"kayak pendant" and excellent service

[lph]

A few months ago I bought a couple of Hei Matau pendants - Maori symbol pendants "believed to provide safe passage over water". I liked the style and figured I could use the good luck :-)

Anyway, I bought them here:
http://www.wandererimports.com/

(Please, nobody strangle me if they're not the "real thing", I just thought they were pretty and I liked the website and story).

I bought them in black, but the colour started coming off in patches in water. So I sent a letter of complaint, and EIGHT days later received not only 2 replacements, but 2 more in white and shell! Now that is truly excellent customer service.

Just thought I'd put in a good word for them here, in case anyone else would like one. They're lightweight and simple.

[kmehrzad]

A few months ago I bought a couple of Hei Matau pendants - Maori symbol pendants "believed to provide safe passage over water". I liked the style and figured I could use the good luck :-)

Anyway, I bought them here:
http://www.wandererimports.com/

(Please, nobody strangle me if they're not the "real thing", I just thought they were pretty and I liked the website and story).

I bought them in black, but the colour started coming off in patches in water. So I sent a letter of complaint, and EIGHT days later received not only 2 replacements, but 2 more in white and shell! Now that is truly excellent customer service.

Just thought I'd put in a good word for them here, in case anyone else would like one. They're lightweight and simple.

Beautiful pendants, indeed. I also read about Sean's kayaking adventure. YIKES! I was riveted by the description of his whitewater kayaking escapade.
There is truly a rush challenging oneself in whitewater, but Class V is WAY out of my league. Ahhh, to be young again and feel indestructible.

[Cataboo]

Those are pretty pendants.

I ran across this article on cpakayaker yesterday - about the differences in how women kayak vs. men and how it applies to group dynamics and risk taking. I'm not entirely certain I agree with all of it, but there's some truth and it probably applies to biking as well as kayaking:
http://cpakayaker.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4607&sid=b08e5c6c5283dc9a2fa1fbecf0c6f172

[kmehrzad]

Good article. I see the truth in it. Isn't this partly some justification towards gender separation in an educational setting?

[lph]

Good article indeed. It reminds me of why I don't post much at a paddling forum I read that is heavily male-dominated. They have a friendly, welcoming tone and I can't really describe why I feel out of place, but there is something very male-centric and gung ho about all the discussions that doesn't make me want to say anything. They go off on tangents about technical details very fast, and boast about things they have accomplished in that sort of "battle survivor" way. They have actually asked sometimes why so few women post to the board. I haven't had the heart to tell them that it's because they, well, don't really listen much. :D

On the other hand I get on very well with men both as cycling, climbing and paddling companions, and I react in quite a "male" manner in many stressful situations. But in teaching situations I think gender separation certainly can be justified.

[Cataboo]

I don't completely react the way the article portrays females - I definitely am slower, want to enjoy myself more, but I quite happily will paddle my kayak into waves and rock gardens to play even though theoretically I probably really shouldn't be there 'cause some of my kayaking skills are lacking!

I definitely tend to carry a lot more safety gear than my bf thinks we need to take - and we sometimes flip flop - I'll want to fearlessly go off and do something "Oh - that island is 12 miles away across open ocean? LET'S GO" while he's doing the... "no, that's not a good idea" We both know we can paddle 12 miles and self rescue and will be fine in most cases - he'll more be worried about my paddling skills than about his own - other times he'll want to go do things that I don't think are great ideas.

So I think I have a propensity to just do things with a lot less apprehension than some females approach sports - but at the same time, I am quite happy to do the "yay! i bike 50 miles" and be proud of myself, while my bf'll do the... "you did it at a snails pace and everyone should be able to bike that far, and you think you deserve a gold star???"

But yes. I deserve all the gold stars for my tiny accomplishments :)

I do read CPAkayaker, but I never post - because they aren't actually very chatty over there. They probably won't give me gold stars either. TE will :)