Archive for the ‘Miscellaneous’ Category

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I made a lot of mistakes this week that cost me precious time and money. The thing that led me down the path to severe stress was Windows 7. I (mistakenly) listened to a friend who said he had been running Windows 7 (beta) for months and it was very stable. I thought that since he usually distains anything Microsoft (in spite of working there), it must be pretty good. I had no real reason to upgrade from Windows XP…I just thought I’d go ahead and take my friend’s offer of a company discount to get it ($40) and install it now. I didn’t do any research, so I’m writing this as a precautionary tale so others don’t follow in my footsteps.

I did a custom install of Windows 7 Professional, as directed by the upgrade advisor. What I didn’t know is that it wasn’t a clean install and took up a good portion of my hard drive. All my other files and software were still there on the hard drive taking up space, but I wasn’t able to access them. I tried installing my Adobe products first since it was a priority to get up and running again for my freelance business. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough hard drive space left to do so.

Frustrated, I decided to go to Best Buy and get a new computer. I needed more memory anyway and they had some good deals. I settled on an HP p6230y…750 GB hard drive space and 8 GB DDR3 SDRam, and quad-core processor. Perfect for my graphic design work. Cost: close to $750.

When I got home, I quickly set up my new computer and started installing software. The MS Office installed without a hitch, as expected. The problems began when I tried to install Adobe CS3 Design Standard and Web Standard. They installed fine, actually…it wasn’t until I tried to run them that I had problems. They would never open up even though the task manager showed them running, and eventually would give an error message and crash.

Ok, so now I did a bit of research. Seems I would have to upgrade my Windows 7 64-bit Home edition to the Professional edition. The upgrade was necessary because it was the only way to be able to run applications in Windows XP mode in Virtual PC. But here’s a kicker…I couldn’t use the Pro version my friend purchased for me. The only way Microsoft would allow me to upgrade was to use the Upgrade Anytime option and purchase the upgrade to get the install key (which is different from the product key one usually gets with the software). So, another $89 spent.

I also had to purchase upgrades to some of my business software (Quickbooks and Extensis Fusion (for font management) because my current versions didn’t runn on Win 7 (another $100, roughly).

I installed the upgrade, followed by the software for XP mode and virtual PC. Then I had to install the Adobe software (again) while in XP mode. Ok, I can do this…not that big of a deal, right? Wrong! Once I was in XP mode, the resolution was only 16-bit with no way to change it to anything higher. I just can’t have that considering the type of business I’m in! Even worse, I couldn’t access files on the Win 7 part of the computer from XP mode. In frustration, I contacted Microsoft support and got an “expert” in Win 7. I gave him control of my computer and he started trying things I had already tried. He wasn’t any more successful changing the resolution or setting up a network for file sharing than I was. Almost a whole day wasted to find this out!

Oh, I forgot to mention the waste of time chatting online with someone from HP and Adobe…useless to the point I wanted to scream!

I finally went to Adobe’s site and download CS4 versions of the software I use most and installed it on Win 7. It worked! But, in less than 30 days, I’ll need to buy the upgrades for the two suites to the tune of $898 plus tax!

One final straw in this whole fiasco is that I run a backup of my files every night to an external hard drive. I checked to make sure all the folders were there before ditching my old computer. What I didn’t check is the contents of each folder. Many of the files are missing, which is really weird. That will teach me not to thoroughly check my backups before switching computers!!

When I finally purchase the Adobe upgrades later this month, I will have spent around $1900…and that doesn’t count the time I could have been billing clients (about 2 1/2 days worth).

Lessons learned:

1) Research OS upgrades and new computers before rushing in hastily

2) Never buy a new computer right when a new OS has been released…allow time for the bugs to be worked out.

3) I never thought I’d say this, but…I’ll be buying a Mac in the future. (I’m now a real believer of those Mac commercials – see video below).

If you are thinking about getting on the blog bandwagon and would like a custom WordPress theme, I’m running a special for only $99. Below are just a few examples of some designs. I can customize to match your website, use your logo, and/or colors.

The following is from a handout that Stacey Anderson gave us at an eWomen event. She is a professional organizer and a really great speaker. I just had to share this valuable information. My additional comments are in teal.

• Be concise and to the point
• Use templates for frequently used responses
• Don’t leave out the previous message thread
• Read the entire email again before you sent it. This will save you embarrassment!
• Do not over use “Reply to All”.
• Use a meaningful subject line. Before responding to that email, or when you save it- change the subject line so that you can better understand what the message is about.  Perhaps add the date, topic or other specific details in the subject line.  And when sending an email make the subject line as specific as possible.
• Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT
• Avoid long sentences – try to keep entire email to one screen shot
• Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation
• Use a signature that includes your address, email, and telephone number. If you want to set an expectation of when you will be checking and replying to email, include your business hours.
• Don’t reply to spam – mark as junk mail and delete
• Take care with abbreviations and emoticons
• Try not to use attachments – paste the information in the body of the email. If you must send a file that can’t be copied/pasted, send it using a service like YouSendIt.com. The recipient can download it from a link and there’s a lessened chance of the email getting blocked by spam filters (a common occurrence at larger companies).
• Know that what you write is permanent and can be sent/forwarded to anyone
• Mailings – use the BCC: field or do a mail merge so email addresses are not visible
• If you CC: someone on an email, specify what you expect from them so everyone knows if they need to respond or not.

If you would like more tips about taming your email, contact:

Stacey Anderson- Professional Organizer, Speaker and Author
www.organizedinnovations.com
425-785-5239

I really enjoyed celebrating Christmas this year. It was the first time in over 30 years that I spent Christmas with my father. It was also the first time in nine years that he got to see his grandson, Marcus.

Before their arrival, we decorated the house inside and out. The finishing touch was a 10-foot Christmas tree set in the turret section of the living room…a perfect spot!

It started snowing on Wednesday, December 17th and continued on the 18th. Marcus was due to arrive that evening. The interior roads were covered with snow and ice and the Shuttle Express from the airport was only running to hotels. I worried how Marcus would reach us once he landed. We tried to go pick him up, but started sliding all over the road before we were a few blocks from the house, so we turned back. I told Marcus to take the shuttle to the University Inn…a hotel about 1.5 miles from the house. I expected him to get a room for the night and we would figure things out the next day. He surprised me…at midnight he showed up at the door, having walked from the hotel with is very large suitcase.

Daddy arrived that Sunday, Dec. 21st. It had snowed again so there was still no way to drive our car to pick him up. Daddy is almost 72 and was already nervous about traveling by himself. I worried about him getting stranded. As luck would have it, Marcus was down in Tacoma with friends the night before and said they were on their way home righ around the time daddy was due to arrive. He talked his friends into stopping to pick his grandfather up and they arrived safely (being dropped off at the top of our hill where roads were slightly better).

We were house-bound for several days, so Tora and I baked dozens of cookies of several varieties, so the house smelled really good…fresh baked cookies combined with the smell of pine. We had to walk to the store a few times since it was to dangerous to drive…a three-mile round trip. The walk was nice, but difficult when you’re carrying bags of groceries and trying not to slip on the ice. We saw several people using their cross-country skis to get around.

I took daddy to see his very first theater show (You Can’t Take It With You) and he really enjoyed it. We also went to the Seattle Aquarium with Marcus. I also got to record several of daddy’s memories.

Wanda and Bill joined us on the Saturday after Christmas for brunch and the opening of presents. Snow prevented them from coming on Christmas day. Marcus went home the following day.

I took daddy to a studio to get some pictures taken on the day before he went home. It wasn’t your typical posed portraits. Alyssa likes to have her subjects move around. Daddy really got into it (a big surprise) and did silly poses and made funny faces. I haven’t heard him laugh so much or seen him act so silly since I was a little kid. I can’t wait to see the photos!

When I left daddy at the airport for his return home, he started to cry, which got me all teared up. I will miss him a lot and hope it’s not my last Christmas with him.

I learned how to make cold-process soap a few years ago and it’s one of my favorite things to make to give as gifts during the holidays. I just made a new batch at the request of my mother, who wants to give bars as her own gifts. The scent I created for the soap combines rosemary, clary sage & clove, which results in a nice, clean smell that even guys like.

On September 12-14, I was on the crew of the Seattle Breast Cancer 3-Day. I may not have walked 20 miles a day, but I worked just as hard. My day started at 4am and didn’t end until 9pm (sometimes later). I was on the concierge crew and worked in the 3-Day Gear store, the post office, legacy pins, and general camp duties. My feet and legs really got a workout! The part I really minded were the nights…temps dropped from near 80 during the day down to 50 at night. Plus there was a lot of moisture in the air, leaving everything pretty wet. I made the mistake of only packing a fleece sleeping shell instead of a sleeping bag. The first night, I was so cold my teeth chattered continuously and I had to stuble to the port-o-potties every hour. The second night was slightly better since I bought an emergency sleeping sack made out of mylar from the gear store.

The camp was well organized…we even had showers set up in tractor trailer! The food was quite good, considering the number of people they had to cook for. There were an estimated 3400 walkers and I think over 100 crew. Imagine half that many pink tents…row after row at Marymoor Park.

The energy of the event was really great. It’s an experience I won’t forget. In fact, I’m already signed up for next year’s event!

Click the photo below to see a Flash slideshow of pictures from the 3-Day.

Over the past couple of months, I have just been amazed at the poor customer service and lack of care I’ve received at several businesses. So much so, that I just have to write about it here.

Case 1: I love my bank and have been a member for 12 years. The tellers there know me by name and I feel like I’m getting personal attention. Recently they hired a younger girl to help at the drive-through window. On all four occasions that she attended to my needs, she screwed up. Usually she gives me cash back when I wanted it deposited in my savings. The last time was more egregious. I had my deposits and my husband’s deposits paper clipped separately when I placed them in the tube. She completely ignored my husband’s deposit! When I called her attention to it, she picked my stack back up and said she didn’t notice there were two separate transactions. Does that mean she didn’t even check to see if my totals were right and assumed all the checks were there?

Case 2: I was shopping at Ross in the downtown Seattle store. When I was checking out, the bubble gum chewing cashier, who didn’t look a day over 20, asked me if I wanted the Senior Citizen discount. I asked her what age I had to be in order to get it and she said 60. WTF? I know I’m pushing 50, but I know I don’t look even close to 60! I wanted to pop her bubble gum bubble in her face! I believe that anyone that qualifies for a senior citizen discount knows it and won’t hesitate to ask about it. A cashier shouldn’t assume she/he can tell a person’s age based on their own reality.

Case 3: I was recently given an American Express gift card for $25. I went to use it and it was declined. So I called AmEx to find out why. It was because my card only had $23 on it. Huh? I just activated it and hadn’t used it before. It turns out that AmEx has this policy…if a gift card is over a year old, they start charging a $2 service fee per month. WTF? So, they’re telling me that in another 11 months, my card is worth zero? Will they start sending me a bill when the card is two years old and and in the negative? What kind of policy is that? I have yet to find a store or restaurant that I frequent that even accepts AmEx and I’m now down to a $12 balance on my gift card with never using it. I tried going to my bank to see if I could cash it in, but their card reader doesn’t work with AmEx cards. At least I didn’t buy the card for myself, so I’m not really losing anything. But geeze!

Case 4: I ordered some wine online. The distributor chose to send it via FedEx and it would require a signature since it was alcohol. Ordinarily I work from home and this wouldn’t have been a problem, but it happened that I was working at a client site the week when the package arrived. FedEx left a door tag…I called them up to make arrangements to have it delivered on a day I would be home. I was told that I couldn’t tell them a day to redeliver…they would come back the next day and the next and if I wasn’t home, I would have to drive to Auburn to pick it up with three days or they would send it back to the sender. But wait…I won’t be home those days. Why try to redeliver it and waste gas when you can just make a note not to until such and such day? We can’t do that, was their explanation. I was used to UPS…if they missed me the first day and I called, they would redeliver on the day I specified. But not FedEx. So after the third delivery attempt, I call to plead with them to bring it the next day because I would be home…honest. The manager said he would put a note on the box and have the driver bring it. Yippee! I could relax now. The next day, no package. So I call FedEx back up and talk to the same manager. He explains that the driver ripped the note off the package and refused to bring it…and he had the right to refuse. WTF? What kind of policy is that? Aren’t they getting paid to do their job? Well, yes and no, the manager explains. The drivers are under contract. They only get paid if the package is delivered during the first three attempts. If it’s delivered after that, they don’t get paid, so they don’t have to do it. Well, of course they would refuse…I would, too with a policy like that! Wouldn’t it make more sense to hold the package and the driver brings it on a specified date? After all, most people work during the day and can’t be home. The manager just shrugs and says it’s FedEx policy to do it that way. So, I have made up my mind that I will not patronage any online shop that only offers FedEx as a means of delivery! After a two hour drive in traffic and 60 miles later, that wine better be darn good!

All these examples of poor customer service and policies got me to thinking about my own way of doing business with my customers. Rather than tell a client I can’t do something, I vow to give them options!

A friend of mine is a florist and she recently brought me some flowers when she visited. Her arrangement inspired me to come up with variations of her design. Here are a couple of photos of my own creations.

I had been thinking about getting a cover up over the tiny lady bugs on my left breast. They are so small, that it was hard to tell what they were…they looked more like drops of blood. So, I got a new tattoo yesterday. I had thought about getting a pair of fish to represent Pisces. Most people get koi when they do a fish tattoo. I wanted to be different, so I got salmon to also represent the Pacific Northwest.

It took five hours to do the tattoo and it really hurt compared to other tats I’ve gotten in the past. The artist was Israel Caine, currently of Cicada Tattoo on Aurora (he did my last tattoo of the morning glories on my right arm). He was so psyched to do a fun tattoo and encouraged me to enter in the small art contest at the upcoming Seattle Tattoo Expo…we’ll see.

Here’s a picture of it (it’s still red and swollen since it was taken right after Caine finished).