I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older and grumpier, or if my expectations are too high, or if things are just getting shittier…

This morning was a tad frustrating. Two things happened – I understand these are considered first world problems, but hey. Whatever.

1. A few weeks ago the glass covering the rear camera on my phone broke. The other day I was near a Google Store (there are 2 in NYC where I was visiting for the afternoon) and they said “yes, even though your phone is out of warranty, this is a known problem with this model, so Google fixes it for free”. Unfortunately I couldn’t leave it with them, because I live too far away.

So, I looked online and saw that iBreakuFix stores are authorized Google repair centers. I do have one of those nearby, so I went in. The guy was really nice and competent, and said the same thing. Yes, Google will cover the cost, he just needs to order the parts. That was yesterday, and today he called back and said “Well, Google actually said no”. So today I got in touch with Google support, and they said they’ll email me in a day or two.

I’m still hopeful they’ll do the right thing, but why is it such a run around?

2. I had a package not get delivered a couple weeks ago because of the icy weather. They left a slip saying they would try again on the next business day… well, they didn’t. I waited, thinking maybe it would show up… but it never did. We have two post offices near us, and it’s a crap shoot which one packages end up at if they’re being held. Anyway today I finally ended up at the proper post office to get my package. They had it! Woohoo! But, the person on eBay who sent me the package didn’t apply enough postage. I already slightly over-paid for the thing, so I decided to NOT pay an additional $3.75, and instead return it to the sender. With any luck I’ll get a refund from eBay.

Either one of these things would normally be “ok, whatever”, but they both happened this morning at the same time, and I can’t help but think “how did things get so shitty?”