Inside-Out http://www.x10community.com/insideout/ en-us Copyright 2007 Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:23:33 -0800 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Katelyn Plays Dr. Phil A week ago I had this gal call me up and say that a purchase of a camera kit was made under her fiancé’s name and she wanted to change the purchase to show that it was indeed under her name because she paid for it. She then went into a VERY long story about how he had kicked her out of the house and had broken off the engagement. On top of all that he had used her credit card to place the order so technically speaking she bought the equipment. It turns out that this credit card misuse worked out well for the caller because she absolutely loved her setup from X10. She wanted everything on the account transferred to her name. So I put in notes into the order stating that this customer indeed wants to keep this product.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/09/katelyn_plays_dr_phil.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/09/katelyn_plays_dr_phil.html Wed, 20 Sep 2006 09:23:33 -0800 Fantasy Sports Tracker Here in Seattle we’re known for specialty coffees, technology, and grunge music in the 90’s. After last football season the Seahawks and their fans are hoping to make it back to the Super Bowl and put Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks out there for the world to see. After the Super Bowl loss last season Seahawk fans are rabid and have more foam in their mouth than a latte from Starbucks. Every Sunday is a big deal this season in Seattle. Rather than raking fall leaves and other home improvement projects everyone is watching every move coach Mike Holmgren makes.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/09/fantasy_football.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/09/fantasy_football.html Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:57:11 -0800 Jeff Stops Crazy Neighbors While trolling through e-mails and reading up on the new Sentinel and seeing that it is by far our best and most versatile camera with its weather enclosed dome and starlight mode for low light situations, my phone finally rang.

I answered the phone as charming and lovely as usual. "Thank you for calling X-10 Sales, my name is Jeff. Would you like to hear about our limited time deals on our new Sentinel camera?"

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/07/jeff_stops_crazy_neighbors.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/07/jeff_stops_crazy_neighbors.html Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:22:20 -0800 Josh An X10 Weekend Warrior This weekend I put together an X10 system for my father in law. He’s a disabled war vet and is having more and more trouble getting around. Exertion is a big no for him. Well, he loves to spend time out in his garage surrounded by his tools. Unfortunately the garage is extremely crowded with various pieces of garbage and junk which blocks the light switch from easy access. Until now he’s been creatively using a squeegee to reach across the garbage and flick on the lights.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/07/josh_an_x10_weekend_warrior.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/07/josh_an_x10_weekend_warrior.html Thu, 06 Jul 2006 09:27:08 -0800 I’ve Got Three Fans! So over the weekend we hit a heat wave in Seattle. Oh man! I'm not used to this at all! I'm used to the cold and damp Seattle air. Myself and all the other Seattleites not used to this heat are moving in slow motion. So I was enjoying a cold adult beverage after mowing my lawn and looked at my dog…his face said it all. I needed to get some fans!

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/ive_got_three_fans.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/ive_got_three_fans.html Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:02:39 -0800 Jeff Attempts To Use Superpowers A customer called and was apparently having some difficulty in getting his camera system to work properly. Looking to provide the best support to customers I was more than happy to help.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/jeff_attempts_to_use_superpowe.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/jeff_attempts_to_use_superpowe.html Thu, 22 Jun 2006 16:09:27 -0800 This Old Birdhouse Like most married men I’ve spent a lot of time in the dog house. I’ve clocked in for at least several hundred hours in the dog house both figuratively and literally over the last seven years with my wife. Most of the time I’ve spent in the dog house has been over my lack of handyman skills. Growing up I would always be working on something with my parents who were very good at home improvement work. So I too thought I was the next Bob Vila. Turns out handing my dad a hammer or screw driver and holding up drywall doesn’t really strengthen my Darth Vila Jedi skills. “You said you were a handy man!” is a common phrase I hear.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/this_old_birdhouse_1.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/this_old_birdhouse_1.html Mon, 19 Jun 2006 10:17:14 -0800 My Personal Assistant Wouldn’t that be nice if everyone had a personal assistant? Not only at work, but for everything you do?

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/my_personal_assistant.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/my_personal_assistant.html Wed, 07 Jun 2006 10:14:11 -0800 Betcha Bottom Dollar Last weekend was my wife’s big school production of Annie. The 7th and 8th graders have been working months to perfect the play and they were ready to go. I’ve helped with the school play for the last four years as a stage manager. It’s pretty exciting to rush props and sets on and off stage and ensure each of the performers have what they need when they get on stage.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/betcha_bottom_dollar.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/06/betcha_bottom_dollar.html Tue, 06 Jun 2006 10:57:51 -0800 Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go It's official I'm an old geezer. It's not a bad thing... it's just official. I came in last night for a training session with our graveyard sales consultant at 2:00 AM after working my normal daytime shift the day before. Back in my younger days I could have easily done this... not so much anymore. My eyes hurt, my muscles ached, and the loud bass coming from the cars on the road at 1:30 this morning drove me crazy. "Turn down your stereo sonny! There's no need for all the boom boom boom!" After my insane drive into work I came in to find there is a whole different world running while I'm in bed.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/wake_me_up_before_you_gogo.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/wake_me_up_before_you_gogo.html Fri, 26 May 2006 13:30:30 -0800 Josh's Lessons Learned... It was a dark and stormy day… Actually I think it was pretty nice out,
actually. Sitting inside on a nice day is a bugger. Yet the powers that be
decided that today would be a better day than most. As I was slogging
through the ankle deep tech calls I encountered a very nice man from Canada.
He has an acute interest in setting up security for the oil fields in
Canada. We conversed for a little while and he left with a promise from me
to find a system that will work for his application.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/all_about_josh.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/all_about_josh.html Thu, 25 May 2006 17:00:00 -0800 Bret Saves The Day Recently I received a phone call from a group of police officers in Minnesota. They saw our system after doing a search on the Internet and called me to find out some information about our Protector Plus voice dialer security system. I was explaining to this group on a conference call the features of the system and how it could help them. They informed me that there was a real and imminent threat upon their daily lives. I wanted to ask why they decided to call me…after all they are the police right?

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/brets_day.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/brets_day.html Thu, 25 May 2006 15:38:39 -0800 Tammra's "Daily" Event What has now become a typical "daily" event:

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/tammras_daily_event.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/tammras_daily_event.html Thu, 25 May 2006 15:35:10 -0800 Meet Tammra Wow, where do I start?

I have been contemplating what to say for a couple of days now. I have endless stories from my seemingly endless days in tech support. That having been said, I didn’t feel it necessary to dwell on those, since they are posted all over resellerratings.com. Look for X10 and Tammra. I’m all over the ratings site!

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/meet_tammra.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/meet_tammra.html Tue, 23 May 2006 16:00:00 -0800 In The Lobby Last week while training some of our new hires I heard from that we had a customer waiting in the lobby. Seeing how we're a call center people around me seemed to have no idea what to do. It was almost like they had no idea how to interact with someone face to face. A panic went through the call center. You would think we all lived here and never left. Having years of retail experience I knew I could talk to someone face to face so I decided to head downstairs to see what the hubbub was about.

]]> http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/in_the_lobby.html http://www.x10community.com/insideout/2006/05/in_the_lobby.html Tue, 23 May 2006 16:00:00 -0800