Last Weekend of the year....

It's finally hear and yet it's still hard to believe that it's over. It seems like we just celebrated the 4th. I say this with just a touch of sadness...because no matter how aggravated I get with parents, and with people calling DMC string...I will still miss the friends we've made through stitching. But, on the other hand I get to see my in town friends again, friends who can't visit often in the summer and I'll be glad to see them again. The days of rushing about are about over and we will be back to our laid back ways in Ocean City. People who move here from the city just can't understand how anything gets done here. And while it's improved greatly over the past years, you will still be scratching your head if you hire one of the "old school" people to do work for you. For down here the call of the ocean has caused even the most efficient people to take time to look at the ocean, go surfing during the day and leave work for later...after all it's not going anywhere. Someone years ago said to me, "I called the plumber and he said he would be here on Tuesday...it's now Wednesday and we still haven't seen him." My reply, "Did he say which Tuesday." Because down here when they use to say Tuesday they meant it, but if the surf was good, Tuesday this week would become Tuesday of next week. We were use to it, but new people just scratched their head at the way we worked. I frankly miss the old days, where you knew everyone and everyone knew you. Of course growing up here that was a definite disadvantage, but as an adult it just felt good. Ocean City is no longer that sleepy little village I knew, it's become a major city in Maryland, at least in the summer, and it's a sleeping giant in the winter, with crowds on the weekends and then Mondays back to just locals. When I was growing up in Ocean City we had one movie theatre only open on Weekends and never showed anything but Grade D movies...just awful but how we loved going. Now we have multi plex theatres with all the latest movies and I haven't set foot in a theatre in years. Last time we took one of the girls and a friend and it was Rob (the jackass) and myself, it cost $40....of course that included popcorn for us and a drink...but $40. I was appalled so now I buy the DVD and pop my own darn popcorn and open my drink from the supermarket and it's a lot cheaper....plus I don't have to put up with people talking, whispering, kids shouting at the screen and running up and down the aisles...yes, I can watch it again and again if I want, yes, I do not yearn for the good old days when I went to the movies. COMCAST UPDATE: When poor Mary showed up for work yesterday and I told her what happened with my cable she of course, blamed herself and took on the Comcast offices. She called for a supervisor who wasn't in, and ended up talking with the person to whom she had spoken regarding the disconnect of her cable. He then talked to someone, told her a supervisor would call her back and he actually did (what a shocker). The long and short, after she got done telling him he was going to lose my business...he got them to go back to my house and reconnect the cable...and I didn't have to be there. Now my question is...if I didn't have to be there in the first damn place, why the hell did I go through all that crap with that idiot on the phone. This is the type of thing that drives me right up the friggin wall. I explained the entire situation to the person I spoke to and she starts talking about her damn aunt sitting at her house for her. Honestly, where the hell did customer service go? Have you seen any lately? I hope you have if you've been in our shop. I know Barbara C. saw it today when Renee waited on her. Renee said Barbara was being very patient as Renee got hit with a return, sale and the bracelet going on all at once. In fact it wore Renee out...she had to sit a spell to get over the excitment. But I'm sure there are times when people thing we don't have good customer service. And I include myself here...I get screwed up at times and forget something I was suppose to do...or I'm too tired to really get that smile on my face when you walk in...I have good intentions when I arrive at work at 9:00 a.m., but by 4:00 p.m. I'm starting to show wear and tear, and by 9:00 p.m. forget about it, I'm done...stick a fork in me because people I am done for the day...I'm on remote at that point and waiting for the door to close, which if you noticed this year is happening 15 minutes early. It use to be that I would sit there until 11:00 p.m. if you were looking (didn't even matter if you were purchasing anything)...I would wait for you to be done. This year, I lock up at 9:45 p.m. and that's it. I don't ask you to leave, but no one gets in the door after that. And this year I've been in the office closing out things by 10:15 or 10:30 p.m. And of course in the hotel we've had our moments. Did I tell you about the women last weekend who reserved a room for 5 and then brought 6. If you have never been here our rooms are small, we're not a Holiday Inn kind of place. These buildings were built in the 1928 and back then rooms were small. So while all the rooms have a private bath, a/c, etc., they sleep just 2 or 4 (in some rooms we can put a cot or crib for the 5th person). Anyway, these two idiots came in after calling for directions all the way from New York...we heard from them every hour giving us their location...then they get to 8th Street and can't figure out where we are. There are 2 hotels on 8th and the boardwalk..we're right next to each other, but some people just can't figure this out. (DUH!!!!) Any way we talk her in and here they come with the grandson from hell who they spend the entire time screaming at. Joey don't do this, Joey don't do that...honestly, next time leave Joey home. Anyway, Sara sees they have 6 people so she says, (and since I was a witness I can report she was very pleasant...probably because I was a witness)...anyway she says, "I see you have 6 people so I can't put you in the room you asked for but I do have a suite which will accommodate you." They asked how much it was and then said, well that's a lot more than the other room and we want the other room. So Sara explained fire codes, etc., and said again the room will not accommodate 6 people. She looked at me and I mouthed "get them the hell out of here" so she told them that since there was no deposit on the room they could certainly go somewhere else as there were plenty of vacancies in town. They were indignant that we would suggest they go elsewhere since they thought that had a room here. Sara explained for the 3rd time that they could have a room here just not a room that will only hold 5 people. So the grandmother decides to call her daughter who actually made the reservations (the daughter back in New York). Now I've met plenty of New Yorkers in my life...in fact Ellen S. lives in New York city and she's really lovely, friendly, goes with the flow, follows the rules, she and her Husband Sweeney both do. Sweeney is a retired New York Policeman. So believe me I know there are plenty of wonderful New Yorkers...but people, these are the New Yorkers that they stereotype in the Movies. The grandmother was a screamer over everything the kid did. She didn't know how to talk...she just screamed. And they didn't listen to anything you said to them. They were on a one track course and could seem to swerve off of it. Then the daughter calls me...and she says "Yes I have a reservation at your hotel and my mother tried to check in and you told her she couldn't have a room." I said, "Excuse me, but you mother was told that because there were 6 people they couldn't have the room you reserved but we do have a suite which will accommodate 6 people." And then this idiot says, "I forgot about 1 person, so you are going to penalize my mother because I forgot one person." Folks we at the Lankford are like IRS (who's fighting me too...a whole other story)..if you count these children when you file your taxes, then we count them too. She went on about her poor mother and the children were standed in Ocean City with no where to stay, at which time I said, "Madam you mother is not stranded, she has been on the phone outside for over 1/2 hr. calling every hotel in town, all of which have offered her rooms and she is still trying to find the cheapest alternative." She then hung up the phone and we haven't heard from them since. Yes ... these are the times I won't miss...Anyway, it's after 10 p.m. and I've got cable back so I'm heading home to watch T.V. before they cut it off again. Have a great day.