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.

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!!

• 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.

YEAH.  Yeah.  YeAH!

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.

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

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

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.