Long Personal Rant

Note: The following is a long personal rant, mainly written to make me feel better. Feel free to skip this post.

So, for the last six months or so my washer has been dying. I had already had the problem fixed once, and it didn't last long, so I didn't want to spend the money to have it fixed again, when the machine is old and falling apart anyways. So I started hunting for a good deal on a new washer. Two problems, my old washer was a combined stacked unit - so I had to get a new washer and dryer. Second problem, the place set up for my washer and dryer is VERY SMALL - so I had to find the very small, space saver units, which are not very popular and therefore, hardly ever go on sale. I was hoping to find something on sale before my washer died completely, but each time I did laundry - and had to sit on the lid to keep it down - I was sure I was never going to make it and was preparing myself to spend about $300 more than I wanted to. So, imagine my joy when I found the small washer and dryer at Best Buy on clearance the day after Christmas! Finally, I was back in the price range I wanted and jumped on the chance. So, I anxiously awaited delivery of said unit, the following Monday. And here begins the rant.

I was told to expect a phone call on Sunday to give me a two hour window when the delivery and installation people would be there. No phone call came. So, as soon as the store opened, I called Best Buy, only to be told that delivery was scheduled for sometime between 9:30 and 11:30 (this was at 10:30). So I raced home from work and waited until 11:45, then called Best Buy again. After half an hour of run around and no one answering the phone, the dispatcher finally told me that he couldn't get in touch with the delivery guy, but he left a message for him to call me. At 12:30 I get a phone call from the delivery guy - the washer I purchased is not in stock at the store, or at any store in the valley, and he will not be able to deliver it today! So, after missing two hours of work, and spending half an hour on the phone trying to get answers, I am finally told, there is no washer, and since it was a clearance item, they can't order it, so I am SOL and will have to go into the store and find something else or cancel my order. Not only am I incredibly bummed about not getting my washer, I am incredibly upset that no one had the courtesy to tell me this until I called to find out where it was!

But, the story gets better. I go back in to Best Buy and talk to the salesperson who originally sold me the unit. He insists that they have the unit and shows it to me, all boxed up and ready to go. He keeps messing around with some inventory thing on the computer until I finally notice that the unit he is showing me is different from the sales model on the floor. Apparently the unit they have in stock is the new model, not the clearance model. The salesperson apologizes and agrees to sell me the new unit at the clearance price since it was their mistake. He takes my number and promises to call that evening and let me know when it will be delivered. I leave, feeling okay about Best Buy - not thrilled, but glad they seem to be trying to make it up. Until about 10:00 that night - when I still have not received a phone call. Surprise, surprise. So, called the next morning, and after another half hour of trying to get anyone to pick up the phone, I was finally told that they were going to give me the washer at their cost, but it was still about $40 more than what I paid, so I needed to go back in to Best Buy and repurchase the washer. After another hour long trip to Best Buy, we finally, hopefully have everything figured out - and delivery is set for Saturday and I am now having nightmares about my washer/dryer and the delivery.

But the story still doesn't end. I get a phone call on Friday telling me that delivery is scheduled between 9 and 11 am. Hooray - maybe a little redemption for Best Buy! Not!
10:30 Saturday morning and I get a call, they are running late, it will now be between 11:00 and 12:00.
12:30, I call, they are still running behind but are almost to my house. They arrive about 10 minutes later.
2:30 - They have been trying to install everything for about 2 hours when I am told there is a problem, they can't hook my dryer up to the vent. It seems the connection in my wall is old and outdated and won't attach to the dryer hose I was sold. Sorry, nothing we can do. Seriously, this guy was ready to pack up and leave me with a dryer in the middle of my kitchen! After explaining to him as calmly as I could under the situation that I refused to pay for delivery and installation if the product wasn't installed, he told me I could go find a part that would work and call him and he would try to come back and fix the problem, at his convenience of course.

So, after 3 trips to Best Buy, 5 calls to Best Buy (each one taking at least 30 minutes), 5 1/2 hours of waiting for delivery people, and 2 hours of installation, my old, semi-working washer/dryer is gone, I have a working washer, and no dryer. And, the assurance that maybe, if things aren't too busy tomorrow, they will be able to come over and get my dryer hooked up.

Word to the wise, no matter the price, don't buy major appliances from Best Buy, it is never worth it!

Hooray for Photoshop!

People at work have been bugging me for the last year now to get my picture taken to put on our company website. I really don't like pictures of me - so I have been avoiding it. Well, I was informed last week that we are sending out a letter to a bunch of potential clients and I was the only person without a picture - so I couldn't put it off any more. I called around to see where I could get a business photo taken - but it was SO expensive. So my coworker said she would just take my picture at the office and use that. After a little mini photo shoot yesterday - we realized that it just wasn't going to work - the picture was so different from the professional ones - it really stuck out.

So I bit the bullet and went in to get some professional pictures today. It took 10 minutes to take the pictures and I was really getting upset about spending so much money on 10 minutes of pictures - then I sat down in front of a computer screen while the photographer airbrushed my photo and touched everything up - suddenly I was seeing the value of a professional photographer.

I have to say - even knowing that my next birthday will be the big 3-0- I have never felt as old as I did while watching him zoom in on my forehead and under my eyes and erase all the little lines and bags!

Before

After

Tagged

My coworker tagged me a little while ago - sorry it took so long for me to get to it Mel.

8 Shows I like to watch:

1. Chuck
2. Eli Stone
3. Pushing Daisies (and yes #2 and #3 were both just canceled - not too happy about it)
4. Gilmore Girls
5. Amazing Race
6. Anything on HGTV
7. Most things on TLC
8. Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (I was quite obsessed with this show in Middle School)

8 Restaurants I like to eat at:
1. Wingers
2. Macaroni Grill
3. Olive Garden
4. Fongs (in Rexburg - best Chinese ever!)
5. Mings (next to my house - second best Chinese ever!)
6. Bombay House
7. Paradise Bakery or Kneaders
8. Red Lobster

8 Things that happened today:

1. Overslept (that happens everyday)
2. Got my picture taken
3. Got rid the office Christmas decoration out of my office (it gets passed around from person to person every day)
4. Ate a greek salad
5. Went to Enrichment and had yummy tomato soup
6. Went to tithing settlement
7. Updated my blog
8. Watched the end of a bad cheesy Christmas movie on Lifetime

8 Things I look forward to:

1. Christmas
2. Getting the rest of my house painted
3. Getting my attic turned into a loft
4. Going to Russia
5. Going on a date (the drought has to end sometime right?)
6. Getting married
7. Seeing my siblings get married
8. Playing in the snow

8 Things on my wish list:

1. A new washer and dryer
2. A completed loft
3. A new bed
4. New couches
5. A boyfriend
6. A healthy family
7. My car and house paid off
8. World Peace :)

8 People I am tagging:
I think most everyone has already done this - so if you haven't - tag you're it!

I ♥ The Men in My Life

So, I started this post over a month ago - and just never got around to finishing/posting it! I am a slacker, I know.

I have THE BEST Dad and Brother in the world. You see, there is a little known fact about me, I hate - HATE - textured walls. I just don't like them. Unfortunately, my entire house is textured. Except where the previous owners hung their pictures - in those places they covered the holes up with Spackle - but didn't texture it. So - randomly throughout the walls there are splotches of smoothness. It just looks really cheap and tacky. So the first home improvement item on my list was of course, getting rid of the textured walls. Has anyone tried this before? I hadn't, but my Dad has. Let me tell you, it is not the easiest or neatest process. Despite knowing this, my sweet Dad agreed to help me and my brother smooth out my walls. I figured we would start with a small, easy room. So the first weekend in October we had a mudding party. Now to smooth textured walls requires a lot of mud. You have to mud all the walls, let it dry, sand, and repeat - until they are smooth - for us it took 3 layers of mud - that is three times scraping mud onto the walls and three times sanding it smooth - with dust flying into every imaginable corner of my house. Of course then you have to prime the walls, and then paint the walls. For two weeks my roommate and I survived with our dining room set up in the living room while my kind brother and dad spent all their free time helping me mud, sand, prime, install a chair rail, and paint (and help me decide what colors to paint - I am a TERRIBLE decision maker). I am really happy with the result - except that it makes the rest of my house look even worse than it did before.

After it was all done, I was considering hiring someone to do the other rooms. But now, six weeks later, the memory is fading and I am thinking I can tackle the other rooms after Christmas. Anyone want to join in a mudding party?

Proposition 8

I have read a lot of articles and blog posts about Proposition 8 in California and the support given to this proposition by my church. Most articles seem to bring out a lot of negative comments about intolerance and a lack of Christlike love. I have wanted to voice my support not only for the proposition, but also for my Church leaders who are asking for our help. But writing a persuasive argument hasn't ever been my forte so I have been putting it off. I read an article today by Orson Scott Card that expressed my thoughts and feelings better than I ever could, so in lieu of my own words, here is the link to his article "Disagree But Don't Be Unkind".

No - We're Not Crazy (Despite What Some People May Think)

My roommate and I have a tradition of going to Lagoon for Frightmares every year. It just may have something to do with the fact that we are slightly addicted to their hot chocolate. Seriously, I think this is the only reason my roommate - who HATES being cold - even goes. So, we picked a date and invited all our friends to join us on our annual trip. Of course - we both forgot that it is impossible for us to go to Lagoon together without rain. As in, we had season passes last year and every single time we went together, it rained - even in the middle of July. A fact we both remembered the closer it got to our scheduled date and the weather forecasts started showing rain and snow with highs of 40.

The big day came and one by one we started receiving phone calls and texts from friends, in the end there were only 4 of us brave enough to face the elements. Surprisingly, my roommate was one of them (I swear there is something in that hot chocolate!). So, with double layers of clothing, my winter coat, and my mom's ear warmers, we headed off to Lagoon. The sun was shining and it looked like a beautiful day - in Salt Lake. As we approached Bountiful though, the storm clouds rolled in and we were suddenly in a downpour! After pulling off the freeway in Centerville to fix the windshield wiper - which for some reason decided to detached itself - we arrived at Lagoon - and it was lightly snowing.

Did that stop us? No, we rejoiced in the lack of cars in the parking lot, parked right outside the main gates, pulled on our coats, and headed into the park.

Some might read this and think we are crazy - I promise - we are not crazy - we are just brilliant. Instead of going to Frightmares on a normal Saturday night and waiting in line for an hour to go on Wicked, and another two hours to walk through a haunted house, we spent the same three hours in a much better fashion, riding Wicked 4 times without waiting in any lines, walking on to numerous other rides - most of which are faster and slightly more terrifying when the tracks are wet, and walking through 2 haunted houses (well, my friends did, I rode the Space Scrambler by myself while I waited for them - translation - I was THE only person on the ride ☺) Seriously - NO ONE was there - it was like having the park all to ourselves.

Crazy? I don't think so. It wasn't even that cold because we weren't just standing around in lines. Yes, I came home with wind burned cheeks and nose, and our teeth did freeze a little when we were screaming and smiling on Wicked - but all in all - the hot chocolate more than made up for that slight inconvenience.

Me and my roommate on our favorite ride - The Ladybug Drop (don't judge)










After our last ride for the night - our second trip on the white roller coaster - no frostbite!

Where I've Been

Wow! So it's been over a month since my last post. So, I guess it's time to update on my most recent experiences. I had a conference in Las Vegas for work two weeks ago. I was a little worried about my boredom level on this trip - since I was going with my coworkers, all of whom are male, not exactly the crowd I normally hang out with. But it turned out to be a lot of fun. Of course I got my own room, so there was no arguing about what to watch before bed like there usually is when I am on trips with my family, and it was nice and quiet, no snoring! I have to admit, I have never really understood the whole Vegas thing, the last time I was there it was loud and dirty (in more ways than one) and, besides wandering around the strip, there didn't seem to be much to do. But, although Vegas is still not my most favorite vacation spot, I did find some fun things to do. First on that list was watching my coworkers gamble. Some of them were actually pretty good at it (one came home with an extra $500) so it was fun to see them win - I doubt it would have been as much fun if they were losing.

The next good thing about Vegas was that I got to see my sister. Since Lauren just moved to California, we decided it would be fun to meet in Vegas and play. She didn't have any classes on Wednesday, the last day of my conference, so she drove up after her afternoon class on Tuesday. Of course things don't ever work out quite the way you plan - but she tells that story MUCH better than I could - so go to her blog to read her point of view. Just remember that the entire time she was wandering around who-knows-where in Vegas in the dark, I was being the typical worrywart big sister - stressing out about rescuing her. She is such a good example to me, it didn't bother her in the least, it was just a fun adventure (note to self, stress less).

Of course, the final reason Vegas grew in my estimation would have to be this place --

I had never had a favorite store until I found this place. The first time I entered this store was after a year of living in Russia - where you buy your clothes in a street market - so the store in Finland was a wonderland to me! But, despite having a few more options now, I am still in love with this store, someone PLEASE tell me one is coming to the City Creek Center! So, yes, finding my favorite clothing store in Vegas made sin city seem a little less dirty and pointless, does that make me a bad person? :)

All in all, it ended up being a really fun trip, and I am very grateful for good coworkers who rescued my sister, and kept me from hiding out in my room every night.

At least some people got the message to pretend we were on the roller coaster again.