Do you ever get tired of bad things happening to you? Today I came home from work early and I arrived home about 5:30pm. I was excited with all the time I had in the evening to do chores, read and basically enjoy myself. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. When I stepped into the kitchen I noticed a puddle of water on the floor in front of the fridge. I got a cloth to clean it up and noticed water dripping down the front from the water dispenser area. I opened the freezer and it wasn't cold and everything was melted. I was thinking to myself "Why did this have to happen to me?". The machine was making a weird noise every time the compressor tried to turn on. When I opened the cold item side everything appeared to be sufficiently chilled. I think I was delusional because I just opened it up and everything is getting warmer. I cleaned up the area and then went to look for the paperwork on the unit. I purchased it four years ago in June and I was happy to discover that I had purchased the five year warranty. I called up the Best Buy warranty division and after speaking to the customer service person for 15 minutes she told me that they could have a service tech at my house next Friday, September 5. I politely explained to her that I couldn't possible go that long without my refrigerator working. The customer service person said I had two options, I could hold for a router tech to see if they could get me in sooner or I could leave a message and someone would get back with me in two business days. Since Monday is the holiday two business days would be next Tuesday, so I chose the first option. Every 3 or 4 minutes she would come back on the phone to see if I wanted to leave a message. But as I had committed to holding, I took care of several chores, made my lunch for tomorrow and used my time wisely. About the time I was ready to give up holding the routing clerk finally came back to the phone. This was 1 hour and 36 minutes into the conversation. She said that there weren't any repairmen working on Friday but she could get someone here on Saturday. She would try to follow up tomorrow but it didn't look good. I just don't understand why these things always happen at once. Didn't I pay my dues last week with all of the dental work I have had done. This might not cost me cash but it uses up my valuable time and all of my patience. The only good thing is that the spoiled food is also covered under the warranty. I just have to make a list of each item and include the approximate cost. Then I have to mail the refund request to the warranty department. I am just over IT!
BTW...I had already expensed my patience at the Nissan dealership today talking to a rude customer service person about a recall item on my car. Don't they know that I have to spend some time at work?
August 28, 2008
August 27, 2008
Health Foods
After spending considerable time with my healthy friends this weekend I had decided to give up artificial sweetener. I have read multiple articles about how bad it is for you and I decided I could do this one good thing for myself. When I went to the grocery store last night I bought regular sugar filled pop for the first time in at least eight years. This was quite different than my usual behavior of always drinking diet coke. When I got to work today I popped open my 12oz regular coke and enjoyed the wonderful taste of real sugar. I was feeling pretty good with myself until about an hour ago. My head started getting real thick and a headache was forming behind my eyes. This is my punishment for not drinking my customary morning 44 oz diet coke. I think my body is not reacting well to this change. I don’t want to drink more regular coke because of the calories so I filled up my water bottle with ice and water and added a on-the-go pack of lemonade. I was feeling good with my decision until I realized that the main ingredient in this calorie free drink is aspartame! What was I thinking? I can’t go an entire day without having artificial sweeteners. What else can I drink besides water? Perhaps tomorrow I will be more successful in this new endeavor.
August 25, 2008
Roommate's
Sallie Mae is a very cruel woman. Due to the excessive amount of student loans I have received in my life I have a gigantic student loan payment each month starting in September. I have been trying to figure out ways to adjust my budget to accommodate this new debt but I haven’t found a workable solution yet. Since I am not yet desperate enough to become an exotic dancer I have been toying with the idea of getting a roommate. I have had roommates in the past and they never seem to work out very well. However, I do feel that I am much more calm and relaxed than I have been in the past and perhaps I could learn to share more.
So Friday night I got the idea of joining roommates.com. I just wanted to view the listings but I was required to create a profile in order to look. I didn’t take much time with this task as I only wanted to look at some choices so I was very brief and I didn’t include any photos or really try to sell myself. I was surprised this morning when I received an email from this boy who was interested. I was a little nervous of having a strange man coming to my house but after discussing it with Lou he agreed to come over for the interview process. I have become more used to this idea as the day has gone by and I am excited for this new adventure. I did some review of people on the website today and sent some emails to potential roommates.
Does anyone have any suggestions on things I should consider or ask these potential people? Thanks for any advise you are able to give.
So Friday night I got the idea of joining roommates.com. I just wanted to view the listings but I was required to create a profile in order to look. I didn’t take much time with this task as I only wanted to look at some choices so I was very brief and I didn’t include any photos or really try to sell myself. I was surprised this morning when I received an email from this boy who was interested. I was a little nervous of having a strange man coming to my house but after discussing it with Lou he agreed to come over for the interview process. I have become more used to this idea as the day has gone by and I am excited for this new adventure. I did some review of people on the website today and sent some emails to potential roommates.
Does anyone have any suggestions on things I should consider or ask these potential people? Thanks for any advise you are able to give.
August 20, 2008
New York City Visit
I went to NYC for the first time last weekend and had a blast. I went with my friend Andrea from Florida and we met at the hotel on Thursday afternoon. For the first time on a trip I decided to park at the airport rather than having someone drop me off. I though that this would be cheaper due to the cost of gas these days. As usual, I was running about 15 minutes later than scheduled and I left my house at 6:00am. My plane was due to depart at 7:30am. I arrived at the parking lot at 6:30am and found a place to park. I wondered around for a few minutes trying to figure out where I should go to be picked up. I saw a place that appeared to be a shelter so I went there and after about two minutes of anxious waiting I decided to start walking towards the entrance. As I was walking I saw the bus go by the bus stop where I was at, so I hurried to the next on and they left without me. By the time I arrived at the airport it was 7am. I was feeling very anxious and I didn’t want to miss my plane. I was able to convince people to let me in front of them due to the late hour…after I got up to the counter at 7:05 the agent wouldn’t let me check in. If I hadn’t needed to check a bag he would have let me on the plane, but I did so I officially missed my plane. I hate when I do stuff like this. Basically the problem was that I just didn’t plan enough time to get to the airport, drop off my car and check in. I assure you that I have learned my lesson and I will allocate enough time in the future. The agent put me on a direct flight that left three hours later and I arrived in NY at 12:30pm.
I was very excited to arrive and look at everything. I took a shared airport shuttle for $16 from LaGuardia airport to my hotel in Manhattan . I was very lucky and have a very colorful and talkative driver. He was a local, but he was listening to Caribbean music in the van and he had a slight accent. As we were driving through Brooklyn he was pointing out landmarks and driving through back streets, so I feel that I got a good view of Brooklyn . I loved the cute brownstone buildings. I had always imagined myself living in a similar building. We also saw the 21 apartment buildings that were the infamous projects. You couldn’t tell much from the outside except that they looked fairly cheap from the outside and there were no people about.
This is our hotel room and photos of the view from our window on the 38th floor.
The main activity of this trip was for Andrea and I to see many Broadway musicals. We both LOVE the theatre and musicals especially. We both arrived on Thursday afternoon and departed NY on Sunday afternoon and we were able to squeeze in 4 plays. This was the bulk of our budget for this trip. The following is the list of musicals in the order that I liked them. Andrea and I saw three of the same shows and on Saturday afternoon when I saw Wicked she saw Zanadoo.
Spring Awaking
South Pacific
Mary Poppins
Wicked
Spring Awaking was my absolutely favorite musical to date. This was a German play from the early 1900’s that was adapted in 2006 to become a rock musical. This was a dark show that confronted may issues facing teenagers then and today. It took on pre-marital sex, masturbation, abortion, incest and suicide. Even though this was a period piece it could still describe feelings to today’s youth. I liked that fact that the music was so different than traditional musicals. They had a rock band on stage and didn’t use the typical orchestra. They also had audience members sitting on the stage along with the actors. I did not sit there but was in the front row center. I love sitting so close that I can see the actor’s facial expressions. There was a rather unconformable simulated sex scene on stage just before intermission that included nudity. My friend said afterword that she was glad that she saw this with me and not either one of her parents. I purchased the soundtrack for $20 after the show and I have listened it at least 10 times since I have come home. BTW…I feel ripped off for the $20 CD because I could have purchased it on Amazon.com at home for $13 or on ITunes for $10. Prior to seeing this play I didn’t know anything about it and I am so glad that I took the chance to see it. This musical won the 2007 Tony for best musical and I would recommend it for anyone going to NYC. This is a link to the YouTube.com performance of one of the songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoWTtjr7TyU
There was a celebrity citing while we were at this musical. Since our seats were in the front row center we had to wait a bit to get out of the building. As we were standing there, Andrea elbowed me and said, "I know that guy!". I didn't know who she was talking about but I saw a very beautiful women walking towards the front of the theatre. As they walked to the stage Andrea Realized who it was, Bruce Springsteen. He was in the audience and we saw him walk to the stage to meet the cast. Isn't it funny how celebrity get special treatment and get to just walk to the stage and do what they want.
South Pacific was my second favorite musical of the trip. It did come in a close second but it didn’t win. We saw this on the first night we arrive in NY when we were so exhausted. But the musical performances perked us both up. I don’t think that I have ever seen this show on stage and I may have only seen bits and pieces of the movie. The cast was fantastic and had really terrific voices. The sets were OK and added to the show but it was the actors that really brought it to life. I especially liked the second song of the performance which had many of the men actors dancing around the stage. This inside the theatre. I did get into trouble for taking this photo. I guess there are rules.
Mary Poppins was my third favorite show. The special effects were great and the music was good, but I don’t feel that I got anything extra from this show over seeing the movie version. At the very end as Mary was leaving the Banks family they had attached the actress to wires and she flew across the entire auditorium up to the front of the second story balcony. I don’t think that I would ever pay to see this musical again.
Finally, Wicked was the most disappointing of the NYC shows. The scenery was very visually stimulating but the story and voices of the actors just ordinary. I was familiar with the story and I had read the Wicked book as well as it’s sequel, Son of a Witch, and the play version didn’t have the strong voice of the book. The book was very political in it’s views and had strong opinions and views of the world. I feel that the play version was very watered down and the ending was extremely disappointing. I feel that when I pay $125 to see a show it needs to be outstanding, fabulous and I want to listen and sing the music for many weeks following the show. I didn’t have this feeling after seeing Wicked or Mary Poppins. However, I am glad that I had the opportunity to see them after all of the hype.
____________________________________________________________________
I would like to point out that Andrea tried to kill me on this trip. We had to walk everywhere we went and our hotel was several blocks from the theatre district. I did a mapquest when I came home to see how far away the first theatre was from our hotel, it was 2.6 miles each way. I would guess that the first day we walked in excess of six miles. I thought I was going to die when we got back to the hotel the first night. My legs were so sore for the rest of the trip. I tried not to complain but...I could hardly walk the next day. Everyday was like this...but I do think that we walked the furthest on the first day. On Friday we went to the MET museum and it was further away than the first play...so I decided to take the subway there. Andrea still wanted to walk so we met at the museum. I think that this compromise fit both of us. She LOVED walking each day and never seemed to get tired. I just couldn't understand this...it became very obvious to me how out of shape I am.
We tried to be very conservative on our spending on this trip because we had already spent so much money on the theatre tickets. It is very expensive in NY to eat in a restaurant, a moderately priced meal would be about $25 per person. As Andrea had been there several times prior to this trip she had good knowledge of cheap places to eat. There was a food court in Grand Central Station building that we went to multiple times. There were several vendors that you could choose from. I ate at this soup and salad place several times. They had some awesome homemade soups and salads that you could choose exactly what ingredients you wanted and they would add the salad dressing, mix it up and chop it for you prior to putting it in the container. I was able to find one of the infamous Black and White cookies from Seinfeld and try it. It was more the consistency of cake than a cookie but it was very tasty. I ate at a McDonald's one time on Saturday night. We had a very busy day and we were running out of time and it was quite an experience. It was located next to where we were seeing Mary Poppins. They had about 10 registers open with several people in each line. I had to wait at least 15 minutes to order and I was starving. I ordered Quarter Pounder with cheese meal and it was (gasp) $6.89 plus tax. The made my total bill $7.12 and I handed the cashier $10.12 which would give me change of $3. After I gave her the money she took it and shut her drawer. I looked at her and asked for my change. The following was our conversation.
Cashier: O...ya I owe you $1.01
Me: No...it is $3 even
Cashier: I will get the manager.....
After about 4 minutes she get a very harassed manager to open her drawer and she takes out $1.01, closes the drawer and hands me the money.
Me: Excuse me, but you owe me $2 more dollars.
Cashier: No, I don't...your bill was $9.13
Me: No it wasn't...the menu board says $6.89 and you added the tax which made my bill $7.12...I gave you $10.12 which makes my change $3
Cashier: OH (with a blank stare)
Me: Am I going to get my change?
She walks away to find the manager again. I don't think that she still understood and the only reason I was so instant on my change was that I already felt ripped of paying $7.12 for a $4 Quarter cheese meal. The 10 minutes it took me at the register to get my food the cashier had the same blank stare. I think that having such an overwhelming amount of customers she couldn't take any additional sensory input. It took me a total of 25 minutes to get my food, but it was good.
I feel like I wasn't overly impressed with NYC although I had a great time. It was very different than downtown Indy but I didn't feel uncomfortable. I never felt unsafe on our many long walks, even at 11:30 pm after the plays. It wasn't as crowded as I expected. I just imagined people everywhere and some places were like that but not all. I felt the most crowded was Saturday night on the way to the play and it was still very active on our way home.
You may have read my various tooth posts...well when I was eating breakfast on Saturday morning out pops my temporary crown for the second time. I didn't know what to to. I had to call my dentists emergency number and because it was the emergency number it only took her an hour to call me back. After speaking to her she determined that I would be fine without my crown until I could get to her office on Tuesday morning. I was fine and it was only a minor uncomfortableness.
As I was in the van going to the airport I met a women who's daughter just moved to the city. She just graduated from college and got a job in the fashion industry. She was helping her daughter get an apartment and settled in the city. The apartment that they finally found was $1695 for a tiny studio in Manhattan. Apparently, this is half of her monthly pay. I couldn't imagine paying that much for a studio apartment. I love the Midwest and our reasonable housing prices. When we drove past a parking garage it was $500 a month to park your car. This is more than my monthly car payment. Andrea told me while we were there that she would love to live in the city. I had the other thought after my visit. I LOVE my car and I like driving places. It is a fun place for visitation only.
My plane was to depart NYC at 7pm on Sunday night and my airport shuttle was scheduled to pick me up at the hotel at 2:30. I thought that this was a bit excessive but since I missed my first plane I decided to comply. I got to the airport at 4pm and as I was departing the van two people come up to the van and ask to take a ride back to the city. They stated that all of the flights out of LaGuarda were canceled for the remaining part of the day. I was hesitant to get off of the van but decided to go inside and investigate. I was happy to find out that my plane was the only scheduled departure for that night. I guess the delays were due to bad weather...I didn't detect any bad weather in NYC. It was a little cloudy and overcast but not bad. I arrive back in Indy only two hours late..this was much better than the tons of stranded people at the airport. I am glad I was able to go home.
I was very excited to arrive and look at everything. I took a shared airport shuttle for $16 from LaGuardia airport to my hotel in Manhattan . I was very lucky and have a very colorful and talkative driver. He was a local, but he was listening to Caribbean music in the van and he had a slight accent. As we were driving through Brooklyn he was pointing out landmarks and driving through back streets, so I feel that I got a good view of Brooklyn . I loved the cute brownstone buildings. I had always imagined myself living in a similar building. We also saw the 21 apartment buildings that were the infamous projects. You couldn’t tell much from the outside except that they looked fairly cheap from the outside and there were no people about.
This is our hotel room and photos of the view from our window on the 38th floor.
The main activity of this trip was for Andrea and I to see many Broadway musicals. We both LOVE the theatre and musicals especially. We both arrived on Thursday afternoon and departed NY on Sunday afternoon and we were able to squeeze in 4 plays. This was the bulk of our budget for this trip. The following is the list of musicals in the order that I liked them. Andrea and I saw three of the same shows and on Saturday afternoon when I saw Wicked she saw Zanadoo.
Spring Awaking
South Pacific
Mary Poppins
Wicked
Spring Awaking was my absolutely favorite musical to date. This was a German play from the early 1900’s that was adapted in 2006 to become a rock musical. This was a dark show that confronted may issues facing teenagers then and today. It took on pre-marital sex, masturbation, abortion, incest and suicide. Even though this was a period piece it could still describe feelings to today’s youth. I liked that fact that the music was so different than traditional musicals. They had a rock band on stage and didn’t use the typical orchestra. They also had audience members sitting on the stage along with the actors. I did not sit there but was in the front row center. I love sitting so close that I can see the actor’s facial expressions. There was a rather unconformable simulated sex scene on stage just before intermission that included nudity. My friend said afterword that she was glad that she saw this with me and not either one of her parents. I purchased the soundtrack for $20 after the show and I have listened it at least 10 times since I have come home. BTW…I feel ripped off for the $20 CD because I could have purchased it on Amazon.com at home for $13 or on ITunes for $10. Prior to seeing this play I didn’t know anything about it and I am so glad that I took the chance to see it. This musical won the 2007 Tony for best musical and I would recommend it for anyone going to NYC. This is a link to the YouTube.com performance of one of the songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoWTtjr7TyU
There was a celebrity citing while we were at this musical. Since our seats were in the front row center we had to wait a bit to get out of the building. As we were standing there, Andrea elbowed me and said, "I know that guy!". I didn't know who she was talking about but I saw a very beautiful women walking towards the front of the theatre. As they walked to the stage Andrea Realized who it was, Bruce Springsteen. He was in the audience and we saw him walk to the stage to meet the cast. Isn't it funny how celebrity get special treatment and get to just walk to the stage and do what they want.
South Pacific was my second favorite musical of the trip. It did come in a close second but it didn’t win. We saw this on the first night we arrive in NY when we were so exhausted. But the musical performances perked us both up. I don’t think that I have ever seen this show on stage and I may have only seen bits and pieces of the movie. The cast was fantastic and had really terrific voices. The sets were OK and added to the show but it was the actors that really brought it to life. I especially liked the second song of the performance which had many of the men actors dancing around the stage. This inside the theatre. I did get into trouble for taking this photo. I guess there are rules.
Mary Poppins was my third favorite show. The special effects were great and the music was good, but I don’t feel that I got anything extra from this show over seeing the movie version. At the very end as Mary was leaving the Banks family they had attached the actress to wires and she flew across the entire auditorium up to the front of the second story balcony. I don’t think that I would ever pay to see this musical again.
Finally, Wicked was the most disappointing of the NYC shows. The scenery was very visually stimulating but the story and voices of the actors just ordinary. I was familiar with the story and I had read the Wicked book as well as it’s sequel, Son of a Witch, and the play version didn’t have the strong voice of the book. The book was very political in it’s views and had strong opinions and views of the world. I feel that the play version was very watered down and the ending was extremely disappointing. I feel that when I pay $125 to see a show it needs to be outstanding, fabulous and I want to listen and sing the music for many weeks following the show. I didn’t have this feeling after seeing Wicked or Mary Poppins. However, I am glad that I had the opportunity to see them after all of the hype.
____________________________________________________________________
I would like to point out that Andrea tried to kill me on this trip. We had to walk everywhere we went and our hotel was several blocks from the theatre district. I did a mapquest when I came home to see how far away the first theatre was from our hotel, it was 2.6 miles each way. I would guess that the first day we walked in excess of six miles. I thought I was going to die when we got back to the hotel the first night. My legs were so sore for the rest of the trip. I tried not to complain but...I could hardly walk the next day. Everyday was like this...but I do think that we walked the furthest on the first day. On Friday we went to the MET museum and it was further away than the first play...so I decided to take the subway there. Andrea still wanted to walk so we met at the museum. I think that this compromise fit both of us. She LOVED walking each day and never seemed to get tired. I just couldn't understand this...it became very obvious to me how out of shape I am.
We tried to be very conservative on our spending on this trip because we had already spent so much money on the theatre tickets. It is very expensive in NY to eat in a restaurant, a moderately priced meal would be about $25 per person. As Andrea had been there several times prior to this trip she had good knowledge of cheap places to eat. There was a food court in Grand Central Station building that we went to multiple times. There were several vendors that you could choose from. I ate at this soup and salad place several times. They had some awesome homemade soups and salads that you could choose exactly what ingredients you wanted and they would add the salad dressing, mix it up and chop it for you prior to putting it in the container. I was able to find one of the infamous Black and White cookies from Seinfeld and try it. It was more the consistency of cake than a cookie but it was very tasty. I ate at a McDonald's one time on Saturday night. We had a very busy day and we were running out of time and it was quite an experience. It was located next to where we were seeing Mary Poppins. They had about 10 registers open with several people in each line. I had to wait at least 15 minutes to order and I was starving. I ordered Quarter Pounder with cheese meal and it was (gasp) $6.89 plus tax. The made my total bill $7.12 and I handed the cashier $10.12 which would give me change of $3. After I gave her the money she took it and shut her drawer. I looked at her and asked for my change. The following was our conversation.
Cashier: O...ya I owe you $1.01
Me: No...it is $3 even
Cashier: I will get the manager.....
After about 4 minutes she get a very harassed manager to open her drawer and she takes out $1.01, closes the drawer and hands me the money.
Me: Excuse me, but you owe me $2 more dollars.
Cashier: No, I don't...your bill was $9.13
Me: No it wasn't...the menu board says $6.89 and you added the tax which made my bill $7.12...I gave you $10.12 which makes my change $3
Cashier: OH (with a blank stare)
Me: Am I going to get my change?
She walks away to find the manager again. I don't think that she still understood and the only reason I was so instant on my change was that I already felt ripped of paying $7.12 for a $4 Quarter cheese meal. The 10 minutes it took me at the register to get my food the cashier had the same blank stare. I think that having such an overwhelming amount of customers she couldn't take any additional sensory input. It took me a total of 25 minutes to get my food, but it was good.
I feel like I wasn't overly impressed with NYC although I had a great time. It was very different than downtown Indy but I didn't feel uncomfortable. I never felt unsafe on our many long walks, even at 11:30 pm after the plays. It wasn't as crowded as I expected. I just imagined people everywhere and some places were like that but not all. I felt the most crowded was Saturday night on the way to the play and it was still very active on our way home.
You may have read my various tooth posts...well when I was eating breakfast on Saturday morning out pops my temporary crown for the second time. I didn't know what to to. I had to call my dentists emergency number and because it was the emergency number it only took her an hour to call me back. After speaking to her she determined that I would be fine without my crown until I could get to her office on Tuesday morning. I was fine and it was only a minor uncomfortableness.
As I was in the van going to the airport I met a women who's daughter just moved to the city. She just graduated from college and got a job in the fashion industry. She was helping her daughter get an apartment and settled in the city. The apartment that they finally found was $1695 for a tiny studio in Manhattan. Apparently, this is half of her monthly pay. I couldn't imagine paying that much for a studio apartment. I love the Midwest and our reasonable housing prices. When we drove past a parking garage it was $500 a month to park your car. This is more than my monthly car payment. Andrea told me while we were there that she would love to live in the city. I had the other thought after my visit. I LOVE my car and I like driving places. It is a fun place for visitation only.
My plane was to depart NYC at 7pm on Sunday night and my airport shuttle was scheduled to pick me up at the hotel at 2:30. I thought that this was a bit excessive but since I missed my first plane I decided to comply. I got to the airport at 4pm and as I was departing the van two people come up to the van and ask to take a ride back to the city. They stated that all of the flights out of LaGuarda were canceled for the remaining part of the day. I was hesitant to get off of the van but decided to go inside and investigate. I was happy to find out that my plane was the only scheduled departure for that night. I guess the delays were due to bad weather...I didn't detect any bad weather in NYC. It was a little cloudy and overcast but not bad. I arrive back in Indy only two hours late..this was much better than the tons of stranded people at the airport. I am glad I was able to go home.
Bad Day
These last two days have culminated in me wanting to just hide under the covers of my bed. Let me break it down for you.
Yesterday morning as I was driving to work I tried to make some calls on my cell phone. It didn’t appear to work properly. I could only talk on the speaker phone function. I thought maybe there was a problem with the Bluetooth connection in my car and when I got to work I turned it off and removed the battery. Yet, it would still only work while I am in the speaker phone mode. This is extremely annoying to me and the person I am talking to. So I went to the Sprint store after work yesterday and there were two people standing at the check in desk. I couldn’t understand why it took two people to check me in and then I had to wait 45 minutes to talk to an associate. I then had to have a discussion with the employee to make her understand that I have the insurance on my phone. I told her I was paying $4 a month for something on my bill, she looked it up and it was for roadside assistance. OK…why would I add roadside assistance onto my cell phone bill. It was ridiculous, I tried to explain to her that I already have roadside assistance with my auto insurance and the person who typed in my order made a mistake. She stated that I basically had no recourse for this, but my phone was under warranty and it would only cost $50 for the deductible. She said I would have to wait 30 minutes for the tech to do a diagnostic on the phone to determine what was wrong. I had a prior engagement so I left and said I would be back at 8:15 to get it back. I arrived back at 8:15 to discover that I had to wait in the long line again for my turn. By the time it was my turn I felt that any patience that I had started with was LONG gone. The bottom line is that according to the phone tech my phone was “broke” (I feel like I had already made that determination without all of the time spent in line) and they had to order me a new phone and it would be in on Monday 08/25. So if you are going to call me this week be prepared for this annoyance.
Last night after I got home and I was wore down from the cell phone experience I decided to go into the bathroom and floss my teeth. I admit that I don’t to this as regularly as I should, but I am trying to make an effort to take better care of my teeth. As I was working on the upper right portion of my mouth the dental floss got stuck and it felt like I made my tooth move. I was using one of the dental floss on a stick apparatuses; I walked through the house with it hanging out of my mouth to go to the kitchen to get a knife to cut it out of my mouth. I felt ridiculous in the bathroom with a knife cutting out the dental floss. I call the dentist the next morning at 8am and they tell me that their first appointment is 10am. I go to work for a useless hour and head back out to the dentist at 9:45. When I arrive I explain to the dental assistant that I felt the tooth move. She said I couldn’t have. There is no way I could move my tooth. I guess she was right and there was no way that I could move my tooth, I am not superwoman. She tells me that a piece of my filling came off and is now stuck between my teeth. She uses a piece of dental floss and tries to force it out. After about five minutes of this torture she pops it out. It is determined that I need a new filling in the tooth and the tooth next to it also needs a new filling. So now this new dental visit is going to cost me $359. I am extremely tired of giving all of my money to the dentist. I want to keep some of it for fun stuff or even bills. They perform the work and I regretfully give them their payment and head back to work starving and looking like a dork. The entire right portion of my face is not working and it looks as if I have bells palsy. When I smile I looked like the Joker from Batman. Upon leaving, the dentist told me that I will need a crown on tooth #5 and hopefully the filling will hold up until January when I receive my new insurance benefits. Are you kidding me…I have to plan for another crown next year.
The final count so far is….7 Crowns and 4 root canals to date!
The third problem in these two days perhaps wouldn’t be such a big deal if I wasn’t already mentally suffering. I am in charge of buying a $200 gift card from Travelocity for the weight loss challenge we are having at work. I purchased it yesterday before I left work. When I got home last night I balanced my check book and saw the pending charge on my bank account. About 10:15 I got a call from a company wanting to verify the details of this purchase to determine if this was a fraudulent charge. I was confused as to why I would be receiving this call so late at night. I asked him twice the name of his company and it wasn’t Travelocity. I wasn’t familiar with the company name. I told the guy that I was uncomfortable giving him the information over the phone and was there a way for me to verify this information. He gave me his phone number and told me that I could call him back. I decided not to call him back that night as I wanted to think about the situation. This morning I called the phone number and a guy answered. I hung up because I was expecting an answering service. When I got to work I looked at my bank account and the charge authorization had disappeared from my account. I thought that perhaps the guy from last night was legitimate. I tried to call Travelocity and I talked to them for 20 minutes while the customer service person was trying to figure out what to do. I had to leave for the dentist so I asked her if she could call me back on my cell phone, I gave her my number but she never called me back. About an hour after I came back to work I received a call on my cell phone (which I had to take on speakerphone) from Chase bank inquiring on possible fraudulent charges on my account. I confirmed with her that I did make the Travelocity and Speedway purchases. I have never had so many problems buying a gift card. I still haven’t resolved this problem and I am unsure of what to do next. Any suggestions?
Yesterday morning as I was driving to work I tried to make some calls on my cell phone. It didn’t appear to work properly. I could only talk on the speaker phone function. I thought maybe there was a problem with the Bluetooth connection in my car and when I got to work I turned it off and removed the battery. Yet, it would still only work while I am in the speaker phone mode. This is extremely annoying to me and the person I am talking to. So I went to the Sprint store after work yesterday and there were two people standing at the check in desk. I couldn’t understand why it took two people to check me in and then I had to wait 45 minutes to talk to an associate. I then had to have a discussion with the employee to make her understand that I have the insurance on my phone. I told her I was paying $4 a month for something on my bill, she looked it up and it was for roadside assistance. OK…why would I add roadside assistance onto my cell phone bill. It was ridiculous, I tried to explain to her that I already have roadside assistance with my auto insurance and the person who typed in my order made a mistake. She stated that I basically had no recourse for this, but my phone was under warranty and it would only cost $50 for the deductible. She said I would have to wait 30 minutes for the tech to do a diagnostic on the phone to determine what was wrong. I had a prior engagement so I left and said I would be back at 8:15 to get it back. I arrived back at 8:15 to discover that I had to wait in the long line again for my turn. By the time it was my turn I felt that any patience that I had started with was LONG gone. The bottom line is that according to the phone tech my phone was “broke” (I feel like I had already made that determination without all of the time spent in line) and they had to order me a new phone and it would be in on Monday 08/25. So if you are going to call me this week be prepared for this annoyance.
Last night after I got home and I was wore down from the cell phone experience I decided to go into the bathroom and floss my teeth. I admit that I don’t to this as regularly as I should, but I am trying to make an effort to take better care of my teeth. As I was working on the upper right portion of my mouth the dental floss got stuck and it felt like I made my tooth move. I was using one of the dental floss on a stick apparatuses; I walked through the house with it hanging out of my mouth to go to the kitchen to get a knife to cut it out of my mouth. I felt ridiculous in the bathroom with a knife cutting out the dental floss. I call the dentist the next morning at 8am and they tell me that their first appointment is 10am. I go to work for a useless hour and head back out to the dentist at 9:45. When I arrive I explain to the dental assistant that I felt the tooth move. She said I couldn’t have. There is no way I could move my tooth. I guess she was right and there was no way that I could move my tooth, I am not superwoman. She tells me that a piece of my filling came off and is now stuck between my teeth. She uses a piece of dental floss and tries to force it out. After about five minutes of this torture she pops it out. It is determined that I need a new filling in the tooth and the tooth next to it also needs a new filling. So now this new dental visit is going to cost me $359. I am extremely tired of giving all of my money to the dentist. I want to keep some of it for fun stuff or even bills. They perform the work and I regretfully give them their payment and head back to work starving and looking like a dork. The entire right portion of my face is not working and it looks as if I have bells palsy. When I smile I looked like the Joker from Batman. Upon leaving, the dentist told me that I will need a crown on tooth #5 and hopefully the filling will hold up until January when I receive my new insurance benefits. Are you kidding me…I have to plan for another crown next year.
The final count so far is….7 Crowns and 4 root canals to date!
The third problem in these two days perhaps wouldn’t be such a big deal if I wasn’t already mentally suffering. I am in charge of buying a $200 gift card from Travelocity for the weight loss challenge we are having at work. I purchased it yesterday before I left work. When I got home last night I balanced my check book and saw the pending charge on my bank account. About 10:15 I got a call from a company wanting to verify the details of this purchase to determine if this was a fraudulent charge. I was confused as to why I would be receiving this call so late at night. I asked him twice the name of his company and it wasn’t Travelocity. I wasn’t familiar with the company name. I told the guy that I was uncomfortable giving him the information over the phone and was there a way for me to verify this information. He gave me his phone number and told me that I could call him back. I decided not to call him back that night as I wanted to think about the situation. This morning I called the phone number and a guy answered. I hung up because I was expecting an answering service. When I got to work I looked at my bank account and the charge authorization had disappeared from my account. I thought that perhaps the guy from last night was legitimate. I tried to call Travelocity and I talked to them for 20 minutes while the customer service person was trying to figure out what to do. I had to leave for the dentist so I asked her if she could call me back on my cell phone, I gave her my number but she never called me back. About an hour after I came back to work I received a call on my cell phone (which I had to take on speakerphone) from Chase bank inquiring on possible fraudulent charges on my account. I confirmed with her that I did make the Travelocity and Speedway purchases. I have never had so many problems buying a gift card. I still haven’t resolved this problem and I am unsure of what to do next. Any suggestions?
August 11, 2008
Bad Houseguest
I went on a trip to NYC this past weekend and I took Mickey (My Cat) to Lou’s (My Brother) house on Wednesday night. Apparently, he doesn’t get high marks as a houseguest. The things that I find cute and adorable don’t quite translate to others.
He doesn’t appear to be a dainty eater. My brother kept telling me that it appeared that Mickey wasn’t eating much food, his food bowl was staying at the same level every day. On Saturday Lou walked into the kitchen to discover Mickey eating out of the dogs bowl. Who knew that he would prefer the dog food? Lou went on to say that he would eat a piece of food partially and a couple small pieces would fall out of his mouth and onto the floor. Instead of eating those pieces he would leave them there and get a new piece. All weekend Lou kept blaming the messy floor on the dog…but it wasn’t so. In addition to eating the food he also took ownership of the food bowl and water dish. While Lou was in the room the dog came by for a snack and Mickey wouldn’t let him past. He hissed, growled and smacked the dog in the face with his paw. Apparently, he wanted to dominate the household.
The next adorable thing he does is he likes to drink out of human glasses. As I am used to this behavior I dry to prevent him from doing this by drinking out of lidded water bottles. Lou’s family isn’t so well trained. Any glass that was left alone for longer than a few minutes was susceptible to attack. He would come up and stick his paw in the cup and lick the contents. If the beverage wasn’t to his liking he would knock over the cup and spill the contents. This is what he does for sport. I guess while he was visiting there were a multitude of spilled beverages.
Even though Mickey is fed well…he likes an occasional treat out of the garbage can. Again, since I am used to this behavior I never put food in the garbage can in the kitchen. I take it directly to the garbage can in the garage. Lou’s family is not so trained. Every morning Lou would get up and have to clean up the garbage mess in the kitchen. You would think that he would learn his lesson (Lou…not Mickey).
Mickey’s nickname is now Garfield at Lou’s house and he doesn’t appear to be welcome any time soon. Are there any volunteers for Mickey duty for my next trip? He really is cute!
He doesn’t appear to be a dainty eater. My brother kept telling me that it appeared that Mickey wasn’t eating much food, his food bowl was staying at the same level every day. On Saturday Lou walked into the kitchen to discover Mickey eating out of the dogs bowl. Who knew that he would prefer the dog food? Lou went on to say that he would eat a piece of food partially and a couple small pieces would fall out of his mouth and onto the floor. Instead of eating those pieces he would leave them there and get a new piece. All weekend Lou kept blaming the messy floor on the dog…but it wasn’t so. In addition to eating the food he also took ownership of the food bowl and water dish. While Lou was in the room the dog came by for a snack and Mickey wouldn’t let him past. He hissed, growled and smacked the dog in the face with his paw. Apparently, he wanted to dominate the household.
The next adorable thing he does is he likes to drink out of human glasses. As I am used to this behavior I dry to prevent him from doing this by drinking out of lidded water bottles. Lou’s family isn’t so well trained. Any glass that was left alone for longer than a few minutes was susceptible to attack. He would come up and stick his paw in the cup and lick the contents. If the beverage wasn’t to his liking he would knock over the cup and spill the contents. This is what he does for sport. I guess while he was visiting there were a multitude of spilled beverages.
Even though Mickey is fed well…he likes an occasional treat out of the garbage can. Again, since I am used to this behavior I never put food in the garbage can in the kitchen. I take it directly to the garbage can in the garage. Lou’s family is not so trained. Every morning Lou would get up and have to clean up the garbage mess in the kitchen. You would think that he would learn his lesson (Lou…not Mickey).
Mickey’s nickname is now Garfield at Lou’s house and he doesn’t appear to be welcome any time soon. Are there any volunteers for Mickey duty for my next trip? He really is cute!
August 5, 2008
BMW Ride and Drive
I attended the BMW Ride and Drive today and had loads of fun. This is a charity event sponsored by corporate BMW corporation for the Susan B. Korman Breast Cancer Foundation. Basically, you show up to the car dealership and you can drive any of the available BMW's on a set 10 mile track around the city. For every mile you drive BMW donates $1 to the charity. They provide food and drinks for the entire day. I was able to drive three different models, enjoy the benefits of driving a $80,000 (one that I could never afford or want to spend so much money on) and do something for a worthwhile cause.
When I returned to work I was telling my friends about lunch time adventure, basically only the boys were interested in listening. So this new guy at work who is a summer intern, looks at me with a bit of disbelief in his eye and condemnation in his voice and says, "Aren't all of the BMW's manual transmission cars?" I say no...but I am able to drive a manual transmission. Apparently in his short life he has yet to encounter a female who can drive a manual transmission auto. I explained to him that women are allowed to drive BMW's and even manual transmission cars. I think that he has the idea now.
When I returned to work I was telling my friends about lunch time adventure, basically only the boys were interested in listening. So this new guy at work who is a summer intern, looks at me with a bit of disbelief in his eye and condemnation in his voice and says, "Aren't all of the BMW's manual transmission cars?" I say no...but I am able to drive a manual transmission. Apparently in his short life he has yet to encounter a female who can drive a manual transmission auto. I explained to him that women are allowed to drive BMW's and even manual transmission cars. I think that he has the idea now.
August 1, 2008
Word Confusion
I met a friend at the IMA last night to view the new Egyptian exhibit. She brought along another friend of whom I had not previously met. While we were walking around the museum the friend asks me if I want to got a Spa Party at her "partners" house. I said sure that would be fun, since the visit to the museum would take no longer than 1.5 hours. When she said partner I had assumed she was gay. However, later in the conversation she referred to her partner again but as a male. I got very confused. I had only heard people use the term partner in reference to being in a gay relationship. Since I didn't know her well I didn't want to question her to get all of the details. About an hour later we arrived at this persons 1920's downtown apartment and I was introduced to her partner who was a man and then to the other man who was actually giving the spa party. I became more confused as it was apparent that these were two gay men who lived together and were in a relationship. I preceded to enjoy the pampering of the spa party, I tried some nice face wash and some foot scrub in their bathroom. We then went to the living room for a sampling of the green face mask and various other products. Throughout the evening she kept referring to this man as her partner and I became even more confused. About the time I was ready to leave which was four hours after I met her, a light bulb went on over my head. All of these people at the party worked in the health care industry and most of them were EMT's on ambulances. They were "Partners" on the ambulance...AKA co-workers. I just didn't understand their industry jargon. I am glad that I didn't have to live in such a state of confusion any longer.
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