A few months ago, we needed more desks for our office, so I figured I’d order them from the Ikea website. Easy to do, except that the Ikea.ca store doesn’t work with US credit cards, and our corporate card is a US card. So I bite my tongue about the craziness of e-commerce in Canada, knowing it’s not just an Ikea problem, and I use my personal card, and will deal with expensing it internally. Annoying, but oh well.

Then I’m blown away because delivery takes eons, because the desks have to come from the “online distribution center” in Quebec (“it’s Canada, so it’s got to be close, right?”), and not from either of the two warehouses within 20 miles of the delivery address (who do have the items in stock!). But I’m busy, so I live w/ the delay. Environmentally criminal, but oh well.

This month, we need more desks, and I’ve learned my lesson, so I know to take time out of my weekend to go to Ikea, order the desks and chairs. After about 45 minutes in the store, it looks like we’ll have delivery on Tuesday morning. A few high-end desks and what seems like their most expensive chairs, but I have a soft spot for Ikea, and their furniture is working out fine for us.

Turns out the chairs aren’t in stock, so they have to be scheduled for delivery a few weeks out and delivery has to be charged separately. Annoying, and a bit more expensive, but oh well.

Monday, they call and say that we hadn’t talked about delivery times (we had), and we reschedule it for the same day/time. Seems disorganized, but oh well.

Tuesday, they come and call my cell to let us know they’re downstairs, but I’m on the phone on an important call, and I thought it was someone else, so I figure I’ll get the message when I’m done with my call. By the time I get off the phone, I’m told they went on with their route, and I need to reschedule another delivery, which will cost me $75. Frustrating, but I blame it on the olympics and how it’s messing with deliveries everywhere, and blame myself for not taking the call, but oh well.

I call back to reschedule, and I’m told that I need to go back to the store to reschedule, because I need to pay for another delivery. WTF? After a bit of back and forth with the CSR, I ask to talk to a manager, and I’m told to do that I need to go to the store. WTF? I then ask about canceling the order, and I’m told that, you guessed it, I need to go back to the store.

Oh, if I want to lodge a complaint, I can do it on their website. I’ll definitely be sending them a link to this page.

I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. What I’m not sure of is where I’ll get the next batch of furniture from. What a totally horrible customer experience, just because they don’t have a system for paying over the phone (or, hey, the internet?!?!) for silly delivery fees.

A few more rough job descriptions, which I’ll polish soon, but may as well start getting resumes now:

First, we’re looking for a jack-of-all-trades web developer. We have a fair number of websites and webapps, and depend on/want to contribute to a bunch more. It’s time we had someone on staff to help us power through those changes. The ideal candidate will have experience with at least PHP and Python-based webapps on Unix/Linux, comfortable with the usual Apache, MySQL, stack (preferably with some HA scars), and be happy to help do some JS/CSS/HTML client-side work as well. The job will include a blend of new web development, maintenance of existing sites, and patches to project-wide apps. Past experience working in open source, distributed, transparent projects is a huge plus. If not located in Vancouver, experience working remotely will be required.

Second, we’re looking for some contractors to help us work on Thunderbird add-ons. A strong JavaScript application developer with good CSS/HTML skills is a minimal requirement, past experience writing add-ons for Gecko-based apps a definite plus. You’ll be working with the Vancouver-based design team and the broader distributed developer community to quickly iterate on add-ons that enhance the Thunderbird user experience. Being located near Vancouver, BC, would be great, but we would consider remote candidates in nearby timezones.

Email jobs at mozillamessaging dot com with relevant background information.

I don’t yet have a full job description handy, but figured I could start with a draft:

Mozilla Messaging is looking someone who can help us drive forward Thunderbird’s test automation framework, tooling, coverage, and community. We’re looking for someone who combines the usual skills we need:

• Strong domain expertise: in this case test automation of a multi-platform desktop application
• Big-picture thinking: you’d be the first paid test engineer working on a huge codebase with lots of developers and millions of users, so the hard thing won’t be to find things to do, rather figuring out what’s the right thing to work on
• Ability to lead and build a community of peers and contributors
• Ability to prioritize and drive your own work, and happy to collaborate with a wide variety of contributors

Our current test infrastructure relies primarily on MozMill, and most tests are written in Python or JavaScript, so solid understanding of those technologies is obviously useful.

This is a unique opportunity for someone who takes testing, engineering, and community seriously, and who wants to have a huge impact on software that is used daily by millions of people.

Relocation not necessary.

Pass the word!

(resume submissions to jobs at mozillamessaging.com)

Firefox releases have cool codenames while in gestation. As Chelsea explains, Firefox picks national parks as codenames, as metaphors for the values that go into making a Firefox release.

The idea made a lot of sense to us, so we decided to follow suit for Thunderbird. Rather than parks, we picked beaches. A good beach is a clear and compelling example of a public good. We can all go to the beach, share in the beauty and poetry of the place, swim, maybe surf. All that’s required of us in exchange is to treat it well — don’t fence it in, don’t litter, don’t crash your oil tankers into it. Yet beaches as a public commons are under threat. If Thunderbird can help beaches and beaches can help make it clear why Thunderbird matters, we all win.

Given the weather outside, it’s not too surprising that the codename for the next version of Thunderbird is Lanakai, in sunny Hawaii. “Warm turquoise green waters brush up against a fine sand beach while gentle trade winds offer a cool relief from the hot Hawaiian days. This beach is great for relaxing on the sand or taking a swim in it’s clear waters”. That pretty much sold us. Also, we can dream about having a Thunderbird summit there someday.