My princess has developed a habit of spontaneously hugging me and murmuring “My daddy” over and over.” I love it. Good thing she doesn’t ask me for the car keys I might give them up.
Archives for February 2007
Vocabulary Words
I enjoy language and I enjoy learning new words. Here are some that are not used in every day conversation.
re·vanche (rÉ™-vänch‘, -väNsh‘)
n.
- The act of retaliating; revenge.
- A usually political policy, as of a nation or an ethnic group, intended to regain lost territory or standing.
[French, from Old French revancher, to revenge : re-, re- + vengier, vencher, to avenge; see revenge.]
revanchism re·vanch‘ism (-vän‘chÄz-É™m, -väN‘shÄz-) n.
revanchist re·vanch‘ist adj. & n.
revanchistic re·vanch·is‘tic adj.
Ri·so·ri·al
a.[L. ridere, risum, to laugh.]
Pertaining to, or producing, laughter; as, the risorial muscles.
pa·ron·y·mous (pÉ™-rÅn‘É™-mÉ™s)
adj.Allied by derivation from the same root; having the same stem; for example, beautiful and beauteous.
Ru·gate
a.[L. rugatus, p. p. of rugare to wrinkle, fr. ruga a wrinkle.]
Having alternate ridges and depressions; wrinkled. Dana.
Poor Customer Service
If you work in a position in which you provide any sort of service I have a simple suggestion. As a general rule of thumb it is a bad idea to lie to your customer. It is one of those things that can have severe ramifications.
Consider for a moment what happens if you get caught in the lie. It doesn’t engender confidence and you risk more than losing a single customer. In the age of the Internet it is exceptionally simple for customers to air their grievances with you and your organization to millions of people. That may sound like hyperbole but sometimes it is better safe than sorry.
And the example above doesn’t take into account whether said customer will be angry enough to try and pursue resolution through other means. Specifically they may choose to go over your head and complain to management and in theory that could find them at the highest levels of your organization. Your position may not be jeopardized by this, or maybe it will be. You just don’t know.
Normally I speak for myself, but I am going to step out onto a limb and suggest that many people are angered by being lied to. I know that it incenses me. It does more than tick me off. I don’t mind when people respond to my questions by telling me that they do not know the answer. I find that to be a suitable response. It may be frustrating, but it is honest.
The impetus for this post comes from an interaction I had earlier today. The yahoo I spoke with lied to me about the difficulty of uploading some information to an online site. Not only did they make up some nonsense about how hard it is to do so, but they compounded the problem by telling me that my business isn’t that important. It was something like:
“Mr. Shack, you are one of many people asking for this information so you are just going to have to wait. It probably will take between 5-7 days.”
Call me confused, but if you can take digital photos of my children and have the results prepared in less than an hour I fail to see why it would take 5-7 days to provide me with online access to said photos.
More to the point when you tell me that I will have access upon the same day as the pictures were taken I wonder why I haven’t got it.
Anyway, this was a very mild rant but I am due for something larger soon. Stay tuned.
What To Say When You Meet Your Girlfriend’s Father
Springsteen Jams With Street Musicians
Late Night Musings
Here is what is playing on iTunes this evening, or should I say past evening.
Joey
Concrete Blonde
Pictures of You
The Cure
November Rain
Guns N Roses
Your Song
Elton John
Take Me To The River
Talking Heads
Time To Say Goodbye
Bocelli and Brightman
Hey Jude
The Beatles
Golden Slumbers
The Beatles
Walking After Midnight
Patsy Cline
We Are All Made of Stars
Moby
Above
Blue Man Group
White Rabbit
Jefferson Airplane
Los Angeles
X
Radio Clash
The Clash
Mustang Sally
Wilson Pickett
Bittersweet Symphony
The Verve
Old posts that I read this evening:
The Father Leans On The Son
The Bearer of Bad Tidings- One Less Set of Footsteps
Do The Dead Walk In Dreams
Walking With The Dead
Grandpa Is Still Gone
Life is challenging
Thoughts about these posts. When I first started blogging I hadn’t any clue that community existed in the blogopshere. Since then I have learned that there is community. There is support and there are friends that I have made. I have shared some of my most intimate thoughts and feelings with you. I have let you see the soft underbelly and for the most part I have found it to be rewarding.
Blogging has and continues to be a positive experience for me. I have stumbled onto some fascinating blogs and learned about people that I never would have met. I am grateful for the experiences. I am humbled by much of what I have seen.
Some people claim that cyberspace is not real, but they are wrong. It is real. There are real people with real feelings and experiences. It has been a blessing.