Sea Devils

As regular readers (and my wife!) of this blog know poor customer service is one of my major pet peeves so let me open today's posting with a shining example of EXCELLENT customer service. Due to my credit card company's fraud management policies and high gas prices my credit card was not allowed to charge beyond US$50.00 at a SuperAmerica yesterday when I filled my gas tank. Okay, no worries. However, today I stopped at the Kwik Trip near my home to get their US$6.00 car wash but my credit card was declined at the car wash auto teller even though 5 minutes earlier I used this card at my dry cleaner. So I walked into Kwik Trip to pay cash for the car wash mentioning to the manager that my card was declined due to fraud control so the manager gave me a free car wash -- the ULTIMATE version not their BASIC car wash -- for my trouble.

Now that is damn good customer service that will be rewarded with frequent future visits to Kwik Trip (http://www.kwiktrip.com/)!!

So in the game of convenience stores Kwik Trip is truly a champion from my perspective. Speaking of champions I am ashamed to admit I missed this but last Saturday the NFL Europa championship game ("World Bowl") was played ("NFL" = National Football league -- American style football my European friends, not "soccer").

The Hamburg Sea Devils defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy by a final score of 37 to 28 to win their first World Bowl. Congratulations Sea Devils!!! ( http://www.hamburg-seadevils.de/) Since both of my parents' families emigrated from the Hamburg, Germany region for the promise of inexpensive farmland in the USA I consider myself a fan of the Hamburg Sea Devils -- despite the fact that the smaller city of Flensburg is on the seacoast not Hamburg. If you love the idea of touring through acres and acres of strawberry fields and strolling along the harbour in Flensburg this region should be on your short list of destinations. Having toured our ancestral villages in the region I offer wonder why my ancestors left so I always blame it on the political turmoil in Germany at the time while the German nation-state was being formed.

Fortunately American football is being played on their fields today versus soldiers marching to conquer their neighbors.

Play Football Not War,

Todd