Burned Again

I haven't slept since Christmas Eve.  I can't.  I go to bed and stew, wake up multiple times throughout the night and stew, and am up stewing every morning at least an hour before the alarm goes off.

The reason why I am stewing is because of the basement.  On Christmas Eve, I finally received what I'd been asking for since October - a tally of the expenses to date.  I didn't really need that tally, because I had a quote for the entire job.  However, in October one of the subs told me something that made me feel suspicious.

The bill I received for the framing, drywall and electrical (which is still hasn't been fixed) exceeds the entire quote already.  It doesn't include tile, trim or the extensive millwork I was planning.  It also doesn't take into account that the tile is still covered in grout haze, which is curing (getting harder to fix) every day.

And let's remember that the job was supposed to have taken a month to six weeks - five and a half months ago.

Shortly after New Years, I went to see a lawyer to discuss my options.  He confirmed that the quote I was given is legally binding.  His recommendation is to have a trusted contractor come to give me a quote for how much the work that has been done is worth, less the cost of the corrections to the electrical and tile and pay that out.  It may be higher than the original quote, but it is unlikely to be nearly as high as what is being asked now.

I emailed the contractor yesterday to tell him his work at my house is at an end, and that I'd mail him a cheque once I had calculated what I owed.  I honestly don't know if he set out to take advantage of me, or if things just got out of control.  As he is the spouse of a coworker, I am hoping it is the latter.  Either way, he has caused huge problems for me.  Having somebody come in to take over - fix his mistakes - is going to cost a lot more than it would if he'd just done the job right the first time.

A friend's husband is a contractor.  He is one of the three that I interviewed before the job started.   I was leaning towards going with him, in fact; but his quote came in quite a bit higher than this one's.  I realize now it was a more accurate, honest reflection of what the job should cost.   He's on vacation right now, but has agreed to call me when he is back.  At this point, I suspect I'll just hire him to finish the room and get it up to code.  The millwork (the highlight of the room) will probably have to wait until I've recovered from this financial hit.

Thankful

On Christmas Eve, I had to run home briefly to let the dogs outside.  My nieces asked to come along, and Lewis was incredibly excited to see them.  We all went out to the back yard to give him a chance to run, but since he was so excited to see the girls and they weren't dressed for the snow, we ended up coming back in right away.  A few minutes later, we gave the dogs treats to tie them over and went back to the party.

When I came home a little while later, the dogs greeted me at the front door and I think I saw Winter.  I took off my coat and boots, and walked towards the back of the house to let the dogs out.  That's when I realized the back door was wide open.  And, by open, I don't mean unlocked.  It was blowing in the breeze and letting anybody that chose to either come or go.

It took a little while for this to register, so I was already out back with the dogs before I clued in to how bad that open door could be.  I left the dogs in their pen and came back in.  I'd thought I'd seen Winter when I came in -he almost always greets me when I come home- but I needed to confirm that he was still around.   Winter has been an indoor cat his entire life, and while he can be trusted not to dash out the doors when they are open briefly, this was pushing my luck.  He was still inside...  or possibly inside again.

Every year I hear stories of people's homes being broken into over the holidays while they are out celebrating.  Honestly, I was so relieved that all three of the pets were safely inside that I didn't even bother checking the house or looking for items that may have been stolen.

I Win!

Sorry - this is a bit of a novel, but I thought I should keep a record of this in case I'm ever tempted to change my media provider again.

I am very much not a fan of the big media companies.  You know the ones... phone/internet/tv providers.  In Alberta, we have the choice between Telus and Shaw.  It used to be that Telus had the monopoly on TV and internet, and Shaw had TV but now they both do it all.

I hate Telus for too many reasons to list here, but suffice to say their customer service sucks, and they have hidden (not so hidden, actually) charges up the wazoo.  I have avoided being their customer ever since I've had any other options - Shaw.

This all started a few years ago, when I started working from home.  I talked to Shaw a bunch of times,  about slow connections and cutting in and out; but the responses were hit or miss.  Mostly, I felt like I was being told to upgrade at my own expense before they would bother trouble shooting.

That, combined with the basement renos (which means that I would soon have two TVs) convinced me to give Telus another chance.  It's been years since I've been their customer, and they do claim to be making customer service a priority.  Plus, I like the idea of using one PVR for all TVs, so I can wander from one room to the other.  Also, Telus was giving away TVs when you sign with them.

I signed with Telus in September.  I was all set to switch over to them when a guy from the Shaw retention dept called me and made all sorts of promises.  I wouldn't have to pay to upgrade, because he agreed to give me the fastest internet available (broadband 100) a new PVR, and decrease my monthly bill (for TV/Internet/phone) to $70/month.  He also gave me his direct phone number so that I wouldn't have to deal with the spotty service on their phones.  I agreed. The Telus contract was cancelled, and  a tech came out to set up my screaming fast internet.

Two things about that, though.  The internet was NOT screaming fast, and I didn't get the PVR I was promised.  I called the guy I'd talked to earlier, but the number he gave me was for somebody else, and nobody ever called me back.  That made me mad.  I went down to the Shaw office and talked to a lady there who sent me home with a PVR and booked another tech to address the internet issues.   The second tech came out, spent three hours fiddling with the internet, *almost* had it fixed, but then got a phone call over something urgent, packed up his tools and left without registering my router.  I didn't have any internet at all.  That made me madder.

Long story short(er), that got fixed, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.  Then, issues with the new PVR and new connectivity issues at work that were known to be related to Shaw convinced me to try Telus again.  I agreed to sign up for a three year contract for similar services to what I have at Shaw, only I'd get a whole-home PVR and a new TV.    And I'd pay $145/month instead of $70.

Then I started finding hidden fees everywhere.  If my TV breaks and I replace it, I'd have to pay Telus $100 to come out and reconfigure the digital box that goes with the PVR.  I have to pay to keep my phone number unlisted.  Having it "Private" isn't an option.  I emailed Telus about one thing, which led to a whole bunch of other things and suddenly I realized this was not what I wanted.  A Telus employee and I went a few rounds before I finally pulled the plug and cancelled my contract with them (which I could only do because they hadn't yet set up my services).

Today, since Telus had previously said they'd make the arrangements for my Shaw account to be closed, I called Shaw.  I didn't trust Telus to un-cancel the cancellation, so I wanted to make sure that Shaw had no plans to terminate my services.  I lucked out by being connected to a rare breed of service desk staff who really knew her stuff and wanted to help me out.  All I wanted to do was confirm that my account wasn't being cancelled, but she asked for my reasons for almost leaving so that she could address them.  It turns out that Shaw also has a whole home PVR system that nobody had told me about earlier.   She arranged to send a tech out to set one up for me, and agreed not to charge me anything, as long as I'd return the new-ish PVR that I'd received in September and wouldn't be using anymore.

So, I get the pvr system I want, I keep the discounted rates of $70/month and I don't have to deal with Telus.  Oh, and that free tv that I didn't get?  It's a 42" LG.  Telus claims that it's worth $800.  I got up early this morning and took advantage of the Black Friday deals online.  I ordered a 46" Samsung smart tv that was on sale for $500.  The way I see it, it'll only take 6 months of the discounted rate I'll be paying, and I will have saved enough to cover that expense.

What If

I've got a good job, I think.  I enjoy what I do and I do it well.  It's the job I wanted for many years, starting at the absolute bottom and slowing working my way up before I landed the latest promotion last December.  I haven't had this job all that long.  Shortly after I started, I was told that my boss would be retiring in three years and that she was going to "groom" me to replace her.  Her role is pretty much my end game - I have no aspirations above that.

Organization shuffles are about to happen, and we're told that - most likely - my boss will be laid off.  Somebody else will absorb her role and he has no plans to retire.  While my job won't change much with the new boss, the short term plans for my next promotion will be off the table with no other room to move up.  In addition to that, we're all dealing with staff shortages, hiring freezes, pay freezes, benefit and pension cuts.  (Makes you wonder what we're staying for, eh?)  Even better, it is looking highly likely that we'll all be unionized in the next few months.  Nobody wants this.  It will mean bigger cuts to our benefits, a loss of one week of vacation/year, less freedom to move within positions and a 1.5% percentage cut of each our salaries.  We get no say or vote about this.

Last week, somebody in a role quite different and at a slightly lower pay grade from mine quit his job and left a big gap.  It's a critical role, and they're going to have to find a way to replace him, even if it means giving up the FTE elsewhere.  A thought started to niggle at the back of my mind, and I wondered but didn't really let myself think about it - what if I did that job instead of mine?

I could do it.

It would be a higher profile job that regularly deals with directors and executives, where I usually deal with people on the front lines.  There's no more room to move up from this role either, but it would be a new skill to add to my resume.  The pension/benefit/union/hiring/pay freeze issues will still be an issue.  I'd be the newbie who doesn't entirely know what she's doing, where as right now I'm the expert. It would involve being on call 24/7, which I've tried to avoid throughout my entire career.  I'd get less pay.  Because of the hiring freeze (and because my current role is lower profile) my boss would not be able to replace me unless she poached from another team.  I know without a doubt that she's be mad at me if I left - and since she's an amazing boss and I care what she thinks, that's big.   And yet... the job is calling my name.

The job was posted today.  I was approached about applying.  I said I'd think about it.  In the meantime, I agreed to start training.  The position requires coverage 24/7, so even if I decide not to apply, I can dip my toes in the pool and help fill in when whoever ends up in the position is tied up, busy or sick.

School

School and I don't generally get along.  We never have.  There's a reason why I studied English in university and then Accounting at college, only to end up in a process management role in IT.  Book learning isn't for me - I'm much better at learning 'on the job'.  Unfortunately, some formal education is necessary to prove that I know what I know.  For example, I need a certificate proving that I know all there is to know about change management because I am a change manger.  Otherwise, people would think I make stuff up when I make then follow a particular process or prove that they've met specific requirements before approving their changes.  They'd be sure I do it for no other reason than to contribute to the government bureaucracy that we all marinate in every day.   I suspect they do anyway. Funny the way these things work...

I used to have a certificate in ITIL change management, but then ITIL came out with a newer version and I had to start all over again.  (ITIL is a set of best practices for running an IT shop - it's pretty much based on common sense, but they use old words assigned to knew definitions.)

Reading this stuff is dryer than dirt.  I can (and frequently do) happily pound back 100 pages in a book in one sitting.  Those are fiction, though, and written with entertainment in mind rather than delivery of information.  For the ITIL books, entertainment isn't even on the radar.  It takes me about an hour to read 10 pages, and even then I think I only retain about 25%.

This week has been dedicated to working my way through a 260 page book.  Next week is the class, for which reading the book is a prerequisite, and then the exam.   The exams are designed with the intension of most people failing.  (Really, they've made the questions so complicated that I don't think that the ability to pass the exam has anything to do with one's knowledge of the class content, but that's a whole other rant.)  Please, God, let me pass the exam.

It'll all be over on next Friday afternoon, assuming that I pass.  Friday evening, I drive south of Calgary and pick up my new baby.  Lewis will be coming home.

If you ask me, I think he looks kind of annoyed in this picture.

I asked for an updated picture of him yesterday, and apparently he was disrupted from something important to provide it.

Wise words

I don't mean to diminish the tragedy that happened in Boston in any way.  It's horrible, and there is a lot wrong with the world.  Words like these, however, are what keep me sane.

Busy

Things have been busy for me, like just about everybody else I know.  I have a list of things that I need to get done, and have been chipping away at them for a few weeks.  On Sunday, I cleaned my deep freeze (ie- defrosted all the ice buildup), organized the contents and then put everything back.

I realized today that I forgot to plug the freezer back in when I was done.

Oops.  Next item to add to the list - throw out contents of freezer.

Random stuff

• I need to post something to fill space, because anytime I come to this blog I see the post I made a while back about Cotton dying and have to leave.  So, I'm filling space here, and probably for another couple posts after that.  I need to get the news about Cotton "below the fold".

• Things are starting to be OK again, but I still find myself crying all the time.  I've pretty much given up on wearing mascara because it doesn't matter how much I hope to go a whole day without crying; things keep cropping up.... having to pick up his ashes... having to tell the groomer that he was gone... getting sympathy cards in the mail... returning the canned food he never got around to eating... putting away his leash, crate, pillow, etc.  Another day, another crying jag.

• I've always assumed that I'd get another standard poodle when it came time to add to the brood.  Now, I'm quite certain that I need a lap dog.  I'm not ready yet, but I know with complete certainty that when the time comes, my next dog will be small.  (And I suspect it'll be within a year or so.)

• On a more positive note, life is carrying on.  Work is busier than ever, which is mostly good.  I'm still adjusting to and learning the ropes with the new job but I don't think I'm making too much of a mess of it.  

• This week, I am interviewing contractors to have half of my basement finished.  I'm scared because of the track record in this house, but also very excited.  It'll be a basic "great" room, but for now I'm only going to furnish one corner that'll be my office.  Until then, it'll be a big empty room with lots of bookshelves -  and hopefully a hidden door.

• Things with the boy (previously known as guy #2) are still going strong.  He's good for me.

I've decided

My least favourite thing to do:



Bra Shopping.




It's an exercise in frustration.  I had to go to four stores today.  FOUR.  

The problem is that I am fairly generously endowed in that area, but I've lost enough weight that my old bras don't fit.  I  used to buy my bras at the fat lady store, but now my band size is smaller than they sell, so I have to go to regular sized stores, only they don't usually carry large enough cup sizes.  

And, so I went from store to store, and chiselled away at my body image with each attempt.

Somehow, I ended up in a change room across from a woman with exactly the same problem.  Sad to say, we bonded over excessive boobage.  Luckily, we both hit pay dirt with a sales woman who not only knew her stuff, she knew the inventory.  Even then, we were there for over an hour, as we tried on bra after bra and tossed them over the change room doors to swap back and forth.    Finally, as we were both about to give up, we came upon the miracle bra.  Not the one that pushes your boobs up to your chin - this one holds everything where it belongs and fits properly while miraculously not looking like something my granny would wear.  

We each bought three.

A Clothing Quandary

He's taking me out to a fancy restaurant in Calgary for New Year's.  On the way, he wants to stop at a favourite provincial park of his, so that we can do some winter photography together.

Considering that we'll be hiking in the cold first, and then going out where we'll be expected to dress up, I don't know what to wear.  This is complicated by the fact that I currently own one fancy-ish blouse, and I wore it when we went out on our first date.  

The Doorbell...

...won't stop ringing.  Every single day, somebody is at the door, asking me to sponsor them in a walkathon, donate bottles or purchase some sort of worthless crap.  It used to be bad, but it's gotten out of control.  So, I finally broke down and bought a "No Soliciting" sign.  I didn't want to do it - I don't want to deface my house with all sorts of signs - but it was becoming a problem.

If somebody wanted to mow my lawn, shovel my walk, pick up dog poop or do something useful in exchange for my money, I'd probably give them a chance.  But,

I've chosen and donated to my preferred charity.

I don't buy junk off of random salespeople

And, I'm sorry, but I don't feel any need to financially support your child's school, trip abroad or sports activities.  I know that children can be expensive, but I chose not to have children.  A large chunk of my property taxes go towards the local schools, so that's my contribution to the youth of society, as far as I'm concerned.  And it's a lot.

So, long story short, I broke down and got a No Soliciting sign.  I put it on the wall beside the front door, directly above the doorbell.
YOU CAN'T MISS IT.

So, why is my doorbell still ringing every day???  I don't want to be rude, but lately I've been succumbing to opening the door, interrupting the sob stories and sales pitches by pointing to the sign and closing the door.

I know, I could not open the door at all, but the dogs get 30 seconds to go berserk when the doorbell rings.   It's not long, but it's enough to make it clear we're home... if they didn't already know because I work in a desk that's looking directly into the front window beside the door all day.  I would feel weird to sit there - know they know I'm there - and not respond.

I've decided that I need to get a front door intercom.  I don't need video, but I want to talk to people - tell them to go away - without opening the door.   I'm not sure where I'll get it (they don't seem to be very popular around here) I really need to get on that.

The Pet Sitter Jinx

I don't kennel my pets.  When I go away, my preference is to find somebody to come to my house and care for them where they are comfortable.  I used to depend on friends and family, but I've come to realize that that can be an imposition.  In recent years, I've hired two different professional pet sitters.  Even after careful interviews and reference checks, it turned out that both of them were either unable or unwilling to do the job properly.

One remembered the combination to my door, but forgot how to type it in... called a locksmith instead of calling me for help on Christmas day and then lied about it when she presented me with a $300 locksmith bill on top of the $400 I paid her to take care of the pets.

The other didn't return my calls or emails for three days after somebody tried to detonate a bomb in Detroit.   I knew my flights would change - I'd likely get home later than expected - and I needed her confirmation that she could stay an extra night.    Because I couldn't get a hold of her, I ended up paying an extra $200 and making a mad dash across Calgary in the middle of the night, to get home, instead of crashing at a friend's place for the night.  She, at least, had the courtesy not to send me a bill after that mess up.

Regardless, I'm sure  you can understand why I'd be reluctant to hire a pet sitter, having had these experiences.

I'm going to Kelowna next week.  I could probably bring Tallulah, but Winter and Cotton would be miserable.  I needed somebody to take care of the pets, so I ended up asking a friend of some friends to stay at my place.  I don't know him well, but he's part of the crew who often goes out for dinner with us on Wednesdays.  He seems like a good guy.  Corey loves animals, and I've seen how responsible he is when he takes care of my friend Jen's bulldogs.  And, since he seems to be between jobs more often than he's employed, I know he can use the money.

Arrangements were made.  The nephews were informed of my pending visit, which means I can't back out, and I've been psyching myself up to make the 9 hour drive (each way) by myself.  Then my pet sitter jinx kicked in.

Corey has recently started a new job with a road construction company.   He's the flag guy.  He had blocked off a road and was directing traffic to go around when a guy drove up in a truck.  He parked the truck at the side of the road, got out and asked Corey to let him through.  Corey explained that the road was closed and he'd have to go another way.  Then the guy got back into the truck, pointed it at Corey, revved the engine and then drove full speed right into Corey.

Corey was rushed to the hospital.  The police were called, and the driver was caught (charged).  It's been a week or so now, and it's become apparent that Corey's back is all sorts of messed up and is going to need surgery soon.  

Now, in the grand scheme of things, I understand that pet sitting is not and should not be Corey's top priority right now.  I get that, and I feel all sorts of horrible for Corey.  On the selfish side of things, though, I can't help but realize that once again, my plans for the reliable pet sitter have been screwed up.  I'm going to be gone for five days next week, and now I need to find somebody else to take care of the pets.

The Naked Neighbour...

Saturday night last week, at 5:00pm, I stepped out onto my back deck and made the mistake of turning my head to the right.  There, I saw my next door neighbour in all his glory, stepping into his hot tub naked.  This isn't the first time I've seen this, and while I respect his right for comfort, I really have no desire to see his junk.

A few hours later, the doorbell rang and it was the neighbour.  Honestly, I really thought that he was there to apologize and agree to cover up when outside.  He wasn't.  He was there because he has decided that he wants a concrete curb installed along our property line.  Only, he wanted it installed on my property because he's already planted trees on his side of the line that he doesn't want to move, and he wanted me to pay half.  Honestly, I was in such shock that I said "uh.... ok".

I then clued in, gave him all sorts of reasons why I didn't want it - can't afford it, it would interfere with the french drain that runs along my side of the property line and don't really like them.  He came back with more: he'd limit my cost to $250, he doesn't think the french drain works anyway, the river rock on my property spontaneously jumps over to his yard, and the grass that has sprouted up through the river rock is unsightly.  That last one almost got me.  The truth is, I maybe don't do the best job of ripping the grass out because it's along the side of the house where I never go.  So, I decided to pay the $250 in the name of neighbourly relations.

He's never liked the river rock on my property.... tried to claim last year when the house flooded that the rock on one side of the house caused it.  He's expressed a number of complaints about it since as well.  And, I really, really hate conflict.  I figured that maybe it would just be easier to get the curb and I agreed to let him have his way

And then he knocked on my door the next day.  He said he'd do me a solid, and take that $250 I'd previously promised him.  Instead of the concrete curb, he'd rip out the river rocks and replace it with sod.  He got a resounding no to that, but still went away with the idea that he'd not only convinced me to pay $250 for the concrete curb that he wanted, but that it was going on my side of the property line as well.

I stewed about it for almost a week - lost sleep over it in fact.  Finally, I told a friend about it a couple of days ago, who told me to give my head a shake.  She told me to march over there, and tell him to stuff it.

I didn't do that, but I did knock on his door and advise him that I don't care for the concrete curbs, and that I don't wish to fund his little project.  He reminded me of the jumping rocks, and the spreading grass.  I said that grass is there because he threw seed in the rocks when he was seeding his own lawn and overshot the property line.  He tried to deny it, but I've got the same rock on both sides of the driveway and in the back yard, and no problems with grass anywhere else... nor with jumping rocks.  He couldn't really argue that.

Long story short, I don't have to pay $250 for concrete I don't want, and he's gonna get rid of the grass for me.  Now, if I can just convince him to invest in a pair of swim trunks, life will be golden.

Maybe I'll buy him a speedo, and leave it anonymously at his door.

Speechless

Walking my dogs last night, I encountered a lady with an offleash JRT. I called out to say that my dogs aren't friendly, and ask her to leash hers. She didn't. It charged us. I picked up Cotton, who went Ballistic, and asked her to come get her dog NOW. She wandered my way. I backed away from her dog, the JRT followed and snapped. We were cornered. I yelled out (in maybe not such a nice manner) for her to hurry up. Nothing. So, I turned around, kicked back and booted the dog in the chops. It yipped and ran away. Then she said... wait for it... you shouldn't have such aggressive dogs.

OYE.

Food Intolerance?

Cotton has a lot of food allergies or intolerances.  I've never known if they bother him, but he gets goobie, gross eyes.   I always thought the problems were with proteins like beef, pork or poultry.   Quite a while back, I switched him over from a mid-level dog food to a premium level and saw a huge difference.  The truth is, I never knew if the change was because of the better quality food, the decrease in preservatives, or the protein source of the foods.   What I do know is that once he started eating this premium food (bison or fish based) and cut out meat-based or preservative laden treats, his eyes cleared up.

About a year ago, I introduced freeze dried chicken to his diet.  He loves it, and it does a great job at cleaning his teeth.  Unfortunately, his eyes don't agree.  They've been goobie and gross ever since, but I thought he didn't notice.  I figured that the dirty eyes were worth the trade off for a treat that he loved and clean teeth.

After the scare with the chicken jerky, I stopped giving him any form of chicken.  I just couldn't take the chance.  Instead, I've been making what I call "chips", which are dehydrated slices of sweet potato, for about a month.  His eyes are clearing up.  More importantly, he seems way healthier.

Where as last year, he seemed stiff and sore after long walks and often had to be carried home, lately he has been down right peppy.  He leads the way, all the way home and shows no sign of discomfort.  Short little bursts of energy used to occasionally cause him to rip around the living room for a lap or two.  Now he's acting like he's manic.  He runs around the house all the time.  He eggs the poodle into playing chase a few times a day - and the games will go on 10-15 minutes if I let them.

I don't know what else has changed, other than the removal of chicken from his diet.  Whatever it is, I'm glad he's feeling so good.  On the other hand, though, I hate the thought that I've been feeding him something for over a year that, in comparison, was making him feel downright crappy.

Random

• I can't find a pet sitter for while I'm in Italy.  I've had two colossal failures in the past... can't hire them again.  This year, because I'll be gone for quite  a long time, I want to hire somebody to move into my house.  I found one lady on Kajiji, then had her recommended to me by a friend who had used her services and was happy.  I called twice.  She didn't call back.     Found another through a sister of a friend.  I called him on Saturday but no return calls yet.  This is  a problem, because if I don't have a pet sitter, I can't go.

• I *hate* professional buzz words that are intended to make the speaker sound smart.  Curate.  Dynamic. Synergy.                                  Get a thesaurus, people. 

• I discovered that there is a massive ants' nest at the base of my hawthorn tree.  There's a rubber tree mat around the base of the tree, which has done a bang up job at hiding the ants until now.  I don't know how long they've been there, but the tree has never bloomed in five years.   I don't know how to kill the ants without killing the tree.  Or, does the existence of the ants mean that the tree is unhealthy?  I love hawthorns when they bloom, but maybe this is a sign that this hawthorn isn't for me.

• I recently cut my calorie count by 400 calories a day.  I'm hungry.  And according to the meal plan that I'm following (which otherwise seems very reasonable), I need to find a way to eat more fat.  Avocados, here I come.

• A lack of calories may be making me cranky.

Stubborn

I've been struggling with the insurance company now for about 10 months.  The lady who processed my claim originally made some blatant errors, which resulted in me getting much less money than I was entitled to for some items, and more than double what I was owed for a few others.  While I'd have happily accept the overage, I got my back up over being shorted over laziness.

For example, two of my purses were damaged during the flood.  I claimed them both and then I happened to find a purse on a great sale before my claim was processed.  I was refunded for that one right away, but then the claims adjuster forgot or omitted  the second purse when she finally finished processing my claim.

When my claim was finally processed, I noticed the error and reported it right away.  The adjuster said she'd add the second purse, but she didn't bother to record the actual replacement value of $60 - she recorded $40, which I'd paid for the first one.

For ten months, I've been fighting about this.  I know it's only $20, but it's MY $20 and all they had to do was to look at the original claim that I submitted to see the mistake that had been made.

Long story short, I finally had enough and had a bit of a come to Jesus chat with the adjuster a few days ago.  As a result, she made a number of corrections to the claim, including confirming that I could have up to $60 for a new purse.

Until now, I have refused to replace the items for which the insurance company had recorded the wrong values, because I wanted to be sure I'd be refunded the full amount.  So, now I have a lot to buy in the next month before my claim is closed.

I don't know why, but I've wanted an orange purse for some time.  It makes no sense, because orange is probably my least favourite colour and it would match only a very small percentage of my clothes.  But, I wanted an orange purse.

There's a store in town that has a pretty great purse selection and I went there tonight.  As soon as I walked in the door, I zeroed in on a beautiful orange purse.  It was a good size, and had lots of pockets in the right places.  It seemed to be well made.

It cost $41.

The truth of the matter is, I stood there and realized that after fighting that battle with the insurance company, I simply did not want to submit a claim for a new purse for $40.  I'd fought to get up to $60, and told them repeatedly how unreasonable only $40 for purse would be.  And when I get a bee in my bonnet, it can be difficult for me to back down.  I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I came home with a black purse that cost $55.  

It's a nice purse.  It's also the right size, and it has lots of pockets in the right places.  It'll go with just about everything, and I won't get sick of its colour.    I think, however, that I'm going to bring it back tomorrow and trade it in for the orange purse.

Alberta Election Rant

There's a provincial election in Alberta next week.  This is huge.  Alberta is traditionally a fairly conservative (red neck) population, but it seems to be getting worse.  One of the newer political parties is gaining in popularity, and it scares the snot out of me.

Things to know about the Wild Rose Party:

• Their official stance on global warming is that they don't believe the science behind it.
• One of their candidates stated on the radio that he feels he has an advantage in the election because he's white.
• Another Wild Rose Candidate publicly admitted to believing that homosexuals will spend eternity in a lake of fire once they die.

Amazingly, the Wild Rose party has a chance at winning! 

I believe in equality for gays, straights, men and women - whether they are black, white or brown.  I believe in free healthcare, education at a reasonable price and environmental responsibility over commerce. I am a staunch Liberal. 

Next week, I'll be voting for the Progressive Conservative Party, in the hopes that the Wild Rose doesn't win.

(This video has some language in it.)

Times like these...

... are when you laugh or you gnaw off an arm.  I'm choosing to laugh.

It's time to get my passport renewal submitted. I got the picture taken and looked at the form online a couple of weeks ago. It seemed simple enough, but for whatever reason I didn't fill it in right away. I knew that when I did finish it, I wanted to bring it right into the office for review there. I’ve known a number of people who have had their applications rejected over silly things like signing them with a red pen, not using the proper paper or their pictures not being perfect; I didn't want to take any chances.

Last week, I set out to get this done on Wednesday. I was going to take it in over my lunch hour, but realized right before lunch that I needed references on the renewal form too. (I thought only new applications required references.) I know a lot of people, but it’s amazing how few people I know well enough to rattle off their middle names, home address, work phone and home number.   I tend to contact friends by email of on Facebook....  I could probably get rid of my phone,  I use it so rarely (outside of work) so I don't have a clue what a lot of my friend's phone numbers are.  So, I had to scramble to get hold of people so that I could get and write down their personal info.

Then I had to go out and buy paper because all my paper is coloured or textured. I have been putting off buying white paper because I have stacks and stacks of non-white paper that I need to use up.  And, to tell you the truth, this still drives me nuts.  What does it hurt if the application is printed on pink paper? Does it make it any less true? And, if I have to use white paper, why can't I buy a few sheets? Why do I have to buy a lifetime supply of it?

I broke down and went to the store over my lunch hour to buy white paper.   Except, while I was at the store, I remembered that my printer leaves smudges down the center of everything it prints. I’m thinking that if applications are rejected because of shiny foreheads in the picture (which happened to a friend), they’re not going to like smudges. So I ended up not buying paper; instead, I went to my dad’s house and printed it there.

By this time, it was too late to stop at the passport office during my lunch hours, so I went home. That's when I signed my name in the signature box  ...and overlapped the line on the box where is says “Void if border is crossed.”

Son of B...

Of course, I couldn’t reprint it, because I still didn’t have any white paper.  My dad lives on the other side of town, so I asked a friend who lives nearby to print it for me in exchange for a stack of some bamboo paper from my stash.  Then I signed the forms with a signature so small that it doesn't resemble my writing at all, but I stayed within the box.  I then tried to run into the passport office, but they close at 4:00. What kind of public service office opens at 9:00 and closes at 4:00??? Clearly, I'm working for the wrong branch of the government.

Thursday, I gathered everything up and went into the passport office over lunch. Walking in the door, something on the handle snagged my finger and left a deep cut. I told the receptionist that I was there for a passport renewal, and she started to take my info as I riffled through my purse for a Kleenex, napkin or anything to staunch the bleeding. True to typical gov’t worker fashion, she ignored the fact that I was bleeding like a stuck pig and focused on collecting my full name, my address, phone number, and life story… all so that I can get into see somebody to simply look at my application and tell me if it's OK.

In the meantime, I was bleeding all over the place. I was trying to hold my finger with my other bare hand, but that didn't help. If I held my hand up, the blood ran down into my sleeve. If I held my hand down, it dripped on the floor. I was starting to think I might need stitches, there was so much blood but the lady at the desk didn't notice. And then she told me to go sit down in the chairs and that somebody will be with me in 25-30 minutes.

I left.  I mailed my application in and will hope for the best.

Home Show Remorse

I went to the home show yesterday.  I love the annual home show, but I questioned the wisdom of going this year (when every spare penny is spoken for.)

While there, I bought a Magic Mesh Hands-free screen door.  Actually, I bought one and a friend bought one.  I wasn't going to buy one, but it's a lot cheaper to buy two than one, so she talked me into it.

Something was in the back of my head, telling me it was a bad idea, but I couldn't think of why.  So, I went for it.  Today, I opened the box to look at it, and very promptly said a string of four letter words.

There ain't no magic mesh that can contain a cat inside the house.  And Himself ain't no outside cat.

So, if you or anybody that you may know want a Magic Mesh hands-free screen door, let me know.  I have one available for cheap.

I also bought a mandolin, for cutting veggies, etc in the kitchen.  I'm pretty attached to my knives and, in general, I don't use many other cutting implements.  However, I wanted something to help me julienne carrots, etc, and thought I might also use it for salads/stir fries if it was as useful as the promos all said.

I brought my mandolin home and used it to dice some tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers.  It mushed the tomato, and broke the pepper.  The cucumber was so long it was awkward to hold with the handle, so I ended up removing the safety handle, and promptly sliced a thin layer of skin off of the pad of my thumb.  It could be that the mandolin just requires more practice to be useful, but I suspect that I'll stick with my knives.

The more I think of it, the more I'm convinced that I probably should have skipped the Home Show this year.