Story by Jon Stalnaker, AKA The Studebaker Dude
We look forward to spring, when we can begin planting flowering shrubs that do not survive the winter snow. This year was no different, except for the record number of triple-digit heat days that came with summer. It was more than many of the new plants could handle.
When Carlene’s mom, Yae, passed away a couple of years ago, we planted a tree in her honor. It was looking pretty healthy this year until we looked out the dining room window and saw that the majority of its leaves had turned brown.
This was when we knew we had to do things differently. We deep-soaked the trees, and they perked up. That was a scary thing to see, as losing that tree would have been like losing Yae all over again. We certainly didn’t want to go through that.
When Carlene looked up the situation on the internet, she learned that the dead leaves would stay on the tree until fall, when all the leaves would drop. Many of them fell off, but not all of them.
Keeping a cautious eye on the tree, Carlene noticed something in the high branches. We may not have noticed it if the tree hadn’t lost a significant number of leaves, but there it was: a bird’s nest built near the top.
That made our hearts happy, knowing how much Yae loved birds. These kinds of signs are comforting to us, as we believe they are real visitations from loved ones.
Our annual landscape updates are special to us, and we put a lot of work and money into these plants. We had been having great luck over the last couple of years, but our success was limited this year despite our increased efforts to water more than usual.
Knowing this was a record-hot summer, we didn’t buy as much as we usually do. We still made some progress, but we are a little frustrated that we couldn’t do more. Better luck next year.
As a follow-up to last week’s story, the transfer of my direct deposits to my local bank has been completed. I was told it could take 30 to 60 days, but everything was completed before the next check was issued. I also closed my California bank account much sooner than I thought I could.
I must fuss about it a little bit, though. When I called to make sure it was done correctly, I was transferred to what was probably a call center in another country. I got it done, but I found the representative’s accent extremely difficult to understand.
She was very nice and patient with me as I had to keep asking her to repeat herself. I wasn’t angry about it, but I was a little embarrassed to have to keep asking. It was too important not to fully understand what she was telling me, but we got it done. It must be difficult for them, too.
I don’t understand why so many companies send this important part of customer service to call centers in other countries when language barriers can make communication so difficult.
In my last year as postmaster, the USPS did this. They told us to have customers use an 800 number for customer-service problems. The call center would send me a written report about a delivery issue, and I didn’t like the higher-ups taking away my one-on-one communication with local customers.
I would give customers my unlisted number so they could talk to me directly. The big bosses didn’t want us to do that, but I did it anyway because I thought it was the right thing to do. I just didn’t tell the bosses I was doing it.
They were so happy when I retired. With me gone, they could replace me with someone who would do what they were told without questioning the foolishness.
Photo caption: Leaves on the memorial tree were scorched by this summer’s intense heat.
Photo caption: A bird’s nest discovered near the top of the tree held special meaning for Jon and Carlene.