Sunday, April 14, 2013


I normally don’t pass on fundraising affairs, but I think this is special. There are a number of ways to support Multiple Scleroses research through direct donations and walk-a-thons. There is another event coming up worth your donation: Bike the US for MS.

To quote their website:

Bike the US for MS organizes cross country bike trips that raise awareness for Multiple Sclerosis research & volunteer for patients. These tours follow America's most traveled cross country routes and combine an important cause with an incredible experience.

Proceeds from 2013 will fund home modification projects across the United States and support research & treatment at Swedish MS Center in Seattle, UVA's James Q Miller MS Clinic in Charlottesville, and Fairview MS Achievement Center in St Paul.

Why am I supporting and promoting this event? It is because one of the cyclists this year is a neighbor of mine on Whidbey Island. Her name is Diane Mattens and she has challenged herself to ride the “Northern Tier” route from Bar Harbor, Maine to Seattle, Washington. That is 4,295 miles! She leaves Bar Harbor on May 28th and arrives in Seattle on August 4th.

“So what”, you ask.

Here’s what: Diane was diagnosed with MS 28 years ago. Now middle aged, she works hard at fighting the disease, has become an avid cyclist, and last spring rode solo from Whidbey Island to California’s Golden Gate.

She now wants to become the first woman with MS to bike across the US while raising funds for the program at Swedish MS Center. Remarkably, all donations are tax deductable and over 90% will go to research and the volunteer organizations listed above!

So I ask that you go to biketheusforms.org, click 2013 Cyclists, click Northern Tier, and donate to Diane Mattens.

Many thanks in advance.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Customer Service, Not -- Continued


An update on Best Buy:

We received a confirmation call yesterday giving us a date and time for delivery for the product.

Today I received an email from Best Buy stating the date would be one day later. So I called the number to check order status.

Was told the date would indeed be the one given but that the time window would be two hours earlier. I strongly suspect that the caller yesterday didn’t know there is a two hour difference between the Central and Pacific time zones.

The operator today also said I was not the first person to call about the incorrect change of date.

As I say below, Best Buy has no idea about customer service and does not train their people to the point where they can do even simple things correctly.