Sophie's Story

  Hi! This is Scamp. Sophie wanted to me write the column today because I learned something important recently and she thought I should share it.   A while back I decided that I wanted to learn how to roar. I tried to do it on my own thinking that it might be an instinctual thing because I'm a cat. I made some loud, interesting sounds, but it was not anywhere close to roaring.   I decided to go to You Tube. You can learn lots of things on You Tube. Sophie has learned knitting things from watching You Tube. C learned music things from there too. I thought that maybe I could learn to roar by watching You Tube. I searched and searched, but couldn't find any roaring lessons. Finally I though that maybe I could learn by watching videos of lions roaring. I found several videos of roaring lions and watched them carefully. Finally I decided to try it myself. I took a big lungful of air, opened my mouth and no roar came out. All that came out was a really loud meow. I tried again. t

     Customer service is not like it used to be. Once in awhile you will see stories about very good or very bad customer service. On the whole from what I see the art of helping people is quickly dying out. Some of that is due to the use of automation and technology. Some of it is due to the fact that people in customer service can get pretty surly at times. Part of the reason customer service people get irritable is due to situations like once I encountered earlier this week.   A woman had come to the counter asking if we sold bronchial tablets. We do. We keep them behind the counter as they are subject to the same laws that govern the sales of pseudoephedrine containing products. We had a short discussion on how much she could buy at one time and what the monthly limits are. She decided she wanted to buy one box. I asked her for her ID or driver's license.   I took the card and scanned it. Her information popped onto my screen and a warning box appeared. Her ID was expired.

   Last weekend I wrote my column and posted it as usual. Once I've done that I send a link to a small group of people. I got on email and sent the link. Having finished that task I went on with the rest of my day.   C and I had decided to go out for breakfast before running errands. Once we were seated at our table  C pulled out his phone to read my column. We went to the email with the link in it and clicked on it.   The page that showed up wasn't mine. It didn't resemble mine in any way, shape or form. It was sort of scary looking. C thought that perhaps he had hit something wrong. He backed out and tried it again. The scary looking page came up again.   I got nervous. How could this happen? Why was my link going to that page? I wasn't sure. I did know that I didn't want the people that I had sent the link to thinking that I had given their email addresses to someplace that would use them for marketing purposes. I didn't want them to think I was going to

   I knew that trouble was brewing. I saw it the minute I spotted the woman sitting at the table with a young girl in a cheerful blue vest standing nearby. There was no way we would get into the dance hall without passing them. I'd seen those multicolored boxes before. The next thing I knew C and I purchased three boxes of Girl Scout cookies.   You wouldn't think that a wholesome organization like the Girl Scouts would peddle dangerous substances, but they do. Those sweet treats are not harmless.   Normally C and I like to share. We found our table and sat down. I put the boxes on the chair next to me out of sight. C moved them to the top of our table. I silently fretted about this. After all, someone might swipe them. We had bought a box of Samoas. They are my favorites. We got up to dance leaving our precious cookie boxes in the care of our friends. I knew I could trust them, couldn't I? It wasn't long before C decided that he should take the boxes to the car. Aft

   I know that I have written a column or two on some of the pleasures that  are given to those of us hardy souls that live in the north. I've always felt that these are rewards for enduring snowstorms and frigid temperatures.   The temperatures started to creep up the past few days. This is something that brings joy to the hearts of us in the north. When the temperatures go up changes start to happen.   The snow starts to melt. At this time of the year, the snow is no longer the pristine white of early winter. It's not a novelty anymore. We've made about as many snow people, houses and balls as we can. The snow is not a glistening blanket covering the sleeping landscape. It takes on an off white almost grey sheen. It's no longer fun unless you are a winter sport enthusiast. It's an impediment. It covers the roads so you slide around while driving. It covers  the parking lots so people park wherever they want. It makes large piles along the sides of streets so y

   It was a very busy day at my store. Despite the help of the clinical pharmacist who stopped by to drop some stuff off, I was getting farther behind. It was getting ugly. People came to pick up prescriptions that weren't ready yet. I had been trying to work on six prescriptions for a newly discharged transitional care patient. It wasn't looking good.   I knew help was on the way. The evening shift tech was going to come in an hour early and should be arriving any minute. I went out to help someone. When I arrived at the door I was met there by an older lady with short gray-blonde hair. She had on a white jacket and was carrying a purse and a cane. Her name tag said "Mona".   This was my relief pharmacist. I was happy to see her and a little worried. It was really busy and if she needed the help of a cane, things could get interesting. She wasn't from the corporate relief pool. I wasn't sure how well she knew our system. The last thing I needed was a phar

   When C and I were in Door County last year, we saw a musical called 'Victory Farm'. It's about three German prisoners of war who are sent to the United States to help the farmers(something that did happen during World War II by the way) The musical is about three German POWs who find themselves in Ellison Bay harvesting cherries. In one scene, Josef, a baker from Berlin, enthuses over the fact that he has learned a lot that day.   I can relate to Josef. I feel like I learned a lot the past few weeks. Let me tell you what I learned.   After a gap of way too long, I am getting back in to practicing my instruments. I have learned how to do arpeggios on the dulcimer. An arpeggio is when you play several notes quickly. On many instruments you can play the notes at the same time and they would be called a chord. On a hammered dulcimer, you are limited to two notes at a time. Since the notes resonate after the string is hit all the sounds blend together. It's really bea