Thursday Rant: Parking Garages

It really doesn’t matter how slow you go or what kind of tires you have; it is impossible to drive through a parking garage without squealing your tires. I’ve tried everything. I’ve gone slow. I’ve gone fast. I’ve taken the turn tight and wide. Without fail every single day when I go to work I create one of the most awful noises known to man. From the very first turn into the structure all the way up to the top where employee parking is my tires scream like they’re being murdered. What do they shellac that floor with that makes it do that?!

Did You Forget About Me?

We are home from vacation!! Ok, we’ve been home for a week and I still haven’t updated. I missed another Thursday rant AND I swore I would never blog about not blogging. I’m bad at this. Time to play catch up.

“Vacation” was great. It’s never really vacation when we go back to see family. Often times it’s more stressful than anything else. It’s really hard to split your time between families and friends who all want to see you while you’re in town. There are a couple people I didn’t get to see and some that I didn’t get to spend as much time with as I would have liked. Overall, it was a nice trip.

My sister got married (the initial reason for the trip). The ceremony was in her backyard, very simple, very short and very casual. The bride wore denim capris. It’s what they wanted and it worked well for them. Congrats to my sister and new brother-in-law.

Spending time with my sister-in-law and her family (we crashed at their house for the week) makes us want to move back home. There are about 5 houses in her neighborhood that are for sale. I’m only half kidding when I say I’m considering it.

Mister started school today! It’s a preschool class one day a week that he went to last year also. He loves it. We made some friends (friends for him and mommy friends for me) so we decided to do it again this year. Mister was SO excited when we got there and saw some of his friends that he hasn’t seen all summer. Couple of new kids too. It’s going to be a good year.

It’s still hot. It’s September and I’m over it.

Thursday Rant: Being Late

Running late for the airport... ahhhh!!! Ok so I know it's a day late for my Thursday rant. We went flying on a jet plane yesterday to visit our families in Michigan. It was a long day of travel on only an hour of sleep and no real nap for Mister. But we're here!

Also, this will be the only post until we get back. No Thursday rant next week either. Yes I have my laptop and I know other bloggers post while on vacation but I'm just not that hard core.

See you next week

What Weekend?

What a busy weekend. And it’s only 9am on Saturday. The dog made it to the groomer, I made it to the produce market, the commissary and Wal-Mart (I hate that store). My hair got cut, the laundry is completely caught up (folded and put away too!), but there is still so much left to do.

As I type I am on call for the hospital and then Mister is going to a photo shoot. That’s right, he’s officially a model! Ok, maybe not so officially, it’s not a paid gig. But it is for a very real catalog done by a very real professional photographer who also happens to be my brother-in-law. He called last night and said he needed a kid for a bicycle ad. I hope it’s not a disaster.

Thursday Rant: Dog Groomers (the long story)

I had an appointment for my dog at the groomer this morning at 9:00am. I also had other appointments and errands that HAD to get done today. I changed one of my other appointments to accommodate the groomer. I had my whole day planned out to maximize efficiency while toting around a 2 year old.

I got to the groomer right on time and mentioned that he needed to be muzzled for the nail trim because he hates it. Last time they didn’t even do his nails because he got snarly. So she pulls my file card and there is a big yellow sticky note on it. “Yes, I wrote down that he was a problem last time. Actually, he was a problem the whole time.” Really? Because last time you told me he was fine for the bath and brush, just the nails were a problem. “Ok, if you need to then just muzzle him for the whole thing.”

She basically told me that he was just too difficult and refused to groom him. At all. I understand the liability and blah blah blah but she wouldn’t even TRY to muzzle him, or let me muzzle him. So I told her I really wish someone would have told me that on the phone when I made my appointment. I’m seriously limited on time since we are going out of town next week and he needs to be groomed before going to the dog sitter. TODAY was when I had time for this. I had a schedule, remember?

“Oh you don’t have an appointment.” What? Yes. I called last week and made an appointment for 9:00am. “Oh I guess I forgot to write it down.” So if someone had been paying attention and pulled my card on the phone I would have had time to call around to other places and go somewhere else. Instead you lead me to believe everything was fine until I showed up this morning and now I’m stuck.

I left beyond pissed off, loaded the dog and Mister back into the truck (not an easy task) and went to Petco down the street. I hate them but I figured they could get him in on short notice. Yes, but they need a copy of his rabies vaccine. Called the old vet, no answer. I went home to get it, can’t find it. I called the vet, he’s past due by 2 months. Arg! Called a local vet and made an appointment for a rabies shot for tomorrow morning. Called Petco, they need 48 hours after the shot before they’ll see him. I DON’T HAVE 48 HOURS. I have today and tomorrow to get a bazillion things done and now Im ADDING a vet visit.

No time now, I’ve got to get Mister to the sitter’s house so I can make my hair appointment. In the end I found a completely new groomer that I’ve never been to and have no real reviews for. But they are reasonably priced, they don’t require a vaccine and they can get me in tomorrow morning. Plus, they are right next to two other stores that are on my list. Winner.

Thursday Rant: Customer Service Representatives

First of all, when I call your customer service number it’s because I need customer service. Not because I want to listen to your list of prompts. Obviously I need assistance or I wouldn’t have called so, yes, I would like to speak to a representative. Can’t that just be prompt 1 instead of listening to 8,736 other options and then pressing zero?

I recently purchased an item online and was waiting by the door for the UPS man (who is terrified of my dog and always says “I’ll just leave it right here,” leaves it on the front porch and runs back to his truck). I opened the package full of giddy anticipation and was quickly shot through the heart when I saw that they had shipped the wrong item.

To the store I went to return the item. Apologies were made, a refund for the total including shipping was given, and since the online price was less than the in-store price I even got a raincheck. Great. Skipping some details because it’s not part of my rant I could not get the item in-store. As it turns out the item number doesn’t match the item pictured online. So how do I get the one pictured? Call customer service.

I called and was assured that they had been notified (who is ‘they’?) and the error was corrected. “Go ahead and order the item again, Ma’am.” Are you sure? Because I’m looking at it online right now and the item pictured (that I want) still has the same item number that it did before (wrong). Again, I was told that it was fine. I had my doubts about this representative and was convinced he didn’t understand my problem. I tried asking my questions several different ways and he kept telling me that if I placed a new order I would get the item pictured.

Order placed.

A week of anxiety goes by.

UPS Man!! “I’ll leave it right here for ya.”

I could not open that package fast enough. What do ya know, it’s the same stinking WRONG ITEM that they sent the FIRST time.

I’m completely convinced that the customer service representative that I talked to really had no interest in helping me. He didn’t care about my problem or it’s resolution and probably just made up the whole thing about the issue being resolved. Clearly it wasn’t. All he did was look at the same web page that I was looking at and said “yep, you’re good.” Please tell me how much you get paid because that sounds like a pretty easy job that I should consider.

They're Heeeeerrrrrreeeee!

My sister comes into town today!! She has this weird tradition where she brings each of her kids (she has 4) out to California when they turn 14. Why 14? Who knows. It’s not a milestone. I think she just had an idea to come visit our dad aka grandpa when her oldest was 14 and then it “wasn’t fair” according to each of her other children. So the tradition began.

This year her youngest son turns 14, man that makes me feel old. They fly in today and will be staying at my dad’s house for a week. Unfortunately I have to work every single day that she is here. I couldn’t afford to take any more time off since we will be going back to Michigan in 2 weeks. I’m excited for them to be here but sad that I won’t get to spend much time with them.