Crocuses, March 2009

Some Artsy Events Upcoming in New Jersey

• Rutgers Gardens will be having a photo contest in early September. I am tempted to enter or at least to visit Rutgers Gardens (a short drive from Highland Park) a few times over the next few months and take photos of the lovely grounds and flora. (hat tip: Jill)
• Raritan Valley Community College will be showing the ballet Sleeping Beauty in late March. I would love to take my daughter, but it is the week before Passover. I will be “industriously” cleaning my house for Passover.

Jacob informed me via Twitter that he has already started working in his garden. Have you?

At the beginning of a Jewish wedding the groom is marched to the bride accompanied by dancing friends and family and by musicians. The musicians at this wedding were from the orchestra Nafshenu. The groom then checks to make sure it is really his bride (as biblical Jacob got tricked, the groom wants to check).

The red in the photo was in the musicians’ eyes – I selected the red in Photoshop using the magic wand tool, desaturated the red, and adding back in enough color so their eyes looked brown.

On the subject of cameras and photographers, there were many photographers at the wedding (I believe some were friends of the bride and groom). I was jealous of their gigantic lenses, as was my father’s cousin, who said there is no end when it comes to desiring good photography equipment.

In New York City one can pay to park one’s bicycle. The bicycle fees were considerably less than the car parking fees.

For more photos with a little or a lot of red:

For more sepia photos, visit Sepia Scenes:

I previously wrote about Raritan Air Water Power in this post called Say Thank You – a trait the Rosenbergs do well! I got to know the Rosenbergs when our sons were in the same Cub Scout pack.

When did you start your business? We started our heating and air conditioning company here in February 2005. However, we were in business for a number of years when we lived in Potomac, MD. Zev has been in this field for 30 years.

How do you market your business? Currently we market mostly through word-of-mouth. We also send customers reminders about preventative maintenance that should be done in the winter and spring. Being part of the Highland Park First Aid Squad discount card also brings in additional business and customers seem to appreciate the savings.

Customers are very interested in energy savings and we try to alert them to ways to save. There is tremendous opportunity in high efficiency equipment right now due to federal tax credits and utility rebates.

Have you used social media? We currently have a page on Facebook. Readers can become a fan of our page at Raritan Air Water Power Service. We give tips and reminders there on savings and ways to manage your home.

What are some ways a business can keep customers? The most important thing is 100% quality control. For us that means every job that we do the customer has to get a follow-up phone call asking them how things are going and if we met their expectations. Let’s face it, people have come to expect lousy service. When someone’s not happy with the service they’ve received they are likely to go elsewhere, thinking it’s not worth the hassle. Occasionally we have to go back on a service call or installation. It makes the whole situation easier on the customer if we call them. I think people appreciate that you followed up even if they don’t have a problem. Most people are just shocked that once you get paid you even care! That is the biggest thing.

The second thing is to let people know that sometimes they have options of what they can do to repair their equipment. If they do have options, I like to present them and let people decide what best meets their needs.

Third, whenever I make any kind of suggestion on what needs to be repaired, I ask myself, “what would I do if this were my home or business.” I think people appreciate that you are trying to keep their perspective and or help them make decisions that are in their best interest.

Finally, in this current economic climate people need options for paying which is why we take credit cards.

How do you suggest dealing with a difficult customer? The first thing is that you have to establish realistic expectations and listen to what your customer is saying. We try and spell out for people exactly what we can and cannot do and what they should expect. Also you have to understand that not everybody wants what you have to offer. Many contractors will do anything to “get the job.” Because I live here I can’t offer to give someone less than what they need.

•   •   •

Thank you so much, Zev and Leslie, for this interview.

I jokingly told Leslie I was going to photograph one of our toilets, which Zev has fixed while checking our heating system or our air conditioning (he’s multi-talented), but instead I will show you their logo and phone number:

Do you have any questions for Zev or Leslie? Or if you would just like to cheer them on, please feel free to leave a comment.

wall mosaic detail at Raritan Valley Community College

Our main disappointment with the show, however, was that the actors did not come meet us outside the way we had experienced at the Forum Theater in Metuchen. RVCC also has strict rules about no photography during the show.

This coming Sunday, however, I won’t be needing to check Lucy’s account; I’ll be heading over to the Highland Park Public Library to watch the annual Teen Film Festival. My son told me he wrote the script for one of the films and put together a short animation film as well. It’s my birthday that day, so come join me in the celebration!

I found out by reading Carl in Jerusalem that the National Museum of American Jewish History will be opening in November 2010 in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is only a little over an hour away from Highland Park by car, so we will aim to head to the new museum after it opens.

I think they painted a mailbox zebra colors and wrote “Zoo Donations.” The zoo is free, so donations are greatly appreciated.

I don’t know what kind of bird this is, but it was wandering around, mingling with the zoo guests. Maybe a guinea fowl?

This is a bald eagle. It was hard to photograph him in his cage.

The flamingos were fun to watch. See that gull who looks like he owns the place?

Here’s Mr. Gull again, resting with the flamingos.

I cannot remember the name of this animal, but it had tons of energy.

Giraffes are beautiful animals.

Animals behind fences, like the leopard, were harder to photograph.

This zoo guest had a great time. Photos of family come out nicer when everyone is having fun.

NJPlaygrounds has more photos of the zoo and the nearby playground.

Thanks for coming with me to the zoo!

Strictly speaking, this is not a door or a window, but it is OPEN – so it’s like a gateway to the bakery. I enhanced the saturation of the colors in Photoshop.

We were able to visit the original home of the Allaire family. As I said on a previous post, we were not allowed to photograph inside, but here’s the doorway to that interesting home. It was said to still be inhabited by a descendant of the original Allaire founder in the 1950’s, and that 1950’s owner kept a horse in his kitchen. Eccentric.

This was a vertical photo, so I increased the canvas size to make it horizontal, and then I used the clone stamp tool and the blur tool to get the main part of the photo to extend a bit into the side areas.

What is that white board that looks like a door but is curiously up too high to be a door? Where there once steps there? I didn’t notice this until today, when I was looking through these photos. Does that happen to you; do you find mysteries in your photos that you didn’t recognize when you were on the scene?

These are windows in the train of the Pine Creek Railroad, which is next to the Historical Village. The train ride just goes around in circles, but we did get to see some deer as we circled about.

For more windows and doors, visit Window Views (hosted by Mary the Teach):

Dinner at East Jersey Olde Towne Tavern

On My Blog

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

• Pesky Settler hosts the Kosher Cooking Carnival. Check out the recipe for sourdough naan bread. That looks yummy.
• Ilana-Davita reviewed Rachel Sarai’s Vineyard, by Deborah Rey. You can learn more about Deborah Rey on her blog.
• Eva Abreu is running a New Jersey Social Media 2009 Hall of Fame. You vote via Twitter, use hashtag #NJSM09, and nominate outstanding users of Social Media in New Jersey.
• I loved Robin’s Red Hibiscus so much I decided to link to it here!

I have been working at getting interviews with Central New Jersey small businesses, and I plan to start a new series that I have nicknamed “Wednesdays With.” I won’t necessarily limit it to businesses in Central New Jersey, but that’s where I have been asking…hoping to get good, fun responses soon.

Since this is a post for Ruby Tuesday, I focused on photos with a bit of red. There’s the schoolhouse. All of the buildings were moved to this spot from elsewhere in Central New Jersey.

We had fun in the one-room school house, with its pretty red gingham curtains.

Throughout the buildings there are a lot of fake place settings, showing how food might have looked or been served. The buildings are from a variety of periods in New Jersey history.

This sign, with its red border, says the “In the 1970’s, the Indian Queen Tavern was relocated from New Brunswick to East Jersey Olde Town in Piscataway. In 2003, archaeologists uncovered artifacts from the original site of the tavern in New Brunswick.” (On display were a toothbrush, a comb, a shaving mug and a chamber pot.)

On our way out, I photographed this colorful bush, with its red fall foliage display.

For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

We greatly enjoyed seeing Rapunzel in October.

What creative groups are featured in your area? Theater, artists, musicians, museums – are there any that your family enjoys?