To go . . . or not to go . . . that is the question

Wednesday, 25 August 2010

So, we did a count down last night and we basically have 10 working days (Saturdays and Andrew’s Fridays off work) to get our yard ready for the landscapers . . . Crazy that we have to get ready for them. Sigh . . . Anyway, I wanted to go to Maine over Labor Day and take the week off work, but that means we loose 4 of the work days and we aren’t sure we can get the retaining wall built, deck finished, and yard cleaned up before the landscapers come.

I’m so tired of working on this house and was really looking forward to an Andrew and me vacation . . . Argh. . . What to do. I guess we could go for a week to Maine over Colombus Day in Oct, but that seems like so long to wait.

Posted by shiloh on August 25, 2010 at 12:56 pm | Leave a Comment

Goodbye Brittany!

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

The 12-year love affair is over. Last night Andrew’s bike was stolen from our back yard. He is simply heart-broken.

Brittany was Andrew’s first true love and the only thing that competed for his time when we were dating. She has been his sole source of getting to work since we moved to Virginia and Andrew recently recorded his 4000th mile on the trails of Arlington. Brittany even carried Andrew 100 miles, through the mountains of Colorado when he competed in the Leadville 100.

Today is a sad day!!

Posted by shiloh on August 17, 2010 at 11:36 am | 1 Comment

Random musings

Sunday, 15 August 2010

We always seem so busy . . . yet always behind schedule and exhausted from trying to do too much. Following are a few thoughts, ideas, anticipations:

  • We just dropped my mom off at the airport.  She flew in for a day on her way to a work engagement in NY.  It was super fun to hang out PLUS mom helped us look for tile for our kitchen backsplash, helped build flower boxes for the deck and introduced us to a yummy place called Texas Roadhouse.
  • Primary has been really great lately.  This month is about Christ doing miracles and we decided to teach the kids “I Wonder When He Comes Again” . . . one of my favorite songs. The kids seem to love it and have come up with some uber creative hand motions.
  • Andrew’s iPhone 4 leaves something to be desired.  It annoyingly face mutes . . . way too frequently.  He tried to talk to someone at the Apple Store here in VA and they said that is what the phone is supposed to do, a new feature.  AWESOME.  I guess if you don’t want to talk to someone just hang up and apologize later saying that the phone face muted.
  • Andrew has spent the last five months looking for a truck, a real man’s truck. Now that Eric has officially graduated Andrew to “man” status, Andrew needs a truck.  Well he didn’t move quite quickly enough on the truck of his life and it was sold right out from under him this week.  He is still reeling.  Poor guy.
  • We found the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe thanks to Amy’s Edgemont Stake’s cookbook.  Seriously divine.  Andrew took 12 cookies to work Thursday to share with his co-workers.  After work, when I asked how his colleagues enjoyed the cookies he told me that he ate all but one of them before lunch.  He had to force himself to save one until after he ate some real food.  So funny.
  • Our deck is almost finished . . . maybe one more weekend of construction and then one weekend to sand and stain.
  • We’ve hired a landscape architect to come and spruce up our yard.  I am thrilled.  They will be here in October.  WHOOHOOO!  I can hardly wait for next Spring when everything (yet to be planted) starts to bloom.
  • Our starter went out on the Infiniti.  Andrew got it fixed from his chair at work – called the tow company, found a car service place, etc. I’m ready for a newer car.  We are looking at a BMW 3 series, the Honda Pilot and the Chevy Equinox . . . any recommendations?
  • My project in York, PA is nearly complete.  Only one or two more trips through Gettysburg.
  • I’m reading “The Hunger Games” . . . seriously intense book.  I’m really enjoying it though and highly recommend it to anyone looking for an escape into a real page-turner.
  • I’m craving yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.  Maybe I can talk Andrew into making a cake with me tonight.
  • Dawn Marie and Richard are coming to town (for her work) for a week and we will get to see them this weekend.  We are so excited.  Danger is the first sibling to see our new house, now that we have moved in.
  • Mexico resort is booked and we are buying tickets to Acapulco tomorrow.  Can hardly wait for Thanksgiving so we can head South and relax for a week.  I live for Mexico.  Viva Mehico!!
  • After the hottest summer on record in VA, we are finally getting some rain.  Feels like autumn is on the way.  :-)
  • I’m waiting for Horchow to have a coupon so I can order Art for our living room.  I’ve been waiting for a month already and patience is not my talent.  I’m really proud of myself, but am not sure how much longer I can wait.
  • Andrew and I are planning a trip to Maine for Sept/Oct.  We have never been but have heard it is exquisite.  As you can tell, I love vacations!

We’ll that’s all I’ve got for now . . . Happy Sunday and happy almost end to summer break.

Posted by shiloh on August 15, 2010 at 3:38 pm | Leave a Comment

Update to “Worst customer service EVER”

Sunday, 15 August 2010

So JetBlue finally refunded our ticket . . . a ‘one time only, courtesy offer’ . . . never apologized for the trouble or the mistake. I guess we will take what we can get. Luckily we found a flight on another airline for an even better deal, that arrives at a far closer airport. I guess things work out for a reason.

Posted by shiloh on August 15, 2010 at 3:05 pm | Leave a Comment

Dirty little secret

Saturday, 7 August 2010

WHOOOHOOOOO . . .  no more washing dishes by hand!  Andrew fixed our leaky dishwasher plumbing today, and good thing since I HATE to do silverware.  After 8 months living in our home we are finally using our new Bosch.  The granite guy even came today to secure the dishwasher to the stone.  I’m thrilled!!!!!!

YEAH.  Yeah.  YeAH!

Posted by andrew on August 7, 2010 at 10:34 pm | Leave a Comment

Worst customer service EVER = JetBlue

Friday, 6 August 2010

Yah, so based on all we have heard about the company, we were thinking we would have a great experience . . . BIG MISTAKE!  I have never flown JetBlue nor will I ever based on the last 24-hrs of shockingly horrible experiences.   It’s like I was living in Europe all over again, when the customer is a burden and an idiot . . . not the core foundation to a successful business.

Let the rantings and ravings begin!

So first off the IT infrasturcture online stinks.  Base fares change from time of booking to time of confirmation (they don’t think it’s a big deal because overall ticket price stays the same) . . . they don’t seem to understand that some companies only reimburse for BASE FARE and not total ticket.  So while not a concern to their reservation folks on the phone (who can’t do simple math – we talked to 3 of them last night, all with no adding abilities) . . . $99+$102 = $201 (NOT $195).  On the site (at the very top) it says that base fare doesn’t include taxes or fees, but when you call in, the reservations specialist says taxes are added in and that’s why it doesn’t add up correctly . . .  so the site is wrong then?!?!  right.  Well they say it isn’t.  HELLO?!?!?  This is first grade math, folks!

Okay, so we book the ticket (not realizing the impending fare issues) and the confirmation screen that pops up online directly after we book has a different fare than the confirmation we are emailed or the confirmation found in the account (logging back in).  So obviously they have a computer glitch where prices don’t follow from screen to screen.  Since I now can’t get reimbursed from my company for the ticket, since the confirmation populated directly after booking has the correct fare has the incorrect booking date, and the confirmation emailed me has the correct booking date but the wrong fare, I call into JetBlue to have them cancel.  They can’t refund the money . . . their mistake and they can’t fix it.  To boot, they treat me like an idiot on the phone, don’t listen and don’t even care to walk through the screens so I can show them the system issues.   

Luckily they have a customer service hotline – NOT.  You can’t even call anyone (who has any power or authority) to help.  You have to submit a complaint to the Wizard of Oz and hope/wait for a response.  Such a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE company.  Interacted with 5 different people yesterday . . .  all were incompetent.  Need math training, listening training and customer service training. 

And, JetBlue, please empower your people to solve customer issues.  Your supervisors have NO POWER but to quote their handbook “You signed the terms and conditions” they parroted.  .  . true, and the prices was correct on that screen.  HELLO?!?!?

Yes, I have friends that work for JetBlue . . . not sure how you do it!  So unimpressed . . . hopefully they treat you better than they treat their customers.  Shockingly appalling!   (What airline company doesn’t have 24hr cancellation for all tickets?!?!  Come on folks  . . . seriously?!?!?!?!?!?!  You biff it and can’t fix it . . . lovely.)  Now I have to spend hours and hours trying to get money back since I will NOT fly on your planes and do NOT want a credit.

Posted by shiloh on August 6, 2010 at 11:00 am | 2 Comments

The next big thing . . .

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

the basement.

Posted by shiloh - mobile on July 28, 2010 at 5:51 pm | 2 Comments

Progress

Monday, 26 July 2010

Sent from my iPhone

Posted by andrew on July 26, 2010 at 6:30 pm | Leave a Comment

Almost

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Soon we may be able to use our dishwasher. We’ve been washing by hand for six months. I love it when Eric comes and helps us finish projects. Team Eric!

Posted by andrew on July 25, 2010 at 10:26 pm | 1 Comment

Thanks mom!

Sunday, 25 July 2010

I love our new dining set! Thanks for tooling around washingtonMetro for days searching for the perfect addition.

Back Camera
Posted by andrew on July 25, 2010 at 10:20 pm | 2 Comments

Update

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Okay, so I’m grovelling. . . Begging Mother Nature. We have had great luck
with humid days and late evening rain. Making progress. Today laid half the
deck slats. Love it!!

Posted by shiloh on July 25, 2010 at 9:59 pm | Leave a Comment

Funny business . . .

Monday, 19 July 2010

Dear Technical Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance — particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. The new program also began making unexpected changes to the accounting modules.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as Call of Duty 5.0, Tuaw 3.0, iPhone 4.0 and Angry Birds 2.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate

——————————————————–

Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: ” C:/ I THOUGHT YOU LOVED ME” and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.

If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources).

Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.

You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,
Tech Support

Posted by shiloh on July 19, 2010 at 11:07 pm | 4 Comments

Save a horse …

Thursday, 15 July 2010

ride a John Deere.

Eric is playing in the dirt prepping for the deck. It’s the first day this week without rain. Eric loves his man tools.

Posted by shiloh - mobile on July 15, 2010 at 5:11 pm | 2 Comments

Molding madness

Monday, 12 July 2010

Eric is in town and is pimping our diggs – namely the dining room and living room. I need to caulk and paint but am LOVING the new look. Woohoo!

Posted by shiloh - mobile on July 12, 2010 at 8:48 pm | 3 Comments

Looking ahead

Thursday, 1 July 2010

We have so much going on over the next month and I’m terribly excited. My mom is coming to town Saturday to help us finish decorating inside our house, then Eric is coming to help us build our deck. WHOHOOOO! The only slight problem is we have so much to do to get ready for their visit (slight sigh). Crazy how quickly this summer is moving along.

The weather is so beautiful today – low 80s. Since the beginning of June we have been in the high 90s so this is a welcome relief!!

Can’t wait for the l o n g weekend.

Posted by shiloh on July 1, 2010 at 11:24 am | 1 Comment
older posts »