Restoring Faith in Airline Customer Service: 3 Principles

The value of customer service to long-term business development and customer retention is undeniable, though people often get lost in theoretical weeds. At the end of the day, treating customers well means providing the service you promised and quickly fixing customer service mistakes.

Consider an airline story as an example. Flying out of a small town means fewer available flights, so when an airline delays one flight, it cascades and kicks passengers off connecting routes, leaving them stuck. In this instance, the airline lets passengers know in advance. Going the next morning is not a massive problem, but it remains annoying because of canceled plans.

When the passenger informs the airline, the representative simply says, "You can put in a complaint." The passenger responds, "When you put in a complaint, a lot of people complain and nobody listens. At the end of the day, the consumer has to eat the cost."

Then, coming through the airport the next morning, the airline staff announces, "We waived your pet fee." The passenger never asks for this. Moments later, an agent approaches and says, "We are giving you back some of your points." The passenger does not expect this gesture. Having lived with the annoyance of being locked out of plans and swallowing the cost in the past, the airline actually does the right thing this time. It shows there are still people trying to make things right after an operational failure.

This experience highlights three core principles for building a stronger system of customer retention:

1. Provide the promised service as your baseline baseline.

2. Practice genuine empathy by listening when a failure occurs.

3. Make it right proactively to restore customer trust.

The Tree Painting: Quick Work For Sale

That is the classic artistic trap: spending three hours agonizing over the individual bark texture of a single tree while the rest of the canvas looks like a crime scene in a fog bank.

Doing a 10-minute speed run is basically forced exposure therapy for your inner perfectionist. It stops you from over-working the brush and actually forces you to look at the composition as a whole. Plus, if it turns out looking like abstract interpretive garbage, you only wasted ten minutes instead of a Tuesday.

The Walking Path Gallery (Painting and Photos)-Price below.

$70 Purchase Direct Painting PayPal

$60 for photos (Rights to Use or Printing)

Art Gallery eBay (Paintings)

The Tree on eBay

A few ideas on quick painting that I found were interesting. 

9 Ways to Improve Your Quick Painting / Pochade Skills

Attracting Start-Ups and Investments to Local Downtowns

Attracting new businesses to small, rural communities requires leveraging unique regional strengths while preserving local character. Escanaba serves as a prime model for this balance, combining exceptional natural amenities with robust infrastructure. Recent investments from major companies like Amazon show that proximity to a major metropolitan area isn't a strict requirement for growth when a community possesses strong core assets.

(Illustrative Only)
Thinking of the
possibilities.

A central driver of Escanaba's potential lies in its human capital and logistics. The local skilled trades college provides a dependable pipeline of practical talent tailored to modern industry needs. Furthermore, the region boasts exceptional multi-modal connectivity—spanning rail, a port, major highways, and an airport—making it an ideal hub for expanding supply chains and logistics-minded startups.

Finally, economic vitality relies on maintaining an inviting downtown experience. Escanaba's active downtown authority hosts frequent community events that energize the commercial core, benefiting both local residents and a growing tourist base. By showcasing a high quality of life paired with enterprise-grade infrastructure, rural towns can effectively attract compatible new businesses while keeping their small-town feel intact.

Which Small Towns Attract Start-ups and Why

• A 20-year study by Iowa State University researchers examined why certain small rural towns successfully attract new businesses while others experience economic decline.

• Human capital and business agglomeration were found to be the strongest drivers of new firm entry in rural communities.

• High concentrations of educated residents, higher median household incomes, and existing clusters of related businesses and suppliers consistently entice entrepreneurs.

• Physical distance to major metropolitan areas, natural amenities, local fiscal policies, and community social capital had negligible effects on attracting start-ups.

• Policy efforts aimed at small-town growth are most effective when targeted at communities already possessing strong human capital and market density rather than distributing economic incentives uniformly across all rural towns.

Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. (2020, November 2). Which small towns attract start-ups and why. https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/2020/which-small-towns-attract-start-ups-and-why

The Structure and Root of Philosophical Wisdom

Where does wisdom come from? It comes from life experiences, reflection, learning, and paying attention to what people say and think. It involves looking at social disparities, understanding their root causes, and learning why people make choices and how those choices create macro impacts.

Wisdom also comes from knowing and understanding yourself within the context of your environment. Without this self-awareness, we risk making selfish, thoughtless decisions that prioritize ourselves over others. Some of it is natural but as you become more enlightened you also understand the balance. Do good to yourself and to the world.

Ultimately, wisdom operates across three levels:

• The I: Your inherent abilities, skills, and personal contributions.

• The Me: The socialized self shaped by your environment and programming.

• The We: The social and economic outcomes produced by collective actions.

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Now in our sort of exploratory nature let us think of the I, ME, and We as it applies to the interplay between social and economic outcomes. 

I found this interesting you may be interested in reading the article below. We have also discussed natural systems which are more powerful than socially constructed systems. Below they talk of natural wisdom which is likely drawn more from a more natural system implicit knowledge. 

*PS if you like these free articles support them through purchasing a product, buying advertising space, etc. 

Wisdom: Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future concerns.

• The paper addresses the lack of scientific consensus on wisdom by proposing an integrative, two-dimensional framework.

• Wisdom is defined both as an action achieving altruistic outcomes and as a psychological trait integrating virtue and wit.

• The authors categorize wisdom by capability types into humane wisdom and natural wisdom, and by applicability into domain-specific, domain-general, and omniscient types.

• Key theoretical debates are clarified regarding the relationship between wisdom, expertise, and moral development.

• Five critical directions for future psychology research are outlined, including cross-cultural validity, standardized measurement, and the impact of artificial intelligence.

Zhang, K., Shi, J., Wang, F., & Ferrari, M. (2022). Wisdom: Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future concerns. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02816-6

A Quick Painting of a Ship and Buoy

 There is a lot of truth to that intuition about speed and the subconscious. When you move fast, you short-circuit the over-analytical part of your brain—the part that second-guesses lines, worries about technical perfection, and ends up overworking a piece until it loses its life.

Getting an idea down before it fades captures a raw, unfiltered kind of honesty. That tension between over-working a piece and catching lightning in a bottle is something artists at all levels grapple with. Sometimes an "imperfect" execution carries ten times more character and vitality than something meticulously polished.

I think I will try abstract. It seems that if you don't have natural skill that may be the way to go. It requires a keen understanding of space and color. Jk.

2026 Art Trends Post (This is on someone else's blog but still interesting.)

The Walking Path Gallery (Painting and Photos)-Price below.

$70 Purchase Painting PayPal

$60 for photos (Rights to Use or Printing)

Art Gallery eBay (Paintings)

Questioning Foundational Assumptions for System Improvement (Allegory of the Clan)

 Systems thinking requires looking at the complete picture: inputs, processes, and outputs. Within any system, human processes naturally invite diverse perspectives, often leading to disagreement. When we examine human rights, civil rights, and constitutional law, people interpret these principles through personal lenses shaped by their backgrounds—perspectives formed as early as childhood.

(Illustrative Only)
The importance
of preserving our
democracy moves
beyond the parties
and their agendas.
It is something
fundamental
to who we are.
When we don't reverse
the advantages of corruption
or have appropriate
checks and balances 
we are all at risk. 
No matter your 
race, religion, politics, 
or origine. 

It is rare for individuals to question these foundational perceptions. Those who do are generally more thoughtful and capable of self-reflection, allowing them to shift their lens and view the world from other perspectives. They in history have also been mistreated for challenging assumptions that others take as fact. 

...but then it changes (They are doing what nature designed them to do and that is reflective in the human species and history.).

This dynamic is central to the "Allegory of the Clan." based on an Elightenment concept. Within the mindset of those causing harm—whether through corruption, targeted hate, human rights violations, civil rights abuses, or the suppression of religious expression—individuals often act with impunity. Because their worldview tells them their actions are acceptable, they ignore dissenting information that challenges their biases. They allow harmful behaviors to persist unchecked simply because they are unwilling to grow and develop. Failing to undo harm to numerous victims is a data outcome of internal decision making.

Of course, some participants know their actions are wrong. In our allegory, even judges eventually recognize the systemic corruption. At that point, they face a critical choice:

• Will they remain loyal to the partisan networks that secured their positions (as appointments are frequently driven by politics rather than merit)?

• Or will they honor their fundamental responsibilities to society, their oaths, and a higher value system?

Making this pivot requires challenging deeply ingrained assumptions about others and about life—a hurdle some are unable or unwilling to clear. Ultimately, while institutional systems may seem cold and rigid, their application is deeply subjective. In our allegory, biased, bigoted choices were made that violated countless rights, perpetuated only because those involved refused to change their perspective.

Until these root problems are addressed, they will likely continue into the future, fueling declining public trust and as a consequence encourage social rifts as individuals repeatedly choose lower value systems over higher ones. Unless we expect them to do otherwise and in kindness, empathy, maturity and wisdom we can encourage them to do that; or not (This is where your value systems come into play.).

*This is a thought experiment allegory for learning purposes so feel free to change, discard, add or detract as one sees fit. Take with a grain of salt. 

Chopping Firewood for Fitness, Performance and the Love of the Outdoors

(Illustrative Only)

Chopping firewood. 
I think I sold
what I have extra
by tomorrow 
but hit me up if you
have if you want
later in the winter. 

 A few weeks ago, I bought a face cord of good maple hardwood to go with the oak I already had. My routine is simple: I chop it down into slender little logs (about 2-3 inches by 16 inches) and burn a bundle in the fireplace every morning.

Sure, I have central heating like a normal human, but tossing a custom fire in the hearth creates that unbeatable morning ambiance—and bumps the house temperature by about 3°, keeping the furnace asleep.

Because my pieces are cut relatively thin, they give you a gorgeous flame you can actually manage. You have to keep feeding it every 20 minutes, or it dies out quickly. That's a feature, not a bug: unlike a heavy-duty wood stove meant to smolder all night, this is high-maintenance fire management for people who like to babysit a hearth.

The best part? This whole operation is a "hobby farm" workout. You burn about 400 calories swinging an axe, get fresh air, stack it neatly, and burn the rest.

Even better: I sell about half of it to neighbors for around $65 a half-face cord. By the time the dust settles, I get to keep a third of the wood and pocket $20 to $30 cash. Not a bad deal for a few hours of working out throughout the week (10 minutes stretches and a few of them throughout the day). 

(Illustrative Only)

Sometimes the
simple things
are the things
that make the
biggest differences.

When’s the last time your gym membership paid you to work out? Exactly.  Even though I have a fitness trainer license getting peope to sign up for it is relatively sparse. Now I worked out and made about $13 an our. Heck yaaa!

There is very little that beats a crisp, sunny autumn day, a hot cup of coffee, a good hat, and getting paid to sweat in the yard. The sun is shinning and your listening to the birds chirp just before you go back in and build that next corporate strategy, discover a scientific solution, or art piece. 

You can read this on why getting up and doing a little constructive physical activity can help. Exercise can boost your memory and thinking skills. You chopped wood or went for a walk. Mix it up!

*I have a fitness trainers license, coach, a yoga instructor license and play some sports so if you need a little help on your own goals we can do something virtual. ....or buy some firewood. 🪵🪓