Well, dear readers, those of you who have read yesterday’s posts know about the wonderful customer service I received at one of my two Public Storage spaces – the one in North Hollywood. We arrived to get the music for the next Gardenia show. As we lifted out the two boxes sitting on the floor nearest the door the helper noticed that the wooden floor was wet as were the bottom of the boxes (not wet now, but clearly still a little damp). Luckily, the box we needed wasn’t on the floor. And then we noticed the entire wall of boxes that had become completely tilted (against the wall on the other side – luckily they all stayed stacked, sort of), because the bottom box had presumably collapsed. The helper went down to get the guy from the office while I pulled the charts. They came back and I was sorry to see that it was not the guy who runs the facility but his employee who, in a previous problem, had already proven himself to be a first-class jerk. Well, he topped himself and he kept topping himself until I went to the BK place that no one ever wants to see – and I lit into him like nobody’s business. You see, he’d looked at the wetness on the floor and basically said, “Yeah? What do you want me to do about it?” as if the wetness were somehow OUR fault. We nicely told him that since we only keep paper in the facility that the wetness could not possibly be OUR fault and that the fault was clearly some sort of leak somewhere. He replied that he couldn’t see where a leak could have come from. I suggested to him that that was irrelevant, since there was wetness on the floor, which could only mean that water somehow got into my space. He began to get loud and nasty – then my helper, who is the most even-keeled person ever got really angry, and then I, BK, went to the place that no one ever wants to see – because I can be louder, nastier, and angrier than any human being on Earth. He then accused me of threatening him, despite the fact that I had issued no threat whatsoever. The helper confirmed that, as well. He kept yelling for us to call the corporate office – I asked him where his boss was – on vacation for the weekend. I then insisted that the helper go with him to call the district manager, a nice fellow I’d dealt with before. They left, while I closed up the space.
By the time I got down to the office, I found out that the call had been made, and the helper had begun to explain, but the district manager was getting lousy cell signal and they lost the call. The good news was that while the call was happening, the employee kept yelling at the helper and the district manager heard it all – in fact, as soon as he heard it (and just before the call was dropped), he’d already gotten in his car to head over to the location. We did not, however, know that, so we left the premises and started driving back home – before we got there, the helper got the manager back on the phone – he told us he was at the property, so we turned around and went back.
We took him up to the space, told him every single thing the employee had said and what his attitude had been and that he’d accused me of threatening him – I explained to the manager that a threat would be “I’m now going to kill you, you disgusting piece of dog snot.” He saw the wetness, acknowledged that there had to have been a leak or the rain had somehow gotten in, told us if anything was damaged that our insurance would cover it, and agreed to give us a new space until they could figure it out. He asked if I could hire a couple of people to move the stuff and he would credit me this month’s rent (which I thankfully hadn’t paid – I had the check with me). I told him fine, but that I really thought that the employee had to go – I’m sure we’re not the only ones he’s done this to. I’ll be talking to the site manager and the corporate office about it on Monday, because I will not talk to that person again, which is not good if I’m paying for a storage space and am unable to report problems or have them solved. So, I think my days at this space are numbered unless I am assured this will never happen again. I’m not always of the opinion that the customer is always right – there can be some really jerky customers, but we weren’t jerky and we were in the right and just wanted something done – and not to be yelled at and have it seem like something was our fault that clearly we had nothing to do with.
So, we’re meeting there at nine-thirty this morning and the helper is bringing two more helpers to do the move, which I’m hoping will go quickly. We may have to get a new access code to the gates, too, but we’ll get it all squared away.
After that, I was in both a foul and fowl mood, so to satisfy the fowl half, I went and had a bowl of chicken soup, along with a small pastrami sandwich and some fries. How come fowl and bowl don’t rhyme? Just asking. I then picked up no mail (and no important envelope) and no packages, most annoying. And then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, a wonderful film directed by John Huston, starring Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston, and Tim Holt. It’s a classic film, filled with memorable dialogue and brilliant performances. The transfer is really terrific. I’d read that it was better than The Maltese Falcon, but, in fact, I found the opposite to be true – I’d give the edge to Falcon, but they both look splendid.
After that, I got some very good news – another Kritzerland Holy Grail is coming – I’ve been after this score for two years and it’s mine all mine. Cannot wait!
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m going to try and get these here notes posted early so I can get a good night’s sleep before she of the Evil Eye arrives both bright and early and early and bright.
Today, I’ll be moseying on over to the storage facility, and we’ll be moving a LOT of boxes, some of which are all the way in the back and I’ll be going through all those, as I haven’t been able to get to them since 2001 – I want to throw out anything I don’t really need and I’m sure I’ll find some interesting things. If we finish that by noon, then I’ll probably mosey on over to The Hollywood Show, just to hang out for an hour or two. And since I’ll be in the nabe, I may stop at Dino’s Pizza for a small pepperoni. We shall see. Then I’ll hopefully pick up an important envelope and some packages. Not sure what’s happening after that.
Tomorrow, I’m seeing The Social Network, and maybe having dinner with some friends. We shall see. The coming week is super busy – have to write yet more liner notes, prep two releases (one of which has an approval process that will probably take a couple of weeks), do an interview, a signing, and also work with the musical director of next month’s Gardenia show. I still have three people to cast and I’ve got to get on that right away.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, move storage spaces, maybe go to The Hollywood Show, maybe do a jog, hopefully pick up an important envelope and some packages, and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Pizza, baby! We’ve done it before, yes, but one simply cannot have enough pizza talk. So, what is the absolute best pizza you’ve ever had – where was it, when was it, what made it great, and what was on it? What is the worst? And what is the most exotic? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I try to get a good night’s sleep and not dream of bad customer service.