Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
Mood:
Mildly exasperated, but feeling better
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Grass
Not the grass with THC as an active ingredient, the kind that grows in my front yard. Although, really, this entry is not about grass as much as it is about being on the wrong end of several merchant/customer relationships; and the continuing frustration that ensued.
A few years ago, keeping up with the maintenance of the lawn became more than either Mr W and I could handle. We arranged for a weekly lawn service to take care of mowing and trimming the obvious weeds. That worked fairly well, but all they did was cut the grass. So I hired a lawn maintenance company - the kind that comes around with regular fertilizer and such.
But mowing - that was still a problem. The father/kid combo that had been doing it stopped - the kids were all in college and had more lucrative summer jobs. Various lawn services stuff flyers and notices in mailboxes and hang them on doorknobs beginning in mid March. I hired one. They did OK, but they were awfully fast - arriving on my curb early in the morning while I was eating breakfast; dragging heavy equipment off their truck; zooming noisily around my yard for 10-15 minutes; loading up the truck and roaring off again.
I hired them again for the next season; the service was provided in the same hurried manner; and when the bill arrived - it was another company entirely! I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the first guy sold part of his customer list to a friend who was getting started.
In the meantime, fliers and handbills continued to appear on my doorknob. And the second crew broke a few things - nothing very valuable - some solar lights I had along the sidewalk. When I held back part of the payment billed to me to adjust for the broken property, they objected.
And the issue of large unsightly weeds continued to bother me, and a discussion about paying more attention and working a little more carefully didn't bring about any changes.
So I hired a third service. This gentleman came over one evening, walked through my lawn with me, listened to me describe (at least, I thought he did) my desire to have someone work more slowly and do a few extra things. He agreed with enthusiasm. His rate would be twice what I had been paying. But, I thought, I was asking for more.
Well, guess what? The same routine of arriving in a rush, swooping around my yard in a rush, leaving small details unattended to.
When a young man from the neighborhood stuck a flier in my door - describing his wish for cash to fund his first term of college and perhaps buy a car; I called him. He worked efficiently and I was pleased with his results.
I went away for a couple week's vacation. I called him before I left, telling him I was going to be gone and requesting that he mow on his usual schedule in my absence. I came home to find calf high grass. The grass might have also been responding to the luxury of the sprinkler system I recently installed, but it was clear that he had not moved as I requested before I left.
My answering machine had a couple of messages from him - that I didn't really understand, but I thought he told me that he had arranged for a friend to cover for him.
Well, today, I finally connected with a local service. They have an office with someone to answer the phone. They are in the yellow pages; and they have a website. BUT, in the meantime, one of the men who had mowed for me - the one who turned my business over to someone else without telling me - rang my doorbell this afternoon, expressed concern over the height of my grass and offered to mow for me again!
I took a great deal of satisfaction in telling him that someone else would be taking care of things.
The price charged by the new service is midway between what I have been paying. They came over late this afternoon and in about an hour and a half took care of the grass which was thick and getting very, very high. The one representative I have met is very pleasant and listened to me vent a little on my frustrations with the other companies.
Now I'm wondering why I wrote about this at all. I guess I needed to let off a little steam, and the cats don't really seem very interested.
My stadium job is, primarily, one of customer service. And I'm finding that the longer I work there, the more sensitive I am to what I perceive as lapses in services provided to me. This whole thing with my grass has extended now for the better part of four years, with one misstep after another; combined with a frustrating sort of deafness when I did my best to explain what my expectations were.
I hope it's over. Based on a couple of conversations and one trip by the new service to my property to work and get paid, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.
If things blow up, I may rant again. Stay tuned!
Books update coming in the next day or so.
A few years ago, keeping up with the maintenance of the lawn became more than either Mr W and I could handle. We arranged for a weekly lawn service to take care of mowing and trimming the obvious weeds. That worked fairly well, but all they did was cut the grass. So I hired a lawn maintenance company - the kind that comes around with regular fertilizer and such.
But mowing - that was still a problem. The father/kid combo that had been doing it stopped - the kids were all in college and had more lucrative summer jobs. Various lawn services stuff flyers and notices in mailboxes and hang them on doorknobs beginning in mid March. I hired one. They did OK, but they were awfully fast - arriving on my curb early in the morning while I was eating breakfast; dragging heavy equipment off their truck; zooming noisily around my yard for 10-15 minutes; loading up the truck and roaring off again.
I hired them again for the next season; the service was provided in the same hurried manner; and when the bill arrived - it was another company entirely! I don't know for sure, but I would guess that the first guy sold part of his customer list to a friend who was getting started.
In the meantime, fliers and handbills continued to appear on my doorknob. And the second crew broke a few things - nothing very valuable - some solar lights I had along the sidewalk. When I held back part of the payment billed to me to adjust for the broken property, they objected.
And the issue of large unsightly weeds continued to bother me, and a discussion about paying more attention and working a little more carefully didn't bring about any changes.
So I hired a third service. This gentleman came over one evening, walked through my lawn with me, listened to me describe (at least, I thought he did) my desire to have someone work more slowly and do a few extra things. He agreed with enthusiasm. His rate would be twice what I had been paying. But, I thought, I was asking for more.
Well, guess what? The same routine of arriving in a rush, swooping around my yard in a rush, leaving small details unattended to.
When a young man from the neighborhood stuck a flier in my door - describing his wish for cash to fund his first term of college and perhaps buy a car; I called him. He worked efficiently and I was pleased with his results.
I went away for a couple week's vacation. I called him before I left, telling him I was going to be gone and requesting that he mow on his usual schedule in my absence. I came home to find calf high grass. The grass might have also been responding to the luxury of the sprinkler system I recently installed, but it was clear that he had not moved as I requested before I left.
My answering machine had a couple of messages from him - that I didn't really understand, but I thought he told me that he had arranged for a friend to cover for him.
Well, today, I finally connected with a local service. They have an office with someone to answer the phone. They are in the yellow pages; and they have a website. BUT, in the meantime, one of the men who had mowed for me - the one who turned my business over to someone else without telling me - rang my doorbell this afternoon, expressed concern over the height of my grass and offered to mow for me again!
I took a great deal of satisfaction in telling him that someone else would be taking care of things.
The price charged by the new service is midway between what I have been paying. They came over late this afternoon and in about an hour and a half took care of the grass which was thick and getting very, very high. The one representative I have met is very pleasant and listened to me vent a little on my frustrations with the other companies.
Now I'm wondering why I wrote about this at all. I guess I needed to let off a little steam, and the cats don't really seem very interested.
My stadium job is, primarily, one of customer service. And I'm finding that the longer I work there, the more sensitive I am to what I perceive as lapses in services provided to me. This whole thing with my grass has extended now for the better part of four years, with one misstep after another; combined with a frustrating sort of deafness when I did my best to explain what my expectations were.
I hope it's over. Based on a couple of conversations and one trip by the new service to my property to work and get paid, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.
If things blow up, I may rant again. Stay tuned!
Books update coming in the next day or so.
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