Customer Service? Et tu Verizon?

Once upon a time, you could walk into a Verizon Wireless phone store and be greeted at the door or very shortly after arrival. You could walk around and look at the phones and then ask a salesperson for more information about features and calling plans. We got our first mobile phone back in 1994. It was what they called a bag phone. It looked as if someone had taken an office desk phone, hooked it up to a huge, heavy battery and wrapped it all up in a leatherette case, about one third the size of an attache case! That phone came from either Nynex Mobile or Bell Atlantic Mobile, both of which later merged and changed its name to Verizon.

We’re currently off our obligatory two year contract with Verizon, but paying our bills each month. Chuck and I have been doing a lot of research online about the Apple iPhone (available only through Verizon’s competitor AT&T) and the BlackBerry Storm, exclusive to Verizon. Because we’ve had all our cell phones with Verizon for 15 years and been happy with their service, we figured the iPhone was off the table. We went into the Verizon store tonight wanting to handle the BlackBerry phones and get a better feel for which one we wanted to purchase. That purchase would effectively lock us into another two year contract with Verizon.

A few years ago, we went to a Verizon store and purchased three phones, two to replace existing phones and the third was a new one for my Mom in Rhode Island. Two different employees worked with us ‘til just past closing in order to get my Mom’s phone a Rhode Island area code of 401. Everyone was knowledgeable, friendly and totally got the concept of customer service.

Tonight, we walked into the very same Verizon Wireless store, where there must been more than ten employees behind three different desks and counters. There were only four to six other customers, mostly in pairs or family groups, at any given time while we were there. Not one employee approached us. We looked at the BlackBerry Storm and the BlackBerry Curve. We also made a circuit of the whole store and looked briefly at all the other cell phones.

I finally walked up to the counter where there were six people standing and sitting. I asked who we could speak to, to ask a question. Blank stares. One gal said: “Umm what kind of question?” I said we had a few questions about the Storm and the Curve. More blank stares. Then a couple of employees volunteered a gal who walked toward us. We moved over to the display with the Curve and the Storm. She stood a few feet away and answered our questions crisply. She never once volunteered so much as a smidge of information. Through the entire, albeit brief, conversation she never, ever stopped drumming her fingernails on a nearby shelf.

Drum, drum, drum...
Drum, drum, drum...
Drum, drum, drum...
Drummed us right out of the store she did.

Fish Pie

Today was one of those days. I tried to do too many things at once and in the end not nearly enough got done!

Quite awhile ago I made what I call a “Finnan Haddie Pie”. I made it up as I went along (no surprise!) using Grindstone Neck cold smoked haddock and some cod. I layered it up with veggies along with a garlic and sherry sauce in a couple of gratin dishes and topped it with mashed potatoes. Well, tonight I stumbled across a “Fish Pie” by Jamie Oliver. I haven’t made it yet (it’s been one of those days, remember?). But it’s a dead easy dump it all in and mix it up sort of recipe, which, ingredient wise, reminded me of the spirit of my Finnan Haddie Pie. Although, I have no problem admitting that there is no way on God’s green Earth I could dump all the ingredients in the way Jamie did! Mine would have to be more layered and arranged!

Anyhoo, go ahead and watch the short video of Jamie making his Fish Pie. I bet it will prove to be a good springboard for your own creation. Arranged or dumped - it’s up to you!

What Can Happen To An Idea...

For everyone who has ever served on a committee, sat through an interminable meeting or read some superior’s memorandum while sitting in a small cubby, I bring you this quote:

A committee is a cul-de-sac down which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.
- Sir Barnett Cocks

May all your good ideas avoid such a fate!

After

Today is my father’s yahrzeit; the anniversary of the day he died. Dad passed away 21 years ago today. Just typing “21 years” causes me to shake my head in disbelief. How could that many years have gone by without him in this world? This year, Dad’s yahrzeit feels a little sharper, likely because of the recent passing of Chuck’s Dad, Milton. Milton’s memorial or shiva candle burned for a week until last Friday. Now my Dad, George’s, much smaller yahrzeit candle, which we lit last night, will last one day, until this evening.

I have searched in vain for a particular quote. I remember having read something by Isabella Rossellini, something to the effect of: “There are two stages to a woman’s life: before her father passes away and after.”

This is after.

You can read the story behind how a Catholic daughter came to light a Jewish yahrzeit candle for her father by clicking here. My poem, “Your Yahrzeit” can also be found there.

“It” Came True

Well, it didn’t take long for me to succumb to the siren song of the new versions of iLife ’09 and iWork ’09. I first opened Pages, the document component of iWork, and watched the new features video. My socks were knocked right off! Intuitive and clever, it lets you go from idea to deluxe finished document - including newsletters - in the blink of an eye. It sent me back about 23 years to my first “contemporary” computer. I was about to let it all flow out into a post when I got this vague feeling I had gone down the same road before.

I had.

On Monday, July 23, 2007 I posted the following piece:

Extra! Extra!

It took quite a long time, but here I am. Back in the late 1980s I had just gotten my first “modern” computer. By modern I mean it was an MS-DOS based Personal Computer (PC) - a significant upgrade from the Commodore where one had to type in exhausting strings of code in order to get a “Pong”-like game to run on it. (Heavens to Murgatroyd! How old am I???) Anyhoo, the new PC felt very slick and powerful. I found the possibilities dazzling and the realities frustrating. In some ways, it was little more than a dedicated word processor, which had it all over electric typewriters, but only hinted at what might be possible down the road.

Well, I wanted “it” now. I wasn’t completely sure what “it” was. I felt as if I were looking at a wheel before there was a barrow or a cart or a carriage or a car to go with it. But I craved something creative, something exciting with words and images. Printshop was wicked cool at the time, now of course stunningly primitive. Then I stumbled across a software program for creating newsletters. It was words and graphics combined. That was “it”! Mind you, I didn’t have a group to send a newsletter to. I didn’t belong to a club or a PTA or even a company that needed or wanted some sort of internal missive. I didn’t care. I bought it. I tried it. Really I did. If you are a regular reader you are probably beginning to get an inkling of how this turned out. Well, you’re right. The program was very complicated, very limited and narrowly designed to publish, well, a newsletter. Which was exactly what the box said it would do, but I was dreaming bigger dreams. I was looking at the first wheel and already feeling the wind in my face, my hair streaming out behind me, as I was driving a Porsche.

Those dreams didn’t come to fruition until about nine months two and a quarter years ago when I discovered blogging. My words, my pictures and I didn’t have to belong to a club or have a mailing list. I just had to do it. Create something of my own, push a few buttons and Ta Da! - Pink Granite.

Aaaah... I love the feeling of the wind in my face! ;o)


I still feel the same way. The only difference is that now I have a deeper appreciation of how vital the readers of this particular “newsletter” are. Without you, this would be a long, lonely monologue. Thank you for the ongoing conversation. Thank you for your kindness and support, wit and wisdom and your friendship!

Smile Six Times

I did something very much like this once before. I referred to it as Part One, so let’s think of this as Part Two. When I came upon this sweet little meme posted by Hula Seventy I knew I needed to revisit the idea again:

Six That Are Smile Worthy

1. Minneolas or Tangelos or Honeybelles - These dazzlingly delicious citrus fruits are a blessed burst of sunshine on cold winter days. Buy the ones which feel heavy, have vibrant orange skins and, this is important, have the most distinctive bulbous “noses”. If they are nearly spherical and could pass for an orange, keep looking.

2. Snowshoeing - especially in sunshine on a crisp, cold winter day when the ground is covered with layers of snow. The chickadees call, the squirrels race and chatter across winter bare branches and the busy paths of all sorts of animals crisscross the woods - our one seasonal glimpse into their daily habits.

3. Down Quilts - big, poofy, lush, decadently comforting comforters to crawl under, straight from shedding layers of clothing, leaving only a cold nose peeking out to appreciate the sharp contrast.

4. Laughter - out of silliness, out of intellectual nimbleness, out of pain - it’s all good, all very good actually and allows me to keep my sanity. And I think helps those around me preserve theirs. (If you’re following closely, you know this was mirror close to number five from last time, but that’s O.K.!)

5. Customer Service - genuine, old fashioned, well intentioned, go that extra mile to get things sorted out and put to rights for the customer - service.

6. Blank Notebooks - lined, unlined doesn’t matter. It’s the blank page waiting for it all to come pouring out, crashing down, sketching up, doodling away - nearly dizzy with possibilities and then it happens. Pen touches paper; the connection is made; there’s no turning back.

7. Chuck - I said six. I wrote six. But there is always Chuck and he is always smile worthy! Even when I am ever so cross and ready to dope slap up him up the back of the head in frustration, he turns his head to afford me better aim and I am lost!

Happiness!

I found a wonderful list of ways to boost your feelings of happiness. Gretchen Rubin has been working on her book “The Happiness Project” which is “a memoir about the year I spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study I could find, whether from Aristotle or St. Therese or Martin Seligman or Oprah”. You know I’m a firm believer in the power of developing “an attitude of gratitude”. Well Ms. Rubin provides “Nine Tips for Dealing with a Happiness Emergency - - in the Next Hour” and each one is a winner. Bookmark it, print it out, hang it in your office cubby and next to your bathroom mirror and tuck a copy in your wallet.

You can find the list here. ;o)

Honoring

Toward the end of each of the last two trips to see Chuck’s Dad in Greater Seattle, we tried to prepare mentally, emotionally for the possibility that it might be the last time we would see Dad. We felt grateful for his great longevity, his full and interesting life and the long and very happy marriage he shared with Chuck’s Mom. Even though Dad was 94 and in decline, the last visit with him on each of those trips was still wrenching. But because of these visits and the emotional work we have been doing, the grief we are experiencing now that Dad has passed, feels much less acute than it might have been. Certainly, it is less fierce than when someone is struck down in their prime or when there are sentiments left unspoken. And the last phone call Chuck had with his Dad provided an additional opportunity for Chuck to express his gratitude and his love to his father. It allowed a son to be on the other side of the continent, yet still be at his father’s bedside just before he passed away.

We were speaking with a friend of ours who lost her mother a few years ago. We were discussing all of this with her, as we also told her about some of the arrangements which are being made for Dad’s interment and memorial service. Thankfully, Dad was quite thorough and specific in communicating his wishes. When Chuck’s Mom passed away ten years ago, Dad asked us to create the service, which we did. He was very pleased with it, so we have that as our template. But there are still many details to attend to. Chuck’s sister Carol is in Seattle, so she is doing things in person which we can’t do. But being a phone call or e-mail away eases communication and coordination. As we talked with our friend, she nodded and said “Yes, all the business of death.” She wasn’t referring to the commerce of funeral homes and florists. She was speaking about the paperwork, the fine print, the bureaucracy and all the discreet details involved in wrapping up a life.

Wrapping up a life. Dad has passed. His love, his lessons, his legacy live on. Our memories of him and of Mom will continue to bind them to us. But part of our responsibility to Dad is to attend to these details; the bits and pieces of his life on Earth - from the mundane to the legally required. There have been obituaries. There will be a eulogy. There will be memories shared, stories told, family jokes repeated, laughter and more tears. But there will continue to be this business of death as we wrap up Dad’s life. In attending to these tasks with the care and thoroughness he would have, we honor him.

Short & Simple

The current credit crisis is complex. I don’t know how many articles I’ve read, news reports I’ve watched or radio programs I’ve listened to about the various aspects of the financial situation the world finds itself in. And I still find it somewhere between mind boggling and nauseating. But I’ve found a good video which explains the situation in a simple, graphic way. “The Crisis of Credit Visualized” manages to summarize the whole ugly train wreck in just seven and a half minutes. Trust me, the time flies right by and you’ll feel much better informed around the water cooler on Monday or at the next cocktail party.

P.S. If you can, click on the “Watch in HD” tab at the top of the screen.

Wild Willy’s Revisited

The other day, Chuck and I ticked off a slew of errands in and around Worcester. Lunchtime found us not far from the Greendale area, so naturally we had to go to Wild Willy’s. It did not disappoint. They are still serving up a truly tasty cup of Steak Chili. The Bubba Burger remains yummy. And I think the bacon on the Bubba is even thicker and crispier, making it a more distinct ingredient, not just an accent. So, more than a year after I first posted about Willy’s, I am still happy to recommend you stop by and enjoy their consistently good fare!

From Wild Willy’s we popped over to Strand’s Ski Shop. We were hoping they would be able to replace the totally trashed baskets on my cross country ski (most recently snowshoe) poles. After a brief moment of doubt and consultation, followed by some time in the workshop, my poles had brand new baskets. We checked out at the register, gave Otto the Weimaraner a scratch behind the ears and continued on our way.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Honor & Sportsmanship

Despite how many basketball games I attended in high school, it is not a game close to my heart. But the story of a basketball game between players from Madison High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and DeKalb, Illinois High School tugged at my heart. In the swirl of media coverage over illegal steroid use by extraordinarily high paid professional athletes such as Alex Rodriguez, a bunch of high school kids and their coaches held the moral compass to true north. A-Rod and all of his ilk should read this moving report from Art Kabelowsky on a daily basis.

Thanks to Rachel Maddow for her coverage of this story.

Love Endures

“I believe that if I should die
and you were to walk near my grave,
from the very depths of the earth
I would hear your footsteps.”
- Benito Perez Galdos (1843 - 1920)

File 2008 Taxes Electronically - For Free!

Just as I’ve done in previous years, I helped a dear friend of ours with her taxes. Once again, I was able to help her file both her federal and state taxes on-line and to do it for free!

I began by going to the IRS page for e-filing. Once there, I followed the directions and clicked through to “Individual Taxpayers”. After reviewing the information, we again chose to file with the Turbo Tax Freedom Edition. I’ve had excellent experiences using this free service for our friend the last couple of years and this time was no exception. It has been improved and streamlined and her state continues to be one of the 21 linked directly with the Turbo Tax federal program.

These free filing options, available from the IRS through on-line tax preparers, have very specific age, income and filing status requirements. But if your tax situation is relatively straight forward, it’s definitely worth exploring. Filing tax forms is never fun, but this service makes it much easier.

Now I need to focus on our taxes and get them filed as well!

Six More Degrees

On Thursday, we went to our dentist for our twice a year visit with our dental hygienist. Let me start by saying that ever since I was a kid I’ve had a fear of dentists and all the attendant drills and discomfort. My first dentist was not destined to win any awards or honors in dentistry and it was no fun for my first 14 years. Then I began going to a great dentist. Unfortunately, it fell to him to repair what had not been done properly by the first quack guy. So even with a great doc it was still tough going.

Chuck has been going to the same dentist office for over thirty years. Not long after we were married I switched to his. We always had our teeth cleaned by a dental hygienist named P. She was very understanding and sympathetic. The dentist, Dr. W., was also a good guy and very skilled. But when he first tried to work on my teeth to repair a tooth which had previously had a root canal and was now snapped in two, he found the tears streaming down my cheeks and my constant trembling somewhat disconcerting! He immediately wrote me a prescription for Valium/Diazepam, which I took faithfully in advance of all future dental appointments. But as the years went by, I was able to stop medicating in advance and became pretty comfortable on my twice a year visits to see P. for a cleaning.

Then P. retired. I’ll admit I was scared. But I managed to show up for my first appointment with the new dental hygienist N. sans medication. (Yes I am patting myself on the back.) Turns out both Chuck and I had been very happy with P., but N. was a revelation. She was terrific - pain free, friendly, outgoing, gentle and extremely knowledgeable. And she was perfectly happy to continue the practice begun with P. where Chuck would stay in the room with me while I was in the chair. In fact, N. invited me to stay in the room while Chuck was in the chair. It works out great because while the patient has dental tools in their mouth the “guest” can continue the conversation with N.!

So on Thursday, at some point during the nearly two hours of dental attention and conversation, we got to chatting about Law & Order. All three of us are fans and we all agreed we liked the late Jerry Orbach in his character as Lennie Briscoe best of all. That was when N. told us her husband had once cooked for Jerry Orbach. Now, just to prove I must still have some residual dental anxiety, it wasn’t until much later, when Chuck and I were in the car, that the penny dropped and I realized that thanks to N., I’m just three degrees of separation away from Jerry Orbach!

Love Will Prevail

“On December 19, 2008, Ken Starr and the Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund filed legal briefs defending the constitutionality of Prop 8 and seeking to nullify the marriages of 18,000 devoted same-sex couples solemnized before Prop 8 passed.”

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day, I’m asking you to sign a petition over at the Courage Campaign to fight this outrageous effort. I’m asking you to stand in solidarity with same sex couples so as to strengthen and add volume to the message that everyone deserves to be treated “with dignity and respect”. I’m asking you to echo the refrain:

Don’t Divorce Us!

Passages

Chuck's Dad passed away late this morning, just before noon, Washington time. Milton was 94. His passing was peaceful and there was a wonderful, unusual twist just before the end.

We had just spoken with Chuck’s sister Carol last night. She had let us know that she felt it would be a matter of days; no more than a few weeks. Early this morning N. who along with his wife B. take care of Dad in the Adult Family Home they run, had checked on Dad and found he was sleeping and breathing deeply. A little while later N. went in to check on Dad again and he had passed. N. called Chuck's sister Carol and she left immediately to go over there. Along the way, she called Chuck to tell us that Dad had died.

After that call from Carol this morning, we called my Mom to tell her Chuck’s Dad had passed. Unbeknownst to us, while we were on the phone with Mom, Carol had tried to reach us. A few minutes after we hung up from Mom, Carol called again. Dad was still alive, still breathing. Carol was in Dad's room with him.  She took the phone and held it up to Dad's ear so that Chuck could talk to his Dad one last time. It was an amazing gift; a little miracle.

Carol then called her husband Mark.  He picked up their son Andrew at school and they went over to be with Carol and Dad. The hospice nurse also arrived. Carol sat holding Dad's hand.  N., B., Mark, Andrew and the hospice nurse were all reminiscing about Dad as well as Mom. They were looking at the photos on the walls and on the dresser of Mom and Dad along with many other family pictures. Then Dad took his last breath.

Because Carol’s daughter Emily is studying abroad in Italy until the middle of March, we will likely wait until then to have a service out in Seattle.

Please Excuse My Yawning

All’s well, except for my falling asleep on my feet.

Thank you for the good wishes about Cassie. She and I both appreciate it, although she does seem to be preening a wee bit more today! What have I wrought?

Please check out Sue’s amazing, multiple Six Degrees of Separation in the comments section of Tuesday’s “This & That” post below. I’m pretty sure she has single handedly tied the whole world up with a bow!

And for a chuckle, please read Papamoka’s own unique twist on Six Degrees in the comments section of Sunday’s original post.

Remember, as I stated in Sunday’s post: “a mutual blog association counts as one degree, even if we’ve never met in person”. So, via Barbie2Be we’re connected to Bing Crosby and George Clooney; and via my niece Kate we’re connected to Bono!

As is always true, Pink Granite Readers Rock!!!

I’ll be back tomorrow with my own brand new - as of just today - Six Degrees connection.

Night all...

Cassie Progress Report

It’s been three weeks since our eleven-ish year old cat Cassie had her Radioactive Iodine Treatment. She’s been doing pretty well, although she is still not back to anything approaching normal with her eating. She eats a little bit and then walks away, then moseys on back to nosh a little more. As a result, we have to feed her by herself and often have to just take up the dish and try again later. Otherwise her “sibling” Abby would scarf it all up in the blink of an eye! The good news is that we’re pretty sure Cassie has begun to gain some weight back. She feel less thin and fragile. She also seems somewhat less keyed up and agitated than she did in the months leading up to the procedure, but still not as mellow as she was a few years ago. It’s hard to know what was a direct result of the hyperactive thyroid and what became a learned behavior because of the imbalance.

In another week, she can go see her regular veterinarian for a follow up visit. Also, in another week, we can stop using the special clumping kitty litter called World’s Best Cat Litter. Turns out World’s Best, well, isn’t. It has clumped, has been scoopable and flushable with no apparent harm to our septic system, all of which was as advertised and necessary for this radioactive situation. However, even with a covered litter box, the World’s Best corn based litter tracks and scatters everywhere, far more than the Petco refill-your-own-bucket clay litter ever has. It may be because it is so much lighter. The other problem is that even with scooping twice a day there has been an odor problem. It doesn’t smell like cat urine, but instead a strange sour smell. Thankfully, we have just one more week to go.

This & That

Today was a much better day. There were no mysterious glue spills, no gremlins, no earthquakes, no full moon and no more disappointing hoaxes!

I worked on my third graphic arts project for a local non-profit. I’m strictly a volunteer and it has been satisfying because it’s nice to contribute to an organization doing good work. But the bonus has been how pleased they have been with my finished projects. Remarkably it has approached the happy dance level. Which in turn has left me doing an enthusiastic happy dance as well.

Two quick updates:
1. My Mom went to a Trader Joe’s all by herself for the first time today. She was a little overwhelmed but I think she’ll go back. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had that nice theme music by Antonio Carlos Jobim playing in her head!

2. The top vote getter in the Favorite Law & Order Partners survey was Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) & Mike Logan (Chris Noth) with 40% of the votes. My favorite was Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) & Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), but I’ll happily watch any of the combinations. Thanks for voting!

One Question:
1. Doesn’t anybody else want to play Six Degrees of Separation? I thought for sure we would knit the whole world together in the comments section!

Blame It On The Moon

Today was not my day. Nothing tragic; nothing major - really - it was just one of those days where things seemed consistently off kilter. Take the photo above. That was supposed to be a wide shot of our snow covered lawn in full moon glow, with sharp tree shadows across glistening, lustrous snow. Not even the tripod and experimenting with lots of different settings would allow the camera to absorb what my eyes were seeing.

Then there was the disappointment over on Twitter. Yesterday it appeared as if the Dalai Lama had joined Twitter. Today we found out it was a hoax. Call me silly, but I thought it was wicked cool that His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was going to be Tweeting!

And of course, there was the “Great Glue Mess of 2009”. This afternoon, one (pretty old) plastic bottle of glue fell from a height of less than three feet and shattered, spreading glue absolutely EVERYwhere across wide pine floorboards! What was truly odd, was that both Chuck and I heard it happen off in the other room and all the cats were accounted for.

Gremlins?
Maybe so.
Or perhaps just that old devil moon...