Free Hugs Campaign Video (music by Sick Puppies)

Check out the famed Free Hugs video, with over 1.5 million views on Youtube!  The song on the video, "All the Same," is awesome too! the band is called Sick Puppies and you can find out more about them at sickpuppies.net.

Rosary Army Radio Adventures

I'm sure I have talked about how I enjoy listening to the Rosary Army Catholic podcast. Episode #96 was pretty interesting because Greg and Jennifer Willits recapped their trip out to California. They went to the 2006 Podcast Award ceremony to receive their award for the "Best General Podcast". They were joined by Father Roderick all the way from the Netherlands as well. Father Roderick received two awards for "Best Inspirational podcast," and "Best Mobile podcast." Boy, Greg, Jennifer and Father Roderick certainly were blessed on this trip. They have a friend of SQPN named "Captain Jeff" who works for a major airline and got very reasonable priced tickets for them to fly to California. Greg, Jennifer, and Father Roderick met a bunch of people who very much enjoy their podcasts. Nothing like meeting fans and friends to boost one's self-esteem! They also met someone who works for the TV show The Simpsons. They sounded very excited about it on episode #96.

I was quite happy to hear about how Greg got to be part of a live taping of a podcast called "the Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd." Greg and Jennifer's four sons very much enjoy the podcast. I've only heard one episode, the one that was recorded live at the Podcast Awards. (If you click the blue triangle next to the links here, either the Dr. Floyd or Rosary Army episodes should play right on the page.) "The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd" is about several time-traveling scientists. It is a very family-friendly and educational podcast. They recorded it old-fashioned radio-show style with homemade sound effects and so on. Greg Willits was privileged to play the part of the narrator. He has a great voice. The story line was quite clever, and there were some well-placed jokes that only adults would catch. I laughed aloud. It is certainly worth a listen. I have to admire the people behind the Dr. Floyd show because they were gracious enough to talk to Greg's son Sam in character via cell phone. Sam shared all his ideas about what Dr. Floyd should do next! I'm sure the phone call made his day!

Work Stuff

A few months ago I wrote a blog post about my job with Reserve America. I mentioned it that I hadn't had a relay call. It is sort of funny that soon after I posted that blog post I received a relay call for Ticketmaster. Receiving a relay call was a funny experience. Because I had worked for the Relay I realized the importance of speaking very slowly for the operator. So I spoke slowly, but yet I had to "think on my feet" so to speak to formulate what I was going to say. The woman who called through the relay did not have very good English. I had to ask several times what type of event and she wanted to attend. After asking two or three times finally she said "clowns go ahead." Finally I knew she wanted to go see the circus. However there were several circuses going on in New York City at the time she called. Finally I think I gave her the phone number for the Madison Square Garden because there was a circus going on there. I also recommended that she look at Ticketmaster.com so she could get an idea of what was going on.

The other day I was thinking about the jobs I've held. While working at the UW Survey Center the people I talk to were generally defensive. They must have thought I was trying to get money from them or possibly steal their identity. The questions I asked for the surveys were very basic. We never asked anyone for their name and address or Social Security number. I remember asking a question about a respondent's zip code. She said "this is getting a little too personal." I explained the reason why we needed her zip code, "to make sure we get a good mix of people around the state." Eventually she gave me her zip code. And then later on in the survey I asked her a question about whether she ever had a Pap smear. Me and my sarcastic mind, I thought "asking for your zip code is not nearly as personal as asking whether you have ever had your cervix swabbed by a doctor!"

On the other hand, at my Reserve America job people had no problem in giving it their personal information out. When that they ordered tickets or made camping reservations they gave me their name, address, phone number, and credit card number! For the Ticketmaster orders people even gave me the 3 digit security number on the back of their credit card. Although I had one woman who said she did not want to give it for security reasons. I had to tell her "Without that number on the back of the card I cannot make the order" because it was true! Ticketmaster requested the three digit code on the back of the credit card in order to assure that the person calling actually had the credit card in their possession.

Obviously people gave me the information because they were calling me-I was not calling them. One or two people even told me that they prefer to talk to me on the phone to place the order rather than placing the order on the Internet. I know there are times where people have had their identity stolen through the Internet. To my way of thinking, it is a bit more suspicious to give your name, address, and credit card information to a live person rather than an order form on the Internet. Oh well, people have different ideas of what is "secure."