Justin Germino Ramblings

This is a true story on how exceptional customer service can affect business brand and loyalty from customers. My wife and I enjoy traveling and in particular cruises that go all over the world. When we took our first cruise about 6 years ago we chose Royal Caribbean based on price and reputation after looking at several others. We had a great staff, pleasant experience and the whole cruise was fantastic.

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For our 2nd cruise a year later we decided to try Carnival Cruise lines, and the cruise was also good and there were more activities that were aboard the ship that catered to people who like games or party activities. There was just one thing that was missing, exceptional customer service.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B00563KR7M” alt=”‘Cruise Ship In Caribbean Sea’ Wall Decal – 18″W x 12″H Removable Graphic” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/410NlG1sEsL._SL160_.jpg” align=”left” width=”160″ height=”106″]Royal Caribbean wait staff at the dining set the bar when it came to serving, and for a few years my wife talked about Ian from Jamaica and how amazing he was at providing the best service possible. When my wife took her mother on another Royal Caribbean cruise a year later she happened to luckly have Ian again as her waiter and this made her experience even better.

Fast forward to our next cruise which was out of Orlando, Florida and sailed through Haiti, Jamaica and the Grand Caymans and my wife who previously thought she had seen the best in wait service was blown away by the outstanding service by a waiter named Gede from Indonesia. This person knew all of our dining habits and drink preferences, so that by day 2 on the cruise we literally had to ask for nothing but only tell him what we wanted off the menu for dinner that night. Glasses were never empty, plates were brought out and he even brought an extra here and there guestimating what we may want to sample and being correct on many occasions. I mean when he saw the shrimp cocktail plate was consumed in 20 seconds he didn’t ask, just set a 2nd one down without even being asked. His attention to detail was amazing and to this day two years later my wife still compares all hosts, servers to Gede and the amazing service he provided. He set the bar so high in fact that it is hard for any others to measure up.

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B00421A6WA” alt=”Phuket Ocean Scene, Photography Door Poster Print, 21 by 62-Inch” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41N6QJ9lD%2BL.jpg” align=”right” width=”250″]Now, we have been on 6 cruises and 4 of them were with Royal Caribbean as we have seen nothing but the friendliest service. Not just in wait staff at the restaurant but even on our most recent cruise the stateroom attendants are the most pleasant and friendly people to associate with. Literally, the customer service of Royal Caribbean staff keeps us coming back to where we prefer to look at Royal Caribbean before all other cruise companies.

We did take a Disney Cruise and can speak about how incredible that was, the kids loved it, the shows were the best out of any cruise. But even the Disney cruise ship staff which provided great service didn’t leave the same kind of “WOW” impression that Royal Caribbean staff has left us. Now don’t get me wrong, Disney is fantastic too. When our 2 year old had a melt down at the Animator’s Palette restaurant, it was the Disney staff who helped carry all of our food to our hotel room for us so we can finish it there.

So, this is a lesson that years later the outstanding customer service is something we talk about regularly and always is associated with our experience with Royal Caribbean. Bad customer service is always remembered as well, it is imperative to make sure in any business that customer service is the absolute best. “Average” is forgetable and doesn’t leave an impression, “Bad” is of course the worst as it leaves a permanent negative impression but if you can demand and make sure your employees go above and beyond every time. This will only help your business spread by word of mouth and reputation.

After all, Royal Caribbean has received repeat business from us 5 times in the last 8 years as a result of their exceptional service.

-Justin Germino

Our first stop after embarking the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas was in Messina, Sicily. Here we had a 7.5 hour Mt. Etna tour planned where we traveled at first to the Crateri Silvestestri (or Silvestri Crater) and walked the perimiter of this quiet volcano crater. Mt. Etna is the largest active volcano in the world and the tour guide said usually at least twice a month they can see eruptions from the mountain into the sky. There were 3 primary mouths to the volcano but two sealed off leaving just Etna for hundreds of years. Until several years ago where new craters erupted randomly and in 2003/2004 they had flowing lava and an eruption cause mass damage to the surrounding region.

The volcanic rock and ash left behind is just incredible to witness, my wife and I had visited the lava tubes in Kona, Hawaii but there is something different here. The volcanic rock is brittle and some of it glitters, we brought back several samples which they allow you to freely take. In Hawaii you cannot take volcanic rock back with you as it is considered bad luck.

We didn’t have the time to walk the largest crater in the area, but we walked one of the mid range ones and the scope of the volcanic craters makes you see why the Romans and Greeks really thought that Mars had his weapons made here in the forge of the gods. Man seems so small next to such powerful elemental forces.

Probably the coolest thing is that from the towns and landscapes you an always see Mt. Etna in the distance and it is always steaming from it’s highest point about 11,000 feet above sea level. The townsfolk are proud and thrive in the fact they live near an active volcano and are never worried that another earthquake or explosive eruption can cause them harm. The fact that an earthquake completely wiped out some of Messina in the early 1900s causing the entire city to be rebuild from scratch doesn’t concern them anymore.

Tourina meanwhile is a tourist paradise, littered with rows of stores and fashion shops that wind around hills there is hours of shopping here. Cafe after cafe with infinite restaurants it seems line decorate the streets.

On one of our stops near the craters we had authentic Sicilian Pizza with strange mushrooms, peas and exotic ingredients mixed into the pizza sauce. We also feasted on authentic cannoli with fresh ground pistachio nuts on top. The sweet riccota cream filling was incredible and it was among the best cannoli’s I had ever eaten in my life.

One other note is about the juices, they have at least two different kinds of orange juice and one is light orange while the other is a dark pink that borders red. Neither tastes like orange juice in the US and both are so much more flavorful. The light orange is sweet almost like tangerine nector or an orange/guava combination and is among the best fruit drinks I have ever tasted.

No doubt, Sicily was amazing and among the most magical places I have ever visited. I would consider doing an extensive stay here in a beach side condo someday.

Here is a photo gallery of the Messina, Sicily tour.

-Justin Germino

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Change-Up for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Hey there.  Have you ever envied a friend for having the “perfect” life?  Whether you’re single and you want the stability, the love, the family life of one of your married friends or maybe you’re married and you long for those single life moments of drinking all night, little to no responsibilities, or not being tied down to a single woman.  This is the scenario that our friends Mitch (Reynolds) and Dave (Bateman) find themselves in.

From the creators of The Hangover and Wedding Crashers, The Change-Up brings you a classic body switching story with a modern twist.  During a drunken night together, the guys express their discontent with lives.  After a seemingly impossible wish comes true, the guys awake in the other’s body.  The guys, freaked out, try to live in each other’s shoes without destroying the life that they’ve created.  The guys quickly realize that the grass is not greener on the other side and they try to find a way to get back to their normal families.

The Change-Up is one movie that I’ll definitely be catching on it’s release date, August 5th.  Ryan Reynolds has been an actor that I admire (Blade: Trinity, The Amityville Horror, and The Green Latern) and I haven’t been disappointed by anything he’s been in.  He may not be the greatest actor, but he’s definitely getting the chance to show his acting chops.  As for Jason Bateman, I’ll admit that I’m not too familiar with his work, but he was pretty hilarious in Horrible Bosses.  With Reynolds playing the handsome guy and Bateman playing the settled down guy, the chemistry between these two should be more than enough to capture the audience.  Check out the trailer for the film below.

Change-Up will be in theaters August 5th.  Check your local listings and find it in a theater near you.  So what do you guys think?  Is this a movie that draw in huge crowds or will it fall under the radar and get little attention?  What do you think of the actors portraying best buds?  Great match or could have been better?  Watch the trailer and let’s hear your thoughts!  Later!

You have heard of people reading novels on a plane but somehow I was reading House Corrino novel in the newer Dune series by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and I managed to get 85+ pages into the novel and somehow misplaced it while sitting in my seat on a 9 hour flight from Charlotte to Rome. I literally couldn’t find the book, it wasn’t under the seats, on the side or even in any of the pouches.

I spent several minutes thinking how the hell did I lose a book I was reading just 1 hour prior while sitting in the same seat on a plane? The novel was actually given to me by a gentlemen who was at our kids swim lessons just the day prior. It had a slew of political betrayal and plots, subplots and took place prior to the events of the Dune series.

It was actually the third book in the prequel trilogy but I hadn’t read the previous two. It was easy to get right back into and I remembered surprisingly large amounts from when I read the Dune series about 17 years ago. I remembered virtually everything and none of it felt new, but fortunately about three hours later I had asked the women seating behind me if they saw a book on the floor near their feet and one of them found my book shortly after.

I seriously have a bad habit of losing stuff in situations where most people just can’t lose something. I literally almost lost a thick 600 page soft cover book while sitting in the same seat on a plane.

-Justin Germino

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Over the past seven months my technology blog dragonblogger.com has transformed from being a single author blog run by myself into an online magazine type of site.  I have a staff of writers now who are writing and the site has now become an organization with the creation of a new @dragonbloggers twitter account which is monitored by my site staff. This will give my online profile 24×7 reach as I have writers in various time zones and cover almost entire 24 hours with this account being staffed.

I am using Hootsuite Pro to establish a team who all can login and tweet from and respond to any tweet with the same @dragonbloggers twitter profile.  Hootsuite Pro rocks and is one of my favorite social media tools.

In addition I have expanded and given some of my writers admin access to the DragonBloggerTech Facebook fanpage so they can help with promotions, responding and keeping activity alive.

I like that my team are called "DragonBloggers" and we are one tight knit group in constant communication on our private Facebook group as we discuss plans for the site and future growth.

Make no mistake, DragonBlogger.com is growing very rapidly in the online verse and is being picked up by more and more companies for doing product reviews, product testing and more.  It is my goal that DragonBlogger.com become a combination IGN / Destructoid / Famousbloggers / Movie Review site all in one.  Do I think we can accomplish this?

Hell yeah we can!

-Justin Germino

So while standing lines at Harkins theater the other week waiting to purchase tickets for Cars 2 I was forcible shoved by an older woman probably a good 15-20 years my senior.

It all started when there were only 2 lanes open, the lanes were very slow moving and I had a work related email come in on my blackberry.  Now I typically don’t read my phone while in a line or anything, but the lines weren’t moving and it was a distressing 110+ degrees out and I needed a distraction.

While I was reading the email a 3rd line opened up and the teller called "next in line" I hadn’t noticed because it wasn’t my line and a lady behind me forcibly shoved me in the back and said "your next" literally pushing me forward enough to where I almost dropped my phone.

I literally was stunned, now I am not a big or intimidating guy but at 170 pounds and medium build I figured a stranger would be taking a chance to just shove another stranger in public.  Now, she must have figured because I was reading my blackberry that automatically dismissed me as being any sort of aggressor (probably true) but still I was rather offended and felt a little violated that my personal space was invaded.

Truthfully I didn’t say or do anything but put my phone away and move into the line to buy the tickets, I was literally to dumbfounded for my brain to make the flight or fight decision needed to address the situation.

But I kept wondering, couldn’t she have just said they are talking to you instead of shoving me?  Or was I actually being rude by reading my email while waiting in line?

You be the judge.

-Justin Germino

So after seeing the situation affecting my own family recently I know that in the United States we need a government run healthcare program.  Hands down there is just no way the middle to lower income folks can afford healthcare without a group healthcare policy provided by an employer and these are becoming fewer and farer between.

It is often the middle age who are just too early to reach Medicare but have been let go or forced into early retirement and have to drain their life savings to pay for potential medical issues that they are suffering from. 

We need an entity that is able to negotiate and keep specific services at set rates to prevent ridiculous price gouging, this is especially true on prescriptions and medications which are astronomical in cost if you can’t get a generic for $4 at Fry’s or Wal-Mart. 

With all that is going on in the Tobacco and Alcohol taxing programs I wonder if there can be some sort of system applied to "junk food".  I mean think about it, we know that people who smoke cigarettes for 30 years are going to get lung cancer, COPD and other problems.  The same applies to people who eat nothing but carcinogenic junk food for 30 years and cause their bodies to develop diabetes and other health problems.

If the government is going to run health care costs and obesity is going to be a huge cost involved with medical problems perhaps then a certain tax needs to be applied to certain foods with a poor protein / fat / sugar ratio.  I think the funding for these taxes should go only toward the costs for providing healthcare but this could be a viable source of income to help with healthcare costs.  I mean I don’t know what kind of tax rate is required, even if it is 1 cent per dollar on soda, junk food…etc. this could be a way to bring in sources of revenue to offset the cost of government subsidized healthcare.

Honestly, what I pay now in healthcare from my own company I would rather pay in taxes to help contribute toward a healthcare system that covers everybody equally.  I wouldn’t mind paying an extra 1 cent per dollar on junk food that I know is part of the cause of poor health.  I would exclude all fresh baked goods however from this tax.

Developing the right definition of "junk food tax" would be the tricky part, it would require taking assessment of all food on the market and find the right ‘ratio’ of protein, to fat, to sugar (not just carbs since complex carbs are good for you).  It should apply to products which list corn syrup or certain oils as the primary ingredients.

The truth is that more and more people will suffer as they cannot afford healthcare, and Insurance companies are in the business of staying profitable.  There can never be the best interests in health care if profits are the main goal and concern.   I think that medical professionals deserve their just salaries and earnings for providing health care and going through the required medical training.  I also think that drug companies deserve some reward, exclusivity for spending billions of dollars in R&D for new drugs to help cure diseases.  However, I also think that malpractice insurance, lawsuits, insurance companies and others have driven up healthcare costs that it is ridiculous

Things will only get worse and eventually a revolution will occur, but not before we see a meltdown I am afraid.

-Justin Germino

Honestly I have never bought a computer fully assembled from a company before.  All of my previous computers have been hand built and custom assembled by myself piece by piece from the case, motherboard, CPU, RAM and video card.

The problem is I also spent various hours resolving all sorts of problems from heat distribution, buggy hardware and little inconsistencies that occur when you build your own system.  Combine this with the fact that I want my latest system to have a liquid cooling system which is more complicated and I just don’t feel like building my next system.

To me paying a little extra money to have a system built and shipped fully intact and working is a better option.  My time is limited and I want to get off the ground running as quickly as possible.

So, I know I want my new system to be built around the X58 architecture with USB 3.0, to have an Intel Core i-7 960 and at least 8GB of DDR3 RAM.  I want at least an NVidia GeForce 560ti though want a 570 if I can get one and I want to find everything I am looking for at around the $1300 – $1500 price point.

The only two places Cyberpower.com and iBuypower.com (which appear to be the same company) offer this combination with liquid CPU cooling for the price I am looking for.  The problem is that both companies are HIGHLY advertised in virtually every computer magazine from PC Magazine, PC Gamer, Maximum PC…etc and I did some research and see various negative comments on various forums and such for both companies.

I can’t believe these companies would be as popular and bringing in the funding to advertise as much if they were "SO BAD" so I am figuring maybe 1% of the people or less who bought systems were very dissatisfied since we know that complainers tend to be more vocal and leave comments than satisfied customers.  No news is good news sort of thing.

So I have been polling on Twitter and Facebook and nobody has actually responded if they ever bought a PC or have any feedback or recommendations from these companies.  So I am curious to know if anyone has some PC manufacturer recommendations.  Note that you can’t get a gaming rig from Dell, HP…etc without paying big money and they don’t even offer "box" systems with the configurations I need here.

I really wanted a system that runs quieter and cooler than my very noisy current system which heats my legs like a furnace under my desk, but just don’t know who to buy from.

This is the custom PC I spec’d out from CyberPower for a total of $1474

Case: Xion Predator 970 Gaming Series Mid Tower Case w/ 2 External Removable HDD Bays [-5]

Internal USB Extension Module: None

Neon Light Upgrade: None

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

Noise Reduction Technology: Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels [+29]

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-960 3.20 GHz 8M Intel Smart Cache LGA1366

Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No Overclocking

Cooling Fan: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Single Standard 120MM Fan)

Motherboard: * (3-Way SLI Support) Asus P6X58D-E Intel X58 Chipset SLI/CrossFireX Mainboard Triple-Channel DDR3/1600 SATA-III RAID w/ 7.1Audio,GbLAN,IEEE1394a,USB3.0,SATA-III,RAID,3 Gen2 PCIe, 1 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI [+32]

Memory: 12GB (2GBx6) DDR3/1600MHz Triple Channel Memory Module [+84] (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Video Card 2: None

Video Card 3: None

Dedicated PHYSX Card: None

Multiple Video Card Settings: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple Monitors

Power Supply Upgrade: 800 Watts – XtremeGear Gaming Power Supply – Quad SLI Ready

Hard Drive: 40GB Corsair Force 40 Gaming MLC Solid State Disk [+51] (Single Hard Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 1TB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 32MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+68] (Single Hard Drive)

Hard Drive Cooling Fan: None

External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None

USB Flash Drive: None

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: None

Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

3D Vision Glasses: None

LCD Monitor: None

2nd Monitor: None

3rd Monitor: None

Speakers: None

Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

Network Switch: None

Keyboard: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB Keyboard

Mouse: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming Mouse

Mouse Pad: None

Gaming Gear: None

Extra Thermal Display: None

Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: None

External Wireless Network Card: None

Wireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: None

Bluetooth: None

Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

Video Camera: None

Headset: None

Printer: None

Cable: None

Power Protection: None

Surge Protector: None

IEEE1394 Card: None

USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

Operating System: None – FORMAT HARD DRIVE ONLY

Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None

Office Suite: None

Games: None

Ultra Care Option: None

Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Rush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS

Does anyone have any recommendations?

-Justin Germino

Happy Independence day to everyone, today also happens to be my 12th wedding Anniversary as my wife and I were married at the Phoenix Zoo back in July 4th 1999.

We are on our Italy cruise right now, and today’s stop is in Sicily where we will do a walking tour of Mt. Etna. 

Though we won’t see any bubbling lava (likely) and nature’s fireworks on our tour we should be having a great time.

As someone who used to set off fireworks as a kid in NY, remember to keep safe and fireworks are no joke for kids.  Arizona recently legalized fireworks on 4th of July which was a stupid move for a state that is in a bad drought and has had some of the worst wild fires ever. 

I wouldn’t recommend using any fireworks in Arizona even if it is legal, there are ways to enjoy and celebrate without risking burning a hand, building or starting a wildfire.  If you do decide to use fireworks, then makes sure it is on concrete and there is no chance of catching on nearby foliage.  Make sure to keep children clear and be very careful.

Man, you know I didn’t really think of such things until I became a father of two boys.  Now I am acting like some sort of parent, go figure.

-Justin Germino

A long time ago, I used to buy Ostrich Sticks from Hi-Health, the pepper kind and really really enjoyed them.  I haven’t been able to find them in any store locally in Casa Grande and finally searched Amazon.com years later.

Ostrich jerky is actually extremely lean and packs a lot of protein in an 80 calorie jerky stick.  At 14 grams of protein, 0 saturated fat and virtually 0 carbohydrates this is a perfect snack.  Pair with some fruit or vegetables and it is a really good meal replacement too for a lunch.

Now Ostrich sticks do taste different from beef or even turkey jerky and they are slightly moist rather than completely dry and hard to tear apart.  This is what I actually like about them though.  The flavor is more like chicken but I actually prefer Ostrich sticks and the pepper flavored ones are my favorite by far.

Now, they do have some beef in them so they aren’t beef free, but is Ostrich and Beef combination.  I actually didn’t know that originally and thought they were 100% ostrich.  I have had ostrich burgers before at Fuddruckers too and really like the flavor as well.

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-Justin Germino