i've added some ratings to the book section. the new books include:
i'm researching the possibility of founding a co-ed soccer team for the spring or summer season and i've already got some possible candidates. if you, mysterious web surfer, might be interested, leave me a message, and i'd be happy to tell you more. my motivations for this rare burst of leadership are the following:
this post represents the bittersweet conclusion of the 17 point scale cheaptickets disaster (i.e., my consumer report of cheaptickets.com, the website that neglected to send beth and i our plane tickets and then shirked all responsibility for this oversight; see the link above). when last we left beth, the crap-slinging travel corp had instructed her to pay some fees and sort out her difficulties directly with taca airlines. thus, early last monday afternoon, beth wearily recounted her story to a taca customer service representative. the taca rep guffawed, and pointed an accusing finger back at the cheaptickets buffoons. then beth spent a courageous 2 hours haggling with a ridiculous crop of cheaptickets personnel. the nightmare turned several shades darker when the batteries on beth's land line died and she lost her connection. she scrambled for her cell phone and dialed customer service, but the cheaptickets minotaur refused to reconnect her with her specialist--she was forced to recite her dilemma to yet another inane service rep. thankfully, the rep finally promised to send beth her missing ticket, and--this may be the biggest shocker of all--it arrived last friday!
now, this tragicomedy suggests three quick morals: (1) do NOT buy anything from cheaptickets.com; (2) if you do accidentally purchase something from cheaptickets, contact their customer service reps immediately--something is bound to go wrong, so you might as well have a manager's ear from the get-go; and (3) be persistent, the evil schemers at cheaptickets will eventually cave (and then they'll call you back and pretend that they never acquiesced, so you will have to spend another week on hold, and only then will they really grant you justice, once you're to the point of staying home and cancelling your exciting airplane adventures).
by the way, does anyone know if there is a better business bureau for online companies like cheaptickets?
andrew david. "water" jasper/banff national park, canada.
IX.
the brothers k by david james duncan
7/22/05
"...maybe i don't like perfect circles...in any case, i apologize for casting a shadow over this otherwise brilliant achievement. after all, i think [that the brothers k is] quite capable of casting its own shadows. david james duncan's characters are crazy extremes, yet he somehow makes them so believable and life-like that their suffering is contagious (beware). duncan also invents new twists to common language (metaphors) that open his world to us in a funny, unique way."
according to my myspace page, the brothers k is my favorite novel. i love it. if you like stories that address issues of faith, philosopy, baseball, the pacific northwest, family, love, politics, nature, war, mental health, or redemption, then you must read the brothers k. now. stop reading this blog; you are wasting time that could be spent reading the brothers k, the best book on the planet.
go forth and read.
andrew david. "river teeth" banff/jasper national park, alberta.
(incidentally, river teeth is a journal of creative nonfiction that is edited by david james duncan.)
as you may know, beth and i are accompanying my parents on a trip to belize this april. in some respects, it could be a trip to paradise: white sandy beaches, crazy jungle monkees, lost mayan ruins, free lodgings (thanks dad!). however, the airfare to this small central american utopia is rather steep...and troublesome.
[UNHAPPY PRODUCT/SERVICE REVIEW / CONSUMER REPORT]
we bought our tickets on cheaptickets.com. they had the cheapest price for our itinerary. however, i now suspect that the cheap in cheaptickets may actually refer to dictionary.com's fourth definition of cheap: "of little account; of small value; shoddy." during the past week, cheaptickets has lost one of our tickets and treated us like rubbish. i am still optimistic that they (i.e., shoddytickets.com) may redeem themselves, but until then, i warn you, stay away from cheaptickets.com!
here is the latest email that we sent to the evil online travel empire:Hi. I'm writing because I've had a frustrating experience with Cheap Tickets and am very dissatisfied with the conversations I've had on the phone with your customer service department. I'm trying one last time in hopes that I can clearly explain what is going on so that someone can solve the problem I am having with your company.
Several weeks ago I booked 2 tickets during the SAME transaction using CheapTickets. Then, when I received my sealed UPS shipment, there was only 1 ticket in the CheapTickets envelope. I am hoping that you can straighten this out and send me the ticket that you neglected to include in my original mailing. I also want to ensure that I have the original ticket that I purchased; I am traveling with a friend and need to be on all the same flights and seats that I originally reserved.
I have already spoken with CheapTickets customer service over the phone, but I seem to get a different answer each time that I call. I am tired of the exasperating ridiculousness that I have experienced during the past week. Each time I call I spend 10+ minutes on hold and then receive conflicting answers. Also, no one at your company has taken responsibility or apologized, and no one even seems to understand that I did NOT lose the ticket and the ticket was NOT lost in the mail -- it was never sent! I'm sorry for being so explicit about this, but as I said, no one seems to understand; the UPS package was sealed and there was only 1 of the 2 tickets inside. I can only assume that someone at your agency dropped or forgot the ticket when
assembling my mailing.
I have been told that (a) I am to go to the airport ticketing office and fill-out an indemnity form; (b) I am to call Taca airline (one of the airlines that I'm flying on this two-leg trip) and ask them to cancel and reissue a new ticket; and (c) not worry about it, CheapTickets will pay for any and all reissue fees AND send me a new ticket. The duplicity of these responses is both frustrating and confusing. I am especially bothered by the suggestion that I may have to pay for your error; if (a) or (b) is true, it is unclear to me why I am responsible for fixing this problem or paying any new fees/costs when this was clearly a mistake on behalf of someone at your company.
I have dealt with many online ticketing agencies and have never had problems of this magnitude. This is very frustrating, especially considering that I was told that CheapTickets would take care of this. I hope that you can solve this problem. Although I doubt that I have any legal recourse in this matter, I will certainly be quite vocal about my problems with your company if this matter is not resolved favorably. Besides telling friends, family, and other online consumers, I am also prepared to have my company's travel department stop using your services.
Thank you for your attention,
the17pointscale
joel hartse has a book review in the latest issue of paste. i hardly ever read paste, but i (am under the impression that i) respect their eclectic, thoughtful arts perspective--that and the free cds that they include with each issue. anyway, i wandered from joel's blog to the paste website, but i couldn't find his book review. instead i found paste's top 40 films of 2006:
1. Half Nelson
