Recently I have had several very pleasant customer service experiences that I would like to share. Frankly when I have to call or go in about a repair or return because of an issue with a product, I expect I am going to have to fight, plead and or cajole in some combination. In the first case, a return of a set of headphones that stopped working after a month, I didn’t even have to talk to anyone. A series of clicks with my mouse and a new pair was on the way. Thank you Amazon. In the second case, I was hoping to get a replacement for a cracked jar to a blender we bought secondhand. No problem, I just had to tell them where to send it. No charge. Thank you L’Equip. Today was my latest incident. My iPhone developed a pretty nasty crack somehow which was threatening to split my precious in two! I made an appointment with the Apple Genius bar feeling very lucky to get an appointment at 10:30 am only to learn that I wasn’t lucky at all and I had shown up 12 hours too early for my 10:30 PM appointment. Normally this would have been a DOH! moment but a very nice gentleman said, “Let me see what I can find out for you.” In a few minutes I was sitting in front of another very nice Apple Genius (whose shirt aptly stated that not all heroes wear capes) who could tell the crack was not from an accident, was kind enough to override what the computer was telling him and replace my iPhone without charge under warranty. Hero indeed. Thank you Apple Genius.

Ack! Ack! Ack! I recently surmised that we have an indian meal moth infestation. My skin is crawling just thinking about it! I am currently in the process of checking and tossing anything that looks like it might be tainted. What a pain in the butt! These little buggers get into everything and the only way to get rid of them is to take away their source of food. You know, your flour, spices, granola, nuts, cereal… if it is in your cupboard, it is fair game. The next step is to clean up everything. I suppose I should look at this as an opportunity to organize, but ack!

I love turning things I don’t use into something different and new. M&I have been playing soccer for a few years now and that means 4 seasons x 2 free t-shirts = lots of brightly colored shirts we aren’t going to use. I sent a bunch off to Goodwill, but I still have plenty to make up one of these great crochet t-shirt rugs. I have to admit that this year I haven’t pulled out my knitting needles or crochet hooks yet this season. This tutorial includes terrific instructions on how to cut the shirts and attach them together to get a nice long strip. via

I love this adorable bunny vase! So round and white with his little ears sticking up. And how lovely with a few blossoms peeking out. via

Everyday people across the country and around the world are sending their Inauguration pictures to pix@nyt.com to be included in a NYTimes Reader’s Album. These are the days when I love technology!

Like many around the world today, my office logged on to watch as the 44th President of the United States was sworn into office. This is the first inauguration I have taken the time to watch. I am excited to be able to say President Obama and Former President Bush. I am hopeful and optimistic.

I will shamefully admit that there are times when our apartment is so messy I would never think of having company come over. M&I are both working on getting our stuff under control, but it takes time and is sometimes hard to let go. For my part in our clutter clearing I will be letting all of my magazine subscriptions taper off. I barely get a chance to read them and then have a hard time putting them out with the recycling so there are piles of them stashed all over. M has done a fantastic job of cleaning the room that I wouldn’t let anyone see even if the apartment was looking fairly clean. In the past year we have both realized that while we would like to have enough time to do everything, we don’t and some of our projects that have been sitting around collecting dust would be better off in someone else’s hands. This is a lesson that is coming slower to me, but I am working on it. Today I read some good tips for helping to clear the clutter. via