John Linton ....than I can remember used to be the case in the past....though with the way my memory is these days the 'past' isn't very long ago.
Without getting deeply philosophical, which I personally can't do because of an irremediable lack of education plus a massive disinterest in such things, I sometimes wonder lately whether it's worth getting out of bed in the morning. Saturdays used to be pleasant days with email dropping to around 30% of the 'week day' average and zero phone calls as well as few contacts with Exetel personnel (who, quite rightly, choose to do sensible things on their weekends that don't involve a need to contact me). Yesterday was far from pleasant with too many work related issues intruding in to almost every hour of the day and being of the type of intrusion that cannot be ignored very easily and can't be ignored at all if you have even a vestigial sense of responsibility.
I started the day normally catching up on the communications media 'news' and when I completed yesterday's blog I turned to my email which I noticed with mild surprise when I opened my email client yesterday morning that it had much more email than was usual (I habitually clear my email before going to bed each night). However I was dismayed to see the heading on the first unread email was "$42 Million Lawsuit" and even more concerned when I read the contents from our compliance manager referring to this:
http://www.screenhub.com.au/news/shownewsarticleG.asp?newsID=28062
and demands by the apparent litigant earlier last week alleging Exetel was involved somehow in his problems. While it is all stuff and nonsense (as far as Exetel's alleged involvement is concerned) it was an unpleasant way to start the day and it yet again reminded me that the world's percentage of unreasonable people seems to remain on a steeply increasing curve. I cannot possibly comment on the 'facts' of the situation as I know none but it is becoming a more regular scenario where Exetel, and therefore Exetel's scarce management resources, are dragged in to ludicrous situations that have absolutely nothing to do with our business. I wrote to Larry asking for the full details but because of the time difference between Colombo (where he is at the moment) and Sydney there was nothing more I could do for 6 or 7 hours so I sighed and moved on.
After a few less mind jolting emails I read another communication relating to a customer believing that Exetel owed him $A3.5 million dollars for share trading losses he incurred because his ADSL2 service was off the air for five days (including Saturday and Sunday of last weekend) and his email was over 2,000 words of densely convoluted 'argument' concluding with a demand for Exetel to provide him with a bank cheque within 48 hours of the send time/date of his email (12.20 am Saturday 18th July). I'm unaware of any bank that is open over a weekend and assuming we actually had that amount of money lying around in cash and were prepared to agree that we were liable for such a claim I would think he would know it would be impossible to actually get such a financial instrument raised in such a period. I didn't know how to reply to such insanity so I deleted the email and moved on with a feeling that there must have been a full moon on every one of the days last week....
....and thus came across another example, which clearly vied for first place among all the insane claims made against an internet service provider ever registered. These sorts of gross insanities are becoming more evident in our 'nanny state'/'cargo cult' society. The third email of yesterday morning was from a clearly deranged man who wanted Exetel to provide compensation to him because his wife had left him to move in with someone she met in a sex chat room using an Exetel ADSL service. He thought he would "be satisfied with about $A10,000" to pay for getting someone in to clean and cook for him while he "adjusted to the situation". When my mind stopped spinning I deleted that nonsense and managed to get through the remaining messages without coming across any other such ravings.
What is wrong in Australian society where any sane person involved in a mundane business can get three such claims for 'compensation' about such nonsensical situations in one email 'session'? What deity have I offended so badly that I have been selected for this particularly cruel and unusual punishment on a weekend? How can there be such insane people running around unrestrained who haven't been certified and locked up years ago? Well, it certainly got the day off to a really weird start and it never recovered. Throughout the day it seemed to me that the tone and insistencies of emails I received during the day were thoroughly unwarranted and often contained 'demands' that were just plain unreasonable and in several cases very offensively worded....what is it about email that seems to encourage people to lose all inhibitions in phrasing their thoughts and opinions so unacceptably?
I blame Krudd for his constant lying promises of a socialist cloud cuckoo fairyland in which every loser in the country can get showered with money just "because", the because bearing no relation to the person's individual circumstances, an actual cause of those circumstances in Australia or, for that matter the rest of the planet but "because" Krudd needs to shore up his election chances. It has to be something as widespread as that as I can't believe the whining level in Australia can be caused by any other single factor other than the lunacies perpetrated by Krudd over the past 2 years of lying and pretending.
I usually deal with between 200 and 300 emails a day on week days and something less than 100 on Saturdays and Sundays but yesterday there were over 200 emails including the three amazing ones and more than a dozen other distasteful communications.
A thoroughly depressing day.