Thursday, June 21, 2012

Shout out from me to you

     Rarely am I so impressed with customer service that I feel the need to share. This is my public shout out to Kings Garage in Mount Airy NC, the only place I will take my van for repairs since last summer.Last April the A/C went out in my van and with a trip to Disney looming we were desperate to get the cool air blowing. I spent over $600 in the next 4 weeks with 2 different garages trying to get the issue resolved. Frustrating is the only word I can use to describe the feeling every time we would leave and a couple of days later hot air would greet us when we flipped the switch. We did make it to Florida with cold air but the freon only lasted to get us halfway home. Finally in August I tried one last time to have the issue diagnosed and was successful but by then was out of money and we were coming up on Fall so I just gave up. That was also around the time that something else went wrong with the van and being fed up with almost everyone in town , I took it to Kings, a new experience for me. I sat in that garage all day , (my birthday) but Gray tirelessly worked until the problem was fixed and only charged me for the parts with labor as my birthday gift. While I was there that day I asked him to price the work that needed to be done on the A/C and told him I would bring it back this Spring.
     Spring arrived and for 3 day Gray worked til I had cold air blowing. . I am still amazed every time I get in and start it up that there is cold, not hot air blowing from the vents. Shortly after I realized the signal and dash lights weren't working so I took it back. Gray took the whole entire dash back out and fixed the issue and because it was something he forgot to hook back up, he didn't charge me a dime. Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago. One day I noticed that my floorboard was wet and at the time just figured that one of the kids had spilled something. About a week later I realized that the spot wasn't drying, in fact it was becoming a puddle. I did some research online but there was several possibilities. Back to Kings I went making the third trip in as many months
     My van was there all day yesterday and all day today. I cannot be positive about the number of labor hours that was spent this time but when I went to pick it up this evening Gray just said " the keys are in it and its ready to go." He didn't charge me a dime. There was a condensation hose that was clogged . Maybe the issue was caused by something he had done while repairing one of the two earlier issues but there is no way to know that for sure.My point is this....he could have said it was any number of things . He could have told me that it had nothing to do with anything he had done and I nor anyone else would have ever known the difference. He could have charged me for two days of labor but he did not. Thank God there are still honest people in this world that you can count on. So for all my Mount Airy and surrounding area friends...Kings garage ROCKS !

Monday, June 11, 2012

Perfect timing

     At around 8am this morning my husband called me to discuss insurance. Usually I would not like being woke up but this time it was actually a relief to escape a really stupid, random dream I was having. I don't usually remember dreams so I have to share.
     I was in California. I am not sure why California because I have never even wanted to visit California. I do have some friends that are visiting there this week so maybe that has something to do with the location. So I am in California in this house, not just any house its the house that we lived in before we moved into the house we are in now. Yeah, that house was in Beulah, NC so I am not sure how it got to California. Apparently I am moving into that house because my mom was there helping me unpack. I have never wanted to even visit that state much less live there and my mom who lives in NC is there helping me unpack? I am looking for a phone jack to plug the phone up when my cell phone rings. Its my friend Celeste , and obviously she is the person who sold me the house because she is asking me if I have checked out the additions to the house. By the way, Celeste lives in Florida and I guess I didn't even look at the house before I bought it?
     When we lived in this house before it had six tiny rooms, the kitchen, the living room , a hotel sized bathroom and 3 bedrooms. I am not exaggerating about the bathroom. I could sit on the toilet, hang my leg over into the tub, and lean over to wash my hands in the sink all at the same time. My bedroom was barely big enough to hold a double bed and a dresser. So upon hearing of additions, I became excited and took off to find that she had added on to the three bedrooms and made then about triple the size and added a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub. I was so happy that I was in tears. As I am standing there in awe I hear my son yelling at me from the backyard.
     I rush outside to see him standing on this platform that is slightly raised from the ground and on top of it is a toilet and a sink. It looks like maybe the beginnings of a bathroom that had not been closed in. He says , "Hey mom, what is this?" I reply that maybe it is a washroom , you know maybe a place to clean up before coming inside. I bend down to flush the toilet which by the way is plastic instead of porcelain. It makes the really weird farting sound and splashed water back up at me. As I am trying to figure this out I hear this motor come roaring to life and then hear Ben yell , "Cool. ". I whip around to see that the sink is equipped with this button and a steering wheel of sorts. Before I can yell anything we are moving. Ben is driving us through the yard. I start screaming at him to stop and as usual he doesn't do what I say. All of the sudden we are on the street.
     I am on a portable bathroom being driven down a street in California by my 11 year old son. We are coming up to a stop sign and I am screaming at him that I am gonna be arrested and thats it rush hour, traffic is bad, and does he even know where the brakes are? He is just whooping it up and yelling that its going to be ok. I grab on to him and dig my fingernails into his arm and then my husband called and woke me up. The end.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Beach, beach, beach...it doesn't get better than this !

     Earlier this year the company that Eric worked for announced it was closing its doors. As a result he is now working for a different company. Having just being there since the beginning of April, we didn't plan a long vacation for the summer. I just figured we would take some long weekends at some fun places and fill the summer with short vacations and the beach was definitely out of the question til at least fall.
     Anybody who knows me even a little bit knows how much I love the beach. Sitting on the sand, watching the waves roll in, and breathing in the salt air soothes my soul. I can't think of anywhere else that I can go and see so many of God's spectacular creations all in one place. The last time we saw the beach was 2009 and it was a trip that I will never forget. Eric was deployed and planned his two week leave to coincide with our vacation. We kept it a secret from the kids and some friends graciously picked him up from the airport and drove him to us. The reunion went off without a hitch and we enjoyed our vacation with him.
     This summer I am again taking a trip that I consider a beach vacation of a lifetime. My mom mentioned to my brother that she would like to go to the beach this year but wasn't going to because she didn't want to go by herself. He got the brilliant idea for us all to go together. Mom, me and my brood, my brother, his wife and brand new baby, and my neice and her boyfriend. Big condo, split the cost. Oh my gosh , its really gonna happen. I am spending 7 days at the beach mid July !
     It just does not get better than this. I get to spend 7 glorious days at my favorite place on earth with my favorite people. Mom really really needs this vacation. She so needs to get away from the stresses of home right now. By the time we leave my brother and his wife will have a brand new baby and I get 7 days to oooh and ahhh over him and get to know him. Because of location, I haven't spent a great deal of time with my new sister-in-law so I get to spend some time with her too. I haven't got to vacation with my brother since we were teens so this should be interesting . My neice who I rarely get to see is coming too and I am loving that . Until a couple of weeks ago that would have been impossible for several different reasons but God is good and worked that out just in time. Add in my hubby and my babies and I feel a little overwhelmed and over the top blessed. The word excited doesn't even begin to cover the emotions in my soul.
     Of course I see a few sleepless nights in my near future. I am a planner , a list maker by nature. I have already started making lists of things I can't forget to take. Number one on my list is my Keurig ...I refuse to go seven days without good coffee. So friends, I am off to make a list. May your day be as happy as mine !