Bagels

If you ever have left over food, just leave it on the facutly room table, and it's sure to be gone in a matter of moment.

I know this. Yesterday, I bought two bagels. One for breakfast on Monday. One for Tuesday. I put Tuesday's bagel on a side table. Out of the way. I've been doing this two-bagel process for about 3 weeks.

Today (Tuesday), I arrive at work to find my bagel is gone. My breakfast is gone. It wasn't in the public domain free-for-all area as described above. And yet, it was gone.

Very annoying. So I had to head back out into the cold morning to get food. I've had two dreams recently about Sausage McMuffins with Egg, including one where they renamed it an "Austrailian Toaster Biscuit with Egg". So I naturally just had to go to McDonalds for my semi-annual gut-busting breakfast.

And once I was back at work, I put up a snarky note near where the bagel was last seen:
"I bought 2 bagels on Monday. One to eat Monday. One to eat Tuesday. I left Tuesday's bagel here. Tuesday morning it was GONE. The pregnant lady's breakfast was GONE! Shame, shame, shame. -- Jill"

Is it a baby . . .

Below are a few pictures from an ultrasound a had about a month ago. (Sorry about the delay in posting).

Definitely a baby . . .

Or is it an alien? . . . .

Much like it's father?

Just kidding about the father part. Doug is actually to the right of the alien. It's a scene from "Mars Attack", when Doug was doing acting in Hollywood.

Is it a baby . . .

Is it a baby, or is it an alien. Below are pictures from an ultrasound I had about a month ago. (Sorry it's taken me so long to post them.)

Definitely a baby . . .

Meet Jim

I'd like to introduce you to Jim, my garden knome. Marla got him for me for my birthday from Flamingo Jim's in Rockaway Beach. He weighs about 30 pounds. No joke!

I hate Verizon, part 4

It's probably not surprising that I didn't hear back from Verizon with regards to the email I sent them. I didn't even get the courtesy, "We have received your email and a customer service rep will be getting back to you", generic email.

So I buckled down, (would have taken a shot of alcohol if that wasn't frowned upon in pregnancy), and called them again today.

Phone call #1. Navigate the horrible phone maze system. Talk to someone, who needs to talk with someone else to confirm something with billing. Puts me on hold for "3-4 minutes". I agree to this, because what else can I do? The hold music even sucks as Verizon. It's tinney, comes in and out in waves, and doesn't even make a song you'd recognize.

And then, the call gets disconnected.

I am determined to get this taken care of.

Phone call #2. Navigate the horrible phone maze system. Get connected to someone who promises me "Excellent customer service." I try not to laugh derisively. I explain the short version of the problem, and he says something to the effect of, "No problem. I just credit that to your account."

"No, I don't think so," says I. "The person I talked to three weeks ago said the same thing, and it didn't happen. I want the money put back on my credit card or have a check written to me. I want my money."

"Okay," he says. "We'll get a check out to you."

"When can I expect it?"

"3-4 weeks."

"Are you kidding me? Your company is going to keep my money for nearly three months, over a charge that you mistakenly put on my account? That is horrible."

We went round and round like this for about another minute. But I settled for the check option, with a confirmation number.

And then he had the nerve (though it's probably off a script that he has to read) to ask, "So, did we provide you with excellent customer service today?"

"You did what you could, but I wouldn't call it excellent. Goodbye."

Still hating Verizon, but maybe this will all be resolved in 3-4 weeks.

Thwack

Driving on I-5 today, just a mere mile from home, my windshield got hit with a rock. You know that sound. It makes you jump, and you look to see if you can tell where it hit.

Well, today there was no question where it hit. There was instantly a 'snowflake' about the size of a quarter eminating from the site of the hit.

I must admit. I am a rock chip magnate. You can see at least 5 other obvious sites where I've had this windshield repaired, and numerous other ones that are small enough you have to know where they are.

In going to the repair clinic, they were impressed that I came in right away, and congratulated me on my promptness. It was the type of ding that was guaranteed to spread. And, as we were to find out in the repair process, it was actually TWO rocks that hit at the same time.

Now that's rock-chip talent!

I hate Verizon, part 3

Below is the email I sent to Verizon today. I'm still waiting for a reply. (And I'd like to thank my mother for my personal advocacy skills in the face of consumer injustice!)

"On my Oct 25^th statement, I was billed $199 (plus taxes) for an on-site installation fee. We never had anything installed at our house. (That part is a long story that will make me cry with anger, so I won’t go into it now.)

I called customer service (and I hesitate to call it that, as I had such a bad experience), and was told that there would be a credit to my account of $199 (plus taxes), but that it wouldn’t show up until my next statement. I was given 2 weeks of free service for the ‘inconvenience’ of having to loan Verizon over $200 for the month, since they couldn’t immediately credit my credit card.

Well, in looking at my Nov. 25^th statement, I have not been credited the money that was improperly charged to me on the Oct. 25^th statement.

I am very angry.

At this point, I want you to either immediately credit my credit card for the correct amount or mail me a check. I AM going to report this to the Better Business Bureau. There is nothing acceptable about being charged over $200 dollars for a service I did not receive, and then having to wait over a month – and at this point, going on two months – to receive the credit.

Please reply back by the end of the business day on Wednesday."

I am a hazard

Last night I was driving to church, at about 6pm. It was dark and rainy. Just like in the Snoopy Chronicles.

(As a side note, it's been raining constantly and raining hard for 24 hours now. Unusual for Seattle. If I were still in Tillamook, I'd be expecting Lake Lucerne to be making an appearance and for school to be canceled due to flooding.)

So I'm cruising down I-5, and the car behind me flashes its brights at me. I ignore it at first, thinking the car had just gone over a bump, so it seemed like the brights were flashed. But, alas, it happened two more times. "WHY?", I wonder. My lights are on. And there isn't a murderer in my back seat, like in those urban legends.

Oh. Perhaps my tail lights are out, so it doesn't look like my lights are on. I check it out at church, and sure enough, no tail lights.

Which means I until I get them replaced, any time it's dark and I'm driving, I need to drive with my hazard lights on. It's very annoying. Now, no one knows when I'm using my turn indicator. And the clicking of the hazards don't match up with the beat of the music. And I feel compelled to drive in the slow lane, even though my car is functioning just fine otherwise.

I've mentioned to several people how both my tail lights are out, and so far two people said they noticed that I had one out, but forgot to tell me about it. There ought to be some sort of easy way for drivers behind you to let you know that a tail light is out. A special blinker they can use in their car. It could also be used when you leave your turn indicator on . . .

Later on today, I'm going to an auto supply store to get new bulbs. I'm going to install them while I have a break at work, because at least at work I have covered parking. (Did I mention how hard it's been raining?)

I realize, however, that there are several bulbs in the general tail light area, and I want to make sure I'm replacing the right ones. Not the brake lights or the turn indicators. So I was paying attention to other cars' tail lights as I was driving to work this morning. I thought it would be easy to find another car like mine on the road (same make and generally the same year), but it's more of a challenge than I thought. It quite interesting to see how many different designs there are for tail lights. Makes for a 'fun' little game during the commute.

Now I'm off to the land of light bulbs. Best rainy wishes to all!