Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Jello-O Plan-changing Winds, Visiting Family


London, Ontario
When I woke up on Tuesday, Apr. 9th it was a much better time. It was 6 am so I relaxed for another half hour. I joined Bill downstairs and being it wasn’t light enough to walk yet, I made my tea and caught up on some friends’ blog posts. Most of our Ontario friends are home with the exception of a couple who will be soon. Today was extremely windy and added to the chilly 7C/46F air temps, I didn’t get out for a walk in the morning.

Bill left before 9
Our first priority was to empty the storage area underneath our king bed. We lifted that and found spaces for everything, including our boxed Christmas tree. And surprisingly, we can still walk around and live in the Suite. We also stripped the bed of sheets and duvet. We did all this because the service technician, Al, is coming to temporarily, but professionally, tighten the really really slack slide cables. He wants to be able to see what, if anything, may be causing all of the issues – from all angles, even under the bed.

It wasn't Al arriving, but instead I heard then saw Kirk bring a Mobile Suite in
It would either need a PDI or cleaning before going back to Can-Am
We had breakfast of poached eggs on rye toast and cleaned up dishes and then ourselves so that would be out of the way when he arrived. As it turned out, Bill got called in for a morning orientation job on a Grand Design travel trailer. Marshall was still sick and this was his client. Bill can’t say no, I understand that and we were going to stick around anyway so he could help Al with the bedroom job. Instead of Bill helping him, he will bring another service guy with him.

Parts of today looked like this while others were pure blue sky and sunshine
but it was definitely a 'don't wear a hat day'
Hopefully, both morning events will be done early enough that we can do some running around this afternoon. If not, definitely tomorrow. We also need groceries. The fridge needs a restock before we drive to the Ridge, it is looking pretty pathetic. Bill left at 9:15 to meet the clients and I can relax until the boys come. I made a coffee and did just that. Clemson is asleep in his bed on the couch so he will keep me company.

Driving on familiar streets, the ones we drove every day back and forth
for  30+ years
So, there is jiggling Jell-o afoot and I don’t mean the kind in the fridge. At 12 noon, Bill texted and said “I’m on my way home”. That’s great, he’s done an orientation in record time. However, Al never made it to work on our slide so I’m kind of confused. When Bill walked in, he said he heard early on that because of the winds and the cold, they deferred the fix until tomorrow morning. He was a bit gun shy to call and tell me that we did all the moving for nothing.

London also has some very unique old buildings
This church sits right on a corner at Adelaide St. and King St.
for those of you who are familiar with the city
At least the stuff is packed neatly and not in our way. We do have to remake the bed and then strip it again in the morning. What else do I have to do, really? LOL So, it was good that Bill was home early. We had cheese and crackers for lunch and then we drove to St. Thomas to Elgin Travel Centre on Wellington St. and chatted with Taylor about some flight information for October. We’ve never been to a resort before and haven’t flown since 2004 so we’re pretty rusty on the whole things. She was very helpful and answered all of our queries.

Acceptable graffiti on a building across from the police station
So, Taylor at ETC aside, I hate admitting this, but I’m frustrated about being back home for one reason. We have some lousy, read my lips, LOUSY customer service people here in London. Yesterday in a Dollarama, not one smile from any of the 6 employees I met. No ‘good morning!’, no ‘how are you today’ (with any sincerity), rude shelf stackers reaching around me to straighten greeting cards with nary an ‘excuse me’.
Beef, mushroom rice soup
It was delicious
Bill had the house salad

lasagna and garlic toast
yummy

Rice pudding came with the seniors meal
I was so full, I shared it with Bill
Today, other than our buddy Stu at Costco who greets us like old and dear friends, an ignorant ‘foodie’ at a sampler booth, a cashier and bagger who greeted us and then ignored us during checkout while chatting about karaoke to each other, I felt very disappointed in human kind. I walked out thinking of how everyone, well a large percentage in the southwest venues, campgrounds etc. know how to treat their consumers. I’m hoping to be met with the familiar friendliness in our hometown of Durham when we arrive.

Charlotte and Cory have a very nice home
Okay, rant over, back on to our day. We left Costco and stopped at Food Basics where I picked up a few veggies and other necessary things on the grocery list. People were nicer there. We drove home, got groceries put away and at 5:30 Bill took me out to supper. One of our favourite London restaurants, a bi-weekly payday haunt for us during our working career. Southside Family Restaurant is just around the corner from our former sticks and bricks home.

Chelsea likes her hoody
although it is a bit big on her
Look at that beautiful smile!
 While there, we were delightfully surprised to see a former school board employee walk in. We have known Dave Ward for over 30 years and it was wonderful to see and chat with him before our supper and his guests arrived. He was hosting a seminar in the back room for London Auto Service, his new business. After leaving the restaurant, with a bit of time on our hands, Bill drove down our old street and past our old house.

She thought it was neat that it came from Mexico
Interesting to see the changes of no front garden (what happened to my lilac bush?) but also interesting that we felt ‘nothing’, really. It was just a drive in an old neighbourhood that we aren’t missing in our life. There are a couple of neighbours that we miss but we had a date and had to keep on moving. Across the familiar city, Black Beauty nosed her way around as if she’d never left. We arrived at Charlotte and Cory’s lovely home in the north corner of London.

I didn't do a very good job getting a picture of the earrings
but what a cutie patootie! Olivia loves the roadrunners.
The girls seem to grow so much during the 6 months we are away. Olivia becomes more of a young lady and Chelsea, our sports gal, must have grown at least 3”! I told her 3’ but was kidding. 😊 We caught up on their news, they on ours and then I handed out the gifts we’d brought home. I do believe everything was a hit. Chelsea looked great in her new hoody from Los Algodones and Olivia was tickled ‘pink’ with her roadrunner earrings from there as well. How well we did with the pink being her birthstone colour! (Lucky is all)

Now you can see them
We talked about Cancun for October and we are all getting excited for the vacation away. We said goodbye at 8:15 and drove home under dark clouds and a bit of rain on the windshield. This was a good day here in London. We remade the bed when we got home. Bill read, Clemson waited for me to sit and I finished downloading pictures and getting my blog ready to post. It might be a morning post; my eyes are really drooping.

I hope yours was a good day as well. Thank you for stopping by.

8 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Interesting that you saw that. I think it was from her having them in and out and playing with them.

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  2. I totally agree on the service thing. No one really knows that's part of their job ... smiling and being nice. I guess it's just a sign of the times ... me me me instead of what can I do for you. I've taken to complimenting everyone I see on something .... seems they are more likely to smile and actually say hello. Maybe even smile at the next guy in line. No clue if it's working or not! LOL

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    1. Thank you. It isn't even just the youth, it is people my age. I want to say 'if you're not happy here, give the job to someone who will appreciate it' but I don't. Like you, I always say something perky to people around me. It was frustrating.

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  3. Perhaps a quick email to the customer service department at the head offices of any of the places that seemed to be lacking in courtesy may help. If we brush it off or do nothing, it isn't going to get any better. You can be certain it was not an owner of the store that treated you in such a manner.
    Often I think it's also a lack of knowledge these days simply because some people are never taught how to be courteous, or how to greet people. Not at the job nor even in their every day life interacting with others. Our sense of common decency and manners seem to be taking a beating with the 'me, me, me' attitude so prevalent these days. So in some cases, you can't use what you haven't been taught.
    This of course is just my humble opinion and I could be totally wrong, they may just be rude, obnoxious people working in those stores.
    I'm glad you enjoyed the rest of your day. The slide issues will be resolved at some point but I think a call cancelling would have been nice.

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    1. Yes, rather than an email, I critique on reviews online. Unfortunately, I can't be sure that one of the people at Dollarama was not a manager. I totally get what you are saying and that goes back to the parents. Some things should not need to be taught but learned in experience and witnessing others. When I'm friendly to you, you should naturally fall in line and respond in kind. LOL When I smile, you smile. Right? :)
      The slide issue has been resolved as much as possible now and it was Bill, not Can-Am who didn't relay the message to me. he's afraid of me, dontcha know? hahaha

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  4. Great post Patsy. Sorry about the customer service at so many places. It seems there are a lot of businesses that hire anyone with out any customer service training. Of course, I think it should come naturally anyway. Your granddaughters are adorable and the gifts were perfect for them obviously by the smiles on their faces! Dinner looked yummy! Funny about Bill not calling to tell you about the change in plans regarding the Suite! :)) That's a guy for ya!

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    1. Thank you. I agree that it should come naturally, the smiles, friendliness and greetings.
      The gifts were certainly appreciated, yes. I like when it is easy to tell.
      As I said above, Bill is afraid of me! haha

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