Auto Enrolled Services

I hate auto enrolled services, and had bad experience with CVS.

I use CVS for most of my prescriptions, and refill them when I needed. Recently, I had trouble to get my prescription when I visited CVS. I was told or asked

• which one?
• insurance would not allow it …
• your prescription is not ready.

I was puzzled since I entered my refill request the day before. After a short conversation, I learned that CVS auto refilled my prescription. However, when I did not pick up, they put the drug back without clear their database. So, CVS showed that the prescription been already refilled and insurance would not allow another refill in the same period.

The auto enrolled services create following problems: a) it floods the system with unnecessary service requests; b) it develops awkward customer experience. Fortunately, the clerk found the problem and manually fixed CVS database entries. I also noticed that another clerk was putting some neglected prescriptions back while I was waiting. Yet, I’m not sure how widespread the symptom could be with regard the auto refilled prescriptions.

Please let customer schedule a pick up, not pick up an auto schedule for them.

Motivational Monday Quotes

On Monday, I asked my Facebook friends posting motivational quotes on my wall that inspire them go to work.

Bang Gowes:  Hi Nicolas, Happy Monday! Start off every day with a smile and get it over with. ~ W. C. Fields

Ernest Koncaba:  Still looking at the grass from the top side. The start of another week.

Elza van Swieten:  Have a nice week Nicolas – will start my week with doing …. nothing! Nothingness is the thing to do in 2012!

Emma Geraln  He who hogs coffee pot gets balls kicked. (well it motivates me!)

Lori Moreno:  When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. ~ Rumi

Teresa de Grosbois:  My favourite Monday Quote – Be the change you want to see in the world. Ghandi

Sarah Wilson:  Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

Which one resonates with you most?

Three Plays – What I Learned through Social Networks

Through years of surfing social networks, I learned three plays. The first of the three plays is begging. Six years ago, I knew nothing about Twitter and did not have many followers. I felt uncomfortable to answer what’s my doing every time I logged in. Yet, to get more followers, I followed lots profiles with a DM begging them to follow back. It’s a bad practice.

After many frustrating hours, I abandoned the play and almost quit Twitter. The same is true for start-up businesses. They have limited fund and limited client base. They kicking and screaming while trying to get every help they could find. However, their plays lead to spam and going nowhere in many occasions. It’s as rude as shoving somebody. Not a cool play, not social.

Out of nowhere, I read a blog post about mutual follow back and learned the second of  the three plays. Immediately, I tried to find any signs that a profile could follow back, including hashtags and follow back lists. I knew some of them are bots or fake profiles. Yet, at that time, I only cared about follower count and how to pass the Twitter limit of 2,000. It’s a cost I was willing to stomach and ready to clean up after I gained 5,000 followers

Reciprocity is powerful tool if one applies right. Nevertheless, putting reciprocity as a pre-condition for networking or conducting business is a rude taste and a bad play. In many cases, the play shrink to transaction only relationship. It’s not a way to build a sustainable social relationship or a successful business. Only play, not social.

After several months of exercising through the same routine, I was ready to change gears and found the last of the three plays. It goes beyond the first two plays and inspires behaving naturally. I no longer devoted to the reciprocity for the sake of follow back. I follow and re-tweet best contents possible whether the other party would follow back. These asymmetrical actions did secure some follow backs. Yet, these are only by products of a meaningful and sustainable social plays.

The last play is also true for businesses. While building a survivable client base, businesses should looking for opportunities to help others, charitable and non-charitable included, to start a practical community. The asymmetrical play would show leadership and inspire others to join. Initiative play, definitely social.

So, what’s your three plays in social and business world?

Angry Birds – How Angry I Am

No, I’m not talking about this Angry birds, which has over 500 million downloads across all platforms. I’m not even play it on any platforms. In fact, I never downloaded such a game for myself and blocked every games I noticed in Facebook. It’s a waste of time and counter productive even in lunch break.

On the other hand, I do play games like Chess, Bridge, and Sudoku.They emphasize strategies over mechanical motions. They are not addictive and often lead to intelligent networking opportunities. On top of that, they offer me a room for brain exercise.

Today, I’m really mad about another bird – an annoying bird flying over web pages. I was doing research about customer services and began to read an article referred by a friend. Yet, after finishing the first paragraph, I noted a blue bird was following my movement – I scrolled down the page, it glided down; I scrolled up, it soared to the top.

What the hell was happening? I understand that it’s a setup to promote the article over Twitter. Nevertheless, it’s a total distraction. The nag becomes insane in a few seconds. I could not read and started to pound my keyboard.

This is not a proper way for marketing a blog post. It only makes reader angry – angry over the moving bird. An applicable way for recommending an article is to supply fresh content and install share buttons, which are static and would not sidetrack or agitate readers.

The lesson: don’t be shortsighted, don’t pet cute object, and don’t Angry Bird readers. Instead, review blog as a critic to see if it would give value to patron and lead to a long-term readership.

Super Bowl Crazy – What We Lost

My friends and I were up all night waiting to watch the World Cup. We played poker, drank water, and cheered for goals from past tornaments. We were shouting and screaming for each yellow and red card. Yet, we did not have much food and we did not need them. That’s some twenty years ago. We were young, passionate, and crazy.

When I came to the United Sates, my friends and I drove thousands miles to watch games. We stayed in crummy hotels, slept on floor, and dressed in team color. However, we did not have much food and we did not need them. That’s some fifteen years ago. We were young, passionate, and crazy.

Last few years, my friends and I sat around in a living room, ate snacks, and watched the Super Bowl. We learned the match up, the X and O, and the end zone celebrations. We brought plenty of food and we needed them. Our kids grew up. We were no longer young, still passionate, and less crazy.

Along the way, we substitute hungry for games with craving for food. Our weight build up and our waist line burgeon. We content with convenience and comfort. We lost innocence, youthfulness, and enthusiasm. Indeed, we are using food as a remedy to stuff suspense and suppress anxiety. We are older, less passionate, lost craziness.

I did not notice the change until I saw this picture – a gigantic stadium constructed with food. It’s an absurdity to the infinity. It’s how we lost the race to the business machine. It’s disgusting. Do not worry, I would not boycott the Super Bowl this Sunday. I’ll still sit in my living room watch the game. Nevertheless, I’ll not prepare excessive food and I do not need them. My mind still fresh and youthful. I’ll re-acquaint with my passion and be foolish again.

Photos: Six dazzling Super Bowl meat stadiums – Denver Restaurants and Dining – Cafe Society

Happy Birthday, Nicolas :))

I stunned to read following posts last week

WOW you don’t look 59 ! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Nicolas.

Heck no, I’m not even 50 yet

˜”*°•.˜”*°•.˜”*°•.★★.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜
¸¸.•*¨*•░H░A░P░P░Y░(¯`’•.¸

*♥♥♥* ¸.•’´¯) ░B░I░R░ T░H░D░A░Y░ (¯`’•.¸*♥♥♥*¸.•’´¯) Hope you enjoy YOUR special day!
║╚╦═╦═╦═╦╦╗ ║╚╦═╦═╦═╦╦╗ ║╚╦╦═╣╚╣╚╦╝╠═╦╦╗
║║║╬║╬║╬║║║ ║║║╬║╬║╬║║║ ║╬║║╔╣╔╣║║╬║╬║║║
╚╩╩╩╣╔╣╔╩╗║ ╚╩╩╩╣╔╣╔╩╗║ ╚═╩╩╝╚═╩╩╩═╩╩╩╗║
¸.•*¨*•.♪♫♫♪Happy Birthday .♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ♥Happy Birthday to youuuuu ♪♫•*¨*•.¸.•*¨*•♫
˜”*°•.˜”*°•.˜”*°•.★★.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

It happened in a Facebook discussion. I was saying that a project was in its 59th day and I’d be back in a few days. Apparently, no one care to read the thread. They all jumped on a few words they recognize and fired up their keyboard. Thanks. But my birthday is in December.

This is a result of social media explosion and information overload. Words and information flow from keyboard every minute. It reaches people in a second, if not sooner. To cope with the onslaught, we try to learn new words, new acronyms, and new hashtags. We expand our speed reading capabilities but forget to read. We are easily excited or agitated over a single word. We are stressful all day.

This could affect relationship as well as customer services. We only pick up superficial meanings, but have no time to recognize all related matters. We misunderstand each other and argue frivolously. Our exchange becomes tense and engagement becomes difficult. Often, we are regretful after a few minutes and want to cancel tweets, Facebook posts, and emails.

To ease the distress, I often give myself timeout, meditate for a few minutes, skip posts I don’t have time to read, and read only if I want to engage. How do you deal with the situation?

 

Top 10 Tricks for Getting Better Sleep

After holidays, I often work in late night, check voice mail messages, answer emails, and etc. I need a decent sleep to work the second day. The list furnishes a starting point for me to get a better sleep. Yet, I found that each suggestion alone does not help, since it only deals with isolated or simplified situation. For example,

… Count back 7.5 hours from when you need to wake up, and make sure you get to bed at that time—then adjust accordingly. Of course, you could also try a webapp like Sleepyti.me to help you calculate the perfect number of hours, too.

I just could not count. I need to sort through my (voice + electronic) mails before it becomes a mountain I could not climb.

A better way for me is to mix them effectively. My first step is to change my nightly routine

… take some time to cultivate the perfect evening routine—some light reading, a nice bubble bath, and something that doesn’t involve a backlit screen—to fall asleep quickly and keep your energy up the next day.

Via Scoop.it – Be Productive

For something we spend half our life doing, a lot of us are pretty awful at sleeping. Here are our top 10 tips for falling asleep faster, getting quality rest, and waking up easier in the morning.
Via lifehacker.com

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