The Triple "R"

Yesterday I spent the day at The Triple "R". It is the endearing name I have given to my niece's house. The R**** Road Retreat. It is a place of calmness and relaxation. There are beautiful grounds to walk around. There is a pool that is heated to the perfect temperature. Hor d'oeuvres are served poolside with a choice of beverage. Pool floats are waiting to be used. After a day in the sun, dinner is cooked to order and served on the upper deck. Beautiful dinnerware and cloth napkins are standard. Of course, dessert accompanies the meal. Most nights S'mores at the fire pit are the evening's activity. The hot tub is a winter option. An overnight stay is always offered. I needed a day like yesterday. No stress, all pleasure.

Breaking Up

Yesterday I broke up with my contractor. He finished my bathroom and the workmanship was perfect. It exceeded any expectations I had. Everything I wanted and more. He showed up every day and worked a full day. He never asked for money until the job was done. The reason I broke up with him is that he lacked time management skills. If he said he would be here at 9am, he would arrive at noon. If he said he would be here at 2pm that meant 5. One night 6pm turned into 9. I would have to call him repeatedly and ask where he was. He would say that he will be there in an hour and not show up until 4 hours later. Yesterday was the last straw. Since the bathroom was done, we were moving onto painting. He said he would be here at 9am sharp. At 11am I called to see where he was. No answer. I texted and no response for an hour, then he wrote back the following message, "My phone fell into the pool so I can't call to tell you I won't be there today. Sorry". Did he text me from underwater? Anyhow, I hired a new guy that will be here 9am Tuesday. He is an older man and seems reliable. The first guy has no idea he lost the job. When he calls, I will not answer. I have nothing to say.

One Letter Off

One misspelled word can change our lives. A coworker has a daughter that just received her Master's Degree. She applied for a job at a large company and after weeks of interviews, she started work a month ago. She was happy with her job, even though she seemed to be doing odd tasks. She assumed that this was part of the training. She was contacted by another large company and asked to come for an interview. She set an appointment time. A day later, she asked herself why she was even going, because the place she was at now was nice. Yesterday she emailed the second company to say she would not be keeping the appointment. At 1pm, she was called into her supervisor's office and laid off. It seems that her job title was eliminated as the corporate office decided not to move their accounts payable department to New York. It seems that was why she was doing odd tasks. The company was negotiating the move and did not want to tell her. She was so upset and angry that she cancelled the other interview. When she got home, she opened her email and saw a Daemon Error. Her email canceling her interview never went through. One letter was missing in the email address. She went on the interview yesterday and did well. She will go for her second interview in a few days. One misspelled word made all the difference.

Entitled

I do not like people that feel they are entitled to things. No one is better than the next person. I treat everyone alike. The people that feel they are most entitled are doctor's wives. Not the doctor's. Their wives. Just yesterday, I had a patient's mother call me upset that we were charging for two missed appointments. The first one she cancelled five minutes prior to the appointment and rescheduled for the next day. The next day she never showed up and when we called her, she said she was too tired from a concert the previous evening. That is when she was charged for both days. I run a psychology practice and each appointment is one hour. If you cancel, the doctor sits for one hour doing nothing and another patient that needed the appointment time misses out. That is why I have a strict 24 hour cancellation policy. I make exceptions for sickness and emergencies. When I told the woman that the charges were still due she said, "My husband is a doctor". I ignored that statement the first time. Then she said she was never told about the policy. I informed her that she signed a paper acknowledging the rule. She said she never reads before she signs. I told her that is not a wise practice. She then threw in the "doctor's wife" card and this time I addressed it. I told her that if her husband is a doctor, she should realize the importance of patient's keeping their appointments or cancelling in advance. The charges are valid.

The Eleventh Hour

My husband was always a night worker. I am used to this schedule. The contractors I hired to renovate my bathroom are also on this schedule. Their work day starts anywhere between 4-6pm and lasts till midnight. I am used to it. The only problem is that when an issue arises, time runs out. Last night time almost ran out. The contractor was installing the vanity when he noticed that the sink was chipped. He needed to run to Home Depot and exchange it. It was 9:48pm and the store closes at 10:00pm. The vanity was packed up and thrown into the truck and they raced off to the store. They made it by 2 minutes and exchanged the chipped item for a perfect one. They were home by 10:06pm. All is well in the eleventh hour.

Lost Path

Yesterday I needed to print some paperwork. My computer had always been attached to my wireless printer but nothing would print. I realized that the printer I had been using did not recognize the new wireless network. I tried and tried and could not find the option to add the new information. I had to call Canon to walk me through it. The representative said that the Surface Pro computer that I use could not download the app. He asked if I had a Smart Phone. I said that I have an old fashioned type of phone, which I will now refer to as a Dumb Phone. Then he asked if I had a tablet. At this point I thought he meant an aspirin as my head was pounding. I have a small tablet that was purchased as a promotion and I never really use it as I thought that since it was practically free, it would not work well. I got the tablet, downloaded the app, changed the printer configuration and began to print from the little tablet. Then I could add on my Surface Pro and be back to normal. Sometimes we take the small inexpensive items for granted. I have now formed a new relationship with my little tablet and will never doubt it again.

Artisan

The advertising world likes to use phrases that steer us to purchasing their products. The latest catch phrase is "Artisan". It is mainly used to describe bread. We are supposed to think that there is an old man standing behind a butcher block table kneading dough until it is perfect. Then he will place it into a 500 year old brick oven and watch it bake. Last night I saw a commercial for artisan yogurt. Does that same old man stand there stirring milk until it sours? Maybe I could stretch my imagination for bread but I can't take it that far for yogurt.