June Bugs

I went to bed Wednesday night somewhere close to 11pm after spending over an hour catching up my blog. Subsequently, I didn’t wake for work until 5:55am. I remember waking once at 4am and then again close to 5am. That’s when I granted myself permission to sleep until I was ready to rise. Given my druthers, I prefer not to wake much later than 545am, so that I don’t feel in any way rushed. But in the end, I knew that I could catch up and did. The house, while somewhat cool, wasn’t nearly as comfortable as it should have been, especially after running the A/C through the entire night. It’s now obvious that I need to get the A/C looked at soon or else I risk some miserable evenings mid-summer. After my exercise routine, Ykraps and I were out the door for what was another steamy morning walk. The storms that threatened our area through the night look to have skipped us over as I thought they might. We rarely get rain when I want it, especially this time of the year. Still, it was 63 degrees and very humid just before sunrise – plenty warm. I noticed my petunias looked much better this morning after the heavy watering I provided them last evening. Back home by 6:18am, I poured my first cup of coffee. I love that first cup of coffee on a steamy summer morning. I went to the deck to enjoy it even more. Back inside I sent Mindy an email – her last official day of school! However, she’s quick to point out that she does have to go in tomorrow, but not as early and without students. She’ll do nothing more than tie up loose ends. It sounds more like a party to me. In fact, I liken being a school teacher to a party atmosphere everyday. I prepared my lunch and my breakfast as quickly s possible & then returned to the deck to enjoy the meal. After eating my eggs I ventured out into the yard to inspect the A/C evaporator. It was icing up again, revealing that it is definitely low on Freon again. I returned inside and headed to the shower by 7:05am. I made rather quick work of my prep and was down stairs ready to go by 7:22am. I spent the next 12 minutes playing guitar and securing the home. While pulling out the drive I was disappointed that my buddy in the white Ford Probe wasn’t behind me.J For whatever reason, he doesn’t seem to care for my safe driving style. Mindy called a few minutes earlier than normal, but I half expected it. She must be on cloud nine being the last day of school and all. We talked all the way to work. She would be spending part of her final day in a swim suit sitting in a dunk tank. After that they would be enjoying pizza. Tough life! The morning in the office went as planned. I left both my mother and Lindsey VM’s at their respective numbers trying to ascertain their needs. Lindsey returned my call and shared with me a sad story about her neighbors ganging up on her and threatening her. I’ve tried to impress upon her more than once that the best solution is to separate herself from those sorts of people, but also to look within and ask what she can change about herself rather than blaming others for her woes. I don’t think that the message was received all that well, however. Shame on me. I left for my run not until 1pm since I had to wait for the windshield guy to arrive. The 8-12noon appointment I had scheduled didn’t seem to workout. I took it in stride and was patient. After all, the tech called to tell me he was a little behind. I said, an ass? Well, maybe, but what did that have to do with my windshield being replaced! J Once he arrived I greeted him I the lot then went out for my run. After my hot run in the sun I showered then returned to check on the status of my vehicle. Justin was still working away but commented that things weren’t going so good. As one might imagine, that was not at all what I wanted to hear. He went on to say that he had cut his finger working on the windshield and would likely be leaving the job undone, but that another might be coming in his stead. Worded like that, I was none too happy. He assured me that somehow someone would finish the job, however. With little recourse, I went back to my office and immediately called his office to insure that I would be taken care of properly. While on the phone with his corporate office my second line rang and it was Justin. He had learned that I was calling his office and expressed his discontent. I respectfully listened then let him know in no uncertain terms that his words and actions were not comforting and certainly not leaving me feeling at all confident that I’d be able to leave work with a safe vehicle. He changed his story now and claimed he had to leave to get a new windshield since the one he brought was cracked. He once again assured me that even if I he had to put my old windshield back in that he’d get me on the road. WHATEVER! I want a new windshield given that I already paid for it. I Googled on his actual branch location and then called his manager. Turns out, his manager was on vacation, but spoke with Brad who was acting in his place. He assured me that they did in fact have the proper windshield in stock and that he’d be loading on Justin’s truck once he returned. Fine, that’s all I could ask for. But I did mention that he seemed a bit inept and definitely unsure of himself. Justin was back and working away by 3:30pm. He called to tell me so. An hour later he called to tell me he was done, and I asked that he wait until I had a chance to come down and inspect his work. He agreed, but I could sense tension in his voice. Well,, I could see right away that part of my windshield gasket was missing from each corner. I am well aware of these corner pieces from the first time my windshield was replaced because the gentlemen that time allowed one of them to fall into the wheel well never to be seen again. But at least he told me about it and ordered a new part. That replacement had a story of its own too. This time Justin had allowed both to fall and didn’t fess up until I brought it to his attention. Said he had no idea! As I walked to the other side of the vehicle he immediately chimed in that the reason I’ll see a gap between the seal and the glass is because I have had so many windshields replaced. I could actually see the side of the glass and the clips. And furthermore, I could press on it and see it move up and down. Not very comforting! He later admitted it was due to too much glue compared to the other side and that they would make good on it. I told him to call his manager right away and to write it on the work order that these issues will be resolved to my satisfaction. He at first balked stating that I should take his word and that he was offended – PLEASE! Are you kidding me? Sorry you’re offended but I want assurance that my windshield will be repaired properly. He ultimately obliged and wrote it clearly on the work order, but continued to almost threaten me that I should be taking his word because he’s honorable. I asked to speak with his manager but he stated that he would be gone for the day. I had my cell phone with me so I called his office myself. His acting manager, Brad, assured me that this would be resolved and that he would send out his manager on Friday or Monday to make it right. He preferred to do it on Monday since the glue would be dry by then, which will make pulling the windshield out a much easier and less messy job. Whatever it takes! Good company. Good business model, but too many inexperienced techs doing a task that is apparently more complicated than one might think. I left for home at 5:20pm after what seemed like a long day. I stopped at Home Depot to look at kitchen sink sprayers (mine’s leaking) as well as other items on the HD list. I ended up hanging at HD for about an hour, casually looking at a number of items I’d like to add to my collection. I was home by 6:30pm and immediately took care of the few chores that need done nightly. After my chores I chose to begin installing my new sink sprayer. I’ll just say this; nothing ever goes as easy as one assumes it should. First, I mistakenly detached the cold water feed rather than the sprayer line under the sink. But that was no big deal really because once a little bit of water began squirting out, I turned off the supply line. I corrected my error quickly and found the right line. It came off somewhat easily for such a cramped space, which is often the biggest hurdle when doing kitchen sink work. Unfortunately, the new chrome sprayer and line wouldn’t fit down through the existing collar, and when I attempted to unscrew it by hand, the entire thing turned. What I needed was a third hand or the sink up and out of the counter top. I decided to wait for Mindy to arrive. I was expecting her in the next 30 minutes. She called to inform me that she was on her way about five minutes later. Ten minutes more, she was there. She was going out with friends to celebrate the last day of school and a b-day for a teacher pal. She showed up looking all fly! I was a bit reluctant to ask for her help not wanting her to get dirty or grimie in any way. She was more than willing to lend a hand, though. She held the top firmly and I unscrewed the plastic nut under the sink. It worked easily. Amazing what having a third hand can do. I attached the new sprayer with little if any problem from there. Not only did it fix the pesky leak, but it looks a lot nicer than the old one too. Soon, Mindy’s gap pal, Joy and her fiancée, Alan showed up. They were joining Mindy at all the parties. For whatever reason, I wasn’t invited. They stayed for about ten minutes then left just before 8:00pm. They were planning to stop at a party/bonfire first on El Paso Dr. Sadly, though, it was raining pretty heavily, certainly too much to enjoy the ambience of a bonfire. After they left I did some blogging and then attempted to add pics to my growing log of pictureless entries. For whatever reason, the add picture feature has not been working properly like a lot of things in my house. Give me a break!! Rather than waste the time, I spent it organizing and backing up May 2006 photos to CD. I had a gig’s worth, so it required two CDs. I am just about to hit 2000 photos on my new digital camera after six months. That’s a little more than ten a day. When I finished up it was 9:30pm. I was exhausted so I went to bed.