At least it's not raining

[altivo]

Sun? What's that? At least the thermostat has been turned down.

The last couple of days have been gray as gray. Mosquitoes are loving it, I'm not. The ground is starting to dry out from the last gully washer a week ago, though. We need hay soon. Hopefully things will stay dry enough so we can get it.

Spent 45+ minutes on the line with tech support for the library system this morning. Not my choice, but I'd reported a problem that apparently occurs only in the Linux version of their client software, and I was asked to help the tech guy duplicate it. I warned them that it's intermittent, I can't always make it happen, but they insisted on trying. Of course it didn't happen. They weren't prepared to meet the real set up needs, and the tech support staff wasn't familiar with the functionality or terminology, so I had to explain everything three times and tell him every keystroke he needed. As I said at the time, the only thing I hate worse than being the tech support is having to call tech support.

On the other paw, I had the library to myself this morning, completely. It was quiet for the first time in three weeks. That, I loved.

Gary ran the hose out to the garden this morning, so I can water my baby plants. They need to go in pronto. Saturday, I hope.

Started listening to the audiobook version of Gregory Maguire's A Lion Among Men and it's so good that I can't stand the slow pace of the reading, so I'll probably read the print edition instead.

Comments

[avon-deer.livejournal.com]

Mosquitoes are nasty. We're starting to get the striped Mediterranean varieties in the UK now. :/

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

That's one of the things that bugs me about audio books too. :) I've recently discovered radio plays, though, which aren't as annoying in that regard.

I just love having to explain tech things to tech support. x)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Wait till you get Central American ones. Global warming could make it happen. They're like bombers armed with gimlets.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The trouble with radio plays is that, like movies, they leave so much of the stuff out. I like an audiobook with a good reader, but I hate, hate, hate walking around with headphones on. Don't even mention those "earbud" things, no way. So I tend to listen just when I'm driving, and that means that I get two 30 minute periods in the average day. If the book is really good, I don't want all those long waits between segments. I just listened to the version of Gulliver's Travels from librivox.org in the car. It took a month to get through it.

It infuriates me that companies insist on hiring tech support staff who only know how to work a telephone, and know nothing about their products. Library software is highly specific to library functions, and they need staff who know the terminology and concepts. Certainly I should not have to explain what record locking is, why it exists, and how it works to a support person who is supposed to help me solve problems involving that function. This guy was polite enough, but he had no clue about how libraries or their databases work. Not one iota.