Friday we went to Ryan’s Wake. No no Ryan is fine, This isn’t some sadistic planning session. It’s just the name of a bar in Troy. On our way to New Hampshire we stopped over in Troy to visit my good friend Emily. As it turns out some of Emily’s other friends were visiting this weekend too so we got to meet them as well. We had a great night and we were glad for the place to stay for the night. Thanks Emily!
Rachel
Happy 80th Grandpa Heath!
Saturday we went to Grandpa Heath’s 80th Birthday surprise party. It was awesome because he has relatives all over the country who were able to make it, Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts and even Hawaii. It’s very rare that they all get together in one place and its even more rare that he doesn’t know its happening. You could see the joy on his face as he entered the door and saw all these family members from distance places. I’ve met most of the immediate family (Rachel’s uncles and aunts) but there were several that I hadn’t and lots of cousins that I had not met before.
I had the chance to meet Rachel’s uncle Brian, for the first time, who lives in Texas with his wife Carolyn and daughter Kristin. I’m very glad I did, They’re neat people and we got to spend even more time with them on Sunday. Brian owns a paint contracting business near Dallas/Ft Worth. I offered to let him stay busy painting our dining room while they were in town but he declined. C’mon man we’re family now!
I had the pleasure of meeting two more distant relatives, Rachel’s father’s nephews, Matt and Dan. Matt has a house in Hawaii and offered to let us stay (although he assured us he would not guide us around, he draws the line there) the next time we go. That’s fine Matt, we’ll be happy to hire a tour guide with the money we saved staying with you! As it turns out Dan is very much into Genealogy and we got talking about Rachel’s family tree. Apparently he has traced their tree back to a revolutionary war soldier. That means Rachel can join the daughters of the revolution! Not quite sure what that gets her besides a plaque and probably a lot of junk mail though… We traded E-mail addresses and Dan agreed to send us the tree, I agreed to get it into Geni which I’m trying to get all our family to use and I strongly recommend it for those of you who haven’t yet.
I was also able to see some relatives whom I’d met before but hadn’t seen in a while. Among these was Rachel’s cousin Becky, who was pregnant with her second child, Cheyenne, the last time I had met her. This time around she had the third child, Desmond, with her. They were very energetic which meant they probably slept like a log that night and I’m sure Becky is thankful for that.
Towards the end of the day Grandpa Heath opened all of his wonderful gifts and Matt, whom I had met earlier, presented Him with an American Flag which had been ceremoniously flown over the USS Arizona memorial in his name on September 11, 2007. It also came with a plaque with a military seal providing documentation that it was indeed flown over the memorial in his name at the time and date noted. It was all very moving because Grandpa Heath long ago served in the Navy during World War II until his responsibilities at home had called him back. The USS Arizona memorial had always held a special place in his heart but he hasn’t yet had the chance to visit it. I’m sure the flag and plaque will be long remembered by him as well as the rest of his family who was there to witness the gift.
A great event and I wish there were more like it.
28 Weeks of Intensity
Wow! Rachel and I watched 28 weeks later last night rented from redbox with a free promotion code. This movie was absolutely great! I liked 28 days later but the intense fast paced parts of the first were my favorite. In 28 weeks later that’s all you get. there’s about 20-30 minutes of slower lead in, but after that it’s none stop action, fast paced evasion and of course you get to see first hand the transformation of normal to infected in detail this time! If you liked the first one you’ll definitely like this one. I give it a 10/10.
If you’re interested check out the trailer.
Brian Regan – The Me Monster
Friday Rachel and I went with a bunch of our friends to a comedy show from one of my favorite comics of all time. This is the 3rd time I’ve seen him live and every time he has great new material. One of my favorite new bits was The Me Monster (I walked on the moon). Watch it below.
Marry Me
According to the New York Times there’s a new trend going on in the world of proposals. People are paying lots of cash to have photographers disguise themselves in order for them to capture the moment. Normally this is a very private and very special occasion however people are beginning to publish everything about their life on the Internet and what’s the sense of leaving out the most romantic part of your life? To that end I’ve decided to share our story for everyone to read.
Our engagement story is both romantic and spontaneous. Maybe that’s the same thing? I had the ring in my possession for months in advance just waiting for the right time to ask. In October of 2005 we found out that our good friend Charles was living in London and he offered us a place to stay. We looked into flights and since it was past high-travel season the flights were dirt cheap. We were able to fly direct to London from jersey for under $300 a piece. After talking with Charles we found out that London would be celebrating Guy Fawkes day in 3 weeks and we made our plans to start our vacation that weekend.
At that time I had still not decided whether to use this opportunity to reveal my intentions or not. In fact until 5 minutes before walking out the door for the airport I still hadn’t made up my mind. At the time I knew of no truly romantic places in London. However, as many of you know, just before leaving the house I did decide to take the ring with me.
Once there, and after talking with Charles I decided that the top of the London Eye would be the perfect place. It took some effort, but I convinced Rachel to wait until the last day of our trip to ride it. This was so we could end our trip with the best part of all (providing she said yes).
When we were finally at the top I asked a gentleman who was in the capsule with us to take our picture, much to Rachel’s dismay. She couldn’t understand why I would want a picture of us at the top when we wouldn’t even be able to tell and she asked:
Why don’t we get some shots of the beautiful scenery?
Then, while she was posing for the picture, I bent down on my knee and she began to ask “he’s taking our picture, why are you tying your sho….ohhhhhH!”
Will you marry me?
and we all know her answer.
In the beginning the only plan I had was to ask a stranger to take our picture at a romantic place and pop the question while he did. I think it turned out beautifully and the spontaneity just added to the romantic feel of the moment. What does this mean? That I’m 2 years ahead of The New York Times.
Wii Style Therapy
Sunday we tried out the Wii with some family and it was a huge success. First, Rachel’s mother practically brought down the house with some hysterical laughter as she attempted to race her steer mounted Mii into scarecrows. Then, as she worked up a sweat, she knocked out her husband of 29 years. He deserved it though with the constant taunting and teasing during baseball.
The Wii was a great success and by the end of the night the phrase
We’re gonna have to get one of these things
was uttered more than once.
Wiiiiiiiiii bought one
So ever since the Wii came out I’ve said that its nothing more than a controller. I still believe that to be true, and I find the actual console worthless.
So why did we buy one? Well, its complicated.
The first part of the answer is Sony’s fault. There’s just no games to play on the PS3. The second part of the answer is that Rachel and I can both play the Wii and have fun. The third part of the answer is simple, peer pressure.
In any event we have one now, so if you do and you want to friend us either contact us or join the Rochester Wii Group.
Thank you Everyone!
One and a half years of planning, four months of frenzy, a one day celebration and 2 weeks of relaxation… We did it!
Life as a married couple has been good to us so far. We’d just like to say a final thanks to everyone who made our wedding the most beautiful and blissful day a couple could wish for. Not to mention all the fun we had! We couldn’t ask for a better start to a long happy life together.
Special thanks go out to:
The Parents, without your love and support we wouldn’t have been able to do it at all
The Bridal Party Consisting of:
- Lisa Jordan – Maid of Honor
- Anthony Ventura – Best Man
- Lisa Day
- Miriam Cortez
- Tess Hey
- Jennifer Lehr
- Brian Wilson
- Charles Rich
- Michael Heath
- George Heath Jr
Claire Masten for her touching reading from 1st Corinthians
Elizabeth Fino-Radin from The Starry Strings Quartet for the beautiful violin
Annette Dragon for all the beautiful photography
Whirlin’ Disc DJ for getting everyone on the dance floor
Mike from The Burgundy Basin for making sure everything went smoothly
Phaedra Andalora from Liberty Travel for putting together our Honeymoon
Two Souls Join as One
This weekend Rachel and I attended Cory and Maggie’s wedding. Their ceremony was beautifully done, outside overlooking some fantastic scenery including some Great Blue Heron’s spreading their wings to soar above the trees in perfect wedding-time bliss!
Cory and Maggie added some splash of uniqueness (as most weddings tend to do) and one of our favorite moments was the combining of the sand vases into one. This was symbolism at its best and the ability to keep the result was the icing on the cake (or perhaps the sand in the vase?).
I was overly impressed with the vision of photographers on scene and their ability to setup poses. I’m sure they got some fantastic shots but I snapped some of my own which I thought I’d share so take a peek. The entire album is also available, some photos of which are interesting some of which are horribly bad but that’s because it was a learning experience. Overall the wedding was absolutely beautiful.
Best wishes and all the best to Cory and Maggie Winters.
To Serve or Not to Serve (The Customer)
He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own. ~Confucius
We are affected by Customer Service more than once every day. It makes a difference when you get your coffee in the morning, it matters when you fill your gas tank on your way home and when you buy your weekly groceries. The way in which you are served leaves a lasting impression on you. To that end it is my belief that Customer service should be the most important part of any business regardless of its particular niche. This week two companies left their impression on me and I’d like to outline those impressions below.
The Good News
Sometimes when you’re at the brink of never shopping somewhere again they can unexpectedly surprise you. That was the case with Circuit City this week. I live approximately 5 miles from the nearest Circuit City and rather than go there and find out they didn’t have what I wanted in stock i decided to give them a call. Literally 20 minutes after being on hold, being transferred 10 times, calling back twice and complaining, I finally got in touch with a manager who then instructed me she’d check the inventory and call me back. All this for a simple inventory check?
She called me back to let me know what I needed was in stock and that she’d have it held at the desk. Perfect. I headed over picked up what was held at the desk for me and went home. The problem arose when I tried to use it. The item I picked up turned out not to be the item I had asked for. Furious, I stormed back to Circuit City the next morning expecting a fight since I had already opened the package. When I arrived back at the store the same person was working the counter and instantly recognized me (it was also the Manager who I had talked to on the phone the previous day) and said:
You’re just not having any luck with this are you?
I said “no I’m not” in a gruff early-morning voice and she then proceeded to do the exchange without any more complaints. At the end of the transaction she explained that she had also credited my card for $8.50 (when there was no price difference) simply for the ‘inconvenience.’ Instantly she transformed my frustration into acceptance and even happiness. Not only did she fix my original problem but went above and beyond to simply make sure I wasn’t frustrated with their service.
The Bad News
My wife Rachel and I are planning on going to the Brian Regan show with some friends in our hometown in a few weeks. Since I sent out the notice to let people know about the show I offered to buy tickets for everyone so that we would be seated together. Originally I priced the tickets on TicketMaster at $30 a piece. This is what I told everyone and what I collected.
When I actually ordered the tickets The real bill included $2.50 (per ticket) for a facility charge, $7.50 for a convenience charge(per ticket) and a $3.60 service tax(total). That’s $10 per ticket more than advertised and an additional $3.60! After giving them a call I found out that the facility fee is actually charged by the venue so there’s nothing we can do about that however the tax and convenience charge is something Ticketmaster applies on top of the ticket price. Also I found out they only charge this convenience charge on the phone or on the Internet. If you go to the Ticketmaster counter the fee is waived.
How in the world does this make sense? Because it’s more convenient for me order my tickets from the comfort of my home you get to charge me more money? I say shenanigans! When I order from home especially over the Internet, I’m not distracting your customer service people from their real jobs, serving people who really need their help. It costs you no additional money to let me buy over the Internet. In fact I say it costs you less because you don’t need to have someone standing at a counter.
So what did I end up doing? Going to the actual venue and buying them direct. I had to leave work early just to get there while the box office was open. Such a complete inconvenience and utter customer service failure.
In Summary
The age old statement
The Customer is always right
Shouldn’t just be a saying on some old warn out poster behind your counter. Make it your policy, your goal, your JOB. After all, who pays your salary? What’s the best type of advertising?
That’s right Customers.
Randy Aldrich 