Next time, I'll pay more for a Dell

I have an HP laptop. I'm less than thrilled with their service. When my laptop broke, it took forever to resolve the issues, delaying the repair. My computer support person spent hours on the phone. Thankfully she viewed this as a university asset even though I had bought it out of my own pocket. I bought it specifically for teaching, but because I'm not a full time faculty member, I don't have university accounts to charge purchases to.

This week, my ac adapter cord started acting funny. I would have my laptop plugged in, but then get a low battery message. After jiggling the connector in the back of the computer, it would start charging again. Knowing that I was leaving for a meeting and would need my laptop on the trip, I quickly ordered a new adapter on Wed. They even offered next day shipping. I commented to the guy taking my ordered that it was perfect as I needed my laptop for travel. It didn't arrive Thurs, but I had ordered after 10:00am. Friday, no adapter. To make matters worse, I hadn't noticed that I was running off battery power and completely drained my battery and my laptop was completely off. I called HP to find out where my part was. The person I spoke with said that it hadn't been shipped and they could send a request to the warehouse inquiring the status of the order and I would have an answer in 24-48 hours. I know better than to accept that answer and asked to speak to a supervisor. He said the part was on backorder and slated for delivery to the warehouse that day. He could request a stat on the order so it would be filled in the first batch, and I would receive the part Tues or Wed. Too late to help me. I expressed my frustration that I wasn't informed of the backorder status (my order number didn't work on the order status segment of the HP website).

I called our computer repair people to see if they happened to have something. They didn't, but offered to call some of their suppliers to see if anyone could get me on on Mon. Better, but didn't help me over the weekend. They said they'd call me back in a few minutes.

I continued to jiggle the cord while trying to turn on the laptop. Finally, it connected. Relief was HUGE. Thirty seconds later, the repair guys called. Someone had ordered an AC adaptor and never picked it up. It was mine if I wanted it!! I said I'd pick it up the next day. I hope it works (I'm bringing my laptop). They also checked with Office Max that had one for $30 more than the repair shop one that would probably work also.

I'm so very tired of HP. (ok, I'm sure that people have similar stories from Dell, but when the computer support manage who is responsible for about 1,000 computers says that after dealing with the first issue with my computer that she will stop recommending HP - you know that it was a bit out of the ordinary. They fact that they really offer nothing in exchange for the frustration is also amazing.)

Next time, I'll pay more for a Dell

I have an HP laptop. I'm less than thrilled with their service. When my laptop broke, it took forever to resolve the issues, delaying the repair. My computer support person spent hours on the phone. Thankfully she viewed this as a university asset even though I had bought it out of my own pocket. I bought it specifically for teaching, but because I'm not a full time faculty member, I don't have university accounts to charge purchases to.

This week, my ac adapter cord started acting funny. I would have my laptop plugged in, but then get a low battery message. After jiggling the connector in the back of the computer, it would start charging again. Knowing that I was leaving for a meeting and would need my laptop on the trip, I quickly ordered a new adapter on Wed. They even offered next day shipping. I commented to the guy taking my ordered that it was perfect as I needed my laptop for travel. It didn't arrive Thurs, but I had ordered after 10:00am. Friday, no adapter. To make matters worse, I hadn't noticed that I was running off battery power and completely drained my battery and my laptop was completely off. I called HP to find out where my part was. The person I spoke with said that it hadn't been shipped and they could send a request to the warehouse inquiring the status of the order and I would have an answer in 24-48 hours. I know better than to accept that answer and asked to speak to a supervisor. He said the part was on backorder and slated for delivery to the warehouse that day. He could request a stat on the order so it would be filled in the first batch, and I would receive the part Tues or Wed. Too late to help me. I expressed my frustration that I wasn't informed of the backorder status (my order number didn't work on the order status segment of the HP website).

I called our computer repair people to see if they happened to have something. They didn't, but offered to call some of their suppliers to see if anyone could get me on on Mon. Better, but didn't help me over the weekend. They said they'd call me back in a few minutes.

I continued to jiggle the cord while trying to turn on the laptop. Finally, it connected. Relief was HUGE. Thirty seconds later, the repair guys called. Someone had ordered an AC adaptor and never picked it up. It was mine if I wanted it!! I said I'd pick it up the next day. I hope it works (I'm bringing my laptop). They also checked with Office Max that had one for $30 more than the repair shop one that would probably work also.

I'm so very tired of HP. (ok, I'm sure that people have similar stories from Dell, but when the computer support manage who is responsible for about 1,000 computers says that after dealing with the first issue with my computer that she will stop recommending HP - you know that it was a bit out of the ordinary. They fact that they really offer nothing in exchange for the frustration is also amazing.)

The fun part of my job

Today, I got to do the fun part of my job. I almost made up for the week of frustration that has left me very frustrated.

The other week, I decided to review the funding lines in the grant to determine if we had saved enough money to fund an extra student. The program I work on in a multidisciplinary program that involves Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering.

This year, we had three really good students apply in ChemEng for one spot. We determined that we had the ability to fund one of the three through other means, which left us with two.Today, I was able to send an email to one of the students and let her know that she was, in fact, awarded one of the positions. She was so excited, asked lots of good questions, and now will try to find a place to live here.I was thrilled that *I* decided that I had a chance of finding the money when no-one asked me to look. Now, I'll admit that the shuffle game wasn't completely my idea, but the original plans for the grant didn't occur the way it was originally anticipated, but I figured out how to get the plan to work under the new set of conditions.

The other part that I'm proud of myself for is that as we determined what we needed to do to help attract these three students, we needed to ensure that two of the students who have been working with the project this year was still funded. I worked with the department to determine how we could accomplish that.

So, as frustrating as this week has been - and it will be until the meetings that I have no control over but a certain level of responsibility are finished next week - I got to hear the squeal of a graduating senior who was so excited about receiving this position that she held an almost uncomprehend-able discussion with my co-worker and it was because of me and the job I do.

(Kelly, it's an OUT of town meeting, I'm too tired to see the computer screen)

I promise, I'll be back

Next week we have a big meeting out of town. I've been frantically organizing last minute details for the group of us traveling.

My brain is on overload.

I'll update infrequently for the next week, but will update.

Sunday Six - Spring

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 7) and Sydney (SK - age 4) the questions.

1. How old is Spring?

SK: 14

SB: 2007 years old

2. What happens in the Spring?

SK: Sometimes it rains in the spring.

SB: Flower grow in the spring.

3. What comes after Spring?

SK: Fall

SB: Summer

4. What do people wear in the Spring?

SK: Short sleeves shirts and shorts and shoes with tights that are pretty to go with tights.

SB: Thin pants, sweatshirts in the middle short sleeve shirts.

5. What is "Spring Break?"

SK: When it turns into fall again.

SB: When you go out of school and then you can just stay home and you can play, watch TV.

6. How will you celebrate Spring?

SK: When the sun comes up and they put decorations all around out houses.

SB: By going outside and playing when all the snow melts in our backyard and front yard.

SK: And we get to play ball.

~~

Yesterday, we took the bikes outside. We don't have room to ride bikes at our house, so we went to an empty parking lot. Sydney asked for her training wheels to be taken off her bike last summer. She did really well with it the first day, but soon after decided that it was too hard. We knew she was just being contrary and refused to put her training wheels back on.

So, yesterday we worked with her to get her more comfortable.

Unfortunately, we had to deal with a bit of stupidity. There are two parking lots next to each otehr that lots of people use for driving practice. So, a car drove into the lot, the drivers changed places, and the new driver took practice circles. At the time they pulled in, we weren't biking, so I just watched the girls carefully. Soon they left. After about 10 minutes, the same car drove up with another "new" driver. As they stopped to switch places, I asked if they were having another driving lesson. Well, I must have hit a language barrier (these were international students) because she said "no" and then proceeded to practice driving. I really wish they had used the next lot over and was going to suggest that had she answered me yes. It just surprised me that after seeing us bike the first time they were there, she'd bring another inexperienced driver to the same parking lot.

But, Sydney started doing much better and I think will soon be an expert rider.

As for the fish, we seem to be a few down from yesterday, but still have most of them. I feel guilty about letting nature take it's course, but I also know that I don't want to get into the breeding business and I don't have space for LOTS and LOTS of fish.

Free Fish

This morning, I woke up to discover 10 new fish in our tank.

Yep, over night one of the fish had babies. For the past month or so, we've suspected that one of our fish was pregnant. I've been doing some reading and it said that if you want to guarantee the fish live, you need to separate them just before they are born.

Well, as I look at the 10 little fish (I can't believe they fit in that mommy fish's tummy), I know that our 10 gallon tank can't handle that many fish. We started with four fish.

So, I'm letting nature take it's course.

I just hope that I don't have to arrive at work one day with a cardboard box and a sign that says "Free Fish"

Sunday Six - Green

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 7) and Sydney (SK - age 4) the questions.

1. What colors make the color green?

SK: Yellow and Orange, and Black and White, and Orange and Black

SB: Yellow and Blue.

2. Are you Irish?

SK: No. (maybe a tiny bit on the mutt side of the family)

SB: No. (see above)

3. Do you eat green M&Ms?

SK: Yes! Because we usually do. So that means yes.

SB: Oh yes, I do.

4. Name some things that are the color green!

SK: Leaves, bushes, M&Ms, gorilla box because my gorilla book (Good Night Gorilla) has green.

SB: Leaves, trees, M&Ms, food, clothes

5. Did your parents celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

SK: Yes - by going to the Ice Show rehearsal and performance. I mean No.

SB: No.

6. Did St. Patrick have a wife? If so, what is her name?

SK: No

SB: I don't think so.
~oOo~Sydney: Now I need to ask a question and you need to answer it. "How did St. Patrick go away."
Mom: St. Patrick went away on a train.
Sydney: Why did St. Patrick go away?
Mom: Because he wanted to go visit his Grandma.
Sydney: How can St. Patrick go away because he has to visit his Grandma?
Mom: Because his mother told him too.

Feel free to answer Sydney's questions yourself!
~oOo~The ice show was a lot of fun. The girls did an amazing job. For Sydney's number, her friend Brady from daycare was in her number. Brady's mom and I were standing together and laughing until we cried. Sydney's group skated to Chattanooga Choo Choo. Sydney worked so hard to skate to the middle of the ice that she didn't noticed when her group started to skate back off the ice toward the end of the song. One of the girls skated over and tapped Sydney on the shoulder and pointed towards the direction the rest of the group was skating. Sydney coach commented that they couldn't have choreographed it any better "Sydney, your missing the train"

Sarah's group skated to Philadelphia Freedom. As Sarah was skating holding hands with the line of girls, she waved up to the stands where we were skating. Only skater the entire night to wave to parents. She didn't miss a step.

Happy St. Urho Day

Are you wearing your purple and green?

What, you've never heard of St Urho? Well, here you can find more information here:

http://www.brownielocks.com/urho.html

This is going to be a long weekend. Last night I went to a friends house for dinner. She made this fabulous recipe from the Penzey's spice catalog.

Oh, you've never heard of Penzey's before? Well, that's another link you need to try out.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/shophome.html

One of the participants of "girls night" brought a movie called "Drop Dead Gorgeous." I highly recommend it if you like that dark comedy along the lines of Heathers. GREAT CAST!

So, I went to bed late and then woke up suddenly at 4:30. Why, I don't know. At 5:15 I gave up and got up. I think my brain is on overload about work yesterday. I'll take a nap later today.

This weekend my girls have their first ice show. They are taking lessons through our community program and this group, the competition skating groups, and the school ice skating groups team together to show off their accomplishments. I'm not sure how Sydney will do - she's more or less skating across the ice. The hard part is that we have a 2 hour rehearsal tonight, a 2 hour rehearsal tomorrow morning, a 2 hour performance tomorrow night and a 2 hour performance Sunday afternoon. I hope Sydney doesn't burn out and decide she's not performing. *le sigh*

I'll post pics later.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

African Water Hole

http://www.wavelit.com/index.asp?ch=Wildlife&sh=africam

This is the coolest. It's a web cam to an African Water Hole. Lots of animals come to play.

Just remember that their day is a bit different than ours.

Yep

It's a double ear infection.

Two advil - pain is untouched!

Can't wait for zpack to kick in.

Darn

Now I think I have an ear infection. Been hurting for several days, just getting worse.

I figured it wouldn't be all bad since I had a few things to talk to my Dr. about, but she's not in today and I don't feel like waiting for tomorrow to get my ear taken care of.

Maybe this is why I've been so tired.

Oh well. Back to calls with the nurse.

Sunday Six - for the love of Green Beer

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 7) and Sydney (SK - age 4) the questions.

1. What is a Shamrock?

SK: Shamrock is a special kind of rock.

SB: It looks like a clover, but it instead of 3 or 4, it has 6.

2. What is a Leprechaun?

SK: Now, I wanted to do the Shamrock, what it looks.
Mom: OK, what does a shamrock look like.
SK: It has 5 sides.
SK: It's a special kind of Shamrock.

SB: It's a special kind of potato (then laughs)

3. Why does St. Patrick like the color green?

SK: A special kind of Shamrock.

SB: Because he's a saint and he loved green clovers.

4. Who is St. Patrick?

SK: He's a special kind of Shamrockie.

SB: He's a special kind of potato.

5. What happens if you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

SK: It will be sad.

SB: I forgot.

6. How will you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?

SK: If everyone is there.


SB: I don't know yet!
Mom: I do.
SB/SK: What - tell us since we already answered the question.
Mom: You will be skating in the ice show that day, and it's our friend Andrew's second birthday.

~~~~

So, with all the blasted rehearsals for this ice show, I've not been around as much. I'm also trying to get the house clean before Thursday night since my house has usually been in chaos when my ILs seem to visit. I'd like it to be a little clean this time.

Time to get ready for church - since we lost an hour.

Finally I found a doctor who has found something to fix in my ankle.

This doctor (a podiatrist) did an xray where he held my ankle in a twisted position when he took the picture. He did both ankles to compare.

He said that no matter how far he pushed my ankle, it should maintain it's intengrity. Actually neither ankle did - but the bad ankle had a 12 degree move. So, my ligaments are loose and are not supporting my ankle well.

He wants to operate and tighten the ligments on the bad ankle. (He'll leave the good ankle alone).

So, in June I'll have the surgery - off work and my ankle for 2 weeks, about 2 weeks off my ankle but I can work, then in a boot for a while, then a brace and Physical Therapy. All told, the recovery is 4-6 mos. But, then my ankle should be fixed!

I am so looking forward to this.
Now I just have to decide where I will have the surgery - either the small, tiny hospital 45 min away or the larger hospital (larger than the one in our town) 2 hours away. It's an outpatient surgery.

When I was driving home from the appointment, the sun was shining off the snow, the sky was blue and I felt sooo very happy that someone finally found what was causing me pain for the past 15 mos.

Kirsten

In my spare time . . .

A friend of mine talked me into starting some creative writing last summer. She told me that it would help me relate better to my students. She was just being silly when she said it, but she was right. I struggled with creative writing - but have found that with work and good friends to bounce ideas off, I'm doing OK.

I have finally become brave enough posted my second story. I started writing it last summer. My first story was a short thing that I wrote by request. This is the first story that is all mine.

It's posted on OWL and MNFF (the mugglenet version will be a little tamer).

You will have to register to read the story on OWL, but not on MNFF. If you decide to read it, let me know what you think. (oh, this is Harry Potter fan fiction, but so far Harry had never made an appearances in my stories LOL)

I hate being skeptical

The other night, I was watching "Flip that House." The management group being featured that episode had bought a house at auction. This meant that the bank had foreclosed and then sold the house for what they could get.

When the owner of the company drove to check the house out, it was obvious that the couple who had owned the house had never moved out. He pretty much had two choices - call the police and have them forcefully evicted or find another solution.

This gentleman remember what life had been like when he was growing up as one of three sons of a single mother and wanted to give this family another chance.

He talked to the husband - not as a white knight, but as a person. He offered to put the couple in a hotel while they fixed up the house - in the manner he normally would. But, rather than selling the house immediately, he would let them move back into the house at a rent set by the husband.

In the segments that were shown by the producers/editors of the program, one of the women expressed her doubt that the couple would care for the house and wondered if they were doing the right thing. When she talked to the couple, it was respectful, but behind their backs she made several derogatory comments about them.

So, I wondered how much the television show played into the portrayal. Did they edit it so it looked like the owner of the company was an amazing person and the young woman a heartless bitch? Maybe he really was the Southern gentleman he portrayed.

In the end, he brought this gentleman to see the changes he made to the guy's former house and he had the classic car the guy had wanted to renovate repaired and painted too - as a gift.

This is one case I wish we could see how things turned out in the end. Did this couple turn this gift into a boost they needed to make their life better?

I want to have faith that there are people out there who work at making a difference. I hope this guy is one of them.

Sunday Six - the Zoo (and ramblings on snow days)

"Sunday Six!" is a game where Kelly asks us to have six questions answered. Remember, the idea is to post answers to the following six question, but the trick is to get your kids to answer them! If you don't have kids, use your imagination... Your pet, your neighbor, your elderly family member, your roommate, etc. Did you play? Let me and Kelly know so we can visit you. Today I was able to ask Sarah (SB - age 7) and Sydney (SK - age 4) the questions.


This week's answers for SUNDAY SIX! The theme this week - Zoo!


1. How many different animals are kept at the Zoo?

SK: Giraffes and zebras and lions and what other animals can I think of, cats and puppies, and that's all. (Sarah: Monkey's) and monkeys.

SB: 59

2. What is your favorite animal at the zoo?

SK: A giraffe

SB: Elephant

3. What is the name of your local zoo?

SK: Zoo.

SB: I have no clue.

(I believe our "local" zoo is 4 hours away. Since Sydney was born, the only zoo the girls have gone to is at Grandma's house in South Dakota - 10 hours away.)

4. What do you do at the zoo?

SK: We look at animals.

SB: Play golf.
Mom: Did you say "play golf?"
SB: Yes. That's what we do at our zoo.
Mom: Our zoo? OH yea. (We have a restaurant that has a few farm animals the kids can feed and a rudimentary mini golf course).

5. What do animals do at night at the zoo?

SK: They sleep.

SB: That was my answer, they sleep. I have two answers for that. They sleep and they talk to each other.

SK: They sleep and close their eyes, and then they kind of talk to each other a little bit.

6. How many monkeys should a zoo have?

SK: One, I mean forty.

SB: Like, three.

~oOo~
Our town was threatened by a blizzard that shut everything down. It wasn't as bad as predicted, but it did close down schools and universities for Friday. The winds were pretty bad. You can see the branches that blew on the roof. We also finally got enough snow to build a snow tunnel in our front yard. That hasn't happened in a couple of years.



Friday, the girls decided to put on a play of the Dragon and the Good Knight. They didn't have costumes, to they made some out of construction paper.




Note that Sydney's shield says "NO" to stop the dragon. Sydney's puppy is dressed in a blue dress to be the princess.

I spent the day working on the roman shade for Sarah's room. I'm about half way done (I decided to sew the stripes across rather than leaving it as a flat sheet of fabric so it's become harder. Thank goodness I do some quilting as it makes this process a little easier. Maybe I'll finish it before her grandparents come.

Tonight we have to go to ice show rehearsal. Wednesday night they had picture night. Rather than two individual pics, the photographer let me take one of the girls together. I wasn't thrilled with their facial expression, but they look so cute in their costumes. I'll post pics in a few weeks.

Tonight they start learning their routines.