A little-known fact is that Pittsburgh has more bridges (446) than Venice, Italy.  If you’re ever a contestant on Jeopardy that bit of trivia may be important to you.

What do I do on vacation?  See the sights along with about 100 other passengers on American Cruise Lines ship Heritage.  I am now the proud owner of a miniature Louisville Slugger baseball bat bought at the factory (it takes a machine 48 seconds to produce a bat.  It took a human 30 minutes.  Clearly automation in manufacturing is alive, well, and growing.)

In Paducah, Kentucky we visited The National Quilt Museum.  Surprisingly, I really liked ten or twelve of the (modern) quilts.  That compares with my liking only four or five old master paintings at the British National Art Gallery.

Yesterday evening, from 9:15 pm until 2:15 am I was a patient at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, where I was diagnosed with something I’ve never experienced before – a urinary tract infection.  The attending doctor said that this often came with age, so I’ve decided to grow younger.  Please let me know if you have a suggestion that will work.

This evening there is an NFL football game at the stadium that sits about a quarter mile from our cruise ship.  At three in the afternoon, they were already closing off access roads, and many fans were at the stadium.  I guess Pittsburgh fans are truly supportive of their team.

Daveen and I walked about a mile to the local Rite Aid to pick up my prescription for an antibiotic, and the folks walking on the street here seem quite friendly and happy to chat.

The sidewalks are old, but Pittsburgh is a much older city than Los Angeles, where I have enjoyed living for more than 83 years.

One of the couples sitting with us for meals also enjoys Jeopardy, but I suspect that is where our similarities end.

My favorite part of any vacation is walking into my bedroom at home.  That’s a good thing because I’m home a lot more than I’m away.

We will return to Los Angeles tomorrow evening.  Airline flights across country still amaze me.

Alan

I’m sure we’ve all had situations where we thought we could wait to do something until later. But sometimes, waiting isn’t a good idea.  Years ago, Daveen and I travelled to Boston.  After our arrival at Boston’s Logan airport, Daveen made a point to use the restroom before we picked up our rental car.  I decided to wait until we arrived at our hotel. Later I was sorry about that decision.

The drive to our hotel took longer than I had expected.  Twenty minutes into our journey I really needed to use a restroom myself.  I stopped at a gas station.  It was closed – and so was their restroom.  We got back on the road, but the car ride was becoming increasingly uncomfortable for me.

We finally arrived at the Motor Inn where we were staying.  I double parked the rental car in front, asked Daveen to take care of it, and raced into reception.  The clerk at the front desk directed me to the men’s room on my right.  Relief seemed near.

But the actual toilet in the men’s room was locked.  My younger readers might find this astonishing, but back in the day some public restrooms had locking stalls and you needed to insert a quarter to open them.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have a quarter.  I don’t know, at that point, if I even  had time to fish around in my pockets for change. I was desperate.  And desperate times call for desperate measures.  Thinking, “Oh, S**t, I dove under the bathroom door and finally unburdened myself.

I’m happy to report that, by comparison, the rest of our trip was uneventful.

Thank goodness.

Alan

Nagging usually has negative connotations: a repetitious pestering or request stereotypically attributed to women. But a behavior only becomes nagging when the person to whom a request is directed repeatedly ignores that request.  So we could use the word “reminding.” But even dressed up in fancy attire, most people view repeated reminders as nagging, and that’s okay.

When someone ignores your repeated request to complete a task, I suggest you enthusiastically become a nag.  It works.

Most vendors I deal with in my business are reliable which is why I have continued to use them.  A few, however, are not as dependable.  Maybe they are first-timers, or hired by another party, but for whatever reason – they are late.  Here is my checklist for those situations.

1. Check in early – at least three days before the work is due, to “see how it’s coming.”
2. Contact them the day before the work is due to confirm the exact time the work will be completed “tomorrow.”
3. If it is not ready by the exact time promised, keep reminding them.
4. If you haven’t yet gotten a satisfactory result, continue to contact them daily, or fire them immediately and hire a replacement. If someone is late the first time, they’ll probably be late again.  Keep in mind the People Tool of “Patterns Persist.”
5. If it isn’t someone you can fire, put them on your “remind four times a day list.” Contact them by phone, email, text, and anything else you can use – four times a day.  Seven am, ten am, two pm, and five pm.  No one has ever held out on me for longer than a day and a half of nagging, which I call “focused reminders.”

You will soon earn a (deserved) reputation as a “hard ass” or something even more colorful.  Wear that badge with pleasure.  Vendors may grumble, but if you use their services again they are likely to be on time.

I once contacted a family law attorney who was handling a divorce that involved young children.  Prompt action was essential for their well-being.  When the attorney had not responded for two days I called, emailed, and texted everyone in her office – from the receptionist to her law partner.  Eight people total.

The attorney called me within minutes of my final contact.  She was upset and asked me to never do that again.

I said, “Sure.  Happy to oblige.  As long as your work is completed by the agreed upon time.”

It’s important to never back off your insistence on timely performance.  Consistent nagging today should make it unnecessary in the future.

I’m happy to report that I’ve been writing this blog for about ten years, and I’ve never missed a deadline.

After all, I know where I live and I’d hate to have to wake up early in order to nag myself.

Alan