Memorial Day Weekends of Long Ago

Memorial Day Weekend has long been the first weekend of sun, relaxing and BBQing. I have done one out of the three--relax.. I can remember a time when I was a kid that you had to put out your towel, lather on the suntan lotion and bake in the sun for the weekend so that you would return to school with a start of a tan. The school year for us mostly ended toward the middle of June. Sometimes we weren't so lucky with sun and had to resort to the QT fake tans of long ago that left you a strange orange color. Yes, I do admit I did try it once and thank goodness fake tanning has come a long way over the year.

Now with the threat of skin cancer a possibility I tend to spend a little less time in the sun, although I do partake occasionally even though I shouldn't and spend my money on the fake stuff.

I would have loved to BBQ this weekend but ours was on its last leg and was put out for spring cleanup and we have yet to purchase a new one. I have checked a few out but still can't seem to decide on one. There is something about standing in front of the grill and the aroma of smoking meat that just brings about more great childhood memories. Of course then it was charcoal and lighter fluid instead of gas cooking. This is another aspect that isn't as healthy for you either but how is it that everything fun is bad for you?

I have put off firing up the air conditioner too. I guess I am trying to see how long I can go to keep from having that astronomical electric bill. I have pushed up all the windows and letting the ceiling fans and breeze do the work for me. Of course, this has slightly affected allergies but I will live through it.. Oh yeah we never had air conditioning growing up. Our way of cooling down was opening the windows, laying on the floor and letting the ocean breeze make its way through. Iced tea was a "summer only" beverage so we drank pitchers of it. Why is it I don't remember sweating as a kid? Maybe because it is not something that matters when you are growing up. Now you just hope you can get through the day without having to change your clothes at least three times in one day.

Memorial Day is memory day for some-the good, the sad and everything rolled up into one.

Tornado Alley-Someplace You Don't Want to Be Caught in the Dark

For the early part of my life I lived where you never knew when the ground would be shaking. I lived through several earthquakes, two that were pretty damaging. The fact that you never had warning was something you just accepted. A few broken mementos and cracks in your sidewalks far easier to accept.

When we moved to "tornado alley" my goal was to find a home with a basement. Unfortunately, that didn't happen so I figured the likelihood of tornado's is like a crap shoot. In the almost 14 years I have lived in our present area we have had two close calls. Both times to look overhead and see the swirling clouds is a little frightening. Our neighborhood dodged a bullet this time, and the two that did touch down last night were reported as minor. The frequent claps of thunder and the close lightening strikes certainly didn't help my nerves. A brief knockout of our power for a couple moments wasn't encouraging either but the one good feeling was that David was hear to see me jump and squirm every time my emotions got the best of me. Yes I am a big baby I will admit and he always has a way to calm me.

A couple years ago we experience straight line winds on a return trip from the east in our big truck. The "green sky" I have always been told is an indication of bad things to come. That was not a fun experience especially after getting out of the truck and seeing the top of our trailer peeled back like a tuna can and half of our trailer roof probably miles away. No content was damaged. Thank goodness the full trailer probably saved us and David's knack for packing tight. In that instance again David's calming nature kept me from going ballistic.

Actually I usually get a little more edgy when I hear the tornado warnings. There is just something about that sound that makes my hair stand on end. Partly because there is really not alot that you can really do.

We bit the bullet again, God and Mother Nature was on our side.

Customer Service- Two Cans and a Piece of String

This past week has been extremely difficult. We never realize how much we depend on technology until we are without it. I have had several times in my life where it was "like the good ole days". During my time in CA we had a couple times when earthquakes were bad enough that we could loose power and sometimes were unable to use gas for long periods of time. We would dig out candles and try and make an adventure out of a bad situation.

This past week I had to do without phone and Internet usage..Not good when your business pretty much depends on both to get things done. We had another pretty significant rainstorm which usually brings problems to the phone service anyway. But this time it was different. We went from static to sporadic usage to a dead line.

The process of getting it fixed started Tuesday morning where a call to customer service said it would be Thursday before someone could get out. Two days?? Let's go back, of course the first call was through an automated system, (no human) where over and over I put in the phone number and pressed the designated numbers. Unfortunately, they should include a number for all of the above, which they don't. The time frame for the appointment was 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. as stated in the recorded message, someone 18 years or older must be at home, (that would be me), all animals must be out of the yard (no problem), and we must be able to get in the area where the phone box is (still no problem, everyone can get in our yard). So I looked forward to a day at home. As the time ticked away and first the morning passed and then afternoon and still no call or repair tech. By 7:00 p.m. I attempted to call back the repair number but with no way to talk to a human voice. By this time our second line was having the same problem so I got the bright idea that if I reported it I may be able to actually talk to someone..Wrong again.

So bright and early on Friday morning I called the repair number again this time getting a human and basically giving them a piece of my mind. Why did no technician show up? No explanation. The only advice was to send it to the "Expedite Dept". Ok fine I need phone service before the weekend. I have already been here a full day without a call as to what was going on. Of course the first words out of their mouth is "I am sorry for the inconvenience". Are they really?? Some one will call you in the next two hours to set up an appointment before 5:00 p.m. Your kidding right, Friday?

Well thirty minutes later the technician called saying he had just gotten the order. Hummm what happened yesterday, he hadn't a clue.. He was out in fifteen minutes and had the problem solved in less than thirty minutes. Apparently between old, rotting lines and possible lightening strike the lines need to be pulled to expose new line..Problem solved..almost..

After a lengthy conversation with the technician, he explained like all companies today, they are also cutting back staff in all areas.. Basically one technician for a pretty large area. How can you expect service to work with that? How can these same companies continue to air commercials that state they have 97% of phone users? If they do a large percentage are not really happy. Over the course of several weeks I have talked with several people who are not exactly happy with either land line, Internet, or cellular service.. Bottom line customers would much rather be able to voice their concerns one on one, not to an automated system, or even an e-mail on the Internet. Sometimes that human contact can really only get the job done..

Which comes to the conclusion, and something I sarcastically but truly believed at that point in time. "I would do better with two cans and a piece of string at this point".