Category Archives: Customer service

Better things are electric things

Posted on December 8, 2012 by

The decision to abandon electricity in favor of gas did not come easily. My father worked for more than thirty years for Northern Ireland’s one (then nationalized) electricity company and always took it as a personal affront when a customer … Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas with the Crone, Cooking with the Crone, Crone as political commentator, Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, Tales of a Belfast girlhood | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Other People’s Houses

Posted on November 11, 2012 by

The one careful owner of Kate and John’s weekend apartment in New Orleans may be a great shopper at swap meets, flea markets and yard sales. Or perhaps she has way more than the average number of nutty relatives who … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, great ideas for books, interior design, The Traveling Crone, yard sale finds | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Superheroes take Manhattan (not a story about Marriott management)

Posted on November 3, 2012 by

Supergirl and Ninja have made it to New York, a city that could use their combined skills at present. They, and the rest of Clan Magennis, left last night just after midnight on a Greyhound bus from Baltimore. Amtrak is … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, friendship, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Gone with the Wind: Marriott NYC customer service

Posted on October 31, 2012 by

We have had a Hurricane here. Sandy–you might have heard of it. Unfortunately, the worst storm ever to hit Manhattan has coincided with the Magennis family’s first trip to the United States. They have spent the last three days sitting … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, weather | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

May the Lord in his Mercy be Kind to Belfast

Posted on July 5, 2012 by

I will never forgive them for what they took from me: the men with the guns and the sinister shades, and the women with bombs in prams where there should have been babies. It wasn’t just me of course. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooking with the Crone, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, food, friendship, Tales of a Belfast girlhood, The Traveling Crone | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Secondhand car shopping

Posted on February 12, 2012 by

I picked Fitzgerald’s because of the Irish name and because Jack looks so cosy on the advertisements. Jack’s pitch is that you don’t have to haggle because the cars are already priced to sell. Suits me Jack. On the website, … Continue reading →

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Start Up That Trades in Surprises and Smiles

Posted on January 14, 2012 by

I write in praise of Umbabox, a DC area startup company which takes you back to a time when you looked forwarded to seeing the mailman. Each month, for a small subscription, Umbabox will send you a present–a box filled … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone as art critic, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, Entrepreneurial Flair | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Higher Ed–It’s Not Easy

Posted on August 20, 2011 by

Our mistake was missing breakfast. We are getting the DC apartment ready to rent, and so the cupboards there are intentionally bare. We could have gone out for breakfast, but Hansel was replacing the ballcock in the toilet and that meant … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, Gangsta Hansel & Ghetto Gretel | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tired, whiny and short on blood sugar

Posted on August 12, 2011 by

I write to you from Charlotte airport, North Carolina where I am trying not have a beer and a salty snack. I am on my way home from Atlanta and my plane has been delayed. I should be home by … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Customer service, diet, Exercise, Fat Camp, food, The Traveling Crone | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Married Status at the Montage Hotel

Posted on August 4, 2011 by

Our blissful stay at the Montage Hotel Laguna Beach has been marred by only one tiny thing: the hotel’s insistence on referring to PMW as Mr. Barron. PMW loves this–not because he aspires to the title, but because he knows it annoys … Continue reading →

Posted in Crone in America, Culture with the Crone, Customer service, friendship, Life's vexations, The Traveling Crone | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment