I have always liked them... here is one that my step-father sent me today via email. Thanks Don.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water And placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity ... boiling water . Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter.

The email goes on to explain more, but I like people to come up with their own application / interpretations of analogies.

So in retrospect I say the following to T-Mobile ... take this egg and shove it, I'm going back to drinking my coffee.

I HATE T-MOBILE... what type of shitty ass organization (using the term loosly) can hold a damn contract with you and not allow you to see it. Or let you purchase something and not give you a damn receipt? Where to the find the high caliber ass munches to work at this place... talk about the epidome of dumbassdom.

Here is a copy of the letter I was about to send to them...

I have to say that I cannot believe your company is still in business... What a bunch of idiots I have been on the phone with all day long. But I blame them about 10% and the stupid policies that you have in place the other 90%. WHAT KIND OF COMPANY CANNOT REPRODUCE ESSENTIAL BINDING DOCUMENTS SUCH AS RECEIPTS AND SERVICE AGREEMENTS AT A CUSMTOMER'S REQUEST? One that doesn't value it's customers and has no desire to be around for very long. You have infuriated me to a level I don't think I have ever experienced before. Your managers must have their heads so far up their own asses that I am sure they have shit stains on their chests.

I will promise you that I will never give another dollar to your sorry excuse for a company once our legal obligations to one another are satisfied.

but luckily my wife (whom also tried to get through their bull headed bullshit on the phone) drafted a much more adult sounding letter (that has been faxed since their customer relations department has no way for a customer to get in touch with them) Nice Customer Relations, JACKASSES!!!

T-mobile Customer Relations,

I have been on the phone with customer service for the past hour. I would like to have a copy of my service agreement mailed to my home or faxed to me, whichever is more convenient for you. The customer service representative, Adam #4836164, was of no assistance to me whatsoever. He insisted that he is not authorized to send me my service agreement.

As a T-mobile customer for the past 3 years, I feel that I am entitled to review my service agreement at any time. My husband and I recently renewed our contract and upgraded our phones online. The phones we selected both have rebates and we are attempting to gather all of the information requested on the forms (one of which is the service agreement). Unfortunately, we did not receive a new service agreement with our phones. I assumed that I would be able to contact customer service and request that a copy of the agreement be mailed to my home address. I was quite disturbed when customer service insisted they could not do this. As a customer, I am entitled to be able to review my service agreement and my contract with T-mobile.

After speaking with numerous customer service representatives, I eventually ended up with Adam #4836164, who informed me that he was a manager and that he could not help me with my request. I also spoke with him about canceling my agreement with you - since I have not seen a copy of any agreement that we have and he refuses to supply me with the agreement. He was quick to tell me that I would be charged $200 for canceling the contract. How can I be charged to cancel a contract that you will not let me review?

After careful thought and consideration, I am making this last effort to request my service agreement and any contracts that you believe that I have entered into with T-mobile. If you refuse to supply me with copies of this information, I will terminate my "agreement" with you and will not be responsible for any charges you assume I owe.

I hope this issue is resolved as quickly as possible and that you take my complaint seriously. In the future, I would hope that your customer services representatives would be trained on how to supply customers with copies of the contracts and/or service agreements.

If you have questions or would like to discuss this any further, please contact me on my T-mobile cell phone at 757-xxx-xxxx.(removed for privacy)

Sincerely,

Sherry XxXxxxxx (also removed)

God I am so pissed... when I say "God" I mean, "God, please rain all of your rath down on this asshat of an organization and anyone that has had anything to do with it's policies and 'customer service'".

Here is an announcement of the project I have been working on (out in San Francisco). Always nice to see some news on the work you have been doing.

They mention some of the work I did also... "upgrade to the latest version with an easy-to-use upgrade wizard" when they are spelling out the cool features of the Web based Control Center.