Goodbye Reading Rainbow

As I was rushing to get ready this morning a story on NPR made me stop. Reading Rainbow was going off the air. For those of you who don't know or remember Reading Rainbow was this great show on PBS where LeVar Burton (also known for his role on Star Trek The Next Generation) featured a children's book which led to some great adventure every eposide.

While it has been years since I watched it, and I mean so long I basically forgot about the show, I find myself mourning its loss. According the the radio piece I heard the show ran for 26 years, the last few years through re-runs.

And so for a little Friday fun I'd like to take you back...

It Could Happen to Anyone

Catching up on my New York Magazine this week I found myself engrossed in an article about how Annie Leibovitz ended up in serious financial trouble. I know it shouldn't, but it still shocks me when people who make a lot of money end up blowing it all. Perhaps it is because I'm so careful with my spending and dream of what I could do if I made even a little more.

Back to Annie Leibovitz. Reading the article I was also surprised to see how foolish she was with money to begin with:

Photographers are typically paid a fee for their work, plus expenses. The client, whether it’s a magazine, advertiser, or individual, stipulates an expense budget that the photographer must operate within. From the start, Leibovitz’s perfectionism led her to pay little or no attention to budget restrictions, and she spent money recklessly, losing cameras, accruing parking tickets, and even abandoning rental cars.

Abandoning rental cars? Not paying attention to your job's budget restrictions. It seems obvious that she only got away with this because times were flush and she is such an amazing photographer.

It's a good read, especially for a Friday afternoon when you are struggling to pay attention to work. And the moral of the story for me, it doesn't matter how much you make you need to spend within your means and you need to save for the future.

Career Musings

As I'm getting ready to start school again I've found myself thinking a lot about where my career is and where I want it to go. It is not a secret that I enjoy my job, but it is also no secret that I often find myself craving more. What that more is tends to change depending on my mood, just as whether I'm loving my job or dreaming about bigger things seems to waver depending on the weather. Okay so it is not that random, even though sometimes it feels that way.

I've been in a job I hated and while I was miserable, in a way it was almost an easier situation. I hated my job and I needed a new one. Simple. Now it is not so easy. I do know that right now I don't want a new job. I seem to be taking on new things all the time and I'm really looking forward to a couple of upcoming projects. I also do not want to go anywhere until I'm finished or almost finished with school. However, what I'm not sure about is how long I'll be able to stay in my present situation before I want/need to move up in the ranks.

Then of course there is the issue of money. I would say I get paid reasonably well for my field and my level, but not well for NYC. I've also come to believe that the best way to increase your income is to look for a new job with more responsibility.

This leads me back to how long I want to stay here and what I want to do next. Right now I'm thinking two more years is maybe all I can handle. I often find myself wishing I could take on more, but in my institution it is not possible in the way that I want it. I like my job and I like the larger field I'm in, but I'm not sure if I want to work for another similar institution. There are other options out there and in the back of my head I have an idea of what I want to eventually be doing, but right now I just feel a little lost. That is yet another reason I'm looking forward to starting school, I know the things I will be learning will help me focus on what I want to do, and almost as important, what I don't want to do.

Time will tell.

Rested and Ready for School

It always takes me a little bit to get back into my normal routine after a vacation. I tend to take it in steps. My first goal is to unpack, nothing makes me more stressed than leaving my stuff packed. The next step is all about catching up at work. Luckily this time around it only took me two days to feel caught up. Because I'm normally so tired after working an 8 hour day (after not having to work at all for a week) it takes a few days before I start to be productive after work as well. Tonight is that night. On my to do list is running, going over my budget, and getting ready for school to start. That's right folks I'm starting school next week!

Am I nervous? A little. Am I excited? Completely. I'm taking two classes this semester on Tuesday and Thursday night. I figure that I'll probably get home around 9pm on these nights, which is really not bad at all.

What I'm mostly grappling with now is how I'm going to work a full-time job, go to school part-time, continue running/stay in shape, and enjoy living in sin with the bf.

Right now I'm considering running in the am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Yes I know this makes for VERY long days, but I've always preferred to have my busy days be very busy so my relaxation days can be completely dedicated to relaxation. I also think it is really important that I take one day a week off of school work. Right now I'm thinking it should either be Friday, Saturday or Sunday. While I would prefer it to be Saturday or Sunday I'm not sure if that is realistic. A lot of this will be trial and error (and of course my plan will probably go right out the window during finals) but I can't wait to get started and see what works.

In an ideal world this semester will be a breeze so that next semester I can begin taking three classes and work towards finishing this degree sooner!

On Vacation

I'm currently enjoying a very restful beach vacation. I'll be back to posting regularly on Monday. Enjoy your week!

Out of Control

I have to do something about my spending. In the past few months I've spent so much in the beginning of the month that I struggle through the end. With a little more than a week in I've already spent more than 1/2 of my monthly liquid budget.

I know part of this is because it is summer, part of it is because I'm finishing up setting up my place (it's done!), and finally part if pf burnout. I started to feel like I was restricting myself all the time and as a reaction I started spending too much money. Finally everything I own seems to be breaking. First my glasses and then this weekend my phone. I managed to pick one up for $60, but I had to pay $160 and now I have to wait for my rebate.

I need to change something because this can't go on. I'm think I may need a challenge. I may change the way I budget and put things into categories again. Whatever I do I need to do something because this can't go on.

Photo by DavidDMuir

Louis Vuitton's Customer Service Sucks - A Follow Up

I recently posted about an experience my friend had with Louis Vuitton customer service. I'm re-posting a comment from her fiance in which he asks for your advice. Thanks ahead of time!

Hi everyone. My fiance is the one that got the lousy service from Louis Vuitton. Here is a quick follow up.

After my fiance hung up the phone with the manager at LV, she called me, crying. After we spoke for a few minutes I called the customer service number and had a three way call with their CS person and the manager of the store. He was a bully, and didn't seem to care that he made my girl cry! He went as far to say that I was not the customer, that my fiance was, and that he didn't even have to talk to me. WHAT?!

When I wasn't getting the response I was hoping for I asked who was higher up the food chain at LV. It was explained to me that a report would be filed with the appropriate executives. This was the end of the line. Well, that wasn't what I wanted to hear.

After the call wrapped I logged into my LinkedIn (professional networking website) account and emailed a brief overview of what happened to five LV executives. Was this crazy of me to do? Perhaps, but the guy made my fiance cry!

A few days later I received an email from Louise Firestone, the General Counsel of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton Inc. She stated the following: "I am sorry your fiance is not happy. I am not the appropriate person to deal with this; she should contact LV Customer Service."

So I replied:

"Thank you Ms. Firestone,

And therein lies the rub. The customer service department was contacted, on a three way call with the store, and when I had to put the call on hold for a moment, rather more of a mute than hold, the store manager stated, "this never happened", and the CS person said, "I know, I know". Did the call never happen? The incident?

It seems that the issue has died on the vine, but as a small business owner I can't accept that this is where this issue will end. If I treated my clients as we were treated by the representatives of your company, I would not have any clients!

Is there someone in the organization that my fiance may be able to contact about this? Sure, it is only a zipper on a bag, but providing exceptional customer service is an aspect of a luxury brand that was missed this time around. Since Friday this story has been picked up by a very popular blog, and I would like very much to be able to post on the blog that LV responded quickly to address the issue.

We would rather not run around in circles, and I would rather not see my fiance stick the bag in a drawer only for it to be forgotten about.

Thank you very much for your time,"

AND then the amazing happened. My phone rang, and it was Ms. Firestone. My first thought was that this was going to get resolved, but then she spoke and she scolded me! She said using LinkedIn to file a customer service complaint was unacceptable and then explained that she has nothing to do with LV and couldn't help me. She did offer up the name of the President of LV along with his mailing address. Thanks Ms. Firestone.

THEN 2 days later I got a call from Alexandra Winokur, VP at LV. Again I thought there would be resolution, but she wasn’t able to help at all. She stated that she knows the store manager and that she had not received any complaints before about him. I quickly directed her to YELP.com and suggested she do a search for the Garden State Plaza store and read the two complaints on YELP about the store, and specifically Ken the store manager.

As of today the bag is being shipped back to the Garden State Plaza store where we need to pick it up from. I asked if they could ship it directly to my fiance, but they refused. They said that they do it this way to avoid fraud.

I think I'm spent. Do I mail a letter to the President of LV?

I am open to ideas.

Sorry for the long comment. I am also sorry if the story is confusing at any point.

Thanks everyone.

How A Staycation Got Expensive

I'm back from my staycation and ready to join the real world again. I had a very nice, quiet and relaxing time with the dogs and a big empty house all to myself. I'm proud to say I cleaned out all but four boxes in the attic and dropped off a ton of stuff at goodwill. I also bought the last of what I needed for my apartment and spent a lot of quality time with the pups. I really am going to miss having them follow me around everywhere!

On Wednesday night I'm was relaxing watching some tv and decided to clean my glasses. Two seconds later they broke in half. That's right. They broke right down the middle. At that point I really didn't want to put my contacts back on and decided I would suck it up and tape them around the middle. That's right friends, I was sporting revenge of the nerds glasses. And of course the only tape that would work was the masking tape.

I went to the glasses store, found out they couldn't be fixed and walked out an hour later having spent $600. I know, I know. How could I spend that much on glasses?

Now I wear my glasses a lot. I find my eyes get dried out if I wear my contacts to work, so my glasses are a pretty important piece of my wardrobe. I've also had the broken glasses for about 7 years and was planning on getting a new pair next year anyway. So I decided to take my time and find a pair I love.

Sadly that pair plus the lens cost $550. I ended up getting talked into the $50 warranty because it can be put towards my next purchase of glasses if I don't end up having to use it.

I've decided to pay for these glasses out of my emergency fund with the intent of paying my emergency fund back. Even though this is going to set me back on my e-fund goal, I would much rather pay them off right away then leave them on my credit card.

I'm ashamed to say I made a very unfrugal purchase last week. But I am happy to say I absolutely love my new glasses. Here's hoping I can go 10 years without buying another pair!