Most of you already know that I have tried various online “relationship” sites since I can’t seem to find Mr. Right through any of the traditional methods (hardware stores, friends-of-friends, weddings, church events, rodeos, grocery stores, parks, pet stores…). Some sites I have tried on more than one occasion.
My most recent (paid) subscription at a certain site with a very long introductory survey was rather disappointing. I wrote a letter and their response was so overwhelmingly disappointing, I decided to post the whole lot of it. Notice they failed to truly address question one; I sent them another letter. Maybe my math isn’t so good but things don’t seem to line up very well.
Dear Customer Service,
I am considering renewing my subscription but am not sure that it is worth the current rates.
During my last 3 month subscription, I had 55 matches – of which an overwhelming number (43) were closed within 24 hours. There were only two individuals (less than 4%) with whom I completed all stages of communication! To increase the number of compatible matches, I even went so far as to retake the personality profile questions. However, this did not appear to make any difference.
I realize that perhaps you cannot guarantee match numbers but I would hope that match quality could be improved.
Questions: 1) Is there a way to improve my match quality? Is there a way to tell how much the personality profile results differ between each time I have taken it? Do I need to retake the personality profile again? 2) Other than your standard subscription offers, are there any other subscription rates that you have available?
Lastly, it appears that you have removed your customer assistance phone number from your site. I would strongly encourage you to consider returning it. I, and I assume many others, would prefer to contact you through that method.
I am really at a loss for words since seeing this commercial for the first time a few weeks ago.
We are a nation of consumers. And there’s nothing wrong with that. After all, there’s a lot of cool stuff out there. The trouble is there’s so much cool stuff it’s easy to get a little carried away. If that happens, this material world of ours can stop being wonderful and start getting stressful.
But what if a credit card company recognized that? What if they admitted there was a time to spend and a time to save? What if, instead of encouraging us to spend more, they actually helped us spend smarter? Maybe then we could have a better quality of life and be in a better financial position while we’re living it. We could have less debt and more fun. And this material world could get a whole lot brighter.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Really? Seriously?!?
Apparently this must work. If you appease my guilt about buying that pair of shoes, or the latte, or the trip to the Caribbean, instead of supporting my local soup kitchen, animal shelter, after school program or even the starving child in Africa … if you appease my guilt, I will feel better by waiting to buy the shoes on sale.
Maybe if we spend smarter my life will be better and I will enjoy it more. Materialism and spending and consumerism aren’t really that bad, right? Or maybe just a necessary evil that we can spin to suit our fancy.
What if we instead found a different adjective to describe the nation? A nation of peacemakers. A nation of those who serve the neediest in our midst. A nation of honesty and love and reconciliation and compassion. What word would you want?
Two teams (one at Berkeley and one at Imperial College London / Duke University) have developed “invisibility cloak” materials or metamaterials.
[The Berkeley] material is the first made in three dimensions to show a so-called “negative refractive index”.
All materials found in nature have a positive refractive index, a measure of how much electromagnetic waves are bent when moving from one medium to another, but in these materials the light is bent the ‘wrong’ way as it passes through, which enables it to work, in theory at least, as a cloak.
“Natural materials do not respond to the magnetic field of light, but the metamaterial we created here does,” said Dr Valentine. “It is the first bulk material that can be described as having optical magnetism, so both the electrical and magnetic fields in a light wave move backward in the material.”
This post at ars technica actually describes metamaterials and some of the implications of the research released today. A little math, physics and Hollywood … what’s not to like about this story?
Jan posted a copy of the picture (instead of work) that was posted at work. Perhaps you need a copy?
Within an hour, the following had been added in handwriting to the list: surf the internet write on a white board catch up on email mock proceedings on Twitter
I awoke this morning certain of the time for the church service. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t been in a while, but I was only an hour off. So I went online to find “The Call” as suggested by Atticus. While searching for other books to reach the free shipping amount for my basket I came across this one; it’s on backorder but the excerpt struck a chord.
A God-ordained vision will begin as a concern. You will hear or see something that gets your attention… Unlike many passing concerns, these will stick with you. You will find yourself thinking about them in your free time. You may lose sleep over them. You won’t be able to let them go because they won’t let you go.
Nehemiah’s concern over the condition of Jerusalem consumed him… So what did he do? Nothing. He did absolutely nothing… He chose to wait. Nehemiah knew what so many of us have a hard time remembering: What could be and should be can’t be until God is ready for it to be. So he waited…
The story of Nehemiah… illustrates the truth that a clear vision does not necessarily indicate a green light to begin… A vision rarely requires immediate action. It always requires patience.
