A short story to share this Holiday Season. Hope it helps you to remember some special memories you may have.  

Something about Christmas, between the garland and holly, the cinnamon and turkey, makes it more magical and memorable than any other time of the year. With family and friends fathered around, we share recollections of the past and create new stories to recount for years to come. We asked some of our favorite authors for their most memorable Christmas stories, and they shared with us these amazing (and true!) seasonal anecdotes. 

Christmas CarpetJosi Kilpack, author of Lemon Tart, Rocky Road, and other LDS culinary mysteries

One school teacher’s salary. Nine children ages 2 to 20. Four sets of braces to date. Shoes, jeans, Sunday clothes, winter coats, an ongoing remodeling project, and all the other relentless expenses of child rearing.

For years, my parents had been saving up for carpet—a third of the house was sub flooring. Carpet was expensive, but my parents were amazing home economists, and slowly the carpet account grew.  However, each time the money in the account was nearly enough, another child was ready for braces.  Because the monthly budget could not hold another payment, the carpet account was emptied, braces were put in place, and Mom and Dad started over again. If only we kids had inherited our mother’s naturally straight teeth.

December: Dad got the mail and brought it inside while grumbling about bills and Christmas and the gosh-darned carpet that, once again, would not grace our floors come the New Year. It was nothing we hadn’t heard before. We let him continue as he opened one bill after another. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

Kids chattered around the table as he opened the mail. Suddenly, Dad went still. He told us to listen. He cleared his throat and read the letter in his hand while putting a smaller, rectangular piece of paper on the table top in front of him.

Dear Mr. Schofield,

Last year I took a drawing class from you through continuing education. I learned a great deal and enjoyed your class very much.

My mother passed away recently, and I have decided to share a portion of my inheritance with people who made an impact on my life. You are one of the people who came to mind as I recalled your talking about your large family. I hope this money brightens your holiday season.

If I were to tell you my name, you would not know who I was, but I know who you are, and I appreciate the good you do.

Merry Christmas,
A Grateful Student

Five years of saving. Priorities. Four beautifully orthodontiated smiles. Warm feet. Full bellies. Children’s hearts that would one day understand the daily sacrifices our parents made. An anonymous, giving heart that surely made its mother very proud.

And carpet for Christmas.

Funny commercial on camera phones

Check out this commercial on you tube about camera phones. I think I have actually experienced this.

Enjoy!!

http://youtu.be/2vR4LeL0yzE

Brennan Jax

Congratulations

to 

Amber and Nate 

on the birth of their son

Brennan Jax

Calabash Photography

10 Quick Tips for iPhone Photographers

1. Hold the phone like you would a camera.     Most people hold the phone with one hand. Hold the phone with two hands and "click" the shutter as you would a regular camera.
2. Don't zoom in with zoom on the camera, zoom in with your feet.     Actually walk up to your subject to get close. Most iphones lose quality even with a tiny bit of zooming and it becomes grainy and pixelated. 
3. Shoot the same thing a few times.     The great thing about being a shooting digital is being allowed multiple attempts at a shot. Usually one of them will be vastly better than the others. However; don't delete those shots you think are no good when you are out because when you get home and look at them on the computer monitor they may turn into something interesting. 
4. Light.     Don't lose those dark and night time opportunities. Shoot at night and dusk and see what it produces. The more you practice the more you will learn how you to control the camera.
5. Check your resolution and picture quality settings.    Set them on high and the quality will be much better.
6. Keep the camera as still as you can.     Movement in your hand will cause the photo to be blurry. Try to lean your arm against something even if it's your body to help keep it steady.
7. Move around and get in different positions.     The phone is small and easy to get down low or you can point it up and high. So move and get different angles. 
8. Clean the lens!     Your phone is in your bag, pocket or around in the car. Make sure you get any grime, dirt or fingerprints off the lens. 
9. Process.      Most phones have some type of filters that will change the way you see that image. Tweak the exposure, contrast and it will make a big difference. Try different phone apps to see what you like. Of course, you can always do it on your computer.
10. Clutter.      Don't have too much going on in your photo. Keeping one main subject and a scene where you want all or most of it in focus are best. 

Hope these tips help you. Keep shootin'! 

August Newsletter

August newsletter is now available. Copy and paste link in your address bar: http://mad.ly/85fae3

Is the Customer Always Right??

Sometimes the Customer Really is Right

Recently, I went out to dinner with my family. We wanted to try a new restaurant for a change.

“Try the prime rib,” they recommended.

“OK,” I replied. The waitress took our order – I asked for the prime rib. A few minutes later, our dinners were served.

“Doesn't this come with a salad?” I asked. I was sure that I’d seen it on the menu.

“No,” she said staring at me, as if waiting for an argument.

Now you should know that I hate it when people cause a scene in a restaurant. I didn't have the menu in front of me, so I wasn't going to accuse her of lying. I said nothing.

At the end of the meal, the waitress re-appeared with a sheepish look, the bill, and my salad. She apologized several times, said she was new, and walked away.

From a marketing point of view, there are a dozen lessons that could be learned from this experience. Employees need to be fully trained about your product line. Never say “no” to a customer. Don’t wait to solve problems. Don’t make excuses. Explain to the customer what you are going to do to fix the problem. Ask the customer what you can do to make them happy.

But the lesson I learned is the challenge we've created by the rule the customer is always right.

As small business owners, we were taught that great customer service means we should do whatever it takes to make them happy. Unfortunately, once customers learned this, a few of them began to take advantage of it. Now when we hear a complaint, we wonder, “is this real, or are they just trying to take advantage of my business?”.

So here’s my challenge. Instead of worrying about the 1 or 2 customers who will try to take advantage of us, we need to start by assuming every customer complaint is legitimate. Will we occasionally get scammed? Perhaps. But most customer complaints are real problems we can solve.

Sometimes we really are wrong. Sometimes the customer really is right.

Agree or disagree?

Family Movie Night in Calabash

The Calabash Merchants Association is presenting Family Movie Night in the Town Park located at 868 Persimmon Road right beside Town Hall. The feature tonight is "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" and starts around 8:30 p.m.

Come and bring a chair or blanket and enjoy an outdoor movie.