Before I write today's missive and ZephyrBird Speaks out about UPS, let me preface this by saying I once worked in customer service for UPS. I tracked pkgs, C.O.D. money and called people about lost and damaged packages. When someone called in we asked for the tracking number. Sometimes they didn't have it, which meant a bit more work for us, but it could be tracked by the first three letters of the last name and the address. It meant going to a different screen, typing in the information, but yes, it could be done. If you were a good customer service rep and understood sometimes you actually had to work for your paycheck.
So, today the UPS guy drops off this huge! I mean huge! package on our front porch. Well, not even a porch...it's as wide as the steps and a square to stand on to open the door. He leans it agains the railing pretty much blocking the door. I knew it wasn't for us so pushed and shoved and eventually got it to move enough for me to squeeze out the door all the time calling to him as he ran to his truck that this isn't ours! He refused to stop! When I got out there he was pulling away and I ran down the stairs after him but he zoomed down the street. Grrrrrr....
So....I try to find the tracking number. That all important number. It's on the bottom of the pkg! I try to get down but my arthritis is so bad in my right knee it doesn't bend. Oh well...I tried, they'll just have to work harder as I did get the name and address to where it should have gone. I call the local number only to be told they don't handle misdelivered packages and I would have to call the 800 number. But you're right up the road I say! We don't do that here, call the 800 number. I call the 800 number and get a recording. I press 0 to get directly to an operator. I get another recording...
UPS: are you tracking, mailing, or....whatever...
ME: I want to speak with an operator.
UPS: I will be happy to get you an operator once I know what you need done please say you are tracking mailing..etc...
ME: fine I'm tracking a pkg.
UPS: What is the tracking number.
ME: I don't have one! I just want to talk with an operator.
UPS: I will be happy to get you to an operator once you give me the tracking number.
ME: Fine! I'll keep the damn package!
UPS: Please hold for an operator.
UPS: This is so and so how can I help you.
ME: The UPS man left a huge very heavy pkg. on our front steps that is not ours. I just need it picked up and delivered to the correct address.
UPS: What's the tracking number?
ME: I don't know. It's on the bottom of the pkg. I have arthritis and can't bend to get it.
UPS: heavy sigh...well, when you get it call us back and we'll be happy to pick up the pkg.
ME: you can track it by the name and address
UPS: heavier sigh...when you get the tracking number call us back.
ME: Fine! I'll keep the damn package.
So right now there is this huge, abt. 150+ pound package sitting on our front steps blocking our front door. If anyone wants it come get it. I have no idea what it is but hey...call it a mystery package.
UPDATE! Thanks Hope, even though I solved the problem without the help of UPS I'll call for the number to let this woman know what happened. So here's what I did...
I checked out the name on the label, called the guy, he thanked me and came over with his son to pick up the pkg. He said UPS delivered the item before but when he got it the package was destroyed and the wood hanging out and broken so he refused it. He said if I had gotten them to come get it they probably wouldn't have delivered it to him anyway!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
What political party are you...
This one surprised me!
Keith took this one too and disagrees with results for him...says he can't be the anti-christ...oh wait... i mean anarchist!
You scored as Anarchism, <'Imunimaginative's Deviantart Page'>
What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In? created with QuizFarm.com |
Keith took this one too and disagrees with results for him...says he can't be the anti-christ...oh wait... i mean anarchist!
You scored as Anarchism, <'Imunimaginative's Deviantart Page'>
What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In? created with QuizFarm.com |
My World View
I seem to be stealing a lot of posts from my sister, Victoria's blog these days! At least we came out different on this one.
 | You scored as Postmodernist, Postmodernism is the belief in complete open interpretation. You see the universe as a collection of information with varying ways of putting it together. There is no absolute truth for you; even the most hardened facts are open to interpretation. Meaning relies on context and even the language you use to describe things should be subject to analysis.
What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com |
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
The history of the ZephyrBird
the history of Bonnie (stole this from my sister, Victoria's site)
A double duty MySpace post again:
MY HISTORY
01. Raised in: Erie, Pennsylvania,
02. Planned baby: Yes and No...my parents had my older sister, Linda, and wanted a second child, but wanted a son. My dad had a son, Michael, from his first marriage and wanted another with this marriage. They got me instead. So they tried again and got my brother, Vinny. But to this day my dad will tell you I'm the best son he ever had!
03. Birth date: February 05, 1948
04. Any siblings: (Kept Vic's answer) Yeah, how many depends on how you count them. I grew up with 5 kids in the family, but I also have an older half brother and a little sister who died when she was three.
05. Younger or older?: One older sister and half brother is older. Two brothers and one younger sister still living and one younger sister who died.
06. Hair color: Basically brown, but turing a bit gray these days
07. Hair length: Generally kept it short but am letting it grow this year.
08: Eye color: changes with my moods but basically blue
10. Shoe size: 9
11. Mood: depends on the time of day. right now the cats are shut upstairs and I have some time to myself so more relaxed than usual.
12. Smell: Yes, I do...with my nose
13. Height: 5'4"
14. Lefty/righty: ambidextrous but mainly use the right.
LOVE LIFE
01. Do you remember your first real relationship: yes
02. Do you believe in love: Yes, but I believe you have to grow in love. Falling is painful no matter how you do it. (kept Vic's answer here again)
03. Why did your last relationship fail: I got bored.
04. Shortest relationship: Like number 01., I had a lot of "short relationships", ahem, er, well, whatever, as a teenager. (chuckle..kept Vic's again - I think we're too much alike)
05. Have you ever been heartbroken: Oh yeah!
07. Have you ever fallen for your best friend: Yes, and the relationship was on again off again over 43 years - until he passed away over a year ago. We were friends to the day he died.
08. Have you ever told them: Yes, he knew because he had the same feelings for me. We were just too passionate and volatile to keep a sustained relationship. So we both kept ending up with other people.
09. Are you afraid of commitment: I've never been committed! Oh wait..what type of commitment are we talking about here. I know there are people who think I should be committed :-).
10. You ever had a secret admirer: Uh...how would I know if it's a secret?
11. Do you believe in love at first sight: No. I believe in attraction at first sight but love has to grow.
12. Ever been in love: Yes - many times. True love, now that's another story. I finally end up married to that one.
THIS OR THAT
01. Love or money: Love
02. Hard liquor or beer: Beer
03. One night stands or relationships: When I was younger one night stands, now that I'm older I really enjoy having a real relationship.
04. Television or internet: Internet. I could live without tv, not without internet.
05. Pepsi or coke: Pepsi
06. Wild night out or romantic night in: Romantic night in
07. Colored or black and white pictures: Black and white for artistic pictures. You can do more with lighting and shadows. Color for rememberance pictures like family, vacations, etc.
08. Phone or in person: In person. I've worked so many years in customer service talking to people on the phone, that I really hate the phone at times.
09. AIM or Myspace Im?: My blog here - but I do have a myspace account also.
HAVE YOU EVER
01. Have you ever been caught sneaking out?: No, but I got caught sneaking back in!
02. Have you ever skinny dipped?: Yep. And I have a funny story for this one. When husband number 2 and I lived in State College, PA we had a pool in our backyard. We had a big fence with a lock and one night around midnight decided to go skinny dipping. Next thing we know our neighbor is at the poolside talking to us. We quickly swam to the edge and asked how he got in. We had forgotten to lock the gate and hearing us out he decided to come and visit. He finally looked, realized we were both naked, said "OH" and quickly left. We had a good laugh but I don't think our neighbor was laughing.
03. Have you ever done something you regret?: Oh yes, and unfortunately some of those things are ones I still dwell on with the "I should have ..." although there's no hope of ever changing them. (kept Vic's answer here)
04. Have you ever bungee jumped? yeah, right before I went over Niagra Falls in a barrel...are you freaking nuts? NO!!!!!
05. Have you ever been on a house boat?: Yes, they are very cool but wouldn't want to live on one.
06. Have you ever finished an entire jaw breaker?: Can't even fit one in my mouth!
07. Have you ever wanted someone so badly it hurt?: hmmmmmm...yeah
08. Have you ever been streaking?: No - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
09. Have you ever run away?: Once from husband number 1. I went three blocks away to my Uncle Cab's house and dumb hubby spent an entire day looking every where else for me. Not the brightest light bulb in the pack.
10. Have you ever caught your parents doing it? No, but my sister Linda did. And also it took me half my life to realize why my parents, who had no money for extravagances, would drop off FIVE KIDS at the movie theater on Saturday afternoon. (Vic's answer worked for me)
11. Are you missing someone right now?: I don't know if I could say right this minute, but I do still miss my friend, Rick. Even though he died a year ago last March I still find myself wanting to call and tell him things. Thinking, Rick will enjoy this and then realizing he'll never enjoy anything again...so yeah.
12. Are you talking to anyone right now?: No...I'm busy typing.
13. Are you bored right now?: No, not right at this moment.
14. Are your parents still married?: Yes
15. What's your greatest joy in life?: Wow! that's a hard one. I enjoy life and never knowing what adventure I'll be having next. For right now it's enjoying time with my husband talking and laughing.
FRIENDS AND SELF
o1. Best friend: my husband, of course. I believe if you're married that person had better be your best friend.
02. What do you do when you're together: Watch movies, have fun discussions, play chess.
03. Share the same interests?: Yes and no. We both like old movies and chuckle over words like Swell! that were overused in the old movies. We both enjoy chess although he beats me every time. Says I have a strong open and middle game, but fall apart on closing it out. I'll learn one day. He's a numbers person (math and stat professor) and I'm a word person (poet who hosts and open mic here in Sumter, SC)
04. Which friend can you tell everything to? Keith and once upon a time, Rick.
05. Do you have a low self esteem?: LOL!! no...that is one issue I don't have.
06. Do you get depressed about things easily?: No I don't and it's a wonder. I get frustrated and angry and then figure out what I can do about the situation. I'm a believer in being a survivor not a victim. If I can't fix it I accept it. If I can fix it then it gets fixed.
07. Do you live life to the fullest?: Not as much lately as I once did. Slowed down a bit with age, but ...you know I'm going to change that...yes, I do... I still make things happen and to me that's living life to the fullest.
08. Are you comfortable with the way you look?: Yes, I am. Oh, I know I'm overweight and could lose a few pounds..okay, more than a few pounds, but at the same time my family and friends love me regardless of what size I am and that's what counts.
09. How do you dress?: I'm still mainly a jeans and t-shirt person. I remember how relieved husband number two was when I showed up for our wedding in a dress. His comment was he had been afraid I'd show up in jeans and a t-shirt.
10. Are you scared of growing up old and alone?: No, each year holds new surprises and excitement for me. I enjoy whatever age I am and even at 59 soon to be 60 I don't feel old. Only older. I've lived with people and lived alone and enjoy both. So being alone doesn't scare me.
11. What do you want to be when you grow up?: A Poet Laureate
12. Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?: Up north I prefer the outdoors as we get more seasons and more temperatures that make the outdoors more fun. Here in the south it's either waaaay tooooo hot or raining, so I find I'm spending more and more time indoors.
13. Favorite season?: I like them all, but I think Autumn wins out as favorite. I love the changing leaves, cooling temperatures and the need to wear sweaters. (kept Vic's answer again but will add and besides Halloween is my favorite holiday)
14. Do you like walking in the rain?: Yes!
15. Are you a vegetarian?: No. I'm not a red meat eater, but will eat a cheeseburger on occassion, but I do like chicken and fish so couldn't call myself a vegetarian.
Repost this as "The History of (your name)"
A double duty MySpace post again:
MY HISTORY
01. Raised in: Erie, Pennsylvania,
02. Planned baby: Yes and No...my parents had my older sister, Linda, and wanted a second child, but wanted a son. My dad had a son, Michael, from his first marriage and wanted another with this marriage. They got me instead. So they tried again and got my brother, Vinny. But to this day my dad will tell you I'm the best son he ever had!
03. Birth date: February 05, 1948
04. Any siblings: (Kept Vic's answer) Yeah, how many depends on how you count them. I grew up with 5 kids in the family, but I also have an older half brother and a little sister who died when she was three.
05. Younger or older?: One older sister and half brother is older. Two brothers and one younger sister still living and one younger sister who died.
06. Hair color: Basically brown, but turing a bit gray these days
07. Hair length: Generally kept it short but am letting it grow this year.
08: Eye color: changes with my moods but basically blue
10. Shoe size: 9
11. Mood: depends on the time of day. right now the cats are shut upstairs and I have some time to myself so more relaxed than usual.
12. Smell: Yes, I do...with my nose
13. Height: 5'4"
14. Lefty/righty: ambidextrous but mainly use the right.
LOVE LIFE
01. Do you remember your first real relationship: yes
02. Do you believe in love: Yes, but I believe you have to grow in love. Falling is painful no matter how you do it. (kept Vic's answer here again)
03. Why did your last relationship fail: I got bored.
04. Shortest relationship: Like number 01., I had a lot of "short relationships", ahem, er, well, whatever, as a teenager. (chuckle..kept Vic's again - I think we're too much alike)
05. Have you ever been heartbroken: Oh yeah!
07. Have you ever fallen for your best friend: Yes, and the relationship was on again off again over 43 years - until he passed away over a year ago. We were friends to the day he died.
08. Have you ever told them: Yes, he knew because he had the same feelings for me. We were just too passionate and volatile to keep a sustained relationship. So we both kept ending up with other people.
09. Are you afraid of commitment: I've never been committed! Oh wait..what type of commitment are we talking about here. I know there are people who think I should be committed :-).
10. You ever had a secret admirer: Uh...how would I know if it's a secret?
11. Do you believe in love at first sight: No. I believe in attraction at first sight but love has to grow.
12. Ever been in love: Yes - many times. True love, now that's another story. I finally end up married to that one.
THIS OR THAT
01. Love or money: Love
02. Hard liquor or beer: Beer
03. One night stands or relationships: When I was younger one night stands, now that I'm older I really enjoy having a real relationship.
04. Television or internet: Internet. I could live without tv, not without internet.
05. Pepsi or coke: Pepsi
06. Wild night out or romantic night in: Romantic night in
07. Colored or black and white pictures: Black and white for artistic pictures. You can do more with lighting and shadows. Color for rememberance pictures like family, vacations, etc.
08. Phone or in person: In person. I've worked so many years in customer service talking to people on the phone, that I really hate the phone at times.
09. AIM or Myspace Im?: My blog here - but I do have a myspace account also.
HAVE YOU EVER
01. Have you ever been caught sneaking out?: No, but I got caught sneaking back in!
02. Have you ever skinny dipped?: Yep. And I have a funny story for this one. When husband number 2 and I lived in State College, PA we had a pool in our backyard. We had a big fence with a lock and one night around midnight decided to go skinny dipping. Next thing we know our neighbor is at the poolside talking to us. We quickly swam to the edge and asked how he got in. We had forgotten to lock the gate and hearing us out he decided to come and visit. He finally looked, realized we were both naked, said "OH" and quickly left. We had a good laugh but I don't think our neighbor was laughing.
03. Have you ever done something you regret?: Oh yes, and unfortunately some of those things are ones I still dwell on with the "I should have ..." although there's no hope of ever changing them. (kept Vic's answer here)
04. Have you ever bungee jumped? yeah, right before I went over Niagra Falls in a barrel...are you freaking nuts? NO!!!!!
05. Have you ever been on a house boat?: Yes, they are very cool but wouldn't want to live on one.
06. Have you ever finished an entire jaw breaker?: Can't even fit one in my mouth!
07. Have you ever wanted someone so badly it hurt?: hmmmmmm...yeah
08. Have you ever been streaking?: No - that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
09. Have you ever run away?: Once from husband number 1. I went three blocks away to my Uncle Cab's house and dumb hubby spent an entire day looking every where else for me. Not the brightest light bulb in the pack.
10. Have you ever caught your parents doing it? No, but my sister Linda did. And also it took me half my life to realize why my parents, who had no money for extravagances, would drop off FIVE KIDS at the movie theater on Saturday afternoon. (Vic's answer worked for me)
11. Are you missing someone right now?: I don't know if I could say right this minute, but I do still miss my friend, Rick. Even though he died a year ago last March I still find myself wanting to call and tell him things. Thinking, Rick will enjoy this and then realizing he'll never enjoy anything again...so yeah.
12. Are you talking to anyone right now?: No...I'm busy typing.
13. Are you bored right now?: No, not right at this moment.
14. Are your parents still married?: Yes
15. What's your greatest joy in life?: Wow! that's a hard one. I enjoy life and never knowing what adventure I'll be having next. For right now it's enjoying time with my husband talking and laughing.
FRIENDS AND SELF
o1. Best friend: my husband, of course. I believe if you're married that person had better be your best friend.
02. What do you do when you're together: Watch movies, have fun discussions, play chess.
03. Share the same interests?: Yes and no. We both like old movies and chuckle over words like Swell! that were overused in the old movies. We both enjoy chess although he beats me every time. Says I have a strong open and middle game, but fall apart on closing it out. I'll learn one day. He's a numbers person (math and stat professor) and I'm a word person (poet who hosts and open mic here in Sumter, SC)
04. Which friend can you tell everything to? Keith and once upon a time, Rick.
05. Do you have a low self esteem?: LOL!! no...that is one issue I don't have.
06. Do you get depressed about things easily?: No I don't and it's a wonder. I get frustrated and angry and then figure out what I can do about the situation. I'm a believer in being a survivor not a victim. If I can't fix it I accept it. If I can fix it then it gets fixed.
07. Do you live life to the fullest?: Not as much lately as I once did. Slowed down a bit with age, but ...you know I'm going to change that...yes, I do... I still make things happen and to me that's living life to the fullest.
08. Are you comfortable with the way you look?: Yes, I am. Oh, I know I'm overweight and could lose a few pounds..okay, more than a few pounds, but at the same time my family and friends love me regardless of what size I am and that's what counts.
09. How do you dress?: I'm still mainly a jeans and t-shirt person. I remember how relieved husband number two was when I showed up for our wedding in a dress. His comment was he had been afraid I'd show up in jeans and a t-shirt.
10. Are you scared of growing up old and alone?: No, each year holds new surprises and excitement for me. I enjoy whatever age I am and even at 59 soon to be 60 I don't feel old. Only older. I've lived with people and lived alone and enjoy both. So being alone doesn't scare me.
11. What do you want to be when you grow up?: A Poet Laureate
12. Do you prefer indoors or outdoors?: Up north I prefer the outdoors as we get more seasons and more temperatures that make the outdoors more fun. Here in the south it's either waaaay tooooo hot or raining, so I find I'm spending more and more time indoors.
13. Favorite season?: I like them all, but I think Autumn wins out as favorite. I love the changing leaves, cooling temperatures and the need to wear sweaters. (kept Vic's answer again but will add and besides Halloween is my favorite holiday)
14. Do you like walking in the rain?: Yes!
15. Are you a vegetarian?: No. I'm not a red meat eater, but will eat a cheeseburger on occassion, but I do like chicken and fish so couldn't call myself a vegetarian.
Repost this as "The History of (your name)"
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Open Mic:Expressions in Verse and music
We celebrated the first anniversary, of my starting the open mic here in Sumter, SC. Since we started at Drew's Blues Cafe, and then moved to the community center, I brought in a platter from DBC to mark the anniversary. We had poets and singers and a wonderful night. We had some fun with our friend, Colette Jones. She does this wonderful poem called Grab Bag. She was challenged by one of her co-workers, while standing in line in the lunch line to write a poem about all the candies there. Well, she did! So to honor her and give her some visuals as she performed the poem we presented her with a bag of some of the candies she mentions in her poem. Of course, I was so into the performance and the chat that I forgot to take a picture of her with the 'grab bab!' Duh!!! Others who joined us for the night of festivities were: Linda Rowe (singer/guitar player) who entertained us with songs from the 60's! Aaron Johnson who brought his son, Kwon(I hope I got the spelling right), surprised us all. He performed his, as usual, wonderful poetry then asked if he could sing one. Well, jaws dropped when this beautiful voice sang an equally beautiful love song. You could have heard a pin drop. Hopefully we'll here more of his singing at future open mics. Kathleen Roy was her usual entertaining self who kept us laughing with her insightful and humorous poetry. Beth Langley, singer/lyricist/guitarist, played and sang original works with us. We always enjoy her songs and were pleased to be among the first to hear one of her latest. Always fun! Always entertaining! We had two new young men, Walter and Roshad Helton, join us, who I hope will come back next month, even after realizing what a crazy bunch we are! We had the battle of poems at one point when Kathleen read one talking about what it's like getting old...so I had to counter with my "I'm Not Getting Old" and Aaron had read a poem about seeing things differently as he got older...and we discussed how much fun it would be to actually write poems that were opposite and read them as a point/counterpoint type reading. All in all it was so much fun I hated to see the night end. Thanks everyone for making the night so special! See you all in July!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
A new beginning
I'm trying to see if starting a new blog will open up the comments again. If so I will repost some of my older postings from the other blog. If not I'll continue to try to get the comments working on the previous blog. So this post is a test. Had this been an actual post the message would have made slightly more sense.
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