Not the relaxing and restful weekend I had hoped for

After a long business and personal trip out to NY, I came home looking forward to an easy weekend and a little R&R before heading out early Monday morning for Bend, OR on business. It was not to be... I mean, I can't say it was horrible but it did nothing to reduce my stress level by anything but a modicum of intensity.

Still on east coast time, I wasn't bursting with energy when TGIF time came around and as a result, after a very busy day, it was all about the pillow. Of course I woke up early Saturday as I stated in my earlier entry.

After our coffee I still had a little work to do to prepare for next week so I was determined to get it done early so I could focus on absolutely nothing for 1.5 days. I was, however, excited to find the Fed-Ex Kinkos web site www.fedex.kinkos.com for servicing all printing needs without the need to go to the store.

You can simply download the software, it adds a button on your office appliations and when you need to send something to printing simply hit the button and follow the steps. My presentation was a 22 page power point that I needed 14 copies of and it consisted of 22 pages. So I downloaded the software and shazam it was on my office tool bar. I had completed the presentation and was contemplating the drive to the nearest Kinkos when I stumbled across this new (to me) tool while browsing the web to see if any newer and closer Kinkos had opened.

If you haven't seen the outskirts of Vegas, there are new strip malls and stores popping up everywhere to support the incredible growth this town has seen... Down by the strip they refer to it as the "Manhattanization" of Las Vegas. The point being, new stores are constantly being added to our plethora of choices.

Back on point, I sent my presentation and was able to chose paper, color, binding type, covers, etc., pay online and set a pickup time (had to be at least 4 hours from order time). I sent the job off feeling very pleased with myself and wanting to share this new tech with my virtual co-workers. So... I fired off an e-mail about the site with a promise to follow up about delivery and execution.

Just as I had finished the e-mail Sonny called wanting to chow on some Sushi and since I had just completed my work for the weekend I was definitely up for it. We went to Brian's Beach Sushi on Flamingo and Durango. They have a good all you can eat sushi deal at $22 and their menu is very broad including appetizers, sushi, nigiri sushi, hand rolls, sashimi and desserts... all included. So we stuffed our faces until... and you know this is probably why I don't do too many all you can eat things anymore as I am always trying to eat my way into the best bargain possible and it isn't always such a good idea... the iron clad stomach of my adolescence has taken some serious battle damage. Fortunately, I walked away from this challenge relatively unscathed and pretty satisfied. The large Sapporro was tasting really good too.

Since we met there we took our separate cars back home... and I don't know about how many of you out there have this competition with friends, partners or spouses but there is this "the fastest way to get somewhere" competition that exists between me and Sonny. I have to admit I have a slight edge as I am driving a Porsche and she is driving a Ford Explorer but as we all remember from drivers ed..speeding gaines you little time in city traffic. She went Flamingo west and I went Durango north... I drove up to the garage... hit the button... the door rose... and the flash of a Ford bumper greeted me... damn, I lost.

I pulled into the garage making an imaginary tally mark on the scorecard, turned off the ignition and climbed out of the cockpit. What was waiting to greet me?? A gloating Sonny... noooo, much worse than that... imagine this sound "ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss" coming from my back left tire. And not a very slight ssssss sound but the kind of ssssss sound you hear when you put your finger on the plunger in the tire inflation stem to let the air out.

Hmmm Z rated tires... can you say Cha Ching... my wallet was screaming in pain at that moment I think. Wondering why I was taking so long to come inside Sonny came out to the garage only to be assaulted by that same sickening sound. "Uh oh" she said. As an aside... if you need tires or any tire related products... this is where I always go and you can't beat the prices and search engine http://www.tirerack.com/

Back inside to relax and do a little PC gaming before going to see "The Wedding Crashers." The movie was to start at 7:40pm and my presentation was to be ready at 10:00pm so we planned to see the movie and then head over to Kinkos for the pickup. I must say The Wedding Crashers was hilarious. Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, the snappy wit, high speed talking contrasted against Wilson's laid back whining lend to some great laughs. Definitely worth seeing.

After a great time at the movies Sonny and I headed out to pick up the project... at 10:15 arriving at the counter was it done?

No

Did they start it?

No

What was the reason?

System issues

What was the solution?

Now this is where they redeemed themselves somewhat. As you all know a company that is in the business of delivering any type of print media is only as good as their reliability (this including timeliness and quality). Their office manager was very willing to correct the problem and do what was necessary. Of course that required me to go home to pick up my mem stick and physically deliver the file for printing... which I did. He then promised it would be ready by 10:00am the following morning.

This morning I actually slept in a little... getting back into PST. Sonny and Angela were off to do some shopping at a cool vintage clothes store in downtown Las Vegas called The Attic www.atticvintage.com. However, before that could happen it was off to the IHOP for some grub. Below is my breakfast club...

Breakfast which was ok for me was not so ok for others because of a somewhat inept server combined with both Angela and Sonny overcooked steaks didn't start the day off at 100%.

I was now time to test Fed-Ex Kinko's once again by calling at 10:00 to see if they had completed the order... happily their answer was yes.

So I drove over to pick up the job. And sure enough there it was. "Please look over the presentation to make sure it is correct" said the pleasant attendant... I opened the box... it looked great... I turned the page... uh oh the branding bar at the top of each page beyond the first was compacted from about a 3" height to about a 0.5" height... that wasn't in compliance with branding... oops back to the drawing board... convert to PDF, print a test, see what happens. I normally wouldn't post such an uninteresting photo as a copy store in a strip mall but since I will be going back to see them yet again at about 6:00pm while praying they get it right I am going to give my readers (and few there are at this point) the opportunity to see the vision I will have seen 4 times in two days over a single project... I am going to go chill now.
Hmm notice the "FedEx" in prominent colors and the "Kinko's" in an unimpressive grey... matches my experience with them thus far... great delivery of packages and poor delivery of print jobs. Hey that's them calling... wonder if it is done or if there are further problems...