Today I had the worst customer service experience of my life. Seriously. And it wasn't even Home Depot.
It was an awful, tortuous experience that ended in the worst, and weirdest, way ever: On the phone with customer service, I was told I needed to be transferred to a different department. I was transferred to a coffee shop in Dallas.
I'm not a vindictive person as a rule, but this case is an exception to that rule. I hope this company is ready for the squirrels and small black and white cat it's about to receive.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Fun and Full Weekend
Well, that was certainly a full weekend!
On Saturday, I went to my second job and found out that to keep me from quitting, the boss is willing to have me work from home 90% of the time, PLUS gave me a raise. How's that for employee appreciation? :o)
Also on Saturday, Jason's Mom came in, and then PJ & Jaime visited. We had a nice BBQ and then later, a nice night of very competitive hearts. We had a very good time, laughing our asses off at Kate Bush. I love this woman's music, and had watched this particular video before. Apparently I was unaware of how incredibly weird it is. But in my defense, I first watched Wuthering Heights (the one where she's in the woods, wearing a red dress), and after that nothing seems weird.
Sunday was a great, productive day. I cleaned the whole of the upstairs, and washed AND folded all of the laundry. Jason hung pictures & stuff, and watched the baby. That last job was not little, as "the baby" has a tooth coming in and is so cranky that if you so much as look at her, she'll scream (I only wish I were kidding).
Yesterday was a great end to a great weekend. I made mucho progress on Mom's website, and got us all out of the house at about 2:00 to go see Matt & Debi & their baby, Brady. We had a wonderful time there. She & Brady played pretty much the whole time, and I can tell, Brady has a crush. They were standing side-by-side at one point, and Brady kept putting his hand on her butt! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this with which to embarrass them both later in life.
There was also some water fun to be had yesterday. Matt & Debi have a small inflatable pool, and Abigail loved it. She even slipped out of Jason's grasp once and went in, face first. She emerged, sputtering a bit, but no worse for the wear. She just went back to what she'd been doing: walking around, and around, and around the pool and splashing us all till we were dripping. It's a really neat pool - it's not the usual little round one, but one that's about as tall as Abigail, and has big, inflatable sides. Every now & then, while she was making the rounds in the pool, she'd throw herself on that inflatable side, giggling madly. If it weren't for that last thing, I'd think we had an Olympic swimmer on our hands!
I nearly forgot: The Squirrel War. He's winning. He hangs out just long enough for us to open the screen door, and then he's off. I don't think we've actually managed to squirt him with the Special Squirrel Sauce since that first week. As if this weren't bad enough, there's a small black & white cat that's also taken to hanging out at the bird feeder. Right under it, in fact. When I see this one, though, I don't reach for the squirt bottle. I pick up our giant, behemoth cat Gizmo and make lunging motions with him. Incredibly, the cat does not fall off the patio wall laughing, he actually runs away. I think I'm on to something here...
On Saturday, I went to my second job and found out that to keep me from quitting, the boss is willing to have me work from home 90% of the time, PLUS gave me a raise. How's that for employee appreciation? :o)
Also on Saturday, Jason's Mom came in, and then PJ & Jaime visited. We had a nice BBQ and then later, a nice night of very competitive hearts. We had a very good time, laughing our asses off at Kate Bush. I love this woman's music, and had watched this particular video before. Apparently I was unaware of how incredibly weird it is. But in my defense, I first watched Wuthering Heights (the one where she's in the woods, wearing a red dress), and after that nothing seems weird.
Sunday was a great, productive day. I cleaned the whole of the upstairs, and washed AND folded all of the laundry. Jason hung pictures & stuff, and watched the baby. That last job was not little, as "the baby" has a tooth coming in and is so cranky that if you so much as look at her, she'll scream (I only wish I were kidding).
Yesterday was a great end to a great weekend. I made mucho progress on Mom's website, and got us all out of the house at about 2:00 to go see Matt & Debi & their baby, Brady. We had a wonderful time there. She & Brady played pretty much the whole time, and I can tell, Brady has a crush. They were standing side-by-side at one point, and Brady kept putting his hand on her butt! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this with which to embarrass them both later in life.
There was also some water fun to be had yesterday. Matt & Debi have a small inflatable pool, and Abigail loved it. She even slipped out of Jason's grasp once and went in, face first. She emerged, sputtering a bit, but no worse for the wear. She just went back to what she'd been doing: walking around, and around, and around the pool and splashing us all till we were dripping. It's a really neat pool - it's not the usual little round one, but one that's about as tall as Abigail, and has big, inflatable sides. Every now & then, while she was making the rounds in the pool, she'd throw herself on that inflatable side, giggling madly. If it weren't for that last thing, I'd think we had an Olympic swimmer on our hands!
I nearly forgot: The Squirrel War. He's winning. He hangs out just long enough for us to open the screen door, and then he's off. I don't think we've actually managed to squirt him with the Special Squirrel Sauce since that first week. As if this weren't bad enough, there's a small black & white cat that's also taken to hanging out at the bird feeder. Right under it, in fact. When I see this one, though, I don't reach for the squirt bottle. I pick up our giant, behemoth cat Gizmo and make lunging motions with him. Incredibly, the cat does not fall off the patio wall laughing, he actually runs away. I think I'm on to something here...
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Words, Freedom and Squirrels
Last night, as I was doing the dishes, Jason came downstairs holding Abigail. I turned around and said "Hi, bubba baloo!" (that's her nickname, and if you don't like it then you don't like AMERICA). She turned around to look at me and said "HI!". Jason and I looked at eachother, then at her, then at eachother again, while she continued babbling away. Jason said "Did she just say her first word? Because I think she just said her first word." After pondering it, and telling both her daycare provider and a co worker with kids this morning, I believe we have a conclusion: Abigail said her first word, and it was "hi".
Something else Abigail has done is render her corral obsolete. We might as well just dismantle the whole thing, because it has no purpose anymore. Except we can't. We're attached to that corral, it's our last vestige of Abigail's babyhood. If we take it apart, if we put away those boxes and return the furniture to a normal living room pattern, then we're admitting we no longer have a baby but instead have a toddler. A toddler who we must educate on what to and not to touch, who we must convince to not put everything in her mouth, who will cause baby gates to grow from many walls and doorways. There are many things we need to put away very soon, but there's really nothing to be done about the cat toys. I'm not sure yet how we're going to teach her the difference between her toys and their toys, but since Gizmo steals her stuffed animals all the time, I guess we can let her play with his catnip mouse.
Speaking of vermin, this morning as I was getting ready for work I looked out the window to see a squirrel sitting on our bird feeder. I ran downstairs, thrust the blinds open, and nearly broke my fingers trying to open a locked patio door in my haste to squirt the little bastard with the Special Squirrel Sauce I made up. That little shit watched this whole routine from the top of the patio wall, staring at me. It was plain to see what he was thinking: "As soon as you open that door, I'm outta here, and it's going to PISS YOU OFF." And do you know what? He was right. I sprayed the Special Squirrel Sauce at him anyway, in hopes that he'd catch a few drops on his way back to his tree. Do you know what I heard while I was doing that, while I was looking at the mostly-empty bird feeder I had just filled the day before yesterday? Laughing. Tiny, smug squirrel laughing.
Squirrel: 2
Minda: 1
Something else Abigail has done is render her corral obsolete. We might as well just dismantle the whole thing, because it has no purpose anymore. Except we can't. We're attached to that corral, it's our last vestige of Abigail's babyhood. If we take it apart, if we put away those boxes and return the furniture to a normal living room pattern, then we're admitting we no longer have a baby but instead have a toddler. A toddler who we must educate on what to and not to touch, who we must convince to not put everything in her mouth, who will cause baby gates to grow from many walls and doorways. There are many things we need to put away very soon, but there's really nothing to be done about the cat toys. I'm not sure yet how we're going to teach her the difference between her toys and their toys, but since Gizmo steals her stuffed animals all the time, I guess we can let her play with his catnip mouse.
Speaking of vermin, this morning as I was getting ready for work I looked out the window to see a squirrel sitting on our bird feeder. I ran downstairs, thrust the blinds open, and nearly broke my fingers trying to open a locked patio door in my haste to squirt the little bastard with the Special Squirrel Sauce I made up. That little shit watched this whole routine from the top of the patio wall, staring at me. It was plain to see what he was thinking: "As soon as you open that door, I'm outta here, and it's going to PISS YOU OFF." And do you know what? He was right. I sprayed the Special Squirrel Sauce at him anyway, in hopes that he'd catch a few drops on his way back to his tree. Do you know what I heard while I was doing that, while I was looking at the mostly-empty bird feeder I had just filled the day before yesterday? Laughing. Tiny, smug squirrel laughing.
Squirrel: 2
Minda: 1
Monday, May 21, 2007
The day of days
At 2:01 this morning, Abigail turned one year old. Today I've been thinking back on the last year, on how much she's changed in that relatively short, but extremely long, period of time.
Abigail came in to the world a pink, squalling little thing, with parents who soon realized they'd gotten in way over their heads. For the first two weeks, we were in a state of exhausted terror. We were terrified of the bath, and the thought of the nail clippers made us tremble. We jumped at her every cry, worrying ourselves sick over whether she was hungry, poopy, or dying.
At about one month old, we realized we had a colicky baby. She wasn't as bad as some babies, but to us it was bad. At four months old, though, we realized that all Abigail needed was for her body to grow a bit, and a regular schedule.
At almost five months, Abigail went into daycare. I didn't think I'd survive - being away from her for so long, in the care of a stranger, was the most awful thing imaginable. So was the cost! But after a week or so, I saw a change in our Abigail. She was thriving in the schedule-driven daycare environment, and having been the first baby our daycare provider took on, I saw that they had a special attachment to eachother. We also learned that we could get by pretty well money-wise if we were careful.
Over the next few months, we watched our little baby change. She became much more aware of her surroundings, and became a very happy little baby. She learned to almost-crawl, then crawl, then pull herself up to standing. We discovered babies are curious little things, that will put anything and everything into their mouths. We learned that a mobile baby is one that is through with the swing. We discovered that Once Upon A Child is not only for buying baby stuff, it's for selling it, too!
When she was 9 months old, we moved into the new place. We set up a "corral" in the living room, where she happily played for about a month. Soon we discovered that if we do just a bit of putting-away and put up a baby gate, we could let her play in her room. That is now where she prefers to be.
Saturday was Abigail's birthday party. She made her walking debut that day, much to the delight of everyone there. She's not a full walker yet, but she can walk from here to there, as long as it's not too far. She also played in the grass, ate a couple of leaves, and had a bit of cake. Then she went home and took a nap.
Today she seemed to know that she's no longer an infant, and I believe she thinks her newfound toddlerhood requires an attitude. She was impatient and squawky, driving me nuts while getting ready. But she was quiet in the car, which is a nice change. Maybe it's because I've embraced the inevitable and bought a 2 CD set of toddler-friendly songs. Little Bunny Foo Foo, Peter Rabbit, and cows that "go moo moo, moo moo" are now a integral part of our car trips. I don't mind so much, though. It's better than the crap I'm sure she'll be listening to in a few years!
Abigail came in to the world a pink, squalling little thing, with parents who soon realized they'd gotten in way over their heads. For the first two weeks, we were in a state of exhausted terror. We were terrified of the bath, and the thought of the nail clippers made us tremble. We jumped at her every cry, worrying ourselves sick over whether she was hungry, poopy, or dying.
At about one month old, we realized we had a colicky baby. She wasn't as bad as some babies, but to us it was bad. At four months old, though, we realized that all Abigail needed was for her body to grow a bit, and a regular schedule.
At almost five months, Abigail went into daycare. I didn't think I'd survive - being away from her for so long, in the care of a stranger, was the most awful thing imaginable. So was the cost! But after a week or so, I saw a change in our Abigail. She was thriving in the schedule-driven daycare environment, and having been the first baby our daycare provider took on, I saw that they had a special attachment to eachother. We also learned that we could get by pretty well money-wise if we were careful.
Over the next few months, we watched our little baby change. She became much more aware of her surroundings, and became a very happy little baby. She learned to almost-crawl, then crawl, then pull herself up to standing. We discovered babies are curious little things, that will put anything and everything into their mouths. We learned that a mobile baby is one that is through with the swing. We discovered that Once Upon A Child is not only for buying baby stuff, it's for selling it, too!
When she was 9 months old, we moved into the new place. We set up a "corral" in the living room, where she happily played for about a month. Soon we discovered that if we do just a bit of putting-away and put up a baby gate, we could let her play in her room. That is now where she prefers to be.
Saturday was Abigail's birthday party. She made her walking debut that day, much to the delight of everyone there. She's not a full walker yet, but she can walk from here to there, as long as it's not too far. She also played in the grass, ate a couple of leaves, and had a bit of cake. Then she went home and took a nap.
Today she seemed to know that she's no longer an infant, and I believe she thinks her newfound toddlerhood requires an attitude. She was impatient and squawky, driving me nuts while getting ready. But she was quiet in the car, which is a nice change. Maybe it's because I've embraced the inevitable and bought a 2 CD set of toddler-friendly songs. Little Bunny Foo Foo, Peter Rabbit, and cows that "go moo moo, moo moo" are now a integral part of our car trips. I don't mind so much, though. It's better than the crap I'm sure she'll be listening to in a few years!
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