Poor Customer Service & Lousy Food--OK

Maybe we’ve come to accept poor customer service and lousy food from “fast-food restaurants.” Now that’s an oxymoron since it’s neither fast nor a restaurant in my experience. Recently, a friend and I stopped to get coffee and a chicken biscuit at a McDonald’s drive-through in Deerfield Beach, Florida. The clerk practically threw my change into my hand so that most of it ended up outside my car. She didn’t apologize or offer to give me correct change and closed her window. I nudged open my car door to see what I could reach and managed to salvage a quarter. I figured if she does that enough, she can gather up a good tip at the end of her shift. Then, while waiting in line to pick up my food, we heard the occupant in the car ahead loudly ranting at the clerk several times, “I saw what you did. Where’s your manager?” So, we’re beginning to think all of the employees at this location must have poor attitudes. Anyway, when I got to eat my sandwich at my destination, the chicken was burned and tasted pretty greasy.
Next time, I will examine my sandwich before I leave the parking lot and I’ll hold up traffic getting my change. Or maybe I just won’t eat there again.

Frolicking Manatees in the Indian River Lagoon

Each morning when I arrive at the office, I look for manatees and dolphins near the Indian River seawall. One June morning, a family of four manatees was frolicking including a young one. I grabbed my camera and was mesmerized by these prehistoric-looking creatures. They bobbed up and down and tumbled across each other in the water. They continue to amaze me.

Broken Things

Why does everything break? And it happens in threes? In the past week, our air conditioner, our pool chlorinator, and our toilet broke. First I thought I could blame it on a lightning strike, but that wouldn’t cause the toilet to leak. Fortunately, two of these things are under warranty. But the warranty doesn’t cover labor. So, to avoid future unexpected costs, we sprung for an extended warranty on the A/C. My mother keeps telling me “You shoulda bought a Trane.”
My husband, handyman that he is, and unemployed right now, is scheduling the repairmen and trying to fix the toilet himself. We were without A/C for 3 days, but our electric bill didn’t go down. We had a window unit in our bedroom which probably wasn’t the most energy efficient. But at least we were comfortable. We’re using chlorine and tablets in the pool until Tuesday.
Things are gradually getting fixed until the next lightning strike.

Things To Ponder

Strange headline:
Passengers Not Told of Pilot's Death (This is not a good situation either way.)

I like these bumper stickers:
I only hope that I can be the person my dog thinks I am.
I'll keep my money, religion and guns. You keep the change.

Marquis sign on church:"Sign broken. Message inside."

Why is there a mirrored cross on a cement utility pole on US1? I wonder who put it there and why.

Save gas by pretending there's an egg between the accelerator pedal and the floor.

Nestle Toll House cookies is recalling their refrigerated cookie dough due to people getting e coli from eating raw dough. How many times has your mother told you NOT to eat uncooked cookie dough?

Happy Father's Day!

One Bar Left

On Sunday, I noticed my Oral-B Triumph electric toothbrush was not charging ever since I had heard a high-pitched hum coming from the charger. There were only two of four charge bars showing and I wondered if it’s anything like my phone, it’ll just suddenly die. I’m not sure I can do a good job of brushing my teeth with a manual toothbrush anymore. I decided I’d better replace it quickly and this time, with a not-so-deluxe $50-version because the last one didn’t last much longer than a year. So, with one bar left on Wednesday I drove to Target on my lunch hour to buy the no-bells-and-whistles rechargeable electric toothbrush. They only had the display model, but 7 boxes of the next version, the Oral-B Pulsonic, that costs $66. I decided to continue shopping and stopped by a Sears on the way back to work. They didn’t even carry electric toothbrushes. What was I thinking? On Thursday, I stopped at Wal-mart because they always carry the cheaper model, right? No, the cheapest model they had was $66, the same version that I had declined to buy at Target. Three stores later and still no $50 electric toothbrush. I could have saved a lot of time, gas and money had I bought it online at Amazon, but I was thinking “buy local” and “get it now.” I decided to buy the Oral-B Pulsonic. Save time, gas, money, and the risk of not having an electric toothbrush to use when the last bar is gone. I charged it overnight, used it this morning, and really liked it. Oh, and there’s still one bar left on my old toothbrush.

For reviews and pictures of both toothbrushes, check out this blog: The NY Renovator.

Church Rituals and the Swine Flu

An announcement was made before mass started on Sunday. Due to the possible spread of swine flu, Bishop Wenski with advice from the Center for Disease Control has recommended: “Please do not hold hands during the reciting of the Our Father. Share the Sign of Peace WITHOUT touching hands or kissing. This can be done with meaningful eye contact, smiles, and a bow of the head in reverence to one another.” This resulted in some laughs and giggles from the congregation. I didn’t think it was funny. Was it because people were uncomfortable with this topic? When it came time to offer the sign of peace, I saw some people shake hands anyway. I exchanged some nods and peace signs. I figured “better safe than sorry.” The irony is that we were still offered to share the holy sacrament of blood by drinking from the same chalice.

Easter Pine Tree Crosses

We’re surrounded by pine trees where I live and I’m reminded of my brother who told me the story of the little crosses at the tops of pine trees. Just before Easter, new shoots of growth sprout from the tops of the pine trees and form crosses. (Here, I’ve taken a photo of some next to my yard.) They’re everywhere now. Glory to God!