SKYLAB CHAT

[skylab]

Growl animation

 

[Terre]

Glad to see you having fun, mam.

 

[Charles West]

Looks like good fun. Was a good day until I decided to go get bread and red sauce at a local pizza place... They just moved into a new location and the service went out the window. I asked for the special ... bread stick and red sauce after a 15 minute wait in an empty ordering area before finally getting asked 'what cha want' then told they are out of red sauce. In the old crowded location with no drive through if I had ordered the same they would have gone to the kitchen and filled one of the cups up with sauce. I was a little miffed and went ballistic on the facebook page for our neighborhood ... the added comments told me I was not the only one with similar service. In training sessions they should add something about it being a service industry which means you must provide a good level of attention to customers... Managers are telling me when I complain it is a millennial thing and are just supposed to pay people for showing up. Older managers are more concerned than young ones. phew got that out again. I am tempted to be first customer when they open and walk in and ask the manager if they got any red sauce in this morning and wait for them to say 'what?' then explain calmly what happened. I wonder if they will ignore it because I am not screaming at the top of my lungs. Well getting sleepy finally. Good Night all

 

[Hornet3d]

Looks like good fun. Was a good day until I decided to go get bread and red sauce at a local pizza place... They just moved into a new location and the service went out the window. I asked for the special ... bread stick and red sauce after a 15 minute wait in an empty ordering area before finally getting asked 'what cha want' then told they are out of red sauce. In the old crowded location with no drive through if I had ordered the same they would have gone to the kitchen and filled one of the cups up with sauce. I was a little miffed and went ballistic on the facebook page for our neighborhood ... the added comments told me I was not the only one with similar service. In training sessions they should add something about it being a service industry which means you must provide a good level of attention to customers... Managers are telling me when I complain it is a millennial thing and are just supposed to pay people for showing up. Older managers are more concerned than young ones. phew got that out again. I am tempted to be first customer when they open and walk in and ask the manager if they got any red sauce in this morning and wait for them to say 'what?' then explain calmly what happened. I wonder if they will ignore it because I am not screaming at the top of my lungs. Well getting sleepy finally. Good Night all

Seems par for the course, give bad customer service then blame the customer, the suppliers, the state of the nation, the weather anything but take responsibility. Wait a few months for the dissatisfaction to spread and then blame bad trading conditions when the company goes bust.

 

[Terre]

My sympathies, Charles. I see too many of these kids just wanting an allowance. The only job they end up with in the store is sacker as they can't be bothered to actually put any effort into working. Getting them to realize they won't get a promotion to another position unless they change their attitude is difficult.

Meanwhile I have a lot of work to do today. The KeHE (one of the specialty distributors we deal with) order will be coming in with w lot of new items and we're switching over to being able to scan all set weight produce that has a bar code. I'll be starting that transition today.

 

[skylab]

Hivewire lion animation tweaked to be more of a roar

 

[Charles West]

Seems par for the course, give bad customer service then blame the customer, the suppliers, the state of the nation, the weather anything but take responsibility. Wait a few months for the dissatisfaction to spread and then blame bad trading conditions when the company goes bust.

My sympathies, Charles. I see too many of these kids just wanting an allowance. The only job they end up with in the store is sacker as they can't be bothered to actually put any effort into working. Getting them to realize they won't get a promotion to another position unless they change their attitude is difficult.

Meanwhile I have a lot of work to do today. The KeHE (one of the specialty distributors we deal with) order will be coming in with w lot of new items and we're switching over to being able to scan all set weight produce that has a bar code. I'll be starting that transition today.

I guess that I am just too old. When as a kid I wanted to race cars at the local hobby store, I worked weekends helping the store owner building the track moving plywood for him so he didn't have to climb over track to put more in place then keeping the power cord so that he didn't have it hang up as he routed out the track one lane at a time... When it was finished he gave me 1 hour track time every weekend for a year and one of the rental slot cars and controllers. I would race my time then spend the next hour as a spotter keeping cars on the track. By doing that I did not have to purchase any time for the next year.... When my family moved and it was no longer a bike ride to the store he let me give my 'credit' to one of the other neighborhood kids that was also from a large family. In the neighborhood we moved to were quite a few 'widow women' who could not afford the mow and trim prices most of the boys were charging... 8 dollars on the average yard. I had been charging 5 to mow and 2 to trim. For the ladies I charged a reduced rate at my father's suggestion. It did not take me long to figure out which one to mow around noon. When finished I would sit on the porch to rest and the ladies would bring out some sandwiches and home made lemonade. One lady even set out a hot meal on the patio and after the meal and visit with her she sent me home with enough leftovers to feed my brothers and sisters. I mowed most of these yards 2 times a month for the 3 dollars each time. I then would edge the sidewalk and curbline free gratis telling them I needed the practice. One called me to help her clean out the garage saying she could only afford 10 dollars for the 2 days of the weekend. I accepted and created 3 piles rather than 2... Keep, Toss, and Helper. I made 10 dollars and ended up with 2 wagon loads of albums and other stuff I took home. These were 5/6 record albums in a book like folder, A collector item even at that time... Mom got a great gift and I got some neat pile of trinkets to decorate my room.

Electronics was a hobby at the time and there were all kind of old radios in the bootee. Dad made a liquor cabinet out of one of the radios that could not be reworked. We had a patio table that was an old reel 5 foot across and smaller ones for stools. Dad would not throw stuff out that could be re-purposed. We were a large family and by the standards of the day poor. None of us knew it though. If we wanted something not in the budget we simply found some work and saved to get what we wanted. This is probably why I get so disturbed when I see the level of 'customer service' from kids today.. The attitudes, 'I am here, pay me', 'why don't you tip me', 'just a minute, I have a phone call', 'I am busy talking trash with my co-worker, hang on', and 'that is not my job'. (they forget ...and other duties as assigned) It is no wonder that many locations are hiring older workers.

Sorry for such a long rant but some of last night still lingers.

I hope all have a great day, I plan to.

 

[skylab]

 

[Hornet3d]

I guess that I am just too old. When as a kid I wanted to race cars at the local hobby store, I worked weekends helping the store owner building the track moving plywood for him so he didn't have to climb over track to put more in place then keeping the power cord so that he didn't have it hang up as he routed out the track one lane at a time... When it was finished he gave me 1 hour track time every weekend for a year and one of the rental slot cars and controllers. I would race my time then spend the next hour as a spotter keeping cars on the track. By doing that I did not have to purchase any time for the next year.... When my family moved and it was no longer a bike ride to the store he let me give my 'credit' to one of the other neighborhood kids that was also from a large family. In the neighborhood we moved to were quite a few 'widow women' who could not afford the mow and trim prices most of the boys were charging... 8 dollars on the average yard. I had been charging 5 to mow and 2 to trim. For the ladies I charged a reduced rate at my father's suggestion. It did not take me long to figure out which one to mow around noon. When finished I would sit on the porch to rest and the ladies would bring out some sandwiches and home made lemonade. One lady even set out a hot meal on the patio and after the meal and visit with her she sent me home with enough leftovers to feed my brothers and sisters. I mowed most of these yards 2 times a month for the 3 dollars each time. I then would edge the sidewalk and curbline free gratis telling them I needed the practice. One called me to help her clean out the garage saying she could only afford 10 dollars for the 2 days of the weekend. I accepted and created 3 piles rather than 2... Keep, Toss, and Helper. I made 10 dollars and ended up with 2 wagon loads of albums and other stuff I took home. These were 5/6 record albums in a book like folder, A collector item even at that time... Mom got a great gift and I got some neat pile of trinkets to decorate my room.

Electronics was a hobby at the time and there were all kind of old radios in the bootee. Dad made a liquor cabinet out of one of the radios that could not be reworked. We had a patio table that was an old reel 5 foot across and smaller ones for stools. Dad would not throw stuff out that could be re-purposed. We were a large family and by the standards of the day poor. None of us knew it though. If we wanted something not in the budget we simply found some work and saved to get what we wanted. This is probably why I get so disturbed when I see the level of 'customer service' from kids today.. The attitudes, 'I am here, pay me', 'why don't you tip me', 'just a minute, I have a phone call', 'I am busy talking trash with my co-worker, hang on', and 'that is not my job'. (they forget ...and other duties as assigned) It is no wonder that many locations are hiring older workers.

Sorry for such a long rant but some of last night still lingers.

I hope all have a great day, I plan to.

I am certainly old which may explain why I don't see your words as a rant but a tale of better times. What I find so demoralising is the apparent belief profits and good customer service are mutually exclusive, perhaps it is but I like to think not. My other hobby, other than 3D art, is scale remote control steam engines and being so complex they are, or more accurately were very, expensive but I have purchased all of mine from a shop run by a husband and wife team. I visited their shop getting on for twenty years ago when I was then running electric engines. Their shop is some two hours drive for me but on our first visit we were offered tea and coffee and they even gave advice on what was worth seeing in the area so we could make a day of it. Over the years I have purchased thousands of pounds of train related products from them and we now regard each other as friends. In many cases I could have purchased the same product cheaper but I would not have had the same advice on buying or the chance to run the engine before taking it away. I happily paid the extra knowing I was not only getting the product and great advice but also my custom was valued and I was supporting a business whose ethics and business principles I admired. Sadly, with retirement and the resulting drop in spending power no new steam engines will be added to my running stock. Sadder still is the fact that at the end of this year they will close the doors of the shop for the last time. No one has shown an interest in buying it and yet more customers will be pushed towards badly run companies or the Internet. Sadly good customer service is not only the exception rather than the rule it is dying everyday.

Looking from a different point of view though, customers often get the service they deserved. I worked in a digital camera store for a few years and the I lost count of the number of customers that came in for demonstrations and advice and then purchased their chosen cameras and lenses on the Internet. I am not sure where they go for advice and demonstrations now for the store has long since shut as has every other camera shop in a rather large town.

 

[Charles West]

Hornet3D it was better times. The shop with the tracks also carried the trains and the Husband/Wife team ran it then moved to a smaller shop with just the trains. He was an artist and surrounded the walls with his artwork. I am beginning to feel like my grandfather who saw Haley's comet twice. Once running across a field and the next time he watched it on television in the comfort of his home. I remember building my first stereo amp, a kit from radio shack, reading about the first 900 mobile to base license being issued by FCC for testing. Now you can find them in most peoples hand. Tube type radios, b/w televisions, corded phones, party line phones, and the street lamp rule on weekends. I wonder what will become of this generation. Will the I don't care attitude be our demise?

Thanks for the reminder of times past.
Have a great day.

 

[Charles West]

Skylab is that one titled 'What Cowboy?'

 

[Hornet3d]

Hornet3D it was better times. The shop with the tracks also carried the trains and the Husband/Wife team ran it then moved to a smaller shop with just the trains. He was an artist and surrounded the walls with his artwork. I am beginning to feel like my grandfather who saw Haley's comet twice. Once running across a field and the next time he watched it on television in the comfort of his home. I remember building my first stereo amp, a kit from radio shack, reading about the first 900 mobile to base license being issued by FCC for testing. Now you can find them in most peoples hand. Tube type radios, b/w televisions, corded phones, party line phones, and the street lamp rule on weekends. I wonder what will become of this generation. Will the I don't care attitude be our demise?

Thanks for the reminder of times past.
Have a great day.

I remember being interested in space a s child and read about Halley's comet and wondering if I would live long enough to see it as I would be the ripe old age of 36, which seems an eternity when you are twelve. Years later I remember seeing it as we were travelling for a holiday in Ireland which required an early start and so we were in country roads in the dark it was a really stunning sight. I also remember thinking, wow I did make it, now it seems so long ago. I doubt I will see it when it next comes around as I will be 108 by then.

I worry about how this generation will cope not only because of attitudes or things that have become the norm but also because of the world my generation will leave them. I do know I would not like to be young again and feel I have been very lucky to live through the time I have.

 

[skylab]

 

[Charles West]

Sky that one really needs the title of 'what cowboy?'

 

[skylab]

Haha...these mischief renders are in response to a couple of Stezza's posts in the Hivewire Big Cat Renders thread, in case you wondered where all the kitties were coming from. The one below was actually unfinished. By the end of the day I was losing my steam, but I wanted to see how I could hang in there with doing a lot of pose work...and posing a lion to drive a safari vehicle is no easy project...haha. You have to be a senior to remember Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion from the old Daktari show...so here's my unfinished Clarence

 

[skylab]

Side view, without glasses

 

[skylab]

...and Clarence with Judy the chimp (ancient chimp model from CP)

 

[Terre]

Cute, Sky.
I've heard of Clarence but never saw the show.

 

[Miss B]

Boy Sky, you're really having fun with our wonderful Lion.

 

[skylab]

Hey Terre and Miss B Yes, I'm been having fun playing...an upswing in energy plus love of animals, and enjoying the H-Lion. Some days I don't feel up to staying with projects for an extended time...so this just happened to be the right timing. It takes awhile to get back in the swing...it's been nearly two years since I worked regularly with 3D.