I am still in small town, nowhere PA. This morning what to my wondering eye did appear? Snow! (There may as well have been reindeer too with as shocked as I was.) Tomorrow it is supposed to be 65 here. Go figure.
I finally get to go home tomorrow - everyone here has been really nice and accommodating of my extra time spent in their branch today. But, I can't wait to get out of here and sleep in my own bed. My back and arms are killing me from the weed-eating this past weekend and I haven't been sleeping at all in the hotel.
I miss my dogs!
And my cats!
(Oh yeah, I miss my guy too...) ;-)
In other news - apparently I am only about 2 miles (as the crow flies) from the crash site of Flight 93. I am not going to go, but it was interesting to hear some first-hand accounts of what the folks here saw and heard.
OK...I am off to goof-off for a bit before I try to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning is semi-early. I have a 2 hour drive back to the airport.
I am back in PA. This time in the Western part of the state...a couple hours outside of Pittsburgh. It is amazing to me how dilapidated this entire area is.
I understand Pittsburgh can be a great city with some fabulous museums, sports, art, etc...but so much of it has been let go. I know the economy here is rough - has been - since the decline of the American steel industry. But still, it is an entirely different perspective to witness it first hand.
There has also been a strange little cold front that is blowing through (same with back home too)...temps dropped over 10 degrees from this past weekend and are then expected to rise almost that much with this upcoming weekend. The overnight low tonight is supposed to get down to freezing here. Strange. Good thing I remembered to bring my jacket!
Apparently this evening Neil bought each of the dogs a hickory smoked beef thigh bone. This is after they got to go to the park again today and chase squirrels. *laugh* According to Neil, Beth got to witness just how fast Sadie can be. She doesn't show it much these days with as stiff as she is getting, but for a squirrel? Oh heck yeah! Tomorrow there are a couple trips to the dog park planned...I am jealous. I want to go too!
Now it is time for me to finish up the work I was doing this evening and maybe read a bit before I head to bed. Unfortunately, traveling out of this place doesn't work well so I am stuck here until Thursday. *sigh* Too bad I wasn't thinking at 4am on Monday while I was packing and didn't also throw in some project stuff I am working on. I am sure I will come up with something to fill my time.
The weekend wasn't all bad, but I get very little of the MUCH needed yard work accomplished and that frustrates me to no end. I feel like there is never time to get everything done these days and that something important always has to give. Some folks may not consider housework or yard work important, but I take pride in my home and I want to keep it nice (which is tough enough to do with two dogs and three cats...let alone adding a job that always has me away).
We did hit up two farmer's markets on Saturday. The first was the Charlotte Tailgate which was very small, but nice. It was also their first weekend of the season, so I expect it will be larger as things get going. While we were there, there was also an art festival happening that we didn't know about, so we perused those booths too. There was some very lovely stuff, unfortunately, out of my budget right now.
After that we headed over to the Charlotte Farmer's Market. This is a permanent state run market that is open from March until October (I think)...all day Tuesday through Saturday. And I think they are also open Sundays during the peak season. I had NO idea this place was here! It was fabulous...and also very obvious that regardless of the hours, if you are going there to buy produce, go early! There was also a crafts building that we didn't go check out, and a greenery building that we did go check out. Lots of great plants (indoor, outdoor, and edible) for sale.
We picked up some numy stuff and will go back again next week when I can get some more things for myself since I will be home the following week to enjoy them! Now that I am doing this, I am going to have to work out some sort of weekly dinner plan so that I know on Saturdays what I need to grab. Mostly, I want to be sure to plan so that I don't just get stuff that looks great and then have it go bad because I wasn't around to actually eat it.
Then we took the dogs to the dog park with their new pooch pass. What a great place! Completely fenced in, poop bags stations very conveniently located throughout. Water. And at least a couple acres for them to romp in...partially shaded with trees. We will definitely be frequenting this park since it is clean and convenient.
Then I got roped into hanging out with Neil and Beth...I should have gone home and started the yard work. But, I didn't. And we had a lovely evening!
Today I got the necessary yard stuff done. Mowing and edging and some sweeping off the patio and the garage. But of course that took forever so I didn't get anything else done out there that I needed to do. Maybe next weekend.
This week I am traveling....I will be in a small PA town for a couple days. It sucks, because this is a review I could do in a day and a half if it were local, but I have to add on two more days just for traveling. Stupid.
The pooches are now passed. Heh. We got the fob that will gain them entry into the Mecklenburg County dog parks. YAY! That is one thing off my list of things to get done.
The renewal date is the end of June. I think that is because they are going to no longer charge for the dog parks (though, I honestly have no idea if they will still be monitoring dogs for vaccinations and such and issuing the fobs for that or not).
Laundry is slow-going. There is a lot of it to be done. I need to go grocery shopping sometime too...but that isn't going to happen until later it looks like.
Right now I am off to do some more straightening/cleaning/organizing.
The city has let up slightly on the water restrictions. For the time being I am now allowed to water my lawn on Thursdays (even number homes Thurs...odd are some other day of the week) and I can wash my car on Fridays.
Unfortunately, the lawn watering on Thursdays is highly inconvenient since I am usually out of town or traveling and arriving home very late on Thursdays. I may try to enlist the help of my neighbors with this. And I have a confession to make...I have owned my truck for over a year now and have yet to wash it myself. Don't get me wrong...it has been washed, but always by the dealership when I take it in for the oil changes and maintenance.
This weekend will be another jam-packed one. Today is housework day. Tomorrow morning Neil and I are going to head out to the opening day of the farmer's market in Charlotte. If I remember correctly, the local market in Mount Holly here opens next weekend or the one after that - when it does, it will be much more convenient. Hopefully, they will have lots of good stuff. It is their second year here in town.
On the way home from Charlotte we will be stopping by the rockery so that I can get prices on red rock and also paving stones (with delivery). Of course, I also have more shrubbery thoughts in my head too...I would like to dig up the prickly holly that is in front of my windows and replace it with a few different shrubs that will stay smaller and will bloom (a gardenia or two and a couple camellias). But that project is going to wait until I get the hardscaping taken care of and I get one last tree planted.
Tomorrow afternoon we are planning to take the pups to the dog park that is nearby (at lunch today I am hoping to have time to get out and get the Pooch Passes for the pups so we can do this). Apparently, there is a nice little beach area there at the dog park too!
Sunday will be spent doing the yard work that I will have intended to get to Saturday evening but won't have. Mowing and edging and chopping down overgrowth on the hillside and gully out back. FUN!
Next weekend will be actual hardscaping work if I can get the items I need delivered.
Then bright and early Monday morning I fly out again. Whhheeee. I really hate the travel. I am so tired of cramming my life into three days on top of all of my daily chores because I am not home in the evenings to take care of the mundane tasks like a normal person with a normal job.
To-Do
- pooch passes
- vacuum
- laundry
- scrub bathrooms
- scrub floors
- mow
- edge
- remove overgrowth
Shopping List
- flowering tree
- weed-n-feed/grass seed
- spreader
- groceries
- paving stones
- red rock
Over the past (almost) two years I have been highly irritated at Sears' borderline abuse of the EBR rules in their unsolicited commercial calling practices. (The calls are from the 3rd party company - at least I believe it is a 3rd party - that handles their extended warranties. It actually makes me question their privacy practices as well, when it comes to their sharing my information with this other company.) Unfortunately, no matter how many times I get added to their Do Not Call list, every time I purchase a new product they use that opportunity to harass me on purchasing a new extended warranty. Trying to get those calls to stop is worse than a root canal. Bah.
So, the latest and greatest from Sears...I need a new logic board for my garage door opener. It is a Craftsman opener that I purchased online from Sears in August of 2006. On page 39 of the Owner's Manual that came with the opener it specifically states that there is a limited five year warranty* in which Sears will replace any defective parts for free. Just contact Sears.
OK, sounds easy enough...my first call: I chose the warranty option from the automated menu because, well, this is a warranty request. After answering a couple questions I found that Sears Warranty requests actually go directly to the 'repair' center. I hold briefly and a customer service/parts guy comes on. I explain that I am looking to order a replacement part that is under warranty for my garage door opener. He asks for my last name, which I give to him. He then IMMEDIATELY informs me that this is a manufacturer's warrant, NOT a Sears warranty and that he is transferring me to that department. Which he does. Without giving me the chance to say or ask anything.
As soon as I get tossed into the queue for this new department I hang up. Realizing that this is going to be MUCH more hassle that originally thought, I wanted to make sure I had all my ducks in a row - I hunted down my original sales receipt to have in addition to making sure I still had the Owner's Manual with the actual warranty in front of me. When I called back in, I made sure to choose the 'Manufacturer's Warranty' option - even though, as you can see below, the warranty only states Sears' name anywhere on it.
My first argument with Robert (the guy who begrudgingly answered my call after I was on hold for a good 10 minutes), was regarding the fact that the warranty note he had in front of him stated it was for one year for parts with a ten year motor warranty (mine is a lifetime motor warranty and five years for parts). He then proceeded to tell me that in order to GET the warranty part, Sears would have to send a technician out to my home to verify that the logic board was indeed the problem and that because labor was not covered it would cost me "around $65". He then informed me that this was a manufacturer's requirement (the technician visit) - before Chamberlain (the company who apparently made this particular Craftsman door opener) will replace the part, Sears has to verify that it is the correct one. He offered to give me their information if I wanted to take my dispute up directly with them. So much for the "free" part replacement...after going a few rounds with Robert over how ridiculous it was that I had a Sears warranty but was being told that the manufacturer was actually who offered up the warranty and was being required to pay for my free part via an unnecessary (in my book) service call, I hung up on him. I was so utterly frustrated I had nothing else to say that wasn't out of line and in the rude, personal attack category.
I looked up Chamberlain online and will be sending them an email outlining my experience with their "authorized dealer", Sears. And I am also going to try to find out how Sears is considered an "authorized dealer" when the name on the product is a direct Sears name and the warranty is listed as a "Sears Warranty"? I particularly love this line from the "Sears Warranty" (that is on page 39 of the Owner's Manual):" From the 91st day, warranty service is available by simply contacting the nearest Sears store or Sears service center in the United States." Heh. "Simply".
I also did a bit more research and found the warranty that Robert had in front of him...it was the Canadian Warranty. CANADA. My address, which is the address on the delivery slip where I had this opener delivered and installed and which I verified for him at the beginning of our call, is in the United States. Robert is apparently unable to actually process information, he simply recites whatever is in front of him at any given moment.
Oh hell, and as I continue to look, I just found the version (that I have in my Owner's Manual) on the SearsPartsDirect.com website after doing a search for the model number. Who knows where Robert got the one he was looking at.
The moral of this story is that this experience is the one that did me in. I will never again purchase anything from Sears and I will be strongly encouraging my friends and family to avoid them like the second coming of the bubonic plague. I am getting to a point in my life where I am no longer going to tolerate horrible service, or shady business practices. Do not advertise free replacement parts without disclosing that the manufacturer is actually the one offering the warranty and that they require part verification by Sears and that said verification is going to run to the tune of $65.
$65 is not free.
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Well, aside from being VERY loosely organized (to the point of us almost not staying around long enough to meet anyone at all), it was a great day yesterday. Neil, Beth, and Chloe came along which made it lots more fun because I had help so Sadie could come too! We scoped out the park...there is good lake access but the immediate park area there is heavily used...I think I will continue to go back and explore farther along the trails out there for a bit more secluded/less used area.
The meet-up was supposed to be for 10am...it was after 11 and we were just getting ready to head out when one of the folks found us and said a couple other people were on their way to find us too. It was a labrador retriever group which was fun...the most amusing part of the whole thing were watching people's jaws drop when they learned that Marly is only 8 and a half months old. She was the largest dog there - looking to be even larger than the only male who was full grown a (I think) 4 years old. Louie...he was an adorable chocolate lab. He little sister was some sort of a black lab mix...a tiny thing. We called her the bonsai lab. Heh. Then there was Raven, the nine month old black lab. Raven was very lean - I asked her owner about it and she said it was because her husband did not want to have an overweight lab. Which I totally understand, but this pup was SO lean and still so young. It worried me some. Sadie and Marly rounded out the group. We let Marly off-leash for a bit with Louie and Raven to go swim. It was her first time in any sort of open water - I have never seen a happier pup! Even Sadie decided she liked these dogs and that she wanted to play with them in the water, but she doesn't like to actually swim so she mostly splashed around near shore and got super-duper muddy.
My only gripe about the meet-up (aside from the poor planning) is that the other two dogs who were off-leash kept running over and bothering people who were not in our group. There are leash laws since it is a state park...neither one of the owners bothered to leash up their dogs or even really go after them, even after repeated times of bothering these folks. They just stood there calling to them - obviously the respective dogs were paying NO attention to them. I dislike that because that is what gives dog owners and dogs such a bad name. Sure these dogs were harmless, but they were wet and big and wanting to play and other people don't need to be bothered by that. The way I see it, if they wanted to play with big, wet dogs they would either have one of their own there and already be doing that, or come over and ask to play with us all. I leashed Marly up the first time she ran off...and Neil and Beth both helped me out in corralling her before she got too pesky with the other people there at the park.
I did get some flexi-leashes so that next time even if they have to stay leashed up, they will still have some running/swimming room without me having to join them in the cold, muddy water.
Everyone was nice enough, but I am not sure if we will bother giving this group another shot or not. I guess I didn't realize just how much it really bothered me - the not controlling/leashing their dogs - until I started writing this.
Next weekend is Bark in the Park...one of the big Charlotte parks is opening a new off-leash dog park within it. I think we might go check it out.
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Today I mowed the scary jungle that I call my yard. Tomorrow I will break out the weed-whacker and edge everything. I borrowed my neighbor's blade-whacker too, so I can start to work on hacking down some of the overgrowth on the hill-side. I would like to at least get it to where you can't really see any of the tall weeds when you are standing out on the patio. It will make the whole yard look much neater.
A comment from a friend on a previous post inspired this one...
This is MY house!
The more I work with Marly and take her places, the more I am beginning to realize that her meeting-new-people issue is really just at the house. A territorial thing and especially outside in the yard. Inside she usually gets over it much faster and settles down. Maybe because inside it is easier for people to appear that they belong there because they can settle in more easily by sitting on the couch or being in the kitchen (where the food comes from). Outside usually everyone is just standing around talking. Her MO is to sort of hide behind me and bark at whomever I am talking to. She will strain her neck to sniff at them, but is careful not to get close enough for them to touch her. All the while her tail is wagging like I have never seen and she is smiling - she has a totally happy posture (with the exception of the hiding behind me part). The only thing that truly worries me is on occasion she will put her fur up during the process. She does this when she is playing with Sadie too, sometimes. I am not really sure what to make of it since I know it is typically an aggressive or fearful show.
Apparently, she is also starting to call Neil's house "her's" too! He had people over for dinner Wednesday night and Marly did her funny non-stop barking at them while being shy and not getting close enough for them to touch her. Neil did say that she didn't do the fur-up thing which is good. And she doesn't bark at Beth (well she does, but it is just a "HI!!!! I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU!!!!!" bark) these days - Beth has been around enough now that Marly views her as part of the pack.
My theory is that she is conflicted. She wants to be a 'good dog' (in her doggie mind) and protect her territory, but on the other hand, people are FUN! And she really, really wants to meet the new people. And once she has decided you are OK then she is all over you with kisses and nose nudges looking for love and play friends. Silly dog. The good part is that she also seems to be starting to outgrow it somewhat...the display Neil described was much less intense that what I have experienced with her in the past - though that could also be because Neil is naturally MUCH calmer than I am and that probably helps keep her calmer too.
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Surf's up!
Marly is also in a counter-surfing stage. The majority of the time now, she has learned that things on the floor that are not her toys are simply not hers (i.e. shoes). Her new fixation, and our new challenge, are things up on the counters or the dresser. Books, watches, hairbrushes, sticks of butter (yes, she ate an entire one just the other day), mail, coffee...the list goes on forever. Anything she can fit in her mouth she will put in it. From there she decides if it is chewable. If not, she will just carry it around (like my watch which I have found several times now dangling from her chin). If it has a good chew texture, then it is on. Her chewing MO is pretty funny really...she will usually be laying on the floor nearby chewing on a bone with Sadie - very domestic and good and calm. Somewhere along the line she quietly gets up and leaves the room, usually unnoticed, and then comes back. Later, as I look over to check on her I will notice that her bone is sitting next to her but that she is still chewing on something. This happened to Neil while I was gone - she had a nylon cooking spatula (from off the kitchen counter of course).
Her absolute favorite thing, though, is paper. Sadie went through this too at about the same age. I call her the Marly Shredder 3000. Paperback books and magazines are the best in her book, but mail or newsprint will work too. In mere seconds it is in a million small pieces scattered all over the place. Just today she got ahold of yet another book...luckily one I have already read.
It would be so much easier if the problem were just food being left out on the counter, but it is ANYthing left where she can reach it. At least she is starting to be a little pickier about what she is grabbing from the counters which makes it a little easier to make sure that at a minimum those things are out of her reach. I simply don't have enough storage room to put everything at my shoulder height or higher!
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Overall she is really growing up fast. 95% of the time she is a total angel. The stereotypical, happy-go-lucky lab. Constant companion that hangs out by your feet, always "smiling", willing to play at the drop of a hat, but also snugly and loving. I can tell when she 'grows up' that she is going to be a really mellow dog - a complete sweetheart. It is just the other 5% of the time when I want to wring her giant neck.
The trip was nice...the city interesting. What a different mix of a very new downtown high-rise area surrounded by really, really old sprawling city mixed generously with old industry.
The branch was chaos. I won't even go into it here. Suffice it to say it is a good thing that I hadn't made a tight schedule for myself.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to do much sight-seeing...the evening that I planned on it happened to be the evening of the Democratic debate. That made getting anywhere nearly impossible.
Yes, I had a Philly cheese-steak. I have no idea if it is what a "true" cheese-steak should be, but man was it ever good! I also had some very, very decent pizza and a fabulous Greek salad.
As chaotic as the work part was, the people were all very nice. I am just really not used to the rush, rush, rush pace of life and everyone talked so FAST. Boston was the same way in some areas. The more I travel, the more I confirm that I am just not a city girl in any way shape or form. I love to visit cities, but I prefer someone else be driving and I want to go places that are not crowded.
In fact, my new goal in life is to have a small farmhouse somewhere on some acreage where the dogs can have plenty of room to run and maybe I will have a cow. Mostly I want the space and I want the quiet. I would say I want a small farm, but I don't actually want to "farm" anything...other than maybe my own veggie garden.
Of course, that all requires money and a schedule that allows me to be home to work on things in the evenings.
My trip home was atrocious...I had a three hour layover in Detroit. Not much to do in the Detroit airport...I rode the shuttle train a bit, got some dinner, read a book. Finally, I was at home and in bed around 1am. And now, today, I am feeling like I was hit by a truck (this actually started yesterday about half way home). I really hope it is just fatigue and not the flu.
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Tomorrow is Marly's first Labrador Retriever meet-up group thing. We are going to the Latta Plantation to hang out, introduce ourselves and hopefully find a secluded spot that the dogs can swim. We'll see. If nothing else it will be a great chance to scope out the park for another time when there will be fewer distractions for Marly. According to the map there are tons of trails and it looks like several lake access points. I have only been to the Raptor Center there...not all the way into the park itself.
Oh and another thing (you all knew I wasn't really done with the last entry, right?)...
I bought Marly a harness yesterday too...actually it is the second one. (The first one got chewed on - nearly all the way through one of the straps. I wonder who would have done such a thing?) It is a dream! The Gentle Leader Easy Walker by Premier. It has a strap that comes across the breast bone with a martingale loop in it that the leash hooks to. So, instead of the work-dog instinct to pull harder with the leash attached to the back of their collar or a harness that has the leash attach on the back, this one, if she pulls, gently tightens across her chest which usually makes her stop right away. If she pulls harder then she ends up turned around and facing toward me because of where the leash is attached. She is such a dream to walk now...I sill want to really work on getting her to the point that we don't need this for her. But until then, it makes everyday dealings with her much easier since she has gotten so big...especially when friends are taking care of her. I don't have to worry that she is going to pull their arms off!
