Being a Browns fan, there are just certain things you have to deal with. You have to deal with the crappy seasons. In fact, those are really the only kind of seasons you know and expect. But in those rare instances where the Browns look like they are going to break through and succeed, you have to deal with their failure ('85, '86, '87 - damn you John Elway; '02 with their second half collapse in the playoffs to the Steelers).
I'm fine with the losing. I'm used to it. In fact, I'm immune to it. That's why I went to A&M. Speaking of the A&M, I've had to watch that jackhole Colt McCoy for the past four years. And guess what? I get to watch him for another four (or five, or six...). Why? Because my loser Browns have decided to pick him. Just my luck.
Why, Cleveland, why? I've been a loyal supporter in my 27 years. I've gone to Browns games. I own Browns paraphanalia. I watch the Browns every time they are on TV (and I'm home). I watch the score updates on ESPN. But now what am I going to do? I'm tired of Colt frickin' McCoy. I'm tired of hearing his name. I'm tired of seeing his mug. In fact, I'd prefer to go through another three years of law school than watch him play for my Browns.
Same Browns, different year.
Showing posts with label whining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whining. Show all posts
Friday, April 23, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Life in the [Tx Tag] Lane
I’ve got some paper writing to do so I figured I’d warm up by writing a blog post about a topic near and dear to my heart right now: the government. The one thing I have learned in my existence on this planet is that all government is inefficient. Case in point...
I got a notice from the toll road authority back in January saying I was a toll violator. It was actually a cool thing to receive because I got a pretty little picture of my vehicle (the best side of the car too – the backside). It was quite amusing to have received the notice since I had a toll tag in my car. No big deal, right? (If it weren’t a big deal, would I be writing this post?)
The notice had a slip that was to be returned with your payment for the violations (3 violations at $1.50 a piece plus $33 in “admin” fees). $37.50 is a pretty hefty amount for 3 tolls. Fortunately, the toll road authority was smart enough to realize that their sensors are not 100% perfect. As such, they included a section on the slip that allowed individuals with toll tags to include the tag information, name, address, license plate number, etc. So I filled that stuff out. But before I returned it, I had a look at the time and date of the alleged violations.
The first two violations amused me. I looked at the detailed activity on my tag and noticed that the tag had been zapped five minutes before the violation and five minutes after. So it was clearly working. The third violation made me angry. My detailed activity showed that my tag had been charged at the exact location and at the exact time that the violation occurred. Not wanting to be double-charged, I included my detailed statement, highlighted AND circled the part showing they had already charged me, and included a note stating I did not authorize getting charged for the third “violation”. I put everything in the mail and that was that.
Or so I thought.
It’s important at this point to explain something. I have a tag that is good on all of the toll roads in this great state. The toll road I was driving on is operated independently by the county. What does that mean? Inefficiency. It means that my tag should work on the toll road. If it does not, I am going to get notices from the county, not the state. I will be forced to reconcile the mistake with the county, not the state. Just keep that in mind.
A couple of weeks after I sent the information to the county, I (or more accurately, H) get a message from the STATE. They say there is something wrong with the tag’s account and to call them back. So I do. I go through the whole story about how I have a tag and yada yada and how I sent my info to the county and yada yada. Then, after I’m done explaining, they tell me they can’t talk to me because my name’s not on the account. (Now I know how telemarketers feel – I let them talk and talk and talk and then tell them I’m not interested.) They do tell me that the account is still active, there’s enough on the account, the tags still work, etc. So, I figure it’s no big deal that they won’t talk to me. The county has my info, they’ll charge my account, end of story.
Well, about a week ago I received a notice from a collection agency saying I had outstanding toll violations and to pay immediately or they were going to seize my vehicle or something stupid like that. The collection notice was nice enough to even tack on another $42 in charges (making the total bill $79.50 for three violations (one of which had already been charged to my account). I was pissed. I was so pissed. I was so angry it’s not even funny. There was no way in hell I was paying them. Unfortunately, I received the notice over the weekend and, as you might guess, the government’s not open on the weekends (or any other time you actually need them). So the issue stews and festers in my head.
Monday rolls around and the first thing I do is call the state (who holds my account – which I was informed was active, had enough money in it, etc.). Again, they tell me they can’t talk to me. But of course, this is after they tell me that it’s my fault (or, more accurately, H’s fault since her name is the one on the account). They tell me that they didn’t send the notice to me, the county did. They tell me I am legally liable for the tolls (duh, didn’t contest that) and the admin charges. They tell me that I am irresponsible and they can’t do anything for me. Call the county they say. I tell them that they will talk to me. It’s my car, my tag, the violation was sent in my name, etc. I did a lot of yelling and got nowhere. Sandra ended the call asking if there was anything else she could “help” me with. I let her know that she was not entitled to use the word “help” since talking to her did not come anywhere near the definition of the word.
Phase 1: failure.
So I email H and tell her to call the state immediately and get my name on the account. Because I wasn’t done and I was calling back.
While she was doing that, I decided to call the county (who sent me the violation, but who I don’t have a tag with). Busy signal. I try again. Busy signal. I try again. Busy signal. I continue redialing for the next 15 minutes and finally get through...and then promptly get placed on hold (see my all-government-is-inefficient statement above).
Eventually someone answers the phone and, while they will talk to me, I get much the same reaction. I am legally responsible for the tolls and the additional fees. And since it has been referred to a collection agency, there’s nothing they can do. Not a good answer. I proceed to lay into them as well about why I provided my tag information and heard NOTHING from them (which is true – they sent me the violation, demanded I respond, and then did nothing but refer it to a collection agency). I inquired why they didn’t contact me (when they had my name, address, phone number, etc.) if there was some kind of problem with the information I sent. Of course I got the ho hum, I don’t know, you owe the fees, how would you like to pay?
I promptly informed the lady that I didn’t want to pay and wanted to know what the appeals process was. There isn’t one. But, for a fee ($50) you could request an administrative hearing in front of a judge and plead your case. She said that most people weren’t successful (but of course she was going to say that). I requested an administrative hearing from her, but of course she was powerless to set one up. I had to call the collection agency (which is also a law firm here in town). Great, one more party to deal with.
After she explained her powerlessness to me, I began laying into her about getting double charged. At this point, her attitude changed. She was actually sympathetic. She said that I shouldn’t have been double charged. I then explained that I had included my statement detail when I sent my response. But, not surprisingly, it was ignored. (See statement above regarding government inefficiency.) So she asked me to fax the detail in and that she’d call me back. No dice. There was no way in hell I was going to wait for them to contact me. Instead, I turned the tables and put her on hold. When she got the information, she saw the mistake and reversed the toll charge and the prorated portion of the admin fees (totaling $26.50).
I recognized at this point the lady had lied to me. She had told me that she was powerless because the case had already been referred to the collection agency. But here she was reversing a portion of the fees. I applied a little more pressure trying to get the remaining fees (but not the tolls) reversed by getting her to recognize that I do have a valid account, the tag had been charged before and after the “violations”, etc. No dice.
I was now in a zero sum position. The bill has been reduced to $53. I could pay $50 to get an administrative hearing, plead my case, and hope the judge would reverse the $50 in additional fees they had charged me. If he did, I would end up paying...$53 ($50 for the administrative hearing and $3 in the toll “violations”). Or he could tell me to get out of his court, charge me an additional $50 and make me pay $103.
I told the lady I didn’t want to pay anything until I had talked to the state again. I also asked about the general procedure when something like this happens. She told me that when a person holding a state tag provides the state tag’s information, they send it on to the state to charge the account. So, to be clear: I sent my tag information to the county; since it wasn’t a county tag, they forwarded my name, address, phone number, tag number, car make and model, etc. to the state; the state SHOULD charge the account; the story SHOULD end. Good to know for my call back to the state.
Phase 2: partial failure.
So I called the state - again. I also explained that my name was now on the account and that I expected them to talk to me and give me some meaningful (in relative terms) information. Ultimately, the reason that they did not charge the account was because the license plate of the car I was driving was not registered on the account at the time of the violations.
So here’s the information that the county forwarded to the state: my name, my address, my phone number, my tag number, the make, model, model year, and color of the car, the license plate number, and a pretty little picture of the car when it went through the toll and didn’t pay.
Here’s the information that the state had available to them (from the account detail): H’s name (since her name was the only one on the account), our address, our phone number, the TWO tag numbers on the account, and the make, model, model year, and color of both cars on the account.
However, because the state didn’t have the license plate number of the car at the time of the violations, they couldn’t (sorry, they wouldn’t) do anything. I asked the guy how much sense it made to have all of this matching information and still not be able to do anything. His response: talk to your wife about why she failed to keep the account up to date.
Big mistake.
I proceeded to lay into him about how inefficient they were. How can you have a system that only cross-references the license plate? Did you not look up the tag number when the county sent the information to you? Did you not see that all of the information (except the license plate number) was on the account? Most importantly, what kind of system lets you register your vehicles without the license plate (that is, we added BOTH cars to the account when we got the tags IN 2007 – we just didn’t include the license plate number for my car because we had temporary tags)? If the license plate was so important, why not reject the vehicle registration in the first place?
I then explained my fundamental issue with this whole thing. They (the state and the county) push these electronic tags. “It’s so easy. Just get a tag and live life in the fast lane. Just drive on through and we’ll do the rest.” Hell, they are adding more and more tag lanes and fewer booth lanes. But when something goes wrong, I am holding the bag. I get that I’m responsible for the tolls and I have no problem paying them. But I don’t get that I am sent a notice, I reply to the notice including ALL of my information, hear nothing back from the county, and then get collection agencies on my @ss.
His response: it was your responsibility to follow up with the county.
Again, a mistake.
How is it my responsibility to contact the county? They contacted me because they screwed up. I gave them my account information INCLUDING statement detail showing that my account was active and had enough money in it to pay the tolls. They sent that information on to the state who promptly wiped their hands of it and said there was nothing they could do. My fault? Don’t push this on me bucko.
His response: we tried to call you to add your license plates to the account, but you didn’t respond.
I explained how that was not true because I called them back. He further explained my name wasn’t on the account so their hands were tied. I only had one question for him before I was done with this whole charade. I had called them and they wouldn’t talk to me because my name wasn’t on the account. If H had called them back in February and had given them the license plate information, would they have charged the account for the tolls?
His answer: no. Because the license plate information was not on account at the time of the violations, there was nothing they could (or, more accurately, would) do.
End result: The county’s machines messed up. They contacted me. I responded with my tag information (and other information). That information was sent to the state. The state contacted us to add the license plate info (but for that reason alone). No other information was sent to us to let us know that the account wouldn’t be charged. The case was sent to a collection agency. And we were stuck holding the bag, paying $53 for two tolls. Government efficiency at its best.
Son of a b. I've just written four full pages. If I had this much ammo for my paper, I'd almost be done!
I got a notice from the toll road authority back in January saying I was a toll violator. It was actually a cool thing to receive because I got a pretty little picture of my vehicle (the best side of the car too – the backside). It was quite amusing to have received the notice since I had a toll tag in my car. No big deal, right? (If it weren’t a big deal, would I be writing this post?)
The notice had a slip that was to be returned with your payment for the violations (3 violations at $1.50 a piece plus $33 in “admin” fees). $37.50 is a pretty hefty amount for 3 tolls. Fortunately, the toll road authority was smart enough to realize that their sensors are not 100% perfect. As such, they included a section on the slip that allowed individuals with toll tags to include the tag information, name, address, license plate number, etc. So I filled that stuff out. But before I returned it, I had a look at the time and date of the alleged violations.
The first two violations amused me. I looked at the detailed activity on my tag and noticed that the tag had been zapped five minutes before the violation and five minutes after. So it was clearly working. The third violation made me angry. My detailed activity showed that my tag had been charged at the exact location and at the exact time that the violation occurred. Not wanting to be double-charged, I included my detailed statement, highlighted AND circled the part showing they had already charged me, and included a note stating I did not authorize getting charged for the third “violation”. I put everything in the mail and that was that.
Or so I thought.
It’s important at this point to explain something. I have a tag that is good on all of the toll roads in this great state. The toll road I was driving on is operated independently by the county. What does that mean? Inefficiency. It means that my tag should work on the toll road. If it does not, I am going to get notices from the county, not the state. I will be forced to reconcile the mistake with the county, not the state. Just keep that in mind.
A couple of weeks after I sent the information to the county, I (or more accurately, H) get a message from the STATE. They say there is something wrong with the tag’s account and to call them back. So I do. I go through the whole story about how I have a tag and yada yada and how I sent my info to the county and yada yada. Then, after I’m done explaining, they tell me they can’t talk to me because my name’s not on the account. (Now I know how telemarketers feel – I let them talk and talk and talk and then tell them I’m not interested.) They do tell me that the account is still active, there’s enough on the account, the tags still work, etc. So, I figure it’s no big deal that they won’t talk to me. The county has my info, they’ll charge my account, end of story.
Well, about a week ago I received a notice from a collection agency saying I had outstanding toll violations and to pay immediately or they were going to seize my vehicle or something stupid like that. The collection notice was nice enough to even tack on another $42 in charges (making the total bill $79.50 for three violations (one of which had already been charged to my account). I was pissed. I was so pissed. I was so angry it’s not even funny. There was no way in hell I was paying them. Unfortunately, I received the notice over the weekend and, as you might guess, the government’s not open on the weekends (or any other time you actually need them). So the issue stews and festers in my head.
Monday rolls around and the first thing I do is call the state (who holds my account – which I was informed was active, had enough money in it, etc.). Again, they tell me they can’t talk to me. But of course, this is after they tell me that it’s my fault (or, more accurately, H’s fault since her name is the one on the account). They tell me that they didn’t send the notice to me, the county did. They tell me I am legally liable for the tolls (duh, didn’t contest that) and the admin charges. They tell me that I am irresponsible and they can’t do anything for me. Call the county they say. I tell them that they will talk to me. It’s my car, my tag, the violation was sent in my name, etc. I did a lot of yelling and got nowhere. Sandra ended the call asking if there was anything else she could “help” me with. I let her know that she was not entitled to use the word “help” since talking to her did not come anywhere near the definition of the word.
Phase 1: failure.
So I email H and tell her to call the state immediately and get my name on the account. Because I wasn’t done and I was calling back.
While she was doing that, I decided to call the county (who sent me the violation, but who I don’t have a tag with). Busy signal. I try again. Busy signal. I try again. Busy signal. I continue redialing for the next 15 minutes and finally get through...and then promptly get placed on hold (see my all-government-is-inefficient statement above).
Eventually someone answers the phone and, while they will talk to me, I get much the same reaction. I am legally responsible for the tolls and the additional fees. And since it has been referred to a collection agency, there’s nothing they can do. Not a good answer. I proceed to lay into them as well about why I provided my tag information and heard NOTHING from them (which is true – they sent me the violation, demanded I respond, and then did nothing but refer it to a collection agency). I inquired why they didn’t contact me (when they had my name, address, phone number, etc.) if there was some kind of problem with the information I sent. Of course I got the ho hum, I don’t know, you owe the fees, how would you like to pay?
I promptly informed the lady that I didn’t want to pay and wanted to know what the appeals process was. There isn’t one. But, for a fee ($50) you could request an administrative hearing in front of a judge and plead your case. She said that most people weren’t successful (but of course she was going to say that). I requested an administrative hearing from her, but of course she was powerless to set one up. I had to call the collection agency (which is also a law firm here in town). Great, one more party to deal with.
After she explained her powerlessness to me, I began laying into her about getting double charged. At this point, her attitude changed. She was actually sympathetic. She said that I shouldn’t have been double charged. I then explained that I had included my statement detail when I sent my response. But, not surprisingly, it was ignored. (See statement above regarding government inefficiency.) So she asked me to fax the detail in and that she’d call me back. No dice. There was no way in hell I was going to wait for them to contact me. Instead, I turned the tables and put her on hold. When she got the information, she saw the mistake and reversed the toll charge and the prorated portion of the admin fees (totaling $26.50).
I recognized at this point the lady had lied to me. She had told me that she was powerless because the case had already been referred to the collection agency. But here she was reversing a portion of the fees. I applied a little more pressure trying to get the remaining fees (but not the tolls) reversed by getting her to recognize that I do have a valid account, the tag had been charged before and after the “violations”, etc. No dice.
I was now in a zero sum position. The bill has been reduced to $53. I could pay $50 to get an administrative hearing, plead my case, and hope the judge would reverse the $50 in additional fees they had charged me. If he did, I would end up paying...$53 ($50 for the administrative hearing and $3 in the toll “violations”). Or he could tell me to get out of his court, charge me an additional $50 and make me pay $103.
I told the lady I didn’t want to pay anything until I had talked to the state again. I also asked about the general procedure when something like this happens. She told me that when a person holding a state tag provides the state tag’s information, they send it on to the state to charge the account. So, to be clear: I sent my tag information to the county; since it wasn’t a county tag, they forwarded my name, address, phone number, tag number, car make and model, etc. to the state; the state SHOULD charge the account; the story SHOULD end. Good to know for my call back to the state.
Phase 2: partial failure.
So I called the state - again. I also explained that my name was now on the account and that I expected them to talk to me and give me some meaningful (in relative terms) information. Ultimately, the reason that they did not charge the account was because the license plate of the car I was driving was not registered on the account at the time of the violations.
So here’s the information that the county forwarded to the state: my name, my address, my phone number, my tag number, the make, model, model year, and color of the car, the license plate number, and a pretty little picture of the car when it went through the toll and didn’t pay.
Here’s the information that the state had available to them (from the account detail): H’s name (since her name was the only one on the account), our address, our phone number, the TWO tag numbers on the account, and the make, model, model year, and color of both cars on the account.
However, because the state didn’t have the license plate number of the car at the time of the violations, they couldn’t (sorry, they wouldn’t) do anything. I asked the guy how much sense it made to have all of this matching information and still not be able to do anything. His response: talk to your wife about why she failed to keep the account up to date.
Big mistake.
I proceeded to lay into him about how inefficient they were. How can you have a system that only cross-references the license plate? Did you not look up the tag number when the county sent the information to you? Did you not see that all of the information (except the license plate number) was on the account? Most importantly, what kind of system lets you register your vehicles without the license plate (that is, we added BOTH cars to the account when we got the tags IN 2007 – we just didn’t include the license plate number for my car because we had temporary tags)? If the license plate was so important, why not reject the vehicle registration in the first place?
I then explained my fundamental issue with this whole thing. They (the state and the county) push these electronic tags. “It’s so easy. Just get a tag and live life in the fast lane. Just drive on through and we’ll do the rest.” Hell, they are adding more and more tag lanes and fewer booth lanes. But when something goes wrong, I am holding the bag. I get that I’m responsible for the tolls and I have no problem paying them. But I don’t get that I am sent a notice, I reply to the notice including ALL of my information, hear nothing back from the county, and then get collection agencies on my @ss.
His response: it was your responsibility to follow up with the county.
Again, a mistake.
How is it my responsibility to contact the county? They contacted me because they screwed up. I gave them my account information INCLUDING statement detail showing that my account was active and had enough money in it to pay the tolls. They sent that information on to the state who promptly wiped their hands of it and said there was nothing they could do. My fault? Don’t push this on me bucko.
His response: we tried to call you to add your license plates to the account, but you didn’t respond.
I explained how that was not true because I called them back. He further explained my name wasn’t on the account so their hands were tied. I only had one question for him before I was done with this whole charade. I had called them and they wouldn’t talk to me because my name wasn’t on the account. If H had called them back in February and had given them the license plate information, would they have charged the account for the tolls?
His answer: no. Because the license plate information was not on account at the time of the violations, there was nothing they could (or, more accurately, would) do.
End result: The county’s machines messed up. They contacted me. I responded with my tag information (and other information). That information was sent to the state. The state contacted us to add the license plate info (but for that reason alone). No other information was sent to us to let us know that the account wouldn’t be charged. The case was sent to a collection agency. And we were stuck holding the bag, paying $53 for two tolls. Government efficiency at its best.
Son of a b. I've just written four full pages. If I had this much ammo for my paper, I'd almost be done!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Coupon-ing?
I've been doing some reading on how some people save crazy amounts of money using coupons. Why can I not do this? 90% of what I buy is coupon-less. It's crazy and ridiculous.
Is there anyone out there who doesn't buy a ton of processed foods who saves lots of money with coupons? I can't leave the grocery store without spending at least $20. I seriously need to start using a list.
Is there anyone out there who doesn't buy a ton of processed foods who saves lots of money with coupons? I can't leave the grocery store without spending at least $20. I seriously need to start using a list.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sadness
Last night, Brian and I were grieving a loss. On occasion, we like to take the trip into quaint, downtown Tomball for a cup of Blizzard-y goodness. Upon arriving into Tomball last night, we were questioning whether or not we accidentally passed our stop. We kept driving, because I hadn't seen that German sounding street sign. Then we saw it...
THEY SHUT DOWN THE DAIRY QUEEN!!!!!
Our beloved DQ has been put up for rent. We had to settle for Sonic Blasts, but they just weren't the same. Not enough chunks of candy junk. Brian's Snicker's Blast tasted like maple syrup (::shudder::).
Now, the nearest DQ goodness is in Conroe. BOOOO.
Tomball Dairy Queen, may you rest in peace. You were a good Dairy Queen; a bit slow (ok a LOT slow), but still a good Dairy Queen. If you decide to awaken in Tomball, please, let us know!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Diaper Conundrum
Well, I'm stuck. Don't know what to do. We've loved using our NatureBabyCare diapers (made in Sweden...I do love Scandinavia!) since she was old enough to fit in them. The size 1's fit her perfectly! They were nice and wide. All of a sudden, when you buy size 2's, they get skinnier and taller. I can see why they get taller, but not skinnier. Isn't your little one supposed to get that cute baby fat as they get older?
Problem #1: Because they are skinnier, there isn't very much of that flap of diaper that the fasteners are attached to, so nothing covers her legs and the straps dig into her legs.
Problem #2: I don't know what kind of diapers to use instead. Seriously, we were really happy to find these diapers. They were affordable, they didn't have the gel absorbent junk that all the others have, they were made out of mostly biodegradable materials, and they were cute (no cartoon characters, just cute little leaves).
So, what I'm looking for is this:
1. A remotely eco-friendly diaper (yes, I know cloth would be better on the landfills, but until June 9th, that's not really an option for me, seeing as she's in daycare).
2. A diaper that does not have the gel in it.
3. A diaper that is made up of mostly biodegradable materials
4. A diaper I can actually buy in the United States (there are others, but they are European and I can't afford to pay $30 for 40 diapers)
And before you tell me, yes, I have heard of the new Huggies ones, but their wording annoys me. I don't think they are eco-friendly at all, their press release just sounds shady to me, but I'm not going there. At least it's a step in the right direction.
Help me!!!
(yes, I realize that I probably have umpteen jillion punctuation errors in this post, but I'm tired, I've had a productive day, and I'm beyond caring right now. A horrible LA teacher, indeed.)
Problem #1: Because they are skinnier, there isn't very much of that flap of diaper that the fasteners are attached to, so nothing covers her legs and the straps dig into her legs.
Problem #2: I don't know what kind of diapers to use instead. Seriously, we were really happy to find these diapers. They were affordable, they didn't have the gel absorbent junk that all the others have, they were made out of mostly biodegradable materials, and they were cute (no cartoon characters, just cute little leaves).
So, what I'm looking for is this:
1. A remotely eco-friendly diaper (yes, I know cloth would be better on the landfills, but until June 9th, that's not really an option for me, seeing as she's in daycare).
2. A diaper that does not have the gel in it.
3. A diaper that is made up of mostly biodegradable materials
4. A diaper I can actually buy in the United States (there are others, but they are European and I can't afford to pay $30 for 40 diapers)
And before you tell me, yes, I have heard of the new Huggies ones, but their wording annoys me. I don't think they are eco-friendly at all, their press release just sounds shady to me, but I'm not going there. At least it's a step in the right direction.
Help me!!!
(yes, I realize that I probably have umpteen jillion punctuation errors in this post, but I'm tired, I've had a productive day, and I'm beyond caring right now. A horrible LA teacher, indeed.)
Sunday, April 5, 2009
"Sick and Tired..
...of being sick and tired." One of those good ole' CCR songs that take me back to College Station.
Well, I have always told Brian that I don't get sick...and usually it is true. It is rare that I get really sick. I'm not talking about a silly little cold, I'm talking SICK. And this time I got SICK. Started out feeling bad Thursday afternoon, getting progressively worse throughout the evening. I had half a mind to go to the RediClinic at HEB during 1st block (my conference period) Friday morning.
Shoulda. Woulda. Coulda. Coach Loper would have told me to put those behind me (cross country pals will remember those pep talks!)
Brian has an uber big appellate brief due Monday (tomorrow), so I had planned on taking sweet girl up to Frankston to hang out with my mom and dad to give him much needed quiet to work. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because as we drove to Frankston, I was getting worse and worse. When I show up in Frankston, I'm burning up with a 100.9 fever. I NEVER get fevers. I am achy. My throat hurts. I go straight to bed (in fact, everyone in that house was in bed before 10pm.)
I wake up Saturday morning and I can hardly swallow anything. I'm talking, holding my throat to swallow, hurt. I always have this thing with checking out my throat when it hurts and this time, it was so disgusting that I had to share with mom and dad. That's when we decided I had strep throat. Thanks to some antibiotics I began to feel better, but I didn't have enough to last the requisite 10 days, so in the end, I wound up going to that RediClinic.
Turns out, I did in fact have strep throat, the good old streptococcus bacteria. Now, I find out, even though I am feeling just fine, ( I say just fine, my throat still hurts and I'm pretty tired) I am very contagious. Apparently when you start taking antibiotics, you are most contagious 24 hrs afterwards. Well the doc counted today as my day 1 and so now I'm stuck at home tomorrow. Ordinarily, I'd be excited for a day at home, but its no fun when you can't hang out with your sweet baby because you are contagious (but don't worry, the doctor told me that babies under 18 months can't get strep...though Brian and I don't buy it, so she's still going to grandma's).
If I hadn't gone up to Mom and Dad's, I would have never started antibiotics early (thus probably having to miss 2 days of work, which I do NOT need/want to do) and Brian would never have gotten his paper done (since I couldn't take care of Kaylynn). Mom gladly took care of Kaylynn all weekend long (thanks mom!). Like I said, blessing in disguise! Oh, and to those of you who are skeptical about those doc's in the grocery store...so great to have when it's a Sunday at 4:00 and you need a prescription. $20 co-pay vs. $100 ER visit, for the same purpose. Use them. They aren't bad at all. Very clean too.
And if I can't spend a day with my sweet girl, then I'd rather spend it with my smart-mouthed 8th graders (seriously...I know you are laughing, but they really keep you on your toes. They are fun.)
And just for fun, here's a link to the CCR song "Sick and Tired".
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Clarification
I'm a tad annoyed. I should have realized that sharing things going on in our life would lead to criticism by others. Call me naive, but I just thought people were too busy with their own things to gossip about how others raise their children and lead their lives. I know we're not perfect, but I didn't think we were the only ones who weren't.
That said, WE DO NOT ENTERTAIN OUR CHILD WITH THE TV - our non-LCD HD widescreen, old-school 25 inch boxy TV. Not that it should be anyone else's business if we chose to. The picture taken earlier in the month was staged for comedic affect, but clearly I didn't make it obvious enough. My bad. I shouldn't have to justify our choices to others, but we hardly have the TV on in our house, so much that we have discussed down grading our cable. I hope that's ok with the readers.
Now I know the working mothers/fathers out there (do you exist or am we the only horrible parents out there who has to earn a living so the mortgage can be paid?) would agree with me...not being able to be home with your child all day flat out sucks. Kaylynn goes to bed around 9pm and she and I usually get home between 4:30 and 5:00. Brian gets home around 8:00. If you do the math, that's about 4.5 hrs for me and 1.5 for Brian. This is less than ideal, we hate it, it breaks our hearts to not get to spend every waking minute with her, but in order to provide for her, her needs, and our needs, we have to work. To top that off, Brian has an endless amount of reading to do, notes to take, papers to write, and research to do on top of his already full day. Not only do we not get as much time with her as we'd like, but there is the regular household chores that have to be taken care of...and when you want to spend time with your child, those things get pushed to the back burner (so there's another topic for you to talk about...we can't keep a clean house).
I am sick and tired of being made fun of and criticized for the way we choose to raise our child. Apparently there is nothing we do that is right. Want to use "greener" diapers - hippy. BPA-Free plastics - weirdo. Chlorine-free wipes - ridiculous. Natural laundry detergents - freak. Organic foods - hippy again. Watching the TV for an hour or so at night to find a little bit of relaxation- bad parents. Oh yeah, we use a pacifier on occasion too.
Did I mention that Kaylynn has been hitting all of her developmental milestones, something that can't be done without proper playing, loving, reading, etc?
Please, let me know if I have any more downfalls as a human being. I will do my best to work on them.
I apologize for the rant, but some things just really get to me. Have a lovely weekend, the weather here is awesome and we got our yardwork done early! Yay for free-mulch day in the neighborhood.
I apologize for the rant, but some things just really get to me. Have a lovely weekend, the weather here is awesome and we got our yardwork done early! Yay for free-mulch day in the neighborhood.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Perturbed
I'm going to throw a little whining your way. So if you don't want to get hit with it, I suggest you duck...NOW!
I do not like this blogger writing software crap that Blogspot uses. I'm tired of having to spend 5 minutes writing a post and 25 formating it because it won't add a space where I want it to. Then it adds 6 spaces. Then back to zero.
The latest source of anxst came when I was writing a post (not more than 3 minutes ago). It wouldn't let me post it to the blog so I figured I'd copy it and paste it so I wouldn't have to spend time writing it again. When I highlighted the writing, it deleted it and I could not get it back. So instead of getting a post about baby pictures, you're going to get my bitching instead.
I know what you're thinking. By the time that I wrote this post, I could have re-written the other post. I see your point and I choose to strike it down as irrelevant. My other post took some flowing of the creative juices. I had it just the way I wanted it. It's gone now and I'm too exhausted to try to be creative. Too much creativity in a short span of time renders Brian grumpy. And no one likes grumpy Brian.
So like I said. Instead of a creative post, you get this crap. You have Blogspot to thank.
Oh yeah, and I'm an uncle.
I do not like this blogger writing software crap that Blogspot uses. I'm tired of having to spend 5 minutes writing a post and 25 formating it because it won't add a space where I want it to. Then it adds 6 spaces. Then back to zero.
The latest source of anxst came when I was writing a post (not more than 3 minutes ago). It wouldn't let me post it to the blog so I figured I'd copy it and paste it so I wouldn't have to spend time writing it again. When I highlighted the writing, it deleted it and I could not get it back. So instead of getting a post about baby pictures, you're going to get my bitching instead.
I know what you're thinking. By the time that I wrote this post, I could have re-written the other post. I see your point and I choose to strike it down as irrelevant. My other post took some flowing of the creative juices. I had it just the way I wanted it. It's gone now and I'm too exhausted to try to be creative. Too much creativity in a short span of time renders Brian grumpy. And no one likes grumpy Brian.
So like I said. Instead of a creative post, you get this crap. You have Blogspot to thank.
Oh yeah, and I'm an uncle.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Bowlin'
Coming into today, I was feeling good. I went 5 for 5 on my bowl picks yesterday and found myself in first place in our pool. I was riding high. And then came today's games. Now I'm sinking, and here's why.
1. Tech Sucks. Yep, I should have seen this coming. They are the same bellyachers (yes, I know I'm a hypocrite since all I seem to be doing here is bellyaching...) that they are every other year. "We should be in a BCS game. Our quarterback should be the Heisman Trophy winner." Blah blah blah blah blah. The fact is, Tech is the same team they are every other year. Great against sub par teams and sh*tty against decent teams. The difference this year is that they got lucky against Texas and Baylor. Otherwise they would have finished just like every other year: 3 losses and crummy bowl. As long as Mike Leach and the spread offense are in Tech, I don't want to hear another Red Raider EVER talk about a national championship, let along a BCS game or a Heisman Trophy winner.
2. Pirates are bad. Look at the east coast of Africa for confirmation. Pirates are running rampant there and the world is doing everything they can to stop them. But the NCAA appears to have the solution: wildcats. Wildcats are fearless and ferocious. Furthermore, they are efficient killers. I clearly erred in thinking that a drunk, scurvied (not a word, but defined by The Frinkenhagen as "one with scurvy"), sea sick pirate would be any kind of match for a wildcat.
3. What the hell is a/the Crimson Tide anyway? No, really. What is it? At least I knew what a Ute was (it's a Native American from a tribe in Utah, not a "youth" as described by Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny...classic). You NEVER pick a team if you don't know what the hell they are. Rookie mistake!
At least there's tomorrow. And at least Ms. Kaylynn has rocked the deuce and is now sleeping soundly, as I will be shortly. 10-4, over and out good buddies!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Clarity
Two months. That is how long I have been in law school. That also corresponds to the amount of time that I have spent in a cloud of haze and in the shadow of confusion. But finally, the clouds have parted, the haze has burned off and clarity has set in. What brought about this clarity you might ask? Well, it was the response I received from Houston Metro regarding my email about the shi...crummy "service" that they have been providing for the last day, week, month or year.
My email basically asked one simple question: What is Houston Metro doing about the high traffic volume and the crummy service?
Here is the response I received back. It explains soooooooo much.
"Dear Mr. Frink,
Sincerely,
Crummy Service Provider"
Let me translate this real quick before I need to skedaddle to do some more legal busy work.
"Dear Mr. Frink,
There are several reasons reasons for higher than usual traffic volumes, none of which we could actually pinpoint. However, my belief is that the higher than usual traffic volumes is due to higher than usual numbers of cars in the HOV lane. Please rest assured that we will continue to take note of the volume of cars and do nothing about it. Actually, come to think about it, we do have a plan to take action...in two years. In the meantime, please continue to bend over and take it in the rear and make sure to do so with a smile.
Sincerely,
Crummy Service Provider"
I had one possible rational solution to the problem: raise the number of passengers required in the HOV lane from two to three. This is not a drastic measure because it would line up the policy with the other major headache in Houston (i.e. I-10). But I guess that would make too much sense.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Clarification
As my husband told me that I just offended everyone who graciously gave us a gift that was pink, I just want to clarify (in case my multiple times below wasn't enough) that I DO NOT HATE PINK!!!! I own pink clothes. I plan on dressing my daughter in pink. It is a wonderful color, for both men and women. ;)
My frustration was the fact that I couldn't find any non-pink or purple socks. I have now, so that frustration is over.
I hope that I did not offend anyone, as we are very, VERY thankful for all of the fabulous gifts we have received. If I did, please accept my apologies, it was not intended.
(but I did clarify like 50 times that I don't hate pink earlier...)
My frustration was the fact that I couldn't find any non-pink or purple socks. I have now, so that frustration is over.
I hope that I did not offend anyone, as we are very, VERY thankful for all of the fabulous gifts we have received. If I did, please accept my apologies, it was not intended.
(but I did clarify like 50 times that I don't hate pink earlier...)
Driving Me Crazy
I figured that if my wife is allowed to use this blogger deal to vent, so am I. And guess what? I'm gonna. What is ironic about the title to this post is that right now we're not driving at all. In fact, there has been no "driving" performed in the last 5 minutes.
For those of you that don't know, I take the bus to work/school for two reasons. First, I'm a cheapo and don't want to be paying for the gas and parking. In my defense, I am in school, have a kid showing up soon - real soon, and the market's in the proverbial sh*ter (can I say that? I just did). The second reason is so that I don't have to sit in traffic and can simply sit back, listen to some tunes on my iPod (right now it's Kenny Rogers's "Through the Years"...classic), do some extra studying since the 4:30 AM to midnight grind doesn't give enough time to read the unreasonable assignments that don't help in teaching you jack (sorry, a little law school jab there...I'm cranky), and know that in 30 minutes I'll be where I need to be.
Or not. It is the second point that is making less and less sense to me. It used to be that I'd catch a bus and be downtown in 30 minutes. Then it took a little longer and turned into 45 minutes. Now we're up to an hour or more. It doesn't make sense to me that we sit in the "fast" HOV lane and not move for 10 or 15 minutes, all the while watching the main lanes zip on by. It doesn't make sense to me that the geniuses in this city are encouraging it's citizens to use public transportation given the gas prices hitting our pockets (see above for a reminder of just where the economy is) all the while not being able to properly serve them through reliable service. And then I read the other day that the same geniuses who have encouraged public transportation are going to raise the fares! Record use of the bus system + crappy service = more money for them.
Holy crap, we just moved!!!
Anyway, the point is that I'm tired, I'm grumpy and I'm going to be writing some nastigrams to some people. I am not willing to get up at 3 AM just to be able to do my studying and to catch a 6 o'clock bus that will actually get me to work/school on time (i.e. 8 o'clock). That's all I've got to say about that.
Almost. It is now raining and I do not have an umbrella because Houston Metro stole it. Kinda. I may have left it on the bus yesterday. And by may have, I mean I did. But it's still their fault because I decided to take a nap since we weren't going anywhere and I woke up at my stop and had to run off the bus. I miss that umbrella (her name was Uma). It was my London umbrella. We had some good, nay great, times together. Now all I've got are the memories. Kinda like the memories of when it was worth taking the bus.
For those of you that don't know, I take the bus to work/school for two reasons. First, I'm a cheapo and don't want to be paying for the gas and parking. In my defense, I am in school, have a kid showing up soon - real soon, and the market's in the proverbial sh*ter (can I say that? I just did). The second reason is so that I don't have to sit in traffic and can simply sit back, listen to some tunes on my iPod (right now it's Kenny Rogers's "Through the Years"...classic), do some extra studying since the 4:30 AM to midnight grind doesn't give enough time to read the unreasonable assignments that don't help in teaching you jack (sorry, a little law school jab there...I'm cranky), and know that in 30 minutes I'll be where I need to be.
Or not. It is the second point that is making less and less sense to me. It used to be that I'd catch a bus and be downtown in 30 minutes. Then it took a little longer and turned into 45 minutes. Now we're up to an hour or more. It doesn't make sense to me that we sit in the "fast" HOV lane and not move for 10 or 15 minutes, all the while watching the main lanes zip on by. It doesn't make sense to me that the geniuses in this city are encouraging it's citizens to use public transportation given the gas prices hitting our pockets (see above for a reminder of just where the economy is) all the while not being able to properly serve them through reliable service. And then I read the other day that the same geniuses who have encouraged public transportation are going to raise the fares! Record use of the bus system + crappy service = more money for them.
Holy crap, we just moved!!!
Anyway, the point is that I'm tired, I'm grumpy and I'm going to be writing some nastigrams to some people. I am not willing to get up at 3 AM just to be able to do my studying and to catch a 6 o'clock bus that will actually get me to work/school on time (i.e. 8 o'clock). That's all I've got to say about that.
Almost. It is now raining and I do not have an umbrella because Houston Metro stole it. Kinda. I may have left it on the bus yesterday. And by may have, I mean I did. But it's still their fault because I decided to take a nap since we weren't going anywhere and I woke up at my stop and had to run off the bus. I miss that umbrella (her name was Uma). It was my London umbrella. We had some good, nay great, times together. Now all I've got are the memories. Kinda like the memories of when it was worth taking the bus.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Why Pink?
I have a question for anyone out there who has an answer. Why pink for little girls?
I'm not anti-pink. I own pink articles of clothing myself and we've gotten some uber cute pink and purple clothes for Kaylynn that I can't wait to dress her in. I just have a beef with pink and purple being the only colors available to an infant girl. Again, not hating on pink (or purple for that matter).
The main reason for my venting...I can't find any stinking socks for Kaylynn that aren't pink, purple, or white. We want to bring her home (as of right now) in an outfit my Grandma Honey bought us, which is a turquoise dress with brown flowers at the bottom. My problem is...I CAN'T FIND ANY SOCKS THAT AREN'T PINK OR PURPLE!!!
So if anyone out there runs across a pair of dark brown or turquoise infant socks, please tell me and save my sanity! Otherwise, my daughter is going to start off mismatching from Day 1 and I don't think that's any way for a little girl to start life. She's already at a disadvantage for having me for a mother, she needs some chance to be girly. :)
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