This is a story about a car breakdown, a “Big Box” retail store, and customer service.
Several weeks ago I had to make a weekend trip to mom’s house in the Hudson Valley area of upstate New York. I left on a Friday morning driving my venerable 2004 Rodeo, and arrived late afternoon. I spent Saturday performing the odd jobs which was the reason for my trip. I left for home 6:30 Sunday morning, and this is where my story starts.
Last month the “Honey Maid” graham cracker brand released a video ad touting the wholesomeness of it’s signature graham crackers. The ad showed clips of various families smiling and generally having fun. These clips included a family with two dad’s, a family with a heavily tattooed musician father, a white person’s hand holding a black person’s hand, and a family with a military dad, all overlaid on simple background music. Just another vignette of life in modern America, brought to you by a cracker company.
A recent article posted on Face Book by a former shipmate, and the resulting discussion, has gotten me thinking about our current Navy.
I’m back in San Diego again this week on another business trip, and I saw what I’d like to think is the future of automobile technology. I saw this on, of all places, the main Navy base.
I watched the President’s 2014 State of the Union speech last night as I normally do. I enjoy the pomp and ceremony of the various Important People filing into the room, entering in reverse order of their importance in the great scheme of government. The Least Important People come early and thereby have to sit and wait the longest for the show to begin while the More Important People come later, ending of course with the Most Important Person himself. I smile at the great formal announcement made as the President enters the room.
Note: This post was submitted by guest writer Almishti, and published as a show of support of this writer’s position.
In response to police actions on UC campuses; This is my open letter to chancellor Blumenthal of the University of California, Santa Cruz, on Occupy UC Davis.
I’ve watched the “Occupy Wall Street” movement from the start, and can’t help but being impressed with the way the protesters have handled themselves. For the most part, they have conducted themselves with exemplary behavior. However, the same cannot be said for the local governments and police departments. Aside from New York, the worse is the City of Oakland, California.
It was just last year that we as a nation had a vicious and bitter “debate,” more properly called a descent into insanity, over whether we should have some semblance of pretending to create a national health care policy. I did my part in debating the position of sanity and compassion in the reader’s comments section of our local rag, now called “Inside NOVA.com.” What I remember most from this experience was just how vicious and selfishly mean the Republican side of the argument was.
So who’s winning the War on Christmas?
Once again Christmas time is approaching. Houses in our neighborhood are all decked out in colorful lights with inflatable ornaments sitting out on snow-covered lawns. The stores are full of holiday shoppers making retailers smile while dreaming of big holiday bonuses like kids wishing for candy-apple treats. Our TV screens are aglow with the many incarnations of Santa Claus telling the viewers in TV land just how great of a gift their trinket would be for that special someone.
So who’s winning the War on Christmas?
Prince William County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Breaking Bad
I had an unpleasant experience last week with a member of the Prince William County Fire and Rescue crew. While I think it might turn out all right, the experience has left me deeply unsettled. On top of several unpleasant experiences Winnie and I have had with county police and public officials these past years, I now have to wonder about firefighters and paramedic personnel.
Prince William County depends upon volunteer firefighter’s for most of the county’s emergency needs. There are twelve departments across the county managed by the Prince William County Fire and Rescue Association. Last week I was put into the position of writing a letter of complaint over the actions of one of their members.
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Firefighter OWL Woodbridge