Dear Mr. Haskins,

Thank you for contacting Crappy Computer Technical Support. I am concerned with the issue you are having with your computer and wish to resolve them very soon. I understand your concern regarding your laptop that shutdowns spontaneously. I will be glad to assist you but since I need to set up a service for your laptop. I would like to inform you that the information, which you have given, does not match with our records. (You don't say...)

My reply:

This email was sent to me after I filled out a request for warranty support
on my computer. However, I am not Mr. Haskins as the email is addressed to. Blah, blah, blah, providing correct contact information in detail, blah, blah.
Thank you,
Melissa K...

Their rely!

Dear Mr. Haskins,

Thank you for contacting Crappy Computer Technical Support.

Thank you for contacting Crappy Computer Technical Support. I apologize for the delay in response to your e-mail. We currently have a backlog of e-mails and are working hard to answer all of them in a timely manner.

I understand your concern regarding your system that is not recognizing the AC power and randomly switches to battery. Please be assured I am here to assist you.

Blah blah blah.

Mr. Haskins, we appreciate your patience in regards to this matter. If you have any further inquiries, you are welcome to write back to us. Blah, blah, blah, your inquiry number is 123456, blah, blah, blah.

Thank you for choosing Crappy Computer.

! ! ! Is this reply - where they still call me by the WRONG NAME - supposed to make me feel confident enough to pack up my $1500 piece of useless machinery and send it to them (via DHL on top of it - don't get me started...)??? ! ! !

AAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!!!

So right this moment Craig is on the phone with crappycomputers.com trying to get service on my laptop. I asked him to do this for me because I have an extremely low tolerance for the "customer service" representatives who treat you like a complete moron when you have to call for service.

My laptop has been not recognizing the power supply on a consistent basis. It will work for a little while, then it will drop the AC power and run on battery until it shuts itself off. Its been getting worse and worse until now it won't even charge. We know what the problem is. The particular model has a class action law suit against crappycomputers.com for this exact problem! Essentially, he is sitting thru the garbage they will make him do before they say, "You'll have to send it in [[and be without it for 6-10 weeks]] for repairs."

The following is from my end of the overheard of the conversation.

First he sat on hold for about 10 minutes. Now he got a rep and she went thru the initial blah-blah nonsense. Then she told him to get a hairdresser and "blow out" the insides of the machine. (My input: Umm, as if I don't do that with the computer compressed air every few weeks).

Next she asked if the power light is on on the power supply. (Yes, and it has been on on BOTH power supplies we have!) Have you changed the location it is plugged in at? (Uhh, yeah).

At this point, I would have lost all patience with the dialog and would probably be gritting my teeth to keep from screaming at her. Anywho, he is still on the phone and I am irritated enough from just overhearing the conversation that I am ending my post now.

OH WAIT - new "C.S.R.". Yeah, I would really be irritated. Yup, they are having me send it in using the cheapest ground method of shipping they can provide, they'll keep it "5-8 business days", then of course another week of ground shipping to get it back to me. Sigh. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it to work long enough to copy my files (again) onto my spare computer in my garage workshop.

Gotcha Day.

Tomorrow is Gotcha Day for "Sweet Baby Chew". I have a friend with an adopted daughter and they celebrate the day they adopted her with Gotcha Day. I like that. I can't believe it's been a year and we've gone from this...




to this...


to this...


to this...


to this...


to this...


And finally to this...

Strange.

While buying Craig's Christmas gifts from his Amazon.com wish list, I came upon this. Notice the bottom right corner where it tells me what other customers bought when purchasing the items I purchased. Also strange is the "Your viewing history" because I have not viewed any of the products listed. I actually checked that I didn't log into the wrong account somehow!!

Update: apparently Craig had logged into this account and searched for gourmet foods such as Kobe beef. Unknown to us, there is a porn star with the name Kobe and the boob links are a result of this. At least, that's his story... :) (Just kidding, of course! He is much more likely to be searching for food than "fun".)

My dogs have some stiff competition!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS. THIS. DOG. IS. CUTE!!!!! My boys better be carefull or their cousin may take over this blog!!

Painfully adorable!

This is Lil' John. My sister and her boyfriend adopted him last weekend. He is 6 pounds - their cat is 20 pounds.

Is it worth it?

This...





...makes the lack of sleep and leg cramps every night worth it. How can you make two dogs who are SO ADORABLE move?

Rockin' Around The Christmas Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Of course!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White, non blinking.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Um, no.

5. When do you put your decorations up? IF we put them up - we've had a puppy twice in the last 4 years over the holidays; puppies eat decorations - we put them up between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert): Mashed potatoes! (also my sister's green bean casserole, she makes her own mushroom soup for it!)

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Staying at my grandparents house.

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? One. However, I always open and rewrap my gifts because I can't stand the suspense.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights. Silver and white ribbons with snowflakes. Silver and blue ball ornaments and most other ornaments are clear.

10. Snow! Love it or Dread it? We have a 1 year old Husky, I've been longing for snow for 6 months! Now, ask me again in 2 or 3 months.

11. Can you ice skate? Absolutely. I grew up in Wisconsin. I played hockey with my dad pretty much as soon as I could walk!

12. Do you remember your favorite gift as a child? I once had a Barbie who tanned when you brought her out in the sun. Unfortunately, my neighbor threw her up on the roof of the garage and by the time she was rescued she never recovered from the "burn".

13. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Spending time with family and friends. I also enjoy giving gifts.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Cherry pie. I know, I know, but I don't care for pumpkin or pecan pies much (I can only tolerate a sliver - and I mean sliver of each).

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? We've made a holiday tradition of having Chinese food (Joy Fong to be specific) for dinner on Christmas Eve.

16. What tops your tree? A big clear/silver snowflake that lights up. Remember Craig, we retired the Santa last year.

17. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night. (My favorite version is sung by Billy Gilman, but I like most renditions.)

18. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum: Yummy!