Yesterday was my birthday. In honor of this, I had decided to forgo errands and chores to treat myself. After dropping the kids off at preschool I was going to have a pedicure/manicure. If you know me well, then you know that if I was wealthy and had lots of money to toss around there are two things I would do (after helping the hungry, the poor, the homeless, the sick, of course.). Number one is that I would have a professional clean my house every week and number two is that I would have a pedi/mani while she was doing it. How thrilling it would be to have beautiful nails and a clean house all at the same time!
I was pretty excited because I haven’t had a pedicure or a manicure since LAST summer. Back before kids, when I had extra time and extra money, I would get a pedicure and a manicure usually once a week in the summer. I have been doing my nails myself since then but it is a poor substitute to the massaging, trimming, filing, clipping and painting that they do at the nail salon.
Unfortunately things didn’t go quite as I had planned yesterday morning. Sarah, who normally skips into school without even looking back to wave goodbye, refused to go. I had to drag her into the car. Now I know what they mean by “kicking and screaming” because she was doing a lot of both. And she was doing that annoying limp body thing that kids do that meant my 35-pounder felt more like 135 pounds.
She cried and whined all the way to school. So much so that Peter was yelling, “Stop it! Be quiet! Shut up!” My head started to throb a little. This isn’t going to go well, I thought and began to panic a little, sensing that my pedi/mani might be at risk. When it was our turn at drop-off, Peter jumped out of the car, excited to be away from the whining rumbling noise that was coming out of his sister. When the preschool director unbuckled Sarah and tried to take her from her car seat, Sarah let out a howl. The preschool director had a shocked and puzzled look on her face. Sarah then proceeded to climb from the backseat over the console and into my LAP. I calmly smiled and told the preschool director that I would just park and bring her in myself. She had a relieved look on her face since the other cars in the drop-off line were beginning to back up.
I dragged her all the way to her classroom. I was getting lots of pitying looks from parents who had successfully dropped their kids off. I wanted to shout at them, “She’s not normally like this! She likes school! Don’t look at me like that!” But I just calmly smiled at them and marched into the 3-year-old classroom.
When I got to her classroom I talked to her teacher who informed me that there had been an “incident” on Tuesday that she had learned about on Wednesday. Apparently on Wednesday (since she didn’t witness the “incident” herself) she gave the whole class a lecture about how we don’t spit on our friends. We think that since Sarah was the "spitter" and not the "spittee" she knew that the lecture was being directed at her. We decided that she was worried that she was going to get in trouble at school again the next day so she was putting up a fight.
After learning about all this and sitting through circle time with a clingy, whining girl attached to my lap, I told Sarah we were going home. I gave Sarah my own long lecture about spitting when we got outside. She tried to defend herself by saying that the other girl was taking her toys. I told her that we still don’t spit and oh, by the way….you are going to school on Tuesday no matter how hard you scream or cry! She agreed and trotted happily to the car.
My pedi/mani didn’t happen yesterday morning. Instead Sarah and I did the dishes, folded laundry and made pudding. Not exactly the plans I had for the morning of the 38th birthday but that’s what we did. Later that afternoon my friend Jennifer (jennwa to those that know her well!) surprised me with a gift certificate to a local spa for…a manicure! I was very excited and very caught off guard! So I’m getting my manicure after all! I just wonder if Jennifer would mind cleaning my house while I’m getting it?
Friday, September 14, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Coffee is good!
Ahhhhh....That's better! I'm sitting here with my morning coffee and the twitching in my right eye has finally stopped. Coffee is good!
Yesterday morning I decided that I would kill two birds with one stone after I dropped the kids off at preschool. I got a cup of coffee at McDonald's which just so happened to be located in Wal-Mart. I figured the sooner I got a cup of coffee the better and since I had to get a new coffee pot I figured what better place to do it than Wal-Mart. I knew it would be cheaper than anywhere else. I was enjoying my cup of coffee and checking out the coffee pots and was elated to discover that I could purchase just the pot and that they had the coffee pot I needed for my coffee maker but then crushed to realize it was in white. My coffee maker was black.
I searched the shelves for a black Mr. Coffee pot but there were none. There wasn't even a space for one. Good ole' Wal-Mart! So I stood there trying to figure out how goofy a white handled coffee pot would look sitting on a black coffee maker when I noticed the price...$9.86!? What? $9.86! You've got to be kidding me! The whole coffee maker only cost me $24.99 which admittedly was on sale from $29.99, but still!! A replacement pot is going to cost me $9.86? That made my decision about the color much easier. I'm not spending $9.86 for a WHITE handled pot if my maker is BLACK. So I hoped in the car and headed to Target.
I immediately headed to the coffee pot section because I had other errands to run and didn't want to get trapped browsing through the $1.00 bins. A girl could get lost for hours in those things! They had the coffee pot and yes! They had it in black. Excellent! I grabbed one and glanced at the price sticker on the shelf...$14.99. $14.99! What? The pot at Wal-Mart was $5.00 cheaper! I was hot! I knew Target was more expensive than Wal-mart. I knew that going in...but $5.00!! It was like a slap in the face. But I had to do it. I had to have the pot and I had to have it match the coffee maker.
If I was a different sort of person (cheap, like my husband) I would have driven back to Wal-mart and gotten the cheaper pot but that's not the kind of person I am. Things have to match and sometimes you have to pay a price to have things look good. I'm not that kind of person who's tastes are a little eclectic, a little kooky and a little cool and could handle a mismatched coffee pot. I am more straight-laced and nerdy. I play by the rules. Things have to match or I can't concentrate. I just couldn't look at a mismatched coffee maker for the next couple of years just to save $5.00.
So, while I'm enjoying my coffee this morning it's leaving a slightly bitter taste in my mouth as I realize that the cost of my new pot is more than half of what I actually paid for the whole thing new. Oh, well...it sure does look pretty on my counter top!
Yesterday morning I decided that I would kill two birds with one stone after I dropped the kids off at preschool. I got a cup of coffee at McDonald's which just so happened to be located in Wal-Mart. I figured the sooner I got a cup of coffee the better and since I had to get a new coffee pot I figured what better place to do it than Wal-Mart. I knew it would be cheaper than anywhere else. I was enjoying my cup of coffee and checking out the coffee pots and was elated to discover that I could purchase just the pot and that they had the coffee pot I needed for my coffee maker but then crushed to realize it was in white. My coffee maker was black.
I searched the shelves for a black Mr. Coffee pot but there were none. There wasn't even a space for one. Good ole' Wal-Mart! So I stood there trying to figure out how goofy a white handled coffee pot would look sitting on a black coffee maker when I noticed the price...$9.86!? What? $9.86! You've got to be kidding me! The whole coffee maker only cost me $24.99 which admittedly was on sale from $29.99, but still!! A replacement pot is going to cost me $9.86? That made my decision about the color much easier. I'm not spending $9.86 for a WHITE handled pot if my maker is BLACK. So I hoped in the car and headed to Target.
I immediately headed to the coffee pot section because I had other errands to run and didn't want to get trapped browsing through the $1.00 bins. A girl could get lost for hours in those things! They had the coffee pot and yes! They had it in black. Excellent! I grabbed one and glanced at the price sticker on the shelf...$14.99. $14.99! What? The pot at Wal-Mart was $5.00 cheaper! I was hot! I knew Target was more expensive than Wal-mart. I knew that going in...but $5.00!! It was like a slap in the face. But I had to do it. I had to have the pot and I had to have it match the coffee maker.
If I was a different sort of person (cheap, like my husband) I would have driven back to Wal-mart and gotten the cheaper pot but that's not the kind of person I am. Things have to match and sometimes you have to pay a price to have things look good. I'm not that kind of person who's tastes are a little eclectic, a little kooky and a little cool and could handle a mismatched coffee pot. I am more straight-laced and nerdy. I play by the rules. Things have to match or I can't concentrate. I just couldn't look at a mismatched coffee maker for the next couple of years just to save $5.00.
So, while I'm enjoying my coffee this morning it's leaving a slightly bitter taste in my mouth as I realize that the cost of my new pot is more than half of what I actually paid for the whole thing new. Oh, well...it sure does look pretty on my counter top!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
My kingdom for a cup of coffee!
It's 6:30 am and I'm jonesing. Bad. I did the unthinkable last night. I...I...I...
I broke my coffee pot.
Every night before I go to bed I fill up my coffee pot with water and grinds and turn it to auto brew. I have it timed so that as soon as I am finishing making lunches for my husband and the kids my coffee will be ready and waiting for me. Last night as I was filling the pot with water I accidentally knocked the pot against the side of the cabinet. I must have hit it at just the perfect angle because I heard a pop and looked down to see a piece of glass the size of my pinky finger missing from the bottom of the pot. (Had it been missing from the top of the pot I probably would have used it. Just this once.)
So this morning I sit in front of my computer all bleary-eyed and hazy. I am drinking a glass of sweet tea with a shot of lemon juice. I'm a Southern girl and I love me some sweet tea but at this time of day a cup of coffee is what really hits the spot for me.
Caffeine is a powerful thing. I have been drinking coffee for less than a year now and if I don't get my coffee first thing in the morning a dull thumping starts in my temples and it will only be quieted by coffee or two Advils.
I used to drink Chai Tea. I love Chai Tea but I could never make it at home. Before we moved here I used to be able to walk to a coffee shop that had really good Chai Tea. It was a pretty good hike from my house so I would strap the kids in the double stroller and go for a nice long walk through the neighborhood. My reward at the end of pushing a double stroller up hill was the Chai Tea. The kids were always excited to go to the coffee house because they could look at the rack of goofy greeting cards that were stationed by the door while I as getting my tea. I know, I know...the kids must have been so understimulated if they enjoyed the greeting cards. No wonder they like preschool so much!
Anyway, we moved here and the nearest coffee shop is several miles from my house so I just started making my own coffee. My husband thinks my coffee is too weak. I'm sure it is for most folks but I am fairly new at this coffee drinking gig. In addition to liking my coffee weak, I like it with a lot of cream and LOTS of Splenda. And when I say LOTS, I mean LOTS. I can go through a bag of Splenda, ya'll!
So now I am just watching the clock and waiting for time for preschool. As soon as the kids are out of the car I am on my way to Wal-Mart to buy a new pot (can I buy just the pot?) and then to get a cup of coffee. I've just got to figure out where to get my coffee. The local coffee shop, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, StarBucks? Hmmmmm, it's good to have options but all this thinking without my coffee is giving me a headache. Where's my Advil? Maybe I better get the coffee first and then the pot.
I broke my coffee pot.
Every night before I go to bed I fill up my coffee pot with water and grinds and turn it to auto brew. I have it timed so that as soon as I am finishing making lunches for my husband and the kids my coffee will be ready and waiting for me. Last night as I was filling the pot with water I accidentally knocked the pot against the side of the cabinet. I must have hit it at just the perfect angle because I heard a pop and looked down to see a piece of glass the size of my pinky finger missing from the bottom of the pot. (Had it been missing from the top of the pot I probably would have used it. Just this once.)
So this morning I sit in front of my computer all bleary-eyed and hazy. I am drinking a glass of sweet tea with a shot of lemon juice. I'm a Southern girl and I love me some sweet tea but at this time of day a cup of coffee is what really hits the spot for me.
Caffeine is a powerful thing. I have been drinking coffee for less than a year now and if I don't get my coffee first thing in the morning a dull thumping starts in my temples and it will only be quieted by coffee or two Advils.
I used to drink Chai Tea. I love Chai Tea but I could never make it at home. Before we moved here I used to be able to walk to a coffee shop that had really good Chai Tea. It was a pretty good hike from my house so I would strap the kids in the double stroller and go for a nice long walk through the neighborhood. My reward at the end of pushing a double stroller up hill was the Chai Tea. The kids were always excited to go to the coffee house because they could look at the rack of goofy greeting cards that were stationed by the door while I as getting my tea. I know, I know...the kids must have been so understimulated if they enjoyed the greeting cards. No wonder they like preschool so much!
Anyway, we moved here and the nearest coffee shop is several miles from my house so I just started making my own coffee. My husband thinks my coffee is too weak. I'm sure it is for most folks but I am fairly new at this coffee drinking gig. In addition to liking my coffee weak, I like it with a lot of cream and LOTS of Splenda. And when I say LOTS, I mean LOTS. I can go through a bag of Splenda, ya'll!
So now I am just watching the clock and waiting for time for preschool. As soon as the kids are out of the car I am on my way to Wal-Mart to buy a new pot (can I buy just the pot?) and then to get a cup of coffee. I've just got to figure out where to get my coffee. The local coffee shop, Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, StarBucks? Hmmmmm, it's good to have options but all this thinking without my coffee is giving me a headache. Where's my Advil? Maybe I better get the coffee first and then the pot.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
It's the little things...
Sunday was Grandparent’s Day. I am quite certain this day was created by greeting card executives and as such went largely uncelebrated by our family. However, while doing my weekly grocery shopping at Wal-Mart on Saturday I noticed they had bouquets of pink and purple daisies. Surprisingly, I have found that Wal-Mart’s fresh flowers are not only beautiful and inexpensive but they are also long-lasting. I grabbed a bright pink bunch that only cost $4.00. The “sale by” date was 9/18. Based on this I knew they would look great for well over a week (probably close to two weeks!) and decided to get them for my parents.
I am always looking for little ways to tell them thanks for being such a big help to us and this seemed like the perfect thing. I made them a card with Peter and Sarah’s picture on it at mycardmaker.com. and put the flowers in an unused utensil canister…you know one of those things that sits by your stove holding whisks, spatulas and wooden spoons. I have so many of these nifty little items that I graduated to a larger utensil holder last year. The old one was sitting unused in the basement and was the perfect "vase" for the pink daisies. The kids took great pleasure in presenting my parents with the card and flowers and wishing them a happy Grandparent’s Day. Although Sarah seemed a little disappointed when she learned there wouldn’t be any birthday cake!
As I was arranging the flowers, there were a couple of daisies that were too short for the vase. I put those in a tiny juice glass and placed it on my kitchen table. I’m not sure why I did this. I guess I didn’t want to waste two perfectly good daisies because they were too short for the vase. Or maybe it was because I thought Sarah would be excited to find two PINK daisies in front of her place at the table or maybe it was because I thought the table could use a little color. Whatever the reason, I am so glad I did. I have gotten so much pleasure from those two little pink daisies.
I have enjoyed them as I have wiped the table clean after meals. I have enjoyed them while getting crayons and paper for my kids who decided they just had to draw a picture right before time to leave for preschool. I have enjoyed glancing at them while sitting at the table reading the longest book ever for my book club.
As a stay-at-home mom I am often too tired or too busy to enjoy the small pleasures in life. The hugs from my daughter, my son’s hard to follow knock-knock jokes, laughing with my husband while watching “The Soup” are all simple things which I am trying so hard not to take for granted. I guess I just needed two pink daisies from Wal-mart to remind me of the sweet, simple goodness God has given me.
"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."-- Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957, Author of "Little House on the Prairie")
I am always looking for little ways to tell them thanks for being such a big help to us and this seemed like the perfect thing. I made them a card with Peter and Sarah’s picture on it at mycardmaker.com. and put the flowers in an unused utensil canister…you know one of those things that sits by your stove holding whisks, spatulas and wooden spoons. I have so many of these nifty little items that I graduated to a larger utensil holder last year. The old one was sitting unused in the basement and was the perfect "vase" for the pink daisies. The kids took great pleasure in presenting my parents with the card and flowers and wishing them a happy Grandparent’s Day. Although Sarah seemed a little disappointed when she learned there wouldn’t be any birthday cake!
As I was arranging the flowers, there were a couple of daisies that were too short for the vase. I put those in a tiny juice glass and placed it on my kitchen table. I’m not sure why I did this. I guess I didn’t want to waste two perfectly good daisies because they were too short for the vase. Or maybe it was because I thought Sarah would be excited to find two PINK daisies in front of her place at the table or maybe it was because I thought the table could use a little color. Whatever the reason, I am so glad I did. I have gotten so much pleasure from those two little pink daisies.
I have enjoyed them as I have wiped the table clean after meals. I have enjoyed them while getting crayons and paper for my kids who decided they just had to draw a picture right before time to leave for preschool. I have enjoyed glancing at them while sitting at the table reading the longest book ever for my book club.
As a stay-at-home mom I am often too tired or too busy to enjoy the small pleasures in life. The hugs from my daughter, my son’s hard to follow knock-knock jokes, laughing with my husband while watching “The Soup” are all simple things which I am trying so hard not to take for granted. I guess I just needed two pink daisies from Wal-mart to remind me of the sweet, simple goodness God has given me.
"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."-- Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957, Author of "Little House on the Prairie")
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Grow Old Along With Me, The Best is Yet To Be
Today is my SEVENTH anniversary but I feel like Dan and I have been married forever. But I mean that in a good way.
We met on June 5th, 1995 at a Jimmy Buffett concert. We actually worked at the same company (but had never met before) and a bunch of us (probably 20 people or so) were going to the concert together. We were all going to meet at Harris Teeter and head to the concert together. One group went to the Harris Teeter near work and the other group went to the Harris Teeter near Blockbuster Pavilion, the show venue.
You will have to remember that this was 1995, back before every 10 year old and their grandmother had a cell phone so we weren’t able to communicate with one another. The group I was with got tired of waiting for the group he was with so we decided to just go and hope we would eventually find them. We weren’t actually expecting to find them this since there would be thousands of people there.
It must have been fate because we actually found his group. He and I were introduced and little cupids and red hearts started circling around our heads and we could hear harp music playing in the background and… O.k. that’s not exactly how it happened…there were no harps and no cupids but I don’t think it took me long to know that he was the one. He made me laugh and he was smart…much smarter than me... and I found that very attractive. Speaking of attractive, I thought he was very handsome. Still do, actually.
We dated four years before Dan finally proposed to me in September of 1999 and we were finally married one year later. People always talk about marrying their soul mates. Whenever I hear that I gag a little. I prefer to say that I’ve married my best friend. That might make someone else gag but it’s true. Who else other than my best friend would put up with my ever changing moods, my MS, my love of reality TV and all the other stuff that makes me “me”?
I thank God every day for sending Dan to me. I can’t imagine my life without him. I don’t want to. I want to grow old, really old with him. At our wedding, we danced our first dance to “Grow Old Along With Me” by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s a beautiful song and it sums up my feelings perfectly.
Happy Anniversary, Dan. I love you.
Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love
Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love
Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end
Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love
We met on June 5th, 1995 at a Jimmy Buffett concert. We actually worked at the same company (but had never met before) and a bunch of us (probably 20 people or so) were going to the concert together. We were all going to meet at Harris Teeter and head to the concert together. One group went to the Harris Teeter near work and the other group went to the Harris Teeter near Blockbuster Pavilion, the show venue.
You will have to remember that this was 1995, back before every 10 year old and their grandmother had a cell phone so we weren’t able to communicate with one another. The group I was with got tired of waiting for the group he was with so we decided to just go and hope we would eventually find them. We weren’t actually expecting to find them this since there would be thousands of people there.
It must have been fate because we actually found his group. He and I were introduced and little cupids and red hearts started circling around our heads and we could hear harp music playing in the background and… O.k. that’s not exactly how it happened…there were no harps and no cupids but I don’t think it took me long to know that he was the one. He made me laugh and he was smart…much smarter than me... and I found that very attractive. Speaking of attractive, I thought he was very handsome. Still do, actually.
We dated four years before Dan finally proposed to me in September of 1999 and we were finally married one year later. People always talk about marrying their soul mates. Whenever I hear that I gag a little. I prefer to say that I’ve married my best friend. That might make someone else gag but it’s true. Who else other than my best friend would put up with my ever changing moods, my MS, my love of reality TV and all the other stuff that makes me “me”?
I thank God every day for sending Dan to me. I can’t imagine my life without him. I don’t want to. I want to grow old, really old with him. At our wedding, we danced our first dance to “Grow Old Along With Me” by Mary Chapin Carpenter. It’s a beautiful song and it sums up my feelings perfectly.
Happy Anniversary, Dan. I love you.
Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be
When our time has come
We will be as one
God bless our love
God bless our love
Grow old along with me
Two branches of one tree
Face the setting sun
When the day is done
God bless our love
God bless our love
Spending our lives together
Man and wife together
World without end
World without end
Grow old along with me
Whatever fate decrees
We will see it through
For our love is true
God bless our love
God bless our love
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Don't Even Get Me Started
Wednesday, August 22nd started as any normal weekday would. I got up, showered, made lunch for my husband and settled in front of the computer to check email and to post an entry to this blog. I was very excited because I was going to join the “Works For Me Wednesday” blog carnival and post an entry on my idea for cheap and reusable popsicle drip catchers.
It took me a while to make sure I had everything linked properly but I did it! I was so excited and proud of myself. I was babbling to my husband before he left for work about my post and the carnival and how I just knew I was going to gain lots of new readers from this post so I should probably start thinking about my next blog entry so any new readers wouldn’t be disappointed if they happen to stop by to visit my blog again...
Fast forward to one hour later:
I popped back into the office to check my Stat Counter to see how many people had read my blog and what was I greeted with?
None other than the horrible and dreaded BLUE SCREEN.
It was a big, blank, blue screen. Oh, no! What’s going on here? I quickly tried to reboot. Sweat started popping out on my brow as I rebooted two more times with the same result. I almost started to cry but decided to call Dell Technical Support before I resorted to such childish antics.
Fast forward to Thursday, August 23rd:
After two separate conversations of at least 1 hour each, it was determined that we needed a new hard drive. I ordered one from Dell at a cost of $95…that includes shipping and handling and tax of course. Quite the bargain don’t you think?
Fast forward to Monday, August 27th:
My new hard drive arrived! I just knew I would be up and running in no time!
Immediately upon arriving home from work, my sweet husband Dan removed the old hard drive and installed the new one and we got other error messages. We called the lovely Dell Tech Support team (which based on the accents of each member we spoke to, is located somewhere in the heart of India) and were informed that the hard drive they sent us was blank and we would need our diskettes to load the operating system onto the hard drive.
Uh? Diskettes? Uh…we don’t have any diskettes.
We actually had one diskette but it wasn’t the operating system diskette it was the Microsoft Office diskette which was useless to us if we didn't have the operating system diskettes. So we spent another hour on the phone with Dell until we convinced someone to send us the diskettes…for free. What a joke. The computer we had before was loaded with everything we needed on it when they shipped it to us so if they send us a new hard drive (which we paid $95 for) then it should be sent to us preloaded with everything we need…right?...right?...WRONG! It was sent blank and we were expected to load the operating system on it.
Fast forward to Wednesday evening, August 29th:
We received the diskettes and made another phone call. We now were getting different error messages:
Floppy Diskette Seek Failure
Hard Drive Not Found
Press F1 to Reboot, Press F2 to Curl Up in Fetal Position and Cry Like Big Baby
We called the lovely folks at Dell Tech Support again and kept getting told that our warranty had expired and that we needed to pay $49 to get Expired Warranty Support. My husband, being the cheap Yankee that he is, did not want to pay this. He felt that we just purchased a blank hard drive from Dell with a limited 90 day warranty so why should we pay $49 for Expired Warranty Support when technically we had a new waranty. At this point I didn't care about the $49 I just wanted my computer to work!
So we began engaging in a game of good cop, bad cop with our friends at Dell Technical Support. This is how we played the game...
Dan used our home phone to call Dell Tech Support and would get into an argument with the technical support person and would ask to speak to their manager. He would inevitably be put on perma-hold. When this would occur I would call the same number from our cell phone and would go through the long and boring spiel of the hard drive crash, the new blank hard drive, the diskettes, the error messages and then the person I was speaking to would say, “Oh yes, I see in the records here that your husband has just called and has been transferred to a manager.” So I would whisper conspiratorially, “Yes, he’s upset but maybe you can help me without getting any managers involved?” We played several rounds of this fun game but the techs were never able to get the computer to work.
Fast forward to Thursday morning, August 30th:
I finally thought I had a break through. I spent a good hour on the phone Thursday morning with Ramir. He seemed very knowledgeable. He ran through the same steps with me that all the other techs before him had and as usual, with no luck. The only difference being that Ramir seemed genuinely concerned about my case and wanted to fix the computer without me having to pay $49.
After one hour on the phone with Ramir he finally said that my husband should check the hard drive. Maybe he hadn't installed it properly. I told him I doubted this was the case since Dan, being a smart engineer, had taken pictures of the old hard drive prior to removing it so he could get all the connections reconnected the exact same way and that he had most likely installed it properly. Honestly though I was tired of talking on the phone with Ramir and was just ready to get on with my day.
Ramir promised me, PROMISED ME, that he would call me on Friday morning at 8:30 am to run more tests with me after Dan had a chance to reinstall the hard drive on Thursday night. He wanted to talk to Dan but Ramir left work before Dan got home and Dan would be gone Friday morning before Ramir got back to work. So Ramir was going to call me Friday morning to check to see how things were. In fact, his exact words were, “I am going to make it my personal mission to see that we get your computer fixed without you having to pay $49.” For a few minutes, I thought I was in love.
Fast forward to Friday morning, August 31st at 8:40am:
I started trying to call Ramir at 8:40 when it was clear he was not going to call me. I called and called but basically was told that the number I had called was a generic Tech Support number and there were too many people working there to know if there was a Ramir there or not. Why did I suddenly feel like the naive 20 year old who was promised by the cute guy she met at the party that he would call her and then never did? Um, not that I have any experience with that or anything.
So I was left venting to some other poor tech. He tried to help me but could only say that perhaps the hard drive was bad…the NEW hard drive mind you.
This was all I could take! I called the number that I had ordered the hard drive from to give them a piece of my mind…although at this point there really wasn’t much left of it to give. This nice guy promised me that if I just paid $49 for the Expired Warranty Tech support those people would be able to make it work. "Guaranteed". His words, not mine.
So, I did what I knew I shouldn’t do and gave him my credit card number. He then forwarded me to a nice girl who told me that it wasn’t the hard drive but probably just bad cables and if it wasn’t bad cables probably a bad motherboard. Oh, and by the way, if it was a bad motherboard well, it would probably cost as much to replace the motherboard as to just go ahead and buy a new computer.
Buy a new computer?
I picked myself up off the floor, took a deep breath to calm myself and said, “I just paid you $49 to tell me that I probably just need to buy a new computer?”
“Well, uh, you should check the cables first.”
“How do I get my $49 back?”
“Well, I really don’t think you can since you have already received our advice.”
I’ll give all of you some advice…for free…
DON’T BUY A DELL COMPUTER!!!! And you don’t even need to check the cables first!
Fast forward to Saturday morning, September 1st:
Dan and I took the kids and our computer to Best Buy. I don’t normally like Best Buy but that’s where the nerds from the Geek Squad live. A friendly agent (yes, they call themselves agents and they even wear badges…no, I’m not joking) checked out the computer, bad mouthed Dell Computers, informed me that the NEW hard drive was bad but my old hard drive was still ok, and told me they could fix it. I paid him $158 and was out of there with the promise that it would probably be ready by Monday.
Fast forward to Sunday, September 2nd:
We got home from church and there was a sweet, sweet message on the answering machine:
“This message is for Beth. This is Agent Rob (yes, he called himself Agent Rob…no, I’m not joking) from the Geek Squad. We fixed your computer and it’s ready for pick up."
My computer works again, Mommy is happy again and things are back to normal in our household for now.
Next thing on my to do list: Call Dell to get my $95 back for the bad hard drive they sent me and my $49 back for the bad advice they gave me.
Should be fun!
Edited to add: I did call Dell and after talking to multiple reps and being transferred multiple times I did get my money back!
It took me a while to make sure I had everything linked properly but I did it! I was so excited and proud of myself. I was babbling to my husband before he left for work about my post and the carnival and how I just knew I was going to gain lots of new readers from this post so I should probably start thinking about my next blog entry so any new readers wouldn’t be disappointed if they happen to stop by to visit my blog again...
Fast forward to one hour later:
I popped back into the office to check my Stat Counter to see how many people had read my blog and what was I greeted with?
None other than the horrible and dreaded BLUE SCREEN.
It was a big, blank, blue screen. Oh, no! What’s going on here? I quickly tried to reboot. Sweat started popping out on my brow as I rebooted two more times with the same result. I almost started to cry but decided to call Dell Technical Support before I resorted to such childish antics.
Fast forward to Thursday, August 23rd:
After two separate conversations of at least 1 hour each, it was determined that we needed a new hard drive. I ordered one from Dell at a cost of $95…that includes shipping and handling and tax of course. Quite the bargain don’t you think?
Fast forward to Monday, August 27th:
My new hard drive arrived! I just knew I would be up and running in no time!
Immediately upon arriving home from work, my sweet husband Dan removed the old hard drive and installed the new one and we got other error messages. We called the lovely Dell Tech Support team (which based on the accents of each member we spoke to, is located somewhere in the heart of India) and were informed that the hard drive they sent us was blank and we would need our diskettes to load the operating system onto the hard drive.
Uh? Diskettes? Uh…we don’t have any diskettes.
We actually had one diskette but it wasn’t the operating system diskette it was the Microsoft Office diskette which was useless to us if we didn't have the operating system diskettes. So we spent another hour on the phone with Dell until we convinced someone to send us the diskettes…for free. What a joke. The computer we had before was loaded with everything we needed on it when they shipped it to us so if they send us a new hard drive (which we paid $95 for) then it should be sent to us preloaded with everything we need…right?...right?...WRONG! It was sent blank and we were expected to load the operating system on it.
Fast forward to Wednesday evening, August 29th:
We received the diskettes and made another phone call. We now were getting different error messages:
Floppy Diskette Seek Failure
Hard Drive Not Found
Press F1 to Reboot, Press F2 to Curl Up in Fetal Position and Cry Like Big Baby
We called the lovely folks at Dell Tech Support again and kept getting told that our warranty had expired and that we needed to pay $49 to get Expired Warranty Support. My husband, being the cheap Yankee that he is, did not want to pay this. He felt that we just purchased a blank hard drive from Dell with a limited 90 day warranty so why should we pay $49 for Expired Warranty Support when technically we had a new waranty. At this point I didn't care about the $49 I just wanted my computer to work!
So we began engaging in a game of good cop, bad cop with our friends at Dell Technical Support. This is how we played the game...
Dan used our home phone to call Dell Tech Support and would get into an argument with the technical support person and would ask to speak to their manager. He would inevitably be put on perma-hold. When this would occur I would call the same number from our cell phone and would go through the long and boring spiel of the hard drive crash, the new blank hard drive, the diskettes, the error messages and then the person I was speaking to would say, “Oh yes, I see in the records here that your husband has just called and has been transferred to a manager.” So I would whisper conspiratorially, “Yes, he’s upset but maybe you can help me without getting any managers involved?” We played several rounds of this fun game but the techs were never able to get the computer to work.
Fast forward to Thursday morning, August 30th:
I finally thought I had a break through. I spent a good hour on the phone Thursday morning with Ramir. He seemed very knowledgeable. He ran through the same steps with me that all the other techs before him had and as usual, with no luck. The only difference being that Ramir seemed genuinely concerned about my case and wanted to fix the computer without me having to pay $49.
After one hour on the phone with Ramir he finally said that my husband should check the hard drive. Maybe he hadn't installed it properly. I told him I doubted this was the case since Dan, being a smart engineer, had taken pictures of the old hard drive prior to removing it so he could get all the connections reconnected the exact same way and that he had most likely installed it properly. Honestly though I was tired of talking on the phone with Ramir and was just ready to get on with my day.
Ramir promised me, PROMISED ME, that he would call me on Friday morning at 8:30 am to run more tests with me after Dan had a chance to reinstall the hard drive on Thursday night. He wanted to talk to Dan but Ramir left work before Dan got home and Dan would be gone Friday morning before Ramir got back to work. So Ramir was going to call me Friday morning to check to see how things were. In fact, his exact words were, “I am going to make it my personal mission to see that we get your computer fixed without you having to pay $49.” For a few minutes, I thought I was in love.
Fast forward to Friday morning, August 31st at 8:40am:
I started trying to call Ramir at 8:40 when it was clear he was not going to call me. I called and called but basically was told that the number I had called was a generic Tech Support number and there were too many people working there to know if there was a Ramir there or not. Why did I suddenly feel like the naive 20 year old who was promised by the cute guy she met at the party that he would call her and then never did? Um, not that I have any experience with that or anything.
So I was left venting to some other poor tech. He tried to help me but could only say that perhaps the hard drive was bad…the NEW hard drive mind you.
This was all I could take! I called the number that I had ordered the hard drive from to give them a piece of my mind…although at this point there really wasn’t much left of it to give. This nice guy promised me that if I just paid $49 for the Expired Warranty Tech support those people would be able to make it work. "Guaranteed". His words, not mine.
So, I did what I knew I shouldn’t do and gave him my credit card number. He then forwarded me to a nice girl who told me that it wasn’t the hard drive but probably just bad cables and if it wasn’t bad cables probably a bad motherboard. Oh, and by the way, if it was a bad motherboard well, it would probably cost as much to replace the motherboard as to just go ahead and buy a new computer.
Buy a new computer?
I picked myself up off the floor, took a deep breath to calm myself and said, “I just paid you $49 to tell me that I probably just need to buy a new computer?”
“Well, uh, you should check the cables first.”
“How do I get my $49 back?”
“Well, I really don’t think you can since you have already received our advice.”
I’ll give all of you some advice…for free…
DON’T BUY A DELL COMPUTER!!!! And you don’t even need to check the cables first!
Fast forward to Saturday morning, September 1st:
Dan and I took the kids and our computer to Best Buy. I don’t normally like Best Buy but that’s where the nerds from the Geek Squad live. A friendly agent (yes, they call themselves agents and they even wear badges…no, I’m not joking) checked out the computer, bad mouthed Dell Computers, informed me that the NEW hard drive was bad but my old hard drive was still ok, and told me they could fix it. I paid him $158 and was out of there with the promise that it would probably be ready by Monday.
Fast forward to Sunday, September 2nd:
We got home from church and there was a sweet, sweet message on the answering machine:
“This message is for Beth. This is Agent Rob (yes, he called himself Agent Rob…no, I’m not joking) from the Geek Squad. We fixed your computer and it’s ready for pick up."
My computer works again, Mommy is happy again and things are back to normal in our household for now.
Next thing on my to do list: Call Dell to get my $95 back for the bad hard drive they sent me and my $49 back for the bad advice they gave me.
Should be fun!
Edited to add: I did call Dell and after talking to multiple reps and being transferred multiple times I did get my money back!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Works For Me Wednesday
Today I am participating in a blog carnival hosted by Rocks In My Dryer. Every Wednesday people from all over the internet post practical tips on their blog and link them back to her blog. There are lots of great tips on her site every Wednesday so please, go check it out!Here’s what works for me.
My kids love, love, love, LOVE popsicles and in the summertime I indulge them almost everyday. What’s a hot sticky day without a cool sweet Popsicle? Almost as much as they love popsicles, I hate the drippy mess they make so last summer I got smart. I took one O-Cel-O sponge for each of my kids and cut a slit in the center of it. Now when the kids want a Popsicle I wet one of these sponges, put the stick end of the Popsicle through the slit in the sponge and hand them their treat. In addtition to being a cheap, reusable and very effective drip catcher the kids also have something to wipe their hands and mouths off on when they are finished eating. Then they toss the stick in the trash and the sponge in the sink.
The kids are happy. Mom is happy. Works for me!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
As if theirs doesn't stink!
We have a bathroom right beside the kids’ playroom. It comes in very handy for them as they seem to always wait until the very last minute to do their business. It also comes in very handy for me as it is also right off the kitchen and laundry closet which seems to be where I spend all of my time during the day.
A couple of mornings ago I went in to uh, er, well do MY business. Dan was getting ready to leave for work and as he passed by the door he muttered, “Oh! Wow!” and shot me a dirty look. Peter piped in with “Shoo! Mommy stinks!”
Dan left for work, Peter resumed playing and I resumed my post in the kitchen. Sarah woke up, came down the stairs and headed straight for the playroom. As she passed the bathroom door she crinkled up her nose, turned to look at me and said, “Ew! Mommy! Can you spray some of that nice, good spray! You made it stink in there!”
Geez! Everyone’s a critic!
A couple of mornings ago I went in to uh, er, well do MY business. Dan was getting ready to leave for work and as he passed by the door he muttered, “Oh! Wow!” and shot me a dirty look. Peter piped in with “Shoo! Mommy stinks!”
Dan left for work, Peter resumed playing and I resumed my post in the kitchen. Sarah woke up, came down the stairs and headed straight for the playroom. As she passed the bathroom door she crinkled up her nose, turned to look at me and said, “Ew! Mommy! Can you spray some of that nice, good spray! You made it stink in there!”
Geez! Everyone’s a critic!
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Please don't make me wash the sheets!
It’s no secret – I hate to wash sheets. I’m not sure why but the whole process of taking off a set of sheets - tugging on the pillows until they come out of the cases, having to remove the comforter so I can get to the bottom sheet, blah, blah, blah – really drives me crazy. All the steps of getting the sheets off the bed are just a huge hassle and then having to stuff it all in the washing machine (we have an older averaged size washer/dryer…maybe one day we will get a new-fangled fancy set but not anytime soon as our old set works just fine.) and then having to put it all back on the bed when the sheets are clean….UGH! It is a process that just completely annoys me!
I’m not sure what was going on earlier this week but I think my kids were secretly conspiring against me to get me to wash their sheets. On Sunday afternoon my husband left for a business trip and things were going smoothly until about 3:00am on Monday morning. I woke up to Sarah screaming, “It’s wet in here! There’s water in my bed!”. I trudged into her room and was trying to quickly figure out why there was water in her room. My thoughts were garbled since it was 3:00am but I was trying to eliminate potential causes before I got to her room.
Hmmm…Water? Did it rain into her room? That couldn’t be it since it hasn’t rained around here since 1987.
Did a pipe leak? No there really aren’t any water pipes leading into her room. That couldn’t be it.
Oh no, I thought when I stepped into her room….she has peed in her bed! You have got to be kidding me! She never pees in the middle of the night. She always wakes up dry and of course, of course I just stopped putting her in pull-ups three nights before. She has been potty trained since January but I have always put her in pull-ups just in case she has a night time accident. But she NEVER does and she ALWAYS wakes up dry so I decided to stop wasting money on the pull-ups and just put her to bed in her underwear since she NEVER needs to pee in the middle of the night and since she ALWAYS wakes up dry.
But alas, 3:00am on Monday morning she had an accident. She was scared and she didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t scared. I was just annoyed. Now I’m going to have to actually wash her sheets. Grrrr…. Well, I’m not washing her sheets at 3:00am, I thought. My husband wasn’t at home. I didn’t want to have to turn on all the lights, go through the hassle of getting the dirty sheets off, put on clean ones and then try to get my daughter back to sleep so I did what any laundry hating, sleep loving mother would do at 3:00am. I cleaned her bottom with a wash cloth in the dark, quickly changed her pajamas, put towels down over the wet spots and tucked her back into bed. It was 3:06 am, she was asleep and all was well except that I knew that first thing in the morning I was going to have to wash her sheets. I tossed and turned for the rest of the night.
On Tuesday morning my son bounded down the stairs and into the office where I was reading email, paying bills, drinking my coffee, and he says, “Good morning!" Then he proceeded to take off his pajama bottoms and his underwear. I asked him what the heck he was doing and he calmly said, “My underwear is wet.”
“Your underwear is wet? Did you spill some milk or water on it?”, I asked with a sinking feeling knowing full well that he had not had any milk or water yet that morning.
“No. I think I peed in my bed. Can I have my breakfast now?”
What?? He peed in his bed?! This can’t be happening to me. Peter is 4 and a half! He’s been potty trained for the last two years and stopped wearing pull-ups to bed a long, long time ago. He’s great about getting up in the middle of the night if he has to go so why, oh, why did he pee in his bed? The kids must be conspiring against me. They must sense that I hate washing sheets. They know that Daddy is out of town and Mommy is already on edge so let’s see if we can push her over it. Won’t that be fun to watch?
Or maybe they both realized that wetting the bed is the only way to get clean sheets around here. And who can blame them? There is nothing nicer than sliding down into crisp clean sheets that have been tightly pulled into place. And who doesn’t love how hospital corners look right after clean sheets have been put onto a bed? Peter probably even got spoiled by staying at my mother’s house because my mom IRONS her sheets! IRONS her sheets, people!!! Come to think of it my mother-in-law irons her sheets, too! I don’t even iron my clothes much less my sheets!!
I know my husband likes fresh clean sheets too. I just hope he chooses a better way to let me know he would like the dirty ones washed!
I’m not sure what was going on earlier this week but I think my kids were secretly conspiring against me to get me to wash their sheets. On Sunday afternoon my husband left for a business trip and things were going smoothly until about 3:00am on Monday morning. I woke up to Sarah screaming, “It’s wet in here! There’s water in my bed!”. I trudged into her room and was trying to quickly figure out why there was water in her room. My thoughts were garbled since it was 3:00am but I was trying to eliminate potential causes before I got to her room.
Hmmm…Water? Did it rain into her room? That couldn’t be it since it hasn’t rained around here since 1987.
Did a pipe leak? No there really aren’t any water pipes leading into her room. That couldn’t be it.
Oh no, I thought when I stepped into her room….she has peed in her bed! You have got to be kidding me! She never pees in the middle of the night. She always wakes up dry and of course, of course I just stopped putting her in pull-ups three nights before. She has been potty trained since January but I have always put her in pull-ups just in case she has a night time accident. But she NEVER does and she ALWAYS wakes up dry so I decided to stop wasting money on the pull-ups and just put her to bed in her underwear since she NEVER needs to pee in the middle of the night and since she ALWAYS wakes up dry.
But alas, 3:00am on Monday morning she had an accident. She was scared and she didn’t know what was going on. I wasn’t scared. I was just annoyed. Now I’m going to have to actually wash her sheets. Grrrr…. Well, I’m not washing her sheets at 3:00am, I thought. My husband wasn’t at home. I didn’t want to have to turn on all the lights, go through the hassle of getting the dirty sheets off, put on clean ones and then try to get my daughter back to sleep so I did what any laundry hating, sleep loving mother would do at 3:00am. I cleaned her bottom with a wash cloth in the dark, quickly changed her pajamas, put towels down over the wet spots and tucked her back into bed. It was 3:06 am, she was asleep and all was well except that I knew that first thing in the morning I was going to have to wash her sheets. I tossed and turned for the rest of the night.
On Tuesday morning my son bounded down the stairs and into the office where I was reading email, paying bills, drinking my coffee, and he says, “Good morning!" Then he proceeded to take off his pajama bottoms and his underwear. I asked him what the heck he was doing and he calmly said, “My underwear is wet.”
“Your underwear is wet? Did you spill some milk or water on it?”, I asked with a sinking feeling knowing full well that he had not had any milk or water yet that morning.
“No. I think I peed in my bed. Can I have my breakfast now?”
What?? He peed in his bed?! This can’t be happening to me. Peter is 4 and a half! He’s been potty trained for the last two years and stopped wearing pull-ups to bed a long, long time ago. He’s great about getting up in the middle of the night if he has to go so why, oh, why did he pee in his bed? The kids must be conspiring against me. They must sense that I hate washing sheets. They know that Daddy is out of town and Mommy is already on edge so let’s see if we can push her over it. Won’t that be fun to watch?
Or maybe they both realized that wetting the bed is the only way to get clean sheets around here. And who can blame them? There is nothing nicer than sliding down into crisp clean sheets that have been tightly pulled into place. And who doesn’t love how hospital corners look right after clean sheets have been put onto a bed? Peter probably even got spoiled by staying at my mother’s house because my mom IRONS her sheets! IRONS her sheets, people!!! Come to think of it my mother-in-law irons her sheets, too! I don’t even iron my clothes much less my sheets!!
I know my husband likes fresh clean sheets too. I just hope he chooses a better way to let me know he would like the dirty ones washed!
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