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sarea
Starting to watch American Horror Story right before bed -- not my best idea. I love the show, but it is freaky. It's not scary, which I think I could handle better. It just takes your mind into these creepy corners that kind of freaks me out. I was dreaming about it all night.
I hate the stock market. I don't have the right personality for it. I'm unhappy no matter how things go. If I sell at a good price, I am bitter if the stock price goes higher. If I don't sell at a good price, I am bitter that they're so worthless. It's totally a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. What's prompting this is that I have some stock options that are about to expire, and I'm totally stressed out over them. I sold some earlier, but am bitter because the stock went up after that. Now I'm bitter because the price is down from Friday. If I could be the sort of person who was happy at selling at a decent price, I could totally play the stock market. But I'm not. Thankfully my last set of options expire in July, so after that I won't have to worry about it anymore.
Now for more complaining. I don't know if anyone else has been through this, but it's REALLY annoying when you make a donation to a charity and they don't do all they can to maximize the funds they get. Example: Back in October, I made a donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society. My company matches up to a certain amount in donations per employee each year, and all the receiving organization has to do is confirm that the employee donated money to them and how much. Doesn't sound that hard to do, does it? No, and I know it's not, because of all the charities I've donated to over the years, not one of them has ever had any challenge in doing this. Until this year, with the Wildlife Conservation Society. In December, I received an email from the matching gift team saying that my donation still hadn't been confirmed. I contacted (by phone) the WCS, and spoke to a very nice person who said that they would get that taken care of and get back to me. I learned today that it STILL hasn't been done. And time is a problem, because if they don't confirm within 90 days of the donation being made, the matching gift request is closed -- they won't get the matching funds. In this case, they have 8 days. To do something so simple!! Which they haven't been able to do in the last 3 months!! If they don't confirm my donation so that they can get the matching amount, I'm never donating to them again. It's not like it was a huge amount or anything, but doesn't every little bit count? Especially when you can double it with very little effort? Plus, it doesn't exactly speak well of their competence, does it? If they can't do something so minor to get free money for their organization, either because they are too lazy or incompetent, what does that say about their efforts for wildlife? Obviously, I think preserving wildlife is a hugely worthy cause -- I'll just have to find another organization to make my donations to, one that I know will maximize contributions to its cause. I'll just regret that I gave money to them this year, since another worthy cause would have doubled it.
TO: 'cKlein@wcs.org'
CC: 'developmentinfo@wcs.org'; 'ssautner@wcs.org'
Hi Courtney,
You're listed as the appropriate contact, so I am addressing this email to you. If you're not the right contact, please forward to the right person.
I made a $250 donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society back in October. My company (xxxxxxxxx) matches my donation, which would increase the amount to $500. However, they've been trying for several months to get WCS to confirm my donation, which has not yet happened. If they don’t hear back from you confirming my donation by Jan. 17, my matching gift request will be closed and WCS will be out an easy $250. I even called the WCS a month or so ago and spoke to a very nice person saying that they would get someone to confirm my gift, but that still hasn't happened.
This is my first time donating to the WCS. Unfortunately, at this point it will also be the last if your organization can't even get it together to respond to a simple email request confirming someone's donation... it doesn't give me a lot of confidence of the way the organization handles its fundraising or even how those funds are being used. Obviously I think helping wildlife is a really great cause, I'll just have to find another organization through which I can do that. I would think that a charitable organization would welcome matching gifts from companies -- and I like to know that my own donations are being maximized by taking advantage of my company's giving policies. In fact, of all the organizations I have given to over the years, this is the FIRST TIME I have ever had this problem of an organization not responding to a matching gift request, which is such a simple thing to do to maximize charitable contributions to the WCS.
The lengths I've had to go to in order to try and get this matching gift for the WCS is frankly ridiculous -- shouldn't that be a priority with your org? Even if $250 isn't huge in the big scheme of things, surely there's some automated/easy process that can help process all such donations?
Please confirm my donation ASAP. It is still listed on your portal awaiting confirmation. If you need a password reset, you can request one by sending email to xxxxxxxxxxx.
Thank you.
I feel kind of bad being harsh with a charitable organization, but COME ON!
Other than American Horror Story, I've also seen everything that's aired of S3 of Community. God I love that show. "Remedial Chaos Theory" has to be one of my fave episodes of the show now. OMG when it was Troy's turn to get the pizza, rofl. I've watched the first episode of Misfits S3. It's weathering Nathan's absence fairly well, I'll give them that, but only because the new guy is interesting. Other than Kelly, the old characters have so far been boring/lame. Also! I've seen the first episode of the new season of Sherlock, "A Scandal in Belgravia." SO. GOOD. Even though I totally complained about how long it took them to get S2 to us, it's worth the wait.
- I love Moriarty. I think the actor who plays him is brilliant. The way it all went down at the beginning was totally anti-climactic, but then it kind of had to be.
- Sherlock is gay. *Especially* the way Benedict Cumberbatch plays him. So I was pretty meh about "The Woman." And okay, let's say that I buy that this Sherlock isn't gay. The way it happened was so... LAME. He fell in love with someone so obvious after ONE meeting? Because really that's all it was!! Plus Irene Adler was just so -- in your face. I just don't see that as being Sherlock's type (okay, so I think her being a woman kind of makes her not his type, too, but that she was a dominatrix and just so Woman Hear Me Roar even more so).
- And if Sherlock were straight, I'd want him to be with Molly. Except not really. More in a James Bond/Moneypenny way, where he's not really meant for any one woman, he's married to his work, but if there was a woman he felt some tiny inkling for... (other than Mrs. Hudson) I mean, that one scene where he kisses her cheek was so sweet.
- I was kind of put off by the bungling American government agents, but I'm sure the Brits don't like our portrayals of them either, so whatever.
- The overall plot kind of went over my head. It was very 007 in that way, most James Bond plots and subplots and intrigues get way too complicated for me also.
- Young female member of the royal family? Who is that supposed to be? One of Prince Andrew's kids? Kate? LOL.
I've also started reading Deathnote, whichadelagia recced ages ago. It started off really slow, but I'm in a groove with it now. I'm near the end of volume 3, and unfortunately I don't have volumes 6 or 7 so that's gonna suck. But wait! I have them on the hold list at the library! And now I'm #1! Oh I love being able to freeze holds.
- I want to root for Light/Kira, except he's kind of evil. O.o Like, I thought he was going to be 'the good guy' of the piece, but after he killed all those FBI agents, I guess not. Also when he was like, "Yikes, if my family finds the deathnote, I'll have to kill them." O.o
- Yet I can't root for L either, because his character kind of annoys me, and once we 'met' him the way he looks freaks me out too. What is with his FEET and his fidgeting? Ugh.
- Reading the names of those FBI agents was embarrassing. Those are supposed to be names? Seriously, the manga author hasn't seen enough movies to come up with something like "John Smith," rather than these painfully obviously made-up names by someone who clearly doesn't know what an American name might be? Or couldn't do a bit of research? Or had someone he could ask?
- I'm getting a little tired of them trying to read each other's next moves. It's one thing to follow the mind of a genius trying to get 3 steps ahead of his enemy; it's another to follow two. It's just a bunch of "but then this" "but then that" "but then THIS" "no THAT."
- Maybe this is true of all Japanese manga heroes, but they ALL seem to be super geniuses who go to Todai and are also expert tennis players. I mean, that's exactly what Naoki (from Itazura Na Kiss aka It Started with a Kiss) was like.
- OMG at all the random made-up rules for the deathnote btw. This is like when I was a kid and making up games to play with my brother. So many tedious little rules in order to account for every little "but what if..."
- I sort of liked Raye Penber's -- see what I mean about the names?! -- fiancee, other than that he was all "I know you used to be an awesome FBI agent, but we're engaged now, so don't worry your pretty little head about the case" and she was all "OK." Ugh. The representation of women in Asian society still has a long way to go. And even that might have been OK because she was clearly smarter than he was and got even further than L (maybe) on figuring out facts about the case, but then she was outsmarted by Light. So yeah.
- Though I have yet to identify a character I really like/root for, I'm still riveted by the story at this point and must know what happens.
I hate the stock market. I don't have the right personality for it. I'm unhappy no matter how things go. If I sell at a good price, I am bitter if the stock price goes higher. If I don't sell at a good price, I am bitter that they're so worthless. It's totally a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. What's prompting this is that I have some stock options that are about to expire, and I'm totally stressed out over them. I sold some earlier, but am bitter because the stock went up after that. Now I'm bitter because the price is down from Friday. If I could be the sort of person who was happy at selling at a decent price, I could totally play the stock market. But I'm not. Thankfully my last set of options expire in July, so after that I won't have to worry about it anymore.
Now for more complaining. I don't know if anyone else has been through this, but it's REALLY annoying when you make a donation to a charity and they don't do all they can to maximize the funds they get. Example: Back in October, I made a donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society. My company matches up to a certain amount in donations per employee each year, and all the receiving organization has to do is confirm that the employee donated money to them and how much. Doesn't sound that hard to do, does it? No, and I know it's not, because of all the charities I've donated to over the years, not one of them has ever had any challenge in doing this. Until this year, with the Wildlife Conservation Society. In December, I received an email from the matching gift team saying that my donation still hadn't been confirmed. I contacted (by phone) the WCS, and spoke to a very nice person who said that they would get that taken care of and get back to me. I learned today that it STILL hasn't been done. And time is a problem, because if they don't confirm within 90 days of the donation being made, the matching gift request is closed -- they won't get the matching funds. In this case, they have 8 days. To do something so simple!! Which they haven't been able to do in the last 3 months!! If they don't confirm my donation so that they can get the matching amount, I'm never donating to them again. It's not like it was a huge amount or anything, but doesn't every little bit count? Especially when you can double it with very little effort? Plus, it doesn't exactly speak well of their competence, does it? If they can't do something so minor to get free money for their organization, either because they are too lazy or incompetent, what does that say about their efforts for wildlife? Obviously, I think preserving wildlife is a hugely worthy cause -- I'll just have to find another organization to make my donations to, one that I know will maximize contributions to its cause. I'll just regret that I gave money to them this year, since another worthy cause would have doubled it.
TO: 'cKlein@wcs.org'
CC: 'developmentinfo@wcs.org'; 'ssautner@wcs.org'
Hi Courtney,
You're listed as the appropriate contact, so I am addressing this email to you. If you're not the right contact, please forward to the right person.
I made a $250 donation to the Wildlife Conservation Society back in October. My company (xxxxxxxxx) matches my donation, which would increase the amount to $500. However, they've been trying for several months to get WCS to confirm my donation, which has not yet happened. If they don’t hear back from you confirming my donation by Jan. 17, my matching gift request will be closed and WCS will be out an easy $250. I even called the WCS a month or so ago and spoke to a very nice person saying that they would get someone to confirm my gift, but that still hasn't happened.
This is my first time donating to the WCS. Unfortunately, at this point it will also be the last if your organization can't even get it together to respond to a simple email request confirming someone's donation... it doesn't give me a lot of confidence of the way the organization handles its fundraising or even how those funds are being used. Obviously I think helping wildlife is a really great cause, I'll just have to find another organization through which I can do that. I would think that a charitable organization would welcome matching gifts from companies -- and I like to know that my own donations are being maximized by taking advantage of my company's giving policies. In fact, of all the organizations I have given to over the years, this is the FIRST TIME I have ever had this problem of an organization not responding to a matching gift request, which is such a simple thing to do to maximize charitable contributions to the WCS.
The lengths I've had to go to in order to try and get this matching gift for the WCS is frankly ridiculous -- shouldn't that be a priority with your org? Even if $250 isn't huge in the big scheme of things, surely there's some automated/easy process that can help process all such donations?
Please confirm my donation ASAP. It is still listed on your portal awaiting confirmation. If you need a password reset, you can request one by sending email to xxxxxxxxxxx.
Thank you.
I feel kind of bad being harsh with a charitable organization, but COME ON!
Other than American Horror Story, I've also seen everything that's aired of S3 of Community. God I love that show. "Remedial Chaos Theory" has to be one of my fave episodes of the show now. OMG when it was Troy's turn to get the pizza, rofl. I've watched the first episode of Misfits S3. It's weathering Nathan's absence fairly well, I'll give them that, but only because the new guy is interesting. Other than Kelly, the old characters have so far been boring/lame. Also! I've seen the first episode of the new season of Sherlock, "A Scandal in Belgravia." SO. GOOD. Even though I totally complained about how long it took them to get S2 to us, it's worth the wait.
- I love Moriarty. I think the actor who plays him is brilliant. The way it all went down at the beginning was totally anti-climactic, but then it kind of had to be.
- Sherlock is gay. *Especially* the way Benedict Cumberbatch plays him. So I was pretty meh about "The Woman." And okay, let's say that I buy that this Sherlock isn't gay. The way it happened was so... LAME. He fell in love with someone so obvious after ONE meeting? Because really that's all it was!! Plus Irene Adler was just so -- in your face. I just don't see that as being Sherlock's type (okay, so I think her being a woman kind of makes her not his type, too, but that she was a dominatrix and just so Woman Hear Me Roar even more so).
- And if Sherlock were straight, I'd want him to be with Molly. Except not really. More in a James Bond/Moneypenny way, where he's not really meant for any one woman, he's married to his work, but if there was a woman he felt some tiny inkling for... (other than Mrs. Hudson) I mean, that one scene where he kisses her cheek was so sweet.
- I was kind of put off by the bungling American government agents, but I'm sure the Brits don't like our portrayals of them either, so whatever.
- The overall plot kind of went over my head. It was very 007 in that way, most James Bond plots and subplots and intrigues get way too complicated for me also.
- Young female member of the royal family? Who is that supposed to be? One of Prince Andrew's kids? Kate? LOL.
I've also started reading Deathnote, which
adelagia recced ages ago. It started off really slow, but I'm in a groove with it now. I'm near the end of volume 3, and unfortunately I don't have volumes 6 or 7 so that's gonna suck. But wait! I have them on the hold list at the library! And now I'm #1! Oh I love being able to freeze holds. - I want to root for Light/Kira, except he's kind of evil. O.o Like, I thought he was going to be 'the good guy' of the piece, but after he killed all those FBI agents, I guess not. Also when he was like, "Yikes, if my family finds the deathnote, I'll have to kill them." O.o
- Yet I can't root for L either, because his character kind of annoys me, and once we 'met' him the way he looks freaks me out too. What is with his FEET and his fidgeting? Ugh.
- Reading the names of those FBI agents was embarrassing. Those are supposed to be names? Seriously, the manga author hasn't seen enough movies to come up with something like "John Smith," rather than these painfully obviously made-up names by someone who clearly doesn't know what an American name might be? Or couldn't do a bit of research? Or had someone he could ask?
- I'm getting a little tired of them trying to read each other's next moves. It's one thing to follow the mind of a genius trying to get 3 steps ahead of his enemy; it's another to follow two. It's just a bunch of "but then this" "but then that" "but then THIS" "no THAT."
- Maybe this is true of all Japanese manga heroes, but they ALL seem to be super geniuses who go to Todai and are also expert tennis players. I mean, that's exactly what Naoki (from Itazura Na Kiss aka It Started with a Kiss) was like.
- OMG at all the random made-up rules for the deathnote btw. This is like when I was a kid and making up games to play with my brother. So many tedious little rules in order to account for every little "but what if..."
- I sort of liked Raye Penber's -- see what I mean about the names?! -- fiancee, other than that he was all "I know you used to be an awesome FBI agent, but we're engaged now, so don't worry your pretty little head about the case" and she was all "OK." Ugh. The representation of women in Asian society still has a long way to go. And even that might have been OK because she was clearly smarter than he was and got even further than L (maybe) on figuring out facts about the case, but then she was outsmarted by Light. So yeah.
- Though I have yet to identify a character I really like/root for, I'm still riveted by the story at this point and must know what happens.
