It seems my week's turn at dealing with difficult people might be over.   Next!

--------------

On Wednesday evening, Kerri and her children arrived.   Oh my goodness.   I knew I'd liked her from our message board dealings, but little did I realize just how much alike we are.  She's got a great sense of humor and we tend to make the same little jokes.   Her children are absolutely adorable....and as much as she worries, they are extremely well behaved.    I'm still hoping that some of that would have worn off on my girls LOL.   Their visit should have been longer.....I really enjoyed them being here and look forward to our next time together.

--------------

Ever have one of those moments when you suddenly realize that a holiday is just a few weeks away?   Yep, I had one of those moments last night.   Do you realize just how close Thanksgiving Day is?    I did one of those ACK! things and a WHOO HOO! at the same time.    I've done absolutely nothing in the way of prepping for that weekend (there's the ACK!) and I'm getting so excited for a visit from Sindy (there's the huge Whoo Hoo!!).  

But do you realize what happens after Thanksgiving?   Yep, gotta start thinking about Christmas.

Morons, jerks, and idiots of the world:    My turn for dealing with your sorry butts is about over.   I've had my week and, boy, have I ever had to deal with a bunch of ya.   It's time to move on and either grow a brain or torment some other poor soul.   Or better yet, figure out where the Stupid Island is and move there.

Geeesh.   It seems every day this week  hubby and I have had to deal with some moron.   Thankfully, though, we've remained rather upbeat through this....and a good dose of smart-assed sarcasm really helps too .    In the end, we've smugly sat back and realized that, yes, we were correct in our dealings and moved on.   Okay, so we've relived the situations a few times and laughed about them.....a lot.

Anyway, it's been a week now of this stuff happening on at least a daily basis.    I do believe we deserve to now talk with intelligent and helpful beings.

The most recent example.....again I was in the middle of surfng the 'net when "poof" our internet connection was lost.   Like any working-brained adult, I follow some simple steps to determine if the problem is with my machine.   Check my connections, be sure my laptop is connected to our home network, check the main computer for any connection issues, check the link status to our local tower, and be sure that one computer isn't the only one with internet issues at the moment.   Yep, we were chatting with the local tower, but could not access the internet.   I've been a customer with this particular provider for over three years now....I was one of the very first in the area and have come to learn a good deal about this system.    So I'm no idiot when I can intelligently deduce that the problem lies beyond our local tower.   I called in to Technical Support right away because, darnit, I wanna do my surfing and I wanna do it now, so I braved dealing with yet another moron.   Well, of course, the problem can't possibly be at the hub or tower because they've not had any other reported problems  (gee, jerkoff, maybe because someone has to be the first to call and I'm it???).   Of course the problem must lie in my very own computer, so I'm instructed to go through a bunch of crap to check everything.   Jerkoff couldnt' seem to understand that he should go check the hub to see if there's a problem and, wow, maybe save himself (and me!)  20 minutes of wasted time in pointless effort.    By this time I'm really not suffering him well at all.   He instructs me to reboot my computer (oh yes, now that's going to solve everything wrong with the world ), he then puts me on hold for 2 minutes.   While he's gone, my machine reboots and Oh My Sweet Goodness the problem still exists!    Imagine my level of disgust and sarcasm when jerkoff comes back (after I've jumped through all these hoops of his) and announces "I checked with Engineering and there seems to be an outage in M*****, which is the hub for your tower".      Gee whiz, now why didn't *I* think of that scenario 20 freaking minutes ago?!    Oh wait, hey, I did think of that!   I even stated it to him.  I went so far as to request he check the hub and the tower first and save us time and breath.  

Lesson here.....I'm not stupid.   Don't treat me as such and my sarcasm will remain safely tucked away.  

------------

 I haven't been over to the big house for a day or so, but I'm told the electrician was there for a bit yesterday afternoon.   I'm hoping he finished installing the ceiling fan in the storeroom and hooking up the last few little things in that area.   He'd also said he was installing a smoke detector system  in the  addition as well.   Wow, ya know, I had no idea that was part of the deal, so it was a very pleasant surprise for me.   It's one less thing I have to buy and install.   He said these detectors are interconnected (or something like that) and when one is activated, it will then activate the others.   Makes a lot of sense!

I need to snap a pic of the front door now that I've gotten some of the Chocolate Truffle painted on.   Right now it's only the first coat over most of the door.....I did a second coat around the locks area so I could install the lock and lever.   Hubby is most pleased with my color selection...even employee had to begrudgingly admit that it looks nice...though he had to toss in his "but she didn't paint the trim" comment (this then extracted the sarcasm from me gee, that may be because the trim is going to be white, moron ).

And somehow employee thinks that "a bunch of Mexicans are arriving on Saturday to hang drywall".    Now first of all....if he's been in a tractor all afternoon, how would he know anything about drywall.   And secondly, what does their nationality matter to anything?   They could be Martians for all I care, just as long as they do a good job on my house.    Anyway, somehow (gee, anybody wanna guess how long of a "break" he spent strolling around my house chatting it up with the electrician who is trying to work) he heard that the drywall is going up this weekend.    That is a little Whoo Hoo for me!

--------------

In another situation I dealt with this week, I'd placed two orders for items from the same site.   Apparently before they actually submit to the charge card, they place a "hold" for the amount on the card.   Gee, when they've put a $500 hold on my card and then try to run thru the $500 charge on a card that already has $200 charged to it earlier in the week and is kept at a $1000 limit, maybe just maybe the card will be declined.   Now this practice kinda chaps my butt.  There's a reason I keep this particular card at a low limit because it's the card we use for internet transactions.   Hey, if someone in cyberspace actually gets this one, they won't be charging for long on it....sounds good to me.   But anyway, both of my items were declined.   I submitted a second charge card on my account and called in to assure it's use.   Now one of my items arrived on my doorstep a week later....I waited patiently for my second item.   That was a good idea, right, since apparently the company decided to cancel that order.    Nobody could explain to me why one item could be processed on the second card but the other item couldn't.   Oh I so love this stuff.   End result?    I've now got a like item currently on its way to me and I got it cheaper than the first time I bought it!!   Whoo Hoo!    That's right....cancel my order, tick me off, and watch me go get it cheaper.   Hah!   Okay, so they haven't a clue that I'm getting it cheaper elsewhere, but I'm smug in the knowledge that  I've come out ahead on this.

----------------

So.,......today I'm needing to head to town and get some errands accomplished.   I'm anxiously awaiting dealing with idiots somewhere in my travels.   I know it'll happen....the unknown is where, when, and who.    I'll be sure to pack my sarcasm along with me

Fer crying out loud.....how on earth do some people manage to maintain employment when they are so obviously clueless and lazy that they can't even handle simple tasks???    And  how hard is it to acknowledge to me that you cannot/will not resolve the situation for me and transfer my call to someone who will/can actually do something???!!!    Gawd, if I could reach through the phone line right now I'd sure to love see what brainless morons actually look like!!

And this must certainly be my week for dealing with difficult people.   First is a very frustrating situation with a doctor's office.   Right now arrangements are being made for the medical record to be transferred to another practice.   Hah!   Go ahead and smugly tell me that their practice is the "only specialist" in the area and that other patients are "more important".     Another doctor was located and scheduled this morning.   HAH!

Then I called my internet provider yesterday to report an outage.   Apparently because it had just happened and I was the first to call it in, the problem could not possibly have been on the provider's end but was instead a problem with my antivirus software and firewall .   This determination was made by someone without even bothering to check the hub.    Good grief, I'm not an idiot and don't tolerate being treated as such!    Silly me, I was just calling to alert them to the problem and get resolution going right away.   Whatever.....all I had to do was wait another hour until all the local children were home from school and let THEM start bombarding Tech Support .    The connection was back up and running a little while after that.

---------------------

On a positive note, the 2nd floor of the big house is being insulated as I type this.    They'll return tomorrow and install insulation on the 1st floor.

I did a walk-through with the builder and the drywaller.  Yaay!  

I've got a big selection of paint colors to sift thru and start deciding colors for the various rooms.   They'll gladly do whatever color I choose instead of sticking to just basic white or off-white.   Builder will bring door choices to me next week so we can get the inteiror doors selected and ordered.

I'm still waiting to hear back from cabinetry  as well as flooring.   Being the meanie I am, I now have the builder jangling the phones for those guys and I'm sure they'll be finishing up their stuff and meeting with me soon

OK, now!   I dashed out to town this morning and I've got what promises to be the perfect color for the door......it's called Chocolate Truffle.    Now tell me, who couldn't resist that one?!   I plan to go slap a first coat on this afternoon and we'll see for sure how it looks.

I also bought two ceiling fans.   The electrician had planned to be there today finishing up his stuff upstairs....but we haven't seen him just yet.   He needs to connect the outlets in  the storeroom and then the last task will be the ceiling fan.....whoops, we needed a ceiling fan.....so I bought one.   Gotta love finding great things on clearance prices.    So one of the fans is for the storeroom.    The second fan was another of those clearance deals, last one they had.....it is beautiful and the price couldn't be beat.   Hubby's in the other town this afternoon with orders to stop at the store there to see if they have an identical fan....then one will be in the sitting room, the other in the master bedroom.    Yaay!

Yesterday  I finished up the storeroom paint, assembled two shelving units for hubby to start filling, and moved the big crates to their new corner..   This afternoon I've got a cabinet to install up there, which will be the perfect companion to the washer/dryer area.    Oh, yes, I did decide to go ahead and have the second washer/dryer site created.   The old set we've got still works just fine (despite my hope for non-repair) and I've realized it would be a good thing to have a second set.   It's location will be ideal for doing bath towels.....especially since it's very near the kids's bathroom (and you should see how many towels these girls of mine go thru on a daily basis ).  

After an exhausting weekend, the storeroom is officially ready for hubby to fill.   I did the last bit of touch-up painting this morning, and we assembled two heavy-duty shelving units.   Now it's up to hubby to sort thru the stuff and put thing away.   The storeroom is his domain and it's all his space to deal with

The insulating team dropped off all the insulation this morning.  They'll return in the morning and begin getting all the exterior walls done.   Yippee!!! 

I need to get to town to get a different color of paint for the exterior doors.   I wasn't exactly pleased with the guy who mixed the paint for me....the first gallon was way off, and the second apparently isn't right either.   I did brush on a small section and let it dry all night (he assured me it would darken as it dried) but it's still a kind of pukey color.

We've just had a moment of real clarity.

If the dog really really wants out of his fenced yard, it's not a difficult task for him to escape.

It's really quite easy when you're a 125lb large dog......just knock down a fence section.   Heaven help the beast that actually threatens my children....he won't stand a chance against our canine protector.

And here the girls were just playing and squealing....nobody was really hurt or in danger....but the dog raced to protect them from the evil evil cat who was alert enough to hide in the pasture ROFL

Oh I've been bad about updating here for a few days, huh?   Oh well. 

I still haven't gotten over to start painting the new front door.   The week it went in was warm enough, but I was super busy for a few days.   Then it got cold....too cold to be painting.    Today and tomorrow are forecast to be a bit warmer than we've had for a few, so my plan is to do some painting this weekend.

A small crew came back out and finished up the storeroom....a week ago!.....so now we can get that painted and start moving crap....I mean, stuff/treasures...out of the bedrooms and maybe find some of the missing items we're needing.     I would have painted last weekend (again, cold!) but I needed a jaunt to pick up a few items.   Since I had a meeting with the flooring guy on Monday to finalize our flooring selections, I really needed to get the powder room's cabinet here so we could see if the flooring would blend or if we needed to choose something different.    All but one of my items ordered had arrived...and it's a good thing I went ahead and made the drive because that final item didn't arrive until Wednesday.    Anyway, the flooring looks great with the cabinet.    No, I don't have pics just yet either (yea yeah, where are my priorities these days!).  

So today the goal is to slap a coat of paint on the storeroom.    The girls are excited to help, and the way I see it, the storeroom is just a storage room....and once I tape the electric outlets and the windows, there's nothing to worry about when the girls get sloppy.  Note I said when the girls get sloppy.  Emphasis on the when.   I know it'll happen.  Heck, they'll probably end up covered in paint and we'll be picking it out of their hair for a week.   But hey, they'll love it and they'll feel a vital part of this project.....and I won't mind a little bit of help.   I'll just turn them loose, then follow behind and cover the spots they miss. 

Then maybe I'll get ambitious and pick up some masonry paint and turn them loose on the basement as well

--------------

I received a very pleasant surprising phone call this week.    A trucking firm was calling to schedule a delivery.    The spiral staircase we weren't expecting to see until early December is here!      Yaaay!    That only took 4 weeks instead of 8.   Wow!!     Now I'm hopeful that the oak handrail will arrive sooner than expected as well, and maybe we won't even need the temporary one.    The oak portion is a custom deal, so we were told it would take 16 weeks (I think it was 16).    We had them divvy up the custom from the standard stuff...especially after I changed the landing....so we could at least HAVE a staircase instead of a big open hole when we move back.  

---------------

There are some days I really enjoy living in this smaller home, and some days it just seems way too small.    Right now is one of those "too small" moments.   Apparently it's a completely foreign thought for the girls to understand the concept of "BE QUIET" because other people in the house are sleeping.   Geesh, it's Saturday, for cripes sake, and I could finally sleep in a bit....right?    Hah!  Maybe if I were hearing impaired.    So I get up, close the bedroom door so hubby and Monkey Boy can sleep a bit longer, then proceed to remind the girls to be quiet.....and I've repeated that phrase at least 10 times in the last hour.   WHY on earth can't they get it????

So they finally left the kitchen table and are now in one of the bedrooms.....with the door closed.....and it still seems as though they are in the room with me.  Yeah, although they are only a few feet from one another, they must SHOUT. EVERY.WORD.    Good grief.

Nope, no photos yet.   And I didn't get to town yesterday to get the paint, locksets, and other assorted stuff.   Maybe today.......maybe tomorrow

Yesterday hubby was working at the north farm.    One elevator closed early, but he was able to get loads taken to another elevator that was staying open till 5pm.    Employee clocked out at 6pm.  Hubby had ASSumed he'd be back home right around dinnertime and then I could sneak away to town by myself in the evening.

Hubby didn't come home till 9:30.

And today he's back up at the north farm, trying to get everything filled so tomorrow morning we can haul as much as we've got to the closer elevator before they close down at 10-freaking-AM.    He says he'll only be up there for about 2 or 3 hours, and THEN he'll be here so I can get to town without my young entourage....ya know, so I can actually get some shopping done.   It's so wonderful to actually have my intended purchases stay in my shopping cart, make it to the checkout, and then stay with me to the car.    Mr. Monkey Butt takes great delight in heaving all my selections over the edge of the cart; if said items make a great amount of noise, it's a bonus for him.

So anyway, I'm babbling....blame the coffee......two cups of coffee.   In a bit maybe I'll have a third because, holy moly, I'm actually getting stuff done around here.    I've decided to tackle some of the laundry mountain residing beside the washer.   I've slapped a coat of primer on the hallway walls and on the lovely marker "signatures" the girls so thoughtfully made (in giant mural-size letters) in Demon's bedroom.    I'm finally getting to the point of repainting the hallway......it's only been an "in progress" for about a month since Monkey Butt started peeling the old wallpaper away.   

Speaking of that old wallpaper....sheesh, you should see what those walls are like.  I found three different wallpapers....two of which are wall PAPER.   Which was painted over, a few times, wallpapered again, and then painted a few more times.   The wall is a very uneven plaster....which, hey, is pretty much a lot of character.    Some people actually try to make the plastered look in their homes theseadays .     Anyway, I've stripped down as much of the loose stuff as I could, patched up where it was needed, and applied a good coat of stainkiller primer.   Maybe today or tomorrow or sometime this week I'll actually paint the walls and touch up the trim.   Whoo hoo.

And while I'm at the store, I'll have to pick up some paint for Demon's room.

-------------------

Kerri - right now we don't have a deadline date to be back at the big house, but the builder sure would like to be done by January 1st.  I think it may actually be sometime in January, but I'm not counting on that.    Heck, at this point, I think I'll only be disappointed if we're not back there by Easter

Hope to have photos later today......but we have our new front door installed!!   whoo hoo!!   I need to go get the lock and handset and install them today.   Right now there's just the holes on the door and it really would look a whole lot better if they were finished.

Oh!  I should probably pick up some exterior paint and start painting the door while the temperatures are still decent.   If I wait until the crews are all done to put on paint, it'll be December or January.....much too cold for painting the out-facing side of a door .   I'm thinking a mocha/milk&coffee kind of color....something that'll look really good with the browns in the roof.    Would be good to take one of the shingles with me to select the perfect paint color.

And the tubs are now sitting in their places!

The bathroom faucets are all here...sitting in the garage, but they're here.

The whole-house fan and attic fans have been installed.

Electrician is going to work a bit today and start hooking up the new lights and outlets.

After a few weeks of just the nuts-and-bolts stuff for plumbing going on, it's very exciting to start "seeing" things happening again!

Water at the other places has been fine and there have been no further reports of problems.  Yaay!

Yesterday, after doing a bit of research on security stuff, I made the jump into one that will be installed at the big house.  Now is the time to get this done, so it can be easily wired.   Yaaay!

Today I had to get to town for med refills.   I always have to stroll the store to see what's fresh on the markdowns.  There were a few bathroom items I've been patiently waiting to be marked down in price....and today I was rewarded.     And thanks to a friend who stopped at her local store,  the girls should have an ample supply of nice towels for their future new bathroom.    While I was grabbing towels off the shelf, I spied another color in the same towel style that's perfect for the new master bathroom....so I bought all in the store that I could find.   I'm still hoping to find a few more....because good bath towels are something that's good to have a nice stockpile.  again...Yaaay!

Had to run my little Tinkerbell Pixie girl in to the clinic to have her ears checked out.  She doesn't have an ear infection....yet.....but the excess fluid in her ear is an infection in the making.   The doc suggested adding another OTC med to her allergy stuff, as well as adding a nosespray.    I knew she'd been growing, as several of her clothes are starting to become snug, but during today's height and weight check it was very obvious that she has hit a good growth spurt.  

Took Demon Angel to doc yesterday to have her checked over....it seems something is causing a kick-butt allergy for her.  And now we're trying a prescription allergy med in hopes that it'll get her breathing (and sleeping...and eating) better.

My sweet RoseBud girl has been complaining that her shoes have been making her toes hurt.   She's gotten a few callused areas on a few toes, so I thought maybe we should get her a wide pair of sneakers for school.    Oh.My.Goodness....that child has done a bit of growing.   Less than 2 months ago I bought her two pair of Skechers for school, buying them about a half-size too big so she'd have ample growth room.   Those two pair of shoes are TOO SMALL and yes, indeed, her toes are crammed in the ends....ACK!   Poor girl.   But she now has two new pair of shoes in a size that fit well and keep her toes comfy.