Diamond Certified Blog

Every now and then it’s worth spending the time to “unsubscribe” to many of the newsletters and promotional mailings that arrive in your inbox. I must have devoted more than an hour unsubscribing to an assortment of things the other day. Do I really need to hear about deals to Portland, Oregon from TripAdvisor when I have not had plans to go there for 3 or 4 years now?

What surprised me is how difficult some companies make it to opt out. A few require that you sign in before you’re able to get off the mailing list. That’s ridiculous. Some ask if you’re sure about your request to unsubscribe – maybe you’re having second thoughts. Read more

Do you ever wonder what standards to apply to a service situation? I attended a training for quality service that’s based on the “Disneyland” model.

S – is for a smile.
E – is to be aware of eye contact and body language.
R – stands for respecting and welcoming the customers.
V – means that the employee values the company’s reputation.
I – is for initiating interaction with customers.
C – empowers employees to create service solutions.
E – reminds employees to end with a “thank you,” no matter what.

It’s easy to remember and can help you evaluate service providers and determine how they’re performing. Read more

When I paid my contractor for materials a few weeks ago, I wrote him a personal check. However, what I didn’t realize until later was that I had entered two different amounts on that check. On the top line after his name, I put the amount due written in numbers: $1, 689.00. And when I wrote out the words as you do on the second line, the words said, “One-thousand eight-nine dollars.”

The contractor argued with his bank when he received a credit for $600 less than he expected. When we investigated the situation (we both thought the banks might duke it out for weeks), we discovered that legally, the written amount in words always trumps the written amount in numbers. Read more

 Guest Expert Michael McCutcheon, owner of McCutcheon Construction, tells us about less costly ways to cool your house on hot days.
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Air conditioning is still the best way to cool a building during hot weather, although in very dry climates, one can use evaporative coolers (“swamp coolers”) instead, which use the cooling effect of evaporating water. While they consume some water, they use less energy. They also don’t reduce humidity, and don’t work in humid climate zones since the evaporative effect is so much less in a humid atmosphere.

Presuming you’re in the mixed climate of the Bay Area and need Air Conditioning (as opposed to evaporative cooling), as with any energy device, Read more

 AAA Reminds Travelers to Use Their Seatbelts in Cabs and Shuttle Vans

AAA Northern California is reminding summer travelers that seatbelt safety shouldn’t set sail just because you’re on vacation. Sometimes a false sense of safety can set in as vacationers leave their worries behind, and they forget to buckle up in taxicabs and shuttle vans. But the danger of being in a crash doesn’t fade away like a tropical sunset.

“You can leave all your cares behind while on vacation but don’t leave behind your habit of buckling up,” said AAA Northern California spokesperson Matt Skryja. “In the rush to relax, travelers sometimes forget basic safety while riding in taxi cabs and shuttle vans by failing to use their seatbelts. Read more

If you’re a big fan of Consumer Reports magazine AND the Stephen Colbert show like I am, you’ll love these two hilarious segments. Colbert decides to investigate the testing process and labs at the magazine’s Yonkers, N.Y. headquarters in a 2-part series.

Part 1

Part 2

My favorite parts are when Colbert tries to test aluminum foil in microwaves and later when he starts tossing plates, soiled for dishwasher tests, at the lab technician. You’ll also see him in labs where cameras and sound systems are evaluated. I enjoyed seeing the people at Consumers Union, who are extremely serious about their work, have a little fun with the top-rated comedian. Read more

First my cell phone conks out. I lose all photos and contacts, and no, stupid me, I didn’t back them up. Then my recording equipment stops working and I have no idea why. When I turned on my iPod, all the music had disappeared – no albums, no playlists. I can probably fix this by re-loading all the music, but I was still frustrated by the unexplained and sudden malfunction.

The capper for the week was another type of crash – a hit and run accident. I parked by City Hall while at the symphony and when I drove home, I had trouble steering the car. When straightening out the steering wheel, the car veered off to the right. Read more

These kinds of questions come up all the time when you’re managing a household. Do I need to buy new tires yet? Should we replace the furnace now, or can we wait another year? And the latest one, do I have to remove the stump under my house? I called a Diamond Certified company for the answer, John Kunkel, owner of Termite Police.

This pest control expert explained that you no longer have to excavate the stumps. It’s better to treat the stump with chemicals that poison termites. The termites ingest the poison, carry it back to the colonies, and that eliminates the problem.

So when you have a question and you need an expert answer and some help, Read more

Do you know all the verses to our national anthem? I didn’t. Happy 4th!

The Star Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key

O say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming;
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say, does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Read more

It’s a lot of fun to explore Sonoma on your bike. I’ve been doing that a lot lately. A few weeks ago, we needed a pair of bicycle socks and stopped in at the local bicycle shop. While paying for the socks, the owner asked about where we’d been riding and suggested another loop to try. He went out of his way to be helpful and friendly, even though we had only made a very small purchase. We went on our way.

The following week I had the inevitable breakdown. The chain and gears jammed. A passing cyclist helped get into one gear so I could ride it back to the same bicycle shop. Read more