When I started organizing my obedience/rally show-n-go (it's tomorrow!!!) I knew I needed obedience jumps for three out of the four rings. I don't have any obedience jumps, but I started inquiring amongst the club members to see if I could borrow a set from anyone.
One member - Cat- (name changed so you can't confront the ridiculous) has jumps. I asked to borrow them and heard a shopping list of reasons/excuses as to why I probably wouldn't want to borrow them. One of the reasons was "they need repairing". I said "that's fine with me.....I'll fix them for free in exchange for letting me use them." But she still behaved like she just really didn't want to loan them to me, so I dropped the subject.
Several months go by before I see Cat at another 4H function where she asked: "Do you still need my jumps?" I said "Yes!!! I still need them!" She said, "OK.....I'll bring them to our next function." (in two weeks). When I arrived that morning I asked her "did you bring the jumps?" She had clearly forgotten them, but said she would call me tuesday of this past week, I said "that's perfect.....it'll give me a few days to fix whatever needs fixing".
No phone call. By now, tiring of her wishy-washy attitude I have found other club members with jumps. Imagine my surprise when I checked my messages yesterday afternoon and hear Cat's voice.
"hey.....I'm not available after tomorrow morning because I'm leaving town for the weekend, and I just don't know how I'm going to manage to get these jumps to you..." Her whole tone was annoyed and irritated...like it was a major inconvenience or something. Hello? What happened to Tuesday? Like.....when I pick them up (when ?!?!?) I'm going to fix them (when?!?!?!)
How shall we say I did not bother to respond to the voice mail....:P
Friday, July 29, 2011
Hmmmm...I'm Harboring A "Noxious Weed"...Who Knew?
Got an interesting envelope in yesterday's mail from the "Pierce County Department Of Noxious Weeds". Seriously? How does one introduce himself (I instinctively know there are no women working in this department) when he arrives at a party? I'd probably just say "I work for the county..." and change the subject.
Sooooo the contents of this letter informed me that I may be in violation of some *LAW* because I have "Tansy Ragwort" in my yard. I've certainly heard of it, and I do know it is toxic to wildlife and livestock (who won't eat it anyway) but I had no idea it was against the law to allow weeds to exist on my unmowed property. They were nice enough to send me a brochure with a picture so I headed out to the yard to take a look-see. Well, I counted under a dozen of the evil things. Gotta put my gloves on and pull those buggers out before I land in jail!
Sooooo the contents of this letter informed me that I may be in violation of some *LAW* because I have "Tansy Ragwort" in my yard. I've certainly heard of it, and I do know it is toxic to wildlife and livestock (who won't eat it anyway) but I had no idea it was against the law to allow weeds to exist on my unmowed property. They were nice enough to send me a brochure with a picture so I headed out to the yard to take a look-see. Well, I counted under a dozen of the evil things. Gotta put my gloves on and pull those buggers out before I land in jail!
A.K.C....An Update
Someone at AKC figured out Polly doesn't belong at the local Working Group specialty show and sent her a nice e-mail the very next day telling her they were uninviting her. At the same time they also let her know she COULD go to a local all-breed sanction match that same weekend.....why...now nice for clearing that up for us! Polly was quite distraught at first, but cheered up immensely when I informed her of the opportunity!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A.K.C. Sheesh.....What Next?
I applaude the American Kennel Club's varied attempts toward creating more revenue for the board member's pension plan. Recent implementation of additional methods by which we can write more checks to pay more entry fees with the addition of obedience classes, agility classes, the Grand Champion scheme....one new addition I was particularly pleased to see was the 4-6 puppy class that was going to be offered at AKC shows. While puppies of that age cannot compete for points, I feel it is a good introduction to the "real" world of dog shows-especially since I live in an area that just doesn't offer very many sanction and/or fun matches, and even if you can locate a reasonable handling class, that isn't "real world" enough unless your dog shows are being held where your handling classes are? No? I didn't think so.
So today, I received an e-mail from AKC advising me of an opportunity to take my four-month-old puppy to a real dog show! How exciting! Well, as I read further, I discovered the club name: "Mt Rainier Working Dog Association". Bummer.....I have a sporting dog.
So, while *I* know better than to try to enter my sporting breed at a working breed show, how many people out there (who may not be fully versed in the workings of dog shows) will happily fill out an entry form and mail it in, expecting to show off their little pride and joy?
Good try, AKC.....
So today, I received an e-mail from AKC advising me of an opportunity to take my four-month-old puppy to a real dog show! How exciting! Well, as I read further, I discovered the club name: "Mt Rainier Working Dog Association". Bummer.....I have a sporting dog.
So, while *I* know better than to try to enter my sporting breed at a working breed show, how many people out there (who may not be fully versed in the workings of dog shows) will happily fill out an entry form and mail it in, expecting to show off their little pride and joy?
Good try, AKC.....
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
SPIDER! EWWWWW!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
I Hate Rework :P
I consider myself detail oriented. But occasionally, technology manages to take the driver's seat and I am lulled into a sense of false security. For example, MS Excel has long been the bane of my existence. I'm pretty much "self-taught" meaning "what happens if I do this???" and once upon a time when I tested for a temp agency my Excel scoring was curious to say the least. Certain aspects are "beginner", "intermediate", and "advanced". I scored very high in both beginner and advanced, but failed miserably in intermediate. Go figure. My last job I was part of a development team that designed and built a Excel-based template to simplify and improve a work process. While the finished product was a work of art, and it delivered all we had ever hoped, GETTING to that finish line was a major deal to me in terms of teaching me everything I never knew about Excel. But I digress.....
I receive a report once a month from the AKC for all titles earned by Field Spaniels. This is a new "job" for me, so I am still attempting to learn what to do. There is a lot of information contained within this report that I don't need, and I have figured out how to shrink irrelevant columns or cells so I only have to look at the bits and pieces I need: Name of the dog, the title it earned, the breeder's name, the sire's name, and the dam's name. Now.....somewhere along the line I should have learned how to merge each month's report so that I can just have one, big excel report. I should also be able to reorganize the lists so that all of the dogs bred by one breeder will group together. Or all dogs sired by one stud dog. Or one brood bitch.
Well now, that might just be too simple. Or too complicated, I don't know.
I did ask a "techie" friend for help and received a rapid-fire response that went in one ear and out the other. I don't learn by listening alone. I need a hands-on lesson, with someone to walk me through each step. So, I have had to resort to opening a Word document, and I have started three lists and am maintaining them manually.
For some reason this afternoon I decided to CHECK MY WORK. Why? Because I had issues with my Word document when I was cutting/pasting and discovered that I had managed to DELETE nearly 1/3 of my year-to-date completed report! So I "did the math" and discovered I had 70 titles under the breeder and 70 titles under the brood bitch...but 69 under stud dog. Well, I may not be Einstein, but I do know it takes both a mother and a father to make a title-winner.
So, I started to search for all my past year's AKC reports. There have been six. It took me nearly two hours to finally locate the missing listing, and of COURSE it was in the very last report.
Next month, and all subsequent months I will endeavor to ensure my work is accurate so I don't have a repeat of this! As I said, I hate rework! If I was able to fully utilize Excel, I might be better off, but then again, it could totally mess me up and I might make more mistakes, just quicker! We can't have that, now can we???
I receive a report once a month from the AKC for all titles earned by Field Spaniels. This is a new "job" for me, so I am still attempting to learn what to do. There is a lot of information contained within this report that I don't need, and I have figured out how to shrink irrelevant columns or cells so I only have to look at the bits and pieces I need: Name of the dog, the title it earned, the breeder's name, the sire's name, and the dam's name. Now.....somewhere along the line I should have learned how to merge each month's report so that I can just have one, big excel report. I should also be able to reorganize the lists so that all of the dogs bred by one breeder will group together. Or all dogs sired by one stud dog. Or one brood bitch.
Well now, that might just be too simple. Or too complicated, I don't know.
I did ask a "techie" friend for help and received a rapid-fire response that went in one ear and out the other. I don't learn by listening alone. I need a hands-on lesson, with someone to walk me through each step. So, I have had to resort to opening a Word document, and I have started three lists and am maintaining them manually.
For some reason this afternoon I decided to CHECK MY WORK. Why? Because I had issues with my Word document when I was cutting/pasting and discovered that I had managed to DELETE nearly 1/3 of my year-to-date completed report! So I "did the math" and discovered I had 70 titles under the breeder and 70 titles under the brood bitch...but 69 under stud dog. Well, I may not be Einstein, but I do know it takes both a mother and a father to make a title-winner.
So, I started to search for all my past year's AKC reports. There have been six. It took me nearly two hours to finally locate the missing listing, and of COURSE it was in the very last report.
Next month, and all subsequent months I will endeavor to ensure my work is accurate so I don't have a repeat of this! As I said, I hate rework! If I was able to fully utilize Excel, I might be better off, but then again, it could totally mess me up and I might make more mistakes, just quicker! We can't have that, now can we???
Sunday, July 17, 2011
So Long! Farewell!
Hate to say it, but I was happy to say good bye to Baxter, Meme and "da bird" Piper this morning. I'd say good bye to the cat, but she never let it be known she was THERE (other than the disappearing food in the bowl, and the mounds of poop in the bathtub) let's just say I'm glad the cat was at Bonnie's house, and not here.
Baxter is 12 years old. I have to say he looks fantastic, although he is a little creaky in the joints and his hearing is almost nonexistent. His plumbing is also suspect, so when he asks to go out every two hours, I comply because I hate cleaning up ANY time, let alone in the middle of the night. Only problem is that I can't just simply open the door and let him out. I have to lock the puppies in my room, so they pitch a fit. This means I actually have to WAKE UP as opposed to just waking up half way, so once Baxter comes back inside and I go back to bed, I can't go back to sleep!
Velvet was absolutely, positively OBSESSED with the bird. I kept the cage on Baxter's crate (this is a HUGE crate that stands close to 36" high....tall enough to be relatively safe for a bird, right? Wrong.) Velvet spent all her waking hours trying to figure how to hurdle over my computer desk, over me, over Meme's crate (with food bins on top) and as I stated previously, she was successful in plucking a tail feather.
So I was most happy to see them all packed up and down the road, thinking "out of sight, out of mind" where Velvet and Piper were concerned. I just let the dogs out and here comes Velvet, apparently convinced the bird is playing hide and seek with her, or perhaps it has a cloak of invisibility on? GIVE IT A REST FOR GAWD SAKE! I've seen stud dogs showing less interest in bitches in heat!!!!
Yes, the crew is returning in August when Bonnie goes on a trip. I think Piper's cage will be kept on the bar.....I really don't think Velvet can come close to reaching that without a step stool!
Baxter is 12 years old. I have to say he looks fantastic, although he is a little creaky in the joints and his hearing is almost nonexistent. His plumbing is also suspect, so when he asks to go out every two hours, I comply because I hate cleaning up ANY time, let alone in the middle of the night. Only problem is that I can't just simply open the door and let him out. I have to lock the puppies in my room, so they pitch a fit. This means I actually have to WAKE UP as opposed to just waking up half way, so once Baxter comes back inside and I go back to bed, I can't go back to sleep!
Velvet was absolutely, positively OBSESSED with the bird. I kept the cage on Baxter's crate (this is a HUGE crate that stands close to 36" high....tall enough to be relatively safe for a bird, right? Wrong.) Velvet spent all her waking hours trying to figure how to hurdle over my computer desk, over me, over Meme's crate (with food bins on top) and as I stated previously, she was successful in plucking a tail feather.
So I was most happy to see them all packed up and down the road, thinking "out of sight, out of mind" where Velvet and Piper were concerned. I just let the dogs out and here comes Velvet, apparently convinced the bird is playing hide and seek with her, or perhaps it has a cloak of invisibility on? GIVE IT A REST FOR GAWD SAKE! I've seen stud dogs showing less interest in bitches in heat!!!!
Yes, the crew is returning in August when Bonnie goes on a trip. I think Piper's cage will be kept on the bar.....I really don't think Velvet can come close to reaching that without a step stool!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Pollyanna Graduated From Puppy Kindergarten!
We attended our final PetSmart class last night. We won't be going back due to financial "issues" and will now focus on hanging out at dog shows and the occasional fun match (there are two in august that we will be attending) before Polly can actually enter dog shows in October after she turns 6 months of age....she missed eligibility for the 2011 national specialty by six days, although she will still be a puppy for the 2012 specialty in WI!
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Our class was divided into pairs and we played "obedience tic tac toe". Polly was paired with "Moose" the yellow Labrador Retriever, and although she ACED the competiton by behaving PERFECTLY (sit stay for 10 seconds, watch me for 10 seconds, come when called and sit) to give Moose credit, he drew harder tasks and since he is SO boisterous and exhuberant and the room is just too small to DO much of anything) he did pretty darn well. Polly has also been working on learning a trick for graduation night and she got to show that off. Very early on she learned to sit on a step stool. So I taught her to sit UP on the step stool! Unfortunately, SHE is growing like a weed, and the step stool is getting too small for her. But she still managed to do her trick for graduation night, I was so proud of her. :)
Although I was initially concerned about our trainer's experience (or lack thereof), the size of the class, and the overall nature of the "rowdies" in the class, it was a positive experience for both myself and Polly. I felt like nearly everyone attending was motivated to train their puppies and train they did. I hope they continue on and wish them all success.
Although I was initially concerned about our trainer's experience (or lack thereof), the size of the class, and the overall nature of the "rowdies" in the class, it was a positive experience for both myself and Polly. I felt like nearly everyone attending was motivated to train their puppies and train they did. I hope they continue on and wish them all success.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Things That Make You Go "EWWWWWWWW"
Went outside this evening and observed two slugs on my house, about 3' off the ground, and they seemed to be in some form of a race. I haven't ever seen slugs moving this fast. When I came back past them a few minutes later they were at 4' and were.....um.....having slug sex.
And for those of you that think I need to put pictures on my blog...this one's for you! :O
Pet Sitting!
Bonnie left town for the week for work. Baxter (13 years and counting), Meme (almost 3-Velvet's sister) and Piper the Sun Conure are staying here, and I am going over to Bonnie's house a couple of times to feed the cat and clean her litterbox.
Meme has bad manners, and carries on in her crate. However, I believe I have managed to convince her that she really should be quiet when she is in her crate. Thank gawd, because that is just one thing I CANNOT stand. Baxter doesn't do well with puppies, and actually, he simply refuses to be a part of the pack and puts himself back into his crate when the other dogs are out! Unfortunately Meme also appears not to like puppies, so she will also need to be crated longer than both she and I prefer, because yes-the puppies are spoiled and I can't stand to lock them up just because we have visitors who "don't like kids"! Just who is spoiled and has bad manners here? :P
My dogs worry me a bit. Although they are bird dogs, will they leave the bird alone if I tell them? Let's just say I won't be leaving any dogs loose in the house when I'm not here. Right now both Token and Velvet are standing on hind legs sniffing the bird who apparently thinks he likes the attention. Meanwhile the Cavalier Markee paces in the background apparently cheerleading hoping one of the larger dogs will capture this feathered bird brain for him since it is out of his reach. OK, so now I have a stick, because Velvet is totally OBSESSED, will not leave him alone, and just managed to grab hold of his tail and pulled a feather out. (I'm hoping it's one he was molting already and no longer needs....) I have a picture of Piper, but was trying to get one of Token looking at Piper, but can't manage! Velvet assures me that if I will merely open the cage door, she will give me a really good photo op! Yeah sure, Velvet!
I was given a very explicit feeding sheet for Piper. This much pelleted food twice a day, limited snacks. Awwww, c'mon.....what does this bird have to DO all day if he isn't eating? I'm afraid he might get fat if he lived here long. I just had no idea birds had such dietary requirements, but I guess they can't get gym memberships? I tried a pea pod. Not interested. A cherry (pitted, since you aren't allowed to give them pits along with fruit) not interested. Both items were tossed onto the floor of the cage and will remain there until I change the paper later.
So...as per instructions he got his 1 teaspoon of pelleted food early this AM and it was GONE in a matter of a few minutes. Aren't you supposed to feed them an amount they will eat in 10 minutes? Oh wait...that's gold fish.....a while later he got a "nutraberry" that looks like several forms of grain glued together. He devoured that. When I ate my sandwich for lunch I gave him a very tiny bit of crust "about the size of his eye" (another item off the instructions) and he loved that too. Later an almond...uh oh it's larger than his eye.....oh well.....he can start his diet tomorrow....
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Every time I leave the room he hangs off the side of the cage and SQUAWKS. When I return, he's calm and quiet.....I think he likes me because I feed him...dinner soon, Piper....you get another teaspoon of pellets! Yum-mo!!! :)
Meme has bad manners, and carries on in her crate. However, I believe I have managed to convince her that she really should be quiet when she is in her crate. Thank gawd, because that is just one thing I CANNOT stand. Baxter doesn't do well with puppies, and actually, he simply refuses to be a part of the pack and puts himself back into his crate when the other dogs are out! Unfortunately Meme also appears not to like puppies, so she will also need to be crated longer than both she and I prefer, because yes-the puppies are spoiled and I can't stand to lock them up just because we have visitors who "don't like kids"! Just who is spoiled and has bad manners here? :P
My dogs worry me a bit. Although they are bird dogs, will they leave the bird alone if I tell them? Let's just say I won't be leaving any dogs loose in the house when I'm not here. Right now both Token and Velvet are standing on hind legs sniffing the bird who apparently thinks he likes the attention. Meanwhile the Cavalier Markee paces in the background apparently cheerleading hoping one of the larger dogs will capture this feathered bird brain for him since it is out of his reach. OK, so now I have a stick, because Velvet is totally OBSESSED, will not leave him alone, and just managed to grab hold of his tail and pulled a feather out. (I'm hoping it's one he was molting already and no longer needs....) I have a picture of Piper, but was trying to get one of Token looking at Piper, but can't manage! Velvet assures me that if I will merely open the cage door, she will give me a really good photo op! Yeah sure, Velvet!
I was given a very explicit feeding sheet for Piper. This much pelleted food twice a day, limited snacks. Awwww, c'mon.....what does this bird have to DO all day if he isn't eating? I'm afraid he might get fat if he lived here long. I just had no idea birds had such dietary requirements, but I guess they can't get gym memberships? I tried a pea pod. Not interested. A cherry (pitted, since you aren't allowed to give them pits along with fruit) not interested. Both items were tossed onto the floor of the cage and will remain there until I change the paper later.
So...as per instructions he got his 1 teaspoon of pelleted food early this AM and it was GONE in a matter of a few minutes. Aren't you supposed to feed them an amount they will eat in 10 minutes? Oh wait...that's gold fish.....a while later he got a "nutraberry" that looks like several forms of grain glued together. He devoured that. When I ate my sandwich for lunch I gave him a very tiny bit of crust "about the size of his eye" (another item off the instructions) and he loved that too. Later an almond...uh oh it's larger than his eye.....oh well.....he can start his diet tomorrow....
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Now, that was a loooong day.
Just got back from a day judging 4H dog agility (prequalifier for state fair) for Kittitas County over in eastern WA. We were in Ellensburg. Although the weather forecast threatened 80's today, it was mostly overcast and fairly comfortable almost all day-for dogs, kids *and* me. I did manage to get a bit of a sunburn but hey-I can get sunburned when there isn't ANY sun so there. Kathy Kail tells me I need to add photos to my blog, so I took a picture of the excellent standard course (well, part of it) and a group picture of me, the kids, and most of the competing dogs. Bet you can't tell which one is me, can you? :D
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I had a really great time-other than spending over 6 hours driving round trip....blech....but the kids were great, in spite of many of the dogs who had attitudes and knew what to do with them. I found the standard message of the day I delivered was "you are too nice to your dog.....you need to use your 'I'm serious' voice." One dog in particular was horrid in his morning run-he left the course several times, pee'd on the fence....his demeanor was quite embarrassing to his young handler, although she never showed any emotion. I told her "your next run-you need to sound "mean"...like you are ANGRY with him. To give her credit, she listened to my advice, and turned in a creditible performance. By their third run, he was totally in tune with her and they got another great performance! Another memorable day came with our lone excellent class entry. I set up two very difficult (AKC-level excellent courses I stole from a recent trial) but in standard I could tell teamwork was lacking, and the duo did not Q. However, by the afternoon, the team turned in a PERFECT performance in Jumpers. I was so pleased for them! :) But hey, Q or not, I was genuinely pleased with all of them. Good sports, Q or no Q.....everyone cheered for everyone else Q or no Q.....lots of comaraderie and I left with GOOD thoughts about my assignment judging them again during their county fair (or what they settle for as fair....their fair is actually too late to be used for state qualifications, so they actually have their 4H competition the first week of August! But long drive notwithstanding, I am looking forward to it!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Terrific Bumper Sticker!
It is possible that I am the last person on the block to see this one...but it is worthy of repeating.....
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS.....ESPECIALLY OUR SNIPERS
GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS.....ESPECIALLY OUR SNIPERS
STP Bike Race
STP (Seattle To Portland) bike race is today and tomorrow. I can't remember the exact mileage, but I believe it is around 200 miles. Some of the riders do it all in one day, others take two days. Since part of the route runs through Yelm, and I had to drive through Yelm to get to my agility class this AM, I spent quite some time last night attempting to locate information that would assist me in deciding if I needed to find some other way of driving, since I didn't have many options. I wasn't very successful in locating anything helpful, so I ended up leaving home about 15 minutes earlier than I would normally (I intended to leave 30 minutes early, but couldn't quite manage to get organized enough to do so!)
As I approached Yelm I could see that signs were being erected and although I did see a few bikers along my route, I wasn't impacted by them at all.
I wasn't terribly worried about my drive home, since their route was going south, and I was going north. As I approached the first stop light in Yelm, I could see a LOT of bikes heading toward me. Several hundred. Normally I would drive along highway 507 a few miles north of Yelm to a city called McKenna, make a right, then continue on a number of miles to Hwy 7 and home. The race route followed 507 south from the "Roy Y" and had come down Hwy 7 prior to that, several miles north of my turn off of Hwy 7. So, I decided to stay on 507 from Yelm all the way north to the "Y", a distance of around 15 miles, cutting across JBLM land. I was amazed at the number of riders I had seen so far, and wanted to see some more!
McKenna has a school sitting right on the highway, and STP riders had a "pit stop" there. I couldn't believe the number of riders taking a break. HUNDREDS of them. I continued northward to Roy (a distance of maybe 4-5 miles?) where there was another pit stop, with yet hundreds more riders resting! All along the 15 mile route I drove past THOUSANDS of riders.....what an amazing sight. I know they limit the entrants to 10,000 riders, and I must have seen around 1/2 half of those on my ride home...whew.....simply amazing.
What a perfectly grand day for a bike ride.....sunny and cool.....maybe a bit breezy...hopefully they had the wind at their backs, and not having it facing them the entire route!
I believe I read on their website that this was the 24th year? And there are two guys who have ridden in all of them....
As I approached Yelm I could see that signs were being erected and although I did see a few bikers along my route, I wasn't impacted by them at all.
I wasn't terribly worried about my drive home, since their route was going south, and I was going north. As I approached the first stop light in Yelm, I could see a LOT of bikes heading toward me. Several hundred. Normally I would drive along highway 507 a few miles north of Yelm to a city called McKenna, make a right, then continue on a number of miles to Hwy 7 and home. The race route followed 507 south from the "Roy Y" and had come down Hwy 7 prior to that, several miles north of my turn off of Hwy 7. So, I decided to stay on 507 from Yelm all the way north to the "Y", a distance of around 15 miles, cutting across JBLM land. I was amazed at the number of riders I had seen so far, and wanted to see some more!
McKenna has a school sitting right on the highway, and STP riders had a "pit stop" there. I couldn't believe the number of riders taking a break. HUNDREDS of them. I continued northward to Roy (a distance of maybe 4-5 miles?) where there was another pit stop, with yet hundreds more riders resting! All along the 15 mile route I drove past THOUSANDS of riders.....what an amazing sight. I know they limit the entrants to 10,000 riders, and I must have seen around 1/2 half of those on my ride home...whew.....simply amazing.
What a perfectly grand day for a bike ride.....sunny and cool.....maybe a bit breezy...hopefully they had the wind at their backs, and not having it facing them the entire route!
I believe I read on their website that this was the 24th year? And there are two guys who have ridden in all of them....
Oh Wait.....I Forgot I Have Another Diss!
This morning on the radio I heard several Rosetta Stone advertisements. Basically, these people want the entire world to learn a second language in hopes we will all just learn to get along better and "understand everyone".
Ah.....well, here's a BRILLIANT suggestion! Let's start by teaching all of those people who call the US *HOME* yet don't understand one single, flipping word of English. Does this make me a bigot? Prejudiced? Realistic? A Redneck? Well, I am truly sorry, but I can safely say I would NEVER, EVER move to a foreign country expecting to be waited on hand and foot, take advantage of "the system" and not learn the prevailing language. When Rosetta Stone wants to pay me to learn to speak fluent (fill in language of choice here) I'll do it gladly!
Ah.....well, here's a BRILLIANT suggestion! Let's start by teaching all of those people who call the US *HOME* yet don't understand one single, flipping word of English. Does this make me a bigot? Prejudiced? Realistic? A Redneck? Well, I am truly sorry, but I can safely say I would NEVER, EVER move to a foreign country expecting to be waited on hand and foot, take advantage of "the system" and not learn the prevailing language. When Rosetta Stone wants to pay me to learn to speak fluent (fill in language of choice here) I'll do it gladly!
Let's Start With Dissing Yelm Starbucks
Lots to talk about today, so decided to post in manageable "bytes" get it? bwwwwaaaaahhhhh....
Off to agility class with Dodger early this AM (for reasons discussed in another post shortly!) stopped at Yelm Starbucks drive through.
Starbucks: "good morning! What can we get started for you today?"
Me: "I'd like a grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice, please."
Starbucks: "that was a iced mocha with what again?"
Me: "grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice."
Starbucks: "grande iced mocha in a venti cup, right? Did you want extra whip or what?"
Me: "no....just a GRANDE iced mocha in a VENTI cup then add extra ice to fill it." (seriously, I do this ALL THE TIME.....)
Starbucks: "ohhhhhh....Grande mocha ICED, in a venti cup with extra ice....I'll have the total at the window."
At this point I am sitting in a line of four cars in front of me, and NO ONE is moving. I look at the clock. It is 10 full minutes before I arrive at the window.
As I start to hand her my card, the very nice person turns to me, starts to take my card, and says "your total comes to $12.94. I keep my hold on my card and say "ummm....I don't think so..." she looks very surprised and starts rattling off some order that is CLEARLY not mine.
(Oh goody! I get to repeat my order yet again!)
Me: "I ordered a GRANDE iced mocha...."
She turns away from me and starts to relay my order to the barrista, so she doesn't get my entire order. Then she turns to me and says "is that all?" I said
"well, I wanted it in a VENTI cup..."
Again, she turns away from me to relay my order to the barrista.
Then she turns to me and says "did you want whip on that?" (had she NOT interrupted me by attempting to relay my incomplete order TWICE she would have received an affirmative response.....but I just smiled and nodded.
Then she very sweetly apologized and said she was trying to multi-task. I said "yeah....kinda busy today....I had to wait a while!" She said "no, actually the wait isn't that bad...."
Oh dear.....customer service skills bells and whistles going off in my brain! I just smiled back at her and said "no...really.....I've never had to wait this long for an order....it's now been over 10 minutes."
She turned to her cash register and CORRECTED me by telling me, oh no, it shows your order time right here....."
I looked at her and said "yes.....that is the order YOU placed when I appeared at your window and found my initial order had not been placed!"
Although she did not say anything to me, I could see the "oh duh..." look in her eyes.
And then I waited.....and then the barrista started to hand me a cold drink that was CLEARLY NOT WHAT I ORDERED! I didn't even take it from her....I just said "ummm....that looks wrong." She said "why? What's wrong with it?"
I said "I ordered.....a grande iced mocha in a venti cup...with extra ice."
O.............................M...................................G...............................................
After about a WEEK I did get my correct order....I just hope no one spit in it! I think I need to find a new starbucks, or better yet, a privately owned place WHO CARES ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
End of vent... :)
Off to agility class with Dodger early this AM (for reasons discussed in another post shortly!) stopped at Yelm Starbucks drive through.
Starbucks: "good morning! What can we get started for you today?"
Me: "I'd like a grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice, please."
Starbucks: "that was a iced mocha with what again?"
Me: "grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice."
Starbucks: "grande iced mocha in a venti cup, right? Did you want extra whip or what?"
Me: "no....just a GRANDE iced mocha in a VENTI cup then add extra ice to fill it." (seriously, I do this ALL THE TIME.....)
Starbucks: "ohhhhhh....Grande mocha ICED, in a venti cup with extra ice....I'll have the total at the window."
At this point I am sitting in a line of four cars in front of me, and NO ONE is moving. I look at the clock. It is 10 full minutes before I arrive at the window.
As I start to hand her my card, the very nice person turns to me, starts to take my card, and says "your total comes to $12.94. I keep my hold on my card and say "ummm....I don't think so..." she looks very surprised and starts rattling off some order that is CLEARLY not mine.
(Oh goody! I get to repeat my order yet again!)
Me: "I ordered a GRANDE iced mocha...."
She turns away from me and starts to relay my order to the barrista, so she doesn't get my entire order. Then she turns to me and says "is that all?" I said
"well, I wanted it in a VENTI cup..."
Again, she turns away from me to relay my order to the barrista.
Then she turns to me and says "did you want whip on that?" (had she NOT interrupted me by attempting to relay my incomplete order TWICE she would have received an affirmative response.....but I just smiled and nodded.
Then she very sweetly apologized and said she was trying to multi-task. I said "yeah....kinda busy today....I had to wait a while!" She said "no, actually the wait isn't that bad...."
Oh dear.....customer service skills bells and whistles going off in my brain! I just smiled back at her and said "no...really.....I've never had to wait this long for an order....it's now been over 10 minutes."
She turned to her cash register and CORRECTED me by telling me, oh no, it shows your order time right here....."
I looked at her and said "yes.....that is the order YOU placed when I appeared at your window and found my initial order had not been placed!"
Although she did not say anything to me, I could see the "oh duh..." look in her eyes.
And then I waited.....and then the barrista started to hand me a cold drink that was CLEARLY NOT WHAT I ORDERED! I didn't even take it from her....I just said "ummm....that looks wrong." She said "why? What's wrong with it?"
I said "I ordered.....a grande iced mocha in a venti cup...with extra ice."
O.............................M...................................G...............................................
After about a WEEK I did get my correct order....I just hope no one spit in it! I think I need to find a new starbucks, or better yet, a privately owned place WHO CARES ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
End of vent... :)
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Tell Me Why......
I have been feeding my dogs "Zuke's" treats for several years now. Located in Durango, CO I like their ingredient list and it appears they have our pet's best interests in mind. When I initially found Zuke's, I went looking for an online store, but did not find it.
This morning on Facebook they announced a 1/2 price sale on their "mininaturals" one of the items I use for training treats. So I signed on to their new-to-me website and started a shopping cart. Since I was there, and I was low on several of the treats I use for training and dog shows, I figured I would stock up. Right away I realized the prices were outrageous. Ridiculously outrageous. On par with boutique pet stores outrageous.
Backing up a bit, let me give a plug for an on-line company from where I exclusively purchase my Zuke's products (as well as other necessary stuff!) http://www.petguys.com they have amazing prices, excellent customer service, low shipping costs and a fairly comprehensive selection of canine edibles.
So, I checked the PetGuys prices against the Zuke's prices and discovered I was accurate in stating that the prices shown on the Zuke's website ARE IN FACT OUTRAGEOUS. Even the so-called "50% off" mininaturals price was SEVERAL DOLLARS higher than the price I see on PetGuys! One item I buy frequently is called "Hip Action" and Zuke's was charging TWICE the price of PetGuys.
So...my rhetorical question du jour is this: How can "the source" (in this case Zuke's) charge so much more for products they obviously sell to OTHER vendors who sell it for bargain-basement prices? I cannot believe that PetGuys can afford to give away their products, I have encountered this phenomenon before, and it always makes me scratch my head. I suppose I need to ask Zuke's, but wanna bet I get a song and dance in addition to a deer-in-the-headlights "I don't understand your question, ma'am..." response. So, I will have to be content with not having an understanding of all things retail, and Zuke's will never know that I am spending my dollars elsewhere :)
This morning on Facebook they announced a 1/2 price sale on their "mininaturals" one of the items I use for training treats. So I signed on to their new-to-me website and started a shopping cart. Since I was there, and I was low on several of the treats I use for training and dog shows, I figured I would stock up. Right away I realized the prices were outrageous. Ridiculously outrageous. On par with boutique pet stores outrageous.
Backing up a bit, let me give a plug for an on-line company from where I exclusively purchase my Zuke's products (as well as other necessary stuff!) http://www.petguys.com they have amazing prices, excellent customer service, low shipping costs and a fairly comprehensive selection of canine edibles.
So, I checked the PetGuys prices against the Zuke's prices and discovered I was accurate in stating that the prices shown on the Zuke's website ARE IN FACT OUTRAGEOUS. Even the so-called "50% off" mininaturals price was SEVERAL DOLLARS higher than the price I see on PetGuys! One item I buy frequently is called "Hip Action" and Zuke's was charging TWICE the price of PetGuys.
So...my rhetorical question du jour is this: How can "the source" (in this case Zuke's) charge so much more for products they obviously sell to OTHER vendors who sell it for bargain-basement prices? I cannot believe that PetGuys can afford to give away their products, I have encountered this phenomenon before, and it always makes me scratch my head. I suppose I need to ask Zuke's, but wanna bet I get a song and dance in addition to a deer-in-the-headlights "I don't understand your question, ma'am..." response. So, I will have to be content with not having an understanding of all things retail, and Zuke's will never know that I am spending my dollars elsewhere :)
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Surviving The 4th Of July (that's independence day to those of us in the US!)
I used to live in a county that strictly prohibited fireworks prior to and after the actual DAY OF July 4th. That's right...you could only use fireworks *ON* the 4th. I liked that rule! Apparently the county I have now resided in for slightly longer than four years has no such law or regulation. I live very close to the "Joint Base McChord/Lewis" so I am no stranger to the sounds of artillery fire and bombing. Thankfully noise was at a minumum until the evening of the 3rd, when M80s and other such obnoxiously annoying so-called "fireworks" were set off until the wee hours. Then they started up again at dusk on the 4th and kept it up AGAIN until; the wee hours. Obviously, one of my neighbors was putting in craters in his yard. My house SHOOK every time one went off....windows rattled, so did the dogs and I! At one point last night there was literally a fog of sulfur-scented smoke wafting through the neighborhood. Ah....the true meaning of Independence Day.....
Utterly Random (and no doubt useless) Tuesday Musings
Not sure where I heard this...either TV or radio...that once a woman reaches a certain age she has to work out at a gym for an hour a day *just* to maintain status quo! Dieting alone won't make one iota difference.....we MUST endure a one hour workout at the gym....how depressing!
(Oh wait...perhaps it was an ad for a local gym? yeah...that's probably true!!!)
Just saw an ad on TV for bottled water. They claim that substituting one bottle of water for one 16 oz serving of soda pop will save me over 50,000...yes, fifty THOUSAND calories in a year. Well, hell.....I pretty much quit drinking sodas (and I used to drink Diet Coke by the gallon until I read the fake sweetener research that told me it was doing inestimable damage to my liver) so where can I apply for my calorie savings?
(Oh wait...perhaps it was an ad for a local gym? yeah...that's probably true!!!)
Just saw an ad on TV for bottled water. They claim that substituting one bottle of water for one 16 oz serving of soda pop will save me over 50,000...yes, fifty THOUSAND calories in a year. Well, hell.....I pretty much quit drinking sodas (and I used to drink Diet Coke by the gallon until I read the fake sweetener research that told me it was doing inestimable damage to my liver) so where can I apply for my calorie savings?
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