That's it

I'd forgotten why so many informed artists refuse to use Ticketmaster - they are opportunistic and don't add any customer value!

Yesterday I bought tickets to a concert for tomorrow night and at that time there were only floor tickets available. I really want to go so I bought them.

Today there are lower-level section seats available - for the same price of my floor tickets. Naturally, I want to exchange.

Ticketmaster has a no-exchange policy - BUT they now support this eBay-modeled Ticketexchange thing - where the customers can sell and buy tickets. So... I can buy those lower-level section seats and hope to sell my floor tickets on Ticketexchange - if that fails, well I absorb the cost of those 2 additional tickets and Ticketmaster wins all 4 purchases. Or of course I can, in the same way, scalp my tickets outside the venue instead of inside Ticketexchange, but wait, THAT's illegal.

It's ridiculous that Ticketmaster provides the supply and mechanism to buy and exchange, yet they claim no authority of their own nor provide any customer service.

Booo! I just can't buy from them again. The alternative, simply buying at the venue box office, even includes a parking pass.

I've found the topic of comparing job happiness in Europe vs the US (based on the assumption that Europe is an example of a population that promotes a culture where people work to live and the US of one where people live to work) coming up frequently and recently, so decided to conduct my own personal survey. I asked friends in the US and Europe the same questions to see how the average answers compared. The results are in.

The population referenced is hardly a great or fair sample.. pretty much narrowed down to my friends and those who were willing to answer. But I kept it even sided. The folks are from the same age group, late 20s / early 30s. All are employed with professional-level jobs. I've also tried to spread representation from varying countries in Europe and from multiple cities in the US as much as possible. In any slighted case, here are the results for the pickin! Make what you will of it...

(Answers were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being most negative and 10 most positive)

• How do you feel about going into your current workplace?
  Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 7
  
• 
  
• How well do you think you perform the duties required by you?
  Europeans say: 9 -- Americans say: 8
  
• 
  
• How challenging is your work?
  Europeans say: 6.5 -- Americans say: 5.5
  
• 
  
• How much liberty are you given to be creative in your job?
  Europeans say: 7.5 -- Americans say: 4
  
• 
  
• How would you rate the effectiveness of your operational processes or management?
  Europeans say: 5 -- Americans say: 4
  
• 
  
• How would you rate your financial compensation for the responsibilities required of you?
  Europeans say: 8 -- Americans say: 5
  
• 
  
• How would you rate the quality of overall benefits (time off, health, etc) you attain?
  Europeans say: 9.5 -- Americans say: 6
  
• 
  
• How much do you enjoy working with your co-workers?
  Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 6
  
• 
  
• How well do you respect your co-workers?
  Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 7
  
• 
  
• How would rate your overall satisfaction with your job?
  Europeans say: 7.5 -- Americans say: 6
  

Something doesn't seem to add up to me. The numbers on the right side seem lower all the way down, but at the end overall here, it's pretty even. Innerestin. Well I guess happiness is relative. In that case I hope that as the world gets smaller, we lean toward the more pleasant side. Probably not!

For the many Web developers that read my blog... : Now you can ensure your site is Wii friendly

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http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/making-wii-friendly-pages/

Opera is the exclusive Web browser for Nintendo Wii and is available to all Wii users via the Internet Channel within the Wii Shop Channel menu. This unique user experience that is selling out worldwide will help catapult the migration of Web browsing to the living room. Stay on top of the evolution! Further tips are to follow...

http://dev.opera.com/
Follow the Standards. Break the Rules.

For those friends far away that wanted to see proof that I chopped off my hair.. here's a pic..



Answers to faqs:

Did you cry?
No

Were you drunk?
No

Did you also get a tattoo?
No

What does Vidar think?
He loves it.

Are you going to make a wig?
I did donate my hair to locks of love, but that's not why I cut it.

What made you do it?
I've been thinking about it for a long time but I always had some reason to wait, like my cousin's wedding etc. It was a good time, especially now for the summer, and it will be fun to play with short cuts as it grows again.

If I give a gift to someone I usually do it with gusto. The kind aimed to knock their socks off or strike a chord. So when I give a gift I'm not proud of, it really eats at me. This usually only happens in last minute instances, although those occurances can also guarantee a higher caliber gift than what I might normally settle for, given the urgency of the situation. This is what I thought was going to happen yesterday, when I rememebered I was seeing someone dear to me that I had forgotten to get a birthday gift for.

Earlier that day I had discovered a new fragrance boutique full of aroma treatments and therapies for everything: body, shower, home, drawers. It was pretty fantastic. But the sales people were so pushy, they seemed desperate. In any case, when I realized I needed to dash for a quick gift, I thought back to that shop and took my earlier guilt in disappointing their efforts as a sign that I should head back and would find the perfect item. But once there, it did not happen. In fact, the experience was worse. The sales people were not going to let me go without my money this time. One woman literally followed my every step, opening everything, explaining what it was, what the notes were, where it was made, and how nice it was. This is no exaggeration. At one point I had to laugh out loud. She was clearly crazy from the fumes in that place. But yet, I couldn't just leave. They were so thrilled that I kept my promise to come back, and I had no time and a great gift to buy. I spent too long examining everything there and settled on something called "Night Friction." It's what I remembered from my first visit. It's supposedly an elixir to wear at night so you will sleep soundly and can quickly relax - hence the name. At first scent, it was very nice, because of the water lily and whatever else they mentioned. And the bottle was beautiful, it altogether seemed very indulgent and feminine (and way overpriced).

However, today, when I opened the free sample they included for me to keep, I sprinkled myself with it.. to my dismay. It stinks something awful after a few minutes. I've been so sick from it that I'm tempted to just admit my gift was crap and ask if I can have it back to exchange. But guess that's not going to happen.

Instead, I'm going to have to modernize my shopping philosophies. I cannot be guilted into buying crap. Not by myself or defeated salespeople.