The Shaved Soapbox

Wordless Wednesday – Light Patterns

Baldy — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:30:34 +0000

Crime and cronyism, why the apathy?

Baldy — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 18:31:21 +0000

Our country has degenerated from "IF I ever get affected by crime" to "When I get affected by crime, the question is how violent will it be"

A while ago I stared into the barrel of a gun for the second time in my life, and could see the intent of the guy holding it...."fight me and I pull the trigger"

So I decided that he can take what he wants, and whatever is not insured I will have to replace out of my own pocket. I originally insured my bicycle in case I crash in a race, my thoughts never covered the possibility that someone would want it enough to take it from me at the business end of a gun. But luckily it was insured, and I was able to replace at least some of what was taken from me.

The sad thing is, I know that the people who took my stuff have no idea of its value, and will probably sell it to cover their next splurge at the liquor store, where they could be buying a small car.

The previous time this happened, I was lucky, I only lost a cheap cellphone and some cash, they probably knew that an expensive bike would look totally out of place where they lived and would be caught in a flash. Now, the criminals just don't care anymore, they know that our police force is so swamped with work, that they'll probably never get caught, and if they do get caught, they're probably be able to bribe their way out of, so who cares.

Our government has let this happen, they've let corruption and cronyism fly at the highest levels to the detriment of everyone that actually contributes to the coffers that they are raiding.

I'm under no impression that the same corruption and cronyism is not prevalent in most, if not all, first world countries, but there they at least have the decency to get the basics right before scooping the cream off the top. Here the whole milk bucket is plundered, including the cream.

Will this improve? IMHO, I don't see that happening soon. There's a lot of talk, a little action, but mostly apathy from the government side as well.

What am I going to do about it? First of all, I'm not going to change my life because of this incident, I will continue cycling, I will continue doing it when and where I want to do it. But I'm not that worried about me, I'm worried about my children, things have degenerated, and will probably continue sliding downwards, where does this leave them when they grow up?

Maybe I should then seriously start thinking about moving them to a place where there is at least a possibility of a better, safer life for them...Yes, this will affect their relationship with their extended family, but what should I do?

Crime plan for Joburg: South Africa: News: News24

Wordless Wednesday – Flashy Peacock

Baldy — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:51:42 +0000

Wordless Wednesday – Cloudy Silhouette

Baldy — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:41:44 +0000

Guess what I’m collecting tomorrow

Baldy — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:10:03 +0000

I first saw the Cervelo S5 last year November. WHAT A BIKE!

I've been ogling it whenever I get a chance since. 2 weeks ago I got bikejacked (wrote a whole post about that, but never clicked publish, way too morbid). Luckily I was insured, and luckily I found some sympathetic people in the industry willing to give me some discount and advice on how to get this bike within my current budget.

I picked up the SRAM Red groupset today, with an ITM handlebar and stem (in white). Tomorrow I pick up the frame and can then start building, hopefully having everything ready for the Saturday morning ride. For now I'll have to use my race wheels, but will get a new set of training wheels soon.

Wordless Wednesday – Harbour Sunset

Baldy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:35:34 +0000

Wordless Wednesday – Barnacle Landscape

Baldy — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:05:31 +0000

No related posts.

Wordless Wednesday – Patterns in the sand

Baldy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:30:42 +0000

Wordless Wednesday – Hole in the Wall

Baldy — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:18:16 +0000

No related posts.

Customer communication

Baldy — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 10:08:18 +0000

Your customers will choose to communicate with you an a variety of ways, phone, email, instant messaging, twitter, facebook etc.

How they communicate could tell you a lot about how urgent they perceive their issue to be.

If the customer phones you, it means they want action now, whether it is to enquire about a product, or to give some feedback about the service they experienced...they want you to deal with it now.

Same could be said for instant messaging i.e. SMS, BBM, Skype. It is not as important to them, because they never know whether you are in front of your computer, or have your phone in your hand, but they still want you to deal with their request as soon as you get the message.

Email messages are probably another step down on the totem-pole.

When it comes to text-based communication you need to be extremely careful. Emotion cannot be conveyed via text, although I've seen some valiant attempts, and whatever you read or reply has a good chance of being misinterpreted.

So if you are dealing with an angry client that fired off an email while being angry, don't reply to it, rather phone them back.

Chances are they've cooled down by the time you phone and probably regret even sending the mail, but if you send back a terse response because you see their mail as a personal attack, then you'll be adding kindle to the fire, and probably lose the client for life.

That follow-up phone-call, and dealing with the issue, will, on the other hand, probably gain you a client for life.

Value vs Profit