Call your Mother

Today is Thanksgiving day and I've been somewhat pensive. My lovely bride and I are at home alone as the offspring have other commitments, we have a lovely dinner planned for tonight and will be having turkey on Saturday so it's okay. But here's some of my thinking today.

I am so thankful for the 40 years I have been married to Brenda, she is a saint and I don't know any man that could be happier. She brought two lovely children into the world who have given us great happiness, not the least of which is our grandchildren.

My father died a little over 15 years ago, at what I thought was much too young an age, he died at the same age as his father which was in 1965 at the age of 69. When my grandfather died I thought he was ancient, when my father died I thought he was young. As I prepare to enter my 6th decade on this planet it is amazing how you look at age. It is a truism that youth is wasted on the young and experience comes from more than years. But having children is hereditary, if your parents didn't have any, you won't either.

My mother lives about 500 miles from me, I moved several years ago and enjoy the area of Texas where I now reside. I don't get to see her as much as I should, I try to go see her every other year. This year I made that drive twice, but not for good reasons.  My mother does not have a computer and at 80 I don't suspect she will. It would be nice to send her photos of the grandkids and an occasion note but she is technologically challenged and I doubt she will ever read any of my blogs. 

I do call her almost every weekend. Something I started doing because of my father-in-law. He used to call his mother every weekend and she died at 93 counting on his calls every weekend. He taught me a lesson by example. I have heard from my siblings that my mother looks forward to my calls and tells them not to bother her on Sunday morning at 9 as I will call. It's not easy talking to an 80 year old woman that doesn't have the same interests that I do, but she is my mother and cares very much about me, as I do about her, so we get through the hour.

It is important as you go through life to remember where you came from and how you got there and it's important to thank them that brought ya. Call your mother, go visit as much as you can. An email is always great and I know she loves the photos, but your voice means a lot to her. BTW this also applies to your dad. He is also wanting to hear from you. Remember you take your son fishing to give him memories, you take your dad fishing to give you memories.

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4 Keys to Success

I attended a seminar today hosted by our local chapter of IABC. It was facilitated by Ritch Davidson and was about having fun at work. Ritch works for Playfair, a California-based company that is dedicated to helping college students and businesses to succeed and have fun while doing it.

It was probably one of the best such seminars I have attended and I thank whoever brought it to our town, but that's not what today's posting is about. 

I have attended many such seminars, taking copious notes and making promises of applying the principles. I generally stick the notebook on the shelf and if lucky a few months later go back and look at my notes to see if there's anything of value there. Sometimes it works, but I have found that you should expect to come away with one good idea that you may be able to put into daily usage. I expected pretty much the same today.

After getting started Ritch said something that caused me to put down my pen, listen and know that I had found one perfect example that I can apply everyday of my life, and hopefully teach others its importance.

He started with "Let me give you the 4 keys to success".  Up until this point most of the information had been in the way of an introduction and the attendees had been taking notes hoping to find something there later. As he started, each poised their pen ready for the words of wisdom that would help them enjoy their jobs and be successful.

He started very softy:

"Row, Row, Row your boat"

"Gently, down the stream"

"Merrily, Merrily, Merrily"

"Life is but a dream"

He then said "Let me explain"

The first line says work, but even more importantly, not just row your boat, but row, row, row so you should work hard.

The second line says go with the flow, don't stress,  take it gently.

The third line, says have fun and using the triple inference, have lots of fun.

The fourth line is the one that could be open to a bit more interpretation, if you don't do these things, life could be a nightmare or a gentle dream. But I believe most of my dreams are about things I do and I love, so therefore I feel that it means life is what you put into it.

I will be doing more research into fun at work and the Playfair company and you should expect to see more in the future.

As I have stated here before, it may not be original but I like it. It will be easy to remember and I'll keep that nursery rhyme in my mind as the stress starts to mount.

Oh and by the way, I also got some great ideas on how to have fun at work.

Family Time

My brother passed away last week at really much too young an age; but he hadn't taken care of himself. He led a full, rough life that he throughly enjoyed and did it "his way".

My thoughts today are not on his  death and life but about my family who came in from all over the United States to pay their respects and love. It was great to see my remaining brother and sisters and the in-laws plus nieces and nephews. It was like a large family reunion. 

It was a difficult time for everyone until the service on Saturday, afterwards my mom's church supplied lunch for all of us and then my baby brother had everyone to his house. We have a background of Irish Catholic, so it was a type of good ol' Irish wake. Much alcohol was consumed (almost as much as my aunts and uncles did when my grandmother passed away) and great stories and memories were shared by all.

On the drive home my lovely wife and I were discussing trying to arrange some type of annual reunion instead of waiting for a catastrophic event to occur. We observed that when you try to plan a reunion there is always a conflict somewhere, or it's too hot/cold at that time. There always seems to be some type of excuses.

I heard through my son that the "cousins" have decided that they will not wait that long to get together again.

I encourage them - set a date, let everyone know and those that don't make it will miss a great time.

Because it shouldn't take someone dying to remind us how precious life is and how much we need each other.

Words to live by

You know that time between being asleep and the alarm going off? That time when you are somewhat aware but really are comfortable and could go back to sleep easily. It was that time this morning when an thought came to me:

Perfection is not in the words you use, but rather in the work you do.

It isn't exactly original, I've read similar type thoughts but it seemed to be my own. If anyone has read this before let me know, it's not intended to be plagiarized, but I still like the thought.

OK - I'll admit it

Well I didn't know it but I have fully consumed the Apple Kool-Aid.

I just got the 3G iphone and OMG I love it!

I got a Verizon network Q a couple of years ago and I ended up taking it off of the internet. It was costing me more than I thought was reasonable and I couldn't control when it was signing on and using my minutes. Got a couple of bills over $200 and every time I talked to Verizon I got a different story. So I ended up with a "brick" of a smart phone.

Recently my daughter-in-law got her a 3G iphone - and I was immediately blown away. It didn't take a week before my son had one also. My lovely wife said "You need one of those" and being a loving husband I didn't want to disagree.

I don't use it to the full advantage - I have 3G turned off - unless I need a full broadband access. I have WiFi at home and at work, I have a comfortable Edge network, so why did I go to the new phone? It's because it's there if I need it. It is blazing fast, my hometown has a 3G network (even if somewhat spotty) and most places I travel will have it. So if I need quick data connection it's there.

But more than that the interface is so intuitive - texting is no longer getting pissed because window's mobile sent my messages while I was typing. I know the 3G has it's bugs, I downloaded the update as quick as I could, but until you have lived with the crap that passes as smart phones you don't know how easy the OS for the iPhone really is.

So I'm thinking that when Apple says "This is what you need" I think I'll just have to get it.

Customer Service is where you find it

Took the grandsons to our local IHOP Sunday morning. When we decided to go the oldest quipped "Well, we'll have to wait 45 minutes". I told him if he wanted IHOP pancakes we'd just have to wait.

Got to our IHOP which is well over 20 years old, at 10:30 and was told we had a 20 - 25 minute wait, we took a seat by the door. The lady and gentleman checking people in stayed constantly busy. They had more people adding their name to the list (some leaving when they heard how long the wait was), people checking to see how much longer they had to wait, and they were constantly checking with the waitresses on what tables were empty and how many people they could seat. During the entire time they never seemed upset and were very efficient.

After about 23 minutes our name was called and we were ushered into the back room to a large table. After a minute or two a young lady by the name of Janette appeared at our table to take our drink order. She quickly returned with coffee and juice for all, then taking our breakfast order. We were close to the kitchen area and could see the food being set out by the cooks. The top of the shelf was loaded with plates waiting to be carried to the table.

When our youngest ordered his "New York Cheesecake Pancakes" he immediately was ready to eat. We pointed out the plates being served and warned him we had a long wait before our breakfast would be served. 

I really don't know how much time passed but it seemed less than 10 minutes our food was placed before us. It was excellent and Janette returned three times to be sure we had all we needed, refilling our coffee carafe, and generally just being nice. Returning with the check as we were finishing.

We were finished and out by 11:45, pleased with our food and the wait we had. We also noticed the lines were forming for the next onslaught of customers. The staff at IHOP, from the people who greet you at the door and seated you, to the waitresses who served, to the young man who bussed the table were all pleasant and efficient. And the kitchen staff supported them with excellent food on the table. It's a pleasure to spend your money at a local business and to come away know that you had just witnessed excellent customer service.

Rain part 2

Well, the storms hit about 4 this morning, spectacular lightning and thunder. We received almost 1/2 inch of rain! Still some light rain in the area so may get a little more.

Definitely worth washing your truck! Wonder why that works?

Rain

Just got back from washing the truck - trying to bust the no rain bubble. Hasn't rained for the last 21 days - threatens almost every day and then goes around/drys up.

Worth $5 if I can get it to rain!

Brand Recognition

Read this yesterday about FedEx changing the name of Kinkos to Office. Kinko's was founded in 1970 by Paul Orfalea in his garage making class notes for the University of California at Santa Barbara. Expansion followed to other university towns continuing to make class notes as they grew. The model was perfect for the time, 24 hour shops manned by college students and serving college students. Many a student has spent a sleepless night printing, collating and binding their final report just in time for class.

Being in the  copy industry, Kinko's was one of our biggest competitors and helped us develop our model of customer service. One of my favorite sayings during orientation was "Anyone can make you a copy, but we provide a service and solve problems". This philosophy was developed because it made it us different than the Kinko's, Print 'n' Copy and other copy stores in a university town. We're celebrating our 20th anniversary this year and have seen  a lot of stores come and go. 

But I hate to see Kinko's changing like it is. FedEx has a model in mind that discards the student base that built the company. When the purchased occurred in 2004 I was anticipating they would be combining Kinko's name recognition in the copy industry and FedEx shipping capabilities, really defining print on demand anywhere in the US. But FedEx headed for smaller, corporate centered stores that were "Your office away from the office" concept.

They are continuing with the concept but changing the name from FedEx Kinko's to FedEx Office. What I find interesting is the discarding of the brand name Kinko's. The name had built itself over the last 38 years to become synonymous with copying. Nearly everyone has been in a strange town and if they needed a copy started looking for a Kinko's.  I assumed that FedEx bought Kinko's because of the brand recognition, but after only four years they have determined the brand did not get them what they wanted, so are quickly discarding it.

I don't know what the future holds for the printing industry, Lord knows I've seen quite a change in my short 15 years in the industry, but to toss out a well known brand that took over 30 years to build seems a little short-sighted to me. I expect the FedEx Office store will start disappearing from the smaller university towns and relocating to the large cities to service the corporate client.

Coupons and Vacation

A quick tip - when traveling (or spending money at home?) go to the internet and look for coupons. We just finished our trip to Corpus, before we left we planned our daily outings. Went to the Chamber of Commerce site and started searching for each of the places we were visiting. Each of them had coupons for $1 off for admission - included adults and kids. We saved somewhere in the vicinity of $20 for admissions. The internet is a wondrous place!

Restocking fee

Do you remember when it all started? During Super Bowl Weekend, it became common for some people to go purchase a new large screen TV to watch the big game, then return the "used" TV the next week for a full refund. Stores began to see a trend and decided because they had the added expense of reboxing, reinventory, and loss of revenue for "open box discount" they needed to charge a restocking fee (normally 15%).

I received an email earlier this week from an friend who purchased something of higher than normal price from Best Buy, paying cash, and then decided to upgrade to a different model. He had an interesting story which included a $45 restocking fee even tho'  he wanted to increase his purchase on a newer model; additionally, the local store could not refund his money as it was over $200 and he would receive a check from corporate in 2 - 3 weeks. He was somewhat upset and felt if he had used a credit card he could have canceled the transaction and not been charged 15% and the credit would be immediately back in his account.

This week Apple unveiled the 3G iPhone, something that was anticipated. Additional news included AT&T increasing the monthly charges for data billing and a change from Apple's business model for the phone. What I found interesting is that if you purchased an iPhone since May 27 you could return it for a new one, with a new handset charge and a restocking fee.

I understand that stores have some expense in returned merchandise and consumers may take advantage of their pricing policy. I wonder why in this circumstance the customer is assumed to be "ripping off" the business, particularly when an upgrade is involved. It would seem there should be a waiver of the fee if an additional purchase is involved.

I doubt this will change but be aware anytime you're working with a "corporate" environment, policy outweighs customer satisfaction. First I would recommend shopping locally where possible (even for national brands), use a credit card for large purchases (cheap insurance if there is any problem) [btw - pay the account off when you get the bill, it's easier to get behind on credit card payments than you think], and be aware of fees that will be charged if you're unsatisfied with your purchase.

need a vacation

Read one of those truisms the other day - no one needs a vacation nearly as bad as someone who has just finished one.

Miss the beach this morning!

One of life's lessons - a Murphy's Law Corollary

Never place a can of shaving cream in your luggage without a cap - something will find the button (and the can will empty).

vacation

Well, it's been some time since I've had something to say, or had time to say it.

I am on vacation in a motel room in New Braunfels Texas, watching my granddaughter watch TV and getting ready to head out for a "special" dinner.  As I have mentioned we have four grandchildren, 3 boys and a girl. The oldest will be 14 in December and the youngest will be 10 in July, so they're nicely spaced with a year in between.

When the oldest was 8 we opted that on our summer one-week vacation we would take one with us.  First we decided it would be nice to take them to a lake, teach them a little about fishing and driving a boat. In 2006 we completed the first round when the youngest turned eight and each year spent with them was a blast.

We wondered what to do next and decided that when they were 12, we would take them to one of our favorite destinations, Padre Island. This year it was the granddaughter's turn. We start with a ferry ride at aransas pass and then a ride down island to the el constante right on the beach.

We have an agenda but it is very loose and it's up to each grandchild to determine where we go and when we go. We make it a point to visit the texas state aquarium, the USS Lexington and the natural history museum. We try to teach them a little about history, both Texas and the US and some information about the natural world.

A lot of time is spent on the beach, looking for sea shells and playing in the surf. The real fun of the vacation is for us to watch the learning and playing processes that occur. We have gone to the island twice and have twice more to go, but the first thing we learned is they all have their special occasions. Last year, it was body surfing, this year it was playing in the pool. But they always enjoy the entire trip and learn a little in the process.

But for us it's the time spent with the grandchild individually and hopefully giving them memories for a lifetime. They have us!

what did you do today?

I heard on the local radio that on this day in 1959 Fidel Castro was washed out of the baseball league in the US because of his wild pitching (he had beaned someone). Makes you wonder what would have happened if that pitching coach had seen a potential and decided to work with a young Fidel to become a National League pitcher.

What little thing do you do that may effect the world in years to come?

Grandkids

I don't know if I have mentioned this but I have four grandkids, 3 boys and a girl. They are wonderful and give you a chance to relive a lot of times that you were too busy trying to make a living instead of enjoying your children. You should enjoy your children as they grow up, but I don't think anyone realizes how fleeting that time is.

Two of my grandsons live in the same town and come over every morning and have breakfast prior to going to school. It is always interesting to listen to them and wonder how their thought processes work.

This morning the younger one started stating random words, such as "icicle, chicken, orange" one right after another. His brother finally said "what?" and the younger looked at him and said "Haven't you played this game before? Now it's your turn." which completely confused everyone. He then explained the rules, you say random words, until someone says what, then it's their turn to say random words until someone else says "what."

It's interesting to see how their little minds work.

New Computers

As I have mentioned before I work for a quick printer and we are basically a Mac shop. I do have a couple of lame PCs running XP that I print from M$ but the real work is done on Macs using mostly Adobe programs. I will write more about that later, but the reason for this post is the two new Mac Pros I just installed: 4 gigs of ram and duo 2.66 gig processors both running Leopard. I have been a little hesitant about going to Leopard. I need things to work, customers don't understand why my computers need rebooted, and ppds aren't working, so it needs to be seamless.

First let me say the new Mac Pros are an excitement to behold and have blazing speed, but I seem to think that with every new computer. Leopard does have some great new bells and whistles that make it fun, particularly spaces and stacks. Learning a bit about Quick Look and hope to take advantage of Time Machine ( looking at a Drobo (http://drobo.com/products_demo.aspx) right now. Will let you know if that happens.

The trick this time has been the combination of Intel and Leopard. Several of my printer drivers (especially Xerox production systems) require special drivers. The wide format printers (510 and 721P) don't have a PPD for the Macs (even tho Xerox's newest toy is the Access Printing system for OSX - they can't seem to decide if they are going to support it or not?). But after a couple of days of install and reinstall I think I have all machines talking.

I have been running an Intel laptop for a few months now, using Tiger. As I mentioned I was hesitant to jump to Leopard, but with these new machines and the upgrade to .1 I think it's about time to take advantage of Apple's latest offer.