What to do ... what to do ....

Hello again.

So, it's been a while since I've posted anything. 2012 has not been a great-fun year ... you can read back over my posts if you're not familiar with the circumstances (in short: my mom's passing, two surgeries, and a few other inconveniences that comprised my crap cake).

This blog originally started as a way for me to continue to keep up with writing, while I was unemployed. In fact, two years ago -- November 2010 -- I participated in NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month), where each day I posted one story. At the time, since I wasn't working, this was my primary outlet for writing, and I used it pretty frequently.

When I started working again in 2011, my posting frequency dropped off ... why would someone who writes for a living (effectively) want to write in his spare time?


So, a few weeks ago, I had to wonder ... what is the purpose of this blog? For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, you know that I'm not someone who posts random stuff there, necessarily ... my posts tend to be (1) informative, because Facebook is the quickest, easiest way to engage my friends in social media (as compared to emailing all of them separately, and having their responses in isolation); and (2) funny. Why should this blog be any different?

There are a few things I'm passionate about in life. One (which does make for good blog fodder) is customer service. I am continually amazed ... amazed ... by what passes for that these days. I've never been involved in customer service, directly, as a profession (although, I've been involved in training on it); but I also knew it wasn't my calling. I'm a firm believer that in today's commerce world, with online stores hammering away at price, the ONLY differentiating factor a company can offer is exceptional service. Too few get that.

In the past few weeks, before the hurricane, I had the opportunity to visit two 'restaurants' - 34 New (in Huntington, during Huntington Restaurant Week) and California Diner (in Patchogue). Both had remarkably poor service -- in the first case, they readily admitted they weren't prepared for large crowds due to Restaurant Week (mind you, the restaurant was *about* half-full ... I wouldn't rush there; if they aren't prepared to be half-full, I doubt they'll be successful). In the latter's case, *everything* was a surcharge ... you want a bread basket? $3 ... you want a refill of your unsweetened iced tea? full price.

So, initially, I was going to blog about the service there. But, then the hurricane hit. Between LIPA and Cablevision, new achievements were reached in poor service.

LIPA started by calling my cell phone the day after the hurricane and informing me (through automated message) that I would have my service back by noon that day. I was amazingly impressed -- this was a punishing storm, and there were nearly a million people out of service; what had I done to warrant such care? Ultimately, that wasn't true ... and when I called to inquire, they had no knowledge the call had gone out (one operator told me I had been mistaken). By Thursday of last week, the outage map was completely useless, except for the phone numbers at the top -- calling the 800 number took you to an automated center; but calling the local number provided you with the option to speak to a live person! So, I would call and politely (really!) inquire about an ETA (since the outage map didn't provide those; all ETAs were "being evaluated").

And, on Thursday, they rerouted the local number to the 800 number, so you no longer had the option of speaking to a live person ... awesome, LIPA! This is clearly the new, more transparent communication you were promising, yes?

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I don't know how much I'll be blogging still ... As I said, it's tough for writers to want to write in their spare time. But, I do think blogs need a focus; a purpose. And, hopefully, this can be this blog's purpose. It won't be a mish-mosh of topics, as it has been in the past.

With that, I just got notice of a delayed opening for my job today; so that provides me with an unexpected additional two hours where I can sit in a gas line! Joy of joys!