[New blogs posted every weekend. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower left of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.]
“When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don't feel so bad.”
That lyric from the song My Favorite Things (Mary Poppins), has a whole new meaning for me. Recently, I reached across my daughter’s small sleeping dog, a Chihuahua mix, and grabbed my cell phone. Her sweet adorable little head was resting near to it, in fact, was slightly touching it.
As I reached I must have grazed her face and she bit me. She did not snarl at me, she did not nip me, she did not growl a warning shot. Nope, she jerked awake and went for the bone. I have a photo I took the next day when I changed my bandage and it depicts a perfect impression of her teeth. There are two deep gouges from her canine daggers in addition to a perfect row of her tiny teeth. It looks like a vampire bite. Don't worry--I am not sharing the gruesome photo in this blog.
I’m not a newbie with dogs. I’ve had dogs almost my entire life with very short periods in between dog ownership. I’ve had all kinds of dogs including a Great Dane we rescued from the pound in Detroit. I am in tune with dogs and their various behaviors and have been lucky to have had dogs that live long, healthy lives. I’m good to them, they live in my house with me as little furry sub humans, they go most places I go, I never ever leave them in the car, not even for a moment, I walk them every day unless it pours, I take them to the vet regularly for exams and vaccines, I’m careful when they meet strangers, I never allow them off leash when we walk, I pick up their droppings, I keep them clean and maintained (fur, nails, ears, anal glands), I wear out vacuums every couple of years, and I love them deeply. A friend of mine in Arizona has said many times that when she dies she wants to come back as a dog but only with owners like us. Our dogs are treated better than many people treat their children.
And so I am devastated.
I spend a great deal of time researching information on a variety of topics for my blogs and for my books. In fact, I recently finished my second book and I’m in the process of fact-checking and editing. Not my favorite part of writing but absolutely necessary. Didn’t do that the day after the bite, however. No, that day I was online all day reading about dog bites. More than half of the information is about stray dogs that bite and legal issues. The subsequent problems involved with medical care and a stray dog bite are unpleasant. Still, it’s not a walk in the park for one’s own dog to bite its beloved owner.
When I walk my dogs I carry a little fanny pack with poop bags, tissue, my cell phone, house key, water, iPod, Band-Aids, and a fondue fork. Fondue forks are very long and crazy sharp on one end. I carry that fork because it fits in my fanny pack if I need it to ward off a stray dog with a desire to bite me.
Once when walking a cute little dog I had years ago a giant Rot came after us. His owner screamed bloody murder and ran after his errant Rot while waving a leash over his head as a warning to me. But he needn’t have wasted his energy. I knew that dog wasn’t on a leash. He ran like the wind.
Just as the dog got to us my dog tried to climb inside my rib cage. I have scars to this day where she dug in through my blouse to my skin. My blouse didn’t survive. The Rot was only interested in my dog and not me so I had the advantage, sort of, to use my feet and I just stood still and kicked him in the head as hard as I could. I felt teeth at one point but no bite and no broken skin. The man reached us and wrapped the leash around the dog like a lasso and pulled with all his might. I used bad words.
After that incident I spent the next two days looking for a fanny pack sized weapon. I have a pocketknife but I don't want to kill a dog, I just want to keep it from eating me. So when I got around to my kitchen utensil drawer, after eliminating many nasty looking tools in my garage, I saw the fondue fork and I knew it would be perfect. I haven’t had to use it, thankfully, but I know it would hurt with just a few pokes. I know that because I poked myself with it a few times when removing poop bags from the fanny pack and had to put a small piece of cork over the prongs. (Hence, the Band-Aids.) A friend once used some kind of spray in a small can (pepper spray or Mace) and it didn’t work at all. In fact, the dog attacking her became even more agitated when sprayed. I’ve heard an air horn works well and can be purchased in pocket-sized cans.
Another time when walking by myself on a bright sunny day, three young people approached and hassled me for money and the contents of my fanny pack (I now keep my cell and iPod in my pockets and I have an old cell in my fanny pack as a decoy. Somewhere around the house I think I have an old MP3 player that I need to place in the pack as my iPod decoy).
They encircled me and I explained I didn’t bring money when walking. One asked where I lived. (Yeah, come back to my house and I’ll serve tea while you rob me.) It was broad daylight on a fairly busy street. I pushed my way to the middle of the street and started running and waving my arms and they took off. This occurred pre-fondue fork. Now I have the fondue fork and I’m ready for all comers.
Some counties require that doctors report all dog bites (so I didn’t go to the doctor). The culprit is then placed on a list. In the case of our little biter it would be a “watch” list and not a “three strikes you’re out” list. Her bite was involuntary. Sort of like when the doctor whacks your knee with his little knee whacking tool and you involuntarily kick his gut with your foot.
She did not bite me because I took her toy, or ate her food, or disciplined her, or a myriad of other slights. She was asleep. She bit me coming out of a deep sleep. And touching a dog around the head when they are asleep is considered by dog experts an unwise thing to do.
I have a large lab mix and he has the most incredible dreams of any dog I’ve ever owned. When he dreams he can rock the house with the snarling and leg twitching. I usually just give him a shove in the hindquarters and he blinks and rolls over. Though I do not ever recall tapping him on the head while he’s dreaming I certainly will never ever never do that never ever never in the future. If he had bitten me instead of the little Chihuahua I would be without a hand today. They do not know what they are doing if startled from a deep sleep with a human hand/arm hovering over their face. Do they even know it’s a hand/arm? If I awakened in the middle of the night with someone’s hand/arm hovering over my face what would I do? Start punching? Wet the bed? (Both.)
Having this bite is heartbreaking because I’m feeling a loss of trust with both dogs. It’s sort of like having one’s husband cheat. Can we ever really trust them (or a new husband) again? I know she loves me in her doggie way and I know that in her waking hours she would never hurt me. She’s young so we play many times a day. In fact, one of our games is tug-of-war with her toys. As I tug she growls. Sometimes I win, sometimes she wins. Her tail wags the entire time. However, a friend told me her trainer advised never to play tug-of-war with a dog, even a friendly dog. It’s all about the alpha thing and power and control. They cannot rationalize situations quite like we can. They are animals. They are our beloved sweet pets, but first and foremost, they are animals.
I’ve watched various animal shows where people have trained grizzlies and tigers and chimps and dogs and other animals and we know that sometimes they bite, or worse. My little Chihuahua granddog’s bite cannot be compared to a tiger bite. I have new compassion and empathy for Roy of Siegfried & Roy. Not only did he almost die but he was completely heartbroken. Many animal experts have since declared it was an accident. The tiger wasn’t angry but something tweaked his animal instincts. Steve Irwin, The [late] Crocodile Hunter, remarked often about treating pets or semi-tame creatures with care because they are first and foremost animals. Even his expertise couldn’t protect him and he paid the ultimate price for his love of animals.
Part of dog ownership is protecting them from their own potential bad behavior. I have always done that. When my dogs are around children, depending on the dog, (and mostly depending on the children) I may or may not allow the dog to visit with them. Sometimes I put my dog or dogs in my bedroom when I have certain guests. Some people behave inappropriately or incorrectly around dogs and I don't want an accident that would send my guest to the hospital and my dog to the pound. I’m 65 and it has never happened. I don't let strangers approach quickly and start petting the dogs until I size up the stranger. All dogs need the human protection barrier to keep everything nice and friendly.
As I completed this post I looked around to find both dogs sleeping peacefully at my feet. They are always here when I work on my computer and I often bend down and give them each a little pat on the head as they sleep. They always wake up and produce eager tail wags and ask the silent question “can we go for a walk now?” Sadly, I will never ever pat them on the head when they are sleeping. I will forever follow the wise idiom: let sleeping dogs lie.
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
N/A
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Ribbit, Ribbit?
[New blogs posted every weekend. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower left of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.)
With the high number of celebrity relationship splits, along with a few I’ve heard about in the “real” world where I live, it’s put me in my “what’s the point” mode. From time to time I try to work through the mysteries of relationships and why so many fail. I’ve done this recently with the Sandra Bullock situation and Al and Tipper. I’m not interested in celebrities and their personal lives but those two “stories” actually hit the “real” news. Both couples seemed to have found “true love” and they may have. For a while.
Many of us are familiar with the concept/theory/hypothesis of “six degrees of separation.” It was originally conceptualized by Frigyes Karinthy, later developed into a play by John Guare, and then eventually made into a movie. It’s intriguing to read about so here’s a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that any two people can be connected in six steps or fewer. There are popular games people play utilizing this concept and in particular there’s the Kevin Bacon Game. I’m not sure how it started but actors then others started connecting themselves to Kevin Bacon and amazingly many of us could somehow in some way connect ourselves to him. He could be in a movie and work with a wardrobe employee (1) who has a sister (2) that works in the fashion industry who has a friend (3) who lives in Thailand who visited her uncle (4) in London who is a writer whose wife (5) is an actor whose friend (6) had a bit part in a movie with Kevin Bacon. I made that up and it’s not part of the real game but that’s how it works. These people are not related to Kevin Bacon but are connected. (It’s a small world after all.)
Along with all that, genetics have come so far that we can have a simple test of our DNA performed and the results can tell where we come from and what part of the world our ancestors originated from, from the beginning of humanity, and it can prove we are related to kings and queens and share the same gene pool with movie stars and famous criminals. There are a couple of interesting TV programs that do this with ordinary people and famous people. I’ve included an interesting link on how that works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_linking
So we’re all connected and there are approximately 6,826,900,000 of us on the planet as of this morning (June 13, 2010, though I won’t be posting this blog until the 19th or 20th). I visited the World Population Clock for that figure.
Along with all of this I once read that there are 250,000 perfect love matches for every single person on the planet. That has probably changed along with the population since I last checked that figure. Not only that but if something happened to your perfect mate you could theoretically go back to your remaining 249,999 perfect mate pool and simply pick out another perfect mate. I’m not talking about simply available love matches I’m talking about perfect matches. Soulmates.
So why do we have so much trouble finding them? My address book looks like divorce court. Very few people I know have dipped into their 250,000 selection pool. They keep finding matches outside that pool and they are far from perfect. And to define “perfect” I don't mean someone you can live with without being miserable or bored to death or burning their dirty socks. I mean, why can’t we find the loves of our lives? They are out there because we are connected (as tediously outlined above).
Early on I kissed a few frogs then found a toad, warts and all, and when the toad hopped away, leaving me with two tadpoles, I decided to call it quits. So many friends over the years have begged me to drop back in the pond but I kept going back to my sad address book with all the cross outs of husbands and wives and kids and stepkids and I just didn’t see the point. I figured out finding the perfect soulmate, though possible, was simply not probable. I think my perfect soulmate might be in Zimbabwe or Iceland. He is not in California. Of the 250,000 that are out there for us, there are no guarantees they will be in any reasonable proximity to our location.
I have over the years had friendships that were solely based on a friend’s endless relationship misery. We would meet for lunch and the entire lunch discussion was about another failed relationship she was experiencing. I could have had open-heart surgery the day before but it wasn’t discussed. Instead I had to listen to yet another litany of complaints about another boyfriend or another husband. Or both.
It was especially amusing to me when friends who were in horrible relationships would nag me to meet someone and “get back out there.” Is it because they wanted me to be just as miserable as they were? Why are we so attached to the dream of marriage and soulmates? I know why. Romantic novels and movies. (I watched Persuasion last night on PBS. I loved it (again) and I love Jane Austen (always). She wrote f-i-c-t-i-o-n.)
I have now lived without a frog in my life for many years. I do not live a loveless life. I have my family, friends, pets, peace, music, books, movies, peace, contentment, tranquility, peace, gardening, traveling, peace, writing, and peace. Did I mention peace? We don't appreciate ourselves and our abilities to create full lives without a mate. And that includes creating financial comfort which we can certainly manage all by our little ole’ selves. There’s a great line attributed to Ann Landers, the famous lovelorn columnist: it’s better to be alone than to wish you were. It’s my mantra.
I know there are some reading this thinking how nice it would be to spend this lovely weekend with family and friends and read outside on a little swing and have coffee with a neighbor, and take the dogs for a walk, and a million other things. Instead, too many of us are arguing with a spouse, or worse, not communicating at all. Too many of us are bone weary of the partners we are living with and dragging us ever downward into despair. Some of us are living with people who not only emotionally hurt us but physically hurt us. There are those of us who though they are not truly suffering they are living lives of crushing boredom and suffocation. Remember my address book.
Of the relationships I’ve known, read about, or heard about in my entire life, only a few can be considered “good.” Of those, an even smaller number can be considered “soulmate” quality. Devoting my life to family, friends, pets, the arts, and other quality attachments has allowed me to develop areas of my life that may have been lost to me had I endured a long sad unfulfilling relationship.
Many people have actually begged me to find a beau and almost in the same breath have told me how lucky I am to be on my own. And countless friends in what they consider good marriages tell me that if something happened to their husband they would not remarry. It’s not puzzling. It’s just a little flash of realism that hits them when they know I am going back to my peaceful quiet life as we leave our lunch and they are going back to numbing dullness and the thought that this was it forever. The human lifespan is short. Too short to suffer years of discontent. Is it any wonder that so many have affairs?
Most of us are in love with love. That type of love also sells products via commercials. Buy this product and find love and happiness and soft shiny hair too. Not all of us are destined to find perfect love but that doesn’t mean we settle. Instead, we find something else that fulfills our lives equal to if not greater than romantic love.
And let’s not forget that love is most often confused with lust. Sometimes the lust can last a long time and even in a bad relationship lust can keep it going. When lust diminishes or disappears entirely, some adult relationships progress to deep committed love and respect. Without lust, some relationships fall flatter than a Julia Child soufflé.
It doesn’t do any good for people to tell me how wonderful marriage is or a committed relationship is because of course I know they exist. But the effort it takes to fly to Zimbabwe to find my soulmate is too much and I’m just not interested in kissing more frogs. At some point we have to love ourselves to find the true meaning of love. If a cute frog happens to hop into my yard, maybe I’ll give it a try. Or maybe I’ll just get the cat.
www.sharonstrawhandgarner.com
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
VM Fusionware-tech support
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
With the high number of celebrity relationship splits, along with a few I’ve heard about in the “real” world where I live, it’s put me in my “what’s the point” mode. From time to time I try to work through the mysteries of relationships and why so many fail. I’ve done this recently with the Sandra Bullock situation and Al and Tipper. I’m not interested in celebrities and their personal lives but those two “stories” actually hit the “real” news. Both couples seemed to have found “true love” and they may have. For a while.
Many of us are familiar with the concept/theory/hypothesis of “six degrees of separation.” It was originally conceptualized by Frigyes Karinthy, later developed into a play by John Guare, and then eventually made into a movie. It’s intriguing to read about so here’s a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that any two people can be connected in six steps or fewer. There are popular games people play utilizing this concept and in particular there’s the Kevin Bacon Game. I’m not sure how it started but actors then others started connecting themselves to Kevin Bacon and amazingly many of us could somehow in some way connect ourselves to him. He could be in a movie and work with a wardrobe employee (1) who has a sister (2) that works in the fashion industry who has a friend (3) who lives in Thailand who visited her uncle (4) in London who is a writer whose wife (5) is an actor whose friend (6) had a bit part in a movie with Kevin Bacon. I made that up and it’s not part of the real game but that’s how it works. These people are not related to Kevin Bacon but are connected. (It’s a small world after all.)
Along with all that, genetics have come so far that we can have a simple test of our DNA performed and the results can tell where we come from and what part of the world our ancestors originated from, from the beginning of humanity, and it can prove we are related to kings and queens and share the same gene pool with movie stars and famous criminals. There are a couple of interesting TV programs that do this with ordinary people and famous people. I’ve included an interesting link on how that works:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_linking
So we’re all connected and there are approximately 6,826,900,000 of us on the planet as of this morning (June 13, 2010, though I won’t be posting this blog until the 19th or 20th). I visited the World Population Clock for that figure.
Along with all of this I once read that there are 250,000 perfect love matches for every single person on the planet. That has probably changed along with the population since I last checked that figure. Not only that but if something happened to your perfect mate you could theoretically go back to your remaining 249,999 perfect mate pool and simply pick out another perfect mate. I’m not talking about simply available love matches I’m talking about perfect matches. Soulmates.
So why do we have so much trouble finding them? My address book looks like divorce court. Very few people I know have dipped into their 250,000 selection pool. They keep finding matches outside that pool and they are far from perfect. And to define “perfect” I don't mean someone you can live with without being miserable or bored to death or burning their dirty socks. I mean, why can’t we find the loves of our lives? They are out there because we are connected (as tediously outlined above).
Early on I kissed a few frogs then found a toad, warts and all, and when the toad hopped away, leaving me with two tadpoles, I decided to call it quits. So many friends over the years have begged me to drop back in the pond but I kept going back to my sad address book with all the cross outs of husbands and wives and kids and stepkids and I just didn’t see the point. I figured out finding the perfect soulmate, though possible, was simply not probable. I think my perfect soulmate might be in Zimbabwe or Iceland. He is not in California. Of the 250,000 that are out there for us, there are no guarantees they will be in any reasonable proximity to our location.
I have over the years had friendships that were solely based on a friend’s endless relationship misery. We would meet for lunch and the entire lunch discussion was about another failed relationship she was experiencing. I could have had open-heart surgery the day before but it wasn’t discussed. Instead I had to listen to yet another litany of complaints about another boyfriend or another husband. Or both.
It was especially amusing to me when friends who were in horrible relationships would nag me to meet someone and “get back out there.” Is it because they wanted me to be just as miserable as they were? Why are we so attached to the dream of marriage and soulmates? I know why. Romantic novels and movies. (I watched Persuasion last night on PBS. I loved it (again) and I love Jane Austen (always). She wrote f-i-c-t-i-o-n.)
I have now lived without a frog in my life for many years. I do not live a loveless life. I have my family, friends, pets, peace, music, books, movies, peace, contentment, tranquility, peace, gardening, traveling, peace, writing, and peace. Did I mention peace? We don't appreciate ourselves and our abilities to create full lives without a mate. And that includes creating financial comfort which we can certainly manage all by our little ole’ selves. There’s a great line attributed to Ann Landers, the famous lovelorn columnist: it’s better to be alone than to wish you were. It’s my mantra.
I know there are some reading this thinking how nice it would be to spend this lovely weekend with family and friends and read outside on a little swing and have coffee with a neighbor, and take the dogs for a walk, and a million other things. Instead, too many of us are arguing with a spouse, or worse, not communicating at all. Too many of us are bone weary of the partners we are living with and dragging us ever downward into despair. Some of us are living with people who not only emotionally hurt us but physically hurt us. There are those of us who though they are not truly suffering they are living lives of crushing boredom and suffocation. Remember my address book.
Of the relationships I’ve known, read about, or heard about in my entire life, only a few can be considered “good.” Of those, an even smaller number can be considered “soulmate” quality. Devoting my life to family, friends, pets, the arts, and other quality attachments has allowed me to develop areas of my life that may have been lost to me had I endured a long sad unfulfilling relationship.
Many people have actually begged me to find a beau and almost in the same breath have told me how lucky I am to be on my own. And countless friends in what they consider good marriages tell me that if something happened to their husband they would not remarry. It’s not puzzling. It’s just a little flash of realism that hits them when they know I am going back to my peaceful quiet life as we leave our lunch and they are going back to numbing dullness and the thought that this was it forever. The human lifespan is short. Too short to suffer years of discontent. Is it any wonder that so many have affairs?
Most of us are in love with love. That type of love also sells products via commercials. Buy this product and find love and happiness and soft shiny hair too. Not all of us are destined to find perfect love but that doesn’t mean we settle. Instead, we find something else that fulfills our lives equal to if not greater than romantic love.
And let’s not forget that love is most often confused with lust. Sometimes the lust can last a long time and even in a bad relationship lust can keep it going. When lust diminishes or disappears entirely, some adult relationships progress to deep committed love and respect. Without lust, some relationships fall flatter than a Julia Child soufflé.
It doesn’t do any good for people to tell me how wonderful marriage is or a committed relationship is because of course I know they exist. But the effort it takes to fly to Zimbabwe to find my soulmate is too much and I’m just not interested in kissing more frogs. At some point we have to love ourselves to find the true meaning of love. If a cute frog happens to hop into my yard, maybe I’ll give it a try. Or maybe I’ll just get the cat.
www.sharonstrawhandgarner.com
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
VM Fusionware-tech support
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Out, damn’d spot!
[New blogs posted every Sunday. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower left of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.]
Take heart--I’m not launching into a blog about Shakespeare. (Though I know there are many who would like that.) Instead, I’m identifying with Howie Mandel and Lady Macbeth who are/were obsessed about washing their hands to remove germs/blood, respectively. They wash/washed them over and over. I understand their pain. I am trying to remove spots too but not blood (thankfully because it’s hard to remove, real or imaginary), just germs.
It’s harder than ever lately not because my house has fallen into a slag pile. No, it’s because I’m trying to clean with white vinegar and water--only. I am trying to use that method instead of buying and using chemicals. After my blog-posting diatribe of last week I needed a lighter blog for this week. Yet, though it’s not as serious as the gulf disaster (maybe), toxicity in our homes is a health problem.
Some house cleaning compounds have pleasing scents masking the chemical odors. I knew it couldn’t be good for me to inhale all those chemicals and it certainly couldn’t be good or pleasant for my dogs with their super sensitive snouts. Though vinegar is pungent (and I’m sure they don't like it) it’s not harmful for them to inhale or for me to work with. I gave up smoking 35 years ago to be kind to my lungs and now I’ve given up cleaning chemicals too. Better late than never.
There are pros and cons with the vinegar-cleaning regimen I’ve started. Pro, it’s cheap. You can buy a gallon of it for almost nothing. I mix the vinegar with water (1/4 water, 3/4 vinegar) and pour it in a spray bottle. It cleans everything. I won’t use it on wood but I have only one wood item in my home, my piano. I do have wood cabinets but the vinegar solution works well on them and I’m in the middle of painting my cabinets so washing them down with the vinegar prepares them well for sanding and painting. I just don't think I want to take a chance on my piano. I have a nice polish I’ve been using for years. All the remaining surfaces are glass and metal. I have a small home so wood overwhelmed the space and I have switched to light furnishings to prevent claustrophobia.
The vinegar combination works great on glass, metal, floors, walls, and mirrors with no streaking. It works great on my tile counter tops in the kitchen and my appliances. I bought this house brand new 15 years ago and at the time tile was the popular kitchen selection. It still looks great and though I’d love to modernize the kitchen it’s an expense that is not necessary so I won’t do that until it ceases to function. For now I keep it shiny clean with smelly vinegar.
I even have the original appliances that came with the house and they all work great. They probably won’t the minute I post this but so far so good. And they look nice. Everything in my kitchen is white because the home is so small. And partly everything works well because I don't use them much since I gave up cooking when the kids moved out. Now it’s all about salads and yogurt. Keeps the kitchen nice and clean along with a few squirts of vinegar water!
My subdivision was built on what must be a giant anthill. In fact, so many of us have constant visitations from our little six-legged guests that it’s how we’ve gotten to know each other over the years. Whenever one or more of us happened to meet at the mailboxes on the street the subject of ants came up. We all discovered that most pest control companies no longer come on an as-needed basis but instead coerce customers into a monthly plan. I do not want monthly poison sprayed around my house but thought maybe an occasional spray would be okay. It isn’t. I have my pets, and there are pets in the neighborhood and I don't want to poison them. Even occasionally.
Sometimes I go weeks without seeing an ant. One day I poured my morning coffee, decided I needed a refill, and when I went to the kitchen the counter was full of ants. I had been there only 20 minutes before and there wasn’t an ant in sight. I have no idea why because I keep all my packaged food in the fridge because of them. That morning I grabbed my vinegar spray bottle instead of ant spray and it worked great. For years I’ve been spraying that sickeningly sweet ant spray chemical on my nice clean counters. The vinegar spray works great. Not only that but I sprayed down the entire kitchen wherever any ant has ever appeared and I have fewer visits. I left the wet solution on the surfaces without drying so the house didn’t smell nice but the ants didn’t like it either. I’ve been sharing that secret with neighbors.
Vinegar also does a great job on the floors. I have linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom and the remainder of the house is carpet. I replaced the carpet a few years ago. I priced hardwood floors and laminates and the cost was tremendous so I carpeted with industrial style carpeting similar to what we see in offices and airports but I selected a very pretty color and pattern (gray with red specks). It cleans so easily, never shows wear, and I paid a little extra to upgrade my carpet pad to a “pet” grade since I have lots of critters that live here. When they have an accident, and they do, it doesn’t soak through to the floor and instead I can soak it up with a towel. Amazing. I haven’t used vinegar on the carpet but I’m considering trying a small spot in a corner somewhere.
At first the pungent vinegar odor stayed in my nose for hours. I thought it was lingering in the air in my house but I went for a walk to clear my nose and when I came back inside I didn’t smell it anymore. It had lived in my nose and all I had to do is take a walk. Once it dries on surfaces the odor is gone so stepping outside to give my nose a little fresh air takes care of any remaining odor.
Con, cleaning power in the shower pan isn’t as good as other surfaces. The build up with the water and soap and shampoo is more difficult to remove. I rinse down the shower and tub each time I use it to prevent build up but something about the steamy room just seems to create build up on the tub and shower shell. Lately I’ve been spraying down the shower walls and tub after a shower with the vinegar spray and that has helped prevent build up somewhat. But then I’m dealing with the smell. It seems to linger in the moist bathroom even if I air it out. I have considered using shower cleaner a few times and in between using the vinegar spray. At least I would still be cutting down on the chemicals and the commercial cleaning products for all other purposes.
Years ago I took an environmental science class and was horrified to discover what goes into common household cleaners. It was the belief of our instructor that many people develop serious health issues inhaling these chemicals. He provided us with a list of probable illnesses related to the things in our homes, including cleaners, but also the chemically treated fabrics and materials used to decorate our homes as well as materials used to build them. He felt it was difficult to do much about most of the chemicals but he felt we could indeed do something about purchasing cleaning chemicals. The very people who complain about industrial emissions in their neighborhoods probably spend Saturdays cleaning their homes with products releasing toxic fumes. Drain cleaning products are particularly harmful to the lungs.
I didn’t make the change at the time I took the course because I had kids at home and I needed chemicals. There were times when I needed dynamite but that wasn’t available to me. Now however I do not have actual dirt in my home. Instead I have dust and fur. And the occasional pet accident.
My daughter gave me a “pet” vacuum that has all the popular filters and it seems to do a great job of trapping particles and fur that used to filter back into the air with my old vacuum. A heavy-duty vacuum is essential for people maintaining zoos in their homes. Each time I vacuum the waste container fills with fur. With my old vacuum the air looked like an Oklahoma dust storm as it spewed from the vacuum vent and I knew that was definitely not good for any living thing in my house. It would also slowly filter down to the surfaces I had just dusted. I figured out that I had to vacuum first then dust. Now it doesn’t matter. I can tell it’s working properly because after vacuuming I do not detect dust anywhere on any surface. Keeping up with dusting is also important for our lungs. (I hate dusting.)
When the kids moved out I discovered my house stayed clean for days and days. I guess that means I don't pee on the floor, I don't spit on the mirror when brushing my teeth, I don't put my dirty dishes one inch away from the dishwasher, I don't put my trash next to the trash can, I don't leave a puddle if I spill something, I don't brush crumbs to the floor when cleaning the counter, I don't walk in the mud then walk inside the house. The list goes on but I apparently am a clean-living person.
I hope my lungs appreciate my environmentally semi-safe home. A little dusting, a little vinegar, and I’m good to go.
[Sadly, it won’t work on the gulf oil disaster. Oil and vinegar don't mix. At this point, it looks like nothing is working on that “spill.”]
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
VM Fusionware-tech support
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
Take heart--I’m not launching into a blog about Shakespeare. (Though I know there are many who would like that.) Instead, I’m identifying with Howie Mandel and Lady Macbeth who are/were obsessed about washing their hands to remove germs/blood, respectively. They wash/washed them over and over. I understand their pain. I am trying to remove spots too but not blood (thankfully because it’s hard to remove, real or imaginary), just germs.
It’s harder than ever lately not because my house has fallen into a slag pile. No, it’s because I’m trying to clean with white vinegar and water--only. I am trying to use that method instead of buying and using chemicals. After my blog-posting diatribe of last week I needed a lighter blog for this week. Yet, though it’s not as serious as the gulf disaster (maybe), toxicity in our homes is a health problem.
Some house cleaning compounds have pleasing scents masking the chemical odors. I knew it couldn’t be good for me to inhale all those chemicals and it certainly couldn’t be good or pleasant for my dogs with their super sensitive snouts. Though vinegar is pungent (and I’m sure they don't like it) it’s not harmful for them to inhale or for me to work with. I gave up smoking 35 years ago to be kind to my lungs and now I’ve given up cleaning chemicals too. Better late than never.
There are pros and cons with the vinegar-cleaning regimen I’ve started. Pro, it’s cheap. You can buy a gallon of it for almost nothing. I mix the vinegar with water (1/4 water, 3/4 vinegar) and pour it in a spray bottle. It cleans everything. I won’t use it on wood but I have only one wood item in my home, my piano. I do have wood cabinets but the vinegar solution works well on them and I’m in the middle of painting my cabinets so washing them down with the vinegar prepares them well for sanding and painting. I just don't think I want to take a chance on my piano. I have a nice polish I’ve been using for years. All the remaining surfaces are glass and metal. I have a small home so wood overwhelmed the space and I have switched to light furnishings to prevent claustrophobia.
The vinegar combination works great on glass, metal, floors, walls, and mirrors with no streaking. It works great on my tile counter tops in the kitchen and my appliances. I bought this house brand new 15 years ago and at the time tile was the popular kitchen selection. It still looks great and though I’d love to modernize the kitchen it’s an expense that is not necessary so I won’t do that until it ceases to function. For now I keep it shiny clean with smelly vinegar.
I even have the original appliances that came with the house and they all work great. They probably won’t the minute I post this but so far so good. And they look nice. Everything in my kitchen is white because the home is so small. And partly everything works well because I don't use them much since I gave up cooking when the kids moved out. Now it’s all about salads and yogurt. Keeps the kitchen nice and clean along with a few squirts of vinegar water!
My subdivision was built on what must be a giant anthill. In fact, so many of us have constant visitations from our little six-legged guests that it’s how we’ve gotten to know each other over the years. Whenever one or more of us happened to meet at the mailboxes on the street the subject of ants came up. We all discovered that most pest control companies no longer come on an as-needed basis but instead coerce customers into a monthly plan. I do not want monthly poison sprayed around my house but thought maybe an occasional spray would be okay. It isn’t. I have my pets, and there are pets in the neighborhood and I don't want to poison them. Even occasionally.
Sometimes I go weeks without seeing an ant. One day I poured my morning coffee, decided I needed a refill, and when I went to the kitchen the counter was full of ants. I had been there only 20 minutes before and there wasn’t an ant in sight. I have no idea why because I keep all my packaged food in the fridge because of them. That morning I grabbed my vinegar spray bottle instead of ant spray and it worked great. For years I’ve been spraying that sickeningly sweet ant spray chemical on my nice clean counters. The vinegar spray works great. Not only that but I sprayed down the entire kitchen wherever any ant has ever appeared and I have fewer visits. I left the wet solution on the surfaces without drying so the house didn’t smell nice but the ants didn’t like it either. I’ve been sharing that secret with neighbors.
Vinegar also does a great job on the floors. I have linoleum in the kitchen and bathroom and the remainder of the house is carpet. I replaced the carpet a few years ago. I priced hardwood floors and laminates and the cost was tremendous so I carpeted with industrial style carpeting similar to what we see in offices and airports but I selected a very pretty color and pattern (gray with red specks). It cleans so easily, never shows wear, and I paid a little extra to upgrade my carpet pad to a “pet” grade since I have lots of critters that live here. When they have an accident, and they do, it doesn’t soak through to the floor and instead I can soak it up with a towel. Amazing. I haven’t used vinegar on the carpet but I’m considering trying a small spot in a corner somewhere.
At first the pungent vinegar odor stayed in my nose for hours. I thought it was lingering in the air in my house but I went for a walk to clear my nose and when I came back inside I didn’t smell it anymore. It had lived in my nose and all I had to do is take a walk. Once it dries on surfaces the odor is gone so stepping outside to give my nose a little fresh air takes care of any remaining odor.
Con, cleaning power in the shower pan isn’t as good as other surfaces. The build up with the water and soap and shampoo is more difficult to remove. I rinse down the shower and tub each time I use it to prevent build up but something about the steamy room just seems to create build up on the tub and shower shell. Lately I’ve been spraying down the shower walls and tub after a shower with the vinegar spray and that has helped prevent build up somewhat. But then I’m dealing with the smell. It seems to linger in the moist bathroom even if I air it out. I have considered using shower cleaner a few times and in between using the vinegar spray. At least I would still be cutting down on the chemicals and the commercial cleaning products for all other purposes.
Years ago I took an environmental science class and was horrified to discover what goes into common household cleaners. It was the belief of our instructor that many people develop serious health issues inhaling these chemicals. He provided us with a list of probable illnesses related to the things in our homes, including cleaners, but also the chemically treated fabrics and materials used to decorate our homes as well as materials used to build them. He felt it was difficult to do much about most of the chemicals but he felt we could indeed do something about purchasing cleaning chemicals. The very people who complain about industrial emissions in their neighborhoods probably spend Saturdays cleaning their homes with products releasing toxic fumes. Drain cleaning products are particularly harmful to the lungs.
I didn’t make the change at the time I took the course because I had kids at home and I needed chemicals. There were times when I needed dynamite but that wasn’t available to me. Now however I do not have actual dirt in my home. Instead I have dust and fur. And the occasional pet accident.
My daughter gave me a “pet” vacuum that has all the popular filters and it seems to do a great job of trapping particles and fur that used to filter back into the air with my old vacuum. A heavy-duty vacuum is essential for people maintaining zoos in their homes. Each time I vacuum the waste container fills with fur. With my old vacuum the air looked like an Oklahoma dust storm as it spewed from the vacuum vent and I knew that was definitely not good for any living thing in my house. It would also slowly filter down to the surfaces I had just dusted. I figured out that I had to vacuum first then dust. Now it doesn’t matter. I can tell it’s working properly because after vacuuming I do not detect dust anywhere on any surface. Keeping up with dusting is also important for our lungs. (I hate dusting.)
When the kids moved out I discovered my house stayed clean for days and days. I guess that means I don't pee on the floor, I don't spit on the mirror when brushing my teeth, I don't put my dirty dishes one inch away from the dishwasher, I don't put my trash next to the trash can, I don't leave a puddle if I spill something, I don't brush crumbs to the floor when cleaning the counter, I don't walk in the mud then walk inside the house. The list goes on but I apparently am a clean-living person.
I hope my lungs appreciate my environmentally semi-safe home. A little dusting, a little vinegar, and I’m good to go.
[Sadly, it won’t work on the gulf oil disaster. Oil and vinegar don't mix. At this point, it looks like nothing is working on that “spill.”]
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
VM Fusionware-tech support
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Murder in the Gulf
[New blogs posted every Sunday. For previous blogs please visit “blog archive” to the lower left of this screen. Click on the small black arrows for a drop down list.]
I have attempted to write about the oil “spill” many times. Each time I dash off about 3,000 words of hateful venom and despair then I toss it out and start again. Some topics that hit the headlines I can dig right in and produce a blog. Some are so revolting I simply can’t do it right away. So on the really tough topics, I wait, count to ten or a thousand, then one day I can write without fear of being arrested or kicked off the Internet. I’m actually at that point today so I believe I can calmly and intelligently discuss the Gulf oil “spill” without emotion.
First, “spill” does not describe what is gushing out of the giant hole at the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf. It’s more like a volcanic eruption of goo and sludge. Unlike volcanic eruptions that produce lava, the oil will not settle and form land mass and mountains for the planet and eventually produce life and beautiful flowers and trees and squirrels. Instead, it has taken away eleven human lives, injured many other humans on the day of the disaster, is taking away the lives of ocean and land creatures, destroying pristine wetlands and sandy beaches, and is taking away the livelihoods of folks who depend on the ocean for their survival, including those who depend on oil rig jobs and oil tanker jobs in the region. It is so devastating that early predictions are that much of the damaged area is not recoverable environmentally or economically. Ever.
Our oceans have been suffering for years. General pollution close to shorelines, over-fishing, other oil rig and oil container ship leaks, the continuing Exxon Valdez disaster that just keeps on giving much like Chernobyl continues to give, untreated sewage and industrial waste spewing seaward in some parts of the world, and the list goes on. Some humans are killing the oceans, some out of need and ignorance, most out of greed and avarice. I know that’s redundant. I’m struggling to find words that aren’t vulgar.
Second, we’ve all noticed a trend over the years, especially those of us who have been here a while, that when anything happens that hits the news the blame game begins. So much of the Gulf reporting revolves around blame that sometimes an entire report is aired or printed and nothing new about the actual gushing is reported. BP says “this,” Transocean says “that,” and Halliburton comes in last as innocent as a newborn babe.
Lastly, very little is said about the eleven who died and reports on how the injured are doing are almost nonexistent. Eleven people died. Seventeen or more were injured. Then there’s the story of a ship and its crew who risked their lives to rescue fleeing oil rig workers who were plunging from the rig into the sea. I watched video on the rescue and photos of the rig dying and I hope medals are being prepared for those brave rescuers.
One report early on stated that oil rig workers know the dangers of their jobs before they sign on as if to say, well, they asked for it. Unfortunately, that report was incorrect because the unusual dangers of this particular oil rig were hidden from everyone except the top execs. This was a failure waiting to happen. Not only did it happen, as anticipated by a few, but it keeps on failing. It continues to take lives in a variety of ways.
How are the injured and their families? What about the families of the eleven who died and were lied to about the safety of their “dangerous” jobs. Danger is one thing. Knowing that a worker is going to work on a rig that is set for dynamic failure is another. Would they have accepted employment if anyone had told them there was an excellent chance of it blowing up and sinking to the bottom of the ocean because it was defective?
Thousands of ordinary people and scientists have submitted thousands of suggestions for sucking up the oil. Some are incredible (check out YouTube) and some are heartfelt but silly. There are ordinary people in the world trying their best to figure out ways to stop this nightmare. There are children in schools studying ways to solve the gushing (which was very touching and I lost it when I saw their sweet faces filled with concern in a report on TV). When disasters strike some humans pull out all the stops.
So it’s time to stop blaming everyone and place the blame where it belongs, on Tony Hayward, CEO of BP. Tony gambled that BP could pump the oil out of there by the zillion gallons without the defective rig failing and move on to rape another part of the ocean. Tony is exhausted and says no one wants this disaster to come to a speedy conclusion more than he does because: he wants his life back. Poor guy. Bet he hasn’t played golf at the club in weeks. And his charming, affable cuteness is not going to save him.
Early reports stated that people at the top knew the rig had serious problems. Proof will be offered at trial down the road in the distant future. Not too distant I hope. At trial, those in the know will spill their guts to protect themselves and will send Tony down the path to ruin. (I watched as much of the subsequent early hearings as my delicate stomach could handle. The trial will be a Pepto Bismol event.)
So I am proposing that blame, as in criminal negligence and murder (yes, murder), be placed totally and 100% on Tony Hayward. (If charged, talk about gut spilling. He will sing like a canary.) We know that all blame should be placed at the top of any organization, big or small. He’s at the top of BP Oil. That’s his oil gushing in the ocean. He’s the Bernie Madoff of the Gulf oil disaster. And we know where Bernie is. And Bernie had that sweet grandfather thing going for him. Let’s not forget that monsters come in pretty packages. Anyone remember Ted Bundy?
Tony commissioned Transocean and Halliburton and ancillary companies. If found guilty, he should go to jail, should not pass go, and all of his personal wealth and that of BP should go to the families and communities ravaged by his heartless and mindless inattention to humanity. (And let’s not forget us, the taxpayers. Somehow, in some way, I know we will end up paying for some of this mess. It will be hidden and come at us through a back door but we will bear some of the costs eventually.)
Once Tony’s dealt with in a court of law then a few of his cronies in the other companies can go along as accessories to murder and whatever else might apply. If Tony is punished harshly maybe it will send a message to other CEOs, like the mortgage industry, the insurance industry, etc. The list is long.
Here’s my analogy on Tony’s fate: If I cut the brake line on my neighbor’s car (allow defective oil rig to operate) and watch her drive off to the supermarket (allow employees to work on the rig), I know she could die, or get hurt, or I could gamble that she would discover the brakes aren’t working and pull over (rig wouldn’t explode before Tony pumped the oil out). However, if she dies (rig employees die) and the police discover I sent her to the supermarket knowing there was a chance she could die by my negligence, my premeditated, gambling-on-fate negligence, guess where I’d go? Even if I didn’t mean to hurt her (Tony didn’t want anyone injured, just wanted the oil), but I just wanted to slow her down a bit so I could have an affair with her husband (oil for BP), I would be in big trouble. Whatever the reason, if I knew she was in danger of death and/or injury and I caused it, I would go to p-r-i-s-o-n. Depending on the jury and the location of the trial I could be put down like a mangy dog.
Oh, dear. I thought I had my emotions under control. Guess not.
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
N/A
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
I have attempted to write about the oil “spill” many times. Each time I dash off about 3,000 words of hateful venom and despair then I toss it out and start again. Some topics that hit the headlines I can dig right in and produce a blog. Some are so revolting I simply can’t do it right away. So on the really tough topics, I wait, count to ten or a thousand, then one day I can write without fear of being arrested or kicked off the Internet. I’m actually at that point today so I believe I can calmly and intelligently discuss the Gulf oil “spill” without emotion.
First, “spill” does not describe what is gushing out of the giant hole at the bottom of the ocean in the Gulf. It’s more like a volcanic eruption of goo and sludge. Unlike volcanic eruptions that produce lava, the oil will not settle and form land mass and mountains for the planet and eventually produce life and beautiful flowers and trees and squirrels. Instead, it has taken away eleven human lives, injured many other humans on the day of the disaster, is taking away the lives of ocean and land creatures, destroying pristine wetlands and sandy beaches, and is taking away the livelihoods of folks who depend on the ocean for their survival, including those who depend on oil rig jobs and oil tanker jobs in the region. It is so devastating that early predictions are that much of the damaged area is not recoverable environmentally or economically. Ever.
Our oceans have been suffering for years. General pollution close to shorelines, over-fishing, other oil rig and oil container ship leaks, the continuing Exxon Valdez disaster that just keeps on giving much like Chernobyl continues to give, untreated sewage and industrial waste spewing seaward in some parts of the world, and the list goes on. Some humans are killing the oceans, some out of need and ignorance, most out of greed and avarice. I know that’s redundant. I’m struggling to find words that aren’t vulgar.
Second, we’ve all noticed a trend over the years, especially those of us who have been here a while, that when anything happens that hits the news the blame game begins. So much of the Gulf reporting revolves around blame that sometimes an entire report is aired or printed and nothing new about the actual gushing is reported. BP says “this,” Transocean says “that,” and Halliburton comes in last as innocent as a newborn babe.
Lastly, very little is said about the eleven who died and reports on how the injured are doing are almost nonexistent. Eleven people died. Seventeen or more were injured. Then there’s the story of a ship and its crew who risked their lives to rescue fleeing oil rig workers who were plunging from the rig into the sea. I watched video on the rescue and photos of the rig dying and I hope medals are being prepared for those brave rescuers.
One report early on stated that oil rig workers know the dangers of their jobs before they sign on as if to say, well, they asked for it. Unfortunately, that report was incorrect because the unusual dangers of this particular oil rig were hidden from everyone except the top execs. This was a failure waiting to happen. Not only did it happen, as anticipated by a few, but it keeps on failing. It continues to take lives in a variety of ways.
How are the injured and their families? What about the families of the eleven who died and were lied to about the safety of their “dangerous” jobs. Danger is one thing. Knowing that a worker is going to work on a rig that is set for dynamic failure is another. Would they have accepted employment if anyone had told them there was an excellent chance of it blowing up and sinking to the bottom of the ocean because it was defective?
Thousands of ordinary people and scientists have submitted thousands of suggestions for sucking up the oil. Some are incredible (check out YouTube) and some are heartfelt but silly. There are ordinary people in the world trying their best to figure out ways to stop this nightmare. There are children in schools studying ways to solve the gushing (which was very touching and I lost it when I saw their sweet faces filled with concern in a report on TV). When disasters strike some humans pull out all the stops.
So it’s time to stop blaming everyone and place the blame where it belongs, on Tony Hayward, CEO of BP. Tony gambled that BP could pump the oil out of there by the zillion gallons without the defective rig failing and move on to rape another part of the ocean. Tony is exhausted and says no one wants this disaster to come to a speedy conclusion more than he does because: he wants his life back. Poor guy. Bet he hasn’t played golf at the club in weeks. And his charming, affable cuteness is not going to save him.
Early reports stated that people at the top knew the rig had serious problems. Proof will be offered at trial down the road in the distant future. Not too distant I hope. At trial, those in the know will spill their guts to protect themselves and will send Tony down the path to ruin. (I watched as much of the subsequent early hearings as my delicate stomach could handle. The trial will be a Pepto Bismol event.)
So I am proposing that blame, as in criminal negligence and murder (yes, murder), be placed totally and 100% on Tony Hayward. (If charged, talk about gut spilling. He will sing like a canary.) We know that all blame should be placed at the top of any organization, big or small. He’s at the top of BP Oil. That’s his oil gushing in the ocean. He’s the Bernie Madoff of the Gulf oil disaster. And we know where Bernie is. And Bernie had that sweet grandfather thing going for him. Let’s not forget that monsters come in pretty packages. Anyone remember Ted Bundy?
Tony commissioned Transocean and Halliburton and ancillary companies. If found guilty, he should go to jail, should not pass go, and all of his personal wealth and that of BP should go to the families and communities ravaged by his heartless and mindless inattention to humanity. (And let’s not forget us, the taxpayers. Somehow, in some way, I know we will end up paying for some of this mess. It will be hidden and come at us through a back door but we will bear some of the costs eventually.)
Once Tony’s dealt with in a court of law then a few of his cronies in the other companies can go along as accessories to murder and whatever else might apply. If Tony is punished harshly maybe it will send a message to other CEOs, like the mortgage industry, the insurance industry, etc. The list is long.
Here’s my analogy on Tony’s fate: If I cut the brake line on my neighbor’s car (allow defective oil rig to operate) and watch her drive off to the supermarket (allow employees to work on the rig), I know she could die, or get hurt, or I could gamble that she would discover the brakes aren’t working and pull over (rig wouldn’t explode before Tony pumped the oil out). However, if she dies (rig employees die) and the police discover I sent her to the supermarket knowing there was a chance she could die by my negligence, my premeditated, gambling-on-fate negligence, guess where I’d go? Even if I didn’t mean to hurt her (Tony didn’t want anyone injured, just wanted the oil), but I just wanted to slow her down a bit so I could have an affair with her husband (oil for BP), I would be in big trouble. Whatever the reason, if I knew she was in danger of death and/or injury and I caused it, I would go to p-r-i-s-o-n. Depending on the jury and the location of the trial I could be put down like a mangy dog.
Oh, dear. I thought I had my emotions under control. Guess not.
Each week in this spot I will report an instance of good customer service (if any) but without embellishment. Just a business or entity that knows how to treat customers at least some of the time if not always.
This week I received excellent customer service from:
N/A
[No part of this content may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author. Blog series began in March 2009.]
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