Zooming, the Global Quilt Connection Meet the Teachers event and a rant
Okay, no sewing going on this week so let’s look at what else happened:
I did take a great Zoom for Teachers class from David Owen Hastings and learned some interesting tidbits. Of most interest to me was his set-up. He didn’t go out and spend a lot of money but had great sound and light. He used an Ikea lamp for lighting, something kinda sorta like this and it worked well.
He had everything on one screen – his slides, thumbnail photos of workshop participants and chat, all on a super-wide monitor. He kept all his things close to him so he just pivoted on his ball/chair for the next set-up. And did you know that ctl-n in zoom will toggle you back and forth between speaker view and gallery view?
Sooo, the rest of my week was pretty much all about getting my 3-min video ready for the upcoming Meet the Teachers event on Sept 2 with the Global Quilt Connection. The videos were due yesterday but I won’t make it available until after the event. Yeah, like the whole wide world of quilting is waiting with bated breath for my video:-)) Here’s just the “cover photo”:
Sending this video off was like entering a race: all that preparation for such a small point in time. I feel like I sent a quilt off or something. I am glad it’s done and I really look forward to the Sept 2 Meet the Teachers:
You can register for the event here. You can also download a list of the presenters on the Global Quilt Connection page. It will make you want to take a bunch of classes! And if your guild is not signed up, get on it!
CAUTION – RANT:
Much of my last few days have been absolutely consumed with trying to get my phones fixed, both cell and landline. My Verizon Note 10 Droid went bananas after a recent update. It kept kicking me off of wifi for no reason. I went the “live support” direction and got nowhere.
I gave up after a few hours and then made a second attempt. And a total of 3.5 hrs later (multiple sessions), it was “fixed”. Well I write “fixed” because they fixed the wifi problem. The moment I got off of the excruciatingly convoluted “live support” session, I got into my car just to do something that was NOT on my computer. The very second I turned my car on, my phone gave me a notification buzz.
And again 5 sec later. And again. And again. And again. Aghhhhh! No accompanying message, just the notification buzz over and over, every 5 sec. I go right back on the computer and into yet another 2 hour roundabout with live support. I finally figured out on my own that it was my car and the bluetooth was trying to connect. My bluetooth went haywire.
So Verizon refers me to Samsung, 30 min just to get transferred, then the arduous 30 min call. They told me the only way to get it resolved was to take it to a Samsung Service Center. Lucky me, the nearest service center was a tiny store. Due to the Ca shutdown, I had to wait outside in the 95 degree heat for 30 minutes before I could enter. The verdict? I needed a factory reset and a “Bluetooth restack”. Do they make this stuff up?
I have done a factory reset before and it did not go well. Everything was backed up, yet I lost half of my calendar! At the time they said yeah, things like that happen sometimes. I am NOT going to do that. So I will turn off my bluetooth every time I’m in my car until I get a new phone.
But here’s the thing – have you been on one of those “live support” things? Here’s how it goes. Okay, there may be some slight exaggeration here:
Hi, how can we help you?
My bluetooth isn’t working properly.
Immediate: Oh, we can help you with that but just allow me to barrage you with 15 attempts to cross-sell you additional products. I know we suck at the product you’re calling about, but we want to sell you more products with bugs in them. Are you interested?
No.
5 min. pause
Hi, how can I help you.
I wrote above, I am having trouble with my Blue tooth.
3 min pause
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. What is your first name?
Jenny
3 min pause
What is your last name?
Lyon
3 min pause
What device are you calling about?
My Note 10
5 min pause
What phone number is associated with that phone?
###-###-####
2 min pause
What is your password?
#####
3min pause
What is your mailing address?
Blah blah blah
3 min pause
What kind of trouble are you having?
I just wrote, my Bluetooth is misbehaving
3 min pause
Do you see how this works? 30 min and we haven’t even gotten to the issue! That is not Customer Service! I spent hours in a similar manner with Verizon, Samsung and Wave cable and it was exactly the same. So, I got to where I tried to outsmart them:
Hi, how can we help you?
My bluetooth isn’t working properly. My name is Jenny Lyon, my address is, my phone number is, I have a Note 10, I graduated from high school on this date, I got my degree from here in this year, here’s my bra size and my body measurements, I drive an Acura MDX, have 2 children and a husband, I own too much fabric and 5 sewing machines, I like to hike and ski, been married 36 years, my anniversary is xxx, we used to cruise, my car has 51,342 miles on it, we’ve lived at our current address for 21 years, I have a great contractor if you need one, our lot is 55′ wide, Hubby golfs….
5 min pause
And what is the problem with your phone?
Sigh.
And get this, my Wave voicemail was not working and that took another few hours and multiple calls to fix. At one point they called me to give me notice that the fix would be delayed. I wasn’t there so they left a message on voicemail that my voicemail couldn’t be fixed yet. Ummmmmm……
Remember when I would post a quilt show about once a month? I do hope you had a better week! I link up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday and the Rebecca Grace’s Long Arm Linky Party (they allow me in!)
I hope you had a better week! I’ll be back and perky next week.
Hahaha ?
But SO true?
My parents in their late 80’s save ALL of their “issues” that involve phoning to me when I visit. I think I’ll have to stop quilting and start composing new on hold music—some I’ve started to hum in my head?
Oh well, back to happily stitching. Thanks for the truthful humour in a frustrating situation.?
Oh wow, now that is a daughter’s love, to make all the customer service calls for your parents!
OH Jenny…….do I ever understand! I have now spent 2 1/2 months trying to straighten out an order for a dishwasher at COSTCO. To speak to their “customer service” you have to wait on hold for between 1 hour and 1 1/2 hours…..that is NOT an exaggeration. Every time I waited out the hours of hold time with deadening music playing non-stop, I was told it had been taken care of. On the 6th call….that one did require 1 1/2 hours on hold, I was told the order was cancelled…..the charge was still on our card. Apparently, since I did not give up and spent over 8 hours of my life holding on for “customer service”, the order has been recreated….or so I have been told, but I was told that before. We’ll see. By the way, the ONLY way to do anything is to call….there is no email, no online chat, no text available. Don’t feel alone!
Sandy
Oh. Wow. I’m sorry to hear that you can top my story! THAT is a very bad one. One does not order a dishwasher and expect to wait months!
Loved the rant??? I’ve so, been there!
So sorry you’ve been there also Linda! It should not be that way.
You make my day! So thankful I’m a quilter and have so many UFQ’s. So hard not to start all the new ideas and fabrics.
Yes! How does the rest of the non-quilting world do it? Quilting is my respite.
Oh dear Jenny. I feel your pain! Here’s hoping your IT situation gets better and stays that way! If that fails, I am wishing you patience in abundance!
Oh me too Kathy! Neither tech nor patience is my forte!
Enjoyed your rant!!
I have anxiety attack every time I hear the AT&T jingle!
I’m sorry you relate to my pain Marilyn!
First of all…you had me at rant…I’m not sure if I’m more sorry that you had trouble with tech or CS! You know that’s what I do for a living is talk to ladies On the phone and sell them clothes…also helping with CS problems. Over and over I hear Thank God you’re human, American and know what you’re doing. That said the only reason my company can afford to have an American phone staff is because we make less than we would at Target. (I only stayed because they gave a huge scholarship to the princess, give me 5 weeks of paid vacation and I love my customers). Hope things get better!! Also if you ever give a class for individuals let me know…I’m looking for a diversion… Grin
Yes Nina-Marie, I was thinking about you! But I did NOT run into a Nina-Marie clone anywhere in that process. I longed for a voice. If given a choice, I buy Canon because they have American CS support and it is excellent. CS is part of what I am buying when I purchase any tech IMHO. I am sorry to hear that they pay you so little, that’s not right but I totally get that the benefits make it worth it. And loving your customers…priceless!
Hi Jenny, Sarah Ann Smith from Hope, Maine, had a great blog post recently where she showed how her studio is set up for the new video age. You may want to check that out or even contact her for more information. This has to be a very frustrating, yet just a teeny bit exciting time for you. Good luck with your presentations. I have let my local guild know about the Meet the Teachers. Thanks!
And Sarah is a friend of mine! We’ve exchanged ideas and she has a whole different set-up, Apple and a lot more space. I’m getting closer, it’s just that every step seems to have hurdles!
I locked myself out of my micorwave it’s child proof!
Oh my goodness, Jenny — how I feel your pain!! This brings back vivid, very recent memories of an issue I had with my iPad recently when it kept giving me errors trying to install an update. I waited forever for my turn in the support que, then was on the phone w/support until after midnight with a tech person who made me go through all of the things that I had already tried unsuccessfully on my own BEFORE reaching out to tech support… Then I told them I had to go to sleep, called back the next day and went through the whole process all over again but FINALLY got it fixed. So unbelievably frustrating!
The flip side, of course, would be all of the good ways that technology (maddening when not working) is enabling us to stay connected across space and time while we are forced to be disconnected and socially distant in person. I am so intrigued by the possibilities of online teaching, and I hope some of what is being pioneered in that vein during the pandemic will stick around afterwards. Once teachers have developed online content and/or created a setup that allows them to teach comfortably from their home studios, perhaps that can be an option that allows guilds to sometimes “bring in” teachers from across the globe, or who are unable to travel, or even for small guilds in totally different locations to “pitch in” together for a workshop with a fantastic teacher that neither of them could afford to host in person.
Oh you may have me beat on frustration with that iPad update! I’ve never stayed up until midnight. Drives me crazy that I have to do all of the things with them that I already did! Yes, there are definitely advantages to tech teaching and I am slowly coming around!
I’m not exaggerating!!! I had to upgrade my iphone because it was essentially out of memory due to the CONSTANT software upgrades taking up all the space. Completely peeved I have to spend a lot of money for a new phone when my old one worked well, except it had no memory left. Anyway…..again, NOT exaggerating….I spent 4.5 hrs. with Apple Care using two phones trying to get the new one activated (Verizon is zero help). Followed by 2 hrs. again, and 45 mins. on the latest problem. I think it’s all fixed. BUT now my desk top is acting up…..several sites I use regularly don’t work correctly and I have no clue why. No free Apple Care for this device….betting it’s another glitch from their constant software upgrades!!! Okay, done venting…
Oh girl, you’re trying to on-up me and I think you just did! That is one loooong tale of woe. I sure hope you get your desktop up and running. Now THAT would be tragic!