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No longer on the river and, again, an empty nester. Back to living on Fleming Island and making some more friends!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

They’re here, they’re here!!

…but not right at the moment. The young people are out doing the Lord’s work, in my place, and I am so terribly appreciative. The three ‘kids’, as I will refer to them from now on, are fabulous, simply fabulous, and are loving their digs here at my place. They cannot believe their good fortune and I am so tickled to have it to offer them. They were laughing how all four of us in the house could go to the bathroom at the same time, with no waiting. I love pointing that out!

They arrived this early afternoon, after I finished my meal with the friends at the pool. Michael had to drop them off and unload the belongings up there because today, of all days, the driveway down to our building is blocked as, at long last, the pot holes are being filled in. Talk about convenient! Connie quickly got on the phone to let folks know so if anyone had to leave, they could move their cars up to the pool area or stay home until after 5:00 pm. Good thing Jessica did not have to rush to the hospital to have her baby today!

Something kind of cool happened at and around the cabana today…I saw Danny walking forth and back with a tablet, appearing rather solemn. At one point I asked him if he was sad and he said the chef told him to get a checklist of things together for the cabana. Then he told me that Chef let him read the e-mail I sent over yesterday….oops! Oh yes, besides praising the staff for their efforts at good customer service, I also made suggestions for improving said service. One suggestion was to have forks on hand for people attempting to eat lettuce and chicken salad, or worse yet, linguine pasta salad! To not have pina colada mix on hand for one the biggest holiday weekends, with a wedding thrown in, of the summer and NOT have mixes for the tropical drinks people love, is, well, just terrible!

I was extremely kind in my remarks and observations, which prompted the checklists being drawn up (Marlena had already done this but no one paid attention to them, she says) and another of my suggestions was addressed as I paddled around in the pool. The maintenance man for The Club came out with drill in hand, and I just KNEW he was going to flip the doors on the refrigerator! Wish I had thought of that---oh, wait, I did! The first time I visited the cabana in May and saw the new appliance, I remarked, “Those doors have to be reversed…” As I told Chef in my e-mail, in your own home you would not be willing to walk around the doors to get stuff out, it certainly was not efficient when hustling, preparing food in the cabana. Changes were already in effect and I only sent the e-mail yesterday afternoon. You know I do love good customer service!

Marlena was so thankful that I said something because she feels as though no one listens to her. After a certain point, I imagine that people get weary of hearing the same stuff from the same person all the time. It is in The Club’s best interest to remain in my good graces or they will hurt in their cabana sales to be sure! Actually, the statements came in yesterday’s mail, including a small piece of paper for Feedback, so it’s not as though I caught anyone off guard. They ask and I deliver!

Justin is getting a day off from work tomorrow as he accompanies his father and likely others to see the final shuttle launch. They are not attempting to go all the way south to the Cape but somewhere along the way will pull off to wait. The launch may be scrubbed due to weather besides having a possible lightning strike today when a storm rolled through. Ugh! I hope it goes for the sake of all involved, as well as for my visiting kids from CO to witness from Orlando when they go to Universal Studios!

Years ago, probably 1991-92, the Jachimstals were here, and with Mom, we drove down to Titusville to watch Atlantis go up. Tommy loves to show the video recording he took that day, but my fond memory is to see him taping the launch, the vibrations thundering our chests, as tears ran down his cheeks. Much like they are on mine right now, thinking about it. Best wishes, Atlantis, it was great!