Another Customer Experience Story

On March 27, I received an email telling me on March 27 I would no longer be able to get my email through my yahoo account. The email gave me instructions to change over to the new, smoother, quicker system. Ha! I also have to move all my saved emails, folders, and contacts too. Again, they provide simple, easy instructions to follow to make this transition an easy process. Again, ha!

After trying several times and getting different responses and outcomes with each attempt, I decide to call the 1-800 number provided. I wish I had one dollar for each time I heard,

"We are experiencing an unusual
busy period. Your call is very
important to us. Your call will
be answered in the order it was
received. Your estimated wait
time is less than....
30 minutes"

30 minutes!!! Wow! I did wait, but it was longer than any 30 minutes!



I was debating weather to let them know they need to re-record their message because the wait time was well over 30 minutes! But, I didn't.

In the best southern Georgia voice the lady on the other end of the line says, "May I have your telephone number, can you verify the name on the account, can you verify the address. Thank you and and I apologize for any inconvenience, how may I help you today?"

I explain to her about my email situation and she is quick to respond by telling me the server for them is down right now and they are quickly working on a solution and everything should be resolved by tomorrow. Until then I will not be able to do anything.

"Is there anything else I can assist you with today?" asks my southern Georgia friend. "No, not today, but if I have to call back tomorrow if I am still experiencing problems, is there a direct line I could call since I've been on the line for 58 minutes and 17 seconds?" I ask.

Again, she is very sorry and apologetic for any inconvenience and problems I am having, but at this time, there is only the one number. Great! Hopefully I won't have to call them tomorrow!

Since I had nothing else, she completed the ticket and thanked me for calling. "You have a blessed day," she said.

As soon as I got off the phone, I check my email. To my surprise I had a new message:



Hmmm, pretty quick, huh?

With any luck, the server will be up and running tomorrow...I'll keep you posted!

Some Really Good Advice

Personality - Part II

Part two of a four part series. This post will be about personality.

Don't compare your life to the life of others. You might think you know what their journey is all about, but in reality, you have no idea at all.

Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

Don't over do. Keep you limits.

Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

Dream more while you are awake.

Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his or her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness. If you are still talking of past issues, you haven't really forgotten them. If you had, you wouldn't still be talking about it!

Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

Smile and laugh more.

You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

If all of us learned and lived by these simple instructions, wouldn't this world be a much more beautiful, loving, and caring place? All of us are human and sometimes our fleshly body gets the best of us, me included.

Let's all take time to examine ourselves and realize what is truly in our heart. It's not going to be that difficult to put the right foot forward.

I know I've forgotten the past and I'm going to smile and laugh more!

50

Today I celebrated my 50th birthday. Patrick and Ric got me a black cake! What is up with that? Patrick says I'm over the hill, to which I quickly replied, "I don't think so!"



I told him I was at the very top of the hill and if I make it through this year, next year I'll be over. Of course, next year will never get here!



They think it's funny cause they had my cake sprayed black and Patrick wanted to put candles all over it, but he said they only came in packs of 24 and he didn't want to spend the money for three packs, so he just got the 5 & 0 numbers, lol and used the few candles he found in the cabinet.



Black icing does create some fun times...



This is my favorite time of the year. Not only do I celebrate my birthday, but Spring is coming, endless college basketball, spending time and creating memories with those I love.

Spring Break '10...Part II

Over 150 miles traveled and still going strong. Had an enjoyable stay at our favorite Inn this week only to cap that off with another trip south to the river.



Never been into the museum of the Falls of the Ohio, but plan too one day real soon. It seems every time we go past this place the water is up and swiftly moving down stream. Always to high and swift for a little wadding.

Maybe the summer drought will be a good time to go and check out the fossil beds (note to self) when it will be safe to do a little hiking in the river bed.

Even though the water and weather wasn't very cooperative, we still managed some good photos:



The traffic seemed a bit more congested than normal. I guess everyone was heading home after a long, enjoyable, relaxing Spring Break!



Another memorable day in our week of Spring Break 2010 and now looking forward to the weekend.

Extremely satisfied I can make news worth talking about for my blog followers and they are able to us it to blog about something on their blog. Ahhhh, life is so good.

Enjoy your weekend. I am!

Spring Break '10

This year for Spring Break we had several options to choose from. With our busy schedules and trying to work in all the practices for Patrick's freshman year of spring sports, it was easy to make our final choice:



We love it here. Not that far from home and its a beautiful place to relax. Some think you have to wait till you get your yearly pass to enjoy the fun, but we proved all those people wrong this week!



Today we ventured out around the park looking for a shelter house with a fire place. Sure enough we found one, got a fire started, and before long we were eating grilled hot dogs! A little rain wasn't going to stop us from having fun.



We've had our daily swim in the heated pool, we have played some ping pong (I've won every game but one!), and we just finished eating supper in the fabulous restaurant. Our view from the windows in our room show the rain is still coming down, but that's not bothering us a bit. It sure felt nice to have my afternoon nap in our quiet, comfy room at Spring Mill Inn.

Life is good today!

Live With The Three E's

Part I - Health

The 3 E's are Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy. That seems easy enough. Get 7 hours of sleep a night, that will help you generate energy. Be enthusiastic about what you are doing. Even though it's boring and a repeat of the day before, be excited. The day will go faster and be more enjoyable! Finally, be willing to help others and understand their feelings. One, two or all three can be difficult on a daily basis, but with practice all three are obtainable.

Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. Eat more food that grows on trees and plants and less food that is manufactured in plants. Take time to pray, play games, read more books and sit in silence for 10 minutes each day. Take a 10-30 minute walk on a daily basis and as you are walking, make sure to smile!

I received the above in an email a few days ago and it seems like the start of a daily routine that will lead to good health!

Check back in a few days to see what part II is about. Until then, keep smiling!

Signs of Spring

It's easy to tell when the winter season is behind us and spring is approaching. The grocery stores, convenient stores and gas stations have bags of mulch stacked up, the green houses have been getting a fresh coat of paint, the flower shops start sprucing up their places and getting the tables set up for the new flower arrivals, you see kids riding their bicycles, new moms are getting their baby strollers out and taking a walks.

There are also other ways to notice the change of seasons and realize spring is here:

Today Isn't What It Use To Be

Today use to be a day I looked forward to all year long…the start of the NCAA tournament. Brackets complete and turned in no later than 12 noon. I’d have my portable TV tuned into CBS, waiting for the ball to be tossed in the air.

When I worked at the US Shoe factory (several years ago) I was the one who passed out the bracket sheets for everyone to fill out. I’m not sure how many people were employed at the time, but almost everyone filled out a bracket sheet, or two or three. I'd also put all 64 teams in a can and for a buck you could draw a team from the can in hopes of winning the pot of $64 dollars. Usually, I'd have 2-3 cans going around! I always enjoyed being the score keeper and posting the names of the people who were leading early in the pool, only to be overtaken by someone who picked the upsets correctly. Some could have been skillful pickings, but for the most part it was just pure luck. I miss those times.

Today, as the tournament begins again, I haven’t passed out any brackets, I haven’t filled one out, and I don’t have my portable TV at my side. It’s just not the same for me anymore. The hype is long gone.

I did find an interesting article today as I was looking through the headlines. The title of the article is: Which NCAA teams have the best and worst graduation rates? The US Secretary of Educations says college basketball teams that don’t graduate at least 40 percent of its players should be banned from the NCAA tournament. There is an annual report of the graduation rates of the teams in the tournament and it seems the top seeds have the worst graduation rates. I guess that means the days of the student-athlete are long gone at some colleges. Not surprising, to me, the number one seed, Kentucky, graduated just 31 percent of its students, the sixth-lowest rate among the 65 teams, but far ahead of Maryland, which only saw eight percent of its basketball players graduate on time. Eight is just ONE player!

The annual report wasn’t all bad news as some top programs like BYU, Duke, Marquette, Notre Dame, Villanova and Wake Forest graduated over 90 percent of their players. The average seed for these teams is 8.8. For many of the college players the days of being a student first has stopped and academics have taken a back seat to athletics.

Earlier this week we had the opportunity to meet with this years high school baseball coaches. They went over what is expected of themselves, the team and the parents. It was not a surprise to hear them call the players student-athletes. All the coaches were concerned with the players’ grades and have set aside time to help the team with their studies, if needed. Of course, there aren’t any of the athletes looking to be playing for the New York Yankees with a 2.5 million contract in their near future.

Maybe some (most) of the men’s college basketball teams need to take a step back and look at the reason for their education and worry about the academic part of their life first!

Appreciate the Little Things in Life

It is amazing how the littlest things in life can make you smile or absolutely laugh out loud. Sometimes I find something interesting on the web or receive an email from my favorite cousin in Louisville, Kentucky, and just can’t wait to share it with my closest friends.

Today was one of those days.

I called my friend Shelley during my lunch and just hearing her voice made me smile and laugh out loud. I was actually smiling as I was dialing her number, just anticipating her answering.

I had shared an email with her earlier today and I just couldn’t wait to call her and comment on her response. Shelley was also eating her lunch and laughing as she answered the phone.

Laughter is contagious too. As I was laughing out loud, my daily lunch partners, Mark and Leslie, were getting a good laugh too. All of us were feeling pretty darn good today.

As I type this post I can’t help but still have the smile on my face and occasionally let out a chuckle or two just thinking about the topics of conservation today.

As I normally say on my facebook page status, “Life is good today”, today life IS good!

Thanks friends!

Difference of Opinions

It's amazing how some circumstances excite and satisfy individuals when the exact same thing does nothing for others. Just more proof some humans have higher standards and values than others.

Poor Kelly

Most know Kelly Osbourne. The whacked out drug daughter of Ossie Osbourne. Recently, she was on the TV show, Dancing With the Stars. I watched as she struggled with self confidence during her dancing routine. Her dancing wasn't bad, but she had no belief in her ability.

Now, I find the following quotes she's told some interviewer:

Osbourne, who went through rehab
for drug and alcohol addiction
three times, told US Weekly:
"I took more hell for being
fat than I did for being an
absolute raging drug addict.
I will never understand that."

The 25-year-old daughter of
Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne said
she hated herself while
battling her weight problem,
and what made it worse was
how public it became.

"Some horrible obnoxious
teenager screamed out a
car window to me,
'You're fat!'
I went to my parents
bawling, 'I would rather
be called ugly than
be called fat!'"
she said.

Someone needs to tell Ms. Osbourne ugly is forever while fat people can diet!

The Ultimate Customer Experience

How many times have you been in a situation where you are checking out, paying a bill, or just simply having to wait for someone to wait on you?

Have you ever been waiting in a line only to make it to the front then the person asks why you are there and you are rudely told you'll have to wait?

As you are waiting to be waited upon, the receptionist is filing a chipped nail, talking on the phone to a family member as they are trying to figure out what they are going to cook for supper, or they are just ignoring you all together.

One of the hardest jobs I believe there is, is working for the public. Having to remember the 'public' is always correct. Well, there are instances when I can prove they are wrong. Rather than draw it to their attention, sometimes it's just best to say, "Thank you and have a nice day."