Some people have it, some people don't.
That is very evident now that I'm living back in the north. This was one good part about living in the south. They take their customer service seriously!
Then you move back to the north and I swear, most people in Ohio have never heard of the words "customer service".
I'm not so naive to believe that the customer is always right, even when that customer is me. However, I'm the one spending my hard earned money in your establishment, so is it too much to expect you to give me your undivided attention for the 30 seconds it takes to take my money? Really, am I asking too much?
I hate going to the grocery store to have the high school cashier so busy talking to the cashier next to her or the kid bagging the groceries and doesn't even acknowledge my existence. HEY! I'm spending money here! A simple "hello" would go a far way! Heaven forbid I get a "were you able to find everything ok?" It beats the hell out of having to hear about how much she drank at the party last night or how she made out with that cute guy at the party. Yeah, like I need to hear that.
I know, I can go to the self check outs and not have to worry about being ignored by the cashiers. But, you know what? I figure that I'm spending enough money on my groceries that I shouldn't have to ring myself up and bag up my groceries to boot. You want ME to do all the work, then I should get a discount on my groceries. If I'm paying full price, I want full service.
There is one bright spot to my customer service disappointments. Did y'all ever shop at Sam's Club in Elyria?
The next time you're there, look for Margaret at the front door. Margaret is both retired and widowed, and decided that she didn't want to waste her life away at home alone. So, she got a job at Sam's Club as a greeter and greet she does! Margaret had gone through some health issues and was off of work for almost a year but Sam's Club was smart enough to bring her back to her job. She is definitely an asset to their organization.
Margaret greets everyone with a smile, a heart felt "how are you" and for some of us, one of the best hugs ever! I tell her that she is the reason I'm at Sam's Club every week, her hugs are that good! I was just there last night when I got the idea that I need to tell everyone about Margaret!
So, the next time you're at Sam's Club, look for Margaret and see what customer service is all about. She makes you feel happy about spending your money at Sam's Club. Isn't that what customer service is all about?
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
And Back To The World Of Bad Politics
Just an update on the world of bad politics in Lorain.
Last Monday, Mr. Goldberg called me to give me an update. Per Mr. Goldberg, bids have come in on the demolition of the burned out house across the street and one of the bids has been accepted by the City of Lorain.
The next step is that the City of Lorain will issue a purchase order then a 10 day notice will go out to the EPA or for the EPA, I forget which, and then after the 10 days the demolition can start. Hopefully in 20 to 30 days from last Monday, the house should be coming down.
Lisa did a little digging and found the minutes from the Board of Control meeting corroborating Mr. Goldberg's phone call. You can see Lisa's blog here.
I can do a whole blog on "Board of Control". And, perhaps I need to. Ridiculous that TWO people can sit down and make such decisions is ridiculous. Enough about that for now.
So, to reiterate, the house should be coming down within 30 days. Regardless of what Mr. Goldberg says and regardless what the Board of Control says, I say I'll believe it when I see it.
Last Monday, Mr. Goldberg called me to give me an update. Per Mr. Goldberg, bids have come in on the demolition of the burned out house across the street and one of the bids has been accepted by the City of Lorain.
The next step is that the City of Lorain will issue a purchase order then a 10 day notice will go out to the EPA or for the EPA, I forget which, and then after the 10 days the demolition can start. Hopefully in 20 to 30 days from last Monday, the house should be coming down.
Lisa did a little digging and found the minutes from the Board of Control meeting corroborating Mr. Goldberg's phone call. You can see Lisa's blog here.
I can do a whole blog on "Board of Control". And, perhaps I need to. Ridiculous that TWO people can sit down and make such decisions is ridiculous. Enough about that for now.
So, to reiterate, the house should be coming down within 30 days. Regardless of what Mr. Goldberg says and regardless what the Board of Control says, I say I'll believe it when I see it.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Good Dog, Bad Dog
Anyone that knows me, knows how I feel about dogs. I don't have anything against them personally, but seeing one usually causes me to fly into a panic attack. This is not something I can control.
Last week my world was full of dogs.
First at work of all places! Keep in mind, work is kinda out in the country. A few days before the incident I am going to tell you about, I happened to look out my window of my office and saw a very large white dog just outside of my window! He looked a bit skinny but he was still a big dog. What the heck, where did he come from? BIG dog! I was terrified for a few days getting in and out of my car, thinking that this dog might be outside.
So now to last week. I look outside and see this dog is back! Our FedEx guy is also in the parking lot. He is trying to turn the truck around in the front parking lot and this dog is all excited! The poor driver was having a heck of a time moving the truck without hitting the dog! The dog really wasn't acting vicious, just really excited about seeing someone outside.
I went to our front door in time to see Mr. FedEx getting out of his truck and the dog running towards him. Then, I don't see Mr. FedEx as he's behind our cars. I don't hear the dog growling or barking, but I now don't see either one of them! Yeah, I got kinda worried but not worried enough to go outside to check on him. Hey, I have my limits!
Suddenly, Mr. FedEx stands up brushing off his pants and he and the dog come walking up to the door. Yeah, right, like I'm going to unlock the door to Mr. FedEx AND a dog! A BIG dog! Nuhuh. I motioned to Mr. FedEx that the dog is NOT coming in, despite the fact that the dog's nose is pressed against the crack of the door.
Mr. FedEx shushed the dog back and I let him in. I explained my fear of dogs to him and then we started talking about the dog. To me, the dog looked skinny. You could see his ribs but I wouldn't call him emaciated. But I thought he was thin. Mr. FedEx agreed that the dog was thin. He called the dog a yellow lab and said the dog was extremely friendly and probably lost and hungry.
I told Mr. FedEx that I saw the dog around the week before so between us, came up with the story that the dog was probably lost all that time and scrounging for food! Hey, it sounded like a good story to me! Mr. FedEx walked out the door and I went back to my desk. All I could think was "poor hungry lost dog". Yes, me.
I went to the fridge, pulled the pepperoni out of my salad (I didn't think a dog would like raw spinach), poured some water into a cup and went back outside! Outside, where there is a loose BIG DOG!!
Lucky for me, Mr. FedEx was still there and actually, he was scrounging in his truck for something for this dog, too. Now, sit down 'cause you are NEVER gonna believe this! I FED the dog!!!
Ok, not right from my hand, but I called him over and as he got close, I dropped a few pieces of pepperoni on the ground for him. Once I was out of pepperoni, he was looking at me for more! Now was the time for panic! He actually started licking my hand and I had dog slobber ALL over my hand! But, miracle of miracles, I still had ALL of my fingers!
The dog now looked to me as his new best friend! Mr. FedEx came from his truck with a handful of dog treats. He says he carries them for the vicious dogs but this guy needed some love too. After he fed the dog some treats, we tried to get him to take some water from the cup. That took some doing but the dog finally figured it out.
As the dog was drinking, Mr. FedEx took the dog's collar and read off to me the owner's phone number. My cell was in my pocket so I called the owner and explained that her dog was at work with me.
Ok, I'm not a dog lover but I was concerned about this poor creature that I thought didn't look healthy. The owner wasn't too concerned. She actually lives a few houses down and she leaves the dog outside because he's old and some times makes a mess in the house. Ugh. My heart was breaking for this poor guy. But, she did walk over with one of her kids and picked this poor guy up.
I went back to work absolutely elated that I actually walked outside on PURPOSE knowing that a dog was out there. I thought Mr. FedEx had left so I was actually willing to go out there alone. I ended up with dog hair all over my legs from him leaning against me and a hand full of happy doggy slobber. ME!
I was on a dog high for this. I'm sure not everyone will appreciate just what it took for ME to walk up to a dog to feed and water it and pet it. ME. My hand were so close to his HUGE teeth that I ended up with dog slobber ALL over my hand. I was amazed and so proud of myself.
But . . . what goes up, must come down.
Fast forward a few measly days.
It's flea season and I get some stuff from my vet that I put on the back of their necks once a month to prevent fleas. I needed to run to the vet to pick up the next dose of the medicine. If any of you have ever been in a vet's office, you know they tend to be full of dogs! It takes everything in me to just walk in the door. That's a testament to how much I love my cats that I'm willing to walk into the vet's office for their meds!
I walk in, but I have to do it my way. Two girls are working the counter checking people in and out. The girl on the right said she could help me but to get to her, I'd have to walk in between the lady checking out with her dog and a lady sitting on the bench next to the counter with a big boxer. I looked at both dogs and told the employee that I'd wait.
The woman with the boxer could tell I was terrified and she actually moved down the bench a bit to give me more room. But, by now the other lady was done checking out so with that dog gone, I had what I felt was enough room to walk up to the counter safely.
She got me the meds, I got out my credit card. As we were finishing up, I heard the door behind me open and then I felt someone behind me and I heard a "WUF". Without even turning around, my heart started to pound out of my chest. Then I heard someone say "WOW! How much does THAT weight?" Yeah, I knew that "WUF" didn't come from a chihuahua. The owner of the beast said "oh, she only weighs 143 pounds". Really? 143 pounds for a DOG? From hearing their conversation, the dog was an English Mastiff. Here is what an English Mastiff looks like.
This is not the dog that was in the vet's office last week, this is just a picture I found on the internet. But, you get the idea of how BIG these dogs are!
You want to talk about a full blown panic attack! I wanted nothing more than to jump over the counter and hide. By now the tears were flowing freely and I couldn't have stopped them if my life depended on it.
Somehow I finished up my transaction and got my wallet back in my purse and I was out the door. I really don't remember much of anything between hearing 143 pounds and walking into my house. For real, I don't remember.
In the morning, I went to look for the meds and could not find them in my purse, in my car or in my house. WTF.
I planned on calling the vet's office when they opened at 9:00 but I got busy and forgot about it. Sure enough, around 10:00, the vet's office called me and said I left the meds on the counter! She said I didn't look well, and I was out of there so quickly that she tried to catch me in the parking lot but I was GONE! She had NO idea just how gone I was!
From the highest high to the lowest low. How could I have dog slobber all over my hand one day and a few days later be in a full blown panic attack again. I really thought I was making progress last week with dogs. Now I'm back to square one.
Last week my world was full of dogs.
First at work of all places! Keep in mind, work is kinda out in the country. A few days before the incident I am going to tell you about, I happened to look out my window of my office and saw a very large white dog just outside of my window! He looked a bit skinny but he was still a big dog. What the heck, where did he come from? BIG dog! I was terrified for a few days getting in and out of my car, thinking that this dog might be outside.
So now to last week. I look outside and see this dog is back! Our FedEx guy is also in the parking lot. He is trying to turn the truck around in the front parking lot and this dog is all excited! The poor driver was having a heck of a time moving the truck without hitting the dog! The dog really wasn't acting vicious, just really excited about seeing someone outside.
I went to our front door in time to see Mr. FedEx getting out of his truck and the dog running towards him. Then, I don't see Mr. FedEx as he's behind our cars. I don't hear the dog growling or barking, but I now don't see either one of them! Yeah, I got kinda worried but not worried enough to go outside to check on him. Hey, I have my limits!
Suddenly, Mr. FedEx stands up brushing off his pants and he and the dog come walking up to the door. Yeah, right, like I'm going to unlock the door to Mr. FedEx AND a dog! A BIG dog! Nuhuh. I motioned to Mr. FedEx that the dog is NOT coming in, despite the fact that the dog's nose is pressed against the crack of the door.
Mr. FedEx shushed the dog back and I let him in. I explained my fear of dogs to him and then we started talking about the dog. To me, the dog looked skinny. You could see his ribs but I wouldn't call him emaciated. But I thought he was thin. Mr. FedEx agreed that the dog was thin. He called the dog a yellow lab and said the dog was extremely friendly and probably lost and hungry.
I told Mr. FedEx that I saw the dog around the week before so between us, came up with the story that the dog was probably lost all that time and scrounging for food! Hey, it sounded like a good story to me! Mr. FedEx walked out the door and I went back to my desk. All I could think was "poor hungry lost dog". Yes, me.
I went to the fridge, pulled the pepperoni out of my salad (I didn't think a dog would like raw spinach), poured some water into a cup and went back outside! Outside, where there is a loose BIG DOG!!
Lucky for me, Mr. FedEx was still there and actually, he was scrounging in his truck for something for this dog, too. Now, sit down 'cause you are NEVER gonna believe this! I FED the dog!!!
Ok, not right from my hand, but I called him over and as he got close, I dropped a few pieces of pepperoni on the ground for him. Once I was out of pepperoni, he was looking at me for more! Now was the time for panic! He actually started licking my hand and I had dog slobber ALL over my hand! But, miracle of miracles, I still had ALL of my fingers!
The dog now looked to me as his new best friend! Mr. FedEx came from his truck with a handful of dog treats. He says he carries them for the vicious dogs but this guy needed some love too. After he fed the dog some treats, we tried to get him to take some water from the cup. That took some doing but the dog finally figured it out.
As the dog was drinking, Mr. FedEx took the dog's collar and read off to me the owner's phone number. My cell was in my pocket so I called the owner and explained that her dog was at work with me.
Ok, I'm not a dog lover but I was concerned about this poor creature that I thought didn't look healthy. The owner wasn't too concerned. She actually lives a few houses down and she leaves the dog outside because he's old and some times makes a mess in the house. Ugh. My heart was breaking for this poor guy. But, she did walk over with one of her kids and picked this poor guy up.
I went back to work absolutely elated that I actually walked outside on PURPOSE knowing that a dog was out there. I thought Mr. FedEx had left so I was actually willing to go out there alone. I ended up with dog hair all over my legs from him leaning against me and a hand full of happy doggy slobber. ME!
I was on a dog high for this. I'm sure not everyone will appreciate just what it took for ME to walk up to a dog to feed and water it and pet it. ME. My hand were so close to his HUGE teeth that I ended up with dog slobber ALL over my hand. I was amazed and so proud of myself.
But . . . what goes up, must come down.
Fast forward a few measly days.
It's flea season and I get some stuff from my vet that I put on the back of their necks once a month to prevent fleas. I needed to run to the vet to pick up the next dose of the medicine. If any of you have ever been in a vet's office, you know they tend to be full of dogs! It takes everything in me to just walk in the door. That's a testament to how much I love my cats that I'm willing to walk into the vet's office for their meds!
I walk in, but I have to do it my way. Two girls are working the counter checking people in and out. The girl on the right said she could help me but to get to her, I'd have to walk in between the lady checking out with her dog and a lady sitting on the bench next to the counter with a big boxer. I looked at both dogs and told the employee that I'd wait.
The woman with the boxer could tell I was terrified and she actually moved down the bench a bit to give me more room. But, by now the other lady was done checking out so with that dog gone, I had what I felt was enough room to walk up to the counter safely.
She got me the meds, I got out my credit card. As we were finishing up, I heard the door behind me open and then I felt someone behind me and I heard a "WUF". Without even turning around, my heart started to pound out of my chest. Then I heard someone say "WOW! How much does THAT weight?" Yeah, I knew that "WUF" didn't come from a chihuahua. The owner of the beast said "oh, she only weighs 143 pounds". Really? 143 pounds for a DOG? From hearing their conversation, the dog was an English Mastiff. Here is what an English Mastiff looks like.
This is not the dog that was in the vet's office last week, this is just a picture I found on the internet. But, you get the idea of how BIG these dogs are!
You want to talk about a full blown panic attack! I wanted nothing more than to jump over the counter and hide. By now the tears were flowing freely and I couldn't have stopped them if my life depended on it.
Somehow I finished up my transaction and got my wallet back in my purse and I was out the door. I really don't remember much of anything between hearing 143 pounds and walking into my house. For real, I don't remember.
In the morning, I went to look for the meds and could not find them in my purse, in my car or in my house. WTF.
I planned on calling the vet's office when they opened at 9:00 but I got busy and forgot about it. Sure enough, around 10:00, the vet's office called me and said I left the meds on the counter! She said I didn't look well, and I was out of there so quickly that she tried to catch me in the parking lot but I was GONE! She had NO idea just how gone I was!
From the highest high to the lowest low. How could I have dog slobber all over my hand one day and a few days later be in a full blown panic attack again. I really thought I was making progress last week with dogs. Now I'm back to square one.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
And Back In The Real World
And, back to the real world where people are good.
Speaking of good people, let's talk about my friends Ruth and Jeff from New York! They have been my friends for more years than I want to admit. I don't think I'm old enough to have friends for that long!
Anyway, the weekend before the 4th of July, Ruth and Jeff came out for the weekend. We fit a lot of fun and a lot of catching up into a few days, let me tell you!
We had picture perfect weather that weekend. They picked the best weekend to come for a visit, the weekend of the International Festival. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you know I am a HUGE fan of the International Festival. The only negative thing I could say about it, is that usually the weather is lousy for the festival. Lousy as in hot and humid. I don't think we could have had a more perfect day this year as far as the weather went!
Unfortunately, I was so interested in playing tour guide to my friends that I barely took out my camera while they were here! Most of my pictures were courtesy of Ruth! Thanks for letting me use them!!
One of the stops after Pete's for breakfast and on our way to the festival was to make a stop at Lakeview Park. It was pure luck that found us there while they were having the volleyball tournament! I don't follow the volleyball circuit so I have no idea what organization was playing, but it was a lot of fun to sit down there and watch some of the activity. I've played a little volleyball in my day (never well, but I've played!) but these two man teams are amazing! There had to be 20 nets with games going on at one time. It was hard to decide which net to watch!
It was a little breezy and cooler right down on the beach, which I'm sure the volleyball players appreciated.
Then, a couple of pictures of the tourists! First, Jeff and Ron talking guys stuff. Please note they are in the rose garden, but I'm sure, talking guy stuff and NOT roses!
Then, Ruth and I, talking girl stuff!
While at the rose garden, I tried to channel Mark! I walked around, saying "WWMD". That's my "What Would Mark Do". I got a couple of what I thought are good shots, but his blog always gives me great ideas! I have a ton of stuff I want to do if ever I get caught up on my blogging!!
Anyway, here are a couple of good shots of the roses.
And since I know next to nothing about roses, I can't give you too much information about these. The only thing I can say about the next picture is that I had no idea that roses would look like this but I absolutely fell in love with this one. If it hadn't been in the rose garden, I don't know that I would have guessed it was a rose!
Ok, the bud looks like a rose but the full open flower didn't. But I absolutely loved this flower!
That's the kind of weekend we had. Good friends, good food, good conversation and just catching up. A lot of time was spent around my dining room table and even Benny got into our conversation. Ok, this is really nothing more than a gratuitous cat shot!
Hopefully, it won't be so long in between our next visit. Ruth and Jeff now have a standing reservation here for the International Festivals! You can't go wrong with that!
Speaking of good people, let's talk about my friends Ruth and Jeff from New York! They have been my friends for more years than I want to admit. I don't think I'm old enough to have friends for that long!
Anyway, the weekend before the 4th of July, Ruth and Jeff came out for the weekend. We fit a lot of fun and a lot of catching up into a few days, let me tell you!
We had picture perfect weather that weekend. They picked the best weekend to come for a visit, the weekend of the International Festival. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you know I am a HUGE fan of the International Festival. The only negative thing I could say about it, is that usually the weather is lousy for the festival. Lousy as in hot and humid. I don't think we could have had a more perfect day this year as far as the weather went!
Unfortunately, I was so interested in playing tour guide to my friends that I barely took out my camera while they were here! Most of my pictures were courtesy of Ruth! Thanks for letting me use them!!
One of the stops after Pete's for breakfast and on our way to the festival was to make a stop at Lakeview Park. It was pure luck that found us there while they were having the volleyball tournament! I don't follow the volleyball circuit so I have no idea what organization was playing, but it was a lot of fun to sit down there and watch some of the activity. I've played a little volleyball in my day (never well, but I've played!) but these two man teams are amazing! There had to be 20 nets with games going on at one time. It was hard to decide which net to watch!
It was a little breezy and cooler right down on the beach, which I'm sure the volleyball players appreciated.
Then, a couple of pictures of the tourists! First, Jeff and Ron talking guys stuff. Please note they are in the rose garden, but I'm sure, talking guy stuff and NOT roses!
Then, Ruth and I, talking girl stuff!
While at the rose garden, I tried to channel Mark! I walked around, saying "WWMD". That's my "What Would Mark Do". I got a couple of what I thought are good shots, but his blog always gives me great ideas! I have a ton of stuff I want to do if ever I get caught up on my blogging!!
Anyway, here are a couple of good shots of the roses.
And since I know next to nothing about roses, I can't give you too much information about these. The only thing I can say about the next picture is that I had no idea that roses would look like this but I absolutely fell in love with this one. If it hadn't been in the rose garden, I don't know that I would have guessed it was a rose!
Ok, the bud looks like a rose but the full open flower didn't. But I absolutely loved this flower!
That's the kind of weekend we had. Good friends, good food, good conversation and just catching up. A lot of time was spent around my dining room table and even Benny got into our conversation. Ok, this is really nothing more than a gratuitous cat shot!
Hopefully, it won't be so long in between our next visit. Ruth and Jeff now have a standing reservation here for the International Festivals! You can't go wrong with that!
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko - That's Just Wrong, Page 25
For real! There are so many things going through my head right now I just don't know where to start!
I went to my very first City Council meeting last night. I was surprised by a lot of information that I heard. I have quite a few topics I'd like to delve into here but I'll stick with just a follow up on my last post for now. Remember the burned out house on West 25th Street in Lorain? In case you forgot:
Lisa linked my previous post to her blog and she shared my indignation at the lack of information received from Howard Goldberg from City Development as to how long this eye sore was going to remain in my neighborhood.
In turn, Loraine Ritchey linked up Lisa Miller's blog and my blog. She was even nice enough to send along the links to members of City Council and the mayor! See? It's not only me that knows this is just wrong. And for that, Loraine took a lot of heat for MY blog.
Mayor Tony Krasienko called Loraine and complained to her about MY blog. Um, isn't he a mayor of the people? Am I not one of the people? Why couldn't he comment on MY blog if he had issues with MY blog? First, from Loraine's comment on my last post:
Then, according to Loraine Ritchey, Mayor Tony Krasienko complained to her that I should have called HIM with a problem? Really? Why didn't he contact ME that there was going to be a burn? I received a flier from Tri-C Fire Academy 12 hours or so before the burn. I heard nothing from the Mayor, Tom Brown, the Fire Chief, or anyone from the City of Lorain. The name on the flier to contact with questions or concerns was Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. That was where I started. Then he gave me a name and then that guy sent me to Mr. Goldberg. I followed what I thought was the proper chain of command.
Did I think of calling Mayor Tony Krasienko for assistance? To be honest, I did think of calling him. But, I figured since his days are numbered as the Mayor of Lorain, that he would care less about my problem. Boy, was I right on that one!
I was a City Council virgin before last night. I have never been to a City Council meeting and honestly, I had to find out where City Hall was. But, we all went: me, Ron, Phil and Lisa. As Ron and I were walking in, I heard Director of Public Service, Robert Gilchrist talking to a woman. I heard him say something about "boy, did your blog sure cause a stir". I ran up to them and asked if she was Loraine Ritchey! Who else could he have been talking about causing such a stir! So, I introduced myself to Loraine and to Mr. Gilchrist and then we walked in to City Hall.
I learned so much last night from Loraine, and I learned even more from Mayor Tony Krasienko and certain City Council members.
From Mayor Tony Krasienko's reelection bid website, he listed his seven priorities, # 5 (or # 2, depending on how you count!) was to engage citizens to help make our city stronger. Really?
Is that why he took a pot shot at me during the City Council meeting last night? Is THAT how you engage citizens?
The subject of the burned out houses was brought up by Councilman Silecky and then Councilwoman Molnar added to it. (*As a side note here, yes that is plural. Houses. Please see Lisa's blog with pictures of the other house!) Then, it was Mayor Tony Krasienko's turn to have his say. Mayor Tony Krasienko said that all this was brought about because someone took "literary license and took all this out of context and made this into something it's not." Really?? Really??? That was a real professional comment!
Let's see, "literary license". I may not be an English major, but my understanding of literary license is to embellish facts or make facts up to support a story. In other words, lie. PLEASE, Mayor Tony Krasienko, tell me where I lied. What part is not the truth?
Mayor Tony Krasienko, if you read my previous post, and I know you did, my concern and anger had NOTHING to do with the house being burned. From my previous post:
Go ahead, Mayor Tony Krasienko, reread that last post. I'll wait. If you need help with the big words, try dictionary.com. My concern was and is when is this house being torn down?
Ok, so Mayor Tony Krasienko got his pot shot in to me. Literary license. What irritated me the most was the fact that I was not given an opportunity to respond to Mayor Tony Krasienko!
After that, Fire Chief Tom Brown fell on the sword and I'm assuming tried to take one for the team. He claimed that if Council or anyone should be mad at someone, they should be mad at him. It was Chief Brown that spearheaded the controlled burns in Lorain.
I don't know if I can commend him for throwing himself up like that, but I still say he's taking the blame for the wrong problem! I don't CARE about the burn. WHEN is the house coming down?
After the meeting, I was invited into an office with Council-At-Large Dan Given and Howard Goldberg! I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea but there we were. We shook hands around and I started with the literary license B.S. I explained my definition to Mr. Given and Mr. Goldberg and asked Mr. Goldberg point blank to tell me where I lied. I asked him where I got it wrong. Mr. Goldberg chose not to answer the question. That was a common theme for the night.
Then, Councilman Given explained that in a City Council meeting, it is not permitted for the public to get up and speak. I was erroneously placated by that statement until I found out later that if I was invited to speak by a Council member, that would have been acceptable! There were quite a few council people that knew I was there and why I was there. But, I feel that since Chief Brown fell on his sword, they figured this issue was over. After all, who can be mad at the fire department? The firemen are ALWAYS the hero.
I guess Councilman Given finally realized that I'm not a violent person and he excused himself from the office leaving me and Mr. Goldberg in there alone. For real, this guy likes to hear himself talk. It doesn't matter about what, but I dare you to get a word in edgewise! I know I should have walked out too, but I figured I'd stay for the show!
In that short span of time (it felt like hours but I'm guessing it was about 10 minutes) I heard that he went to Israel, I got to listen to him stammer while he read a long email on his phone (all the while telling me to just wait a second), I heard how arsenic is "indigenous in our soil" (I'm not going to touch that one!), I heard him talk about blaming Columbus or blaming Washington. Yeah, way to stay on topic, Mr. Goldberg.
Again, why someone thought it was a good idea to put the two of us in a room together is beyond me. After all, it is because of Mr. Goldberg that the entire City Council and Mayor Tony Krasienko got their collective panties in a wad. Had Mr. Goldberg talked to me like a human being instead of getting defensive after my three phone calls, and actually just answered my question, or at least told me he'd look into it and get back to me, then none of this would have happened. None of it. Good people skills there, Mr. Goldberg.
There were so many inconsistencies coming from Mr. Goldberg from the day of our phone call to last night that I'd be here all night tonight listing them. But one that struck me as funny was that during our phone call, Mr. Goldberg ASSURED me that he'd call me as soon as the funds were released and the bidding process was going to get started. If that was the truth, or in other words, not a lie, then why did he again ask for my phone number last night so that he could call me when the funds were released? Just asking.
Thanks to Loraine Ritchey for so eloquently explaining literary license to us all.
So, there you go. Literary license. By the way, Mayor Tony Krasienko, I looked at the City of Lorain's website. I couldn't find any link or information as to where I could go in City Hall to get a literary license! Since I couldn't find it on your website, I had to go out and find my own. Thanks to Lisa for the license!!
I went to my very first City Council meeting last night. I was surprised by a lot of information that I heard. I have quite a few topics I'd like to delve into here but I'll stick with just a follow up on my last post for now. Remember the burned out house on West 25th Street in Lorain? In case you forgot:
Lisa linked my previous post to her blog and she shared my indignation at the lack of information received from Howard Goldberg from City Development as to how long this eye sore was going to remain in my neighborhood.
In turn, Loraine Ritchey linked up Lisa Miller's blog and my blog. She was even nice enough to send along the links to members of City Council and the mayor! See? It's not only me that knows this is just wrong. And for that, Loraine took a lot of heat for MY blog.
Mayor Tony Krasienko called Loraine and complained to her about MY blog. Um, isn't he a mayor of the people? Am I not one of the people? Why couldn't he comment on MY blog if he had issues with MY blog? First, from Loraine's comment on my last post:
Ok, I guess I'm an idiot, but when I read that comment, I had no idea what "calling the 7th floor" meant. Is that a restaurant? A business? Mercy Hospital on Kolbe Road in Lorain only has five floors (I called to check!) so that wasn't it. Come to find out, Mayor Tony Krasienko's office is on the 7th floor of City Hall! For real, who knew?
Then, according to Loraine Ritchey, Mayor Tony Krasienko complained to her that I should have called HIM with a problem? Really? Why didn't he contact ME that there was going to be a burn? I received a flier from Tri-C Fire Academy 12 hours or so before the burn. I heard nothing from the Mayor, Tom Brown, the Fire Chief, or anyone from the City of Lorain. The name on the flier to contact with questions or concerns was Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. That was where I started. Then he gave me a name and then that guy sent me to Mr. Goldberg. I followed what I thought was the proper chain of command.
Did I think of calling Mayor Tony Krasienko for assistance? To be honest, I did think of calling him. But, I figured since his days are numbered as the Mayor of Lorain, that he would care less about my problem. Boy, was I right on that one!
I was a City Council virgin before last night. I have never been to a City Council meeting and honestly, I had to find out where City Hall was. But, we all went: me, Ron, Phil and Lisa. As Ron and I were walking in, I heard Director of Public Service, Robert Gilchrist talking to a woman. I heard him say something about "boy, did your blog sure cause a stir". I ran up to them and asked if she was Loraine Ritchey! Who else could he have been talking about causing such a stir! So, I introduced myself to Loraine and to Mr. Gilchrist and then we walked in to City Hall.
I learned so much last night from Loraine, and I learned even more from Mayor Tony Krasienko and certain City Council members.
From Mayor Tony Krasienko's reelection bid website, he listed his seven priorities, # 5 (or # 2, depending on how you count!) was to engage citizens to help make our city stronger. Really?
Is that why he took a pot shot at me during the City Council meeting last night? Is THAT how you engage citizens?
The subject of the burned out houses was brought up by Councilman Silecky and then Councilwoman Molnar added to it. (*As a side note here, yes that is plural. Houses. Please see Lisa's blog with pictures of the other house!) Then, it was Mayor Tony Krasienko's turn to have his say. Mayor Tony Krasienko said that all this was brought about because someone took "literary license and took all this out of context and made this into something it's not." Really?? Really??? That was a real professional comment!
Let's see, "literary license". I may not be an English major, but my understanding of literary license is to embellish facts or make facts up to support a story. In other words, lie. PLEASE, Mayor Tony Krasienko, tell me where I lied. What part is not the truth?
Mayor Tony Krasienko, if you read my previous post, and I know you did, my concern and anger had NOTHING to do with the house being burned. From my previous post:
I waited to see what would now happen to this house. And waited. And waited. I waited 30 days which I felt was a reasonable time to wait.From there, I stated:
I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/10/11 at 2:32 pm requesting he call me back with what the plans are to tear down this house.The "him" I was referring to here was Mr. Goldberg. I am not going to re-post my entire blog here but I assure you that no where in my post did I complain that the house on West 25th Street in Lorain OH was burned. My concern was and has been that no one would or could tell me when this eye sore will be torn down!
Go ahead, Mayor Tony Krasienko, reread that last post. I'll wait. If you need help with the big words, try dictionary.com. My concern was and is when is this house being torn down?
Ok, so Mayor Tony Krasienko got his pot shot in to me. Literary license. What irritated me the most was the fact that I was not given an opportunity to respond to Mayor Tony Krasienko!
After that, Fire Chief Tom Brown fell on the sword and I'm assuming tried to take one for the team. He claimed that if Council or anyone should be mad at someone, they should be mad at him. It was Chief Brown that spearheaded the controlled burns in Lorain.
I don't know if I can commend him for throwing himself up like that, but I still say he's taking the blame for the wrong problem! I don't CARE about the burn. WHEN is the house coming down?
After the meeting, I was invited into an office with Council-At-Large Dan Given and Howard Goldberg! I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea but there we were. We shook hands around and I started with the literary license B.S. I explained my definition to Mr. Given and Mr. Goldberg and asked Mr. Goldberg point blank to tell me where I lied. I asked him where I got it wrong. Mr. Goldberg chose not to answer the question. That was a common theme for the night.
Then, Councilman Given explained that in a City Council meeting, it is not permitted for the public to get up and speak. I was erroneously placated by that statement until I found out later that if I was invited to speak by a Council member, that would have been acceptable! There were quite a few council people that knew I was there and why I was there. But, I feel that since Chief Brown fell on his sword, they figured this issue was over. After all, who can be mad at the fire department? The firemen are ALWAYS the hero.
I guess Councilman Given finally realized that I'm not a violent person and he excused himself from the office leaving me and Mr. Goldberg in there alone. For real, this guy likes to hear himself talk. It doesn't matter about what, but I dare you to get a word in edgewise! I know I should have walked out too, but I figured I'd stay for the show!
In that short span of time (it felt like hours but I'm guessing it was about 10 minutes) I heard that he went to Israel, I got to listen to him stammer while he read a long email on his phone (all the while telling me to just wait a second), I heard how arsenic is "indigenous in our soil" (I'm not going to touch that one!), I heard him talk about blaming Columbus or blaming Washington. Yeah, way to stay on topic, Mr. Goldberg.
Again, why someone thought it was a good idea to put the two of us in a room together is beyond me. After all, it is because of Mr. Goldberg that the entire City Council and Mayor Tony Krasienko got their collective panties in a wad. Had Mr. Goldberg talked to me like a human being instead of getting defensive after my three phone calls, and actually just answered my question, or at least told me he'd look into it and get back to me, then none of this would have happened. None of it. Good people skills there, Mr. Goldberg.
There were so many inconsistencies coming from Mr. Goldberg from the day of our phone call to last night that I'd be here all night tonight listing them. But one that struck me as funny was that during our phone call, Mr. Goldberg ASSURED me that he'd call me as soon as the funds were released and the bidding process was going to get started. If that was the truth, or in other words, not a lie, then why did he again ask for my phone number last night so that he could call me when the funds were released? Just asking.
Thanks to Loraine Ritchey for so eloquently explaining literary license to us all.
So, there you go. Literary license. By the way, Mayor Tony Krasienko, I looked at the City of Lorain's website. I couldn't find any link or information as to where I could go in City Hall to get a literary license! Since I couldn't find it on your website, I had to go out and find my own. Thanks to Lisa for the license!!
Friday, July 01, 2011
Who Ya Gonna Call?
In the beginning, it was all fun and games. I had a neighborhood full of firemen! For most women, that is exciting!
Now, however, we're back to reality and the buzz of firemen in firetrucks has worn off. Let's go back to the beginning of the story here.
We received a flier at home from Cuyahoga Community College that their live burn training was going to be conducted at the empty house across the street. The training was on May 6th, 9th and 10th. They warned of smoke in the neighborhood and advised everyone to keep their doors and windows closed.
My first thought was why was CUYAHOGA Community College coming to LORAIN that is in LORAIN County to burn down houses for their training. For real, like Cuyahoga County doesn't have any run down or empty houses of their own to burn down? Fine. Whatever.
It was fun for the three days to see all of these anxious young people, in full turn out gear, meeting up at the house at 7:00 in the morning! Too bad all of the fun stuff happened after I had to leave for work.
After the first day of training, here is what we had.
Now they are finished with their three days of training and here is what we are left with.
Hey, I am all about education and I realize that firefighters need to learn somewhere. I still don't understand why Cuyahoga Community College is coming to Lorain County to wreak their havoc though. I'm guessing someone is benefiting greatly financially. But, that is just my guess. I can tell you, it's NOT me.
I waited to see what would now happen to this house. And waited. And waited. I waited 30 days which I felt was a reasonable time to wait.
I started with a phone call to Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. Mr. Huffman was very pleasant, gave me some information like that this demolition is covered by federal grant money under the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund. That made me start to feel a little better since I couldn't imagine where Lorain was supposed to be coming up with the cash to tear this down now.
Mr. Huffman gave me the name and number to his second in charge, Dan Waitkus. My apologies to Mr. Waitkus because I did not write down his title so I will not attempt to guess at what it was. I will tell you that Mr. Waitkus was very pleasant and a wealth of information.
According to Mr. Waitkus, Lorain goes into the agreement with Tri-C then Tri-C takes on the financial responsibility of having the environmental study done on the property. This needs to be done prior to the burning but regardless of the burning, it would need done prior to the demolition of the house. I thought this house looked to be in pretty good shape so I am really surprised that it was slated for demolition. C'mon now, there are a ton of properties that are in MUCH worse shape that this one was. Mr. Waitkus agreed that the property was in very good shape and was also surprised that they got to burn this one.
So, there is a cost saving for the city of Lorain, not to have to pay for the environmental study on the properties. Then, the rest of the demolition would be covered by the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which Mr. Waitkus thought Lorain already had the money for. Moving up the food chain, he gave me the name and number for Howard Goldberg with the Community Development department for the City of Lorain.
I will try to stick to the facts and leave out any personal thoughts or feelings on this guy.
I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/10/11 at 2:32 pm requesting he call me back with what the plans are to tear down this house.
I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/14/11 at 3:03 pm again requesting a call back with what the plans are to tear down this house.
I called and left him yet another detailed voice mail on 6/22/11 at 1:40 pm and this message he finally responded to.
Mr. Goldberg stated that my first two calls were not returned since I never left him my phone number. Really? I make calls for a living and I have a vested interest in hearing from you, so you don't think I would leave my phone number? Whatever.
Mr. Goldberg then stated that he does not have the funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, nor does he know when the government will be release the funds.
I asked him for the name of whom I should call to find out WHEN these funds will be released. Things kinda got a little nasty here. According to Mr. Goldberg, "there is no need to call any one". I asked him if I could quote him on that and he gave his permission.
No need to call anyone, huh?
So much for sticking to the facts, now I am going to get into the emotional he said/she said portion of this blog.
Mr. Goldberg told me that once the funds were released, then there would be three or four phases of bidding out the jobs to get the demolition done. So much for having the funds to do this. We started talking about WHY Lorain would allow Tri-C to come to MY neighborhood and do this - there had to be SOME financial settlement to SOME one to make this happen. Mr. Goldberg actually thought I would believe him when he said that there was NO money changing hands and actually Lorain was in the hole with this whole situation.
I brought up the fact that Tri-C was footing the bill for the environmental studies so right there was SOME financial gain for the city of Lorain. He at first claimed to not know anything about that, and then when I wouldn't let it drop, finally conceded that he would have to look into if THAT environmental study is good enough for the city to use before the actual demolition.
Mr. Goldberg was NOT happy to have to talk to me and answer my questions, even though he admitted that it was my RIGHT as a tax paying citizen to ask these questions and try to get some answers. Even if he thinks that the buck stops with him and that I do not need to call any one else to get this eye sore out of my neighborhood, I don't want to let it drop here. Mr. Goldberg told me that the demolition would happen but he wouldn't give me a date since if they missed that date, then I wouldn't be happy with that. So, I asked him for a ball park - 2012? 2013? He didn't see the humor in that but added that he thought this would be done by the end of 2011. I'll believe it when I see it.
All I can say is I don't believe many people do something for nothing. Especially a cash poor city like Lorain, out of the goodness of their hearts, to take on an additional financial burden so that Tri-C could train their students. Yeah, and I bet the Henderson-Loftin Bridge is for sale, too.
Granted this house was empty for awhile, but it looked to be in good shape. Why have it slated for demolition and used for burn training? Someone somewhere got something for this. I'm not saying that Mr. Goldberg profited from this personally, but I can't imagine that someone didn't profit on this. Otherwise, there was NO reason for Tri-C to come this far just to mess up my neighborhood more than it is already.
So, where do I go from here? Since Mr. Goldberg feels there is no need to call anyone else, perhaps we can all call him for updates on when the government is releasing the funds for the demolition of this eye sore.
Howard Goldberg, 440-204-2063 and the house address is 522 West 25th Street, Lorain.
And they wonder why people are leaving Lorain.
Now, however, we're back to reality and the buzz of firemen in firetrucks has worn off. Let's go back to the beginning of the story here.
We received a flier at home from Cuyahoga Community College that their live burn training was going to be conducted at the empty house across the street. The training was on May 6th, 9th and 10th. They warned of smoke in the neighborhood and advised everyone to keep their doors and windows closed.
My first thought was why was CUYAHOGA Community College coming to LORAIN that is in LORAIN County to burn down houses for their training. For real, like Cuyahoga County doesn't have any run down or empty houses of their own to burn down? Fine. Whatever.
It was fun for the three days to see all of these anxious young people, in full turn out gear, meeting up at the house at 7:00 in the morning! Too bad all of the fun stuff happened after I had to leave for work.
After the first day of training, here is what we had.
Now they are finished with their three days of training and here is what we are left with.
Hey, I am all about education and I realize that firefighters need to learn somewhere. I still don't understand why Cuyahoga Community College is coming to Lorain County to wreak their havoc though. I'm guessing someone is benefiting greatly financially. But, that is just my guess. I can tell you, it's NOT me.
I waited to see what would now happen to this house. And waited. And waited. I waited 30 days which I felt was a reasonable time to wait.
I started with a phone call to Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. Mr. Huffman was very pleasant, gave me some information like that this demolition is covered by federal grant money under the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund. That made me start to feel a little better since I couldn't imagine where Lorain was supposed to be coming up with the cash to tear this down now.
Mr. Huffman gave me the name and number to his second in charge, Dan Waitkus. My apologies to Mr. Waitkus because I did not write down his title so I will not attempt to guess at what it was. I will tell you that Mr. Waitkus was very pleasant and a wealth of information.
According to Mr. Waitkus, Lorain goes into the agreement with Tri-C then Tri-C takes on the financial responsibility of having the environmental study done on the property. This needs to be done prior to the burning but regardless of the burning, it would need done prior to the demolition of the house. I thought this house looked to be in pretty good shape so I am really surprised that it was slated for demolition. C'mon now, there are a ton of properties that are in MUCH worse shape that this one was. Mr. Waitkus agreed that the property was in very good shape and was also surprised that they got to burn this one.
So, there is a cost saving for the city of Lorain, not to have to pay for the environmental study on the properties. Then, the rest of the demolition would be covered by the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which Mr. Waitkus thought Lorain already had the money for. Moving up the food chain, he gave me the name and number for Howard Goldberg with the Community Development department for the City of Lorain.
I will try to stick to the facts and leave out any personal thoughts or feelings on this guy.
I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/10/11 at 2:32 pm requesting he call me back with what the plans are to tear down this house.
I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/14/11 at 3:03 pm again requesting a call back with what the plans are to tear down this house.
I called and left him yet another detailed voice mail on 6/22/11 at 1:40 pm and this message he finally responded to.
Mr. Goldberg stated that my first two calls were not returned since I never left him my phone number. Really? I make calls for a living and I have a vested interest in hearing from you, so you don't think I would leave my phone number? Whatever.
Mr. Goldberg then stated that he does not have the funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, nor does he know when the government will be release the funds.
I asked him for the name of whom I should call to find out WHEN these funds will be released. Things kinda got a little nasty here. According to Mr. Goldberg, "there is no need to call any one". I asked him if I could quote him on that and he gave his permission.
No need to call anyone, huh?
So much for sticking to the facts, now I am going to get into the emotional he said/she said portion of this blog.
Mr. Goldberg told me that once the funds were released, then there would be three or four phases of bidding out the jobs to get the demolition done. So much for having the funds to do this. We started talking about WHY Lorain would allow Tri-C to come to MY neighborhood and do this - there had to be SOME financial settlement to SOME one to make this happen. Mr. Goldberg actually thought I would believe him when he said that there was NO money changing hands and actually Lorain was in the hole with this whole situation.
I brought up the fact that Tri-C was footing the bill for the environmental studies so right there was SOME financial gain for the city of Lorain. He at first claimed to not know anything about that, and then when I wouldn't let it drop, finally conceded that he would have to look into if THAT environmental study is good enough for the city to use before the actual demolition.
Mr. Goldberg was NOT happy to have to talk to me and answer my questions, even though he admitted that it was my RIGHT as a tax paying citizen to ask these questions and try to get some answers. Even if he thinks that the buck stops with him and that I do not need to call any one else to get this eye sore out of my neighborhood, I don't want to let it drop here. Mr. Goldberg told me that the demolition would happen but he wouldn't give me a date since if they missed that date, then I wouldn't be happy with that. So, I asked him for a ball park - 2012? 2013? He didn't see the humor in that but added that he thought this would be done by the end of 2011. I'll believe it when I see it.
All I can say is I don't believe many people do something for nothing. Especially a cash poor city like Lorain, out of the goodness of their hearts, to take on an additional financial burden so that Tri-C could train their students. Yeah, and I bet the Henderson-Loftin Bridge is for sale, too.
Granted this house was empty for awhile, but it looked to be in good shape. Why have it slated for demolition and used for burn training? Someone somewhere got something for this. I'm not saying that Mr. Goldberg profited from this personally, but I can't imagine that someone didn't profit on this. Otherwise, there was NO reason for Tri-C to come this far just to mess up my neighborhood more than it is already.
So, where do I go from here? Since Mr. Goldberg feels there is no need to call anyone else, perhaps we can all call him for updates on when the government is releasing the funds for the demolition of this eye sore.
Howard Goldberg, 440-204-2063 and the house address is 522 West 25th Street, Lorain.
And they wonder why people are leaving Lorain.
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Also I just received a phone call mrom Mayor Krasienko on the subject - he explained that all fire depts attend different burns in other communities and the house will be taken down in a timely manner- he suggested calling the 7th floor with concerns..