Arbitrary Views

2008-09-03T16:38:00.002-04:00

I finished a huge order today and I feel like dancing. I learned that miniature easels are very, very labor intensive. I have callouses on my thumb and index finger tips, cuts on my knuckles, and stain under my nails - BUT I AM DONE!

When I order something online I track it obsessively. Like, 6-12 times a day. Am I the only one?

We are mourning the loss of Craig's laptop (formerly my laptop, having been repaired by Dell twice - maybe three times, and without warranty.) The motherboard finally gave it up. So long heavy, huge beast. One less inferior Dell product in my house.

How can it already be September?

We are going on a trip at the end of this month and I'm already having panic attacks about flying. I'm getting myself all worked up. I'm even debating on asking the doctor for some Xanax just for the trip. I hate traveling by plane. It isn't necessarily the flying part - although the idea of coming down suddenly is quite terrifying. It's the security at the airport. Stresses me out. I fear the alarm and the wand. Craig reminded me that we are flying out of Kalamazoo and into Albuquerque and vise-versa (sp?) so it really shouldn't be a big deal, I guess.

Random stuff.

2008-09-02T11:05:00.002-04:00

If I won a trip to Chicago on The Price is Right I'd be irritated. It's only a 2 hour drive and I'd have to drive to Chicago to fly to LA to fly back to Chicago.

Speaking of Chicago: we're having Chicago style hot dogs for lunch. Yum.

I wish I could fall asleep at a decent time without drugging myself with anti-histamines. Two nights in a row it's been 4 AM and 3 AM, respectively. I'm exhausted. Taking some Benedryl tonight.

I caught Chewie eating the leaves of one of our trees in the back. He ate a few then proceeded to throw up. So, I put on my shoes to check out what came out (gross, yeah, but you need to know) and he met me at the door and trotted right to the spot - as if to show off his work. Just leaves.

We had a few rainy days last week and Booker was limping around because all four legs and his back were sore with arthritis. Poor guy. Aspirin helped. Today he is back to normal.

When you buy a laptop you aren't told that you have to buy a "chill pad" in order to not burn yourself and your laptop up. (Or is this just an issue with Dell's crappy products?) Anyway, I've gone through 3. The first lasted forever and finally just stopped working. The second lasted a few weeks before we kept finding little black shards of what turned out to be the fan blades all over the living room. The third one - while keeping its blades - makes a grinding noise every time you turn it on until you smack it about 33 times (infuriating). I ordered another one on Amazon since I've gone through all the ones you can buy locally. Hopefully it will last longer than a month.

Security is one thing, stupidity and stubbornness are totally different

2008-06-20T15:02:00.004-04:00

So, I had a check electronically issued from my bank to pay mother for watching the dogs a few weeks ago. She took it into her bank in Kenosha to cash it and the teller said she could not cash it because "it didn't have a signature". Mother* claims she even spoke to the manager. So I get "on the horn", so to speak, and have an online chat with my ez-pay teller to find out what the problem is (that tellers in Kenosha are stupid, apparently). Shouldn't be a problem she tells me. Give your mother our phone number and have her bank call us to verify that it isn't a problem.

The text I sent Mother: ###-###-#### have your bank call my bank and they will hold their hand and walk them through the deposit process.

Mother's reply: Dont worry my bank still questions my payee* check afer a year*.

* Granted, she is not the brightest crayon in the box, is a few fries short of a happy meal, etc, etc and could possibly have done something moronic to deserve the check cashing ban. I mean, come on, the federal government doesn't trust her with her social security checks and requires her to have a * payee...

* I tell you what, if my bank were so stupid and difficult to work with, I'd have found another bank a year ago! Or I'd be the crazy who gets so frustrated and furious that I'd end up screaming at them in the middle of their lobby! IDIOTS!

Shake...shake...shake...shake...shake... ... ...

2008-06-19T15:12:00.008-04:00

We've been tring to teach Chewie to shake for almost 2 years (he is 2 and a half). He has stubbornly refused to lift his paw off the floor even just to humor us. He will sit and plant both front legs firmly on the floor. When we lift one and demonstrate shake it is actually a challenge to get it up because he is resisting.

We try to use Booker as an example of what we expect from Mr. Chew. When you say shake to Booker he jets out his right paw with delight. If you have something really good (a piece of hot dog or a bully stick) he will do the "double shake" and give you both paws.

Chewie has stubbornly refused to shake - and I mean refused. We're sure he's refusing just to spite us. He's an exceptionally smart dog, he's used the "potty paw" (an electronic "I need to go out" device that is essentially a wireless doorbell that he stomps on when he wants out) since he was a few months old. [Then he abused the potty paw and we took it away - stomping on it every few minutes whenever he didn't get his way got to be very irritating.]

Well, yesterday we tried again with some new treats. First he tried his default response, the scoot. He sits on his butt and sort of scoots so his back legs stick out. Quite cute, but certainly not a shake. THEN...to our shock, after a few more requests (and us stubbornly refusing to release the treat), his paw gently, limply lifted from the floor. Not quite a shake, but his paw left the floor! A fluke?

We got another treat and tried again. Again after about 15 requests he bored of us and limply lifted his paw.

Hope lives on.

NOW begins the boycott of all things Dell.

2008-06-09T21:07:00.003-04:00

I haven't mentioned the demise of my laptop (again) because we have the old one and we also have desktop systems which I can use. HOWEVER, I have had it with Dell and I want to spread the fact that they sell inferior products and have inferior customer service. I am sick of paying for a product and not receiving what we pay for.

Several years ago we bought our first laptop from Dell. Within the 2 years of owning it, it needed to have the motherboard replaced - twice - for a known issue which they were being sued for. This was a nightmare which I won't go into (you can read about it here.) When the warrenty was up we decided to order a new one since the old was limping along.

The new system arrived and was wonderful for 6 months. In March it became virtually non-usable due to a faulty video card that Dell apparetly retrofitted (and destroyed in the process) so it would fit in a smaller case. Long story short, we have had to re-install Windows a minimum of 12 times in order to keep it functioning. I have sent it to Microsoft (via my brother-in-law who works for Microsoft Technology Center in Chicago) for a rollback to Windows XP in hopes that XP would be compatable with the video card (initially it was thought to be a Windows Vista problem). I have dealt with Dell Tech "service" for months via email. Craig just spent 5 hours via Dell chat tech service.

Tech service has had us jump through hoops (all of which we had already jumped through on our own). After 5 hours today Craig was informed that the problem was "being elevated" and he would receive a call from someone withing an hour.

Craig received the call. He was informed that they "are working on a patch"! When Craig told them that this answer was unaceptable and would affect our choice to purchase a Dell in the future the tech asked if Craig would like the service call to be "elevated" again. UMMM, YEAH!

So, as it stands, Dell has done nothing to solve the ongoing problem. They have offered no refund, no replacement, no fix after a minimum of 10 hours of communication with tech service. Our warrenty expires in 3 months, which I suspect is what they are waiting for. I am currently searching online to see if there is another class-action lawsuit for this known and ignored problem. I will never purchase a Dell again and would suggest others (especially others with limited computer knowledge who cannot argue with them in their tech speak) also avoid Dell.

That is all.

2008-06-04T23:28:00.001-04:00

I got a few shots while mom and dad were out finding worms after the rain today. There are a total of 4. It looks like they may start flight school this weekend while we are out of town unfortunately.

The Old Lady

2008-06-04T16:42:00.002-04:00

I LOVE my Dyson vacuum. The one regret I have is the color. I always feel like I am pushing a Red Hat Society lady around my living room.

Alright, two regrets, I wish we would have spent the extra $100 at the time and gotten the Dyson Animal. The dog hair in my house is OUT OF CONTROL! I could really use the attachment to vacuum the furniture. I just vacuumed on Sunday and it's only been two days. I had to empty the canister two times going around the living room.

2008-05-21T15:04:00.001-04:00

I have radishes!

And a nesting robin!

Meme x 5

2008-05-13T13:34:00.003-04:00

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Getting ready to get married in a couple weeks.
2. Making my wedding dress and my sisters bridesmaid dress.
3. Baking many, many layers of French vanilla cake
4. Putting together all the flower arrangements.
5. Still working full time and going to classes full time at NMSU.

Five things on my To-Do list today:

1. Laundry (today is blue day).
2. Cull the carrots in the garden (way too many in the space).
3. Mow the lawn.
4. Stain/paint 74 miniature frames.
5. Lament the fact that I am unable to pre-order Wii Fit anywhere online and I'll just have to wait until next Wednesday and see if it's in stock anywhere.

Five things I would do if I were a billionaire:

1. Buy my sister a "green" graystone in Chicago.
2. Own a vineyard.
3. Set up a dog rescue.
4. Visit friends and family more often.
5. Build a "green" house that functions "off the grid".

Five of my bad habits:

1. Nail biting.
2. Picking at my psoriasis.
3. Lazy.
4. Apparently I am nearly perfect because I can't think of anything else.
5. ?

Five places I've lived:

1. Madison, WI
2. Kenosha, WI
3. Las Cruces, NM
4. Rantoul, IL
5. Portage, MI

Five jobs I've had:

1. Sandwich Artist at Subway.
2. Bugs Bunny Land attendant at Six Flags Great America.
3. Library aide.
4. Cricket (chirp, chirp) sales.
5. Webmaster.

Five books I've recently read:

1. The Time Traveler's Wife
2. Schuyler's Monster
3. Zen Cart
4. Do blogs count?
5. National Geographic and Bon Appetit

Five people I'm going to tag:

None. I'm not saddling someone with the list. Do it if you want. Don't if you don't want.

Absence apparently DOES make the heart grow fonder (and forgetfull)...

2008-05-11T23:37:00.004-04:00

What I learned this weekend after spending 72 hours listening to put-downs, insults, and mindless banter delivered in the falsetto voice of a Viennese choir boy wearing the grin of a patient at a mental hospital. Ahh, Mother's Day (weekend).

No matter who does something she dislikes, she will remember it as her eldest daughter doing it to her... and hold a grudge.
Her eldest daughter can do something nice for her and she will retell the story repeatedly... except the main character in the story is changed to her youngest daughter instead - or better yet the apple of her eye, her nephew.
Brownies are ok to eat as breakfast if you have diabetes.
Spilling large amounts of liquid on carpet is ok if it's "only water". (Don't bother to clean it up, it won't sink into the pads and ruin the floor.)
It is fine to hang your flag-sized underwear in the shower of the house you are staying at as a guest.
Listening to a unending dialog of questions about every item in your house, it's use, the location you obtained it, the date you obtained it, and the motive for obtaining it is enough to make your brain explode.
Oprah, Martha Stuart, Dr. Phil, and Woman's Day magazine are gospel.
You can hear about the pregnant man one two many times.
No matter how many times you tell her the dogs view her as the lowest member of the pack, she will wave the ham sandwich around and be surprised when he walks up and takes it.
When viewed by the dogs as the lowest member of the pack it is not a wise idea to go anywhere near the food or water dish (or plate of food on the table). The dog believes you are not worthy of said food and will strongly object if he has no R-E-S-P-E-C-T for you.
You will not earn the respect of the dog if you sing "no" to them with the afore mentioned grin on your face.
No matter how hard I try to grin-and-bear-it because I am trying to be a good daughter it is all I can do not to completely lose it with her.
Knowing someone is purposely pushing your buttons does not make it any easier to deal with.
3 hour visits are the maximum in the future.

Garden.

2008-04-05T21:06:00.002-04:00

The plan.

The start.

The progress.

Stuff.

2008-03-22T12:12:00.003-04:00

I figured I should either update this blog or delete it. I haven't had much to blog about. Same ol', same ol'.

About the only change has been that I quit my job. My last day is April 1st. Not April Fooling.

All our snow melted last week. We got another 14 inches yesterday.

Meh. Nothing more to say today.

Let There Be Light!

2007-08-26T17:40:00.001-04:00

After a 64 hour blackout from storms last Thursday, we again have power! Electronics, oh how I have missed you.

Such Addictive Fun!

2007-08-21T20:05:00.001-04:00

I downloaded the web browser Opera yesterday just to see what that one was like. It has this thing called widgets (much like the google desktop thingies you can have).

I added SimAquarium and have found it quite addictive.

You should try it.

Better

2007-08-19T14:42:00.002-04:00

A while ago I posted about a local restaurant website that was so horrendous (the website, not the restaurant) you could barely stand to view it.

They've made a few improvements again and it is much better. For one thing, there are no spelling errors on the first page - which is a huge improvement!

Now what's the problem? Music on the site. And not good music either. It doesn't make you fancy, it just makes your site irritating to use.

Brain Damage

2007-08-16T22:45:00.000-04:00

I haven't mentioned going to a Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) concert in June. My sister and I bought tickets for my dad and step-mom for their birthdays. We were in the 14th row and let me just say that it was (one of - note: husbands don't appreciate your wedding day being put as a close second to a concert) the BEST. NIGHT. EVER!

(Warning, this is SUPER loud. It was taken on my camera phone at the event.)

Anyway, my point, every time I hear Floyd on the radio - in particular Brain Damage/Eclipse from Dark Side - I am filled with a quiet sense of joy from remembering how awesome the concert was. I turn my radio up just a little and smile to myself while sitting at my desk at work.

It's Back, Baby!

2007-08-16T12:11:00.000-04:00

I was home for lunch today when DHL delivered my fixed laptop! It took Dell only 4 days, including transit times, to get it fixed. That's good enough that I can't even complain. Except about one thing... The return address had Apt 1B listed on it - which confused the DHL driver because we live in a neighborhood with lawns and (picket fences) houses, not apartment buildings. Strange. I guess I should be glad they got the address close enough that it got delivered. And I am. I have so missed the laptop.

Why I Hate DHL

2007-08-09T08:59:00.001-04:00

So, I have referenced my complete disgust in the shipping company DHL in past posts. I work at a cricket farm and my main job is to process the orders for shipping. I.E. I decide upon which shipper to use and what shipping method to choose (ground vs. 2nd day air). In order to get the crickets to the customer alive, they (generally) have to be delivered within 2 days of when we ship them. If out for 3 or more days, especially during the very hot or very cold seasons, the crickets will arrive D.O.A. and we will have to issue a credit or reship them.

Without going into more details than anyone wants about what makes us choose which shipper, suffice to say that when it is hot we often choose DHL because they have smaller delivery vehicles which often have climate control inside for the drivers. The UPS trucks are big and brown and not cooled or heated so we have trouble getting the crickets to customers alive (although at LEAST they get them!!). If not for this, we would probably rarely ship via DHL because their transit and delivery is so completely unreliable that we never know if the shipments are going to be delivered on time.

I have started to track every package we ship via DHL and file claims for each one that doesn't get delivered within the quoted transit time they post on their website. I do this every Monday now for the previous week, simply out of principle.

They make it a habit of denying my claims for a list of rediculous reasons. Last Friday, I had been pushed over the edge and this is the following email I wrote - which, by the way, has still not been replied to or addressed by DHL:

I have now spent close to an hour total trying to receive credit on this one shipment which was not delivered on time according to the DHL quoted transit times for this location. Additionally, my coworker spends hours checking every shipment on our bill every week because the DHL billing system is so inaccurate. When shipping a live product, we choose the shipping method based on the quoted time in transit. The DHL transit times have become so unreliable that we will soon be forced to choose our alternative shipping company for most, if not all, of our ground and second day service shipments. The fact that we have to spend considerable time bickering with DHL service employees regarding credits when DHL fails to provide the service they promise will only hasten our decision to switch carriers on a more permanent basis.

On a weekly basis we ship an average of 125 2nd day service and 125 ground service packages via DHL. I'm certain you have customers who do more business than we do and I am not dropping numbers to impress. Out of these shipments we have an average of 40 or more packages weekly which do not get delivered to our customers withing the quoted transit times for their locations. When the packages are in transit longer than the two days maximum we depend upon, our product DIES. Of these shipments we usually must reship - at our cost - the product, often using a next day service - again at our cost. We do not EVER as for reimbursement for the product or shipping materials. We understand there is a nominal risk shipping a live product and are reasonable about what we ask for as credits. If we were shipping sweaters, believe me, we would not be so concerned with receiving the service we are promised by the companies we choose to ship for us.

I find it exceptionally frustrating getting the run around by several levels of customer service representative regarding credits for service failures. Often, the fact that the shipment was delivered several day outside of the quoted transit time is completely ignored and we are given ridiculous reasons for denial such as "hazardous materials" and "excessively large dimensions". These are, once again, DHL errors. We never ship hazardous materials and the maximum dimension of any shipment which leaves our facility is 24x12x18.75 inches. The average package size is 12x12x6 inches.

Below is a copy of the latest denial request I have had forwarded back to me. PLEASE pass this along to any superior who can take care of this (these) issue(s). Our customer service representative does the best he can and is very helpful, but often finds his hands tied by the red tape and jumping through hoops required by DHL bureaucracy. I am, by no means, complaining about the service we receive from him.

While investigating this request (Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx) please look into these other two which I am certain will have the same email sent back to me telling me to contact your department.
Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx
Service Adjustment Request: xxxxxxxxxxx, Airbill Number: xxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for your time regarding this matter.

Mr. Haskins Is Dead!

2007-08-09T08:51:00.000-04:00

Dell replied promptly and addressed me by my own name! They are sending a DHL box for me to ship my laptop out for repairs (yeah, I could rant about that, but they didn't bicker with me for 3 days and make me call them before they decided it indeed needed repair, so I suppose I can stand to send it DHL. It'll probably take 7 weeks to get delivered and Dell will probably not get a credit for the shipping failure, but [shrug] that's their problem).

R.I.P., Mr. Haskins. R.I.P.

The Return of Mr. Haskins.

2007-08-08T16:15:00.000-04:00

My laptop is acting up again. Same deal from last December. It overheats and shuts down. Same deal as referred to in the lawsuit against Dell here.

Same problem Mr. Haskins was supposed to have gotten fixed in December of 2006. Mr. Haskins is AGAIN not pleased. Mr. Haskins just sent Dell another tech request. Mr. Haskins is curious to see who Dell replies to this time. Will it be Mr. Haskins? Will it be Melissa? Will it be a new alter-ego I apparently have? We shall see.

I Got...SSSteam Heat.

2007-08-08T14:16:00.000-04:00

The window unit has been in for about 2 hours now. The temp has gone from 86* to 83*, which may not seem like much, but the humidity is coming out of the air so it really is making a difference. At the least, the dogs are no longer panting. They aren't active (which is actually a hidden blessing) but they aren't miserable anymore.

As The Sweat Trickles.

2007-08-08T11:33:00.000-04:00

So, furnace is "unfrozen", if that was the problem, and still not coming on. It now will kick on when you flip the switch and blow glorious air for about 15 seconds, then shut off. (When you are sitting in a 85*F room with the humidity close to 70% it is all you can do not to cry when it stops running; especially after a night of no sleep.)

The dogs are quite displeased by the whole thing. Poor Booker is a panting fool. Chewie crawled (squeezed) under the bed last night and proceeded to whimper and pant until about midnight. I finally got them up and took them to the dining room where the sliding door to outside is and left the door open so they could come or go (from hot and muggy to just as hot and muggy). I gave them their bowl of water with (bonus!) a tray of ice cubes in it. Chewie proceeded to pluck the ice cubes out one by one, trot them back to where he was laying, set it down, run back to get another, and so on until he had them all out and surrounding him. Then he started crunching and guarding. How DARE Booker think he would get even one of The Chew's cold squares!

I drifted in and out of having my eyes closed but never quite sleeping until 6:30 when we went back to bed to make sure Craig got up for work. Craig is putting the big window A/C unit into the living room so the dogs and I don't melt. We'll be calling the repair guy today, I guess. Sigh.

How Hot IS IT?

2007-08-07T21:16:00.001-04:00

Yeah, yeah. We don't live in the deep South so we really shouldn't be complaining about the heat. BUT. Today when I got out of the car after lunch, my glasses fogged up it was so hot and humid outside!

And then tonight when we had been home for an hour or so, we noticed that it kept getting warmer and warmer in the house. A quick glance at the thermostat said it was 83*F in the living room. We then noticed that the blower was no longer blowing. The AC unit outside was chugging away, but the big fan thing (like my technical terms?) in the basement wasn't doing its part. We think (hope) it has frozen up from the humidity and constant running over the last 2 weeks of 90*F plus temps (it hums when we flip it on, it just isn't blowing). So, we've turned it off and put a fan in the bedroom window for a long, uncomfortable, night of - I suspect - very little sleep.

Tomorrow, if it still won't kick back on then we call the repair guy and get out the box units from the garage so we (i.e. the sled dog and his black furry brother) can stand it until the repair guy can make it over. We may have to shave the dogs.

I Shall Now Rant About an Electronic Superstore

2007-08-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

Today we brought our reasonably new camera back to Paramount Purchase to see if they could "fix" (i.e. exchange for another) it. It has the ability to record video and recently the ability has been waning. The video plays perfectly on the camera but the video playback on the computer is about triple speed, no sound, pixilated, with great square blobs of green throughout. I downloaded the video onto 3 different computers (yes, we have 3 computers for the two of us), used different methods of file transfer, removed the memory card and recorded directly onto the camera hard drive, blah, blah, blah. I am not so electronically challenged that I don't know the basic tests the "professional" will do.

We pack up the camera and trot on down to Paramount Purchase - extended warranty in hand. To the service desk we stroll. The girl at the desk takes one glance at our problem and refers us to the Nerd Posse. We go over the issue with Nerd Posse Employee. He stares blankly at us and mumbles something about needing to ask if he needs to "send it in". He toots off to ask Nerd Posse Member Two in the back room. He strolls back and asks, "So you say the playback is fine on the camera but not fine on the computer?"
"Yes."
"You need to bring the computer in."
"We have tried it on three different computers and it does the same thing."
"It is a data transfer problem not a problem with the camera."
"We have transfered the videos off the camera using multiple modes of transfer and it does the same thing." (i.e. not using the camera at all, and pulling the file right off the disk using a card reader; using the dock as a drive rather than a transfer port, etc, etc)
"You'll have to bring the computer in."
"We have the dock. Why can't you plug it into one of the 10 computers I can see right there behind you and test it out right now?"
"I can't, we don't have your software."
"But we just told you that we have moved the files directly off the camera without using the software to make sure the software wasn't the problem."
"You need to bring your computer in."
"So, you are telling me we have to go home, pack up one of the three computers we have tested it on, bring said computer into the store so you can try what we already have tried."
"Yeah."
"Oooh-kaaay."

We calmly walk out of the store before I start shouting about how disgusted I am. I haven't used the video on the camera since May because we haven't had time to take it in to the store. We are going to the zoo this weekend and I wanted to have the option of taking video.

So, we storm home - stopping at Culver's to pick up some custard to sooth our nerves. I release the hounds and follow them out to take a video. Craig takes the video off the camera and watches it. Tech junky that I am, I have about 4 different video players on the main computer. It plays poorly on Windows Media Player, but it plays fine on another program I bought to convert video from my cell phone.

The big question is: Will our videos that I take at the zoo play fine or will they all be corrupt? We shall see. Needless to say, I am still disgusted by the Nerd Posse and if my videos from the zoo are ruined, I will stomp my way back with my camera and my laptop and heads will roll.

Dead Man's Chest

2007-07-26T09:31:00.001-04:00

So, yesterday we got a package in the mail and it wasn't for us. It was for a previous owner of the house. Not even the last owner of the house. The one before. So, what's the big deal? Nothing really, except that I know he is recently deceased. For some reason that bothers me.

(We bought the house from my co-worker, they bought the house from her step-grandfather. It has been at least 5 years since he lived in the house.)

It bothered me enought that I trotted the package up to my friend's house (she only moved a few blocks away) and dropped it off last night, just to get it out of the house...

Little House on the Prairie 2007

2007-07-16T20:35:00.000-04:00

So, this weekend we decided, on a whim, to make butter. It was awesome!

This...

Plus this...

Turns into...

And...

And then... TA DA! FRESH BUTTER!!!

D.I.Y. Home Improvement 101

2007-05-28T22:06:00.000-04:00

To preface, I would like to say that Craig offers to help when I am playing handyman around the house even at the risk of my wrath. We both know that the fastest way to a fight is to try to work together on one of my projects. (I've been told that I can be "abrasive" in these situations). This in no way reflects his ability or desire to do any of the improvements.

This weekend I decided to tackle the deteriorating state of our bathroom. The only "before" picture I have (below) doesn't show the worst of it - mostly because for almost 2 years we've had shower curtains on 3 of 4 sides. The walls had cracked grout that leaked shower water into the basement. The previous owners hadcaulked over the grout with clear caulk, but somehow all that did was seal in moisture and create strips of mold you couldn't scrub off. Needless to say, we haven't had several thousand dollars handy to have it professionally repaired so we went with the shower curtain option.

THEN, about 8 months ago, the faucet started dripping. Then leaking. And seeping through the tiles into the drywall behind the fixtures. The hot stem was essentially rusted away and the faucet handle broke off. We are now using a pliers to turn the water on and off (and still leaking).

I bought a repair kit of some kind to replace the faucet parts. Not as easy as it would seem. I made several attempts (which included ripping a hole in the hall closet to be able to access the fixtures from behind) and only succeeded in creating a 3x3 tile-wide gap around the fixtures. NOW we had a gaping hole to the basement. I did the only obvious thing to do and duct taped a garbage bag over the hole and the faucet handles.

We removed the "stem" (as I now know it is called) and headed to Home Depot. After spending probably 30-45 minutes bickering about which part we might need we (Craig) asked an employee. He looked it up and ordered the part. A week later we had the part, new knobs, no drips, and still a hole in the wall. That was several (probably 6) months ago.

A few months ago I bought some tile-like board stuff (It is MDF with tile pattern on one side) to put up on the wall to repair the hole. Now is the first time I have had a chance (and the energy) to do anything about it.

I cut, I measured, I drilled, I glued. The hole is covered. I then decided that the off-white (I think it wasn't to start with) tiles needed something. I decided to first paint over them with an oil based primer/sealer to fill the grout issues. That was left to dry on Saturday night. Then I painted over those with an oil based paint. That was left to dry during today. Then I applied the caulk strips and filled in any spots that looked like it needed extra water proofing.

It is by no means a professional job. Probably not even a mediocre job. BUT, the hole is gone, the grout isn't leaking and the garbage bag and extra 2 shower curtains are retired. Plus it looks nice from afar. Bravo to me.

33 Years Ago I Was Traversing The Birth Canal.

2007-05-22T08:59:00.000-04:00

Well, not really. I was breech. With a dislocated hip. I was actually being yanked from the warm confines of the uterus to be poked and prodded under the bright lights. Regardless. It's my birthday today. Yeay Me. :)

Why I LOVE my Prius.

2007-05-17T13:51:00.000-04:00

Gas - $3.49 9/10 per gallon.
Average MPG - 46.1
Current MPG - infinity
Fill up every 3-4 weeks for less than $30. Priceless.

Annual Junk Day.

2007-05-15T20:45:00.000-04:00

Every year the city we live in has a junk pickup day where they allow you to put all the big junk that you can't figure out how to throw away out on the curb. This is spectacular since it has made it possible to rid ourselves of the pool of shame. HOWEVER, it also brings out the trashpickers. I had only had the junk out on the curb for less than 15 minutes and already had a trashpicker browsing the pile. So far we've had probably a half dozen or more trucks stop and pick crap up. And when I say crap, I mean it. The P.o.S. literally smells like a really bad zoo (it was out stewing all fall, winter, and spring). We have (had, they are gone now) about 200 feet of 4' tall fencing which we took down upon the completion of our new 5' fence, some of the cheap-didn't-keep-the-puppy-out-of-the-garden wire fencing stuff, a computer chair, and some cardboard boxes. Not even worth stopping, but on they come, the cheapest humans on Earth, to pick through other peoples junk. It's like a garage sale where you don't have to bicker the seller down from $0.05 to $0.04! Sad.

Afterthought: we had two trashpickers come this evening DURING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO WARNING! Saddest.

Pet Peeve

2007-04-17T19:05:00.000-04:00

When ordering dinner tonight we decided to choose a local pizza joint that is down the street from our house. We logged onto the website to get the menu and were excited to see that they had a new (and vastly improved) homepage. This particular website had been in the not quite finished stage for several years (Insert your text here). As I clicked further into the site, however, I was first confronted with horrendous and ridiculous navigation. Further into the site I was distraught by the grammar errors and random misuse of words.

Every morning at 9:00 am we begin making the dough for our famous crust. The yeast we use comes from a special strand given to us from a bakery in Italy. It’s mixed with just the right amount of flour, spices and filtered water that is a precise temperature. We mix it up together in our Hobert mixer for 11 minutes 13 seconds. When it gets to its perfect consistency we sheet it into pizza balls. The pizza balls proof in our walk in cooler...
(strain. Hobart. Can't sheet into balls. You can tray the pizza dough balls, and once they are proofed you can then sheet (roll the ball into a sheet) them, but you can't sheet the balls)

I was willing to forgive them for all this - at least it was completed - until I decided to look for a suitable coupon for our meal and found this:

When one chooses to use a web design template, one must follow through and make sure ALL pages are complete (or removed) prior to publishing!! It irritates me immensely when I click on a link and find the page filled with the gibberish filler paragraphs that templates use to show the user what it will look like when complete.

Squirrel in our backyard

2007-04-14T09:38:00.000-04:00

This squirrel roams our backyard frequently. For those of you who don't know squirrels, this is not a normal color. We like to call this particular squirrel the "Chew Squirrel" or "Mini-Chew" because it is the same exact color as the puppy. We also have black squirrels (which look like tiny little cats with long fingers).

Look at his lips. It's like it's thinking, "oh, you caught me!"

Uh oh.

2007-04-03T15:16:00.000-04:00

Note the current high (70*) and the high tomorrow (36*). It's going to get ugly tonight.

Sigh.

2007-04-03T08:50:00.000-04:00

Nothing can make you get up on the wrong side of bed the morning after like harsh lighting and full length mirrors. I hate clothes shopping.

I curse thee, McD!

2007-04-02T15:51:00.000-04:00

Today I requested a mocha from McDonald's for lunch. Their coffee machine was broken...again. It has been broken at least 3 times a month for the last 3 months. In addition, my co-worker tried to get ice cream for her kids yesterday at the same McD's - also broken. I'm very disgruntled.

To make me even more irritated, when I drove past the same McD after dropping off Craig at work after lunch, their message board (the red dot ones that change every few second, what are those called?) had "Need a little pick-me-up? Grab a mocha". Well, I would, IF YOUR MACHINE WAS WORKING!!!

If your machine is broken, do you want to advertise something that isn't available? Take it off your sign.

Meet the who?

2007-04-01T19:44:00.000-04:00

Today we went to see the 3D version of Meet The Robinsons. Cute movie, quite enjoyable. We could think of nothing better than to put the 3D glasses we got at the movie on the dogs. Neither dog was impressed.

I've lost my hairdresser! and other miscellaneous stuff.

2007-03-27T07:15:00.000-04:00

My hairdresser (MJ) relocated recently. According to Craig we discussed receiving a postcard from her saying where to find her. I have no recollection of this discussion and can't find the postcard! MJ if you are out there reading this, please send another card or call me at the farm! I'm desperate for a cut and need my eyebrows waxed. I'll tip double if you call! :) Update: I found MJ and I'm making an appointment in the morning!

Yesterday, in honor of my new pedicure, I wore sandals to work. I got bit on the toe by a cricket! I've worked here 5 years and worn sandals every summer and never been bitten by a cricket. I didn't even know they bit. My co-worker T also got bit yesterday. Do we have some freak batch of nasty ones running around? Can I blame this somehow on global warming?

Last night we took the dogs for a w-a-l-k. It was perfect weather. About 76 degrees F and the sun was starting to set so it wasn't blazing down on us. Chew hasn't started shedding his winter coat and was just ROASTING. When we got home he got into the tub and waited for me to turn on the shower for him. He laid in the tub basking in the rain of cold water for several minutes. Then he got out and shook - all over me.

We get a second estimate for a fence tonight. Hopefully this one will be more reasonable, because the estimate from Lowe's was pretty obscene. Update: We had a local fence company come out tonight. He was extremely nice and helpful and he was shocked at the quote we got from Lowe's. We are awaiting his official quote, but he expects it to be 1/3 of the other one. Even if it weren't, we'd go with them because he was so helpful.

We finally broke down and special ordered a portable dishwasher. It arrives Friday. Yeay.

Have I mentioned recently that I LOVE my car? We've had the Prius back from the body shop for a little more than a week now and every time I get in I breathe a sigh of appreciation. I just love that car.

We are leaving next week on the Amtrak for St. Louis. I've been looking forward to this trip for months. I need a vacation. We're going to the zoo and the Gateway Arch for sure, not sure what else we will do.

That's all the "miscellany" I have for now.

The Moment of Truth.

2007-03-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

We recently bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner (off of QVC, I hate to admit - they had flex-pay, so we could finally afford to buy one!). We've been in the market for a new vacuum for a while and wanted to get a Dyson because the old one was limping along and with 2 heavily shedding large dogs, we really needed a better cleaner. I also HATED dumping the canister of our old vacuum. It got crud all over the place, including my lungs, when you had to pull that stupid, filthy, filter out of the center of the canister.

Well, we are doing our Spring cleaning today and putting the Dyson to it's first major cleaning. I had the moment of truth a little while ago when I had to empty the canister for the first time. I LOVE THIS VACUUM! Push a button, squeeze a trigger, canister is empty. That alone makes this vacuum worth every penny! Plus (at the risk of sounding like a commercial) there are no filters to clean or replace, no belts to break, it is lighter, it's quieter. One drawback, it's purple and red and makes me feel like I'm pushing a little old Red Hat Society lady around my living room.

Oh, and, as an added bonus, I got a child sized vacuum with it too. Not that we have kids. I'm thinking of teaching Chewie to push the baby vacuum around the room.

It was a glorious day for fence running!

2007-03-22T21:53:00.000-04:00

Woo Hoo!

2007-03-21T10:03:00.000-04:00

Happy first day of Spring!! Time for spring cleaning, robins, worms, tulips, daffodils, cooking out, and new dog fences! Woo Hoo! My favorite season!

Canine Gastronome

2007-03-07T12:35:00.000-05:00

Recently, we have been having some issues with dog eating disorders. Booker has always had issues with bulimia. It comes and goes. Right now we've (and by we, I mean Craig) been cleaning vomit up at least once a day for several weeks. You're probably yelling, "Why haven't you taken him to the vet!?" We know it is because he inhales his food sans mastication and then vomits it all up 15 minutes later. He's always had the problem. We think it is from his early life of living on the streets. We never yell at him for it, but recently he has started trying to hide it by covering it with whatever he can. The other day Craig found some under a washcloth and I saw him pulling a blanket and a towel over it.

Chewie, on the other hand, has never had issues with food. We got him much younger and he's always had the bin of food in the corner that he knows that he can get into in case of "emergency". He likes to graze rather than binge. However, he recently decided that he really doesn't care one way or another if he eats. He just sniffs at it, takes a kernel, drops the kernel, sniffs again, walks away. He'll eat when he's hungry but it makes it a challenge when Booker stakes out Chewies dish waiting for us to look away so he can steal a few gulps before we catch him.

In light of these issues, we decided to go to the pet store and browse the dog foods to find an allergy food for Booker. We read and compared the bags and finally decided on Natural Balance Potato and Duck Ultra Premium Dog Food. No soy, corn, wheat, rice, eggs, or dairy; especially for dogs with allergies or sensitive stomachs. You've never seen happier dogs! Booker hasn't hurled in 24 hours and Chewie picks thru the mix of old and new food for all the new food and then resigns to eat the rest. Then they beg for more. Apparently, our dogs are as big of food snobs as we are. Who'd've thought?

A Few Comments on Fingers

2007-03-06T09:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday at work my co-workers were comparing their manicures. Both had lovely, long, painted, filed nails. My nails, in contrast, are chewed stubs with torn cuticles. Even if I didn't chew off my nails, I couldn't have long nails. I've tried, but they interfere with my typing (75 wpm) and with making frames. As it is I slice the nails with the chopper blades when making cuts on the frames.

On another finger related note, I burned the daylights out of my thumb and fingers on my left hand last night. Never grab a metal handle just out of a 400* oven to hold your pizza stone while cutting your pizza. No blisters, I guess I got them under cold water fast enough. However, I had 150 frames to make last night and the burns were making that difficult. I sent Craig to the office supply store for some "finger condoms" (or whatever they are called) and in the meantime concocted some finger protectors out of rubber bands and duct-tape. It amused me so I thought I would share. They actually worked better than the finger condoms since those only came in Med-LG and didn't fit on anything but my thumb.

Mr. Chew's Mini-Me.

2007-02-28T15:07:00.000-05:00

Mr. Chew

Lil Jon

Flickr issues?

2007-02-19T20:37:00.000-05:00

So... Our photo hosting site seems to be having some issues. The thumbnail images of our sets and links are not the photos we've uploaded (i.e. they are someone elses pictures). Some of them are not-so-nice. So, if you've been to our site(s) and seen something nasty (I have), please be aware that it is an error with Flickr and not a picture we posted!! Yikes.

Happy Chinese New Year of the Boar

2007-02-18T22:43:00.000-05:00

This weekend I spent in Chicago with my sister, Kevin, and my mother. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry for a symposium which Kevin was on the panel of and to see the Body Worlds 2 exhibit. Museum was crowded (as usual) and we didn't get to go to any of the exhibits because my mother is slow. We enjoyed the symposium and found it quite informative. We then spent 2 (hot) hours in the Body Worlds exhibit. No picutues allowed, look at the link, it was very interesting. By the time we finished in Body Worlds, the main museum was closed and we (except my mother who rode in the wheelchair we rented so we could progress faster than a snails pace) were exhausted.

Today we headed over to Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year. The year of the pig starts today. My mother is a pig. (HA!) Mother was exhausted from the walk from the car to the train and the train to the parade, so she went into the resaurant and had tea and spring rolls while Laurie and I stood and watched the parade. It was about 26*F but still quite fun. Afterwards we had lunch and were glad she held a table because the line was out the door (literally). Great food, good company, nice day. (Tradition has it that the dragon comes into the restaurants and markets after the parade. We were right in the middle of the action for this! It was great!!

One thing here is not like the others...

2007-02-15T20:00:00.000-05:00

You can see better if you click on the picture and then select Original size.

I was searching for squirrel pictures (long story) and stumbled upon these results.

Not having a good day.

2007-02-14T09:59:00.000-05:00

We were broadsided in the parking lot of Craig's work this morning when a SUV was going too fast and couldn't stop at his stop. We had the right-of-way and were going only about 5mph and couldn't move in time because the lot was slippery. Chewie was in the backseat (belted in, of course) and had glass from the rear passenger window rain down on him when it blew out. The SUV had a slightly bent bumper and a furious driver. He, of course, blamed me. If I may point out in my defense, his truck would not have ripped the metal of our car if he had been going the speed limit (of 10 mph) or lower (since conditions warranted that). It would have just dented if he had been. We're all fine (other than being pretty irritated that our new car is smashed up.)

Update: Our insurance company found us to not be at fault (and was appalled that this much damage was done in a parking lot!) so we don't have to pay our deductible. Yeay!

Mad Dog! Mad Dog!

2007-01-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

Our little escape artist is mad because he is now pulling a small tire attached to his leash around whenever he is out. He's made a try for freedom 3 times in 48 hours and now has to be supervised every time he is out until we can make some alterations to the fence. Nice of him to choose the coldest week of the year.

He is stewing in the middle of the yard.

Mr. Haskins is pleased.

2007-01-08T12:30:00.000-05:00

Mr. Haskins received the computer back from CrappyComputer.com. Of course, it was addressed to Greg and shipped to the wrong address, but when Mr. Haskins took it home at lunch and opened the box, it did have a fixed computer inside. Mr. Haskins cannot complain too much.

Mr. Haskins and Greg shall play RuneScape together tonight while Mr. Haskins sits inside in the recliner instead of outside in the garage workshop.

Dear Mr. Haskins,

2006-12-31T14:18:00.000-05:00

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!!!!!

2006-12-29T17:01:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-12-28T09:52:00.000-05:00

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.

2006-12-15T09:17:00.000-05:00

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!!

2006-12-14T14:05:00.000-05:00

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

Painfully adorable!

2006-12-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-12-11T14:51:00.000-05:00

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

2006-12-08T08:33:00.000-05:00

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!

Happy Birthday Mr. Chew

2006-11-18T09:28:00.000-05:00

Chewie is a year old this month. To celebrate, we tried allowing him the freedom of sleeping outside his crate last night. He behaved like the good dog we know is hiding in him. However, imagine sleeping on a queen sized bed with two (not skinny) adults, a dog pushing 80#, and a dog pushing 70#. Needless to say, I am sore and tired this morning. But the cuteness was worth it.

When will the ground freeze?!?!

2006-11-11T11:38:00.001-05:00

It snowed this morning. Then the snow turned to slush and the slush turned to rain. It hasn't gotten cold enough for the ground to freeze solid yet. This is the result.

Customer Service?

2006-11-01T13:12:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has ever worked in retail service of any kind knows the phrase "the customer is always right". If you have read my 101 things about me, you will see that I have worked many different types of jobs. I try to be kind and understanding with employees at places when I need issues resolved. Most of the time, the problem isn't the persons fault and they don't need to be treated poorly because someone else didn't do what they were supposed to do. I also understand that larger companies have "steps" they have to follow to resolve issues. I'm ok with that too. That said, here is some correspondence I have been having with one of the major shipping companies which we use at my work. (I've left off any details; company info, names, tracking numbers).

The issue: Essentially, I had a customer who didn't get a shipment of live crickets we shipped a week ago. I tracked it and found it had scanned as being picked up, but never left the local hub to make its way to the destination. I promptly reshipped the shipment using a different carrier and sent the following email to the customer service for the MIA package so I could get a credit for the shipping we paid.

The 1st email: This was picked up on 10/24/06 at 3:44pm, however it has not been scanned since then. This was a live product which is dead by now so please credit our account for the shipping. If you have any questions, please contact our account rep: john.doe@CrappyShippingCompany.com

The response from "customer service":
Thank you for contacting CSC.
I apologize for your inconvenience. Unfortunately, this shipment has no positive disposition. Currently, an all station trace is being conducted. I strongly advise you to start the process of a loss claim and I can initiate it for you. Please provide the value of this shipment.
Thank you for using CSC.

A few things I'd like to point out:
1) What does "no positive disposition" mean? Can't she just say, we've lost your package.
2) I believe that I stated the shipment was dead, so why waste your manpower searching for a box of dead crickets. You'll smell it in a few days anyway, believe me!
3) By emailing your stupid customer service, I ALREADY was initiating a claim on the package. Duh, that is what the email was!

Finally, my email to our account rep:
Hi John (doe),
I am not trying to be a pain. That said... Am I not being clear in my requests to customer service? It seems like they read the first sentence (if that) and then ignore the entire rest of the request. Should I be requesting these in a different manner? I am becoming irritated with having to bicker with the customer service department.

I flat out said that the product was dead and all I needed was a credit for the shipping. I don't care if the package is ever found; I had to reship it already. I understand that we take a risk shipping a live product and I never request a credit on the actual product that is doa - only the shipping on a package that never arrived (or was not delivered within the published transit times).

Anyway, will you please have a credit issued to our account for the shipping on this MIA package? Thanks! Happy Halloween!

John Doe promptly replied, apologized and sent the issue(s, this was the 2nd one in 2 weeks) to a higher up service department. Sadly, I don't even care about getting the money back for the shipping. I am just being petty because we have at least a dozen of these service failures a week with this company. If I have to waste my time dealing with mad customers, tracking, and reshipping then THEY are going to have to waste time doing the same thing! Last week my coworker called John Doe and had him send our ENTIRE bill for a week back to the billing department to be reworked because they dimmed (used box dimensions rather than actual weight) all of our ground shipments, thus charging us several pounds extra on each shipment. I've heard other horror stories about this company from other farms. How do these places stay in business? It's just sad.

INTERVENTION!!

2006-11-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

We need to have an intervention for Mr. Booker. Mr. B seems to have become a bit bulimic since a visit to the vets office early this summer where she informed him he was becoming a bit chunky.

A little history... Booker was a stray who was picked up on the streets and brought to the pound. He was rescued by the local ASPCA and then adopted by us when he was around 6-7 months old. He started out as a purge eater - he would eat every kernel of food in the bowl all at once and then promptly vomit it all up. The vet said it was probably from having lived on the street and not having regular meals waiting for him. She suggested we feed him in small amounts many times a day. We called it first breakfast, second breakfast, third breakfast, first dinner, etc... (That's how Hobbits eat isn't it?).

Eventually Mr. B became a grazer and ate a few bites here and there without the regular vomiting. We thought that adding the puppy might bring back the binge and purge eating, but it hasn't - until this recent trip to the vet.

Booker has become a huge fat pig of a dog. We have to pull him off the food dishes so the puppy can get a few bites before Book vacuums up all the food (and then throws it up). When he hears the tinkle of food hitting the aluminum dish, he'll comes out of a dead sleep and lumber over to fill up. When the puppy decides to eat, Booker will sneak over (yes, sneak! We warn him not to if he starts to get up an we see it, so he sneaks.) and shoulder the puppy out of his way so he can eat it all.

The moral of the story? If you are a vet, don't tell the dogs they are getting a bit chunky. It gives them a complex.

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T18:36:00.000-05:00

This is the first year we've lived in a neighborhood which is suitable for trick-or-treaters. Well, to be honest, we lived here last year but we were in New Mexico over the holiday.

This year in anticipation of the event, we bought 3 bags of candy and a decorative black bowl. Today we put the 2 bags of candy in the bowl and placed it outside on a tray table at the end of our walk. And no, I didn't accidentally type "3" and then "2". We are pigs, we bought the candy too soon, we wiped out almost a full bag.

We put it out as a free-for-all because we have two dogs between 60 and 75 pounds each who launch themselves at the door whenever someone knocks. We wanted to be generous, but we didn't want to scare the kids with the devil beast.

It's 6:30 and has been dark for about 30 minutes. We've had plenty of t-o-t action; however, they keep knocking on the door! At 6:10 we moved the candy up right in front of the door. Still we have knockers. Do we put a note on the door that says, "We have 2 huge dogs that will launch themselves at you if we open the door. Take a few pieces and have a nice night."

Instead, I retreated to the bedroom with my computer and both dogs (who, for the record, have been stuck in the room since this morning and don't really appreciate being kept from the back yard where they can bark and bark and bark at all the passers-by).

Is the concept of "take some and we trust you not to be greedy" too foreign in this day and age?

Things that shouldn't be cute.

2006-10-27T10:24:00.000-04:00

When the puppy turns on then touch lamp with his nose.

When the puppy throws his water dish at you because it is empty.

When the puppy steals a strip of bubble wrap and runs around the room with delight. Pop, pop, pop, pop...

When the puppy picks up one piece of food and throws it around and plays as if it's a tennis ball.

When the puppy comes in from outside covered in mud from wallowing in the hole he dug outside.

When the puppy steals something and rolls on his back and bats at it like a baby panda - completely full of delight that he has stolen it and "gotten away with it".

Some Things Never Change

2006-10-20T13:41:00.000-04:00

Fall or Winter?

2006-10-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

Oct12_003
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

You decide. Regardless, it is a nice view on the way home from work.

First Snow

2006-10-12T08:30:00.000-04:00

Oct12_002
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Need I say more?

Yeay, Best Buy service plan!

2006-10-07T17:13:00.000-04:00

Last weekend we had an incident in which my (newish) mp3 player ended up getting run through the washer and dryer. It was nobody's fault, just an accident. Today Craig went over to Best Buy and was able to get a new one because we had purchased the 2 year service plan. We will usually only buy the "s.p." on stuff that is over $200 (which this was) and printers. Anything else generally isn't worth it. Glad we did on these!

AND THE WINNER IS...

2006-10-05T15:49:00.000-04:00

prius
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Craig just got THE call. We are getting our new car in 2-3 weeks. The color will be white. WOO HOO!

Public Restroom Etiquette 101

2006-09-20T09:46:00.000-04:00

In no particular order I will review the public restroom etiquette for the many women who seem to have forgotten the rules.

1.) If you choose not to actually sit on the seat, clean the pee drips off the seat when you are finished.

2.) Stall choice. If there is a row of 10 stalls and only one is occupied, never choose the stall next to the occupied stall. You have 7 other choices, why do you need to be right next to the occupied stall?

3.) Don't have a conversation with your friend outside of the stall or on the phone. Potty should be private, try to keep it that way.

4.) Never strike up a conversation with the person in the stall next to yours (see #2). They don't want to chat while going potty.

5.) Always check for toilet paper prior to doing your business. You neighbor (again, see #2) does not want to give you some under the stall.

6.) If you must bring your little boy into the bathroom with you, keep him reigned in. Do not let him peek in the cracks or under the stall. Once again, potty should be private.

7.) Flush! Courtesy flushes, when necessary.

This is on an exhaustive list, I will certainly think of other things to add in the future as they irritate me.

EXTRAVAGANZA!!

2006-09-20T09:26:00.000-04:00

I am SUPER excited. Craig's birthday is coming up shortly (I won't divulge the date upon his request) and I have an AWESOME surprise gift for him.

This is a big deal to me because I NEVER keep a secret. I usually come up with an idea for something cool and end up spilling the beans before I even buy the thing.

I won't reveal what the surprise is, but I can tell you that it will "unfold in layers" over the weekend.

Muuuaaaaahhhhaahhhaaa!! (That's my "I have a secret" laugh).

Where have all the leaves gone?

2006-09-19T16:21:00.000-04:00

This could be a post waxing poetic on the start of fall, but, alas (ye maties), it is not.

I've been trying (in vain?) to eat healthier meals. For lunch the last two days I have been having a salad at McD's. I admit, I don't ever expect much food-wise from any fast food chain. This is no different, but come on! Where do all the lettuce leaves go? The certainly don't go into their Premium salads! The ruffage in these salads consists of a VERY few green leaves of lettuce and the rest is the white core of the iceberg head. I ask again, where do all the green leafy leaves go?

They put into the salads the stuff that I throw away when making my own at home. So as I pick through my "salad" looking for any edible leaves of lettuce to eat with my 3 cherry tomatoes and shave (for lack of a better term) of carrot, I lament the fact that I am too lazy to go home and make myself a decent salad. Granted, I only have a 1/2 hour and to go home and prepare food while dealing with two needy dogs usually takes 40 minutes at the least.

BTW: Happy "international talk like a pirate day".

Sigh.

2006-09-15T08:50:00.000-04:00

Last night was a long night. I had two 20 oz Coke Zeros during the day at work so, of course, I couldn't fall asleep. I stayed up until 1:00 am and watched the Jay Leno Show for the first time in 5 years since moving to the Eastern time zone. What happened to his hair!?

This morning I got up at 7:30 when Craig left for work because the dogs were up. I immediately sent them outside to play. It's cool and moist - maybe they'll stay out all day?

About 30 minutes ago, however, I heard the sudden rush of water! Huh? I got up and walked towards the sound which was leading me out to the back yard. I open the back door and discover The Chew dancing in the spray of the spigot - which he turned on. Sigh.

In come the dogs. They rush thru the kitchen and roar into the living room and commence to "bear fight". They are standing on hind legs, swatting at each other with their front legs, mouths open, teeth cracking together, grunting. Sigh.

Out go the dogs. I am again sitting on my recliner resting my eyes. I now hear a tap, tap, tap on a window. Wha?! I open my eyes to find The Chew head in the bathroom window! This might not be a big deal, if the window were not over 5 feet up from the ground. He is STANDING on the air conditioner stretching over to the window so he can look in. I frantically look for the camera which we keep pretty handy. I miss my chance. He is gone from the window. I go into the kitchen to peek out the window to see where he has gone.

P9150271
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

This is what I found. Note the wet pavement. Note the bricks thrown from the "garden". Not the A/C which he stands on. Sigh.

A side note. The Black Eyed Peas are "performing" on the Today Show right now. While their music is catchy on the radio, they are a horror show to watch live. Cringe, now Fergi is "performing".

Must go. His Highness The Chew is rioting on the back door. In the come. (only to be sent right back out when they riot in the house). Sigh.

Farewell Mr. Molly

2006-09-14T12:32:00.000-04:00

IMG_12032
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

My sister's cat passed away yesterday. He succumbed to the kidney disease that has plagued him for many months.

"To those that don’t know him well, I can say that he was charming and handsome, slightly eccentric, but always a good friend. He will be deeply missed."

R.I.P. Mr. Molly.

A 60 pound cat!?

2006-09-13T12:50:00.000-04:00

DSC02799
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

Today I opened the shades on the window so I could see when the UPS guy pulled up to the house (and be able to send the boys out the back so I could answer the door). The dogs love looking out the window - especially The Chew.

First day of school

2006-09-07T21:46:00.000-04:00

06092006 003
Originally uploaded by arbitraryviews.

This week marks the first day of school for many students, myself included. I decided to take class at the Kalamazoo Intitute of Art in Kiln Fused Glass. Upon arrival at the KIA, my mom met me in the parking lot with this cute little school bus cupcake.

Oh, the horror!

2006-08-14T20:56:00.000-04:00

I like the internet. I especially love google. Google is my homepage at work and at home. I probably search for stuff at least 10 times a day. I've often wished I had access to the tangled web of information back when I was in high school. That is, until I google'd my maiden name a while ago. That is the moment I was thankful that the internet (as it is) did not exist back when I was in high school.

Upon searching, (who doesn't search their own name and everyone they know?) the sites that came up were - shall we say - seedy. Dirty. Often requiring an age verification prior to entry into the site. Specifically, Sir Mix-a-lot has a song about my last name, if he were in the Netherlands. Yes, in Dutch, my maiden name is a swear. Nice.

As bad as high school was...it could have been much, much worse for me if we had google as we know it today. Phew. Dodged that bullet, or at least a plethora of teasing.

May I help you?

2006-08-09T19:40:00.000-04:00

This post could be about how cute the Chew is 1) sleeping on his water dish and 2) in front of his vent, but it's not.

It's about the BEST SPILL-PROOF WATER DISH EVER! This thing does not spill. Chewie kicks them, tosses them, and flips them upside down and all he has produced from the full bowl is a couple of tiny drips. Worth every penny of the steep $20 each.

Tree hugging.

2006-08-05T12:16:00.000-04:00

I am sure anyone who drives a vehicle can agree, filling up your gas tank has become somewhat of a painful experience. Gas prices in our area have been averaging around $3.00 a gallon this summer. The recent high (that I can remember)has been $3.19 and the recent low has been $2.89. This, along with our interest in doing our part for a better environment and our love of gadgets, has prompted us to research getting a hybrid vehicle.

We've been talking about it for over a year, but we only just bought a new car about 2 years ago. Our 2003 Saturn Ion gets 20 mph city and 30 mpg highway and we've been happy with it. We noticed that the car is finally worth more than what we owe on it and picked up our discussion again about getting a hybrid. Our two front runners were the Ford Escape Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. While we would like a larger vehicle for the dogs ( soon to be 75+ lbs each), we decided that we really don't need a small SUV until we have kids. Additionally, the Escape gets similar gas milage to our Ion and we are looking for an improvement for a while. So, we decide upon a Prius which gets between 50 and 60 miles per gallon depending on driving conditions.

So, the other night we got online and get pre-approved financing from Toyota and yesterday we went and test drove a used 2005 Prius - the only Prius available withing at least a 50 mile radius. The cars selling price is actually about $1000 more than buying a brand new 2006/2007 model (which was odd, since it really didn't have any bells and whistles other than what comes standard on the 2006). Needless to say, we opted for the cheaper, brand new model.

Unfortunately, the demand is so high for these cars now that the wait is 6 weeks to 4 months for delivery. The dealer said isting several color choices might speed up the process so we chose four, in order by favorite: Barcelona Red Metallic, Seaside Pearl, Magnetic Gray, and Super White. Hopefully that will speed up delivery time. Visit toyota.com/prius
for an interactive look at all the bells and whistles that come standard. (We opted for a pretty simple model, only adding the saftey features such as airbags and vehicle stability).

My Personality Profile, pretty close.

2006-08-03T21:39:00.000-04:00

Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!

The World's Shortest Personality Test

You won't like me when I'm angry.

2006-07-28T08:53:00.000-04:00

This is what happens when you take one dog for a ride in the car and leave the other one at home. (Your reasoning may have been sound - the puppy will get to go later when he goes to the vet, so Booker deserves a ride also; however, the puppy did not see it that way.)

Note the bent crate on the bottom and the right side.

Note the deep wounds on the door.

Note the luck that he didn't get electrocuted.

The bright side:
He didn't shred a 2'x2' section of carpet (as Booker did upon escape one time).
We are no longer renting so he didn't cost us our $700 deposit.
Replacement doors are less than $50.00 and I know how to hang them.
The puppy still had the E-collar on, so the damage was less than it could have been.

He's baaaack.

2006-07-24T21:03:00.000-04:00

The Chew came home from the vet's office today at lunch. He is furious that we have to (try to) keep him calm.

All was well with the surgery. He has staples in several spots on his belly (they had to do explorative surgery to find his missing testicle) and staples on both rear ankles from the removal of his 3 dew claws.

We are now in the strugle to keep him from blowing out his stitches in the next 7 days. Good luck to us, since his ankle has already oozed today.

Oh, by the way, the cone is virtually useless. He still manages to get to his belly and feet. Sigh.

The prisoner wishes to say a word... ... ... FREEEEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!

2006-07-22T09:34:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning I dropped the puppy off at the vets office for some surgeries. He is getting neutered, having his 3 rear dew claws removed, and being microchipped.

I do miss him and find myself bolting upright in my recliner thinking, "where's the puppy, what is he stealing, destroying, eating, etc" and realizing that the calm I am experiencing is what it was like before we adopted him. Mr. Booker looks for him a bit, but is also content to sleep on the recliner or couch without being pounced on. Mr. B also got to chew on one of his bones for as long as he wanted without having The Chew boldly walk up and snatch it right out of his mouth.

Mr. Booker is reverting back to the "devil dog" a little now that the "most devious devil dog" is not around for a few days, but who can blame him. He feels the same way I do...

FREEEEEDOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!

Pool of Shame NO LONGER.

2006-07-17T17:30:00.000-04:00

I came home from work today sweating and looking forward to floating in my yellow Pool of Shame for a few hours. I released the hounds and went over to the pool to skim the top and HOLY COW! The PoS is almost clear! It had been better since the partial drain and refill, but we've just been swimming in it yellow because my theory was, "it is cleaner than swimming in a fish excrement filled lake".

Perhaps it is the boiling that helped. The temperature outside has been above 90 for the last 3 or 4 days. The pool temp last night was 87 degrees. Today the water is 90 degrees on the nose.

Well, I am off to float in my almost clear pool. Just pool, the shame is gone.

They are NOT spoiled...

2006-07-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

Ok, that is a HUGE lie. We tend to raise the most spoiled dogs on the planet. Newt (our beloved, departed dalmation) had his own room with his own bed.

These two beasts think they have their own recliners. These two pictures were taken at the same time - meaning we had to sit at the computer desk or on the couch. Brats.

We had a routine vet trip this weekend for both dogs. The Chew is up to 54 lbs. Mr. Booker is up 4 lbs from last July, weighing in at 74 lbs. No wonder we go thru 50 lbs of dog food a month! Mr. B had shots and nose spray (the new, better way to vaccinate for Rabies) and The Chew was scheduled for his neutering/spaying. You see, he has one testicle which is still MIA so they need to go in surgically and track that baby down. So I say he is having both done. :) He is also having his 3 - yup 3 - rear dew claws removed. The worse thing about this whole surgery (for us at least) will be the no food or drink from 8 pm the night before. He will be furious!

Anywho, just updating the Mommy blog.

The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

2006-07-16T11:41:00.000-04:00

For most of my life I have been anti-Apple computers. (crApple & Macintrash are what my dad and I referred to them as). With the explosion of the iPod popularity, Craig and I fell prey to the media and each bought an iPod Mini a year and a half ago. We were tickled pink with our new toys for about a year (coincidently until the warranty expired)...

For about the last 9 months, Craig's iPod has had trouble staying on. Finally, his crapped out completely a couple of months ago. I used my iPod a fraction of the amount that he used his, but a month after his died, mine refused to turn on. We tried all their ridiculous trouble shooting, resetting whatnot that the Apple site recommends. Our replacement warranty had expired about a month before. (Conspiracy theorists: planned? I am starting to wonder).

Since our warranty was already up and neither of us were willing to pay close to $100 (each) to send them to Apple for repairs - you can buy a new non-Apple mp3 player for as much. Instead we found a battery replacement site and ordered 2 replacement kits for $9.99 each, thinking probably our batteries had died - a very common flaw of the iPod. Our kits arrived and I excitedly hacked into my pod and replaced the battery. I waited for several hours for the battery to charge. And with great hopes, I tried to reset the pod. NOTHING! I tried again. And again. And again. And every time I walked past it sitting dead on the desk. I opened it up again to make sure I had all the connectors connected. I noticed a little burned section of the motherboard. Nice.

We opened up Craig's pod to see if he had the same problem. Nope, his looked fine, probably just needed a new battery. We replaced the battery and... Still a dead pod. So after having these things for less than 2 years, they both died beyond repair. My sister has gone thru 2 or 3 iPods within the last 4 years. I now vow never to purchase another Apple product as long as I live. I am so disgusted, I can't even put it into words.

That said, we saved up and went a-hunting for new mp3 players. Our criteria:
Not an iPod of any kind.
No moving parts, i.e. a flash drive rather than a conventional hard drive.
Close to the same "size" as our iPods; 4 GB of storage.

Off to Best Buy we head. We ask the very helpful guy (really, I know, unheard of) in the department what his thoughts were on what we could get with our criteria. He explained several options which looked good. We browse for a bit longer. Home we go without purchasing so Craig can look up reviews on Cnet.com. I nap for several hours while he reads reviews. Back to Best Buy we go.

To make this long post end soon, I choose an iriver clix and Craig choose a Sandisk Sansa as our new music to go players. Read the reviews on Cnet, they both rate 8.0 out of 10 or above. The only drawback is that they are 2 GB only rather than the 4 GB we had; however, I never filled my whole 4 GB up anyway.

Here is a picture of mine. It measures 2.7" by 1.8" (more than 1/2 as big as my crApple iPod), weighs 2.5 ounces, plays flash games, displays pictures, plays small videos, has an optional cradle to use for line-in recording (great for digitizing our tapes and childhood vinyl), has a voice recorder, and FM tuner (!), and much more.

I am pleased, so very pleased. Now I can mow the lawn again - couldn't do it without my music, then it was just a chore.

Woo hoo!

Commence to drain.

2006-07-07T18:24:00.000-04:00

I've decided to drain the pool of shame and try to start over with the water. After 5 shock treatments and 1 mineral removal treatment we still have orange/yellow water. Not brown any longer, but still nothing I want to swim in. Supposedly - according to the bottles of crap we've been putting into the water - if you add the mineral removal stuff before the shock treatment you won't have the discoloration. We'll see.

Now we run into the "what do you do with 4,000 gallons of water" issue. If you just let loose the filter and drain holes, all 4K drains into the neighbor's yard. Not acceptable.

So I once again McGuyver'd a solution. I looked around in the garage for something to direct the water and found 3 pieces of gutter up in the rafters. Not quite long enough. I also locate the hose and extensions from the shop vac. Oh, yeay, there is Craig's didgeridoo, that's about the right diameter. Yes, I said didgeridoo. (In reality it is a piece of pvc pipe with one end melted and twisted. He made it at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts open house this spring.)

So. I taped the end of the didgeridoo to one of the filter hoses (the filter holes are about 4x the diameter of the actual pool drain, thus releasing more water and emptying the pool of shame faster), the didgeridoo to the shop vac hose, set the shop vac hose on the gutter (slightly elevated to promote the downward flow) and let loose the water.

The water now flows down our driveway and onto the road. I am still going to wait until dark to open the flow and empty the whole pool. I don't want the neighbors wondering where all that chlorine smelling water is coming from...

Another day, another shock treatment

2006-07-06T18:15:00.000-04:00

Perhaps it is how the sun is hitting the brown water today, but after a third shock treatment, a bottle of iron "remover", and several days of heavy filtering the pool looks a little less brown.

It is supposed to be 85 degrees and sunny this coming Saturday. What are the chances we'll be able to swim? Yeah, slim to none is what my guess is also.

More pool drama...

2006-07-05T20:18:00.000-04:00

So.

We went to the store yesterday and picked up some stuff that is supposed to cling to the iron in the water and make the stuff drop to the floor of the pool. I added it immediately upon arrival home and "stirred my cauldron" (Thanks, Craig). Now the waiting game again. Filter has to run for at least 8 hours. My Fourth marred by a lack of swimming in my pool, I grumpily sat at the computer all evening playing Runescape.

This morning we had a sick puppy (up every two hours vomiting, then diarrhea) so I didn't even remember to look at the pool. We came home at 11:15 to eat lunch and check on the puppy (still diarrhea, no more vomiting - taking puppy to the vet now at 2:45) and I still forgot to look to see if the iron had dropped out or decreased.

Came home at 2:00 to get the puppy (he is feeling a bit better, no more diarrhea now) and still forgot to look at the pool. The vet suspects the puppy has a virus and we just have to ride it out. He is much better now, demanding food (which is being limited to about 2 tbsp per half hour) and wanting to play.

NOW, I went out to check on the pool. Still brown. Sigh. I added a little more shock treatment and stirred the cauldron. I changed the filter - which was FILTHY with sediment. I skimmed the bugs out of the brown water. I am leaving the filter on overnight again, I'll change it again before I go to bed and when I get up in the morning.

I am starting to think we will have to drain the 4000+ gallons and refill the pool. I don't want to spend another $100 on water that I may or may not be able to swim in. Sigh. "Easy setup", "swim in a day". Hmmph.

On a side note...Happy Birthday, Bama Mammy!!

Not quite right...

2006-07-03T16:43:00.000-04:00

So, we recently got a 16' x 42" pool for our summer enjoyment. I've been whining about getting one since April and we've been saving up for it. (On sale last week at Home Depot! Woo Hoo!)

We head out to (the) Home Depot after work and pick up our pool. We squeeze it into the back seat of our car (Saturn Ion) and head for home. Excitement rising in anticipation, we get home around 7 pm and start right in on the "easy" assembly.

Thursday, Step 1: Open the box (don't use a knife!) and pull out all the parts. Spread the ground cover out and heave the pool over. Open up the pool and find the tiny valve to blow up the top ring.

Step 2: Blow up the top ring. We find the electric air pump in the garage - well, parts of it. Missing the attachment to blow up the air ring at the top of the pool. We attempt to use a hand volleyball pump, yeah right. Then we attempt to "MacGyver" the hand pump to the electric pump, still no noticeable inflation. Sigh. I call my friend down the street to see if we can borrow theirs. Not home. At 8:30, we head back to Home Depot to get a slightly more powerful air pump (that has all the needed attachments). Back home at 9:00. Technically, we should charge the new pump (it is a rechargeable battery backup/air compressor - also handy during power outages), but I decide to sit outside until 9:30 until the factory charge runs out.

Friday, Step 2 continued: I get up and start inflating the pool ring again around 8:30 am. In the mean time, the pool area isn't fenced off yet and the puppy runs to the middle of the vinyl pool, grabs a mouth-full and begins to worry the pool. I scream in horror and rush to get him off the pool. After quite a chase, I corral the dogs and put them inside. I look for damage and don’t notice any.

Friday, Step 3, 9:30 am: After the ring is inflated, set up the filter. I get out the instructions. Blah, blah, blah, o-ring, petroleum jelly. WHAT! Nowhere on the box did it say you needed Vaseline! I look in vain for some, knowing that we don’t have any. I email Craig and request that he pick some up on his way home for lunch. I go inside and wait.
Friday, Step 3, 11:45 am: Armed with petroleum jelly, I head back out to set up the pump. Reasonably easy task.

Friday, Step 4, 1:00 pm: Begin to fill the pool. Hmm, all the water seems to be heading to one end of the pool. I rush into the garage to drag out our shop-vac and our wagon, which are filled with sand – another story. I push back part of the pool and dump the sand and try – in vain – to level the ground. Sigh. I turn off the water and look around the yard. The spot chosen was decided upon because it could be easily fenced to keep the dogs out and was also surrounded by some trees and the house (yet still sunny) to give some semblance of privacy. Anywhere else in the yard would be exposed to the street and neighbors – in which case I would not be caught dead in a bathing suit… I look around again… where can we put it? My gaze stops on the driveway. That is flat; it’s even paved and smooth. Is it wide enough? I go look for the measuring tape. The pool would fit.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 2:00: I go back to the pool and see if I can move it to the driveway. I cannot even make it budge. I go back inside and wait for 5:30 to roll around so Craig can help me lift it.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 6:00 pm: After much discussion of pro’s and con’s of location, we drain the little bit of water I had put into the pool and heave-ho it over to the driveway. We lay it all out again and !SHOCK! I notice tears in the bottom of the pool. Out comes the patch kit while I grumble my fury at the puppy and vow never to let him near my pool again.

Friday, Step 4 continued, 7:30 pm: Holes (many, many tiny tooth holes) patched, I begin filling the pool again. At 9:30 we have about 1/5 full. I retire for the night.

Saturday, Step 4 continued, 8:30 am: Turn on the hose and continue filling. 11:00, turn off hose, go see Superman. 4:30, return home and turn on the hose. 8:30 pm, pool is filled! In the mean time, Craig has put the ladder together. We bring the ladder over to the pool, change into our suits and take a VERY CHILLY pseudo dip – neither of us can go fully in.

Sunday: Raining all day. Applied pH down (our water is off the chart).

Monday 1:00 pm: Applied “Shock treatment” as directed.

Monday 2:30 pm: I glance out of the window in anticipation of seeing a clear pool, ready for swimming. What I see is pictured. It appears that the shock treatment caused the iron in our water to come out of solution. Supposedly, all we have to do is wait for a while with the filter off and all the suspended brown will drop to the bottom to be vacuumed up. I guess that is ok, since rain and cooler weather is predicted for the next 5 days.

Such drama just for a little summer fun in the sun. I grew up swiming in my granparents pool (they put it in the year I was born) so I know it will be worth it.

Funnybone Tickler

2006-06-01T16:24:00.000-04:00

Overheard at work, "Grandma, what is your cell phone number?"

This struck me funny because I cannot imagine asking my grandparents for their digits.

This is Space command to Zoom

2006-05-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

All systems are go for your message to Melissa!

Hey, Melissa!
It's your birthday!
I'm in charge of the stars
And I'm here to say,
'cause Melissa,
You're the BIG STAR today!

My name is Zoom
And I live on the moon
But I came down to earth
Just to sing you this tune
Hey, Melissa,
It's your birthday today!

A present for you
I wanted to find
An outerspace creature
A one of a kind!
A wild whop or a kukelchoo,
An apple drop or a buzzardstew
Or maybe a 3-eyed tickleshay
For your birthday

Did you ask:
"uh, what's a kukelchoo?"
Well, up on the moon it's nothing new
But that won't do for you,
On your birthday!

I searched behind the clouds and stars
I even zoomed my bike to Mars
And met my friend the saucer man
And he said:
"Hey Zoom I got the bestest plan!
What your friend needs is something new,
So how about a song, just from YOU?"

And so tonight when you're in bed
I'll be singing to you as I zoom overhead
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
Singing, Melissa! Happy Birthday
To you!

Happy Birthday, Melissa!
See you next year!

We shall call him...Mini Kitty.

2006-05-20T12:53:00.000-04:00

Actually, we've been calling him Frank. He is staying with for a couple of days until Chicago Sis takes him back home this weekend. He was found covered in dew on a morning walk in a field. The vet says he is about 4 weeks old. His head is smaller than a lime.

The Countdown.

2006-05-19T13:12:00.000-04:00

Only 2 and 1/2 days until Captain Zoom.

Happy Birthday Beauty Shop Queen!

2006-05-19T13:10:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to shout out to one of the 3 people who read this blog. :)

Enjoy your day off tomorrow!

New Favorite

2006-05-17T18:59:00.000-04:00

Graphic description to follow. Read at your own risk.

I cut, no slice, my index fingers at least twice whenever I sit down for more than 15 minutes to make mini picture frames. I don't do it on purpose, it just happens. The miter cutter I have has an unprotected razor blade that comes down and chops the wood. I have to hold the wood in place and then move it and the scrap away to chop the next one. It is that move that causes me problems. I have to leave (I guess I don't have to, but it is now a habit) the chop arm in the up (exposed blade) position to slip the piece out of the way and insert the next one. As I move my hand away and out from under the blade, that is when it gets me. Usually in the exact same spot; a slice from my nail to my first knuckle. Not normally terribly deep, but enough to produce a nice flap of skin and plenty of blood.

WHAT, you may ask, does this have to do with a new favorite. Well, seeing as I use a minimum of 2 "bandages" several times a week, I have tried many brands. I opened a new package tonight and found my new favorite bandage. I have always preferred the Nexcare (3M) brand over the other leading and store brand bandages. Tonight proves no different. I tried the Nexcare Comfort Ultra Fabric Latex Free. What an awesome bandage! It is slightly stretchy and very flexible. It conforms perfectly to the wound and doesn't have those irritating corners/edges that catch and make it difficult to type. I type with all fingers as Mavis Beacon taught and have a rough time when I have inferior bandages on my fingertips.

Anywho. Try them next time you are at the store to pick up bandages. You won't be disappointed. That was all, now I have to go back to the frames. I almost look forward to my second slice of the night so I can use my new favorite bandages again!

Back in the saddle and other random snippets.

2006-05-17T16:06:00.000-04:00

CK and I started watching what we eat again. We gave it up for about 2 years because we are lazy. It is time again.

I spent over an hour mowing (most of) our lawn today. If you are familiar with Weight Watcher's Points, that is 7 exercise points earned.

On the subject of mowing, we bought a push mower (with the gasoline and the self-propelling) a month or so ago. Much, much, much better than using the push mower (without the gasoline and the self-propelling). Sorry O-zone, I will try not to mow on "O-zone Alert" days (not hard to promise that, since those days are usually 110 degrees with 99% humidity).

5 days until a message from Zoom.

TTFN as Lisa from high school used to say...

What makes me physically ill?

2006-05-10T11:02:00.000-04:00

When my extra hard drive, which stores all our digital photos, music, and much more that I neglect to back up, craps out.

Thank goodness for PC Inspector File Recovery. Even better, it is Freeware. When our SmartMedia card died during our trip to Niagara Falls a few years ago, I bought a recovery program - I won't even say how much - and only recovered part of what was on the disk.

I am spending today salvaging first our photos, second our music, and third any other files on the drive. This weekend I will spend burning CD's of pictures and backing up our music onto a second drive.

Sigh. One would think I would have learned a lesson the last time we had a hard drive die. Sadly, no.

Houdini?

2006-04-28T10:59:00.000-04:00

Picture this. You are exhausted and skip Without A Trace and opt for an early retirement for the day. You take the dogs out for the final potty of the night and get everyone tucked away into their respective crates and beds. Three hours later you are awakened by the incessant whining/barking/begging/grumbling of the 6 month old puppy who has decided he needs to potty again. You nudge Husband. "Wha?" Nudge again, "Take the dogs out." "Ok." You fall back into a silent ear plug enforced sleep. He rolls out of bed and dresses. The three of them trudge to the back door and he releases the beasts into the dark abyss of the back yard. Five minutes later after 3 potties, they return and again are tucked into their crates and beds.

A few minutes later the ear piercing whine of the puppy (which words cannot describe) pierces thru your 32 dB earplugs. Nudge, "Did you take the dogs out!?" "Wha?" "DID YOU TAKE THE DOGS OUT?!" "Yeah" "Take him again, he still needs to go." "Sigh, ok." You again fall back into sleep as Husband rolls out of bed and takes puppy back outside on the leash this time for a potty. They return again and settle back in.

A few minutes later you are AGAIN awakened by the whine! "WHAT is his problem! I am exhausted and need my rest!", you yell. "Take him to the crate in the dining room!", you growl at husband. He sighs, gets up, and brings puppy to the dining room crate on the other side of the house. At least you won't be able to hear him as he whines for the rest of the night. Husband returns and you all settle into a nice rest.

Thirty minutes later, big dog starts barking! "Book, shut up! Go to bed." you shout. "Bark! Bark! BARK!" as he runs around the bed and touches the empty puppy crate. "Bark! Bark! Bark!" back to the empty puppy crate. Nudge, nudge. "Do you hear that barking?!" "Yes." "What are you going to do about it!?" "Sigh." Husband gets up and takes big dog out to potty - again. As he rounds the corner to the kitchen, he finds puppy standing at the gate waiting for him. He enters the kitchen and turns into the dining room to find the big dog crate (heavy, metal design with 2 locks on each door) in the middle of the room (4 feet from its normal resting place), locked. Puppy trots behind him with delight. White hair inside the crate prove he was inside at one time this night, however, he no longer is - and it is still standing and locked.

Puppy is Houdini, Big Dog is a tattle, Husband is exhausted, irritated, and perplexed. All three return to the room and tuck back into crates and beds. Puppy continues to whine. You rise, grumble something about needing to sleep because you have to clean the whole house for guests in the morning and storm off to the spare bedroom on the other side of the house. Husband can sleep thru the whining and does so. You sleep in the silence of the spare bedroom. All is well, except now you need to go get tiny padlocks for all the connecting areas of the crate to prevent future escapes.

Since when is stalking romantic?

2006-04-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

We watched the newish movie The Phantom of the Opera the other night. I have had the 2-disk cd from the musical for years and years (over 15, I was in high school when I got it). I have sang (sung?) along with the songs - loudly at times - and enjoyed the music very much. I have to admit, I had never actually seen the stage (or other movie) versions of the soundtrack and I apparently lost a bit of the plot by neglecting this aspect of it.

I never really thought of the whole thing necessarily as romantic, but I do know many people who do. The whole time we were watching the movie I was 1) being nagged by CK to not quote line-by-line the entire film (Please, that is the pot calling the kettle black), 2) being told to knock it off when I pointed out the parts in the film that were slightly different from the stage soundtrack, and 3) APPALLED by the fact that the Phantom was a raging lunatic and yet Christine kept going back to him as if he were Casanova. Come on! Was she stupid? Is this some form of Stockholm Syndrome?

Even if she thought for a while that this might have even been her father (in the flesh or reincarnated, whichever), the fact that when he KIDNAPPED her and she saw that he 1) lived in the sewers, 2) had a wax figure of her in a wedding outfit; should have clued her in to the fact that he was a hair off balance.

After the kidnapping, a normal person probably would have gotten the heck out of that theater/town and found a new place to live/work. No, no. She stays and seems surprised when he stalks her further and hangs someone during a performance. Time to run now? I think not. Let's stick around and see just how much worse it can get.

To top it all off, the woman who took in first the lunatic boy who killed someone when he was not even a teen yet and then took in Christine when she was 7 and orphaned, knew all along that this nutso pedophile was stalking Christine since she was 7. And did nothing about it. I guess it was all worth it since he was teaching her how to sing while he STALKED her.

Anyway, I will end my rant here. I could continue into Act 2, but it isn't worth the effort. We all know how it ends. Stalker kidnaps her again, fiancé follows, stalker ties up fiancé and starts to kill him (all while they are all three singing...), chick must choose, she chooses stalker so fiancé can live a miserable life knowing that she is being raped and abused by some lunatic while he cannot do anything about it (better than death? I'm not sure.), lunatic grows a small conscience for a few moments and lets girl and fiancé go, girl still feels attachment towards stalker, girl finally leaves with fiancé, stalker disappears into his lair in the sewers, lynch mob comes for stalker - but does not find him, all is well.

The one thing added in the movie was that it appeared Christine and Raul got married (?) and had a lifetime together. When Raul went to put the creepy lot 665 monkey at her grave, he saw a rose with a ring and a black ribbon lying on the grave. So the stalker was STILL STALKING HER AFTER HER DEATH! And this obsession is apparently romantic. Hmmm. Ok, if you say so.

(I'll still listen to the soundtrack and sing along, but I am going to pretend to still be in my ignorant bliss of not really listening to the words of the songs.)

Am I environmentally friendly?

2006-04-20T18:11:00.000-04:00

Or just cheap? Last night I mowed our lawn - well, at least about 1/6th of it. We just bought a house and have an actual yard to take care of all of a sudden. We only have a push mower because that is all we needed for our 12x12 (144 square foot) patch of grass at our old house. Now we have about 2500 square feet of yard to mow!

Boo hoo, you think. They have a push mower and are whining because they want a riding mower. The catch is, we have a PUSH mower. With the blade. And no gas. And no electrical moving parts. Just the spinning blades.

While mowing (which was actually quite relaxing and not that hard to do) I thought to myself, "Self, you really could be helping the environment by not using a gas powered mower. And, Self, you are probably saving a TON of money because you don't need to buy gas. Self, you can mow even on Ozone Alert days!"

So, are we cheap/poor or eco-friendly? I have decided on eco-friendly. Maybe I'll shed a few pounds and get a little tan. :) If I had $2500 would I buy a push mower? Maybe, maybe not. I might rather have a wide screen plasma tv...

Happy Spring!