Marc’s Musings

We stayed at the Hampton Inn Cumberland while we were in Atlanta last week. The service was awful. Amazingly awful. Web and print media said there was a shuttle for guests, the woman at the desk said there was no such thing. And seemed annoyed that we were even staying at the hotel.

I knew they offered a 100% guarantee but why would I waste my time claiming it when I’d had such poor service already?

When the Hampton Inn sent me a customer service survey last Friday afternoon, I told all. Detailed how bad the service was, when it was delivered, etc. The generic “thank you for filling out the survey” and “your opinion matters” screens told me that nothing would change. But at least I’d been able to vent and went home to a very peaceful Sabbath.

But I was wrong. The manager of that Hampton Inn just called me. She had a wonderful talk with me, apologized for the service, said that was unacceptable at her hotel, and bent over backwards to make sure I’d come back if ever in the Atlanta area.

She’s refunding for a night’s stay. I’m not sure how a 1 night refund equals 100% satisfaction for a 2 night stay, but the conference organizers paid for my stay anyway, so 1 night free is a bonus for them. And she said she’d send me a gift too.

I’m amazed at the responsiveness of her phone call. And that she wasn’t trying to fight with me.

This one phone call works well for the entire brand. I’m sure I’ll choose a Hampton Inn next time I’m traveling.

[3/30/2007 Update: No refund ever appeared on the card and no gifts in the mail. I just called about the refund of a night and the asst. manager is really sorry and is refunding both nights. I'm not holding my breath.]

I just read a great line in a recent letter to the editor by Gayle Finkbeiner of Belgrade, ME. She was taking issue to another letter writer calling her a “neocon” because she’d asked the paper to have a legitimate conservative voice represented. In her reply, she wrote:

…A conservative is to a neocon like a Shakespearean play is to an episode of “Desperate Housewives.”

As a person more aligned with the traditional conservatives (as opposed to the social fundamentalists that seem to represent the “religious right”), I like the idea of being more like Shakespearean play.

It hasn’t been two weeks yet but I couldn’t wait: I had my first Bombadil today.

I like! (Sofia opted to stick with her apple juice!)

Before I took my first sip, Caleb looked at it and said, “Dad, you won’t ever have to buy beer again! [pause] Unless this doesn’t taste any good…”

Fortunately it’s good!

Awards speech: I want to thank my wife, my family, Kennebec Home Brew, Pura Vida Coffee, and Guinness for helping make Bombadil Stout possible.

I guess it’s confirmed, God’s going to be teaching me a lot about Sabbath this year.

Here’s an mp3 of a great sermon from David Schmelzer.

This great reminder comes from Keren Pryor’s “Taste of Torah” on January 20, 2007’s Torah portions “Va’era” or “And I Appeared”:

Through the process of the plagues God progressively demonstrates His power as Creator over water and land, over animals and people, and over life and death. Ultimately Pharaoh himself, although unwillingly, will also bow to His Name.

The four expressions in chapter 6, verses 6-7, represent the progressive stages of redemption from Egypt and provide the basis for the four cups of wine at the Passover Seder.

1. Ve’hotzati - “I will bring you out.”

   God Himself will do it. The role of the people is one of obedience in following His guidance. We need to hear and to obey His voice; God does the rest.

2. Ve’hitzalti - “I will rescue you.”

   The Hebrew verb hitzil implies rescue from an impending danger. He is our protection and strength in times of trouble.

3. Ve’ga’alti - “I will redeem you.”

   Ga’al denotes redemption from an existing destructive process. The go’el, redeemer, steps in on behalf of an indebted or enslaved kinsman to pay the ransom and to gain his release. This role of Kinsman Redeemer is perfectly filled by Yeshua our Messiah.

4. Ve’lakachti - “I will take you to Myself as a people.”

   This is the first statement of Israel’s destiny as a people set apart unto God. Their existence is founded upon Him and their destiny inextricably bound up with Him. Israel is His, forever. Through God’s Son, our Savior Redeemer, the way is provided to leave the bondage of the world, with its unloving, “unhearing,” unresponsive gods.

   In Yeshua, the door is open in loving welcome. All peoples can freely enter the Father’s house and, as His sons and His daughters, gain the fullness of freedom He always intended.

Incredible isn’t it? Just think Jesus lifted the third cup and said, “This is my blood.” Can you imagine participating in this meal year after year, annually remembering God’s faithfulness and redemption, and then have your Master say that?!

I got a great new HP iPaq hw6945. I really like it. Finally my cell phone is attached to my contact file.

In order to connect to the web and still use this for work at the hospital, I need to install Symantec Antivirus for Handhelds. No big deal right?

Wrong.

I installed it with the ever patient IS guy watching. It didn’t work.

I found the error on the Symantec site and the solution to the error. Here’s a screen shot:

I have version 3.0 and simply need version 3.5.

I’ve spent virtually a third of the last 28 hours on the phone with India being bounced between customer service and tech support being told “not a problem” and that I need to talk to the other side.

• Vinjoy,
• Constance,
• someone else,
• Scott,
• Ali,
• John,
• Ashley, and
• Sunish.

I’ve even been sold the “right” version twice.

Both times it was the same 3.0 version that was wrong in the first place.

Is this what hell might be like?

[Update: I'm now talking to Jenny in Oregon. She's being incredibly helpful. She's even mentioned another way to get this...possibly...uh-oh. Gotta go.]

[Update to the update: JENNY'S MY HERO!! (She told me so. *grin*) But she is. I have a version that is working on my PDA and I'm ecstatic. Overjoyed. Stinkin' psyched.]

Wonder if I could devise a way to call problem solvers like Jenny directly without all the middle-people…

Just read this CT Studd quote on Mark Batterson’s blog. I love it!

Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.

[I'm not sure who CT Studd is but I bet there are some guys in radiology that would think it referred to them!]

Marc's First Homebrew Adventure

It’s all bottled! 47 wonderful brown bottles of Bombadil.

Yep, I’m naming my first brew in honor of Tom Bombadil. In our world of practicality and order, Bombadil doesn’t seem to fit. And is often left out of most adaptations of the Lord of the Rings.

Evil seems to have no hold on him. Not even a little pull. (Even Gandalf feared the Ring.) But if it weren’t for him, the Fellowship would’ve finished before it even began. And if it weren’t for his gift of daggers, Merry might not have been able to wound the Witch King, allowing him to be destroyed.

So “Bombadil” is the name. His colors of blue and yellow are a serendipitous fit with my love of Sweden!

I’ll be able to uncap a bottle in a couple of weeks!

[Click on the picture at the top for a slideshow of the entire homebrew adventure to date.]

Yikes. Hugo Chavez now has the liberty to do what he pleases in Venezuala.

Great. Another dictator.

The scary thing is the US is Venezuala’s biggest oil customer. If we didn’t buy oil, he wouldn’t have the money to buy the support of his people.

Makes me even more motivated to buy a GreaseCar!

Rich Gouette pointed me to this article about an IN Church that got an overnight cease & desist letter from the NFL.

Did you know there’s a law saying you can’t show the game on a screen bigger than 55″?!

The NFL also took offence to the church’s using trademarked terms like “Super Bowl.”

Don’t they have something better to do with their time?

I guess I’ll call my personal, at-home, party that the church is invited to a Super Dish party. Or Super Casserole.

Thesaurus.com has some other terms for bowl:

basin, boat, casserole, crock, deep dish, dish, jar, pitcher, plate, pot, saucer, tureen, urn, vessel

and

bay, bowl, concavity, depression, dip, ewer, gulf, hole, hollow, lagoon, pan, pool, pot, sag, sink, sinkage, sinkhole, tub, valley, vessel, watershed .

I kind of like the sound of a “Super Dip” party.

French onion anyone?