Thursday, October 14, 2010

Road Runner Sports Is a Class Act

Since I've been spending a lot more time running lately, I've made a couple of purchases from some specialized stores.  One of them is Road Runner Sports, out of California.  They specialize in gear and clothing for runners.  I was initially disappointed to discover that they didn't offer shipping via Priority Mail (USPS), since that's about the only method that works worth a damn for overseas military.  I decided that the wait couldn't possibly be too terribly long with UPS, only to find out that it really can be.


I made a purchase from Road Runner in August, and it still isn't here.  I contacted the folks at Road Runner Sports and let them know that I haven't received my order.  I also suggested that they offer Priority Mail as an option in the future, since they undoubtedly have more than a few overseas military customers.  I received an immediate response to my email informing me that they were sending me a free replacement order via Priority Mail, and apologizing for the slow shipping.  Wow!  Finally, a company that stands behind their products and provides top-shelf customer service!  That seems to be a rarity these days.


I think that in the future, I'll simply phone in my order and ask for Priority Mail shipping (if they don't begin offering it on their website).  Either way, it's a pleasant surprise to come across a company that truly values their customers, and goes out of their way to show it.  I believe that they've just earned a repeat customer.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Week in Review October 2nd

This past week was pretty routine, but I need to remind myself that what I find routine, others may (for some strange reason) find interesting.  I think it's, perhaps, because I'm a little strange that others may find my goings on interesting.  In the past, people would politely refer to that sort of strangeness as being "eccentric."  Oh well, such is life.

I'm currently training for a half marathon that I will run later this month.  I know I could go out and run the 13.1 miles, but I also know that if I train for it, I'll do much better and not find it unpleasant.  I'm enjoying spending more hours on the road, since I find running to be one of the most peaceful things that I can possibly do.  When I'm running, my phone will not ring, nobody will walk into my office to ask a stupid question, no idiot driver will pull out in front of my vehicle, etc.  With Fridays being my "long run day," I put another 12 miles on my running shoes to start the last workday of the week.

I finished reading a book titled Tai-Pan, by James Clavell.  I highly recommend it.  Clavell is the author of Shogun, which was wildly popular in the past, and is still a great read. Tai-Pan is based on the history of Hong Kong, and the settlement there of English traders and colonists.   I read Shogun some while back, and wanted to read Clavell's other works.  The amount of research that he did for his novels is impressive.


My son went to his school's homecoming game last night, and he's heading to the dance tonight.  I know that at least one of my occasional readers also lists Kubasaki High School as their alma mater. I wonder how much it has changed since then. 

After dropping our son off at the dance, my wife, daughter and I are going to dinner at a place called Sauce Live.  We've sampled the food there before and find it quite tasty.  Good barbecue with some Southern sides makes for a pleasant meal.  

The above picture is unrelated, but I thought it was amusing, albeit a little sad.  How was your week?