Rants
Question
Feb 3rd
I have a question and I want the internet’s input.
Ryan and I bought a chest freezer from a local appliance store about 2 1/2 weeks ago. It’s one of those ding/scratch places, and the freezer we bought had a damaged lid; it was so badly damaged that it wouldn’t seal (it looked like someone set a forklift down on the lid), but they had one on order to replace it, and they sold it to us for a good price.
We haven’t heard from the appliance place other than when we called a couple times to ask about it, even though both times we asked that they keep us updated. Last we heard (when I called last week) they had gotten a lid in, but the company shipped the wrong color so they had to send it back and were waiting for another one. Today, they called and said that there is a 2 week back order on the freezer lids (apparently they are in high demand??), and they have offered to give us a different freezer instead. However, this one has “some dings on the sides and the top.” The other one, once the lid was replaced, would have looked perfect.
We are going to the store tonight to take a look at the replacement offer, but my question is this; if we decide to take it, should we haggle for a better price, considering it has taken them 2 1/2 weeks to get anything to us and this one is more damaged than the one we agreed to buy? Or should we suck it up and realize that we got a good deal in the first place? We won’t be taking it if it’s too beat up looking, because it will be living in our kitchen until spring (which could be sometime in May the way things go around here).
I’m not a good negotiator, and I don’t have a good sense of what’s fair in these kinds of situations. And part of my problem is that the reason we bought a freezer when we did was so that we could freeze some meals before the baby comes. If we have to wait another 2 weeks it will probably be too late to do much (or any) cooking ahead. But that’s not the store’s fault, so I don’t know if it should count in my reasoning.
So, wise internet, what are your thoughts on the whole thing?
UPDATE: We took the replacement freezer. It was in pretty good shape (just some minor denting on the side; no scratches), and they were selling it for more than the one we bought, but gave it to us for the same price. Obviously (I’m not that much of a pushover). So now our fridge freezer and the chest freezer look pretty empty, but we have the space to make up some extra food. Now we just need to find the motivation to make this food.
Randomness
Jan 25th
A few random things that have been running through my head:
Baby Shower: Awesomeness
My friends Nicole and Adrienne threw a baby shower for us, and it was fabulous. I love an excuse to get together with friends and family, and it was the perfect sized gathering – we could all hang out and visit together instead of splitting into smaller groups. Of course we received some awesome gifts, and I had a great time. I got to stay late and visit with my high school friends and a friend from college, so that was fun too. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family…Ryan and I are both really lucky that way. *commence puking from the sappiness*
Things that make me irrationally angry/frustrated (but not really)
Snickers Fudge candy bars: I tried this new concoction, thinking that I like Snickers and I like fudge, so how could I go wrong? Well, let me tell you: they take the caramel out of the Snickers to put the fudge in! Why would you do such a thing? I was very disappointed in the whole experience. Thankfully I have learned my lesson. No more Snickers Fudge candy bars for me.
The weather in Duluth: it is pissing me off lately. We live in Northern Minnesota (at least by most people’s standards. My parents live in REALLY Northern Minnesota, but the rest of the world doesn’t acknowledge that the state extends that far North. That is a whole ‘nother discussion, though). It is expected to be cold and/or snowy here from basically early November until the end of March. We do sometimes get a “January thaw”, but that means a few days where it reaches 32*. And usually it’s accompanied by a crapload of snow (side note – did you know it can be too cold to snow? I don’t know the scientific reason why – I’m no meteorologist – but I know that if it’s 0* or below it won’t usually snow). This year, we are getting rain. At least in the part of Duluthwhere I live (at the bottom of the hill, near the lake). I hear they have snow over the hill, but down here by the lake it rained all weekend and was near 40*. What the heck is up with that?
Normal people would say “Aren’t you glad you don’t have all that snow?” But they would be mistaken. I am not glad. Because it rained all weekend and our parking lot/roads/driveways/sidewalks got all wet, and then the temp fell below freezing. And it’s supposed to cool down even more, to the point that the salt they use to melt the ice won’t work. And so we have a perpetual ice skating rink pretty much everywhere you go. It is annoying and dangerous. And my balance is bad enough these days without adding a layer of ice between my shoes and the ground. Arg.
Just one pregnancy-related rant: I have enjoyed my pregnancy for the most part. I mean, yah, I have some joint and back pain, and it’s hard to get around. But for the most part I’ve had a pretty easy time of it, and I like feeling our little boy kicking and moving around. And Ryan and I are in a good place to be having a child, which I know isn’t always the case for people. So yah…I’m enjoying it.
The thing I’m not enjoying as much? People assuming that I am “SO ready to be done.” I get asked at least 3 or 4 times a week (usually by strangers) if I’m ready to just have this baby already. And I know they mean well, but jeebus. First of all, I’m not even “full term” yet (tomorrow!). Secondly, it’s not like things will suddenly get easier once the baby is here. In fact, I have a feeling they will be much more difficult. Very rewarding, of course, but still. Right now I can still do stuff around the house that requires both hands, and I can take a shower or a nap or read a book whenever I want to. And even though I’m not sleeping the best, I can still lay in bed when I’m having trouble sleeping; there’s no one crying that I need to go pick up and soothe/feed/change. So yah…I’m good with him staying put for a couple more weeks, or however long he needs. Now if I’m pregnant still the last week in February my answer might be different. Ask me then if I’m ready to be done. (ps, if anyone that reads this has asked me that question, I’m not talking about you, I swear! It’s the strangers that ask that bugs me more than anything).
I can’t think of anything else that I want to rant about (except the Vikings, but others have done plenty of that for me), and it’s lunch time (leftover lasagna and the 5th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (the books True Blood is based on)). Sounds like a good time to me.
WTF?
Jan 13th
I just read this article on Huffington Post about what Pat Robertson said in regards to the terrible tragedy in Haiti. Another article from US News & World Report has a more complete quote (and it doesn’t make it better; in fact I think it is worse with the whole thing).
The whole thing has me so upset I don’t even know where to begin. People like Pat Robertson give Christians everywhere a bad name. What kind of an asshole bigot says that half a million possible dead is God punishing them? And really, you are comparing one side of the island to the other and coming to some sort of conclusion about God’s favor? I suppose that since Mexico is less prosperous than the US or Canada it’s because we are children of God and they are heathens? Puh-leaze. It’s crap. And the sad thing is, it’s crap that some people will believe because Pat Robertson said it.
I don’t know anyone personally that listens to his show (or at least not anyone that has mentioned it in front of me), but obviously those people must be out there because the man is still on the air. And it makes me sick, knowing the hatred he spreads. This isn’t the first time he’s made completely offensive remarks in the wake of a tragedy. How many times will it take until people realize what a crack-pot he is?
Arg. People like him make me so frustrated. I need to do something else to take my mind of his assholishness. Like donate to the cause.
Jay Leno: The Brett Favre of Late Night Television
Jan 10th
In case you hadn’t heard, there have been rumors and now official reports that Jay Leno’s prime time talk show is going to be canceled. This led to speculation of what NBC would do with their late night lineup. Apparently NBC doesn’t want to part ways with any of their 3 late night hosts. Here are a couple links to recent stories about this debacle:
The two stories have some conflicting information, which to me basically says that nothing is certain other than Leno is being cancelled from his 9pm CST slot.
On to point….
Why is it that stars who are past their prime won’t go out gracefully? (we’ll consider that a rhetorical question) Moreover, why do the organizations that hire them put up with their bullshit? Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited about what the Vikings have been able to do this season with Brett Favre lining up behind center, but I don’t agree with the road that got him here. The Green Bay front office had the right idea in cutting him loose. Is NBC foolish for allowing Leno to create this mess? I think so. The Vikings had a void to fill, and they went after an experienced veteran to fill it. NBC created a spot for a “player” who had decided to retire and then changed his mind. That experiment didn’t work out, and now that should be the end of it. It doesn’t make sense to shake up your “play book” to try to fit another player in. Too many men on the field. Five yard penalty. Repeat the down.
A Work Vent
Dec 31st
I have a New Year’s Meme (copied from Sundry, among others), but I’m too annoyed to do it right now. It is 6:25 AM. I’ve been here (at the office) since 6:10, which I was actually excited about. I have a bunch of work to get done that has to be finished by noon today, and I like working early when no one else is here. But do you think my computer will cooperate? NO! Grr. It keeps giving me an error that it can’t access some file it needs in order to log me in to our customer management system. Without logging into the system I can’t actually do ANYTHING. Seriously. Nothing. I can’t attach any of the emails I have waiting that go with customer accounts, I can’t send any policies or applications out to insureds because I can’t access the form letters I need to do it, and I can’t scan in and attach any of the paper piled on my desk because I need to access customer accounts for that too.
I’m so annoyed (if you can’t tell). I will do some filing and that kind of stuff, but this is kind of ridiculous. And it’s cold outside and by the time I got home I would just have to turn around and come back, so there’s no use doing that.
I feel a trip to Starbucks coming on soon (I can get there through the skywalks, so no need to go outside). Something to get out of the office once I’m done filing, because otherwise I might drop-kick my computer, and that wouldn’t be helpful to anyone.
I hope the last day of 2009 is going better for everyone else!
Seriously?
Nov 13th
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this previously, but in our apartment building, the upstairs apartments control the heat for both the upper and lower units. In theory, this makes sense because heat rises (especially in old, drafty buildings like this one), and last winter it was never a problem. We have electric baseboard heaters if we get too cold.
New neighbors moved in recently, and apparently they brought a penchant for leaving their windows open with them, because it is currently 75.8 degrees in the coolest room that has comfortable seating in our apartment, and the heat has been running steadily for at least an hour (that’s how long I’ve been lying awake). I think it must be at least 5 degrees warmer in our bedroom. It’s enough different that it felt cool when I came out to the living room. They also brought a child that is part horse, but that’s a story for another day.
Normally, when the heat runs like this, Ryan goes down to the basement and shuts the furnace off until morning (at least). But he is sleeping, and I don’t want him to be lying (laying? I am too lazy tired to figure out which is correct) awake because I was too chicken to go down to the basement by myself. I am too chicken to go down there, so I haven’t gone either. Also, I am paranoid that I will do something wrong and break the furnace or something else down there. So instead I am sitting here awake at 4am complaining on the internet. After I’ve been sick for a week and know I should be sleeping. Because I’ve got good Catholic guilt combined with Minnesota nice like that.
**He just woke up and is going to shut the furnace off. Thank God. And I didn’t even wake him up! It’s win-win. Other than the whole apartment being a million degrees and both of us being wide awake during the middle of the night thing.**
Bed time. Again.
Where is the line?
Oct 27th
I just did something I NEVER thought I would do. I reply-alled to an email from my grandma, disputing something she had forwarded on and chastising people for believing it and forwarding it. It was a hateful email – one deliberately made to look like you are “doing God’s work” by educating others about the evil of a certain group by spreading misinformation about them. And it was easily disproven.
I was raised to ALWAYS respect my elders, but especially my grandparents. I LOVE my grandparents. I think they are terrific people who would never hurt anyone intentionally. And I have never talked back to them. Even over an erroneous email. I usually just reply directly to my grandma and let her know that Snopes says whatever it is is false. But that’s when it’s something fairly harmless, like some weird story about…I don’t even know, but I’m sure you all know the type of emails I mean. I figure that I don’t really care whether or not she sends that kind of stuff on – people can just as easily delete it, and if they believe it without looking into it, oh well. But this was…different. For me, at least. So I replied to all. And now I’m sitting at my desk crying over it because I hate that I might have embarrassed her. Or that she might be mad at me.
And yet, I don’t regret doing it. I couldn’t let that email sit out there, possibly getting forwarded on by all those other people who probably wouldn’t go do the 5 seconds of work it took to research it and confirm what I thought – that it was a fear-mongering exaggeration of a real event. And that it took a situation that could have happened to anyone and turned it into something “evil” about this other group.
Ugh. I don’t want to reprint the email here because that’s not really what this is about, and I don’t want an argument about it. I guess I just wanted to put out there that sometimes, doing what you think is right totally sucks. And I’m sure all of you know that, and it totally sounds like a cliche (because it is). But yah. Where is the line with family? When do you say something, and when do you keep quiet? And is it different with different family members?
Dude, you aren’t funny
Oct 22nd
I attended continuing education all day yesterday, which, if you’ve never been to insurance continuing education classes, let me tell you; they are brain draining enough on their own. The one yesterday included 2 hours of being lectured to by a weird looking guy about how we should be using social media to advertise our agency. I agree with this in principal, but first of all he said he doesn’t know how to use it, and that the solution is not to learn – it’s to hire a young person to do it for you. Because that’s going to happen. I can just see insurance agency owners running out to hire someone right out of college solely because they know how to use Facebook. Jeebus. He then allowed (and fostered) a discussion about how “young people don’t work hard.” Can I tell you how much I hate this generalization? Today’s young people work just as hard as any other generation of young people. They may work differently, and they may be in their first jobs at 22 instead of having 8 years of working under their belts, so they might need a little direction and help, but they aren’t inherently lazier than anyone else. And the implication in that statement is that people who aren’t “young” work hard all the time. Um, I’m sorry – no they don’t. I know just as many slackers over the age of 35 as I do under it. Of course I was one of 2 people in the room under 30, so that was fun awkward.
The rest of the actual class was fine – we talked about Equipment Breakdown coverage and Workers Compensation coverage (lesson of the day; don’t get hurt in California or Mississippi, or at least if you do make sure you are from another state).
However, over the lunch period they had a “box lunch” with a session on the new rules about Certificates of Insurance that the state has passed. Basically, the state passed a statute that says you can’t change the policy by writing anything on the certificate (proof of insurance), which was already technically the law, but it wasn’t spelled out very clearly. But companies requesting certificates don’t care what the law is or what the policy says; they only know that their lawyers told them they should get all this extra stuff on the certificate (long notices before the policy cancels, for instance). So they are asking for things that we can’t legally give them.
As you can imagine, this has caused a lot of questions from insurance agents. So they brought in this guy that helped get the bill passed to come talk about it. And he spent 15-20 minutes explaining EXACTLY how they went about getting the bill passed. Before he talked at all about what it meant (in fact, now that I think about it, he didn’t talk at ALL about what it meant). We have all see the School House Rock “I’m Just a Bill” thing, ok? We don’t need you to retell us. And then he finished up by telling a few jokes. Political jokes. The first one made fun of liberals (they all take other people’s money and just hand it to poor people instead of helping them help themselves). The second one was supposed to make fun of Republicans, but it didn’t really. I mean, on the surface maybe a little, but really it just said more bad things about Liberals (they teach their children to be biased against Republicans, they are stubborn and in the minority, they are only liberal because our parents are, etc). Of course he laughed and thought they were hysterical, but I wanted to raise my hand and remind him that not all insurance people are Republican, and I didn’t find either joke very funny. Also, maybe you should not tell a room full of people you do not know political jokes. Just a suggestion.
Oh, and after all that he sat and contradicted himself on what we are supposed to do about certificates. “Keep doing what you’ve been doing.” “Those people [that keep doing it the way we've been doing it] will get hung [the penalties for altering coverage on a cert include possibly losing your license and getting fined by the state].” “The state doesn’t really care right now about enforcing this law – they probably won’t worry about it for at least 6 months to a year.” Um…that was less than helpful. I was better off not listening to it at all. And I don’t think I was in the minority in that thought.
Anyway, that was the story of my day of continuing education. I did get my halloween shirt in the mail yesterday, though, and I got my haircut and I like it, so it wasn’t all bad.
Do you have to attend educational classes of some sort? Are they usually helpful or do you feel like you are wasting your time?
Pistachio commercials
Oct 10th
Do you guys get those commercials? I’m watching Good Eats right now (Alton Brown is my tv boyfriend), and they show these commercials at each break. They mostly play off of sexual innuendo (the last one I saw had a couple cracking open and feeding eachother pistachios and it said “Newlyweds do it 5 times a day). But earlier I saw one with 4 kids on bouncy balls jumping around and it said “Quadruplets do it with bounce”. Anyway, that is the ONLY one I’ve seen that isn’t some sort of sexual innuendo. And it just seems wrong to me. You need to either do a bunch of them that aren’t innuendos, or leave the kids out of it. Also, I think it’s funny how much advertising I see these days for particular foods. Pistachios, avocados, etc. Weird.
Anyway, the brownies I made are done, and Good Eats is still on. Ryan’s down at a friend’s place playing video games all night with a bunch of people (a LAN party, for you nerds out there), and so it’s just Zoa and I (we are dogsitting for Sam this weekend while he’s at a wedding). Time to get back to being lazy.
Another thing to add to the list of things I fail at:
Oct 9th
Sleep. I have been awake since 3:30. I laid in bed for an hour and a half willing myself to go back to sleep. And yet I’m still awake. I decided to come out to the living room and at least post the ultrasound photos I thought Ryan had put online, but apparently didn’t (he has the scanner attached to his computer and the edited files on there). So no ultrasound photos yet. You can yell at him later. When he wakes up like a normal person, at a decent time in the morning.
On another note, even though I have seen the new Star Trek movie (and I saw the one before that) I still for some reason thought Ryan made up the name Tiberius. Totally did not connect that at all. Way to go, me. I am so observant.
So yah…I don’t have any photos to post, and I don’t have anything good to say (does anyone have anything good to say at quarter after 5 in the morning? I think no). Obviously I should just stop now. Right after I ask if anyone has any suggestions for getting back to sleep when you wake up in the middle of the night?
Please?
