Updates, Guest writer, and the Swine Flu 1


I’m Tina and I’m the guest writer for the blog today. Andee is at home recovering from the Swine Flu which turned into pneumonia.

I have a few updates for you that we are dealing with here at TheSage.com, they are:

1) the Swine Flu has caused a rush on hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps. These products use pumps, primarily high out-put pumps. This has caused the manufacturers to be delayed in production. What does this mean to you? If you want white or black pumps to be consistent in your line of products, AND you do not have a stock pile of the pumps, it will probably be January before you get them. We are currently out of white and black pumps. We are looking at some overstock pumps in colors. At this time we do not have a solution to this problem, at least one that can be cured before time has its way.

2) Swine flu notes from those that have had it: It isn’t as easy to catch as the media says it is. Keeping your hands away from your face and washing with good soap (I wonder where we could get that?!) reduces the possibility of catching this virus. The virus can’t survive on hard surfaces for long periods of time. Keeping door knobs clean, washing hands, avoid touching the face, and never allow someone to sneeze on you are major strides in prevention of this disease spreading. Pay attention to your health as well. When you feel less than 100% make a mental note. Tamiflu can be taken to stop the flu from taking over your body but it MUST be taken in the first 48 hours of symptoms. Andee’s sister had a severe case of the swine flu, but Andee’s symptoms were lessened because she got the Tamiflu early in the cycle. If you do get the flu, plan on someone taking care of you. This season’s flu viruses make getting up for a drink of water too taxing on the body. This is why people are easily dehydrated and need hospital care. Your caretaker should be checking for fever at least every 4 hours. It is best to take notes through this time. If you do need hospital care the notes can accompany you to the hospital and be very helpful. We found that Gatorade’s G2, a drink with electrolytes, was very helpful. We mixed drinks (not that kind!!) and took temperatures at least every 4 hours. When you start to feel better, stay at home! It takes at least another week to get back on your feet. Don’t push going back to work or to school. If you go back too soon plan on getting laid up with bronchitis or pneumonia instead of getting better. A week going stir crazy, watching movies you have already seen 100 times is MUCH better than coughing up your lungs. Lungs are required organs for living. 😉

3) We expect Andee back next week. She is breathing much better, but she is still getting breathing treatments and talking little. Too much effort spent telling stories zaps all of the available energy. We know you miss her, we do too. If you want my opinion, I think Andee would rather be at work and doing her blog.

4) While we are preparing orders to go out the door, I will probably be absent from Andee’s blog. I can do one or the other well, but trying to both is not in my current skill set. If you would like to be a guest writer please let us know. There is a link on our site to contact us. Send your comments to the Customer Support address and not to the blog. Andee’s email takes all the blog comments and no one is monitoring her address. http://www.thesage.com/about/contact.html is where you can go to send your blog entries. I’ll send major goodies to all who help during this time.

5) Shipping. Halloween is coming and we have no shipping disruptions for this holiday, but in November we have several. http://www.thesage.com/class.php3 will list all of the holiday events you should be aware of while making your orders. Please don’t forget that the Friday after Thanksgiving is only for UPS Next Day Air (sent on Wednesday) and Second Day Air (sent on Tuesday) deliveries. We feel really bad when an order is placed on Wednesday evening that requests Next Day Air delivery. This results in an order being delivered on Tuesday, December 1st. Check the schedule link and tell us in the comments of your order what is happening. We’ll do what we can to make you look good.

6) Lunch. I may not need to mention this but I’m going to try anyway. Yesterday I took lunch later than I normally do, for reasons of some staff being out with the flu and I was taking phone calls during our normal company lunch. When I finally got to my lunch a customer called with some questions and she refused to email in to have her questions answered. The lovely Kandie, our order desk guru, asked me to take the call because the caller was upset. I left my lunch and came to the phone. I answered the question that was the crisis which was explained to Kandie and then the customer wanted more info. I explained the percentage of Vitamin E to use and asked the caller to double check my answer with our online catalog. This obviously was not the answer she wanted and I tried to explain I was getting sick from not eating. The more I explained the more angry she became. My blood sugar was dropping fast and I was shaking like a leaf. Please don’t take our request to eat lunch as rude behavior, or that we don’t care about our customers. We do care. We want to be there to answer your questions and answer them correctly. So, if you call the office please accept my apology in advance. I’ll try not to let my lunch time get away from me again. Thanks for letting me explain why our phones may be closed during our lunch time.

7) Share a cup of tea with me. If you are placing an order, just write in the comments field that you want to share a cup of tea with our staff. I’ll have my favorite tea bags in the shipping department so they can add one to your order. If you like iced tea more than hot tea, tell us. If you like green tea more than you like black tea, tell us that too. If you have the flu, tell us, we’ll send a G2 packet instead. I think this flu/holiday/lunch post needs to be wrapped up by sharing a cup of tea. I’ll provide the tea if you provide the water and the cup. We’ll toast through cyber space and share a moment of companionship.

Best wishes,

Tina

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About Tina

I started thesage.com in 1996 with the help of my husband. Now I get to help people make all kinds of soaps and bath and body products. I think my favorite things to make are lip balms and lotions/creams. Of course I get most of the soap technical support questions because that is my strong knowledge area. Glad this blog is here!

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One thought on “Updates, Guest writer, and the Swine Flu

  • bluebutterflz

    Wow sounds like the team has their hands full! Thanks for this update 🙂 I would hope, especially loyal customers, like myself, can understand everyone there at MMS is human too and can’t always be 100% all the time. And in all that craziness a cup of tea sounds fantastic! Oh and I’m sure I don’t just speak for myself when I say I hope Andee gets to feeling better too!

    Best of wishes to everyone at MMS!

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