Then:
Now:
Happy Birthday and Happy Mother's Day!
We ♥ you!!!
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
I hate everything about getting shots...
Here is the long awaited needle post. I would say "enjoy" but why should you gather so much amusement from my pain? You all are sick, sick I say! Read away.
And without further ado...
I hate everything about getting shots. I hate the hospital. I hate all sick and infirmed people. I have the smell of the alcohol wipe that they use right before the worst event of your life. I hate the needle. And I hate all the nurses who are not sympathetic to my condition.
Those of us with this condition, belonephobia (fear of needles) or trypanophobia (fear of injections), are commonly referred to as “needle phobes”. My particular type is a vaso-vagal phobe whose primary symptoms are fainting, sweating, nausea, initially high blood pressure and heart rate, followed by a sudden precipitous plunge in blood pressure; the patient tends to react passively. This is typically brought on by the thought, sight or feeling of needle-like objects (and sometimes blood). About 5% of the US population is affected by this, so I am not alone. But there is hope. Therapy for this condition consists of progressive exposure techniques or, which I prefer, simply provide anesthesia to the patient. Anyone who knows me can truly attest that I do suffer from this “condition.”
Alright… background set.
So here we stand… several of us about to embark upon a grand voyage to South America; and this fabulous voyage requires me to update my shots. Tetanus and a Hepatitis A booster. Fun!
Lately, I had been doing better. Jen and I got shots for both our Europe trip and for an Africa trip. I thought I had beat it. I thought I was no longer a needle phobe. But then my old phobe-friend returned. Let me lay some excuses first:
I had gone to bed at 1:30 am the evening before and woke up at 6:00 am that morning.
I had not eaten anything since 3:00 pm Florida time the day before.
I did manage to slam a Pepsi around midnight to help me drive home the previous evening.
I am starving, but oddly enough, I have a ton of energy, like “crack-addict-level” energy.
Jen and I arrive this beautiful morning at the Kaiser nurse’s station to get our shots. Jen has already gotten three shots previously and only needed one more. Me, I was in for two shots. Of course when we arrive the waiting room is chock full of the aforementioned “affirmed” and they all smell bad too! This is not good for our hero.
We sign in and take a number. The waiting begins. Waiting is never good for a needle phobe. It allows the phobia to grow and fester. Add in the excuses mentioned earlier and we almost have a situation on our hands. But the waiting continues…
We have now been waiting for about 45 minutes. I am not doing well. Finally, a short and somewhat rotund nurse calls my name with a slight accent, “Mr. Sheee-perd.” I rise gallantly to my feet and enter the dragon’s liar.
She directs me to a small chair beside an office table. I see the needles on the table. They seem to taunt me. They can sense my fear. And wait, there are THREE needles on the table. Uh-oh. The phobia has now won.
I try to ask the nurse the reason for the third needle, but fears are confirmed by reading the label, typhoid. I had reasoned with the travel nurse a few days earlier that I did not need the typhoid shot because I have gotten it when I went to Africa in 1998. Her argument was that it did not show up on her records, but she never confirmed nor denied my need for it.
Well, the nurse before me had one objective, stab me with every needle on the table. Why? Because they were there. I desperately asked her why I needed the typhoid and how long it was good for and what was typhoid and…. and… and… and all she said, “well the travel nurse says you need it!” She did not know. She did manage to find an info sheet on typhoid, but she handed it to me not for argument’s sake, not that I might read it and some how convince her that I did not need the shot. No, she handed it to me to shut me up. Remember her objective? She would not leave without completing it.
“Okay,” I tell myself, “I can handle one extra shot. Now let’s not forget to remind her of my condition.”
“Ah ma’am?”
“What?”
“Uh, I’m not so good with needles.”
“Roll up your sleeve!”
“Uh, meaning I have a tendency to pass-out…”
“You need hold up your sleeve.”
“Uh…is there another nurse around here?” RUN – RUN NOW. You can come back and find a better nicer nurse. RUN. Sweat, heart palpitations, a little nausea, room starting to spin.
“I don’t do needles…”
“Don’t be a wimp. Hold your sleeve up.”
I stare blankly at the nurse. There is no way that I can hold my sleeve up and remain conscious. So, I fix the problem. I take off my shirt. Don’t panic everyone. I am not stripping in the nurse’s station. I merely remove my button up shirt and leave my white undershirt on.
As I remove the shirt, the look of disdain the nurse shoots at me still haunts me in my dreams. She obviously (and quite rudely I might add) rolls her eyes in disgust like this must be the most outlandish thing she has ever experienced. It just may have been, but spare me the look lady!
I get the shirt off and the nurse snorts, “Look, you’re still holding the shirt.” We are at a crossroads here. I understand that I am “holding” the shirt, but it is resting in my lap without any human intervention required. I am not reaching my good arm (the one that will hopefully break my fall when I pass out) across my body whilst holding a sleeve only inches from a dangerous needle that we surely puncture a vital organ when I fall to the floor.
Regardless, the shirt is now removed and little miss sarcastic nurse decides it is the appropriate time to administer “the alcohol wipe.”
“Ready?”
Instinctively, I get as close to a prone position as possible. This is of course frustrated in that I am in a chair. I manage slide my butt to the edge of the chair, extend my legs and slump backwards. Almost flat, but not quite.
“What are you doing? Sit up straight!”
Remember, we a vaso-vagal needle phobes are passive. I respectfully sit-up and get alcohol wiped, but I’m done... eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
The funny thing is, I never really feel anything. I guess that is a good thing. I do not feel the needle prick into my flesh. I do not feel the death serum seeping in my vein. I do not feel the needle slide out. I do not feel them band-aid up the hole left in my arm. I think it is because, at that point, I am usually preoccupied with other things.
First shot administered. I am conscious.
I open my eyes upon her prompting, “That wasn’t so bad?” Yeah, if you don’t notice that my blood pressure is critically low, all color from my face is gone and there is a considerable amount of sweat pouring from my body and yet to touch my skin would reveal a death-like clamminess. Sure, that wasn’t so bad!?!
“Well, that was your typhoid. Now I am going to give you your tetanus. The typhoid was like a baby shot. The tetanus will hurt a lot more.”
What is she thinking? Where did this nurse go to school? Has she absolutely zero bedside manner? Wha…uhh… can I… aaauuuuhhhh…….
“Give me your other arm,” she commands. And then suddenly she realizes, hey, this guy ain’t doing so well. “Do you want to come back and get the other shots later?”
“No.”
A little fact about tetanus shot. It hurts. It hurts going in. It hurts going out. It hurts even more two hours later. And even more two days later. Usually a good nurse will ask you whether you are right or left-handed and give you the shot in the other arm because of the associated pain and stiffness. As you may have figured already, my nurse is not a good nurse. I am still debating on whether to report her actions to Kaiser management.
I passively give her my right arm as commanded (yes, I am right-handed). More alcohol wipes. I make my deep breaths loud, mostly so I know I am still conscious and kind of so that she knows I am conscious.
“Relax your arm,” she says with a hint of compassion in her voice, “It will hurt less that way.” Compassion removed.
Eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
Second shot administered. I am conscious.
Another command to relax my arm. Another alcohol wipe.
Eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
Third shot administered. I am conscious.
“You done.”
I rise to my feet. I am standing still, the room is definitely moving. I stagger towards the exit to the waiting room. I hear a faint call in the background, “If you no feel well, take two aspirin.” And with that I burst through the door to needle freedom.
Jen might have a more accurate account of what happened next. I managed to make my way to the chairs and promptly resumed the prone position. Jen was called away to get here one shot.
My arm still hurts. And I have cold sweat nightmares. But I am now safe to travel abroad. Was it all worth it? I hope so. Ask me when we return from South America.
And without further ado...
I hate everything about getting shots. I hate the hospital. I hate all sick and infirmed people. I have the smell of the alcohol wipe that they use right before the worst event of your life. I hate the needle. And I hate all the nurses who are not sympathetic to my condition.
Those of us with this condition, belonephobia (fear of needles) or trypanophobia (fear of injections), are commonly referred to as “needle phobes”. My particular type is a vaso-vagal phobe whose primary symptoms are fainting, sweating, nausea, initially high blood pressure and heart rate, followed by a sudden precipitous plunge in blood pressure; the patient tends to react passively. This is typically brought on by the thought, sight or feeling of needle-like objects (and sometimes blood). About 5% of the US population is affected by this, so I am not alone. But there is hope. Therapy for this condition consists of progressive exposure techniques or, which I prefer, simply provide anesthesia to the patient. Anyone who knows me can truly attest that I do suffer from this “condition.”
Alright… background set.
So here we stand… several of us about to embark upon a grand voyage to South America; and this fabulous voyage requires me to update my shots. Tetanus and a Hepatitis A booster. Fun!
Lately, I had been doing better. Jen and I got shots for both our Europe trip and for an Africa trip. I thought I had beat it. I thought I was no longer a needle phobe. But then my old phobe-friend returned. Let me lay some excuses first:
I had gone to bed at 1:30 am the evening before and woke up at 6:00 am that morning.
I had not eaten anything since 3:00 pm Florida time the day before.
I did manage to slam a Pepsi around midnight to help me drive home the previous evening.
I am starving, but oddly enough, I have a ton of energy, like “crack-addict-level” energy.
Jen and I arrive this beautiful morning at the Kaiser nurse’s station to get our shots. Jen has already gotten three shots previously and only needed one more. Me, I was in for two shots. Of course when we arrive the waiting room is chock full of the aforementioned “affirmed” and they all smell bad too! This is not good for our hero.
We sign in and take a number. The waiting begins. Waiting is never good for a needle phobe. It allows the phobia to grow and fester. Add in the excuses mentioned earlier and we almost have a situation on our hands. But the waiting continues…
We have now been waiting for about 45 minutes. I am not doing well. Finally, a short and somewhat rotund nurse calls my name with a slight accent, “Mr. Sheee-perd.” I rise gallantly to my feet and enter the dragon’s liar.
She directs me to a small chair beside an office table. I see the needles on the table. They seem to taunt me. They can sense my fear. And wait, there are THREE needles on the table. Uh-oh. The phobia has now won.
I try to ask the nurse the reason for the third needle, but fears are confirmed by reading the label, typhoid. I had reasoned with the travel nurse a few days earlier that I did not need the typhoid shot because I have gotten it when I went to Africa in 1998. Her argument was that it did not show up on her records, but she never confirmed nor denied my need for it.
Well, the nurse before me had one objective, stab me with every needle on the table. Why? Because they were there. I desperately asked her why I needed the typhoid and how long it was good for and what was typhoid and…. and… and… and all she said, “well the travel nurse says you need it!” She did not know. She did manage to find an info sheet on typhoid, but she handed it to me not for argument’s sake, not that I might read it and some how convince her that I did not need the shot. No, she handed it to me to shut me up. Remember her objective? She would not leave without completing it.
“Okay,” I tell myself, “I can handle one extra shot. Now let’s not forget to remind her of my condition.”
“Ah ma’am?”
“What?”
“Uh, I’m not so good with needles.”
“Roll up your sleeve!”
“Uh, meaning I have a tendency to pass-out…”
“You need hold up your sleeve.”
“Uh…is there another nurse around here?” RUN – RUN NOW. You can come back and find a better nicer nurse. RUN. Sweat, heart palpitations, a little nausea, room starting to spin.
“I don’t do needles…”
“Don’t be a wimp. Hold your sleeve up.”
I stare blankly at the nurse. There is no way that I can hold my sleeve up and remain conscious. So, I fix the problem. I take off my shirt. Don’t panic everyone. I am not stripping in the nurse’s station. I merely remove my button up shirt and leave my white undershirt on.
As I remove the shirt, the look of disdain the nurse shoots at me still haunts me in my dreams. She obviously (and quite rudely I might add) rolls her eyes in disgust like this must be the most outlandish thing she has ever experienced. It just may have been, but spare me the look lady!
I get the shirt off and the nurse snorts, “Look, you’re still holding the shirt.” We are at a crossroads here. I understand that I am “holding” the shirt, but it is resting in my lap without any human intervention required. I am not reaching my good arm (the one that will hopefully break my fall when I pass out) across my body whilst holding a sleeve only inches from a dangerous needle that we surely puncture a vital organ when I fall to the floor.
Regardless, the shirt is now removed and little miss sarcastic nurse decides it is the appropriate time to administer “the alcohol wipe.”
“Ready?”
Instinctively, I get as close to a prone position as possible. This is of course frustrated in that I am in a chair. I manage slide my butt to the edge of the chair, extend my legs and slump backwards. Almost flat, but not quite.
“What are you doing? Sit up straight!”
Remember, we a vaso-vagal needle phobes are passive. I respectfully sit-up and get alcohol wiped, but I’m done... eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
The funny thing is, I never really feel anything. I guess that is a good thing. I do not feel the needle prick into my flesh. I do not feel the death serum seeping in my vein. I do not feel the needle slide out. I do not feel them band-aid up the hole left in my arm. I think it is because, at that point, I am usually preoccupied with other things.
First shot administered. I am conscious.
I open my eyes upon her prompting, “That wasn’t so bad?” Yeah, if you don’t notice that my blood pressure is critically low, all color from my face is gone and there is a considerable amount of sweat pouring from my body and yet to touch my skin would reveal a death-like clamminess. Sure, that wasn’t so bad!?!
“Well, that was your typhoid. Now I am going to give you your tetanus. The typhoid was like a baby shot. The tetanus will hurt a lot more.”
What is she thinking? Where did this nurse go to school? Has she absolutely zero bedside manner? Wha…uhh… can I… aaauuuuhhhh…….
“Give me your other arm,” she commands. And then suddenly she realizes, hey, this guy ain’t doing so well. “Do you want to come back and get the other shots later?”
“No.”
A little fact about tetanus shot. It hurts. It hurts going in. It hurts going out. It hurts even more two hours later. And even more two days later. Usually a good nurse will ask you whether you are right or left-handed and give you the shot in the other arm because of the associated pain and stiffness. As you may have figured already, my nurse is not a good nurse. I am still debating on whether to report her actions to Kaiser management.
I passively give her my right arm as commanded (yes, I am right-handed). More alcohol wipes. I make my deep breaths loud, mostly so I know I am still conscious and kind of so that she knows I am conscious.
“Relax your arm,” she says with a hint of compassion in her voice, “It will hurt less that way.” Compassion removed.
Eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
Second shot administered. I am conscious.
Another command to relax my arm. Another alcohol wipe.
Eyes closed, deep breaths, cold sweats, please don’t vomit, please don’t pass out.
Third shot administered. I am conscious.
“You done.”
I rise to my feet. I am standing still, the room is definitely moving. I stagger towards the exit to the waiting room. I hear a faint call in the background, “If you no feel well, take two aspirin.” And with that I burst through the door to needle freedom.
Jen might have a more accurate account of what happened next. I managed to make my way to the chairs and promptly resumed the prone position. Jen was called away to get here one shot.
My arm still hurts. And I have cold sweat nightmares. But I am now safe to travel abroad. Was it all worth it? I hope so. Ask me when we return from South America.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
*Preview*
New post coming soon...
Featuring:
- Kenny...
- The meanest Nurse in history...
- and 3 large needles...
Farewell Pontiac...
...How we will miss thee!
We (and by "we" I mean "I"... haha) sold the Pontiac this weekend! Yippeee! To top off the joy of selling the car was the fact that we got full asking price and sold it in less than a week.
Kenny was home yesterday and we were able to sign the car over and get our money! He had a grand ol' time trying to get the car Smogged... it passed just fine, but he had to go to three different places! Another lesson learned... Just like coupons for carpet cleaning... coupons for a cheap SMOG inspection at a place called "Trust SMOG Test" should NEVER be used!
We (and by "we" I mean "I"... haha) sold the Pontiac this weekend! Yippeee! To top off the joy of selling the car was the fact that we got full asking price and sold it in less than a week.
Kenny was home yesterday and we were able to sign the car over and get our money! He had a grand ol' time trying to get the car Smogged... it passed just fine, but he had to go to three different places! Another lesson learned... Just like coupons for carpet cleaning... coupons for a cheap SMOG inspection at a place called "Trust SMOG Test" should NEVER be used!
Friday, April 20, 2007
The countdown begins...
We leave for South America in less than a month!!! Still saving up for that llama ride :)
Monday, April 16, 2007
Go Hug-a-Tree
I guess we are officially tree-huggers now. Today we bought a Prius! We love our new "green" car. Of course the Hybrid technology and 55+ mpg influenced us, but what really sealed the deal were the awesome features like the navigation system and blue tooth... yeah, we are suckers for cool gadgets! The biggest push to get the Prius had to be that last week, our mechanic told us that our 1994 Pontiac Grand Am had seen better days and was going to cost waaay more than it was worth to fix. Yippee for our first grown-up car purchase :)
A new car!
Jen ♥'s her Prius
Of course, Kenny had to drive it first!
Only 1 mile on the car!
Don't we look happy saving the planet :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Jeffrey :)
At almost 4 months, Jeffrey is walking! Well, maybe not yet, but he is rolling over and lookin' cute :) Be sure to head over to David & Jamie's blog to watch the video and check up on my little nephew!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Kern Valley Airport Camping
Kenny didn't have to work last weekend, so we decided to pick up last minute and fly to Kern Valley Airport for a quick camping getaway. The airport has a little camping area on the field and is just yards away from the Kern River. The 2 hour flight was uneventful and Pilot did just fine... although he never left our laps!
A few minutes after we landed, David, Jamie & Jeffrey showed up and we went into town for a great lunch at Los Juacalitos- a local Mexican food restaurant with a fun name to pronounce (at least to me & Jamie... Juacalitos!) After lunch, we did a few geocaches and David introduced Jeffrey to the Kern River. We had a blast hanging out and seeing Jeffrey again (and David & Jamie!)
That evening Kenny and I tried our luck at fishing the river. After only a half an hour of fishing, Kenny landed a decent rainbow trout. Soon the wind began to pick up and we were forced to quit for the night.We started a campfire and had a yummy dinner of roasted marshmallows! YUM!
Thanks to our new sleeping bags, we had warm night's sleep... at least for us... Pilot almost froze to death! After climbing in between us in the middle of the night he fared much better.
The next morning we tried fishing again, but had no luck. We then packed up our stuff, found another geocache that was only feet away from where we had slept, washed up in the "shower" (just kidding), headed over the cafe for breakfast, and then flew home.What a fun weekend! We are hoping to go airplane camping again soon.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Pilot Jeffrey
Last week Kenny flew to Reno-Boise-Fresno-Bakersfield. In Bakersfield he had a few hours to kill and David, Jamie & Jeffrey were able to come pick him up for a visit. They had a great time hanging out and introducing Jeffrey to the airplane... I think we have a new pilot in the family.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Psalm 103
"...He surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things..."
Kenny comes home tonight and will be home all weekend ♥ Pilot is the best dog ever ♥ Kenny and I have the most amazing parents in the world... Doug & Terry... Jim & Jolene ♥ David & Jamie ♥ Jeffrey ♥ Eric & Sheree ♥ Danny & Tonita ♥ Carl, Rebecca, Hannah & Joe-fish ♥ Blake & Allison- we miss you! ♥ Friends & family ♥ Travel
He fills my life with good things...
Kenny comes home tonight and will be home all weekend ♥ Pilot is the best dog ever ♥ Kenny and I have the most amazing parents in the world... Doug & Terry... Jim & Jolene ♥ David & Jamie ♥ Jeffrey ♥ Eric & Sheree ♥ Danny & Tonita ♥ Carl, Rebecca, Hannah & Joe-fish ♥ Blake & Allison- we miss you! ♥ Friends & family ♥ Travel
He fills my life with good things...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I poisoned my husband
Well, I am hoping it was just the flu and not food poisoning, but one way or the other, Kenny and I were both SICK this weekend.This was not your normal, I'm-not-feeling-so-well-upset-stomach kind of sick. Nope, it was a run-to-the-bathroom-as-fast-as-you-can-without-passing-out kind of sick. I will spare you all the gory details.
Poor Kenny was way sicker than I was and lost over 15 pounds :( He was supposed to leave on Friday for a 3 day trip to Reno, but figured the passengers might not want a pilot who couldn't even stand up... not to mention fly a plane!
Since we couldn't move Friday or Saturday, the sweet, sweet angel of mercy, Tonita brought us Gatorade, meds and 7-up. I am not sure if we said it at the time because we were basically unconscious, but Thank You Tonita!
Sunday we managed to drag ourselves out of bed and made it to the couch. PBS had all four hours of Anne of Green Gables playing and I amazed Kenny by almost perfectly quoting some of Anne's poems... come on... doesn't everyone know The Lady of Shalott and The Highwayman?!? Kenny asked me when I was going to start using my memorization powers for evil instead of good- LOL :)
We also watched Swiss Family Robinson. It was a good day minus the shooting stomach pains. Although Kenny asks that the next time I want him to stay home for a weekend and not go on a trip… just ask... no more poisoning :)
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Vacation Quiz
I took a quiz Tonita sent me, What Latin American Country Should You Visit?, and here is my result... coincidence? I think not :)
I am so going to pet a llama!!! :)
| You Should Visit Peru |
 Peru is ideal for your "off the beaten path" traveling style. Head out to an ancient Incan city, visit a volcano, and don't forget to pet a llama. |
I am so going to pet a llama!!! :)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
New Camera = More Blogs
Yippee!!! We just ordered our new camera... a Canon PowerShot SD800 IS ELPH. We are so excited. Now don't get us wrong, we are still in LOVE with our Nikon D50, but it is just a little too big to be lugging around all the time.Since Kenny has been flying a ton for Schubach Aviation recently, he has been able to go to some amazing places but has only had his camera phone to take pictures. We are hoping that with this new, tiny camera (it fits inside his shirt pocket) he will be able to snap more pictures and share his flights with you, our Blogger friends and family.
P.S. Hopefully this weekend I can get Kenny to post his camera phone pictures of his recent trips. I am so jealous of all the places he gets to go... he has some great stories! -Jen
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
We are famous!
At least a little famous.
A few years ago after we got back from Europe, we sent Sierra Designs and a few other companies "Thank You Notes" saying how much their products helped us on our trip.
Well, Sierra Designs posted our story on their webpage... now just maybe we can get them to throw in a free sleeping bag or two... or four for all this free publicity they are getting from us :)
A few years ago after we got back from Europe, we sent Sierra Designs and a few other companies "Thank You Notes" saying how much their products helped us on our trip.
Well, Sierra Designs posted our story on their webpage... now just maybe we can get them to throw in a free sleeping bag or two... or four for all this free publicity they are getting from us :)
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Landfills are the coolest
Seriously. I am thinking of working at one.
This weekend my parents came down and worked on our front yard. For those of you who haven't seen it, our front yard was UGLY! The previous owners must have thought that 2 different slabs of concrete, asphalt, dirt and lava rock were the perfect combination for an award winning yard. Me... not so much.
Last week I posted our lava rock on Craigslist(which, by the way, is one of the coolest sites on the web for free stuff). Some wonderful man, who must have shared the same landscaping taste as the previous owners of our house, came by while I was at work and loaded up all of our lava rock so he could... umm… beautify his own house. Yeah!!! No more lava rock for me!
Having rid the yard of the lava rock, the next task was to remove one old slab of concrete and extend the planter bed. We were expecting to have to rent a jack hammer or some other tool to get the concrete out, but nope... we had plenty of muscles for the job and quickly removed the old concrete.
Next we had to get rid of the 1.5 TONS of concrete that we had removed. We couldn't just hide it in the bottom of our trash can for the unsuspecting trash man to pick up. It was off to the first landfill of the weekend to drop off our load of concrete.
Let me just say again, I love landfills. The people there are sooo nice. As we were unloading the trailer, I snapped a few pictures. One of the workers saw me and couldn’t stop laughing at the crazy girl who was taking pictures of all the trash. Did I mention that we also got to wear a really cool neon hard hat???
We spent the rest of the weekend moving dirt, installing a drip system and planting.
On Sunday it rained. We had already planted everything so it was fun to see our new little plants getting much needed water.
Early in the day we decided that to finish off the project and tie everything together we needed some compost/ mulch. Off we went to another landfill. It never occurred to us that landfills don’t have paved roads… or that dirt roads, compost and rain mean lots and lots of mud! By the end we were covered in muddy compost, but the wonderful people at the landfill had filled our entire trailer with beautiful compost for only $8.00! Again, they were some of the happiest and nicest people I had ever met. I really think I have found my calling in life :)
Well, thanks to all the hard work from my WONFERFUL parents, my yard is now gorgeous (or at least I think so!).
Thank you Mom & Dad for all of your hard work and for keeping me company while Kenny was away flying!
This weekend my parents came down and worked on our front yard. For those of you who haven't seen it, our front yard was UGLY! The previous owners must have thought that 2 different slabs of concrete, asphalt, dirt and lava rock were the perfect combination for an award winning yard. Me... not so much.
Last week I posted our lava rock on Craigslist(which, by the way, is one of the coolest sites on the web for free stuff). Some wonderful man, who must have shared the same landscaping taste as the previous owners of our house, came by while I was at work and loaded up all of our lava rock so he could... umm… beautify his own house. Yeah!!! No more lava rock for me!
Having rid the yard of the lava rock, the next task was to remove one old slab of concrete and extend the planter bed. We were expecting to have to rent a jack hammer or some other tool to get the concrete out, but nope... we had plenty of muscles for the job and quickly removed the old concrete.
Next we had to get rid of the 1.5 TONS of concrete that we had removed. We couldn't just hide it in the bottom of our trash can for the unsuspecting trash man to pick up. It was off to the first landfill of the weekend to drop off our load of concrete.
Let me just say again, I love landfills. The people there are sooo nice. As we were unloading the trailer, I snapped a few pictures. One of the workers saw me and couldn’t stop laughing at the crazy girl who was taking pictures of all the trash. Did I mention that we also got to wear a really cool neon hard hat???
We spent the rest of the weekend moving dirt, installing a drip system and planting.
On Sunday it rained. We had already planted everything so it was fun to see our new little plants getting much needed water.Early in the day we decided that to finish off the project and tie everything together we needed some compost/ mulch. Off we went to another landfill. It never occurred to us that landfills don’t have paved roads… or that dirt roads, compost and rain mean lots and lots of mud! By the end we were covered in muddy compost, but the wonderful people at the landfill had filled our entire trailer with beautiful compost for only $8.00! Again, they were some of the happiest and nicest people I had ever met. I really think I have found my calling in life :)
Well, thanks to all the hard work from my WONFERFUL parents, my yard is now gorgeous (or at least I think so!).
Thank you Mom & Dad for all of your hard work and for keeping me company while Kenny was away flying!
We bought our tickets!
Yesterday at lunch Tonita and Jen booked the tickets for our trip to Peru!
I guess we are officially going now... no turning back :)
♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥
Every day since I was in high school I have worn black on Valentine's Day.
In high school a group of us dubbed ourselves the She-Woman-Man-Haters Club ala Little Rascals. We would wear black as if we were in mourning. I am not a big fan of the holiday so it was fun to protest in my own small way.
Now that I am married (to the best man ever!) I still wear black... it just looks a little different...
In high school a group of us dubbed ourselves the She-Woman-Man-Haters Club ala Little Rascals. We would wear black as if we were in mourning. I am not a big fan of the holiday so it was fun to protest in my own small way.
Now that I am married (to the best man ever!) I still wear black... it just looks a little different...
I love you Kenny... and yes, I am wearing that shirt to work today ♥
New Blogger
Well, Blogger finally made me switch. I am sad. I am sure it will be fine, but I guess I don't like change or something...
My first impressions so far...
- I hate the fact that Blogger gives the annoying security warning in the comments section
- Not a fan of logging in with my email address
- I do like the idea of labeling all my posts... it will be fun
- I am thrilled that my blog is still there and everything still looks fine… so far
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
I pay my hairdresser in tacos...
... actually, 3 rolled tacos, rice & beans...
On Monday Tonita offered to help me rid my head of what was quickly becoming... can I even say it... a... gasp... MULLET!
Thanks to the wonderful lady (note the sarcasm) who gave me my trademarked Peter Pan look the last time I went to the salon, my hair has been having much difficulty growing out. At the time I thought that bad haircuts were no big deal and that they would just grow out back to normal. Wrong. No one told me that the hardest part of a bad haircut is growing it out and having different stages of bad hair.
Well, Tonita did a marvelous job and I am planning on bribing her with Emma’s Mexican Food every time I need my hair cut from now on!
With her help, slowly, but surely, I am getting over my bad haircut… every once in a while I still cringe when I think of scissors, but I am sure that will pass.
On Monday Tonita offered to help me rid my head of what was quickly becoming... can I even say it... a... gasp... MULLET!
Thanks to the wonderful lady (note the sarcasm) who gave me my trademarked Peter Pan look the last time I went to the salon, my hair has been having much difficulty growing out. At the time I thought that bad haircuts were no big deal and that they would just grow out back to normal. Wrong. No one told me that the hardest part of a bad haircut is growing it out and having different stages of bad hair.
Well, Tonita did a marvelous job and I am planning on bribing her with Emma’s Mexican Food every time I need my hair cut from now on!
With her help, slowly, but surely, I am getting over my bad haircut… every once in a while I still cringe when I think of scissors, but I am sure that will pass.
Part of me misses my Peter Pan with a Mohawk look... well, maybe not :)
Friday, February 02, 2007
Get Well Soon Now!
Kenny is sick. He has a 102.5 degree temperature as of 4:00 this afternoon. He is at home, in bed and had to cancel his flights for tonight and this weekend. I hope he feels better soon, but is it wrong that a small part of me is excited that he gets to be at home all weekend?!?Feel better Kenny, I ♥ you!
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Big Boring Blog
Nothing really exciting has been going on lately... well nothing blog-worthy, that is. There have been a whole bunch of semi-interesting things that individually are fairly boring, but I thought if made one giant post filled with our goings on then maybe... just maybe everyone won't be bored to tears!
Here are the happenings in our life for last few weeks... in no particular order...
Most of you know we take Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Fridays. The great thing about doing Tae Kwon Do is that we get to kick each other… all married people should get this opportunity! We also volunteer to help teach the beginner’s class just because it is fun to kick small children.
A few weeks ago a new element of fun was added to class... we now get to play with sticks! That is right, not only can we get hurt by getting kicked or punched in the face, we now have the added bonus of getting beaten to death with a hard wooden object.
Long Staff is actually quite fun… as you can see by the picture, Kenny is taking it quite seriously.
Last week Kenny started teaching an IFR Ground School at Rison. He gets to make sure that his students can fly in and out of clouds and bad weather without killing themselves.
Kenny is not one to do things half way. He made an awesome Power Point presentation so the class wouldn't get bored listening to him talk for the 8 week class (not that I'm saying he is boring... I love you Kenny!). The Power Point was great and all, but Kenny was not content to show it on the small monitors in the classroom. An hour before class, we ran to Best Buy and bought an amazing projector that just so happened to be on sale. The bonus to having this projector is that we get to bring it home... because it is just not safe at the office, right?!? Last weekend Danny & Tonita came over and we all gathered around the giant 100 inch picture and watched a movie. We now have a white king-sized sheet hanging in our living room, but we don't care... we get to watch movies really big! We also get to make cool shadow puppets :)
Last week we decided our microwave had seen its last day. There is something about us that seems to kill microwaves way before they reach their prime. We ran over to Costco and purchased a shiny new machine to heat up our meals. We hate this new microwave. We hate everything about it. We hate the way the buttons look and feel. We hate the way it beeps. We hate the way the display doesn't light up. We hate it. We will be returning it this weekend.
Note: We do not know why we felt this needed to be in the blog, but it was an important event that happened in the last few weeks. We are such exciting people aren't we?!?
A few months ago, Jen helped a friend apply for a trademark. His lawyer wanted to charge him $2,000... we were sure we could get it done for just the filing fee... what do lawyers know anyway??? Well, last week we received an official looking envelope from the US Department of Trademarks and Patents and guess what?!? The trademark was approved! Take that you greedy lawyer! So if anyone needs a trademark done... we'll cut you a deal... only $1,000 :)
Monday, we had to get two new tires on our car :( Don’t you hate putting money into a vehicle that you don’t really like? We like our car cause it is paid off, but hate certain characteristics it has. It is a quirky vehicle with doors that randomly lock and trap you inside and windows that work only when they feel like it. Oh well, two new tires is still better than having a car payment!
So, in about 3 1/2 months we are going to Peru. Whoo hoo!!! We have been scouring the internet every day looking for AFORDABLE tickets for the four of us (Danny & Tonita are coming too!). We are sure that our wonderful family and friends want to help, so we are asking that if you have any free time, if you are bored at work, or if you cannot sleep at night that you check expedia.com, lan.com, or any other secret ticket finding sites that you might know about. We would love you forever (not that we don't already love you)! If you choose to accept this mission, we are looking for tickets from SAN-LIM or LAX-LIM preferably on LAN Airlines because they go direct (May 19- June 3). We promise to bring you back a llama if you find a good deal :)
While in Peru we will be hiking the Inca Trail for 4 days. We have been told it can be a brutal hike because of the elevation (up to almost 14,000 feet). Elevation gains on the trek average 1,000-1,500 feet, with one day gaining 3,934 feet! We decided to start practicing and working out so we didn’t die or need the oxygen our porters will be carrying on the trek. Sunday we hiked Pyles Peak (1379 feet) and had about a 1,000 foot elevation gain. We were tired and we are basically at sea level… I guess we need to do a bit more hiking!
Speaking of hiking, tomorrow we will send in our application to hike Mt. Whitney (highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet). All permits to hike Mt. Whitney are chosen by a lottery since it is so popular. We are crossing our fingers and hope that we get to do it this year!
Well, that is about it. We told you this was going to be a Big Boring Blog!
Here are the happenings in our life for last few weeks... in no particular order...
Most of you know we take Tae Kwon Do on Tuesdays and Fridays. The great thing about doing Tae Kwon Do is that we get to kick each other… all married people should get this opportunity! We also volunteer to help teach the beginner’s class just because it is fun to kick small children.A few weeks ago a new element of fun was added to class... we now get to play with sticks! That is right, not only can we get hurt by getting kicked or punched in the face, we now have the added bonus of getting beaten to death with a hard wooden object.
Long Staff is actually quite fun… as you can see by the picture, Kenny is taking it quite seriously.
Last week Kenny started teaching an IFR Ground School at Rison. He gets to make sure that his students can fly in and out of clouds and bad weather without killing themselves.
Kenny is not one to do things half way. He made an awesome Power Point presentation so the class wouldn't get bored listening to him talk for the 8 week class (not that I'm saying he is boring... I love you Kenny!). The Power Point was great and all, but Kenny was not content to show it on the small monitors in the classroom. An hour before class, we ran to Best Buy and bought an amazing projector that just so happened to be on sale. The bonus to having this projector is that we get to bring it home... because it is just not safe at the office, right?!? Last weekend Danny & Tonita came over and we all gathered around the giant 100 inch picture and watched a movie. We now have a white king-sized sheet hanging in our living room, but we don't care... we get to watch movies really big! We also get to make cool shadow puppets :)Last week we decided our microwave had seen its last day. There is something about us that seems to kill microwaves way before they reach their prime. We ran over to Costco and purchased a shiny new machine to heat up our meals. We hate this new microwave. We hate everything about it. We hate the way the buttons look and feel. We hate the way it beeps. We hate the way the display doesn't light up. We hate it. We will be returning it this weekend.
Note: We do not know why we felt this needed to be in the blog, but it was an important event that happened in the last few weeks. We are such exciting people aren't we?!?
A few months ago, Jen helped a friend apply for a trademark. His lawyer wanted to charge him $2,000... we were sure we could get it done for just the filing fee... what do lawyers know anyway??? Well, last week we received an official looking envelope from the US Department of Trademarks and Patents and guess what?!? The trademark was approved! Take that you greedy lawyer! So if anyone needs a trademark done... we'll cut you a deal... only $1,000 :)Monday, we had to get two new tires on our car :( Don’t you hate putting money into a vehicle that you don’t really like? We like our car cause it is paid off, but hate certain characteristics it has. It is a quirky vehicle with doors that randomly lock and trap you inside and windows that work only when they feel like it. Oh well, two new tires is still better than having a car payment!
So, in about 3 1/2 months we are going to Peru. Whoo hoo!!! We have been scouring the internet every day looking for AFORDABLE tickets for the four of us (Danny & Tonita are coming too!). We are sure that our wonderful family and friends want to help, so we are asking that if you have any free time, if you are bored at work, or if you cannot sleep at night that you check expedia.com, lan.com, or any other secret ticket finding sites that you might know about. We would love you forever (not that we don't already love you)! If you choose to accept this mission, we are looking for tickets from SAN-LIM or LAX-LIM preferably on LAN Airlines because they go direct (May 19- June 3). We promise to bring you back a llama if you find a good deal :)
While in Peru we will be hiking the Inca Trail for 4 days. We have been told it can be a brutal hike because of the elevation (up to almost 14,000 feet). Elevation gains on the trek average 1,000-1,500 feet, with one day gaining 3,934 feet! We decided to start practicing and working out so we didn’t die or need the oxygen our porters will be carrying on the trek. Sunday we hiked Pyles Peak (1379 feet) and had about a 1,000 foot elevation gain. We were tired and we are basically at sea level… I guess we need to do a bit more hiking!Speaking of hiking, tomorrow we will send in our application to hike Mt. Whitney (highest point in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet). All permits to hike Mt. Whitney are chosen by a lottery since it is so popular. We are crossing our fingers and hope that we get to do it this year!
Well, that is about it. We told you this was going to be a Big Boring Blog!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
New Blog!
David, Jamie & Jeffrey have a new blog!
Jeffrey has been working on it and has posted the cutest picture of himself... check it out and show him some love ♥
http://davidjamiejeffrey.blogspot.com/
Jeffrey has been working on it and has posted the cutest picture of himself... check it out and show him some love ♥
http://davidjamiejeffrey.blogspot.com/
Friday, January 05, 2007
Happy New Year!
Last weekend we decided to celebrate the New Year by doing something Kenny had never done in his many years of living in So Cal... We went and saw the Rose Parade floats in Pasadena! (Check off 1 on his 30 before 30)
We had considered volunteering to work on the floats, but after what we saw on Saturday, we now know better. That is a TON of work! We will just look at the floats and enjoy them, thank you very much.
We were amazed at the time that goes into making these floats so detailed… not to mention the money (most floats cost about $300,000)… all for just one day.
We were able to see the City of Palmdale’s float… We doubt the tortoises and Joshua Trees that graced the float would make someone think, “Wow, that looks like a nice place to live.”
We also purchased a post card to help support the Cal Poly float. Our post card supposedly rode on the float and they said they would mail it back to us with a statement attesting to that fact. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, but now we are not so sure about it…. We watched the parade and no postcards were seen riding on the float at any time! We’ll just choose to believe that they hid them really well :)
Sunday we surprised Jen’s parents and flew up to Fox Field in Lancaster. David, Jamie & Jeffrey picked us up at the airport. We had a fun New Year’s Eve making tamales and playing with little Jeffrey (Jen took about a million pictures of him which we will have to sort through and post later!)
Overall, a good way to start 2007!
We had considered volunteering to work on the floats, but after what we saw on Saturday, we now know better. That is a TON of work! We will just look at the floats and enjoy them, thank you very much.
We were amazed at the time that goes into making these floats so detailed… not to mention the money (most floats cost about $300,000)… all for just one day.
We were able to see the City of Palmdale’s float… We doubt the tortoises and Joshua Trees that graced the float would make someone think, “Wow, that looks like a nice place to live.”
We also purchased a post card to help support the Cal Poly float. Our post card supposedly rode on the float and they said they would mail it back to us with a statement attesting to that fact. It seemed like a fun idea at the time, but now we are not so sure about it…. We watched the parade and no postcards were seen riding on the float at any time! We’ll just choose to believe that they hid them really well :)
Sunday we surprised Jen’s parents and flew up to Fox Field in Lancaster. David, Jamie & Jeffrey picked us up at the airport. We had a fun New Year’s Eve making tamales and playing with little Jeffrey (Jen took about a million pictures of him which we will have to sort through and post later!)
Overall, a good way to start 2007!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Warm Ears- Warm Heart :)
Thank you Danny & Tonita for this wonderfully stylish hat! Kenny has worn it every day since you gave it to him! He has the warmest ears on the block :)
Thursday, December 28, 2006
White Christmas
Kenny was able to have a White Christmas even though we live in San Diego.
No snow... no problem... Colorado has snow this time of year... and lots of it! He hopped on a jet and headed for Denver (it helped that he was getting paid for the flight... the benefits of being a corporate pilot!!!)
Not only did he get snow for Christmas... he got lots of YUMMY food too! He ordered the "Mixed Grill" that included Wild Boar, Pork and Venison and topped it off with the "Chocolate Tower" for dessert! The Pilot he went with ordered a $250 bottle of wine on the company since it was Christmas... too bad Kenny doesn't enjoy wine :(
I am so jealous... I am thinking of becoming a pilot too :)
No snow... no problem... Colorado has snow this time of year... and lots of it! He hopped on a jet and headed for Denver (it helped that he was getting paid for the flight... the benefits of being a corporate pilot!!!)
Not only did he get snow for Christmas... he got lots of YUMMY food too! He ordered the "Mixed Grill" that included Wild Boar, Pork and Venison and topped it off with the "Chocolate Tower" for dessert! The Pilot he went with ordered a $250 bottle of wine on the company since it was Christmas... too bad Kenny doesn't enjoy wine :(
I am so jealous... I am thinking of becoming a pilot too :)
Monday, December 25, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
It's *Almost* Christmas!
Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and the FAA examiner arrived last week for the pre-Christmas flight check.
In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. He knew they would examine all his equipment and truly put his flying skills to the test.
The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and Rudolf's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for sled's enormous payload.
Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. "What's that for?!?" asked Santa incredulously.
The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this ahead of time," as he leaned over to whisper in Santa's ear, "but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."
:)
In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his logbook out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. He knew they would examine all his equipment and truly put his flying skills to the test.
The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and Rudolf's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for sled's enormous payload.
Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. "What's that for?!?" asked Santa incredulously.
The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this ahead of time," as he leaned over to whisper in Santa's ear, "but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."
:)
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Seasons Greetings
Every single card we have received at my office boasts "Seasons Greetings" on the front. No "Merry Christmas" or even "Happy Holidays." I'd even be happy with a "Happy Hanukah", "Kool Kwanza" or even a "Super Solstice" card. Anything to break up the monotony above my desk.
I ♥ Wireless Internet
I am back online! Yippee!!! I know you all missed me and are breathing a collective sigh of relief.
We have my next door office neighbors to thank for giving me their password for their wireless internet. I am sooooo happy and now can enjoy work again... or at least spend time on blogger when I can't stand working any longer :)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Why we won't shop at K-Mart...
We have a cute little black dog as you all know. Between that cute little black dog, two busy people (me and Jen), our cheap tan carpet got pretty dirty over the past year. It needed to be cleaned.
Jen and I debated about hiring someone to come clean our carpets or just renting the machine and doing it ourselves. Cleaning the carpet ourselves seemed like a ton of work; we had to rent the machine and go pick it up, buy the chemicals and then pray we did not screw anything up while operating this fangled device. Ooooooooorrrrrrrrrr….. we could find a coupon in the paper that boasted a price less than we could rent the machine for, and they do all the work! A no brainer right?
A quick call to “--------” Carpet Cleaning and we were set. They were to arrive Tuesday between 10am and 1pm. A convenient three hour window where Kenny could stay home and get some homework done while the carpet genie swooped in and poof, clean carpets!
10 am - no carpet cleaner and no phone call, no problem.
11am - carpets still dirty, Kenny still doing homework in the peace and quiet.
Noon - Kenny hungry, Jen hungry, Pilot gets to go for a walk. Carpets all alone.
1pm – lunch is done, phone rings, carpet cleaner running 30 minutes late.
2pm – Kenny and Pilot on couch watching Judge Judy, TV volume set to normal.
2:45pm – phone rings again, carpet cleaner needs to confirm address, but claims to be on his way!
3pm – a ghetto van pulls up outside the house. It is mostly white, but the sliding door seems to be from another vehicle, one that used to be blue. There are no markings on the van, but Kenny has sneaking suspicion that this is the fabled carpet cleaner.
A man emerges from the van wearing blue Dickie’s pants and a matching blue Dickie’s shirt, neither of which are anywhere close to clean or presentable; they are maybe thread bare at best. He announces that he is indeed the carpet cleaner and asks what I want done. “Uh, I need my carpets cleaned…?” I answer.
I take him on a quick stroll through the house showing him the areas to be cleaned and then remind him that we have the “5 rooms for $29.95” coupon and yes, I understand there is a $5 travel charge.
Let’s paint the picture real quick. The man is older with thinning grey hair worn long to hide the thinning. The hair is greasy and sweaty from a day of lugging carpet cleaning supplies. He smells, well, he just plain ole smells bad! From like 5 feet away bad! Sweat, BO, and maybe a hint of poor hygiene for several decades. He also might be a little slow upstairs from sniffing carpet cleaning chemicals all day every day. When he was writing up the paper work, I saw him drool on himself (note – I almost vomited at that point).
So the man follows me through the house noting the rooms which needed to be cleaned and then he returns to the living room where he marches over to the couch and sits himself down right in the middle of it! I froze. No, he did not just sit on my couch, my couch… Yes, this dirty, smelly man is now taking the liberty of plopping his dirty butt on MY clean couch and acting like it is his right to be sitting there. No asking, no glance up at me, nothing. Just a plop and into his precious clip board paperwork.
After about three minutes he looks up at me. I am still standing there aghast, my jaw is somewhere around knees, and maybe a tear in my eye. He proceeds to tell me that the machine that the coupon is for does not do a very good job and that I really should use the truck mounted unit instead. Plus, he tells me I need to pre-treat the carpet and get some other blah blah blah.
“Uh, okay,” I say stunned, “how much more is that?”
“Two hundred fourteen dollars,” says he.
“I’ll stick with my coupon.”
He lumbers off to his truck to get the “low-end cleaning machine” and starts the process. He gets a five gallon bucket and walks into our guest bathroom to fill the bucket with some water from the bath and using that to fill the machine. He only slopped about half gallon on the carpet while filling it (please note the sarcasm of that sentence). Somewhere in there, I ask how long will this take? About 30 minutes, but I can get it done in 20. Great, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Finally, the machine is filled, the hoses run and it is making noise. The man starts in our master bedroom. He finishes the room in about 5 minutes and then approaches me again.
“I need to use your restroom” he informs me.
“Uhhhhhhh…..” gasp, gasp, gasp
“Thanks.”
Door shuts.
No, it cannot be. First the couch and now this? Maybe he just drank too much coffee….Nope, 5 minutes have gone by! Are those floaties? Vomit for the second time this afternoon.
It is now 4pm. Twenty minutes of actual cleaning, forty minutes of paperwork, prep work and potty work. He leaves.
I feel violated. This man came into my house. MY HOUSE. I feel dirty and ashamed. I feel cold and naked. I feel all alone in a dark world.
They give you a small three hour window. They charge less than you can rent it for. All you do is make a call and there they are. So easy, so nice. Lies! Deception!
The moral of this adventure: CLEAN YOUR OWN DARN CARPETS!
Remember this: Rent the machine, take the time some Saturday afternoon and clean your own carpet. You will not regret it. You will not save time, you will not save money, you will not be happy if the others do it!
Jen and I debated about hiring someone to come clean our carpets or just renting the machine and doing it ourselves. Cleaning the carpet ourselves seemed like a ton of work; we had to rent the machine and go pick it up, buy the chemicals and then pray we did not screw anything up while operating this fangled device. Ooooooooorrrrrrrrrr….. we could find a coupon in the paper that boasted a price less than we could rent the machine for, and they do all the work! A no brainer right?
A quick call to “--------” Carpet Cleaning and we were set. They were to arrive Tuesday between 10am and 1pm. A convenient three hour window where Kenny could stay home and get some homework done while the carpet genie swooped in and poof, clean carpets!
10 am - no carpet cleaner and no phone call, no problem.
11am - carpets still dirty, Kenny still doing homework in the peace and quiet.
Noon - Kenny hungry, Jen hungry, Pilot gets to go for a walk. Carpets all alone.
1pm – lunch is done, phone rings, carpet cleaner running 30 minutes late.
2pm – Kenny and Pilot on couch watching Judge Judy, TV volume set to normal.
2:45pm – phone rings again, carpet cleaner needs to confirm address, but claims to be on his way!
3pm – a ghetto van pulls up outside the house. It is mostly white, but the sliding door seems to be from another vehicle, one that used to be blue. There are no markings on the van, but Kenny has sneaking suspicion that this is the fabled carpet cleaner.
A man emerges from the van wearing blue Dickie’s pants and a matching blue Dickie’s shirt, neither of which are anywhere close to clean or presentable; they are maybe thread bare at best. He announces that he is indeed the carpet cleaner and asks what I want done. “Uh, I need my carpets cleaned…?” I answer.
I take him on a quick stroll through the house showing him the areas to be cleaned and then remind him that we have the “5 rooms for $29.95” coupon and yes, I understand there is a $5 travel charge.
Let’s paint the picture real quick. The man is older with thinning grey hair worn long to hide the thinning. The hair is greasy and sweaty from a day of lugging carpet cleaning supplies. He smells, well, he just plain ole smells bad! From like 5 feet away bad! Sweat, BO, and maybe a hint of poor hygiene for several decades. He also might be a little slow upstairs from sniffing carpet cleaning chemicals all day every day. When he was writing up the paper work, I saw him drool on himself (note – I almost vomited at that point).
So the man follows me through the house noting the rooms which needed to be cleaned and then he returns to the living room where he marches over to the couch and sits himself down right in the middle of it! I froze. No, he did not just sit on my couch, my couch… Yes, this dirty, smelly man is now taking the liberty of plopping his dirty butt on MY clean couch and acting like it is his right to be sitting there. No asking, no glance up at me, nothing. Just a plop and into his precious clip board paperwork.
After about three minutes he looks up at me. I am still standing there aghast, my jaw is somewhere around knees, and maybe a tear in my eye. He proceeds to tell me that the machine that the coupon is for does not do a very good job and that I really should use the truck mounted unit instead. Plus, he tells me I need to pre-treat the carpet and get some other blah blah blah.
“Uh, okay,” I say stunned, “how much more is that?”
“Two hundred fourteen dollars,” says he.
“I’ll stick with my coupon.”
He lumbers off to his truck to get the “low-end cleaning machine” and starts the process. He gets a five gallon bucket and walks into our guest bathroom to fill the bucket with some water from the bath and using that to fill the machine. He only slopped about half gallon on the carpet while filling it (please note the sarcasm of that sentence). Somewhere in there, I ask how long will this take? About 30 minutes, but I can get it done in 20. Great, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Finally, the machine is filled, the hoses run and it is making noise. The man starts in our master bedroom. He finishes the room in about 5 minutes and then approaches me again.
“I need to use your restroom” he informs me.
“Uhhhhhhh…..” gasp, gasp, gasp
“Thanks.”
Door shuts.
No, it cannot be. First the couch and now this? Maybe he just drank too much coffee….Nope, 5 minutes have gone by! Are those floaties? Vomit for the second time this afternoon.
It is now 4pm. Twenty minutes of actual cleaning, forty minutes of paperwork, prep work and potty work. He leaves.
I feel violated. This man came into my house. MY HOUSE. I feel dirty and ashamed. I feel cold and naked. I feel all alone in a dark world.
They give you a small three hour window. They charge less than you can rent it for. All you do is make a call and there they are. So easy, so nice. Lies! Deception!
The moral of this adventure: CLEAN YOUR OWN DARN CARPETS!
Remember this: Rent the machine, take the time some Saturday afternoon and clean your own carpet. You will not regret it. You will not save time, you will not save money, you will not be happy if the others do it!
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