1.31.2015

Cheer's, Attitude, Customer Service, & Fungible

Fungible: When one product or service is easily replace by another

You have one in your neighborhood, or somewhere nearby, it may or not be a bar, but it might be a restaurant, the library, your local hardware store. For some of us it is our favorite fabric store. I am talking about the places you go where everyone knows your name, and if not your name at least they recognize you. It is probably a place where you feel at home when you are there. You are among friends and neighbors. 

It is no secret that I moved recently. Although the move was only about 10 miles from a neighborhood that I have lived in for 38 years, it is a new neighborhood to me and I am having a great time exploring it. It helps that I have worked near this neighborhood for the last four years so it is not completely unknown; even so, everyday I discover new favorite places.  

Last night I needed to make a shoe purchase and the store was near a favorite pizza place. The plan was to preorder a pizza, pick it up or dine in as time permitted, and go to the shoe store. I was not sure if time-wise it was better to go to the shoe store first or the pizza place, but when I called the pizza place, the helpful young man who answered the phone said they would only take my order at the table so I thanked him and told him we would eat somewhere else tonight. Pizza places and Italian restaurants are a plentiful commodity in the new neighborhood, (fungible).

Once the shoe purchase was complete we looked for other dining options, still having our hearts set on pizza we decided on Robert's a local neighborhood establishment that serves all kinds of Italian food options. We have visited it a few of times, and selected different items on the menu each time. We have never been disappointed. On this evening it was busy but there were open tables. We were seated promptly and greeted warmly by a server who recognized us from our previous visit. We selected a pizza, enjoyed garlic knots while we waited and decided that the pizza was even better than the one we had planned to eat. They also had a dessert special that you might expect to find in high dollar restaurants, creme filled fried crepe's with a crisp fried basil leaf. It was sweet and savory and amazing!

Sorry original favorite pizza place, I have a new favorite place "Cheer's" place, It is called Robert's and you can find it here: Robert's


1.17.2015

2015

Another Year on the Calendar 
running by like a river under the bridge 

January.  January 17.  January 17, 2015.  Sometimes I still try to write the year beginning with 19 something when we are already 15 years and 17 days into the 2000s.  

It seems like this year has just started but winter has been going on forever. How could that be? Maybe it is because we have had a long spell of silly freezing drizzle and small snow storms nightly. Each night a dusting of champagne powder has fallen over a think coating of ice. We rarely have ice. These smaller more frequent storms are messing up both rush hours every day without leaving more than a trace of snow. And each day has been dreary gray and cold without the sun smiling through. It has not been the normal winter filled with sunny days that look deceptively warm. 

Today it is sunny, maybe even warm, at least it looks like it is warm. I have missed you sunshine. Thanks for shining down on my weekend. I have a lot of projects I want to work on this year, but today, I am going to enjoy the sun. 

I wish you a Happy, Productive, Blessed, Beautiful, Sun Filled New Year!