Dining Out!

Denny's has a newer menu than what it was in the old days, and most of the dishes are tasty.  Denny's is also a quick stop, so it's a nice place to eat when you don't have all day.  In my experience, Denny's has a lack of consistency both in the physical appearance of the restaurant and in the quality of its food.  Last week, Y and I went to the Denny's on I-10 in North Palm Springs and man! was it NOT a good experience.

The restaurant is clean enough, but there is no ambiance and no sound damping, so every scrape of a plate is magnified into a significant noise. I became far too aware of the noise as I listened to the staff gossip and giggle, rather than come over to our table and take our order. Once the order was on the way to the kitchen, the gossip and giggling continued, often involving the cook in the conversation, which became very clear when our meals arrived.

My broccoli and chicken skillet was charred on the bottom; I've had it before at other Denny's and it was cooked perfectly, so I think the cook was distracted by the gossip girls.  It was impossible to get the staff's attention from our seats, so Y got up and went over to the group to ask for a refill on our water. Another couple at a booth near ours kept looking toward the staff huddle and I told them they may have to go over and break up the gossip group to get any service.  The best part of the meal was the apple crisp; the rest of the dining experience was sub-par.

I complained to the supervisor, who was one of the gossips, that the staff acted in a totally unprofessional manner and ignored customers who were there to be served.  She apologized and gave me a "free entrée" card--but it's only good at that Denny's location and I'll never eat there again!

The dining experience begins when the diner enters the parking lot, so the appearance of the business has to attract attention first and then be supported by what's inside.  The staff at this Denny's gave the impression that they really don't want to be there doing the job they were hired to do, and if I were their boss, I'd fire the whole crew and start over with people who want to be there and work hard to do a good job representing the venue and the menu.

As for the free meal card?  Thanks, but no thanks.

When is an idea a bad idea?

Is anyone else concerned that The Purge will implant some dangerous ideas into the heads of suggestible individuals who may think that a real “purge” is a good idea and implement it based on what they see on TV?  Today's populace seems to be unable to distinguish between what is fact and what is fiction. Far too many people believe that if they see it on TV or on their phones, it is truth and actionable.  Those who are on the verge between good and evil may not be able to comprehend that "it's just a TV show," and decide to get in on the purge program to right many of what they perceive to be wrongs in their lives.

It takes quite a while for an idea to become a TV reality, so I'm frankly amazed that this concept went through a vetting process, has been produced, and is now awaiting its season premiere. 

The Escape Artist

Our morning and evening walks are the same route: around the block.  It's not fancy, and it only takes 20 minutes, but the dogs have set their routine and we follow it.  The past mornings, since I returned from my trip East, Sparkle has come bounding across an empty lot on the street behind me.  She is evidently getting out the back of her property as easily as she gets out the front.

The first time she met us, I didn't have a leash, so I unhooked Cinnamon and clipped the leash to Sparkle and finished the walk by depositing her back into her own yard.  Since then, I just carry a spare leash, hook her up, and finish the walk by putting her back into her  own yard.  This morning, however, I put her back into her yard and she literally climbed the trash cans against the fence and was back in my yard before I could get to the garage door!  She has a leg injury that somewhat limits her movement, but it doesn't slow her down getting out of her yard.

She's still here as the man I talked to next door doesn't speak English and just stands there, smiles at me, and says, "Si"  to whatever I try to communicate.

I'm going to be away today, and I don't want Sparkle in the house while I'm not here.  I pretty much have her potty trained by using the doggie door, and I've given her some serious chewy toys for those big canines to bite into, but I don't want to not be here when she decides to try chewing on my furniture or one of the many afghans I keep on the seating spaces.  However, if I lock her out of the house, I also have to lock my 2 dogs out as I have to block the doggie door to keep Sparkle in the yard.

If the next-door neighbors are going to keep her, they need to replace the 4-foot fence with at least a 5-foot fence, and then become more aware of the fact that they have a dog and it must be cared for.  Leaving a dog outside 24/7 is not a good way to keep an animal, so I don't blame Sparkle for wanting to come to my house, where there's always food/water and a person there to interact with.  She loves to come up onto the couch with me, and seems to favor putting her head into my lap where she'll get some head scratching and some baby talk.

But, as I said and continue to say, I already have 2 dogs and I don't want a 3rd.

The Pants Order

I hate to shop on-line because I never know what the product really looks like, nor how it will fit. However, a few months ago I bought a pair of khaki pants that fit me, look nice, and hold their shape while wearing, so I decided to purchase a couple more pairs of the same pants for my upcoming tour of the major music cities.

Yesterday, I ordered the pants; today I realized I had ordered the wrong pants. I called to cancel the first order and make a new order, but it had been 24 hours since the original order was placed, so I have to wait for that order to arrive and send them back.  Okay; I can deal with that. I went ahead and placed the replacement order and was pleased with the service and the attitude of the CSR, who was very nice and friendly.

I no sooner logged off the order and went to my email to find a coupon for 20% off my order and free shipping.  The 5-hour time limit for the sale was 8am to 1pm East Coast time. I immediately called back to Blair and talked with a CSR about the code and the 5-hour sale and my order.  She placed me on hold for a couple of minutes and then came back online.

In very small print at the bottom of the email message is the caveat that the sale is on East Coast time, not Pacific time, and I had called in on Pacific time--so no 20% off and/or free shipping.  I told her that I didn't read that and apologized, but she also said that my order had to be made on-line and not over the phone. I told her I was sorry that I had not followed the directions in the small print and told her to cancel the order I had made earlier.  She asked me to hold for a minute, which I did, and when she came back to me she said that her supervisor said they would give me the 20% off and the free shipping because I had made an honest mistake.  I thanked her, but told her I was willing to cancel the order and call back later -- but she said we were good.

I cannot stress the value of excellent customer service!  I made the mistake and was willing to do it over, but the CSR realized that would just generate a lot of unnecessary paperwork for both the company and me, and she contacted her supervisor to offer a solution that saves them the paperwork and gets me a good deal that will bring me back to Blair the next time I am shopping for clothes.

It's a Case of Open and Shut

So, yesterday I was leaving the house to go to the post office (which is a short walk away), and pushed the button on the garage door opener to lift the garage door.  Nothing.  No sound, no movement.  I tried again and it opened with a very loud grinding noise that didn’t sound good.  Once I exited the garage, I pushed the button to lower the door and it did so in a jerky movement; again, not good.  Of course, when I returned I had the same experience, so decided to call the garage door man.

He arrived right on time, asked me about the symptoms, then climbed a ladder to check things out. He asked me to join him on the ladder, which I did, and I could clearly see the debris from a mechanical piece, meaning it was slowly disintegrating and the noise I’d been hearing was that metal-on-metal grinding.

All in all, not a good symptom of proper garage door operation.

I held my breath when I asked how much to fix it and got the expected answer: not fixable; needs to be replaced. Gulp. I mentally adjusted my in-my-mind cost and asked how much to replace the whole system and guarantee it won’t break within 6 months and need more money thrown at it.  He was very matter-of-fact: $600, all new system, and warranted.

It took us longer to have the conversation than it did for him to take out the old system and replace it with a new system.  It’s now very quiet; as a matter of fact, I can’t hear any sound when the system opens/closes the door, which is eerie.  I have to look to see if the door is raising or lowering.  He told me that there is no more chain; it’s a more sophisticated system than the one I’d been using for the past 15 years.  I have an option on the keypad next to the garage “house” door that will lock the system so no one driving by can open it remotely, which is nice to know if I’m going to be gone for a few days.

The good news is that I have a new system and can rest easy about the door falling on my head when opening/closing it, which was my fear with the old system.  The bad news is that it cost $600, which is a lot of money out of my pocket.

And there was a hiccup (isn't there always a hiccup?).  I left the garage to go do some errands and the garage door wouldn't close.  I must have tried a dozen times to get it to move and it simply wouldn't, so I called back to the repair service and asked for someone to come get me out of my garage so I can do errands.  Chris, the installer, arrived within an hour, walked up to the control console, and voila! down comes the door.  Of course I stood there feeling like a fool!  Deep inside, however, I knew that it didn't work for me, so I explained that it was hanging up at a certain place in the process and I pointed it out as he worked the control switch.

Yep, there was a hitch in the performance, so he adjusted the big spring at the top of the garage door opening and it worked fine.  Haven't tried it today, but I'm going to be positive that he fixed the problem and I have $600 worth of reliable operation out of my new system.

But the best part of the whole deal is that I “earned” another $25 certificate to use at a very pricey Italian restaurant that serves delicious meals.  The certificate should cover the cost of the tip should I take advantage of the deal, which I may because the food is out of this world good. After all, the certificate was “free.”