Busy Busy Busy

As usual, I’ve been quite busy. Trying to get all my stuff done for the Army, new schools for work and now the tax situation has made for quite a busy schedule. However, the recent flow of new funds from the VA has at least alleviated some stress from the finances and given the Mrs. and I a very pleasant weekend in the city.

As for the military, I completed my echo cardiogram as requested and received the results. The light at the end of my tunnel has appeared to begin it’s dimming pattern… the results were not too good. It now appears that I have a mitral valve prolapse – a condition that I knew the Mrs. had, but until now, was unaware that it was contagious. That’s okay, seeing how I gave her a “growing virus” in her uterus, we can call this even.

No, this condition is not really contagious but it is definitely flight career threatening. I will need to get further information and a more detailed look at it before I continue.

As per the norm, I will keep you posted.

 

ATM’s

Why do drive up ATM’s have braille on the buttons? If those that use braille cannot see, and you need to see to drive, wouldn’t the purpose of braille on the buttons be kind of pointless?

Okay, sure there may be a visually impaired person sitting in the back seat while the driver does his job and drives to the ATM. And it is true that the same person may want to walk up to the ATM to retrieve some cash from their bank account, in which case I would hope that other drivers wanting to use the ATM could in fact see.

So I started to think about it. Why do all ATM’s have braille on the buttons? The only solution that I came up with, other than the CYA version in which it’s simply to not get sued, is that they must all be made the same. They are then simply put in the needed location be it a walk up or a drive through. This thought was changed when I actually found a drive up ATM WITHOUT braille on the buttons. I thought to myself, “Wow, a bank that understands the pointlessness of braille here”… then I looked to the right of the button pad and saw a small metal plate fastened to the box. This plate had the braille stamped on it and at the top read “Braille Indicator”. I then though, “Only in Oklahoma”.

The truth of the matter is that it is Federally mandated that all ATM’s have a braille indicator on it:

Section 4.34.4 of the ADA Accessibility Guidelines for Buildings and Facilities (Appendix to Part 1191, 36 CFR Chapter XI, issued pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990) says, “Instructions and all information for use [of an automated teller machine] shall be made accessible to and independently usable by persons with vision impairments.”

So there you have it. Oh, and while I was on my search for this answer, I stumbled upon this site called This Is Broken. Definitely worth looking at.

 

I love Wal-Mart

Of all the stores in the world, I think my favorite has got to be Walmart. Call me hill billy, call me a capitalist, call me what you will, but Walmart generally has what I want and they have it at an affordable price. With today’s economy, having the right price is very important.

Founded in 1962 in the small town of Rogers, Arkansas (which isn’t so small anymore), I believe Mr. Sam Walton had the right idea when he opened his nickle and dime store. His staff of friendly people were always there with a smile to help you find what you needed. Times have changed a bit over the past 48 years, but there are still friendly staff that will help you find what you need. Of course, you are going to find a bad apple or two among the group, but this is kind of to be expected when you are the largest retailer in the world.

Being the largest retailer in the world isn’t easy to do. Every day the company is under heavy scrutiny and every day a new hater of the store is born. Walmart is so large that it’s practically a house hold name and has spawned countless books, websites either for or against, and bumper stickers that say things like:

“I’m not afraid of you -
I work for Walmart”

Google even seems to have something for Walmart. Call Google’s free 411 service (1-800-Goog411) and search for “Oh My God”. Funny story how that one happened, but when I said those three words, my top result was a Walmart Super Center.

There are a lot of good things about Walmart, but there are also some bad things about it. For example, it’s true that Walmart puts a lot of mom and pop stores out of business. Not all of them, mind you, but a lot of them. The ones that survive still have competitive prices and a great service. Many that survive do so simply because the customers love the smiling faces and caring attitude. My Uncle has one of these shops – “Ivan’s Old Time Meat Shop”. This shop is in the heart of Walmart country, with several Walmart stores near by. Yet, the business thrives, even with today’s economy. Why? Because of the people that work there and the product they offer.

Those that hate Walmart will say a lot of things bad about the store.

• “They run mom and pop stores out of business”
• “They are cruel to their employees and don’t pay enough”
• “They ruin the old and bring in the new”

The list is really too extensive to put on this blog, but doing a simple search on it will provide you with enough information. Among my very own search results, this page is my favorite:

Why you should HATE Walmart
-countered by-
Why you should LOVE Walmart

To be fair with you, I didn’t always love Walmart. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t my favorite store either. My reasons for dislike weren’t the normal reasons of employee cruelty, closing the mom and pop stores or big box retailer hatred. I actually disagree with the employee cruelty statement because I was an employee at one time. As an employee, I was treated like family and I made enough money to pay my bills… and I have a lot of bills. I still shop at some mom and pop stores because they provide what Walmart can’t, or provide the same thing better. And in all honesty, I like new things… I’m okay with change.

The reason I didn’t like the store was because I had run into my fair share of the bad apples. I was too close minded to realize that not ALL of them are bad. In fact, my love didn’t start until recently – I had gone to the local grocery store, bought almost $200 of food and only had 3/4 of a basket to show for it. This had happened several times and my cart was loaded with the cheapest brands possible. WTF?! I could have gotten better deals on everything in my cart had I gone to the super center an hour away… including gas and wear and tear on my car.

It was then that I realized Walmart really does have most everything that I need. Sure, there will be times that I want those high dollar clothing items, that specialty electronic device or unedited music CD’s. When I want those things, I’ll go to some place other than Walmart. Until then, I’m happy with cabinets full of food, a cozy house and money in my pocket.

 

What-a-week

In my previous post, I said that my past week had been very hectic. I also promised to give you an update… so here it is in a nutshell.

Start – This happens to start on a Sunday. I personally feel that the start of a week is Monday, making the end Sunday. But that’s a different story that I may post on at a later date. Just know that this particular start was a Sunday.

• Wake up call @ 8:30am:

Bubbles: “Are you going to go relieve out on that job?” (Mind you, this is the first I have heard of said job.)
Me: “Uh… well… I guess I can.”
Bubbles: “Okay, be out there by noon.”

• Get to location – job is stuck and will not be needing relief. Good… I get to sleep in my bed tonight. Bad… I have just been shifted to the next job starting tomorrow (Monday) and nothing is prepared. I am given the privilege of an all day preparation for the job. Yippee!

Monday

• 4am wake up.
• Get to location – Find that there is very little room for anything to be setup. Not only that, but the job that usually takes four people has now been made into a two person job due to the lack of personnel on duty.
• Call Bubbles to complain.
• Get the okay to shell out some more money for bonuses.
• More money? Okay, I can deal.
• List of things going wrong continues to grow.
• Suddenly, a little more money does not seem like a good deal.

Remainder of Monday – Wednesday

• Things get lined out and despite some small problems, the job runs surprisingly smooth. I was relieved Wednesday night so I can make my Thursday appointment. As an added bonus, I am able to go home and take a shower. I stink.

Thursday

• Go to the military appointment. Everything checks out, but some data is missing for my eyes (LASIK). Blood pressure is a bit high so they want more tests. Fine.
• Take care of requested tests, and make a new appointment for an echo cardiogram. Feb 4th.

Friday

• Haircut – much needed.
• Start tearing my car apart for more “upgrades”. Actually these “upgrades” were just a long over due tightening and sound deadening.
• Get a phone call from the Mrs… excluding vulgarities, she informs me that her car is dead in one of the most inconvenient places – the automatic car wash.
• Car is dead, dead. Key won’t even turn. Time for a new car.

Saturday

• Tow broken car to Oklahoma city – best offer? $50. Yeah right… I’ll keep it, fix it and sell it. If nothing else, I can part it out for more than $50.
• Get new car
• Meet up with #1 Mom, Aunt Greasywheel and Pistol-Packing-Granny in OKC for dinner and drinks.
• Everyone loves new car.
• Pistol-Packing-Granny and Aunt Greasywheel appear to have a good time, indicated by their inebriated state.
• Pistol-Packing-Granny has decided to bless us with a new phone. She left it in the back seat of the car for us to find later. How thoughtful. Luckily for her, we don’t need any more phones so we will mail it back to her.

Sunday

• Pistol-Packing-Granny needs a refresher in the morning to remember what had happened last night.
• Due to above incident, the Mrs. dubs me a “drinking professional”. (No, there was no drunk driving… I was simply ordering the drinks.)

Remainder of Sunday – Tuesday

• Mail phone back (mentioned above).
• Finish tearing apart the car.
• Obtain a few new cuts and bruises. Use a few colorful words that I had forgotten about. What car experience is complete without that?
• Sound deaden car. Rewire some components. Clean up wiring and car.
• Put car back together.

Wednesday was used to finish up some errands that needed to be done, clean up the car and house a little bit, and finish up some things for the military.

All in all, I think it was a very successful week.

 

TIPS

This is actually a post from my myspace blog (with minor edits). I have decided wordpress.com is a much better blog place, so I’ve deleted the blogs from myspace. This particular post is something that my wife and I take to heart, and though she feels a bit differently on some small issues, the overall opinion is the same. Therefore, I thought it worth of re-posting here.

More “real” blogs to come in the near future – this last week has been pretty hectic, thus the lack of posts. But I promise to fill you in as soon as I get the chance.

_________

Did you know that waiters, waitresses and other service people are more often than not, paid less than minimum wage? Well, it’s true. Even some bartenders are paid less than minimum wage. You may say this is impossible because all the servers you know are making pretty good money. Well, my friend, that’s because of a little thing called TIPS.

Okay, you already knew this. My apologies for undermining you. But did you know that many people do not pay proper tips, or even tip at all? It really bothers me when people do not pay proper tips. The people that just spent an hour and half, or however long it actually took to serve you, are serving you because you pay their bills. You make your money by paving the roads (literally), doing paper work, or doing what ever it is that you do. And they make sure that after your hard day at work, you are happy. Is this not worth a price? I think it is.

But let’s go deeper. Do you know what TIPS actually means? The word TIPS, (yes, it’s one single word as a singular phrase, not plural), actually stands for “To Insure Proper Service”. Back in the day, you would TIP a person so the next time you came back you would receive the same or better service. So, servers, though this may sound like a rant on your part, it’s really a stance from both sides of the fence. People pay TIPS to receive a service, and as paying customers, they want the service to be, if nothing more, “good”.

It’s surprising to me the number of people that do not TIP. It’s even more surprising to me to find out the profession, or religion, of those that do not TIP. Many people do not TIP because they were not taught that they should. This is very common in many tightly nit communities… i.e. Church crowds. A church crowd is a crowd of people that come from the same place, wanting the same thing, and put up a fuss when they don’t get what they want when they want it. And rightfully so. You pay for something, you should get it. But come on people… you just came from a place where positive attitudes and forgiveness are not only condoned, but harvested. You just came from a place where you are talked to, and sometimes even screamed at to treat each others equally and to be a better person. I’m sorry, but going to a place of business and making the biggest mess possible, all while being the noisiest and most rude seems hypocritical. In one word, it’s really quite “stunning” how selfish you can be.

Now, church crowds aren’t the only ones who do this, and I am in no way saying that all church going folks are assholes. There are always those who do follow what they preach and to those, I thank you.

So, before I go any further, and without further adieu I think I should probably lay out a few ground rules.

For the customer (person providing the TIP):

• A server is a server and a server should be paid for the service they provide.
• An average TIP, in todays society, is about 15%. Some say 10%, some say 20%, that seems to be more of a personal opinion than anything. Bartenders and cocktail waitresses are an exception to this and should get about $1 per drink (unless of course the drink is only a a quarter… then take two drinks per $1 tip. If the drink is $500, tip per the service). Use your best judgment.
• If you want to have a smiling face and exceptional service every time you go to a place, then learn what a TIP is, and use it accordingly. 5% is rarely a deserved TIP, though I do admit, sometimes even a 1% TIP is too much.
• If you are someone like me, and hates being forced a TIP, (such as “parties 8 or more will have a 15% gratuity added”), then either talk to the server / manager to get this removed, or pay the 15% and leave. The 15% could be more than you wanted to pay, or it could be less. If it’s more, then keep it in mind and think about that before you return. If it’s less, smile… the restaurant should be called Geico for all you care because you just saved money.

For the server (person providing the service):

• NEVER ASK FOR or EXPECT a TIP. The servers that like to whine and complain that a customer did not leave a freaking 25% TIP should be shot. You should only receive as much as you are worth. If you don’t get it, remember it the next time that customer comes in. I am sure they can wait for their water.
  FYI – Asking for a TIP includes the phrase “do you want your change?” – OF COURSE I DO!
• Please fill drinks on time. If you see the glass getting empty, you can at least do your job and get it taken care of. It might be empty because, heaven forbid, they are thirsty.
• If someone leaves you a good TIP, they might actually know that your time is valuable. Hell, they might have read this like you did. So please remember it and the next time they come back treat them well. I would say treat them like family, but I understand that that may be hard for some people. So if nothing else, please treat them like a friend.
• If you are doing a job, then your time should be spent doing that. Horse play, flirting or just plain laziness is no excuse to neglect a customer. If you are seen doing this, don’t be surprised if you get a small TIP.
• Last, but not least. You are being given a TIP for a service that you have provided to the customer. This service is usually doing something that a customer specifically requested or has “ordered”. If you go out of your way to do something or are asked to do something, and you do it with a smile, you will most likely get a TIP. With that said, a gas station attendant most likely does not get TIP’d because they were not asked to do anything for someone other than get a pack of smokes or turn a pump on. Selling a newspaper or a Dr. Pepper from your holding device and having someone take one off your hands is doing nothing special for the customer. Therefore, you should not expect a TIP. And again, refer to rule one.

So, I hope I have shed some light on this subject. You may think that I have beaten this a little too hard, but I seriously doubt it. There are actually much longer posts on the subject, so I am sure that I am not the only one who feels this way. Please, pay a server what they are worth.