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!