So this is what it always looks like. This makes me stabby.
I only ask for the laundry room floor to be clean.
Category Archives: Rants & Gripes
What a disappointing start to something that should have been much more happy.
OH FFS. So if you’ve been following along…we dropped off my new car to be fixed because they screwed something up between our test drive and when we drove off the lot a few hours later. It had 40ish miles on it when I dropped it off. Tom just picked it up (because I refused to go) and it now has 110 miles on it. 😳😳😳
When Tom questioned it, they were all 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️ well we had to fix it. Yes, obviously, but will they at least fill the gas tank? Nope. (Oh, and did I mention the loaner they gave me was on E when I got it.)
And they had to replace not only the tire but the rim as well. Seriously?! The invoice lists “parking lot damage” and they replaced the “WHEEL ASSY-ALUMINUM” and “STEM-TPMS.”
I posted on Facebook and a few people said to return it. Well I know that sounds easy but it’s definitely not—it’s not a lemon and they are taking care of the issue—they just aren’t handling it like we hoped they would. A simple We screwed up installing X. We are so sorry and we’re fixing it would have gone a looong way. But to claim a flat spot on a nitrogen tire on a brand new car that was only on the lot a week (at most)? And drove fine 3 hours earlier? 🤔 That’s really fishy.
Also, when questioned about the mileage, the service guy said “It said 105 when I saw it this morning.” And the mileage in/out on the invoice says 105/105 which is obviously from today when they input the info when they finally fixed it—not from the time I brought it in two days ago. How does the service guy not know they put 70 miles on it while they diagnosed it?
Again… Really? That’s the story you’re sticking with?!
And also!!! While Tom was dealing with this, I was trying to get our account set up online. While we were doing the sale, our sales guy asked what I wanted our PIN to be—I assumed it was for our account or something in the Hyundai app (no, he never told us or showed us anything and to be honest I forgot). So I try to login and… nope, no place for a PIN. And I never set up the account so I don’t know what the password is. Did he do it? Did he create some generic password like Hudson? No idea. So I had to reset the password. Annoying but fine, whatever. But then I tried to use the app and it needed a PIN…and my PIN (the one I gave him) didn’t work. And I couldn’t change it because I didn’t have the answer to my secret question…because I never created one. And I couldn’t add or change it because I didn’t know it. See the catch-22 here? So I had to call Hyundai and the rep couldn’t even get it working and it took three tries to reset everything. So what on Earth did the sales guy even do? I’m guessing nothing? But who knows because he never told us.
And did I mention that they also forgot to give us our second key when we left?! When we discovered it we called and our sales guy was adamant that he gave it to us. Turns out it was still in his pocket. We also realized when we got home that we didn’t have the any of the paperwork and so we asked about that and they swore they gave it to us. We absolutely positively did not have it so they made copies of everything for us and then later we discovered it in the glove box where they obviously put it and didn’t tell us.
I am just so damn frustrated with everything. So you know the surveys we get after a sale that they want 10s on? Not happening. Too many stupid little things and too many big things. They are going to get an earful.
STILL NO CAR.
You won’t believe this. They told me they had to order a new tire because…there was a flat spot on one of the tires. I said that’s odd, no? New car and all. Service guy said “It depends how long they sit on the lot, etc.” So you mean to tell me this brand new car that just arrived on your lot late last week…has a flat spot from possibly sitting too long? Really? That’s the story you’re sticking with?
I would more believe I picked up a nail in the parking lot or on the drive home than that load of BS. (But if that was the case, I’m sure they’d tell me it was my fault.)
So, in trying to be positive, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that something abnormal happened and this is an odd case. The negative side of me says they screwed something up and just don’t want to admit it so they are just fixing it under the guise of a bad tire.
And I don’t like it.
Oh and I forgot to tell you.
One of the other reasons I had to come back was because we discovered they took my Doctor Who license plate frame off…and didn’t give it to me! But you can believe they put their own advertising frame on it. So it’s not like they just added theirs—they had to remove MY frame to get to the plate, move my TRAVCTY plate to the new car, and then…throw my personal property away? Toss it aside? Who knows what with it, but I didn’t get it back. So while I was waiting, I talked to my sales guy and he came back with it in about 10 minutes saying I was lucky because they were just getting ready to take the car for detailing.
So wait, what? I was lucky? No, I think you were lucky that you didn’t lose my personal property because you either A) didn’t care or B) weren’t paying attention. I mean it was only a $10 frame but it’s the principle of the thing.
And then! I asked the sales guy about the $50 gift card we were supposed to get…because we didn’t get anything in our paperwork. And he tells me—while buzzing through the service waiting area, pretty much without stopping—that he just needs the code and to go to their website and look up the inventory (?) and then find and send him the code…and then he was off.
Um…okay…what?! I’m guessing since the deal was done it felt like he didn’t really have any time for me so that was nice. But I had time to kill so I tried looking for a code on their site and couldn’t find anything after like 10 minutes. So when I managed to grab another sales guy I asked and…are you ready? IT WAS A GIFT CARD FOR TEST DRIVING A HYUNDAI. Soooo not really any extra special bonus for us like we were led to believe. It was something anyone could have gotten FOR FREE yet the manager offered it to us during negotiation as a bonus. Yes, technically it was a bonus since we didn’t know about it…but sorry, that just feels slimy.
So I was not really in a good place when they told me they had to keep my car. I was told it should be done later that evening or tomorrow morning. I said I’d just come back in the morning.
Wanna guess where I am?
Nope.
Hyundai’s service department waiting for a loaner because they screwed something up when putting on the locking lugnuts Saturday and after being here 1.5 hours already today they have “narrowed it down” to one of the tires and it might take another 1-2 hours. This is not an auspicious start to our Hyundai relationship.
That said, of course we cannot be 100% sure it was the lugnuts…but all we know is that the drive home was NOT smooth so something definitely happened between the time we test drove it and the time we left with it. The only thing we could think of was the “bonus” they gave us of the locking lugnuts.
Allure Day 4: St. Thomas
This morning we ate breakfast at Johnny Rockets! Normally it has an extra fee—but not for breakfast! I kind of missed all the choices available in the Windjammer buffet, but it’s also nice to have limited choices.
Don’t ask why I didn’t take many pics—I have no idea. None of the ship, none of the wildlife, none of the excursion line or the catamaran we were on. Maybe because it was HOT and I hate hot. 🙂
We got on the boat and everyone had a seat with snorkeling gear on it. We traveled about 20 minutes to the bay where we were going to be swimming with the sea turtles. We got our instructions, safety briefs, and enjoyed the breezes. Then it was time to get in the water. And it was…not what we expected. The short version is that it was too exhausting and too short.
The longer version? It was described as
Cruise in comfort aboard a power catamaran to the waters off Buck Island, where you’ll snorkel amidst colorful fish, vibrant coral and maybe some sea turtles!” with the typical warning “Guests must consider their physical fitness level and medical history when determining whether this tour is appropriate.”
Which kind of sounds like you’ll hop off the boat and leisurely swim around looking at turtles and sea life, right? Well I am a healthy 46yo woman who is not a peak swimmer but I know how to swim and I’m not going to drown…and this was EXHAUSTING. We had to swim A LONG WAYS to see the turtles. They are protected, so the boat has to drop anchor way away from where the turtles are so you have to swim over to them. They did warn us that there was a long trip and a short trip…but if you wanted to see the turtles you had to do the long trip. They also offered the use of fins, but strongly warned against using them if you were not used to them (citing the possibility of leg cramps). But if you don’t use them, you are likely going to struggle in the water since you have SUCH a long distance to swim (but they don’t tell you that). And you are swimming with snorkel gear (that you are likely mostly unfamiliar with) and maybe a waterproof camera…and there are like 50 other people swimming along with you and you are dodging 3-4 other boats and excursion groups. Egads.
So some people are faster and get there right away (with the guide) and you’re left dragging behind, struggling to catch up. My dad had to turn around and go back (and Tom had to help him, so he had to double back) and thankfully Katie opted to stay behind—she never would have made it and there is no way I could have helped her as I was barely making it. Tom and Linda had fins and didn’t have as many issues (but they were familiar with fins) but Tom was still tired. So by the time we all made it to the sea turtle area…we had about 3 minutes before they were moving on to the reef…which, you guessed it…was another longish swim away. And I was already exhausted. So my plan of a leisurely snorkel off the boat to check out some sea life and take some pics was not happening and I was frustrated and exhausted—not exactly best case scenario for a Caribbean vacation excursion.
Oh, and did I mention that Katie had refused to get off the boat? Yes it ended up okay because the swim would have been too hard, but still. That’s not what you expect after you’ve paid a bunch of money for a snorkeling excursion. She said she didn’t like saltwater and didn’t want any fish to touch her. I kinda wanted to strangle her to be honest. She wouldn’t even hop off the boat and swim for a few minutes.
And then we were back on the boat. And it was time for unlimited rum punch. I don’t generally like rum but this stuff was delicious.
Then it was off to “enjoy an hour of swimming, sunning, and relaxing at this idyllic spot.” If by idyllic you mean having to jump off a boat into neck-deep water to get to shore and then share the beach with a ton of other people from other boats…and that hour was over WAY too quickly. We barely had time to grab a quick lunch and some more rum drinks… And I practically had to BEG Katie to get in the water and Papa totally refused saying he didn’t like getting wet (or didn’t want to get wet?) which was silly because he was already wet from getting off the boat! But we had fun just relaxing in the water!
All that said, the excursion staff was amazing. They were all witty, helpful, and nice. I felt safe the entire time, they were good with our kids, and you could tell they knew what they were doing. I just wish Royal Caribbean would have more than a boilerplate description on their site because this was NOT the relaxing experience I wanted.
Once back on shore, we split up. I took Katie and Papa back to the ship and Tom, Owen, and Linda walked around St. Thomas. Katie and I dug into the frosting dog. The other group shopped and ate lunch.
Then Katie and I headed to the pool—I stayed in the hot (warm) tub and chatted with a bunch of people. Katie was running around in the pools and eating ice cream and visiting me in the hot tub. I don’t remember what all we did the rest of the night…but I know we called it an earlyish night again since we had another early morning planned for San Juan.
One funny story: the kids came home and said they had photobombed a video. So we had to watch it on the room TV…and sure enough… wait until the end. 🙂
Kids ruin everything.
I have had this game of Life for probably 35 years. I have moved it around the country for almost 20. And never once did anything happen to it—it was basically pristine. I let the kids start playing with it and within six months all the buildings have been removed from the board, consequently buildings are missing, and the box has been stepped on and crushed.
This just pisses me off…and kinda breaks my heart. I know it’s just a game and it’s just a “thing” but it just reinforces that our kids (and I’m thinking kids in general) just don’t give two shits about taking care of their things OR things that belong to others (not all the time of course, but more often than I’d like). I try to instill good behavior—and I know overall they’re great kids—but something like this seriously makes me want to throat punch them.
#itsbeenamorningyall
Katie’s Curriculum Night & Tornado Warning
Parents who do their kids school projects for them? UGH. Our second graders had to create a square about themselves/their family. Are you kidding me with these?! I mean she they’re GORGEOUS and amazing but c’mon.
The letter Katie left for me:
All the things she references are other projects hanging around the room:
Baseball sheet:
Her shirt (her goals):
And she wins the most organized desk over Owen:
When we all walked in it was sunny and nice. Then we were in the basement and couldn’t see because it was getting dark out. Then everyone’s phones started going off…
Then there’s nothing like being sent into the hallway to wait out a tornado warning! There’s a first time for everything!
I checked in with Tom because they had been at baseball practice and he said it had been cancelled so they were actually already at home…eating dinner in the basement. And Owen was showing Tom what to do in case of a tornado. (Interestingly he wasn’t nearly as scared as he used to be with wind issues. So that’s a bonus.)
They ended up cancelling the rest of curriculum night as we had had ended up waiting for like 30 minutes. Thankfully our teacher had been about done.
Where’s the technology?!
With all of the technology today, why the hell are there new window stickers that do this? Seriously?
I JUST CANNOT EVEN.
So this is what I walked downstairs to see this morning after the kids left to go out and ride their bikes. AYFKM?! 🤬 So when I ran into them on my walk, they had to go home and take care of it all and then stop they were doing and go on my walk with me.
F***ing cat.
Room cleaning drama, day 1!
Unfortunately it was back to normal life post-vacation so it was time for the kids to clean their rooms. So I told them they had to clean their rooms. Multiple times. They couldn’t concentrate for more than a few minutes before stopping to play or getting otherwise sidetracked. I started to lose my mind.
👩🏻 You guys have to clean your rooms.
👫 …
An hour later.
👩🏻 You guys have to clean your rooms and Katie remember you wanted to finish your library reading to earn the prize.
👫 …
An hour later.
👩🏻 You guys need to finish your rooms. Katie you have to read that book.
👫…
Katie: Can I have a snack?
Owen: Can we go to the pool?
Katie: Can I go to Sophia’s?
Owen: Can we have the dots in our rooms?
👩🏻: 😳🤯🤬 You do understand that I’ve been asking you to do the same thing all day right? And you haven’t done any of it yet?
Katie reads for 5 minutes and Owen reads for 10. They go back to playing.
👩🏻 Hey guys, take a quick sweep around and pick up everything that’s yours and put it away.
👫 (They pick up one or two things and go back to playing.)
Lather, rinse, repeat three times. I warn them that the garbage will be the next stop. This is NOT a new thing.
Guess all the shit I threw away? Shoes, notebooks with drawings, water balloons, Legos, stuffed animals, beads, figurines…
I’m currently waiting for hell to break out when they discover it.
I have a confession to make: Today has been a shitty parenting day.
I knew it wasn’t going to be all sunshine and roses because we did have some work to do before our houseguests arrive tomorrow…but I told them if we got everything done by noon then we could go to the pool. Easy, right?
They literally had less than an hour’s worth of work to do but we are currently on hour five because they can’t stop whining and complaining and fighting and giving me attitude. And not doing what they should be doing.
They have been having nonstop fun for days and days but today, when I’ve asked them to do a tiny bit of work to prepare for overnight houseguests FOR THEIR DUAL POOL BIRTHDAY PARTY, they lose their shit because they can’t follow directions and I refuse to give in and reward them for poor behavior.
I know being a kid is hard, but being a parent on days like today is something I am not prepared for (unfortunately I have lost my cool more than once). I even shut myself in my room at one point because I just. couldn’t. anymore.
I know today will blow over, but we need to do something because I cannot go on like this.
So I need all your suggestions. I’m totally open… books, theories, classes, therapy… Whatever.
#parentingsucks #keepingitreal
I love the pool but this is my idea of hell.
I love the pool but this is my idea of hell because I might be able to grab one of the very last seats in the shade. If I’m lucky. But on the positive side, I’ll have the alone time I need because the kids will be off playing.
It’s honestly normally not this bad mid-week but since this summer has been cold and rainy thus far, everyone is crazy to get out of the house! So I think every day that’s nice is going to be like this for awhile. Today’s crowds were like holiday weekends!!
Guys, I’ve had A DAY.
Not only were the kids completely and utterly annoying in many different ways, things didn’t go my way when I was out running errands.
- At the Sam’s Club gas pump, I was told my membership expired…which meant I had to go in. (Y’all, I usually only go in during pre-10am business hours because people.)
- When I was trying to park, this lady was slowly walking down the center of the lane pushing her cart like she was the only one around. Who does that?! (I was very tempted to honk my horn very loudly to see if I could get her to jump.)
- I went to use my iPad for a recipe and it was completely dead because SOMEONE had unplugged the wall wart (but it still looked like it was plugged in).
I know these are all first world problems, but after the kids have been poking and poking and poking all day…the little things become big things.
If this were any other day in any other week I would be about three margaritas in right now. But I’m not. I’m holding fast.
So, here’s my morning thus far. Subtitled: I AM DONE.
I leisurely woke up and watched a Facebook live mindset that left me feeling happy and relaxed and ready to start the day. I went downstairs to see the kids, and…everything went to shit.
I will leave out all the gory details because this would be a novel otherwise, but suffice it to say no one did anything they were supposed to do, both have unbelievable attitudes, both get on each other’s nerves over the simplest thing, and I have a 10yo who overreacts to EVERYTHING (without warning) and 7yo who likes to argue EVERYTHING and swears she’s not rolling her eyes when she totally is.
And I can’t have a margarita.
SUMMER VACATION, YAY?! TELL ME I AM NOT ALONE.
Sooo tired…
After sleeping in a dead quiet and completely dark basement room for five nights on vacation, our bedroom SUCKS. 😂 The cat was on me all night long, birds singing at 4am (I love fresh air but those damn birds), the dog jumping up at 6 (I’ll be talking to Owen about that), plus I forgot to turn off my damn last day checkout alarm so alarm at 6:30. 😢
I’m glad to be home to my own bed and pillow (and Tom!), but I have to say I actually got better sleep on vacation. 😢
Snow on April 27 is just stupid.
Here’s what I think about it (as we were leaving the restaurant after dinner with friends).
Illinois, I am DONE with you.
It was gorgeous today. But look at the forecast for tomorrow.
SERIOUSLY?!
A friend said she saw it as thought her app was wonky.
The struggle is real, y’all.
They’re learning how to clean the sink tonight. This is what I found after moving cereal bowls this morning. GRRR.
NO MORE SLIME!!
FYI if any parent (or the school) sends slime home with either of my children, it’s going straight into the garbage and I will haunt your dreams. That is all.
Let’s just say I now know it’s 2/3 vinegar to 1/3 water. And Katie learned how to scrub the carpet.
Do any other parents hate mornings as much as I do?
😖 Sometimes I get woken up early just for Owen to ask Alexa what the temperature is even though there is another Alexa elsewhere in the house.
😖 There’s generally a question if they have to take a shower.
😖 Some times there’s drama about clothing. From one or both.
😖 There’s sometimes drama about wearing appropriate outerwear for the weather.
😖 There is generally some tattletailing going on from the little one about something completely inconsequential.
😖 And let’s not forget some kind of drama about homework that was forgotten (even though I asked) or homework not being put in the bag.
😖 And this morning there was extra special drama about a backpack being too full of crap and apparently I can’t look in it to see what the problem might be.
Spouse Confessions: I am weary.
Every since we moved here, I’ve said this move really felt off. I wondered why everything just felt…harder. Like I can’t get organized and nothing feels easy or settled. And it’s because I’m tired. Of lots of things, big and little. This article hits it dead on.
From MilitarySpouse.com: Spouse Confessions: I am weary.
It kind of feels like a gradual thing … each deployment, each TDY, each PCS move, each homecoming … all chipped away at me. Wore my skin thin. Made me more tired by the minute. And now, I just feel weary … all of the time.
Not every single thing in the article is exact for my life, but enough of it is. It sucks that anyone has to feel like this, but it’s good to know I’m not alone and it’s normal.
It’s time, y’all. My first drink of the holiday weekend.
😣 Christmas lights were a fail—half the strands were dead.
😣 Realized both Christmas wreaths are too thick for the front door and the storm door won’t shut. (Obviously didn’t care last year?)
😣 Spent all day in the basement looking for the Christmas light projector Tom bought me a few years ago…so we didn’t have to buy new lights…
👎🏼Broke three nails.
👎🏼 Hurt my back.
👎🏼 Had to play peacekeeper with the kids because they couldn’t stop annoying each other.
😣 Never found the projector so started researching a Black Friday deal…then found the projector in one of the very first Christmas boxes.
😣 We have no good place for the tree since we have a new litter box end table where the tree was last year. Tom and I can’t agree what we should do.
😣 Weather was nice so we decided to have a fire…and the wind kicked up so this will be over soon.
Maybe tomorrow will be better. Tonight is looking up already due to this lovely margarita. 💕
And then drink number two. Totally dark at 5:07. I hate this time of year.
End of season savings?
End of season savings? END OF SEASON SAVINGS? The season just started?! Also, not one snow scraper to be found. I guess bathing suits will be out next week. #getoffmylawn
Be careful what you wish for…
Every year for school pictures I want the digital download but you have to order it WITH a package. The download was $10, so with the cheapest package, it ended up to be about $25. The bonus being you got just a few hard copy photos and it was perfect for us since we don’t need many pics.
So now this year they offer the digital download standalone…but it’s $25!! So to get any prints I have to order from Costco or Sams (I’ve done it before so not a huge deal) but annoying when I could get what I wanted before (even if I was annoyed at having to buy a package + the download).
The cheapest package NOW (adding on the digital version) is $35. The cheapest package that INCLUDES the digital is $51.
I guess it’s time to stop buying the digital photo. I did it before because it comes with the rights to the photo, and since I used to to lots of photo books, I wanted to have that just in case. I have gotten away from the photo books (just don’t have time) so I guess I don’t need that anymore…
Stupid balloon lady.
A local restaurant was having a back-to-school kids night that we happened upon accidentally. And there was a balloon lady scheduled to be there!
We had our drinks when we saw her walk in. She did the table next to us and then headed to our table (the only other table with kids in the room) when she was stopped by the hostess to ask if she could go to a table elsewhere as they were getting close to leaving.
Balloon lady said she’d come right back to us when she was done. We hadn’t even ordered yet so said sure no big deal. She then proceeded to come back in the room…and stop at every table except ours—every one of which had come in after us. GRRR.
We didn’t say anything at first because there was still plenty of time as we were still eating, etc. But 40 minutes later we were done and she had completely ignored us. She never even looked our way. 🙁
On our way out Tom went up to her and thanked her for breaking our daughters heart by promising to come back and then ignoring us. She said “Oh I was just getting to you.” No—no you weren’t. You were just starting at a table of three kids (actually friends of ours) that hadn’t even been there when we got there.
It was a good lesson in disappointment for the kids (and thankfully it was just balloon art) but still. She is why I sometimes say I hate people.
I did find her Facebook page and left a comment about how our kids were both really disappointed that she (in essence) lied to us and never came back. I didn’t expect her to respond (I actually expected her to delete it) but she did—and it was all excuses and passing the buck. 🙁
Snafus + glitches = wine
This is me after yet another day of excruciatingly annoying beind-the-scenes glitches and snafus. Who knew relaunching a business would be so stressful?! 🙂
Here’s one thing I was dealing with… Are you guys ready for a laugh? I requested a cartoon avatar from a designer at Fiverr and this is what he gave me. YIKES!
He pretty much didn’t follow ANY instruction I gave him other than I’m female with dark hair holding a margarita. I honestly think he forgot about it (he was past due) and when I called him on it, he grabbed the closest clip art that matched. It’s already been refunded, but I that means I have to start all over with someone else.
And another thing? My shipping company sends out BCC tracking notifications…except I wasn’t getting them. They simply told me they were going out fine and to check with my email provider. I did my own troubleshooting with a friend, we identified where the problem was, Google customer support confirmed it, so I got to go back to the shipping company and say “No, it IS on your end.” And oh yeah, my support request doesn’t show up anywhere in their online portal and no one can figure out why. (See, one little problem after another. Eventually they discovered the issue on their end but it took a week!) I’m very thankful for my friend Tori who is basically my go-to guru for anything graphics, design, or IT…or, hell, life! 🙂 She keeps me laughing through it all.
So tonight I’m trying a blueberry wine that Lin brought back from Florida…it’s not a margarita but it’s an interesting change of pace.
April 15th. Are you kidding me?
An expected high of 5 today. FIVE.
