And I must say that I don't like it when someone doesn't say "I'm sorry" when there has been a mistake or a delay. Coincidentally, the same week I had the above and beyond service I mentioned above, I had my worst experience. I sat down for breakfast in a fast food place and got the seat of my pants soaked. I looked around, and realized that several booths had puddles of water on the seats. When I talked to a worker about it, there was no apology, only this explanation: "It rained really hard overnight." Well, yeah, I said, that was true. But this was indoors! He explained that it had something to do with the vents for the air conditioning system leaking. I explained that it would have been nice to dry off the seats for their customers. He said they don't have towels or anything like that. I said they could have put signs on the doors or tables or verbally warned their customers to look out for wet seats. He stared blankly at me. I saved my receipt and submitted a formal complaint online. I never heard a word back. It was a long time before I stepped foot in that place again. I had to explain to my students that I hadn't really wet my pants. I was so soaked that it took quite a while to dry out.

Yes, I wondered that too. And I was thinking that it would have been easy to say "unsweetened" when ordering in such a way that the "sweet" was emphasized and was heard. She must have done the drive-through lane, because inside, the tea is self-serve. I had the feeling that it was simply easier for the manager to do it that way that go through the till. It was only a buck plus tax. I was really impressed with how she handled the whole thing. She was probably about 50yo, and was doing a great job of showing the young staffers how to deal with complaints.

I never expect compensation other than "please give me what I actually ordered", but I often receive a little something extra. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I make it a point to be pleasant. And as another poster said, I remember and return to places where I've been treated well. One of my favorite "above and beyond" stories: A couple of years ago, I was teaching some Summer classes. One morning I was running behind, and stopped at the local Bojangles to get a breakfast biscuit. On a whim, I asked if it was too early to order a salad to go for lunch later. The manager said they usually get the salad ingredients prepped between the breakfast and lunch crunches, but they could get it ready while I ate my biscuit. When he brought me the salad a few minutes later, he gave me the store's phone number, and told me that in the future, if I called the store as I was leaving home, they would start making my salad so that it would be ready when I got there. We chatted a while, and the next time I came in, he remembered that I had said I was teaching that day. He instructed his staff to give me the educators discount whenever I come in. I didn't even know there was such a thing, and I never ask for it, but it's nice to get.

YES!! There is nothing magical about using the LCD. It may be true that you have to do less work in reducing the answer to lowest terms after you've added or subtracted fractions, for example, but that may be more than offset by the work needed to get the LCD to begin with.

I got the impression that the manager was trying to make a point: You think our mistake was a big deal? We'll treat it as a big deal.

I stopped by McDonald's for a quick bite this afternoon. There was a young lady complaining that she had ordered an unsweetened tea, but had been given sweet tea instead. She declared that she had many health issues and couldn't have sugar. The gal she talked to apologized and gave her a cup of unsweetened tea. The girl then suggested they also give her a gift card "to make it right". The poor folks behind the counter were confused by this request, and called for the manager. The manager brought out some insurance forms to fill out, which she said was policy when there was a health issue involved. The girl didn't want to give her name -- she just reiterated that they should give her a gift card to make it right. The manager said she couldn't do that, but gave the girl her money back (out of her own pocket), and the girl left, not too happy. I was telling some friends about this incident, and most of them immediately said "entitlement mentality". I had immediately thought "scam". What do you all think?

Two songs I cannot get through without tears: The Power of the Cross and The Star Spangled Banner Yes, I'm a sap. Nostalgic songs include pretty much anything I listened to in high school and college: Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, Jim Croce, Fleetwood Mac, Doobie Brothers, Chicago, etc.

Ha --- my college friends and I had some special Billy Joel songs --- in the late 70s.

I've never been there. But my stepson and daughter-in-law are celebrating their 25th anniversary in Italy, and I am enjoying dear d-i-l's Facebook posts as she shares all that they are doing. I know they did a ton of planning. Except for the lost luggage at the beginning of the trip, things have gone very well.

Well, that didn't work out. Evidently not enough ladies committed for Bunco, so it got canceled again. I didn't get the message that was sent two hours before the start time, as I was on the road and away from my computer. So I still showed up at the house, only to be told that, sorry, it was canceled. I was really disappointed. It wasn't about the Bunco for me -- I've only played once, years ago, and I don't remember any details except it was fun. But I was really looking forward to some fun time with a bunch of ladies. I understand that there is a minimum number needed, but it seems like those who were coming could have at least enjoyed the finger food and beverages we were supposed to bring, and found something else to do. Another game, like Apples to Apples would have been fine.

That's what I was thinking. There are two different words, with different spellings and pronunciations, but there is somewhat of an overlap in meaning.

When I saw "puzzles" I didn't immediately think of "Jigsaw puzzles", although it seems from you poll that is what you mean. When I was a kid, we almost always had a jigsaw puzzle in progress on the dining room table. (We ate in the kitchen except when there was company.) We haven't done one here for quite a while, though. My guys did participate and help out on some big ones, including puzzles that were on the table at their Granny's house. We have also worked on several in the waiting areas at hospitals over the years. I am a big puzzler, but rarely do jigsaw puzzles. I especially like math, logic, spatial reasoning and critical thinking puzzles. In fact, I teach a class at Co-op called Thinking Out of the Box.

Okay .... I guess I didn't say that well. I'm not mad at anyone. My semi-vent was that in this day and age, so many people consider it worth mentioning as something beyond the norm. There are four of us couples that all celebrated 28 year anniversaries over the past few weeks. No one else was commended for sticking it out.

Hugs to you.

Actually ...... I'm joining some ladies for an evening of Bunco tonight.It got postponed from an earlier date, and dh heads to bed very early these days.

Congratulations, we love you both, woo hooo, etc. are all fine. As far as offering support goes, asking how I'm doing once in a while would be nice. People love my husband, and they always ask me how he is doing, but it is the rare, true friend who asks how I'm doing. And I am fully aware of how selfish that sounds even as I type it. "I'm proud of you" is weird, IMO. The "example of faithfulness" was well-intentioned, I know, but it just strikes me wrong. As someone else said, it's like being praised for simply doing the right thing.

No cake. It's just the two of us at home now. We may go out for a late lunch / early dinner later.

I posted on FB about today being our anniversary. All of my friends know that my dh was diagnosed years ago with probable Alzheimer's. I'm getting people thanking me for my "example of faithfulness" to my husband. Seriously? I should be especially commended for not leaving him? I'm not a saint -- I'm just a wife who loves her husband. And he is easy to love. He is kind, considerate, giving, funny, and appreciative. Yes, he does things that aggravate me, but it is out of forgetfulness or lack of understanding, not pride and selfishness. I was tempted to praise some of my friends on their anniversaries for sticking with their husbands who can be such jerks much of the time. Sure, it would be nice to have a healthy dh and the better financial situation that would go with that, but I'd rather be comfortable sitting at home with my dh than living their lives of relative ease while being unhappy. (edited to take out that double negative I did not intend)

I am an even 6 feet tall, and I have a terrible timing finding pants that are long enough for me. In most lines of clothing, I wear an 18W. I can find lots of short (or petite) pants in that size, but rarely anything in tall or long. I would like three pair of basic twill slacks -- one navy, one black, and one khaki. I often end up getting polo shirts from the men's department because they are long enough to not expose my belly or back when I raise my hand to write on the board.

This whole "nouthetic counseling" or "Biblical counseling" mindset is what is behind the counseling at Bob Jones University that resulted in the GRACE report on their handling of sexual abuse victims. You know -- blame the victim, tell her she must repent of her "part" in the sin, etc. YUCK!

Posting this link, because I have to go fix something for us to eat, and I may lose it. I'm sorry if it's a repeat; I haven't read every post yet. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/lovejoyfeminism/2015/08/breaking-leadership-of-josh-duggars-treatment-center-allegedly-involved-in-sex-abuse-coverup.html

This has turned into a praise. The gal at the business office worked with me and the numbers so that I can make 10 equal payments. There will be a crunch at the end of the year, but it is doable.

The guy from the gap year program my son is planning on attending this year and the financial aid office who don't communicate very well. The guy told me we could spread out the balance due after scholarships and grants over 10 months. The financial aid / business office sent a letter saying we had to set up the payments plan by September 1st. Today, I found out that the 10 months had to have started in July. So now, they want 20% like now, and another 10% by September 20th, when I was planning on just the 10% amount in September. And we found out yesterday that there is another $375 we need to pay in two weeks when we check him in. This is to cover the things that aren't included in the "all-inclusive" fees we knew about. I have been scrambling to minimize expenses and maximize income to make this work because it is so incredibly important to my son. In the long run, it will work, but I just don't know how to come up with all this money right now.

That was my thought, too.

This was a new one for me yesterday. I received a message from one of my Co-op students that she woke up with an ear infection, and because her mother had an ear infection last week, they knew it was contagious, so she would be staying home from classes. :confused1: I have never heard of an ear infection being contagious. I usually think of them as being a secondary infection, and certainly the primary illness that led to the ear infection could be contagious. What do you think? Is an ear infection contagious in and of itself?