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| France 2014 |
April Accomplishments –
✓ Stayed caught up on April A-Z.
✓ Did something cultural: We went to the Chris Guillebeau Born For This book talk.
✓ Read
✓ Continued researching July travel.
Additional Successes –
✓ Used a month-long theme (and didn't get bored of it!) in A-Z.
✓ Commented on 10 blogs a day.
✓ Nagged IHG until I received the 70,000 points they owed me.
✓ Hilton platinum member until 2018! Woot!
Let's celebrate the end of the month and completion of April A-Z (because I know a bunch of IWSG'ers participate yearly!) with cake by the ocean floor! :) You know you want to. (I recommend coconut cake in Charleston. Yum!)
Future May Goals –
• Something cultural: I think our trips to Savannah, Charleston, and Asheville count.
• Read at least 2 books.
• Research July travel.
• Create a blog plan for June.
• Contact Jawbone about replacement Up3.
• Sell ONE thing (on ebay/poshmark) OR trash/goodwill at least 5 items.
Encouragement –
At least listen to the first five minutes as he talks about the unplayable piano and what happens when you attempt to play it anyway. :)
How did your April go? Did you accomplish all that you set out to? Did you get frustrated in the process? Is there anything you plan on doing differently in May to help you accomplish more or do better at something you are already doing?
My goal was just to get 5K written for Camp NaNo. I managed to pull it off the last day of April. :) Sounds like you were much more productive than I was. Good job! Hope you keep it up!
ReplyDelete5K written is great! Congrats! I wouldn't say I was more productive, just productive in a different way. ;) Hope you feel more successful in May! :)
DeleteMy April went fairly well. I launched a book and survived the A to Z Challenge. My May goal is to get some reviews for the new book and figure out how to market it better.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Considering the way April went for you, I have no doubt you'll be successful in May.
DeleteI'm not good at setting goals. I can get short-term results, but I kinda hate to commit to goals, call me strange. Every day is go with the flow to me ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I had no problem completing A-Z. Why? I was having fun. Plus I had started, and it was out there. No way would I quit in the middle of the alphabet.
I love your purging goals, and I need to hear more about how to successfully nag IHG!! http://thethreegerbers.blogspot.ch/2013/08/a-holiday-inn-fan-gets-crushed-case.html
lol. I make goals every month. I'm pretty terrible at getting things done without them. Because they are monthly goals, I can focus on doing things in the short term rather than accomplishing anything long term. And when you are blogging about those goals? You should probably make an effort to accomplish them. The world will find out if you don't! :)
DeleteAs to IHG? I called twice and emailed once. Generally, from what I understand, the idea is to call frequently, have proof of what you are saying, ask to speak to a manager or someone higher up. Don't get off the phone until you have what you want. Also, twitter can be helpful. In your particular case, you might could have argued for a free stay or some extra points. I'm not an expert, so I don't know, but I do think they could have given you something in exchange for your time and money. Worst case scenario contact a big travel blogger like The Points Guy to see if you can get help. A lot of times they have pull with chain hotels and a large number of followers backing them to help you get what you want. (Note: I haven't tried that, but I've seen blog posts on TPG where he is handling other people's problems.)
Of course, another completely different option is to book your stay with a credit card. If you run into problems and can prove you didn't stay (and booked a refundable night that you cancelled in time), you could contest the charge and (hopefully) get your money back. I haven't tried this strategy either, and with you living in Switzerland, credit cards might be different there. Who knows? Hopefully you don't have problems with IHG again. :-/
Yeah, this one is too long ago now, I have moved on. It was an un-refundable booking. I was just hoping they'd cut me some slack because I canceled without an hour, and it was a couple of weeks prior to the stay, so they didn't lose business.
DeleteCalling from Switzerland to a big corporation in the U.S. sucks. You can't dial 800-numbers for starters, so you have to find a number that puts you through. Then you spend the first 20 dollars of calling costs only to press one for English, blablabla. I don't have this patience.
My main goal for April was to finish my ms, which I am happy to report I achieved. Glad to hear you enjoyed participating in the A-Z.
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