Everyday Is Not A Vacation!
(I don't remember the last time I used a blog entry to complain, so that is what I am going to do today. )
I know that many of my readers think that we have a wonderful fun-filled life that is like a vacation every day... all right, it is for the most part. But, let me tell you about my last week.
I needed a new phone and was due for an upgrade so I went to Farmington, NM to the Verizon store to pick out one with keyboard to make texting easier. It was the day before my birthday, Bonnie was with me and there was an ice cream shop next door. So far, so good. I get home, throw the old phone and new manual in a corner... how hard can it be to use a phone...
Next day is my 60th and when the phone rings at 8 a m, I just know it is my mom and that she is going to sing Happy Birthday to me. As I reach for the phone, I think how lucky I am. Wait, I can't figure out how to turn on the damm thing, other one just flipped open but this one... "Mike, how do I answer this thing?" "How the __ _ _ _ should I know." And so begins my big day. I missed my call from my mom but I figure she will have left a singing message... no message. A few minutes later, I get a text from Pam saying she just called and I had no voicemail and she thought I should probably set it up. What does she mean no voicemail, doesn't that just transfer over? After checking the phone's menu several times, she is right, no voicemail. "Mike, I think we better make the 38 mile drive into Farmington to figure out what's up with this phone." (Well, maybe I was a bit more frustrated than that sounds!!!)
"Oh and Mike, did I tell you that my new Toshiba computer I bought last week has been getting BLACK SCREENS the last few times I have turned it on, I think we better take that back too."
On this day that started with a beautiful new Topaz around my neck (Mike has really good taste), a day on which I had decided to sleep late, do my nails, enjoy coffee outside and then head for the casino with friends for lunch, instead became a rush "to town" to Best Buy to drop off a computer for a checkup and then over to Verizon only to find out that the clerk had inadvertently pushed the wrong key and refused voicemail while accepting insurance. That reversed, I was cheered slightly cuz now I could at least get messages from well wishers. (And I did, thank you very much.)
Meanwhile, back at Best Buy, the geeks determined there was "no fix" and quickly offered me another one instead. But wait, I have a couple hundred pictures on my new computer... do they offer to take them off for me, no, they offer me a disk and tell me to let them know when I am done. Hey, it is a new computer, what the heck do I know about downloading stuff. Anyway, I get it done and around 1, we head back home to pick up Bonnie and Barry.
Ah, but before we go, I want Bonnie to take a nice picture of Mike and I so we can send it to church so we are included in the directory. I will skip all the gory details of this, but suffice it to say that my frustration boils and teary eyes do not make for a good picture - maybe another time or like Mike says maybe they can just put in a note "Photo Not Available"
Anyway, I actually "loaded" my coffee for the drive to the casino. Still pouting cuz my nails weren't done, but my mood improved after lunch and a couple of beers. I ended up winning a bit and had a good time. BUT...
The next day was moving day so I didn't set up my new new computer until Monday. It works good and after using it for three or four days, I figure it is going to be ok so I load my scrap booking stuff, and photo stuff and ... you guessed it, BLACK SCREEN. SO, we are now in Truth or Consequences, NM and the nearest Best Buy is 90 miles away in Las Cruces.
Yesterday, we left early and headed "to town". 180 miles later, I am typing at the old computer and this blog entry is not about Gila Cliff Dwellings, which are fabulous or the ghost town of Chloride, which is cool since those pictures are L O S T. I took the refund and decided to never buy a Toshiba!
But, alas, that is not the whole story. When in Las Cruces, Mike decides to get a prescription refilled at Walgreens - it is the closest Walgreens to Truth or Consequences. We drop it off before heading to Best Buy. After Best Buy, we go to Sams to pick up some supplies and we check on an HP computer (the kind I am used to) and decide to buy it. My credit card is refused. I call our bank and a very kind lady says I better check with Best Buy, so back to Best Buy we go. Seems Best Buy takes money out of your account within minutes but will take anywhere from 5 days to a month to put the money back in my account. Another quick call to the bank tells me that this is not an unusual practice for "mega stores". OK, no computer for me right now.
Heading out of town we missed the exit for Walgreens, went 5 miles before finding a turn around and then they only had 4 pills so couldn't fill his script... who knows why they didn't tell him that when he stopped the first time... He was not a happy camper!
Frustration, oh yea. But, we still aren't done.
We woke up this morning to a flat tire on the car. Mike put on the spare and in looking closely at the tires, we both realized that we can't wait to get four new ones. So, no computer right now, Mike ordered new tires instead and we will get them when we get to Sierra Vista, AZ sometime next week.
We are ready to be out of New Mexico. It is an enchanting and beautiful state, but we are not used to being so far from civilization... Oh yea, one day while at Navajo Lake, I saw an ad in the paper that looked interesting so we drove 40 miles to look at a "newly constructed site built home with workshop".
We won't be purchasing this $75,000 beauty any time soon. (First place we have ever looked at that came complete with a squatter - no kidding a guy with CA plates was sleeping on the floor and it looked like he had been there awhile - had fruit jars lined up on top his car... figure that out.)
Now that I have just read it through, the whole thing is kinda funny. Living "Along The Side Roads" can get frustrating at times... it keeps us humble!
P.S. We really have nothing to complain about; we are both healthy. Please join me in praying for friends who are dealing with health concerns.
I know that many of my readers think that we have a wonderful fun-filled life that is like a vacation every day... all right, it is for the most part. But, let me tell you about my last week.
I needed a new phone and was due for an upgrade so I went to Farmington, NM to the Verizon store to pick out one with keyboard to make texting easier. It was the day before my birthday, Bonnie was with me and there was an ice cream shop next door. So far, so good. I get home, throw the old phone and new manual in a corner... how hard can it be to use a phone...
Next day is my 60th and when the phone rings at 8 a m, I just know it is my mom and that she is going to sing Happy Birthday to me. As I reach for the phone, I think how lucky I am. Wait, I can't figure out how to turn on the damm thing, other one just flipped open but this one... "Mike, how do I answer this thing?" "How the __ _ _ _ should I know." And so begins my big day. I missed my call from my mom but I figure she will have left a singing message... no message. A few minutes later, I get a text from Pam saying she just called and I had no voicemail and she thought I should probably set it up. What does she mean no voicemail, doesn't that just transfer over? After checking the phone's menu several times, she is right, no voicemail. "Mike, I think we better make the 38 mile drive into Farmington to figure out what's up with this phone." (Well, maybe I was a bit more frustrated than that sounds!!!)
"Oh and Mike, did I tell you that my new Toshiba computer I bought last week has been getting BLACK SCREENS the last few times I have turned it on, I think we better take that back too."
On this day that started with a beautiful new Topaz around my neck (Mike has really good taste), a day on which I had decided to sleep late, do my nails, enjoy coffee outside and then head for the casino with friends for lunch, instead became a rush "to town" to Best Buy to drop off a computer for a checkup and then over to Verizon only to find out that the clerk had inadvertently pushed the wrong key and refused voicemail while accepting insurance. That reversed, I was cheered slightly cuz now I could at least get messages from well wishers. (And I did, thank you very much.)
Meanwhile, back at Best Buy, the geeks determined there was "no fix" and quickly offered me another one instead. But wait, I have a couple hundred pictures on my new computer... do they offer to take them off for me, no, they offer me a disk and tell me to let them know when I am done. Hey, it is a new computer, what the heck do I know about downloading stuff. Anyway, I get it done and around 1, we head back home to pick up Bonnie and Barry.
Ah, but before we go, I want Bonnie to take a nice picture of Mike and I so we can send it to church so we are included in the directory. I will skip all the gory details of this, but suffice it to say that my frustration boils and teary eyes do not make for a good picture - maybe another time or like Mike says maybe they can just put in a note "Photo Not Available"
Anyway, I actually "loaded" my coffee for the drive to the casino. Still pouting cuz my nails weren't done, but my mood improved after lunch and a couple of beers. I ended up winning a bit and had a good time. BUT...
The next day was moving day so I didn't set up my new new computer until Monday. It works good and after using it for three or four days, I figure it is going to be ok so I load my scrap booking stuff, and photo stuff and ... you guessed it, BLACK SCREEN. SO, we are now in Truth or Consequences, NM and the nearest Best Buy is 90 miles away in Las Cruces.
Yesterday, we left early and headed "to town". 180 miles later, I am typing at the old computer and this blog entry is not about Gila Cliff Dwellings, which are fabulous or the ghost town of Chloride, which is cool since those pictures are L O S T. I took the refund and decided to never buy a Toshiba!
But, alas, that is not the whole story. When in Las Cruces, Mike decides to get a prescription refilled at Walgreens - it is the closest Walgreens to Truth or Consequences. We drop it off before heading to Best Buy. After Best Buy, we go to Sams to pick up some supplies and we check on an HP computer (the kind I am used to) and decide to buy it. My credit card is refused. I call our bank and a very kind lady says I better check with Best Buy, so back to Best Buy we go. Seems Best Buy takes money out of your account within minutes but will take anywhere from 5 days to a month to put the money back in my account. Another quick call to the bank tells me that this is not an unusual practice for "mega stores". OK, no computer for me right now.
Heading out of town we missed the exit for Walgreens, went 5 miles before finding a turn around and then they only had 4 pills so couldn't fill his script... who knows why they didn't tell him that when he stopped the first time... He was not a happy camper!
Frustration, oh yea. But, we still aren't done.
We woke up this morning to a flat tire on the car. Mike put on the spare and in looking closely at the tires, we both realized that we can't wait to get four new ones. So, no computer right now, Mike ordered new tires instead and we will get them when we get to Sierra Vista, AZ sometime next week.
We are ready to be out of New Mexico. It is an enchanting and beautiful state, but we are not used to being so far from civilization... Oh yea, one day while at Navajo Lake, I saw an ad in the paper that looked interesting so we drove 40 miles to look at a "newly constructed site built home with workshop".
We won't be purchasing this $75,000 beauty any time soon. (First place we have ever looked at that came complete with a squatter - no kidding a guy with CA plates was sleeping on the floor and it looked like he had been there awhile - had fruit jars lined up on top his car... figure that out.)Now that I have just read it through, the whole thing is kinda funny. Living "Along The Side Roads" can get frustrating at times... it keeps us humble!
P.S. We really have nothing to complain about; we are both healthy. Please join me in praying for friends who are dealing with health concerns.
posted by jf and me | 8:29 PM
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