Bacon Lovin' Jew

The adventures of a Chicago girl in a Minnesota world.

no veggies = extra red peppers?

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

I am a HUGE fan of Noodles and Company – it’s great for a quick meal and super yummy! I’m also a creature of habit; I get the same thing every time I go.

Recently I visited the location near my home and ordered my penne rosa with no veggies and extra feta to go. When I arrived home, I realized somehow “no veggies” turned into add red peppers. I get it, mistakes happen; we all make them and I wasn't angry but rather frustrated.

I called the local shop to let them know what happened, I wasn’t upset but more wanted to share my experience. I assumed the cashier was new as there was another person there showing her some tips when I was waiting for my food. When I called, I was told there wasn’t a manager available. I figured they were busy, it was just after dinner rush so I didn’t think too much of it.

I logged onto the Noodles and Company website and submitted a contact form with my experience; explaining I do Social Media for a large retailer and I understand mistakes happened. I tried to emphasize that I wasn’t upset, but I feel that we can learn from our mistakes and that was the goal with sharing my experience. I also make sure to share that I usually have and AWESOME experience there and I am guilty of not previously sharing those with the company.

The next day, less than 24 hours after I’d sent the contact form, Josh called from my local Noodles and Company. He was very friendly and apologetic and happened to be the manager that was working the night before when the mix-up had occurred. He assured me he’d use this as a learning experience. I was so happy that I received a response quickly that was friendly and responsive! Josh then offered to send me 2 free bowl coupons; I declined and told him this was about sharing a learning experience and not looking for compensation. He insisted though and I received the coupons in the mail with a hand written note a few days later.

If anything, this experience made me a bigger fan of Noodles! Like I said, we all make mistakes, but I feel how we address those mistakes shows a lot about who we are. Josh, as a company ambassador for Noodles, went well above and beyond with his personal friendly communication. Thank you Jeff at Noodles!

My fancier phone…

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Over the past 6 months Sprint and I have not been the best of friends as I was having major (to me) issues with my Palm Pre. I blogged about it before, but the holiday came and there went any free time I thought I had; so it’s time for a follow-up.

I was able to exchange my defective Palm Pre for a HTC Hero as an exception from the local store manager. This in-store process was great from the associate who helped me, but the manager could not have been much ruder about it all. I liked the Hero, it was definitely different than my Pre, but I realized I really like the Android OS. The Hero wasn’t perfect for me, but it worked so I didn’t complain too much. Also, when I tweeted about this, @SprintCare was quick to tweet back with some quck tips and FAQs for my new unfamiliar phone which was very helpful.

In December, I decided I was ready for an Android phone that was more my liking so I tried to upgrade my phone as I had been previously advised I was eligible to do so in October. When I went to do this, I was told my eligibility had been reset to a date that made no sense to me. Thankfully though, some really great people at the Sprint call center were able to help me get that figured out. I upgraded my phone on Christmas Eve to a HTC Evo and I’m in LOVE! It’s perfect for what I do and want from a phone and I couldn’t be happier with my phone and Sprint.

So, it all ended happily ever after with some help from some awesome people at Sprint…

Bubby shall rest in peace...

Sunday, November 28, 2010

We lost my Grandmother, Bubby, yesterday… I know Bubby is on a new journey with the amazing loved ones that have passed before her, but it doesn’t make it easier.

Bubby was the last person living of her generation which is something that I didn’t think about until she passed. I am so lucky to have had Bubby there for me at times when I felt no one else was. She lived a great life influencing so many people for the better. Bubby is now with Tante, my Great Aunt, who passed a few years ago. Bubby and Tante were two peas in a pod and inseparable their entire lives – I have peace in knowing they are together again. So many of our loved ones have passed, some that I knew and some that I didn’t, but I know they were there with open arms to greet her and welcome Bubby to her new journey.

There are so many good times that I will hold in my heart to remember her. One of my favorite times as a young girl was to accompany Bubby and Tante to their friend’s house to play kaluki, the card game. To this day I do not know how to play, but I’d sit under the table at everyone’s feet and play with my dolls while they played cards for hours. Weekly we’d go to visit their friends Helen and Gurdy at the nursing home and eat bacon cheeseburgers from Burger King. They’d take me to the pool and carry me around as we sang “bouncy, bouncy, baby…” We'd stay up for hours at night laying in Bubby's bed while she told me stories of when she was young and laughing.

I remember when I was in Hebrew school and started putting together words I’d learned and figured out what Tante and Bubby were saying in Yiddish. The adults would speak Yiddish to keep the kids from knowing what they were saying and I let them think I didn’t know for many years!

My Bubby and Tante have always accepted anyone that was close to me as their own. It didn’t matter who they were or where they were from, Bubby and Tante would feed you; whether you were hungry or not!

I will miss the little things, like Bubby asking me when I’m going to find a nice Jewish boy to marry and have some kids. I will miss being nudged, even though I find it extremely annoying. I will miss her grabbing my cheek and saying “shaina punim!”

I need to be strong for my Mom who is an emotional mess right now. I want her to know that it’s OK to mourn this loss and it will be painful. She asked me this morning what she was going to at 3:15 and I just broke down in tears and said “talk to Grandma and she will listen from above.” At 3:15 every day, Bubby and Mom talked; it was often small talk about what the grandkids were doing in school or what was for dinner, but it kept them both going. I know Bubby is watching over us and will take care of Mom – I hope that Mom is able to heal and remain the strong woman she has been.

For as long as I can remember, whenever Bubby or Tante talked about someone who had passed they’d say “shall rest in peace” very quickly after their name. Until I was about 12 years old and finally asked why, I thought they were saying “sharing recipes” and it was confusing as to why they’d share recipes with those who had passed!

Bubby, shall rest in peace, I love you…

emotional spoiled brat

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thank you to my BFF who told me today that I’m being an emotional spoiled brat.

I am not being sarcastic in any way – I appreciate people who can tell me how they truly feel and call me out when they see it. I find it harder to accept it when I’m told things at a much later time after they’ve been stewing on it. I’d like to think I’m an open person and can take criticism well. I may ask a lot of questions, but it’s because I want to understand where the other person is coming from and to discuss it.

With that being said, I am done talking about my annoyance with Sprint. It is what it is, I am getting a new Palm Pre when I can make it to the store and I am very hopeful this will fix my issues. Thankfully, I am able to have a cell phone and afford the bill as it is.

Now back to wishing I had a manual can opener for my jellied cranberry sauce cravings at 3am...

my fancy phone

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Sometimes when my phone rings, I ignore it on purpose. Lately, I haven’t had an option because my phone chooses when it will allow me to answer the call or not. As luck would have it, when I need to answer my phone for an important call it will not allow me to do so.

Sprint has been great to me over the nearly 10 years that I’ve had their service; I have 4 lines on my account with all the bells and whistles. I pay $225 monthly to them and don’t have an issue doing so, as long as I have the service that I am promised.

I have this fancy phone (as the Sprint tech told me) called a Palm Pre that requires the use of the touchscreen to answer. Sounds great – except when the phone just continues to ring no matter what you do to answer the incoming call.

I’ve been having this issue for over 3 months and I’ve spoken to Sprint customer service and/or tech support over the phone about a dozen times along with three trips to the local Sprint store. About two weeks ago, the Sprint customer service department decided I’d been through enough and they’d replace my phone for a refurbished model under my insurance plan that I pay $7/month for. Great! I was so happy – a phone that works! Well, my bubble was soon burst; the new phone does the same thing….

Over the last two weeks I did the normal trouble shooting that they always advise over the phone like the hot battery swap and full reset of the phone, but this didn’t help. Last night I decided I’d had enough and called Sprint for some help and also to request a credit for the poor service I’d been receiving.

Of course, because I’m having technical issues with my phone, I cannot call from my cell phone and I don’t have a home phone. So, after work, I sat at my desk and made what I thought would be a quick call – little did I know it’d last nearly two hours and I’d speak to 8 different people only to end up exactly where I was when I called.

During the saga of Sprint last night I heard so many excuses from representatives that spoke over me I was disturbed. Customer service couldn’t help me, so I was sent to technical support who couldn’t help me and sent me back to customer service, who sent me back to technical support, and I finally ended up with retention. I also find it ironic that at not one person last night even attempted to fix my phone while I was speaking to them; they were more concerned with thinking of excuses of why I couldn’t be helped.

I’m not quite sure what to believe, but I feel like I was left in some sort of twilight zone…

I was told that they’d create an e-ticket for me and email it to me, I was to bring this into the store and they HAD to do what was on it and this would solve all of my issues! This sounds great, until I received the email which said I needed a software update. If anyone had listened, they’d known that there are no available updates for my phone and I’ve already reset my phone twice.

Regarding the requested credit – I was told that “Sprint only offers credit for issues they’ve caused and doesn’t offer compensation for inconvenience.” I advised the person that this issue is caused by Sprint; I bought the phone from them and pay them a monthly bill to be able to use my phone along with an insurance plan to ensure my phone remains operable; she disagreed. Another rep told me that Sprint isn’t responsible for the hardware and only the service. Again, I advised them that they sold me the hardware along with the insurance plan on said hardware for them to support. I was also told by a rep that they’d reimburse me $35 for the two weeks of service that I’d been having issues. I reminded her that I’d been having issues for 3.5 months, at which point the credit was refused at all.

The last person I spoke with who adamantly refused any credit advised that this was an issue with the local store and “I was lucky” that it was a corporate store. He said he’d speak to the store manager and have them make an appointment for me to go into the store and speak to him. I am OK to go into the store and do not need a special appointment to do so, but I want this to be done – I simply want a phone that works and feel that dealing with this for over 3 months deserves some credit.

Today I was called back, luckily I could answer my phone, and told that the manager wasn’t in the store but they’d call back tomorrow. I again advised him that I didn’t need a special appointment and reminded him of my e-ticket that I’d received. Now, I am told NOT to go into the store until I am called upon to do so. We’ll see what happens next…

Andrew

Friday, November 19, 2010

Last weekend I met Andrew and we spent a short half hour together. I may or may not ever see Andrew again, and either way that's OK with me.

On Saturday, we had our first snow storm of the Winter season and I was out running errands for Mom. I saw a person spin out and they ended up in a ditch with their van. Without hesitation, I stopped; I just felt it was the right thing to do. I asked this man, with a defeated look on his face, if he needed help. He slightly smiled and told me he tried to call his girlfriend but she didnt answer and he was going to walk to her house. It was the still snowing pretty hard and he was on the freeway so I offered him a ride, again without hesitation. He seemed startled that I'd made such an offer, but he accepted after some quick thought.

I drove him to his girlfriend's house, which ended up being about 5 miles away. We talked the whole time and it wasnt akward like you'd assume it would be with a random stranger that I'd picked up along the freeway. Andrew shared how surprised he was that someone actually stopped because as he put it "I'm a big guy with long hair and scruffy facial hair." We laughed about the show Rent, he told me about his family and work, and of course we talked about his van in the ditch.

I dont have a good explanation as to why I stopped and helped other than it felt like I needed to do it. I do a lot based on my instinct and what I feel is right. I may or may not ever see Andrew again and that's not what matters. It matters that ended up in a safe warm place and not stuck on the side of the freeway.

I wonder - if I didnt stop, would anyone have stopped? Is Andrew right, is it all about what we look like that determines if we are helped in the time of need or not?

Unconditional Love

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

River and Hunter are my cousins, but we've been so close since before they were born that they mean much more to me than words could express! They are twins and going to be 9 years old in two weeks - recently at school River drew a self portrait and included a poem with it that I'd like to share.

My hair is blonde.
My eyes are blueish like the sky.
My arms give great hugs to my family.
My hands hold pencils everyday.
My heart loves everyone.
I'm nice, loved, and cared for.
I never will hurt a girl.
My friends are the best like everyone.
I live on Syndicate.
I hope I will have a happy life.
I dream every country will end war.
~River
This poem really made me think - this is what's on the mind of an 8 year old today. What were you thinking when you were 8?

I am so proud of River that he is growing up to become such a gentleman! Both Hunter and River are some of the most loving people I know and they do so without thinking about it; they choose not to know any other way. Nearly daily we have a debate of who loves each other more and us saying "I love you more!, No, I love YOU more!" back and forth.

Everyday I thank my lucky stars that I have Hunter & River in my life.