Feel free to skip this post as it will be filled with my frustrations and complaints about the process of finding a job.
First. If you are a hospital - or better yet, a company that runs a bunch of hospitals - with a website that allows people to apply for jobs online, please pay attention. When you fill a job position, take the job off of your website. Do not leave it up as if it were open, because it will irritate anyone who fills out an application and immediately receives an email saying you're not looking for new employees in this section. It also makes your hospital/company look like it is being run by a gaggle of geese.
Second. How the hell am I supposed to have a year of experience in an entry level job? Do you mean comparable experience or actual job experience? Details would be nice. Once again, your hospital looks stupid for not clarifying this.
Third. Do not list the same job twice. I'm not talking about day shift vs. night shift. I'm talking about the same freaking job for the same freaking hours that once someone applies to the first listing, is unable to apply for the second listing because you've already applied to the position. I have serious doubts about any humans running your hospital's website because if there were, and this is a huge if, I'm sure one of them would have fixed your problems by now.
Lastly, I am sick and tired of reading through a job listing, thinking I would be competent and perhaps even good at the job, and then finding out you need a two-year or less certification to get this job. No education required. I could have gotten certified right out of high school. Yes, I know that there is no opportunity to rise through the ranks if you've only got a certification/license. Yes, I know that this means these are essentially dead-end jobs. But freaking a I spent four years of my life working towards a degree and doing something useful with it, and now you're telling me I can't find an entry level job anywhere around here? That is just wrong.
I'm nervous about applying for jobs that don't require a degree or certification or anything with higher learning in the definition. While I would have fun being a receptionist or an administrative assistant or a front office type, I am worried that if I start that position and another one comes along that is more in my field of study, I won't be able to get out of the desk job. I have no idea how those things work. It would be added pressure if I applied to a receptionist job at a hospital and received a job offer for somewhere else in the building. Would it look like I just want money? Or would it look like I want to use my degree? I'm hesitant to start applying for these desk jobs, but I'm at the point where I've nearly exhausted all of my medical options. I'm down to going through Google results to find a healthcare facility that has 50 people max on staff and hoping that they need to hire someone like me.
H. says that it'll happen one day, that you just have to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. I might be out of things to throw, and that thought worries me. I just hope something works before I feel like I'm leaching off of H. and his good job. I want to be able to contribute to what we have, and I'd like to do it sooner rather than later.
That's enough ranting for now. On a much lighter note, I asked H. if he could be any fish, what fish would he be? This stems from Susan's post on FB the other day. He said:
"Mimic octopus."
"Nu-uh, that's not a fish."
"Uh, yeah it is."
"No way! There's no way that's a fish."
[I hop on to ask great, old Uncle Google, who directs me to Wiki.]
"Um ... it says it's a cephalopod."
"..."
"Hey, wanna know what I'd be? I'd be an Orange Roughy."
"..."
"Because it sounds like a pirate and looks mean, but I'd be the exception and be super nice."
"That is so weird."
"At least I picked a fish!"
Friday, July 29
Wednesday, July 27
Applications and Photophosphorylations.
A man carrying a letter arrived at my doorstep this morning. The letter said that the entire Gordon's Jeweler team apologized for the poor level of customer service we received. My favorite part reads, "Unfortunately, misunderstandings and mistakes do happen from time to time. I would like to think they are the infrequent exception rather than the rule and appreciate you bringing this matter to our attention." You're welcome, district manager. You are welcome.
The gift card is worth $25. I'll tell you what we're doing with it when I figure out what we're doing with it.
After looking at all of the university's job postings and applying to the ones that I'm qualified (or at least closely qualified for), I am more nervous now about finding a job than I was before I started. I'm not doing myself any favors by taking an interest in some of the jobs. I could potentially be working for the American Red Cross determining what blood type someone is. I could also be a research technician performing the same type of experiments that I did as an undergraduate (which I loved doing). It's difficult not getting attached to something that you like.
I think one of my plants is secretly an escape artist. It's Leo, that crafty guy.
The gift card is worth $25. I'll tell you what we're doing with it when I figure out what we're doing with it.
After looking at all of the university's job postings and applying to the ones that I'm qualified (or at least closely qualified for), I am more nervous now about finding a job than I was before I started. I'm not doing myself any favors by taking an interest in some of the jobs. I could potentially be working for the American Red Cross determining what blood type someone is. I could also be a research technician performing the same type of experiments that I did as an undergraduate (which I loved doing). It's difficult not getting attached to something that you like.
I think one of my plants is secretly an escape artist. It's Leo, that crafty guy.
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| Leo. Good thing he isn't an outdoor plant. He might make a break for it. |
I haven't yet named all of my plants, but I can tell you that I have two of everything. Just like Noah's Ark. Here they are in no particular order:
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| Long, thin leaf. Might call him Gandalf because he's so skinny. |
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| Stout, circular leaf. We'll call him Scotty, from Star Trek. |
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| This is the only plant that has fuzzy leaves. H. suggested calling it Pickles. |
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| And this is Leo again. There is another one like him, but it's not tunneling out of the window box (as far as I can tell). |
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| Can you tell which side the sun is on? |
Tomorrow I plan on committing to a purchase of interview-worthy shoes. I tried on a whole lot of shoes today, and arrived at two choices. Aerosole - with a suede interior lining, these are a good mid-heel, although I would prefer it if the heel were thinner. Liz Claiborne - these shoes make me stand up straighter (I could feel my spine reshaping, in a good way), and these are comfortable despite the height. Opinions? These won't be the shoes that I work in (because those will probably be sneakers).
And I believe that is all in the world of Anna. Time for some Hamburger Helper.
Sunday, July 24
The Triple P.
Yeahup. What we got ourselves here is a Pure Picture Post. Hold onto yer cowboy hats 'n don't let go of them cowboy boots. Let's take a look-see at yesterday's journey to Baseball Land.
Breaking from the Triple P, I have to tell you guys about this pitcher. He walked into the Rockies bullpen wearing a pink girl's backpack (Dora the Explorer, I think it was), but we weren't quick enough to snap a picture of it. Inside the backpack? Red Bull and snacks. He diligently organized everything out on the ground, and we think this might be some sort of rookie hazing. It was awesome.
And there you have it. If you made it through all of those photos, you're a real trooper. But not as much of a trooper as our camera was. Soon, I'll figure out how to upload our videos from my new computer. Then I'll determine if we have any videos worth showing. Order of operations is everything, imo.
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| I made this tortilla the night before the big adventure. It has a sad face, and is thus post-worthy. |
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| This is just one of the several dust storms we saw on our way to the ballpark. I think the final count was seven one way and four coming back. |
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| This is a very large hill with saguaros. That's pronounced "sah-war-ohs". Somehow, the 'g' doesn't get pronounced. |
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| Lots and lots of cactusees. |
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| Finally here! We were an hour early, so there wasn't much traffic. |
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| A view from the 300 section. |
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| This ballpark might be bigger than the one in Arlington. |
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| I'm not sure how I feel about the dirt path between the mound and home. |
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| It was Native Americans Day at the park, and the jumbotron had video of the Indians performing on the field. Very nice picture, that jumbotron. |
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| Having a party at first base. |
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| Rockies pitcher who let in seven runs in two innings. |
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| Action shot of a swing. I'm so proud of my camera skillz. |
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| You can tell this is an indoor stadium because the grass under the outfielders is brown. |
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| First inning visit to the mound. |
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| BJ Upton was always introduced as Justin. Very weird. |
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| Fuzzy picture, but this was my favorite Diamondbacks player. His last name is Ransom. How cool is that? |
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| This is the legendary homerun ball that no Rockies pitcher would throw back. |
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| These are all of the pitchers, completely ignoring the riotous yells from the crowd. Now that was an awkward five minutes. |
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| Sad little kid leaning over the rail in hopes of getting the ball. |
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| Staff person meandering over to the ball, amid yells of "Give it to the kid!" |
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| An overhead view of the box that the staff guy plopped the homerun ball into. |
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| The Rookie. |
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| I like to pronounce this as "Lone Buttah". Highly entertaining. |
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| Kin to the Dot Races, these are Dback legends in bobblehead form. But wait a minute, there were supposed to be four of them ... ... |
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| There's the fourth guy! |
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| He caught up to the other three, but then suddenly ran out of gas, and ended up finishing last. |
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| The jumbotron didn't photograph well, but this is one of the broadcasting managers. He just shook his head at the whole go-cart shenanigan, then held up a sign that read "They are inventing new ways to embarrass me." |
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| We left early to make sure we got back to our apartment quickly and safely. |
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| Sunset as we drove outta town. |
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| This, by the way, is all the vegetation there is around here. |
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| Our loot - two free Dback hats that we refused to wear. Not entirely sure what we're gonna do with 'em. |
Oh, and as not promised, here's the correct answer to Where Did They Sit? H. is the guy in the red shirt, and I'm the one behind the guy in the white shirt. He had the guts to stand up during my moment of fame? How rude.
And there you have it. If you made it through all of those photos, you're a real trooper. But not as much of a trooper as our camera was. Soon, I'll figure out how to upload our videos from my new computer. Then I'll determine if we have any videos worth showing. Order of operations is everything, imo.
Guest Post Two - DBacks HSOs
Hello. Welcome. I am going to provide quick hits about the game last night, and leave the pictures and stuff to Anna.
Chase Field is full of bits. They have a big McDonaldsish playground area, an actual pool in center field, batting cages in the 300 level, all you can eat picnic tables in right field, a way too involved mascot (with attitude!), a sports bar in left field, and a place to make signs for the game in the main concourse behind home plate.
Hot sports opinion number two: I prefer outdoor baseball. The only part of the stadium that seemed to be air conditioned was the concourse, so I'm not even sure it was cooler where we were sitting than it was outside. I think if they put a bit of shading up top and scheduled their games for 7 and later to get rid of any direct sunlight the park would have a much better atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, that place had the worst fans I've ever seen. The only time there was ever any kind of cheering is when all the graphics would go crazy with "MaKe NoIsE!!!" signs, and they would plat the "Everybody clap your hands" part of the Cha Cha Slide song. Then the instant the music is over and the graphic goes away, all the cheering stops. If we go back again, I'm getting a video of it. Maybe if Harry and Hayden come and visit again we can wear Rangers gear and cheer when Texas puts up runs on the out of town scoreboard, and TX will have a bigger presence at the game than the DBacks.
I had a "D-Backs Dog". Basically its shaped like a hot dog, but it tastes like obscurity and mediocrity.
Our seats were right by the visitor's bullpen. I could have poured my beer on the catchers head if I wanted to. The best part of the game was when the DBacks homered into the visitors bullpen in the bottom of the second, and little kids ages 6-12 started lining the railing waiting for the ball to get thrown to them. The first great thing about it was how all of the Colorado staff just sat there looking straight forward. It looked like none of them even thought about getting the ball and throwing it to a kid. (And if they had gotten up for the ball, I would started asking for it so I could throw it back). The second thing that happened that made my day happened about an inning later when one of the security guards started sneaking toward the home run ball. At first I thought maybe he was sneaking because it would have been some level of trespassing in Colorado's area in the ball park in some baseball unwritten rules way, but it turns out he was acting like that because when he got the ball, he immediately walked over to a little cubby hole and stored it in there for later.
Two innings after that a Colorado player hit a ground rule double in to the bull pen, and the guard went over and tossed the ball to a kid. It was hilarious. Then one of the pitching coaches for Colorado started talking to the security guard and convinced him to trade out the home run ball for the GRD ball with the kid. The part of me that likes to see little kids go home from baseball games disappointed was very let down. Although when the security guard was trading the baseballs with the kid, he did make the kid throw the GRD ball back before he threw up the HR ball to the kid. There were a couple of seconds there where I thought maybe he decided he did want both baseballs after all, and that was the best way to get it back.
And if you saw Anna's last post and needed some help in finding my in the picture, here is another hint: I really don't care about a DBacks two run home run in a game that they are running away with in the bottom of the second. I was not standing up, turning around, pointing at the ball, and almost climbing in to the row behind me like my Dad seems to think I was. I was sitting down.
Chase Field is full of bits. They have a big McDonaldsish playground area, an actual pool in center field, batting cages in the 300 level, all you can eat picnic tables in right field, a way too involved mascot (with attitude!), a sports bar in left field, and a place to make signs for the game in the main concourse behind home plate.
Hot sports opinion number two: I prefer outdoor baseball. The only part of the stadium that seemed to be air conditioned was the concourse, so I'm not even sure it was cooler where we were sitting than it was outside. I think if they put a bit of shading up top and scheduled their games for 7 and later to get rid of any direct sunlight the park would have a much better atmosphere.
Speaking of atmosphere, that place had the worst fans I've ever seen. The only time there was ever any kind of cheering is when all the graphics would go crazy with "MaKe NoIsE!!!" signs, and they would plat the "Everybody clap your hands" part of the Cha Cha Slide song. Then the instant the music is over and the graphic goes away, all the cheering stops. If we go back again, I'm getting a video of it. Maybe if Harry and Hayden come and visit again we can wear Rangers gear and cheer when Texas puts up runs on the out of town scoreboard, and TX will have a bigger presence at the game than the DBacks.
I had a "D-Backs Dog". Basically its shaped like a hot dog, but it tastes like obscurity and mediocrity.
Our seats were right by the visitor's bullpen. I could have poured my beer on the catchers head if I wanted to. The best part of the game was when the DBacks homered into the visitors bullpen in the bottom of the second, and little kids ages 6-12 started lining the railing waiting for the ball to get thrown to them. The first great thing about it was how all of the Colorado staff just sat there looking straight forward. It looked like none of them even thought about getting the ball and throwing it to a kid. (And if they had gotten up for the ball, I would started asking for it so I could throw it back). The second thing that happened that made my day happened about an inning later when one of the security guards started sneaking toward the home run ball. At first I thought maybe he was sneaking because it would have been some level of trespassing in Colorado's area in the ball park in some baseball unwritten rules way, but it turns out he was acting like that because when he got the ball, he immediately walked over to a little cubby hole and stored it in there for later.
Two innings after that a Colorado player hit a ground rule double in to the bull pen, and the guard went over and tossed the ball to a kid. It was hilarious. Then one of the pitching coaches for Colorado started talking to the security guard and convinced him to trade out the home run ball for the GRD ball with the kid. The part of me that likes to see little kids go home from baseball games disappointed was very let down. Although when the security guard was trading the baseballs with the kid, he did make the kid throw the GRD ball back before he threw up the HR ball to the kid. There were a couple of seconds there where I thought maybe he decided he did want both baseballs after all, and that was the best way to get it back.
And if you saw Anna's last post and needed some help in finding my in the picture, here is another hint: I really don't care about a DBacks two run home run in a game that they are running away with in the bottom of the second. I was not standing up, turning around, pointing at the ball, and almost climbing in to the row behind me like my Dad seems to think I was. I was sitting down.
Saturday, July 23
Hasty Pasty.
H. and I went to the ballpark today - Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies. We're both super tired, so while you wait for the long post tomorrow, here are a few highlights.
Turns out we didn't need to lather up the sunscreen, because it's an indoor ballpark. Parking thirty feet from the official parking garage saves you ten bucks. H. almost ran over a kid today, but to be fair, the kid really wanted to be ran over. Sometimes, the staff at the park isn't as nice as they should be. We drove back through rain (technically - we're talking shprinkles). When life gives you dust storms, take pictures. And when it's the Official Indian Day at the ballpark, they jam pack that game with everything Indian.
Like I said, pictures to come tomorrow. Also, H. will be guest posting his HSO's on everything that happened today. Have a great night!
EDIT: We're going to play a little game of guess where we sat. In the following picture, you can see H. and me (mostly just H., though) after Montero's homerun. Click on the picture to enlarge it, and see if you can find us. I'll give you a hint - H. is wearing his red Rangers Claw 'n Antlers t-shirt. First person to find us gets fancy cookies.
Good luck!
EDIT: We're going to play a little game of guess where we sat. In the following picture, you can see H. and me (mostly just H., though) after Montero's homerun. Click on the picture to enlarge it, and see if you can find us. I'll give you a hint - H. is wearing his red Rangers Claw 'n Antlers t-shirt. First person to find us gets fancy cookies.
Good luck!
Wednesday, July 20
Ringscapades Finale.
Readers, this is the final Ringscapades update tonight. When you're ready, please continue.
I picked up H.'s wedding band today. Paulina wasn't there (thank goodness), but there were two ladies I've never met before. One was a short brunette and the other was a blonde. The man who called me to offer the gift card said that the new manager's name was Heidi, but I had no idea what she looked like. The short brunette greeted me and started looking for the ring among the jewelry they had in some drawers. She couldn't find it even with the receipt I gave her, so she asked me when I ordered the ring.
"We ordered it in June."
"No, I mean when did you give it to us to resize as a repair?"
"Uh, when we bought it in June."
"No, after you bought it, when did you order it to be resized?"
"We ordered it through the factory, we never actually had it ... "
This is when the blonde chick came over and recognized the last name on the receipt. She helped the brunette find the ring, and thankfully it was the correct type and size. The brunette asked if I wanted my rings cleaned, and I said sure, so she went off to do that.
This is when the blonde chick came over and recognized the last name on the receipt. She helped the brunette find the ring, and thankfully it was the correct type and size. The brunette asked if I wanted my rings cleaned, and I said sure, so she went off to do that.
I told the blonde chick I was glad that we finally had the ring. She apologized for all of the confusion, introduced herself as Heidi, and said that she was going to try and turn the store around. As she was packaging up the ring, she told me about her work history with the company, and how excited she was to be manager at the store. She said that she hoped we might return to the store for our future needs. I told her that if she fixes things around here, then maybe we'd consider coming back.
The brunette chick came back with my rings just in time for Heidi to say that at least I had found the right man and that's all that mattered, right? I half-heartedly laughed and said that yeah, but I'm glad we finally have his ring. The brunette chick asked:
"Oh! When is the wedding?"
"Uh ... it was back in April."
I wish I could have taken a picture of her face as it went from curious excitement to complete confusion. I told her it was a long story, then I made my exit. I can only guess what Heidi told her about our fantastic ring ordering debacle.
The good news is H. likes the ring and the ring fits. And we'll never go back to that store. I got a call yesterday morning from the jeweler headquarters requesting my mailing address so that they can send the gift card our way. The amount I would like to be on the gift card = $100. The amount that will probably be on the gift card = $25. I don't even know what we would buy with the money. But then again we could get airline miles.
I tried to take a picture of the torrential downpour that lasted for about forty-five minutes this evening. I'll have to check the news tomorrow to see how much rain we actually got. All I know is that now we've got a flash flood warning because there's potentially 1.5" rain that fell within an hour. Now that I think about it, I don't think this city has gutters. H. says he'll check for me tomorrow on his morning route.
It's definitely bedtime for you in the Central Time Zone, so sweet dreams and have a happy Thursday!
Wonky.
I don't feel quite as energetic today. I think it's a combination of the cloudy and rainy weather that rolls in and out every couple of hours plus my lack of appetite. I had a slice of pizza for lunch, and knew that one piece wasn't enough to fill my belly, so I tried eating a PB&J. Without finishing it I felt really full, and it's been like that for the rest of the day. Usually I need a midday snack around now, but not today.
It could also stem from H. wanting to watch the whole Rangers game last night. It started at 7:30 and went well past our bedtime. I don't remember what time it was, but I ended up going to bed without him because I was beat (and we were up five nothing).
Or maybe it's that this morning H. left his phone in his pocket, so we didn't hear the alarm and slept in an hour. Usually, waking up an hour later doesn't affect me at all. In face, I usually like that sort of thing. But when H. woke me up saying that he was late, I had to go from deep sleep mode to breakfast, coffee, and lunch mode. I was dreaming about taking a tour through a cookie factory, so I might've been a little grumpy.
Tonight there's another seven o'clock game. This time I'm keeping an eye on the clock and going to bed as per usual. H. might be able to run on six hours of sleep, but I certainly can't.
The other night, H. and I were sitting on the couch, watching something on TV. I turned to look at him, and then saw the thing crawling up the wall. It looked like this:
My first thought when I saw this was Oh my goodness it's a bug, I've gotta tell H. Which I did. It probably sounded like this: "There's-a-bug-there's-a-bug-there's-a-bug can-you-get-it-please-please-please?" So H. grabs a tissue to kill it with while I have another thought about the bug. I gotta take a picture because Dad will want to see this. Turns out, asking someone to kill a bug and then telling them not to kill it yet is a little confusing. Plus, it took around five or six shots to get this one. I have absolutely no idea what this insect is, but I do know that it was at least an inch long and looked a little transparent. I also know that I don't want this in my living space, ever.
As I said, the weather's been really wonky over the past couple days, so here's a couple of mountain pictures to prove it.
It could also stem from H. wanting to watch the whole Rangers game last night. It started at 7:30 and went well past our bedtime. I don't remember what time it was, but I ended up going to bed without him because I was beat (and we were up five nothing).
Or maybe it's that this morning H. left his phone in his pocket, so we didn't hear the alarm and slept in an hour. Usually, waking up an hour later doesn't affect me at all. In face, I usually like that sort of thing. But when H. woke me up saying that he was late, I had to go from deep sleep mode to breakfast, coffee, and lunch mode. I was dreaming about taking a tour through a cookie factory, so I might've been a little grumpy.
Tonight there's another seven o'clock game. This time I'm keeping an eye on the clock and going to bed as per usual. H. might be able to run on six hours of sleep, but I certainly can't.
The other night, H. and I were sitting on the couch, watching something on TV. I turned to look at him, and then saw the thing crawling up the wall. It looked like this:
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| Evil bug on the wall. |
As I said, the weather's been really wonky over the past couple days, so here's a couple of mountain pictures to prove it.
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| Rain on the mountains makes them almost invisible. |
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| Clouds befriending mountains at sunset. |
When I look at the weather forecast for the next couple of days, there's more rain, but there's also a flood advisory in effect. In most places, flood advisories are for when there's a flood. Here, there's flood advisories because we've had an inch and a half of rain. Road closures due to a "small stream flood advisory", people. I just hope that the ants have made their leaf-bridge this year, because it's about to get rough.
Monday, July 18
Breaking News, Now.
We interrupt your local programming for this important ring news update.
I just received a call from the district manager for the Gordon's Jewelers stores in this area. I forget what his name was, but he apologized for not responding to my customer service email earlier because he was on vacation last week. He asked where we were with the ring, and I told him all of the recent details (it's coming in on Wednesday). He apologized for the poor service we had experienced, and I told him that it's very difficult to work with someone when you know that they screw up their job 90% of the time. Well, I didn't use those words, but I did say that we do not want to work with Paulina again. I told him that it was frustrating working with someone who only acknowledged on Saturday that it was her fault we're in this situation in the first place.
He asked if he could send me a gift card, and I said that would be fine, but we'll be using it online instead of in the store. I said that if the ring isn't in on Wednesday, I'm sorry, but we'll be asking for our money back and purchasing this ring elsewhere. To that he said he would keep an eye on our order and contact us if anything happens to it. Maybe this time we'll win the lottery and get a ring.
As a side note, I was a little startled when he asked for me by my married name. I'm still not quite used to it, but I'm getting there. =]
I just received a call from the district manager for the Gordon's Jewelers stores in this area. I forget what his name was, but he apologized for not responding to my customer service email earlier because he was on vacation last week. He asked where we were with the ring, and I told him all of the recent details (it's coming in on Wednesday). He apologized for the poor service we had experienced, and I told him that it's very difficult to work with someone when you know that they screw up their job 90% of the time. Well, I didn't use those words, but I did say that we do not want to work with Paulina again. I told him that it was frustrating working with someone who only acknowledged on Saturday that it was her fault we're in this situation in the first place.
He asked if he could send me a gift card, and I said that would be fine, but we'll be using it online instead of in the store. I said that if the ring isn't in on Wednesday, I'm sorry, but we'll be asking for our money back and purchasing this ring elsewhere. To that he said he would keep an eye on our order and contact us if anything happens to it. Maybe this time we'll win the lottery and get a ring.
As a side note, I was a little startled when he asked for me by my married name. I'm still not quite used to it, but I'm getting there. =]
Monswoon.
Yesterday evening we experienced another burst of rain. Even though it rained for a solid twenty to thirty minutes, as soon as the clouds stopped, the ground started to dry up. Where there used to be a river of three feet across running through the driveway, there was now just a half foot trickle. As I stepped out on the balcony for a looksie, the air smelled honey sweet. I wonder what makes it smell so sweetly.
This morning I dropped off a Netflix movie in the mailbox, and had some critters greet me along the way. The entire trip is just ten minutes, but I ended up seeing (in order of appearance) a white-tailed bunny, two desert squirrels*, three lizards, another squirrel*, and four lizards once again. I tried to take a picture of all those reptilians, but they are so fast that by the time I reach for my phone they've darted off somewhere. The one time I had my phone ready and took a picture, the little guy had skirted out of the photo, so now it's just a picture of gravel. These lizards are different from the ones that I had been seeing previously. The first kind were larger, probably five or six inches long, and had a good amount of muscle and belly on 'em. This second kind are probably three or four inches long, super low to the ground, and are quite skinny. It's hard to tell, but these might be a younger version of the larger ones. Although, I'm saying that without any knowledge of their breeding cycles.
* After some research, the critter I'm referring to here is actually called a Rock Squirrel. Here's an accurate picture of said squirrel.
They're much leaner than any squirrel I'd seen, and their tails are super sleek instead of bushy. Very desert-like.
One stationary thing I did take a picture of is one of the bushes all around the apartments. These have started producing a wonderful fragrance, and only recently bloomed. I think my parents have one of these in their backyard, but that's just going off of looks.
When the purple blooms aren't there, you would see that the leaves are a dusty green-blue color. As you can tell, it was very bright this morning (the sidewalk is almost blinding).
It's supposed to rain again tonight, but I think we'll miss the majority of the rain. So far, we've gotten just a little above an inch of rain since the start of Monsoon Season (July), and things are starting to come to life. I can't wait to venture up that mountain some time when it's not quite so hot!
This morning I dropped off a Netflix movie in the mailbox, and had some critters greet me along the way. The entire trip is just ten minutes, but I ended up seeing (in order of appearance) a white-tailed bunny, two desert squirrels*, three lizards, another squirrel*, and four lizards once again. I tried to take a picture of all those reptilians, but they are so fast that by the time I reach for my phone they've darted off somewhere. The one time I had my phone ready and took a picture, the little guy had skirted out of the photo, so now it's just a picture of gravel. These lizards are different from the ones that I had been seeing previously. The first kind were larger, probably five or six inches long, and had a good amount of muscle and belly on 'em. This second kind are probably three or four inches long, super low to the ground, and are quite skinny. It's hard to tell, but these might be a younger version of the larger ones. Although, I'm saying that without any knowledge of their breeding cycles.
* After some research, the critter I'm referring to here is actually called a Rock Squirrel. Here's an accurate picture of said squirrel.
They're much leaner than any squirrel I'd seen, and their tails are super sleek instead of bushy. Very desert-like.
One stationary thing I did take a picture of is one of the bushes all around the apartments. These have started producing a wonderful fragrance, and only recently bloomed. I think my parents have one of these in their backyard, but that's just going off of looks.
When the purple blooms aren't there, you would see that the leaves are a dusty green-blue color. As you can tell, it was very bright this morning (the sidewalk is almost blinding).
It's supposed to rain again tonight, but I think we'll miss the majority of the rain. So far, we've gotten just a little above an inch of rain since the start of Monsoon Season (July), and things are starting to come to life. I can't wait to venture up that mountain some time when it's not quite so hot!
Sunday, July 17
Oh, Australia.
Remember the morning news anchor who interviewed the Dalai Lama? Here's another golden moment from that station.
As it turns out, the show's website lets you watch live online. H. thinks I'm crazy for doing so, but I'll be the first to know when they make another comedic gem.
As it turns out, the show's website lets you watch live online. H. thinks I'm crazy for doing so, but I'll be the first to know when they make another comedic gem.
Courage.
Well, I guess you could say we've reached a kind of ulltermater (ultimatum) with the jewelry store.
Bea - the lady who ordered the ring for us on Tuesday and said it would be in by Friday, also the woman who is having her hip replaced - apparently ordered the ring and told no one that it would be in store a week from Tuesday, and not Friday like she said. Paulina said that the vendor claimed they needed two days to place the order, and then shipping it out takes five days ... ? H. was pretty hopping mad, and told Paulina that if we don't have the ring in by Wednesday, we're going to want our money back.
Paulina kept talking about how it was all her fault and that we should get our money back and that they had their old manager leave and a new one come in two weeks ago and it's been so hectic since then and blah blah blah. Reading over my last couple of posts it seems like H. and I have been a little soft in dealing with the jewelry store, waiting deadline after deadline to get the ring. The fact of the matter is we just want the darn ring. H. really likes this ring he's picked out, and while I'm sure other jewelry stores have something similar, it won't be the exact same thing. Although, at this point, H. will probably be satisfied with something similar.
Speaking of H., I accidentally jinxed him. At the time, I definitely did jinx him, but if I had known what crazy charades would follow, I most certainly wouldn't have done so. For about a half hour after the initial seal of silence, H. would play the "four words, first word" game with me for anything he wanted to say. After I failed to guess a number of words and phrases, he gave up and was just silent while we watched the Rangers game. This is when I realized I liked having him talk, and by golly I wanted him to tell me stuff about baseball! What finally broke his silence was one last attempt at charades. He kept depicting, "4 words, third word" to me, then making a gesture that suggested the word "small, tiny", but that didn't fit with the phrase at all! The phrase I had so far was "Felix (Hernandez) is _____ king." I tried Felix is a king, Felix is small king, Felix is tiny king, and obviously nothing was right. H. was so frustrated that he grabbed my computer, found a video online about charades, and flipped out at the part where squinching your fingers together meant that the word you're trying to act out is short/small. And then I got Felix is the king, to which H. did a little happy dance, got me a drink, and started talking again. So, for as long as I live, never again will I jinx him.
Oh, by the way, you might've noticed that the fishes are back. H. showed me how to take the values for Red Blue Green in paint and turn them into hexidecimal codes for colors. Yup, I'm pretty tech savvy nowadays.
Last night's Spaghetti and Meaty Sauce was a success. Ground beef + two cans of pureed diced tomatoes + seasonings, all on top of pasta = tastiness. I sprinkled a little bit of Parmasan cheese on top for an added layer of flavor. /chef flex.
And to top this post off, I have a small wildflower window box update for you all. Newsflash: these plants be growin' somethin' fierce. They're sporting leaves and everything! I wish they would have come with instructions on how long it takes to flower, but I suppose that would take away the element of surprise. They still have a long way to go either way.
Uncle Google suggests that wildflowers take 14-21 days to germinate, and another 45-60 days before they bloom. Doing some rough math and estimating when I actually planted these suckers, I'd say this is day 37 after germination. There's no way these green stalks could support an actual flower at this stage, so perhaps I'm looking at the 60-day end of the spectrum for blooms. I CAN'T WAIT!
Bea - the lady who ordered the ring for us on Tuesday and said it would be in by Friday, also the woman who is having her hip replaced - apparently ordered the ring and told no one that it would be in store a week from Tuesday, and not Friday like she said. Paulina said that the vendor claimed they needed two days to place the order, and then shipping it out takes five days ... ? H. was pretty hopping mad, and told Paulina that if we don't have the ring in by Wednesday, we're going to want our money back.
Paulina kept talking about how it was all her fault and that we should get our money back and that they had their old manager leave and a new one come in two weeks ago and it's been so hectic since then and blah blah blah. Reading over my last couple of posts it seems like H. and I have been a little soft in dealing with the jewelry store, waiting deadline after deadline to get the ring. The fact of the matter is we just want the darn ring. H. really likes this ring he's picked out, and while I'm sure other jewelry stores have something similar, it won't be the exact same thing. Although, at this point, H. will probably be satisfied with something similar.
Speaking of H., I accidentally jinxed him. At the time, I definitely did jinx him, but if I had known what crazy charades would follow, I most certainly wouldn't have done so. For about a half hour after the initial seal of silence, H. would play the "four words, first word" game with me for anything he wanted to say. After I failed to guess a number of words and phrases, he gave up and was just silent while we watched the Rangers game. This is when I realized I liked having him talk, and by golly I wanted him to tell me stuff about baseball! What finally broke his silence was one last attempt at charades. He kept depicting, "4 words, third word" to me, then making a gesture that suggested the word "small, tiny", but that didn't fit with the phrase at all! The phrase I had so far was "Felix (Hernandez) is _____ king." I tried Felix is a king, Felix is small king, Felix is tiny king, and obviously nothing was right. H. was so frustrated that he grabbed my computer, found a video online about charades, and flipped out at the part where squinching your fingers together meant that the word you're trying to act out is short/small. And then I got Felix is the king, to which H. did a little happy dance, got me a drink, and started talking again. So, for as long as I live, never again will I jinx him.
Oh, by the way, you might've noticed that the fishes are back. H. showed me how to take the values for Red Blue Green in paint and turn them into hexidecimal codes for colors. Yup, I'm pretty tech savvy nowadays.
Last night's Spaghetti and Meaty Sauce was a success. Ground beef + two cans of pureed diced tomatoes + seasonings, all on top of pasta = tastiness. I sprinkled a little bit of Parmasan cheese on top for an added layer of flavor. /chef flex.
And to top this post off, I have a small wildflower window box update for you all. Newsflash: these plants be growin' somethin' fierce. They're sporting leaves and everything! I wish they would have come with instructions on how long it takes to flower, but I suppose that would take away the element of surprise. They still have a long way to go either way.
Uncle Google suggests that wildflowers take 14-21 days to germinate, and another 45-60 days before they bloom. Doing some rough math and estimating when I actually planted these suckers, I'd say this is day 37 after germination. There's no way these green stalks could support an actual flower at this stage, so perhaps I'm looking at the 60-day end of the spectrum for blooms. I CAN'T WAIT!
Friday, July 15
Ringscapades Update.
Before I get to the juicy story, I would like to welcome you to my blog's new layout. It's fancy and colorful and painterly and yay! H. chuckled when I told him I was redesigning my blog, but what does he know about the internet? Quite a lot, actually.
I got a call from Paulina on Wednesday - she left a message saying that the lady we'd been working with (Bea) is getting her hip replaced Friday, so if I have any questions about the overnight order, just call her. Oh, and that the ring would be in Friday morning after 10 AM. Skip ahead to today (Friday): H. and I walk into the store, tell her to stick 'em up and hand over the ring. She said that she called previously and said it would be in by 1 PM. I was all, "Whatchyou talkin' bout Willis?", but figured if the jewelry delivery man hadn't dropped it off yet there wasn't much use in arguing. She said she would call us when it came in, so we went to In 'n' Out Burger for lunch and headed back to the apartment.
1 PM: No phone calls.
3 PM: I call the store, Paulina says she'll call the delivery man and Bea and call me right back in ten minutes.
4.20 PM: I call the store, another associate answers and says Paulina will call me back in 20 minutes.
5 PM: I call the store, Paulina answers and says neither delivery man nor Bea will call her back.
During that last phone call, I had a slight change of heart and told Paulina that the delivery man will probably call her back by Saturday, and that I'd call back then as well. She sounded sincerely embarrassed and apologetic and nervous, so I believed her when she said neither person was returning her calls. I verified that Bea had actually put the order in, and Paulina said she had, so now it's the delivery man's fault the ring isn't here (kind of).
Paulina also asked, "When do you need the ring by?" To which I said, "We needed it six weeks ago." "Really? No, but you only exchanged it three weeks ago." "No, we ordered it six weeks ago and you said it would be in in two." "You ordered it in June?" "Yes, we ordered it in June." So. Incredibly. Frustrating.
H. has a plan for us. Saturday, we will go in and see if the ring is there. If it is, great. If it isn't, we give Paulina an ultimatum. If the ring isn't in by the end of the day on Saturday (the mall closes at 9), we are going to ask for our money back. H. will also remind her that we've caught her lying to us at least once (ordering a gold ring instead of a titanium ring), and that she probably was lying about checking every day for our newly exchanged tungsten ring as well. It is entirely her fault that we are in this situation in the first place, and if she can't understand that then she shouldn't be working at a jewelry store.
And now for something that has much less rant and much more food.
Dinner plans for the week are as follows:
Friday - Saturday: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (think deconstructed meatballs in the tomato sauce)
Sunday - Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas b^^d <-- two thumbs up
Wednesday - Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Friday: Whatever tickles my fancy.
Y'all enjoy yer weekend, ya hur?
I got a call from Paulina on Wednesday - she left a message saying that the lady we'd been working with (Bea) is getting her hip replaced Friday, so if I have any questions about the overnight order, just call her. Oh, and that the ring would be in Friday morning after 10 AM. Skip ahead to today (Friday): H. and I walk into the store, tell her to stick 'em up and hand over the ring. She said that she called previously and said it would be in by 1 PM. I was all, "Whatchyou talkin' bout Willis?", but figured if the jewelry delivery man hadn't dropped it off yet there wasn't much use in arguing. She said she would call us when it came in, so we went to In 'n' Out Burger for lunch and headed back to the apartment.
1 PM: No phone calls.
3 PM: I call the store, Paulina says she'll call the delivery man and Bea and call me right back in ten minutes.
4.20 PM: I call the store, another associate answers and says Paulina will call me back in 20 minutes.
5 PM: I call the store, Paulina answers and says neither delivery man nor Bea will call her back.
During that last phone call, I had a slight change of heart and told Paulina that the delivery man will probably call her back by Saturday, and that I'd call back then as well. She sounded sincerely embarrassed and apologetic and nervous, so I believed her when she said neither person was returning her calls. I verified that Bea had actually put the order in, and Paulina said she had, so now it's the delivery man's fault the ring isn't here (kind of).
Paulina also asked, "When do you need the ring by?" To which I said, "We needed it six weeks ago." "Really? No, but you only exchanged it three weeks ago." "No, we ordered it six weeks ago and you said it would be in in two." "You ordered it in June?" "Yes, we ordered it in June." So. Incredibly. Frustrating.
H. has a plan for us. Saturday, we will go in and see if the ring is there. If it is, great. If it isn't, we give Paulina an ultimatum. If the ring isn't in by the end of the day on Saturday (the mall closes at 9), we are going to ask for our money back. H. will also remind her that we've caught her lying to us at least once (ordering a gold ring instead of a titanium ring), and that she probably was lying about checking every day for our newly exchanged tungsten ring as well. It is entirely her fault that we are in this situation in the first place, and if she can't understand that then she shouldn't be working at a jewelry store.
And now for something that has much less rant and much more food.
Dinner plans for the week are as follows:
Friday - Saturday: Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (think deconstructed meatballs in the tomato sauce)
Sunday - Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas b^^d <-- two thumbs up
Wednesday - Thursday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Friday: Whatever tickles my fancy.
Y'all enjoy yer weekend, ya hur?
Wednesday, July 13
The Housewife Chronicles: Vacuuming and Other Silly Things
Oh, the vacuum. The vacuum is like a friend that helps you out without asking for anything in return, all the while accumulating favor points in anticipation of the moment that you least want to clean out the rotating bar of hair and string and other noodle-shaped things. It's at that moment you wonder how in the world you didn't see all that hair on the carpet, and if you're slowly going bald as you walk around your living quarters.
But this isn't the time for pondering.
The other day I sat down on the couch and remnant scents of past dinners wafted up at me. Normally I would welcome the smells of food, but when they're all coming at you at once, you kind of stop breathing. You just don't want all of that in your nose when you're eating your current dinner. So I set out to find something to stop the smell.
The couch that we have is absolutely wonderful. The only thing I don't like about it is taking the cushion covers off and washing them with the laundry. I did that for the first time after the couch was moved out here and smelt like trucks and road and dust. Actually, taking the covers off isn't all that much trouble. Putting them on makes me want to grind my teeth. But anyways.
I came across this lovely gem at the Walmarts.
I've actually used this product before, or at least seen it used when H. and I stayed at my parents' house. My mom (hi Mom!) figured it would freshen up the room, and that's exactly what it did. You dust a bit of the powder on some carpet, leave it for a minute, then vacuum it up. Smells clean and fresh.
I figured I could use the same methods to freshen up the couch. So I dusted a little on, waited, then vacuumed it up. And now for your Housewife Tidbit: don't do this. The powder left the cushions sticky to the touch even after a second going over with the Dyson. I ended up washing the darn things in the laundry anyways. Thankfully I was able to get most of it off of the upper cushions, because the fabric is attached to the couch and I can't take it off to wash it. Stick to the carpet with this little gem.
Today, I vacuumed the carpets in the apartment. I got a nice surprise when the residual clean-smelling powder kicked around in the vacuum and practically spread the scent around the room while I cleaned. Specific to the Dyson vacuums, there's a metal pipe running up the backbone of the machine with a hole in the top. This is where the scent was coming out of - I guess it's part of Dyson's fab airflow design or whatnot. Now that I think about it, does this mean that dust is constantly being kicked up out of the vacuum?
At any rate, there is a piece from the Housewife Knowledge Vault. You know, the Vault that mothers pass down to their daughters once they get married. It's an on-off switch in our brains, I'm sure of it.
By the way, I always spell vacuum like vaccuum. Apparently it is not spelled with two c's and two u's. I would say that's my pneumonic device, but I guess I've been spelling that wrong in my head as well.
Mnemonic device: a learning technique that aids memory.
Pneumonic device: any equipment designed for use with or relating to the lungs, like the iron lung.
But this isn't the time for pondering.
The other day I sat down on the couch and remnant scents of past dinners wafted up at me. Normally I would welcome the smells of food, but when they're all coming at you at once, you kind of stop breathing. You just don't want all of that in your nose when you're eating your current dinner. So I set out to find something to stop the smell.
The couch that we have is absolutely wonderful. The only thing I don't like about it is taking the cushion covers off and washing them with the laundry. I did that for the first time after the couch was moved out here and smelt like trucks and road and dust. Actually, taking the covers off isn't all that much trouble. Putting them on makes me want to grind my teeth. But anyways.
I came across this lovely gem at the Walmarts.
 |
| Glade Carpet & Room Odor Eliminator |
I figured I could use the same methods to freshen up the couch. So I dusted a little on, waited, then vacuumed it up. And now for your Housewife Tidbit: don't do this. The powder left the cushions sticky to the touch even after a second going over with the Dyson. I ended up washing the darn things in the laundry anyways. Thankfully I was able to get most of it off of the upper cushions, because the fabric is attached to the couch and I can't take it off to wash it. Stick to the carpet with this little gem.
Today, I vacuumed the carpets in the apartment. I got a nice surprise when the residual clean-smelling powder kicked around in the vacuum and practically spread the scent around the room while I cleaned. Specific to the Dyson vacuums, there's a metal pipe running up the backbone of the machine with a hole in the top. This is where the scent was coming out of - I guess it's part of Dyson's fab airflow design or whatnot. Now that I think about it, does this mean that dust is constantly being kicked up out of the vacuum?
At any rate, there is a piece from the Housewife Knowledge Vault. You know, the Vault that mothers pass down to their daughters once they get married. It's an on-off switch in our brains, I'm sure of it.
By the way, I always spell vacuum like vaccuum. Apparently it is not spelled with two c's and two u's. I would say that's my pneumonic device, but I guess I've been spelling that wrong in my head as well.
Mnemonic device: a learning technique that aids memory.
Pneumonic device: any equipment designed for use with or relating to the lungs, like the iron lung.
Tuesday, July 12
Ringscapades.
Most of you know about the wonderful customer service we received from Gordon's Jewelers when we bought our wedding rings. Most of you also know that a couple of weeks ago we traded in H.'s troublesome ring for a brand spankin' new, easy on the hand ring. This past weekend, we tried to go pickup said awesome ring. We figured that since it was five weeks and a few days since we ordered it, it should be in by now.
Paulina is the name of the lady who we always end up working with because the one other person at the shop is busy. Paulina is also the lady that promised us she would call when the ring came in in two weeks from the purchase date. Yeah, she never called.
So we walk in and Paulina walks over to come and greet us. We ask if the ring has come in yet. She checks one place, checks another place, asks for some keys from her associate to check the last place. As it so happens, our ring was in the last place she looked. She pulls it out of the bag, saying "I alwayz jhuust check dee Special Order merch-un-dice - I checked eet ev-er-y day j-waiting for you guyz." Yeah, I'm sure that you checked in the wrong place for it every single day. (By the way, the ring came in three weeks after we ordered it, and apparently nobody at the store cares about their customers enough to call them.) Whatever. We've got our ring and we're happy. Until H. tries it on and it's three sizes too big. To her credit, it did say on the receipt for the factory to size it down, and the factory didn't. I almost felt bad for her getting the short end of the stick until she started laughing about it. H. even said, "I'm glad she finds this funny," which I guess she didn't hear because she kept on laughing.
Paulina says that she can overnight us the correct size, and that the ring will be in on Wednesday (she would call the factory Monday morning). It was at this point that H. and I asked for someone else to fill out the order form and request a new ring. She took it pretty well, and we ended up ordering the new ring with a lady named Bea. She made copies of all of the receipts, gave us the originals, and said she would call when she had ordered the ring to keep us in the loop. In general, we like this lady.
She called Monday morning to say there was a problem with ordering the new ring, and that we needed to call her back. We didn't get this message until late Monday night for some reason. I called her and asked what the problem was. She said, "I know you guys wanted the tungsten ring, but for some reason when I reorder it from the factory it tries to make me order a yellow gold ring." ... /facepalm. I ended up telling her the whole Paulina story, and once she knew that, it helped her figure out how to order the ring, I think. She says that it'll be in before the weekend, and I really hope it is. If it isn't, we'll be getting what we paid for the ring back in cold, hard, credit card cash and taking it to one of the four other jewelry stores within twenty yards of Gordon's Jewelers. Or, we'll just order the same ring from them online and get 3 miles per dollar. And lemme tell you, we won't be using the Ship-to-Store option, either.
In my wedding ring rage I wrote an email to the customer service department of the Gordon's Jewelers website. I wrote that on Sunday, but still haven't received anything back from them. Turns out their online service might be as awful as their in-store service.
So there you have it. If you value your sanity, don't purchase anything from Paulina. She'll just bat her eyelashes and tell you it's not her fault.
And just so we're not ending on a sour note, here's a picture of the mountains tonight. Gotta love those sunset clouds.
Paulina is the name of the lady who we always end up working with because the one other person at the shop is busy. Paulina is also the lady that promised us she would call when the ring came in in two weeks from the purchase date. Yeah, she never called.
So we walk in and Paulina walks over to come and greet us. We ask if the ring has come in yet. She checks one place, checks another place, asks for some keys from her associate to check the last place. As it so happens, our ring was in the last place she looked. She pulls it out of the bag, saying "I alwayz jhuust check dee Special Order merch-un-dice - I checked eet ev-er-y day j-waiting for you guyz." Yeah, I'm sure that you checked in the wrong place for it every single day. (By the way, the ring came in three weeks after we ordered it, and apparently nobody at the store cares about their customers enough to call them.) Whatever. We've got our ring and we're happy. Until H. tries it on and it's three sizes too big. To her credit, it did say on the receipt for the factory to size it down, and the factory didn't. I almost felt bad for her getting the short end of the stick until she started laughing about it. H. even said, "I'm glad she finds this funny," which I guess she didn't hear because she kept on laughing.
Paulina says that she can overnight us the correct size, and that the ring will be in on Wednesday (she would call the factory Monday morning). It was at this point that H. and I asked for someone else to fill out the order form and request a new ring. She took it pretty well, and we ended up ordering the new ring with a lady named Bea. She made copies of all of the receipts, gave us the originals, and said she would call when she had ordered the ring to keep us in the loop. In general, we like this lady.
She called Monday morning to say there was a problem with ordering the new ring, and that we needed to call her back. We didn't get this message until late Monday night for some reason. I called her and asked what the problem was. She said, "I know you guys wanted the tungsten ring, but for some reason when I reorder it from the factory it tries to make me order a yellow gold ring." ... /facepalm. I ended up telling her the whole Paulina story, and once she knew that, it helped her figure out how to order the ring, I think. She says that it'll be in before the weekend, and I really hope it is. If it isn't, we'll be getting what we paid for the ring back in cold, hard, credit card cash and taking it to one of the four other jewelry stores within twenty yards of Gordon's Jewelers. Or, we'll just order the same ring from them online and get 3 miles per dollar. And lemme tell you, we won't be using the Ship-to-Store option, either.
In my wedding ring rage I wrote an email to the customer service department of the Gordon's Jewelers website. I wrote that on Sunday, but still haven't received anything back from them. Turns out their online service might be as awful as their in-store service.
So there you have it. If you value your sanity, don't purchase anything from Paulina. She'll just bat her eyelashes and tell you it's not her fault.
And just so we're not ending on a sour note, here's a picture of the mountains tonight. Gotta love those sunset clouds.
Monday, July 11
Curse You, Neck.
Yesterday I woke up with a bit of pain in my neck and shoulder. I took some Advil, had H. massage the knots out of the affected areas, and thought it felt much better. Last night, I woke up and stayed awake for a long time while I tried to find a spot I could lay my head without a neck twinge. It was the middle of the night, and I was seriously considering taking a half a TylenolPM just to get past the almost-asleep stage. Thankfully, I finally went back to sleep. This morning, my neck feels like there's a pinched nerve somewhere, and while I can move around I'm having trouble doing so. (I should mention that I haven't actually ever had a pinched nerve, but I imagine this is some form of it. All I know is that this doesn't feel muscular.) So for today I'll be taking more Advil, some magnesium, and I might take a nap if I can really get to sleep.
H. took me to see Transformers - Dark Side of the Moon in 3D yesterday. (SPOILERS) As most sequel-to-the-sequel movies are, it was pretty good, but the story was a little disjointed at times. The graphics and fight scenes were really well done, though, so that was nice. The particular 3D theater room we were in insisted on being superbly loud for the entire movie. I don't know what it is about 3D movies that want to blow your eardrums out, but they all do.
H. and I had a little tiff about something Ranger related over the weekend. You know the guy (Shannon Stone) that unfortunately passed away at the Thursday game? Well, this is probably going to sound callous, but I just feel like the media is talking about his death too much. I understand that it was a tragedy, that it was an accidental death, and that not only is his family in mourning but his son had to watch him fall, but I just don't get why they are talking about it so much. H. says that there might be a lawsuit coming against the Rangers, so that's adding a little to the headlines, but really? Compared to the number of soldiers that die each week/month/year, why is this one guy getting so much air time? H. says that I'm just cold-hearted, but I honestly don't understand what makes this one person so much more important than anyone else who has died recently.
But anyways. It's been actually kind of warm and not hot here over the weekend. What the Monsoon Season actually translates to is cloudy skies with an honest to goodness chance of rain. It hasn't rained on us in particular since the last time I posted, but it's been falling on other parts of the area, which brings down the temperature a good deal. It'll be 91 degrees today, and we only get up to 101 later in the week. Actually, scratch that. Looking at the ten-day forecast, it'll be back to 107 next Monday. Although, a little reprieve from the scalding sun is nothing to be sad over.
Neck willing, I am going to try and paint some more today. Laundry and paint. And a nap. And some morphine. But first I've got to return the Netflix movie we watched on Saturday - Braveheart. H. says it's one of the best movies of all time. I will concede that it was a really good movie, but my all time favorites are still locked in place.
I'm wondering what to do for dinner, which reminds me that H. has put a ban on slow cooker pot roasts for the time being. In the six weeks since purchasing the cooker we (cough, I) have made four roasts - Costco had some decent prices on 3 lb. roasts. What I would really like to do is finally get our own Costco cards so that I could just walk in and purchase stuff without bringing H. along every single time. Specifically, I want to make chicken enchiladas tonight, but can't because I don't have access to the rotisserie chickens. And after trying the Fry's brand rotisserie, there really is no comparison. I would also like to be able to pick up a couch every now and again.
I think we'll have either teriyaki chicken or teriyaki beef tonight, seeing as how we have a jumbo-sized teriyaki sauce jar thing that we bought a while back at Costco. It will most likely be beef, since H. is a little bit of a chicken snob (read: will only eat chicken breast, will definitely not eat chicken tenderloin strips). Maybe we can also use some of the twenty pounds of jasmine rice we bought the first day we moved in. Literally, twenty pounds of rice. "We'll definitely use this within a year." <-- actual quote from day of purchase.
And with that, I am off to mail the Netflix. Yous guyses enjoy your hundred degree weathers!
H. took me to see Transformers - Dark Side of the Moon in 3D yesterday. (SPOILERS) As most sequel-to-the-sequel movies are, it was pretty good, but the story was a little disjointed at times. The graphics and fight scenes were really well done, though, so that was nice. The particular 3D theater room we were in insisted on being superbly loud for the entire movie. I don't know what it is about 3D movies that want to blow your eardrums out, but they all do.
H. and I had a little tiff about something Ranger related over the weekend. You know the guy (Shannon Stone) that unfortunately passed away at the Thursday game? Well, this is probably going to sound callous, but I just feel like the media is talking about his death too much. I understand that it was a tragedy, that it was an accidental death, and that not only is his family in mourning but his son had to watch him fall, but I just don't get why they are talking about it so much. H. says that there might be a lawsuit coming against the Rangers, so that's adding a little to the headlines, but really? Compared to the number of soldiers that die each week/month/year, why is this one guy getting so much air time? H. says that I'm just cold-hearted, but I honestly don't understand what makes this one person so much more important than anyone else who has died recently.
But anyways. It's been actually kind of warm and not hot here over the weekend. What the Monsoon Season actually translates to is cloudy skies with an honest to goodness chance of rain. It hasn't rained on us in particular since the last time I posted, but it's been falling on other parts of the area, which brings down the temperature a good deal. It'll be 91 degrees today, and we only get up to 101 later in the week. Actually, scratch that. Looking at the ten-day forecast, it'll be back to 107 next Monday. Although, a little reprieve from the scalding sun is nothing to be sad over.
Neck willing, I am going to try and paint some more today. Laundry and paint. And a nap. And some morphine. But first I've got to return the Netflix movie we watched on Saturday - Braveheart. H. says it's one of the best movies of all time. I will concede that it was a really good movie, but my all time favorites are still locked in place.
I'm wondering what to do for dinner, which reminds me that H. has put a ban on slow cooker pot roasts for the time being. In the six weeks since purchasing the cooker we (cough, I) have made four roasts - Costco had some decent prices on 3 lb. roasts. What I would really like to do is finally get our own Costco cards so that I could just walk in and purchase stuff without bringing H. along every single time. Specifically, I want to make chicken enchiladas tonight, but can't because I don't have access to the rotisserie chickens. And after trying the Fry's brand rotisserie, there really is no comparison. I would also like to be able to pick up a couch every now and again.
I think we'll have either teriyaki chicken or teriyaki beef tonight, seeing as how we have a jumbo-sized teriyaki sauce jar thing that we bought a while back at Costco. It will most likely be beef, since H. is a little bit of a chicken snob (read: will only eat chicken breast, will definitely not eat chicken tenderloin strips). Maybe we can also use some of the twenty pounds of jasmine rice we bought the first day we moved in. Literally, twenty pounds of rice. "We'll definitely use this within a year." <-- actual quote from day of purchase.
And with that, I am off to mail the Netflix. Yous guyses enjoy your hundred degree weathers!
Friday, July 8
Uno Año Mas.
First annual birthday post! Somehow, I don't think I'll forget to post about my birthday from here on out, but someone remind me if I don't, eh?
Yesterday was my official birthday, and even though I had a pre-birthday party while H. and I were in Texas, I wanted to make a little cake for the occasion. I knew exactly what I wanted: a lemon-almond cake. Turns out a lot of almond cake recipes use almond paste or blanched almonds, but I didn't feel like running around outside on my birthday. I finally landed on this Swedish Almond Cake recipe and edited it to my liking (substituting 1/4 c. whole wheat flour for all purpose flour, using butter even though the commenters tell you not to, etc.) including adding some lemon juice drops to the batter. After baking and cooling, I iced it with whip cream and promptly took many pictures.
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| Oops! This is a pre-icing photo, complete with the box of chocolates H. got me, and a flower that didn't quite make it into the vase. |
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| The pie plate was the perfect thing to ice on. |
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| We didn't have any candles, so I used a match. |
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| A peek inside the cake! |
For two consecutive days it has rained after H. gets home from work. The first day there was a little rain and a lot of wind (50 mph), and yesterday there was a lot of rain and a little wind (30 mph). There were actually road closures this morning from all the rain last night, and we've got rain in the forecast for the next couple of days. That makes the temperature no higher than 100 degrees, and I am super excited about that. We might even go hiking if the temp stays in the 90s (maybe I should ask H. before I plan that).
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| Clouds cover the mountains. While we get rain, they get hail. |
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| Pigeons huddled together to hide from the rain. |
On the news last night there was a story about a flower that opens once a year (and not necessarily every year), and if you wanted to see it in person you better get your hiney down to some place or other. I wanted to go, but I feel like these time lapse videos are a pretty good second since it was raining something major.
Cereus Time Lapse (professional)
Cereus Time Lapse (home-grown)
Such beautiful flowers! Although I don't think I could wait five years for one to bloom and possibly miss it overnight.
So far, I've gotten one rejection email from a hospital that I applied at. I'm not really all that down about it because (1) people kept telling me how awful looking for a job is, and (2) I didn't feel I was actually qualified for the job, but I applied anyways just to see. Coincidentally, H. got another call from some company that wanted to interview him for a job.
I've been diligently cleaning things up around here (more so than everyday stuff), and I finally got the desk all cleaned off. What better thing to do first than put flowers on it?
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| It will stay this clean forever (fingers crossed). |
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| These birthday flowers that H. got me smell absolutely divine. I never knew I loved the smell of eucalyptus! |
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| Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. |
One more quick update for you all - my wedding flowers are growing! Right now they're just in the green leafy stage, but upon closer inspection there are a couple different types of leaves, which means different flowers. Since we were gone for the 4th, they all started crawling along the dirt towards their light source, so I think it would be detrimental to them to turn around the window box at this stage. In short, they'll be crooked, but hopefully they'll still flower.
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| I thought there would be more, but I'm happy with my little harvest. |
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| One was smart enough to crawl over the edge of the box. We'll call him Leo, as in Da Vinci. |
Well, I think that about wraps up my birthday-day. I wish I didn't have to wait 364 days for the next one!
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