Customer Service

why is it that all customer support people are dumber than me? why must companies insist on employing people who know nothing about the product they are supposed to be able to help me with? it is one of the most annoying things and i must say that stupidity frustrates and annoys me. i detest it.

now you may be wondering, what bee has got in my bonnet. well i'll tell you.

we switched internet service providers this week, today installation was complete. all we had to do was put the new IP addy in my wireless router. so after checking with my friend John, i am able to get in and i put the new specifications in..... it wouldn't connect.... so i call the ISP for support. after they double checked that i put everything in correctly, and it still doesn't work, they say that everything is fine on their side and since my router is one that they do not support (as if i was to buy a brand new router from them when i had a perfectly good, working one in my house) they send me to the customer service people of the makers of my router. so i call them..... would you know i get this idiot of an Indian woman, who could not seem to grasp what was happening. i kept explaining it to her, she wanted to to set the router to its default settings, connect to my comp using the Ethernet connection and then maybe it would work that way. i was like u want me to lose all the perfectly set up wireless settings for the 3 computers in the house and use an Ethernet cord that i don't have..... she even had to put me on hold to check out things etc. i was like i should be able to do this wirelessly cause i can see the router specifics and i can talk to the router using the router IP addy.....it pissed me off so much. i was like.. its ok......

my solution was call John again. he had never done this set up before, be he found the answer, the Firmware wasn't compatible with my ISP. it was obviously a problem the company had encountered before cause they had an update for me to use specifically for my ISP on their website. now why didn't the woman know this, even after i told her which ISP i was with. its insane. her solution would not even have worked in this case, cause the info the router was using was out of date and not compatible with the ISP. John figured that out straight away... so thank God for John. he downloaded the update and i was able to get it from him, upload it and now it all works. (as you can tell since i am writing this)

mmmmmmm..... people..... service people... kiss teet....

The Rest of the Weekend

The rest of the weekend was pretty low key. church was great. i really felt a sense of joy that jesus rose from the dead. that he is alive. my confession is that most times easter kind of comes and goes and its not all the time that i think about the reason behind the season. but this year i had a new awareness. it was cool.

Sunday was also my friend, Wari's, b-day but sadly she was working. so friend's and I went to the hospital, she is an ED Registrar, to surprise her with cake and a serenade. wouldn't you know as we walked into the ED, i saw Andre, my ex-flatmate. we had 3 wonderful years together. he an i are in the same grad year and he was working that day. it was brilliant timing, cause he got us in, Wari had just finished an LP and was on her way to lunch and the surprise went off without a hitch. it was so cool to see her reaction. and the cake..... oooohhhhh mmmmyyy. it was really great cake. vanilla with strawberries and fresh cream. woohhoo, good stuff.

then later that night, i went to my friend Simon's wedding party. he got married a little over a month ago in Israel, which of course i couldn't make. so he had a party for all of those people who couldn't be there so that we could see the video and congratulate he and Shimrit. it was a great party, good food and i got to see friends that i hadn't seen in a while. People like Philipa and Bret, who are also doctors. Phil, Simon and I were in the very first PBLs together in med school. Phil stood beside me and explained to me the history behind the customs that i was seeing in the video. Shimrit was so cute, she made this video for him that was played at the wedding where she went to the streets of Tel Aviv and around and asked people about their thoughts on love and marriage. it was cool and so funny. she even asked her younger cousins. you know how kids say the coolest things... lol. then simon gave this beautiful mushy speech and you could just tell he is so happy. he spoke about the first time when Shimrit came over to Australia and he came home and found her crying. he thought something was wrong or that something had happened but that wasn't the case, she was crying cause nothing was wrong. she had secretly thought that she was gonna come here and they would have nothing in common but instead she found that she had found someone she could spend the rest of her life with. how cute is that...... awww it was beautiful.

then monday i saw one of the worst movies i have seen in a while. usually i am so good at picking them. i just don't go to see crap movies. it is a rare occasion that i have been deceived so badly. this movie was Vantage point. it had great actors, bad directing and a horible script. the actors couldn't save it. they all looked like they were acting horribly. they didn't have much to work with. the script wasn't fleshed out, so many unnecessary things, unanswered questions. just crap. the editing was bad, the rewinding thing that they kept doing was annoying. oh, so disappointed. i felt ripped off. i mean $15.50 for that. we had to go home and watch something sensible after that.... we watched part of West Wing, then project runway. ahhh so the night ended ok.....

I know that this is a long one but bare with me, here is the last thing......:-) i got my roster today. my first shift is on thur and i am working the first 2 weekends in April. its gonna be hard core, but at least i'm off for graduation, a Friday, even though i have to work the following sat and sunday.... i guess its time for this stage of life to begin......

Good Friday

what a great day this is. a day when we remember the gift of Jesus. his death on the cross and the freedom that we have in him because the Father gave. this morning pastor B spoke from Luke 24, post resurrection when the disciples did not recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus. the point that they recognized him was when he did something they had seen him do all the time. they didn't recognize his voice or how he looked, but when he took the bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to them, then their eyes were opened. Pastor pointed out that those 4 actions (the taking, blessing, breaking and giving), God the Father had been doing them all through history, with and through the lives of people. It happened to Moses, Abraham, Joseph and it happened to Jesus. he pointed out that no matter what is going on in our lives that there is purpose behind the breaking and it is so we can be given (to those around us). oh to live with purpose, its a beautiful thing. we go through tough times, not because they are fun, but because they happen. not all tough times are sent from God, but He will use them for our benefit and his Glory. they help make us better people, stronger, full of faith and confidence. they also help us to be more compassionate, empathetic to those going through similar circumstances and better able to help them because we have overcome our challenges ourselves. our freedom in Christ, makes us able to overcome and live significant lives. this Easter, let us remember Jesus and his gift of salvation with grateful, thankful, Free hearts.

so these are my thoughts for the day. have a really blessed Easter Season....

Visa Granted

well well people, the day we have been waiting for all this time is here. my visa has been granted. yes sirree.... how lovely. i had to contact my case officer and remind her of my case. seems like she was swamped and i was lost in all that paper, cause she was very apologetic and got on to it straight away. it was like she skipped weeks of communication with her and only remembered my conversation with her in december. i had to remind her that i sent her my medical registration last week. she was like 'really? when did you send it?' i told her the date and that i even called her the day after and she told me that she had gotten it. that was when she was like....'oooohhhh, Ruth, so sorry... blah blah blah.'

neways, i said i was just checking on the status, cause alot of things were being held up without it. so it has been approved, i can go tomorrow and get my stamp in my p-port, and get on with it. it is valid till 2012...hehehehe... all good man..... all good.

so yea that's the good news, catch yall later

Breville Commercial

i don't know why i didn't think of this before..... here is the ad i did last year for Breville. i realize that most would not have seen it even if they lived here in aussie land, so i thought i would bring it to you. enjoy.....

Booooored but ok

So i have had a week of doing nothing, which has only been cute up to a point. i get so bored so easily. after all these years of study, its hard for me not to be doing stuff. after the first couple of days of relaxing, chilling with my friend John and fixing my computer, i had nothing to do, so i stayed inside my house. i did go to the gym though....

man, my trainer worked me hard. i was in pain for most of the week...lol. i guess he is just doing his job and shaping this bod into one extra fine specimen. he is a bit cheeky but he is encouraging. in the process of doing a fitness test he told me that i probably have the flexibility of an 80 yr old....lol..( i have always been inflexible, as a young dancer it gave me a complex till i realized that u don't need to be that flexible to be a good dancer...lol) but he did also say that my strength is amazing, so i think it balances out, don't you?

neways, Saturday ended up being a pretty good day, or should i say night. the day was rather boring and slightly depressing but then i decided to go to church, and chill with my friend Em. that was very good for me. when i got there i found out about friend's B-day Dinner. so i went to that after church. there i got to meet new people and i laughed a lot, which as the Bible says, is good like a medicine. great convo and meeting more black people never goes astray. it was good and perked me up.

Sunday i was up early, sang at church and hung out with a friend, which was great. in the night i went to a movie night at another friend's house and that was a cool time. though the number of girls far out numbered the number of guys, so that was a bit mmmmmmm, especially at the beginning. lol... i'm gonna have to protest: "more dudes, more dudes, more dudes"... to balance it alllllll out. neways, the good thing about not working is that i can be out late and not feel bad bout it in the morning. so late night= late morning...lol.... that i am enjoying.

so there is the rundown of my weekend. nothing huge happening, but huge things can't happen all the time.... i'm talking a break...
:)

She's Home

So Liz went home over the weekend. she looks good doesn't she. i haven't been able to talk to my brother, so i'm not sure how things are going, i just saw that he had photos up, saying that she was home. so that is good news at least. i hope things are going well.

TCL Dinner

the other night i went out with the folks from the lab for a kind of farewell dinner. Jen, Christine and myself have left the lab and this was a kind of goodbye, plus postponed Chinese New year dinner. we didn't have it at Chinese place though. it was at this Peruvian BBQ place. basically we could eat all the meat we wanted. they served it to use with some salad and Chips...lol... so basically it was meat, meat galore. my favourite was the lamb that was just great, as only lamb can be. the Churiso sausage was really good as well. Tailoi was very sweet and brought us gifts, mine being a bracelet. Jen, Chris, myself and Tailoi ended up being the last to leave as we sat there chatting away. it was good to see that we had become sort of friends, and could have good convos outside of the office. it was a good night. we all love food, as u can tell as all our get togethers and pictures involve food...

Colour Conference and Album

From Thursday last week, i have had an amazing time with God. times filled with revelation, fun and amazing Praise and Worship. it was Colour conference this week as well as my church's album recording on sunday. there were amazing speakers who reminded me of the grandeur and awesomeness of God, but also of the fact that this amazing God, cares about me and has chosen to have relationship with me. all He is waiting on is me. i got something from every speaker. conference was very good. this year i also volunteered using my medical knowledge to do vertigo checks, for those women who found it difficult to sit in the upper sections of the arena. it wasn't as bad as last year and it was fun getting to know the other people at the station.

to top off the weekend, we as a church gathered together to worship god, and that was recorded live. it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. the presence of God was tangibly there, and i just know that miracles happened last night and that amazing things will happen in peoples lives around the globe when they hear this record. Joel and his team did an amazing job.

Reflections

Friends of mine experienced in one day incredible joy and tremendous sorrow. they lost their 24wk premature baby, Max Kingston. his life was way too short, just one day, but his impact was greater than some people make in a lifetime. his life showcased the strength of the local church family, the support that they offered and how blessed i am to be in a church that cares.

it was amazing to see the strength that is within his parents, who have handled this with grace, faith and warrior spirits. it's a testimony to their relationship with Jesus and with each other. i just pray that if i should ever have to experience such tragedy, that i would have the strength of character to respond in the way they did. they make me want to be a better person, to have a greater relationship with God and to love more deeply. the support and love i saw in them for each other was simply beautiful.

the memorial service was amazing and such a celebration of Max's life. though there was sadness that he was no longer with us, there was also joy that he was with the Father. the true character of a person is always revealed in the trials of life and through this i caught a glimpse of a facet of myself.

i saw that i have the capacity to care deeply but also to shut that caring off completely, or as close as you can get to completely. for the 1st 2-3 days i didn't cry, i felt sad and disappointed but i basically reacted as if my friend was a patient. i was empathetic, expressed my condolences, but i was not letting myself feel the pain of the situation. however at the funeral, it all came crashing down and my friend Emma helped me to realize what was going on. she told me that this was one time that i was allowed to feel this loss completely. this wasn't work and my only job was to support my friends and grieve with them. i also realized that i was crying not just for Max but for the other children and parents who i have come into contact with over the past months. those like the African lady, who with wrenching sobs grieved for her stillborn baby boy. i couldn't cry at the time, but i did on Mon. so i guess i don't really shut it off, i just push it aside until there comes a time when i can deal with it. i'll just have to make sure that i do deal with it, so that i don't become a hardened physician. ...

Twilight Zone

The weirdest thing happened to me yesterday. i made 3 calls to Jamaica, all to 3 different cell phone numbers all using the same phone card. each time the same person picked up, the exact same news program was playing, the same dog barked, the same child told it to shut up all with the exact same timing. it was like groundhog day. i was trying to get my father at his 50th B-day party. i was getting livid as i thought that someone at the party was picking up, being stupid and not taking the phone to him and making me wait and waste money for over 10 min each. i hate things like that. so i called my mom on my cell phone while i was on hold on my house phone and was expressing my displeasure. it now looks like there was some cross communication and i wasn't talking to anyone at the party, but some stranger. it was weird. how could i have had the exact conversation 3 times with calls to 3 different numbers. anyways my dad's party was good i gathered, he was surprised with Grandma and other family members flying down from Florida for it. i was finally able to get him, using my cell phone. it was all just simply too weird.....