Thumbs down for Rhino's new website

Robert Folsom Writes likes free stuff as much as the next blogger, so when an e-mail arrived from Rhino records saying it had a new website and it was offering a free download of a single track, RFW fell for it.
The single wasn't free. It was supposed to be. Just enter the promo code, and Rhino would subtract the cost of the track at checkout.
Didn't happen.
But Rhino decided to set up a hoop to jump through before that: You have to create a new account, even if you already had one, to access its new, shiny website, which offers high-def digital music.
Then, to download your free track, Rhino encourages you to install its download manager. Great. Just what the Internet needs, another download manager. This one came with a Java download and update. Yet more waiting for Java Sun Systems to update. With a Microsoft Bing (But It's Not Google) toolbar. Definitely took the check mark out of that box.
Rhino's download manager says its preference is to download your supposedly free song to iTunes. That was as successful as getting the free song at checkout. Opened iTunes. The song wasn't there, even though the file handling preferences on Rhino's download manager had iTunes as the download directory. Had to go looking for it in the newly installed Rhino folder. That's a favorite pastime of computer users: to go searching for a download because it isn't where it should be.
Rhino knows it has some bugs to work out. It has a link on its home page that says, "We’re still polishing the new site, so if you have any comments & suggestions, please email them to us." We're supposed to help Rhino? Rhino is the business. It should have its act together before launching a new, improved website.
An auto-response from Rhino said it would respond within five days. Five days. This isn't the unemployment office. A response time of five days is more than enough time to lose a customer.
Like it just did.

The Gift Card

On January 4th, I received a gift card for the grocery store in the mail. There was a card with it, but it didn't say who it was from. Looked at the front. Whoever sent it had typed my name and address. No handwriting anywhere. Oh, I asked around but not too much.
Because someone wanted to remain anonymous, and I wanted to respect that.
Had to go to the store that night. Was starting school the next day, the 5th. I thought, "I'll wait until everything is on sale to use it." But then I thought, "No, someone sent this to me to use," so the night of the 4th, I started to use it.
And I got this feeling at the store, a feeling that, well, someone was thinking of me but also a feeling of momentum, like I was heading in the right direction, what with starting classes the next day for web design.
Nudged. That's it. Like someone was giving me a little nudge, a little push.
I used the last of the card tonight. When I mentioned the story of the gift card to the cashier, she said that happened to her once. And she had a story, too, about her gift card coming when she needed it most. She got a little teary-eyed recalling it.
Then she said, "You know what? I pray that they get it back tenfold." And I said, yeah, so do I.
Someone wants to remain anonymous, and so someone shall. But I did, and do, say a prayer of thanks and blessings for that person. And I felt a fullness as I said my prayer because I know that it reached that person. How do I know?
Well, it's kind of like asking, How does aspirin know where to go?
It goes everywhere.