Coincidence or cosmic punishment?

Our check engine light came on in our Subaru a few weeks before we moved from NM. We took it in and they told us our evap system needed to be replaced. So we had it replaces, among other general maintenance things. Total cost? Around $1k. A week later our check engine light came on again. Needless to say we were not pleased. We took it back in and they claimed there was nothing wrong with our car - maybe we hadn't screwed the gas cap on tight enough. They turned the light off and tightened the cap and we were off to CA shortly thereafter. Two weeks later (last Friday) the check engine light came on again as Mr X was driving the car to the DMV here to register it. At the DMV they asked him to pull his car around back for an 18-point inspection required for registering out-of-state vehicles in CA. Mr X said OK, walked out the door, got in his car and drove home. Between the engine light and the shattered windshield (courtesy of a shove of a surfboard by Mr X the week before) our poor car wasn't passing the inspection. *sigh* The trouble is that our car's registration in NM runs out at the end of this month and if we can't get it registered here ASAP we are in a precarious situation.

We purchased a new washer & dryer upon our arrival here. They were delivered last Friday and Mr X and I proceeded to get them set up and going. The washer was fine, the dryer didn't work. After some guidance from my dad and some friends here, we determined that it wasn't our faulty installation, but the dryer itself. Home Depot wouldn't let us simply return it - we were required to call a technician...a technician that wouldn't be able to get to us for 3 days. Mr. Technician showed up today and it WAS the dryer - some loose wires I guess.

Mr X and I were settling in for a nice meal and a movie at home on Saturday when about 15 minutes into our show our receiver/DVD player died. It smelled of burnt metal and wouldn't start up again. I guess our surround sound system/DVD player/receiver are all useless now.

This morning as I was on my way to take our car into the shop for the check engine light, I got pulled over and ticketed for speeding. The irritating part is that I was going the same speed or slower than the cars all around me. The reason I got flagged over (the cop was on foot beside his hidden motorcycle) was that there happened to be enough room between me and the car in front of me that he could single me out and run into the middle of the road to signal me over. If I'd been going a little faster and tailgating I'm certain it wouldn't have happened. I have never received a ticket in any other state other than CA and in CA I seem to get pulled over and ticketed an abnormally high amount of times.

Mr X is having a rough go of it at work and he's been totally stressed out because of it all.

Oh - and I got suckered (read: guilted) into playing the piano for the Spanish Branch's main church meeting on Sunday. I haven't touched the piano in 2 and half years. Is this what I get for going to church? I won't re-live the memory of how painful and embarrassing the experience was for me so I won't go into details - it's enough to let you know that there were an inordinate amount of moments where the audience was singing A Capella. I can play the piano....barely. I shouldn't be ALLOWED to play in public ever. It's not a talent I possess, not now or even when I DID practice regularly. (Note: I don't get better with practice - that should tell you something.)

Hopefully this is all a coincidence/bad month rather than just the way our new life here is destined to play out.

Welcome to the Middle Ages.

I had a birthday a couple weeks ago and I kid you not, the next day I got a varicose vein. Well, actually I just noticed it yesterday evening but I'm sure it wasn't there until I woke up 30. *sigh* Things are going downhill fast now people!

Anyway, this unsightly discovery got me thinking...Maybe getting old is similar to growing boobs. Everything is going along fine for years and then one day you wake up to discover that these 'things' have sprouted on your chest (I kid you not, it seems like it happens that quickly). And while you've been wondering when it would happen to you, nothing can prepare you for the trauma of it -Especially the horrible embarrassment you are about to experience as you leave the privacy of your own room in the morning and all 5 of your brothers and your painfully blunt parents will see your newly acquired bumps and they will be unable to stop themselves from pointing out the obvious to you. Oh the shame of it all!

Everything was going along just fine and then one day...boom! Crows feet.
The next? Ta-daa! Cellulite - here you go, a lifetime supply!
Then after that? Varicose veins with a side of spider veins.
Finally, lets top it all off with a healthy crop of graying hair and a saggy rump.
What does that all amount to? Middle aged Charlotte.

Don't look at me. I'm hideous.

The first day back

Mr X and I got back from Colorado last night. A fantastic time was had by all, or at least me. But the crummy thing about trip (short or long) is the first day back at work after the trip. Why is it always such a difficult day?

For example:

This morning I woke up and as I was finishing getting ready for work I realized that I had no idea where my car keys were. I needed them to drive myself to the park n' ride to catch my bus. Then it hit me that I had no idea where my bus pass was. If I lost it, I'd have to pay to ride the bus for the rest month - the equivalent of $24 and that's frustrating when I already paid $90 for the monthly bus pass anyway. I relaxed for a moment when it occurred to me that both my keys and my pass could very likely be in the pocket of my leather coat. My relief quickly disappeared when I discovered that I had forgotten my frequently used leather jacket at the hotel in Denver. Perfect. I continued scrambling around the house looking for the keys/pass in the hopes that they were NOT in my jacket pocket but I never found them. I had to take Mr X's car key and get going if I wanted to catch my bus. But I needed to stop for gas because our car was on empty. For the first time in my life, the gas pump wouldn't shut off for some reason and wasted gasoline was pouring all over the car, my hands and shoes - more money wasted as well. (And I cannot, for the life of me get rid of that smell) I barely made my bus and the man I had to sit behind always drops his seat ALL THE WAY back so he's practically laying in my lap. Grrrrr. After arriving at work I made the mistake of thinking that my day couldn't possibly get worse. But it did...I managed to flood the ladies room. I didn't even do a #2 (it's gross that I'm detailing this for you, I know) so basically I was framed. Because of someone else's dirty deed, I had to be the one that burned with shame as I rushed out of the restroom only to have to warn the ladies on their way in that "...it's probably not a good idea to go in there..."

Arsenic Does a Body Good

This evening I discovered the ABQ 2007 Water Quality Report waiting for me in my mailbox when I got home from work. Intrigued, I dug into this report hoping that it would prove to be boring. Unfortunately it wasn't, as you probably already deduced based on the title of this post. Turns out we ABQ residents have rather high levels of arsenic in our drinking water.

Apparently the New Mexico Environment Department has granted the water authority here an exemption to the new arsenic standard set by the EPA. Why? To allow more time to figure out how to get the high levels here under control. This report detailed a map displaying the levels of arsenic in our water supply in the various regions of Albuquerque and wouldn't you know it, my home is situated in the zone with the highest levels of all: 15 PPB.

I looked up the government's recommendations on this particular subject. You can go here to read about what the EPA has determined are safe levels of arsenic for drinking. I'll sum it up for you with a few quotes:

"EPA has set the arsenic standard for drinking water at .010 parts per million (10 parts per billion) to protect consumers served by public water systems from the effects of long-term, chronic exposure to arsenic. Water systems must comply with this standard by January 23, 2006..."

So over two years after NM was supposed to comply with this standard it still hasn't quite gotten there. But the state is making progress - taking it's own sweet time - because apparently in 2003 the levels for where I live were about 28 PPB. However, according to this report the arsenic concentrations in all zones (even mine!) will meet the new standard by December 2008. Whew! (Nearly 3 years after the EPA required it.)

Another interesting aspect of this water report is that it states the effects that these levels (between 10 PPB and 50 PPB) of arsenic may have on a person over 'many years' (what exactly does 'many years' mean?): "...could experience skin damage or problems with their circulatory system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer."

If you read what the EPA has to say about the effects you will find the following: "Non-cancer effects can include thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness. Arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate."

The ABQ Water Report really generalized those effects, don't you think?

Financially smart or just too greedy?

I'm sure all my well-informed readers (yes, all 3 of you, bless your hearts) already heard about this and this. How do you feel about it? I'm less than thrilled about it. A ticket already costs enough as it is. Plus you can't get a meal on domestic flights anymore without shelling out your hard earned cash for that either. You only get one beverage service in general on most flights so hopefully that doesn't leave you too parched and if it does, you better bring some sort of needlessly expensive beverage purchased from the shops in the airports because you can't even bring one with you from outside of the airport (convenient for the airport, no?). On airlines such as RyanAir you actually get no free beverage whatsoever - you have to pay for everything with that airline, including luggage pound for pound. The airlines are forcing frugal air travel into extinction. I realize that gas is expensive, and it’s only going to get pricier, but still - from what I've read the airlines are actually seeing profits again these days. That's nice for them. Maybe they are thinking about their future and are just looking for ways to see to it that, despite rising gas prices, they will always be in the green. Good for them but bad for us.

I can't help but wonder if eventually air travel will be so incredibly inconvenient, frustrating and expensive that more and more people will simply choose to stay home.

What do you think?

Have a lovely Thanksgiving!

It seems our luck has turned...

Remember how we just so happened to be in Vienna the same weekend they were having the "Long Night at the Museum"? ... And then we just so happened to be in Lucerne when they were having "The Big Cheese Festival"? It seems lately that our luck has turned a bit sour.
First it was the transportation strike in Italy on the same day we were flying in to Pisa. Now there is the ridiculously lengthy transportation strike that is still going strong in France.

*sigh*

We fly to Paris in the morning and I'm just hoping that the strike will be finished by then but our odds aren't looking great right now. We'll see what happens. Paris was kind of a last minute change in plans because we found fabulously cheap airfare and crepes sounded like a great Thanksgiving dinner. (Schnitzel and dumplings smothered in gravy on a regular basis is something that I believe only crepes can neutralize properly.)

We don't get back until Monday so you'll have to wait for a new post until then. If you are traveling around during this holiday, good luck and be safe. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Odds and ends from the weekend

This weekend I 'accidentally' bought some new clothes. I say accidentally because I certainly didn't go to the store with any intentions of making purchases other than some viactive chews and some vitamin C drops. But a girl can't help but want to have some cute new clothes to wear when she sees her husband for the first time in a month, right? Ya, so I was weak. It's a good thing the store happened to be Target instead of Neiman's. (what can I say, I'm a classy girl) Either way, I'm about to be making zero dollars for the next three months so I can't be spending money on such frivolous items. I resolve to become cheap and stingy like my little brother Ross. (no offense Ross)

Also, for those of you that were wondering, my car is back! Woo hoo! It is nice to have it back. I just hope it stays fixed this time. The mechanic said that it should give me no more problems but that they had a Subaru about a year ago that had the same problem and it kept having to come back in as well. They ended up having to put in a new spindle (whatever that is) in that one. The didn't do that to mine but they said my spindle is just fine so they don't expect any problems but to bring it right back in if I have trouble again. Nice. So on that uncertain note I drove my car home. I never went more than 50 on the freeway the whole way.

The car saga continues...

Okay so you know how my car had to be towed last night? Get this: the helpful tow truck man jacked up my car even worse. The car people are saying the my wheel bearing was bad (never mind that it was supposedly brand new) and they are replacing it again but now I have even more problems. I have no clue about car stuff so I made the mechanic write down for me what the tow truck driver did: Both shaft boots on my rear axles were torn by the hooks from the tow truck. The towing company, Dugger Towing, tried really hard to weasel out of having to reimburse me for the tow (nearly $130) and the damage ($?) by trying to come up with a lot of other ways this could have happened. Luckily the mechanic backed me up with this stuff. Now I just have to make sure they actually do reverse the towing charge on my card. Anyway, I am now driving a cherry red Dodge Caliber. I miss my Subaru (even though I'm really hating on it right now).

Highs and lows

So on my way home from work as I was driving home from the bus stop to my house I was excitedly proclaiming my wonderful news of the Leave Of Absence to my SIL when.....I felt my car lurch and heard grinding and scraping sounds. This was all followed by more lurching and my car seemed to want to pull itself off the road. At first I thought maybe I had a flat tire. I pulled over and saw that wasn't the case. So I got back in and kept driving but the situation was deteriorating quickly with lots of grinding and scraping and lurching which even slowing down and putting my hazards on wasn't helping. So I got off the freeway and pulled into the nearest place I could to check my car again. Everything still looked fine. Then I touched the metal part of the wheel (I'm a mechanical genius obviously) and yanked my hand back as it was positively sizzling. I checked the other wheels to find that they were easily touchable. Cripes.

The end of the story is that I had to have a tow truck tow me and my car home and I'll have to have a tow truck tow me and my car to a mechanic tomorrow morning. (I have NO friends or relatives that live closer than 60 miles away!) And then I'll have to call a car rental company to drop off a car at the aforementioned mechanic's place and race to work all the while freaking out about how much all of this will cost me.

I'm such a baby too: I cried on the phone when I called my parents. I cried on the phone when I called my boss to tell him. And I cried at the tow truck driver when he showed up. Frustration of this nature turns me into a wreck.

My husband is lucky that he is in Germany driving a phat Fiat Panda instead of my fickle Forester.

Update

Okay so Mr X's boss has relented and is very graciously (read: reluctantly) allowing him to stay in Europe for the full amount of time he requested. Woo hoo! The European Adventure is still on!

Oh, and my car is fixed finally and my boss let me use my OT to cover the time I was out during the week dealing with my car. I must also mention that I owe an apology to the Jiffy Lube located at Pennsylvania and Montgomery in Albuquerque because the problem with my car was not caused by them and they directed me to a place that did a wonderful job fixing my car and taking care of me. (Those other jiffy lubes that I mentioned are still BAD - don't go to them!)

It is amazing how much my outlook on life has improved with the happy resolution of these two things.

1-2-3 Strikes you're out, Jiffy Lube!

Strike 1: The offending site - Jiffy Lube located off Eubank in Albuquerque NM. In an attempt to charge ridiculous amounts of money to customers for something easily done by one's self, Jiffy Lube usually checks the air filter in cars to tell you need a new one and that they can easily do it for you. I always say no because I'm perfectly able to go buy my own air filter and replace it myself. So once again I said no. So after this oil change I went to another store to buy my air filter & replace it. When I popped the hood up I discovered that the plastic covering that goes over the air filter had a place for a bolt broken right off. Between the last times I touched it, Jiffy people were the only people rooting around int there. Plus there were fresh finger marks in the dust and grime around the filter. I realize that this isn't the end of the work and the plastic was probably brittle and it was surely an accident. But couldn't they at least have been honest about the whole thing and let me know? To me, this incident conveys a lack of respect and honesty from Jiffy.

Strike 2: Mr X took the car to another Jiffy location off of Coors for an oil change. Everything was fine before we took it in. We came home with an oil leak. So Mr X took the car back to show them. They informed him that it's normal for there to be a bit of oil leakage afterward and it should stop in a couple days. (What?!? I've had lots of oil changes in my lifetime and not once have I found that to be normal. Apparently Jiffy thinks we are as moronic as we look.) It didn't stop. Mr X took it back again. This time they did another oil change to "fix" things and sent us home again. Nope. Mr X took it back a 3rd time and this time the manager looked at it and discovered that his Jiffy people had managed to accidentally crack our oil reservoir. He personally replaced it and gave us yet another oil change along with a coupon for a free one at that location. We promptly threw it away. Once again, this displays a lack of respect and honesty and pride in one's work.

Strike 3: Mr X tried a 3rd Jiffy location for an oil change (off Montgomery) and, since they offered it, a rotation of the tires. Now my back right tire is all misaligned and making loud noises when it rotates. So now I have to take the damn car back to Jiffy and yell at them again and get them to fix it without charging me anything because it is their folly. Wish me luck. Hopefully they fix it and everything is fine because I can't afford to take it somewhere else and pay to have it fixed.

All in all I think I've been pretty forgiving of the Jiffy Lube chain, but after 3 disappointing experiences at 3 different locations I feel that the chain either just really isn't that concerned with doing a good job for it's customers or they consistently hire people that don't care about doing a good job. Either way means pain for me, so you're fired Jiffy Lube!

(I'll try to stop complaining about poor customer service for a while now.)

The Decline of Good Customer Service

As most of you know, I'm headed overseas early next month. So naturally I bought airline tickets to get me there. I used a search engine to find the cheapest ones available just like most people would do. Unfortunately for me, airfare.com had the cheapest tickets for what I wanted.

When I bought the tickets the website informed me that due to the highly discounted nature of this fare they would have to issue paper tickets and that would cost me an extra $15 to process and get those delivered to me. The website stated that I would receive these tickets via FedEx shortly. So I waited. And waited. I sent an email inquiry to the customer service address I had for them (I detest confrontation). Of course I received no response so I gritted my teeth this morning and called the help line. The help line is poorly set up, no direction other than "please enter the extension for the person you are trying to reach." Pressing '0' gets you nowhere, so in a desperate attempt to get a person I just punched in '111'. Ta-da! The phone rang. After being on hold for a bit I finally got a human being on the phone with me. His voice relayed the idea that he hated his job and I had probably called just to make his life more difficult. After explaining to him that I still had not received my paper tickets even 2 weeks after the purchase he informed me that they had changed the status of my tickets to 'electronic' rather than paper. I asked if that meant that, without a doubt, when I got to the counter to check in for my flight I would not have to have any paper tickets? He said of course in a way that insinuated that a. I was an idiot and b. that I was boring him. So I asked why airfare.com didn't send me a notice of this change? His response? "Uh.... they were going to send out an email about it." After I got off the phone I sent an email to them again, this time also requesting reimbursement of my $15 along with an email confirmation of the change to my tickets. I will call and email every damn day until I get my $15 back AND my email confirmation. I will also be calling the airlines directly to confirm that I am indeed booked on their flights and that I DO NOT need a paper ticket.

This brings me to my question: Whatever happened to good customer service?

Now this isn't just airfare.com that prompts this question. I have had poor customer service from GE, Best Buy, KB Home, Aveda, 3-Day Blinds, Lowes, Home Depot, my student loan company CFS Loans, Wells Fargo, ADP, Brinks, Orkin, Ryder, Jiffy Lube,etc. And those are only the ones I can think of right off-hand. Please feel free to include your own "don't use this company" words of warning in the comments. Unfortunately that may mean that there are very few companies that exist from which people have received good customer service. Neiman Marcus is one with whom I have had good interaction. That's all I can think of at the moment.

Here is an article I read regarding this issue recently.

I wonder if this poor service trend is simply due to lack of respect of other people. Lack of empathy? Lack of pride in one's work? Laziness? What do you think causes it?