Sounds Around - or Surround

When P.H. (Vistage Bud) handed me the Phil Collin's concert DVDs, I asked the question "What's the better audio - Digital Dolby or DTS?"  I had been wondering this ever since I purchased and installed my Sony Home Theater (HT-IS1000) system several years ago.  I had just never gotten around to do the research. 

Now that I have moved the Sony KDS 50A2000 SDRX  TV downstairs (awaiting a new 3-D TV upstairs), I had to reconnect the 50 wires to my complicated HD-DVD; Playstation; VCR/DVD Combo; and Time Warner DVR set tops and Sony Surround Sound Headphones.  But what to use for sound when not using the headphones. Since I had an old Samsung DVD/Surround Sound System, I decided to use it downstairs. 

Hours of complicated troubleshooting - optical digital cables with three way switch; wireless rear speakers; menu settings on all set-top boxes  - it takes a virtual audio/video technician now days to configure the components together compatiably. 

Add to that the complication of wondering if HDMI cables with the different certifications were causing the lack of digital audio sound coming from the TV (after all the Best Buy Rep informed me that 3-D video requires HDMI 1.4 compatible cables).

I do enjoy all this complication.  It is like a puzzle - and attempting to get to the perfect audio environment.  It reminds me of the early days of talking to my Dad about stereophonic sound and 3 head recording.  It amazes me how we continue to strive to get recorded sounds to perfectly match what we hear naturally with our ears.

Sounds good!

P.S.  The anwser to Dolby vs DTS?

"In other words, you need a thoroughly refined home theater audio playback setup to bring out the subtle difference in sound quality between these two formats."

G-G-G or W-W-W

This morning Susan and I discussed non-profits and 501(c) 3 organizations. She is on the Board (Treasurer) of Emmaus and is also acting as a part time CFO for the Civic Garden Center. We were discussing the necessity of tax returns (990's) and external audits. I mentioned that churches have different rules - but didn't know the specifics. In fact when I was the Chair of Finance at Armstrong Methodist we had no external audit.

I remarked that Susan is a great Board member on Emmaus - as a Board member and Treasurer the money increases vs decreases.  It reminds me of P.F. of SVP Cincinnati's quote to me about the role of a Board member - G-G-G   "Give, Get or Get Off".   When I mentioned this in a breakout session at the International Social Venture Partner Convention in Long Beach last year, the facilitator rebutted -  I prefer W-W-W for describing Board members - "Work, Wealth and Wisdom".

Lately I have come to some conclusions that non-profits have weak (VERY WEAK) boards.  Alan Proctor highlights this in his book "Linking Mission to Money".  He was an excellent speaker to our SVP Partner group and we need to have him come back to Cincinnati and speak again.       

So make sure one of the W's on your Board is not WEAK!!!! -  Otherwise use the G - Get them off!

C-C-C

At the Vistage meeting today, A.S. mentioned in his "3 Year Plan" he wanted the three C's.  To stay Current, Curious and Carefrontational.

Staying Current (especially with technology) is not an easy task.  It requires plenty of reading, listening, networking, and interpersonal training.  An open mind, and energy to take on new tasks are two attributes that are needed.

Curiousity takes energy and time also.  The willingness to take risk outside your comfort zone.  I'm not suggesting that it is prying or meddlesome - rather I suggest that curiousity is being interested and willing to learn about an area that may not be in any of your present fields of interest.

Finally - Carefrontation is a word that I learned from A.S. when I first joined Vistage.  It was one of the principles we use in the interaction of our group.  The caring style of confronting an individual with feedback and observations.  Not advice - per se - but opinion based on the background and knowledge of what you know about the person. 

Today's message hit a C-chord with me.

Heaven Board Entry #3

I'm predicting entry #3 on my heaven board 10 years from now. It will be the three apple trees that appeared in our backyard yesterday.  It required some "hounding" of Susan who felt that planting them was just creating a "deer magnet".  I assured her that with Fitch and Bella there would be two diligent sentries to protect the trees. 

Yet last night I put an extra layer of protection up by hanging bars of Irish Spring soap.  Add to that the chicken wire arount the trunk, and deer repellant mixture on the ground - it is almost a complete failsafe and redundant set of systems to keep the deer away. 

Why Heaven board #3?  Fruit trees remind me of many of the places I have lived.  The beauty of seeing them blossom in the spring. Eating apples from the tree in the fall.  And the magic number three will remind me now of Susan, Jenna and Ellen.

So it will be important to me that these trees grow long and prosper.  And I can now feel like Johnny Appleseed.


5/15/2017 Update:   Sadly the middle tree died in the Winter of 2016 but to keep with tradition, I added two new trees - after all Jenna and Paul getting married in May will be a new relationship mix in the Wisner Family Orchard.  

Delighting the Customer

What a refreshing call to Cincinnati Bell Telephone.  When I called at 11:09 there were long wait times so I was given the option to be called back within 25 minutes - which I took.  At 12:14 (oops they had missed the window), I was called back only to be put on hold for about 45 seconds.  It is these little things that escalate the irritation of the customer. 

Elizabeth came on the phone asking me my full name and we began the discussion.  I told her that I felt $10 credit for three months was my expectation or that I would be considering discontinuing service.  She acknowledged that my file was full of repair notes and that this had been going on for quite a while (I mentioned to her since March 2010). 

Now here is how you turn irritation into "delight".  Elizabeth said she would be crediting my account $35 AND discounting my internet bill to $20/mth for the next year or until the service is completely fixed.  WOW!!  was my response.  I asked her how long she had worked at Cincinnati Bell - she said two years.  Not only am I impressed with her customer service style (listening, asking if service was meeting my expectations now, and acknowledgement of my issue), I am impressed with CBT's policy to let a 2 year rep make the customer service judgement and dollar authorization of $215 ($35 credit and $15/mth for 12 mths).

And it avoided the potential disconnect of the wireline.  Just last night Jenna and I were trying to convince Susan to eliminate our wireline service and use an extra Verizon wireless phone at home. Susan was wavering and if this call had not gone well, I would have eliminated all CBT service.

And how many people will hear this story-  as many that will listen or read a blog.  Well done Cincinnati Bell.


Addendum -  I forgot mention why I was so impressed with Elizabeth.  After my delight, I mentioned to Elizabeth that I was anxiously awaiting Fiberoptics to my house so I could get higher speeds and cable content. However that I knew because of the low density that my house would be the last in Cincinnati connected.  She responded that if I got a bunch of my neighbors together and communictated this to Cincinnati Bell that there might be a chance that the service would be come faster to my community.  WOW - not only delighting the customer by attempting to sell more Cincinnati Bell service and loyalty.  I'm double-ly impressed.

Buying Invisible Speed

September must be my pet peeve blogging month.  And note Pet Peeve blogs are long and boring! - Unless you have the same problem and gripe.

Today's gripe is about internet service (and may even be a duplicate blog see On Hell Hold 3/16/2010).  I currently have Cincinnati Bell DSL service (and have since 1996 as one of the first subscribers).  I have experienced the service in three locations and have many stories.  At my present location, there are line problems after a heavy rain and after troubleshooting on the phone for hours, I have found after the weather dries - the problem goes away.

Lately, however, the problem has been different with slow speeds and complete disconnects/outages - again only to remedy itself with time.  The basic problem with paying $35/mth for internet service is that we are "buying invisible speed".  I am paying for a certain speed limit but never know if I am going that fast.

Example:  Cincinnati Bell offers "speed limit" plans for "UP TO" download and upload bytes per second:    $25 for 769Kbps; $35 for 5Mbps; $40 for 10Mbps (Fioptics); $50 for 20Mbps; $60 for 30Mbps; $100 for 50Mbps; and $300 for 100Mbps.  I haven't listed the upload speeds but this could be important for certain users.

The up to provides an "out" for Cincinnati Bell and their slow speeds,   Yesterday as I awaited a technician to arrive (after wasting hours the night before on the phone with a rep),  I played with two sites to measure my speed - Zoomtown Speed Test  and Ping Test.   The results showed that I was crawling along  at 127Kbps and a Ping Test line quality of "D" - (8% Packet loss; 79ms Ping; 55ms Jitter). 

By the time the technician arrived (at last minute of the 12-4pm reservation window), my speeds were testing 4.36Mbps and a Ping Test line quality of "B" (0% Packet loss; 43ms Ping; 11ms Jitter).  As I described my frustration to the technician, he acknowledged the intermitent speed issue and said they have been working on it and may ultimately lay fiber to the switch to aleviate the variable quality of speed issue.  "Please bear with us and Thank you for the business."

Well - time is up.  I will call customer service and ask for a $10 rebate for 2-3 months.  And if that is not provided - I will switch to Time Warner.  Stay tuned for the result.

Contracts vs Expectations

No matter how many times one get's burned on the fine print, it can happen again and again (no matter how old or how often you get scammed).   The triple witching hour hit last night as I spent too much time messing with contracts. 

First - the HUD settlement statement for the refinance loan that Susan and I are closing on today.
Second - the 2 year contract I entered into for Direct TV - and the resulting impact of cancelling the 2 yr Price Lock Guarantee with Time Warner.
Third - the 2 year agreement that I now have with Verizon after Ellen acquired her i-phone.

(1)  Guardian Saving Bank states on their web site that refinance costs are $250 (with some fine print about recording fees, credit score and LTV dependency).  My out of pocket - $740+!  There will be some $#%^&@ to pay at the closing today!

(2)  The Cable and Direct TV guys are in hot competition to steal and retain customers (the benefits of capitalism).  I price locked Time Warner in July 2010 for 2 years.  Tuesday the Direct TV salesperson in Sams Club convinced me to switch and lock into their 2 yr contract.  Trust me the common man's head would spin in the complexity of answering the question - did I really save any money and/or get better services.  I'm still trying to complete the analysis.

(3)  When I added Ellen to our Verizon plan with the i-phone, I established the time clock on a 2 yr agreement with all kinds of penalty clauses (that I really didn't read).  I'm sure not paying attention to the fine print on this one will "burn" me as I update my phone and when Jenna updates her phone.

The hard lessons of life are when you discover your expectations were unrealistic to what you signed - because you didn't spend the time to read the fine print.  Always be prepared for the customer service rep to say "Did you read what you signed when you ......."