A great customer experience

I've been known to complain loudly when I feel I've had a bad experience with a retailer or service organization, so I think I should probably say something when I have a great experience with a company.

For the past couple of years, I've done the PR for the charity golf tournament run by former Wild (now Dallas Stars) player Mark Parrish. At last year's tournament, the gift bag for participants included a pair of shoes from one of our sponsors, Crocs.

Crocs have been around for a few years, and are the rubbery, vented, one-piece shoes (For those of you unfamiliar, here's a picture) that I always thought looked kind of goofy. Actually, I still think they look kind of goofy, but I've gotten over it. The first time I tried them on, I was amazed at how comfortable they were. I've gotten in the habit of wearing them whenever I think I can get away with it. They make a great summer shoe, when you can wear them with shorts, or even with a pair of khakis for a picnic or other casual event.

A couple of weeks ago, I was carrying some things down a flight of stairs and the strap got caught on something along the wall. When I tugged my foot loose, the plastic rivet that holds the Croc strap to the shoe broke and the strap popped loose on one end. I was upset at the thought of having to actually go purchase another pair.

But first I went to the internet to look for a solution. As with so many other things (car repairs, recipes, golf course recommendations, etc.) chances are that someone out there has had the same problem and decided to write about it. I assumed someone would have figured out how to repair or replace a Croc rivet.


What I was pleased to learn was that the good folks at Crocs were WAY ahead of me. Turns out that if you break a Croc rivet - or even if you break the Croc strap - all you have to do is visit their web site at http://www.crocs.com/, give them your style, color and size, and they will send you replacements absolutely FREE!

So I keyed in my information, and a few days later a package arrived at my house with a dozen replacement rivets. The new one snapped right into place, and my Crocs are good as new.

I also learned from the web site that Crocs is now producing a Crocs golf shoe. Same comfort, same style, with golf spikes set into the soles. Thanks to their great product - and even greater customer service - I'm ready to order a new pair today.

Back home again

Finally arrived back home late Saturday night after attending the wedding of a friend's son in Decorah, Iowa. The trip was wonderful, but it felt good to be back in my own bed. Got our for a round of golf today, and shot a season-best 81.

An amazing coincidence at the wedding reception on Saturday: I saw a friend who used to live in Red Wing, but who has retired up in the Wisconsin woods. I started telling him about my Colorado trip, and referenced the 10th Mountain Division (see post below). Turns out his father was one of the those 10th Mountain Division soldiers! He knew all about their training near Leadville, CO, the battles in Italy, etc. At one point a German artillery shell fell near his father's foxhole, and while his father was knocked unconscious, he recovered and went on to fight. Years later, when his father was in is 60s, he visited a dentist to have a toothache treated. A dental x-ray revealed a piece of shrapnel in his mouth that had been in there for more than 40 years!

Still learning after all these years.

Greetings from beautiful Vail, CO, where I'm spending a few days of R&R before heading back towards Minnesota. But what I had intended as a slow, lazy day turned into an educational one.

Out on a morning walk, I came across this statue, honoring the soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army, who fought in World War II. I had a vague recollection of reading about a division of skiing U.S. soldiers, but knew virtually nothing about them. I admired the statue for a moment and moved on.

Later in the day, I took off on a drive that my former boss, Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, had recommended. (Rudy was gracious enough to let me use his Vail residence this week.) The drive first went through spectacular Glenwood Canyon, west of Vail, then turned up towards Aspen on Colorado Hwy. 82.






At Aspen, Hwy. 82 turns back towards the east, and becomes a long, winding two-lane road, climbing towards Independence Pass, which is at just over 12,000 feet of elevation, positioned near Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive, two of the highest peaks in the lower 48 United States. I'm not always the best guy when dealing with heights, particularly on a narrow road that didn't always have guard rails between me and fall of several thousand feet, and it was a difficult drive. I crawled along the road, trying to keep my eyes from looking over the edge.


I finally reached the pass, took a moment to enjoy the view and headed back down the other side of the mountain. After another 30 or 40 minutes of white-knuckle driving, I ended up in Leadville, Colorado, a former mining town that appears to have fallen on tough times. The drive had been pretty tiring. After a brief stop in Leadville, I headed north toward the interstate, on the road back to Vail.


Just north of Leadville, I slammed on the brakes as I saw a sign for the "10th Mountain Division Monument." Just off the road I found this large tablet, honoring the 990 men who lost their lives as part of 10th Mountain Division. Next to the tablet was a history of the Division, and here's what I learned:

"In November 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland. Finnish soldiers on skis annihilated two tank divisions, humiliating the Russians. Charles Minot (Minnie) Dole, the president of the National Ski Patrol, saw this as a perfect example of why the U.S. Army needed mountain troops. Dole spent months lobbying the War Department to train troops in mountain and winter warfare. In September 1940, Dole was able to present his case to General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff, who caused the Army take action on Dole’s proposals to create ski units.

The 10th Mountain Division was activated on July 15, 1943 at Camp Hale, Colorado as the 10th Light Division (Alpine). "


In the display was this picture of the 10th Mountain Division training. They are traveling - on skis - from Camp Hale, near Leadville - over the Independence Pass and down to Aspen, a trip that took them 3-1/2days.

That's right, the same trip I had just made in a car, and considered a difficult drive, was a trip they made ON SKIS simply as part of their training!

Once they completed their training and were sent to Europe, these soldiers quickly made their mark in the Italian Alps. Their first battle came at a place known as Riva Ridge. The story:

"The division entered combat on January 28, 1945 in the North Apennine Mountains of Italy. The division faced German positions arrayed along the 5 mile long Monte Belvedere-Monte della Torraccia ridge. Other divisions had attempted to assault Mount Belvedere three times, even holding it temporarily, but none had succeeded. To get to Mount Belvedere the division first had to take a ridge line to the west known to the Americans as the Riva Ridge. After much scouting, it was decided the assault would be at night, a 1,500-vertical-assent. The Germans considered the ridge to be impossible to scale and manned it with only one battalion of mountain troops. The attack on February 18, 1945, was a complete success and an unwelcome surprise to the Germans.


Mount Belvedere was assaulted next. Belvedere was heavily manned and protected with minefields. Again the surprise of the assault was successful and after a hard fight, the peak was captured. Realizing the importance of the peak, the Germans made seven counterattacks over two days. After the first three days of intense combat, the division lost 850 casualties to include 195 dead. The 10th had captured over 1,000 prisoners. The 10th was now in a position to breach the German's Apennine Mountain line, take Highway 65 and open the way to the Po Valley.

On April 14, 1945, the final phase of the war in Italy began. The 10th Mountain Division attacked toward the Po Valley spearheading the Fifth Army drive. The fighting was fierce with the loss of 553 mountain infantryman killed, wounded, or missing in the first day."

The 10th Mountain Division took part in several other battles before major hostilities ended in Italy in May of 1945. They were being redeployed to Japan in August when the Japanese surrendered, effectively ending the war. The unit returned to Camp Carson, Colorado, and was disbanded on November 30, 1945.

Clearly these men were heroes, taking part in heavy combat, and doing it all of it on skis and snowshoes, in cold weather, at high altitude. I cannot imagine the bravery and dedication it took.

Even after the war, they continued to serve their communities. From the division's history:

"Veterans of the 10th Mountain Division were in a large part responsible for the development of skiing into a big name sport and popular vacation industry after World War II. Ex-soldiers from the 10th laid out ski hills, built ski lodges, designed ski lifts and improved ski equipment. They started ski magazines and opened ski schools. Vail, Aspen, Sugarbush, Crystal Mountain, and Whiteface Mountain are but a few of the ski resorts built by 10th Mountain veterans."


This morning, I barely knew of the existence of the 10th Mountain Division, and tonight I feel honored to have learned their story, and I'm grateful for their service. That feels like a pretty good day.

Spacious skies, fruited plains. Up next: Purple mountains majesties.

I drove across most of South Dakota yesterday, on my way to Erin's wedding reception in Colorado Springs, and last night I had the privilege of being at Mt. Rushmore for the nightly lighting ceremony. It's not the first time I've been to this wonderful spot in the Black Hills, but every time is memorable.

The ceremony starts promptly at 9:00 p.m., with a 10-minute talk by one of the park rangers. Then a short film is shown (The park has a wonderful amphitheater, complete with a huge move screen on the stage) telling the story of the monument's construction and providing brief bios of the four presidents. When the film is over, the lights are turned on, and the audience is invited to stand and sing the National Anthem.

Once that is complete, the ranger invited every former and active member of the armed forces to come to the stage for the flag-lowering ceremony. I counted 79 men and women who made their way down, and stood at attention as the flag was lowered. Then the ranger passed the microphone to let every one of them say their name and service branch. The few hundred of us in the crowd gave them a huge ovation.

It was a wonderful night of unabashed patriotism, and a celebration of the American story. I know the Black Hills aren't the most convenient place to get to, but it's well worth the journey.

"Math is hard" said the Barbie doll, and it's true for this guy as well.

It was just a few weeks ago that we had the President believing that people in Austria spoke "Austrian," which - (See April 18 post) - is easily as stupid as anything Dan Quayle ever said.

Now comes the genius' assertion that the United States is "One of the largest Muslim countries in the world."

So I guess we can add math to the list of subjects he has trouble with. Estimates vary, but the most credible consensus is that there are somewhere between 1.8 and 2.8 million Muslims in America. (And not all of these are Americans...a large percentage are nationals of other counties.)

So let's take the top number and round it up, so we'll stipulate to three million Muslims in this country. Does that make us "One of the largest Muslim countries in the world?" Well, let's look at the list:

The top five countries by number of Muslims

Indonesia 200 million

India 196 million

Pakistan 165 million

Bangladesh 132 million

Egypt 75 million

The list goes on....Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ethiopia...and there's more...Mali, Niger, Senegal......Tunisia, Somalia, Guinea. Even a country most Americans have never heard of, Burkina Faso, has more than seven million Muslims.

Finally, somewhere around 52 on the list - below such well-known Muslim counties as Thailand and Germany - comes the United States and its three million or so Muslims.

So, obviously you can see why the President would call the U.S. "One of the largest Muslim countries in the world."

Again, let's imagine that Dan Qualye, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin or any conservative had said something this stupid. The laughter at the Washington Post, New York Times and The Daily Show would have been defeaning. But when you're a diversity hire, you get a free pass.

First wedding photo

The pictures are a little slow coming in...apparently we don't get the ones from the professional photographer for a while, and the ones taken by friends and family are not getting to me very quickly.

But here is one of the wedding party, taken at the great spot on Memorial Bluff in Red Wing where we spent about 90 minutes taking about 10,000 pictures. Fortunately the weather was great, the breeze was gentle and it was all a lot of fun.

Todd and Erin are currently honeymooning near Breckendridge, CO, and will be having a reception in Todd's hometown of Colorado Springs on Saturday. I'll try to report from the road.

Returning Soon...

Hi gang - Sorry for the lack of posting, but it's been a hectic few days. My daughter Erin was married on Saturday, and what with the wedding, the rehearsal, picking up - and dropping off - people at the airport, picking up tuxedos, etc., I just haven't found time to write. Lots to talk about though, and I'll get right back on it tomorrow.