I’ll know I’ve made it when I can tell my employer I need time off to attend one of these. Until then I’ll just have to keep buying his audio books and reading his blog.

Occasionally I have the opportunity to pickup Luca from the bus stop on her way home from Kindergarten. The stop is just a block away from our house so I’ll usually put Elka on a leash and she walks me down the street. We wait for the bus to pull around the corner and let the first group of older kids off the bus. The bus then heads towards us. Those in Kindergarten must sit right behind the bus driver so she can keep a watch on them. They are also the first kids to get off the bus.

So Lincoln, Elka and I walked to the bus stop this afternoon to pickup Luca. The bus pulled up and the driver reached down into a bag and pulled out a dog biscuit for Elka. She handed it to Luca who walked down the few steps and fed it to Elka. She then turned to Lincoln and gave him a big hug.

There is something about being around young children, especially those of Kindergarten age, that gives me a feeling of hope. It’s the opposite feeling I have when I turn on news and hear about war, abuse, and neglect. The kids have so much joy in their face and their actions. Even the way their little bodies move expresses joy. They are happy to be alive. They cherish their friends and teachers and look for the positive in them. Seeing Luca come off the bus wearing her puffy pink coat and oversized pink backpack, sporting a huge smile brings happiness to my heart. It’s one of those small moments in the day that I remember and smile each time I do.

It’s hard to believe this is even a topic of discussion. I never thought in my lifetime that a mormon running for president would be taken seriously. I’ve been a mormon all my life having spent the first 26 years of my living living in Utah. I’ve spent the last 12 years in the state of Washington so I’m used to being one of the few or only mormon among my friends and coworkers. I’ve received my share of strange questions over the years. I spent two years as a missionary in Germany so it’s unlikely I’ll be asked a question I’ve not already heard. But I’ve come to the conclusion that most people just want to understand the religion a little better than they do and asking questions opens a discussion.

I won’t just vote for Mitt Romney because he’s a mormon though. Maybe I will once I hear what he has to say, but it would be the first time in many years I voted for a Republican. 🙂

When a business makes a mistake they also create an opportunity to impress the customer that wasn’t treated well. When a clerk at Nordstrom rack treated me poorly as I tried to return a pair of shoes that were defective, the manager called the next day, apologized and offered to look over my shoes herself (she accepted the return). When a restaurant makes a mistake with your order, they have the opportunity to throw in a free desert or take the price of the item off your bill.

This weekend Jack in the Box shorted Kim $10 at the drive-thru. She had started to pull away from the drive-thru when she noticed the mistake a d decided to drive back around where she was treated poorly but the man working drive thru. He said there was no way he’d made a mistake and that he’d only be able to take her name and phone number. If the $10 showed up once the registers were reconciled, maybe we’d hear from him. We weren’t expecting to hear back from him, yet today we received a call saying they had our ten bucks if we wanted to come get it. It’s cool he called but he couldn’t have sounded any less excited nor did he apologize for the mistake.

Here’s what Jack in the Box could have done to turn a bad customer experience into a good one:

1. Apologize – Nothing big here. Just say you made a mistake and you apologize for the trouble. Most people understand mistakes happen.
2. Give us a Gift Certificate – How about tossing in a $10 gift certificate?
3. Free Desert – Kim drove through with our three young kids in the car. Why not offer them a free ice cream or something?
4. Deliver the $10 – This would have impressed us the most. Call first to say they have the $10 and offer to deliver the money to our house. Even better, throw in some fries and a few burgers for the trouble.

The point is that Jack in the Box botched the chance to turn a bad experience for us into a positive experience. And we are not talking about spending 4 hours or $100. Something simple would have shown us that you care we chose you over those five other fast food joints on the same block.

One of my coworkers told me about Pandora Internet Radio. I was skeptical at first but I’ve been trying it for a few days now and it’s pretty cool. You just type in the song or artist you like and it searches its database to find similar music you might enjoy. It allows you to mark songs with a thumbs up or down to better refine the songs it recommends.

I know it’s a small thing but I appreciated how this web application allowed me to register without interrupting the music. I can see myself using this at work and at home when I’m looking for some good background music to accompany my surfing.

Time recognizes some of the best pictures taken in 2006. The picture below of a Secret Service agent along the coast of Kiawah Island, SC is my favorite of the bunch.

–Link to all photos

I’ve used Verizon’s 411 service many times, usually when I’m in the car. That meant I usually wasn’t able to write down the number I was looking for and would end up calling 411again for the same number on occasion. But Verizon has added a helpful new service. When I dial 411 now I have the option of having the number I was looking for sent to my phone as a text message. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the most helpful.

This guy gives some of the strangest answers you’ll ever see. Strange even for The People’s Court.

Update – College Humor has an interview with this guy

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A couple of times each week I walk a block to this small deli here in Belltown. I’m always with at least a couple of coworkers who have been going to this deli longer than I have. The owner had learned their names but couldn’t remember my name. We’d joke about it each time we’d sit down for lunch there.

When I started cutting back on carbs I’d order a single cheeseburger with no bun or catsup. It didn’t take long till the owner started calling it the “Brett Burger”.

We went to the deli for lunch yesterday and as I was waiting in line with my coworkers, the owner yelled out, “Single or double, Brett?”

Sweet!

Mr. Rubel’s account of the meeting is the best I’ve seen so far. I really enjoyed his recap of the Q&A session with Bill Gates. Two of my favorite questions they asked him were:

Q) Do you despair at the number of Macs in the room?
A) We’re happy about it. We sell a lot of software for the Mac!

Q) What is the most important thing we can do as tech leaders re. education/healthcare?
A) Get involved in the school where your children go…

Link to entire article