Author Archives: simply three cents

September 4, 2011

Traffic – For What?

By simply three cents

I don’t get in many cars. When I do I find that one of my biggest peeves is sitting in traffic especially when the road just opens right back up, as if nothing caused a crazy jam. A ride that should take just under five hours took nearly eight. Yes, EIGHT.

That is just insane to me. No construction, no accident (thankfully), no merge, no nothing. Nada. Zilch. Zero. What the heck caused the jam that we were we sitting in?

I should clarify that these are paved roads, major highways and it was a holiday weekend. I expect traffic.

But to sit, and sit and, you guessed it, sit – it’s infuriating! I know the journey is half the fun but a journey where you are actually moving.

The kicker is when all of a sudden the road just opens up and there is absolutely no indication that anything had been wrong? At least give me something, let me know what had caused the delay.

What the $%^&!?

Leave a comment | posted in peeves

September 3, 2011

Life. Uncomplicated. Part Deux.

By simply three cents

I know I shared some tips the other day, and since getting things done doesn’t always happen in a timely manner, here are two more…for the ladies.

Eyebrows going crazy? Miss a threading appointment? Forget to pluck? Rub a little bit of cover up over the extra hairs. It works!

Sometimes when I have big occasions I like to get a pedicure as close to the date as possible. So my existing pedicure might be holding on just a little too long. Depending on where the color is chipping, just clipping the toenails can refresh the look to hold you off a few more days. Warning: this does not always work in your favor. It may take off more of the color than you wanted!

Leave a comment | posted in just silly, tips

September 2, 2011

Life. Uncomplicated.

By simply three cents

I feel like everyone has secret tips to make life easier. If we all shared, how much easier life could be! Here are three of mine.

Tip 1: Don’t you hate when you slip on a shirt or a dress and then you realize you just got deodorant all over a perfectly good outfit? It happens to me more often than not. I learned this trick years ago. Don’t wet it. Rub the material together — just rub a clean part of the material over the part that has the deodorant. May take a minute or two of rubbing but voila!

Tip 2: Tomatoes for taco night are a must. But I find chopping tomatoes messy, annoying and tedious. And I can never get it just right. Instead I buy pre-made bruschetta at the supermarket for taco night! They are already diced and seasoned so they instantly (and more importantly, easily) add kick to the meal!

Tip 3: Don’t you hate running out the night before a trip to pick up those last-minute things? When I know I am going away, I make my list early in the week so those ‘last minute’ things are done before the night before. Since my travel toiletry bag is always ready to go, I just have to take a peek to see if I am really low on something. Best case scenario (this doesn’t always happen) — I am packed and ready to go the day before. That way the night before is just compiling the little things that need to get packed the morning of (glasses, phone charger, phone).

What makes your life easier? Feel free to share your tips in the comments below.

Leave a comment | posted in just silly, tips

September 1, 2011

Impressive

By simply three cents
Super impressed by the speedy response of one of my favorite brands, that quite unfortunately, failed me at retail last week.
 
I sent this email to customer care on Wednesday, August 24 @ 9.10 AM:

Hello,

I couldn’t wait for you to open in Rockefeller Center and now I regret my decision.
 
1 – I had a partially filled gift card and without fail, every single time I visited (4x) there was a problem with it. Eventually it worked but not before I felt like I was a hassle to the team. Once I was asked to pay with another form of payment, even though there was more than enough on the card. 

2 – Which prompted me to write today — I paid for my purchase (half with the remaining balance on my gift card and half in cash) — of course it took forever to pay so my drink was ready before I even stepped away from the register. I was handed the drink, handed my money.

Sure enough a few seconds after I walked away from the counter, my drink started to leak, and leak. The cap popped off and I was the woman holding the leaky Orange Dream Machine in the elevator. I wasn’t given any napkins, of course, so it was my receipt that I was trying to use as a makeshift napkin until I could get up to my office.

Of course in the meantime the drink was spilling – down my dress (which I had JUST picked up from the dry cleaners) and down my leg. My hands were sticky and of course I had to reach into my pocketbook for my work ID so who knows what has orange stickiness on it now. Since Orange Dream Machine is part milk product, and I hate the smell of sour milk, I now feel gross and sticky. And my day has just started.

So much for Jamba brightening my day. It has, no pun intended, completely soured it.

Perhaps I will stick with the Dunkin Donuts just next door.

I also used Twitter …

@JambaJuice soured my morning. My drink was over filled, lid popped off and #Orange Dream Machine dripped down my leg and stained my dress. 
 
I received this response to my email on Wednesday, August 24 @ 1.29 PM [less than four hours later, and I think it only took that long because they are on the West Coast]. There was no Twitter response then, or now, a week later.

Hello,

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your thoughts with us.  Although we are sorry to read about your experience, we find your feedback very helpful in that you point out specifics and give us direction as to where we need to improve.  On behalf of all of us here at Jamba Juice, please accept our sincerest apologies for the poor service and product we provided you at our Rockefeller Center location.  From what you have described, we have some additional training and coaching to perform right away.

 We have shared your feedback with our field management team for review and follow up with the members of our team at this location.  We pride ourselves on offering our customers a positive, uplifting experience.  We greatly appreciate you allowing us the opportunity to address your concerns and to make things right.

If you would please provide us with your mailing address, I would be happy to mail you a couple complimentary 16 oz. beverage cards for you to use on your next visit. More importantly, we will address these service issues right away.  

Thank you again and have a nice day!

Sincerely,

My final response:

Hi, 

Thanks for your prompt response. Because of the busy, and therefore, ideal, location, additional training is a must.

I have worked in many consumer-facing jobs, and I believe good customer service and a good product are of utmost importance. I’m glad you think so too.

Thank you for the gift cards. My address is X.

Thanks again.

I received three gift cards in the mail exactly one week later.

Way to go Jamba Juice. It’s not about getting free stuff. It’s about a solid and immediate  response. The real test is my next trip to Jamba. I’d like to avoid being that girl in the elevator (again) with the dripping drink, thanks very much.

Leave a comment | posted in letters, responses

August 31, 2011

WHY call it a starter?

By simply three cents

It drives me nuts when you are in a restaurant and you order an appetizer and a meal, and they come out together.

More often than not this happens when you are seated at a really small table.

Then the server has to do the dance moving salt and pepper shakers and waters and wine glasses to get everything situated.

If I wanted buffet style, I would have gone to a buffet.

WHY Wednesday.

Leave a comment | posted in food, observations, peeves, WHY Wednesday

August 30, 2011

Wear you down Weather

By simply three cents

With all the excitement about Irene, I didn’t even mention the earthquake that rattled the Northeast last week. Probably because I never even felt it.

I was at work on the 6th floor in an iconic building in New York City and didn’t feel anything. People all around me did. Truth be told, I was a little bummed I didn’t feel it.

One of the women I sit near actually thought she was getting dizzy and had taken a sip of water. She didn’t say anything until after it was announced that there was, in fact, an earthquake. If she had said something sooner, maybe I would have felt something!

And since hurricane season lasts a few more months, this Gawker article on prepping for the next hurricane is definitely worth a read. And for you naysayers, who are you kidding, there’s definitely going to be another – another something anyway. We just had a hurricane, an earthquake and a tornado warning in one week.

Leave a comment | posted in in and around NYC

August 29, 2011

Number one: I couldn’t stop eating

By simply three cents

Hurricane / Tropical Storm Irene caused significant flooding and damage on the Eastern Seaboard this weekend but hopefully everyone is safe.

My post-hurricane/tropical storm observations from my own home.

1 – During ‘lock down’ I COULDN’T STOP EATING. We had bought some food (read: unhealthy crap) that we don’t normally purchase so it was a bit of overload. But not everything was unhealthy. Bananas, granola bars, popsicles, bread. It didn’t matter. I couldn’t stop eating. Besides small leaks in my apartment, the biggest personal problem I have with Irene is the weight she put on me. Anyone else have the same problem?!

2 – The boyfriend and I prepare for emergencies very differently. I heeded the advice of elected officials, I taped the windows, I moved my irreplaceable (after human life) items into the closets, I filled the tub with water, I made sure we had wine and beer and canned goods and snacks (okay, so they said canned goods and food…I interpreted it my way), I slept on an aero bed in our foyer away from glass windows. I was under the assumption that our windows were going to blow out. The boyfriend, not so much. He made sure we had bottled water, he filled up used water bottles with tap water in case we needed more water to flush the toilets (because he drained the tub I filled), he made sure we had flashlights (even though the batteries were supposed to be used by 2003), he slept in the bed – next to said glass windows. Maybe we make a good team.

3 – I feel bad for the newscasters. I know that I once wanted to be one of them, but boy is it tedious, not to mention dangerous. And I got sucked in with the best of them. On Sunday evening, yes Sunday, when I asked the boyfriend, ‘Where did Saturday and Sunday go?’ he replied, ‘We watched the news, a lot of news.’ And just like that my weekend was gone.

4 – While I give New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg much credit for speaking Spanish during his press conferences, he might want to have a translator to speak on his behalf. I do hope it is sincerely appreciated by Spanish-speaking New Yorkers because he does give it a valiant effort.

5 – Whatever your political affiliation, you have to love New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s ‘get the hell off the beach’ speech. If you haven’t seen it, click the link I provided right this second. HILARIOUS. PS – he is right, although I admit that I may have waited a little bit longer just to avoid  the traffic.

6 – Social media is here to stay. I have believed this for a long time but for you naysayers…news was out there relaying information as well as local governments. I admit, I followed a few more relevant Facebook pages and Twitter feeds that would give me the information I desired. And some with not so relevant information…but hey, with 10K followers in just a few days, that’s impressive.

7 – Note to self: when stores are restocked, create an emergency kit – including D batteries and duct tape. No where could D batteries be found. Duct tape — I eventually found a few more rolls, but they weren’t at the hardware store. Now I realize the importance…I don’t want to be THOSE people at the store again. I want to have that stuff at the ready.

8 – We should be thankful it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Prepare for the worst, expect the best is a good mantra.

9 – I prepared for the windows to blow out and I also prepared to lose electricity. I had games, a deck of cards and candles ready to go into the bathroom. I also made the boyfriend and I pack a little emergency bag in case we had to evacuate at a moment’s notice. Laugh now, but I don’t think it was a bad idea.

10 – I am a little annoyed by the MTA and the PATH trains. You shut them down for the first time in history and you get them back and running in less than 48 hours? Why? Why? WHY? The storm happened over the weekend. You couldn’t just make a public plea for people to stay home on Monday?

While there are many people who think this was too much preparation for something so little, I do think the public officials did right by their constituents. Mother Nature is unpredictable and while there is significant damage up and down the Eastern Seaboard, you never know what could have been.

Leave a comment | posted in food, in and around NYC, observations, relationships

August 28, 2011

Irene Is On Her Way

By simply three cents

The hurricane is en route and with a vengeance. Now I’m just waiting for the power to go out.

Yesterday, the town I live in issued a voluntary evacuation and a directive to get your car off the street (in another town or in a multi-level garage). Today, the town issued mandatory evacuations if you live on a garden or first floor apartment.

The boyfriend and I don’t have a car and we live on the top floor of a 13 floor building. We decided to stay.

We face the Hudson River. Thoughts of a tidal wave have passed through my mind.

It remains to be seen if we made the right choice. All of our furniture is off the balcony. With multiple trips to buy tape (hot seller!) we have taped our windows.

We’ve got a wall of windows in the bedroom and a sliding glass door in the living room. I made the boyfriend put this plastic tarp over the windows in the bedroom.

I filled a plastic crate with photo albums and other irreplaceable items. All of my possessions are in this apartment, so after human life, I have chosen items precious and after human life, irreplaceable, to me. This crate is in another hall closet. I moved out the less important vacuum and suitcases to make room.

I also took my important paperwork and stored it on high shelves in the closet. I made the boyfriend take down a gorgeous framed picture off the wall. That, too, is in the closet.

Clearly I have no idea what Mother Nature wants to do but if I have ample time to prepare I am going to ‘hide’ some stuff.

Because our apartment is high and we get wind on a normal day, I am assuming the absolute worst. I am going into this thinking that our windows will blow out and we will be spending a good portion of time hanging out in the bathroom (the only place in our one bedroom apartment with no windows) until we can move to safety.

Oh and yes, I already have an evacuation bag packed. It just has my toiletries and medicine and pajamas. I would just have to grab my glasses or contacts (whichever I am not currently wearing).

Call me crazy. I like to call myself prepared. With the rearranging of furniture thanks to the addition of balcony furniture now in the living room, my floors got cleaned. So did the bathroom since I expect that we will be spending time camping out in there in the next few hours.

I will leave you with these thoughts from my observations earlier today.

1 – If there are calls for evacuations, why do the news people show up? For our entertainment? If said power goes out, no one is watching and they are right in harm’s way!

2 – Why does the news ‘reward’ idiots with getting them on camera? Example (this is not verbatim but pretty close).

Newscaster: ‘Hey you know there’s an evacuation of all of the beaches in New Jersey?’
Idiot: ‘Yes.’
Newscaster: ‘Ten why are you here? WITH your small children?’
Idiot: ‘To watch.
Newscaster: ‘When are you going to leave?’
Idiot: ‘When I get hit with a wave’
??? They really aired this on television today. I wanted to smack this idiot.

3 – If there are mandatory evacuations and people choose to stay, they should also choose to rescue themselves. This especially annoys me with the people at the beach. Why should a first responder be put in harm’s way, the unpredictable and unforgiving ocean, because someone failed to acknowledge a MANDATORY evacuation?

That’s it for now. Am sure to have more hurricane observations once Irene makes her way to my area. I will post again when I get the electricity, that I am banking on losing, back.

In the meantime, wherever in the world you may be, stay safe.

Leave a comment | posted in apartment living, in and around NYC, news, observations

August 27, 2011

Can I Get An Update?

By simply three cents

Delays are a normal part of my airline travel. Running late sometimes is too. I’m a little nervous about missing my flight when I have some spare time at the airport and I decide to grab a drink at the bar or food at a restaurant.

It amazes me that restaurants and bars in an airport terminal don’t have their own little flight board announcing departures and flight status?

Having those little screens inside an airport bar or restaurant would benefit everyone involved, especially when a flight is delayed and can board at a moment’s notice.

  • Restaurants and bars would make additional revenue
  • Airlines would have fewer people asking questions at the gate and hopefully have fewer people stuck at the bar while the flight is completely boarded and ready to go
  • Passengers would have a welcome distraction

It seems like a no brainer. With all the airports I have been in, I don’t recall ever seeing one of these inside the bar or restaurant. I have to  keep leaving to double-check since the announcement systems may not be that reliable.

Leave a comment | posted in travel, why

August 26, 2011

Now Boarding All Rows

By simply three cents

I love traveling. I especially love traveling when everything aligns just right. No delays getting to the airport, a short and speedy security line, succinct boarding, pulling out from the gate and up in the air in a timely fashion.

Obviously there’s many a time when the plane pulls out from the gate and you are to sit and wait as you are number 20 in line for take off. Classic case of hurry up and wait.

I also love racing against time at an airport. I am realistic enough to know the plane won’t wait for me but I know I’ll make it because I don’t cut it THAT close. I leave enough time to get to the airport, get through a normal line at check-in, grab a magazine and a snack and then board. This ‘habit’ of mine makes the boyfriend crazy so I can only cut it ‘this close’ when I travel alone.

Three times I may have cut it a little too close for comfort, even by my standards, come to mind:

1 – Denver (DEN) to JFK via Atlanta (ATL); and then rerouted from ATL to Newark (EWR) – At check-in.

With a friend, taking the red-eye home after vacationing in Colorado. The agent who had to manually check us in informed us that had we arrived a minute later, the system would have automatically blocked us out, rendering us unable to get our boarding passes, and ultimately, our flight, home. It was never-ending fun, especially when we arrived in Atlanta in the wee hours of the morning only to find out our JFK flight was cancelled. We rerouted ourselves to Newark. Our luggage (yes, I checked luggage back then!) took a few extra days to make it home.

2 – LaGuardia (LGA) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – In the security line. Alone.

Once I got on the security line, I heard an announcement that my flight was boarding. I found someone who worked there and let her know that my flight was boarding. She escorted me to the front of the security line. A few days later I received a letter from the airline telling me that in the future, I should allow for additional time at the airport.

3 – Newark (EWR) to Burbank (BUR)- In the ridiculously long security line (yes, only one line), for a ridiculously early flight. Alone – but a colleague who was on the plane texted me for updates on my place in the security line, wondering if she needed to ask them to hold the flight for me.

My experience at LGA was not duplicated at EWR. I waited with everyone else (except their flights were later than mine). Once past security, I raced through the terminal to my gate. I was forced to check my bag (GRR) because the gate agents said that overhead bins were full (they weren’t). To date, this flight is the only one where I was the last passenger to board. The plus was that almost as soon as I buckled my seat belt, we pulled out from the gate.

Leave a comment | posted in travel