As with buying a new car, there comes the wonderful trip to the DMV to change over tags, register the vehicle, etc. I thought I would share with you experience #1 at the DMV (as I did NOT stay today and will need to go back at a later date).
I was almost hit in the parking lot, both while driving and then while walking. I do believe this could be one of the most dangerous places EVER!
Now, I want to preface all of this by stating that I have intentionally done some annoying things to speed up the line in the past (a rousing few rounds of the song "BINGO," anyone?). However, even my tricks could not have held up against what I faced before me.
I stood in the "check in/information" line for several minutes. I declined going to the 2 open kiosks for checking in because I had a few questions for the DMV Lady (as it has been several years since my last car purchase... DMV Lady will re-appear later in the story, so keep your eyes peeled). When it was finally my turn, I began asking my questions. As I am talking (and I am not even exaggerating or kidding in the slightest here), an arm REACHES around me to begin typing on the kiosk. I quickly survey the empty space surrounding the other 2 kiosks before I turn to confront the reach-around-er. "Seriously? You couldn't have gone to the other one? Do you mind backing up a little bit?" Because I turned slightly to confront the other woman, this apparently opened up an unidentifiable but pre-requisite amount of space at the counter telling the woman I was finished. She began asking questions over my head (because I was still standing there, after all). The DMV Lady began to answer them over my head! After this example, several people followed in suit doing the same thing. It was as if I was not standing there, and was booted to the back of the line even though I was at the front.
When I finally grew tired of waiting in the middle of conversations, it was time to wait the hour for my turn to register my vehicle. During the five minutes I actually waited, I was asked by three separate people where the restroom was located ("Do I LOOK like I work here?!" I wanted to ask, but politely answered "Further down that way, I believe.") I'd had enough. I went back to the DMV Lady to ensure I had the proper materials and that my waiting would not be in vain (my previous question that had been abandoned).
I noticed there was nobody standing in the 6 foot deep area allotted between the information check in kiosks and the back wall, so I took my chance. As I was standing asking my questions, I felt something jostle against my back. In turning, I saw a middle aged woman who obviously felt the clothing on us was an appropriate amount of space to stand and wait in line. I requested she ALSO scoot back. I got a sweet smile and no movement. I handed my ticket to the DMV Lady (who also saw nothing wrong with this scenario) and told her I would try again another time. She also just smiled sweetly.
Ah, the DMV. Another world that makes my mental health training go into overdrive and want to do social skills with anyone available.
Hope all is well with you and yours!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
RIP Gracie Lou
Well, as you may have guessed by the title, Gracie Lou is not of our world anymore. She's definitely a part of SOMEBODY'S world, and I'm fairly certain that somebody is cursing our existence right now... tee hee. We'll get to that.
First, as many people know, Jeff likes to research cars on the internet. As he's been driving Gracie Lou for the past month or so, he's been on research OVERDRIVE. We've talked to people in California, Minnesota, and the eastern coast discussing the finer parts of different vehicles. Finally, he found one at a nearby CarMax that he wanted to take for a drive.
Let me preface by telling you the first time we looked at our now-car, it was way past my bedtime. Jeff got a phone call as I was falling asleep on the couch, and he helped me put on my shoes as he loaded my sleepy butt into the car. The saleslady was not impressed when I told her I wanted to drive it during the day so I could tell if my view was truly blocked or if it was the "goofy $^%#" they put all over the windows.
We decided to do another test drive on Friday while the sun was still up. Well, as typically happens in our lives, we ended up having plans on Friday that we had forgotten prior to driving the car. We arrived immediately before closing (and very close to the point in time where the saleslady went into stalker overdrive trying to get the sale). We test drove it again and decided it couldn't hurt to have Gracie Lou appraised.
Well, Jeff and I have come the agreement that it was dark, near the end of the evening, and the worker did not feel like appraising Gracie Lou thoroughly (or even possibly at all).
Let me back up and tell you about Gracie Lou's recent rapid descent out of our lives. First, I'm fairly certain everyone knows about the cosmetic damages from when I ran into a pole in the parking garage, and the cracks in the window from passing dump trucks... oh, and the smell. What was that smell, really?! However, I'm not sure everyone knew of the leaking coolant (even after spending hundreds of dollars to repair it), heater gone out in the dead of winter, and the check engine light which would come on at least once a month that typically meant more hundreds of dollars down the drain. In addition, Jeff hit a pothole that led to bubbling of the tires.
The appraisal process were supposed to have been very thorough. He was supposed to have driven the car, taken it to a well lit garage, and checked it over. We have reason to believe he did none of these, because the appraisal came in WAAAAAY over what we expected and took less time than it usually takes to start Gracie Lou. Needless to say, when we saw the numbers we quickly signed anything put in front of us and giggled to ourselves on how upset CarMax would be come daylight.
We hadn't planned on it, but we ended up driving a white 2005 GMC Envoy Denali home that evening (actually, around 11 that night). So far it has treated us wonderfully. Best of all, no check engine light on and the heater works. :)
Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
First, as many people know, Jeff likes to research cars on the internet. As he's been driving Gracie Lou for the past month or so, he's been on research OVERDRIVE. We've talked to people in California, Minnesota, and the eastern coast discussing the finer parts of different vehicles. Finally, he found one at a nearby CarMax that he wanted to take for a drive.
Let me preface by telling you the first time we looked at our now-car, it was way past my bedtime. Jeff got a phone call as I was falling asleep on the couch, and he helped me put on my shoes as he loaded my sleepy butt into the car. The saleslady was not impressed when I told her I wanted to drive it during the day so I could tell if my view was truly blocked or if it was the "goofy $^%#" they put all over the windows.
We decided to do another test drive on Friday while the sun was still up. Well, as typically happens in our lives, we ended up having plans on Friday that we had forgotten prior to driving the car. We arrived immediately before closing (and very close to the point in time where the saleslady went into stalker overdrive trying to get the sale). We test drove it again and decided it couldn't hurt to have Gracie Lou appraised.
Well, Jeff and I have come the agreement that it was dark, near the end of the evening, and the worker did not feel like appraising Gracie Lou thoroughly (or even possibly at all).
Let me back up and tell you about Gracie Lou's recent rapid descent out of our lives. First, I'm fairly certain everyone knows about the cosmetic damages from when I ran into a pole in the parking garage, and the cracks in the window from passing dump trucks... oh, and the smell. What was that smell, really?! However, I'm not sure everyone knew of the leaking coolant (even after spending hundreds of dollars to repair it), heater gone out in the dead of winter, and the check engine light which would come on at least once a month that typically meant more hundreds of dollars down the drain. In addition, Jeff hit a pothole that led to bubbling of the tires.
The appraisal process were supposed to have been very thorough. He was supposed to have driven the car, taken it to a well lit garage, and checked it over. We have reason to believe he did none of these, because the appraisal came in WAAAAAY over what we expected and took less time than it usually takes to start Gracie Lou. Needless to say, when we saw the numbers we quickly signed anything put in front of us and giggled to ourselves on how upset CarMax would be come daylight.
We hadn't planned on it, but we ended up driving a white 2005 GMC Envoy Denali home that evening (actually, around 11 that night). So far it has treated us wonderfully. Best of all, no check engine light on and the heater works. :)
Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
Monday, February 22, 2010
Something to remember...
Something to remember, as this next round of weather hits: No matter WHAT you think about how this time will be different, it won't. NEVER try to cut your hair yourself. I just have to keep telling myself I won't look like a Muppet for long...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Surprise to James
This past weekend we went to Wichita to kick off the year's first of many surprise parties. We had a feeling James was clueless: this had been in the works for many weeks already. The plan? To show up at James and Melissa's doorstep Friday evening, go to a melodrama Saturday evening, and as a side, give James the best birthday EVER. It went like this...
Friday evening James began texting Jeff to see if they could meet online to game. Jeff, as usual, indicated we had something planned with my friends but would be happy to meet up later. As usual, my friends "can't shut up" and Jeff was stuck away from the XBOX throughout our drive.
A very unimpressed James met us at the door asking why we ended up getting to Wichita so late. I think he may have guessed at some point that we were headed that way.
Little Duncan, who is no longer THAT little at a whopping 63 lbs, had a great weekend playing with Boomer and Baxter, and we suspect cried the entire first night because he was not ready to stop playing and go to bed at bedtime.
The melodrama was amazing. We went to Mosley Street Melodrama Dinner Theatre and watched The Legend of Molly Malone, followed by an Irish Musical Review. It was a fun evening of dinner, theatre, comedy, and laughter with friends we always miss oh so much.
Also, James had the spotlight on him several times, as Melissa phoned in early and James was constantly called upon during the sketches. It was an excellent time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!! :)
Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
Friday evening James began texting Jeff to see if they could meet online to game. Jeff, as usual, indicated we had something planned with my friends but would be happy to meet up later. As usual, my friends "can't shut up" and Jeff was stuck away from the XBOX throughout our drive.
A very unimpressed James met us at the door asking why we ended up getting to Wichita so late. I think he may have guessed at some point that we were headed that way.
Little Duncan, who is no longer THAT little at a whopping 63 lbs, had a great weekend playing with Boomer and Baxter, and we suspect cried the entire first night because he was not ready to stop playing and go to bed at bedtime.
The melodrama was amazing. We went to Mosley Street Melodrama Dinner Theatre and watched The Legend of Molly Malone, followed by an Irish Musical Review. It was a fun evening of dinner, theatre, comedy, and laughter with friends we always miss oh so much.
Also, James had the spotlight on him several times, as Melissa phoned in early and James was constantly called upon during the sketches. It was an excellent time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!! :)
Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Guide to Parenting
Jeff swears when we have kids, this guide will be our saving grace. Click on the image to enlarge. :)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Homeowners
Jeff and I have learned ALL about the definitions and responsibilities of being homeowners over the past 4 months, but nothing has beat the information acquired in the past week.
Here are a few of the things I have learned:
1. If a garage door goes up, it will not necessarily go back down. The opposite is also true.
2. If a garage door experiences difficulty, for Heaven's sake move your car out of the garage before fiddling with it!
3. Muscles you do not realize you have will be sore for days after manually lifting and closing garage doors.
4. Garage door openers cost a lot of money.
5. Areas on the carpet that have been saturated in dog vomit will need to be gone over several times with a steam cleaner to get rid of the smell.
5. Steam cleaners cost a lot of money.
7. Dried chunks of dog vomit ruin vacuums.
8. Vacuums that don't suck cost a lot of money (well, more than I'm willing to pay 'cause I'm kind of cheap).
9. Gracie Lou will catch on to other things not working and decide to give us problems.
10. Fact: New cars cost a lot of money. Fact: Gracie Lou is just being temperamental and we will drive her until she falls apart.
11. Water heaters built within a certain number of years and installed in every house are missing a type of chemical in their pipes. This chemical prevents calcification and back up of plastics in the lines, which lead to low water pressure. Fact: our water heater was obviously built during this time, and no, it is not covered under any home policy we have.
12. Water heater issues cost a lot of money.
13. It appears we only had 1 mouse.
Finally, to sum up (and I'm fairly certain if I asked my wonderful husband he would remind me of a few more issues in our recent homeowner history), the last few weeks have been pretty stressful. Funny, but stressful. Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
Here are a few of the things I have learned:
1. If a garage door goes up, it will not necessarily go back down. The opposite is also true.
2. If a garage door experiences difficulty, for Heaven's sake move your car out of the garage before fiddling with it!
3. Muscles you do not realize you have will be sore for days after manually lifting and closing garage doors.
4. Garage door openers cost a lot of money.
5. Areas on the carpet that have been saturated in dog vomit will need to be gone over several times with a steam cleaner to get rid of the smell.
5. Steam cleaners cost a lot of money.
7. Dried chunks of dog vomit ruin vacuums.
8. Vacuums that don't suck cost a lot of money (well, more than I'm willing to pay 'cause I'm kind of cheap).
9. Gracie Lou will catch on to other things not working and decide to give us problems.
10. Fact: New cars cost a lot of money. Fact: Gracie Lou is just being temperamental and we will drive her until she falls apart.
11. Water heaters built within a certain number of years and installed in every house are missing a type of chemical in their pipes. This chemical prevents calcification and back up of plastics in the lines, which lead to low water pressure. Fact: our water heater was obviously built during this time, and no, it is not covered under any home policy we have.
12. Water heater issues cost a lot of money.
13. It appears we only had 1 mouse.
Finally, to sum up (and I'm fairly certain if I asked my wonderful husband he would remind me of a few more issues in our recent homeowner history), the last few weeks have been pretty stressful. Funny, but stressful. Hope all is well with you and yours. :)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Hunt
Oh, it's on.
For those of you who have somehow missed the weather channel entirely (something that I believe is impossible to do... I mean, with great programs such as "Local on the 8's," "Storm Watch," and "Wake Up with Al," what's not to love???), Kansas City has had plenty of below freezing temperatures. This is wonderful for those of us who love the winter and cold (like me) and bad for those who HATE the winter and cold (like Jeff). This has also been very bad for us as a new family with a new house. Why? Because we have had another family move in with us... a 4 legged, furry family seeking warmth and nibbles of our wooden kitchen spoons.
It began like this:
"Um, Jeff, I think we have a mouse; the toilet paper has been shredded in the laundry room and there are droppings in the - "
"WHAT?! WE NEED TO GO BUY TRAPS RIGHT NOW!"
Cut forward an hour, and our home looked about the same except for the 24 (not even kidding you) traps now being assembled military style in the kitchen and placed at various locations around the house. We were not messing around.
We searched carefully for other evidence of mice throughout the house and found none. Feeling somewhat secure they were safely contained in the basement area, we went to sleep and work the next day feeling somewhat normal (although there is now a smell of peanut butter mouse catching glue strips permeating our house... and interestingly enough, those traps are the ONE thing Duncan has shown absolutely no interest in and actively avoids).
The next evening I was cooking dinner and reached in a drawer for a wooden spoon, which had very neatly been nibbled on all along the edges. By the next hour, much of our kitchenware was running through the dishwasher and I was hand washing plastic containers to put clean utensils in. Needless to say, we knew we were outnumbered and called our handy exterminator. He found the entry point of the mice and quickly sealed our home from other intruders. In addition, he laid out traps that are guaranteed to rid our home from pests. They have their marching orders and should be gone within 24-48 hours. Jeff will be handling the ridding, as I reminded him if it were up to me, I would probably get rid of the carcasses and call someone to cleanse our home from the blood shed (you may see we have differing styles of approach).
Duncan, of course, has not appeared to be bothered by these creatures in front of us, other than a heightened fear of dark places (which he was already afraid of) and excess fur shed around his crate (we feel as though they are probably messing with him when we are not home). We also believe if given the chance, Duncan would probably try to make very good friends with them. He's just such a loving doggy.
Hope all is well with you and yours, and hopefully I will be posting next from a home with Duncan as our only 4 legged furry friend. :)
For those of you who have somehow missed the weather channel entirely (something that I believe is impossible to do... I mean, with great programs such as "Local on the 8's," "Storm Watch," and "Wake Up with Al," what's not to love???), Kansas City has had plenty of below freezing temperatures. This is wonderful for those of us who love the winter and cold (like me) and bad for those who HATE the winter and cold (like Jeff). This has also been very bad for us as a new family with a new house. Why? Because we have had another family move in with us... a 4 legged, furry family seeking warmth and nibbles of our wooden kitchen spoons.
It began like this:
"Um, Jeff, I think we have a mouse; the toilet paper has been shredded in the laundry room and there are droppings in the - "
"WHAT?! WE NEED TO GO BUY TRAPS RIGHT NOW!"
Cut forward an hour, and our home looked about the same except for the 24 (not even kidding you) traps now being assembled military style in the kitchen and placed at various locations around the house. We were not messing around.
We searched carefully for other evidence of mice throughout the house and found none. Feeling somewhat secure they were safely contained in the basement area, we went to sleep and work the next day feeling somewhat normal (although there is now a smell of peanut butter mouse catching glue strips permeating our house... and interestingly enough, those traps are the ONE thing Duncan has shown absolutely no interest in and actively avoids).
The next evening I was cooking dinner and reached in a drawer for a wooden spoon, which had very neatly been nibbled on all along the edges. By the next hour, much of our kitchenware was running through the dishwasher and I was hand washing plastic containers to put clean utensils in. Needless to say, we knew we were outnumbered and called our handy exterminator. He found the entry point of the mice and quickly sealed our home from other intruders. In addition, he laid out traps that are guaranteed to rid our home from pests. They have their marching orders and should be gone within 24-48 hours. Jeff will be handling the ridding, as I reminded him if it were up to me, I would probably get rid of the carcasses and call someone to cleanse our home from the blood shed (you may see we have differing styles of approach).
Duncan, of course, has not appeared to be bothered by these creatures in front of us, other than a heightened fear of dark places (which he was already afraid of) and excess fur shed around his crate (we feel as though they are probably messing with him when we are not home). We also believe if given the chance, Duncan would probably try to make very good friends with them. He's just such a loving doggy.
Hope all is well with you and yours, and hopefully I will be posting next from a home with Duncan as our only 4 legged furry friend. :)
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