But this time, I'd like to mix things up a little by taking this one off the blogosphere into flickr. I have already tagged some of my contacts there. Feel free to jump in.
Thanks for the tag Michael.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
off topic, on prevailing
OK, this is totally off topic, but I felt this insurmountable need to share the news...
Today, I received a check from the state of Florida. Yippy!
After 2 full years of misery and perseverance I finally prevailed! The Department of Business and Professional Regulation finally cut me a check out of their "recovery fund". I had lost hope this would ever come true. I had never encountered so much red tape in my life (and I went thru the US immigration department procedure to become a legal alien!)
Here's the story highlights, for your entertainment:
-Fall 2004, the second hurricane in a row to land right in town does over $20 000 of damage to our home.
-Winter 2004, we found a licensed contractor willing to perform the work. I thoroughly check licenses, insurance policies, references, BBB state etc... We give him a fairly large deposit, which he promptly deposits into his company's bank account.
-Spring 2005, the wrong roofing materials are delivered in our driveway. Numerous phone calls are placed and many more stories are told about the reasons why no work is being performed.
-Summer 2005, after consulting a lawyer, we fire the contractor and ask for our deposit back. Follows may more phone calls and attempts to negotiate a refund. We file complaints with the BBB and the FL DBPR.
-Fall 2005, Another hurricane destroys the south office of said DBPR which delays our case again, but one of the state's investigators reports that contractor has agreed verbally to refund our deposit.
-Winter 2005, we receive a letter form the DBPR stating our case is being dropped due to the contractor being deceases. (!) (I have to say that then, I cried.)
-After much probing, someone at the Legal dept of the DBPR informs us that if we had a small court judgement, we could possibly be eligible for a refund from "the recovery fund".
-Spring 2006, we file in small claims (agreeing to the maximum for SCC instead of our full deposit.) Note: this required 2 separate appearances and the grieving widow appeared in tears on a Monday (after being mentioned in the Sunday paper for wining the local women's league bowling tournament) and her attorney states the corporation is being dissolved and will not even file for bankruptcy. All we can hope for is a judgment in our favor. Being that's what we need to continue with the state, we just wait and get that. Yea! We won in court.
-Summer 2006, we file a claim with the DBPR recovery fund and discover that is is just like we have never filed anything at this point. All new paperwork needs to be filled, contract, checks, phone records, copies etc, but also now, we have to prove we tried to collect our SCC judgement, (?!) and also demonstrate the repairs were completed on our house.
-Winter 2006 is spent meeting all these new obligation and learning much too much about asset searches and the corporate veil.
-Jan. 2007, our claims gets denied because of a roofing technicality (remember the wrong materials delivered, we never used it because it did not meet code, turns out he could not have installed it himself, wrong license... Thankfully, he had gotten a licensed roofer to pull a permit for it back then. Proving this got them to revise their original denial and recommend us for approval. We were granted an audience with the decision making board of recovery fund.
-Feb. 2007, we travel to Orlando for an 11 AM appointment with "the board". Turns out there are at least 20 other people with that same 11 AM appointment and that the board is running late, so please wait in this small hotel conference room where all your cases will be heard in numerical order as soon as the board arrives...
A litany of horror stories follow, guaranteeing I will never convince my husband to get me a pool, amongst other things and once our turn comes, we are promptly made aware that our case was a "best case scenario" since NONE of the work was done and NO ONE would challenge the ruling (TGFSF). The contractor lady that is head of the board asks why did i only ask for $5000 in small claims, I say, it's the max, she says, well now you're going to get the full amount back and bangs the gavel! Yea again!
-March 2007, we get more paperwork from the DBPR requesting we file a transfer of our SCC judgment to them and that our check should come within 4 to 6 MONTHS!
-May 2007, we get a registered letter for the state, I run to the post office with butterflies in my stomach. It's a letter stating our case was complete and we should get a check SOON...
-June 2007, another registered letter. Dare I dream? Yes, it is, a letter of congratulations (I kid you not,) and a check for the full amount of our original deposit.
Anyone without the means to research these options, pay for all these fillings, travel, take time off work etc. could never have got this to this happy ending. Anyone without the hard head not to take no for an answer or without the optimistic outlook that justice would matter could have not gotten thru this.
It wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all...
technorati tags: policies, customers
Today, I received a check from the state of Florida. Yippy!
After 2 full years of misery and perseverance I finally prevailed! The Department of Business and Professional Regulation finally cut me a check out of their "recovery fund". I had lost hope this would ever come true. I had never encountered so much red tape in my life (and I went thru the US immigration department procedure to become a legal alien!)
Here's the story highlights, for your entertainment:
-Fall 2004, the second hurricane in a row to land right in town does over $20 000 of damage to our home.
-Winter 2004, we found a licensed contractor willing to perform the work. I thoroughly check licenses, insurance policies, references, BBB state etc... We give him a fairly large deposit, which he promptly deposits into his company's bank account.
-Spring 2005, the wrong roofing materials are delivered in our driveway. Numerous phone calls are placed and many more stories are told about the reasons why no work is being performed.
-Summer 2005, after consulting a lawyer, we fire the contractor and ask for our deposit back. Follows may more phone calls and attempts to negotiate a refund. We file complaints with the BBB and the FL DBPR.
-Fall 2005, Another hurricane destroys the south office of said DBPR which delays our case again, but one of the state's investigators reports that contractor has agreed verbally to refund our deposit.
-Winter 2005, we receive a letter form the DBPR stating our case is being dropped due to the contractor being deceases. (!) (I have to say that then, I cried.)
-After much probing, someone at the Legal dept of the DBPR informs us that if we had a small court judgement, we could possibly be eligible for a refund from "the recovery fund".
-Spring 2006, we file in small claims (agreeing to the maximum for SCC instead of our full deposit.) Note: this required 2 separate appearances and the grieving widow appeared in tears on a Monday (after being mentioned in the Sunday paper for wining the local women's league bowling tournament) and her attorney states the corporation is being dissolved and will not even file for bankruptcy. All we can hope for is a judgment in our favor. Being that's what we need to continue with the state, we just wait and get that. Yea! We won in court.
-Summer 2006, we file a claim with the DBPR recovery fund and discover that is is just like we have never filed anything at this point. All new paperwork needs to be filled, contract, checks, phone records, copies etc, but also now, we have to prove we tried to collect our SCC judgement, (?!) and also demonstrate the repairs were completed on our house.
-Winter 2006 is spent meeting all these new obligation and learning much too much about asset searches and the corporate veil.
-Jan. 2007, our claims gets denied because of a roofing technicality (remember the wrong materials delivered, we never used it because it did not meet code, turns out he could not have installed it himself, wrong license... Thankfully, he had gotten a licensed roofer to pull a permit for it back then. Proving this got them to revise their original denial and recommend us for approval. We were granted an audience with the decision making board of recovery fund.
-Feb. 2007, we travel to Orlando for an 11 AM appointment with "the board". Turns out there are at least 20 other people with that same 11 AM appointment and that the board is running late, so please wait in this small hotel conference room where all your cases will be heard in numerical order as soon as the board arrives...
A litany of horror stories follow, guaranteeing I will never convince my husband to get me a pool, amongst other things and once our turn comes, we are promptly made aware that our case was a "best case scenario" since NONE of the work was done and NO ONE would challenge the ruling (TGFSF). The contractor lady that is head of the board asks why did i only ask for $5000 in small claims, I say, it's the max, she says, well now you're going to get the full amount back and bangs the gavel! Yea again!
-March 2007, we get more paperwork from the DBPR requesting we file a transfer of our SCC judgment to them and that our check should come within 4 to 6 MONTHS!
-May 2007, we get a registered letter for the state, I run to the post office with butterflies in my stomach. It's a letter stating our case was complete and we should get a check SOON...
-June 2007, another registered letter. Dare I dream? Yes, it is, a letter of congratulations (I kid you not,) and a check for the full amount of our original deposit.
Anyone without the means to research these options, pay for all these fillings, travel, take time off work etc. could never have got this to this happy ending. Anyone without the hard head not to take no for an answer or without the optimistic outlook that justice would matter could have not gotten thru this.
It wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all...
technorati tags: policies, customers
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
ramble on social news
Hey Now! great post at TechCrunch
announces the re-birth of dead.net as a social site. To quote them:
"...Dead.net is transitioning to a new hosting environment..."
so cool...
update: really, check it out, it's great!
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers, deadhead, deadheads, grateful dead,
announces the re-birth of dead.net as a social site. To quote them:
"...Dead.net is transitioning to a new hosting environment..."
so cool...
update: really, check it out, it's great!
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers, deadhead, deadheads, grateful dead,
Monday, May 21, 2007
Further
OK, enough repetitive, sorry posts about navel gazing pain. Thought I'd bring up a nice positive bit of progress resulting directly from my persistent use of an RSS aggregator. We have been buried (truly) in forms and spreadsheets lately and all of us are really getting burned out on paperwork. But today, we had to present a short regurgitation of statistical info to represent "A Day In The Life Of insert library here". Examples were provided to us that would bring us to present data looking like this:
Visitors: 3,585
Circulation: 4,986
Total Program Attendance: 242
PC Sign-ups: 764
Web page Hits: 697
Database Searches: 656
But after reading Jill's brilliant post on IBS, a few of us to a couple of minutes to repackage it for non-librarians, and this is what we submitted:
3,585 people connected with ideas, information and their community by visiting the library.
4,986 items went home with citizens to enrich their home and work lives.
242 patrons of all ages shared their community’s diverse cultural life by attending a library program.
764 library users connected with the world and their full potential through the use of a public computer.
697 people started their quest for trusted information by visiting the library web page.
656 queries of our research databases helped the citizens support their lifelong learning efforts.
I love Library Marketing - Thinking Outside the Book ... It's on my "every day" list.
It's just an up moment when a little reading has a good little effect on a little task at hand.
Tada! Our library is human!
Made us all really proud.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Visitors: 3,585
Circulation: 4,986
Total Program Attendance: 242
PC Sign-ups: 764
Web page Hits: 697
Database Searches: 656
But after reading Jill's brilliant post on IBS, a few of us to a couple of minutes to repackage it for non-librarians, and this is what we submitted:
3,585 people connected with ideas, information and their community by visiting the library.
4,986 items went home with citizens to enrich their home and work lives.
242 patrons of all ages shared their community’s diverse cultural life by attending a library program.
764 library users connected with the world and their full potential through the use of a public computer.
697 people started their quest for trusted information by visiting the library web page.
656 queries of our research databases helped the citizens support their lifelong learning efforts.
I love Library Marketing - Thinking Outside the Book ... It's on my "every day" list.
It's just an up moment when a little reading has a good little effect on a little task at hand.
Tada! Our library is human!
Made us all really proud.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Excusez la.
Man, this is embarrassing. I start writing, save as draft, chicken out, repeat...
I have never been one to censor myself, I swear, I don't know what's wrong with me these days. People are doing great stuff everywhere... What's up with me?
I have been wrestling with ideas of efficiency, cost cutting measures and human sensibilities. The emphasis here is on the wrestling. I always juggle thoughts of efficiencies and cost cuttings. I usually don't wrestle with these thoughts, they have been part of my work for over 10 years. Lately though, everything seems different and people are defensive, sectarian (yep, I said it) and can no longer think beyond one possibility or another for the sake of consistency and balance.
Perspective! It's always my focus in all the training I give. It's always my need when deploying systems and it's still what I seek when faced with hard decisions. Why is it that some can't look beyond their shoe tips? We need to make solid choices based on long term objectives, even when the goal is immediate result.
We cannot hope that if we stop serving some users who are not "prepared enough for us" or who "create the largest workload" or worst yet, who "come to us for just anything" ( I really heard that one once!) we will have succeeded in managing our services. Yes, staff will feel relief if there are shorter lines, but how will they feel as lines get shorter and shorter.
I am not trying to preserve the "perfect" library we had 2 or 3 years ago, I am trying to preserve the great one we can have 5 and 10 years form now.
See, this is the type of post I usually write and delete. Too many "I"s in it. Way too editorial and self indulging. Feels like I am chasing my tail. But here goes. Maybe now it will be out of my system. Excusez la.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
I have never been one to censor myself, I swear, I don't know what's wrong with me these days. People are doing great stuff everywhere... What's up with me?
I have been wrestling with ideas of efficiency, cost cutting measures and human sensibilities. The emphasis here is on the wrestling. I always juggle thoughts of efficiencies and cost cuttings. I usually don't wrestle with these thoughts, they have been part of my work for over 10 years. Lately though, everything seems different and people are defensive, sectarian (yep, I said it) and can no longer think beyond one possibility or another for the sake of consistency and balance.
Perspective! It's always my focus in all the training I give. It's always my need when deploying systems and it's still what I seek when faced with hard decisions. Why is it that some can't look beyond their shoe tips? We need to make solid choices based on long term objectives, even when the goal is immediate result.
We cannot hope that if we stop serving some users who are not "prepared enough for us" or who "create the largest workload" or worst yet, who "come to us for just anything" ( I really heard that one once!) we will have succeeded in managing our services. Yes, staff will feel relief if there are shorter lines, but how will they feel as lines get shorter and shorter.
I am not trying to preserve the "perfect" library we had 2 or 3 years ago, I am trying to preserve the great one we can have 5 and 10 years form now.
See, this is the type of post I usually write and delete. Too many "I"s in it. Way too editorial and self indulging. Feels like I am chasing my tail. But here goes. Maybe now it will be out of my system. Excusez la.
technorati tags:library-20, library2.0, library 2.0, libraries, policies, customers
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