I came across a site here on the W.W.W. that I wanted to share. For all those cameras, memory cards or pictures you may have lost or even found…this is the ticket! It’s called, “I Found Your Camera” it’s an awesome site….what a great concept too, huh?

I really hate to sulk about things so trivial, but 2 recent incidents left me wondering what today’s definition of Customer Service is.
I walk in to a well known, nationwide drugstore. I want Diet Coke a simple 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke….this is my drug of choice. I will be the first to admit it. Hi, my name is Heidi and I’m a Diet Cokeaholic. (applause from other addicts) Simple request. I reach Melissa’s check stand, I am the only one in line. Apparently my addiction is the least of her worries. Scope is on sale. After she acknowledges my presence with a grunt like sound, she turns her rude self around and leans against the register, her backside is now facing me. A co-worker, lets say her name is Phoebe, informs her she has already grabbed her bottles of ‘on sale’ Scope.
“I want some” Melissa informs Phoebe
“Have you ever tried it…is it spicy?” (s-p-i-c-y??)
“Oh no, just the cinnamon flavor.”
Hello…my name is Heidi and I’m a Diet Cokeaholic, I need my Diet Coke!
I clear my throat hoping, just hoping to draw her attention to me.
“Are you kidding!” Phoebe exclaims, “Mints are too spicy (wtf?) for me.”
I am now on the ground, my heart barely beating, I become nauseous as my body breaks out into a cold sweat.
Melissa finally turns around catching a glimpse of my near lifeless body. She rudely interrupts my moaning with,
“Yes?”
In a barely audible voice I plead, “Ring me up, Melissa, ring me up!”
Melissa asks Phoebe to grab her 2 bottles of Scope, regular flavor. She rings me up and I’m on my way.
Next stop, a well known, nationwide drive-thru burger joint. ( I have already downed 1/2 my Diet Coke by now. Hi, my name is Heidi and I’m a Diet Cokeaholic) I am with my boyfriend, we order 3 grilled cheese….(burgers w/out the meat)…1 chocolate shake and an order of onion rings to share. I am not a fan of onion rings, but I just happened to be craving them this particular evening. There is absolutely nobody else there so this should be a piece of cake. I double check to make sure Melissa is not behind the counter but because we are still sitting at the order speaker in the empty line waiting, I can not see. It’s been a good 5 minutes. I hear coyotes howling as a tumble weed brushes by the car. Finally…
“Can I help you?” a voice interrupts the still of the night.
We place our order and pull forward. Another tumbleweed blows by, I am beginning to realize why…just why we are the only customers at this joint. I make eye contact with the lady behind the counter, it’s not Melissa. We are given the chocolate shake and money is exchanged, good sign! We sit and wait and wait and wait for the rest of our food. We decide it is the onion rings that is holding up our order. We discuss the whole scenario, they must be picking our onion just for us. The perfect one. They must now clean and cut that perfect onion. They now must make a fresh batter mix dip our rings and fry them to perfection. We are still waiting but our anticipation for that perfect ring out weighs our impatience! The last of the chocolate shake has turned to chocolate milk. There has been no contact with the lady behind the counter, I believe she is on the phone somewhere talking to Melissa. Just as I was about to die of starvation, wa-la…food is served. No I’m sorry for the wait, thank-you, got to hell….but the food is served!
Gimmmmeeee, gimmmmmeeee some of those perfectly prepared onion rings. About a block away I reach into the bag. At first I thought they had comped us another shake for the wait but it was our burgers. Ice cold. Yum! I dig deeper to our perfectly fried rings. All four of them were equally as cold, burnt and hard. Oh hell no!!! We make a U-turn and head back to demand our perfect onion rings. After a half-ass apology we are presented with a bag of four new onion rings.
So as we head home with our 1/2 drank bottle of 2 liter diet coke, our empty chocolate shake container, our cold burgers and 4 onion rings we discuss what Customer Service really is…..the definition reads: assistance and other resources that a company provides to the people who buy or use its products or services
Perhaps I one day I will take a copy of this to Melissa and her friend from the burger joint, one day when I have a lot of time!

A few more pictures from my new splendid camera!

“Homer died”….what do you mean Homer’s dead as I walk away mumbling in a language only I can understand. “Idroveallrhiswasytoseehomerhomercan’tbedeadwhatdoyouknow,” I trip on a piece of faux seaweed. Homer is a sea otter than won my heart over a few years ago when I watched a special on her on APL. She was an orphaned otter found amongst an oil spill and brought to Seattle Aquarium to be rehabilitated. The special focused on otters and the long term effects of the oil. She had gone through 2 or 3 pregnancy’s yet always delivered stillborn babies. She longed for a ‘pup’ so bad, she would steal others and mother them. So heartbreaking, yet comical at the same time. I fell in love with Homer and had to meet her!
So I am in Seattle for my nephews wedding. I am there for 5 days which means I can spend 4 days at the Aquarium getting to know my new friend. Now it’s down to 3 days because of rehearsal dinner or whatever. Then 2, on a count I have a morning flight on Monday. Now 1 day as my mom says it’s rude to spend all my time at the Aquarium with my family in town and all. Yeah, yeah.
I run up to the ticket lady, (on the specified day my mom allowed me to go) I am telling my whole group about Homer at this point , after all….I was an expert! I purchase my ticket telling this 17 year old ticket lady all my business. “Ijustcameinfromcaliforniatoseehomer,mywholefamilyiswithmeandwecan’twait!!!”
“Who’s Homer?”
“Who’sHomer?”
I take a deep breath, “Homer is a legacy here, Homer was on APL. I saw her!”
As she adjusts her cute little aquatics hat she informs me she will make a phone call and find out Homer’s where abouts. She hangs the phone up and continues fumbling with her hat, at that point I am ready to rip her hat off. I mean business. She turns to me with her hat perfectly in place and says, “Homers dead…” did she not make it clear to these people, “Ijustcameinfromcaliforniatoseehomer,mywholefamilyiswithmeandwecan’twait!!!”
“She’s dead?” I ask
“Yeah a few years back.”
“That can’t be!”
I turn to my family, “Homerdied,wecameallthiswaytoseeherandshedied.HomercantbedaedIjustsawheront.v.shewasn’tevensickthiscantbe”
“….Next”
Like a three year old, whining, they assure me they will help me find out what happen to Homer….lets at least go in. I agree.
We make our way through the creepy crawly area, you know jellyfish, crabs, etc. We finally get out to the sea otters, they are doing a a training demonstration. Those little things are the cutest ever and I am having a hard time catching my breath watching their every little magical movement, but it’s just not the same without Homer. The trainers announce they will be available for a few short moments to answer questions, I don’t want to talk to just any trainer I want the head honcho trainer and I think if i time it just right I can hurdle through this crowd in a split second…or at least fast! I reach one guy (not the head honcho trainer dude), “IcamecameallthewayfromCaliforniatoseeHomer,IsawHomeront.v.awhilebackandIreallywanted- toseeherbutshedied,Homerdied!”
“Homer died?” he asked in complete confusion. Now I am thrilled someone finally acknowledged there is a Homer and pissed at the same time this trainer dude didn’t have a clue! He gets on his walkie-talkie thing and calls someone else to inform them of Homers passing. I realize this is a waste of time, I knew more than Mr. Trainer Dude! I finally get to Mr. Main Trainer Dude, “IcamecameallthewayfromCaliforniatoseeHomer,IsawHomeront.v.awhilebackandIreallywanted- toseeherbutshedied,Homerdied!”
“Homer died?”
“Homers dead!”
“She died?”
“Yes, Homer is dead (andIcameallthewayfromCalifornia.FirstnobodyknewwhoHomerwasthentheytellmeshedied.)
“Well I knew she had been moved, I never heard she died.”
“Yep, she…..”
Just then his walkie-talkie thing rang, “A lady just informed me Homer passed away. Do you know anything about this?”
Now I’m feeling really bad I didn’t want to have to be the one to tell these guys, they obviously were really shaken up by this news. The head trainer dude tells me he needs to make a phone call. I wonder if it’s to the people in white jackets…. He catches up with me later and informs me Homer is alive and well! “WellthenwhydidtheticketladytellmeshediedIhavebeensosadandIwantedmyfamilytoseeherand…”
“Relax” he says, “she is now living at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, she’s fine.” I take a quick glance over my shoulder wondering when the folks in the white jackets are coming. So far, so good! I am soooo ready to leave at this point. I have really put a damper in the cool, misty air at the Seattle Aquarium. But alls well that ends well, Homer was indeed alive and despite those white jacket people on my tale I am a happy camper! I pass by the 17 year old ticket lady informing her of Homers where abouts, “HomerisaliveandwellandisnowlivingatPortCefianceZooandAquarium,thetrainerdudestoldme- themselves” my eyes glaring into hers, she adjusts her cute little aquatics hat.
*I never made it to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium to see lil’ Homer. I’ve made several attempts to find her via the W.W.W. and have been unsuccessful. Perhaps one day I will find out what ever became of Homer!

and it’s not an it! Much to my surprise this was awaiting me when I arrived home from my little vacation. Now I just need to learn to use it! I snapped a few pictures on a hike yesterday, can’t wait to be able to utilize all the bells and whistles it has!!!! (Note to self: wear a different hat next time. I have never seen wildlife run or fly away so fast!) For more splendid pictures, click here!

Day 7 Vacation is over, zip, through, kaput, done! My time had ended. It was time to brush the sand off my feet, wave good-bye to the dolphins and whale, pack my junk up and start my journey home. The time with my friend was incredible….we talked, laughed, cried, shopped, drank, ate, sun bathed, slept and raised money for an oh-so-worthy cause!
So after a bumpy start; seems during all the talking, laughing, crying, shopping…..I somehow misplaced my ATM card. My car is on E and i have $2.00 on me. I made a phone call to a friend to help me locate the nearest bank, took care of business and made my way home. You know, no matter how wonderful and relaxing a getaway is, it seems you are more wiped out at the end. I hate that. I hate that vacations have to end.
All the while driving home it’s in the back of my mind that my significant other had gotten very ill while I was away. If I had been a good girlfriend I would have gotten home sooner but he reassured me he was o.k. Now…..we have a problem here because it is now obvious that his definition of o.k. and my definition of o.k. are in separate categories. He had had an upper G.I. bleed from taking too much Ibuprofen. ‘Nuff said, I will spare you the details….he is “o.k.” though. A bit on the pale side….
So I was hoping I would lose 20 lbs. prepping and participating in this walk. No. If anything I gained (muscle weighs more than fat, could it be?) Could it be muscles are bulging out my gut and butt and that’s why my clothes are all on the snug side? I have gone through the whole ‘everything’ must have shrunk, shrank, shranked, gotten smaller. Nobody would buy it. I do know I am a sleep eater…. this is a new hobby of mine. I am on a new medication which apparently gives me a burst of energy sometime between 1:30 and 4:30 a.m.
I have managed to rip my nose ring out, call my son….just because. Peel and eat a banana, removing it through a 2 inch slit on the side, devour pudding and last night I ate a box, not a bowl, a box of Fruit Loops! I need help!
I got a new toy I will share about in the next day or so. No, I did not get it from the naughty lady party but still the same I am very excited about it!!! Woot-woot….stay tuned!

Day 4 I survived…tootsies and all! We arrive at the relay early morning to find a gazillion people already there and a gazillion more, following in tow. Festivities started at 10 a.m. with all the survivors kicking off the first lap. Some celebrated their victory by running, others rejoiced walking proudly while others were assisted and encouraged in wheel chairs. What a wonderful and emotional sight to witness!
Our team, “Box of Cupcakes” kept busy not only with the festivities but dishing and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner as well. It made for a log day with (what I would consider) record temperatures! It was more than worth it knowing that with each drip of sweat and every blister on your foot, you were that much closer to finding a cure. I managed to get through the day without hurting myself or making a complete fool of myself however, I did overhear my best friend answering “Italian and Indian” when casually asked what religion she was. She is not even a blonde! Good to know I am not the only one with those moments!!
Day 5 As soon as our heads hit the pillows we were out. We got up made our way to the beach and slept some more. It’s hell getting old! We were finally able to drag ourselves away from our beauty sleep long enough to pick up Italian (that is 1/2 her religion you know!) food from a local restaurant and a quick walk downtown.
If I had one thing to complain about the past few days it would be I have had no dolphin or whale sightings. But if all goes well, that will change momentarily! Life is rough….
Days 4 and 5 A complete success!