Customer Service...or the lack there of (pt 2)

So Friday came and still no credit to my checking account for the erroneous withdrawl that Verizon made as a payment. So once again I called customer service. As I was waiting for someone to pick up the call Verizon's recorded customer service pledge was playing over and over. It said that Verizon's objective was to solve your problem the first time you report it. Ha! Finally a customer service rep answered the phone. After a brief discription from me as to what had transpired, again, she apoloigised, again.

Then she put me on hold so that she could read all of the notes that had been put on my account. She came back to the line and said it would take about 30 minutes for her to research the problem and wanted to know if she could call me back. I was going to the gym and wasn't going to be available for about 90 minutes so she agreed to call then.

The 90 minutes turned into about 100 minutes but she called. She advised that the paper work to generate the credit back to my checking account had never been filled out nor processed since I originally reported the problem on Tuesday. What was that customer service objective I heard on the recording...."fix it the first time!" apparently not so much! She apologised again and said that her supervisor was right there with her and that they would submit the paper work and some action should be taken on Monday. I asked for a call back on Monday so that a status of the situation could be determined.

So we'll see what Monday brings!

Home Improvment

As I was driving to work this morning I passed a truck for a local home improvement company. The side of the truck was adverstising the name of the company- ConCreation. I chuckled to myself as it turned off on a side road.....if they really want business to multiply....shouldn't they rename it ProCreation! ..........Ba dah bup bup!

Customer Service or the lack there of....

About a month an 1/2 ago I ordered a new phone from Verizon for my wife. A day or so after I ordered the phone I decided to look at my account online and found a new phone number had been added. Apparently when I ordered the phone something got screwed up and Verizion added a new line along with the phone. Her new phone came a few days after that and a day after her phone arrived, yet a second phone came. I had called Verizon when I saw that the bogus line had been added to our account and now had to call them back about the extra phone. I was instructed on how to return the phone and was assured that my account would be credited for the line and the phone.

I had signed up for automatic payments for my Verizon bill back in February. It actually was working out quite nice. They debited my checking every month on the same day and it was one less bill I had to remember to pay. I decided because of all of the screw ups with my account that I didn't want my June bill to be auto debited because I was afraid they would take the incorrect amount.

The June bill came and it was less than $20. I paid it this past weekend. Today, I logged on to get my Comcast emails and saw an email from Verizon. When I opened it it said that my June bill of $98 would be debited from my account on Tuesday. Sure enough when I checked my bank account it had been deducted. So had the payment I'd made over the weekend.

You betcha I was on the phone to Verizon pronto! The customer service rep advised that if an account was set up on the autopay that sometimes it takes two months to stop it. I said that isn't what I was told and now there wasn't going to be enough for my mortgage payment when it was deducted. Again the Verizon rep apologise but restated that there wasn't anything she could do. I could feel my blood pressure begin to rise. The rep kept telling me that my credit would carry over to my July bill. I said that was find and dandy but I didn't have an extra $98 to make up for the difference until next month. Nonetheless, the rep maintained she could do nothing about it.

I was maxed out on patience. I asked if I could speak to a supervisor. She asked me to hold. I waited for about 5 minutes and she came back to the phone. Her supervisor wasn't available but she said she was going to issue a credit back to my checking account and said it should be effective before noon. So I'm thinkin' to myself, "thought you couldn't do anything!" She then asked for a phone number that I could be reached at to confirm that the credit had been issued.

By 3:45 this afternoon I still hadn't received a call back so I called Verizon back. Of course I had to explain the entire story including what transpired today to the new customer service rep that answered the phone. She too put me on hold and then came back to the phone after 5 minutes. This customer service rep apologised (the sure know how to do that!) and said that it takes 48 to 72 hours for the credit to get applied to my checking account. She assured me that it would show up on my account by Friday at the latest. I thanked her and ended the call.

I wonder how many people just take the word of the first customer service rep that I spoke with who insisted that there was nothing she could do until I pushed a little harder. What is up with customer service! Why should I have had to ask to speak to a supervisor to finally get some action that could have been taken care of in the first place. I'm locked into a contract but I will definitely consider a different provider once it comes to an end.

Won't you be....my neighbor

Lori and I are sitting at Panera this morning having a bagel and reading the Sunday paper. A woman walks in the door smiling and mouths "hello." I assume she is looking past me to someone sitting behind me. Lori looks at me and says "do you know her?" I said I have no idea and thought she must have been saying hi to someone behind me. Lori said she was looking right at us. I shrugged and went back to the paper. A few moments later I looked up and there was a man standing with the woman who'd just come in. It was then that the light bulb came on. They were our neighbors who live directly across the street from us. How sad is that. We've lived across the street from this couple for 9 years and I didn't even recognize them.

Of course, after I recognized him I said hello to both of them and said how sad it was when you don't even recognize someone who lives right across the street from you. We all laughed and then went back to what we were doing.

I think it was about a year, maybe 2 years ago, we'd gotten a floral delivery at our house. It was for a neighbor and the delivery person asked if they could leave at our house because the people the flowers were for weren't home. I waited a while and called the phone number on the card of the people who should have received the flowers to see if they could come pick them up. They answered the phone and I gave them my address and they said they would be there in a few minutes to pick up the flowers. A few minutes passed and there was a knock at the door. It was this same guy from Panera this morning. He'd drove up and down our street trying to find our house not even realizing that I was right across the street. Again...isn't amazing how you can live 500 feet from someone and not even realize that you do.

As we walked out of Panera this morning, our neighbors were sitting at one of the outside tables. We stopped and had one of those surface-y 'how's life' kinda conversations. We talked about the weather, our dog, their dog....etc. We bid our farewells and went to our car.

As we were driving home I said to Lori, "we should invite them over for coffee sometime, we know they drink it now!"

Relationships. It means being intentional.

Two by two

Lori and I had the opportunity to attend a special private viewing of "Evan Almighty" last week while were at the Willow Creek Art's Conference. We're typically not big movie fans. Once in a while we'll rent something but rarely go to the theater. But, hey, we were out of town and it was a great opportunity to spend time with some friends.

The theater wasn't far from Willow but we opted to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory at Woodfield Mall first. We had to watch our time as we had a further distance to get to the theater and we're talkin' Chicago traffic. All was good until we decided to order dessert. But c'mon....who can go the Cheesecake Factory and not have cheesecake. It was delicious but it also made us get to the theater about 15 minutes later than we wanted but everything worked out fine. We got great seats and saw a awesome movie.

Morgan Freeman plays God again in this movie and does a phenominal job. Steve Carrells (The Office) does an awesome job in his Noah-like role. The movie is well written and very funny. I don't recall any language or nor any other objectional content.

One of the very thought provoking nuggets was was when Morgan Freeman, posing as a waiter in a diner, was talking to Evan’s wife about life’s struggles and how God will put us in the midst of something we struggle with to see how we will react and grow from the situation. Do we take the high road, the path that God desires us to take, or do we take the low road and try to deal with a situation like we assume it needs to be dealt with only to find more struggle and disappointment.

Hollywood did good on this one! I recommend you see it whe it opens this Friday and come back and tell me what you thought.

weekend recap

Reflective, insightful, contemplative and maybe even a little pensive are just a few of the words that describe the weekend service at GCC (Granger Community Church) this weekend. Last week ended a 5 week series on the enemy that lurks within us. Topics included temptation, revenge, selfishness, insecurity and gossip. All of those topics were somewhat culminated giving us all an opportunity to ponder how all of those things are affecting our lives.


I think most of us, I know its true for me, hear that little voice inside our heads telling me what the right choice in all things that we do and say. Yet it can be so easily cast aside and ignored.

A common scripture weaved into the message was Romans 7: 14 -16.....

I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise......

There is no doubt how quickly I can get caught up in "me" and when I allow that to happen I'm only opening the door and giving the "enemy within" a prime, tactical position. When life becomes all about me, temptations, bitterness, selfishness and insecurity begin to fester and the road out of the land of "me" seems unsurpassable.


This weekend reminded me how I have to guard myself from the "enemy within." But it seems that I often live in the land of "me" and only vacation outside of it. Kind of reminds me of the lyrics to Hotel California..."you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave"

But I have a way out.

Romans 7:24-25 24 I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different


....because people matter. Because I matter.

Renaissance Man

So, I've been in Chicago with my wife for the last 3 days attending a conference on using Arts in the church. We were staying in this really nice hotel. The guest rooms were much plusher than the hotels where I usually stay. The king size bed had a "comfy" pillow top mattress. There was a large flat screen tv on the bureau. Next to the complimentary coffee and coffee maker was bottle water in glass bottles imported from Norway (course it was clearly marked $4.00 on each bottle). The bathroom had a tv in the mirror. Nothing like shaving and catching the morning news all at the same time. And there was even a STARBUCKS in the lobby.

Last night, after a long day at the conference Lori and I returned to our room around 9:30pm. When the light flooded into the room when I opened the door it was obvious the bed had never been made. I flipped on the light and it was quite evident the room had not been cleaned. I opened the door to the bathroom and the towels we used in morning were still in the basket that was provided for used towels. The entire day had gone by and our room was never cleaned! I just stood there in disbelief.

I walked over to the phone and called the front desk to let them know what had happened. Of course they were very sorry and wanted to know if we wanted the room cleaned right then. We were very tired and I wasn't in the mood to wait for someone to come tidy up what should have been tidied up hours before we returned so I declined. The person at the front desk offered to send up some clean towels and I said that would be nice and hung up.

We waited and waited .............and waited and still there was no knock at the door. Finally after 30 minutes had passed I called the front desk again. Once again the clerk was very sorry and advised that she would bring the towels herself and shortly thereafter the knock at the door came.

Fast forward to this morning. I got up around 6am and found the room bill had been shoved under the door and was laying on the floor in an envelope. After showering and going down to the STARBUCKS to get my much needed coffee, I told Lori I was going to go check out while she finished getting ready. She asked if I was going to say anything about the room not being cleaned and I said that was my plan.

I get down to the front desk and am greeted by a friendly young man who asked if I was checking out. I said I was, set my STARBUCKS cup on the ledge separating us, but also said I had something that I would like him to address. When I had finished telling him about the status of the room when we returned last night he offered to take the $15 charge off of the bill for the one day of internet access and he'd give me coupons for a free STARBUCKS. I looked at him and said I appreciated the fact that he wanted to accomodate my, but we paid over $150 per night for this room in, what I considered a more upscale hotel, wouldn't you think our room would be clean when we returned? And then I said that I already had STARBUCKS, and pointed to my cup. He looked at the bill again and said he would be right back and disappeared into the back room.

A few moments later he returned and said that they were not only going to refund my one day internet access but they were also going to take 25% off my charge for last nights stay. I thanked him for the efforts that he made to rectify my issues and took the new bill back up to the room as he also advised that if checked out I wouldnt be able to get back into the room.

I didn't want to make a bigger deal out of this than it was but I did want to get my point across. Addtionally, I was quite impressed that the front desk clerk took the time to make it right with me. He had several options. He could have just apologised and done nothing. He could have said that his original offer of removing the internet access charge and the free STARBUCKS was the best he could do, or a variety of other things. But he didn't do any of those things. He chose to go above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction and that isn't something you often get in todays world. Thank you Marriott Renaissance.

Other duties as assigned....

I am not, and I emphasize the NOT, a guy who is mechanically inclined and most definitely 'carpenter-ly challenged. I only bought my first hammer about 8 years ago. My wife would confirm that if anything needs to be done from a repair or construction standpoint at home, we'll be paying someone to do it.

My church, Granger Community Church(GCC) (www.gccwired.com) has recently taken on an endeavor to renovate some buildings in the near downtown area of South Bend and its called the Monroe Circle Community Center (MC3). It will house a food pantry, alternative school....etc. Much renovation is going on at MC3 and there is an outstanding request for anyone who wants to volunteer to help to "come on down."

Although I've thought of helping, my obvious lack of construction skills has prevented me from taking that next step......that is until this morning.

I arrived at work this morning around 7:15 am (which happens to be at GCC) and was organizing my day. One of our facility care workers , Phil, appeared in my doorway and said there was someone here wanting to deliver windows. "Windows," I said. "Wouldn't a window delivery be for MC3?" I walked out to the reception area with Phil to talk with the delivery man.

The delivery man thought as well that the windows probably went downtown, but said this was the address he was given. He said he was going back out to his truck to make some calls. I said I'd go back to my office and see who I could contact to get more information.

I was able to reach Theresa, the GCC onsite project leader, for the MC3 project. She was able to give me the phone number of Mark, the MC3 onsite project leader. I phoned Mark who advised he'd been waiting for the delivery of windows for 45 minutes and was going to have to leave because he had another meeting he couldn't miss. I said if it would help, I could drive downtown and let this delivery person in to the building. Mark was elated as they wanted to get these windows installed this coming weekend and if he left the installaiton would obviously be delayed.

Mark advised he'd hide a key for me and I could unlock the door and let the window delivery man in when I got arrived. I went out to the parking lot to tell the delivery man what was going on and he was driving out of the parking lot. I quickly called Mark back and advised him of what had happened. He said he'd call the window company and get the guy re-routed downtown if I'd still come down. I said I'd be happy to come down.

As I was driving downtown it occurred to me that I've never been down to MC3 and I really wasn't exactly sure where I was going. I hoped I was going to what I thougth was the right place. Mark told me on the phone where he would hide the key for me to unlock the building. Ok, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was freaking out just a little. As I said, I really wasn't certain where I was going and what I was in for once I arrived. Is the back of the building in an alley, can people see me? Chicken, yes. I decided I was staying in the car until the delivery truck arrived.

When I arrived at MC3 the window delivery guy was already there waiting for me to let him in.

As I mentioned, Mark told me where he would hide the key he was leaving but when I got there outside of the building all looked the same. After some minmal effort I finally found the key and unlocked the door. I walked in and was astounded at the work that had been going on inside. For a building that appeared somewhat rundown on the outside, I could tell that the inside was on it's way to being a spectacular place with an incredible future.

When I went back outside the delivery guy had his truck backed up and the back opened, displaying a truckload of windows to unload. He started bringing them down the ramp and I asked if it was ok if I could help. He said certainly. I was a little apprehensive at first as I thought it he drops one of the windows he's liable...if I drop one of them....yikes! But I picked a window up under each arm and marched down the ramp. Here goes nothin!

The further back in the truck, the bigger the windows got. As the last set of the medium sized windows were brought in I realized that there was a door to the outside in the room in which we were storing the windows. I said "guess we could have been bringing them in through here, would have been a lot easier!" And I opened the door for the remaining windows that had to be brought in. It was a good thing as they were double hung (I think thats the right terminology for 2 windows side by side.....see I told you lack of construction skills!). As we were carrying the double hung windows down the ramp it occurred to me that flip flops were not the preferred choice of footware when moving windows and I hoped they wouldn't cause me to fall. Yeah, I didnt!

As we carried the last few windows in we were talking about this and that. I learned his name was Trent and he grew up in Canada. He asked how long I'd worked at GCC and what I did. I said I'd been there about 3 months and I was the office administrator and HR person.......and as we wrapped up....I looked at him and said....and other duties as assigned!

Temptations that Click

We're currently in a series of messages at church entitled "The Enemy Within." Two weeks ago the message was about temptation. There is no one who doesn't face some kind of temptation in their life. We have the choice to cave in to the temptation or walk away.

"Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive. Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive.....Money, sex, in full control, a generation without soul, Perfect people in a perfect world, behind closed doors all in control, Life, in a world of luxury, cold cash money mentality, You gotta keep the faith, you gotta keep the faith, You better keep the faith and run away" Real McCoy


This past weekend I rented the movie called "CLICK" with Adam Sandler. I like comedies and thought this would be a fun and light hearted flick to watch. How wrong was I! The premise of the movie (my apologies to those who haven't see it) is that Sandler's character gets a TV remote control that allows him to pause, rewind and fast forward his life or things surrounding his life. As you can imagine, it gets out of control. He begins to fast forward past the things in life that he doesn't want to deal with. The temptation to continue to fast forward gets so intense as the movie goes on that he eventually ends up losing his wife and his life. However, there is a surprise ending I won't let you in on

The movie really made me think a lot about my life and who I am and some of the similarities between me and Sandler's character in the movie. Avoidance, especially when conflict may be the outcome, is one of the classic temptations that plagues me. How many things have I left unadressed in my life because of my temptation to avoid whatever it might be if there was the potential for disagreement. What does that mean when it comes to sticking up for what I believe? The more I pondered it, the more depressing it became.

What must God think of me when the temptation to avoid situations in my life consume me. How do I make him feel when I cave into other temptations that I should have walked away from


"Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive. Run away, run away, run away and save your life. Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive...." Real McCoy

This week I was reading Jonah 1 and once again God hit me where it hurts and spoke great truth into me. God told Jonah to go one way and Jonah ran in the opposite direction. More often than I want to admit, I choose my own desires over God's desires for me which always leads to regret. Just as Jonah did, I run in the opposite direction, not wanting to face the challenge that You has been placed before me.

"If you point your feet in this direction, you'll never end up over here..." Mark Beeson

God knows that temptation is going to overwhelm and overcome me and that I'll end up succumbing to it more than I want. That's why he sent Jesus. And just like a sponge, Jesus absorbs that which I am too weak to resist. Sin. And I'm forgiven.

God's response is summed up nicely in the lyrics from this Christina Aguilera song entitled "Hurt"

....I would hold you in my arms, I would take the pain away, thank you for all you've done
forgive all your mistakes, There's nothing I wouldn't do, To hear your voice again, Sometimes I want to call you but I know you won't be there


The last line is the killer though. "Sometimes I want to call you but I know you won't be there." It's then that I need Him the most. When I get entrapped by temptation, I only fulfill more temptation when I turn away from the One who can save me from it.

Run away, run away, run away if you want to survive.... Real McCoy

I do want to survive. I believe that, yes, there are indeed things that I need to run away from. But I also don't believe that God wants me to run into and face head on no matter the degree of difficulty. I need to find reassurance that He will guide me through.

Ain't no other man, can stand up next to you, Ain't no other man on the planet does what you do....Christina Aguilera

There's no "I" in team

I think that Lori and I do a good job of pitching in together at home to get things done. When laundry needs to be done, we both do it. When dusting and vacuuming needs to be done, we both do it. When cleaning the kitchen needs to be done, we both do it. For the most part I don't think that either of think any particular chore has a hard and fast assignment to either of us. Of course there are things that each of us just normally do but I know that if it needed to be done and the one of us that didn't usually do that chore would do it.

Last night it was confirmed to me how much we are committed to each other and how we step up to helping each other. Mowing the lawn is definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I love a highly manicured and landscaped lawn, I just don't want to be the one who makes it that look that way. Problem is that I'm so particular about the way the lawn looks I don't like to just cut the grass and walk away from it. At a minimum of extra effort, there is the trimming and blowing the clippings off the side walks and patio that needs to be done each time the lawn is mowed.

One of the things that causes me to resent mowing the lawn is that it takes away from the time I can spend with Lori in the evening. It takes a good 90 minutes to cut the grass and complete the peripherals associated with it. By the time you get home from work and start on the project it's near 7pm before you're finished.

Last night not only was I faced with cutting the grass but we had to go to Niles immediately after work to pick up Lori's car as it had had some warranty work done on it at the dealers. So instead of getting home at around 5pm I didn't get home until closer to 6. However, I quickly changed clothes and cranked up the mower.

I was about 3/4 of the way completed when I happpened to go past the side of the garage. Lori was in the front of the garage untangling the extension cord for for the blower as she was going to blow off the walks and drive way out in the front of the house for me. I was so caught of guard by this. I stopped dead in my tracks and waited for her to look up. When she did I mouthed "I love you" over the roar of the mower and she smiled back. I was overcome by the time I got to the back yard. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I was blown away once again by what an awesome gift God had given me as a wife. She knew how much I didn't like to do what I was doing and she came to help bail me out. No natter what it is, we work together to get it done.

The tears never came. Now that would be a sign of weakness! But the potential was there. I finished mowing the lawn with a smile on my face knowing how much she loves me and knowing how much I love her. And remembering, for us there is no "I" in team.

Sprinkle Sprinkle little Star

For the past several years I've had Wissco come and blow out our sprinkler system in the fall and turn it back on in the spring. It's actually an expensive process but knowing my abilities, or more like lack there of when it comes to stuff like that I thought it best.

Two years ago there was an independant sprinkler guy blowing out our neighbors system and he asked if I'd like to get ours done. I'd already had Wissco complete the task for the year but said I'd take his card and call him the following year. His price was considerably lower than what I was paying and our neighbors seemed pleased with his work. So this past fall I had Randy come blow out the sprinklers in the fall and saved myself several dollars.

I'd called Randy in March to see if he could come and turn on the sprinklers at the end of April but got his voice mail. I waited for a week or so and hadn't heard back from him so I decided to go ahead and make an appointment with Wissco (there goes that 'patience' flaw again!) A couple days after I'd made the appointment Randy left me a voice mail and said it was probably too cold yet to turn the sprinklers on and to call him back in April.

About a week or so ago I called Randy back to see what he'd charge to come turn the sprinklers on. He said that I could do it and he'd walk me through the process on the phone and that way I wouldn't have to pay for anything. So believe it or not I was able to 'git r done' and the sprinklers were functioning just fine. I was still a little cold and suppose to rain so after the initial test of each zone I opted to leave them turned off for the meanwhile.

It had rained a few times and we'd had some fertilizer put down and the grass was growing as it does in the early spring, very unevenly. The lawn really needed to be mowed so I decided to for go my trip to the gym after work and come home and cut the grass.

I fired up the lawn mower and started on the tree lawn. I always start mowing on the tree lawn. I don't know why....its a habit. I'm cruisin along and the mower bumps into something. I pulled back on the mower and then pushed forward with more force just thinking that perhaps it was a mole tunnel or something that I need to go over. As soon as I did I heard this zzzzzzzzzzzzzzziiiiippppppppppp. I knew immediately what it was and was sick to my stomach. When I tested the zones for the sprinklers one of the heads didn't retract back into the ground and I buzzed the thing right off. I couldn't believe it. How could I have been so stupid.

So I'm thinkin' so much for saving money on having the sprinklers turned on. Had Wissco come out they check everything thouroughly and the sprinkler head would have probably never been left in the up position. How much was this gonna cost now to have a service call! Probably twice as much as I would have paid to have them come out and turn them on. I could see the $$ signs rolling in my head.

I found out from my son that our landscaper also can service sprinkler systems so I called him and confessed what I'd done. Dan said he'd be happy to come out and make the repair. I haven't gotten the bill from yet but I'm hopeful that it will be less painful than what I anticipated.

See why, when it comes to me, I should let trained people do their job! If were up to me I'd have a yard full of fountains!

Florida boy

This is Josh just before he left for Orlando this past Friday. He called in the early evening to tell us that he was still in Ohio. Apparently it took him longer to get out of town than his original plan of before noon.

Later Friday night, I think around 9:30 he phoned again and said they were just entering West Virginia. I didn't speak to him this time but from what I could gather from his conversation with Lori that things were going well on the road trip.

I think the phone rang again around 12:30 am and it was Josh again. He was at a friends in North Carolina. We were relieved that he'd decided that his plan was to spend the night there at his friend Tim's and then finish his trip on Saturday. It was a little easier to sleep knowing he'd made it to his day 1 destination.

Saturday morning Lori and I were doing our usual Panera thing with our most excellent friend Dixie. We had arrived at Panera around 9 am. I can't remember what time Josh called but it was fairly early (Josh time). He said that he and John (the friend that was making the trip down with him to give him company) were just getting into Jacksonville. I said ''Jacksonville, what time did you get up and get started?" He said that the sleeping accomodations at Tim's house in North Carolina didn't work out so he and John, after resting for a while, decided to keep going. He said he was really tired. I guess I was glad I didn't know that then night before as I probably wouldn't have slept well at all.

Around or near noon my cell rang again and it was Josh again. He didn't even say hello. He just blurted out in a very excited but tired voice...."I'm standing in my new living room!" I thanked God over and over that they had arrived safe. I chatted with him for a few minutes as he described his empty apartment with great enthusiasm. He was so excited! I passed the phone to Lori so she could share in his joy. When she got off the phone Lori said that Josh and John were heading to the pool at the apartment complex to crash in the sun.

Later Saturday night we'd gone to Saugatuk with our friends Richard and Reta for dinner. We were on our way home around 9pm when my cell rang again. It was Josh again. He said hi and then asked what kind of laundry soap we used at home. I said "what?" And he repeated himself. I asked where he was and he was at Wal Mart grocery shopping. Who'd a thought that Josh would have cared what kind of laundry soap we used at home. What a funny boy! Of course the "mom" in Lori kicked in when she heard he was doing something with laundry and she started relaying helpful hints for me to tell him about how to do his wash. Such a mom she is!

It's Sunday evening now and we haven't heard from him all day today. Earlier this morning we were both upstairs and the house creaked as houses do. Lori said for a moment she thought it was just Josh coming in the front door. Yep, it's gonna take some getting used to. Seems like as parents you kind of look forward to those "empty nester" days....but when then finally arrive its not always as easy as you thought.

Packin' his trunk

Josh is packin' his trunk and getting ready to make his move to Florida. It's countdown week with only 4 days to go. He has wanted to attend school at Full Sail since his senior year in high school (which was only year ago) and its finally come to fruition.

This month has been insane trying to get all of the details of this transition completed. From filling out student loan forms to finding adequate housing, we've been on the phone or on the computer non stop.

Lori and I were fortunate enough to be able to meet some of his advisers and see the college when we were on vacation two weeks ago. We were also able to take some pictures of the potential apartment complexes he would have to choose from for 'sight unseen' housing.

I'm so excited for this adventure for him. But intermingled in the excitement is worry and sadness. Worry because he's going to have to jump in head first into life and all that it deals you and sometimes what you're dealt isn't all that great. Sad because, even though we don't always see eye to eye on most things, it will be very strange not seeing him around the house, just coming and going.

Josh has wanted this to happen so much for such a long time and I pray that he will have unbelievable success in his classes and all that a career in SHOW PRODUCTION will bring.

Good Days Bad Days

We have a monthly meeting at work and often our supervisor will challenge us with a question or two to help us grow in our walk in life and work. This week we were asked to give an example of a good day and a bad day at work.

I pondered this good day / bad day and I wasn’t sure if it meant the whole day had to be a good day or a bad day and after contemplating it for awhile I’m not sure that I could pinpoint an entire day that was totally good or totally bad. I know how ill-equipped I am at making the best of a day and nearly every morning in my quiet/journaling time I ask God to equip and empower me to do what is set before me that day in ways that will please him and allow me to accomplish what has been set before me. This has been especially true since I’ve started my new job as what I’m doing is so different from what I’ve been doing (from a career standpoint) for the past several years. I know that if I try to take the reigns by myself that inevitable disaster probably lies around the corner and so I look to God for guidance.

Good as that may sound I do have issues. Imagine that! Perfectionism and the need to please and or be accepted often gets in the way. These get particularly ugly when I find my (selfish – self) trying to perfect or do well the things that God has not so necessarily gifted me in doing. If I were to track it, I would probably find that some of my time is spent on trying to do well things that I don’t necessarily like nor do well because I don’t want to disappoint or let anyone down.

Fixing things is not my forte. Just ask my wife. I didn't even own a hammer until about 9 years ago. I dance around having to fix anything be it at work or at home. But because I don’t want to disappoint, I often will find myself, there’s no better way to say this but backing down, and trying to do whatever it is that needs to be done. I am however working on this downfall and trying to find more proactive ways in which to address it.

All this being said, I do have good days at work. When I can help someone accomplish a task they’re trying to complete, or make someone’s day easier by a service I’ve provided them, or I’ve “conquered” a major project, it’s a good day. However weaved within those good days can be bad days, especially when I’ve tried to take control over what God has planned for me or if I’m forcing myself like a square peg into a round hole to do something that I’m not especially good at doing. Ironically, just this morning I happened to look at the new watch I just bought while I was on vacation last week. I'm always on the look out for unique watches. This particular watch is a black square with a slightly offset round face. It occurred to me that, hmmm, a daily reminder right on my wrist, that I need to focus on fitting into the places where God has created me to excel and not be consumed by the things that someone else may be better suited to do. Not that those situations don’t provide for a great learning experience, but they can also lead to bad spots in a good day.

Bad spots in a good day also are elevated, like cream to the top, when I perceive that I’ve let someone down because of a situation that could have been handled better. There are times when things are out of my realm of knowledge that may cause the outcome be less than desired. Ignorance is no excuse, but I have to learn to make those growing experiences instead of failures. I think someone said if you don’t fail you can’t learn.

Good days and bad days at work are inevitable. What I choose to do with them can make all the difference.

Maxwell Smart's Shoe Phone

Every night before going upstairs to bed I put everything I'm going to take with me the next day on the kitchen counter by near the back door....you know things like my IPOD, my keys, my cell phone.

Thursday morning I had been a work for awhile and realized my cell phone wasn't sitting on my desk. I got up and checked my coat pocket and it wasn't there. I thought perhaps I'd left it in the car so I went out to see if it was there. It wasn't in the car either. I started to get a little panicky. Could I have left it at Panera? I looked up the phone number to Panera but no one had turned in a cell phone. The panic was starting to get a little more severe.

I called my son who I knew was geting off work at 1pm to see if he was going home after work. When I found out he was I asked him to see if my cell was on the counter and to let me know either way. If it wasn't there I was going to have to call and report it lost.

Later that afternoon my son called me. I didn't even say hello. "Was it on the counter?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth when he said "hello." He said it wasn't but had more to add. He decided to call my phone to see if it was in the house somewhere. He could hear it ringing but couldn't find it. He kept calling and following the ring and finally found it....in one of my shoes in my closet

When I go to the gym I never take my wallet or phone in with me. Wednesday when I got into the locker room I realized that my phone was still on my belt. I took it off and tossed it in my shoe that I'd put in the locker while I was working out. When I left the gym I wore the NIKES home that I had on. I completley forgot I'd put the phone in my shoes and it had slid down into the shoe I'd put it in. When I got home an unpacked my gym bag I just tossed my shoes into the closet and walked away.

Mystery solved. Now you know why I dont take stuff into the gym with me unless I need it. Who knows what I'll do with it.

Tan Lines

Our annual pilgrimage to sunny Florida is a little over a week away and I am psyched. Nothing like basking in the sun for a week and then coming back home to find the remnants of winter have passed and spring has sprung. We have been making this trip for years and it's just become part of who we are. When April rolls around you'll find us in Orlando.

As part of the routine for getting ready to make our trek to the land of sunshine I always get some 'fake bakes' in so I don't burn in the tropical sun. For the past few years I've gone to an ultrabronze tanning bed. The max tanning time in an ultrabronze bed is 30 minutes and you start at that time with your first appointment. These beds give you a awesome tan in about 3 appointments and you never burn. They've been great. I'd start my tanning appointments 3-4 days before we'd leave and I'd have a good base tan that was only enhanced by the Florida sun once we arrived. The downside to ultrabronze tanning is the price, $17 a pop.

I decided to be a little more frugal this year and opt for just a regular tanning bed. The place I chose had a BOGO on tans so I bought 5 and got 10. I started tanning last Sunday as I figured the regular bed would take longer. The ole tan was coming on pretty good until yesterday. I arrived at my 5:30 appointment and was ushered right to my reserved bed. I got all lotioned up and layed down on the ever so comfortable hard plastic bed (That was one other thing I liked about ultrabronze tanning is that the bed were regular mattresses). There is always a hand towel folded up laying on the bed that I usually put under my head. After I turned the bed on and layed back down I couldn't feel the towel under my head. I didn't want to risk losing any potential tanning time and sit up to find it so I just shrugged it off and settled into my 13 minutes of heat.

When the bed shut off and I got up I found that the towel was under my back. I didn't think anything about that until I got out of the shower this morning and happened to notice my back in the mirror. Yep, you guessed it. A gi-normous big white square inbetween my shoulder blades. Oh sure, I like to brag about having a tan line, who doesn't! But I don't think I'd want to show off a big white square in the middle of my back as a prize tan line.

Next time I'll risk loosing a few precious minutes of tanning to find the towel.....yah think!

Lessons from the past

In chapter 4 of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar, became arrogant and took credit for all that he was accomplishing. God banned him to the wilderness for 7 years and when he returned all of his authority was returned and the King praised and honored God, whom was the source of everything in his life.

Fast forward to chapter 5 of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar son, King Belshazzar throws a party, gets drunk and uses sacred chalices to drink wine from. During the party God sent a disembodied hand to write a message on the wall and it terrified the King. He called in mystics to interpret the message but they couldn’t. So the queen reminded the king about Daniel and so he called him in to decipher the message.

Daniel laid into King Belshazzar about his conduct. Belshazzar well knew how his father Nebuchadnezzar had behaved and the outcome of that situation. Yet Belshazzar decided to openly discredit God for everything. It seems pretty obvious to me that Belshazzar would have known the consequences his father faced and would have conducted himself better, but he didn’t.

Daniel interpreted the message for Belshazzar and it confirmed from God that the time of his rule was limited and Belshazzar was murdered that night.

Selfishness destroys. I’ve seen it over and over in scripture and in my life. Whenever I put myself above God, thinking I know better, the outcome is never what it could been. I’m enticed by selfishness to be built up, but in reality, it only knocks me down. Selfishness stagnates growths

Why is it that we can be so blind to stop ourselves from repeating the behaviors of those who came before us? Is it because we rely too much on experience but don’t learn to move forward from it. Sometimes we only learn how to repeat the habits learned from within it. What does that say about our potential for growth? What does it take to make an experience something to from which we can build upon and pave the road for a positive outcome. Are the failures of the past so ingrained into our beings that it takes too much effort to get beyond them (or we’re unwilling to exert the effort) so we either settle into a pattern of repeating them or totally ignoring them? What if a sinful pattern in my life could be used to help someone instead of drag them down into a self-serving outcome.

Belthazzar chose to follow the original selfish path that his Father had been persuing prior to God’s revelation to him. Where was Belthazzar when Nebuchadnezzar had his change of heart? Was he at boarding school and didn’t know what had transpired in his life. Why didn’t Nebuchadnezzar share the revelation with his son, or did he? Either way. Belthazzar chose to ignore it. Why?

I see habits formed in my own children that I possessed at the same age in my life. Spending money and not saving it. No identifiable goals for the future. A minimal involvement in church or relationship with God. It clicked finally clicked with me, though. I got it and give God credit for everything I am, can do, and have. I thought I’d demonstrated that to my boys but perhaps what they saw in me in earlier years was stronger than what they see in me now. Why didn’t Balshazzar see the change/growth in his own Father

Who's getting cheated?

I have pretty much the same routine every day. One thing I do nearly every day, without a hitch, is growing in my relationship with Jesus. I accomplish this through reading, journaling and engaging in 'life conversations' at Panera Bread early each weekday morning. However, something struck me about my attitude as I was driving to Panera Bread this morning which led me to writing this post.

I think it was the road rage I was suffering from as I was driving to Panera this morning that caused me to stop and examine my disposition today. This, accompanied by my checklist, my daily to-do’s, seem to be causing me more stress than they should and I don’t know why I’m letting them do that.

My list of what it takes to just 'get out of the house' in the morning seems to be ever increasing. I find myself waking up before my alarm battling with decisions that I need to make before I even roll out of bed.

Do I go work out when I get up or after work? I wrestle with the pros and cons of that nearly every morning. What about breakfast? How will that be affected by my choice in work out time? Then there is getting my lunch packed and not forgetting it. And what about all of the paraphernalia that I drag along with me every day. The papers, the reminders, and the bag they all get put into.

Then there is the actual getting ready for work. The showering, all the teeth maintenance, and the hair goop. Then you have the whitening gargle followed by brushing and flossing. I have to lotion my legs and feet or they get dry as the desert. Getting everything to the car is a challenge in itself. And don't forget the contacts. Of course they never cooperate, always folding up or not going in my eye right the first time.

Toss in the dog. He's old and he's blind (and looney I might add). Sometimes he stays asleep upstairs when I get out of the shower and other days he's up. When he's up he wants to come down with me. I usually do my crunches, have some coffee and watch the news. The dog will sit by my chair and just stair into the kitchen, never budging. But let me decide to have my breakfast and sit down to eat it and he has a crisis and needs to go outside right then and there. However, he just can't go out and get his business done. No he has to pace up back forth about twenty times to find just the right place to go. Once he's done, remember I said he was old and blind, he can't find his way back to the door. In the meanwhile, my cereal has now turned into 'sog city'. Not a pretty picture.

Then the gym bag, my laptop, the bag with all the papers, and my lunch all have to find their way to the car. And the fact that its winter, doesn’t make the situation any more pleasant. Not only do I have bag after bag strapped over my shoulder and in my hand, I look like the Michelin Man in my poofy down filled coat. And try to maneuver between the two cars in our garage with all these bags is not an easy task. Oh yeah, don’ t let me forget the cup of coffee I’m juggling in on hand and the car keys in the other. Everything in one trip equates efficiency. By the time I finally sit down in my car to leave I’m exhausted.

Inevitably, I get ½ way down the road and realize that I’ve forgotten something. Just last week I had gone as far as the stop light at Bittersweet and 23 (about a mile from our house) and thought I’d forgotten my lunch. I whipped the car around and fumbled for my cell phone (that’s buried far beneath my seat belt and layers of the Michelin Man coat) to call Lori to see if it was still in the fridge. She said that she saw me carry it out with me. It was then that I realized that I had dropped in the trunk when I put my gym bag and my laptop in there. So I whipped the car around and started back towards Panera.

Is my routine so pathetic or what! The more I have to do the more I get stressed. And throw any unforseen obstacle in my path, such as the driver 3 cars in front of me today that wouldn't go faster than 35mph, and the stress-ometer often often goes up a few more notches. I race to get to my destination so that I can spend time with God, but there are days when I find that the attitude that has evolved in me on the way there could be putting up a wall that is lessening the intensity with which I want to have with Him.

I don't want my God time to just be a slot in my day just so I can check it off. More often than not, my time with Jesus is so awesome. But when I find myself with an attitude such as the one that had developed in me today because of all of the things that I do to try to meet all of the thngs I think I need to do, I have lessened the experience on my side of things.

Routine is my nature but it doesn't have to be accompanied by self inducing tension. I need to remind myself that God is with me 24/7 and not just for the 40 minutes that I spend with Him at Panera. Don't get me wrong. I've had some incredible experiences with God in those 40 minutes and have no intentions of eliminating that from my regimine. If I could only remember that I can talk to God anytime. And although our standing appointment is awesome, I shouldn’t be getting uptight just to make it on time. Optimal time with God isn't about checking it off on my list of things to do, its about the quality.

Crowned

Friday I had an appointment to get the perrmanent crown on a molar that I broke the side off of two weeks ago. It took nearly an hour to get the temporary crown put on but the hygenist assured me that it would only take less than 30 minutes to put the permanent one on the tooth.

I took the first appointment they had so that I could get the whole process over and get on with the rest of my day. Best laid plans! I got right in when I arrived at 7 am and it wasn't long before they hygenist had the the temporary crown off my tooth.

Although I've never really had any pain during this whole time, the tooth, or what was left of it was very sensitve to hot and cold. They hygenist was scraping and digging to get all of the cement off my tooth from the temporary crown. I'm laying there in the chair and here it comes that 'tube thing' that sprays water and then the 'sucking thing' that gets all the water out. I about went through the ceiling when she sprayed the tooth and then sucked it dry. I said man, that was cold. She was definitely more kind the next time she had to swoosh it out.

Next came the fitting of the shiny "gold" crown. I hadn't been too crazy about having gold in my mouth since two weeks ago when the dentist recommended it. He said he could put a porcelean crown on but he was fearful that it might crack. The last thing I wanted was to have to go through this rather expensive process again so I succumbed to the gold crown.

The metal was freezing and once again when she put it over my remaining tooth I about went through the ceiling. The crown wasn't fitting like it was suppose to and the hygenist kept taking it out turning it and putting it back in but it just wasn't dropping into place. Finally she gave up after I endured several repetitions of the unbearable cold on my remaining tooth, and said the dentist was going to have to come look at it.

Shortly thereafter, the dentist was at my side. I don't know what he did differently but the crown was not nearly as cold as when the hygenist was putting it on and taking it off. The dentist as well would put it on but when he took it off he was drilling or something to make it fit better and then trying it again. This process went on for quite some time. I was just relieved that the drill was not on my tooth as I didn't get any novacaine this time.

Finally the dentist was satisfied with the way it was fitting and said he was going to go polish it and then they's cement it on my tooth and I'd be on my way. Why it had to be polished when it was going to be way in the back of my mouth was beyond me but I figured for nearly $1000 it probably should be polished, maybe even once a week!

It seemed like I'd been laying in the dental chair forever and no one had come back with a tooth. A few minutes later the hygenist showed up and said, "we have a problem." I asked what happened. She told me that when the dentist was polishing the crown it slipped from his hand and they can't find it. I just looked back in disbelief.

I think there must have been 3 or 4 other hygenists and the dentist looking for this crown. I had to go to the bathroom so I got up and walked past the front desk with that little bib thing still haning around my neck. I heard one of the receptionists say to the other, "what is Bob still doing here?" I just chuckled to myself an went on to the bathroom

When I got back to my chair the hygenist had returned again and said that they might have to put the temporary crown back on and re-order another permanent crown. I really didnt want to wait another two weeks to get this tooth fixed but I was obviously at their mercy.

I continued to lie there in my chair listening to the comments from the search going on in the next room. A few minutes later I heard the dentist shout "I found it!" The hygenist came hurrying back into my room to tell me it was located. Yeah, like I didn't know that! She assured me they would repolish it and steralize it and then they'd put it on my tooth and I'd be on my way.

It wasn't long after that that the hygenist and the dentist were back with crown in hand. The cement they put on the crown to attach it is not only the worst tasting stuff but it also extremely extrememly cold. At this point however, I didn't really care how much pain I had to endure, I was ready to be done with it.

What was supposed to be a 30 minute process had turned into a 90 minute parody of errors. Funny thing is that the next day I got a check in the mail from the dentist. Hmmm.....were they reimbursing me for the for the very strange appointment I had the day before. No such luck. It was just a $17 overcharge on the price of the crown.

Titles aren't what they're cracked up to be

Last May we sold my son's car and getting the title for this car has been an absolute nightmare. It has been a perpetual process that I'm hopeful has finally, almost a year later, come to an end.

Because I was co-signer on the loan for my son, the title was in both of our names. When the car was sold I went to the bank and paid the loan and the teller advised that the title would be mailed out within a couple of weeks to my son. During that period my son moved out and changed his address.

I had assumed that the title was forwarded to my son's new address and had pretty much put the entire transaction out of my mind. About a month later the mother of the young man who purchased the car called our house and said they still hadn't received the title to the car. I contacted my son and told him that he'd probably have to go to the BMV and apply for a duplicate title. He advised he would so I again assumed things were taken care of and moved on.

Probably around September we had another message on our home phone from the mother pleading for us to do something about getting the title work completed but she didn't leave a phone number so we had no way to contact her. I called my son to see if he knew how to contact her and asked what the deal was with the title. He had no explanation. I asked him once again to please go apply for the duplicate title and considered myself, once again, done with the ordeal.

The phone rings at the end of November. Mind you its now been 8 months since the car was sold, and its the purchasers asking for help because they still had no title for the car. By now I decided I had better intervene. I probably should have months before but I was trying to give the benefit of doubt that the problems would get resolved.

I went to the bank and explained how we had sold the car in May and never received a copy of the title and these poor people who had purchased it had been unable to plate the car for all of these months. The representative at the bank advised that when my son and I took out the loan with them they had never received a title from the dealership that the car was purchased. However, they never told us that after we had taken out the loan. They suggested that I go apply for a duplicate title at the BMV.

I felt so bad for these people who had bought the car so the next week I went to the BMV and explained what had happened. By now its the first of December. The BMV clerk advised that it would take 6 to 8 weeks for the title to come and that that was the best that could be expected. What could I do? I now had a phone number for the people who had bought the car and I called and let them know the title had been applied for and that I would let them know as soon as it came, but it probably wouldn't be for at least another month.

At the end of December I still hadn't received anything from the BMV so I left a message on the purchasers phone as I felt it was the least I could do to keep them updated with as much as I knew.

Its now the end of January 2007 and 9 months since the car was sold. The young man who purchased the car phoned me and said that he had spoken to the BMV and they told him that the title had been sent to the bank on January 4th. I said I hadn't gotten anything in the mail from the bank nor the BMV and I would contact the bank.

I called the bank the next day and they said that the they received the duplicate title on January 5th and mailed it out right away. I said we had not gotten anything in the mail. She said it was mailed to my son at our address. My son has moved about 2 more times since then so with all the change of addresses he's put in at the post office who knows where it might be floating around. The bank said there wasn't anything they could do and that we'd probably have to go to the BMV and apply for a duplicate title again. That was not the answer I wanted to hear. After a little more discussion the bank said they could give me a lien release that would enable the purchaser to go to the BMV and apply for a title. I wanted these poor people to be able to get the title they needed and I didn't want to be in the middle of this anymore so I asked the bank to send the lien release to the branch I normally bank at and I would pick it up on Saturday.

Chaos continued when I stopped at the bank branch to pick up the lien release this past Saturday morning. When I arrived at the bank both the manager and the customer service rep were busy with customers so I sat patiently waiting. Only a few minutes had passed when the branch manager came over and introduced herself and asked how what she could do for me. I explained why I was there and she invited me into her office. Her desk looked like a tornado had just whipped through it before I got there. She said she recalled seeing an email that I would be in and she was frantically going through her in-box looking for the form. She couldnt find it so she dimissed herself to look elsewhere for it. A few minutes later she was back but had no form. She continued to look around the 'cycloned' desk and was on the phone with the main office. Not long after that she was off to look in other areas of the branch but was back in just a few minutes, still with no form. She then apologised for not being able to locate it and said she could just type something up for me. I said that was fine as long as it was good enough for the BMV. She assured me it was and completed it, signed it and sent me on my way.

I went home after that and hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes when the phone rang. It was the customer service representative from the bank branch that I had just left. She advised that the form had been her desk all along and she wasn't sure why the manager hadn't checked with her for it. The customer service rep wanted to know if I could come back and get before they closed at 12:30pm. It was already 12:10 and I said I didn't think it would be possible. She advised that the person who purchased the car could come get it instead if that would work better for me but I needed to give her his full name. Unfortnuately I didn't know his full name. I knew his phone number and first name but that was it. She said that would be ok as long as he brought the purchase agreement that we had signed when they bought the car with him when he came to pick up the lien release.

I called the young man and of course I got his voice mail. Perfect. I was just getting ready to call the bank back and tell them I couldn't reach him when he called me back. I got his last name and told him that he needed to take the agreement we signed with him to pick up the information and called the bank back. The customer service person apologised over and over for the confusion and thanked me for getting the purchasers information.

I'm worn out just typing this whole ordeal. I can't imagine how worn out the people who bought the car must have felt. Out of courtesy and concern I called the young man today to ensure he'd gotten the lien release on Monday and was on his way with getting the title, but of course I got his voice mail. I'd like to say that once again I've washed my hands of this ordeal but I don't think I'll be comfortable in saying that until I get a call back from him saying that he's applied for a title and then I'll know that the case is closed.