Customer Service is a Blushing Matter

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 10/22/11

Last week I found myself getting the seasonal car work done on the Altima. I clipped a coupon and drove over to American Tire and Service on Arrowhead Ridge in Rio Rancho for an oil change.

I presented my coupon to Roger at the counter and took a seat in the waiting room.

It was late in the day and I was the only one there. The smell of rubber, the sound of the rivet gun, and the black and gray theme décor reminded me this place was definitely geared toward the male population. The coffee table overflowing with sports magazines and two TV remote controls only proved my point further.

Luckily the movie Grease was playing on the DVD, and although not a favorite, it gave me something to watch while I waited.

I went up to the counter and asked if I could use my second coupon and get my tires rotated and a brake check too.

“We only do rotations only on Fridays,” said Roger.

 “But,” I started to say.

 “And brake checks are on Saturday.”

“But the coupon says they’re together,” I said trying to claim my coupon.  I looked up at Roger and his sidekick Russell only to see smirks on their faces, which broke out into full on belly laughs. Yes, they got me.

The battery in my key fob was dead and I thought these guys, being car guys, would know how to change it. I explained that I looked it up online and found that it took a special battery that cost $87.00.

“This just takes a watch battery,” said Russell. “Go to Walgreens.”

But before I knew it, Russell came back with an Energizer double back of watch batteries. Talk about service. “I’ll just put it on your tab,” he said as he popped open my key fob and installed the battery for me.

“Do you want the old one,” asked Russell.

“Ah, no thanks,” I replied.

“I meant me,” he said howling.  Oh, he’s on a roll now, I thought.

“Why are you blushing?” he prods me, snickering in delight.

I didn’t think I was blushing, but pointing it out only makes me blush more. I hate the fact that I blush so easily, something that I have done ever since I can remember. Just like a dog that can’t hide his happiness with its wagging tail, I can’t hide my shyness. I keep hoping I will outgrow it, but so far no luck.

Oh sure, it’s all fun and games until someone needs a new battery.

“With the days getting colder, you may wake up one morning and it won’t start,” Roger says informing me my battery didn’t pass the computer test.

“How much are batteries?” I cautiously ask.

“I’ll print out a couple options for you,” he says.

I go back to my seat and now the TV in the waiting room has gone to blue screen because the toddler who came in with her family picked up both remotes and pushed as many buttons as she could before throwing them on the floor. I push all the buttons trying to get Grease back on but to no avail.

They pull my car up to the front door and call me to pay my bill. One oil change, free tire rotation and brake check, and one pack of Energizer watch batteries.

I tell Roger and Russell they were great fun and that I write a column in the Rio Rancho Journal and I was going to write about my visit to their shop, which at that point both men turned bright red. Gotcha boys.

Quote of the Week: “When a girl ceases to blush, she has lost the most powerful charm of her beauty” –Pope Gregory I.

Copyright 2011 Jennifer Huard.

Autumn Can Bring Behavioral Changes

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 10/8/11.

Fall is in the air, and I am not sure I like it.

Of course, I couldn’t wait for it back in July when the swamp cooler was going 24/7 and it still wasn’t cool enough in the house. But the change of seasons brings change within. I feel like I have spring fever all over again the way I’ve been cleaning the house lately.

Does the change of seasons have an effect on you? Are you cleaning more? Cooking more? Things like chili or stews?

Are you cutting your lawn for the last time of the season? My friends back in Ohio did just that, cleaned the mower and tucked it away in the shed next to the snow blower, which won’t be sitting dormant for much longer. Doesn’t that make you feel good, especially us snowbirds, knowing our sun is still going to shine and we can usually use a broom to get rid of our snow.

The cooler weather has me tending to my landscape, that’s for sure. Tidying up the grounds before the leaves begin to fall doesn’t really make any sense, it must be instinctual.

I have been pulling weeds and sweeping my xeriscape, and wondering when my agave stalk is going to come crashing down on my lamp post, or worst yet my house. Yes, the near 20 foot stalk is still standing, but becoming a little hollower everyday. I am just hoping the big gust of wind that will eventually knock it down blows from the north and not the west.

And I will take credit again for the rain we had last Wednesday; I washed my windows on Tuesday. No kidding. I’m 3 for 3. You’re welcome.

One cool weather tradition that I have recently started is making Buckeye candy, packaging it up and mailing it back to my dad in Ohio.

Buckeye candy looks just like a chestnut type Ohio buckeye. But the candy is a round ball of peanut butter and powdered sugar mixture, dipped 2/3 up the sides in melted milk chocolate.

Trial and error proved this treat cannot be mailed during warm months and get there in the small round shapes it was so meticulously created. No, it ends up in one heaping mound of melted goo. So, last week I made my first batch of Buckeyes and shipped them back to my dad to kick off our chocolate candy season.
Even my cats feel the winds of change, my male cat is eating all the time now. I’m afraid he is going to turn into one of those really rotund felines waddling on 4 skinny peg legs underneath. How do you say no to a cat? How do you take the cat chow away and try to explain in English that he’s had enough food to feed all the animals in the house? Is he just bulking up for winter? Do they do that even when they are indoor cats?

Fall is in the air. It’s sweater weather. It’s crock pot dinner time. Its change your oil and switch over to the furnace time. What particular things do you find yourself doing now?

Quote of the Week: “To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.” -George Santayana, American Philosopher, 1863-1952.

The Float of Your Life

As appeared in the Albuquerque Journal Rio Rancho section 10/1/11

Your first time leaves your utterly speechless. It is a feeling unlike anything you have ever experienced in your life. It is one of those items you have to put on your bucket list. What am I talking about? Flying in a hot air balloon.

I have had the opportunity to fly in a variety of aircraft in my life. Back in the 80s my job took me on every commuter plane and jumbo jet the airlines had to offer including 747s, Learjets, Falcons and helicopters. I have been strapped into a roller coaster seat flying 85 miles per hour down a 255 foot drop. But nothing compares to the unique thrill and awe of flying in a hot air balloon.

The company I worked for had two hot air balloons of which I was responsible for scheduling around the country to promote its retail stores. And my first ride in the balloon was etched in my mind forever.

I had many questions on that early morning of my maiden flight in Maryland’s countryside, but wasn’t prepared for the ambiguous answers I was given by the pilot.

“How fast will we go,” I inquired. “As fast as the wind is blowing,” answered the pilot. “Where are we going?” I asked. “Wherever the wind takes us,” he replied. Yes, I was a newbie to ballooning but I didn’t care.

As the balloon stood up five stories tall, I hopped into the waist high wicker basket; no seat belts, no safety bars, no gas pedal, no brake, and waited for the golden moment when we would finally become lighter than air.


Without realizing it, we were hovering 2 inches off the ground. The crew members were nonchalant at this incredible feat, but I was having an unbelievable experience just four feet off the ground and rising. The most surreal one-of-a-kind feeling there is; to be quietly rising into the sky with no motor, no propeller, no rope, nothing. Another blast from the burner and we are at 20, 50, 100 feet and beyond.

As I was processing this new sensation, the pilot asked, “Want to do a little tree-topping?” Just as I began to wonder what he was talking about, we skimmed over the top of some big beautiful oak trees and I plucked a handful of leaves right off the top. There’s nothing like getting a giraffe’s perspective on life and nutrition. Simply incredible.

We floated along a few hundred feet above the ground watching the world wake up. We are just high enough to annoy every dog in every back yard along our path as we surprised the people in their driveways out picking up their morning papers.

Unfortunately, our ride came to an end some 25 miles away from our starting point and we gently return to earth with a gentle plop.


The 2011 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta begins today. Get out there and catch a ride on one of these gentle giants and cross a hot air balloon ride off your bucket list.

Quote of the Week: “And he said someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.” – Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw.