Category Archives: Personal

My husband an I have a regular routine on Saturday mornings.  We get up and out the door by 6:45am to arrive at the Panera Bread when it opens at 7:00am.  This morning; however, the doors were still locked when we arrived.  We, along with about five other people, waited for about 15 minutes and someone finally opened the doors.  After hearing what I just said, you are probably going – “That doesn’t sound like great customer service”.  Where the great customer service comes in is where they said – “your order is on the house”.  In addition to that the gentleman waiting on us had a problem with the bagel slicer and instead of making us wait while he fixed it (or worse, giving us the product of the slicer), he took the time to find a knife and slice our bagels.

The purpose of this post is to give kudos for great customer service.  The gentleman that waited on us was very courteous and apologetic. I work in the IT Department of a major long term care provider and we are always being told that we need to provide great customer service to anyone we are doing work for.  The IT industry and the food industry are two different beasts, but customer service is the commonality between all industries.

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We vacationed in Philadelphia this year because we were in the mood for some good ole American History. We bought a City Pass for $49 (each) and had access to several major city attractions. They included The Natural Science Museum, The Constitution Center, The Franknlin Institute and The Philadelphia Zoo.

The hotel we stayed at was ok. It is named Club Quarters and is in the middle of downtown, so it was easier to get to the trolley, but the room we had was right on the alley and there was a lot of noise at 2AM when the dumpsters were being emptied. Their wi-fi was not usable in the room and very limited in the lobby area. It is a very old hotel, so the architecture is beautiful.

Day 1
We visited some of the free attractions including the Liberty Bell and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We also visited a Belgian Bar that we really enjoyed. It is called the Eulogy Belgian Tavern. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the fact that is a very old tavern and Bob enjoyed the Belgian beer.

Day 2
We were exposed to the most American History on a walking tour of Independence Hall. The tour showed us where the Declaration of Independence was signed as well as the story behind it. We also visited the Museum of Natural Science.

Day 3
On this day we took the Big Bus Tour of Philadelphia. This was the most fun to me. It was a 90-minute tour on top of a double decker bus as the guide explains the history and the sites. Some of the sites included Betsy Ross’ house and Eastern State Penitentary. We stopped and went through the Philadelphia Zoo and was able to see some tiger cubs in the Tiger exhibit.

Day 4 
We visited the Franklin Institute and then hopped back on the trolley and stopped for lunch at the Reading Terminal Market. I really enjoyed the market because there were so many walks of life in one spot. It was fun just to sit and watch the people. We saw a lot of the Pennsylvania Dutch in the market too.

All in all, it was a fun trip through history and a great vacation. I also learned that there is a food group that I did not know about. It is called CheeseSteak.

The pictures that I took of our vacation can be found HERE.

My husband was in the Pearland Post Office the other day and began talking to a group of people sending out care packages to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. They told him about a Memorial Fence located in Angleton, TX. We decided to visit the Memorial Fence yesterday and I was astounded at how many memorials there were.

View the rest of my photos HERE.

The Memoral Fence is sponsored by the Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County.

View photos from the Military Moms and Wives of Brazoria County HERE.

God Bless our Soldiers.

My name is Rhonda Tipton. I have been a Developer/Analyst with Sava Senior Care since 01/2003. I have been programming since 1993. Everything from FoxPro to SQL Server to .NET.  This is where I will write about Programming, Productivity, Astronomy and other random subjects.  I will also keep updated posts on the tools I use, the podcasts I listen to and the Houston Area User Groups I attend.

I live in Houston with my husband, dog and cat. My husband owns a woodworking business called WoodenArtwork. He does a lot of custom wood items as well as laser engraving on wood, plastic and coated metal.

I enjoy going to the park and the movies. I also enjoy reading blogs (100+ subscriptions), watching addictive TV shows, looking at the night sky through my telescope, hiking, cycling and baseball (Go Astros!!!).

Contact Information
E-mail: rtipton12 [at] gmail [dot] com
The Contact form and Guestbook on my Website can also be used to contact me.

My husband and I decided to take a day trip yesterday morning. Our target destination was the Magnolia/Hempstead area. We decided to take the long Highway 6 route around Houston and stopped in at a really cool little coffee shop call the Bad Ass Coffee Company. I am one of those who likes to sit in coffee shops to read, work on my laptop and watch people, so this place was a real treat. Not only do they have they greatest name, they have really nice employees and patrons.

After the coffee shop it was back on the road. We hit 290 and pretty much stopped in our tracks in traffic. I saw an exit sign for Hockley and remembered that I have a couple of cousins that live in the area (that I have not seen for some time), so I decided to call my cousin Vicky. We spent about a half hour at Vicky’s vistiting with her and her family. She has a fifteen year old named Clayton – boy it’s been a while since I’ve seen him. They have a lot of nice land and it is so quiet out there. They also have this really cool three-legged cat named Tripod.

After that we followed Vicky to my cousin Stevie’s house in Magnolia and we spent the remainder of the day there. We were able to visit with My cousins Vicky, Steve, Debbie (Steve’s wife) and their youngest son AJ. I breifly met Steve’s daughter Kellen as well. They also had several neat cats and a Chocolate Labrador puppy named Marley. He was the cutest thing…reminded me of my Jake when we first brought him home.

I had a really good time talking with my cousins about things such as family and music. I did not know this, but my cousin Steve has a huge music library that includes everything from The Hollies to Staind and we had a great time listening to the random tunes and guessing who they were. I also found out that Steve’s son AJ plays in a local band called 4-Alarm. He played an EP for me and I totally love it. They sound like a mixture of Tool and Black Sabbath.

Anyway, it just goes to show how one phone call can bring long lost family together.

Previous post

I spoke to my Aunt Juanita yesterday morning. She informed me that my cousin Randy had been in the hospital for a few days and the treatments they were giving him were not working. The doctors now say they can do no more and he understandably wants to go home. They are going to have hospice come in and make him as comfortable as possible.

I am not a religious person by any means. Heck I’ve never even been to church except for the occasional visit with a friend earlier in life. However, I do really believe there is an all-seeing God. What I do question from time to time is God’s plan. I do not understand why he plagues us with terrible sicknesses, but then again I have read that he also creates miracles.

Aunt Juanita said “Maybe once we get him home and off of all of the medications, God will just heal him.” — I am really praying for Randy and his family.

Clockwise: Brent, Sandra, Randy,
Travis, Gary

I took this picture at a family reunion in 2001. It is the latest picture I have of Randy and his family.

God Bless Randy and everyone around him.

Updated 11/15/2006: Randy left us this morning around 9:30 AM. He will be missed by everyone who knew him. I love you Randy.

“Randy” – written by Randy’s Mom

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Yesterday, we attended the Houston 2006 Veteran’s Day Parade. It had a great turnout compared to previous years. All sorts of people came out to support our veterans. There was even a very well behaved dog that I just could not resist taking a picture of.

It was especially moving as the mothers of soldiers in Iraq made their way down the parade route.

It was nice to see all the support for our current soldiers as well as the ones from the past.

God Bless America!!!

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Morgan Trapp, the daughter of a co-worker, lost her battle with leukemia this past Saturday at the age of nine.   Morgan was diagnosed at the age of six with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

My sympathies go out to Meghann Trapp and the rest of her family for their loss.  God Bless.

[-Related Links-]
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

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My cousin Randy was diagnosed with cancer in his kidneys about 3-4 months ago. He has been going back and fourth to MD Anderson for tests and treatment. Recently, he was told that he has 6 months to live.

This news has hit me hard as I spent a lot of my teenage years babysitting his boys. I know his wife Sandra and his sons Gary, Travis and Brent are going through a very tough and trying time. They are all in my prayers.

My dad and I went to visit Randy last Sunday. I told him that I loved him before I left. It is always understood or implied that you love your family even if you do not say it all the time. I think that is the first time I have ever come out and told him that I loved him. It makes me realize, that you should not wait for a major event to happen to tell someone you love them.

God bless Randy and his family.

I am wearing my San Diego t-shirt to work today as it is casual Friday.

Anyone that runs across this blog entry will probably say “…and” or “so”. The reason I mention this particular t-shirt is that I purchased it while I was at a DevCon in San Diego which spanned the days of September 10th, 11th and 12th — 2001. It is my way of remembering the horrific events that took place on 9/11/2001.

I remember putting a call into my co-worker who was at my office in Houston and hearing the words “I heard a plane just crashed into one of the WTC buildings…you might want to turn on the news before you go to the conference.” I remember my heart sinking as I turned the TV on just in time to see the second tower being struck. The rest of the conference consisted of most of the attendees standing around the TV’s, that had been placed in various places in the hotel, watching the events unfold.

9/11 is one of those terrible events in which you will never forget where you were when it happened.

[- Related Links -]
September 11 News
The September 11 Digital Archive