Random and occasional thoughts on

A week is an eternity for someone like me to live without their main computing machine, so facing the prospect of 2 weeks of waiting and fighting with the rest of the family for computer time was daunting. But that was the only way to get my laptop back to fully working condition. Return shipping to the repair center was "next afternoon" service, so I was pleasantly surprised when the next morning I got an email (email on the phone has become vital without a laptop) saying they had received it and were starting to work on it. Estimates were 7-9 working days before they would send it back. The next afternoon (Friday) I got another email saying it was on it's way back. FedEx web site confirmed that it was on its way and should be home Monday afternoon. Now the questions are: 1. Is everything working? 2. Did I get my own hard drive back or will I spend the next 2-3 weeks reinstalling and reconfiguring things to my liking? Stay tuned for updates...

It seems like customer service is a lost art for most businesses these days. If you order your meal to-go and they give it to you on a tray, it can seem like they are ticked off at you when you remind them that you ordered it to go. Some businesses excel at taking care of their customers, most of them seem to not care if you ever come back. A few weeks ago, my son broke his glasses and I took them in to get fixed. This company was referred to our eye Dr. It was a reasonable price (cheaper than buying a new pair) and they had a guarantee (see the red box below). The repair was good and my son was able to wear his glasses again. I thought the only time I would mention this again would be when I heard about someone who needed their glasses fixed and I would be able to recommend this place. Unfortunately, my son had an accident and the repair broke. "No problem" I figured, since it was under warranty and I could just get it fixed again. I dropped by after work, but the guy...