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2/29/00 10:10:50 PM
Follow-up to my Distress story...
So I discover that I can't login to my BofA Online Banking, and call up. The woman is confused about why I didn't re-order my ATM card and when I reported it lost. Apparently, my online access is blocked until I get a new card, and none was issued Saturday when I reported it missing. Great. So, it will be at least 2 business days until I get online access back, and 5-10 days until I get my ATM card. Also, my rep couldn't order the new card; a different rep would have to do that. And also again, I'd have to call back on Thursday to *request* online access; it can't be done automatically. Isn't that helpful?
The only fun thing was that the online banking customer service had to call general customer service and hold with me, so she got to experience the real wait time. And then at the end I got to tell them both that I'd been randomly selected to take a survey, so could they please transfer me? Ha ha ha.
2/29/00 7:54:34 PM
...says an SF homeless man interviewed on NPR regarding the proposal to provide coupons and vouchers to those on General Assistance, rather than cash.
2/27/00 2:16:54 PM
Happy 27th birthday, Ethan! Little Boolie...
2/27/00 2:04:14 PM
What a story! Last night I was in Union Square with a big bunch of people, and after dinner we all decided to go to XYZ. This is what happened:
1. I left at about 10pm to retrieve my car from the garage, only to discover I had too few dollars and the garage only took cash. So, in the drizzle, I walked over to BofA.
2. The ATM took my card, beeped, and shut down -- with my card still inside! As I stood there staring at the "Temporarily out of service" message, I wondered what to do next? Everyone was gone, I had no cab fare, no ATM and no car.
3. I went over to a hotel and begged the manager to give me an advance on my credit card. She said they ordinarily didn't do that, but said I could have $20.
4. As she asked for some ID, I started to realize that I had also, somehow, lost my license! The stupid bartender earlier had required an ID for every drink ordered, so there was a lot of juggling of drinks, money and licenses. I suppose that somewhere in there I'd dropped my license.
5. The manager said she couldn't give me any money without any ID, which I said I understood. I kind of started laughing because I wondered how much worse it was all going to get before things figured themselves out. Honestly, now what?
6. I walked back to the restaurant and asked if anyone had turned in my license. They had not.
7. I called Meg at home, work and cell to beg her to retrieve me. She did not answer at any of her phones.
8. Finally, I decided to walk to XYZ, because if I didn't find everyone else, I didn't know how I was going to get home. Now there was a downpour and a good wind, so by the time I covered the 8 blocks of downtown SF streets, I arrived literally dripping wet.
9. On the plus side, the damsel-in-distress routine worked well, and kind ladies and gentlemen handed me $20 bills and offered to drive me home. After a martini or two, I was fine :)
2/24/00 5:08:03 AM
Goodbye, Drake, my darling.
2/18/00 9:26:42 PM
Notes from Hong Kong
I seem to spend most of my time in Brittish colonial Asian ports, don't I? Singapore, Madras, Hong Kong...Anyway, not much to report yet on Hong Kong except that the harbor is really stunning and bustling with boats. It's super humid here, and the city itself is dirtier than I expected. I'm sitting in the Cisco Hong Kong office, where I was perfectly able to log in and get email. I'm impressed.
2/17/00 12:41:58 AM
A few of you have been asking for more personal accounts of India, on top of the general accounts I seem to keep describing. The interesting thing is that the feeling of detachment that comes through in my accounts is probably indicative of my situation. I am thoroughly an outside observer. There is no possibility of getting a closer look because I am so obviously foreign. This surrounds me like dirt hovers around Pigpen in Peanuts. I ride around in a hired car with a driver. I stay in a 5-star hotel where the staff calls me "madam." My guess is that in a society still imbued with caste consciousness, Westerners are treated as Patrician.And, being human and flawed, I am not all that gracious sometimes. Horribly, I get impatient with cow-towing, well-meaning and ineffectual service. I know I ought to be nice, but an evil streak gets childish and surly and just wants everyone to get out of my way. All this spectacle of foreigness creates a pool of attention that is sometimes easy to appreciate and sometimes just irritating.
At work it's a bit better... many of the managers here have worked in the US and are more at ease. I have the slighly embarrassed sensation with them, though, of needing to pretend that I don't see the shabbiness of the streets. I wonder at how they can avoid being aware of the vast differences between US streets and Indian streets that they must know is glaringly before me. Yesterday two guys walked out with me to get a candy bar because I missed lunch, and I was trying to look unphased by the debris in the dusty street and the unwalkable sidewalks -- but was relieved that at least they showed no signs of self-consciousness. It's a funny, muli-level social interaction...
Actually, now that I think of it, most people here don't want to live anywhere else; so they must see the shabbiness and also think it's a small price to pay for the X they get here, or the Y they avoid in the US. I wonder what things horrify them in America? About which things do they say, "I could never live in a place with that,"?
About the sarees I should also be talking, since my traveling companions seem much impressed. For those of you who like color and pattern, you'd be thrilled with the sarees which every woman wears, no exceptions. India has brilliant textiles, and each saree is filled with color and pattern unlike anywhere else... It's just that I love muted solids, so, I am not as delighted as I should be. I reserve delight for the yummy food. I'm told, by the way, that there are some specific decent restaurants in the Bay Area -- which I will try to ferret out.
Until later, then.
2/15/00 11:55:44 PM
The best parts of India: the food and the gin & tonics.
The worst parts of India: the bathrooms and the most extreme poverty.The [real!] weather report for Chennai, India on Feb.16: Some clouds during the day, clear at night in order to watch the moon's development into fullness.
There is no privacy in poverty. On the city streets you see people bathing, sleeping, urinating and generally conducting affairs that, for the more priveledged, are private. You see children playing in the gray rubble of crumbled buildings and road construction as though it were -- and often it is -- a yard or home. Animals appear to have the same "public anonymity" as the poor: dogs, goats and cows wander with throngs of people and share the streets with cars.
Cats are nowhere to be found and no one can tell me why. People don't keep pets in 3rd world countries, one man says; but feral cats breed marvelously elsewhere, so...? And no, I don't think they're eaten, either.
Traffic is as organic and smooth as fish, or runners in a race. Honking merely informs pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers of your presence. When one direction of traffic is empty of oncoming traffic, the other direction swells to fill the space. Getting from a driveway out onto the thoroughfare is sort of like crossing through a crowded hall or bar; you sort of wait for an opening and squeeze in. There isn't any specified yielding rule, so everyone just avoids collision naturally. I don't think accidents are any more common than in the US.
And email keeps bouncing! So I'm not ignoring you, I'm just helpless.
Cheers...
2/14/00 8:15:23 PM
We Americans are not so accustomed to the caste system. It's hard not to feel sorry for the "untouchable" class.
2/13/00 9:23:18 PM
It turns out that Valentine's Day is a huge holiday in India, which suprised me. Sources say that V-Channel, piped in from Singapore, is to blame. Three years back there was no notion of Valentine's Day, and now every store, restaurant and bar has a hearts theme. Ah, the power of the West: it's manifest destiny a la the Web.
2/6/00 4:21:56 PM
Happy Birthday, Rolyn!
Happy Birthday, Jon!
2/2/00 10:54:28 AM
Here is my experience today with Audi salesman Michael at Royal Motor Sales in San Francisco. I called to inquire about the availability of the S4, which I said I'd had been researching and knew to be in high demand. He said that they had none. From there our conversation progressed as follows:
M: Unless you've been in before and have put down a deposit, there really isn't any way to come if for a road test.
S: So, you're asking people to buy them sight-unseen?
M: Why do you want an S4? Do you know anything about them?
S: Yes, I do. Why do you ask?
M: Because typically people who purchase them have done a lot of research and really appreciate the power of the car. It's a 254 hp car with twin turbo and that's a very powerful car. People who get them are very serious, and typically it's not a car that females would appreciate.
S: I am surprised to hear you say that. Thank you for your help.
2/1/00 11:05:55 AM
Drake says that East Bay has taken offense to my last post. I say that East Bay has given offense!
2/1/00 8:32:57 AM
Two words: 880 sucks.
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