Here is just one way to vastly improve customer service/satisfaction.

I’d install a BROKEN button. When you hit it, you can do anything and everything to fix the problem. Train people when to hit the button and then trust them to do the right thing.

From: Seth’s Blog: What do you do when your systems break?

Create your own map at epgSoft.

I have a tendency to not vacation well. I usually travel too far in too short a time. And I come home more exhausted than when I left. I certainly enjoy myself and end up with some excellent memories. But sometimes I just need to relax.

Another problem I have related to vacationing is waiting too long to take one. I am at that point right now. Fortunately, I have a wonderful wife who is encouraging me to head out on a much needed holiday. So, that’s exactly what I am going to do. I’m taking a train trip.

I have wanted to take a long trip on a train for quite some time now. The idea of relaxed travel is so appealing. I can read a book. Or I can take a nap. Or I can just let the scenery roll by outside the window. All while I continue on to my destination effortlessly.

I recently discovered Amtrak’s USA Rail Pass program. It offers travelers the chance to save some money on their train rides. Instead of buying a single round trip fare, the USA Rail Pass is valid for unlimited travel within a region during a set time frame. You can choose to explore the East, the West or the entire United States on a 15 day or 30 day pass. The prices vary by region and also by season. But they are very attractive when compared to a standard fare.  For example, I priced a round trip from Chicago, IL to Portland, OR. For the dates I want, with my AAA discount, the fare is $660.00. But a 15 day West Region Rail Pass is only $369.00 for the same time frame. That’s almost a $300.00 savings!

The plan: make a loop around the Western half of the United States. But it is not to be.

Howdy!

I just started a new blog that is all about motorcyles and the people who ride them. Stop by sometime. And if you ride, too, then you should definitely check out my list of bikers on Twitter. I’m trying to collect the names of all the Twitter-ers who feel at home on two wheels.

I love movies. I tend to have strong opinions about movies. And I usually have strong opinions about movie reviewers. I think they’re over-paid for the “work” they do. And, until now, that sentiment applied to Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times simply because he is a movie critic.

But that all changed with Ebert’s recent review of Iron Man.

Read it and tell me you don’t agree.

I’m not one to get sentimental over silly holidays. I’ve never celebrated Sweetest day. But this year, I’ve been really looking forward to Groundhog Day. Why? Call me superstitious, but I want to know how much winter we’ve got left. And boy was I disappointed with the outcome today.

Phil saw his shadow. According to the AP:

Brace yourself for more wintry weather. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow Saturday, leading the groundhog to forecast six more weeks of winter.

So there, you have it; my bike stays dormant for a few more weeks. I’m not sure I’ll be able to survive much longer than that.

Lots of people think up resolutions this time of year. I’ve done it in the past but never really accomplished anything meaningful by doing so. Being a perfectionist, I tend to turn my “setbacks” into “failures.”As a result, I gave up drafting New Year’s resolutions a few years ago. I prefer a more subtle approach to making changes in my life.

This upcoming year I’d like to write more. This includes, blog posts, emails to friends and family, or anything else bouncing around in my head. But if I try to create some sort of regimen or schedule to follow, then the first time I mess up I’ll feel like, “the whole thing’s blown; so, why continue?”

So, I thought I’d take a simpler approach. I’ll try to make writing as easy and as enjoyable as possible. The operative term here is “easy.” I want to be able to write whenever the inspiration hits. To do this I took a cue from LifeClever. In a recent post, Chanpory suggests a brilliant strategy to trick yourself past writer’s block. In a nutshell, start your writing assignment as an email. He goes on to list several reason why this may help. The biggest reason for me is a psychological one. I can write email effortlessly. I do it all day long and am very comfortable with the process. So, it’s much less intimidating to stare at my email editor than a blank Word or OpenOffice document.

My next step is to use Gmail to “manage” my writing for me. I don’t want anything complex, so a few tweaks will keep my words flowing.

1. Create a contact for my “diary” - I just add a new contact in Gmail named “diary”, using a sub-email address. For example, if my address were username@gmail.com, this new contact will have username+diary@gmail.com for its address.
2. Set up a filter - I use Gmail’s filters to recongnize any email sent to username+diary@gmail.com and deal with it accordingly. For me, that means: skip the inbox, mark as read, and label it “diary.”
3. Add this new contact to any email clients I use - I’ve already done this in Gmail, so I’ll create a contact named “diary” in each of my other address books (work, school, etc.) so I can fire off a thought as easily as possible.

This makes writing an easy and flexible task for me. And by using Gmail’s filters and labels I can keep the entries I make out of sight until I want to find them again. One easy click on the “diary” label brings back all of my entries in chronological order.

Thanks for the tip, Lifehacker.

Today is Blog Action Day and bloggers all over the world are sharing their thoughts about keeping our natural world in working order. I have some thoughts, too. But I’m having so much fun reading everyone else’s, I don’t think I’ll get mine down tonight.

Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. Can I wait that long? Will I still have an earth to blog about?

Here in west Michigan,we have TV adds for DirectBuy, a retailer whose members claim will save you lots of money. It’s not unusual for a member/spokesperson to claim “We saved $20,000 when we remodeled our kitchen,” or some such. But, even if you save 50% on everything you buy, you still have to spend $20,000 to save that much.

Well, it’s even worse than that.

Consumer Reports just published an article spotlighting some of DirectBuy’s policies. They went undercover to to a New York DirectBuy location and came away with some interesting information.

After the fee disclosure, we discovered that we had to sign up on the spot or never come back.

It gets better. In order to sign up you have to pay a membership fee that comes near to $5,000.00. That covers the first 3 years of your 10 year commitment. Don’t sweat it, though. DirectBuy is more than happy to loan you the membership fee for only 17.75%.

Anyone interested in signing up?

With DirectBuy, it will cost you a lot to save - Consumer Reports

Also, infomercialscams.com 

I haven’t been updating as often as I’d like. I was hoping to upload some pics and blog from my phone. It has these capabilities. But It doesn’t matter what the phone can do when it can find service!

We made it halfway across Nebraska when I stopped finding a cell signal. That was very disappointing. I had some fun pictures to share from Carhenge and Mt. Rushmore. Right now, we’re just a few miles from the big faces preparing to get back on the road. It feels like the vacation is over, since we’re leaving our home of the last two days. But their is no singular destination when you’re on a road trip. We have more adventure ahead of us in the days to come.

My wife and I are about to embark on a journey. We are visiting some friends in Omaha, NE for the Labor Day holiday. Then, we have the rest of the week to do whatever. We intend to see as much of the country as possible.

We’d really love to hit the Northwest. But, to keep our expenses down, we’ll probably stay a little closer to home. Right now it looks like we’ll loop down through some Southern states. We really won’t know until we leave.

Being on the road is our favorite pastime. We are most at home sharing the confines of a vehicle at high speeds.

If you’d like to share the adventure, then keep an eye on this blog (subscribe). Or, my Flickr photos. My wife may upload some photos, too. The most up-to-date information will be on my Twitter page.

Peace.