bits of this and that

I was reading the paper this morning, and there was an article about people buying canvas bags to do their grocery shopping with. The article pretty much said, plastic bags are heinous because they take eons to biodegrade, and it's mostly our own fault because we could recycle them. Stores put containers right out front for us to do that, but we never do.

Excuse me?

I didn't realize I was in such a minority. We always do. I do the grocery shopping, and each week the bags from the prior week go with me. It's about as easy as anyone could make it. When I do this, the bin they go in is never empty, so I know I'm not alone in this venture. Am I really in that much of a minority, or is this a reporter just trying to pump up the canvas bag thing and making up his own reality?

We had a leaky kitchen faucet. The wife wasn't particularly fond of it and made it clear she wanted it replaced rather than repaired. I called a plumber who told me to find what I wanted in a new faucet and they'd put it in (because as we all know, I'm not Bob Vila). I made the appointment for yesterday afternoon, between 2:00 and 4:00. The wife left work at 1:00 and got home in plenty of time. Instead of sitting around, she started doing some yard work in the front of the house. The plumber called, but she didn't hear the phone. She came in about an hour later. She saw the message and called back, but since she didn't respond in 20 minutes, they didn't come out. OK, I sorta understand not wanting to come if nobody's home, but calling the house isn't the greatest way to figure that out. When she called, the person on the phone said their plumber stayed in the area for 20 minutes. Well, if he was in the area for 20 minutes, couldn't he drive by and see if anyone was there? They did nothing but piss her off, because she lost half a day for nothing, and lose the possibility of us (or many people we know) using that plumbing service again. She then went walking in the neighborhood for exercise, and to blow off steam. As luck would have it, a plumber stopped her asking for directions. She told him how to get where he was trying to go, and asked if he'd install a faucet when he finished. He agreed, so we got the faucet after all, and a new guy we'll call when we need a plumber. That's how you get and keep customers.

Note to people leaving messages on answering machines:
Think about the effect what you say has on the person listening to the message. I was in a meeting when all this transpired. When I got back, there was a message from the wife. It went:

"I am mad as hell! Call me when you get this message."

Now, is it just me, or when anyone gets that on their answering machine, does it make you want to pick the phone up and call that person right back? Let me see, you're in a screaming mood. Suuuuure, I want to talk to you right now. I had absolutely no desire to pick that phone up.

MS150 financial update. We (all of you who pledged/contributed in my effort, and other friends, family and coworkers) haven't passed yet, but we have reached a fund raising total of two thousand dollars. Let me say that again, because it's way more than what I expected to do with this, and I'm impressed with all of us...two thousand dollars! Again, thank you to everyone out there who is part of this effort. If you aren't and want to be, send me an e-mail and I'll tell you how to get there.