One disadvantage of staying home and getting home delivery of almost everything is that when things go wrong, you have to call the company — and at least in my experience, you either get right through or you're put on hold for the balance of this century and maybe part of the next. Kroger — known in this area as Ralphs Market with no apostrophe — sure doesn't want to talk to me.
They do have a "Virtual Assistant" who asks questions to try and route my call to the proper human being who won't take my call. I'm supposed to answer them "yes" or "no" but neither of those options quite fits what I'm calling about…so I keep saying "agent" or "representative" and every so often, the V.A. offers to credit my account with $5.00 to make up for whatever the hell I'm calling to complain about. That's nice but I'd rather talk to a person.
Finally, the Virtual Assistant — who did not by any definition assist me, virtually or otherwise — put me in a queue to talk to a human being and told me my call would be answered in the order in which it was received. Another recorded voice then told me that because of higher-than-expected call volume, my wait time could be as long as forty (40) minutes. I'm thinking that the "virtual" part of the term "Virtual Assistant" is using the definition of "virtual" that means "almost or nearly as described, but not completely," meaning he, she or it almost supplies some assistance.
I gave up after sixteen minutes.
By the way: The following has nothing to do with why I called Ralphs/Kroger though if I'd ever reached anyone there, I might have mentioned it. I like a brand of quasi-potato chips or crisps or whatever you'd call them called Popchips. I like the kind in the bag below on the left, which holds your basic Popchips.
Recently, they brought out a new variation which is kind of like a potato chip with no potato in it. They call them "Popchips Grain Free" and the ingredients list is cassava flour, tapioca starch, sunflower oil, cane sugar, sea salt and, for color, annatto. Cassava flour, in case you didn't know — as I didn't until I Googled it — is made by grating and drying the fibrous cassava root. Cassava is also known as manihot esculenta and is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Cassave flour is used a lot these days because it's free of gluten.
I tried this kind and didn't like it anywhere near as much as the basic Popchips made from potato flour. But what I especially don't like is that lately, every time I order the potato kind from any company that carries them and delivers, they deliver the cassava flour kind. As you can see, the packaging could be confusing, especially when you don't know there are potato-free Popchips. They also make varieties with corn and peanuts and some promise sizzling hot spices. I put on my orders "make sure the bag says POTATO on the front" and still, they bring me the other kind with blue on the bag.
Finally: I announced here recently that I would be attending the Comic-Con Special Edition in San Diego on Thanksgiving Weekend. I am now announcing that I will not be attending the Comic-Con Special Edition in San Diego on Thanksgiving Weekend. Changed my mind.
You might care to know why. Part of it was because when I told my doctor I was going, he gave me a look that said, "What do you need that for?" Also, since I made the decision, I've been asking myself that and I don't want to spend the next seven weeks asking myself that. Thirdly, when I floated the idea of not going to the lady friend who was going to accompany me, she seemed pleased.
Fourth…well, three is enough. I do not think the convention will be unsafe. The folks who run it are very smart and very non-merecenary. They will not hesitate to spend or lose whatever money must be spent or lost. But I can't say the same of other places where I might sleep or dine and I don't know what I would do at the con during the many hours I wouldn't be hosting panels.
In the unlikely event (highly unlikely) that anyone was thinking of going because I was going to be there, I apologize. But I doubt there's anyone in that category. I just thought it best to make that decision now, rather than closer to the convention dates. Do not let me stop you from attending…and if you need information on attending, here's where you'll find some.