Sunday, February 22, 2009

Accident Protection is my friend

The week at work was very difficult. Sadly with the day off we had the dual problem of the same amount of work to do in a week and one less day to do it all in. To be fair, the week wasn't all that bad, but I felt the pressure of time. Jen didn't have Monday off and had to still seemed to have less time to get things done than she needed.

When Friday arrived Jen and I came home and watched our regular line up of Friday night shows: Monk and Psych amongst them.

Saturday morning Jen and I were sitting in the living room watching television when the telephone rang. We didn't answer it, but I wanted to be sure I didn't miss anything important. I stepped in and listened to the answering machine. Best Buy was calling to inform me my computer was not going to be repaired so I should come down to the store to discuss replacing it. After a while Jen and I got dressed and headed out. We went to lunch at G&D Steakhouse, which was wonderful but the state wrestling tournament was in town and they were very crowded. We stepped over to Best Buy when we were done. We had to sort through some paperwork to get things ready. We were told they were going to replace the computer with something equivalent to what we had bought in November '06. (Go ahead and laugh, they don't make 'em that slow any more) We told the lady we had just bought a new Toshiba on Sunday and if it was acceptable we'd like to replace our old one with one of those. You guessed it, I'm writing this while watching the Oscars on my new Toshiba laptop.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

What a week

What a kick in the pants the last week has been.

Monday (9 February) the car started rough. This was funny, because it had run just fine on Sunday. The check engine light stayed on. We went about a block and pulled over. The car sounded rough, but usable. we decided to chance things. We go to the top of the road and decided to look under the hood. We found rust on the last spark plug (we started at the top
and worked down). We decided to go home and beg assistance from David. We go home and Jen talked with David. She asked for $200 and he generously gave us $300. We cautiously took the car to Ewer's. We waited around for about 45 minutes and then walked up to David's bank. We'd stopped and checked the hours of operation on the way in. Jen got the check cashed and we happily walked to the shop. When we got to the shop we were told they had diagnosed our problem: bad spark plug wires and coil pack. They could do the entire repair for $386. We explained we only had $300. They were reticent, but we got them to replace the spark plug wires. They told us that was what HAD to be done and hopefully the coil pack could wait. We got on the road and I dropped Jen off at work. I motored down the road and arrived three hours late for work.

When I got to work things were a mess. They are going to replace a printer and had deleted the profile. However, we still need to use that printer. So, I spent some time on the telephone with ITS. The guy added the profile back, thinking about it now I hope he doesn't get into trouble! That night Jen asked David for an Extra $200. Sadly, we have fallen into the payday loan trap.

Tuesday morning we cashed David's new check. We went to work and the day went smoothly. I raced home and made a payment on the loan. I was very relieved.

Wednesday was uneventful.

Thursday I had the day off. I took Jen to work and went to my doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, I arrived before the doctor. I read in the waiting room, then they took my vitals and roomed me. The chronic disease nurse practitioner came in and saw me. I guess I'm managing my diabetes quite well. I'm now on semi-annual visits. My doctor seems pleased with
my management. I left my appointment and stopped by and saw Jen. I went up and sat in the car until lunch time. We had the Pizza Hut buffet. I took Jen back to work and headed home. On the way, I stopped at Anytime Fitness and managed to get a quick tour and a price quote. Then I headed home for the unpleasantness of the day. I had to clean the oven. I put the Star Wars soundtrack on and spent a couple of hours scrubbing out the oven while taking liberal breaks to play on the internet. I didn't get the oven clean, but it is cleaner.

Friday started with good news, our Federal tax return was in the bank. We got better news at the mailbox, our state tax return was in. We cashed the check and headed to work. The day was both fast and slow. I was busy which made the day fast, but seemed to drag on as there was a three day weekend awaiting. I picked up Jen and we invited David out to dinner. I knew we were either going to Olive Garden or Longhorn's for food. We decided on Longhorn's and I enjoyed people watching while we waited. I can't believe the amount of people dressed for warmer weather complying about how cold they were. I especially enjoy the women with flip-flops and shorts on and a sweatshirt on. I almost laughed out loud. Dinner was wonderful. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. Then we headed home.

Saturday I woke up when Jen came back to bed. I don't know what happened, but I was awake. She was reading and for some reason the minuscule amount of noise she was making kept me awake. I got up and checked to make sure we could access the tax refund we could and my paycheck was there as well. I paid our wireless bill, now it will come out automatically. Plus, subscribed us to Wizard 101 (an online game that is quite fun) and bought some crowns (an in-world currency). We laid in bed for a while and then moved to the living room. I decided since we were up I'd get the car repaired. I called Ewer's and they told me to come in at 1100. We watched some telly and Jen played on the computer. I threw on some clothes and headed downtown. I gave Ewer's the car and headed up to Lucy's for breakfast. I talked with my sister, she'd called while I was pulling into Ewer's, while I waited for my food. I ate a delicious breakfast and walked back down to Ewer's. I saw my car had been moved. I wasn't sure if they'd finished work or looked at it, moved the car and were waiting on a part. I walked in and my cell phone rang. Ewer's was calling me. Thinking the guy behind the counter was calling and answered and hung up. OOPS! The guy used the intercom to call Dean who came up and checked me out. I was on my way shortly and headed home. Jen and I hung out watching telly for the rest of the afternoon before heading out to Danny and Elaine's for Rifts.

Sunday I woke up and headed out to play on the internet for a while. Sometimes a wanderlust comes over me, usually I don't mind laying in bed sometimes I have to get up for a bit. I played around looked at various sites. I closed the computer lid and I heard a crack, but thought nothing of it. I went back to bed and read for a while. Jen and I were talking and I remember what I originally had gone out to look up. I went out and saw the right hinge had broken through the top of the case. The left hinge was already broken. I made the decision to get a new laptop. When we had discussed having Best Buy repair the left hinge we had been told to expect a three week turnaround. We got up, went to QuikTrip for gas and news papers, Cracker Barrel for lunch and then to Rock Bottom Comics (ya gotta have your bi-weekly dose of comicy goodness.) Plus we like our comic book guys. Then it was off to Best Buy. We got in line and waited. I saw a young woman come in with a thin tee-shirt, shorts (showing lots of leg) and flip flops.Now Sunday was a nice day, but not quite that nice! Still, I enjoyed the view. Once we got to the front of the line things went quickly. They found our policy, took down what needed fixed and we headed out. Back in the computer department (the placement always reminds me of the cashier cages in a casino all the way at the back!) we quickly found the computer we wanted and made our decision. We got the computer and the accident protection package (hey I'm fairly sure it was gonna pay for the other commuter to get fixed!) and were on our way home. The rest of the day was spent setting up the computer, watching telly and generally enjoying.

Monday (16 February) I took Jen to work and then went home and relaxed. I washed the sheets and generally did nothing. Jen was correct, the new laptop was nice. I played Wizard 101 and surfed my sites while I watched The Man Who Wasn't There. I mostly watched because I'd seen Scarlett Johannsson was in it. I'm not a big Billy Bob Thornton fan. Then I took Jen to lunch, Pizza Hut buffet again. Then home to watch Sling Blade and the first part of Footloose. (I know I've never seen it!) I finished my book while I was waiting for Jen. We came home. I watched the end of Footloose. An okay film We had dinner and watched XIII (a mini-series based on a comic book) and then crashed.