I took the kids to Baskin Robbins last night. Anna liked having her own chocolate cone while Luca wanted rainbow sherbet. When we walked into the store there was a young man behind the counter with his back to us. As we approached the counter he didn’t turn around. He just kept cleaning the stainless steel counter. I wondered for a second if they were closing and checked the sign on the door to make sure. It was 8:30 pm and the store closed at 10 pm so we were fine.

I didn’t think much of it until we sat down to eat our ice cream and another couple entered the store. It was pretty clear they knew what they wanted as they walked right up the counter to order. The young man continued to clean the counter. The couple was getting antsy. Finally the young man turned his head and said, “I’ll be with you in a minute” and immediately went back to his cleaning. He then started to organize the cups and cartons. I could not believe what I was seeing.

The couple waited another 2-3 minutes. The entire time this employee had his back turned to them. He couldn’t see how frustrated they had become. The couple turned around and walked out the store. Funny thing is it wasn’t for another minute or so before this employee noticed they had left the store. At which time he pulled out a broom and began sweeping the floors.

Two younger kids entered the store shortly after the couple left. They too went right to the counter to order. But it wasn’t’ going to be so easy. There was sweeping to be done! This Baskin Robbins employee made them wait another few minutes while he swept around the counter before he took their order.

I’ll bet this Baskin Robbins has some of the cleanest counters and floors around.

Unbelievable.

Update Feb 26: I’ve been back to the same store twice and was treated well both visits. The last visit we were helped by the young man in question and he was nice. I’ll chalk it up him having a tough day on that first visit to the store.

Joel on Software puts together a primer on how to keep your customers happy.

Last night we took the kids to a restaurant called Cucina Cucina. Earlier in the week I had mentioned that this place probably wouldn’t be very kid friendly. I was wrong.

The hostess asked if we needed a booster chair. Anna hates them so we declined. She then asked if our kids would like to play with a Magna Doodle. Why yes, they’d love it. She grabbed three of them and guided us to our table which was covered in white butcher paper. She gave each kid their own cup of crayons. Our kids had a great time coloring and making designs on the Magna Doodle. I think I had more fun with the Magna Doodle than the kids did and will ask for my own next time.

Having a few things for the kids to do while they wait for their food to arrive can make the difference between an enjoyable dinner and one that’s not very fun for anybody.

A neighbor was having difficulty making sense of his router that Qwest sent him. He was moving from Comcast to Qwest DSL and decided to save a few bucks by attempting the setup and installation on his own. This is a guy who’s an engineer for Boeing. He’s a bright guy but was completely baffled by this combo router/wireless DSL modem.

His two sons tried to make sense of this contraption without any luck so they called me to see if I’d stop by and have a look which I did and eventually got them up and running. This is the part where I return home and make a comment to Kim about how I’m not worried about my job security.

The more technology permeates our lives the more we can’t live without it. Yet the makers of all this high tech stuff continue to make setup/configuration/maintenance as difficult as possible. Imagine you’re excited to have high speed internet at your home. You pull the Qwest provided router out of the box and plug it in. You then fire up your web browser to begin the setup process and you’re met with this screen:

How many people does Qwest think will understand a single concept on this page? I’ve worked on computers for the past 15 years and I have no idea what half this crap means. I know enough to just leave it alone and move on to the next screen. But if I were a regular computer user like 99% of the population I’d probably try out a few settings and foul things up. Or I’d become frustrated and call my son or daughter in to have a look. If that didn’t work I’d call a friend or neighbor who works with computers.

Why does it have to be this difficult? I know that Qwest doesn’t expect all its customer to become router experts, and, in their defense, they provide a workable instruction booklet with each kit they send out. The problems come in when things doing go as planned or you try to add another machine to your network, or you want to share printers or files. The process to make all this work is daunting to most folks and is seldom covered in the set of “QUICK SETUP” instructions that don’t require a CCNA certification.

I guess I should feel some sense of job security because people are going to need the services that I can provide. But I can feel their frustration and wonder if there isn’t a better way. It shouldn’t be so difficult to add another computer to your cable/DSL connection. Qwest should teach their customers why they should change their SSID and why they may not want to broadcast it. Why do companies continue to assume we all know the difference between PPPoE and PPPoA? Does it really need to be this difficult?

Six months ago I was addicted to Coke. I’d have a Coke or two at lunch, another on the way home and maybe a couple at night. On the evenings I’d play basketball I’d stop at 7-11 and grab a Double Big Gulp after the game. I’m not sure when I become so attached to Coke, but it was probably when I was in Jr. High and I’d sneak up to some apartments behind our home and plop 25 cents into the machine. I’d drink the can empty as I walked home. It didn’t matter if it was summer or winter. There just wasn’t a time when a Coke didn’t sound good so I kept drinking it for any occasion. I never needed an excuse.

But last July I decided to lose some weight and kept a journal of everything I ate. I quickly realized that half the calories I was consuming came from Coke. So I decided I’d substitute water or Diet Coke for all that Coke was drinking. The first few weeks were terrible. I’d go into work with a headache as my body tried to ween itself from all that caffeine and sugar. But I eventually made it over the hump, and I’m proud to say I’ve not had a single ounce of Coke since the end of last July.

I created a quick spreadsheet to see how many calories I’ve saved over the last 6 months by not drinking Coke. I’ve lost over 50 lbs. since July and I’m certain that much of that is due to giving up Coke. I’m not sure how many ounces of Coke I averaged per day but I’m guessing it’s easily in the 40-50 oz. category. But even a conservative estimate of 32 oz/day Coke habit has saved me over 55,000 calories or nearly 16 lbs. (3600 calories = 1 lbs weight). This assumes I replaced Coke with a non calorie drink like water or no calorie diet beverage which I’ve done.

**Nutrition info pulled from Nutrition Data website

MP3Tunes is offering unlimited music storage and playback. They make it really easy by providing a tiny application called ObeoSync which scans your music collection and uploads everything to MP3Tunes. It will then continue to monitor your music folders and handle the synchronization automatically. I’ve been using this service now for about a week and really enjoy it. You’ll have a backup of your entire collection and be able to play your music from any browser. Here’s how you do it:

1. Go here and register for an Obeo Free account

2. Login to your account and grab Obeo Sync software from this page.

3. Once you’ve install Obeo Sync, give it your login/password and tell it where to find your music. It may take several hours, even days, to upload all your files depending on the size of your collection.

4. Once you’re uploaded your music you can access/play it from this page.

We recently purchased our first Digital SRL Camera. After a lot of input from friends, speaking with helpful sales people at several camera stores and reading numerous reviews and article online we decided to purchase the Nikon D40. We are notice SLR owners and feel this camera will meet our needs the best for a long time. Here are a few things I’ve learned in the process of researching, purchasing and training for the camera:

1. Although I buy many items online, if you are a first time DSLR owner, I suggest purchasing the camera at a local, reputable store. I found the knowledge gained by speaking with a knowledgeable salesperson to be the best research I conducted. Sure, some will favor one brand over another, but you’ll pickup information that can balance out what you learn by researching online. Being able to hold a number of different cameras was critical. Several models I thought looked good online didn’t feel so great in my hand.

2. Last night I attended a class at the store where I purchased my camera. The class was taught by the same man who sold me the camera and I learned more about photography in those two hours than I knew as a whole before the class. It was interesting to watch several novice owners become very frustrated when their more complex cameras were not as easy to use or configure as they had hoped. Nikon has done an amazing job at making the settings on the D40 not only easy to set but easy to understand. Two women sat in front of me. One had a D40 and the other had a D80. The D40 owner was able to follow along the entire class while the D80 owner spent most of her time trying to find the right menu or change a specific setting. Another guy behind me was having similar trouble with his D200. I wonder how successful they will be when the actually try to snap a few shots?

3. Price, price, price. I found that if you are purchasing a camera made by Canon or Nikon the difference in price wasn’t very much between the local and online store. I’m not certain but I believe this is similar to how Apple prices products which doesn’t allow for much variance between retailers. Sure, I could have saved a few bucks (mostly due to lack of sales tax) by purchasing online but I felt the knowledge I gained from speaking with the sales person was worth a lot more than the money I could have saved by purchasing online.

4. If you’re a beginner, stick with Canon or Nikon cameras and lenses. I say this because your needs could change quickly. You may take to photography fast and want to upgrade or you may find that it doesn’t interest you very much and want to scale back. Either way, you’ll be able to sell your equipment for a good price if you stick with these two brands.

5. Read Ken Rockwell’s site, especially these two articles: How and Where to Buy Photo Equipment and Why Your Camera Does Not Matter.

6. Most of the books I came across were confusing. They either are insultingly simple or geared towards the advanced users. Of the many I skimmed through, only The Digital Photography Book caught my interest. Have you come across a good book for beginners? If so please comment with the name.

What other suggestions have I missed that would help first time DSLR buyers?

The Moment put together an interesting interview/article about the co-founder of Google.

On August 16, 2004, its first day of trading, Google stock shot from $85 to $100 per share. Last November, it crossed the $500 mark, a number seldom seen in stock market history and far above the share prices of rivals Microsoft and Yahoo! At that price, Sergey and Larry, who together hold a controlling interest the company, each boast an estimated net worth of $15 billion.

What does that sort of money do to a 33-year-old? If you’re Sergey, you buy a new house on the peninsula south of San Francisco, trade in your hybrid Toyota Prius for a fancier ride, and continue shopping at Costco. “From my parents, I certainly learned to be frugal and to be happy without very many things,” Sergey tells me. “It’s interesting—I still find myself not wanting to leave anything on the plate uneaten. I still look at prices. I try to force myself to do this less, not to be so frugal. But I was raised being happy with not so much.” His parents say Sergey taught them to shop at Costco, too. “He bought us a membership,” Michael says. “It’s a store that he knows and understands.”

–Link to full article

If you live a big city chances are several, if not many people use public transportation to get into work. For the downtown Seattle that means taking the various express buses, Sounder Train, Van Pools and even carpooling. I happen to work for a company that has been accommodating to those that must take public transportation.

I’ve noticed that several companies in the area really encourage the use of public transportation. Some subsidize or outright purchase a bus or train pass for their employees. This is fantastic and is a benefit to the employee on the bus/train as well as the person who must drive by keeping fewer cars off the road.

Here are a few suggestions for companies who want to encourage the use of public transportation:

End All Meetings by 4 pm – It’s frustrating to have a meeting run long and have to make a mad dash to the train station. Schedule meetings far enough in advance so they can be held earlier in the day.

Offset the Cost – Even 50 bucks towards a bus or train pass would encourage people. I know that some jobs require having a car at work but not as many as some people believe.

Plan After-Hour Events Well in Advance – Company parties or happy hours usually take place later in the afternoon or evening. Give your employees enough advance notice so they can make plans to attend while still making arrangements to get home.

Provide plenty of Conference Room Space – Nice, large conference rooms are great because you can have larger client meetings at your place instead of making the trek over to your clients office. This provides an opportunity for your clients to meet more people at your company including management. Make sure each room has a projector that doesn’t take calling the IT to get working properly.

Provide Laptops/Remote Connections – If you really want to make your employees happy get them a state of the art laptop and one of the new high speed internet cards so they can work from anywhere! At the very least you should provide the ability to remote into the company’s network to get work done from home or any wireless hot spot.

Provide Virtual Meeting Space – For those times when you need to review a presentation, a service like Microsoft Live Meeting is very helpful. This cuts down on travel during the workday while still allowing your employees to work efficiently.

I’m sure I’ve left out many more. What are some ways your company encourages the use of public transportation or what would make you consider taking a train or bus if you currently drive to work each day?

Sound Transit has posted notices on each train with details of a public hearing about proposed fare increases for the Sounder Train. I grabbed one of their pamphlets today and read through the reasons for the fare increase including the 70% increase in the cost of gasoline since Sounder went into service. Every reason seemed reasonable to me.

The pamphlet detailed the three choices they were considering, but I have to wonder if input from passengers will make a difference. Here are the three choices:

1. Increase fare by 10%

2. Increase fare by 20%

3. No fare increase

I’m not sure what to think about these choices. Are many people going to tell Sound Transit they want to pay 20% more to ride the train? The whole thing seems a bit weird to me. Maybe it’s more of a formality since Sounder uses tax dollars to subsidize the operation. It feels like something they have to do rather than something they’d want to do.