Day: April 12, 2002

The name wasn’t set to expire until June. They think (no one is willing to commit to any answer) there may have been a faxed request (faked? forged?) to have the domain transferred to this Sarah person which gave them “my” permission for the transfer (naturally I wrote no such letter, sent no such fax, and I haven’t been in Germany since 1995). So the person swiped it, simply by faxing a forged letter to NetSol as best I can tell. I got no notice via email or land mail, they just did it on the authority of a fax.

I’ve made a bunch of calls, written them another fax with my info and have been told to wait up to 48 hours which is about 10 minutes from now. I called a couple times for progress notes in the interim and was given really clearly scripted answers by customer support. No one who answers the phone is willing to connect me to someone who works on this issue which I find deeply disturbing.

And then, today:

So I finally got a call from NetSol this morning and they said, and this is priceless: that it now will be up to the new person with the domain to decide whether or not they feel like giving it up. It seems NetSol is saying “Well, it probably is our fault” but because of the way the records have been kept, the person has it as a new registration, which violates (according to NetSol) the whole covenant of the contract I had with them for ownership, but since it was entered as a new registration and not a transfer, they have no option. NetSol admits the screw up is their fault, but that doesn’t mean they’re willing to wrest it out of the new registrant’s grimy hands, because they can’t find the domain’s record of release even though NetSol admits it wasn’t due for renewal until June. I might not ever get it back.

1. What is your favorite restaurant and why?

Even though my apartment has next to no kitchen and I can barely (which is to say not at all) cook, I don’t do an awful lot of eating out at restaurants. When I do, it’s usually fast food or a pizza ordered in. When you start to recognize the pizza delivery people — and, more importantly, when they start to recognize you — it’s time to start considering other options. Locally, my friends are all poor college students, so when we eat together it’s usually just a burger and fries grabbed on campus. I really don’t date (which is a whole different set of questions), so the nicer restaurants are usually reserved for when my parents visit me for birthdays and such. Right now, if I had to choose, I’d probably say my favorite local restaurant is The Gingerbread Man. I’ve never actually been inside, oddly enough, but it’s not pizza and they deliver.

2. What fast food restaurant are you partial to?

They’re all equally awful in their own way, so I try to mix it up. Variety is, after all, the spice of life. Again, if I had to choose, I’d probably pick Taco Bell, if only because there’s usually less of a wait at the drive-through.

3. What are your standards and rules for tipping?

I like to be generous, although not absurdly so, and it depends in large part on the situation, the quality of service (or, more often, the promptness of delivery). I start with fifteen percent and then go from there.

4. Do you usually order an appetizer and/or dessert?

Again, it depends on the situtation, what I’m eating and who I’m with. Depends on the menu, too.

5. What do you usually order to drink at a restaurant?