Two Flights Down

my problem with skype

2010-08-25T10:39:00.000-07:00

Below is a review I was trying to post, but the website would not let me post it. Perhaps the website was affiliated with Skype, and wouldn’t post it because someone actually said something bad about them. Wouldn't put it past them. So, for future reference, and because I want to share my frustrations with the world, here is what I had to say…

I found Skype to be a very awesome program to use while living abroad. Instead of paying outrageous fees, I could talk to anyone else with Skype installed for free.

At the time, however, most of my family wasn’t using Skype. My husband and I decided to sign up for Skype’s paid service, which would allow us to call landlines for a very cheap price. We were also able to obtain a US phone number, so our family could call us from their phones to our computer. There was also the option of forwarding calls to our cell phones, which seemed like a nice option to have.

Everything was super awesome until my credit card was about to expire. My husband went to update the information for our credit card on Skype. Skype refused to allow us to just update our credit card. They told us we had to close our account and begin a new subscription. This sounded odd, but we trusted Skype at the time and always recommended to everyone, so we did as they said.

After closing our account and starting a new one, Skype informed us that we were now under their new terms and conditions which meant, the price we were originally paying for their services more than doubled.

I wrote to them telling them how upset this made me—that I recommended them to all my friends abroad and all my family at home, and then they did this dirty under-handed thing. Their reply pretty much said, “That’s just the way we’re doing it now,” without even any sort of apology.

Then, I returned back to the States. We kept the paid service up until then in order to keep in contact with family. Being back home with a temporary phone and applying for jobs, we decided to use their call forwarding option where our calls can be forwarded to our cell phone. We tested it (since abroad we tried it and found it to not work), and everything seemed fine.

Later, one prospective employer e-mailed me to say she couldn’t reach me at the number I left. I tested the number again and it worked (and others had called me with it). Later, we found out it only works when you have Skype turned on on your computer (and sometimes, it didn’t even work then). I’m not sure how many calls I missed from prospective jobs because of this.

I guess I should have known better than to rely on their services in the first place…

Lesson—don’t pay Skype anything. They’re unreliable and sneaky…

feeling creative, but...

2010-07-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've been way too busy. I'm throwing my sister a baby shower and it's been a lot of stress on me so far. My main problems are:

Technology never works the way it's supposed to when you need it to.
People REALLY need to follow through on what they're supposed to do. I really don't like working with people who procrastinate.
In order to make sure stuff gets done on time, I'm gonna have to do most of the work.

See why I never liked group work in school? It was always more stress than just doing things myself.

I finished reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami and it was an awesome book! Loved every bit of it and totally recommend it to anyone looking for a good read.

I have an idea for a story in my head. I want it to be a short story, but we'll see how that goes once I start writing--if I get the chance. Looks like I'm booked throughout July.

Still jobless. I've had phone interviews and requests for writing samples but no job offers. In August, I'm going to a temp agency. I need something...

There's a play I want to audition for. Hopefully my time away hasn't made me too rusty. I'm hoping to find more auditions to attend to up my chances of a part. I want to be part of a theater project this fall.

Other than that, I'm planning a yard sale to get rid of a bunch of junk. Hopefully it all goes well and relatively stress free. I could really use a project that goes right for once in my life...

Art by Yasmina Reza

2010-06-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

My husband and I went to see the Curtainbox Theatre Co.'s production of Art by Yasmina Reza. I had never read this play before, so I really had no idea what to expect.

It was fantastic.

The script is very intelligently written, and it really gives you a lot to think about between the humorous, fast-paced dialog and the sudden asides given by each character. What values are portrayed in the ending (or demolished in the ending, depending on what you deem "valuable"), really depend on your own interpretations of the comedic arguments and your own experiences with art--and really, isn't that what gives art meaning, anyhow?

The plot is very simple--a man buys a painting that is basically white, with some grayish lines that can be seen if you squint in just the right way. I was very pleased to find that I could see the lines myself if I squinted from my seat in the audience. One friend of the man is upset by the amount of money paid for what he thinks is "shit." Another friend tends to agree with the person he is speaking with at the moment. The question comes into play, "Will this piece of art tear apart the relationships of these three characters?"

All three actors were superb and masters of their craft. Adam Michael Lewis, especially, stood out to me (and not just because he taught a class on stage make-up that I took for college credit) as his movements and difficult lines were delivered with ease. His vocal work is superb for displaying a range of dimensions to his character, and for mastering that comedic timing that anyone who has ever worked in comedy knows is so hard to master.

Mike Shulz was also impressive, and after reading so many of his reviews in the River Cities Reader, it was fun to see the man at work in performance. He had lines with strange words that aren't used in everyday conversation, but these words and lines came out of his mouth in the most natural of ways. It was only an after-thought that I questioned such lines showing up in real-life conversation.

Aaron Randolph III also proved to be talented beyond words. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed the role was written with him in mind. He provided a beautiful contrast to the other two characters, and his nervous movements made me feel as if he was the most human of the characters.

Between the great acting and blocking, the three characters were distinct and unique, each one containing its own depth that can't be revealed in dialog alone. The intimate space of The Village Theatre puts you right into the action and makes you feel as if you're in on this big joke and the actors are actually confiding their deepest thoughts and feelings to you.

This was a very fine, professional production, and I would definitely recommend it.

job searching

2010-06-23T16:42:00.001-07:00

I've been applying to jobs. I'm hoping to work for a university so I can take graduate school courses while working full-time. I know it'll be a lot of work, but with a tuition waiver, I'd be able to make some nice payments on my undergraduate loans and save some money. Not to mention--I really want health insurance with a dental plan. I have a tooth that is all sorts of messed up.

The only reply I've received came from a University which wanted a writing sample. I had to respond to a chosen prompt. I wrote a little over three pages and did a lot of revising and proof-reading.

In case I haven't mentioned this, I work on a linux platform. I use Open Office to do all my word processing. It's great--except for the header and footer feature. I put headers on the pages, then I have to apply a special page style to the first page to get rid of the header on the first page (which is proper MLA formatting).

When I save as a doc file so somebody with MS Office can read the file, I lose these settings. My headings are all lost. After several attempts to fix this, frustration ensued. Open Office is pretty intuitive and I love it so much more than MS Office. But why, oh, why is it so complicated to have my headers saved correctly?

In the end, I inserted a manual page break at the end of the first page so the conversion to a doc file won't lose the page settings. I still don't understand, though, that when I have already converted to a doc file and put in my settings, I still lose them upon closing the program.

Very frustrating, especially since anyone who has come close to an academic environment knows how important it is to be able to remove a flipping header from the flipping first page.

I sent in my writing sample and I am just hoping that the formatting isn't screwed up when the person who is responsible for making the final decision on who to hire receives it.

not sure where to start

2010-05-27T15:40:00.001-07:00

I’ve decided that I want to do something creative with my life. Unfortunately, I am unsure of what that is.

I like reading, writing, theater, and music, but, sadly, my talents in these areas are limited. I tend to try to do everything, and in the end, master nothing.

I am 25 years old. This November, I will be 26. As always, I am feeling the pressure of time. I need to get a grip. I need to decide where my ultimate passions lie. I need to find out what career path is going to make me happiest, and hopefully, be able to make a decent living.

I decided that upon returning from Japan, I would explore all sorts of possibilities. I also decided that I would record my adventures and discoveries in a blog. I’m not sure where to start, so I decided to just start this blog, even though I’ve yet to really do anything.

Here it goes…