Brilliant #Email from @Facebook

I've been taking a Facebook vacation this week... I only go on Facebook to interact with people who have sent me Facebook Messenger messages and to post for one of the companies I work with. (Sorry, not the video game company.)  Otherwise, I ignore the little red notification circle. Last night it said 49. Oddly, the app on my phone says 30.  I figure next Sunday I'll make a brief appearance, get caught up and then consider another vacation. It's been nice and quiet without Facebook.

Facebook has noticed my overall absence as it just sent me an email trying to get me to show my face. While I'm not going to click on it, I do want to spend a little time writing about how brilliant it is. The email marketer in me geeked out a little bit when I discovered what they're doing.

So check-it... subject mentions a friend by name and then shows a little bit of what looks like something they would have said.  (I had seen the full subject earlier on my desktop and it said "[Friend] and others have updated their statuses.)

So, naturally, I'm curious... what would we have been proud that my friend did?  So I opened the email.  But the actual status is nowhere to be found. I'm using Inbox by Gmail which is notorious at rendering emails wrong, so I wasn't sure... was it a mistake that I couldn't find the status update, or was it a ploy to get me to click through.

So I looked at the source - sure enough - hidden, white-on-white 1 pixel text in a 1 pixel tall table cell with css styling to hide. They were definitely not wanting you to see this in the email.  Brilliant!!!

#4 - It's a Thing #blogaday

I don't know what to write for this one.

So, still thinking about what I wrote yesterday, here's an original piece of art I call "Stained Glass Paris" for lack of a better name.

I experimented with Google Translate to try to come up with a different name, but I couldn't find one I liked, so we'll stick with this one.  Simple, straightforward.  This was kind of fun. I could see doing it again, but limiting myself to a particular set of colors, or trying to be more intentional in my placement - when you step back and look at the whole, certain lines bisect the piece and it would be interesting to radiate out lighter or darker shades from those lines.

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Blogaday 2017 (what is blogaday?)

• #1 - Not My Resolution
• #2 - Walking on Sunshine
• #3 - Vacation I've Never Taken

Tomorrow: #5 - My Favorite Selfie

#3 - Vacation I've Never Taken #blogaday

Part of me regrets not having traveled more. Before I was married, before we had children, when we only had one child, before we moved from Seattle, etc. But if I'm being honest, I somewhat dread traveling.



While I'm fascinated to scroll through Google Maps or watch drone videos, it's more detached and you get to see the highlights without all of that travel. Traveling can be tough. Long flights in tiny seats, lots of walking, looking at stuff (like museums or old buildings) that people say is important without having enough context to really appreciate why it's important, or with the kids, making sure that we're aware of where exits are and where we are on the meltdown threat index.

I enjoyed Victoria, BC - you could get there with some driving and a boat and then you had your own car with you on the other side. I enjoyed being a tourist in Seattle. And I enjoy the day trips we take now, but there's always been a little bit of regret that I haven't been to Sydney, Paris, Berlin or London and that it's been a long time since I've been to Maui.

But part of me imagines Ireland. Not the touristy big city, but a rental at the end of a long rutted road outside a small village. Going into the village to shop or for a pint, getting to know the locals. It's probably more of a solo imagining where I'm just the quiet foreigner who people think might be an author or something. And if not Ireland, then at least an arrondissement way outside of the tourist sector when the weather is nice and we can wake up, sit on a little patio with gauzy curtains swaying in the breeze, or perhaps pop down to a little cafe for a petit repas before a very leisurely day. And that's more of a couples imagining than a whole family thing. But if I were to think about what these both have in common is that they're not rushed. There isn't some need to get it all in because time is limited. If I'm going to spend hours on a plane, I'm owed enough time between flights to get acclimated (when Alaska Airlines is sending me a popup reminding me the webcheck for the flight home while I'm still checking into the hotel... that sucks), that it needs to be a retreat away from everything else, long enough for it to be home for awhile.

I do hope to get everyone on board a plane for Hawaii at some point, but that does seem like a long trip for Ben.

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Blogaday 2017 (what is blogaday?)

• #1 - Not My Resolution
• #2 - Walking on Sunshine

Tomorrow: #4 - It's a Thing

#2 - Walking on Sunshine #blogaday

Hello and Merry Christmas, Burbank (12/24)

Some people want the snow. Been there, done that.

I am enjoying being back in Los Angeles where the weather's great and the people are chill.   The last place we lived claimed it was all "within reach" but their definition of "all" was pretty lacking.

It's a crossover. A crossover SUV.

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Blogaday 2017 (what is blogaday?)

• #1 - Not My Resolution

Tomorrow: #3 - Vacation I've Never Taken

#1 - Not My Resolution #blogaday

#1 - Not My Resolution - This year, I'm not going to resolve to be a better person. There are a million ways I could improve. There are a million things I could improve. I don't have a self-esteem issue, but I'm fully aware of many of my shortcomings, though I know all of my friends, family and co-workers could come up with their own lists without too much trouble.  This year, I'm going to try to keep it together.  That may be the best I can do.  Not make things worse.  Nip a little here, tuck a little there.

But no master plan of inbox zero, or dad-of-the-year or sainthood nominations. No higher office or corner suite. I won't lie and say that I'm going to forgo personal growth or change altogether. I won't be able to keep up with the recycling or laundry, I won't have abs of steel, I won't climb any mountains but I won't take up smoking or drinking either.

This will be a year of small gains.

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What is this? 

A few years ago, I participated in a January Blog-a-Day and while it was a bit of work, it was a fun way to start the new year. So, I thought I'd do it again.  This time, I'm the one with the list of topics and I didn't recruit a cadre of bloggers - but if you're reading this... thanks! And please consider joining me.

Each day, I'll present a new topic. What you do it with, if anything, is entirely up to you.  It might be a blog post, a drawing, a painting, a photo of something you scrawled on the bathroom wall.  It could be a Tweet, an Instagram or a rant on YouTube.  Whatever. That is actually what makes it fun - seeing all the ways people can be creative with nothing more than a few words to seed the idea.

The daily cadence isn't supposed to create pressure or stress, but give you a starting point. And if you do post something, let me know I'll link to it so when people visit the blog post later they'll find all kinds of creative interpretations.  (What if it's August 2018 and you're just now reading this? Feel free to jump right in, I'd be happy to keep adding links if new people join in!) How many topics are there? I've got quite a few. I'll let you know when I run out.

Tomorrow: #2 - Walking on Sunshine

@Avis, @Budget and the Viking Billing Service Fraud Scam

So we got a letter the day before yesterday from Viking Billing Service alleging damage to a car we rented from Avis.  The paper had the logos for Viking Billing Service and for Budget (who owns Avis or something).  It did not provide too many details but we had rented a car from Avis earlier this year and it did have a large scratch on it when we picked it up, a detail noted by the agent who checked the car out to us.  This was 6 months and 2 days ago.

We contacted Avis by email and the next day, were contacted by Viking Billing Service.  Apparently Avis had just passed it off to them without even looking into it.

Viking cannot provide us with any details about the rental or the actual damage and asked us to call the Avis branch where we got the car.  My wife called and someone promised to get back to her. When they didn't, she called again today. She was told that records are only kept for six months so no records were available, there was nothing that could be provided.   (Again - the rental was 6 months and 2 days ago.)

So my wife called the place where the car was dropped off.  They offered to email her a confirmation, but it was simply the return receipt. Not a checkoff, not an inspection, just that little slip they give you when the car is turned in.  You know how it is these days - they don't look at the cars while you're there, they just have you park in a a row, give you a little slip and send you on your merry way.

So we were later able to determine that the damage report was filed one day after we returned the car, but we weren't able to determine where the report was filed from but my wife thinks it was filed by the place where we picked it up.  The damage report wasn't entered into the Avis system until November.  So far, no one has been willing to provide us with any documentation.

We talked to a lawyer who says that the rental car companies bundle up these claims and sell them to Viking Billing Service.

So Viking Billing Service has already paid Avis for the right to harass you for money (whether or not it's even true) so they're not going to be willing to help you if there's been an error.  And the person assigned gets paid on commission so their only goal is to get you to pay up.  And it's gotta suck to work there.... a 2.4 on Glassdoor? You gotta try really hard to be that bad.  That's worse than Zulily.

And Avis has already washed their hands of it, getting some money. So why should they care if they're sticking the wrong person with the bill?  (Or maybe they stick multiple people with the bill. Would not surprise me.)

We're fighting it.  We're not paying it.  The car was damaged when we got it and we did not damage it further.  And Avis refuses to provide any documentation relating to either our pick-up of the car or our return or the damage report itself.  (We're still hoping that we've still got the paperwork around here somewhere, but we haven't come up with it yet.)

This is fraud. Plain and simple.  Probably someone at Avis gets a kick-back from Viking.  This is Wells Fargo-style "screw the customer" fraud.

Worst case scenario, we'll call the credit card company we used to rent the car and send it to them, but we'll strongly encourage them not to pay it. The problem is, for the credit card company, it's such a small amount they'd probably just pay it because that's the cheapest solution.

We will also be contacting the Better Business Bureau, our state's insurance commissioner and the Attorney General in our state and the Minnesota Department of Commerce (who has fined them in the past for violations).  It would also be nice to find a lawyer who wants to take it on as a class-action lawsuit.

So I don't know if this is an Avis scam, a Budget scam or a Viking Billing Service scam, but it's a scam.  They intentionally wait hoping you'll have discarded paperwork or lost photos (if you took any yourself) and I wouldn't be surprised if they bill multiple people for the same damage. (Searching on Google, apparently this is a Hertz scam and a National Car Rental scam as well. Must be good business ripping people off.)

All I know is that Avis, Budget and Viking Billing Services are either rotten thieves or just incredibly careless, inept and callous -- and danged if they're going to get our money for damage committed by some other renter.  (Danged if they're ever going to get any of our money ever again - when I have a choice in who I rent with, it will never be them.)

Apparently this has been going on for years, must be profitable for Hertz, Avis, Budget, National Car Rental and Viking Billing Services.  Just check out Google.  Seriously, I think it's time for a class action lawsuit.

Notes

I took my notebook with my today to just down some action items and wouldn't you know it, I started writing down other stuff, too.  I wish I had more time to unpack it, but it's getting late and I want to read (and Lori's going to ask about the loud typing on this keyboard).

In our Sunday school class we've been looking at the Articles of Faith (?) for the Nazarene Church - how they explain and interpret what they believe.  It was an interesting focus today on sin - sin in the world versus when we personally choose to sin, either by action or in the thoughts that we harbor or nurse. Also some interesting thoughts on accidents, mistakes and other things that would be sin if they were done intentionally.

We got into the thoughts of "It's All About Me" versus "It's Not About Me at All" - absolutizing and negating, pride/selfishness and self-rejection/rejection-of-God - I matter versus nothing matters. It was interesting that both represented a wrong focus.  I wish I could explain it better.

At first I was feeling "how is this not legalistic?" but the more I listened, the more I realized it was thoughtful, Scripture-based reasons (why) for the interpretations they had arrived at and not a list (how) of rules that you had to follow. I appreciated that the church also meets every four years to discuss the Articles to make sure they still represent their best most current understanding of Scripture.  There was also the analogy that we have to be careful, that if we focus too much on the Bible, it's like someone pointing at the moon and we focus on the hand pointing instead of what they're pointing at.

We also touched on systemic sin, when it's baked into the culture or process of a company, government or church, any time that by design (or neglect) a system comes to oppress, take advantage or exclude people.  His example was a clothing company that profited at the expense of its workers and their working conditions but all I could think of was Wells Fargo.

After Sunday school, we went to church and I had the revelation that it's been a long time since I've been on the outside looking in.  I've been really pretty involved in all the churches I've attended, well, practically my whole life - from Family of God to Silverdale to Bethel to Lake Avenue to Our Saviors - every time I've had volunteer, leadership or staff roles, some kind of input, some kind of behind-the-scenes type of service. So far at this church, I've been much more of a consumer (something I was once accused of at another church, laughably, guess they'd forgot that I'd served on the council and ran audio and actually led a few of the church services for all but the preaching), but yeah, at this church so far I've been a show up, participate, contribute money attender, but I haven't volunteered, I haven't served, I haven't given of my time.  I felt a little bit guilty, but I'm also a little bit in awe of how this church seems to have it altogether, lots of volunteers, polished videos, great graphic design, lots of volunteers (worth mentioning twice, seriously, wow).  I wondered if I would think differently if I did get more involved, did see more of behind-the-scenes, or if this church just really really has it all together.  The same idea I think that makes me think I wouldn't want to work for Disney.

I was also struck again by just amazement / awe / gratitude that we live in Southern California again. I love it here. It's just overwhelming in a good way to be here.  I think I'm risking not appreciating it, though, being so busy and not making time to really get out and experience the community.

So many Seattle - talked to a number of people today who are from Seattle or who had recently travelled there.  Turns out the music director grew up there.  Started the service by commenting on how today's weather was what you'd get for many weeks in a row.  True... gray and rainy. Didn't care for it.

I should stop for now. I have more things, but I've been typing for almost 20 minutes now. That's enough clicking and clacking.