May 22nd, 2007
Well today Garmin earned themselves a loyal customer.
I have one of these handheld gps’s, and one of the battery contacts broke off, when I was trying to make it be a better battery contact. So I finally called them today to send it in for repair, and discovered that I’m 3 weeks out of the warranty on it. Why that always happens I’ll never know, but much to my surprise, Garmin is cool!
So, they’re going to fix it under warranty. Isn’t that shocking? Instead of taking me for $200 (the price of an out of warranty “bring it back to factory specs” repair service.) They’re just gonna fix their gadget. So cool.
More bidnesses could learn from this… what was a negative experience (the premature failure of the battery contact) and making me consider a different brand of gps has been turned into a positive customer experience that actually improved my satisfaction. That’s smart. Amazing isn’t it, treat customers well, they like it. That’s smart.
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March 12th, 2007
I had a very bizarre Monday morning today… and, hopefully I can write this in such a way that it doesn’t sound lame. But then, how do you tell the story of someone dying in your driveway?
It began with my tree trimmer folks coming over to trim up all my trees. It’s pretty big job, with a big hill to walk up and down getting the wood from the bottom of my lot to the top. Anyway, they started to work, and I got busy with my work.
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December 15th, 2006
“Maybe get a blister on yo’ little finger, Maybe get a blister on your thumb!”
Yes indeed, my application of misdirected creative energy on the guitar is coming along. I now have my second lesson behind me. So far I’m enjoying it quite a lot. One thing that has really tripped me out is how quickly your body adapts to things. My fingers are finally getting toughened up so it doesn’t hurt so much to play. Last week, it felt like my fingertips had been burned, or like they were permanently a little numb. In only a couple weeks, I have nice little callouses there now, and it doesn’t hurt so bad (which on a mystified by my universe level I find completely fascinating.) That is, all except for my pinky, I’m afraid it might take it a little while to catch up!
I can play the intro to La Bamba now, and I taught myself (and by taught myself, I mean looked up guitar tab) the intro to The Beatles, “In My Life”, which admittedly is not a huge accomplishment, but it is neat to be able to make noises that sound really familiar. Last night, I taught myself Jingle Bells, but it still needs practice… I’m gonna try and have it down good by the time I go home for Christmas, because I figure if I am to torture them with my practice, I can at least do it with some holiday tunes.
Chord changes are really hard still, I have learned (in case you know yourself what I am talking about) Em, Am, C, G, D, and last week I learned another G, and Cadd7, and Dsus4, which are much easier to play, at least that C is. I can basically play the rhythm for Green Day’s “Good Riddance” now, but the regular old C is still a major bitch, which puts “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” out of reach still, pun intended.
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December 13th, 2006
Well, it’s a sad day for Cetaceans, well actually it’s a sad day for the planet. I guess those in the know have declared that Mother Earth has lost one of her dolphins forever. Following an expedition by 30 scientists to find one where they live turned up nothing, they have declared that the White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) is functionally extinct. Which means, even if there are individuals remaining, there are not sufficient numbers to breed and thwart extinction. Supposedly this is the first extinction in 50 years. That’s so sad to me. Everyone that knows me knows that there are times, usually when watching them play in the wake of a boat, that I wish I were a dolphin.
So anyway, an animal that thrived for 20 Million years, could not withstand a couple thousand coexisting with Man. I declare us the winner, please stop the game now. Apparently the Yangtze finless porpoise is also threatened, and fewer than 400 remain.
Read for yourself…
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December 8th, 2006
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December 6th, 2006
House of Blues, San Diego, December 5, 2006
Last night I made it out to the House of Blues to see Public Enemy, and man did I have a good time. There’s nothing like a really heavy high volume beat to bounce to, and PE delivered that up no problem. X-Clan opened, after The Banned (which play with Public Enemy) warmed up with 1/2 a dozen tracks.
It’s a trip the vibe that they put out at this show. It’s cool how they can some how mix in-your-face hip-hop, while at the same time proselytizing peace, love, unity.
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