Recently in Life Category

I'm not big on car washes. I'm not sure if it' me s rebelling because of  my childhood. I remember my dad always telling my brother and me to get car washes when we were filling up the Plymouth Acclaim as teenagers. Car washes are usually purchased only after my black Saturn has become a dull black/gray. This week though my car got a nice $480 car wash.

On Tuesday morning the car wouldn't start. It was a great way to start off a Tuesday morning after the long Labor Day weekend. I've had problems with the Saturn starting previously but it usually would start after sitting for little bit. We took our other car and planned on dealing with it later that evening. When we got home from work, I exhausted all my car troubleshooting skills which consisted of trying to start the car while swearing. This usually worked but this time I was left with a grinding engine. I called the shop and lined up a tow truck to come by and pick up the car. It was late in the evening so the shop wasn't going to look at it until the next day.

At work the next day, I get a call at 8:00am and I'm surprised the mechanic was already calling me. The first thing that went through my mind was that he went out and the car started right up. Forturnately, this was not the case. Rethinking this, I would have preferred if it started. He was calling to get more background info on the car. As I've previously revealed I have an in depth knowledge of my car and how it functions. I told the guy on the phone that I turned the key and it sounded like it was trying to start but it wouldn't fire.

A couple hours later I get another call from the mechanic. I answer and he proceeds to tell me that the starter went out. The starter was about $300 for parts another $90 for labor, then there was a $48 diagnostic fee. In addition,  he had to do an oil change because gas has gotten the oil. He also mentioned that a tire rotation could be done sine I requested a tire rotation with the preceding oil change but at that time the wear on the tires necessitate it. So by the time you add in tax and all the total was up to $510. I was in shock but needed the car fixed so I said "Ok, when is it going to be done."

Between work and class that night, Michelle dropped me off so I could pay and head off to class. I was able to use my prepaid oil change card so that knock $30 off. I was happy to be done with the transaction since I hadn't fully figured out where this $500 was coming from to pay for it. I think that's why God create plastic, right?

I walked out into the parking lot and headed to my car. As I approached my Saturn, I noticed that it had a shine that I was unfamiliar with. As I got into the car, I noticed the dash didn't have the usual layer of dust and fuzz either. So for $480, I not only got a new starter I also got a heck of a car wash. I wonder at what dollar amount does the mechanic think, "The least we can do is give him free car wash". Or was my car so dirty that the mechanic couldn't stand it.

I remember someone telling me this right after Aves was born. I didn't think this was possible but it is. We've had a couple great weekends in a row. This past weekend we spoiled the little man immensely. We bought a giant play kitchen for him. The thing showed up at our house in two big boxes on Saturday.  We waited until he went to bed to unpack it and get it together.  I'm not sure who was more excited about it: me or him.

When he woke up on Sunday, Michelle did the diaper changing while I got the camera. When he walked out to the living room his only response was "Ooh, ooh, ooh!" as he pointed at it. He immediately dug into playing. He could move things form the drawer to the cabinet and back again all day long.

The other thing we got him was a small leather chair. He crawls up on it, sits down, then climbs down. I'm not sure if he realizes it's a chair rather than a climbing toy.

I really don't care as long as he is giggling.

It seems that in times of stress I always come to needing an anchor to maintain my sanity. It seems that the journal has served this purpose well. I bet if you go back and look at the history of entries you will find many dead spots in the timeline. (mind you, I have not gone back to look) I would suspect that the posts start up during a hectic/stressful time. I think I just need an outlet for this stress. It also seems that I strive to find ways to relax. During these times I also find myself watching more TV, playing more video games, etc. It feels as if I get more enjoyment out of these during stressful times.
 
I'm not sure if it is because I'm trying to avoid the stress or release it through these activities. I think the activities release teh stress overall. The best thing to cut through all the stress is having Aves come running over to me and give me a hug. Unfortunately, this is not always possible when I have class until late at night. But this cuts both ways, it is so much harder when all he wants is his mom and his response to me is " Go away, Daddy." Most time when this happens I can easily write it off as the boy being a toddler but it sucks even more wehn all I want is his hugs.

Why is it that I'm running into a hell of a time with jobs. It seems that people do not view the fact that I'm getting my MBA as a positive. It seems I'm stuck in a very odd place. With the usual political crap that goes on at a large corporation, I feel that I'm getting lost in the shuffle. I need to find a bridge job between the one I am in now and the post MBA I'd like to have. The problem is that each bridge job I've talked to people about they bring up the fact that I probably wouldn't want to be in the position after I complete my MBA. I try to explain to the people that I'm looking for a challenge and improve my skills, but all they hear is "MBA, he is going to leave after he's done". I'm growing tired of the lack of clarity that management provides. The do not provide any guidance on anything. No one will tell me where I stand on the totem pole. But all the feedback I get is "You are doing a good job, keep doing what you are doing." The nly benefit I'm seeing is that I'm one of the first asked to take on more of the same old boring work. That's not good when I hate the work they ask me to take on.

This evening was a banner evening for horrible customer service.

Last weekend my father-in-law and I installed a new ceiling fan in a bedroom. We ran into a few issues but nothing major until we went to screw in the lightbulbs. One of the sockets was broken so we were unable to screw in the lightbulb. I read through the warranty document and it said that the manufacture would send out replacement parts at no cost if there was something wrong. I called the 800 number and explained my situation to the woman on the other end of the phone. Her response was "We don't send out new sockets or electrical parts. Go back to Menard's and exchange it." I asked her why her about the part of the warranty that said they would send out new parts. "We do that if it's not an electric part. If it's any wiring you have to take it back." I was skeptical that Menard's would be able to help. When we arrived at Menard's, I thought my customer service luck turned around. I walked up to the service desk and the woman told me to go over to the fans and the salesman would be able to help me. Once we located the fan model we had at home, he opened up the box and dug out the light fixture. While he was digging through the box, he apologized for the trouble we had.  Once we got all the pieces he apologized again and told us to have a good night. I was amazed by how easy this was.  Unfortunately the night of custmer service was downhill from there.

Our next stop was at the new Target store in Maple Grove. We went there just to check out the new store. It had just opened on Tuesday so it was amazing to see how neat and uncluttered the store seemed.  We did end up getting a sweater for Mr. A and some other random items. We only has a couple items so we hit up the express lane. The cashier looked at me and said, "I can't help you." I gave her a quizzical and she just repeated "I can't help you." It wasn't like she was uncapable, she was in the middle of finishing up a transaction.  I said "Okay?" and headed further down the row of lanes to find someone who was able to help.

The next stop was Gamestop. I wanted to take advantage of a deal they were running for trading in games for Guitar Hero III. This should have been a 5 minute deal, but took around 30 minutes for clerk to finish the transaction.  She asked me my phone number no less than 4 times during the ordeal. Finally she asked me to write down my number so I wouldn't have to ask me every time she needed it. During the first 10 minutes, she was entering my info in their new computer system. She and another worker spent a good portion of that 10 minutes discussing the horrible new system and how much they hate it.  The last 20 minutes was the clerk trying to figure out why some bonus credit wasn't being allowed. She kept repeating that if she can't get it to work that she would have to do it manually. In the end, she called another store and found out that she couldn't use all of the bonus credits in one transaction. She was apologetic, but still frustrating that it took that long for a 5 minute transaction. Hopefully I'll be able to get in and out when I pick it up.

Since we had done a bunch of running, it was getting late and we still needed dinner. BW's carry-out was what we decided on. I called them up and tried to place a simple order of 8 boneless wings and their dynamic trio. The 8 boneless wings was not an issue, but the trio was hard. When I ordered the trio I heard dead silence. She placed me on hold for a minute. When she got back on the line her response was "All we can find is the Naked Tender so do you want that?"  I had given up at that point and just ordered the tenders with one sauce.

So that was my evening of bad service. After the first two stops I was annoyed with the lack of service, but by the time I had finished with BW's it was just comical.