my art, art-thoughts, links and other writings…always an unfinished business
Anyways, I couldn’t complete the painting yet. It belongs to the same old series with faces. Smaller than the previous one. And also my color palette has gotten dull and less vibrant.
will post more pages soon :-)
Okey, I think I’m 100% back, with full speed internet. Previously, I couldn’t upload images. Here’s something I’ve been working on for the last few weeks. It looks almost complete apart from tiny little bits here and there. There’s nothing special about it, but I thought of sharing…
Looking at the brighter side, mixed media, October 2007
Yesterday, SLT people couldn’t fix the ADSL line because it was raining. Today they couldn’t do it because “their vehicle broke down”. In the evening I got a phone call from one of those people from the Kegalle branch. The conversation did sound remarkably similar to the previous one. This guy believed that the line was fixed and my ADSL is working normally once again ….
Then later, solely for the kicks, just for jun, I tried contacting Sri Lanka Telecom through their website. Apparently their customer service contact form is unable to deliver the message. Isn’t that hilarious? This is what I got :
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
Delivery to the following recipients failed.
nilanthi@slt.com.lk
kasun@slt.com.lkReporting-MTA: dns;slt_corporate1 Received-From-MTA: dns;slt_corporate1 Arrival-Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2007 11:09:27 +0530 Final-Recipient: rfc822;nilanthi@slt.com.lk Action: failed Status: 5.7.1 Diagnostic-Code: smtp;530 5.7.1 Relaying not allowed: nilanthi@slt.com.lk Final-Recipient: rfc822;kasun@slt.com.lk Action: failed Status: 5.7.1 Diagnostic-Code: smtp;530 5.7.1 Relaying not allowed: nilanthi@slt.com.lk
blah blah blah……..
I’m writing this just for the record. (And also for kicks) I don’t know whether I’ll be able to post this or not, because Internet access looks almost impossible at the moment :-( Here goes the report :
I first noted that the ADSL connection was failing on the 8th of this month. I waited for one and a half days before making a complaint.
Then, I made my first complaint through the usual hotline, that is 1243, on the 9th of October. That wasn’t the only complaint. These are the reference numbers and exact dates of my continuous reports/complaints:
Report No 1 – 9 October 2007 – reference number 2895755
Report No 2 – 10 October 2007 – reference number 2900077
Report No 3 – 13 October 2007 – reference number 2911063
Report No 4 – 17 October 2007 – reference number 2930169
Report No 5 – 20 October 2007 – reference number 2943623
Today is October 21, 2007. Nothing has been done so far. I was unable to use my ADSL connection for more than two weeks. It was disconnecting again and again.
And finally, I got a call from the Sri Lanka Telecom(SLT) yesterday. The person introduced himself as Mr.Gunaratne from the Kegalle branch.
Mr. Gunaratne : Sir, is your phone line working well?
Me : Well, it isn’t . Don’t you know what’s wrong with this line? I made several complaints about ADSL and the phone line. I assume you have those complaints with you by now.
Mr. Gunaratne : No sir, I just got a notification that the line has some problem.
Me : Well, I made my first complain about the ADSL on the 9th of this month. So far nothing has been done. ADSL isn’t working. And there’s a noise in the phone line too.
Mr. Gunaratne : No sir, you have reported us only today. I don’t see any complain before the 18th. I’m looking at the computer right now. It can’t be wrong. Since today it Saturday, we might not be able to fix this, but I will try. If it doesn’t work, please call again on Monday and let the regional office know about the problem.
Me : What? you can check it if you want, I logged the first complaint on the 9th. Now it’s been more than two weeks. I want my internet connection fixed.
Mr. Gunaratne : No sir you haven’t made any complains or reports before the 18th.
Me : I DID CALL THE USUAL HOTLINE 1243! They have it recorded there!!!
Mr. Gunaratne : I’m afraid there’s no such number. You should report it to 1241! I don’t know any 1243 number…
Me : You can;t be serious! That is the official number of the SLT for ADSL related complaints! And you are representing them, aren’t you?. I’ve been calling that number ever since I started using SLT internet!!!
Mr. Gunaratne : Uhhh, no sir I don’t think there exists such a number, we don’t have such a number. Uh, mmmm, let me check….(I hear him talking to someone else. Then he gets back to me) well sir, I’m sorry the number exists, but that is for Antharjaala Sambandhatha. Not ADSL
Me : What are you talking about mister? Antharjala Sambandhatha is the Sinhala term for Internet Connections and that is the CORRECT hotline of your company for ADSL and Internet related issues!!!!
Mr. Gunaratne : (ignoring what I was saying) Well, I’m afraid sir, we haven’t received any complains from you other than the one on the 18th. Now all you can do is wait until Monday and inform the Kegalle regional branch. I’ll try my best to find our maintenance people and get it done before 5.00 pm today. If they are not nearby, you will have to wait until Monday…..
blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah, blah blah blah…………………………………………
Since he firmly maintained that I haven’t made any complaint before the18th, I called the 1243 number again and asked for all the details. They confirmed that my complaints were recorded and transferred to Kegalle branch on the same day. But then, the day was ending. There was nothing anyone could do. Now I have to wait until Monday, because they don’t work on Sundays. But, were they working during week days? I can smell a fabulous week ahead…
Well, post title title sums up my comment about this documentary. However, it is indeed a thought provoking work, worth watching. I’m more interested in how the makers of the documentary create a stereotypical European while attempting to explore “European attitudes” toward “Americans” :o)
It is FUNNY how the narrator tries to talk about “French life” “Europeans attitudes” “what Polish people think” “what ‘British people’ feel” etc just like the “Europeans” we meet in this documentary try to talk about “Americans”. Sheer generalizations. I can understand it when such terms used by the people interviewed. But, wow, why is the maker of the film so uncritical about the process of creating stereotypes? Probably he’s trying to invent a stereotypical European in order to overcome the so called Anti-Americanism. Just kidding ;-)
And I’m enjoying my “Asian” self watching this. :-\ Phew! If you have time, watch the whole thing. Here’s the full play-list:
Phew! It’s a “spam-packed” morning here on my online dwelling! Well, I don’t know whether spam is the correct term or not, because the dictionary definition says spam is unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail. I’m getting them both to my website guestbook and also to my personal email address. Less than two hours ago I removed some 30 + messages with links to a xanga website. But they have started it again.
To post this sort of stuff to the guest book, someone has to spend time typing email addresses and all the links into the form. Or can it be done by a non-human bot? I have no idea. I need to find a more sophisticated guestbook to catch them. Phew. In the meantime I stumbled upon some hilarious videos about SPAM and spam. At least, I need to cheer myself up. Warning : This video may contain content that is inappropriate for children
Unfinished Business 