Category Archives: thoughts tips and tales

Rant #1: Bad Customer Service Epidemic

I’ve often been annoyed and amazed at the following situation (and similar instances at other retail establishments): You approach a fast-food restaurant drive-through (other than Chik-fil-A; their employees really are polite). The employee says, “Welcome to XX (their establishment)” or … Continue reading

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Books I’ve Read and Enjoyed in 2014

I absolutely love to read, and have also been taking a photo every day for more than four years to capture images of people, events and things in my life as part of the 365 Project. So it seemed a natural … Continue reading

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Good Year-Around Gift-Giving Advice

  When I was in my early 20s and at my first real job, I wanted to buy a Christmas gift for my boss. She was a classy, conservative older woman.

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Returning to Work after Vacation to an Empty Mailbox

How would you like to return from vacation to an empty mailbox at work? It sometimes takes me an entire week after my return to go through all my accumulated email messages — and by about noon the first day back, … Continue reading

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Dumb Mistakes — Part 2

My previous blog post — Unforgettable for All the Wrong Reasons — described some of my most glaring mistakes — away from work. However, upon further reflection, I realize I’ve made some blunders in the proximity of work, too. 1) … Continue reading

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Celebrating 5,000+ Blog Hits in the First Three Months

Thanks for joining me today to celebrate exceeding 5,000+ blog hits on Thoughts, Tips and Tales in the first three months! I truly appreciate everyone who’s visited the site, read posts, left comments and “liked” specific messages. Personal blogging is … Continue reading

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Cool Graphics Tool for Bloggers and Others

Came across a great graphics website today. You know the “Keep Calm and Carry on” signs that you see on Pinterest and everywhere? And the takeoffs on them? (“Keep Calm and Kayak On,” etc.) You can create your own unique … Continue reading

Posted in blogging, graphics, thoughts tips and tales | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

Thrift Store Treasures #1

Thought I’d start a regular feature about the great things I find at thrift stores – starting with today’s treasures. For $17.09, I got the following items at Goodwill: 1) Two, brand new-in-the-original-package round silver towel bars (to replace the … Continue reading

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Charleston Area Bloggers Meeting Thurs., Aug. 21

If you live in the Charleston, S.C., area and want to get together to share tips and network with other area bloggers, please plan to attend the kickoff Charleston-Area Bloggers meeting Thurs., Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. at Publix cafe in … Continue reading

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Ten Unique Southern Expressions

When I lived “Up North” everybody knew that Southerns always said “Y’all” instead of “You all” and dropped the letter “g” on the end of lots of words. My sister and I used to pretend to be Southern belles (Scarlet … Continue reading

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