Teachers who are passionate, enthusiastic and inspire others not just to learn, but to want to learn have always garnered my highest respect. The late Randy Pausch, pioneer of virtual reality technologies, was a Professor at Carnegie Mellon university. Upon being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer he decided to use his remaining time to foster a message of hope and to influence others to live well – and in doing so not only follow their dreams, but to facilitate the dreams of others – the mark of a true teacher.

His famous ‘Last Lecture‘ is a treatise on how positive thinking and positive action will lead to success. Many of the key elements of his message resonated with me.

• Pausch used the concept of a brick wall as something that you have to get over in order to demonstrate just how badly you want something – those things that are hardest to attain are those that are worth fighting for the most
• That what goes around comes around – loyalty is a two way street, and believing in others, supporting them and nurturing them is in itself a reward
• That collaboration is fostered and facilitated by environments that support inter-disciplinary approaches – that bend rules and blur boundaries so that those with interests and passions – albeit in different fields can come together to create something positive.

His lecture on Time Management, also delivered after a terminal diagnosis is equally inspiring.

In a way it’s almost paradoxical that in losing Randy Pausch the world has lost someone so inspirational, so intelligent and so passionate, however without having a terminal illness his message of continually aspiring to achieve your goals would have reached a far smaller audience.

Juliette Reinders-Folmer, a colleague of mine from PHPWomen, is currently involved in a project which is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at once. It’s the ‘Remember me when I’m gone’ project – which provides parents who know that they will die while their children are young an opportunity to record a memory book. The memory book helps children foster a sense of identity after losing a parent, through being able to understand the messages and images left to them.

From their website;

Request for your help from the Remember me when I’m gone project

The Remember me when I’m gone project is a world-wide, no-budget, non-profit initiative which aims to inspire, motivate and help parents who expect to die before their child(ren) have grown up, to make a memory book about their own life for their child / each of their children.

Though the concept of memory books is valid in all situations where the early death of a parent is imminent, memory books have so far mainly been used in AIDS-related projects where the concept has more than proven its worth.

The Remember me when I’m gone project opens up access to the memory book concept to all by providing a generic Memory Book template through the website www.remembermewhenimgone.org. We realize there are numerous projects in the field which already work with memory books, however with this project we hope to fill the gap for people who are not in these projects.

This template can be downloaded free of charge and is currently available in over a 100 languages. Distribution of the template is freely allowed providing the document is distributed as is and without charge.

As a follow up from the artice where I complained about a Woolworths Wish Gift Card that had expired, there is some good news!

This is the response from Woolworths Wish Gift Card customer service;

Dear Kathy,

I am writing in response to the correspondence you submitted via the
WISH Gift Card website on Friday 01st August 2008, in regards to the
funds on your expired Gift Card.

Please note that all WISH Gift Cards expire 12 months from the date of
purchase. This is stated in the terms and conditions printed both on the
back of your Card and on the cardboard carrier which the Cards are
attached to. Full terms and conditions are available from
WISHgiftcard.com.au

As a gesture of good will I have reactivated your Gift Card. The new
expiry date is 04th September 2008.

Please ensure that you use your Card prior to the new expiry date as no
further extensions will be offered.

Regards
[name removed for privacy]
Group Financial Services

Well, this is a partially positive outcome – at least now I get access to the funds that were still left on the card. But this doesn’t address the bigger issues of;

Gift cards expiring after a period of time (in this case 12 months). The value of money over time – or net present value – means that a gift card actually depreciates in value as soon as it’s bought. After 12 months, a $100 card will really only give you $95 worth of purchasing power. Sure, this doesn’t seem like a lot of money for one card, but multiply this by hundreds of thousands of Wish Gift Cards issued annually and the value soon starts to add up – in favour of Woolworths!

Card not showing the expiry date. In my case, the assistant who issued the card did not print the expiry date on the card – so how was I know it was to expire?

My advice – if you get a gift card, use it as soon as you can – and if you can avoid Wish Gift Cards, do so!

After many months of planning and collating content, the Anam Cara House Geelong website is now live. Many thanks to Diane Wright, Phil Virgona and Leah Hall for putting in several hours’ worth of content editing and testing

Anam Cara House is a Geelong based facility which provides respite services in a homelike environment to those suffering life limiting illness, and their families.

Check it out at

http://www.anamcarahousegeelong.org.au

The saga continues. Here is a copy of the complaint I made to WishGiftCard.com.au:

Hi there,
I would like to make a formal complaint about the Wish Gift Card.

After being urged to purchase a Wish Gift Card at Safeway Newcomb last year, and with a not-insubstantial amount left on the card, I have hence been told by Big W in Geelong that the card has expired.

Checking the card against your site, it expired on 26 June 2008.

Point 1: I was never told that this card expires

Point 2: The card has no expiry date printed on it

Point 3: What happens to the leftover money? I assume that Woolworths simply absorbs this. At the current CPI, the $100 I “purchased” in 2006 would now be worth around $106, not to mention the fact that there’s still over $20 left on the card. Nice going – that’s a 26% return!

Obviously I will not be purchasing a Wish Gift Card again, and will be telling all of my friends about my poor experience.

Regards,
Kathy

Now, I don’t usually do rants. However, incensed at my recent woeful customer service experiences, an exception will be made.

Task number 1: Purchase digital photo frame at Big W

Result: Fail

Of the six models displayed, only two were in stock, and one of those was two and a half more times expensive than the other models. I was left wanting.

Task number 2: Purchase roll down Bonds Large yoga pants in size XL at Big W

Result: Fail

Now, the homework had been done on this one. I had contacted Bonds and asked their customer service department where I could purchase (using specific product codes) a pair of Bonds Large roll down yoga pants. Obviously my grammar and standard of English were subpar, because the response I got was little more than a rehash of the Bonds website (which any semi literate person could peruse). The response told me to go to Target, Big W or K-mart. Well, the original pair was from K-mart and they were sold out. So, next to Big W. Wrong! None there either.

The Bonds response told me to try the TSL website (keeping in mind I had specified the product I wanted). TSL doesn’t even stock the Bonds Large range. What the??

Task number 3: Use up Wish Card at Big W

Result: Epic Fail

This is the most worriesome and wicked part of the rant. Last year I purchased a Wish Card, promoted by Woolworths. It had $100 on it. The week before last at Big W, approximately $70 worth of the $100 card was used. It doesn’t take much effort to calculate that $30 is still on the card. So, after going to the register and trying to pay for goods using the Wish Card, the card is declined – apparently it’s expired! Who knew currency could expire so quickly!

After going Evil Kathy on the customer service lady, I paid using other methods and will follow up with Woolworths. Wonderful.

So here’s a warning: Think of the Wish Card as a You Wish Card – I’d like to pay for some goods with this card. You wish!

To be continued….