For the past few months, I have been developing a new website for the Second Judicial Circuit Guardian ad Litem Program. Serving Franklin, Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties in northwest Florida, the program is part of a statewide coalition of volunteers, community partners and professional staff. Guardians ad litem are court-appointed volunteers who protect the rights of and advocate for the best interests of a child involved in a court proceeding, frequently as a result of alleged abuse or neglect.

I could not be working pro bono for a nicer group of people or a better organization. The work the program does is important and so are their fundraising, recruitment and training efforts. My greatest hope is that the new website will help the program better meet their mission, improve overall efficiency when dealing with volunteers and the public, more efficiently provide information and increase the program's online profile.

The people I have met are extremely friendly and a pleasure to work with, a trait that should not be uncommon but my experience says differently (see Clients From Hell). Special thanks to Deborah Moore, Leigh Merritt and Stacey Burns for making the entire process fun and painless.

It has been a challenging but extremely fun project. With my current day job workload—among other duties, I am an assistant project manager on the massive data center consolidation project for the Florida Department of Transportation—I have been working on the website nearly every weeknight and weekend. Although it has been an exhausting time, getting this website built and online as quickly as possible has been a driving force.

In addition to significantly improving my PHP programming, WordPress theme development and regular expression skills, this project has rekindled in me a powerful urge to work for good. I last felt this way when I was running a small law office ten years ago. Going home each day with the knowledge that my day's work made a tangible difference in someone's life was a wonderful reward. In the near future, I shall investigate what opportunities may be available for me at not-for-profit organizations. Because you never know—and I would like to have that feeling regularly again.

Please take a few moments to check out the website and learn about the program. I would love to hear any feedback you may have.

In "The Hand Soap Quandary" published 23 February 2011, I discussed how my somewhat compulsive nature was not handling well the abrupt discontinuation of Moonlight Path Anti-Bacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap by Bath & Body Works. Most people can relate to the situation of having a valued product disappear from the marketplace, usually without warning. Nobody likes that.

You can therefore imagine my excitation when on 10 June 2011 commenter Megan wrote that Moonlight Path was again for sale on the Bath & Body Works website. I checked things out as soon as I got home from work. The bottle and label were different, but matched the design I saw in the store that fateful December day when I originally learned of the discontinuance.

I placed twenty bottles in my cart and finalized my purchase—$66.60 plus $8.99 shipping and $4.54 tax—convinced that all would be well soon. I received a notification of shipment along with a UPS tracking number on 12 June 2011. By the next day, UPS had the 13.7-pound box in its possession and tracking system in Louisville.

From Louisville, my box travelled to Nashville and then Jacksonville before arriving in Tallahassee. Unbelievably, this is where things get complicated. Although the package arrived at Tallahassee's primary USPS facility on 15 June 2011 at 1115 EDT, I would not see it for twelve days.

At this point, I naturally assume that the package was transported the short distance from 2800 South Adams Street to 221 West Park Avenue, the home of 32302 and my Post Office Box.

As soon as I got home from work, I called Bath & Body Works customer support and spoke with a very friendly and helpful woman. I explained that I had forwarded my residential address to the PO Box and that if the tracking message is true, an unfortunate loop was about to be created. The CSR suggested the message could be interpreted as the act of transferring the package from the Post Office proper to my specific box.

I checked my box the next day and the day after that, no package. Now it is the weekend so I have to wait until Monday to check again. Monday arrives but the package still has not, so I once again call customer service.

The CSR, another friendly and helpful woman, reviewed my case and apologized for the situation. She immediately refunded the $9.53 shipping fee and tax that I had paid and offed to reship all twenty bottles immediately. While I accepted the credit, I told her I would prefer to have a final resolution before shipping another package into the aether.

Two more days pass and then I receive the following notifications from UPS.

The next time I check my PO Box there is indeed a yellow card, which indicates a package has arrived too large to fit in my box. Usually, they leave a key that opens a larger box nearby used explicitly for this purpose. Nevertheless, from time to time, they leave the yellow card instead, which means having to visit during their insufferable hours of operation and queue for fifteen minutes.

When I finally made it before they closed, it was Monday of the following week. I asked the USPS clerk what happened over the past weeks and she said that shipping with UPS to a Post Office Box was a bad idea. Clearly this is the case, but why is it so difficult? I thanked the clerk and left with my package.

When I got the package home, I called Bath & Body Works one last time to inform them of my success so they could note it in my file. I was very excited to open the box and try the soap. The new bottles were an improvement insofar as the old pumps were often difficult to activate the first time.

The first thing of concern I noticed was the color of the soap itself. I thought that perhaps the different bottle might be a factor until I actuated the pump; it pumped far more quickly than before, the viscosity altered to a more liquified state. Finally and most importantly, the smell—one of the key reasons I was enamored with Moonlight Path from the beginning—was changed.

There are two specific things I want to point out before continuing. First, I spoke with three or four different customer service representatives with Bath & Body Works and they were all friendly, professional, knowledgeable and incidentally, female. I never had to wait on hold to speak with them and their notes system meant not having to explain my situation thoroughly each time I called.

Customer support like this does not really exist anymore so I am pleased and impressed with this aspect of my purchase, despite the inconvenience that necessitated the communication in the first place. Other companies would be smart to take advantage of the current economic situation and re-think their customer service operations by hiring people in the United States to perform the jobs they had outsourced and by offering a real service to customers.

Second, I have to admit upfront that I do like the new Moonlight Path reboot. The smell is appealing not overwhelming, the texture is pleasant and I like the way my hands feel after using it. I am using it now and might get more in the future, but I am extremely dissatisfied that Bath & Body Works elected to call this soap Moonlight Path when it is obviously not.

Since I do not have a molecular analyzer at my disposal and cannot quantify the differences sufficiently by description alone, I resorted to typing the listed inactive ingredients on classic Moonlight Path and the new reboot variety—the only active ingredient, Triclosan, is common to both. The task took longer than expected as my fingers are not accustomed to scientific nomenclature and the font size on the bottles was extremely small.

Four classic ingredients are not found in the reboot, while nine reboot ingredients are not found in classic. Indeed, the ingredients found in both versions are listed in a different order suggesting the quantities of each are also different.

Windiff: Classic versus Reboot

Bath & Body Works does everything right in the customer service department but needs some lessons on product naming and marketing. It is interesting to note that if you browse the Moonlight Path fragrance page, the reboot soap product is not listed. It appears on the Deep Cleansing Soaps subcategory page.

Is this because they know it is not truly Moonlight Path?

I am left with my original quandary but have an acceptable, if deceitfully named replacement. In the great scheme of things, all is well. I only wish I understood the decision-making process involved here and will continue to hope that the true, classic Moonlight Path will return some day.

— "Legacy" by Blow Up Hollywood

Recently Claire and I decided it was finally time for another day trip adventure. Our past four outings had been a success but we put things on hiatus for her second pregnancy. In early January, she suggested the Pebble Hill Plantation, 1251 US Highway 319 South in nearby Thomasville, Georgia. That sounded good to me, so on Saturday, 12 February at around 0945 we were on our way, cinnamon scones in hand, to the 3,000-acre facility.

We arrived shortly after they opened and I could tell that the sunlight and temperature would be perfect for walking around and taking pictures. The main drive from the highway is a cozy, canopy road that winds around the structures to a parking lot at the Stable Complex (1928) and visitor center. Upon our arrival inside, the gentleman working the register greeted us and explained the fees. We each paid the basic $5 grounds access fee and added the main house tour for $10.

After looking at some of the historical artifacts on display, we were ushered into an adjoining room to watch a short film about the plantation and the people who operated it during its 153 year history (1825–1978) before opening as a museum in October 1983. This room contained a vintage American Sterilizer Co. (AMSCO) of Erie, Pennsylvania safe-sized walk-in sterilizer, something that I had never seen before. After the film, it was time to meet the docent for our tour of the main house (1914/1936).

Unfortunately, photography is prohibited on the house tour so I do not have any images from inside (see PHP Photo Galleries). The tour itself was interesting and covered the history of the building and the legacy of strong female mistresses who obviously ran the show back in the day. The house contains an absolute plethora of objects from the 19th and early 20th century including various equine artworks and awards, 33 John James Audubon lithographs and a photograph of President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the property during one of several visits here with his wife.

At the end of the hour-long tour, we exited the main house and were now free to roam the grounds at our leisure and take photographs. We wandered from the trellis to Carriage Circle and explored the Tennis Court, Family Cemetery (1827) and Family Cemetery addition (1932). Moving south, we saw the Swimming Pool (1920), Bath House (1922), Arbor Tunnel and Maze. Moving around the house from the east wing to the front porch and eventually the west wing guest entrance, we next went to some of the other structures on the property.

The oldest building at Pebble Hill is the Log Cabin School (1901), which has on its roof a neat statue of a cat sitting watch. Inside the schoolroom and playroom are the furniture and toys of the various children who lived here. It also contains a vintage Fire-Gun No. 1 fire extinguisher by American-LaFrance Foamite Corporation of Elmira, New York. Moving on, we saw the Overflow Cottage (1916/17), Kitchen Garden and Shed (1917) and The Waldorf (1929).

The main floor of The Waldorf, built as the plantation laundry complete with living quarters, kitchen and dining room, houses some additional vintage equipment of interest. I enjoyed the "Wheel to Fire" mobile firefighting apparatus by O.J. Childs Co. of Utica, New York, the Tip Top Value cast iron stove and range (~1905–1920) by Southern Stove Works, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia and The Great Majestic cast iron stove and range (~1920) by Majestic Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis, Missouri.

The Dog Hospital (1929) felt eerie and abandoned in the way things were arranged. It was almost as if a dog was going to appear and run up to us. Incidentally, I managed to capture one of my favorite pictures from the trip here. Next door, we passed the Firehouse (1929) and Nurse's Station (1929) before walking the main road around the horse paddock and Stable Complex.

Twelve horses and mules live on the plantation today and several of them came up to us once we got closer. After visiting with a few of the curious horses, we walked inside through the Stable Complex to see the horse and cow barns, Tack Room, Dairy and Carriage Room. Already at the courtyard near the exit and having spent two hours wandering around, we decided that it was time for lunch and that the other buildings on-site could wait for another time.

We left the plantation and continued north on US 319 into downtown Thomasville. After parking on the street, we walked up and down Broad Street looking for a good place to eat, finally settling on Jonah's Fish & Grits, 109 East Jackson Street. The restaurant contains a bit of religious artwork and some text on the menu about their namesake, but it was not intrusive. Claire ordered the Shrimp and Grits ($7.50) and I got the Fish and Chips ($7.80) with a cup of Grouper Chowder ($3.80), all of which were quite delicious.

We returned to Claire's house where her three-year-old Elliot wanted to spend some time with me. After a thorough review of his favorite Transformers and Toy Story action figures, Elliot decided it was time to color. Armed with some of his Sesame Street coloring books, we sat at the dining room table and colored together for twenty or thirty minutes. It was an interesting experience for me, not being particularly comfortable with children, but one I think we both enjoyed.

Day Trips with Claire Smith

The Georgia Plantation | The Florida Caverns Trip
The Big Bend Photo Trip

Photographs  Pebble Hill Plantation | Florida Caverns State Park
Tallahassee Antiques Museum | Big Bend Photo Trip | October Day Out

When I got a BlackBerry in July 2010, one of the things I decided to try was Twitter. Up to that point, I had never really understood its purpose but it has proven amusing in the intervening 6 months and 24 days.

At first, I followed anyone I was familiar with but found the deluge of irrelevancy too much to handle on the phone. I trimmed that list down to friends, news sources and a few others, none of whom tweet excessively. I also found Twitter particularly fun during group events like the Orlando Predators game and DragonCon 2010.

I never imagined that I would use Twitter for any official purpose until last Saturday night. While driving east on Apalachee Parkway, I noticed the newly installed red light traffic camera capturing the eastbound approach was taking pictures of everyone passing through the intersection, myself included, despite the green light.

While I was considering my action later at home, I remembered that the City of Tallahassee's official traffic account, @COTTraffic, had posted when that camera was activated. I looked up that tweet and decided to reply with my story.

They replied at 0742 Monday morning saying, "I'm not sure but will check on that and let u know. Thanks for the info!" They replied again today at 1630.

This is excellent customer service and I am sure that is due in part to the nature of social media. I was able to target my message to the appropriate recipient, or someone who could get in touch with the correct parties quickly, and at no time had to explain and re-explain my situation to a series of people who have no idea what I am talking about. I should note that this comment is meant generally, as I have no real experience dealing with the city.

I replied almost immediately.

To those behind the keyboard at @COTTraffic, well done!

Last Wednesday, the temperature got up to 65° and nature was taking note. Just outside my apartment was a nicely colored Green Anole (Anolis carolinensis) lizard. While common to Florida, for some reason I do not see many of this species lizard around my apartment.

A family of Mediterranean Geckos (Hemidactylus turcicus) has lived outside my door for several years, but they only come out at night and not during winter. With the temperatures dropping this weekend, it will be a while before the lizards come out and visit again.