Customer Service as it Should Be

About five year's ago I needed to new bag to carry to the office.  I decided against the DC standard of a briefcase handcuffed to my wrist,  (I saw a guy on the metro one morning with one of these - they really do exist.) I seldom carry anything worth stealing.  I decided that a messenger style bag would work best.  I have had a handful of cheap one's over the years. They last a couple of years, and then split a seam.  

In looking around I found Tinbuk2, I was impressed by a couple of things.  They have an extraordinary reputation for quality,  starting with proven materials, good design and good craftsmanship.  If you order a custom made bag they are made in San Francisco.  If you buy their off the shelf designs (about 1/3 less expensive then custom), the bags are made in carefully selected factories in Asia that have agreed to a high ethical standard.  I liked this, it is not often that we get to consider the quality of life and working conditions of the people who make the consumer goods we buy.  It helped that Tinbuk2 was the fashion statement of the year when I ordered my bag.  

It has fared well.  I have traveled with it far and wide, and overall the bag is in good condition.  But - the buckle snaps started to break.  The first one went a year or so, first losing one side, then the other.  Then a few days ago the other one broke.  I checked with the shoe repair guy in my office building and he said he could install new buckles for $20 each, but he didn't have the parts and couldn't get ones to match.  It is an expensive bag and I would pay to have it repaired. 

I went to the manufacturers website to see if I could order matching parts.  I noticed the "lifetime limited warranty."  I read a little farther and it suggested emailing them a picture of the failure.  I emailed a couple of pictures, saying if I could buy the replacements I'd pay the shoe repair guy to put them on.  Within a few minutes I received and automated confirmation that they had received my email and someone would be back to me within two working days.  An hour later I received an email from a very cool dude.  He described it as hating to see a "soldier down" and saying that they would send out replacements right away.  Attached were instructions on how to change the parts on your own.  Come to find can take them apart by cutting the plastic not the strap, and once the old buckle is cut loose, the replacement will go on without tools.  The end of the closure strap does not have to be undone and re-sown.  I can change it myself (and save $40.)  

What wonderful customer service.  These are not cheap bags, and it so nice that they stand behind what their product.  When I need another bag, I will pay the premium and buy another Tinbuk2. 

Slow Down

Jay has a collection of pictures of my backside walking away.  He claims that it is not because he has fetish for my backside, but that I have always been in a hurry.  I am a man on a mission, with a singular focus and that is always ahead. Apparently this is nothing new, this picture was taken almost 25-years ago in London by my now long distant ex.  That is the Queen's Horse Guard coming at me, as I recall my ex frightened the horses and was nearly trampled - there are many reasons that few pictures of said person exist.

Over the past few years my worn out knees have slowed me down, at times quite dramatically.  Jay can finally keep up.  But, I still end up walking away.  While some linger to examine the world and smell the roses, others thunder onto the next great adventure. Oh well, gota run!

Best Wishes on A Milestone Day

Congratulations to fellow blogger John Gray And Professor Chris on their Marriage today in Trelawnyd, North Wales. I share their joy, and the joy of a society where happy and committed same sex couples can finally marry and receive the same protections and recognition for their marriage as opposite sex couples. To quote a co-worker of John's, "it's about bloody time."

John and Chris you are pioneers on the frontier of equal treatment.  I wish you a lifetime of love and happiness.  Relax and enjoy the day as you make history.

I wish I could be there today.

John keeps us all entertained with accounts of his life, and the lives of all the creatures great and small that he cares for on a daily basis.  http://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/

TBT - London May 1990

In the spring of 1990, I was riding a wave of success. I was well paid, working insane hours for a self described lunatic.   My Grandmother was born in London and we had -had a couple of visits from distant family in England, so going to London was the wild hair that I decided on one morning in a long - over air conditioned staff meeting in Orlando.  I booked an air and hotel package through British Airways.  Our flight from Orlando to London was delayed from 11:00 PM to 5 AM by a mechanical breakdown. Being a typical American who had never traveled outside of North America, I rented a car and drove into London. I have driven around the circle in front of Buckingham Palace.  No flag is flying, the other Queen must have been out of town that day.

It was a good trip, I am so glad I went.  It broadened my horizons, and helped me to understand the wonders of travel.  It was the first of many trips, and a few left to go.

National Read Aloud Day March 4th, 2015

The first Wednesday in March is National Read Aloud Day. Some texts are written to be read aloud. Sometimes when I am stumped by a particularly difficult passage, I will close the office door and reread it aloud. Sometimes hearing and reading will help me decipher meaning. Reading is such a fundamental skill, and reading aloud helps to develop that skill, yet past childhood we do little reading aloud.  It is a practice we might all benefit from continuing to do.  

I decided to read and record a a passage from one of my favorite books. It only took me a moment to know what I wanted to read, it is a passage from Walden by Henry David Thoreau.  Walden was an assigned reading in High School, I believe it was assigned by Jack McCoy, who is now retired and I hear from regularly on Facebook.  I started into the book and couldn't put it down.  I reread parts of it in College. It is one of the few books that I have re-read many times.  The selection is from the section of the book on "why I went to live in the woods."  It has great meaning.  I am past the stage of wanting to go live in the woods, but the idea of living simply and pulling  great joy out of life, while being a sculpture of our happiness continues to ring true for me.  

What do We Take for Granted

Being born and raised in a western developed country I take many things for granted.  I expect that the lights will come on when I flip the switch, that when I dial a phone the call will go through.  We get upset and frustrated when our WiFi networks lets us down, or we can't get a cell phone signal. But in many places in the world the things we take for granted, are not readily available.

A staggering 750-million people around the world lack access to readily available drinking water on a daily basis.  Most of us could survive for a couple of weeks without food, but a only about three days without water.  Unclean drinking water is a leading cause of disease and death in the developing world.  It is estimated that women in the developing world spend 200-million hours every day, walking to bring clean drinking water back to their families.  That is 200-million hours that can't be spent as caregivers, growing or gathering food, education, and trying to help their families rise out of poverty.

Stella Artois, not my favorite beer, not that I am a big beer drinker, has partnered with Water.org, to fund five years of drinking water for 20,000 people.  They will donate $6.25 for every glass sold.  The glasses cost a little more then one's not tied to the donation, $12 (US) on Amazon, if you are an Amazon Primer member the glass ships for free.   http://www.buyaladyadrink.com/   It is a little thing, but five years of access to reliable drinking water could make a big difference in the life of a family that does not take drinking water for granted.

Airport Terminals

Airport terminals can be nice or dreadful.  The modern tendency is to make them utilitarian, cheap to build, easy to maintain and dreadful to spend any time in.  Frequently they are paid for with public funding (your tax dollars at work) and no one wants to see tax dollars wasted.  Prior to the changes in airport security airport terminals where developing as shopping and entertainment venues.  One of the first Brew-Pubs in Orlando was in the airport terminal at Orlando International Airport.  But with enhanced security only ticketed passengers can get through security, and air travelers are afraid to shop outside of security for fear of either getting stuck in a slow line or buying something and having a hard time getting it through security.  Security didn't kill airport shopping, but it changed the economics, of it.  What was once seen as promising source of revenue to build nicer terminals, once again seen as a travel service.

Parts of the Honolulu terminal, like this garden that is inside security are  nice, parts of it are very not nice.  The same seating as 200 other airports, arranged around the same boarding areas at nearly every airport in the world. it just as easily have been Phoenix, or Atlanta, or Newark.  But those airports don't have a tropic garden between the concourse and the terminal.

But there was the open air terminal on Maui, very-very different.  Probably not fun in a topical storm.  Someone described it as the Tiki huts, it looked more like something designed by Disney, then Stalin.

National Reading Aloud Day Wednesday March 4th

Face that audience and let them hear your voice loud and clear

Wednesday is National Reading Aloud Day
Let's try a fun challenge, pull your favorite passage and record yourself reading it and post the recording on your Blog on Wednesday.  You can record a short video clip on most smart phones, or simple digital camera. Don't worry about the video or audio quality, but show the world that reading aloud is important and as adults we are not afraid to do so.

http://www.litworld.org/wrad/
http://www.litworld.org/wrad/

Quality as Promised

About 30 years ago, I was occupying parallel space with a klutz.  A glass was broken every week.  The Williams Sonoma catalog arrived and had a description of Picardie Glass Tumblers, made by Duralex in France. This was back when Williams Sonoma was only a handful of stores and in most of the country they were only a catalog.  The fact that they were made in France piqued by interest, I have long had a soft spot for France.  

The catalog description described them as "nearly indestructible."   I ordered a two dozen and figured if I was lucky they might last a year.  Well they are as described, I still have nearly all of them.  It is possible to break them, but not very easy.  I recently shattered one, I took it out of a hot dishwasher - filled it with ice cold water and heard a distinct click, almost in slow motion it disintegrated in front of me.  

It is surprising to find something that is as good or even better then described. I like the simple classic shape, and the durability has far exceeded my expectations.  I now have them in four sizes.  http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/picardie-glass-tumbler/?pkey=cbar-glassware-casual%7C%7C4293865763&cm_src=bar-glassware-casual||FN-Brand-_-FN-Duralex-_--_- 

Looking for Inspiration

What flips your switch, lights your fire, brings you to life?

When I moved into my office, I remarked to director that I would bring in the diplomas and licenses and put up the "credibility" wall - he said, "put up what makes you happy to be here."  It was nice to fill the office with things that I enjoy being around, at times it is travel pictures, at the moment bright colorful paintings.  

What I read can inspire me. Some of my professional reading includes reading about dementia, dying and death - not exactly cheerful stuff.  It can inspire me to do good work to improve the quality of life at the end of life. But to maintain my emotional balance, I have to intersperse this reading with things reading that is fun, some humor, a lot of travel narrative, some business and communications. I can and need to control the balance of what comes into my mind.

I can be inspired by things that make me happy, comfortable and good, and also by things that make me uncomfortable or angry. I prefer the good, but I need the bad, I try to balance the two.

The more I understand about what inspires me, the more I can introduce these elements into my life and try to keep the lights on.

What Have I Done This Week That Matters In the Long Run?

What have I done this week to bring comfort, joy, happiness, well being, beauty, laughter and goodness into the lives of others?  Facebook and the blogosphere are filling with tributes and sadness at the passing of Leonard Nimoy. He brought entertainment, happiness and enlightenment in his life.  I really don't want people to be sad when I am gone, I want them to celebrate while I am here, and when I am not for people to think, he did some good, brought some joy, enlightened a few, created some beauty, helped people laugh and in general made the world a little better by being here.  I am not worried about what lies beyond this life, while I am here I might as well have some fun, and bring some comfort and joy.



I write a little, this blogging effort is forcing me to write more, and the more I do, the easier it seems to be.  I do work that helps others, though anymore it is more helping the helpers then it is helping people directly.  I try to create a little beauty - I have created a handful of memorable photographs and a couple of paintings (oh- few people know that I paint.) I love to cook and try to bring joy to others with good food and fellowship. The only way my music ever brought joy, was when I stopped - but I do share the music of others. I am a listening ear - and try to bring comfort to others. I inherited a sarcastic streak that is funny when I control it, and caustic when I don't.  I have a tiny bit of influence in my work, I try to use it for good - to make the world a happier, safer, healthier place to grow old.



So what have I done this week, a little?  I hope all of the little things add up to enough when I am done.
LL&P

Throwback Thursday - Winter Travel

About 10 years ago I got a wild hair one year, and we went to Paris for Christmas. It was a wonderful experience.  I cashed in Delta frequent flyer miles, for seats on Air France, and booked a Best Western about 3 blocks west of the Eiffel Tower. For out of pocket costs, it didn't cost much more then the two of us flying to Florida, renting a car and staying in a hotel the year before.  It was very low key and low stress.  Paris is a little like Rome, don't try to control it, don't expect it to work as promised, just go with the flow, and out-pout the locals and you will do fine.  I have been trying on and off since high school to learn French, it was at it's best for this trip. One of my favorite stories is buying a metro pass, I succeeded in my elementary French at making the purchase from a not to patient ticket agent in the station nearest to our hotel. Then Jay stepped up, you could see her bracing for yet another foreigner who barely speaks the language, and in perfectly accented French he simply said, "I'll have the same."  He speaks French, I try, but he let me take the lead and stretch my limits.  Isn't that part of what travel is about, stretching our limits and expanding our understanding of the world? 

Two Places at Once

Why can't I be in two places at once?  It would make life so nice to be on the beach in Kauai and doing the work in my office,  Or like this morning, I could have been on the conference call and interviewing the law student at the same time.  Opps, I put the call on the wrong day on my calendar.  I was double booked, if only I could send one one personality to each - but I only have one personality - with one like this - who would risk a second one?  The woman who the book Sybil was based on lived in Lexington, Kentucky - she was a dear friend of the business manager at the first legal aid program I worked for.  She seemed to have reconciled with herself late in life.

Does Not Compute

I am amazed at how much computers have changed our lives, in my lifetime.  I bought my first computer from Radio Shack in the early 1980's a TRS-80 Color Computer, with 16 MB of memory and an external data cassette tape drive. It came with a book on how to write your own software in basic DOS, and snap in read only memory software cartridges, a very rudimentary word processing and the easiest to use spread sheet program I have ever used.  I wrote a software program to calculate mortgage payments and closing costs that was copied and developed over a period of 10 years by a couple of colleagues.

Ten years later, along came Windows. Windows is a huge step forward from writing your own in DOS, but the bane of our existence.  I don't know what was happening in the office this afternoon, but Chrome worked fine and connected to the internet and gmail, but Internet Explorer and Outlook would not work. IT called it a network issue, but it was really a Windows issue.

I have two laptops.  A 10 inch Windows machine that I use when I have to.  It runs Office, and has an old style receptacle to plug in a digital projector.  Almost every time I travel with it, I threaten to toss it on the floor and stomp on it.  It has a habit of downloading updates - tying it's limited resources - at the least opportune time.  One of these days, it is going over the rail into the parking lot from the 20th floor.  The other is an 11 inch Chromebook.  I love my Chromebook.  It is light weight, fast, it is great for email and web-browsing, most of my blog postings are created on the Chromebook (blogger is owned by Google) they have an app for that. I use google apps to open and edit Word Docs.  It is a little basic, but it will get the job done.  The presentations app, has compatibility issues with Power Point. It will open a PP file, or create a file that can be opened in PP, but the formatting changes.  I am not a big spread sheet user, the best was the one for the TRS-80 - I think it was called Specatulator.  I still miss it's simplicity. The weakness of the Chromebook is that it does not run Office (there is dispute over how well it runs Office 365 apps.)  It has an HDMI port, but not the old fashioned port that most power point projectors use.   I use it to take notes in meetings and enjoy traveling with it.  Once or twice a month I get an arrow in the lower right hand corner of the screen that tells me an update is available.  I turn the machine off and restart, a process that takes less then one-minute and the updates have been installed.  How simple.

Thinking Warm Thoughts of Travel

Only a few more weeks and spring has to be here, this cold silliness can't go on forever, it is not like we are in the Antarctic or something.  Actually it might be nicer there then it is here in DC, it was warmer in Alaska the other day then it was here.  The last time I was in Alaska I got to talking to guy running a tourist trap, he said he moved to Ketchican from Chicago, because the winters were milder in Ketchican then Chicago.  Entirely possible, there is a coastal current that moderates weather right along the coast.

A high school class mate on Facebook commented this morning that Bald Eagles have returned to the thumb area of of Michigan. One less morning dove on his bird feeder, one well fed bird of prey for the day.  Some days that is how it is, eat or be eaten.  Aren't you glad the dinosaur birds don't swoop down out of the trees and grab lunch of the sidewalk?  Well it would thin the slow one's out of the flock.  

I had a momentary pause this afternoon and my mind started to wander, in a flash I was driving around the north shore of Oahu with the top down on the convertible.  Then I was back in the my office trying to write an article explaining social media to people who are still using a Rolodex.   It is nice to let the mind travel, as long as it keeps coming back home.

McKenna Single Barrel Bourbon

Henry McKenna single barrel, ten year old, bottled in bond, made by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, Kentucky.  This is a well priced, well selected single barrel bourbon.  It is sweet and spicy, mildly woody, and nicely smooth. The nose is vanilla, cherry and spice. It is nicely mature, as would be expected after 10 years in oak.  It is drinkable and relatively affordable at $30 to $35 per bottle (in it's home state.)  

Bottled in bond means that it is the product of a single distiller, made in a single season, aged at least 4 years in government supervised warehouses (the last I knew the revenue agents held the keys to the bonded warehouses)  and bottled at 100-proof. Bottled in bond,   is a left over from prohibition, when this was the process for legal distillation.  

This may be the best product of Heaven Hill.  HH is on the list for a tour the next time I am in Kentucky (likely a year from now.)  

A Confession

They say confession is good for the soul, and I need unburden my soul on this.

I have lust in my heart, for cooking.  I read and collect cookbooks, but seldom follow recipes. I am a better cook, then baker, because I don't do well at following directions. As a child I colored outside the lines and insisted that it was possible for there to be purple kittens. For me cooking is about a concept, technique and method - it is not a chemistry formula to be followed.  When I say I read cook books, I really do read them, exploring the way that ingredients are put together.  The great cook books include narrative describing method and technique.  I love exploring ingredients and seeing how minor changes in ingredients makes subtle changes in the finished dish.  There is a downside to this.  I can't always duplicate my successes - anyone can duplicate a failure.  Until I started trying to describe recipes for this blog, I never really thought about what I put in. I buy what looks good in the market, and add to it from what I have on hand that needs to be used (the shallots in the soup below is a good example.)

More Soup!

Soup and stew weather continues.  Today I decided to try a beef , veggie and pasta creation.

1 large onion chopped
3-4 stalks of Celery chopped
4-5 carrots chopped
1 shallot  chopped (optional- I had it and needed to use it)
2 cloves of garlic chopped
sweet peppers chopped
1 box mushrooms quartered
2-3 small red skin potatoes quartered
1 medium can chopped tomatoes
1 cup favorite shaped pasta
3/4 to 1 pound beef pot roast (bone in if you can find it.)
2-3 strips of bacon chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

 Preparation:
Chop the bacon and saute it over medium heat in a soup pot.  Add the onions, add a splash of olive oil if needed. When the onions have started to cook, add the celery, carrots, shallot, garlic, peppers, potatoes, and mushrooms and allow to saute for 10-15 minutes.  Add the canned tomatoes, and 2 cans of water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the beef and cover.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 3-4 hours.  You want the beef to be cooked to the point that it breaks apart easily with a spoon.  Adjust seasoning, add pasta, cover and allow to simmer an additional 20-30 minutes.  The pasta will absorb much of the liquid - thickening the soup to a hearty soup.

If you are serious about cooking with fresh ingredients, a good start is keeping carrots, celery and onions on hand.  Buy real carrots, some of the varieties of "baby" carrots do not stand up well to simmering for 2-4 hours. A rinse and once over with a good peeler and a quick chop and the real thing goes into a soup or stew easily.  Carrots store well, staying fresh for 2-4 weeks.  Celery is another staple, I have discovered that if I keep it wrapped in plastic is keeps for 2-3 weeks and can be used in a soup or stew even if it has started to get a little limp.  A quick whack takes both ends off, rinse well and it is fun to chop.  I can't imagine cooking without onions, most of my recipes start with chop an onion. I buy a box of mushrooms every week and almost always find a use for them. In my area Trader Joes' has good mushrooms for a great price.  I rinse them and trim the stem, for this soup I wanted them chunkier in the final product so I quartered them.  They are easy to cut, don't buy them pre-sliced.  I generally keep shallots - a small sweeter member of the onion family on hand, you can buy them in bulk at most Whole Foods markets - they keep for a month or so.  I use a little garlic - it gives me gas - so I use very little.

For the beef for this I could have used stew beef, I found this nice slice of pot-roast.  The bone rendered out nicely, adding a lot of flavor from the marrow (the center of the bone.)

Customer Service

It was 6 degrees this morning so I drove to the office, in Washington DC and parked in the garage in the building,  The parking is all valet, allowing them to park cars 2 or 3 deep in parking spaces, there is no option, hand them the keys and they park it.  This dent was not there when I handed them the keys just before 8:00 AM this morning, and it was when they brought the car back to me at about 4:30 this afternoon.  The valet that brought the car out, called for a "manager."  Who tried to debate with me if the damage was fresh, or was there before. The car was perfect when I dropped it off, dented when I picked it up.  He had me fill out paperwork then said that they "would investigate and notify me within three business days of their determination."  What is there to investigate, my car was perfect when I dropped it off and damaged when I picked it up.  Instead the "manager" argues with me that he has to investigate and make a determination, and he can't tell me that they will fix my car.  What crappy customer service.

What Was I Thinking?

I am tired of complaining about the cold, it is not like complaining changes anything,  I drove to the office today, it takes a little longer then the subway and is a little more frustrating, but I was thinking, less time out in the cold, an opportunity to park the car in the garage and get the snow and ice melted off.  

I am working on travel plans - what else would travel penguin do?  I have a conference in Austin, Texas in early May.  It is a conference I have been to year after year, and it is being held in my least favorite city in Texas.  I felt obligated to submit a proposal to speak, so I did two, but not very well.  I was thinking, I will do my part and hope that the proposals get turned down and I can skip the conference this year.  No such luck, both made the agenda.  I need to find a way to enjoy Austin. Maybe some good bbq, and a little rest. I will go on from there to Florida where I have a conference the following week. What was I thinking, two conferences back to back, being gone from the office for 12 days, I will be buried in work when I get back. I really should have said no thank you to Austin this year.

I have been working on comments to a government agency.  I should have said, no thank you, when I was asked to work on them, but I was thinking "why not." I have sorted my way through a long a complex policy process.  I actually wrote in an email that "if I appear to have bruises on my forehead, it was from all of the brick walls I ran into on this project."  Word this afternoon that we have found a way to make it happen, well hopefully, there is a plan B if I run into another brick wall.  I know our policy making process is complex, many- many lawyers trying to be careful not to piss to many people off.  What was I really thinking, our assistant director wants to cut back on hours and surrender the management title, I'd like it and the raise that goes with it.

I keep trying to come up with something funny or inspiring.  The muses are either frozen, or on vacation in the tropics.  I keep thinking they will return, and they will, some sunny warm day.