The moment after you keep going even though you’re ready to give up, and you realize that it was worth the pain because it got you where you are right now.

I believe that everybody’s got to put in their time. Then you can enjoy what you worked for.

Very honestly though, kayaking is not my thing. H has been whining to go though, so I finally gave in and planned a trip with a couple other pals this Sunday. What a grey day, rained a bit. I treated myself to some Honey Doughnuts after we reached Cates Park:

 

It was not as good as I recall! Maybe because they were stuffed in the kayak in a dry bag for a good 2 hours. Not the soft, fluffy fried dough that I recall. Maybe I’ll stick to the waffles at Cafe Orso on future trips to Deep Cove.

Dedicating a post to Pete’s Pies. Yesterday was his last Trout Lake market this year, and he won’t be coming back.

Delicious lard crust with just the right amount of juices in the filling… Real chunks of chicken in the butter chicken pie. I’ve also had the chicken & leak, and spinach & feta. There’s a steak & Guinness pie, which I haven’t had the luck to try yet. Served with a view:

I hope Pete had good moments at the market. He’s back at Ladner on Sept. 11, so I might have one more chance to have his pies, freshly baked, crispy crust, juicy meat… Wiping away the drool right now, be right back.

At what point do you stop trying to find the moments and stop trying to convince yourself that it’s worth it?

It cracked already, barely a week old. Didn’t have a major fall, didn’t tumble it down anywhere. Note 7 has the worst glass. Do not get it if you’re into durability and reliability, or get a REALLY good case for it. Samsung customer service also highly disappointed me.

1. I went to the Richmond Centre store on Tuesday, and the sales rep there advised me to call their general customer service line. The agent on the line advised me that if I brought the phone back to the original store that I purchased it at, they would be able to switch out the phone for me. The original store was the Metrotown store, which is not along my usual route to and from work (very out of the way actually), but he guaranteed that if I went it would be switched for me.

2. I went in to the Metrotown store, and the sales reps there told me that they would have to send the phone out to get it checked, 2-3 week turnaround, and I might get a quote. That’s not what I was promised. I called the Samsung number back, and was connected with one of the rudest customer service reps I’ve ever talked to. He kept calling me “ma’am” and telling me he couldn’t hear me, so I went out of the store to find an area with better reception. Then…

Me – Can you hear me now?
Samsung Customer Service Rep (SCSR) – Yes, I can hear you better now.
Me – OK, here’s the file # from yesterday… 2…1…
SCSR – No, NO, hold on MA'AM, can you tell me what this file is regarding?
Me – *Explains the story of how I called yesterday and the Sales Reps at the store telling me a different story*
SCSR – ONE, I can’t hear you. TWO, if you cracked your screen, it’s considered physical damage and that’s not covered, so you have to send it in.
Me – ONE, you clearly can hear me if you heard that I cracked my phone. TWO, I already explained the story. Your 1st rep clearly lied to me and misled me. I wasted my time coming to the Metrotown store. SCSR – I can’t hear you, MA’AM. I can’t hear you!
Me – *Speaks louder and clearer* *Line cuts out* Hello?

RUDE. Insensitive. You should get another job, because you really suck at doing what you’re doing now.

3. I call back, and reach a much friendlier SCSR. He listens to me, realizes that I’ve been lied to and that the phone isn’t doing what I expected it to, in terms of the glass being way too weak and not gorilla-like. Eventually, he transfers me to an Executive Customer Service Agent (ECSA).

4. ECSA tells me repeatedly that physical damage is not covered under the warranty. He does not understand or listen to me at all, that their rep first lied to me. I ask to speak to someone higher up, and he says:

“I’M AN EXECUTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE AGENT. THERE’S NOBODY ELSE YOU CAN SPEAK TO.”

I guess he’s the owner of Samsung or something. I spent at least 10 minutes arguing with him, and everytime I made a point, he would just repeat the same thing about the warranty, and end his paragraph by asking me if I had any further questions. I don’t feel like Samsung provides executive service at all, more like a service for sending you on a guilt trip, and they should really be more empathetic if they are charging regular customers $1000+ for a handheld device. Robots reading from a script, that’s all they are. It’s almost a conspiracy – if I want to make any complaints about any of them, who do I contact? The 1800SAMSUNG number and speak wo their ECSA’s, who all work together to make their customers feel worthless and like it’s completely my fault that their product uses weak glass. Samsung, if this is the message that you’d like your customers to receive, then, I’m not sure I like what your company represents.

5. I go back to the store to get it shipped in for repairs… The original Sales Rep I was working with is helping another customer, so I speak to another person, who then tries to help me wipe my phone. I ask if there’s an extra phone that I can use as backup, and he says he’ll check. Comes back empty handed. Well, that’s enough, I just left, didn’t want to fix it anymore. I don’t have time (or money) to waste, and by this time, it was an hour gone with nothing to show.  I was so tired of this bad service. I work in the customer service industry too – it’s really not that difficult to do a good job – be empathetic and listen. That’s all, but maybe I expect too much from the rest of the world. Am I unreasonable at all in all of this? Let me know what you think.

Otherwise, I’m happy with this phone. It’s smooth, everything works great, except the outer glass. If I had known, I would’ve bought a case right away, just to keep together the pieces of glass that the phone would become.

But yeah, otherwise, I’m a happy hiker.

I missed a weekly update because I cracked my One Plus One phone and was disconnected for a week, while waiting for a new phone. I was so devastated. Bought the new Samsung Note 7, which is really powerful (look forward to even more amazing photos!). Here’s a sample pic:

Above: My lunch today from the Earnest Ice Cream food truck, while at the farmer’s market. Salted Caramel on top, Bourbon Peach on the bottom. The Salted Caramel melts too quickly, but the flavor is basically perfect. The Bourbon Peach has a more solid consistency, and was also very refreshing. There are so many more ice cream shops popping up all over the place, but Earnest is the one I’m most familiar with and keep going back to. I hear they’re opening another location soon, along Commercial.

I slept less than 5 hours last night, because I spent too much time configuring the phone. It’s a work in progress… Themer wasn’t working the way it usually does, so I couldn’t just choose a theme and set it with one tap. Spent about 2-3 hours resizing widgets, downloading icon packs, etc… I know the Note 7 allows different themes and icon packs, out of the box, but I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the dock and change the icon sizes. The only way was to personalize it through Themer… I am looking forward to getting the different lenses that are compatible with the Note 7!

How do I make tofu look exciting?

Pretty delicious. H is on a no carb diet (it’s working), so for dinner, we opted for some low carb options at Sushiholic. Actual sushi was out of the question for him, so we ordered some tofu and salmon sashimi. Raw fish craving satisfied. Their food was fresh and delicious, and the restaurant is always packed during dinner time.

Started YYoga. Impossible to go everyday this week though… So much going on at work and in real life. I went to the 6AM class on Tuesday, and it was amazing – so energized for the whole day and it even lasted through to today. $40 for 1st timers at Yyoga.

Will go back again to both places.

We walked past Alder Flats a bit to get a nicer view for lunch:

This was a very clearly marked trail with challenging spurts of elevation that were short. Good for the beginning hiker! Not too crowded yet, which I really appreciate for the peace and quiet. There were quite 2 rewarding view points (see above and below). It’s amazing what hiking with friends and a good meal can do for you.

I’m a bit giddy off 3 glasses of red wine tonight.

I’m going to start yoga again tomorrow, for 7 days consecutively.

Gold Creek viewpoint:


Halfway:

Follow the Vancouver Trails instructions to get to the head of the West Canyon trail: https://www.vancouvertrails.com/trails/golden-ears/

Feelings are supposed to be irrelevant – John Oliver on Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention

Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookie and Iced Latte:

Turkey sandwich and iced Americano with milk (and C’s hat):

All very delicious, just what I needed on a hot summer afternoon, post Pokemon walk. The cookie was not the soft kinds I usually bake, so I don’t think I’d get it again except in a pinch. Don’t take it the wrong way, I liked it a lot, but not enough to want to try baking it on my own. Definitely heading back for that iced latte – SO SMOOTH.

Sometimes, it’s hard to understand why people do things, especially at the end of the day when we’re all exhausted. I wish the explanation for all inexplicable behavior could be a brain infection, but that only happens for some lucky friends of mine. I’m just glad to know that there are amazing places like Lindeman Lake out in the wild, and Platform 7 in the middle of the city for us lost souls to visit and try to find ourselves.