A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

So how do you bring a new generation up to speed on a movie series they didn't grow up watching? In discussing the new Star Wars movie that's due out next month at our son's soccer games this fall, we realized that several of his teammates hadn't seen the original three or later three movies. The solution, a Star Wars movie marathon sleepover, developed from there.

Last Saturday, we hosted six boys for a viewing of the six movies on the big screen at our synagogue. They spread out camping mattresses and sleeping bags on the floor and settled in for the shows. In between they played Paintball together on networked computers, enjoyed pizza, snacks and breakfast, and got about three hours of sleep.

Good thing we decided to start with the original three movies, which lead into the new one. We ran out of time midway through the second of the later movies. The boys have a solution to that: have another Star Wars movie marathon sleepover. However, it might be a while before my husband and I fully recover.

November raspberries

We're into November here in the Northland, and yesterday I picked more fresh raspberries. I'm pretty certain this may be my last harvest of the season.

Dr. Who Conundrum

When my 10-year-old son decided to be Dr. Who this Halloween, my initial reactions:

• Way cool!
• Which doctor, and if it's the 10th will he fit into my old Converse high tops?
• Hope he isn't disappointed when people can't figure out who he is.

We headed out trick-or-treating last night. Imagine our surprise when, after knocking on the doors of just two immediate neighbors, we ran into two more versions of the 11th Doctor. The three "Doctors" lined up for the photo at right, their sonic screwdrivers engaged.

In case you're wondering what's on my son's head: To quote the Doctor, "It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezes are cool." (Bow ties are too.)

I only wished I had bought that fleece jumpsuit made to look like the TARDIS. I could have stood on a strategic street corner instead of traipsing about the neighborhood as J.K. Rowling's sorting hat.

October raspberries

We're well into October here in northern Minnesota. Yesterday I picked these fresh raspberries off our bushes, and harvested my beets and a little lettuce from the garden.

Customer Service Lament

I've been thinking a lot about customer service. Companies have entire departments devoted to it. You can call customer service, e-mail customer service, even chat live online with customer service. Management trains their frontline or first contact employees to provide customer service. Some businesses I patronize give great customer service. Sadly, most businesses do not.

On Friday, June 12, Waste Management failed to pick up our garbage. Our delivery is on Friday afternoon. I e-mailed customer service and received this immediate e-mail back: "A customer service representative will respond soon to your question." I waited. Our trash sat on the curb over the hot weekend. I e-mailed customer service again at the beginning of the week and received an immediate e-mail back: "A customer service representative will respond soon to your question." Frustrated, I called the Waste Management customer service phone number in the Twin Cities. They said they would schedule a pick-up of our trash which had sat on the curb over the weekend -- for Wednesday. That day came and went. My trash finally was picked up on Friday, a full week late on my regular service day. I researched the costs of two other garbage haulers that service my neighborhood and vowed the next time our trash isn't picked up to switch services.

A couple of weeks ago I completed a customer satisfaction survey Waste Management e-mailed to me. I rated my recycling service middle high, my garbage service middle low. And I took the opportunity to clearly explain that sending an e-mail back saying "A customer service representative will respond soon to your question" -- is not customer service.

On Thursday, Oct. 15, more than four months after I e-mailed customer service twice and received messages that a customer service representative would "respond soon," I received a phone call from a Waste Management customer service representative. I laughed that my service problem finally was getting an airing. She tried to make me a satisfied customer by explaining to me that my e-mail requests for service went to their national system but were never routed back to our service region. The collective "They" she spoke for, has no record of my requests for service. However, in the future, I can "chat online" for immediate customer service. Then, she qualified, but only during the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

I choose to laugh, rather than cry. My hauler made it today. He's even early. Let's just hope he doesn't miss any more pickups.

A Blue Ribbon Day

We watched a fair princess have her likeness carved in butter and robots play a game of tag. Sam got his Monkey with a Tool Belt book signed by author Chris Monroe. We walked through a haunted house and saw some cows being milked. We marveled at the prize-winning fair entries -- from commercial cheese and student art to pies and quilts. We ate fresh cut french fries while scoping out the midway, pausing for Sam to test his skill at a ring toss game. We walked from one end of the fairgrounds to the other -- for a second time -- just so we could eat meatloaf on a stick. We rendezvoused with Tom at the CSS booth and started a pin collection. We caught the tail end of a bee beard demonstration. We devoured deep fried Oreos. Sam rode his first roller coaster with his Dad, both coming off  the ride with big smiles and a little bit dizzy. We took pointers from a honey harvesting demonstration.

We liked everything we experienced at the Minnesota State Fair, except that Sam was a half-inch shy of being tall enough to drive a go-kart and we didn't have room for those deep-fried twinkies on a stick. There's always next year.

A boy and his sailboat

We took our inflatable mini-catamaran to the cabin yesterday. It's perfect for a boy of 10 on a lake the size of Sweet Lake. My husband spent the morning showing our son how to stay on course with the rudder and adjust the boom to catch the wind. Sam spent the afternoon sailing the lake.