thisis How you deal with a dodgy mechanic

Hello ScoFans!

"Would you grow up? There's no room for truth on the Internet"
Howard Walowitz - The Big Bang Theory

I have been having trouble with my mechanic lately. I went in and saw him in May and about two weeks ago he started sending me accounts telling me I didn't pay him on the day. Accounts which were for totally different (lesser) amounts than the ones I paid, and which completely different invoice numbers to the one I was given.

As you can imagine, I got quite angry about the whole situation. I've been running around town badmouthing the place, telling coworkers and clients not to deal with them, I've written letters to the local papers telling them about the situation.. and I've even written letters to not so local papers.

On Friday I went in there and I didn't care that there were customers he was talking to as well as others waiting, I walked right past him and told him exactly what I thought of the stunt he was trying to pull.

I told him I knew I always paid him on the day, and he must have been fucked up on something to think I wasn't going to check a/ my bank account and b/ the previous invoice when he started sending me demands for payment. I called him a con artist and asked him how many other people he had scammed pulling this stunt, who couldn't be bothered double checking and just paid their account because it came in the mail.

He became quite flustered and kept stammering and backtracking and mumbling and really didn't have any answers.

And now for the truth...

I have been having trouble with my mechanic lately. I went in and saw him in May and about two weeks ago he started sending me accounts telling me I didn't pay him on the day. Accounts which were for totally different (lesser) amounts than the ones I paid, and which completely different invoice numbers to the one I was given.

As you can imagine, I found the whole situation quite humorous. I've been having a bit of a laugh with some people about it (mostly people who don't live in the area, but with those who do I'm careful to never name the place).

On Friday I went in there and I waited patiently while he dealt with the other customers who were there before me, even though one of them just seemed to be an old guy who was up for having a chat and not actually doing any business. I walked up to him and nervously pulled out my original invoice as well as the accounts he'd been sending me.

He checked the computer system and told me my original invoice was for all the work done to my car on that day, and that someone had raised a second invoice for some unknown reason which was for only part of the work done. He apologised about 1,000 times and I told him "It's okay. These things happen. No system is perfect and we all slip up ones in awhile"

He seemed to be a bit embarrassed about the situation, but told me he was going to look into how it happened. (I hope I didn't get anyone fired)

I'm not the sort of person to get to worked up about things or abuse people for mistakes. We're all human, we all make them, and my way still gets results.


Thinking of you always,


ScoMan

thisis Wordless Wednesday #2- Help!

Yes, it's Wordless Wednesday again, which means I talk and you all SHUT UP!... I mean, sit quietly and listen. There's a good reader.

Hello ScoFans!

Remember a few weeks ago when I posted that list of things we hate, and I hinted there was a lot of ScoPoints on offer?

So congratulations to Nic for showing the rest of you losers that a little Scrubs knowledge goes a long way. She just won herself a bazillion ScoPoints. Had she added "How dare you?" it would have been a bajillion.

Why does my spell check accept "Bazillion" but not "Bajillion"?

Oh well.

Anyway, enough of that, now I need your help.

Yes, that's right, I just called you losers and now I want something from you. If there was some magic button I could press to take back the horrible things I said I would, but unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, no such button exists, so we'll just have to leave it be and move on.

I have recently started drinking tea at work, and as such I need some fancy cup which says "Leave me the hell alone".. but not "I'm an asshole so feel free to treat me like one".

Oh, and it should also say "Dexter is an awesome show".

I've narrowed it down to these three..



"Normal people are so hostile."



"Human bonds always lead to complications. Commitment. Sharing. Driving people to the airport."



"So I hear a rumor you're tracking all our internet activity. So is it true? 'Cause I can explain all that she-male stuff".

Okay, so I lied about the last one. I am going to get that for our IT guy for Christmas though. The mug says it in words I never could.

So anyway, what I need you to do is kindly cast your vote at the polly thingy over there, and shape what my coworkers think of me.

It might be obvious from this post I really don't care what they think of me.



Thinking of you always, (kindly.... most of the time)



ScoMan

thisis The Secret to Success

Hello ScoFans!

** This post was inspired by a vlog Vince Caso posted this week. I might refer to it from time to time throughout this post. I don't know yet. I don't know where this is going. It could be exciting, or it could be breathtaking. I don't know**

When you hear successful people talk about the things that got them where they are today, similar themes are common amongst most of them:

• hard work
  
• taking a chance
• luck

So there's nothing new there. So far my "Secret to Success" sucks big ones. But now we're going to realistically work through those points.

If you ask anybody you meet if they work hard, chances are they will tell you "Yes, of course I do".. especially if their boss is in earshot, so I don't think "hard work" REALLY seperates us.

But after listening to Vince speak passionately this week about the second point (there you go, I did mention it), it made me wonder "Do I have any goals? Is there something I would rather be doing, but the only thing holding me back is an element of risk or the potential for me to fall flat on my face?"

My first response was "No. As stressful as my job can be at times, I work with some amazing people who are happy to support one another and work as a team - plus they have a good sense of humor for bonus points" (and none of them read this blog, so for me to say that with none of them ever knowing I've said it.. it just goes to show you how I feel about them)

Anyone who's worked in an office knows co-workers make or break your enjoyment of your job.

But after dwelling on it for awhile, I thought, "Yes. There is something I would rather me doing with my life. I would rather be spending my days at home playing video games and watching DVDs without worrying about work"

And the only thing holding me back is taking a chance.

But let's go back to the first point, "hard work".

In order to live my dream, I need to maximise my cash. The sooner I maximise my cash, the sooner I can live my dream. There are a number of ways people have done this in the past, but the main two are sound investments and gambling.

Sound investments take a long, long time to gain sufficient funds for me to live the rest of my life on, so that leaves gambling.

Now I have to decide "Do I take everything I have to the casino and put it on black.. then black agian.. then red.. then black.. then red.. then red.. then red.. then black" until I have enough capital to suit my needs? Or do I take the slower approach of putting my fortnightly pay into lotto tickets until eventually, I win a jackpot large enough to meet my requirements?

This is where the hard work comes in. I need to monitor the chance of winning different games at the casino and compare that against the chance of winning the lotto, and then I need to look at the payout from each. How many times would I need to win a particluar game at the casino to reach the same amount of prize money I would get from winning a lotto jackpot?

What are the chances of winning the game that many times in a row?

What if I minimised the risk at the casino but limiting my outlay each time? The prize money received for winning would be less, and therefore I would need to win more times.

What about betting on sporting events?

Is there some sort of system I could develop to maximise my winnings whilst minimising my losses?

Now we come back to the second point - taking a chance.

Whatever system I develop, whatever I come up with, I have to move through the fear and trust my system.

I have to be prepared to lose everything, so that I may gain even more.

Did I just say I'm gaining more than everything?

I believe I did.

Is that possible?

Of course it is. I'm currently reading about a method of having more than everything.. right here.. on my blog.

Finally comes luck. With the system I develop I'm sure I won't require much luck at all, but I guess luck is an element in everything we do. Especially bad luck. Say for example, I forget to carry the one in one of my formulas. That is just bad luck.

So there you have it. I have put my dream out there, as well as a blueprint for how I'm going to get there. It will take a lot of hard work and taking a risk, there is no denying that, but now.. I think I'm ready to get what I deserve.

Wish me luck.

Thinking of you always,

ScoMan

The views presented in this blog do not reflect the views of Vince Caso nor do they reflect the views of the author of the blog. The advice contained within this blog should not be followed by anybody.

If however, you do follow the advice contained in this blog and you are succesful, the author is entitled to 20% of your earnings, and will provide PayPal details for payment to be made into at a later time.

thisis Time to Bond... James Bond?

Hello ScoFans!

"It's easy to bond over hating something together. The Internet is total proof of that"
Codex - The Guild (Series 3, Episode 2)

As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, I have been watching quite a bit of The Guild the last few weeks. Yes, that's right, I've been spamming your feeds. What, you wanna fight about it?

Anyway, I heard that quote and I realised "She's right. Blogging shouldn't be about entertaining people or making them laugh. It shouldn't be about sharing our lives or connecting with people. No, the Internet is about people who hate things joining together and complaining about those things."

Okay, so there's also quite a lot of porn on the Internet too, but other than porn, the Internet is mostly about hatred.

So I thought, this week, we'd take the opportunity to do some real bonding and strengthen our electronic connection by hating a list of socially acceptable things to hate, collectively shaking our fists and venting our frustration at the below listed things.

Things like cancer. I mean, cancer, what's with all the killing people, really. It's a damn inconvenience.

And also, that .1% of germs that no household cleaner is able to kill. Damn you invincible germs! It's your fault we get sick!

Oh, and cleaning products manufacturers. For years you've told us about your "new and improved" formula, but you've also been telling us your product kills 99.9% of germs. If you're not killing any more germs, how exactly is your product "improved"?

And politicians. I hate them so much.

And don't even get me started on lawyers.

Oh, and what about bad drivers. Am I right? Don't bad drivers suck?

And then there's teams that beat the Essendon Football Club. I know none of you know nothing about the AFL, but you do know me, and you like me, and you want me to be happy.. right?

... at least.. you don't want me to be unhappy..

And what is the deal with mean people? Don't they get that we all hate them? Seriously people, a bit of kindness goes a long way.

Unemployment. That's another bad thing. Because not only is unemployment bad, but when people get really desperate it also leads them to burglary and drug trafficking, which is also bad. That's a three for the price of one right there.

While we're on the subject of crime, rapists, pedophiles and murderers. What is your problem? Most criminals for that matter. You make so many peoples lives unpleasant. We don't like you either.

Bad TV shows also suck. Especially bad TV shows that are advertised a lot, so you're reminded of your anger towards the show in each commercial break, and that just makes you angrier.

Ummm.. what else is pretty awful?...

People who spam your Twitter feed. We don't care what show your watching, either say something interesting or don't tweet at all. (Yes, sometimes I do hate myself, just a little bit)

People who use their Facebook status to seek attention.

People who say w00t.

People who don't spell properly.

People who don't get it.

PeoPleE wHo TyPe lIke ThiS.

People who use social networking to constantly remind us all how much they love their significant other. If you love them so much, get off the damned Internet and spend some time with them.

People who be hating on my game.

People who diss my peeps.

People who are annoying.

People who complain too much.

People who are always happy.

Noisy children.

Crying babies.

Dusting.

Ironing.

Domestic violence.

And of course, Hugh Jackman.

Well, that's all I can come up with. How about you? Do you have anything else we can hate together?

Thinking of you always

ScoMan

PS There is the chance to impress me and earn some serious ScoPoints here.