Say What?

I just got a call from Adam at the BestBuy corporate office stating that the letter I'd written them last November has come to their attention. BestBuy is apparently aware that they have many unhappy customers. They want to put together a training video to include those disenchanted with their store such as myself to try and educate their workforce about customer satisfaction. Adam wants to bring a film crew to our home and do an interview but they want to do it early next week and we're still in the middle of our flooring project. He suggested that we could possibly meet at their corporate offices in Bloomington. I said I was fine with that. I told him that my experience with them was frustrating beyond belief and that they weren't just words when I told them in my letter that they'd lost a good customer. I mentioned that we'd recently purchased kitchen appliances and never set foot in BestBuy whereas before we'd likely have at least checked out what they have...

I came home from work yesterday to find Tammy busy ripping out the carpet in our family room. I love the way she's not intimidated by projects such as that. I thought we were going to leave the carpet removal to the crew from the flooring company but she thought it would be an easy way for us to save some money on the project. I'm at work as I write this and I just noticed a message on my cell. Tammy called to say the workers arrived before 8:00 this morning to do the stairs...a day early. Fortunately, she was home to let them in as we weren't expecting them until tomorrow. She said they told her that Above All Hardwood Floors is a very good company. The guys doing the stairs are contracted through them. I did a search on Angie's List and found only positive reports. Back to Tammy...when I first met her in the spring of 1999 she owned a townhome in Maple Grove. It was a nice quad unit with a basement and fireplace. She did a lot to renovate it in what spare time sh...

Over 19 years ago I walked into A Wet Pet in Apple Valley and bought my first aquarium. It's what is referred to as a '45 tall'. I had no idea then that I'd make the aquarium a part of my home for all these years since that day. Today brought an end to my fish keeping days...sadly. With our home flooring renovations, I had to dismantle the tank to make room for the workers to do their thing. Over the past year, I've been losing enthusiasm for keeping the aquarium going so I figured that now was probably a good time to find a new owner for it. And so I did. I posted it on Craig's List a few days ago and one of the calls I got was from Chris in Belle Plaine about 35 miles southwest. He called while I was out on a ride this morning and said he was very interested in my add. I cut my ride short as I wanted to get some video of the tank before I took it down. I also wanted to get a photo of the Clown Loach you see above. I've had him for over 15 years and ha...

Things are going to get busy around our home in the next few weeks as we've arranged to have a contractor come in and install hardwood floors in our kitchen and dining area. Our home is 15 years old and although the linoleum isn't holding up too badly, it's time for a fresher look. I think we'll take it one step further and replace our aging appliances while we're at it. Not that they've given us any trouble but no doubt it won't be long before they do. Besides, it will make it easier for the guys to do their work if we can have the appliances out of there. We'd also like to replace the carpet on the main level. The thought of having to get everything up off the floor to do that job is a bit daunting. I'll need to get some help moving stuff as there's no way Tammy and Rachel will be able to help with the heavier things. I'm not looking forward to the job but it will be a nice feeling once the work is complete. We made it out to Taste of Min...

I had to work today (Father's Day) so Tammy, Rachel and I went out for dinner Friday night. We called ahead to Outback Steakhouse and got our name on the list to shorten our wait for a table. I don't think we've ever been disappointed with our food or service there. Tammy had asked me what I wanted for Father's Day and my reply was 'a chamois' for cleaning our cars. She gave me a funny look but I told her that I could really use a new one and that I'd be happy if that's what she got me. Anyway, sitting at the restaurant she brought out a couple of gift bags for me to open. Inside the first bag, I found a sweet new camera. We were browsing cameras a couple of weeks ago at the evil BestBuy but I wasn't very intent on buying anything...at least not from them. (It's a bit of a story and can be found here ) The camera she bought me is much nicer than those I was considering at BB. It's a Panasonic Lumix They also bought some accessories to go ...

Tammy was out of town with her mother and an aunt over the weekend. She'll put well over a 1000 miles on her wheels before she returns sometime tonight. I was able to get out and take advantage of some beautiful weather, if not just a bit breezy, for some nice rides over the last few days. I got up early Friday morning to take the little guys for a walk so as not to leave them feeling neglected while I spent the day on my bike. I ran into a neighbor, Tom Ferguson, as we were finishing our walk. He was curious about my riding and wondered how I handled the occasional flat tire. I told him how flats weren't really much of a problem as I'd sometimes go over a thousand miles without flatting. I carry two tubes with me and seldom have I ever had to use them both on a ride. But what if I flat twice he wondered? Tom is a pilot for Northwest and I'm sure it's only natural for him to think in terms of worst-case scenarios. I told him that if I were to flat 3 times during a...

My cousin Deborah came into town on a few hour layover Memorial Day with her Fiancé, Mark. She and Mark have been engaged for a few months and until recently it's been a guarded secret. Jerry and Jackie picked them up at the airport and brought them by our house for pizza. It was nice to spend time with all of them. Of course I had to break out the video camera for an addition to my YouTube account. Being the proud parents that we are we also had to pop in the DVD of Rachel's recent dance recital. Toby and Allie loved all the attention. It would've been nice to have a few more hours with everybody. I need to make more of a point of getting up to see Jackie and Jerry. They're only 40 miles away but they may as well be 400 miles away for as infrequently as we get together. I had a really nice ride yesterday. I got up early and took the pups for a walk then got suited up and was on the road by 7:30 am. I've done a lot of riding this year but no rides pushing the 1...