Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

It's not every day that you get exceptional service around town that leaves you thinking: ‘Wow, that was exceptional service'.

So when it happens repeatedly and you think: ‘Wow that happened repeatedly,' it makes you want to do something about it. Such as tell all your mates.
Put a post on Facebook.

Or even write a letter to the newspaper.

It just so happens that I know some people in the newspaper, so I'll go right ahead and heap some praise upon some local folk who go out of their way to provide excellent service and a bit of cheer.

From Council to food

First up is the Delta service station, which is worth going a mile or two out of your way to fill up at. It's one of those few remaining stations that is still entitled to have “service” in the title. The blokes are always friendly, there's plenty of room to get off the road – unlike some of the congested uptown stations – and they even pump the gas for you. That's a rarity these days.

Next is the Bay of Plenty Regional Council. Some would say councils are not known for their customer service and listening to the ratepayer, but I have to commend the maritime folk of the BOPRC for their professional effort in handling submissions to the navigation bylaws review.

They went to extraordinary efforts to reply to all the submitters. The decisions were well-reasoned and thoroughly explained to every submitter. And while we may not all agree with all of the outcomes, it seems democracy was working as a well-oiled machine, and as a submitter to the process, it was great to feel that someone was actually listening and acting on residents' views.

Shane and the guys from Impact Roofing have been chasing a drip around our roof for several weeks now and finally nailed the bugger, literally, before the storm last week. Thanks guys for your tenacity, and especially for taking such good care of our lovely heritage building. Built in 1883 and the oldest commercial building in the city, No.1 The Strand and the old bonded store is probably on its third or fourth roof, but the timbers underneath are solid and true.

In fact the lads had a bit of trouble getting the nails in, the old girl's heart kauri beams are getting tougher by the century.

Wharf Street Eatery. Tucked away down the one-way Wharf St, is Oi and Robin, with their amazing menu of Asian Fusion.

Great service, always a laugh and exceptional food.

The RV Shop guys have helped with the fitting out of our replacement SunLive mobile office and done a neat job on some of the installation.

They're fast and efficient and have a world of knowledge on motorhomes and caravans. SunLive will be hitting the road with the best of fit-outs. Tint-A-Car in Fraser Cove did a great job on the windows. Thanks to Gordon and Jan, outgoing owners of Tauranga Quality Upholstery, whose joinery and finishing detail has been extraordinary.

Broncos Sports. Truly good sports. The guys have kept the Waterline magazine crew fully equipped through the fishing season and the hunting members of the family well catered for. They've gone the extra mile by allowing me to hide amongst the camo clothing racks for indefinite periods of time, when my wife has walked past the shop.

Great to know that despite the insidious canker of internet shopping, good old-fashioned service and advice is still available from blokes who know their stuff.

And I'd like to thank the guy who made headlines in Christchurch, for services to humanity, when he was caught playing with himself in public. Proving that not all w****rs come from Auckland. So effectively he performed a service to northern regions by servicing his southern regions.

Finally, thanks to my mates in Coastguard who assisted me through recent assessments. Your support and commitment to saving lives at sea is outstanding. I know many of you shy from publicity, but bad luck, 'cos the public need to know you're good sorts doing a great job. Hours and hours of dedication, training and commitment to helping keep Bay boaties safe on the sea. I'm proud to say I work alongside you.

Alien sightings

Thanks to all who responded to the alien search. Many had all the correct pages but an alarming number of people claimed to have seen aliens where there weren't any…  which really is in keeping with most alien sightings I suppose.

Winners of the prize Sun beanies this week are: Kathy Roberts, Merilyn Anderson, Roger Withington, Clive Parker, Mrs J Elliott, and Trish Fisher.

Trish is taking the alien issue seriously.

She says a beanie would be good as the weather's getting a bit chilly with just the old tinfoil hat. “It channels the cold and the ears get a tad frostbitten.”

She's considering lining her beanie with tinfoil as protection against anything that might be whizzing around the atmosphere and communicating with their plant, Trump, “who is performing well to expectations”.

Thanks Trish, we might need more than tinfoil on that project.

That's it for this week. No competition in this issue, you can have the week off.
Take care out there, keep up the great service!

brian@thesun.co.nz 

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