Music brings emotion

This isn't my normal type of post here, but that's OK - It's my blog, and I can write what I want to - :)

You know how something, a song, a place, a type of weather, will sometimes bring a feeling with it? At church, in our choir, we are preparing an arrangement, "Press On", by Dan Burgess. In this arrangement, there's a phrase, "when we're deaf to the song".

I get a little teary at that spot, and I attributed it to a generic idea of not being able to hear the beauty of music. But this time, I realized - and remembered - that there's more to my feeling than that.

Some time back, probably around 2000, a friend of mine got an ear infection. She lost both eardrums, and became completely deaf in both ears. (Fortunately, they grew back, over time.) And she played violin. She had to keep up her practicing. But she could not hear, and there was a chance she would never hear again. And she cried. And those who knew her cried with her.

And here I am a decade later, crying myself when the memory is brought up, even just vaguely, by the lyrics of a song.

AVG: False Virus Reports on Many Websites

AVG is reporting lots of sites, including Yahoo webmail (includes AT&T) as having a Framer virus. It's a false positive... An update is needed, as soon as possible...

AVG's comment: http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=57851763662&story_fbid=132114656826512

UWantSavings.com: Good Customer Service

I have not ordered much in the past from UWantSavings.com, but on my recent order, I was so impressed by their customer service that I had to add them to my Good Deals list.

They offered 100 Sharpie-brand markers for $29.99 with free shipping. Not just regular Sharpie markers, but a wide variety - regular, fine, broad, highlighters, Professional-series markers, and so forth; these usually sell for about 50¢-$5 each, depending on the variety, and this has no shipping or sales tax. Further, since they offered a free Restaurant.com $50 gift certificate with a purchase of $50 or more, I got two sets. Yes, 200 markers might last me a while, but I know that Sharpie-brand markers will hold up until I need them.

The day of delivery, I got an email with a bold banner instructing me to "check the porch - your order has been delivered!"

I found the box by the door, and I, being a conscientious shopper, counted them. There were 194. I emailed, hoping somebody might send an email apology and drop a half-dozen pens in an envelope in the mail.

That's not what they did. I got an email THE SAME DAY confirming a return and credit for the entire cost. Not just one set, but both. And not a RMA, but an updated receipt specifying that they had already been returned. (Granted, I have not seen a credit clear my account yet.)

And today, three days later, I received a box by UPS with 100 more markers. No receipt, statement, bill, anything - just 100 markers. That's customer service in action.