One of the last post in Trio's blog was about how stubborn he is and how while embodied in a tiny 3 three year old body is a pain in the ass occasionally over all it's a good quality to have. Especially if you look at it when it comes to expectations of people and how you should be treated. While yes sometimes it can be extreme (ie the girls who are like "OMG if you do not get me a canary diamond for my engagement ring it's completely off") most of the times it's a good thing.
There's a shop here in Pflugerville that I love the clothes in. It's amazing it's resonably priced, and hey they have big girl sizes; it's awesome. So when I first started going there I got the credit card for the place because hey it was nice a way to build credit and not have to touch the checking account. Today I closed it. Why? Because the last purchase I made there was an emergency pair of boots because it was so fracking cold here that open toes weren't gonna work like they sometimes do in the winter months. I paid that off last month and today I get a late fee and finance charge because they say it was due on Feb 12th and they didn't receive payment until the 18th.
This drove me crazy. I realize with burying my dad February was a crazy ass month for me so I may not be what you call reliable when it comes to remembering things around then, but something didn't sit right. So after canceling the card (because quite honestly what they charged me IMO is a ludacrious price for a card that doesn't have a Visa logo and can't be used anywhere else and because the "late fee and finance charge" were damn near what I owed in the first place). Then I went over my emails because I have paperless and see that I didn't receive the statement with what was owed until February 18th.
So I call back and ask when I made the purchase and they said the 18th of January and that the statement was sent on February 19th. So I'm like "Wait a minute you didn't send me a statement with what was due until 7 days after correct?"
"Blargh blargh blargh---you signed up for paperless statements in--"
"I know when I signed up for paperless you didn't answer my question. What you're telling me is that this was when the purchase and this was when the statement was sent. So I'm expected to call and check to see on a weekly basis when my statement's due?"
"No you can log in---blargh blargh blargh" (which let's face it is just a way of saying you're suppose to do the Internet equivalent of that.
Now forgive my squirrely ignorance but the two other credit cards I have? They send the statement on a monthly basis WELL before the due date so it's not late. So quite honestly maybe it makes me spoiled and even a bit lazy but that's what I expect. In the hustle and bustle of the world I like that. It helps me stay on top on things and quite honestly it's one of the reason I'm paperless to begin with.
I work in Customer Service so I try to be polite no matter what. The first girl was nice-ish to me even as she could I was losing my cool. Did the whole spiel about "How can we keep you?" Etc. Second old biddy? Not so much and it sucks because it was like I was no longer a customer so why should she care? And in the essence of not going off on her and reaping so horrific CS Karma I said "There's nothing else" and hung up.
I know that the credit card company is different from the store but this seems shady to me so it's gonna be a cold day in hell before I buy anything in there. I'll go in and I'll pay that little piddly ass severance fee and I'll be done. Simply because the way I look at things is this; I'm not so naive enough to believe that me as one little bitty buyer has an impact on stuff when I choose not to shop somewhere. But it's still my money and while I'm not interested in boycotting I feel better knowing that my money's not going there. And that's a me thing. There's a little convenience store here in Pflugerville that I will no longer go to not even for gas because the few times I walked in there the guy was rude to me. I'm like "Screw you buddy there's a mom and pop not even a block away and they're polite to me". I do not think that as a customer you have to kiss my ass at all. But I do expect politeness and I do expect courtesy because I give it in my job. I expect them to realize that I choose to come here I choose to shop I choose to put my money here and that it's because of that regardless of my age, creed, sexual orientation I deserve respect. Treat me how you would want to be treated if you were the consumer and I was the business.
Coming around to how this ties into my stubborness (I didn't forget) my money is one thing I'm very serious about. If I spending money somewhere I expect to be treated a certain way. I'm not one of those people who clearly their throat loudly or shake their empty ice filled glass in a restuaraunt when the waiter ignores them. I just either leave a really lousy tip or not one at all. The last time I did that was at a Chili's around Halloween. We saw our waitress at the beginning and the end she didn't even bring us our food or drinks and I was like "Oh hell no you're not getting anything". (Before you ask no it wasn't that busy and yes I saw her go and check in at her other tables). I get mad but I don't write letters and I don't boycott and I don't throw (big) fits. I just sigh say okay do what I need to do to make it clear and then don't go there anymore. Because when it comes to certain things I expect it to be a certain way and there is nothing that anyone can tell me to make me think or see differently; I dig my heels in and I'm like "You're not changing my mind". So there you have it. The point of this long bloggy rant. Hope it wasn't too laborious to get through. :)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Dad
My Dad passed away on February 8th at the age of 63. He would have been 64 on the 24th (this past Thursday). I have been wanting to write about my Dad for awhile but haven't heard the time or the appropirate words. I'm not even sure if this will be the words that come now will be perfect but I want to say all the things (and more) that I couldn't say at his funeral.
I am completely and utterly a Daddy's girl. My mother passed away when I was 8 so since then it has always been just my Dad and my sister living at home, save for a brief year long stint in Houston while he adjusted to being a widower to two daughters, one of which (my sister) was pre-teen. That alone has made me respect my Dad beyond the telling of it. He has four sisters and he was a man trying to raise girls-he could have easily have shuffled us off to one of them and let them raise us but he didn't. After that one year, we were never far from our father at all with the exception of when I went to U of H. Not that he was so prideful that he didn't ask them for help he had no earthly idea what to do (such as prom dress shopping) but for the most part he did everything himself.
My Dad was not perfect but then what parent is? Hell, what person is? My Dad went without so that my sister and I could have what we wanted and needed. Looking back and remembering what everything must have been like I wonder how the hell he afforded my viola lessons in high school because those were not cheap. I wonder how my sister and I were able to go on all the class trips we wanted to. I remember him being at every performance of mine, both Orchestra and Theatre and taking me clear across town (or enlistnig KaCee who as the older one of the two had to help out a lot since the hours he worked could be wonky) to audtiion for All-City and All-Regional Orchestra and then having to fight the craziness the year I made it just to sit there and hear me play (not even being able to see me) for the first thirty minutes of the program. I remember him helping me sell lollipops and then covering what I didn't when my Fine Arts Department went to DisneyWorld my sophomore year.
My Dad was also a very open and friendly man. Many friends have come over to the house for get togethers and get taken in as his "kids". They all called him Pops, or Sarge. It was very rare to hear someone call him Billy after the first few times they met him. He was so generous sometimes to a fault and had a big heart and greeted everyone with a big smile and an occasion "Where have you been?"
My Dad was a great man-like many people he made mistakes but he did a lot in his life that not many people can claim they did or would do given the hand that life has dealt them. Everyday is hard to get through without him being here because he's always been around. Even when I was in school I knew he was a phone call or a three hour drive away. And now there is no way to talk to him which will be an adjustment for both my sister and I but we will make it. It helps to know that he's not in pain if he was in the last few weeks since he had been sick (and he wouldn't have let anyone know unless it was horrible because he was also a private man). It helps to know that he's with our mother and our Savior. All these help and remembering them will help gradually make the pain not a sharp stab but a dull ache over time since it will never go away.
Billy R. Crockett
2/24/47-2/8/2011
I am completely and utterly a Daddy's girl. My mother passed away when I was 8 so since then it has always been just my Dad and my sister living at home, save for a brief year long stint in Houston while he adjusted to being a widower to two daughters, one of which (my sister) was pre-teen. That alone has made me respect my Dad beyond the telling of it. He has four sisters and he was a man trying to raise girls-he could have easily have shuffled us off to one of them and let them raise us but he didn't. After that one year, we were never far from our father at all with the exception of when I went to U of H. Not that he was so prideful that he didn't ask them for help he had no earthly idea what to do (such as prom dress shopping) but for the most part he did everything himself.
My Dad was not perfect but then what parent is? Hell, what person is? My Dad went without so that my sister and I could have what we wanted and needed. Looking back and remembering what everything must have been like I wonder how the hell he afforded my viola lessons in high school because those were not cheap. I wonder how my sister and I were able to go on all the class trips we wanted to. I remember him being at every performance of mine, both Orchestra and Theatre and taking me clear across town (or enlistnig KaCee who as the older one of the two had to help out a lot since the hours he worked could be wonky) to audtiion for All-City and All-Regional Orchestra and then having to fight the craziness the year I made it just to sit there and hear me play (not even being able to see me) for the first thirty minutes of the program. I remember him helping me sell lollipops and then covering what I didn't when my Fine Arts Department went to DisneyWorld my sophomore year.
My Dad was also a very open and friendly man. Many friends have come over to the house for get togethers and get taken in as his "kids". They all called him Pops, or Sarge. It was very rare to hear someone call him Billy after the first few times they met him. He was so generous sometimes to a fault and had a big heart and greeted everyone with a big smile and an occasion "Where have you been?"
My Dad was a great man-like many people he made mistakes but he did a lot in his life that not many people can claim they did or would do given the hand that life has dealt them. Everyday is hard to get through without him being here because he's always been around. Even when I was in school I knew he was a phone call or a three hour drive away. And now there is no way to talk to him which will be an adjustment for both my sister and I but we will make it. It helps to know that he's not in pain if he was in the last few weeks since he had been sick (and he wouldn't have let anyone know unless it was horrible because he was also a private man). It helps to know that he's with our mother and our Savior. All these help and remembering them will help gradually make the pain not a sharp stab but a dull ache over time since it will never go away.
Billy R. Crockett
2/24/47-2/8/2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Kindle Addiction
So this year for Christmas between everything that has happened the Hubster and I decided to give one big gift and two little ones. My big gift ended up being a Kindle. After much time on the fence about whether or not to get an Ereader I told him that yes I wanted one. Don't get me wrong-I still look paper books. There is something tangible about paper books-the touch smell etc. Plus I've been collecting books for awhile and there are a few that I will never part with no matter how much the Hubster tries-there a collection and I want to keep them.
That being said I do see the convenience of a Kindle-for me it's about only being able to "see" a few books at a time unlike at a bookstore where I can roam. Even online it's tedious after awhile going through pages and pages of books you may or may not like. Also with one click the book is already mine and in my Kindle library. I also like what I've noticed to be a big price difference. Now with regular paperbacks (ie "pocketbooks") the difference in price is about a dollar (or if you're lucky free but more on that later). However with hardbacks it's almost over 50% which is AWESOME for me. There are a bunch of series I read and I like to read them right away but unlike a lot of other bibliophiles I hate hardbacks. They're heavy cumbersome and not easy to read laying down at night. And they are hella expensive at almost 30 dollars. No thank-yes Mr Kindle I will take the 12.99 over that ANY day.
Also there are a lot of free books!! Now granted most of them are Christian fiction so if that's not your thing you may not be as excited. Irregardless they're pretty good reads and hey even if they aren't you paid 0.00 for them so there's no real loss. You can even delete them off your Kindle if it that was atrocious. However it is very easy to get to clicking on the freebies or getting the books from other ereader formats where you don't have to pay (hm..cough cough) so in total I have 35 books on my Kindle right now and I've only had it for over a month so be wary.
And I am ashamed to admit my Kindle already has a war wound. I left it within reach of little hands and so it was removed from my awesome leather light case without the release hooks. So the hooks in the case are all bent to hell and there is a chip in the hook holes on the Kindle. However it hasn't affected the reading capability as of yet and it is cosmetic so Amazon won't cover a replacement and not that I really need one. It's small not a big deal overall and hey it was my fault so live and learn right? Plus I get a new case which we'll see how it works until/unless I can get the hooks arightened in the old one.
Overall I love my Kindle. I feel it was a good investment and I can carry a load of books in one tiny device. However despite what others may think or say I will never give up on paper books.
Sorry hubster. :)
That being said I do see the convenience of a Kindle-for me it's about only being able to "see" a few books at a time unlike at a bookstore where I can roam. Even online it's tedious after awhile going through pages and pages of books you may or may not like. Also with one click the book is already mine and in my Kindle library. I also like what I've noticed to be a big price difference. Now with regular paperbacks (ie "pocketbooks") the difference in price is about a dollar (or if you're lucky free but more on that later). However with hardbacks it's almost over 50% which is AWESOME for me. There are a bunch of series I read and I like to read them right away but unlike a lot of other bibliophiles I hate hardbacks. They're heavy cumbersome and not easy to read laying down at night. And they are hella expensive at almost 30 dollars. No thank-yes Mr Kindle I will take the 12.99 over that ANY day.
Also there are a lot of free books!! Now granted most of them are Christian fiction so if that's not your thing you may not be as excited. Irregardless they're pretty good reads and hey even if they aren't you paid 0.00 for them so there's no real loss. You can even delete them off your Kindle if it that was atrocious. However it is very easy to get to clicking on the freebies or getting the books from other ereader formats where you don't have to pay (hm..cough cough) so in total I have 35 books on my Kindle right now and I've only had it for over a month so be wary.
And I am ashamed to admit my Kindle already has a war wound. I left it within reach of little hands and so it was removed from my awesome leather light case without the release hooks. So the hooks in the case are all bent to hell and there is a chip in the hook holes on the Kindle. However it hasn't affected the reading capability as of yet and it is cosmetic so Amazon won't cover a replacement and not that I really need one. It's small not a big deal overall and hey it was my fault so live and learn right? Plus I get a new case which we'll see how it works until/unless I can get the hooks arightened in the old one.
Overall I love my Kindle. I feel it was a good investment and I can carry a load of books in one tiny device. However despite what others may think or say I will never give up on paper books.
Sorry hubster. :)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New Years/Anniversaries
The beginning of a new year is always awesome for me. First off it's a brand new year and I must say that I am happy to see 2011 and have many hopes for the upcoming year. While 2010 was good for me safe for those last few months where it seemed like a snowball effect of bad stuff, I am holding out that 2011 will be good for me and my family all around. It's the beginning of a new year. You can have resolutions (or not) you can start all over with jobs, working out, being more patient with everyone. It's a new dawn and a new day so go ahead and feel good (so good, so good good good good good)
Also my anniversary is January 2nd. So it's another wonderful year of marriage to my hubby. To say our marriage is perfect is laughable because I really do not think any marriage is-I've always felt if a marriage is perfect than someone is not being themselves. Human nature leads us to have conflict with many people whether they be family, spouses, friends, or children. But we've been a lot in these last few months and especially the last few years with Trio's health problems. So I'm very happy to say that we're still going strong. We still love each other, still love going out and spending time alone with each other, and even though we bicker fight and disagree at the end of the day we sleep happily next to each other. I love my husband and I'm h happy to have celebrated my 7th year of marriage with him. We have stayed by each other and supported each other even when Trio's health problems looked dire, when one of us was jobless and we were struggling to make it on one income, and can still laugh. That says a lot and for me between the new year and anniversary, my year always starts off with a bang. :)
Also my anniversary is January 2nd. So it's another wonderful year of marriage to my hubby. To say our marriage is perfect is laughable because I really do not think any marriage is-I've always felt if a marriage is perfect than someone is not being themselves. Human nature leads us to have conflict with many people whether they be family, spouses, friends, or children. But we've been a lot in these last few months and especially the last few years with Trio's health problems. So I'm very happy to say that we're still going strong. We still love each other, still love going out and spending time alone with each other, and even though we bicker fight and disagree at the end of the day we sleep happily next to each other. I love my husband and I'm h happy to have celebrated my 7th year of marriage with him. We have stayed by each other and supported each other even when Trio's health problems looked dire, when one of us was jobless and we were struggling to make it on one income, and can still laugh. That says a lot and for me between the new year and anniversary, my year always starts off with a bang. :)
Monday, December 20, 2010
Grateful
That is the only word I can think of to describe how I feel today. Grateful.
I met up with a friend from my Mom's Group of which I have been absent as of late. Between work and having to adjust to Albert not working, the car not working, moving, and just getting off some mandatory OT not to mention working casinos to help, I haven't had a lot of time for hanging out with people lately. Man I haven't even had time to read as much I like to and if you know me you know that means I haven't had much time. I did manage to keep in contact with a few of them and they heard about the time I have had as of late. And they got me a gift basket which I received today.
My heart is so full right now because of everything that they found to give to us out of the generosity of their hears. It's amazing and...words cannot accurately describe how I feel right now. It just makes you realize that for every bad thing that you feel or will happen to you a wonderful fantastic thing will follow. I think it's good to be reminded of this especially right before Christmas. I just wanted to share my story with y'all.
I met up with a friend from my Mom's Group of which I have been absent as of late. Between work and having to adjust to Albert not working, the car not working, moving, and just getting off some mandatory OT not to mention working casinos to help, I haven't had a lot of time for hanging out with people lately. Man I haven't even had time to read as much I like to and if you know me you know that means I haven't had much time. I did manage to keep in contact with a few of them and they heard about the time I have had as of late. And they got me a gift basket which I received today.
My heart is so full right now because of everything that they found to give to us out of the generosity of their hears. It's amazing and...words cannot accurately describe how I feel right now. It just makes you realize that for every bad thing that you feel or will happen to you a wonderful fantastic thing will follow. I think it's good to be reminded of this especially right before Christmas. I just wanted to share my story with y'all.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Wow!!!
Holy Moley!! It's been hella long since I've updated my own Blog. o.0
I'll try to do a quick recap since February. A lot has changed:
First off I am a working woman again!! I have been working full time since March 8th and it is fantastic. I love my job and what I do and hey the hours I work help us avoid the cost of daycare which is always a plus. With the year winding down work has gotten busy lately especially with the holidays (mandatory OT FTW) but it's a good kind of busy. Being busy is helping me especially as of late to try to avoid the wrath I feel when I remember that...
Albert got fired. Yeah his job decided to fire him for some complete utter BS. Which yeah I know everyone says that when they get fired but honestly what pisses me off is that they put two extra things on his sheet (his getting fired sheet if you will) that were complete nonsense. Had only the first thing been on there still would have been annoyed. It was the addition of the other two that hinted to me that this was a petty act started by someone who is petty and cruel. I mean don't get me wrong Albert wasn't happy with his job at all as of late and I know he's glad to be done of it I just wanted it to end on his terms and not theirs and not like that. But whatever I tell myself the same thing when people's stupidity and pettiness directly affects me and it gets me through. God don't like ugly-and while the repurcussions of the acts you choose to do out of spite and malice may not come right away they will. That's why I try not to get mad at little things anymore. I've done some pretty ugly petty things before intentionally and just some messed up things unintentionally and when something is rough for me I try to take it in stride. (note I said "try"...it doesn't always work but then again I'm not perfect).
As a result of Albert losing his job we moved back in with my dad and sister since while I make decent money (in my mind) it's not enough to support me and my boys. So it's looking like we're going to stay at their place awhile and then try to find a bigger place together just to help each other out in the long run. It's one of those things that I really can't comment on if it's good or bad-as long as it is different from the first time. We're all wiser and older and have better expectations so here's hoping.
Pretty much that's my life in a nutshell. Now that we're living with dad and my sister and they have internet I may be updating more often. Thanks for listening.
I'll try to do a quick recap since February. A lot has changed:
First off I am a working woman again!! I have been working full time since March 8th and it is fantastic. I love my job and what I do and hey the hours I work help us avoid the cost of daycare which is always a plus. With the year winding down work has gotten busy lately especially with the holidays (mandatory OT FTW) but it's a good kind of busy. Being busy is helping me especially as of late to try to avoid the wrath I feel when I remember that...
Albert got fired. Yeah his job decided to fire him for some complete utter BS. Which yeah I know everyone says that when they get fired but honestly what pisses me off is that they put two extra things on his sheet (his getting fired sheet if you will) that were complete nonsense. Had only the first thing been on there still would have been annoyed. It was the addition of the other two that hinted to me that this was a petty act started by someone who is petty and cruel. I mean don't get me wrong Albert wasn't happy with his job at all as of late and I know he's glad to be done of it I just wanted it to end on his terms and not theirs and not like that. But whatever I tell myself the same thing when people's stupidity and pettiness directly affects me and it gets me through. God don't like ugly-and while the repurcussions of the acts you choose to do out of spite and malice may not come right away they will. That's why I try not to get mad at little things anymore. I've done some pretty ugly petty things before intentionally and just some messed up things unintentionally and when something is rough for me I try to take it in stride. (note I said "try"...it doesn't always work but then again I'm not perfect).
As a result of Albert losing his job we moved back in with my dad and sister since while I make decent money (in my mind) it's not enough to support me and my boys. So it's looking like we're going to stay at their place awhile and then try to find a bigger place together just to help each other out in the long run. It's one of those things that I really can't comment on if it's good or bad-as long as it is different from the first time. We're all wiser and older and have better expectations so here's hoping.
Pretty much that's my life in a nutshell. Now that we're living with dad and my sister and they have internet I may be updating more often. Thanks for listening.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
I'm Employed!!!
Well I got the job @ Blizzard!! They called me Tuesday of last week to inform me of their intent to extend a job offer to me. I must admit when they called I was flustered because I had been grocery shopping with Trio who was cranky on "Snow Day" and my Target card had been declined for some reason (even though I just paid on it and had mucho credit left over). Also was hearing what the training hours were (8-5 am ay yi yi). But then I talked to my friends who already work there and after they were done laughing at the misfortune of my training hours they were quick to reassure me that it wouldn't stay that way; a couple of days in they give me a sheet with available hours on it and I rank them. She also told me another way to get the hours I want but I'm not telling : ). This job because it is Blizzard has a lot of shush shush to it which I get so I am not going to be able to talk a lot about my job which I get and agree with because if you're paying me what I'm going to be getting paid I'll treat everything like it's a matter of national security no problems. Plus they treat them employees good which is a lot body then I can say for the last big company I worked for which shall remain nameless (but if you're an observant reader I'm sure you know which one it is) so yay for me for getting employed!!
Yesterday I was able to go buy books as a result of a bet I made with Albert a couple of months ago. The terms were being able to buy up to 8 books (which I did) and I am sooo happy. Well a little bummed because some of the books I wanted weren't there so I had to make do buying some other ones that look interesting. I told Albert he didn't want to know how much I spent LOL and he agreed but needless to say I'm good on books for awhile. I need to take some over to Beth's for credit but that will be later once I adjust a little better to my new schedule (training at least) but I have a week before that starts.
Well that's all for now!!
Yesterday I was able to go buy books as a result of a bet I made with Albert a couple of months ago. The terms were being able to buy up to 8 books (which I did) and I am sooo happy. Well a little bummed because some of the books I wanted weren't there so I had to make do buying some other ones that look interesting. I told Albert he didn't want to know how much I spent LOL and he agreed but needless to say I'm good on books for awhile. I need to take some over to Beth's for credit but that will be later once I adjust a little better to my new schedule (training at least) but I have a week before that starts.
Well that's all for now!!
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