on the phone to the dealer where we bought the bloody thing (The Good Guys) and I demanded to speak to a manager. I explained to him in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable. Fortunately he is a good guy and agreed with me. So the deal now was for me to pick up the unit from the repair guys and get it back in to the dealership and they would replace it no questions asked. Finally some sanity.

Apparently the unit's turntable motor melted. Go Figure, 3 weeks old!!!

As I was doing the swap with this manager...we were talking about the good old days when the dealer would take care of you right off the bat. He had told me that since these appliances have been made in backwater places....the quality is sub-par and the dealers get left with lots of bogus equipment so they have prorated responses depending on what brand and model one purchases. In our case it is a Sharp...so any fault after 7 days the manufacturer takes responsibility...if it was under 7 days the dealer would've just replaced it right then and there. He told us he felt that no matter what the prorated procedure was the dealer should still be the one to replace the unit if it goes down within a reasonable time but his hands are tied by policy.

Oh well we have our "new" microwave back in time for Christmas and all is good in the Duke household.

Quality....what quality???

Yes here I am complaining...but really I just can't contain myself. We purchased a new microwave at the end of October...the one we had lasted 5 years and was showing signs it was going to kibosh at anytime. We went down to the Good Guys (local appliance shysters)...and picked out the same model we had just a 2009 version. It looked a little smaller and wasn't as powerful; "they've discovered that one just doesn't need all that power" our chirpy little salesman chimed. We were slightly skeptical but we shrugged our shoulders and headed for the check-out. "Oh by the way...now that these are no longer made in Japan with a 3 year warranty and the workmanship of the Japanese, we suggest that you take out the extended 5 year warranty for $50.00 extra as they are now made in Taiwan." We looked at each other...the early skepticism had now turned into heartburn. Marg gave me the nod and we went ahead with the extended warranty. "You'll be happy with this choice as we don't see as many of these coming back at the other brand names" This of course made me feel all the more comfortable.

Well we got it home hooked it all up and gave the old one away to our eldest son...23 days later we are without said microwave as the bloody thing has ceased to wave any micros!!! Just plain stopped working...one minute Marg is defrosting meat the next...nada...zip....nothing!!! Well doesn't this just get the heartburn flowing....we're on the phone right away to Sharp Electronics...they tell us of a service place we can drop it off but it will mean we will be without the microwave for at at least a week to ten days. We look at each other as steam is starting to emanate throughout the house...onto the phone again, this time to the Good Guys. "Oh I'm so sorry to hear that....let me speak to our manager." After a few moments on hold..."just take it down to our dealer approved service centre and tell them it is not yet a month old and they can put a rush on it for you...should take about two weeks" Can you believe this crap??? I said, "listen can we just bring it in then you can replace it with a new one and you guys can send it back the manufacturers?" "Ah no...we don't do that sort of thing anymore, sorry sir."

So here we are...after having paid a shit load of money for a new appliance...our son has the old one that still works and we have nothing...and apparently this happens all the time.

Quality...what quality????

Time...a funny thing

I wish we could just stop time. Not because I want to stay young forever, on the contrary but to suspend certain moments, feelings and vibes. With my life the way it is...very busy, always on the go...I just wan to stop. I want time to stop; where one day can last a month, where I can truly say "I'm ready for this day to end and a new one to begin". I rarely feel that way. We live life on so many levels and if we are speeding through it all, how can we absorb and process all that occurs on all those many levels? Time needs to stop. This I know is purely irrational but I believe we can attain that sense of time stopping, if only for brief moments. I know what I have to do to get to this point. I must step out of the flow of my busy life...away from all forms of communication and technology, machinery etc. and just be. A challenge, true but achievable.
STOP TIME

Teen Language of SMS & the Net

Having teenaged kids I am exposed to this new type of communication, language. I tell you, I've been witness to some horrible spewing vitrol. Don't get me wrong I love the net and being able to sms on my cell phone but what it removes is accountabilty and responsibilty. Kids feel they can say anything damning, sexual and just plain filthy without any thought of how hurtful this type of language can be. The power of words seems completely lost on our kids and I feel at a loss in communicating this to them. I'm not against swearing but the level in which our kids are swearing I don't think I could acheive if I really worked at it.

What do we do as parents and adults?