Along the highway outside of Eagle River, Alaska. I hope that the city leaders are not wondering why the sign along the highways does not seem to be bringing in the anticipated crowds to the campgrounds.
I may not be a genius at marketing but…
Category: Uncategorized
I’m back
Now that I am working less, I plan on returning to posting on this blog. Please stay tuned.
The Venn Diagram of Camping
I was watching a TV show the other day that features families on the quest to purchase a recreational vehicle (RV). Different shows feature different families. One was of an older mother and daughter looking to move out of the house. Another was a family with 8 kids looking for affordable family vacations. Some want to be able to haul their Harley Davidson motorcycles. While I applaud these people for getting out, there is a remarkable level of conspicuous consumption involved with the whole thing.
Which brings me to the final couple. This one particular couple were empty nesters looking for a Class A RV that cost less than $325,000 (an incredible amount for the vast majority of Americans). They were looking at a 40 footer (which cannot visit many National Parks due to length restrictions) that had several slide outs. But the wife was concerned that it only had one TV and the floors were not heated. The husband’s response was, “Well, we ill be camping.”
NO! No they will not be camping.
Traveling in a 40 foot RV that requires full hook ups to supply the water for dual headed showers and is not allowed in many National Parks is not camping. That is why they are called motorhomes not motor tents. For those who need help identifying “camping”, I offer this Venn Diagram of camping. It is not all inclusive but it covers 99.9% of all campers.
A thought
-Author unknown
One and done
“First call resolution” is what they called it in a call center I supported. The core concept is that when you are contacted by a customer with a need or an issue, service providers work to meet all the customers needs during their first contact.
Our local bike shop could certainly take a lesson from that. (Well, it used to be our local bike shop, but they were recently bought out by a major bike brand from Wisconsin.)
My wife’s bike needed a tune up, so we brought the bike into the shop. (A whole other story that will be coming soon.) When it was time to pick up the bike, my wife and I walked over to the shop. I brought my bike along so we could ride home together.
With Covid precautions in place at the shop, I waited for my wife out in the parking lot while she went in to pick up her bike. Luckily, it was a lovely warm Spring day.
Continue reading “One and done”No thanks, I am just buying
Post originally appeared in The Observant Customer 1/9/2016
I was on the road for the company I worked for at the time and after several flight delays had finally landed in Atlanta. If all went well, I had just enough time to get to my appointment with the Atlanta store manager.
As I was stepping off the plane, I hit my arm against a cabinet near the plane’s doorway popping my watch off my wrist. The watch skidded across the floor and fell neatly between the plane and the gangway twenty feet to the tarmac below. In the post 9-11 era, I did not feel it would be worth the time and effort to try to get the inexpensive watch back.
Picking up my luggage and my rental car I quickly headed towards my appointment. Feeling lost without my watch, I checked the dashboard clock and calculated I had just enough time to buy a new watch at the store before my 5 o’clock meeting. I had actually been eyeing a specific watch for sometime.
Once in the store, I headed quickly towards the watch fixture grabbing a sales specialist along the way explaining that I was in a big hurry and asked if they could help me with watches. I once again I told him that my immediate need was speed.
Continue reading “No thanks, I am just buying”Happy Birthday, Colin Fletcher!
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Colin Fletcher. Those outdoors people that came of age in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s probably came across some of his writings. The most notable of these was the how-to book, The Complete Walker.
I received this book as a Christmas present when I was 12 years old and it changed my life. I was in the Boy Scouts but only knew about backpacking very vaguely. This book opened a whole new world to me.
Two other books that deeply influenced me were The Appalachian Trail by Ronald Fisher and National Geographic and Home in Your Pack by Bradford Angier.
Stymied
Post originally appeared in The Observant Customer 1/21/2016
As stores begin to make room for their summer assortment, they discount their winter outerwear making January a great time to buy. I decided to take advantage of this and headed to the mall to find my next winter jacket. (It did not hurt that holiday weekend sales events were in full swing.)
Walking towards the storefront of one of my favorite brands, I saw signs proclaiming “EVERYTHING UP TO 60% OFF!” The signs only served to feed my expectations as I entered the store and walked past a salesman posted just inside the front door. It was poor form of him to not greet me as I passed since he was not busy with anything. Continuing further into the store, I began checking out a rack of men’s winter jackets. The clerk finally called out a friendly greeting.
Continue reading “Stymied”A nice finish
Post originally appeared in The Observant Customer 8/8/2016
I stopped at the local Outlet Mall the other day to do some shopping and some observation. It was a warm and sunny day and may of the stores had their doors open to deal with the heat.
Being a fan of the brand and a citizen of the PNW, I stopped by the Columbia Sportswear Outlet where they had a great sale going on. I quickly found several items that I was shopping for so I headed to the registers where there were a number of waiting cashiers.
“I can help you right here,” came a greeting from the nearest cashier.
During the transaction, I noticed that a name tag affixed to his jacket. I thought it odd with the stores so warm that a cashier would be wearing outerwear. So, I asked him if he was warm.
“No, actually I am quite comfortable,” he replied as he handed me my change. I thought that would be the end of our conversation but he continued apparently excited to talk about the jacket. “The jacket is made of Omni-Shield™ and it is really comfortable,” he said as he carefully folded and bagged my purchases.
Nice finish.
Continue reading “A nice finish”
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