Y'all Come Back Now, Ye' Moo?

Farmers: Cows mooo with a twang

Good vs. Evil

Recent photos indicate that the battle between good and evil is afoot. As if we didn't already know this. More...

That's Right!

4 posts in one day, two of which were rants/complaints. Well... it's been a long time since I've posted anything, so what did you expect?

Why I Hate Home Depot... #1

For the record, I did not write this. My wife did. It was in response to our recent experience having carpet installed by Home Depot. She wrote it in response to a survey that we received from Home Depot in the mail this week about our recent experience with them...

"My experience with Home Depot carpet installation should be an embarrassment to company management. It took over a month to resolve the problems that I was having, and customer service was not friendly or helpful in keeping me informed about the progress of my situation. I had to take matters into my own hands, spending countless hours on the phone, trying to resolve the problems that I was having. The amount of time that I spent on the phone was unacceptable, and the number of times that I was passed on to another representative was ridiculous. I would gladly share a detailed account of my horrific installation experience with a quality control person from Home Depot. The installation was so poor that the entire carpeting had to be ripped out and done a second time. In addition, the installers destroyed molding due to gross negligence on their part, not following proper installation techniques. I was lied to several times by an assistant manager for the local Home Depot Store, named Pat Hess. On several occasions, he claimed that the manager did not deal directly with customers, and that he would have the ultimate say in the matter. It was not until I threatened to write a letter to the CEO of the company detailing my account, complete with his name that he passed on a message for the manager to get in touch with me. And, he gave her a wrong name. So, when she called, if she had not identified herself as being from Home Depot, I would not have known that the call was for me. She was horrified with the experience that I had. I have digital photographs detailing the initial installation that occurred. I would be happy to share them with a representative. Home Depot should be ashamed not only with the installation of the carpeting, but with the way in which a customer was treated by the customer service department. Please feel free to contact me for a detailed account of all of the problems that I encountered. I would be more than happy to share any information that would be helpful in eliminating this type of experience from happening to another customer. I will not consider Home Depot for another custom installation job. In fact, a close friend just had carpeting and hard wood flooring installed throughout her entire spacious home. I told her to go to Lowe's, and she did. I will tell everyone who ever asks about our carpet installation about our nightmare. Over the past 5 years we have spent an enormous amount of money at Home Depot for supplies to fix up our home. I can no longer justify giving the company my business after the way that we were treated."

Of course, we probably will end up going back there at some point... especially since I have a $50 Home Depot gift card in my wallet right now.

Monopoly Trading

Well, I have made the bold decision to trade from one monopoly to another. I have decided to put all of my eggs in one basket, so to speak, and do away with my two ever-cost-increasing MCI phone lines. When I first signed up for these phone lines a couple of years ago, they were marketed as being $49.99 per line for unlimited local and long distance calling. At that time, after taxes, I recall paying around $105 per month. Well, today, with the same plans, my phone bill is around $164 per month! That's over a 50% increase in my bill over the past couple of years, due to new "taxes" and "service fees", all of which are on top of the still marketed oh so low $49.99 plan fee.

Well, as of July 20th, I'll be switching to Comcast's voice over IP phone lines. (Sorry to those that have Vonage and could have received a month of free service for a referral.) Now, for virtually the same price as my current phone bill, I will be getting two phone lines with the same service I have now, digital cable with DVR functionality, and high speed cable Internet.

Of course, tonight, I saw an ad for a similar offer from Verizon, who now offers DirectTV service, but that would mean going back to... the Enemy.

How American Am I?

You Are 72% American

Most times you are proud to be an American. Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home. You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you!

How American Are You?

The Aliens Have Landed

I've suspected it for some time now. Now, there's proof.

Aetna... Thank You!

A big thank you to Aetna today for the wonderful letter I received yesterday indicating that my insurance premium is being raised by 25%. Currently, I pay almost $800 per month for my family's insurance. In July, Aetna will allow me to pay almost $1000 per month. YAY!!!!

Freakin' Political Correctness

I recently finished reading Michael Smerconish's book Muzzled, about the rampant political correctness that is plaguing our nation today. In the book, one example of such ridiculous PC is the fact that at airports, out of fear of offending, we aren't screening people that actually look like terrorists. Well, yesterday, I saw first-hand, an example of just this type of insanity. While traveling through security to catch a flight, I watched a 5 year-old boy in a wheelchair get flagged for secondary screening by security. As one could plainly see, this boy had physical ailments. Yet, security proceeded to swab down his wheelchair and test it for bomb residue anyway. Absolutely ridiculous.

Allergy Conspiracy?

Last Friday, my daughter had a sleepover with 3 friends for her 10th birthday. During this event, at one point, my wife asked "Okay, who needs to take their allergy medicine before bed?" All 4 girls raised their hands. I watched, in wonder, as all four girls took different allergy medications, including Claratin, Zertek, and more. Add this to the fact that my wife takes Claratin on a daily basis, and my 4 year old daughter takes Zertek, Singulair, Flovent, and Nasonex on a daily basis (multiple times per day)!

I think that there may be an allergy conspiracy. Perhaps allergies aren't actually caused by spores, molds, and fungus, as we are led to believe. Perhaps they are actually caused by the allergy medications themselves.

Personally, I have never taken allergy medicine, except to treat rare cases of bad poison ivy. In fact, looking back, I don't recall any sleepovers from when I was a child, where anyone took any allergy medicine either. Hmmm...

My Yard... The Wild

Lately, my yard seems to have become a haven for wildlife. Take the following examples, all of which occurred within the past week...

* A few days ago, while getting something out of one of my cars, a large rabbit sat and watched me. I didn't actually see it myself, but my wife did, and was suprised that I didn't see it, as it had been so close to me.

* I found a 12" - 18" garter snake while mowing the lawn yesterday evening. Unfortunately for the snake, it slithered into a section of tall grass that I was about to mow. I did get a rake, and start looking for it, to scare it away before mowing that area. Alas, I could not find it, so I proceeded to mow. After mowing, however, I found half of the snake, sticking its tongue out at me and slithering around. I picked it up, and placed it in the woods. I felt bad for it, and only wish I had been able to find it sooner.

* Also while mowing my lawn, a strange dog meandered into my yard, and proceeded to poke around. I found out later that it was a neighbor's dog, that had been missing for several days. I actually saw it once before a couple of days ago, again, in my yard.

* This morning, I was in my kitchen, gathering my breakfast, when something out the side window caught my eye. I glanced out my window onto the picnic table, which was about 2 feet from where I was standing. There, sat a medium-sized hawk with something in its talons. I looked carefully to see what it was, as I thought it might be a mouse. I was mistaken. It was a baby bird, still flapping its wings and opening its mouth to peep.

* Later this morning, while making tea, again in my kitchen, I glanced out the window and saw... none other than three large white-tailed deer. They were moving about, eating greens from my newly cut lawn.

Now, I just need to see a fox, a bear, and an alpaca, and I should be set for the week.