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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?

I’m Comic Sans, Asshole.

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http://www.mcsweeneys.net…5comicsans.html

Of course, I can’t figure out how to write this blog post in Comic Sans, so it takes a little bit away from it, but you can read it in its correct format on the linked page!

I’m Comic Sans, Asshole.
BY MIKE LACHER

– – – –

Listen up. I know the shit you’ve been saying behind my back. You think I’m stupid. You think I’m immature. You think I’m a malformed, pathetic excuse for a font. Well think again, nerdhole, because I’m Comic Sans, and I’m the best thing to happen to typography since Johannes fucking Gutenberg.

You don’t like that your coworker used me on that note about stealing her yogurt from the break room fridge? You don’t like that I’m all over your sister-in-law’s blog? You don’t like that I’m on the sign for that new Thai place? You think I’m pedestrian and tacky? Guess the fuck what, Picasso. We don’t all have seventy-three weights of stick-up-my-ass Helvetica sitting on our seventeen-inch MacBook Pros. Sorry the entire world can’t all be done in stark Eurotrash Swiss type. Sorry some people like to have fun. Sorry I’m standing in the way of your minimalist Bauhaus-esque fascist snoozefest. Maybe sometime you should take off your black turtleneck, stop compulsively adjusting your Tumblr theme, and lighten the fuck up for once.

People love me. Why? Because I’m fun. I’m the life of the party. I bring levity to any situation. Need to soften the blow of a harsh message about restroom etiquette? SLAM. There I am. Need to spice up the directions to your graduation party? WHAM. There again. Need to convey your fun-loving, approachable nature on your business’ website? SMACK. Like daffodils in motherfucking spring.

When people need to kick back, have fun, and party, I will be there, unlike your pathetic fonts. While Gotham is at the science fair, I’m banging the prom queen behind the woodshop. While Avenir is practicing the clarinet, I’m shredding “Reign In Blood” on my double-necked Stratocaster. While Univers is refilling his allergy prescriptions, I’m racing my tricked-out, nitrous-laden Honda Civic against Tokyo gangsters who’ll kill me if I don’t cross the finish line first. I am a sans serif Superman and my only kryptonite is pretentious buzzkills like you.

It doesn’t even matter what you think. You know why, jagoff? Cause I’m famous. I am on every major operating system since Microsoft fucking Bob. I’m in your signs. I’m in your browsers. I’m in your instant messengers. I’m not just a font. I am a force of motherfucking nature and I will not rest until every uptight armchair typographer cock-hat like you is surrounded by my lovable, comic-book inspired, sans-serif badassery.

Enough of this bullshit. I’m gonna go get hammered with Papyrus.

Facebook Status Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson is currently restoring 97,600+ files via Carbonite onto her new 1TB hard drive with a new Windows 7 install.
  • Jennifer Hudson likes the thought and spirit behind “We Are The World 25” but it doesn’t even compare to the original.
  • Jennifer scored a BINGO in SCRABBLE with the word TOLLERS worth 81 points!
  • Jennifer Hudson was not excited at all about the Olympics, until watching an hour or so of Olympic preview-type broadcasts. Now I can’t wait. BRING IT ON!
  • Jennifer Hudson just realized it’s Friday night. Being a SAHM with a husband who works six days a week kinda lessens the impact of a weekend.
  • Jennifer Hudson woke up and was depressed her dream about seeing Roger Mitchell and Ursula Mitchell wasn’t real…but was glad her screaming match with Jean L. Schwalm and Tom Hudson wasn’t real.
  • Jennifer Hudson—The boy is 12 months old and still sleeping with his burpie over his face. I wonder how long he’ll continue to do it?!?! I wish I could ask him why he loves it so!
  • Jennifer Hudson is ready to throw the Windows7 Upgrade right out the window.
  • Jennifer Hudson never gets as much done during Owen’s nap as she hopes to.
  • Jennifer Hudson is happy to celebrate Valentine’s week by sharing a photo of hubby and me…we first met 2/7/97 and started dating 2/14/97…so we’ve been together 13 years and married eight.
  • Jennifer Hudson is finally watching the season premier of Lost!
  • Jennifer Hudson just downloaded and tried Google Chrome. They need to work on Tab issues before I switch.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks it’s hilarious that I have Shazam’ed the same song now THREE times. 😐
  • Jennifer Hudson has decided life is too short for uncomfortable socks! In the garbage they go!
  • Jennifer Hudson wants someone to stop her the next time she wants to subscribe to Cosmo because it’s a good deal.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks that the Chocolate Cheerios were a waste of money. Blech.
  • Jennifer Hudson just got Owen to wave back at her! YAY OWEN!
  • Jennifer Hudson was having fun watching Owen dig around in his toybox, leaning completely over with his feet off the ground…until he fell in and started crying.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks she needs to take a break from Scrabble. I seem to be getting worse the more I play (instead of better) and it’s frustrating me terribly.

Craiglist Idiots

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When we first moved here, we had great luck with things we listed on Craigslist. No morons asking for 50-80% discounts, no one asking for us to ship items (when it clearly says PICKUP ONLY), no one haggling at all. It was heaven. Sigh.

But now, the idiots are out.

  • One person offered less than half of what we were asking for a set of DVDs. Now, I do leave room to haggle, but starting out offering a pittance will get you nowhere.
  • One person told me he could buy an older version of a remote control for much less. Well, yes, an older version doesn’t have the features MY newer version has…which is why mine costs MORE. Duh. :crazy:
  • One person told me the shower curtain I was selling should cost less because the item is used AND discontinued—and I wrote back and said it should actually cost MORE because it’s an in-demand item and I’ve seen them go for twice as much as I was asking.

But this is the current email conversation I’m having in trying to sell an old stereo receiver (the listing is VERY detailed):

Craigslist Idiot: do you still have this?

Me: Yes we do.

Craigslist Idiot: These are 10 year old models. Does all of its features work and can it be demoed?

Me: As I stated in the listing, we can show you that it can power on, but it cannot be demoed since we already have a new receiver hooked up. Please check my ebay feedback (as also stated in the listing) if you are concerned about our honesty regarding the status and quality of the product. Thanks!

Craigslist Idiot: I am just asking if the unit is 100% operable?

Me: Yes, it is. [By the way, this is clearly stated in the listing.]

Craigslist Idiot: Since it can’t be demod, can I pay with Paypal?

At this point I am so irritated with him, but I really want to get rid of this thing. I figure it would just be like an ebay transaction except with local pickup.

Me: Yes, that would be fine. My paypal email is the same as this.

Craigslist Idiot: [Two days later] Could I paypal you $100

ARGH!!!!!!!!!

I really want to tell this guy to take a flying leap. But I really want the money—and this thing—out of my house. But it just irritates the >:XX out of me that NOW he asks for a discount. I am tempted to email him back and say there has been other interest in the item, I can maybe go down $25 if he wants to come get it ASAP…and see what happens.

— time lapse —

Me: $100 cash or $125 via Paypal.

Craigslist Idiot: Why so much more for paypal? do you come out closer to Novi at all?

Me: It’s not so much that it’s more for paypal, but moreso that it’s a discount for handing over hard cash. I’m already discounting it by $25 for Paypal or $50 for cash. That said, Paypal is more of a hassle for me to get the cash in my hand.

[You notice I didn’t even address him wanting me to deliver it now?]

This guy is SOOOO irritating me, yet I can’t wait to see what he says next. I just can’t believe he’s bitching when I am offering him either a 20% or 33% discount!!! I really want to tell him to shit or get off the pot because this back and forth is ridiculous—you either want it or you don’t—but I want the money.

— time lapse —

Oh. My. Gawd.

Craigslist Idiot: I get paid today and will have $73-76 free after my insurance payment. Will that work.

Me: I’d like this deal to get worked out, but I cannot discount it that much. My last offer would be for you to pay half now (either $50 cash or about $63 Paypal) and I will hold the receiver (take it off Craigslist) until you have the rest of the money. If you then decide not to purchase it, you would lose your payment.

As an additional note, I do have someone else possibly interested in the unit, although no deals have been made.

Please let me know what you’d like to do.

Craigslist Idiot: What if I paid you the $70 I’ll have cash and $30 on paypal?

Me: I guess that would work. When can you pay me and pick up the item?

Craigslist Idiot: I am at work in Brighton. Can we meet in Novi or such?

Me: No. My ad clearly stated pickup only and I’m firm on that. Sorry.

At this point, I’m expecting him to come back and change his offer to $74.50 + package of licorice + Boyz II Men CD + some pocket lint.

— time lapse —

Well, I just decided I had had enough, and I wrote him back and told him the unit was taken (we will probably donate it and then write it off our taxes). I swear, I have never experienced so much run around on a stupid Craigslist item…EVER.

And I certainly don’t plan to do it again.

Facebook Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson really wants a squarespace website, but just can’t afford the version I want. Oh well. Life goes on.
  • Jennifer Hudson just got attacked by a tray of brownies. For realz.
  • Jennifer Hudson was slacking at the computer and missed the Vine newsletter when it arrived…so got squat this month. Boo hiss.
  • Jennifer Hudson liked Bert & Ernie better as puppets, not claymation.
  • Jennifer Hudson thinks maybe she will make brownies when the kid goes down for a nap. Which should be momentarily.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves a strawberry smoothie on a hot day.
  • Jennifer Hudson says “Seriously, ThinkGeek? You call THIS a women’s 2X? It’s waaaay smaller than my husband’s Large tee-shirts.” Booooooooo!
  • Jennifer Hudson really needs the boy to take a longer nap. None of this 30 minute BS. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson has a smart dog. I started taking away pieces that she had chewed off, and she grabbed the toy and ran into the other room!
  • Jennifer Hudson finds it hilarious that the boy loves to turn on his mobiles himself by rolling down the crib and kicking the buttons with his feet. Swear to god he looks like he’s aiming. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson should have napped with the boy, but I never would have guessed he’d be out for going on 2.5 hours. The story of my life.
  • Jennifer Hudson is trying to figure out the fun that is RTM—syncing, gmail, bookmarklets, firefox addons, etc.
  • Jennifer Hudson hates driving anywhere anymore because of all the freaking idiots and douchebags on the road. Everyone seem to think they’re the ONLY car on the road. Grrrr.
  • Jennifer Hudson really wishes she had chips to go with her sandwich. Yes, I’m eating lunch at 10:40.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves when the boy falls asleep on her…sooo sweet. Now off to shower and start laundry! YAY!
  • Jennifer Hudson says YAY! We can to go Kentucky with the fam! It’s a good day!
  • Jennifer Hudson wishes mint.com would actually update/refresh.
  • Jennifer Hudson loves a sleeping baby. So cute. So quiet. So peaceful. So needed. 🙂
  • Jennifer Hudson says Owen either needs to nap, eat more, or poop, because mom is tiiiiired of the cranky.
  • Jennifer Hudson is getting closer to getting her hair cut. I think I might get it trimmed one more time, then chopped. So maybe in a few more months?
  • Jennifer Hudson just fed the boy a teaspoon of oatmeal cereal! He’s getting better!
  • Jennifer Hudson woke up to check the monitor and see…Owen on his stomach! OMG!
  • Jennifer Hudson wonders who the #$%@ thinks it’s a good idea to cut down a tree and shoot fireworks at 8:30 on a Sunday night? Seriously. GET OFF MY LAWN!

Flip UltraHD Camcorder

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I also own the Flip Mino so my review is based on a comparison between the Flip Mino and the new Flip UltraHD.

  • The original Mino is more compact, and feels a little “plastic-y.”
  • The Mino HD has some heft to it, but it also makes it feel a bit sturdier.
  • The original Mino has an all-plastic outer shell.
  • The Mino HD has a smooth silicone/rubberish gripper material (which I loooove).
  • The original Mino? 9 seconds of video = 4.53MB
  • The Mino HD? 9 seconds of video = 10.1MB
  • The original Mino is rechargable via USB only.
  • The Mino HD is rechargable via USB and replaceable AA batteries (says the description, although to be honest, I haven’t read the instructions, and I can’t easily see where/how the battery compartment works).
  • The original Mino has a TV out jack.
  • The Mino HD has an HDMI out jack.
  • The original Mino has touch-sensitive buttons (which I find somewhat confusing.)
  • The Mino HD has actual buttons (which I find easier).

Both versions work well in low light (and do an amazing job compared to my Canon SD600 digital camera).

The HD version powers up a smidge quicker (maybe 2 seconds), but that can be a lot if you’re trying to catch a kid or a pet in action.

The only reason it gets 4 stars is because I am not fond of the USB connection–as I said, the unit has a bit of heft to it, so when I plug it into my laptop, I feel like I need to brace the camcorder so it doesn’t weigh on the USB. I am sure it’s strong enough, but I worry about it.

Overall, I can highly recommend this camcorder…it is just up to you to decide which features are most important (item size, file size, battery charging, etc.)

We received this item for free as part of the Amazon Vine™ Program.

Amazon Referral Program

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http://www.amazon.com/?tag=hudson2001-20

I just signed up for the Amazon Associates Referral Program. Basically, any time you purchase anything from Amazon by going through my links, I will get a percentage of that back!! YAY! Unfortunately, I cannot get credit for my own orders…so I am counting on the graciousness of others!

I will be working on more specific links/banners/widgets over the next few days…but for now, there are widgets on the Blather blog (my wishlist) and the Baby blog (my must-haves), as well as a generic search box on our main website page. Or, there is always this generic link:

http://www.amazon.com/?tag=hudson2001-20

Thanks, all, for your future Amazon purchases! 😉

More Facebook Updates

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  • Jennifer Hudson loves all her Tivo friends sooooooooo much!
  • Jennifer Hudson hates that it’s impossible to cut a baby’s nails. What cruel joke is that?
  • Jennifer Hudson wishes Owen would just nap already. He’s tired, I can tell.
  • Jennifer Hudson hates hates hates online “coupon printers” because if you’re not connected to a printer (i.e. laptop) you can’t print to pdf. GRRRR.
  • Jennifer Hudson isn’t sure why her scanner thinks a newspaper clipping is a color document. /confused
  • Jennifer Hudson is on her third shirt of the day and it’s only 11am.
  • Jennifer Hudson is prepping to give Owen a bath by herself. I am not good at that alone part yet.
  • Jennifer Hudson says Facebook is irritating me. I keep getting emails about applications I have specifically said NO EMAILS from.
  • Jennifer Hudson is attempting to watch Back to the Future 3—simply to complete the trilogy.
  • Jennifer Hudson says whoops, my sneeze just woke up the boy AND surprised the cat right off my lap.
  • Jennifer Hudson just fast forwarded through the rest of Rachel Getting Married. Oh well.
  • Jennifer Hudson misses her 21″ widescreen monitor since she’s on the laptop 99.95% of the time.
  • Jennifer Hudson is hoping Owen has a better day today—he was Mr. Crankpot yesterday.
  • Jennifer Hudson has the beginnings of a chocolate headache. /damn that easter candy
  • Jennifer Hudson knows she should keep the babes up, but she is enjoying getting some stuff done around the house.

25 Additional Random Things

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I keep thinking about my previous list of Random Things, and reading other people’s lists, and I wanted to have another go at it.

  1. Back in the day, I was sure I was going to write the next great American novel someday. I guess I still have time, but it seems much more of a pipe dream at this point in my life.
  2. Sometimes I think I want four or five kids, because I love having large family gatherings—and it’s what I’m used to. But I’m not sure I want to be pregnant that many times!
  3. I knew the night I met my husband that we would get married. It was love at first sight.
  4. Someday I will live in my dream house—a ranch with enough space for everything, a great party kitchen with professional appliances, and a hot tub. There’s more, but that’s the gist.
  5. We’ve been on two cruises and I love them. LOVE THEM LOVE THEM LOVE THEM! I would go on a cruise every other month if I could afford it.
  6. I would love to live by family for the rest of my life, but I just don’t think we can live in the cold anymore.
  7. I hope that I can be a good parent. Everyone assures me I will be, but I just don’t feel it yet.
  8. I could eat an entire box of Krispy Kreme Original donuts if given the opportunity. Especially if they were Hot & Fresh.
  9. My favorite salad is mixed greens with Craisins, toasted pecans, feta cheese, and Amish Dressing (a sweet mustard dressing).
  10. Sometimes I want to sell everything and just start over.
  11. I am a PC person (we have three), but would be willing to give a Mac a try if they weren’t so damn expensive.
  12. I’ve always wanted to see Jimmy Buffet in concert and he’s coming here in August. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!
  13. I really want to travel around the world—one of my top places is Fiji, where we initially wanted to go for our honeymoon but never quite made it.
  14. I love music from the 50s and 60s. I guess it’s from growing up listening to it via my parents!
  15. I have never had a broken bone.
  16. I have been to the emergency room four times that I can remember: 1) when I jammed scissors into my hand when I was about seven or eight, 2) when I fell off my bike in high school, 3) when I sliced the tip of my finger off in college when working at Glen’s, and 4) when I fell down the stairs last year and twisted both my ankles.
  17. I love organization—storage containers/bins/baskets, shelving, labellers… Maybe because I’m a packrat as well?
  18. I hate my legs so rarely wear skirts or dresses unless they are ankle length. I hate shorts, too, but had to wear them in North Carolina to survive the summers.
  19. I miss reading. I couldn’t even tell you the last “real” book I read (real meaning NOT baby-related help books).
  20. I cannot believe our thermostat is set at 60 for a Michigan winter—and our heating bill is still $300.
  21. I just figured out that my numerology life path number is 5, which “suggests that you entered this plane with a highly progressive mindset, with the attitude and skills to make the world a better place.” Interesting.
  22. Someday I hope to have a job I truly enjoy. I can’t even imagine what that would be like. Heaven, maybe?
  23. I know I complain too much and am trying to get better about that. Or at least tell the same amount of “good” stories so people don’t think my life is ALL bad.
  24. I love love love my car, a 2001 Toyota Highlander purchased brand new a week before we got married. I would buy the same exact car in an instant, but the new Highlanders are NOT the same.
  25. I have a personalized license plate that says TRAVCTY. It was strange living in NC and having people know what it meant!

TEN THINGS ON MY MIND RIGHT NOW

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  1. I was wondering why I am hungry because I ate breakfast. Then I remembered, oh yeah, I was up at 5:30 and that’s when I ate, so every 3-4 hours is about my eating schedule at this point.
  2. I am on course to have about an 8.5# baby. Egads.
  3. Why is it that when I am laying in bed I can’t sleep because I am thinking of the hundred and one things I want/have to do, then when I get up, I don’t want to do/don’t have the energy to do ANY of them?
  4. WHY DO MY CATS KEEP POOPING OUTSIDE THE BOX? GRRRRRRRRR. >:XX
  5. We have two people somewhat maybe sorta interested in renting our house, and maybe kinda possibly one person interested in buying. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let someone do something. We cannot afford more months of double payments.
  6. It’s time to start washing baby clothes to see what all we have. It feels like we have a lot, but on the same hand, it feels like we don’t have the right stuff.
  7. Sometimes my computer frustrates me so much I think I am ready for a Mac. But I am sure I would have issues with that, too.
  8. How can a photo album be lost? The entire house got packed and moved, and we have looked in every box and it’s still gone. Bah. So obviously we have some hidden boxes, LOL.
  9. Dogs that bark irritate me, because I am so used to our dog who rarely, if ever, barks. I know it’s not fair, but sorry, that’s what I’m used to.
  10. I wonder when I will fall asleep today…I’ve been up since 3am.

I hate computers today.

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Everything was working peachy when I decided to run Windows update and install whatever it needed (important stuff). I also ran Secunia and updated the things it told me were insecure.

I rebooted.

A while later, I realize I can’t print. Interesting. It says I have no printers installed.

Huh? What?

I check, and nope, no printers. :crazy:

I reboot, just because that’s what you always do first when something like that happens. RIGHT? RIGHT!

Now I had printers, but I got Windows error messages about the “spooler subsystem app has stopped working” and you couldn’t actually manage any of the printers…meaning I couldn’t add a printer or delete a printer. Not even in safe mode.

Well, this is when I realize that maybe it had something to do with the updates, so I did a system restore to before the updates. It didn’t work. I tried another, earlier, restore, and there were errors during the process, so nothing was changed. >:XX So then I tried to revert back the initial restore I did—and there were errors with that, too—so who the hell knows where my system is at. All I know is now there are like two more programs that aren’t working, antivirus being one of them. >:XX

After some googling and an attempt at a solution (that didn’t work) I just kept rebooting I did manage to get the printer installed again, but it still won’t print and I haven’t the first idea why. (Of course, this all started because there is something we HAVE to get printed out.)

Then, after one of these reboots, Outlook decides that it wasn’t shut down properly, and when it finally comes up after checking the “bad file,” all of my email account passwords are gone. WTF? (I get the popup boxes asking for my password.) I mean, how the hell does that happen? I assume since Outlook thinks I shut it down incorrectly, which I am pretty sure I didn’t. So I fill in what passwords I know and have to login to my admin stuff online to change the passwords I don’t know/can’t remember. GRRRRR. >:XX

In the midst, of course, I am trying to receive a lost password from HP, but the email address I used? I no longer have it, so the password reset email is lost in the ether…so I either keep guessing at passwords (it’s not one of my three major passwords for sites like that) or create a new account (major pet peeve of mine).

So I email Tom to tell him to print out what we need (it’s for him and he emailed it to me this morning) because my computer is hosed. He calls and asks what’s up, and I briefly try to tell him, and he gets a little snotty with me (sorry hon, you did!) because I can’t print it for him and he’s busy and can’t talk. |-| Well, I didn’t call him to tell him what was wrong, did I? He asked! (And with these pregnancy hormones? Watch out!)

So at this point I still can’t print, my antivirus isn’t working, I can’t get my HP password—and I am ready to heave the computer into the garbage.

Cell phone companies suck.

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And in other news, the grass is green and the sky is blue. |-|

We were excited to give up Tom’s cell phone (since he will be getting one through work) to save some money. I had planned to ditch our $80 family plan and had hoped to get a very cheap single plan. But what does it save us? Only $40/month. (Yes, it makes logical sense that giving up HALF our phones should net us HALF the bill, but I had hoped for a much cheaper plan.) But you see, once you get a cheaper plan with Alltel, you lose the MyCircle numbers (which I apparently use quite a few minutes of), so you need more minutes, which means a more expensive plan. It’s a catch 22. >:XX

And additionally, I may or may not have mentioned this already, but Alltel won’t cancel our accounts—even though the area we are being transferred DUE TO MILITARY ORDERS is not specifically an Alltel-covered area. What they “CAN do” is put our accounts on hold for the duration of Tom’s orders… what the hell sense does that make? :crazy: Just cancel the stupid accounts.

Ironically, we get great Alltel coverage in Troy, even though it’s not technically an Alltel area. And all of the other cell companies are spotty at best (from reviews I’ve read) and people in-the-know (on industry forums) have heavily suggested we keep Alltel.

GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

New cell phones!

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I had been having problems with my cell phone for quite some time.

For no reason, it would drop to ZERO bars while just sitting in the office. I could physically hold it in my hand and watch it jump from 5 bars to 0 to 3 to 0, etc. This was a major pain when Tom was in Iraq trying to call me, and he couldn’t get through!

The most frustrating part is that when I went to make a call or send a text message—making sure I had decent bars—as soon as I hit “send” it dropped back to 0 bars and my call or message wouldn’t go through.

I finally got fed up and went in to Alltel, and they tried to tell me “Maybe a new building went up that is blocking service from the tower.” Um, no. No building of such substantive measure to BLOCK cell phone service recently went up—I wanted to say You DO know you’re talking about Jacksonville, right? Have you seen any skyscrapers go up lately? 🙄 They had no other solution for me, so I just chalked it up to gremlins and went about my daily business.

It seemed to get worse (i.e. happen more often) as time wore on, so I thought maybe something was wrong with my phone, so I decided to use Tom’s phone (since he wasn’t using it 😀 and we have the same exact phone) so I took the phones in and had them switch service (just activate his phone with my number). It took less than five minutes.

Unfortunately, his had the same problem. >:XX I wanted to get my phone replaced, but Alltel couldn’t guarantee me the same phone (a NEW phone, that is—they could try to get me a refurbished one) and they couldn’t tell me which phone they would use to replace it with UNTIL I processed the warranty claim. What a joke.

So I just dealt with it, because we were still far enough away from our contract ending that if we bought a new phone, we’d have to pay full price.

Fast forward to Tom approaching his “getting home date” and having to restart service on his phone. So BOTH of our phones would be messed up. Cutting a long story short, a friend gave us an Alltel phone he wasn’t using that Tom wanted to use (it was a fancy palm-type phone) and once Tom started using it, we noticed that it didn’t drop bars like mine did. So it had to be the specific phone.

Fast forward another month or so, and I was just flat out tired of the spotty service, so we were looking at new plans (with new companies) and went to Alltel just to see if a new representative might have a new answer for us. He basically said it could be the phone itself, and if that’s the case, exchanging it wouldn’t do any good… and long story short, was there a phone we wanted to buy instead, since we were close to our contract being up and we could get any phone at the “new” (reduced) price instead of the full price.

So I got the LG Scoop in Citrus:

lgscoop

I love it. It has a slide out keyboard and everything. It takes the same data card as my old phone, so that’s good. It was only $50 after rebate, so that’s good. And I could get it in a color, so that’s good. It has a camera, so that’s good…but it doesn’t have a flash, so that’s not good.

They transferred all my contacts, I reorganized them all, and now we’re just waiting for the cable to come from Amazon so we can load contact photos and have our own personalized ring tones again. Oh yeah, about a week after I had mine and had decided I loved it, Tom wanted one, too. So he has gray!

YAY! Cell phones that work! And don’t drop bars!

Still working on the blogs…

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Unfortunately, when one problem gets fixed, another pops up.

Now I am having problems uploading photos. Yes, they were there at one point (when I said the blogs were back up), but I have taken them down for the time being while I try to get the actual uploading problem figured out.

The new software is very cool, and I am sure it will all be worth it… it’s just getting it all tweaked.

And the blogs are back!

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The short story?

We’re back up but it was a pain in the ass.

The long story?

What should have literally taken an hour (just waiting for the files to upload) actually ended up taking a few days…because once I uploaded everything and ran the install program (mere minutes), I got errors galore. I could access the blogs—they were there, and you could read them—but I couldn’t access the backoffice, which is where you actually write the posts.

Luckily they have GREAT support forums, and AMAZING people helping out there. It took about a day for some poor soul to take pity on me, LOL, but EdB attacked my problem…and solved it quickly (Go Ed! Go Ed!) and easily.

Well, it was a stupid thing, really, but easy. For whatever reason, my FTP client (what I use to upload files to my website server) was not overwriting things with the correct date (well, something like that anyway—that was the gist of it) and was consequently corrupting my files, which was giving me the errors. All Ed actually had to do (after some other tweaking and fiddling around just to check things out) was to REupload a certain directory and it worked. YAY EDB!

So now I can post again.

But I still have lots of “backoffice” stuff to do—but that won’t affect readers for anything other than appearance. Meaning, this blue color on all four blogs? It’s GOT to go. It’s just NOT me. :))

WARNING: Blogs may disappear for awhile.

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I desperately need to update the blog software I use—I just found out that the version I am using is obsolete, and of course the new version requires an entire revamping of the entire system… which means new templates (cool), having to recode all the customizations I have done (NOT cool), and hoping it all works without too much anguish on my part.

I am not sure when I will be doing this—I am afraid it’s going to take WAY more time than it should, so I am hesitant to start it now, when I only have about a half hour. If things go well, it might take an hour. If things go bad…well, it might take a week.

So, this is just a forewarning that if you try to reach the blog and it’s gone—or you don’t get any updates for awhile, it’s because I screwed something up in the transition.

Don’t you just love technology?

I’ve been a bad, bad blogger.

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Yes, I know I haven’t been writing anything lately. And I feel bad.

But it’s just that the longer I take to catch you up, the more stuff happens, and the harder it is to catch up. A catch-22 if you will.

But I know I have to fill you in with some details (obviously the short versions) until I get more time:

  • The animals are fine.
  • Tom’s visit home was wonderful—although too short—and we had a great time with friends in Florida.
  • I am eating healthy (hate to call it dieting) and have lost almost 25# so far (since Tom left).
  • I am still at my job (although that could be a VERY LONG story).
  • I haven’t been seeing too much of my friends around here.
  • I did have family down to visit, and more coming soon!
  • I had computer/general tech difficulties, which kept me frustrated and offline more than usual (although all is well now).
  • It’s finally cooling down here (68 today, but 85 last week).

I promise to try and write more in the upcoming weeks.

I’m trying a new thing, don’t shoot me!

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I’ve been wanting to try out Google AdSense for awhile now, but wasn’t sure if I should—just because this site doesn’t get a lot of traffic so I surely won’t make much (if any) money. But I thought it would be a good place to test it out, before I take it live with my business site. See how it works, what the ads look like, the best placement, if they are too obtrusive, etc. Again, though, it doesn’t really matter since this place isn’t terribly public and doesn’t get many hits.

But, why not try?

A month of miscellaneous updates.

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Wow, it’s been almost a month since I last posted. Nothing much has been going on…just little things here and there.

Well, I did have some major problems with my new Vista computer, but at that point I really wasn’t loving any computer and was keeping my distance so was not online posting about it. What happened? Let’s just say that little things here and there weren’t working right, so I had to do some system restores, then in trying to get those little things to work right, the solutions caused my system to crash and I had to do three (yes, THREE) full system recoveries (which means taking the computer back to day 1) which meant I lost all installed programs…never fun. It’s back up and working now, but it was a very, VERY, VERY traumatic few days. >:(:'(

I’ve had some good times with our friends… a few drinking and hot tub nights over at Roger and Ursula’s and a night out at a local bar with a co-worker (which made me glad I did not really have to live through the dating scene).

I had my vein surgery just about a month ago and it went very well—he said it could not have gone better. I have to go back shortly for a follow-up to make sure it’s still doing well.

We have had more rain and storms this past month than the whole time we’ve lived here, I think. Poor Maggie… and add the 4th of July sounds to that, and miscellaneous noises in the neighborhood? The poor dog must think she’s going nuts.

My job is…well, it’s still just a job. I am not having any fun and some days it’s just dreadful. There’s a long and involved story but suffice it to say I am SERIOUSLY looking for other employment.

And last but not least, Tom and I continue to chat and talk just about every day. He’s online every morning (my morning) from about 8:30 to noon, and he tries to call once a day. If I am up late some nights (mainly on the weekends) we chat around midnight or 1am as well. Right now, we’re counting down the days until he gets here—we’re finally under one month!! :>>

My mornings on the computer…

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Charlie waits for me at the door to the living room (same exact spot every morning) and when she sees me coming, she starts talking and runs into the office and up into the bed, walking around and around, talking at me, bumping into me and my hand wanting me to pet her. However, that is short-lived as Maggie follows closely behind (having just come in from outside) and wants up in the bed, so I lift her up and put her in—which kicks Charlie out because Charlie doesn’t much like to share, but Charlie still wants attention so she hangs around and sits right there. I managed to snap some pics this morning. It’s the same thing every morning!

Computer Woes Downgraded to Computer Annoyances

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There aren’t really many woes at this point (since most of my info is transferred and nost of my software is reinstalled), just annoyances.

Windows Vista has some great new features (photo handling, search capability), but some of the things are REALLY different and are taking some getting used to (a few folders in different places, a different style start menu). Also, there are certain programs of mine that just WILL NOT install—luckily they aren’t life or death programs (like software to backup my cell phone address book), but I do need them so I have to keep messing with it.

Right now, the new computer is still hooked up on Tom’s monitor/desk, but I am thinking that by tonight, I will move it over to my desk so I can have my keyboard and mouse back (I hate the ones that came with the computer, but left the good ones attached to my old computer since I am still using it quite a bit—posting this entry from there, actually). I still need to have my old computer running for a bit, just in case I find something I didn’t transfer or some settings I need to look up.

I do have to say a big PHEW! to our backup hard drive, though. I used it to transfer all our pictures and music and documents (etc.)—which, in and of itself was great. But then, I accidentally deleted a huge folder (probably 50GB of stuff) and since it was too big for the deleted bin, it erased it completely! Backup hard drive to the rescue!!

Computer Woes

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I am so tired of this crap I want to throw it out the @#%$ window.

So if you haven’t heard, I have been having MAJOR computer issues. I tried to reinstall Windows to fix some major errors, and it didn’t work—so now I am stuck with Windows XP Pro SP1—which you need SP2 for just about everything since SP1 is not secure. So, after dealing with that for a good long week, we decided to order me a new computer—with Vista Home Premium. The first one arrived damaged, so had to send it back (and it hasn’t even been picked up yet) and I had to order a new one, which came today.

So I started up the new computer just fine, and went to transfer my settings with the stupid $30 Easy Transfer cable I bought. But guess what? It won’t work, since my old computer no longer has SP2 installed (it refused to install, which is one of the reasons we got a new computer)! Of course, NOTHING on the cable packaging says it needs SP2. Lovely. So I try to use the transfer program that is already installed in XP (which the Vista computer told me to do) and that pops up, but of course cannot find the other computer (yes, the cable is attached). However, when the cable is plugged into the old computer, I get a Found New Hardward Wizard, but the software won’t install, even if I direct it to the correct drive (which, I assume, is because I don’t have SP2 installed).

So it looks like I wasted $30 on this stupid cable. Wonderful. Maybe Sams will take it back, but it says right on the packaging that it cannot be returned, only exchanged for the same item. I either need a drink or I need to go to bed.

Why did I think this would be easy?

20 MINUTES LATER…

Oh, now I’m having even MORE fun. I discovered that I can save my settings to a CD or thumb drive to transfer them to the new computer. Cool. So I put them on a thumb drive and…Vista can’t see it (within the Transfer function). I tell it it’s on a flash drive, pick the correct drive, and hit next and it says “put the media in” — um, it IS in. I try again, nothing. There is a password field, but I have no idea what that’s for, so I try my logon password and that does nothing, either. So I think, maybe it’s an issue with the thumb drive, so I burn it to a CD. And that doesn’t work either.

GRRRRRRRRRRR. >:(

So, I found a new “diet” but…

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So, I found a new “diet” and got all excited about it—Oprah’s diet guru Bob Greene’s The Best Life Diet—and now I’m pissed.

Why?

On the show, I SWEAR Oprah said [something to the effect of] “Go to the [best life] site and sign up for free!” So today I ordered the book and just now I went to the website to sign up and…nope, not free. They want $20 a month or $150 a year for access to everything!

WHAT THE HELL?

Yes, I want to change my life, but I honestly wasn’t planning on forking out $150 up front—especially since that part was NOT mentioned on the show (I’m pretty damn sure I would remember that).

So, it either feels like “pony up the bucks to vastly improve my Diet experince and chance at success” or “I feel my health is not worth $4.50 a week.” >:(

Should I get paid more for the IT work I do?

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So as you all know, I just LOVE my job ( 😈 ). There are so many little issues that make me crazy, I won’t even begin to go into them all. That said, I just have a question.

I was hired as a real estate assistant/secretary. To me, that means things specifically associated with real estate like paperwork and phone calls, etc. To me, the pay I was told I’d get is for the work I was told about.

Well, as it happens, I also know a little bit about computers (such things as web design and email, etc.)…so of course, I quickly got sucked into doing those things, as well.

Now, I know that all jobs come with duties that weren’t explicitly stated … and new things pop up that need to be taken care of … and stuff along those lines. But it seems as time goes on, I’m becoming more and more responsible for anything computer- and IT-related. Just because I’m the one that knows the most—even if I have no clue, it becomes my job to figure it out/solve it.

So, where does it become the end of my initial job duties/being a peon and having to do everything the boss says…to getting paid more for doing stuff that really shouldn’t be my job or wasn’t in the original job description? Meaning that I was hired as a secretary, not a computer or IT person; I was hired with a secretary’s pay, not a computer or IT person’s pay. (I know I don’t deserve like $30k for computer/IT work, because that’s not my entire job—but some type of additional pay would be nice.)

I just think that she is lucky I know how to do this stuff, and I should see some sort of compensation for it. If I didn’t know how to do it (i.e. had my boss hired some yahoo who didn’t know how to do ANYTHING), she would have to hire someone else (at a much higher rate) to come do this stuff (as it is, she pays Tom $20/hour for networking stuff that I know nothing about).

So, do you think I should I get paid more for the IT work I do? Or should I just suck it up? Of course, I’m thinking about this now because I just had my two-year anniversary a week ago and haven’t heard ONE WORD about a raise. 😡