Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Events in Long Beach and Orange County in November

Living in Long Beach and Southern California, we have the best of all worlds with the mountains and the sea.  At the holidays, we can look at snowy peaks while sitting under a palm tree or end a day of skiing with a cocktail by the bay.  Not bad!

Here are some holiday events this month to start the Christmas season:

Anaheim:  Disneyland puts on their Holiday Parade from November 13-January 6

Newport Beach:  Fashion Island Tree Lighting nightly at 5p November 14-January 4

Long Beach:  CHILL Frozen Holiday adventure at the Queen Mary November 21-January 11

 

Buena Park:  Knotts Berry Farm becomes Knotts Merry Farm November 22-January 4

 

Seal Beach:  1st Tree lighting November 29th at Eisenhower Park

 

 

December events, such as tree lightings and boat parades in my next post.  Want to be sure you get all these posts?  Subscribe to my blog or send me an email at katielarson@kw.com.  I'll make sure you get the links.

 





Queen City - Queen Mary on 4th of July 2014

Fireworks over the Queen Mary, July 4, 2014

Sunset over the Queen Mary July 4, 2014

28% Customer Satisfaction? Not here.

I wrote the following post for LinkedIn and, although it's not Long Beach centric as this blog typically is, it does apply to real estate and other interactions in life.  Let me know what you think.

As the fodder of comedian's jokes, airlines have struggled with their customer service perception - or lack of - since airline deregulation in the late 1970's. Once airline travel moved from the elite to the masses, the issues began and only heightened in the age of such online agencies as Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia, pushed into warp speed by websites such as Yelp, Kayak, CheapFlights, CheapTickets, GetMeThereFree, etc. Okay, the last one doesn't exist, but I think you follow me.

The current environment, where weather delays, misplaced bags, a surly gate agent or a sideways glance from a flight attendant sends passengers raging on Yelp, Facebook, Twitter or a letter to the Department of Transportation, makes consistent customer service a challenge. It's so difficult that a major carrier has set 28% as its goal for customer satisfaction. They are either discounting the other 72% as not particularly valid complaints or they only think they can only make 28% of their travelers happy. And that's the goal, not necessarily what is actually happening. Either way, it's not a good story.

Most businesses - dare I say any - struggle with customer service issues when the number of employees in contact with customers increases. Look at the recent press on the Comcast phone call. I know someone who supervises customer service agents at Comcast and that's not the type of service you would get on her watch - if she knows about it. However, she can't control what happens with every individual, on every call. Airlines have tens of thousands of employees. A great plan for phenomenal customer service in Dallas might not translate to that overworked gate agent in Scranton when one flight is delayed for weather, there is a creeping mechanical delay on another, a flight crew went illegal on their hours to cancel yet another and all she has is a mass of screaming, unhappy passengers in front of her.

All she can do is communicate facts, stay calm, keep them updated and be empathetic. Will that please 50% of them? 28% of them?

When we can get to the one on one interaction, where most of what is happening is under our control, we can get pretty close to 100% satisfaction with our customers if we do the basics: communicate facts, stay calm, stay in touch, be empathetic. In the real estate business there is much that is out of our control when it comes to the loan funding, the behaviors of the party on the other side of the transaction, the unexpected news at a home inspection. We can still keep our customers satisfied and feeling valued when we communicate facts, stay calm, stay in touch and are empathetic.

We don't have dozens of angry passengers screaming at us, when making 28% of them happy would seem impossible, but we do have one or two clients in front of us who might be making a lifetime investment and are scared to death when they hear their loan approval is delayed. My goal is 100% customer satisfaction by not only going beyond expectations, by delighting my clients, but by doing the basics: communicating facts, staying calm, staying in touch and being empathetic.

Come to think of it, that could work in our personal relationships as well as our professional ones. Think about applying that to your partner, spouse, sibling, parent, child, friend, insert-relationship-here.

Communicate facts, stay calm, stay in touch, be empathetic.

Guaranteed to keep more than 28% satisfied and engaged.

Earth Day and Other Ways to Save the World - in Long Beach

Happy Earth Day, Long Beach!  There are lots of doings are town to keep the earth green, save water, minimize our footprints, save the world.  Just do a search on 'Earth Day Long Beach' and you'll see what the City did, what the Aquarium of the Pacific has done.

Okay, I admit, it made me use a glass for my water today instead of taking another plastic bottle.

Two of the other things that aren't exactly Earth Day related, but that can help are the Shred Day at Keller Williams Pacific Estates on Saturday from 9a-1p and the Unwanted Prescriptions drop off at Long Beach Memorial, also on Saturday from 10a-2p.  You can do both with just one trip in the car, thereby saving on gas and your carbon footprint.

The Shred Day is free, although donations for the KW Cares foundation are welcome.  Bring up to 5 boxes of paper to be shredded and bring your E-Waste, too.

For your unwanted and expired prescriptions, Long Beach Memorial Hospital is having a drive through self-disposal.  I know where my big bottle of 2 year old Vicodin is going this weekend!  This event partners the hospital with the Long Beach Police Department and is part of the DEA's National Pharmaceutical Take-Back Initiative.  Enter the medical campus from Atlantic Avenue, drive through on Memorial Medical Center Drive and exit onto Long Beach Blvd.

Okay, time to go through your medicine cabinets and your old sensitive documents.  Spring cleaning and Save the Earth time!

Duffy Boats

Cruising the quiet waters of Alamitos Bay and the canals of Naples are the Duffy Boats.  Perhaps you've seen them, but didn't know what they were called.  Maybe you own one with a really clever name.  Maybe you've only heard the name and have no idea what a Duffy Boat is.

What is a Duffy boat?  They are all electric bay and lake cruisers.  They have no exhaust, only one moving part in the DC engine and they are built right here in California.  They are used in Disney's California Adventure, Marriott Resort properties and other corporate venues worldwide.

Locally you will find Duffys in Huntington Harbor, Newport Harbor and some of the inland manmade lakes, like the ones in Westlake Village and Lake Forest.  There are over 3,000 of them in Newport Beach.  In Long Beach they live in Alamitos Bay and the canals of Naples.

Many of the residents of Naples own their own Duffy and they have clever names like "Nuts & Volts", "Lotta Watta", "Amply Blessed".  You can join clubs, like the McKenna's Electric Boat Club, where you pay an annual membership fee and have use of a Duffy.  You can rent boats by the hour at Pelican Joe's Bay Boat Rentals.  An 8 passenger boat is about $65 an hour and a 12 passenger boat is around $85 an hour.  There are specials and discounts seasonally. 

 We like to rent a Duffy to show friends and family from outside the area how beautiful Long Beach is.  We'll rent or borrow one just to have a little celebration, with wine and appetizers to cruise the area.  And I rent one to show my clients appreciation by taking them on a little cruise.

Our favorite time to rent is during the Christmas season when the Naples canals are decorated with light shows and all types of holiday decorations.  It's really beautiful.  Our group has been known to sing Christmas carols while cruising and sipping on a nice hot cup of wassail.

 It's another one of my favorite things about living in Long Beach.  A Duffy Boat cruise around Christmas or a gentle cruise on a summer evening, with good friends, family or clients, enjoying the good life on Alamitos Bay.  Long Beach, it will surprise you.  If you'd like to learn more about Duffy Boats or my client appreciation program, please send me an email (katielarson@kw.com) or give me a call (562.673.5335).

Sunday in Long Beach

While my posts typically focus on something historical or interesting about Long Beach and the area, today I'm just going to share one of the reasons it's so great to live here.

March 16, 2014:  The temperature reached a high of 90 degrees on this winter day.  A little warm for me, but also a perfect day to head toward the water.

My husband and I had the same craving for an umbrella drink and an ocean view about mid-afternoon, so we set out for Seal Beach, one of our favorite spots.  Seems everyone else had the same idea and parking was not to be found.  Also, there are not a lot of options in Seal Beach to get a water view and a cocktail.  The Hangout was packed and River's End has just a tavern license - that won't work when you are looking for something with rum.  All the other great places on Main Street lack the view, although are excellent options when that's not the goal.

Like a V8 commercial I realized that the perfect spot was actually in Long Beach: Boathouse on the Bay.  There are several restaurants along Marina Drive that can give you gorgeous water views of Alamitos Bay and serve up fine drinks and food.  We chose Boathouse, as we hadn't been there since the change from McKenna's on the Bay to Boathouse on the Bay, AND they had a steel drum band playing!

It was a perfect setting - with the sweet notes of the pans, we sat outside on the patio watching the boats on the bay, sipping potent mai tais, talking about how very lucky we are to live in Southern California, and in Long Beach, specifically.

Last evening was also our monthly date night and we decided to continue the afternoon's theme by heading to Tantalum, another excellent restaurant on Alamitos Bay.  And another round of mai tais.  No steel drums, but a glorious sunset view from our table and postcard scenes as the sinking sun turned the palm trees, passing Duffy boats and lone sculler into silhouettes.

Florida is nice, the Caribbean entices, Hawaii calls, but right here in Long Beach we have tropical breezes, steel drum melodies, umbrella drinks and the relaxing sound of waves on the shore.

Long Beach, it will surprise you.

Long Beach Naval Station

In 1943, the US Naval Dry Docks were established on a large portion of Terminal Island, that mass of land that sits between Long Beach and San Pedro.  The name was changed to Terminal Island Dry Dock in 1945 and then to Long Beach Naval Shipyard (LBNSY) in 1948.  The LBNSY became part of the larger Naval Station, which included fuel storage, Marine barracks, a prison, a hospital, an airfield and training facilities.

At its height the Naval facility employed over 17,000 civilian employees and was a vital contributor to the Long Beach community.  Navy housing throughout the city, but especially on the west side, grew to support the thriving shipyard and related Naval installations. 

While in service the Naval Station was home to the U.S.S. Missouri and the U.S.S. New Jersey.  The conversion of the famous hospital ship "Hope" was also done here.  The base served as a receiving center at the start of World War II and a demobilization center at the end of it.  The shipyard closed in 1950, but was reactivated for the Korean conflict in 1951.  In 1974 the base was downgraded to a support facility, but upgraded again in 1979 to a Naval Station.

While open, many social activities also occurred around the base and the many Navy and Marine families stationed in the city.  My cousin's wedding reception was held at the Officers' Club on the base in 1976 and my aunt did all her shopping at the Commissary until it closed.  Sailors would flock to the Pike on their leave, with tattoo parlors and bars doing great business, thanks to the Naval Station.

A slowing economy and the downsizing of the military complex slated the Naval facilities for closure in the late 1990's and it officially closed in 1997.  The former LBNSY grounds are now part of the Port of Long Beach and little remains to remind us of the important contribution the Navy had to the city.

In Bluff Park, at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Paloma Avenue stands a reminder:  The Lone Sailor, which was dedicated in December 2004.  The sailor, with his duffel bag, looks out to sea.  The statue honors all the men and women who served in the military and pays tribute to those who made Long Beach their home.

Pierpoint Landing, Long Beach history

Decades later I can still smell the fish, feel the sea breeze and hear the seals barking at Pierpoint Landing.  Located at the end of Pier A, it operated from 1948 to 1972 as a sportfishing, eating and entertainment venue.

My uncle worked in one of the fishing shops there and we could walk behind the counter, look at the different lures, squirming at the slimy bait, daring each other to touch it.  There were picnic tables near the seal tank where we would take our paper containers of fried shrimp out and try to keep the seagulls away from our lunch.

Going there was always an outing, and we usually went with my grandmother.  I know there were coin-operated rides there, but I can't recall anything specific.  My favorite part, after the fried shrimp, was watching the seals in the seal tank.  We could feel them fish, purchased from a small concession.

When I do a Google search on Pierpoint Landing, it says it was once the largest sportfishing operation in the world, with more than 2,000,000 fisherman going through there a year. 

The first time I visited the Long Beach Aquarium, I was so excited to see the sign for Pierpoint Landing and childhood memories came rushing back.  I walked over to the building with the Pierpoint Landing sign, but there was nothing familiar about it.  I subsequently found out that it's just another sportfishing company that took the name and is not even in the same location (which might explain why nothing looked familiar).  The original Pierpoint Landing is now part of Long Beach history, with the area taken over by containers and cranes in the Port. 

Who else remembers Pierpoint Landing?

Long Beach for me

Welcome to my blog about Long Beach and the surrounding area.  I am passionate about this area and look forward to sharing stories and observations with you.

My credentials to write about Long Beach? 

I was born in Long Beach, in St. Mary's Hospital at 10th and Atlantic.  My paternal grandmother worked at St. Mary's at the time.  In fact, my parents met there while my mother was volunteering at the hospital and my grandmother wanted her to meet her son.  My parents were married in St. Anthony Parish on Olive Avenue.  My mother graduated from Wilson High School here in Long Beach, as did my nephew, 60 years later.

My father worked at Douglas Aircraft on Lakewood before joining the Orange County Sheriff's Office.  My mother worked for McDonnell Douglas Automation for a while in the 1970's.

Both of my brothers were born at Community Hospital, just above the traffic circle.  My maternal grandmother was a nurse there.  I'll have a story about my two grandmothers, both nurses, who worked in two different Long Beach hospitals.  One of my brothers graduated from Long Beach State aka CSULB.

Although I moved from Long Beach when I was just 5 months old, to a brand new house waaaaaay far away in Westminster, I lived here again from 1996-1998.  At that time I rented a house in the South of Conant neighborhood.  In 2005 my husband and I purchased our home in the La Marina Estates neighborhood, where we still live.  I'll tell you about the neighborhoods of Long Beach later, too.

I am a REALTOR(r) focusing on the East Long Beach/West Orange County area and I know Long Beach.  I'll be sharing bits of history, local school stories, anecdotes and just some rambling thoughts on life here.

I look forward to hearing back from you.