Wow...that is definitely something to check out.

Wow...that is definitely something to check out.

Originally shared by Jim McCloskey

How did I miss this until now? MUCH ANTICIPATE.
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=p942x8Uwkfc

Not exactly limericks, but there's some fine newsy poetry going on in this post and its comments.

Not exactly limericks, but there's some fine newsy poetry going on in this post and its comments.

Originally shared by Tina Vigilante

#pogo

#pogo

An Example of Phenomenal Customer Service

An Example of Phenomenal Customer Service
A story of how two companies -- Tesla Motors and GEICO Insurance -- did me right.

Today, I was driving a loaner car since my Model S was getting its 3-year annual service done. Driving home from a work meeting, I had a "non-contact motor vehicle collision" (the police officer's words). I was coming through a busy intersection in the right-hand lane. The left-hand lane in my direction was backed up with left-turners. The last driver in this long queue decided he wanted to suddenly be in my lane, so he pulled over into my lane right as I came up alongside him. I honked and swerved up onto the sidewalk (no pedestrians present), avoiding him, then came to a stop. A moment later, I heard a hissing sound and the car's tire pressure system issued a low-pressure warning. Getting out, I found the cause -- hitting the curb had destroyed the sidewall.

A little ticked, I waved the 16-year-old driver (why does it always seem to be a teenager??) over behind my car and called the police. After talking to them, I called my local Tesla service center, which is about 20 minutes away. Once I had described the situation, Jon (awesome guy!) said, "OK, we'll load up a new wheel and head down...should be there shortly." About 30 minutes later, Jon showed up with a tech, a jack, and a fresh wheel and tire. Five minutes after that, I was ready to go. Having completed my discussion with the officers (I decided to not press charges...hopefully the situation itself is its own lesson for the kid), I thanked Jon and Scott (the tech) profusely and continued on home.

Once home, I called GEICO, the kid's mom's insurance company, and talked to a wonderful customer service rep named Mandy. She walked me through getting my information very efficiently and said they'd take it up with Tesla (since it was a corporate vehicle) and their claim holder (the kid and his mom) directly; I was pretty much done with the whole experience.

And that is what amazing customer service means: Minimizing hassle for the customer while exceeding his expectations and being happy to do so. I'm not currently a GEICO customer, but this impressed me. And this is the level of service I've come to expect from Tesla.

History is filled with useful information.

History is filled with useful information.

Originally shared by John Hardy

In which a pedant protests too much about a meme he saw on the internet.

The flood myth is actually a Sumerian story inherited by the Hebrews (and indeed the entire Eastern Mediterranean). This meme is simply wrong in saying that they didn't record a major flood. They did and the flood seriously set their civilisation back. The Sumerian king list has entries from before and after the flood.

Dumuzid, the Shepherd "the shepherd"10 sars 
"Then Bad-tibira fell and the kingship was taken to Larag."En-sipad-zid-ana8 sars "Then Larag fell and the kingship was taken to Zimbir."En-men-dur-ana5 sars and 5 ners "Then Zimbir fell and the kingship was taken to 
Shuruppak
"Ubara-Tutu5 sars and 1 ner
"Then the flood swept over."
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_King_List

Note King Dumuzid (Tammuz) is still the name of a month in the Hebrew and Arab calendars.

It's not hard to imagine what a great flood meant to a low lying civilisation build on the delta of two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. The flood was a real event, a deluge that temporarily turned the region into a sea and probably killed a lot of people. It's also likely that Noah, also known as Ziusudra and Artrahasis and Utnapishtim was a king of the city of Shuruppak (the last city mentioned in the king list before the flood) and his ark was very likely a traditional Sumerian house made of reeds which could float on the waters. You can read a slightly later version of the flood story in the tablet xi of the Epic of Gilgamesh.
http://m.sparknotes.com/lit/gilgamesh/section9.rhtml

The Christians understand very little of the stories they tell but ancient Sumer (situated in southern Iraq) was the source of many of them. Abraham was said to have been born in Sumer and the modern country Iraq was named after the city of Gilgamesh. It remains a place worthy of endless study and fascination (instead of bombing and continuous destruction).

Via Ramin Honary​​​​​​​

...and humidity is like 138%.

...and humidity is like 138%.

ha! #true

ha! #true

Originally shared by AFrayed Knott