Here’s the entry for First World in Wikipedia:

The concept of the First World first originated during the Cold War, where it was used to describe countries that were aligned with the United States.

Recently there is an internet meme going around called “First World Problems,” which is about about whining by the affluent. Now the term is taking on a whole new life.

Here’s an example: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/first-world-problems

Here is a site about “White Whine”: http://whitewhine.com/

The general ignorance of the term “First World” is probably due to the fact that it is a relic of the Cold War. However, it chaffs me even more to hear people refer to Asian countries like China and Taiwan as third world. I even read a popular baby book refer to countries that practice co-sleeping (as practiced in Hong Kong and Japan) as a practice from third world countries! Seriously, even the dictionary.com definitions for First World, Second World, and Third World are all screwy.

ARGH!

January 10, 2012

Office of the President
AT&T
308 Akard Street
Suite 1110-C8
Dallas, TX 75202

Dear AT&T:

Today I called AT&T UVerse Support, and after 2 hours and 57 minutes on the phone, the simple problem of a mistake in account configuration on your part was finally fixed. The call started around 10AM and ended at 12:57PM. From the very beginning, I communicated that the problem was due to an error in how my account was configured on your end, and while the solution was simple, getting to it was quite a trial in patience and a very frustrating experience.

For two weeks, I had not been able to login to UVerse Mobile or online. The account login did not work as it should have as it did not recognize me as having UVerse service, so I placed the call to AT&T UVerse support. After 23 minutes (with 10 minutes of hold time) of on the phone with someone in India who had issues understanding me and was clearly trying to pass the buck, I was told that since the problem is with UVerse Mobile, I had to be transferred to someone in Wireless and not the UVerse department. I was then place on hold again for a few more minutes before speaking to someone at AT&T Wireless (also seems to be in India) who I spent 18 minutes on the phone with only to be told that the problem cannot be resolved by AT&T Wireless because it is a UVerse problem. She asked me what phone I have and asked me to reinstall the apps (which did not help the issue) then transferred me to another department. I was transferred to an American support technician; however, he was in the Android support department, which was odd because I was explicit that I had an iPhone. I spent another 16 minutes or so with the Android support person who told me that he could not help me and had to transfer me to another department. I was then transferred to a “manager” Sherry (sp?) who spent 20 minutes asking me a bunch of account questions yet again attempted to put me through the automated system with UVerse, telling me she cannot help me, so I asked to speak with her supervisor. Then I spoke with Kelly, who spent 25 minutes on the phone with me while she tries to reach someone at UVerse. She told me that she is sorry that she cannot help me. I asked Kelly if I can speak with her supervisor, but she indicated that it was not possible, so I asked Kelly if she can try to locate someone who can help me and call me back later. By that time I had to get off the phone because it had been 110 minutes I had spent on the phone on hold and trying to get someone to help me without being any closer to anyone able to help and I was really frustrated. She said she would call back in 15 min. 21 minutes later she calls back to apologize saying that she is having trouble finding the right person who might be able to help me. She then transfers me to UVerse support in India again. This time the young lady tried a few tools that didn’t work so she says she has to transfer me to Tier 2 support. I was on hold for 38 minutes before a Tier 2 support person picked up and spent 15 minutes to resolve my problem. The gentleman in Tier 2 told me that the previous reps did not leave good notes; apparently only one had left some note at all, and it was very unhelpful.

I know that I must not be the only one who has experienced this, because quite a few AT&T reps I spoke with had trouble finding the right person to fix a simple UVerse Mobile problem. Worst of all, I know that most of them were reading a script and not really listening to me. Most of them just wanted to pass the buck to someone else. I literally spoke with 7 different people at your company to resolve this problem. I had been trying to tell them that I believe my account is not configured or registered correctly since I do have UVerse service. It is quite a simple problem and should not have taken 2 hours and 57 minutes of my time to get a solution. At this point I am seriously contemplating whether it is worth it for me and my family to spend the money on cable and internet service when there is such a pain in dealing with support for the simplest of issues. What’s going to happen the next time I need support, for a more complicated problem? Will it take 6 hours on the phone? Worst of all, the only way to complain is to keep talking to the people who cannot help me and who are not listening anyway. This is sad indeed. Apparently my only recourse would be to post my experience on a blog or complain on Twitter. For good measure I did both in addition to sending this letter. I hope that this letter will reach a person that can do something to improve Customer Service. I hope you will respond to me in a timely fashion.

Sincerely,
Irene Shen

Christmas Collage:Khaki Christmas Cards
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Unfortunately, this is the reality of the Internet Age.

When you use Craigslist or Freecycle even, you are opening yourself up to flakes at the very least, scams at the very worst. I am kind of glad that someone thought of this. I checked the list but it is very sparse so far, so the idea still needs some time to spread. Eventually there is probably a better way but since most of Freecycle is on Yahoo Groups instead of its own platform, it would be hard to incorporate a more useful solution.

Image via Wikipedia

My dear hubby James called me on Wednesday right after lunch. I knew it was not going to be good because he normally doesn’t call me middle of the day, nor does he call me during the work day unless to tell me he is going to be working late. “Hey, honey, I got laid off,” he said. Oddly enough, we went through this the same month exactly a year ago. I was first laid off in September and then he was laid off first week of October. Sign of the times, I suppose. They don’t call it The Great Recession for nothing.

“I had to call you — I was getting a little emotional. I feel like I let our family down,” James told me.

“You did the right thing, I am glad you called me. You are not letting our family down. I am proud of you and we will deal with this when you get home.” I told him. Then I listened to the little details of what he was told by management and I couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed with the employment environment today. James had just worked quite a bit of overtime launching the company’s games on Facebook’s brand spanking new mobile platform. There was a delay on account of Facebook and then Steve Job’s death. It was launched the following week on Monday… two days later he gets “restructured.” Baby Boomers may talk about job loyalty but they lived during a time when you can live on one-income, pay for college, and have a pension. James and I do not live in that world — we work in the tech industry and restructuring is a regularity. You are lucky if you get matching on your 401k.

At times like this I think back to my grandparents. I was raised by my grandparents so I hear about what happened during the war; during their youth they had to live through the Great Chinese (Hyper)Inflation. The recent economic times has been compared quite a bit to the Great Depression of the 1930s. A great many economists and experts can tell you about the difference between a recession and a depression, but here’s what it boils down to for me at a pedestrian level.

My grandparents lived through the days when your whole month’s salary can only buy you an egg. While we are seeing an increase in money supply, it is nothing like the hyperinflation that my grandparents lived through. That kind of upheaval is not something I have ever seen in my lifetime. Today, we have the Occupy Wall Street protests; back then there was the Bonus Army (43,000 people, 17,000 of them World War I veterans) march on Washington that had to be dispatched by U.S. Army tanks. Back then, only the man worked and women didn’t have any opportunity to go out and make a living. There was no unemployment, no medicare/medic-aid, no food stamps, no welfare, and most importantly, no FDIC.

Call it a hunch, women’s intuition, or just plain crazy, I feel that a better opportunity is on the horizon for my family. James’s resume is stronger than ever and the social and mobile gaming market seems to be doing quite well.  I have been decluttering like crazy for the past few months, and the whole family can follow James anywhere he finds a job quite easily. The kids are not in school yet so we can pick and and go anywhere. Anyone has a tip on a good senior/executive level producer job in the game industry?

Image via Wikipedia

I got an email today telling me that Netflix has reversed its decision to split off the DVD business. No Qwikster.

I had downgraded my DVD and streaming account after the announcement because I felt that Netflix was going too far. OK, I can deal with the 60% price hike given that I still found Netflix better than the alternative. I get A LOT out of the streaming, especially since they have a good selection of kids programs. I love nothing better than letting my son watch his favorite Thomas & Friends or Caillou without any commercials. I was also starting to enjoy watching TV episodes and documentary available on the streaming account commercial free.

When Netflix announced the price hike, I contemplated switching to streaming only, but it wasn’t until Netflix announced that they were splitting off the business that I decided to downgrade my account to protest the move. Clearly, I was not the only one. However, I am not sure that I will revert my decision as there is a major rethinking about our entertainment strategy at home currently. Netflix’s announcement about their price change has come along at a time when my family is giving our entertainment strategy and spending some serious analysis.

Image via Wikipedia

Today is one of those days I will remember. A past generation remembered the assasination of JFK and MLK, and my generation and those like me remembers 9/11 and today, the passing of Steve Jobs. I was on my iPhone, with my baby girl sleeping next to me, when I found out the news of his passing.

Being a computer geek/ internet fan girl, I am definitely going to remember Steve Jobs for his wonderful contributions, the way he impacted my life and the world, his amazing comeback story, and amazing entrepreneur leadership.

The speech below is one of my favorite speeches by anyone, ever. Even if you have seen this before, it is worth enjoying again.

(Image via Wikipedia)

In my ongoing attempts at decluttering, now as I learn to juggle my toddler and newborn along with my SAHM lifestyle, has been very slow going. I have managed to toddler-proof the livingroom, organize the kitchen, but the one thing that I have a really hard time with over the years is to downsize my book collection.

I love having physical books and magazines. I am loving the whole digital books experience since getting into the Kindle (thanks to my present from James and the free iPhone app). In fact, all my new reads are on the Kindle, but I still really love the physical act of leafing through the book and smelling the papers. I spent good money on each book, and it is a part of me. Besides, each book on the shelf is like a trophy to me. It still has some value to me even though I probably will never read it again. There is no way that I would ever be rid of my physical book collection, but having children changes things — it means that where I used to have bookshelves in every room, I now cannot. I cannot even have the bookshelf in the livingroom because the books would never survive my toddler. Now the bookshelves we have left have to contain both my books as well as the ones of my dear husbands.

Here’s an odd thought – What a weird world it would be if no guest can enter your house and learn about who you are by looking at your bookshelf?

This is going to hurt.

I was laid off the same week I found out that I was pregnant. It was early, so this is not news that I had mentioned, but being my second pregnancy, I started to show pretty quick. To make matters worse I had not completely lost all the baby weight that I had gained from my previous pregnancy, so I definitely looked pregnant. I was getting a lot of interviews and constantly busy, but I was pretty stressed out. I had to give our nanny notice, only just after we were getting into a good place with childcare. After several pretty intense interviews where I went on second and third round, I was still getting nowhere even though I was interviewing once a day on average when phone interviews are counted. Job searching when you have a young child is very difficult — I had to scramble to find childcare and it was also expensive. Going on interviews, especially ones that lasted all day, became very draining financially, and it was also draining on my positive energy when I encountered interviewers who are less than ethical, professional, or kind.

Almost a month later, my husband was also laid off from his job, which made me more stressed out. My health insurance now had an expiration, and given my condition, it would be pretty hard to get health insurance otherwise. It was also difficult to juggle two job seeking schedules and make sure our son was looked after. We had to coordinate our phone and in-person interviews closely, and neither of us was able to say yes immediately to a particular time offered. My husband, being the great husband that he is, told me to slow down and not get so stressed out about looking for a job. He wanted me to have a more relaxed pregnancy and we needed to change up our job search strategy — I would slow down the pace of my job search while he full throttled his. We worked by placing his job search as the higher-priority goal. He was thus able to find a better job than he had before, just in time before the health benefits run out.

I was always organized but being a SAHM took that to a new level for me. Being a good mother required that I become more flexible and go with the flow. I learned to really separate the “urgent” from the important. When recruiters or potential employers don’t get back to me, I don’t dwell on it and ask myself why. Instead, I am glad that they did not waste my time from my children and my stash by dragging me through long interviews that forces me to go all day without food and pay out the nose.

I’m a “How To” Mother!

(Extraverted, Sensing, Thinking, Judging)

Organized and comfortable being in charge, I know how to get things done, make things happen, and accomplish much on behalf of my children.

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