Two takes. Which do you prefer?

Feist sings 1-2-3-4.

Original:


Seame Street:

What to do...

Starting to think about LoVE's cake for her first birthday next weekend. What's good for pictures? Darker cake. But she's a pukey kid, so I don't want to give her chocolate. Carrot cake? But not with too many bits in it. She'll eat almost anything taste-wise, but she's got some texture issues. Carrot cake with baby food instead of shreaded carrots? Hmmm. Maybe.

If there were an award, she'd win it.

I just need to take a moment to toot our baby's horn. I realize I say this at the risk of it coming back to haunt me at some point, but knock on wood, etc.

So, on to my point: Our little girl is the coolest kid. Period. Full stop. End of sentence.

Allow me to explain: We just got back from watching the fireworks. We power-napped LoVE around dinner time so she would be able to check them out. But honestly, we weren't sure what to expect. Would the noise freak her out? Would she be too tired to take it? But we were ready to give it a go and if she wasn't into it we could easily leave, right? Well, what were we worried about folks? She loved it. (Though she did sleep through a Howitzer at the evening parade last summer, so I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised.)

We got a perfect spot on a neighborhood side street. She sat quietly while we waited for the show to begin and when it did she sat on my hip (while Dima and our friend Jen alternately covered her ears) completely entranced by the pyrotechnical display. She wasn't tense. She didn't jump. She just sat back and enjoyed. At one point she even—literally—oohed and ahhed while she reached out and tried to grab the shimmery lights.

After it was over... and the finale was stupendous... we got in the car and she proceeded to sleep the all the way to our exit, where she woke up and pleasantly cooed until we put her in bed. Then she immediately fell asleep.

Who could ask for a better night? Happy 4th of July! Lydia Violet, you rock! Love, Mama & Papa.

Surprise! It's Customer Satisfaction.

So last night, after a long day, we decided to order a pizza from Papa John's. We do this every so often. And now it's even easier, since you can use their online ordering system. It allows you to create the most complex of pizza's. Gone are the days of this:. "No, that's black olives on half. No. No green peppers. No. No. Grrrr. OK. Let's start over..." So far, for us, it's been error free.

This system even let's you add your tip to your payment. So, now, when the doorbell rings, you say, "Hi. Thanks. Have a good night," and your done. No more digging around for spare dollars. And no more telling the driver that they can just give you back $2 and keep the change as they slowly dig through their wad of money waiting for you to tell them to keep ALL the change.

Well last night we ordered online again: Large/Spicy Italian Sausage/Onions/Mushrooms. By the time the pizza arrived we were extra hungry, so you can imagine my disappointment and frustration to open the box and find that it had not been cut. As in, it was just a big, solid, round pizza. No slices. Luckily we have a pizza cutter so it was quickly rectified. But... what if we hadn't? We'd have ended up cutting it with a knife and it would have ruined the pizza. So, I called... I ended up speaking to a befuddled employee that was really no help. She only offered up that she would be sure to cut it next time. O-K.

So I turned to the feedback forms on www.papajohns.com and I got the requisite autoresponder saying, "we're sorry you were dissatisfied and we'll do better next time." What was surprising and refreshing was that within 20 minutes of that, I got an email from a real person. The official Franchise Area Supervisor:

I am sorry that your experience at our Wheaton location was less than perfect. We are constantly striving to deliver the best customer service and the best pizza possible. Sometimes we fall short of our goals, but we try to use each misstep as an opportunity to improve.

I have called the store to follow up, making sure that we cut each pizza and check the orders before they are delivered.

Thank you for your business. If I can ever be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me directly so that I can immediately address any of your concerns.

—[Franchise Area Supervisor]

Granted it seems a little form letter-ish but it noted my specific problem in detail. And mind you, this was 9:30 p.m. Wow, I say. Wow. And I emailed him right back to tell him so.