Things are still going well at work.  I’m getting new responsibilities all the time (which I love), and I’m really starting to get into the groove of things. I’m still enjoying my project and all the cool little side projects I get to do.  A good friend from MSU who worked with me at Jackson moved to Chicago recently, so that’s a bit of a bummer.

Still loving my new phone, which totally rocks.

Had central air installed at my place by the awesome Jim Horn (I hope that’s the right url), which is seriously nice.

I’m sure there’s more stuff in there, but I’m bored of writing this post already. oke bye.

So, I sent a message on the RedVines site telling them what happened, and asking if their recipe had changed.

A day or so later, I received an email saying that they had not, in fact, changed their recipe.  The hardness was due to conditions during shipping that they were working on fixing.  They apologized for the bad experience and informed me that they were sending me a replacement product that would arrive in a couple of weeks.

Today I received said replacement product…

American Licorice Company wins 2 awards in my mind:

1. The new licorice does in fact have perfect “hardness”
2. Instead of replacing the one pound bag that I purchased, they sent me 3 one pound bags

Serious win.

The real question is, where will I end up?

• Senior Design project
• Career Gallery
• Independent study work
• All my other classes

I just gotta think “this is the last semester”…

I just wish that would make me feel a little better.

And yet to be fair, I must admit that they are one of the most innovative companies out there.  Not only are they leading the pack with the iPhone, all of their products have beauty, usability, and technically wonder features.  They really think through their products and it shows.

In conclusion: please Apple, stop creating fanboys, just make your amazing products and encourage your customers to be loyal instead of being the most redonkulous people that could ever be redonkulous.

Now on to the reason for this post.  I want to buy and iPod shuffle.  I know, I shouldn’t buy from a company that I loathe, but the device is not that expensive and it is the perfect size.  Well, what do you know, it only comes with the stock Apple headphones that actually hurt my ears because of their size.  How much are the alternatives?  Seventy-nine dollars!  How much is the shuffle itself? Seventy-nine dollars!!!!  So I would be paying just as much money to buy the shuffle as I would be for the comfortable headphones? Yikes.

Acting as the negotiator that I would like to become, I fire up the chat to see if there’s something I can’t work out with Apple to make this deal a little nicer for me.  Here is the conversation that ensued:

You are chatting with Sophie S, an Apple Expert
Hi, my name is Sophie S. Welcome to Apple!

me: hello
her: Good afternoon.
her: How may I assist you today?
her: Hi.
me: So, I really like the ipod shuffle
me: but i really hate the headphones
her: I understand!
me: and your in-ear headphones that are more comfortable are just as much as the player!
her: Right!
me: is there any way to switch the headphones and not pay the whole $79 more?
her: No, sorry!
me: hmmm
me: so you’re saying that instead of getting any money from me for both items, it would be better to get nothign?
her: Sorry, you get what is included in the standard box.
me: can they do anything differently at one of the stores?
her: You would need to ask the store directly.
me: what about sending the heaphones back afterward for some sort of rebate?
her: I apologize but there are no rebates available for headphones.
me: that really stinks
me: so you’re saying you can’t offer anything to get me to buy these together? Not even a single dollar towards the “these headphones stink’ fund?
her: Unless you can buy another headset from another place that is comfortable and cheaper.
me: but the ipod shuffle has the special remote in the headphones
me: so you can’t really buy them from anywhere else
her: Oh, right. I use different headphones but it is for my iPod touch, sorry.
me: np
me: that’s the deal for me
me: i love the size and stuff for the shuffle
me: but the headphones literally hurt my ears
her: Yes, and the shuffle is so great and portable.
her: Yes, they are rather hard on the ears. I agree.
me: and i really want to buy a shuffle, but i don’t want to pay $160 for it
her: I really do understand. And it is a really good point!
her: I don’t have any authority to make deals though.
me: do you have a manager that i could talk to about it?
her: Let me check with my superior.
me: sure thing
her: Just another minute…
me: np
her: So sorry. I did try but we can’t do this.
me: alright, thanks for trying
me: i appreciate it
her: No problem!

Thank you for visiting the Apple Store. We appreciate your business. If you would like more help, please chat with us again.

Thank you for choosing the Apple Store. If you have any additional questions, please chat us again.

Nothing.  They can’t offer me anything to get me to buy the item.  And all I want is simple:  no stupid headphones.

Stupid Apple.

Things have definitely been different than I expected.  Both in good ways and bad ways.  Working fulltime, my last in-between semesters summer, life in general…

I think that I am going to make a split to my blog.  Mostly that I am going to talk more about nerdy things, more about Jesus things, and possibly more things in general.

We’ll see what happens…