Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Football Hero

When plastic guitars just aren't enough:

Monday, October 26, 2009

Another Reason Keith Olbermann Should Have Stuck with ESPN

If there is another person out there who drives the discussion into the gutter more than Olbermann, I'd like to know who they are. Any time that you label someone who makes a comparison that may be slightly out of bounds (at least in your opinion) as "one of the worst people in the world" perhaps you should toss yourself up there on the screen as well. On top of that, it takes a certain amount of hubris to lecture a former Supreme Court candidate on law when you yourself are a former sportscaster and current full-time blowhard. How could this have been different if, instead of doing a drive by defaming, Olbermann actually asked Elder Oaks for an interview where he could have had a civil conversation? Oh, that's right. Oaks would have been seen as the rational one, which would have completely ruined Olbermann's point. Take a look at Elder Oaks' clarifying comments below the MSNBC video:

Monday, October 19, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen, the LA Convention Center!

I was in LA last week for a convention (no, not Adultcon - that was 2 weeks ago) and in my travels around the convention center, I came across some bathrooms that looked like I had walked through a portal to the third world.  Take a look below - a stainless steel trough urinal.  I couldn't believe it!  Here's one more sign that California is bankrupt.


Also, just for Logan, here's the carpet:

Friday, October 02, 2009

Good Hilton, Good!

Wow, that was fast! I sent that to TripAdvisor, faxed it to the hotel, and got a call 15 min later from them. They replaced some people in the management team and seem like they really care. The current manager on duty, Jef, apologized profusely, asked for some more detail, said he'd refund my stay, offered to throw in some HHonors points, and is getting me a night in their penthouse suite to give them another try. That right there is amazing customer service! It's so opposite what I had back in May and June that I'm getting whiplash. I'll make sure to spread the word on how things go from here, because service like that deserves to be recognized.

Bad Hilton, Bad!

Here's a complaint letter I just sent to the SLC Airport Hilton. It was by far the worst hotel my wife and I stayed at on our recent trip to Europe.


To the Manager on Duty:
I've tried several times to contact you regarding this experience to no avail. As a result, I have posted this (1*) review on Trip Advisor to let others know my experience and hopefully steer them away from your property:
"My wife and I checked in here the night before an early trip to Europe. We checked in and were given breakfast vouchers. Our room was at the end of a hall in need of some freshening up, but our room was nice and clean. The pool area was nice and clean as well. So far so good. We went to bed, but at about midnight I woke up because the A/C wasn't working properly. I turned it down as low as it would go in an attempt to cool down the room. I didn't try the front desk as my wife was still asleep next to me. We got up at 4 am for our flight and found that there was no hot water. We called the front desk and were told that "that might happen, but it should be fixed in an hour." That wasn't terribly helpful because we had a 6 am flight. We quickly showered, went down to check out, and I talked with the person at the front desk about reducing our rate because of the A/C issue and the shower issue. He told me that he couldn't do that, but to call back when the manager was in. He gave me the manager's name and number. When I arrived in Minneapolis for my layover, I called and the manager wasn't there because it was Memorial Day. I left a message with my contact information and waited for a response. I spent the next week in Europe and called again when I got back. I again got his voicemail, again left my complaint and contact information and what I felt was an appropriate remuneration, and again got no response. I sent an email with the gist of my complaint. Again, no response. This Hilton will not be getting my business again. I am a Hilton Diamond VIP, so I would hate to see the treatment that anybody else gets when top tier elites don't get the time of day from the manager.
BEST: The pool area, free breakfast (assuming we had been around when the restaurant opened)
WORST: Unempowered staff, management who doesn't respond to complaints, no A/C, cold showers."
Is there something that you could do to change this? Yes there is! I would be happy to amend my review to reflect any sort of effort on your part to win back my business. I don't expect something for nothing and know that ultimately you want people to stay in your beds. As a result, I would propose a combination of the following:
• An apology.
• A room refund. Because this occurred 6 months ago now, I would propose a gesture of 25,000 HHonors points - the equivalent of a one night award at your property.
• Free night at the hotel to win back my business (this is merely to change my opinion, if things were different this time, I would be happy to reverse my thoughts publicly).
Sincerely,