Category: Commentary

Last month we traveled to downtown Waxahachie, Texas, for the celebration of my first boss’s 75th birthday. It was quite a Saturday night bash for longtime DFW sportscaster Dale Hansen… complete with a Q&A, during which he spoke about his career, a live auction to raise money for three charities, and a concert by his favorite performer, Rockin’ Jason D. Williams.

Arriving home the next day, I realized my memory foam pillow failed to make the return trip. (My bad!) I called the Marriott front desk and the person who answered said she had it. All I had to do was call back on Monday and speak to the front desk manager.

I did and that person told me to go to www.ileftmystuff.com and fill out a report, then I’d be contacted on how to have it sent to me. Although I lost my Bonvoy Platinum status this year, it was good to know Gold still carried some weight. Filling out the form took five minutes and a person contacted me by email within the hour to let me know I would hear from the hotel soon.

Days passed. Then a couple weeks. I circled back to let ILMS know there was no further response. Finally a month after our overnight stay, the hotel reached out and said they didn’t have the pillow. I responded with a copy to ILMS: ‘That’s interesting, since you had it four weeks ago.’ Within 10 minutes, an autoresponder came from ILMS: “The hotel has your item. Please contact us to finalize shipping.”

I did and learned it would be $125… for a two-year old pillow that cost 50 bucks. So I told the hotel to keep it.

Lessons Learned: Nothing is ever easy… and… never forget your pillow. 

Every day I receive emails – many that my Spam detector fails to flag – with some form of: “Hello David / I hope you’re doing well. / I wanted to reach out and discuss the potential of utilizing our services for your business growth.” Clearly, these are auto-generated campaigns tied to LinkedIn or other marketing groups that have my email address.

Yesterday, I received this at 10:20 a.m.:

“Hi, David… I’m wondering about your thoughts per my email last week. My manager, [Name], asked me to reach out to you again. He is excited to connect with you…”

At 10:53 a.m., this arrived:

“Good morning, David… Recently, my sales associate, [Name], contacted you about scheduling a meeting with me. I’m excited that you want to discuss…”

This one came today at 9:43 a.m.:

“Hello, David… I noticed you haven’t responded to our urgent request to meet with you…”

I understand folks are just trying to make a living – so I shake my head and hit Delete, thankful I don’t have resort to these tactics. Sort of like when someone rings our doorbell and they’re selling new windows, lawn care, or solar energy panels. I’m always polite… and always make sure it’s a quick conversation. 

Years ago, I received a check from a company for $.02 (two cents!), so I never cashed it. Still have it in a file, in fact. Last month I received a check from Hearst – publisher of the Houston Chronicle – for $.01 (one cent!!). It came with no explanation… and since I don’t have a subscription to said daily, I have no idea why they sent it to me. (Perhaps a Class Action lawsuit settlement?)

Thinking this through from their end: someone (or AI?) had to take care of this at the Hearst Service Center in Charlotte. Then it had to be mailed. So there’s at least $.63 (sixty-three cents!!!) of expense, plus any cost of time involved in processing.

The check says ‘Void after 90 days’ and I don’t intend to cash it, so it will join the other one in my file drawer. Of course, what I’d really like to know is the reason I received it. I would contact them and satisfy my curiosity – except that would just cost me more money in lost time that I could spend doing something more valuable. 

This high-tech world we live in moves fast… and has a lot of wonderful tools to help folks be more efficient. Everyday there seems to be an innovation that makes people’s lives easier.

When you work for a large company, there’s an IT department on standby to help with challenges, especially integration of new apps or programs. When you’re self-employed and something doesn’t connect or work as intended, there’s… well… yourself… or a “we’re assisting other customers and will be with you as soon as we can” help line.

Over the past two decades, I’ve spent many hours on hold and many more speaking with support professionals… trying to explain exactly what my issue is so they can try to fix it. Often this happens following a software update. My current conundrum is trying to get my iMac calendar and Apple Mail to connect with MS Exchange, which one of my clients uses. If the way those two products get along is a reflection of the relationship between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, I’m certain they didn’t like each other. (Don’t get me started on Teams!)

The best solution would be a teenager living at home. These things come naturally at that age. Unfortunately, our last one moved out seven years ago, so I wander alone in the technology desert. Guess it’s time to break down and pay a pro to help me resolve the issue. 

Now that I think about it, that’s why people hire me