Shedding a New Light on the Subject

In our never ending quest to reno or refresh the various rooms in our house, we decided to tackle our office/den.  In the last year, we've place our treadmill in the middle of the room.  This lead to a lot of treadmill use, but made it challenging to get around the room.  The preverbial elephant in the room except this one was visible and we constantly had to shimmy around it.

After watching one too many home reno shows, I decided it was time to make a change - an inexpensive change.  Paint, a new light, and the relocation of our treadmill upstairs.  We couldn't decide between yellows, blues, and browns....And were finding it a bit challenging when the paint chips at the store were 2 to 3 shades lighter when we painted them on the wall...Finally we found one we could compromise on.  The one we liked was  a brown shade from the Martha collection. 

The painting was a lot more involved than I remember....although it HAS been awhile since we did a full size room and not a slip of a room (i.e. bathroom).   And the tape we used for protecting the trim decided to bleed....After those few false starts, the room was done.   Following a  re-arrangement of the furniture and the light swap, we were done.  I'm pretty happy with the results.

Oscar approved!

Leic-ya? No Love-ya!

So we took the plunge.  Some people buy fancy cars or fancy jewelry.  We buy cameras.  Or specifically 1 camera - a Leica.  Normally priced way in the stratosphere (e.g. a sizeable down payment on a car...) for the Leica M8, I was was pleasantly surprised to find a smaller fixed lens digital that had great reviews, and amazing focal length, a high megapixel resolution, and a very small (in comparison) price tag.   Plus it was small.  Not quite as small as our little Canon (which ended up failing on us as the years took their toll), but not small enough (and came with a free leather case to boot) to fit in your pocket.

After drooling over it for a few months, we decided to "give" this to each other for Christmas.

Here are a few snap shots from our newest acquisition.

A Sweet Realization in NM and Christmas Adventures

ES and I spent our Christmas holiday in NM this year.  We had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family over the week.  As usual, we hit our "haunts" - Blakes, Dion's, and LIttle Anita's.  Restaurants - of course.  We got our green chile fix.  Some highlights:  Christmas dinner were ES dressed up as Santa for the kids after dinner, game night and learning how to dominos (and getting beat again at Settlers of Catan - I actually think I'd be disappointed if I won!), taking our new toy our for a spin (see "Leica" posting), and finding some new places to add to our "must stop" list (P'tit Louis French Bistro - amazing Croque Monsieur).   

The day after Christmas, we went up to Blanco to see ES's two aunties. 

We also saw Auntie Corky. It was so cute. She admitted from the outset that she had memory gaps since her stroke. She kept asking about my younger brother. I kept telling her that I was the youngest. Nonplussed, she led myself, ES, and my BIL to her bedroom. She jokingly referred to it as her cell. She then pointed to the Christmas card we sent to her and said, "this fellow, how is this one?" I said, "Tia, that is me." She had a look of absolute recognition and relief wash over her face and she fell backwards onto her bed and said, "how I have been waiting to see you! I am so happy!"  It was a such a sweet moment, especially in light of the fact that she's 95 years old.  She's written us a Christmas card this year that we needed to come visit her before "God called her home."  She chuckled when we reminded her of her card and just kept repeating how happy she was to see us.  

The Fine Art of the Settling Things Right (or Getting Your Money's Worth)

We all have our pet peeves (and no this isn't a blog about pet peeves, per se). My biggest is not getting your money's worth.  Even at a young age, I remember writing letters to the editor and companies when I felt their products were not substantial.  In the same storage box (see entries below) was a copy of my "letter to the editor clip."  My friend and I went to our local park (Washington Park/Casper, WY) to practice only to find the court in terrible shape.  Feeling outraged, as only an 8th grader can, we decided to write a letter to the editor together.  And not just letters.  I learned how to take my dissatisfaction and turn it into a resolution.  No one responds well to angry, grouchy customers (just watch when you see people trying to re-book a flight after a delay, bad weather, or cancellations....).  Not that I, mind you, think one should be a push over.  Rather, expression dissatisfaction, but making it about how we can work together (e.g. myself and the person "behind the counter") to find a better solution.  This skill has come in handy in many situations and in most cases, I was very pleased with the outcome.  My key:  deliver it with a smile.  A meaningful smile.  Let them know the situation isn't acceptable, but that you hope you can work together to find a way to resolve the situation.  

Cases in Point

• When returning some duplicate bridal gifts to store X, I was treated jeered by some of the seasonal Christmas help and called a liar and that I wasn't told the information I claimed I was told.   Note:  I'd called ahead and checked the return policy given I had to drive several hundred miles to get to this store...I documented the person whom I spoke with, the time of the call, and the exact information/items I needed to help facilitate the return.  THe clerk helping us (I was with my mom) was rude and frankly quite nasty.  I left the store, having not spend serious dollars buying several items remaining on our registry.  I called and spoke to the store manager.  I relayed the events of the visit and she apologized profusely and asked what action I'd like taken.  Rather than say "fire her!," I figured what good what that do for me, so I asked that she be told her behavior was unacceptable when dealing with a customer.  In response, the manager offered to ship all the items off my registry I was going to buy 'on the house,' where they'd absorb the cost of the shipping.  I love the bed, lamps, and bench we ended up buying.
• ES and I bought a airfare+hotel deal on one of the discount travel sites.   It was a great deal at a nice hotel in Montreal for 4 nights.  On our first night, we kept hearing the ballroom below us until well after 4 am.  I called downstairs during the night inquiring when it would stop.  15 min. was the common refrain.  The next morning I let them know it was unacceptable and if the situation could be remedied. I think they felt sorry for the circles under my eyes, as they gave us a huge room service credit and moved us to a much higher floor with a view of Mount Royal Park. Lesson learned:  I find that consolidator services for hotel rooms aren't always the best solutions, despite the appearance of money saved on teh site.  Bottom line - you get what you pay for.    Hotels don't have much incentive to give you a great room off the bat, as you've paid the consolidator for the room.  The hotel itself sold it to the consolidator in a large block and I'm sure they didn't get nearly the price as Joe Q Public who pays rack rate through the hotel.  So I try to find the good price on a discount site and call the hotel directly to see if they'll match the price.  I've never been turned down by a hotel.  It's a win-win.  They get my business and a better price than if they sold it to a 3rd party consolidator and I get the hotel to take more of an investment in me as a guest.  We've never gotten a crummy room booking in this manner.  Another tip:  read reviews.  If the hotel you really want to stay in has some suspect reviews, email the hotel manager (if you can find the information) and ask if the issue in the review (construction, pool out of order, etc) is still an issue and what remedies (if any) have been made.   I've found this results in a bit better service from the hotel as well.
• Last Memorial Day weekend, ES and I were on vacation in a National Park.  We'd stayed a few days in our location and we ready to move on to our second spot, where we'd see a little more remote part of the park.  The hotel's valet was getting our car.  We waiting and waited and it dawned on me things weren't right when we saw him with an ashen complexion.  He'd gotten into an accident with our car.  The car was drivable (rear-end damage) but understandably not happy.  Rather than get angry, yell, ect, we made sure no one was hurt then got down to getting the accident report and information from the hotel about how we needed to go about getting our car fixed.  They were very professional and there was never any doubt they'd pay for our car.  I requested and received several free nights for a follow up visit.  I booked just this week for next May (a good time to visit the park) and extended our stay beyond the visits they'd comp'd us.  I got a pretty good rate (as compared to the rack rate on the website) by going through the hotel manager's admin (as his letter to us offering the free nights suggested).  We're excited to head back for our days.
• Free dinners.  When in DC, at a restaurant that is part of one of our favorite groupings/restaurant holdings, we had some less than par service.  We stood up to leave and expressed our displease and surprise the manager of our poor experience and what had happened.  We were on our way out and she asked us to stay and said she'd make sure we were "taken care of."  She did.  The food was excellent and the bill was taken care of.  The same thing happened tonight at a local restaurant (which prompted me to get this post finished).  ES expressed his surprise at 1)  picking up our take out order and 1/2 of it was missing, and 2) when he went back to the restaurant, it took 1+ hours to get the right food (his dinner was at home now stone cold) and the order still wasn't ready.  After asking the manager to please cancel the order (and explaining to him what happened), the manager gave him a small gift card and said to come back another night and all would be taken care of.  True to his word, he remembered Eric and dinner was excellent tonight.  I understand that things can sometimes go awry, but good customer service can go along way to making things right.
• Free oil change.  We noticed about 1 week after we got our oil change that we could smell a burning odor from the engine.  Shortly thereafter I noticed a bit of oil on the front bummer.  Fearing the worst, ES opened the hood.  Worst fears realized - the oil cap wasn't replaced during the oil change (despite what we later learned was 2 checked that are supposed to happen during the process).  Thankfully, the oil light never came on and there was still enough in the engine.  A quick call to the service center and oil was being driven over to our house.  We took the car right away into the service center, they detailed the car, and rinsed out the residual oil.  And after many apologies, said the next change was on them.  Now normally I'd just take my business elsewhere at this point, but given their response to our problem (and complete acceptance of making it right right away), we're going back.  

Bottom line - the situation usually won't change.  I've found the only thing I can do is change my reaction to situation, whether it be a wrecked car, a surly employee, or loud hotel room.    One of my friends noted - "wow how does this happen to you guys (and something a lot)."  Another followed up with "in fairness, they get the short end of the stick a lot."  In reality, I think we all run into issues, but it's how you go about letting a service provider/business know (and make them want to keep you as a customer) that makes the difference. If I was a business owner, I don't think I'd response very favorably to someone who was screaming and demanding lots of irrational things.  On the other hand,  I slap on a smile and try to see how we can all make it right - or at least moving in a positive direction.  If that means free stuff, well, I'll good with that.

Stats

In drafting up a post the other night, I noticed this little tab "Stats."  Stats brings to mind shuttering looks and murmurs of "oh no, not stats 601/602."  The dreaded graduate level stats class.  You'd think, given my job, that I'd like stats (or at least math).  I something didn't get the "stats gene."  Nope.  Stats ranks up there with geometry.   Although in fairness to geometry, if I'd had a different teacher I probably would have liked it a lot better.  Now calculus, that was my favorite.  My calc teacher (Mr. Smith) was great.  He really cared about his students.  He took the "Stand and Deliver" method of teaching.  Even had us watch it during class.  I think he was the reason I did well enough on my AP exam to actually get out of taking more than 1 semester in math as an undergrad.  By the time I got to grad school, my advisor was uninterested in me actually taking any classes ("gets in the way of your lab work"), and since my curriculum was up to my committee (and he was the chair of said committee), I didn't take but a few semesters of coursework.  Stats 601/602 was omitted for the more friendly biostats for clinicians.  Open book, too.  I went so far as to buy the Cartoon Guide to Statistics.  Oddly enough, I was actually looking for it the other day when I had a stats question after reading a paper.  Believe it or not, it did the trick.  Although I'm pretty sure my question wasn't all that complicated.

As to the "Stats" tab....upon clicking it, I discovered people in the Philippines, Latvia (yes, Latvia), and even Poland were looking at my blog.  I'm thinking it was because they clicked on the random "next blog" link on Blogger.com.  Wonder where it's going to report next?

A final touch

ES and I re-did our downstairs bathroom this past year, including new fixtures, a faucet, and paint.  What we didn't do was find new lighting.  There's some things I don't like to do.  This includes wiring new fixtures in the house.  We'd put off a new light for quite awhile, but finally took the plunge, watched some e"how" videos, and decided it looked easy enough (famous last words??)....

Stay tuned.  Fixture installation this weekend along with a final garden bed clean out.  Been putting it off, but as the weather is cooling this is the best time to try and tackle it.

Backyard Reno(vation)

After a couple of summers of looking at the one corner of the yard and saying how we need to do something with it, we finally decided it was time for a change.  What we thought would be an easy job, turned out to be a 1-plant removal a weekend job - usually a 3+ hour process complete with rock and root removal.  The original owner planted things that while appropriate for xeroscaping, were grouped in with those that were not.  The sprinklers didn't discriminate between them and our yucca was pretty much rotten by the time we removed it.

As you can see, ES loves the old corner....Note most of the old plants (including the corner yucca) had gotten a major haircut.  This still didn't make the area any more palatable (and the yucca any healthier) so out they came....

We decided on replacing the  area with roses.  They grow well here and I love having fresh flowers in the house.  The final one went in this afternoon.  Now we just have to put in the other two rebar poles for the other glass bird baths and we're done.

Our next DIY outside....the rest of the fence.  Still trying to decide between cedar and PVC.  Pros and cons to both.  Cost may ultimately win.....