I don't know how far it's spread yet, but here we have a service called nearmap.com which is a lot like google earth, except they come over once a month using a plane with a neat camera setup on it so it's all low level/high resolution images instead of satellite stuff, and you can see the day the photos were taken & see things that change over time (like houses building, your neighbour stalking your cat, etc).

Really cool service.

.... except scratch that, in the last week it looks like you've gotta pay now. Used to be free for private/non commercial use. Fuckers.

Very cool PJ. Congrats. Just don't Skidmore your way out of it

funny you should say that blah...pretty sure that's exactly what's going to happen

fuck you Blurf! and fuck the rest of you in advance of your next dipshit comment.

OK I admit it, that joke has been into a frothing gelatinous mass.

In reality I do not blame a person for getting out of a fucked job however they go about it. BTDT.

What's a Blurf?

it's a blue faced Blah. arguing till your blue in the face and then claiming you don't care.

It's not a claim, it's a fact. After arguing till I'm blue in the face I pretty much don't care anymore. There isn't much point in attempting to discuss anything when it so quickly degrades into nonsense. With jokes however, it is quite the opposite. The difficulty seems to be a more a matter of perception rather than reason.

On a recent camping trip I had my Kindle on my sleeping bag and momentarily put my huge cock onto it's screen causing it to make a slight cracking noise, after which the display would no longer refresh correctly.
When I got home I went to amazon.com's Kindle Help pages looking for instructions on getting it repaired. Their "Contact Us" form informs me that for Kindle hardware issues I'm best off calling Amazon. I'm still given the options of email or phone so I click phone and a form appears that allows me to enter my phone number. Amazon will call me, saving me an international call to the US.

My phone rings immediately and within 60s I'm talking to a CSR. The CSR asks for my name and after that she asks me if it's ok to use my credit card on file with Amazon as collateral for the replacement Kindle she's about to send me.
She informs me that they will send out a replacement, and also provide me a mailing label which I can use to send back the broken Kindle. Wait, so I get a replacement Kindle for free, and Amazon will pay to have me send back the broken one?! Amazon seriously gets customer service.

As an Australian resident there's a lot of angst from local retailers relating to Aussie shoppers buying more and more goods online. Price is obviously an important factor in this trend but I also can not fathom any Aussie retailer putting this amount of effort into customer service.

I've never known anyone who took a pet chicken camping. Or a Kindle for that matter.

I have had a few actual GOOD experiences calling a tech support number too. Some people do a damn good job and some companies still place a high value on customer satisfaction. I've had a few fun experiences with tech support calls too. Once I got a nice guy in Puerto Rico who liked my joking attitude and said, "You're funny, where are you from?" I said, "Oregon. Where are you from?" He laughed and said, "I'm not from anywhere, I'm in Puerto Rico!"

Off the current path of the thread but FYI google earth is back with no intervention on my part. I just kept checking back now & then and a couple of days ago there it was. I'm saving images of possible future hiking & conoeing areas like a madman against the day when it may go kaput again.

I like the pics of your adventures. Keep em coming when you can. The aerial photos are interesting and must be helpful to look at concerning your travels. I used to have some topographical maps of the area I live in but now I can view that stuff online. Pretty cool.

For canoeing purposes, nautical charts just don't quite cut it and maps don't usually work well for canoeing or hiking. Before my most recent canoe trip I wasn't sure my back could take it but it went well. Since then, though, I've added a removable roller to the back of my utility trailer (remember my mobile office) to ease loading & unloading and today, if it goes according to plan, I'm getting a kayak paddle to ease paddling. I knew a guy years ago who swore by his kayak paddle for canoeing and I even still use one of the regular paddles he gave me when he got it. Going to try to get on the river tomorrow - got a place all picked out.

I skidmore'd outta that job and into another one...back to driving truck otr...hopefully will be able to post some cool pics in the future..

On the road again......

Haha! Skidmored! Good one! Good for you PJ. I imagine you will be good with that truck driving gig and it will work out fine for you.

No one will hire me for anything. I'm too old for anything except maybe a geezer greeter at Walmart. I got an app in for a PT tech job in Stinkin' Shitty (Lincoln City) that might be decent but I don't expect to hear back from them this time. I interviewed as a finalist for a similar full time job there about 8 months ago and they said I came in a close second for that one but for this one after I got my app in and accepted they extended the deadline to apply by another week so they apparently didn't have enough applicants or weren't thrilled about the ones they got. Not holding my breath. I seem to be joining the ranks of the so-called unemployable through no fault of my own. I feel like another uncounted statistic. I keep trying though. There just isn't much I can do out there. So much for having a technical career for 40 years, eh?

We all think we are hot stuff until we go for a job and don't get it.
Although there are age biases you still have to look at the math's and realize there are potentially millions of people you could be competing with. Don't get mad get even. Write a fake resume or get a professional to do it for you. Then if your as you think you are you should have them at hello.

I used think I was hot stuff. I was too. Not anymore. Technology has passed me by and I know it and admit it. I try to stay somewhat informed but things are changing so rapidly now that it is impossible and I look deeper into things that I'm dealing with at the time.

The age thing is a much bigger problem that most realize but only for older people. I don't blame employers for not wanting to hire a 60 year old guy with a fucked up back. I wouldn't if there was an equally qualified younger person. It makes difference in reality and I realize that. Doesn't stop me from complaining about it though.

I have tried padding a resume. I don't like doing that. If I am to work for someone I want them to know the real me. Pretending to be someone you aren't eventually backfires. BTDT.