The Customer

I am the customer as of yesterday and today.

I was told from my estimate that they would be in touch with me regarding the time of arrival. No one called me so I called them. He will be here at 9am he says.

10am he shows up. No apology, no excuse. Then he bitched a fit because my dog was sleeping in her bed and apparently that bothered him and she was in the way. I didn't see how because the area of the work was the other side of the room but I wanted to accommodate him so I woke her and moved her to my staircase landing.
Then he blocked the stairs so she would not come down and bother him. I think he just hates dogs. My dog didn't even bark. Just laid in her bed. But I did what I felt necessary to make the contractor happy. Izzy will survive.

The ceiling was being repaired of cracks and assorted nail pops and issues.
He did all the mud work yesterday. I have never seen anyone work so slow in my life outside of Jamaica. In Jamaica, we watched a team of 2 paint 1 door for 4 days. We laughed and assumed they were high. I am not certain if this man was high or he assumed I was paying him by the hour.

He finally was done and he actually swept my hardwood floors to pick up all the drywall bits all over. That was great to me. He told me he'd be back tomorrow when it's dry to sand it all.  I asked if he would be here at the same time and he answered, "roughly." I said if you can't be specific I can't be certain I will be here in case the dog has to go out, that type of thing. He said, "whatever"  Okay.

Okay then. Today he arrived at 9:30am. I just came in from a quick walk for Izzy. Perfect timing. He came with a sourpuss teenager or a millennial with the social skills of a snail. I said hello and he walked by me saying nothing, didn't even acknowledge me or look at me. The older guy told him to get something from the truck and he rolled his eyes and being ever the smart ass I say, "Boy you're not happy to be here are you?"  He said nothing. If Gary or William ever acted like this they would be fired!

Right now they are sanding my kitchen ceiling and I can't wait until they leave. I am not having them paint my ceiling. We will either hire our painter or we'll do it ourselves. My painter, Cesar, is awesome and cute and personable. I like that combo better than sourpuss, slow and okay work.

Speaking of bad service. My husband's sister's husband had cancer surgery.
He loves pretzels so Rick remembers seeing this company that was on Shark Tank. It was called Painted Pretzel. Mark Cuban invested in them. That is the biggest shame. Why you ask? Because their technology and website are horrible.
You'd think Cuban would have at least redone their website being Mr. Technology.

My husband ordered this. First, that is so highly unusual. He never orders these types of things. Second, he did this without checking into this company. Now that we have ordered this and it has not gone out I began the google searches.

There is a site called Pissed Consumers. They are listed with horrific reviews.
Then, of course, Yelp - nothing good there - all the same problems.
Then there is the Shark Tank page - all the same reviews and comments.

I don't know that Rick's brother in law will ever see his gift.
But I sure as hell know I will never order from them again!

I hate being the customer. I prefer making customers happy than being a customer shit upon.

Amazon Echo.

My sister, the young whippersnapper, sent me this via facebook.
(the little shit is only 44) So what is she implying here huh? 😕

Rick and I had already seen it on SNL and we thought it was funny as hell and too close for comfort. Most of this is my parents for sure. Especially the thermostat and the calling of the wrong name over and over again.

Here ya go if you've not seen this. 

Lazy Weekend.

I had a very odd and off weekend.
I was lazy. Normally my weekends are run, run, run.
But this one was anything but.
Everything that I wanted to accomplish was nixed.
I was just downright lazy.

I did get one load of laundry washed and dried and barely folded.
It felt good, but while doing this lazy thing I was feeling guilty.
Rick suggested I just suck it up and be lazy with him.
I think he just wanted to be lazy and in his big chair and not feel guilty as well.

Saturday morning we went grocery shopping together to fill up our empty fridge.
That was a mistake. Taking Rick to the grocery store is like taking him to a hardware store or a place that sells wood. He loves those 3 kinds of places and he throws things in the cart that I would never buy. When I ask since when do you drink grapefruit juice? Well, I'm going to start he tells me. Okay then.
We spent a small fortune but my fridge is stocked and now if only someone would make my meal from this bounty I would be so happy. And he read my mind apparently.

Saturday I just couldn't get it together. I have been having some sleeping issues and I am just dragging through my days. I have this pain in my back that isn't normal. It's not like a muscle pain or a pain where the chiropractor could fix. It's different. It's weird and lying down hurts so I'm dragging. It's gotten better over the last couple of weeks but it isn't gone. Anyway not sleeping is making me tired as you would expect all day.

After unloading my groceries and putting them away I got the old heating pad and propped myself into the corner of our L shaped sofa and relaxed for what I thought would be just a few minutes before heading upstairs for laundry and cleaning. Rick had other ideas. He kept saying he wanted to see that show I told him about. 
You see when I have insomnia I read and/or watch TV. I found a show that was re-running on in the wee hours and I loved it. It said it was the season finale. Figures.
So I went to see if it was in my On Demand folder and sure enough it was and I downloaded the full season so I could watch it when I had time.
Rick felt this was the time. I wasn't sure he'd like this as much as me but if he was willing to check it out why not I figured.

So there I am in the corner with the heating pad all comfy and Rick in his chair and we binged watched the full 10 shows of their 1st season. He made me a 2nd cup of coffee (pumpkin spice, it's that time of year) and the show began.
I absolutely loved this show. I want this lead character to be my neighbor so we can day drink. I want her to be my BFF because we are on the same page on just about everything. I think this woman is in my head and they made my thoughts a show. My husband on the 2nd episode says, "My God this woman is you. What a smart ass. I love it." (Good thing you said that Big Fella.)

By the 10th episode, he is saying, "how the hell did they get into your mind and make it a show?"  That made me laugh because I hadn't said a word about it but I was seeing that too. No wonder I liked her. ha ha  I found out there will be a 2nd season in 2018 and now it's just another show I have to wait for. Damn.

I also ate too much Sunday It started with having my coffee on the patio. Rick was walking the dog and I took my coffee and sat outside on a beautiful Sunday morning and cozied up on my outside sofa. It was great....until the man next door came out to have a cigarette and it blew my way. Man, do I hate that smell.
I wish he'd smoke anything other than cigarettes. Even a pipe or cigar wouldn't bother me as much. Pot could waft over the fence and at least I could enjoy it with him, but not so much with his damn cigarettes. Thankfully after his cigarette, he left for the day.

Rick made breakfast on the grill and it was wonderful. We ate outside on the patio since cigarette boy left. Homemade Hashbrowns, bacon and eggs. Yummo. Then of course lunch, which was also made by Rick while watching a movie. 
Then later in the day, some junk food because Rick was shopping with me and picked up stuff I avoid like chips and dip. If in the house they will be eaten, which to Rick is the point. (during baseball game, which he proclaimed one must have something to munch while watching the game, ya gotta love his rules)

Then I ate dinner that Rick made. See this pattern?  Oh and Rick made me a milkshake while we watched the game and ate junk food. I said I didn't want one then he poured his and said you want a sip? Of course, I wanted a sip! 
I took a sip and gave it back and he said you sure you don't want one? It's already made. I laughed because he knows me so well. So the pig that I am I drank it. 
I have not had a milkshake in 15 years or maybe more. Oh, my goodness was it good. I just do not need a weekend like this again or I'm gonna be 200lbs. Rick is an enabler I told him. He just laughs. While it is acceptable for a guy to have a big ole belly it is not acceptable for me to have one.
Sure was fun while doing it though. I looked at my bathroom scale this morning and refused to get on. It would probably scream and tell me to get off anyway. 

I accomplished nothing all weekend except walking a dog, only 1 load of clothes and eating too much yummy food. Fun to do but back to reality and starving and moving. Realty sucks.

Housekeeping

I'm going to clean up a few things.

To my blogger friend Jade, thank you so much for the lovely personal email. I have attempted three times to respond but it kept telling me that the email wasn't valid. I just hit reply so I don't understand. But thank you, it meant a lot to me. The info was great as well and helpful.

To all who wondered if I walked this morning. Why of course, Izzy and I have a grand ole time at 5:20am today. She was so lively. I wasn't. She was happy as could be to be up and outside smelling every blade of grass and every tree trunk. I need to be more like Izzy in the morning. Especially like now, she's sleeping.
You can't find more joy in a living thing than Izzy at 5 in the morning. It's cute and some mornings it helps me so much that I can't help but smile and love her back instead of being groggy and grumpy. A dog is the best.

At 7am I walked to Lorrie's home. She answered the door and told me she couldn't walk today. A very insane excuse and honestly I didn't care or listen at 100%. But it involved salad that she left somewhere and it was a wild story and made no sense in any way to walking but I didn't care enough to ask more questions. I smiled and said, No problem, I'll see you on Monday. (she won't do weekends, thank goodness)

She makes this weird shit up all the time now. As I said the other day, She opened the door looking spritely and said, I feel great today. After two blocks, which seems to be her limit, she says her abdomen hurts we should go home. I say I can still see your house, we have to at least go around the block. Then she laughs and says okay. You can tell her abdomen does not hurt. Then we go home. She doesn't want to walk, her daughter is making her walk because the dr told her to. Lorrie is now like a child and it's actually a bit amusing to see her mind work. How she makes stuff up and lies and looks away from me. It reminds me so much of a young child. You can't get mad. I just go along and this morning I was showered, dressed and feeling good so I walked briskly home and had a wonderful cup of coffee with my feet up.

At lunchtime I was sitting on my stoop with Izzy and I heard more things that you can imagine from the people going in and out of my neighbors home to view for purchase.
One lady was standing on the sidewalk talking. Here are some of her points.
I'd be willing to go to 450K (asking 430)  if I didn't have to paint it. (masculine colors) She said I wish it had white cabinets and the walls were gray (me! if only I was ready to sell!!) Another couple said the same thing. I think he needs to know that - if he'd just paint his walls anything but maroon and dark colors then he may sell this fast. 2 townhomes on the block. 1 sold in 6 days at asking. His home has been up for sale since Tuesday. So this will be interesting.

I'm looking forward to a good weekend.
Talk to guys on Monday.
Enjoy your weekend.

Ice Box

I have a working refrigerator. :-)

The cranky appliance man returned Wednesday late afternoon. He kept telling us not to put our food back until it was cool. (duh) Then he said only 1 shelf at a time. Then wait 30 minutes and then do another shelf. When I asked why is that, he began to yell. It made me actually laugh. I said the food is already cold being in a fridge in the garage. So do I still have to do it this way? Oh, my God, it was like I was 5 yrs old and I was being reprimanded. The finger in my face. I grabbed his finger and pushed him away and said, "I can hear you, you do not need to scream and don't point that at me it is considered rude." He calmed down. Gee, I was just asking you big nut job. 

When he took out the old compressor he was grunting and groaning and he put it on the kitchen island and then held his back. Rick saw this and said, "Are you getting old?"  He did not smile or respond. We wondered if because his English is so bad he just doesn't understand us. At this point, Rick went to pick it up to put it outside. He said to Rick waving his arms frantically, "No, No pickup. Very very heavy."
Rick picked it up and walked it outside like it was not heavy. I was thinking, did my stud muffin just get big ole Hulk muscles? Humina, humina, humina. 😍

When Rick got back in the house the appliance man said, "Oh you strong" 
Rick said, "Not normally but this didn't seem heavy today." 
Cranky appliance man laughed.
Well, well, at least we know he can smile. 
Later Rick said it was as heavy as the box of tiles he brought in. 
Gee, I picked those up. This poor man must be very weak.

I do not have all things in the fridge yet. Most. We did as we were told. 
We waited 12 hours. We Americans are spoiled. Or perhaps better said, "I am spoiled" I like having the convenience of my food needing to be cold and/or frozen in my home right there in my kitchen. Brat I am. This morning I got ice. Just because I could. I did not need ice, but the fact that it was in my kitchen tickled me.

This fridge shit got Rick and I discussing our refrigerators when we were kids.
Or as my mom called it, "an ice box"  
We both had the same memories give or take a thing or two.
I remember how all the ice would build up in the freezer and make little room for anything else. My mom had to clean it out with boiling water in pans that she would set in there to melt the ice. She would also pick at it with something. There was that little-encased shelf for the metal ice cube trays. You know the metal ice cube trays I am referring to, they were what I made my younger sister stick her tongue on and it got stuck. I laughed, while she cried and I was therefore punished. I can't remember where the hell my keys are at any given time but I so remember this. My mom poured warm water on my sister's tongue to get it off. Of course, after that I was yelled at but damn, it was worth it to me at the time. My younger sister was a royal pain in my ass so this was my little way of getting back at her. I always lost to her. She would hit and punch all the damn time and I couldn't do that so I did mind things to her. Like making her believe she was adopted - for years! Yep, beat me up and I'm getting back at you one way or another. I'm sure we drove our mother crazy.
These were very similar to the ones I remember when growing up.



If my mom were alive today to see my fridge she would be amazed at these new fangled things with ice machines and no metal ice cube trays. 
I don't see how I could punish my little sister. I guess I'd just have to find a new way.

This defrosting of the refrigerator was a day job for my mom. At least as a kid, it seemed to take her forever. She always did it before grocery shopping. I guess so there was more room, not certain. I just remember thinking it was cool to do. I remember these things and think, what a weird kid I was to think that was cool.
But I sure do remember the whole ritual and me watching and wanting to take those big hunks of ice off myself. Sometimes she let me do a little bit but never for long. Oh, she allowed me to iron forever, but never the stuff I really wanted to do.

Any of you old enough to remember these freezers? 
We've come a long way baby! I do like my modern appliances. Which soon enough will be relics.

Random

I was watching a baseball game on Monday night and this guy came on the TV screen.  Rick and I thought it was very funny and were laughing.
The announcers couldn't stop talking about him as well as the camera men/women always on him.

He stood like that for a very, very long time. I believe the full inning.
I admire his restraint too. After a home run was hit this began.
His team was losing and he wasn't happy. But c'mon he wasn't yelling or stomping. Just thumbs down showing his displeasure. His expression never changed nor did he drop his hand.  His sentiment is how I feel about our country's current "leader"  I wish I could be as calm though.

I am so frustrated with my Alzheimer patient. My goodness.
Her daughter won't "walk" her. I am doing all I can but I have a full life too
She is my neighbor not my mom. So having said that mean stuff allow me to explain.

We set walking up to be M-F between 7-7:30a. For some reason, this confuses her. She showed up Monday morning at 6:45am. I was in the bathroom so Rick talked to her. As we got out on our walk she said something about me being late.
I said it is 6:55 that isn't late. She said it was late. Okay, I went along and just said Sorry.  Who cares who is right, just go with it. Most days we start at 7:15a.

When in a wedding you know how slow you walk down the aisle? Slow that down to half that speed and that is how slow she shuffles along. Every day she has an excuse. She goes 2 blocks and wants to stop. She makes up these elaborate excuses. I keep thinking she's not dumb, just forgetful.
I push her to go more and don't think for a minute she is hurting after 2 blocks. This woman went to the gym every day up to 2 months ago. Didn't she do more than this at the gym? Now I understand that I walk over 3 miles a day so this is easy for me but she should be able to walk 6 blocks without issue since she has nothing medically wrong with her except her brain. Another thought I had was her doctor's orders were to do cardiovascular exercise at least 5 days a week. Shuffling does not constitute cardiovascular exercise so I am not sure this is all that effective.

Now I make all my doctor appointments and the like very early so I can be in the office. So I told her on Monday and I told her on Tuesday that I can not walk Wednesday morning. Knowing full well she won't remember I text her last night. She said to call her. I call - 5 times. She never picks up the phone. I also left her a text but never heard from her so did she get it? I don't know. I just did not want her to be showing up this morning at my door and I'm not home. That will make her head explode. So I text her again and tell her I am going to get my blood work done and I will be leaving at 7a so we can't walk. How about we walk at my lunch break or after work. She texts, I thought you had blood work so we are going for a walk this morning? I write back, No I am texting to tell you I am leaving now and didn't want you to walk down to my house. I did not know you received those message last night because you didn't write back.
She told me I really should call her. Oh. my. God.

I get back home and because I have to fast for my blood work I immediately make myself some coffee and go upstairs to my desk.
I am on the phone with payroll and then my cell phone rings and I see it is her.
I hang up with payroll and call her back. She said do you want to go walking now?  Oh.My.God.  No, Lorrie, I can't right now but how about after work?
No, I can't after work because of other things. Okay, then tomorrow. Oh. was all she said to me.

She then asked why I didn't call her. I take a deep breath. She can't help this I must be the patient one, but it is truly difficult.  I tell her I called. She said I can't hear my voice mails. I ask why. She said well there maybe a volume for it but I don't know where. Another deep breath Margaret. I say, bring your phone down when you come and we'll raise the volume for you so you won't keep missing calls and voicemails. She said I only miss calls from you so I think you may be doing something wrong. I went along with her and said, "yes maybe"
That calmed her down and I apologized and told her I had to get back to work. Then before I hung up she said, "I think you don't understand but I'm having mental issues right now and it is difficult." I told her I do understand and I am sure it is most difficult but it will be fine. She said, "Oh good"

That was odd. I can't fathom how weird this would be to know you have Alzheimer's and then forget you do.
I have 2 doctor appointments next week at 8 and at 8:30a. So I am thinking I will make a calendar so she can visually see this every day on her fridge or something. It's worth trying. My husband thinks I am nuts to do any of this. I am beginning to wonder myself.

Rick says for an impatient person you are so kind and patient with her. I know but inside I am screaming. It's not her fault. I vent to you and on my blog and that keeps me sane about it all. 6 months ago she was having issues with nouns. We laughed about it because my doctor told me once when women begin menopause/peri-menopause nouns are the 1st words they lose. It is called pregnancy brain when you're young and pregnant. It is a hormonal thing.
I found that all interesting. Then I didn't see her for awhile and we had that harrowing trip to IKEA that I wrote about. I knew then she had Alzheimer's and said to Rick that she was going down FAST.  Now I see a difference each week. At this pace, I fear she will be completely gone as we know her by Christmas. She is a shell of her former self. She no longer stands up straight either. I find that odd. She hunches over. So a woman who traveled all through Europe alone 2 years ago now can't lift her feet to walk or keep her neck and shoulders up. She should not be living alone. I worry that she will do something far worse than not being able to answer her phone. But I don't think her daughter can be bothered. She doesn't have a job but she has 2 daughters. One 15 and one 13.
___________________

Okay to the positive  -
Rick suggested we go out to dinner last night due to this fridge stuff and I jumped at the chance.
Not many places I can eat but our favorite Mexican joint was an easy choice.
JC, the owner is great about my celiac. I know everything at his restaurant that I can eat so it makes it easy. We had a couple of Margarita's and I had a stuffed poblano pepper with chorizo and all kinds of good stuff. This morning I felt like crap. I don't eat a lot of dairy and corn and I sure as hell ate a lot of it last night. Their fresh corn chips are light and to die for. Until this morning.  They make the guacamole at the table and it is the best. I have tried, I can't duplicate it. I have been known to just buy their guac for take out. It's like crack it's so good.

My refrigerator guy will be here at 4p to fix the damn thing. Yeah, ice, and food inside the house again. Another positive is the refrigerator has been scrubbed from top to bottom.
__________________

Most of my family in Florida are without power. The one in GA who evacuated is driving back to FL today to see what is left of her home. My niece who just moved there has no power as of this morning. She goes to a family member of her husbands and they charge their phones and bring their laptops etc. She is supposed to go back to work (school teacher) on Monday. She is to keep in touch via the internet which makes it hard when she has no power. She told me she saw the meme I put on facebook and she and Myles (hubby) thought it was pretty funny and probably accurate. I will leave you with what I posted. I think it's going to come to fruition. Either way, it's funny to me.

Water lines.

I am very lucky to have my old refrigerator in my garage.
We still have a cooler by the back door for the things we grab a lot.
Like the creamer that Rick likes in his morning coffee for example.
We have found we need ice every two days.

Every time I wish to complain I think about my family in Florida with no power or who had things ruined by water. Or my sister out west dealing with fires. This is an inconvenience that will pass. I just hope it passes sooner than later.

We have this very nosy neighbor who I won't mention by name.
Oh my goodness, she is a hot mess. She is rude too about her nosiness.
When we were looking at the model of this home the real estate person we were working with was interrupted by her as we sat at her desk. She just barged in and gave Monica (real estate sales person) this long list of issues. She wouldn't stop talking as we were sitting there waiting to finish closing our sale.
We thought her peculiar but thought that would be the end of it.

Lo and Behold the wench lives across the street and down a few doors.
Monica apologized for this woman barging in. She said," she is very very nosey so we here at XYZ company are taking advantage of it and asking her to report what she sees. There has been a great deal of theft from the homes as they are being built. We must catch these culprits."
Rick and I nodded and that was the end of that.

Our street we were going to live on was only 10 homes completed at the time. No real road yet, dirt and no curbs or sidewalks. My side of the street had 0 homes, we were the first ones.

The day the moving company was moving our belongings into our home. Rick and I were inside instructing them where to go with the boxes. It was chaos as you can imagine. She just walked right in and said loudly, "I just want to see what upgrades you got and what your home looks like"  The movers were going around her as she stood in the doorway. I put my hand out to shake her hand as I introduced myself. I told her this was a very bad time as I moved her into the dining room to get out of the way of the movers.
She didn't give a shit. She just kept plowing through my house. 2 times we asked her to leave. She did not leave. Finally, when the movers asked her to move and she didn't move quickly enough for Rick, he grabbed her shoulders and walked her out of our house and said, "this is not a good time right now you have to leave."  I am generally horrified when my husband does this type of thing but also thankful because I can't ever do it. Or at least I couldn't do that type of thing back in the day. I'm old now and have less tolerance for stupid people and just don't care what they think. But even still, I am far nicer than Rick. He claims that is why I have to say it so many times. No one has a gray area when Rick tells them what he wants. As the kids say, True dat!

When I walk Izzy she drives me crazy so I try to avoid her.
But she will run down the street to see you if she wants to gossip or some crazy shit like that which she finds important.
She will yell - Hello, hello until you respond. So avoiding her isn't easy.

There are people outside her home digging right now.
She has told everyone that will listen what has happened.
My neighbor on the left asked if I heard. Oh hell yes, I told him, who hasn't?
He laughed. He told me he was raking his front area and she wouldn't shut up. He said he told her he was getting ready to have his real estate agent come by for photos and he just had to get this done. Didn't stop her from going on and on. Finally, he turned his back to her. She wasn't the least bit bothered. He said to me, "Peg she is relentless"
I told him they could have put her on the payroll to find Bin Laden and he would have been caught much sooner. That made him laugh.

Apparently, she had a broken water line. It was just under 9K to repair/replace.
It was the pvc pipes and the age. We had heard of this issue before.
She kept telling all that would listen that its age and we better have ours looked into so we don't have this happen. I thanked her and went into my home. But as only she can do, she saw me and the dog yesterday and I had to hear this again.

Awhile back I was getting these little ads in our electric bill telling me to get this insurance for our water line because even though it's out to the street it is our responsibility. I found this all so odd. Why did my electric company care about my water line? Why wasn't this in my water bill?
I called the number and asked some questions but didn't buy it right away. Until a couple years ago when my another neighbor had to go through this. I contacted the electric companies warranty service and it is only $4.95 a month so I figured I would sign up before mine went too. I mean I have blown $60 in one year in worst ways, this seemed valid through our utility company. They offer a slew of things but this interested us because we already have a home warranty and this wasn't covered by that.

I have to admit I do hate spending money like that and I can't "see" the money spent like something pretty or new. You know what I mean. But it is necessary.

Yesterday afternoon I had opened my office window and I could hear her talking to my husband. I heard him say, "we have protection so don't worry we are covered should this happen" She went on and on and on as only she can do. Finally, he said I am walking inside now, good bye. He turned away and just walked into our house.

Again, I could never be that rude but he makes me laugh.
When I asked him, "how can you just turn your back as she's talking and walk away like that?"
He said, "she is probably still out there talking to the bushes. It didn't hurt her, it didn't kill her, I am sane because I walked away. It's okay to do what I want to do because I am 62 years old. That isn't rude"
Hmm.......

Found a new diet.

I found a new diet.
Have your fridge break down.
Walking to the garage to the little fridge out there to get things means moving my fat ass.
Our garage is not attached to our house you see.

Rick wanted a piece of cheesecake while watching a movie. 
(yep I made a cheesecake) 
He asked if I wanted a piece. 
I knew why he was asking me if I wanted one.
He did not wish to walk out to the garage to go get a piece, he wanted me to fetch him the cake and bring it inside.
I said, no I do not want a piece, Rick.
Hey, I was snug as a bug in my blanket on the sofa watching a good show and I didn't want to go out there any more than he did. I was being a lard ass just like he was.
A few minutes go by. He doesn't move. 
Can't want it that badly then I think to myself.
The movie is over and off to bed we go.
I say as we're getting into bed. Thought you wanted cheesecake. 
He replies, "I'm too damn lazy to go outside to get it so I guess I don't want it that badly. If you were a good wife you'd have gotten it for me" 
He laughs. 

Yep if I was a good wife I would have.
Sorry, you have a very bad wife who was being as lazy as you.
I'll fetch tomorrow. 

Do you speak my language?

I have been in customer service hell and not one person understands me.
I think I am speaking clearly, concise, enunciating and yet no one understands.

1. Refridgerator died.
2. Warranty company
3. AVG on my computer had an update and screwed up everything

On Friday night our 2.5 yr old fridge died. I LOVE this fridge.
So I call my home warranty company and they give me the name of 3 companies I can call. 
One being Sears Repair. They can fit me in, in October. Not acceptable. The 2nd number they gave me was a company that doesn't exist.
The 3rd number was a company that doesn't fix my brand of appliance.

So I call them back. They give me the same names and I repeat, those won't work, do you have any others you can give me? They gave me a number in Maryland. I live in Virginia.
Knowing that a company in MD will probably not come to VA I say to the home warranty service rep that this company is in Maryland and does she have anything closer. She said isn't Maryland the same thing? 
No, they are not in this country so not only don't they fully comprehend English but they certainly don't know the geography. I said that they indeed are not the same. I take the number anyway and figure at least they will understand me when I call them, I mean they are here. 
They do not speak English and they do not come to VA. Holy hell!

So to get this fixed I am going out, meaning not using my home warranty company, to deal with this. 
I call a company and say that I have an LG 4 door fridge, model xxxxx do you work on these?
Absolutely. He gets here on time on Saturday morning - was here about 5 minutes.

They tell me it is $55 and they can't fix it. I have to call an LG rep to fix. So why did they tell me they work on this then? For $55 I suppose. I ask and he said because this is under warranty we have to defer to an LG rep. I don't get it but okay, I can go call LG. 

I call LG back. I repeat all we've done and they repeat everything they told me the first time. OMG. I have 1 yr labor and parts/7yr for sealed systems/ 10 yr for the compressor. 
First thing she says is "No more warranty."
I resist the urge to say, You mean, you are out of warranty" 
Instead, I say no, I have a warranty. It was diagnosed to be a new compressor that I needed and there is a 10 yr warranty on a compressor & this was purchased late Dec 2014.

They are not in North America so while they claim to speak English, they do not really comprehend the language. For 20 minutes we went in a circle. I was trying desperately to be patient. I felt like my head would explode.
Finally, I say, since we can't come to a resolution on this I think I will call another time. Knowing full well I will have to go through this again but I was biting my tongue and it was now bleeding. I needed to walk away. Drown myself in a vat of gin or really anything other than yell at this poor woman doing her job but not in my language.

I called back on Sunday and they told me that I could call and schedule an appointment myself. I call the 3 that are in my area that they give me. The 1st one says he can't get to me for several weeks. I understand this but it's a fridge and I don't wish to wait. The 2nd is closed for two weeks. (nice) And the 3rd barely speaks English. We made an appointment for today. I at least hoped we did. The door bell rings - Hey  I was correct - he showed up today. He just couldn't have been ruder. 

I show him the repair paperwork and what was determined was wrong. But he wouldn't even look at it or pay attention to me. I was speaking and he acts like I'm not speaking and just walking around the kitchen doing his thing. He just keeps moving things around my fridge like he was doing an exorcism. I am speaking and he won't acknowledge a comment or a question.
Finally, I walked over to him and touched him so that he will pay attention to me damn it.  He says I can't bother him like he is the high priest doing this exorcism.
Thankfully Rick came home right then. I walked to my office before I said or did something I would regret. Rick and I did our "communication thing" with our eyes. He knew I had to walk away and he had to take over. We have a good short hand like that. Besides Rick understands a Korean accent better than me. It wasn't really an accent it was very poor English. I applaud him trying to communicate with me because I know I couldn't do this in his country but it is so damn frustrating.

He told Rick when he was done with his exorcism assessment he would talk to us but not before. You would have thought he was working on some precious historic relic and not a refrigerator. 
At the completion, he babbled something, not one word except compressor did I understand. He was moving his hands quickly and talking a mile a minute but I understood nothing. Rick looked at me as though he wasn't completely comprehending this either. Now I'm scared. Rick began to repeat what he thought he was saying to us. 
Rick said, "If I understand you correctly you think that the compressor has 2 parts and one part is not working and you ...NO NO NO HE SCREAMS. He says something again. We try with all our might to understand and I want to cry. I don't want to make him feel badly but I don't understand anything he is saying. He says something that triggers Rick and Rick repeats it and then the man is very excited. They understand each other.
He says the part must be ordered. Great. Another week or two of no fridge. Rick asks if we can pay to have the part overnighted. 
He says, "ooh it expensive." Rick asked how much. He says, $25. 
Hell, we're paying him a helluva lot of money so what the hell is $25 added to that we figured. That ensures we have a fridge by Friday - or so we hope. We must pay him for labor but the rest is under warranty.

He also shared with us that you can't have your fridge closed in as ours is. (Now in the photo above on the right it looks close to the wall because they moved it that way. Normally there are 2-3 inches on either side of it.)
Apparently, it has to be further from the wall and perhaps we can remove the cabinets on the left he suggests. Really? Well, we aren't knocking down walls but we can move it out from the wall a bit more. He said at least my husband's fist size from the wall. I assumed it was that far but perhaps not. But really should this fridge that was a lot of money do this in 2 years? That means everyone I know that has a fridge encased will have this happen in 2 1/2 years. My neighbors who have the same lay out don't have this issues. Is this endemic to this brand/style of fridge. I don't dare ask because honestly who knows what the hell he will tell me. I won't understand it.

So if that wasn't enough to give me grief on a Monday morning AVG, my antivirius on my computer did an update. After every update they kick off my schedule. I have it scheduled to scan my computer every day at noon while I am away from my desk. This time I couldn't even find where the hell on this new screen to check my schedule. I hit everything. Finally I called them. I think they are in Croatia or something. They tell me it is on the first page - I tell them it used to be but I just had an update and it is now gone. What should have taken 10 minutes was just over 45 minutes. Because neither of us spoke the language of the other so there is a lot of repeating on both ends and a lot of trial and error. Finally he puts me on hold. I was on hold for so long I forgot and then it was giving me a busy signal like we'd been disconnected. Oh my goodness I am drinking this evening. I may begin taking serious drugs at this point.

I decide the hell with everything I will deal with it tomorrow and I answer the phone assuming it was a customer. It was the man who disconnected me from AVG. He apologized but he did find out where it is located now. He walks me through all the steps and then tells me this should never happen on an update. I made the mistake of telling him that it does it each and every time there is an update. He recommends taking over my computer to accesss. I say no thank you because I have had a helluva morning and no work is getting done. I thanked him for his help and patience but we may have to do this another time when I have more time. Like never.

Oh wait, she's dead.

Not sure if I've talked about this before here.
But this had happened a few more time of late and I do find it funny.
As I do most things except mean customers. 

As you all know my mom died when I was 13.
I got a new mom shortly after. 
So my new mom has been my mom longer than I ever had my birth mom in my life.

When my new mom came to live with us she told us to call her by her first name, Mary Ann. She said if you are comfortable with mom that is fine too, but she made it a point to tell us she was fine with her name and she understood that it could be difficult to say mom to her. So be it, Mary Ann she was from then on.

Now I refer to her as my mom so if I am speaking to someone I would say my mom did this or my mom said that.  You get the picture.
In the blog sometimes I will say my step mom only to differentiate for the story I am sharing that this is my 2nd mom.

Recently when I showed my parents 47th wedding anniversary pictures on Facebook someone sent me a note via messenger. It said, "I hope you don't mind me asking but it says your parents are celebrating 47 years of marriage. Aren't you 61?"   That made me laugh. She was indeed correct.
So I had to write back and explain that this was my 2nd mom etc.
Apparently, she looked at this post for several days before she had the courage to ask. She said, "I know it was nosey but you never ever said anything about a step mom or dad so I was very confused" 

This has happened a few times in my life.
Once when I went to a allergy doctor that my sister went to see. Oh my it was a real cluster !@#$

My sister and my cousin both went to this doctor. They loved the guy and this doctor really helped my sister with her seasonal allergies that I appeared to be suffering from as well. My sister Stephanie is not blood related. She and Mary Ann came to live with us after Dad married Mary Ann. Stephanie was 5-6 years old at the time. All of my sisters are just that, my sisters. I don't think of them any other way.

So sitting in the doctor's office he began to ask me questions about my family health history.
Does you father have any allergies? 
No.
How is your father's health? 
Very good.
Does your mom suffer from any allergies? 
No
How is your mother's health? 
Very good.
More questions then I realized what I had said a few questions before.

"No, wait, my mom is dead" I say laughing. Oops, so not good.
He put his pencil down on his clip board and looked up at me sternly.
"Pardon me?"
I said, "I'm sorry my mom died when I was very young, I automatically think of my step mom."  
He only nods, makes a grunt sound and goes back to the questions.
Fast forward to siblings.
We go through the same types of questions.
He asks if any have allergies. 
I say, "Why my sister Stephanie comes here to see you and we suffer from the same thing."  He nods and writes.
Then I realize she is not blood-related and say, "Ah, I'm sorry but Stephanie is really not my sister (not the best way to have said it) Stephanie is my step sister, sorry."

He puts down the board and says, let's skip this and go on with the exam. 
He seems so pissed off and I know me laughing while telling him didn't make him any better. But c'mon I laugh at everything, that was funny to me.
I know he thought I needed more mental help than allergy but c'mon it was 1982 at the time and didn't people have blended families like The Brady Bunch?

Now it is 1987 and it was right before I got my big job. I was working at this travel agency and my mom would stop in from time to time. Joe, the owner was a great guy to work for. Loved, loved, loved him! 
He was very theatrical and flamboyant. 
He was so fun and always singing in the office and just a happy lovely man.  One day he asked me something and I sure wish I could remember the question now to explain this story but I don't recall. I only recall his reaction.

But after he asked I replied, "Oh Joe my mom died." 
He shrieked loudly and held his hand to his chest and said, "She was just here. Why the hell did you come in today? Oh my God Peggy I am so sorry, she was so young.  Go home, do what you have to do!"  
He was coming to hug me and I began to laugh. 
I said, "Joe calm down, I'm sorry but my mom died in 1969" 
He stopped and just stared at me for a minute and then said, "who the hell is that lady that was here yesterday that you call your mom?"  
I told him my step mom.  He asked why I introduced her as my mom. 
I replied," because she is my mom." 
He walked to me and hit my arm. He told me I deserved that hit because he thought my mom just died and I came to work. I told him if it makes you feel better I can still go home.  He laughed and the office who was all staring at me in shock that my mom had died and I was at work were now all laughing.

Joe told that at my little going away party when I moved away for my new job. He now found it oh so funny.

This happened again yesterday.
We were discussing how celiac is often hereditary. I mentioned that my sister was suffering from some issues but refused to go GF to see if it would help, or be tested.  Then I realized, "Oh no, this isn't my "real" sister so I better just shut up. Luckily for me, they had more questions for me and I just dropped it. 

Food!!

Let's replay, shall we?
Tuesday night I only had a bowl of homemade chicken soup for dinner.
Not realizing this was my last meal or I would have made it far better.

Wednesday morning I read my instructions and take out all the things they gave me in a pretty little bag.
The instructions told me I was not allowed to eat all day. WHAT? I woke up hungry and want to eat my arm. Oh boy. But I'm allowed black coffee with stevia so I did have a cup of coffee. Woo-hoo!

My instructions that were given to me:
Wednesday -
3 pm - take 2 pills from the brown packet.
Mix 64 oz of water with the full bottle of the powdery stuff and drink every 20 minutes from 3p - 6p It stated it would make you queasy and if I were to vomit to then drink every 30 minutes. Oh yea, that'll help.(made me very nauseous all night)
9 pm - take 2 more pills.

5 hours before test, take another pill from yellow packet (test at 10)
Mix 10 oz water with the packet of magnesium citrate.

What Peg did:
Started an hour earlier than told because I knew I'd want some sleep.
Also took the last pill and magnesium earlier too. 
I mean I was up why the hell not?
Yes, that was at 4am. No water after 5am or any liquid at all.
But that didn't help.
I just wanted to shower and get this over with but I couldn't stop going to the bathroom.

So there I sat. Aside from the nice color of my powder room I thought about what the hell could I have eaten on Tuesday that I am still going?
Salad for lunch. Coffee for breakfast and soup for dinner. It's still not gone? Geez. What can I eat when I get out of there? What is in our pantry? I think I need some new hand towels. Yep wondering thoughts while on the throne. Hmm...

At 11 pm I sat in my husband's big chair (closest to the powder room)
and I fell asleep for 2 hrs. Then it began again.

With all of our advances in science and the medical field isn't there a better way to do this? Honestly, I am never doing this again.
I also wonder why I had to wait until 3 pm to start this since I wasn't allowed to eat all day. Why couldn't I start earlier and be finished so I could get some sleep?

When Rick had this done he drank one thing and it was over. Went to bed, showered in morning, had test. Done. They made this far more complicated than necessary. I don't care for this doctor and this did not help endear himself to me anymore.

We get there as instructed 45 minutes prior to the procedures.
Why so early I do not know. So everyone in the room can run to the bathroom at the same time? Yeah, a poop party. Why do they do this to us? Dignity is all out the window. But the bathrooms were clean and the tile work was very nice. 😀

For some reason, sitting in the waiting room my husband is finding my doctor's name quite funny. 
He knew the name before but for some reason like a good 12-year-old boy, he is having fun this morning with the name. We are both loopy tired and that doesn't help.

He keeps saying, "Can you imagine having that name as a kid?"  
I told him I was too naive as a kid to have known anything other than it was his name. Then he said, "what is his first name, Harry?"  Well, that cracked up the old fool. He was having a laughing good time. 
Harry Mirkin.   

I told him his name was Kenneth. But now he is acting so childish and I am so tired I too am laughing at his ridiculous comments. That only encourages his bad behavior. Thank goodness they called me back and he had to sit there and amuse himself.

I awoke to them telling me all went well. No polyps etc. Rick thankfully was by my side so he heard it all because I was still a bit out of it. 
I am just happy it's over and they told me I don't have to do that end for another 10 years. Yea, right.
Little do they know I am never doing this again. Once was enough for me.
The prep was horrible and it made me so nauseous. I asked about that and they told me about half the people do get sick and vomit. Thankfully I wasn't vomiting but being nauseated isn't fun either. Nothing like sitting on the throne holding the garbage can in front of you just in case. 

As for my endoscopy, there are some issues and they will be in touch about that. Inflammation and some celiac things. No biggie I assume. But biopsies will be done and I was free to go home and eat.

Eat. Oh, I wish I could have a good ole cheeseburger but instead, I came home to some scrambled eggs and sausage and a cup of coffee. yum. Rick made me breakfast and I love when that happens.  I am now full, very full. And it feels good to be full. In my mind, while thinking about eating when I got out I thought I'd be eating a ton of food I was so hungry. But then I got food and it was great but I couldn't eat it all. 

I answered 4 voicemail messages, booked all 4 and after I hit post here I will be laying down for a bit. Still feeling groggy. 

Okay, that is all the tests for the rest of this year for me.
I am done.
Even if "they" don't think so. I.am.done!

Don't drink this stuff!!!

 Ok. This is not fun.

It's going to be a loong night. 

I have decided that I really like the color of my powder room though.

Fires, Hurricanes, Flooding and oh Yea Korea

The news is sure fun of late.

It seems another hurricane will be hitting us this week.
My niece who just moved to Florida is a bit concerned.
I spoke with her yesterday and this is all new to her.
Her husband who is from the area is prepared and helping her get through this.
As she said, "we only had to worry about snow and that's easy"

My sister out west is dealing with fire and smoke.
A few weeks ago she went to the shore to breathe some fresh air that they don't have at their home.
I can't fathom fire. That is too much for me.

Hurricanes, tornados, flooding, earthquakes, and fire.
I think perhaps my niece was right, snow seems like nothing right now doesn't it?

Of course, we have a nuke happy Kim Jong-Un.
He's a happy fella isn't he? Hell bent on blowing us all up.
And with the nasty crew heading our gov't I don't think there will be anything other than the beating of the chest and machismo.  Man, do I miss a level head person in charge.

In other news....
Rick's daughter is going through a divorce.
Ever since her husband's heart issue, he is a changed man.
He is angry and has a temper that he never had.
It's ugly is enough to say here, very ugly.
After trying for so long she is now at the point of just fed up.
No more tears, just done with it.
She spoke to her father over the weekend and he was a bit shocked at how level headed she was being about everything. I guess that is good.

She had a plan and put it into action and I must say I am impressed.
Before she left she accomplished a great deal. But for some reason, they must live together. The attorney said if she leaves it is abandonment.
So they will live together in the house I guess. Crazy.
It reminded me of the movie War of the Roses.
I'm not sure I could do that especially when one fears the others anger and locks themselves in a room on any given day.

I have a crazy week ahead of me of a colonoscopy and an endoscopy. Yep a tube up me and one down me. Great week. I'm sure after this fun is done I will have a good story or two.  Gee, I can't wait.