A Visit to the Rock

Our trip started late on Thursday because I slept later than I'd planned but finally we got it all together and off we went. We'd been watching the weather forecast for days and the weather guy was predicting balmy temps in the upper 60's to mid-70's,,,but he was wrong.

On Friday, when we went to the zoo, the temps finally reached 52 F, with gray skies, and biting northern breezes to blow yer hair near'bout off yer head.

All of the Zoo Crew but the One who wouldn't cooperate.

And here would be the One.

The human Exhibit, a bit strange if you ask me.

Saturday evening at my sister, Terri's house. My nephew, Jacob, and her husband, John, entertained us.

Their pup, Cash, and Jaylen doing a jig to the music. (Ya'll know you can click to make em bigger)

We had a wonderful weekend even though Jordan's ball tournament was cancelled after only one game (that I missed on Friday night cause I was a wimp about the cold). Her team won that game though so GO BLUE THUNDER! Trish said both Jordan and Jaylen have games on Tuesday night if the weather permits. She's gonna be a busy momma all Spring and for most of the summer.

Back and Pooped

We're back but tired, tired, tired, so I'll post some details about the weekend away and some photos tomorrow.

MeriKate had a birthday on Saturday while we were away. Happy 8th Birthday Meri Katerine!

This COULD be the beginning of a not so good day.

As I begin writing this (8:11 a.m.), I've been awake for 41 minutes.

I just poured my second cup of coffee, I only got a few sips of the first one while it was still hot because I kept having to referee the fighting siblings who seem intent on making Nanaw lose her cool today.

Zach has been in trouble already for hitting his sister, throwing things, telling me no, wrestling on the couch, and locking MeriKate in the closet, wrestling on the bed.

MeriKate and Abby are tattling.

Jillian is having a blast.

Nanaw is leaning towards insanity.

I may be digging out, and dusting off, that bottle of tequila soon.

***
I almost forgot to mention my meeting with the "hole" last evening.

Miz Beans and I had driven the couple of blocks to Food Giant to pick up a couple of things after we dropped the Chick and Zach at Tae Kwon Do. When we got back, we parked near the aux door of the gym so all we had to do was climb a slight rise before entering (the Jr. college in Helena is built on Crowley's Ridge, the only hills in the delta and they built a danged school in em).

Anyway, I unshackled Beans from her car seat, set her out and pointed her in the right direction, then I reached in to grab my keys and purse, locked up, and followed her. There was this drain thingy set in concrete right up from the parking lot and I stepped a little to the side of it and swoosh, my leg, up to my knee, went into a hole that had been hidden by last Autumn's leaves.
The Beans heard me yell when I went down and came running back, with her little short legs, saying, "Oh Nananw, I help you!"

You know the first thing I did don't you? I bet y'all do the same thing whenever something like this happens to you, I looked around to see if anyone was watching. hahahahaha.

So, after I'd looked around to see if I was providing a month's worth of amusement for anyone,,, and I wasn't for once,,, I rolled around for a few minutes in order to get some leverage in order to get my leg outta the hole (there are rattle snakes all over Crowley's Ridge and I was having a few snaky thoughts right about then). I only had a little, tiny scrape on the top of my foot so the only harm was to my slightly wounded pride.

After the class was over and I was herding the kids toward the door, I told one of the MA instructors about the "dangerous" hole so he followed me out to see where it was so he could report it to maintainence. This was the Mexican instructor, with quite a heavy accent, and after I showed him he said, " Oh yes, si, si, Do not walk there, is de drain, dere is de hole."

"Ninguna Mierda Sherlock!"

Subject: Our Government Rebate

The federal government is sending each and every one of us a $600 rebate. If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, if we purchase a good car it will go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes and beer, since these are the only products still produced in the US . Thank you for your help.

A friend sent this to my email. I thought it was important enough information to do two posts in one day! Hahahahahaha.

Words

I just love it when a baby begins to put thoughts into words, even when some of the words reflect what they hear around them. Jillian was playing with Molly the puppy and Molly playfully nipped her. Jillian got upset and sat down on the porch steps beside her Momma to tell her about it.

Jillian: Molly bite me!

Jerri: She didn't mean to, she was just playing. Are you ok? See? It's just a little scratch. Molly plays too rough sometimes.

Jillian: Molly's just a bitch, ain't she Momma?

Jerri: Yes Jillian, but you're not supposed to say that!

***

MeriKate and Abby stayed with me yesterday and I enjoyed listening to them chatter (when they weren't fighting with Zach). While I was taking a break from doing a tax return MeriKate sat in the floor beside my chair and said,

"Nanaw, my Daddy told me I better not get fat like Momma did cause if I do I better not talk to him anymore and a boy will never want me to be his girlfriend."

I think Nanaw is going to have a longgggg talk with MeriKate's Daddy, first chance she gets.

***

Alexis, aka the Chick, is saving money for something she wants to buy so she's become the family's curse monitor. She was only here for a little while the other afternoon and it cost me 75 cents.

The Day After

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

Here, things were a little out of whack and it didn't seem like the usual Easter holiday, not that any of them have a whole lot over the past many years, but this year even more so. Sometimes I think I'll just stop having expectations and be done with trying to do a big dinner.

Just thinking out loud.

I mentioned it's Spring Break didn't I?

Lord, give me strength.

Mildewing

I have all the energy and gumption of a drunken gnat with a hang-over so this'll be a short and sweet un.

My sister, Paula, slept over last night and we stayed up until after 4 a.m. talking. Then we were awake again by 7:30 so it's been a long day (even though I slipped in a 3 hour nap this afternoon). She left around 10:30, then I had to go buy the groceries for tomorrow's Easter dinner.

Paula was in town to go see my nephew Jacob (who's the son of youngest sister, Terri), along with the band he's in, Monoxide Project, as they participated in the "Battle of the Bands" over across the river at the Isle of Capri casino. They won 1st place, GO Monoxide! Jacob wrote the song, "Burnt Out Cowboy", ya'll have a listen to it at the site.

Hope your weekend is a fine one!

Garden Helpers, Swingin', and Stuff

I took all these photos the weekend before we had that March 7th blizzard. The temps have been ranging between mid-60's and lower 80's since then (thank goodness) so maybe, since Spring has arrived, it'll decide to stick around now.

We had bunches of ladybugs crawling around everywhere that weekend (March 1st).

Nanaw bought PopPop the swing she wanted for his birthday. The chicklets had to try it out.

The Chick and Beans helping PopPop plant the radishes and onions.

Our handsome Zach.

Wednesday, already?

Just sitting here thinking before I start the day.

Zach will go to school today, half a day tomorrow, and then he's out for Easter and Spring Break until March 31st. (I expect I'll be looking forward to the 31st along about the 24th.) The only thing we have planned is to go to Little Rock and spend a few days with Trish and the girls late next week, that'll be fun because the cousins get along good and I enjoy the visitin. Jordan and Jaylen will have a couple of softball practices while we're there so we'll get to watch.

My son was promoted to Lieutenant in March and began his new job at the prison over the Dog Kennels. He and his crew have been practicing all winter for the 2008 Southern States Manhunt Field Trials that were held last week. I think they ended up doing well in all of the events, even taking second place in the multi-leash event.

I had to laugh when Jerri called me after their first night run, Bubbie's horse got stuck in the mud,,, up to her belly, and the rest of his team had to go on without him. I bet even the dogs were laughing about that, but his horse probably wasn't.

I have a pretty full day lined up today because I've been homebound waiting for HughesNet for over two weeks. I have to go to pay the bills for the Improvement District, do their banking and some of my own, go all the way over into Helena to get the tags for my truck (slapping head for forgetting to do this online two weeks ago), contact a tax client by phone for a corrected birthday (efiles won't go through if the birthday and name doesn't match what the S.S. administration has), and start weeding through a box full of stuff in order to start another tax return.

I guess I'd better get started,,,geez I hate having to get dressed to go out in public.

Have a great day!

25MPH Wind Gusts Good for Something

Zach, peeking through the window

My internet connection started working on it's own this morning so I'm assuming that the installation provided by HughesNet contractors isn't as sturdy as they promised it would be (He dug a hole, stuck in the pole and poured in some quick-set.) The wind has been gusting from 20 to 25MPH since midnight or so, who knows when the next gust will put it out again.

Anyway, you can gather from this that I still have not seen hide nor hair of a HughesNet repair tech, and since they apparently can't be bothered to provide the promised repairs even after more than a week of promises, I'm not going to bother myself to call them to inform them that it's working now,,,for the time being. Maybe they'll eventually arrive to do the service call, whothehellknows?

I've been up since 3:30 a.m. My new furniture was delivered yesterday and I suppose because I moved some stuff around a bit, vaccumed behind and beneath stuff, I woke old arthur up to dole out some early morning misery. I've taken 800 mg of ibupro so now it's not as painful as it was.

I reckon I'm going to be needing a nap later.

I promised to post some photos of the snow and my new furniture so here goes (keeping fingers crossed that bloggger will cooperate). You can click the pics to make em bigger.

The Chick and Beans being snow bunnies.

My house

After her bath, the Beans snuck out to make snow angels in her pjs.

Abby and MeriKate have been rolling in the snow too.

Snowmen made by Jessie and Zach.

My new couch

The new dining table and chairs

I'll post a picture of James's recliner later. Can't get the man out of it long enough.

Still Down and Still Raging

Dawn of day 18 and still waiting for HughesNet to do satellite repairs. While sitting at home waiting for these people who say they're coming but never arrive, I've learned a thing or two that they don't tell you when they sell you their equipment and services.

Their warrenty doesn't mean speedy repair service unless it can be repaired by phone with instructions from poor customer support with poor English skills from somewhere over in Asia. Their FAQ states that if you aren't paying a minimum of $5.99 extra per month, you should expect repairs to take 7 to 10 days, the $5.99 fee entitles you to service within 3 to 5 days.

The FAQ said nothing about days 11(which is the first date they didn't show up) through 18. I wonder why?

The FAQ also says nothing about having to deal with all the lies from these folks that Hughesnet contracts with to do the repairs.

I did a google search for other satellite broadband services available but apparently, even after you purchase the HughesNet equipment for around $600, and they install it, you find out the first time you have problems that if you cancel their services, you must pay a fee of $200 to $300 to buy out your contract. If you mention that you haven't seen a contract and didn't sign a contract their reply is to look on the installation form that you signed. Down near the bottom is a little check mark beside a sentence written in teeny, tiny print that states you understand the HughesNet terms of service that their representative has explained to you. Doesn't matter that their representative does not mention these "terms of service" when he hands you his clipboard and says to "please sign my work order."

Why would you have to sign a contract if you've purchased the equipment, you ask? I figure it's because otherwise, anyone with any sense, would immediately stop using the services that HughesNet advertises but doesn't provide.

So, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place because in this great country of ours, they still let people like this give consumers a screwing on a daily basis.

I'm seriously considering filing a suit in small claims court for the time spent waiting for these repair people that never show and for breach of contract by HughesNet. I sent a complaint to the BBB in their state last fall, and that's how I was finally able to get above dial-up speeds (although that took 8 or 9 weeks). I plan to file another complaint with them about this instance. There's not much else that can be done.

Ya'll just wait until you see the new header I made concerning my trials and tribulations with these lying fools.

Ok, enough bitching about that for now.

After looking for 6 years, I finally found a couch on Saturday! It's not spectacular or anything but I think it's what I've been looking for. James removed the 40 yr old monster that we've been using and they're supposed to deliver the new one sometime today. Since I was in a shopping mood, we also bought a new recliner for James, and a new table and chairs for the dining room.
I'll post photos as soon as I can (and you know why it's taking so long!)

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!

TWO Days of Hell

Day 14 without the satellite internet. The past 2 days I was on the phone with HughesNet customer support (which provides very little support), their contracted repair companies, and finally, long distance to HughesNet corporate headquarters in Maryland, or Maine, whereverthehell they are. Anyway, frustration kept mounting and mounting so that at one point they made me cry so hard that I had to throw up.

Never, in my life, have I ever been so lied to (and lied about,,,at one point yesterday, one advanced tech dude told me the Tuesday morning appointment to repair my satellite had only existed in my mind!), been switched here, switched there, and always have to start back at the beginning with some partial English speaking person in some foreign land far, far, away.

Maybe, maybe, someone will be out this afternoon to do the repair. Maybe. He said he would.

SO, since I'm still doing without the $59.99 per month service that HughesNet religiously charges to my credit card every month,

F*** YOU HughesNet customer service
F*** YOU T.B. Consulting Service in Monroe, LA (who's only requirement for their employees to work there is having an ability to lie your ass off!)
F*** YOU Perfect 10 Distributing in Little Rock, AR (who, also fulfills the lying requirements needed to do contract work for HughesNet)

My icemaker also went on the blink and we had to buy a new one.

I made an April 1st appointment to have a CT scan done of my left thigh at a diagnostic clinic in Memphis. I was shocked at what they told me, take the insurance companies, the admin hospital fees, the padded charges, out of the equation, they said the scan will cost me $230 and that includes the radiologists fees. Our local hospital (meat market) said the charges for the same scan would be between $1500 and $2000 and that did not include radiologists fees.

I sure hope today is going to be a good one and that yet another repair tech didn't tell me yet another lie.

A Memory of Snow

There's nary a spot of snow left now. The temps got up to 46 or so yesterday so most of it melted then, but today it's supposed to be above 60 so even if some of it hid in the shadows, it'll be gone for sure today. The kids sure did have fun playing in it late Friday and all day Saturday, it's not often that we get enough of that white stuff to play in.

Jerri bundled up The Chick and Jilly Beans on Friday when it really started coming down and sticking. They played until almost dark and then she brought them in for baths and hot chocolate. Beans was out of the tub first, Jerri dressed her in pjs, and told her to watch cartoons until The Chick was ready to be dried. Five minutes later she went to check on the Beans and couldn't find her. She looked out the patio doors and there she was, making snow angels with bare feet and pjs on. She'd escaped again!

I'll be posting photos of all the snow doings as I'm able. Jerri took some great ones too so I'll also post some of her shots.

Maybe Mother Nature has decided that we need a little Spring now. Maybe...

The tech dude is supposed to be here tomorrow to fix my satellite connection. I sure hope he does because I've got a tax return ready to be transmitted and loads of updates to download before that.

I've been in my little office this morning rearranging the junk and dusting the spots that aren't loaded down with stuff. I've got so much stuff going that there are still little stacks everywhere. I wish Martha S. would come by for a cup of coffee, I'd put her to work organizing all my things!

I just put a chicken in the oven to roast and already the wonderful aroma of rosemary is wafting through the air. It almost makes me forget about the aroma of axle grease coming from these air wrenchs and JD 9.6 volt light sitting here on the table which James was supposed to have put back in his truck about 3 days ago. He and Jeffrey were busy all weekend building a martin house (that the sparrows are already trying to move into), I reckon he'll remember these tools if he needs them when he gets to work.

I've been getting around to a few blogs as this laptop connection has let me, if I haven't visited in awhile I'll be by as soon as I can.

Better get some more stuff done around here, Zach has a ballgame tonight so it'll be a bit rushed around here after that school bus comes. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

That March Lioness

It started snowing around 10 am yesterday but didn't start accumulating until around 1. It was still looking blizzardish when I went to bed last night around 10 so we woke up this morning to about 6 inches of the white stuff. The kids are happy about it, Zach was up bright and early this morning with big plans for playing outdoors all day. There will be many melting puddles of snow at the front and back doors before this has all thawed. I think it's supposed to be near 60 degrees tomorrow so the puddles will be mud ones by then.

The ultrasound turned out to be worrisome. The lump/mass/whateverthehell it's called isn't old Arthur but some sort of abnormal fibrous tissue, so I've got to think on what to do next. I can't get health insurance coverage, so no matter what's to be done, I'll have to see how much wheeling and dealing can be done about the prices of these things (CT scan and /or biopsy). Another option is to wait 2 or 3 months and have another ultrasound to see if anything has changed. Sometimes I think the Healthcare crisis is the government's way of keeping the population under control, if truth in advertising were to be followed, "Don't cover em, kill em, or worry em to death", would be the motto for all health insurance ads.

Well, I'd best stop typing (and watching the birds fighting at the feeder through the window) because the kitchen is a mess, there's laundry to be done, and floors to be vaccumed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

I'm tired of Quickies

But I reckon this'll be another one. Tech support FINALLY called back yesterday, after I'd called Bumf******egypt again, to ask if I'd prefer them to arrive TUESDAY morning or afternoon. I sarcastically told them that I sure hoped they meant Thursday and not Tuesday.

They didn't.

Sometimes it sucks being me, but it totally sucks being me without a decent internet connection!

Zach and I went to see the doc on Tuesday. He increased the dosage on his meds so I kept him home yesterday to see if he'd be alright with the increase. I have to go back today for an ultrasound (he first said CT scan but I told him unless they were offering them at a 70% reduction, one of those wasn't in my budget!) It's made me so nervous that I really don't want to talk about it until after I've seen him today. If it's only old Arthur, like I've been thinking it is, I am going to chew on him awhile for scaring the hell outta me.

Another Pokey Post

Still no word from a technician to schedule a "fix" date for my satellite connection. I can't say that I'm surprised since it took about 4 months for them to fix the band speed problem I had last fall. I haven't lost my temper yet but I'm simmering so the eruption is close to the surface.

I've tried, a time or two, to visit a few blogs but this mysterious connection on Zach's laptop is like limping along on crutches so I become frustrated pretty quick when it takes forever for a page to load and then for the comment screen to load. Also, since I don't know where this connection comes from, I don't like to log on for very long in case I'm slowing someone down somewhere. It really is a miracle connection though, we have two neighbors about a football field length away and the next neighbors are almost 2 miles.

I had a Chick and Beans weekend, they visited on Saturday and Sunday. I took some great photos that I'll be posting, whenever HUGHESNET GETS A TECH OUT HERE TO FIX MY SATELLITE!!!!!!!

The weather has been typical wonky for Arkansas in early March. Yesterday we were having thunderstorms, it was 68 ,degrees, raining really hard, and we noticed some clumpy looking substance falling past the window. After a closer look we discovered it was SNOW, big huge clumps of snow were falling with the rain. Yesterday it was nearly 70 and we woke up this morning to 33 degree temps.

I'd best get busy now, have a few things to do before time to pick Zach up at school. He and I have a doctor's appointment at 1:00. Ya'll have a good day now, ya hear?

Quicky

My satellite internet is down, tech support says 3 to 5 days which could mean 3 days or 15 since the support comes from some person who speaks barely understandable English in some foreign country far removed from these U.S. soils. I have my solid suspicions as to the reason for my lack of services but I'll get into that more later. I will tell you that it involves a bit of Redneck stupidity.

Anyway, my posts may be a bit slow in coming these next few (or many) days because Zach's
laptop, andthe sometimes signal he gets (from whoknowswhere), and my fumbled fingered approach to this pad dohicky, makes logging on an irritating process for this old broad who prefers her desktop and mouse. (he has a mouse for his laptop but I'm also too lazy to find it, connect it, and find a good sitting spot tonight).

I'll be back in the swing of things as soon as I'm linked again.

Hope everyone's having a grand weekend!