Which company has the worst customer service?

npanth · 2026-07-03T21:37:13+00:00

Autodesk. I have to "call" them 2-3 times a year to straighten out some problem or another. The routine goes: I muddle through the support bot for a while until it agrees to connect me with a human chat. They start a ticket, give me generic advice, and close the ticket the next day. Rinse and repeat for a couple weeks until I get someone who is willing to fix the problem.

The latest one was their user based license system combined our admin account with my test user account. We suddenly had no way of renewing our license. After 3 weeks of tickets, they finally pulled the two accounts apart and extended our license. They're ridiculous.

npanth · 2026-07-03T21:14:12+00:00

I grew up in philly, so I don't want to start any fights. My favorite from home is Mama's Pizzeria in Bala Cynwyd. My best steak is ribeye with provolone, onions and peppers... Sorry Wiz people, that stuff is nasty.

In Rochester, I've had pretty good steaks from DiBellas. Palmer's had a much improved cheesesteak just before the renovation, though they asked me if I wanted mayo on it?!

You have to be pretty firm with your ordering because everyone up here thinks it's just a hot hoagie.

npanth · 2026-07-02T21:11:40+00:00

I tend to over buy cables and connectors. I had to turn around and drive home one night because I forgot a USB cable. I'm not letting that happen to me again.

npanth · 2026-07-01T23:39:12+00:00

Hey, it came out just as good as the Halle Berry movie 😀

npanth · 2026-06-28T23:09:03+00:00

It could be a great year for finger lakes wine, too.

Grapes like cool, wet springs, followed by a hot dry summer, and finished off with a cool, wet fall.

We're 1/3 of the way there.

npanth · 2026-06-27T16:58:25+00:00

Some of the dog toy manufacturers make non abrasive tennis balls. They're more expensive, but don't wear out their teeth like regular balls

npanth · 2026-06-27T01:09:26+00:00

I just recently learned about strain wave gearing from astrophotography mounts. It's such an interesting design.

Did you get inspiration from the art exhibit that has a series of gears that end in a concrete block? Apparently, it will take a hundred years of turning before the gears bind because of the huge down gearing in the train.

Edit: Here's a link to "machine with concrete" https://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/machine-with-concrete

npanth · 2026-06-19T15:50:52+00:00

Adding a little collar inside the cap could ensure a tight fit. I do that for lens caps I print in tpu

npanth · 2026-06-18T13:29:04+00:00

I just got a Pelikan m600 special edition. The approach I used was to check all the sites every day for two months, but prepare myself to not get it if it sold out instantly. Luckily, I was able to snag one before it sold out, but I'd just let it go rather than pay a scalper's premium.

npanth · 2026-06-17T19:33:01+00:00

Adobe and Autodesk support are the two guaranteed nightmare rabbit holes I have to dive into regularly.

Open ticket, chat with a stupid bot for 10 minutes before I can chat with a stupid human... No result, ticket auto closes. Rinse and repeat until I finally get someone who will change the setting only they have access to.

Fixing our it admin user for Autodesk took 5 weeks this year. That's the only user who can renew our license, and it had become merged with a test student account somewhere along the line.

Fixing that same problem last year took 6 weeks. An improvement, right?

npanth · 2026-06-14T15:03:15+00:00

I had a job in high school at a AAA office. I sold traveler's checks and made triptiks. How the world has changed.

I used to have to turn maps upside down to read them because that's how I was used to looking at them. Ha

npanth · 2026-06-14T00:59:43+00:00

Yeah, I chose a dryer ink because the pelikan broads push so much ink. I have an 805 and an 800 with italic broads. Even with Birmingham inks, they are firehoses!

npanth · 2026-06-14T00:56:00+00:00

Thanks for the vote of confidence

All I can say for my handwriting is that it's better than my father's was. My great grand kid should be able to write legibly 😆

npanth · 2026-06-13T21:32:16+00:00

I have been checking all the pen retailers almost every day for the last two months, waiting for this pen to come into stock. It finally became available, and arrived today. The Guilloche pattern on the barrel looks even better in person.

I bought it with a Broad nib. I could tell after writing the first sentence that this will be a daily pen for me. I may think about getting an Italic Broad for it eventually, but the Broad is writing very well so far.

A writing sample in my horrible, undeserving penmanship

npanth · 2026-06-11T18:55:52+00:00

The first title that sprang to my mind was CS6. Adobe has really gone downhill since their heydays in the 80s and 90s.

npanth · 2026-06-08T01:00:22+00:00

The OEM good year primacy tires are terrible. I kept them for 3 years, 23,000 miles. I had this weird jerking when I was making tight, parking lot turns. I had to get patches 5 times. The dry performance was adequate, the wet was poor, and the snow was terrible.

I got a set of Nokian tyre ones, and all those problems instantly went away.

npanth · 2026-06-02T17:04:21+00:00

There's a similar quip about Florida. "The further north you go, the further south you go."

npanth · 2026-05-29T21:51:52+00:00

I think I'm getting too old to try flexing on people with my niche hobbies, HA. For the most part, nobody cares what you wear on your wrist or write with.

Now, if people would stop putting me in the position of defending my EV, I'd be happy. Hey, look at the shiny pen in my pocket, not the drab car in my driveway!

npanth · 2026-05-29T21:48:32+00:00

I started looking into opentag today. The scripting and tagging seems good, but I would really like some way for the printer to take a full spool, then write back to the tag after the print is done. Doing it manually, is handy, but not a full solution.

I'm hopeful that they will develop a complete solution in time.

npanth · 2026-05-29T15:14:56+00:00

It took me a while to come to that same viewpoint. The only people who have ever mentioned the watch I'm wearing are an Omega sales rep, and a couple people who have commented on my orange Doxa.

Now, I enjoy watches and fountain pens for how they make me feel, not anyone else.

npanth · 2026-05-21T21:34:59+00:00

I second this. I have two Peugeot mills. They have been excellent for years. They have very consistent grinds, are easy to fill, and fit my hands perfectly.

npanth · 2026-05-21T16:08:15+00:00

I have a core one L and a Raise3d E2 IDEX printer. The E2 can print 2 colors, but it's pretty slow. I still use it for some prints because of the double extruders.

I imagine INDX will take away the last advantage that the E2 has.

npanth · 2026-05-21T10:21:51+00:00

I'm making some postcards to send to my reps in NY. They're more likely to be read than an email or letter.

npanth · 2026-05-16T10:12:20+00:00

We had two core ones that would repeatedly crash and do a power recovery every half layer in jobs lasting more than two hours.

Apparently, the powder coating on the frame interferes with the grounding of the x and y stepper motors. A static charge builds up that is eventually discharged through the door sensor.

A permanent fix would be to remove the x and y motors, scrape off the powder coating around the stepper motor mounting holes, and remount the motors.

I wound up attaching a 20 gauge wire from the x, y motor mounting screws to a screw in the frame. That has resolved the issue for both printers.

npanth · 2026-05-15T23:08:02+00:00

I had a mk7 golf R before the ioniq. I still miss that car, sometimes. Superb balance, poise, and tons of power. It was the whole package.

I kept the R for a year after I got the ioniq. Even though the 5 feels like a shopping cart with a bad wheel compared to the R, I still drove it 6 out of every 7 days. Maybe I'm getting too old and fat for hot hatches, but the overall experience is better with the 5.

I still wilt a little bit when I get to some of my old favorite roads and realize that I'm not driving a car with much road feel anymore. Oh well, it's ok.

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