It's Been Awhile

Thanksgiving greetings to all,

The past few weeks have been a bit consuming. When I last posted I was in the middle of getting telephone service converted in all the offices. Well, it was not easy and had more than a few moments, but as of this past Friday all the offices are converted except Vancouver, BC and that will follow. Now it is clean up time getting all the special features in place and moving forward. When all this began I did not know what a channel bank was or a cut sheet and so many more things. No matter what I still miss the good old days of when you made one call and poof it was done. I was sharing with a new hire how when I started with Events & Adventures back in 1998, we did not have a website. Oh how communications has changed and don't get me started on cell phones.

Another big change in my life is how I get groceries. Now I use AmazonFresh. It is a great service. Well, about a week ago I placed an order. It was to be delivered between 3-4pm. OK, so they call and due to a power outage at their main office in Bellevue everything was running behind. Cool, good communication and that was fine. Arrived about an hour late. There was a little box inside and it contained a cup and coupon, good on my next order for a fresh produce bag on them. WOW! Well, it just seemed a bit much for a simple power outage. And I was right...here is the email I got:

Greetings from AmazonFresh,

This weekend we included a freebie in your order that might have been a surprise
to you. It was a surprise to us too. We thought we'd take a moment
to acknowledge the Big Radish Welcome Pack you received--our goof--and to let
you know that we've sweetened the surprise even more. Along with the
free mug and coupon, we've granted you Big Radish status, which gives you FREE
Delivery from now through December 31st, 2009. Enjoy!

Oh, but wait, it gets better. The next day I get a message from AmazonFresh stating that they were sorry for the delay on Saturday, the 14th and that they were issuing a credit of $5.00 for the delay in service. Too mucking futch! So there you go and I just had to share. I like the service and yet I still do buy my meat products and produce for the most part in person.

So I am writing this posting in my hotel room in Dallas, Texas. Have been here since last Tuesday when I left a very soggy Seattle and arrived into the metroplex to low 70's and delays at every turn. The luggage carousel got a piece stuck and I was totally amazed at how many people showed up to fix it and when I looked down was pleased to see that my baggage was circling. Grabbed it since we had been waiting over 40 minutes and headed for the renatl car center bus on the lower level. Schlepping is part of the game at DFW airport. Got outside and there was a line of at least 50 people waiting. The one bus left and another arrived about 5 minutes later only to have room for 8 people...had to beg the driver to call for another bus sooner than waiting a full 10 minutes. Amazingly, he did! It came and we all piled on and several people thanked me. Arrived at the center and waited in line. Had a prepaid reservation at Avis. Told that not only did they not have the car I paid for but the lady actually wanted to downgrade me - I had never seen that in my life! Click and save this picture Chris in a Ford Focus! NOT!!! So I ask to speak to her supervisor and was actually quite calm. In the end I was offered a Camero, a Corvette, a Van or a brand new F-150 pickup. Yup, Chris went COWBOY! YEEEEHAAAAAW. It had 8.1 miles on it when I got in and it is a beautiful sapphire blue and boy do I feel butch driving it. Would NEVER rent again as it has horrible turning radius and is so BIG. But it is only for two more days and then done and done.

Did take time this day to go out for a drive to get Sunday supper. OH MY GOODNESS! Went out during the Dallas Cowboy's football game and it was just a tad after noon and the streets were deserted. It was weird. But I got it and came back and enjoyed chicken fried chicken livers with corn and green beans and got a side of fried okra. Yummy. Read and watch the balance of the game to be able to give my sister, an avid Cowboy's fan, the score update as she did not get to see the game up in Portland. The Cowboy's squeaked out a win at the last minute but they were pretty sad and for the first time in 107 games went scoreless in the first half in back to back games. They are up against Oakland on Thanksgiving. Yeah, that was the butch from the pickup overflowing to football watching. Oh my, get me out of here before it consumes me!

Speaking of hotels, let's talk about what happened here yesterday. Arrive home in the afternoon after working a half day with my new hire in Dallas. All the elevators in the hotel were out of order and the internet was down. WTF? They claimed it was due to the storm on Thursday. And this is Saturday when this all happens. NOT! Something is fishy and boy was I pissed off. Not at the front desk staff as I told Erika on the phone, but at the situation. Mind you, there are no rooms on the main floor so everyone had to schlep their stuff up the stairs and people had luggage and there were people in wheelchairs. Messy situation. Thankfully, everything is back on track.

That cannot be said for my friend Michael on the coast of southwest Washington. The 5th storm in a row hit them this morning and he was awakened to a tree falling in his backyard. It was about 40' high and came down with only branches landing on his deck. Another top of a tree came down and he has one leaning bad in the front that may need to be pulled on down. Everything is growing in sand and when it gets saturated, not good! What made it different was that the severe storms usually come from the south and this one came in from the south. They are powerless and the main highway is shut down as well. It will be interesting to see how things are tomorrow. We were able to chat a bit this morning, but nothing since.

Head home Tuesday as I mentioned and then Wednesday I will spend running to and from the airport helping get members from out of town to the hotel and then get a bit of work in and head for home. Looking forward to Thanksgiving as I am spending it with Rob and Jodie at their place and will be taking a lemon-lavender coffeecake as they are allowing me to come up early and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade as it follows a new parade route this year and enjoy Bloody Mary's to kick off the day. Later several others will join in and I am contributing a pumpkin cheesecake with gingered cranberries.

Then I will be getting ready to head for New York City the following week with a group from December 1-6. Once home, I am home for the rest of the year. Canceled the trip to Disney World, just tired of traveling and if I go I want to be able to enjoy and not just be vegging all week. My 50th birthday celebration is also been trimmed way back so that I can actually enjoy the people who are coming together. It will be simpler and more enjoyable in the end. Maybe I am getting a bit smarter as I get a little older.

And on that note I am going to close as my bowl of chili and sandwich will be here in a moment for dinner. Will be checking in again real soon, likel not wait as long as last time.

Cheers, Chris