Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fun. Show all posts

Sunday, December 19, 2010

6 Days Before Christmas and...

Six days before Christmas and all through the house...LOL. Fooled you -- no poem.  Maybe next time. But a couple of days ago I published a Vitamin K (Daily Dose of Positive )-- and wished everyone a relaxed, stress-free weekend. One of my friends (you know who you are) wrote me back and said, "Relaxed? Stress-free? It's 7 days before Christmas; are you daft?"  Hmmm.  Well, first I had to look that up (sometimes it's the little words that get you).  Definitions were: senseless, stupid, or foolish, insane; crazy, merry; playful; frolicsome." And my answer is YES! All of the above :-), but NOT stressed!  And perhaps not stressed for the first time in my life, at the this time of the year; but for whatever reason, I'm not.  

Perhaps it's the retired status, or perhaps it's just my awareness that I can only do what I can do.  Then again, perhaps it's because this year I'm not so concerned about other people's expectations and more focused on my piece of mine (<-- that was for my friend Mitch. He likes to catch my mistakes. Make that "peace of mind.")

But, we're smack dab in the middle of THE season of peace, tranquility, love, appreciation, gratitude and good will for all mankind. Somehow, "stress" just seems so out of place.  Perhaps I am just fortunate not to be living a stressful life right now, or perhaps... I've just chosen to be stress free. Don't get me wrong... I KNOW there are people in the world who are deluged in stressful, painful situations right now and they can't be totally stress-free life at present, but for most of us... most of the people I know... the stress is optional... but for the "things" we're focusing on, and the meaning we are voluntarily assigning to those things. LOTS of people are giving gifts this season that are attached to so much stress they can hardly see.  But, I'd like to suggest that... no matter what you BUY this Christmas... that the gifts you GIVE are love.. warmth... appreciation... gratitude... and acceptance.  Those will go further than the material thing(s) you attach to them, and I guarantee you'll feel better about you.

Incidentally, you also need to give yourself the gifts of love, gratitude and acceptance; because despite what most marketers and some of your acquaintances might tell you... you're okay. Even precious diamonds have imperfections. Then again, it is we who define imperfect...  And if you're having some challenges with that... perhaps you might enroll in my Daily Dose of Vitamin K. We cover those points often. It was planned  to be on sale now, but it's not yet... so take advantage of it for now and we'll just call it my Christmas gift to you (and anyone you pass that link onto between now and when I finally get the sale page online.) You can check out a few comments here. And who knows, maybe by the time you get there...there will be a few more.

So that's it, my friends. I wish for you a stress-free holiday season; focused on the things that really matter, as you give the gifts of  love, gratitude and acceptance... regardless of what "physical" gifts you attach to them.

Have a beautiful week.  And incidentally... there's an excellent video on Mitch's blog that it would be good for everyone to see, this time of year especially. So if you didn't click it, go ahead and click on his name / link and watch it. Take a stress-free 16 minutes and check it out.


Love and Light to you ;-)
Kelvin

Monday, August 03, 2009

Customer Service: Alive and Well at Sears!!!

800#s and voice mail loops. HATE them. Yes, occasionally there's a happy ending.

My garage door opener decided to go whacko last month. It thought there was something in the way so the safety sensors wouldn't let it close. I ended up disconnecting the door from the motor so I could close it. The maintenance contract was long expired, I dreaded every minute of thinking how much it would cost me to get it fixed. I kept hearing the conceptual cha-ching of SEARS' cash register -- I think it's like $129 for them to get in the truck, then there's parts and labor... So for two weeks or so, I'd drive home, get out of the car, manually lift the garage door, prop it open (too heavy to stay up by itself), pull the car in, go put the door down, etc... Tedious and annoying.

So I finally broke down and called Sears and their automated menu system that asked me technical type questions -- does the door stop and the lights flash 10 times...? -- so it could put me in the right menu. THEN, when I got a LONG recording that gave me troubleshooting tips for all those symptoms. "I've done all that!"

I was annoyed until I realized they were actually trying to save me money by checking things I'd be paying the technician to check on site. But alas, I'd done all they suggested was finally grant phone audience with a REAL person. I wish I remember the man's name at the Craftsman Garage Door Opener Center (honest) in Tucson! Let's call him Dave.

Dave asked for my phone number & verified I was in fact a SEARS customer, then asked what the problem was. I told him. I ALSO told him I'd already done that long list of stuff the recording said to do. He laughed, then sent me into my garage with phone in hand to go through that same checklist, and tell him what I was seeing. Things still weren't making sense. Dave ascertained that I was a pretty technical guy (ha!), WAITED on the phone for me to move my car out of the garage, so I could do some other tests (part of which involved wire cutters and screwdrivers and by-passing circuits to verify where the problem was.) He waited patiently for me to fumble through all of that -- no huffs, no muffled comments -- then figured out where the problem was. Then he told ME how to fix it, and wished me a good day.

No "can I have your credit card number?," no "We'll need to send a technician out, Mr. Ringold." Nothing. NO charge, no ads, no up-sell to another maintenance contract; just pleasant, patient technical assistance, and sent me on my merry way, with my $200 (or more) still in my bank account. THANKS, Dave!

It's been a while since I experienced that kind of service -- especially from a large company. I just thought it was worth mentioning. Maybe I'll go ahead and renew that maintenance contract on my grill -- it's cheaper than the cost of replacing the burners ;-) and I might not get Dave to talk me through that one :-) Yeah!

Have an awesome day.

Kelvin