I’ve only been on it for a few weeks, but I’ve already scored a free DiGiorno’s pizza, samples of lotions, shampoos and the new 3 in 1 washer/dryer sheet. I also got a great pair of Crocs sandals for less than $10 (shipping included!) and two cute matching change purses, that are printed with pictures I uploaded – for $3 total, shipping included. That’s not counting all the great coupons I’ve printed off; and I’ve got several more samples coming in the next few weeks.

Check out the site; you can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Oh yeah – the newest thing I’m going to try? Head over to Restaurant.com and enter VACATION as the discount code and get a $25 restaurant gift certificate for $4. Hurry tho- the offer expires on 7/19, and there are some restrictions.

Our church hasn’t done VBS in several years, and I was so glad we started back this year. It was a lot of work, but it was also a LOT of fun; best of all, I just heard from one mom who said her child told her this week that he had asked Jesus to be his Savior! What an awesome way to end the week; I kept thinking last night, that if it made the difference in just one child’s life, it was worth it.

A Sea of Bikes

Imagine standing in a parking lot, surrounded by motorcycles as far as you can see.  Black, red, silver, purple, blue, orange, green, yellow- any color you can imagine.

And all ages – everything from brand new, right-off-the-showroom bikes, to 1950s  “old school” bikes, and even older, and everything in between.

Bikes everywhere – Harleys, BMWs, Yamahas, Indians, Spyders, Suzukis, Hyabusas, Kawasakis and Hondas can be seen. All these kinds, and even more – scooters, crotch rockets, choppers, cruisers, touring bikes. Bikes so chopped they don’t even look real.  Fancy bikes that have every imaginable addition: radios, CD players, heated seats, GPS, air conditioning, heated handgrips, cigarette lighters, cup holders. Bikes so stripped down, they only have the necessities.

It’s amazing to see all these bikes – and what’s more amazing – you could probably search through all of them and not find any two that are exactly alike (law enforcement bikes aside).

I love going to Thunder Beach.

]]> http://aroundtheloopdesigns.com/wp/2010/06/bikes-bikes-bikes/feed/ 0 http://aroundtheloopdesigns.com/wp/2010/06/sunrise-in-the-mirror/ http://aroundtheloopdesigns.com/wp/2010/06/sunrise-in-the-mirror/#comments Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:58:34 +0000 Beth http://aroundtheloopdesigns.com/wp/?p=609 Last fall, several of us met over at the Texaco before leaving out to escort the Moving Wall from Marianna to Appalachicola, Florida.  While we were waiting on everyone to gather, I saw this reflection in Grady’s mirror. Pretty cool, huh?

Friday Night Jammers

My friend Kayle plays fiddle with a bluegrass group called “Friday Night Jammers”  – the group came out to our Rutledge Homecoming bike, car and truck show last Saturday, and everyone really enjoyed it!

They sang and played several songs, including a new favorite of mine, Miller’s Cave – Kayo Sipper sang lead on this one. It’s an older song but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before.  The melody has stayed with me since Saturday, and the final line is especially haunting:

But they’ll never gonna find me,
cause I’m lost… in Miller’s Cave.

It  makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

I love bees.  I love to hear them buzzing – it’s a sound I associate with summer time, honeysuckle and cutting grass.

I especially love honey. I’m hoping to add some honeybees to our household this year – we’ve got a hive built, and we’re just waiting until we can get a swarm or nuc to put in there.

These flags are displayed every Memorial Day weekend Luverne- it makes for a very stirring tribute to those who have served in the military for our country.

I’m proud to be an American, and most especially proud of our county- it’s great to be from Crenshaw County.

We have our phone, internet and cable service as a bundle, so we deal with one company for all three products. We decided we wanted to make some changes: downgrade our cable but move up a level in our internet speed. Since Randy delivers mail, he can’t always make calls like this, so I called.  After I explained what we wanted to do to the representative, she very quickly told me she’d be glad to upgrade our internet, but if we wanted to change to a lower package on our cable, my husband would have to call, because I wasn’t listed on the account to make changes… duh! So let me get this straight- you’ll take my word that we want to upgrade, but not to downgrade? How dumb is that? So Randy had to call and get things changed, and to add me to the account (this is the second or third time he’s called to add me, by the way).

Then several weeks ago, Randy’s bike messed up,  so he found a place online that sells used parts and ordered what he needed. He told them we were headed to Thunder Beach so he paid extra to have it shipped quickly. The part online looked exactly like his, same numbers, etc.  It got here all right, but it was the wrong part, but Randy didn’t know that until he’d tried to install it on his bike. He had to remove a couple of tabs so it would go in to the slot made for it. He and I both figured that since they sent it, it would work on his bike. It didn’t. We ended up using a friend’s bike to go to TB, and when we got home, Randy started working on getting things resolved. He emailed them to let them know they’d sent the wrong part, and that he’d taken the tabs off. ‘No problem’ the guy answered, just send it back and we’ll make it good. Randy sent it back  with delivery confirmation, and they got it within 3 or 4 days of him mailing it. About a week later, the guy decided to email Randy and let him know that the tabs were removed (!) and that they couldn’t accept it.  He said if he’d known Randy had done this, he wouldn’t have told him to send it back. Randy had in fact told them in one email that if they couldn’t take it back because of the tabs, he understood; they just needed to let him know one way or the other.

I understand anybody can make a mistake, but we’re still working on getting things straightened out with them.  I finally called this week to see what was going on; when I told the person who answered who I was and what I wanted he recognized the name and started in fussing at me.  He tried to say that Randy hadn’t told them he’d removed the tab- I pointed out I was looking at the emails that were sent, and yes, they were told before it was returned. Then he told me how big a company they were  and how they were so busy they didn’t have time to answer emails quickly. Apparently they’re so big they only have one person to answer phones, emails and fetch parts… he was one of the rudest people I’ve ever talked to.  I will steer clear of them in the future, and I’d suggest you do too- the name is  Drum Hill Cycles.  They’re mailing the part back, but I don’t expect to see it any time soon.

And then to top things off today- a friend who has trouble hearing on the phone asked me to call and find out when his billing cycle ends. I called, explained what I wanted and gave them all the information I had – their response? If he would call and verify that they could give me information, they’d be glad to talk to me. I said I understand, but if he could call to verify it’s OK for you to talk to me, then he could get the information himself. He can’t hear well enough to understand you, so how is he going to tell you it’s OK?  Talk about Catch- 22.

I just wonder at what point did we all get to be nimrods? Does good customer service not mean anything anymore? Are folks here in the south the only ones with enough gumption to be polite and kind to be people?  The guy at the parts place – he could just as easily say “ma’am, I’m so sorry, but there’s not anything we can do to help you. We can’t take the part back – we’ll have to ship it out to you.”  A little kindness would have gone a long way to make me feel better, and I would have considered using them again.  I guess that’s what we get for shopping outside the southern states.

Spiderworts are one of those things- my husband considers most things like this weeds, but I tend to call them ‘wildflowers’ – neither one of us planted them, but I enjoy looking at them. There were just a few in a corner of my backyard to start with, but now they are everywhere.  They don’t last very long, but they’re so pretty while they here.

It’s amazing to see how many different colors, texture and designs God created in His garden.

For example, this last weekend while we were in Panama City Beach for Thunder Beach, I made up my mind to learn to correctly use my front brakes.  I’ve been scared of them since the week I learned to ride. I was bringing Slick around the house, through dead leaves and wet grass, when I saw a riding toy in front of me. I couldn’t find the rear brakes and I wasn’t satisfied I could steer away from it, so I did the next thing I could think of – I grabbed the front brakes quite briskly. In fact, that’s how I learned Slick’s name,  because I was on the ground immediately, still astride the bike.  Grabbing the front brakes had stopped the front tire from rolling, but since I was in a turning lean, the rear tire just slid around to the side.

So I made my mind up this weekend to consciously use my front brakes every time I stopped; at first I used them with my rear brakes to stop, but I finally was comfortable just using the front brakes alone.

But back to my opening thoughts about learning new things- one of the hardest things for me to learn was to look where I wanted to go. There’s a riding rule that says “always keep your eyes on your way out”. When I’m making a U-turn (or hookin a U-ee as I like to say), I don’t need to look at the road near  my front tire; I need to be looking back the way I need to be going.  If I’m coming into a steep curve, I don’t need to look at the road and shoulder right in front of me- I need to keep my chin up and look out at the end of the curve.

Another story- on my first trip to Crestview, not long after I learned to ride, Randy took a left turn at the last minute; I tried to follow, but instead of following him on the street, my bike went off into the grass a couple of feet off the road. I panicked and looked at Randy (who hadn’t realized yet what happened) and I came back on the road.  If I hadn’t looked at the road, I would have kept driving down the ditch, and probably ended up in bad shape.

And it’s the same way in my Christian walk- I don’t need to look at the problems right in front of me, because they’re staying right there. I need to get my eyes on where I want to end up-on the other side, where the solution is.

So take it from me- if you’re headed somewhere and you know you don’t need to be there, get your eyes on where you want to be – there may be some excitement on the way back, but you’ll eventually get back on the right road.