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Category Archives: Rants & Gripes

More “luck” Hudson-style.

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The short story?

We no longer have renters. :##

The long story?

Our property manager emailed us saying that they didn’t go for the five-month lease…which I assumed meant they signed the six-month lease. Except Tom had texted me to say the renters had walked out. Huh? WALKED OUT? What?

I was livid—how could someone screw up something so simple as “The owners were wondering if you’d sign a five month lease? No? Okay, here, sign the one for six months.” But at the time, I didn’t know I didn’t have the whole story. Very unfortunate, because I spent a good hour or two being so upset and stressed that I couldn’t breathe and wanted to vomit.

Come to find out, it was probably for the best. When Tom finally had time to tell me the whole story, he said that our PM had asked them if they’d sign the lesser lease, explaining that we were moving back and that would work better for us. They apparently freaked out a bit because (are you ready for this?) they were planning on extending (renewing) their lease at the end of the six months! WHAT?!? Yeah, exactly.

So the slimy sneaky rat bastards had low-balled us because they likely knew we were desperate (and/or they were cheap) and planned on hopefully sneaking a full year (or more) lease by us, eventually hoping that we’d agree to the same rent because we wouldn’t want to deal with the hassle of kicking them out and finding new tenants. And their plan was suddenly foiled because we were actually coming back to the house! So they beat feet to another rental house where the PM there called our PM to ask why they didn’t take our house. So hopefully they get screwed out of that house, too—or at least can’t pull the same scam.

So we decided to just pull the house from the rental market and suck up the 3.5 months rent until we move back there. Yes, it’s a crap load of money, but what can we do? No one is going to sign a 3.5 or 4 month lease. We don’t want to sign a 6-month lease because then we’d have to find somewhere else to live for a short time (or have Tom live on base alone and us come down later, while still paying rent in Michigan). We could hope for a year lease, but then we’d still have to find somewhere to rent—which seems silly since we have a house there. Ugh. We did leave the house on the sale market, just in case…but we’re not holding out hope.

In the meantime, we have to worry about our homeowner’s insurance…because we lose our current insurance on March 15 if we don’t have tenants. The house is officially (and legally) considered VACANT and those policies are quite expensive—and not generally written by our current insurance company. Of course, right? I have been told that there is a difference between VACANT and UNOCCUPIED (which would be like a vacation home) and we are hoping that maybe we can zip down with a Uhaul and dump some furniture in the house and promise to have neighbors check on it weekly until we get there. If that won’t fly, we will likely have to contact Wells Fargo and they will give us a temporary insurance policy to protect their asset.

So, we’ll be flat broke in a few months…but at least we’ll have our own house back. Not that I’m completely thrilled about that (layout wise it’s not the house I wanted to have kids in) but we do have our great neighbors and great friends.

And maybe somewhere along the line we’ll catch a break.

Another Craigslist Idiot

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So I have a DVD box set listed. Some guy emailed me asking if I would take X and I replied I could take X + $5 and he agreed and gave me his number. I looked it up just for shits and giggles because I didn’t recognize the prefix—and it was from somewhere about an hour away…but I figured maybe he worked in the area and would pick it up next week.

So I called and left a message saying today before 2, tomorrow, or next week. He texts back tomorrow would be better…and oh, can I meet him halfway? Um, NO. My listing clearly says PICKUP ONLY (yes, in all caps and bold). I didn’t let on that I knew where he was (because it doesn’t matter) and I told him, Sorry, no. Then he says “Well I’m two hours away so it would cost me [price of item] to come get it.” I tell him my listing said where it was…so I assume he doesn’t want it now?

IDIOT. :##

I am not a mind reader.

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I’m all about customer service during an ebay auction, but really? You want ME to tell you the differences between MY item and some random one on QVC?! :??:

I am comparing your butler tote to the one that is being advertized on QVC. Granted, yours is larger, but it is also more expensive to ship. I have never seen the “Nelle” organizer tote. I am considering bidding on this. What is the difference? I prefer zip top as opposed to a magnetic clasp.

I did check QVC, and there were three bags, so I was apparently ALSO supposed to be a mindreader. My response:

I’m not sure what bag you were looking at at QVC (they have three Butler Bags currently). Mine does have a magnetic closure, but it works quite well. Unfortunately, it is more expensive for me to ship a purse since I’m not a huge corporation that gets a discount on shipping. Since the auction has ended, let me know if you are interested, and I will list it again. Thank you for looking at my auction!

What do you bet I don’t hear anything back?

Rental Rantiness

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I went upstairs to change clothes at 4:30 and there was no power in the MBR. I hadn’t been up there since morning—and I swear I turned the light out on my way out—so what the hell? Yeah, the breaker was tripped, so obviously I did something. I had the lights on and the heater plugged in…which I’ve done before with no problem. But…who the hell knows.

The garage door has an opener, which is a bonus, but it’s a piece of crap door and opener, and has never really worked right, and the last few months it’s started stopping half way and/or closing then opening or whatever. Tom WD40d the tracks which helped for a bit, but tonight it died. It came off the track entirely, then some metal wires got wrapped around something—and of course we were on our way out to dinner. I held the door open so Tom could at least get his car out so it didn’t get stuck…then he had to CUT the wires to get the door to be able to drop closed. And drop it did—damn thing slammed to the ground with a thunderous slam. I hope it’s completely busted and they have to replace the whole goddamn thing. We called the owners and to their credit, they were really worried that our house was left open and vulnerable—and they said they’d call someone first thing in the morning and then call us. We’ll see. I’m not holding my breath.

So we get home from dinner and oops, I don’t have my front door key—I had taken it off for the catsitter and hadn’t put it back yet. And Tom doesn’t carry one. But we have an emergency one (which we placed for this very reason)…which we used…except the screen door was locked (a habit left over from summer when the big door was open and Owen could open the screen door). So we had to cut the screen to unlock the door. (Now, I know this part isn’t technically a rant about the house. But it technically kind of is due to the whole garage door fiasco.)

Then Owen got sick and we had to clean his carpets with the Rug Doctor. That tripped that breaker [a separate one] three times before we found a plug we could use successfully. Well, we were using it but turning on the hall light and [something else I can’t remember] actually tripped it. >:XX Swear to god, they have 15 things on one breaker an then two on another (that you never use).

And it’s all worse because it’s so >:XX cold in here. [Insert last year’s rant.]

Stupid USPS

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/sarcasm on

I’m sooooo glad we used the online form to stop our mail while we were on vacation for two weeks.

/sarcasm off

Yeah, that didn’t work at all. Even though I got a confirmation number and everything, the mail never stopped. Thankfully our neighbor knew we were on vacation (and was checking for packages) so she picked up all the mail, too.

The laptop saga: Addendum

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So far, I really like the laptop…except that the ‘chiclet’ keyboard is THE worst keyboard I’ve EVER used. :## I am normally a pretty quick and accurate typist (I think the last time I tested it was about 85wpm) and I would honestly say that I LOVE TYPING. However, with this absolutely craptastic keyboard, I find I am HATING typing. Yes, HATING. Plain and simple, the keyboard skips letters if you don’t hit the key JUST right (a full-on dead-center firm press). :down:

But, on the positive side…Costco’s deals came out this month and the laptop was offered for $100 cheaper! So I took in my receipt and got credited $100! If you add that to the $50 cash card and the $50 credit card credit I already got, that means I got $200 off this laptop! :up:

I can live with that.

Why I hate real life shopping.

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Just now I had an experience that REALLY exemplifies why I love shopping with Amazon instead of B&M stores.

I wanted to get Owen a Magnadoodle toy for our upcoming road trip. I checked Amazon, and it was $17.24, but my price comparison add-on told me that Toys’R’Us had it for $9.99. Cool. I checked the site and it said they carried it in the store. Well, for an $8 savings, I was willing to go to the store. I also had a 20% coupon.

Except that I couldn’t find the coupon, so I googled and found a 15% and printed it. I get to the store and there’s almost no parking (I got the last regular spot). I look high and low for these things and finally find a small section…that didn’t have what I was looking for. So I got out my phone and searched for it and NOTHING came up. WHAT? I just saw it an hour before at home. I was just about to give up or find someone to ask when I finally found them on an end cap. And it was NOT $9.99. It was $11.99. But at the time, I honestly couldn’t remember what price it was supposed to be, and I couldn’t find it online to compare. Ugh.

So I get to the check out and my coupon…was expired. I hadn’t looked close enough at the dates. My fault totally but just another annoying addition to the day.

THIRTY FOUR MINUTES. That’s how long I was in the store, not counting the drive there and back. And I get home and check the website to see the item WAS $9.99. >:-[

I honestly would have rather paid a few bucks with the simple click of my finger than deal with the annoyance factors in the real world.

The laptop saga, part 3.

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So, when I last talked to Costco.com (10/6), they said I would hear from someone within 1-2 days about my issues. Yeah, I got an email and voice mail from them today. Apologizing up the wazoo about taking so long and all the problem I’ve had… The voice mail asked for clarification on some things, so I sat in the parking lot of Kroger and sent a response from my phone. Among other things, I said I did not want a third laptop UNLESS (and only unless) they could give me a big discount on it.

We’ll see what happens.

A few hours later…

Oh. My. Gawd.

The rep replied and said she didn’t see anything in my account about a return for the laptop and asked if I wanted her to initiate a return. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. >:XX

Needless to say I kind of went off on her, though somewhat nicely:

I have to say I am completely gobsmacked that there is no return in process. I made it VERY clear to the rep I spoke with on 10/6 (I think it was Evelyn if that helps) that I was returning the second laptop and she assured me she would initiate a return via UPS label and I would receive it via email in 3-5 business days. This comes after the FIRST rep I talked to (during the initial Concierge/Costco.com phone calls weeks ago) said I’d receive a return label…and about 9 days later I hadn’t received it (OR the replacement laptop), so contacted Costo.com via the website asking about my return/replacement status, and they informed me the return hadn’t been processed (at that point). I received the UPS email the very next day. So long story short, YES, please start the return process.

Then I told them there must be something wrong with their returns system, as TWO SEPARATE REPS said they initiated a return, and both apparently failed.

THEN I asked directly about receiving a credit since she didn’t bring it up.

I love Costco, but this is RIDICULOUS.

The laptop saga, continued.

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So I got the replacement laptop today…and…IT’S THE SAME >:XX ONE.

Costco seems to think they can get it right on the third time, as the lady is sending the issue to “order resolution”—whatever. I told her I had no desire to get a third laptop, and she was all “Well why am I emailing them then?” And I told her so they could figure out why their Dell outlet keeps shipping foreign laptops that don’t match the specs to customers. She didn’t get it. I told her I’ve been without a laptop for three weeks now, and cannot wait another week for this to be resolved and then another week to get a replacement laptop. She didn’t get it.

So I’m letting them do whatever they need to do and I will be laptop shopping elsewhere. I assume I will have to send back a third laptop…

At least now I can send back the second laptop masquerading as the first, so I can at least continue to use the laptop I already have set up with wireless, some programs, etc.

The Case of the Foreign Laptop

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Ready for another electronics rant?

Got the new Dell laptop delivered last night. Got it up and running. All was well. Until I realized that the hard drive space was wonky—it should have had 500GB but only appeared to have 300 or so. I posted in one of my tech forums about missing space, and come to find out, nope—it IS only a 300GB drive.

AND…

Apparently, it was purchased outside of the United States. Because when I tried to connect to Dell chat with my Dell service tag, it TOLD me I couldn’t chat because I didn’t purchase the laptop in the country.

Wait.

What? :??:

Yeah, I know. :##

So I called Costco Concierge Tech Support and I am sure the guy thought I was a moron because I couldn’t find the serial number. He even had me take out the battery–nothing. I told him most of the writing was Chinese characters. I even checked the shipping box—it came from a Dell Outlet in Tennessee. The guy was flummoxed.

null

Well, 40 minutes later, after conferring with his manger and a three-way conference call with Costco.com, they are sending me a replacement laptop and a pre-paid sticker to return this one. They have NO idea what happened, but are confident it won’t happen again.

I. Can’t. Wait. 🙄

I mean, I only wasted about 3-4 hours already getting this one back up to speed with uninstalls, downloads, installs, backup recoveries, personalizations, etc. And now I get to DO IT ALL AGAIN in another week and a half. Oh yes, that’s right—they can’t expedite the order AT ALL since it still goes through Tennessee. They assured me my order will go in front of the new orders, though. Big whoop.

I do give credit to the Concierge support and Costco.com people, though—they were very nice and patient and they weren’t the problem at all. My rant is about the whole thing in general… First a Dell that came down with some strange condition (which we honestly haven’t yet checked out), then bought and returned a shitty HP, then ordered and waited 1.5 weeks for this Dell…and it turns out to be wonky, and now I have to wait just as long for the replacement.

I can use this one for the 3-5 days until the return label gets here, and I may stretch it out even longer so I have a working laptop…

But, really? Could I have any worse luck with electronics?

Wells Fargo is unbelievable.

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We got a notice that they tried to pay our insurance and it failed because we changed insurance companies and didn’t tell them, so now we need to pay the annual fee ourselves, plus send them all the documentation. Um, no. Nothing has changed.

The cover sheet had all our correct info, but the enclosure didn’t—it listed a different loan number, different address, and different insurance company! In fact, the only things the same were the house number [on a different street in the same town but a different zip code] and the last name.

WHAT THE HELL? How does that even happen? :??:

We called them and the lady just basically said “Sorry, it was a mistake. Your account looks okay.”

But I just cannot believe a company can be this screwed up.

Is this day over yet?

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First, I was up at 5:30 and couldn’t fall back to sleep.

Then I discovered the TV needs a service call.

Then I realized we lost a bunch of iTunes stuff.

Then I printed a label on regular paper and an invoice on a label.

Then Owen got hold of a pen and now I have to clean ink off the couch…again.

Calgon (or tequila), take me away.

What’s with the weather?

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I am really tired of the hot and humid weather. Last I lived here, Michigan summers WERE NOT like this. There might have been a week or two of hot and humid weather in August, but it has been like this ALL summer, minus a day or six. And apparently, the first winter we were here it was the worst winter they’d seen in A LONG time. What gives? Yeah, I know NC summers are still worse, but summers were one of the good things about coming home…and we didn’t even get that.

Hair. GRRRRRRR.

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I hate my hair. Really. I mean, it CAN look nice, and I guess it could be worse. But today is complete UGH.

Up until I got it cut/colored about four months ago, it was all one length—which made it somewhat easy for blow-drying it straight…but a big lopsided poofy mess when left wavy. So when she cut it, she layered it in such a way that it wouldn’t be a big poofy triangular-shaped mess when I left it curly (YAY!)…but that meant that straightening it was a bigger pain because I was dealing with layers (BOO!). And moreso since the bottom layers are supposed to be curled up and the top layers are supposed to be curled down.

So honestly, since it’s summer, I mostly wear it au naturale because the humidity has been so high and my head sweats and we go swimming now and again…so I want to wash it more often. But when I do try and straighten it, it’s just a mess and I get soooooooooo frustrated.

So Tom’s 20th HS reunion is this weekend, so I thought it would be a good time for a trim and a blow-dry. Of course, they could only get me in last night, but I took it since my hair should still look good three days later (good enough anyway). But then I freaked out at how much it was going to cost—not my normal salon prices ($35 including tip) but ranging from $50-$75! 8| I had a 20% coupon, but still. Then I panicked when I saw the blow-dry/style prices started at $30 and thought there was no way in hell I was paying upwards of $70 for a trim and a style. So I cancelled. Of course today I’m thinking a normal dry/style would be included in the cut price (like it has been at every other place I’ve ever been to) and that the $30 price is just for a style ONLY. So I probably should have gone…but now I can’t make any of the appointments they have left.

So I tried to do my hair this morning. I told myself ahead of time that I would take more time than usual to style it so maybe I would do a really good job and be happy.

NOT.

I took 100% longer—I usually finish in about 30 minutes but today I took almost an hour…and I don’t love it. I think it looks horrible. The undersides are curling up but not in any logical or consistent way. The topsides are curling down but it’s way poofy. And I even took the time to blow dry small sections, using the right brush, and using the flat iron between sections. GRRR.

WHY DOES HAIR HAVE TO BE SUCH A PAIN IN THE ASS? >:XX

Needless to say I’m tempted to go back to no-layers for the winter, because at least then I have a decent shot at having a decent straight hairdo.

New car colors – blech.

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We are starting to think and plan for a new car minivan [Toyota Sienna]. Shoot me. Yeah, I know people love them and I am sure I will come to love it…but I just love my Toyota Highlander SO much I don’t ever want to get rid of it. It’s nine years old and would likely last a lot more years…but if we want to have a second kid, a minivan is definitely in our future.

Anyway.

What really annoys me about buying a new car is all the really blah colors offered. I hate HATE blah colors. Really, these are it? /gag XX(

What happened to green? Turquoise? Orange? Purple? Give me one of those and I’d buy one ASAP. (As a point of reference, my first car was gold, my second car was bright purple, and my current car is a deep/bright green.) I actually like the black the best, but I would never get a black car. The second closest would be the South Pacific Pearl, but it’s still too muted for me.

Maybe we can hold out another year and the 2012 colors will be better. 😐

P.S. Here are the color choices I had in 2001—soooooo much better.

Kmart online. NEVER again.

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Kmart. Need I say more?

Yes, I know I am spoiled with Amazon Prime and their two-day shipping, but seriously. We are going on THREE weeks since I ordered, and I still don’t have my items. When I ordered, I expected to have the items within a week (that’s what their estimator told me). It took FIVE days just to get a shipping notice. And then I waited. And waited. And checked tracking. And checked tracking. As of today, the package is still in INDIANA. We’re leaving for a week, so will be a PITA to receive now (haven’t been able to ask a neighbor to check mail yet).

So I call to see if I can get a discount on my order or s/h charges reversed. The lady first asks me what store I ordered from. Huh? I ordered online. “Yeah, but what store?” WHAT? ONLINE I say again. Then she argues with me that my order number is incorrect. Apparently, the order number in my email was NOT the actual order number. |-| Due to them being Sears/Kmart things are screwy, I guess. The email said “Thank you for ordering from Sears” and then later it said “Item provided by Kmart.” WTF?

So the CSR finally finds my order by phone number and I tell her my story and looks it up and says “It will be there tomorrow” with a finality that she’s done her part. Okay, that’s NOT what I asked for at all. I can follow tracking as good as you can. So I tell her that it’s ridiculous that I’ve had to wait this long, yada yada yada (staying nice) and she tells me she’s sorry, but it will be there tomorrow. I ask to talk to a manager.

I wait on hold for FIFTEEN minutes and go through the entire thing again with him. HE tells me it will be there tomorrow. You’re kidding me with this, right? He goes on to tell me that it was out of stock at the warehouse so they had to outsource it to [somewhere, another store maybe?] so that’s why it was taking longer. Okay, I said, so why wasn’t I made aware of that? Well, he says, they’re working on a new system to better streamline this sort of thing. OH, WHATEVER. So it comes down to what I am asking, and he doesn’t even say “We’ll refund your shipping” or anything. I HAD TO ASK FOR IT. Then you can hear in his voice like he’s really not happy about it…but he will refund the shipping.

Lord have mercy.

I will never shop at Kmart online again. I only did it because I didn’t want to go to two stores to get what I needed (I called, and each store had one and I needed two) so I thought it would be worth the $7. Ha. HA HA.

District Court can kiss my ass.

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>:XX

What the hell is the point of offering traffic ticket recipients the option to write a letter of explanation for a possible reduced ticket … if you don’t even read the letter and just charge me regardless? At least pretend to care, bastards.

Yes, I know it was my fault in the end (god forbid the Secretary of State be partially to blame!), but don’t give me an option and then ignore it entirely.

And really? $125 for expired tags? What a crock. My speeding ticket [seven years ago] was $125. I think speeding is a bit more reckless than expired tags.

>:XX

Facebook Status Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson has learned that Maggie can open the screen door to let herself in if you don’t do it in time.
  • Jennifer Hudson really wishes people would pick up after their kids at the park. This is not your personal trash can.
  • Jennifer Hudson Finally. After almost nine years I have a wedding album!
  • Jennifer Hudson hates when I FINALLY decide to buy something online because I can’t find it locally…then two days later I find it locally…on clearance.
  • Jennifer Hudson has cut the 750+ photos from this weekend down to 333 on the first run through.
  • Jennifer Hudson is exhausted. Owen decided not to sleep last night, and instead scream every time we put him down. I ended up in the rocking chair with him—he slept, I didn’t.
  • Jennifer Hudson just took 600+ pictures of Owen in his pool with his new garage-sale slide. Sooooo much fun!
  • Jennifer Hudson is having a hard time reconciling Mr. Noodle being the creepy serial killer on CSI.
  • Jennifer Hudson just saw this response to a news article: “It just babbles my mind.” I’m not sure whether to laugh or be dumbfounded at the stupidity.
  • Jennifer Hudson just heard a loud clunk from upstairs–which means the little man is up and tossed the wipes off the dresser.
  • Jennifer Hudson is bummed that 1) LOST is over and 2) they ended it like they did. But mostly #1.
  • Jennifer Hudson knows road work has to be done, but I hate living in the middle of it—our main intersection is predicted to be janked through November and our neighborhood until August. BOOOOOOOO!
  • Jennifer Hudson had the king-sized bed covered with three cat-puke-prevention towels while we were gone…and the damn cat managed to barf in the 1/2″ seam where there was no towel.
  • Jennifer Hudson needs another Margarita.
  • Jennifer Hudson had a dream about John Casey last night. IBIMB.
  • Jennifer Hudson has a crankopotamus for a kid today.
  • Jennifer Hudson just bruised her arm and almost threw out her back trying to open a >:XX window. I hate this house sometimes.
  • Jennifer Hudson is being driven absolutely insane by our exceedingly intermittent internet connection.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks the toddler shoe aisle is the mist frustrating place. Nothing in the right place, single shoes everywhere, shoes in wrong boxes. I hate people who disrupt aisles like that.
  • Jennifer Hudson 1) Harleys should NOT be allowed to run before 7am. Hell, 6am. Thank you SO much, neighbor. At least I finally fell back to sleep. 2) Stepping in cat vomit is NOT a good way to start the morning, especially when you’re carring a kid. 3) M-O-N-S-T-E-R-C-L-U-B-HOUSE.

Missing tags? Ticket! GRRR.

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So I got pulled over today. >:XX In the end, it’s a good thing, but in the meantime, it’s a big pain in the ass.

I honestly had NO idea why I got pulled over since I had been at a red light then turned on a green arrow—and I was a bit worried when I saw the cop nose into the turn lane ahead of someone [but behind me] so I watched my speed, etc. So imagine my complete and utter SHOCK when she told me I had expired tags.

Wait, what? Expired CAR tags? No way. Not possible.

I distinctly remembered going to get them. I remembered having parents here babysitting so I didn’t have to drag Owen. I remembered being at the counter and changing my address. But hmmm, I couldn’t find my registration, which was odd—not even an OLD registration. And then I was ticked at myself because I remembered pulling up TO the white line instead of staying back where the cop was (a good car length behind the line—so she was able to see my plates).

So I never found a registration, and she came back and said they were definitely expired and I had no registration on file at the Secretary of State. 88| I actually asked if I could get out and look—saying that I believed her, but I had to see it for myself. Yep, they were 2009 tags. >:XX

When I got home I started to dig through records trying to find any info—my best bet would be the check I know I paid with. I had a voters registration card with a date of June 22, 2009, so I know that’s the date I was in the DMV and would have written the check. (There was a slight chance I only did hubby’s that day but I KNOW I would have done mine via the internet had I been sent the forms in the mail.) But I got nothing—online banking only goes back three months, and this would have been in the June-September 2009 time frame.

I called my credit union, told them what I was looking for, and they actually searched a YEAR’S WORTH of checks and didn’t find anything. I know I paid by check, but I checked credit card statements, too (thinking maybe I was misremembering and did the renewal online) but there wasn’t anything there, either. >:XX Then I remembered another checking account that is barely used because I have been planning on canceling the account, but I didn’t have any account numbers (I recently deleted the online account AND the mint.com connection because I was going to delete the account). GRRRR. I did end up finding account numbers so I called, they found the check, but it was only for a small amount—the amount of Tom’s registration, as it turned out.

I called the Secretary of State to see if they could help me figure out what happened—and they were no big help. They did tell me, though, that the address on file was my Grayling address (even though I changed my license address) for whatever reason. Which means my renewal info went there…except my mom never got it. She got my LICENSE renewal, though. ❓

The most baffling part, really, is that my expired registration was not in the car. I only take it out when I replace it with the new one (just like proof of insurance)…so where did it go? I haven’t needed it for anything else that I can remember…

GRRRRR.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

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>:XX

I am SO pissed right now. Mostly at myself for not reading closely, but also at the store. This week’s store ad had a deal: $3 back for every $15 spent on certain Huggies products. AWESOME! I had coupons for EVERYTHING (diapers, wipes, swim diapers, pull ups, etc.) so thought this would be a good time to stock up. So I spent probably 15 minutes or more in the section making sure I had all the right stuff for coupons and making sure I had just enough product (dollarwise) to get the most money back from the $3 deal. I had like $75 worth of products, which meant $15 credit. Plus my about $15 in coupons meant I was getting a really good deal.

So I check out and give the baggers directions (as usual) and am heading towards the car looking at my receipt and first thing I see is I didn’t get credit for my four bags. It’s only 20c, but it happens WAY more often than not, and it’s just really irritating. Then I notice that I only got $3 credit for my Huggies purchases. |-| So I pull out the ad—and yep, in teeny tiny print it says “One credit per transaction.” Stupid store being tricky…they rarely have limits like this.

>:XX

Of course, I could return it all, but then there would be confusion with the coupons I used which I wouldn’t get back (or would have to stand there and fight with them for longer that it would be worth). And it would have been REALLY easy (had I gotten it right and paid attention) to ring up one box of diapers with a coupon, then another box of diapers with a coupon, etc. UGH.

>:XX

It’s only $12…but IT’S $12! And I only bought all that shit because of the deal (plus my coupons). I really don’t need 300 diapers at the moment. Or six containers of wipes that I really only buy for the plastic container, since we get our wipes from Costco.

>:XX

So I’m fuming at myself the entire way home, get home, unload the car, and >:XX why does not one >:XX bagger EVER know how to bag groceries? I told them to put all the light but big stuff (diapers, wipes) in the big IKEA bag and they got it half right. Refrigerated stuff, which was all on the belt together, got separated into two different bags (like, I bought 4 of one thing…3 were in one bag and 1 was in another). UGH. Swear to god, from now on I might just bag the stuff myself because it annoys me so much. And then, of course, instead of just not using one bag, they put one pack of swim diapers in it. REALLY? Just because I have the bag there doesn’t meant you have to use it if you don’t need it. And eggs, which are always the last to get bagged (at least they get that right)—they put those in a plastic bag. WHY?!?!?!?!? Just set them on top of one of the >:XX bags that is right there.

Breathe.

Breathe.

This is apparently what I get for trying to get my shopping done first thing in the morning. I usually go in the afternoon when I’m much more alert.

One of those days…

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Ever just have ONE OF THOSE DAYS where a bunch of really little things just add up and make you want to scream? Sigh. Yeah, today’s that day.

  • My good little napper only slept 30 minutes today. The day I had an actual crap ton of stuff to get done while he napped.
  • I went to print an envelope and forgot I didn’t have Word installed. So I installed all that stuff and it didn’t print – oh joy, my printer has disappeared from Windows 7 again and has defaulted to the stupid Microsoft Document Printer.
  • I had to login to paypal to buy/print a shipping label but my phone was syncing so I couldn’t get the security text until I was done with that.
  • I find out that I screwed myself on paypal shipping because I thought “Gee, it couldn’t possibly cost THAT much to send a lightweight instruction manual” so I didn’t actually figure it out. Yeah, it cost 3x as much. I should have charged $1 for the item and $5 for shipping. Ugh.
  • Every kleenex box I went to (only two, but still) were empty.
  • I have dropped just about everything I’ve picked up, or at least part of what I was picking up/moving.
  • I knocked a cup of water off my dresser all over the floor.
  • I want to hang my towel on the bar next to the shower and instead dropped it in the toilet.
  • I dropped my comb in the toilet.
  • Our dishwasher stopped working last night so I went to do dishes today, and none of the stoppers we have fit (actually hold water) so I can’t do dishes in a big sink of water. I have called our landlords and they are supposed to get back to me today. I’ll believe it when it happens.
  • The animals’ water fountain is almost empty, so it’s making ghastly noises and I hate filling it.

I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Did you know that collage frames LIE?

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I hate >:XX lying collage photo frames. It said the holes were 2.5 x 3.5 so I spent an HOUR in Photoshop resizing 13 photos…only to have them be too big. WTF? So I measure the frame and sure enough, the holes are actually 2 x 3…so why the >:XX aren’t they labelled like that? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

And of course, digital photos don’t automatically resize to 2 x 3 (it’s 2.25 x 3) which means another hour of resizing.

So it was a long night for a project I thought would take 20 minutes.

Pet venting.

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Sigh.

I love my animals, I really do. But there are days…

We have a barfer kitty, Miss Bella. I am sure some of you have read my Facebook updates about cleaning cat vomit. Repeatedly. (And I know some of you have experienced it first hand.)

It drives me INSANE.

She has done it ever since she became a cat (I don’t recall her doing it during kittenhood) and she has been to the vet, she has been put on multiple different foods, she has been been on food restriction (which was VERY hard considering we have two cats) and nothing seems to help. She just barfs. A lot. And it’s NEVER hairballs. Sometimes it’s right after she eats (the food is still in big pieces, completely undigested) and we joke we have a bulimic cat. Other times it’s just foam. Other times it’s digested.

Today it’s been twice, once off the couch (which got the couch and wood floor) and once on the exercise mat. Usually it’s the couch or the wall or our bed or something that’s a pain in the ass to clean. And it’s not like you can always put everything away on a shelf or whatnot, because she gets up there, too (i.e. she puked on a camera—let me tell you how fun THAT was to try and clean).

I love her, but after five years, IT’S GETTING OLD. And I can only imagine another—what?—10 years or so of this? Sigh. Sometimes I don’t think I can handle it…or WANT to deal with it. But how can I get rid of her? In the heat of the moment I can easily see it, but in reality there is no way I could do it.

So we trudge on.

Of course, the other cat gets hairballs (and pukes) and one or both of them poop outside the box (and sometimes pee—and we’ve tried a million different solutions, there, too)… and the dog even gets in on the action by barfing now and again (in our bed, just this weekend) and peeing because she doesn’t like to go outside in the winter.

Big sigh.

Sometimes I think life would be so much easier without the animals… but on the flip side I can’t imagine NOT having animals in my life. I just never remember having THIS many issues with animals growing up. OR hearing of people with these issues.

So I am left to wonder if we just have craptacular luck in choosing animals or if this kind of thing is more prominent and people just don’t talk about it?

This is not my day.

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It started at 4:30am, when Tom’s alarm went off…which in and of itself is a necessity, I know. But he didn’t get up. EVEN THOUGH I SPECIFICALLY ASKED THE NIGHT BEFORE ABOUT IT AND OH, OF COURSE HE’S GETTING UP. 😐 So then of course he falls RIGHT back to sleep and I toss and turn, finally falling asleep until his second alarm went off about 5:15. Needless to say I was NOT happy. And he STILL didn’t get up and of course I had trouble falling asleep again. So just when I’m getting some sleep…*I* get a blocked call (had my phone on silent, but it still vibrates, which is enough to wake me up) at 6am.

>:XX

Then, after I put Owen down for his nap, I decided to get a bunch of stuff done around the house since I was feeling AMAZING (after a round of stomach flu this weekend) and was carrying laundry down from upstairs when I slipped and crashed on my ass. Luckily I didn’t hit my head or go down the entire staircase (or do any serious damage), but my butt, back, and wrists hurt immediately and I predicted in a few hours I wouldn’t be able to move (so I skipped the measly Advil and went straight to the prescription painkillers).

And just to round out my morning… I discovered that Maggie peed in the house. Again. I let her out this morning like I always do and tried to keep an eye on her (since she’s been peeing inside more often lately) and damn if she didn’t do it while I was in the shower. She just hates going outside in the cold/snow so if you don’t actually watch her outside I swear she fakes it…then pees in the house because you weren’t watching her at the exact moment she needed (wanted) to go outside. I think it might be time she goes back in her crate during the day.

GRRRR.

I know things could be worse (I could still have the flu, knock on wood, or god forbid Owen could have it, KNOCK ON WOOD) but this has not been a good day.

Sneaky Renters

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Long story short, they “suddenly remembered” they had a third dog—ANOTHER GREAT DANE—the day before they were supposed to move in! Riiiiight. Why don’t I believe that? No wonder they easily agreed to another $50 in rent.

We told the property manager we wanted another $25 per month OR a $200 flat non-refundable fee for each pet (instead of the $150 we typically have) but, gee, she didn’t go to bat for us on that one. Instead, she just said “Well, the poodle is 12 so they don’t think it will last that long. And we will do an inspection in three months instead of six.”

>:XX

I really REALLY think the property manager should have OUR best interests at heart, and not the renters.

Of course we don’t want to piss them off and want them to move out (or stay and destroy the house)…but we really do think they tried to be sneaky about this and then they’re all moved in and probably thinking “Well what can they [the owners] do about it now?”

>:XX

New Years Eve

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In short, what a waste of money. 🙁

Short story long, my dad and Linda mentioned they were coming down to visit, so my first thought was that we’d be able to go out! I was excited about something as simple as dinner and a movie…but apparently Tom had other visions.

I thought maybe we could do the dinner/movie thing or something like bowling with friends from his work (that we had fun with at the USMC ball), so he passed on the idea of a night out…and they came back with some huge party at a local hotel that would have cost over $500.

Um, no. Sorry.

I told him as much and he was upset about it because he apparently REALLY wanted to do something and since he had been the instigator for the idea, he felt he had to go. I again told him we were not spending $500 on NYE (that’s half a cruise!). He eventually cut out the hotel stay and dinner part of the event, which cut costs considerably—although it was still too much for me. But I gave in.

The tickets did include an open bar, which was a good thing…except we had just done that at the ball in November and I really wasn’t in the mood to do it again so soon, if you catch my drift. I mean, sure, I didn’t HAVE to drink, but with an $89 ticket I certainly would want to get my money’s worth (because I certainly wasn’t paying $89 to dance or for a veggie tray and chicken fingers—the “food” that was included). I also didn’t want to drink enough to require calling a cab to get home.

We pull up to the hotel so Tom could drop me off and see that there is valet parking which we (of course) didn’t need, but come to find out it was MANDATORY valet parking. For $10. I was pissed—no where in ANY of the ticket or event information did they mention mandatory valet parking. What a ripoff. We had both happened to throw some money in our pockets before we left, so we did have the money…but I was tempted to tell them where to put it. >:XX

So, we weren’t even inside yet and I was pissed off. Not a good start to the night. So right inside the door we had to show ID. Then Tom had to show ID to get the tickets. Then we both had to show ID to get the wristbands. I swear it was more security than at the airport. It was annoying, but not terrible.

So the last section was the coat check. I said I didn’t need to check my coat and they told me it was a mandatory coat check. I literally said “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME.” Turns out they missed the fact that we were going up to our friends’ room and were going to leave the coat there.

But that was another obstacle—we didn’t have the necessary wrist bands to go upstairs! Only people who were staying the night were allowed upstairs. WHAT? SERIOUSLY? But apparently the front desk wasn’t clued into this, because Tom had just gone over and gotten the room number where we were headed—and they said nothing about needing wrist bands. So the security guy in front of the elevators was giving us shit, then after some back-and-forth with Tom, finally said “Just go on up, I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything.” 🙄 Whatever.

So we go upstairs and see signs that there are to be no personal parties in the rooms (which is funny, because the promos for the event made a big deal about how “all the suites overlook the dance floor/party area”—what’s the point if you can’t be up there?) and once in our friends’ room, they told us they were almost frisked for alcohol before being allowed up with their bags because the hotel DID NOT WANT partying in the rooms. It’s not like they would be cheating the hotel out of paying for alcohol, since every single person there had bought a ticket allowing them access to the open bar. Totally asinine.

So at 9 we headed downstairs and the main bar was sooooooooo slow (and it really wasn’t even busy yet) but there was a sign that Red Bull was $5. We were all like “I thought it was an open bar?” Oh, open except for Red Bull (which is of course what I had wanted to drink). At that point, I had had it with the evening and was ready to go home. Seriously. With the crazy stupid security, the mandatory valet parking, the mandatory coat check, the strict room rules, and now the Red Bull cost? >:XX I was seriously tempted to just keep asking for drinks and dumping them out, telling them it would be much cheaper to just give me a damn Red Bull (which, seriously, costs maybe $1.50/can).

Oh, and there was nowhere at all to sit—all the tables were VIP only (meaning you had to buy the space) so we knew we’d be standing the entire evening. Again, something that was never mentioned anywhere in the promos. >:XX So we all headed off into a side room where at least the bar service was a little faster, but the music sucked, so we pretty much just stood around. Then it started getting crowded. Other side rooms had other music, but nothing any better than the first room we were in. By this point the main room was so crowded it was a pain walking through it to get anywhere. The music on the dance floor sucked, too. I don’t think I recognized two songs the entire time we were standing there (probably two hours total of the night). And the clientele was scary—lots of skanky/trashy/whorish looking girls in stripper clothes and shoes. Sad. Of course there were some normal-looking people, but overall I just felt old and out of place and would rather have been at home.

At least I was somewhat looking forward to midnight, because the promos had said they would play the New York Ball Drop at midnight on the “40 LCD TVs AROUND THE ROOM.” Except they didn’t. Hell, they didn’t even start the countdown until about 12:02 (according to our phones). I think it was 12:08 when I told Tom it was time to go.

It took some time to find our friends so we could get a room key to get my coat, and I had been sober since about 11, so I was fine to drive. We were home and in bed by 12:50.

The only good thing is that now Tom owes me big. BIG. And we never need to go out on NYE again.

Bah humbug.

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So I got a free $10 coupon from JCPenney in the mail, and I thought I might as well use it since it’s free money, right?

So a few nights ago I went to try and find a photo album and long story short they didn’t have ANY where they said they would be, and I really didn’t feel like looking around more (with the 400 other people in the store), so I wandered through the kitchen stuff, sure that I could find something there to spend $10 on. Right away I found a covered 9×13 non-stick pan for $20, so it would be $10. AWESOME. I wait in line, get to the checkout, and am told the item is not eligible. Ugh. So I left it there and decided to check out baby clothes. Not that Owen needs anything, but if it was free…why not?

So I wandered around that section, thinking he could use bigger mittens…but I didn’t like any of the picked-over selection. It took some time to pick out what I wanted, but it was all on sale so it was a great deal (with the coupon, especially). After probably 20 minutes, I really didn’t want the stuff that bad to stand in line again (my fault, but still annoying) so I headed toward the exit, only to be stopped by a display of socks, thinking “Hey, I just mentioned the other day I could use [a certain type] of sock” but no, it’s men’s socks. But it’s right by the women’s lingerie section, so there should be socks there, right? Oh no. I wandered the entire women’s section there and NO SOCKS! So who the hell knows where they were, but I wasn’t about to spend any more godforsaken time there—so I left, vowing not to return because the stupid $10 was NOT worth the agony of shopping during the holiday season. (It was also a BIG reminder that I really am not a SHOPPER anymore. Online, yes. In person? No.)

So last night I had to go out to spend a free $10 Kohl’s coupon…so I figured what the hell, I might as well try JCP again. WHAT A MISTAKE. I go in, find something RIGHT AWAY that I could actually use. It was on sale for $9.99. Wait in line. Get annoyed by other shoppers. Go to check out and the coupon won’t work—the register says nothing valid was purchased. My clerk was about as slow as molasses. He looks a the coupon, looks at me, looks at the item in the bag, looks at me, looks at the coupon, looks at the register, looks at the coupon, looks at the register… Good god.

Then he says gee…
I’m…
not…
sure…
why…
it’s…
not…
working…

I said I didn’t know, either.

Then he slowly…
reaches…
into…
his…
pocket…
and…
pulls…
out…
his…
glasses…
case…
then…
opens…
it…
and…
takes…
out…
his…
glasses…
AND OH MY GOD I JUST WANTED TO SCREAM AT HIM TO HURRY THE HELL UP. Although I stayed calm and looked like the nicest customer ever. So after more painful slow waiting for him to react, he finally determined that there were already too many discounts on the item. I knew that wasn’t the case, so I logically guessed that the item was $9.99 and the coupon must state “$10 before taxes” so that was the problem. Then he agreed that was it. 🙄 So I then nicely ask/joke if there isn’t some way he can just charge me $10 for the item (knowing full well that a cashier can generally change the price of an item—been there, done that) and he is, again, clueless. I am sure this guy was just temporary holiday help, because he really was AMAZINGLY CLUELESS. He asks the girl at the next register and of course the answer is no. Sigh.

So he just stands there and looks at me. Just looks. Doesn’t say anything. I’ve been a cashier. At this point, he really should have apologized, and/or asked if I would still like the item…anything but just standing there silent. So then I lost my cool a bit and took the initiative and told him I didn’t want the item, told him I’ve now tried to use this coupon twice WITHOUT SUCCESS and I’ve had it. I shoved the coupon back at him and told him to take it and give it to someone else because I was not trying again OR coming back. He STILL didn’t say anything and looked at me like he hadn’t even heard me—like he was still a few minutes back in the conversation. Ugh.

So then it was off to Kohl’s, where I had a perfectly lovely experience. Except that to get there, I had to deal with idiot drivers who refuse to pull out into traffic (on good roads, with plenty of time) or who refused to turn in front of a police car in a mall parking lot 🙄 who then drove through said parking lot at about .5mph (of course, I was stuck behind him). Luckily, I found some great holiday things at Kohl’s and my coupon was accepted without hesitation—and I even got a smile or three during my AMAZINGLY QUICK checkout—plus a “Have a great holiday” as I was exiting.

Overall, I was reminded why I do 99.9% of my shopping online or before November 1.

@^#$% WINTER

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So you all know I hate the cold and really don’t like winter.

But I could maybe tolerate winter better if this house was built for it. I don’t know WHAT the >:XX the owners did when they “remodeled” but it apparently didn’t include INSULATING the walls. (That said, it might be something from the original build in the 70s, but I would think the entire house would have to pass some type of inspection at one time or another.)

So, what’s the problem?

Well, if you remember last winter, it was always freezing in the house—especially the living room where we spend 95% of our time. We tested/tried about four different style room heaters and eventually ended up with one that seemed to work pretty well. So this year we got out the heater again and of course now it doesn’t seem to work well at all.

But that’s not the problem. The main problem is with the house.

So, what’s the problem?

I just measured the temperature at floor level on an outside wall (with a digital coking thermometer, so I could actually stick the point in between the paneling boards)…and it was…

Are you ready?

Inside wall temp of 43 degrees.

FORTY THREE >:XX DEGREES.

What the hell? How are we supposed to try and heat a house when the walls/floors are 43 degrees and you can just feel the cold pouring in? (For contrast, the walls that I assume are drywall measure 60 and the sliding glass door even measures 55!)

I appreciate that we have a nice house to live in, but SOOOOO many things are wrong with this house it’s enough to drive you insane.