Adventures in Customer Service

Just another day in paradise. August can be a difficult month for my customers because it's considered "settle up" month. Our customers who have been paying a set amount for the past 11 months need to settle their bills so they have a $0.00 balance. For some, it's a greater amount than anticipated due to whatever reason (hotter summer, colder winter, inefficient/malfunctioning heating/cooling units, etc.). Then, based on the customer's usage pattern, the computer algorithm figures a new budget amount for the upcoming year. Here was a conversation from a few minutes ago:

 

Customer: How come my budget bill is increasing for next year?

Me: Let me look up your account. Oh, it looks like your average bill was a little higher than the previous year, so the figure is higher going into the next budget year. Your average bill over the past 12 months was $141.30.

Customer: No, it wasn't.

Me: Okay, well, I can give you a print out of your billing history over the past 12 months if you'd like to see. However, when I do the math, the average comes out to be $141.30.

Customer: I still don't understand why it's going up from last year.

Me: We can adjust your budget if you'd like. The figure stated on your bill is merely suggested on the past year's history. However, you can set it higher or lower if you'd like.

Customer: Well, I've got to talk to my wife first. We'll have to take a look at things.

 

I love it when I figure an average (which I can do with the push of a button on my computer) and people feel the need to argue with me. Yell at yourself. You're the one who used the energy. Yell at the computer. It's the thing that gave me your average bill. Yell at math. Math sucks.

 

Update: Customer returned with wife in tow. Repeated my words once again. They are still somewhat confused, but at this point, anything else I say is just going to confuse them further. I got them out the door, so hey, I'll take that small victory.

 

 

 

I Am Second.

Every 4 years I willingly deprive myself of sleep for weeks at a time. Why? Well, the Olympics of course! There's nothing better than The Olympic Games...more specifically, Gymnastics. This year has been so fun watching the Final Five compete for gold. I follow many of the gymnasts on Instagram, just trying to catch a glimpse of what it might be like to be in their shoes. To be at the top of your game at such a young age. To watch your dreams unfold right before your eyes. I imagine it's the highest of highs. However, you can't ride a wave like that forever. And, as we've seen with Gabby Douglas, the highs are generally accompanied by the lows. That's a post for another day, but I just have to comment that I do have some sympathy for Gabby. I don't think she's doing herself any favors (and the media is certainly not doing her any favors), but I think she's in a tough spot. Also, the scrutiny surrounding her is going to last long after Rio. Anyway, hopping back on my original train of thought.

I loved watching Nastia Liukin on Dancing with the Stars, and I was happy to see that she was going to be a commentator in Rio. She obviously knows the sport like the back of her hand, and I think she provides a great perspective on what the gymnasts might be thinking. So, I hopped on YouTube and watched Nastia's routines from her Olympics which led me to some videos of Shawn Johnson. I loved watching Shawn at the Olympics, partly because I felt like she had a "hometown tie" even though she was from Des Moines. But then I stumbled upon a video entitled "I Am Second." I clicked on the video, and Shawn talked about life after the Olympics. You can watch it here. Then, a boatload of other "I Am Second" videos popped up. They are incredible. They talk about events that led people closer to God, and how those events helped them understand God's purpose for their lives. It's refreshing to see the people you watch on television give their personal testimony.

After I watched Shawn Johnson's story, I saw that Sean Lowe had done a story as well. One of my guilty pleasures is watching The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. I can't help myself. I've watched the show since its creation. Sean Lowe's story was great. Single ladies, after watching this, you'll know that you deserve someone great. And if you don't feel like that, watch it again because you clearly weren't paying attention the first time.

You can check out the I Am Second videos on YouTube, or go to www.iamsecond.com and explore their website. Pretty sure I'll be doing that all day today. It seems appropriate to close today's post with one of my favorite Bible verses.

Weekend of the B's

Becky, Barn Wood & Brushstrokes, Brittany, and Barbie. That pretty much sums up my weekend.

I hadn't seen Becky in quite some time, so we decided to pick a weekend to get together with our friend Danielle. Since Danielle was 3 weeks away from babe #2, a "night out on the town" just wasn't what the doctor ordered (also, since we're all in our thirties now, our idea of a good time has changed drastically). Instead, we grabbed lunch at The J and then headed down to Main Street to do some painting. After carefully selecting our pottery and paint colors, our artistic sides took over and we were in the zone. If you've never visited a place to paint some pottery, I highly recommend giving it a try. It really is quite therapeutic, and allows one to take a step back from the chaos that can be life. Time flies by and before you know it, a few hours pass. Now in a week, I'll have a new trusty coffee mug to enjoy my morning joe.

Our painting session ended and we parted ways until our next adventure. Later, Becky and I met up again and zipped over to Elgin to see Ashley and the girls and then we had to watch some Olympics that evening.

The next day I was actually semi-productive. Since the Olympics have been robbing me of Z's, I slept in. It was glorious. I relish the thought of waking up without an alarm clock, but some days I worry...what if I don't wake up until noon? That never happens like it did when I was a kid, but then I thought again..."what do I care? I'm single, I don't have kids, why should I have to get up in the morning?" The answer is I don't. #singlegirlperks

After I mowed my yard I headed over to my mom's house. My brother needed to spend some more time getting his classroom ready for the school year (crazy to say that....my brother is a teacher now) and mom had some errands to run, so I stayed with Brit. To my surprise, she decided to carry up the tote full of Barbie stuff. I was flooded with flashbacks of myself sitting in the basement playing with Barbies for hours and hours, only stopping for meals and bathroom breaks. A successful birthday party included at least one new Barbie. I just love the fact that my niece can now enjoy them. Although Barbie's hair is a bit more tangled than I remember, I just think that's a sign that they've been well-loved.
So Brit and I set up the Barbie Boutique. I mean this place would put any department store to shame. We had it all: dresses for all occasions, men's and women's pants/shirts/shorts/bathing suits/furniture, and yes, even a motor vehicle department stocked with one red corvette, one yellow jet ski, and one pink scooter. I got a heck of a deal on a corvette at $500 and later came back for the jet ski. After some haggling, the store owner came down to $20 for the Baywatch edition jet ski. I mean, I couldn't pass up the deal, especially when it matched Baywatch Ken. It was such a fun afternoon with Brit. One I will cherish. She just makes me laugh. "Hi my name is Brian, but all of his friends call me Jack." How does she come up with this stuff?

So I've had Barbie on the brain, and I'm curious what your favorite Barbie's were gals! There were so many that I loved, but one of my favorites was Malibu Barbie. In a close second place was Gymnast Barbie. And then, of course Husker Barbie came out. Luckily, my dad bought 2 of them. One for the collector and one for the kid. It's no fun to look at Barbie in the box. So, take a stroll down memory lane and post a pic or let me know what your favorite Barbie was! I want to know!

The Challenge

Every time I see a new "love your spouse challenge" on Facebook, it triggers an involuntary eye roll. Not because I'm single, but because I know I'll be seeing seven days (YES, SEVEN) of gushy love posts about how much someone loves their spouse.
While I can appreciate the idea of this post, I think it would be completely adequate to post one picture of yourself and your doting spouse, ONE time to get your point across. I also understand that with all of the negativity and political hullabaloo going on, it's refreshing to see a positive post once in a while. But again, I just think it's too much.

A few nights ago, I reached my boiling point and posted "Let me know when the love your spouse challenge is over." It was then I learned that I am not alone. Hilarity ensued. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. I finally had to put my phone down at 11:30 p.m. and force myself to go to sleep. Not only were people posting their thoughts on the LYS challenge, nearly every other post/challenge that has circulated on Facebook was made fun of (thanks in large part to my brother). However, the winner in my book was my old (as in former, he's not an old dude) co-worker Rob when he posted "Jesus hates you if you don't like this post." Wow. My neighbor came in a close second place, however, when she said, "We're waiting for an "I tolerate my spouse" challenge. Ha ha!

So thanks for the laughs, friends.

And if anyone is/was offended by my opinions, just keep on scrolling...like I do every time I see a LYS Challenge.