The rain has moved in. It’s been gray all day, and was misting as we came home from errands around noon. The sky darkened through out the afternoon, and around 4:00 I realized that it was raining. We should have rain off and on into the weekend. It was 60 degrees today, but by Sunday, we should be down into the low 40s.
As we drove home, we passed the last of the corn fields to be harvested. The resident Canada geese were gleaning the fields. The farmer had made his first pass over the field, leaving roughly the bottom 12 inches of the stalks behind. Eventually he will disk the crop and turn it under, but for now you see a rough stubble. The bodies of the geese were hidden by the stubble, but you could see their necks sticking up out of the field. There were so many geese it looked like the farmer had planted another fast growing crop.
Daily Archives: November 18, 2004
Customer service
BFI, the company who picks up garbage for my town, needs to have someone encourage them to institute a “The Customer is Always Right” policy!
We live between two subdivisions, and every time there is someone new assigned to our route, they miss our garbage. Of course, it’s MY duty to call them and let them know they failed to pick it up.
This morning I called, and was told (repeatedly, by a machine) that their hours were from 8:00 to 4:00 Monday through Friday. Unfortunately, it told me that at 8:00, 8:01, 8:02, 8:03, 8:04 and on, until I had to quit calling them at 8:10 so that I could get to exercise.
When we returned home, I called them again and had to play 20 questions. Each of the questions was phrased to show us just how sick they are of STUPID people who call them. What day is your Pickup Day? Tuesday. I just told you that it wasn’t picked up yesterday, and yesterday was TUESDAY! What time did you have the garbage out at the curb? 5:00 a.m., even though you don’t pick up the garbage until later in the day. Did it have the proper stickers on the bins? Yes! Did you use an authorized bin? We use your bins for recycling, and our own bins for garbage. This was the garbage you missed, so no, it was not one of your bins. What’s your address (in a very bored tone)?
This woman lead me right to the edge of violence. Every word from her mouth implied that we had screwed up in getting the garbage out to the street. They NEVER admit that their people could have erred!
Now, I’ll probably get in trouble for complaining about their service on my blog, and they’ll give me someone else’s garbage, while leaving ours behind, again!
If your business requires that you have to work with the general populace, you need to get real about how you interact with them. I can tell you, when the contract comes up for renewal, I’ll be encouraging the committee to look into other service providers!
If you read Essay’s blog, you’ll understand when I tell you that my Peeves rating was “VOLCANIC!”
Books, Again
Frequently, when I am working on something like weeding, raking, washing dishes, doing simple paperwork, folding clothes or piecing quilts I listen to books on tape. Our public library has an extensive collection of them, so I can listen to old friends or visit with new books I’ve never met.
Right now, I have Stephen King’s “The Stand.” It’s the unabridged version, and there are about 22 tapes. I have to return it on Monday, so the race is on to see if I can hear the entire book this week!
I’ve read “The Stand” at least twice in the past 25 years. Personally, I think it’s the best book King has ever written, although I have to admit that I stopped reading his work after “Pet Sematary.” He willingly admits that he goes for the most gross as he sets up the books, and his work lost his appeal at that point.
The interesting thing about hearing “The Stand” on tape is that it makes it scarier, if that’s possible. I have always thought that it was better to read a book than to see a movie of the book. When you see a movie, you see someone else’s interpretation of the book, altered by the time and money constraints of the film making. Generally, I’d rather have my own vision of the book playing through my mind.