random

Random Observations

Complete randomness from this week…

~ While shopping at Fred Meyer I overheard two associates talking while they were restocking shelves. The one was complaining about a customer who claimed she was overcharged by $6.00 for something she was buying. This associate went on to say that she didn’t think it was a big deal, it was only $6.00. When the customer called her out on that, she got defensive and started making excuses. Finally relenting because she didn’t want the supervisor to get involved she credited the customer back the money. – Now as a customer overhearing this conversation a few things went through my mind. The first being, shut up. If you are going to complain about your job, then do it where others, especially customers, are not going to overhear you. Second, you are in a customer service job. If you don’t like people, quit and let someone else take your job who will be thankful for the paycheck. Third, any amount of overcharging, whether it be six dollars or sixty dollars is still overcharging. If the register is not ringing something up correctly for you, then it’s probably not ringing up correctly for other customers. This adds up quickly. And you have no idea what a difference $6 can make in someones life. It may be 3 days worth of school lunches, it could be gas to get to and from a job, it could be the difference between having a roof over your head or living on the street. I wish I had the awareness to pull out my phone and record this conversation when it was happening so I could have gone to a manager about this. Sadly I didn’t and this associate will continue to probably not provide the best customer service experience.

~ Orange sherbet melts faster than regular ice cream in a power outage, even when it’s left in the freezer with the door closed.  After having two, almost three, glorious weeks of weather, Seattle has reverted back to her normal ways. Well with the exception of this past Monday. Then we actually had thunderstorms. Not a common occurrence here. At first I thought it was just a loud truck or some other noise, until I saw the flash of lightning. The poor dog, who has been enjoying not having these storms, went in to her usual hiding and attaching herself to my legs if I got up and walked around the house. In addition to the storms we did have a power outage too. Thankfully PSE was quick to respond and we were only without electric for about 2 hours. Of course when you have an electric stove and oven and are in the midst of cooking dinner it does create a bit of a hic-cup.

~ Jalapeños vary in heat dramatically and there is no good way to tell which will be a mild heat and which one will burn your entire mouth. And when cutting and cleaning said peppers, don’t make the mistake of rubbing your nose or eyes. Fortunately I had enough sense to not touch my eyes, but my nose got the brunt of it last night.

~ Watching a squirrel fall off the bird bath is cheap entertainment. He jumped up to take a drink, lost his footing and fell back down. After a quick look around as if to see if anyone had seen that, he went to the other side where there is a little stone pagoda, used that as an alternate way to get up to the bird bath and take his drink. Just one of many squirrel antics we have seen in our backyard this spring.

So what randomness did you observe this week?

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Hi There

So it was brought to my attention that I don’t have a picture of myself here on the blog. I have since corrected this and put one on the about me page, but it did get me thinking about the interaction that takes place on line. I read a lot of blogs, follow a lot of people on twitter and have many friends on facebook. And in some cases I have had some sort of personal interaction with many of these people, so I know what they look like and they know me. Some have known me for many years and have seen the progression of looks over the years too, but that’s another post for another time.

But it’s a new year, new readers are coming by here, new friendships are being made, and I’m another year older, so I thought it would be appropriate to revisit my about me page, update the information, and reintroduce myself. Here’s a thumbnail version of a picture that Dean (my wonderful husband) took last spring. I really don’t like having my picture taken, so for me to actually like this picture of myself is saying a lot. (And if you want to see more of his great photography, check out the pictures here)

 

 

 

 

For the rest of the details, stop by the About Me page, or just keep reading, you’ll find me in my words. And if we have the opportunity to actually meet in person, all the better.

Friday Mish Mash

It’s Friday – time for a random mish mash.

  • I am a journal junkie. There I said it. I have journals and notebooks all over the house. And they all have something written in them. Well most of them, there are a couple I haven’t used yet, but I’m sure I will soon. I also have scraps of paper with notes in various places, not to mention all the notes I have stored on my phone too. And it would appear that some habits are learned and not genetic – because now Amy is doing the same thing. She will leave notes on her bedroom floor at night so she remembers something in the morning. She keeps a notebook next to her bed and writes down all sorts of random thoughts and questions, usually just before she falls asleep.
  • When you become a parent watching the news affects you in a different way. I watched our local news last night (which I don’t normally do for many reasons) and was reminded of one of the reasons why I don’t watch. There was a story on about a 12 year old (6th grader) who had made a hit list, obtained guns (how does this happen?), and was planning on killing at least 20 classmates, teachers, family members, and who knows who else. Having a 5th grader really brought this story close to home. Thankfully this year we don’t have any bullies in the class (like we did last year), but still, I don’t know anything about any of the other classes. As a parent I pray every day for the safety of my daughter and those that she is with.
  • If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you’ve probably seen posts about #savebluelikejazz. Well I am happy to say the movie has been saved and it is amazing what 4495 people have done over the period of 30 days. Most of it was small donations, and they added up and came together to raise $345,992 to make this movie. Filming has begun in Nashville, will continue in Portland, and the movie will be released some time next year. If you go, look for my name in the credits, amongst the other 4494 people that will be listed. 🙂 It’s the first time in history that a movie has been crowd source funded. Hopefully it won’t be the last. There are a lot of great ideas out there that deserve to be developed. Check out Kickstarter for more.
  • It’s hard to believe it’s been two months since we’ve moved. Time has flown by. And it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Every time I look it seems there is something new on the calendar.
  • I was trying to explain the concept of divorce to Amy the other day. This came about because of the news of Miley Cyrus’s parents getting a divorce. In order for her to understand, I used Dean & myself  and our stuff as an example to illustrate what happens. After trying to explain the concept of “equitable distribution” she came to the conclusion that if Dean & I should ever divorce she would want to live with him because he would have the big tv and would take her to Kentucky Fried Chicken for dinner. She was also quite adamant about the fact that she would keep her “stuff”. And no, don’t read anything in to that other than it was for the purpose of an illustration. We’ve been married for 20 years and are still very happy and very much in love.
  • Now it’s time to go get ready for a Halloween party. Not my favorite holiday, but at least I get the chance to spend time with my favorite 10 year old and meet some more of her friends.