We had an interesting customer service experience recently that reflected personal concerns. It impressed us that similar issues wouldn’t occur just anywhere.

In 1994 we had all of the aluminum windows on our home replaced with more efficient vinyl windows. The 13 windows cost us less than $7,000.

We had moved into the new spec home in 1975 and, enduring the sewer system construction a few years later, at least one of the windows experienced a broken seal and the newer windows were more energy efficient. The community of less than 5,000 people looked like a war zone for most of 1977 and 1978 as contractors blasted their way through our lava substructure to accomplish the federally-mandated sewer project.

Forty-nine years later, we experienced another broken seal in a small living room window that faces the street. We had pondered having it replaced, but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

One afternoon this fall, a gentleman knocked on our front door, and he pointed out that we had a window with a broken seal. It turned out that man was Pete Elster who had installed all of those windows 30 years earlier for his employer, High Desert Glass. Pete was riding by our home on his bicycle and noticed the irregularity. So?

He surmised that those windows should have had a lifetime warranty and that perhaps it could be replaced at no charge to us. It took a little digging on his part to find out who locally carried the successor brand of those windows, and no, the warranty prognosis didn’t apply, but we were still impressed by his efforts. Customer service extraordinare! We’d like to believe it’s reflective of Redmond in general.

We have replaced the window.

In January 1975, Ginger and I, our two young daughters and our Samoyed moved to this home on the outside edge of the north city limits. The street system ended just beyond our home and four of the six lots in our block were former pasture, just rocks and weeds. Our large lot had no landscaping, no fencing, no lawn or garden.

Our subdivision was on an inadequate community water system that made planting and growing a new lawn difficult at best. The city was on the cusp of beginning sewer construction, so was trying to annex any contiguous populated areas to spread out the cost burden. The promise of city water and better water pressure made us anxious for the annexation.

Fifty years later we’re still in the same house. We added a family room and fourth bedroom in 1978, and enlarged the master suite in 2007, because we had the world’s smallest bathroom. The house and yard are much larger than we need, but it’s paid for, and it holds a lot of history and memories for us. We’re not going anywhere soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, to all.