About 18 months ago I booked an Easy Jet flight - They operate out of Luton Airport in the UK. And since then they have hung onto my email address like it is the most important thing in the world. I have tried many times to de-register from their mailing list; I have even logged a new email address by changing my address a little bit; I have added their address to the blocked junk mail address and still their email comes through. I have even written to them about the bad practise and threatened to report them to whoever regulates this stuff. I am sure I am not the only one wanting to get off their lists so I am not sure how they get away with it.
When their latest email arrived in my inbox, I thought I would again try to de-register and then remembered why I had a problem doing this before.... they are terribly sneaky. This is what happens if you try to get your name off the mailing list:
Step 1........ The email that lands up in your in-box : You click on the "to stop receiving emails" link and you are taken to their website
Step 2......... You enter your email address and because you can't remember/never had a password you click on the button for them to send you the password.
Step 3 .......... You are taken to another screen and are asked to enter your email address again - which you do because you are desperate to get off the list.
Step 4 ......... A screen pops up so fast, like magic, and it tell you there is no record whatsoever of your email address on their data base. There is no where else to go.........
And because you think you have done something wrong you go back to the beginning and do all of this all over again and guess what - same result.
It is impossible to get off their list.
Monday, 2 February 2009
Positive Thinking - al la Alan Knott-Craig
Over the past couple of weeks I have received an email, purportedly initiated by Alan Knott-Craig, 3 or 4 times from different people. Alan is the CEO if iBurst and author of the Book “Don’t Panic” which he published apropos the first “happy camper, feel good” email he sent to staff early in 2008
And my point in doing a blog about this particular email is: Oh Come on folks. Is this guy for real…….. surely he doesn’t believe all the tripe he writes. Why doesn’t his best friend read the stuff first?
I first received the email from my Tai Chi friend Duncan and he was horrified (appalled!) that I was so cynical and because I said A K-C was delusional and should be locked up in the nearest mental institution. Duncan reminded me that one should have a positive attitude, which I do generally have, but I cannot take Knott-Craigs ramblings seriously.
The following are some extracts from his email – selective I know, but they are not the worst…..my comments in italics:
o Festive season hangovers. Solution: Convert to Islam (Yikes!)
o Oil is now below $50 a barrel, inflation is not such big deal because oil is cheap nowadays, (Yikes!)
o What about the recession? Well, as it turns out, that was something that deserved a bit of panic (Yikes)
o note to attackers: neck-lacing innocent foreigners is not a great advert for our country (What would you have them do instead????)
o How long will it last? (the recession) Who knows, but brace yourselves for a tough 2009. The good news is that after every tough time comes good times, so at least we all have something to look forward to! (and this makes us feel better???)
o Our interest rates are still high, but at least there is the possibility of a decrease in rates to ease the burden on your back pocket. The UK and USA do not have that luxury, their interests rates are already too low to cut further! (and this makes us feel better???)
o Mad Bob can’t last forever. When he heads off into the sunset there will be an absolute bonanza of investment and aid flooding into Zimbabwe (oh yeah????), and a large chunk of that windfall will be via sunny SA… oh happy days (What am I missing here????)
o The unintended consequence of the government procrastination on infrastructure investment over the past 10 years is that now that it’s finally underway it is just in time to prop up our economy! Gotta love those bureaucrats. (What am I missing here????)
o The Soccer World Cup is coming. If we get it right, ie: 10,000 tourists are not hi-jacked, we’ll be the hottest spot on the planet, (What am I missing here????)
And his conclusion is: Life is not about waiting for storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Well go dance then – his email follows:
From: Alan Knott-Craig
Sent: 04 December 2008 06:42
To: All UsersSubject: Closing out 2008
Hi guys,
Why am I writing this email? Because I’m getting the impression there are some depressed people walking around. Now there are a couple of potential reasons for this phenomenom: 1. Festive season hangovers. Solution: Convert to Islam. 2. Moving offices. Solution: Resign and work from trailer park. 3. Manic depressive personality. Solution: Prozac or alcohol (see point 1 for solution to hangover). 4. You read newspapers. Solution: Rather work.
It’s been just over 10 months since I sent that damn Don’t Panic email. Quite a bit has happened since then, some of it good (ie: Ricoffee sales have sky-rocketed), some of it bad (ie: Ricoffee sales have sky-rocketed).
So let’s recap: At the beginning of the year people were panicking about the oil price, inflation, electricity and economic recession. Of those big 4 concerns, 3 have taken care of themselves. Oil is now below $50 a barrel, inflation is not such big deal because oil is cheap nowadays, and we haven’t had any crazy power outages since February (the Eskom saga is a complete mystery to me). What about the recession? Well, as it turns out, that was something that deserved a bit of panic. Especially if your name is Dick and you run a New York investment bank. Fortunately we don’t have any Dick’s at iBurst.
After the merry-go-round of bad news at the beginning of the year, capped by the xenophobic attacks (note to attackers: neck-lacing innocent foreigners is not a great advert for our country), it’s been quite surreal to watch the u-turn executed by those heading for the exit door. It’s a bit like watching naïve tourists run into the sea off Camp’s Bay, scream in pain, and then race back onto the beach. The water looks so nice, but don’t go in there unless you’re an Eskimo. Suddenly foreign shores aren’t as attractive when there are no jobs, no credit, and no sunshine.
Just to put a couple of things in perspective, here is some info on the year-to-date performance of world stock markets (as of 10 Nov):
Iceland -89%
China -64%
Russia -64%
India -48%
Hong Kong -46%
Brazil -40%
Japan -40%
USA -36%
Australia -35%
UK -32%
New Zealand -29%
South Africa -26%
SA is not so bad, is it? I’d rather be here than in Iceland.
Sunny SA is certainly not immune to the global economic crisis. Our companies are suffering too, which means fewer bonuses and more retrenchments (always a winning recipe for unhappiness). How long will it last? Who knows, but brace yourselves for a tough 2009. The good news is that after every tough time comes good times, so at least we all have something to look forward to!
What is the silver lining for SA? Our interest rates are still high, but at least there is the possibility of a decrease in rates to ease the burden on your back pocket. The UK and USA do not have that luxury, their interests rates are already too low to cut further!
What else? Mad Bob can’t last forever. When he heads off into the sunset there will be an absolute bonanza of investment and aid flooding into Zimbabwe, and a large chunk of that windfall will be via sunny SA… oh happy days. Who said there were no plusses to having a failed state as a neighbor?
What else? Anyone noticed the cranes everywhere you look? Seen the Gautrain progress? I went down to CT 2 weeks ago, and virtually the entire highway is under construction. The unintended consequence of the government procrastination on infrastructure investment over the past 10 years is that now that it’s finally underway it is just in time to prop up our economy! Gotta love those bureaucrats.
What else? The Soccer World Cup is coming. If we get it right, ie: 10,000 tourists are not hi-jacked, we’ll be the hottest spot on the planet, and we’ll have a shout for hosting the Olympics.
But don’t crack open the champagne just yet, we still have our fair share of challenges. Your average Yank may be swapping his house for a trailer, but at least he’s not worried about being shot in the head on the way to his next job interview. If any of you have a relative or friend in the government, please pass on this message, “Crime is out of control and most of our schools and hospitals are in disarray.” Don’t for a second fool yourself that we can ignore these structural problems and live the rest of our lives in blissful ignorance. We must constantly remind the politicians to do their jobs, but we cannot absolve ourselves of our responsibility to make individual contributions. It is our business to make this land a success. Report crime, pick up litter, give to the needy, create jobs, look after the children, practice safe sex, drink filter coffee. We’ve all got a responsibility to make the magic happen, otherwise you’ll just end up lying in bed in 50 years time, looking back and saying “What if?”
The time of opportunity is upon us, now it’s up to us to seize the day. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Life is not about waiting for storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Looking forward to dancing in 2009!
Cheers,Alan
And my point in doing a blog about this particular email is: Oh Come on folks. Is this guy for real…….. surely he doesn’t believe all the tripe he writes. Why doesn’t his best friend read the stuff first?
I first received the email from my Tai Chi friend Duncan and he was horrified (appalled!) that I was so cynical and because I said A K-C was delusional and should be locked up in the nearest mental institution. Duncan reminded me that one should have a positive attitude, which I do generally have, but I cannot take Knott-Craigs ramblings seriously.
The following are some extracts from his email – selective I know, but they are not the worst…..my comments in italics:
o Festive season hangovers. Solution: Convert to Islam (Yikes!)
o Oil is now below $50 a barrel, inflation is not such big deal because oil is cheap nowadays, (Yikes!)
o What about the recession? Well, as it turns out, that was something that deserved a bit of panic (Yikes)
o note to attackers: neck-lacing innocent foreigners is not a great advert for our country (What would you have them do instead????)
o How long will it last? (the recession) Who knows, but brace yourselves for a tough 2009. The good news is that after every tough time comes good times, so at least we all have something to look forward to! (and this makes us feel better???)
o Our interest rates are still high, but at least there is the possibility of a decrease in rates to ease the burden on your back pocket. The UK and USA do not have that luxury, their interests rates are already too low to cut further! (and this makes us feel better???)
o Mad Bob can’t last forever. When he heads off into the sunset there will be an absolute bonanza of investment and aid flooding into Zimbabwe (oh yeah????), and a large chunk of that windfall will be via sunny SA… oh happy days (What am I missing here????)
o The unintended consequence of the government procrastination on infrastructure investment over the past 10 years is that now that it’s finally underway it is just in time to prop up our economy! Gotta love those bureaucrats. (What am I missing here????)
o The Soccer World Cup is coming. If we get it right, ie: 10,000 tourists are not hi-jacked, we’ll be the hottest spot on the planet, (What am I missing here????)
And his conclusion is: Life is not about waiting for storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Well go dance then – his email follows:
From: Alan Knott-Craig
Sent: 04 December 2008 06:42
To: All UsersSubject: Closing out 2008
Hi guys,
Why am I writing this email? Because I’m getting the impression there are some depressed people walking around. Now there are a couple of potential reasons for this phenomenom: 1. Festive season hangovers. Solution: Convert to Islam. 2. Moving offices. Solution: Resign and work from trailer park. 3. Manic depressive personality. Solution: Prozac or alcohol (see point 1 for solution to hangover). 4. You read newspapers. Solution: Rather work.
It’s been just over 10 months since I sent that damn Don’t Panic email. Quite a bit has happened since then, some of it good (ie: Ricoffee sales have sky-rocketed), some of it bad (ie: Ricoffee sales have sky-rocketed).
So let’s recap: At the beginning of the year people were panicking about the oil price, inflation, electricity and economic recession. Of those big 4 concerns, 3 have taken care of themselves. Oil is now below $50 a barrel, inflation is not such big deal because oil is cheap nowadays, and we haven’t had any crazy power outages since February (the Eskom saga is a complete mystery to me). What about the recession? Well, as it turns out, that was something that deserved a bit of panic. Especially if your name is Dick and you run a New York investment bank. Fortunately we don’t have any Dick’s at iBurst.
After the merry-go-round of bad news at the beginning of the year, capped by the xenophobic attacks (note to attackers: neck-lacing innocent foreigners is not a great advert for our country), it’s been quite surreal to watch the u-turn executed by those heading for the exit door. It’s a bit like watching naïve tourists run into the sea off Camp’s Bay, scream in pain, and then race back onto the beach. The water looks so nice, but don’t go in there unless you’re an Eskimo. Suddenly foreign shores aren’t as attractive when there are no jobs, no credit, and no sunshine.
Just to put a couple of things in perspective, here is some info on the year-to-date performance of world stock markets (as of 10 Nov):
Iceland -89%
China -64%
Russia -64%
India -48%
Hong Kong -46%
Brazil -40%
Japan -40%
USA -36%
Australia -35%
UK -32%
New Zealand -29%
South Africa -26%
SA is not so bad, is it? I’d rather be here than in Iceland.
Sunny SA is certainly not immune to the global economic crisis. Our companies are suffering too, which means fewer bonuses and more retrenchments (always a winning recipe for unhappiness). How long will it last? Who knows, but brace yourselves for a tough 2009. The good news is that after every tough time comes good times, so at least we all have something to look forward to!
What is the silver lining for SA? Our interest rates are still high, but at least there is the possibility of a decrease in rates to ease the burden on your back pocket. The UK and USA do not have that luxury, their interests rates are already too low to cut further!
What else? Mad Bob can’t last forever. When he heads off into the sunset there will be an absolute bonanza of investment and aid flooding into Zimbabwe, and a large chunk of that windfall will be via sunny SA… oh happy days. Who said there were no plusses to having a failed state as a neighbor?
What else? Anyone noticed the cranes everywhere you look? Seen the Gautrain progress? I went down to CT 2 weeks ago, and virtually the entire highway is under construction. The unintended consequence of the government procrastination on infrastructure investment over the past 10 years is that now that it’s finally underway it is just in time to prop up our economy! Gotta love those bureaucrats.
What else? The Soccer World Cup is coming. If we get it right, ie: 10,000 tourists are not hi-jacked, we’ll be the hottest spot on the planet, and we’ll have a shout for hosting the Olympics.
But don’t crack open the champagne just yet, we still have our fair share of challenges. Your average Yank may be swapping his house for a trailer, but at least he’s not worried about being shot in the head on the way to his next job interview. If any of you have a relative or friend in the government, please pass on this message, “Crime is out of control and most of our schools and hospitals are in disarray.” Don’t for a second fool yourself that we can ignore these structural problems and live the rest of our lives in blissful ignorance. We must constantly remind the politicians to do their jobs, but we cannot absolve ourselves of our responsibility to make individual contributions. It is our business to make this land a success. Report crime, pick up litter, give to the needy, create jobs, look after the children, practice safe sex, drink filter coffee. We’ve all got a responsibility to make the magic happen, otherwise you’ll just end up lying in bed in 50 years time, looking back and saying “What if?”
The time of opportunity is upon us, now it’s up to us to seize the day. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Life is not about waiting for storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
Looking forward to dancing in 2009!
Cheers,Alan
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