Randman's World

In a classic example of symbolism over substance, Central Missouri State University is now known as University of Central Missouri. The explanation, from President Aaron Podolefsky:

"We aspire to become a nationally recognized, comprehensive university that delivers a world-class university education. The name change provides a crucial ingredient in fulfilling this new vision by symbolically representing our emergence as a national-level comprehensive university."

No, let's not improve the quality of our educational product, no, let's not increase the level of expectations in order to graduate smarter students, no, let's not work harder at doing what we are supposed to do.

No, in order to be nationally recognized, let's just change our name. That should about do it. It was the only thing holding us back. Phew, glad we got that done.

Don't get me wrong. CMSU . . . or I guess now UCM (yuck), gave me a decent education. But, it holds no near or dear place in my heart. It's not the kind of college that creates the intense loyalty or fierce competition that a KU, MU or K-State does. You never hear about it on the news (despite it being less than an hour from KC). And a name change isn't going to help that.

I can understand when my other college, School of the Ozarks, changed it's name years ago to College of the Ozarks. That more identified the type of institution. School just didn't say "higher education" like College does. I don't think "C of O" rolls off the tongue like "S of O" did, but I've accepted it.

However, rearranging the words, and dropping "State" doesn't mean much. It's still the same college, the same education, the same professors, the same curriculum. Nothing has changed. If you want to become a "nationally recognized, comprehensive university", try doing something to earn that distinction.

Crap! Now, I have to go through and change the school name on my resume'.

A great time was had by all last week, as the Tennison family, along with our friends, the Genasci family, visited Walt Disney World (that's the one in Florida, for all you non-Disney people).

Our resort, the Saratoga Springs Resort, was beautiful. It's part of the Disney Vacation Club, which we bought into a couple of years ago. It's Disney's version of a timeshare, and it was amazing. Here's the view from our balcony.
And a couple of other shots taken around the property. It's is really a beautiful resort.



Despite a little rain, and some major heat and humidity, the trip was wonderful. The parks were not crowded, and we walked on to most every ride with very little wait. In fact, the Fastpass system was not even turned on for most rides, because of the short lines.

And most important, Charlie had a great time. I'm not sure he knew where he was at first, but soon, he became excited to revisit parts of his favorite parks.

Drew, Tyler and Charlie enjoyed their first trip to Disney World, and driving cars on the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway!


Charlie's favorite ride? Without a doubt, it was "It's A Small World". Daddy has sung that song to him since he came home (because it really fits with his story). So, he recognized the song, and was mesmerized by the animatronic children in the ride.


And, of course, Charlie got to meet more Disney characters. We had breakfast with Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale at Chef Mickey's in the Contemporary Hotel.



But the real hit of the morning was Pluto. Charlie loved him, playing with his whiskers, and kissing his nose. More to come later!

Ok, the common policy for most stores is that if you have a receipt for an item, purchased the day before, you can get a refund. Apparently, not at Payless. Because the "store manager" gave both me and my wife a rash of you know what over a $12.99 pair of fake crocs we bought for Charlie's Disney trip.

It's a long story, but the basic part is that the "Store Manager" refused to do a refund because my wife did not have her credit card with her to verify the number. Granted, it's stored in the register, but she insisted on seeing the card. Kim didn't have the card, because instead of carrying her purse, she carried Charlie's diaper bag. After some major attitude by the "Store Manager", Kim walked out, and I walked in.

She proceeded to tell me that she couldn't refund it. I told her to refund it to my debit card (the same account as my wife's). She refused, saying her auditors would question it. She asked me, "What do you want me to tell my auditors?" My response? "Tell them you did it as a customer service issue, so that you could keep them as a customer!"

Finally, after more discussion and attitude, she did the refund. Needless to say, Kim wrote a 2 page email to Payless explaining the rudeness of this "Store Manager" (answering 3 phone calls while talking with me). We got an almost immediate response, an offer for a gift card, and letter of apology from the corporate office.

Moral of the story: Don't piss off my wife over a $12.99 receipted refund! We both worked in retail. We know how it is to work with customers. But honestly. This was the worst service we have ever gotten.

A happy birthday wish going out for Wade Minter, the genius behind the Mr. Voice software used throughout the country in better improv comedy clubs!

Today, I called my Visa card company. I called because it is a Disney Visa (imagine that), and I know that they offer some discounts at Walt Disney World to card holders. So, I wanted a new card sent out to me, as I don't carry this card normally, and probably destroyed the last one I got.

I called the credit card issuer from my work phone. I never input my account number, because I didn't know it. I finally press "0", and got a live person. He asks for my mother's maiden name. I asked him what good would that do, as I hadn't given him any account information. He said, "You don't have to, I have it here". I doubted he did, but sure enough, he did.

I can understand using the caller ID from my home phone number to identify a customer, but I called from work, from a phone system. How did they have my work number? I've never given it to them.

Too weird. We all worry about identity theft. Now, you can call from a co-workers phone, and access their account information with minimal effort. Not good.