ReeHart - Blogging from the Heart

Disappointed with the Customer Service I Have Been Receiving

When I go to a store or talk to a business on the phone, I don’t really expect much except for courteous service and job competence. I would hope that they would be courteous enough to provide the answers I need and not waste my time. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.

Today while I was calling around to wedding supply stores to see if they carried custom aisle runners, I was greeted by a clerk on the phone. When asked if I could order a custom aisle runner at their store, she told me that they had some in stock and if I wanted to come down to confirm my customizations that they could put the order through today.

So I hopped in my car and drove down to wedding supply store. When I asked a clerk at the desk how to place an order for a custom aisle runner I was told that they didn’t carry them in all. I ended up having to talk to the store manager to advise him of what had happened but no one really seemed to care.

I just hate days where you get bad customer service.

Miss Social Butterfly

When my daughter got involved in a NJ larp club, I was ecstatic. She had always been a bit of a loner and had never made friends very easily. She made a friend with a girl at school who was really into larp and she invited her to join them one evening. Danielle went and had such a good time.

It has become an obsession with her, but I think it is a healthy one. She has friends, a social life and even has people calling the house for her, which has never happened before. She seems to be so much happier and she is bubbly and excited when she talks about her games or her friends.

It was exciting for me when she asked for costume armor for her birthday, as she has never wanted anything besides books before. It is a wonderful new life for her and I feel like a whole new mom.

Afternoon Advice

The nice thing that I like about Sunday is that the pace is a lot slower than during the week.  In fact, I would almost go as far as saying that you could take a day off of work, but so far, that hasn’t worked out for me.

But, I do like to get together with some friends on Sundays, just so that we can catch up on our weeks.  This has been a bit of a ritual for the last few years, and we quite often receive advice from one another.

I asked a good buddy what I should be doing in terms of lantana care in my yard - I was doing nothing at all.  We talked a bit about the plants that I had, how much I watered them and how I incorporated them into our landscaping designs.

After our chat, I thanked him for the advice, and took action - my plants are doing better than ever.  But, we are going to try to come up with some new landscaping design ideas so that our home is more unique.

Organization is not my Specialty

When I was building my house, I ran into a lot of headaches because I had not planned very well in advance. When I was ready for the shingling, I called every single Rhode Island roofing company in the yellow pages and I got the same story every time. They were booked for months in advance and I was going to have to wait.

I finally had one company take pity on me and they came to do my roof on a Saturday morning, which was usually their day off. I paid dearly for it and I was stuck finding someone who would do Rhode Island gutters, as they did not have time to do those. The task was a bit easier than finding the roofers, though.

The other problem I had was finding Rhode Island deck builders. Contractors did not want to take on such a small job in such a busy housing boom, but I needed to have it built and I certainly could not do it. I eventually hired my out-of-state nephew to come and do it.

If I ever build a house again, it will be far too soon.

Meeting Mickey

My daughter has a favorite Mickey Mouse book that I read to her every night before she goes to bed. When I am finished with it, she always asks me to read more. One night, after the regular routine, she told me that she wanted to meet Mickey Mouse more than anything in the world.

As a single mom of two little girls, I knew that it would be a stretch, but I decided to look into what it would cost me for Disney tickets. I found that if we went when it was not peak season, than I would be able to afford it for them.

My mom decided that I should not go alone and she came with us. She treated the girls, by upgrading our tickets to Hopper tickets. When Jamie saw Mickey Mouse, the way her face lit up made all of the hard work and saving worth it. They are good girls and I was happy that I could give them something that was long deserved.

Keeping My Family Safe

I was recently traveling in Iraq, doing some research for a weapons company that I work for. It was devastating to see, firsthand, the turmoil going on over there. I was going to make a call to my wife one night and was advised that I go down to the embassy and make a secure call.

I was told that was the only place that I could be assured of gsm security, as if my wife said the wrong thing and it got back to the wrong person, we could both be in a lot of trouble. I had never thought that something as simple as a phone call could put my family in jeopardy.

After that, it was something that I did not take lightly. I made sure that I had a secure gsm phone every time that I called her. My family is everything to me and I am just thankful that I received the good advice about phone calls when I did.

Losing My Zune Stuff

One of the most annoying things in life for me is when I lose something.  You know that we have all done something such as forgetting your coat on the bus, your homework at school, or even your keys at a friends house.  Not only is this very frustrating, but it can be really costly depending on what you have forgotten.

Today was a great example of how frustrating and angry you can get when you lose things.  It all started off in the morning when I forgot my Zune Dock Cable at home so that I wouldn’t be able to use it at work.  Definitely not the best start of the day.

Later on in the day, I found that my Zune Travel Charger was missing from my desk, and when I got back in the car, my Zune Car Charger was gone too.

I think that I will have to talk to the kids when I get home - someone must know where all of my stuff is.

Best Results

When I got a job promotion, it had to relocate to a new city. Once I was all settled in, I asked one of my coworkers where was the best place to find local singles. She told me that she had met her boyfriend at the gym. I decided to go and work out with her.

This did not prove to be very useful and after a couple of months with absolutely no dates, I decided to try some free online dating sites. This proved to be much more useful, as I was now able to find people who had common interests with me.

I did meet my boyfriend this way, but better than that was the fact that I made several great friends. Even when my boyfriend is busy, I now have people that I can call up if I am just looking for someone to hang out with.

Going to War

After many years of fruitless struggles, my husband and I decided to call it quits. We had tried and tried and we both realized that neither of us had been happy for years. As we had children, we decided that we would make the transition seamless for them and we thought that we could depart as friends.

I was stunned when I found out that he had hired Eric K. Johnson to represent him and that he was going for full custody of the kids. I was hurt that he had lied to me and was not willing to talk it through.

I did the only thing that I could and I hired a top Salt Lake City divorce lawyer. I was not going to lose my kids, as they meant more to me than anything in the world. I tried my best not to get them involved. It was certainly not their fault; none of it.

He Really Loves Me

When it came time for my boyfriend and me to start discussing our future together, he asked me what I was looking for in an engagement ring. I told him that I had always liked diamond rings in platinum and then told him that I was leaving the rest up to him. I did not want to help pick out my ring, as I wanted it to be a surprise and I wanted it to be something he did on his own as a way to show his love for me.

When he gave me my ring and asked me to marry him, I was amazed at how well he had done. I don’t think that I could have done a better job if I had picked it out myself. He definitely loved me and he really knew how to show it.

We went together to buy our wedding bands and we both decided that we wanted something simple. I did not want my wedding ring to take away from the beauty of my engagement ring.