FeeFiFoto Blog

There Are Places I Remember

I’d like to welcome today’s guest poster.  He’s a retired executive who spends much of his days taking and teaching literature classes, playing chess with friends and grandchildren, and helping his daughter renovate a seriously intractable website.  Allow me to introduce: Dad.

::::raucous applause and wolf whistles:::: Thank you.  Thank you very much.

Two days of hard work finally paid off as I browsed through memories of our 2007 Mediterranean Cruise. After purging nearly 200 duplications (darn that crazy computer) I had 300 images to rotate, categorize and admire. What a pleasure it is to share great art, scenery, architecture and experiences with children and grandchildren.  It’s one thing to see these sights through my own eyes, and something profound and completely different seeing them through the eyes of five kids ranging in age from 7 to 17.  And what an unexpected surprise: 10 people traveling together, eating together, touring together, and no fistfights serious enough to warrant summoning local authorities.

I’m reminded again why pictures are so important, and how much fun it is to share.  Even my wife, Our Lady Of Perpetual Ants In The Pants, enjoyed watching the photos in a slide show and savoring with me the memories of a wonderful vacation.

Still, there had to be some wrench in the ointment, or fly in the works, or whatever.  My computer spewed spite, most likely because it had been infiltrated by the evil villain, My Pictures.  In an effort to ease some of the pressure I broke out the stack of DVDs I’d bought so optimistically a year ago when my current computer was new.  Such mischief it wrought!  After approximately 15 interactive email conversations with a computer friend, I finally navigated around all the dastardly glitches and created my first-ever photo DVD.  My friend gently explained that my mistake might have been instructing the computer to: “move the %*?$# pictures to the %*?$# disk, you idiot.” 

In any case, despite the valuable learning experience of creating photo DVDs, I’m going to pack up my pictures—all 4 gigabytes and 3000+ images—and send them to FeeFiFoto where I can share them with all my friends. I might even put a picture of my intractable computer on a Photo Throw to cover it up the next time it defies me.

Somebody Get The Phone

   

Bill, who is Inside Fatherhood at the moment, describes one of those customer service experiences which more often than not leaves us disappointed, frustrated and, well, breathless:

"I have found the entire baby product buying experience to be quite eye opening and trying on my patience. Everything from limited availability and recalls of products still in their boxes, to horrifically deficient assembly instructions and products which arrived with blemishes...

I understand that imperfect products get out the door. As long as it’s not dangerous ... I’m more concerned with how they handle the situation. We recently purchased a Simplicity brand bassinet...

The [assembly] drawings were at such a detailed level that they didn’t provide perspective as to where individual pieces were located relative to the rest of the bassinet. This made it difficult when dealing with multiple pieces which appeared very similar...

With the frame assembled I moved on to the final steps of draping the bedding fabric over the frame and securing it with snaps ... I noticed some spots on the fabric that resembled rust or blood. I’m not quite sure what it was, but I didn’t want it anywhere near the baby. At that point we called Simplicity customer service ...

Much to my surprise, they were excellent. The customer service representative was friendly (which is often difficult to find) and incredibly helpful. She immediately remedied our problem by shipping us new section of bedding. There was no arguing, no confrontation required to make our point, the representative was excellent. I have to say this made all the difference in the world to me and my wife. The way they handled the situation not only remedied our gripe, but it gave me a little bit of faith that maybe the goal of child product companies is not in fact to drive parents nuts..."

Last year I found our customer service department trying to leap tall buildings in a single bound by spending a lot of time addressing issues for which there were no easy or practical solutions.  A customer's email request for an order revision simply because she'd changed her mind could take hours of research and technical wand waving in order to override our automated design and ordering system.  Devoting an hour of customer service time to revising an order for a $16 personalized mug, for instance, was costing us more than we made on the sale.  We had similar problems when people would call our toll free number with simple procedural questions.  Every call was initially routed to voice mail; eventually they would all be answered but again our customer service guys spent hours walking customers through transactions they should have been able to conquer on their own with minimal guidance.

This summer I spent four weeks rejiggering our FAQs into a clear, comprehensive and yes, sometimes amusing piece that answered every question that had come in more than once last year.  It was shocking to see how many issues needed to be covered, many of them very simple questions like "How long does it take to design a calendar?"  We'd previously spent a lot of time addressing questions like this, along with some that were much more complicated and really did require personal attention.

Then, I hired an answering service.  What a relief!  The service picks up all calls to FeeFiFoto, any day, any time.  They've been trained to find answers to some of the most common questions we hear, things like "Where's my stuff?" or "What do I do with a broken item?"  If they can't answer a question they notify us by email so we can follow up.  The benefit to having the answering service is that a lot of the simple questions that used to bog us down are being answered expeditiously by a third party so we can focus on more pressing issues.  What's more, our customers feel more secure talking to a real person than leaving a message in the Forest Of No Return that is voice mail.

Another Giveaway, In The Best Of Company

My friend Rachel owns a web site called Funky Frum, from which she markets modest women's clothing that is absolutely fun and beautiful.  Rachel founded Funky Frum a couple years ago after becoming frustrated by the difficulty of finding cute clothes that fit her lifestyle as a modern Orthodox Jewish woman.  Once the site was up and running she discovered a growing demand for chic, modest clothing, and Funky Frum is thriving.  Take a look at some of her latest:

I drool over this one

This one's velvet

 

I love the red

 

I bought this one with pink dots and lining -- it's corduroy

 

This one comes in bunches of colors.  I have one in cocoa that's knee length, and a longer one in putty colored thin-wale corduroy

I love winter white

This one's velour -- so soft.

So anyway, back to the giveaway.  Funky Frum is running a sweepstakes until December 28.  The grand prize is a gift bag worth $1000, and one of the prizes in the gift bag is a Personalized Photo Clutch from FeeFiFoto.

Wordless Wednesday -- This Photo Makes Me Smile

Don't know who took this; click photo to see where I stumbled upon it.

She Flies Through The Air As She Falls Off Her Chair

Remember how you could balance all kinds of stuff on the handles of the umbrella stroller so you wouldn't have to carry your purse or diaper bag or shopping bags while wheeling Mr. or Ms. Precious Toddler through the mall?  And remember how the overburdened and unbalanced stroller would tumble backwards the instant Mr. or Ms. PT bolted for the nearest toy store?  Well, apparently coffee shop chairs are subject to the same gravitational laws as umbrella strollers.  So guess what a coffee shop chair does when you balance your purse on its back and then stand up to plug in your computer?  It tumbles backwards.

So, in short order, do you.  Or in this case, me.

ow ow ow ow ow

I've always depended on the kindness of strangers.  Several people rushed to pick me up and dust me off.  With what paltry dignity I could muster I assured all witnesses that I was perfectly fine, as I plunked myself gingerly deposited myself in my chair and turned to my computer as if my life depended on it and my tailbone were not throbbing so violently that I could almost hear it.

That was four days ago.  Standing, sitting, walking, bending, lying down:  ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.  Sneezing: OUCH.

How do football players do it?

You Win!

The winner of the Thanksgiving Slip-And-Fall Story Mug Giveaway is Amy Moore.  Congratulations, Amy.  You'll be designing your own photo mug from FeeFiFoto.  Please email me or leave a comment on the blog so I can send you instructions.

Since I had only two entries to the Fame Contest, Pinky and Kailani both win.  Send me the photos you'd like posted and Pinky's will appear on a Photo Teddy Bear, while Kailani's will appear on a Cartoon Character Plate.  Make sure to tell me which Bear and which Plate you like best.

Congratulations to all of you and thanks to everyone who visited and entered.

Thursday Thirteen -- Thirteen Reasons I'm Thankful For You

Thirteen Things I Like About You:

1. You're a good listener.
2. You always take my calls, no matter how inconvenient.
3. You care about my kids almost as much as I do.
4. You're not afraid to use good grammar.  You'd never say anything as mind curdling as "Just between you and I".
5. You recycle.
6. You remember my birthday.
7. You're a polite and thoughtful driver.
8. You know the definition of "triskadecaphobia".
9. You're never late.
10. You give to charity.
11. You laugh at my jokes.
12. You read intelligently.
13. You never presume that you know what would make me happy.

BTW: The picture at the top of this post has nothing to do with anything but I thought it was funny.

Avoiding Lines By Going Online

Laura Spencer at Work From Home Momma has answered one of our burning questions so we don't have to look any futher:

"...Online shopping  has been around for many years....But, what is Cyber Monday? When is Cyber Monday?

According to the Wikipedia, Cyber Monday is the Monday after Black Friday when many online retailers run special deals. The term was invented in 2005 by shop.org, which has set up an entire Cyber Monday site....

...

In a way, Cyber Monday is like part two of Black Friday, but without the crowds.

In fact, many people prefer online shopping to the physical challenge posed by crowded retail centers. With gas prices climbing ever higher, it's cheaper to simply walk to your computer and pull out the keyboard than it is to drive to the nearest mall...."

When I was in college I'd come home for Thanksgiving and hit the malls.  I'd shop all day, every day, until it was time to go back to school.  I remember hearing traffic helicopters reporting on the radio about parking lot conditions at different shopping centers.  Amazing.  It was amazing how chaotic the stores and malls were, and it was amazing that it didn't appear to affect me.  I parked my car at the farthest reaches of the lot.  I shlepped bags and made repeated trips to the car to unload.  I waited in line for coat check, for assistance, for lunch.

But then I grew up, and discovered that there were more important things to do than waiting in interminable lines to be shoved by other shoppers and treated dismissively by temporary holiday season employees.  This insight really hit home the year my niece turned ten, when I thought it would be really cool to give her ten small gifts instead of one large one, so I cruised the malls for two days looking for nail polish, notepads, socks, a calendar, and a bunch of other things.  Easy, you say?  Try doing that in December, eight and a half months pregnant, nauseated twenty hours a day.  Not such a pretty picture now, is it?

That year I recognized that maybe hitting the malls during the holidays was not my destiny, and began gift shopping almost exclusively online.

What a relief.

My car stays parked in my garage.  Lunch comes from my refrigerator, whenever I want.  I carry packages into the house once they've been delivered.  I can find anything I need, comparison shopping without having even to pick up the phone.  The computer's always (okay, mostly) friendly, never cranky, or short-tempered or rude.

More and more people are covering their holiday shopping online, and if you're reading this, you're probably one of them.

I suppose if I really want to see Christmas cheer I can hang out with the Yule Log video.

Wordless Wednesday -- Where Do The Orthotics Go?

 

Tackle It Tuesday: Bragfest

I have to brag on what Robespierre did this weekend.  My sweet ten-year-old boy earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Doe on Saturday, in a test that lasted from 1:30 to 5:30 pm.  In the three years he's been taking TKD classes he's whizzed up the ladder at the fastest possible pace, advancing to the next belt level almost as soon as he's taken the minimum number of classes for that belt.  He has a natural ability to see the move once and repeat it almost perfectly, and he showed his talent (which he most assuredly did not get from me) as he tested with 17 other candidates.

I don't have any pictures yet from the event.  Usually I film his tests, contending in frustration with the interference of audience members walking in front of my lens.  Since the day Cleo dropped and broke my camera during one of the karate tests I don't even try to take pictures; I depend on my dad to take care of those.  Thus we both spend the entire time behind cameras instead of enjoying Robey's performance.

This time I got smart: I hired a photographer and a videographer.  Once the videographer finishes editing six hours of tape into about 45 minutes, he'll sell copies to other parents, which will help defray some of my cost.  And once the photographer uploads the pictures into an album on FeeFiFoto, I'll invite the other parents and participants to visit the site, where they'll be able to purchase prints and gift items with their photos on them.

I'm so proud of my boy!

Gotta Love Cookies

Remember the juvenile joke about "ABC" gum, which turned out to be gum that had "Already Been Chewed"?  Hold on to your hats (and heads, arms and legs) for ABC Cookie Cutters.  I found them on Aimee's Blog.  These are not your average, everyday cookie cutter Cookie Cutters.

Now this is the kind of object that dovetails perfectly with my family's warped sense of humor.  The good thing is that we all get each others' jokes.  The bad thing is that nobody else gets it.  I could visualize going to all the trouble of making these hilarious little men, packing them up as teacher or Secret Santa gifts, and sensing bewilderment at the sight of half-eaten treats.

To ease their confusion, pack the cookies in personalized tins or even a cookie jar.

How do I find these things?  I don't know -- combine an attention deficit with a boredom overload, mix well in a laptop, and who knows what you'll discover? 

The Best Kind Of Seed Money

See this man?  His name is Catalino Tapia.  He's a 63-year-old gardener.  He lives in Redwood City, CA and works maintaining trees and gardens in San Francisco.

He's also a philanthropist.  Read about him here:

"Catalino Tapia [came] from Mexico ... 40 years ago with a sixth-grade education and only $6 ... He became a legal resident and raised a family by working in a donut shop, a machine shop and then plant nurseries, before starting his own gardening business...

Tapia ... always had his eyes on the future…Even before his first child was born ... he was saving money for them to go to school.

Tapia's youngest son attended UCLA and then ... the University of California - Berkeley Law School. He's now a lawyer in Los Angeles...

Tapia wanted to do something to help the less-fortunate children in his community ... His son suggested Tapia start a foundation that would give scholarships to students ...

Tapia sent letters to his clients asking for donations ... [H]e raised $10,000 in two weeks. And the donations kept coming in, with $75,000 raised so far ...

[W]ith seed money from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and donations from his clients, the Bay Area Gardeners Foundation began giving scholarships in 2006, starting with five students. The scholarships themselves are like seed money, $1,500 each ...

The Gardeners Foundation ... does not ask if a student is documented. Four out of its nine scholarship recipients are undocumented. The foundation nearly doubled the number of scholarships this year ... "

   

I heard this story on NPR this morning; it's also been covered by the San Francisco Chronicle.

People like Catalino Tapia have my undying admiration.  Instead of focusing on getting a bigger big screen TV than the neighbors, he helps send kids to school.

To get in touch with the Bay Area Gardener's Foundation, email: catalinotapia@sbcglobal.net

Moving Up In The World

I don't know how it happened and I don't know what it means, but my Technorati authority has climbed from 24, when I first started paying attention a couple weeks ago, aalllll the way up to 30.  Whoa.  Dunno what it means but it just feeels impressive, don'tcha think?

Only three more days until I choose winners in both my giveaways.  Tell me your favorite slip-and-fall Thanksgiving story and I might send you a personalized photo mug from FeeFiFoto.  Visit FeeFiFoto and tell me which gift item you like best and you could have a photo of your child, pet, grandchildren, best friend, cactus plant, whatever, used in a landing page graphic on the site.

The Right Gift For The Right Recipient

Take a look at this beautifully written and illustrated post by Joslyn Taylor, guest-posting at Design Mom:

"For the past few weeks there’s been a common refrain across the blogosphere alongside any holiday gift-related post…”I know it’s early, but…” Well the gift guides have come out in full force, and ... I spent some time thinking about what makes a gift meaningful.... I firmly believe that something handmade or passed on is infinitely more exciting to give and receive than something store bought... But, despite all my best intentions, I still end up buying a slew of gifts each year online."

I love giving gifts.  Let me repeat that with appropriate emphasis.  I LOOOOVE giving gifts.  And, I'm darn good at it.  I'm a gifted gift giver.

It's funny: Cleo asked me last week what have been some of the all time best gifts I've ever received, and I could think of exactly one: a Waterford crystal lamp from my sister Curley.  I remembered it because it was personal. 

That is the key to gift giving:  know your recipient. Remember the commercial where someone gives his bald boss a blow dryer?  That's my point.

When I got married, in a previous life, we received one of the dumbest gifts I've ever seen, and if I'm about to insult someone out there because you have the same thing and think it's the first object you'd save if the house caught fire, I am truly sorry and please respect my taste as I would respect yours, no matter how stupid.  Somebody, on his side of course, thought we needed a four foot tall cooler shaped like a beer can with a famous brewer's logo which I shall not mention, except to say that the company has something in common with the current president of the US.  Except for a glass of wine about twice a month, I don't drink, and I certainly don't drink beer. And maybe the givers really did think we'd love it.  Or maybe they had it lying around in their basement and foisted it off on us.  Or maybe... maybe they didn't even consider what we might like. 

I always, ALWAYS search for gifts that I think the recipient will like.  I never send fattening food to people who might be dieting.  I listen when friends and relatives comment offhandedly about what they like, or could use, or wish they had.  I've rendered many people speechless with my gifts, and that brings me way more pleasure than receiving anything.

A few years ago Curley and I were reminiscing about some of the long lost objects we remembered from growing up.  One was a pink porcelain spaghetti poodle with a rhinestone collar that every mom had on her dresser in the Fifties and Sixties. Another was a coffee table book about animals from Reader's Digest books.

I spent the next week on eBay researching spaghetti poodles, which is why I now know what they're called, because I found tons of them and bought one in perfect condition exactly like the one our mom had.  I also racked my brain to come up with the name of the book, free associating keywords until one evening, there it was, in pristine condition with the dust cover.  I bought two of those, one for each of us; I didn't need to buy two poodles because I still have our grandmother's, which was identical to our mother's.  Curley's in-laws scratched their heads when she opened my gifts, but she knew.

A bunch of years ago, after the birth of Cleo, the last grandchild, Curley and I needlepointed a belt for our father with each of the kids' names.  The block letters appear in a pattern of four overlapping colors, and if you didn't know to look for names you'd think you were just seeing an abstract pattern.  Our father wears that belt almost every day.  It, and so many other personalized gifts we've made or arranged, are among his most prized possessions.  And whenever I see him wearing it, I feel happy. 

Giving is way more fun.

Although I wouldn't refuse a tomato red Porsche.

Even If I Were Allowed To Use Words, I Could Never Come Up With The Right Words For These

Thanks to Plaid Stallions for reminding us things could be worse:

 

 

 

 

Remember to enter both of my contests, which end on November 21st:  this one and this one.

Mine, All Mine

I win again!  This time I entered a giveaway at Casual Keystrokes and won two hair clips from Oopsie Dazey.  Look at how adorable they are: regular old fashioned gator clips like the ones my mom used when she wrapped toilet paper around her beehive at night to maintain its shape.  Sorry Mom.  But these are much cuter – they’re decorated with your choice of fabric ribbon, for a preppy look, or a funky look, or a girly look.  Take a look at Oopsie Dazey. 

Wonder where I can hide these so Cleo doesn’t abscond with them…

Remember to enter both of my contests, which end on November 21st:  this one and this one.

Stuffin'

I learned something about holiday shopping from What I Learned Today:

"RitzCamera has a one day deal where you can get 3 1GB Flash Drives for $29.99 (plus $6.95 s/h). Sounds like a neat stocking stuff idea for those geeks in your family … or maybe just for anyone in your family"

Aren't they great?  I have to have all my small electronics in bright colors because I lose everything.  Do you know how hard it is to find a black cell phone between the seats of your car, especially if the phone's set to vibrate?  True story:  my sister and brother-in-law spent four hours one day last summer searching for his cell phone, on vibrate, that had fallen out of his pocket on the golf course.  I have a pink camera, hot pink phone, and red leather cover on my PDA.  I insist on red cars so I can find them in parking lots.  I'd love one of these flash drives.

While you're shopping for the family geeks, throw in a personalized photo mouse pad.

Remember to enter both of my contests, which end on November 21st:  this one and this one.

A Contest Unlike Anything You've Ever Seen

You've seen contests to win beauty supplies.  You've seen contests to win baby supplies.  You've seen contests to win computer supplies. 

Now for something completely different:

Enter this contest to win FAME.

The winner of this contest will have one favorite photograph incorporated into a landing page on FeeFiFoto.  Just visit FeeFiFoto, cruise around as long as you like, then come back here and leave me a comment about which item you'd like to see your photo on.  (Okay, I know that was ungrammatical, but sometimes you just have to use a preposition to end a sentence with.  Oh no!  I did it again!) 

Anyway.

I'll draw one name at random on November 21st.  Once the winner has emailed the photo to me, I'll put it on a graphic on FeeFiFoto.  You can feature family, pets, kids' artwork or artistic shots -- your choice.  A black and white photo of your house on a porcelain plate would be lovely.

Once your photo is up on the site, far-flung friends and family can tune in and shout to each other: "Honey!  Come here and look!  Little Billy / Sandy / Fluffy / Pizza Face is in an advertisement!  Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!"

Want to see your kids on a watch?  Choose to put your photo on this:

Know someone who lives for sports? Put a favorite photo on a volleyball, bowling ball or lacrosse ball. We also have baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, golf balls and lots more.

See your favorite faces featured on beautiful porcelain Christmas ornaments:

We have lots of new puzzles:

Any.  Where.  You.  Choose.  Visit FeeFiFoto and tell me what you where you want to see your picture.  It's all about YOU.

A few simple guidelines:

Please furnish your email address so I can get in touch with you as soon as you win; this way, your photo can be up on the site within a couple of days

The photo submitted to me by the winner must be G-rated.

Monday Motor-Vation

Charlene at Casual Keystrokes has turned me on to Monday Motivation:

"We are all creatures of habit and while it takes a few weeks for a new habit to be formed, Monday Motivation is a good one to invest in!! ...

A few months ago, my pal Wendy at eMoms at Home, posted her first Monday Motivation list and challenged us all to join her... I am so glad I did. By laying out a plan at the beginning of the week (and posting it here to keep my self on track) has really helped me achieve some of my goals and has made me much more productive.

So, how about you? What will you accomplish today? This week? What good habit will you establish? Share it in the comments, or be bold and put it on your own site for all the world to read."

What a remarkably refreshing idea: plan my day's activities instead of merely reassessing the day while trying to fall asleep, struggling to determine if I've actually achieved anything in the preceding 24 hours.

Here's my goal for today:

Follow the plan my sister and I devised for driving our kids around town.  Ta Da!!

What's that you say?  What's so special or challenging about driving kids?  Allow me to offer some details:

Robespierre was scheduled to spend the morning at a middle school out near where we live.  He and his sister attend an elementary school in the city, farther from where we live; it just so happens that my sister teaches French at their school.  Her kids attend a high school not too far from where we live.  Robey had to be at his appointment by 7:45; Cleo had to be at school by 8:00.

Cleo slept at my sister's house so sis could drive her to school, after dropping off her own kids, while I drove Robey where he needed to be.  When he was finished I drove him into the city and dropped him off; then I drove out into the far-flung county to meet with my web site guys.

Wait, I'm not finished.

My sister has to be back at school at 3:30, which happens to be dismissal time, for a flu shot, so she suggested that she pick up my kids, and I would pick up hers, take one to the library and the other home, while she dropped Cleo off at choir practice, up the street from our house.

Hold on -- still going.

Cleo's classmate's mom called to see if I could pick up her son after school because he and Cleo sing in the same choir.  I told her my sister was doing the driving but she wouldn't mind, since she knows him, having taught French to his older brother last year.  Meanwhile, one of my nephews is at home today catching up on homework, so I have to pick up his brother at school, take him home, trade for the other, who needs to go to the library, and then meet my sister either at her house or my house or somewhere in the middle to claim Robey, who won't be dropped off at choir practice, but may need to go to tae kwon doe.

See?  And they said women would never be able to run a country.

Remember to enter both of my contests, which end on November 21st:  this one and this one.

Let's Talk About Thanksgiving (Giveaway)

From The New Yorker, of course. ^^^^

All Americans invest our national day of Thanksgiving with personal significance.  For some it's the excitement of eating foods reserved just for this holiday.  Why not have pumpkin pie in August?  I don't know -- I guess it would be as out of place as wearing a Christmas sweater in July.  Personally, I enjoy frozen cranberries in my smoothies all year round. 

Where was I?  Oh yeah.