Just another day.

This past Saturday my friend Virginia Alexander and I had gotten a chance to work together. We have not done so for quite some time which is a shame since it actually is more like play for us when we are together. I received a call a few weeks ago from a bride asking me about makeup for her wedding. When I asked her who was doing the hair, she said the salon at the Biltmore. That's where she and the wedding party were staying. After meeting with the hotel a couple of times the bride called me and asked if I was able to now do the hair and makeup for her and her party? Not a problem I said but I'll need to have someone come with me. The bridle party consisted of seven. Including the bride's Mother. The Biltmore is a wonderful old five star hotel in Coral Gables Florida. I have been there many times for work and play. Now they say you should make the most of your wedding day. Memories to last a life time. And that is just what this bride will have. Most know that the day of a wedding is almost always a bit crazy. Imagine adding to that craziness by having the fire alarm go off. There we were, nine of us in the suite now having to grab what we could and file out of the hotel. No one panicked. No one had thoughts of oh my gosh, the wedding. In fact we all acted like it was just part of the day! As I looked back into the bedroom, I noticed the woman who had been steaming the dresses. She was quietly coming towards me pushing the steamer. Then it hit me. I went into the bedroom to see that she had been steaming the clothes under the smoke detector! We had set off the alarm. I yelled out it's us. It's us. I grabbed a chair and climbed up to knock the smoke alarm from the wall. Laughing we started back into the room. Now the room over looks the front of the hotel. Yep, you guessed it. Hanging over the balcony yelling down to let everyone know what had happened. Which was a bit hard since the room is on the 14th floor. At the same time rushing the room was management. Virginia and I just sat back trying to figure out how we were going to get this day back on track? As we said our good-byes to everyone as they finally left for pictures, Virginia and I sat on the balcony as she lit a cigarette. You know she said, No one is going to believe us! "Yes they will. Lets face it, this is a typical day for us". We gathered our gear and as we walked past the concierge I asked, could someone straighten up the bridal suite? He smiled and said, "no problem. We got it covered" The look on his face said just another day at the Biltmore.

They say what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

Wasn't it amazing how automation was going to make our lives easier? Sadly I remember when the banks told us how much money we were going to save by using ATM machines. Or phoning into a computer instead of a person to pay our bills, move our funds. If we don't have to send you your canceled checks, why, it's cheaper! And now pay pal is the hot new thing. What does that cost? And why do I have to pay to have a pal? What might be even sadder is that when you get a customer service rep you find out that they just started. They are telling you what you want to hear instead of the truth, of course they don't know the correct answer because they just started, but everyone before them was incorrect and they have the right answer. Which you don't want to hear. But only after they put you on hold hoping you'll give up and go away while thinking silly Americans. My favorite just might be, FAQ's. Trust me when I say my question is never answered on the FAQ page. I'm the one with the profound thoughtful questions. You know like when Pam only dreamed that Bobby died on Dallas. How come then on Knots Landing they all mourned he loss? Now to be fair these things have also worked in reverse. Which makes our lives easier. Funny how We tend to take them for granted. As a very wise client of mine once said, "your allowed an off day. Just not the day I come in". So in a few hours I get to call Fifth Third Auto, again. I get to hear how they were justified in taking two payments instead of one. Now out of the blue I owe late fees. The same amount as my payment. Which I make to a person at an extra $12.75 a month so I will not have these problems. I guess automation is cheaper then a person after all. I'll check the FAQ's to see where my extra money goes a month and get back to you.