I'm a big fan of what's commonly referred to as "Mississippi Delta Blues". There's something about hearing the simple lyrics combined with the complex guitar picking that captures my attention and draws me to drop what I'm doing and listen closely to the masters of this music genre.
I have no musical training and absolutely no musical talent, so perhaps it's my inability to create music that drives my fascination with anyone who is able to get so much feeling from a six string guitar. When I was young we had a big old acoustic guitar around the house and my dad would sometimes do a little "finger pick'n" on it. I can still hear the strains of Wildwood Flower and other old standards that were his favorites. Sitting in the front room of our little house, cigarette hanging from his lips, and the occasional grimace when his fingers would pluck the wrong string are strong memories for me.
My dad was not a patient man, and that could easily be classified as an understatement. He was quick to find fault, quick to anger, and quick to forgive. It was just his nature, and the times he tried to teach me a few chords quickly brought about frustration for both of us. He couldn't understand what was so difficult about it, and why none of it made any sense to me. My grandpa played the fiddle, my uncle played the banjo, and my dad and another uncle played the guitar.....how could his son be such a musical klutz? Oh well, that's the way it was and I soon accepted that fact, although I'm not sure my dad ever did.
Regardless, I still appreciate those people who can write, play, and sing music. It's been quite awhile since any of the "new" music has stirred any of my emotions, so I often find myself searching for music that can truly stir one's soul. Delta Blues does it for me, although there are a few other artists that elicit great memories from my younger days, Bob Seger, John Prine, and a few others. Of course, the soul music of Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, and The Supremes will never die.
But, if you're in the mood for the smoothest, most gentlemanly presentation of the blues , you can do no better than Mississippi John Hurt. He was a classic gentleman that emanated warmth and a genteel nature that has long passed from many musical artists. Sadly, what sometimes passes for music today would cause people like John Hurt and others to turn their heads in shame.
Artists like Mr. Hurt had it much tougher than almost anyone in the business today, but somehow their music expressed it without the anger boiling to the top. I call it having a lot of class....but what do I know.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
I've been told it's physically impossible....
Every summer there are places around the country that have what they call "rattlesnake round-ups". Why in the world anyone would want to go out and round the darn things up is beyond me....I try to stay as far away from those critters as possible.
Some of you may remember the infamous encounter I had last year with a rattlesnake I found a little too close to where we live. You know, with grand kids running around a guy can't be too careful. That particular encounter didn't turn out as expected, for me nor Mr. Rattler. After trying to run over him a couple of times with the FJ without success, I resorted to my trusty .357 revolver.....snub nosed.....police special.....five shots....needed six! After the fifth shot, I had accomplished nothing more than making him very mad, and I was suddenly unarmed. Could've thrown the gun at 'em like they do in all of the old gunfights on TV, but I had already proven my lack of accuracy. Time to move on.
Aah, but that wasn't my first encounter with one of those slithery, venomous, creatures. Shortly after I moved to this part of the country I was meeting with a female client who had plans to renovate a beautiful old barn into a business venue. It was a great place, but as we were walking the perimeter something grabbed my arm with the grip of a lumberjack.....man she was strong.....and could she scream....and did! There, lying on a rock ledge was another one of those gosh darn snakes. What to do, what to do, especially since I was incapacitated by the lack of blood flow in my left arm. Fortunately, I'm right handed and was able to smack it with a stick I found lying on the ground.....Sure wish I would have had a stick instead of that darn revolver...
With that little interruption taken care of, we were able to continue our tour, and a few months later our community was blessed with the opening of a great place for weddings, reunions, business meetings, etc. I guess rattlesnakes don't deter a determined business woman. Well, this seems like a good place to end my story about rattlesnakes, but I would be remiss to leave out this one last episode....my first encounter.
Seventeen years old, working on a pipeline crew in Texas.....never before had I come in contact with a rattlesnake. Here in Texas there were many, and they seemed to enjoy crawling into the joints of pipe at night so they could slither out and greet us in the morning light. "Better watch where you stick your hand, son". All of us became quite "aware" of their presence.
One day, a couple of us were riding down the right-of-way on the back of a flat bed truck, jumping down every 50 yards or so to pick up skids, and throw them on the truck. Typically, one would lay your hand on the bed of the truck and swing down to the ground......where this time was lying another of those #@&*# rattlesnakes.
I've been told that it's physically impossible to reverse one's direction once your feet have left the safety of the truck bed.....Not true. I've got witnesses. It can be done....feet never touched the ground.and I was sitting comfortably back on the truck.....I swear it's true, but yet again, what do I know.
Some of you may remember the infamous encounter I had last year with a rattlesnake I found a little too close to where we live. You know, with grand kids running around a guy can't be too careful. That particular encounter didn't turn out as expected, for me nor Mr. Rattler. After trying to run over him a couple of times with the FJ without success, I resorted to my trusty .357 revolver.....snub nosed.....police special.....five shots....needed six! After the fifth shot, I had accomplished nothing more than making him very mad, and I was suddenly unarmed. Could've thrown the gun at 'em like they do in all of the old gunfights on TV, but I had already proven my lack of accuracy. Time to move on.
Aah, but that wasn't my first encounter with one of those slithery, venomous, creatures. Shortly after I moved to this part of the country I was meeting with a female client who had plans to renovate a beautiful old barn into a business venue. It was a great place, but as we were walking the perimeter something grabbed my arm with the grip of a lumberjack.....man she was strong.....and could she scream....and did! There, lying on a rock ledge was another one of those gosh darn snakes. What to do, what to do, especially since I was incapacitated by the lack of blood flow in my left arm. Fortunately, I'm right handed and was able to smack it with a stick I found lying on the ground.....Sure wish I would have had a stick instead of that darn revolver...
With that little interruption taken care of, we were able to continue our tour, and a few months later our community was blessed with the opening of a great place for weddings, reunions, business meetings, etc. I guess rattlesnakes don't deter a determined business woman. Well, this seems like a good place to end my story about rattlesnakes, but I would be remiss to leave out this one last episode....my first encounter.
Seventeen years old, working on a pipeline crew in Texas.....never before had I come in contact with a rattlesnake. Here in Texas there were many, and they seemed to enjoy crawling into the joints of pipe at night so they could slither out and greet us in the morning light. "Better watch where you stick your hand, son". All of us became quite "aware" of their presence.
One day, a couple of us were riding down the right-of-way on the back of a flat bed truck, jumping down every 50 yards or so to pick up skids, and throw them on the truck. Typically, one would lay your hand on the bed of the truck and swing down to the ground......where this time was lying another of those #@&*# rattlesnakes.
I've been told that it's physically impossible to reverse one's direction once your feet have left the safety of the truck bed.....Not true. I've got witnesses. It can be done....feet never touched the ground.and I was sitting comfortably back on the truck.....I swear it's true, but yet again, what do I know.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Hello, is anyone listening.....
When was the last time your were absolutely blown away with a company's customer service? Especially when you were calling to lodge a complaint, or to report a problem with a product not living up to your expectations. Unfortunately, I bet the odds are 10-1 in favor of a disappointing outcome to your call.
Why is that? What is so doggone difficult about taking care of your customers? After all, the customer purchased your product in good faith, and in most cases just wants the darn thing to perform as advertised.
Some companies are pretty good at resolving issues, but rarely does the customer come away with the feeling that it was done without hesitation, or without demanding an ounce of flesh first. If you live long enough, however, and buy enough "stuff" you will have multiple opportunities to uncover a few companies that have outstanding customer service.
Last summer I purchased an inflatable pontoon boat from Cabela's. It arrived shortly before a planned float trip to Arkansas, but when I finished assembly, one of the pontoons wouldn't hold air. It was leaking around the valve stem, and I couldn't get it fixed......I was not happy.....I called Cabela's.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
A real live person answered, no automated answering service, no transfer to another department, and most of all, an attentive, friendly person listened patiently to my dilemma. That's a great start to getting in my good graces.
"We'll send you a new boat, and pay to ship that one back. Is that okay?"
Yes, that would be great, but I needed it for a float trip the next week, and besides, all I really needed was a new valve, not the whole boat. Still, I was impressed as the associate tried to help me get a boat on the river. She then volunteered to get the boat manufacturer on the line to see how quickly we could get a new valve delivered. Wow, I'm pretty pleased with the effort so far.
"Classic Accessories, this is Nicki, how may I help you?"
What were the chances of getting another real live person answering the phone? Again, no question that they were most interested in resolving my problem. "Will it work for you if we ship it to you overnight? And, I'm going to send you a new pontoon just in case it's not the valve that's the problem." At this point, I'm pretty well blown away with both Cabela's and Classic Accessories. Every company should put forth this type of effort to please its customers.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to contact Classic Accessories again. This time I sent an email to request information about buying a replacement oar. We had just returned from floating the river and I had damaged one of the oars. When the person found that it had been just a year ago that I had bought the boat, he volunteered to send a new oar under the one-year warranty. Once again, what a great company. Then, when the package arrived a few days later, I opened it to find not a single oar, but a set of two brand new oars. Wow!
I advise my clients that they should always strive to astonish the customer, not just satisfy their needs. Needless to say, Cabela's and Classic Accessories have set the bar pretty darn high in my book.
Someday I'll write about a quite different experience that my daughter-in-law had with Sears this week. I suspect she would say they failed to even step over the bar as it laid on the ground. You might say they have a lot of room for improvement , but once again, what do I know.
Why is that? What is so doggone difficult about taking care of your customers? After all, the customer purchased your product in good faith, and in most cases just wants the darn thing to perform as advertised.
Some companies are pretty good at resolving issues, but rarely does the customer come away with the feeling that it was done without hesitation, or without demanding an ounce of flesh first. If you live long enough, however, and buy enough "stuff" you will have multiple opportunities to uncover a few companies that have outstanding customer service.
Last summer I purchased an inflatable pontoon boat from Cabela's. It arrived shortly before a planned float trip to Arkansas, but when I finished assembly, one of the pontoons wouldn't hold air. It was leaking around the valve stem, and I couldn't get it fixed......I was not happy.....I called Cabela's.
"Hello, how can I help you?"
A real live person answered, no automated answering service, no transfer to another department, and most of all, an attentive, friendly person listened patiently to my dilemma. That's a great start to getting in my good graces.
"We'll send you a new boat, and pay to ship that one back. Is that okay?"
Yes, that would be great, but I needed it for a float trip the next week, and besides, all I really needed was a new valve, not the whole boat. Still, I was impressed as the associate tried to help me get a boat on the river. She then volunteered to get the boat manufacturer on the line to see how quickly we could get a new valve delivered. Wow, I'm pretty pleased with the effort so far.
"Classic Accessories, this is Nicki, how may I help you?"
What were the chances of getting another real live person answering the phone? Again, no question that they were most interested in resolving my problem. "Will it work for you if we ship it to you overnight? And, I'm going to send you a new pontoon just in case it's not the valve that's the problem." At this point, I'm pretty well blown away with both Cabela's and Classic Accessories. Every company should put forth this type of effort to please its customers.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to contact Classic Accessories again. This time I sent an email to request information about buying a replacement oar. We had just returned from floating the river and I had damaged one of the oars. When the person found that it had been just a year ago that I had bought the boat, he volunteered to send a new oar under the one-year warranty. Once again, what a great company. Then, when the package arrived a few days later, I opened it to find not a single oar, but a set of two brand new oars. Wow!
I advise my clients that they should always strive to astonish the customer, not just satisfy their needs. Needless to say, Cabela's and Classic Accessories have set the bar pretty darn high in my book.
Someday I'll write about a quite different experience that my daughter-in-law had with Sears this week. I suspect she would say they failed to even step over the bar as it laid on the ground. You might say they have a lot of room for improvement , but once again, what do I know.
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