Happy New Year!

To all my friends and family,

I wish you the best for the new year. May it bring you love, happiness, and joy!

Be safe!

Melissa

Who the hell is Sherry Chow?

A few weeks ago, I received an invitation for a wedding. The wedding was for a friend that I've known since elementary school (thats over 20 years!) and his bride was someone that we went to high school with. Problem was - I had no clue who the bride was. I called my friends and they all seemed to remember her. She was in my year (the groom was a year older) and in band, and since I was on the flag team, we spent LOTS of time with the band.

Last night, the wedding arrives and off I go to see the happy couple get joined in holy matrimony. The wedding was on a yacht in the marina in Newport Beach, which was a new experience all in itself. I met up with my friend, Natalie (who totally remembered Sherry) at the marina and we walk up to the yacht to embark on our little voyage. While waiting to board, we started recognizing people. It was turning out to be a little high school reunion! There were about 12 people there from the past. One girl is still the same elitist bitch that she was all those years ago. Ahhh, memories.

Upon boarding the yacht (and I'm using yacht because I don't know if I should call it a ship or a boat), there was a security guard who needed to check our bags for weapons. What cracked me up about it was that he said "I have to check your bag, but only because the Coast Guard is watching. Ok, thats good - oh one more time he's looking again" Yes, I totally felt safe.

Finally get onboard and the champagne starts flowing. I kept telling Natalie not to let me scream 'So that's Sherry Chow!' at anytime during the night because she kept saying, you will totally remember who she is when you see her. We push off the dock and start our little 3 hour tour.

The ceremony begins with the procession of the wedding party. Here it comes - the big unveiling of the mysterious bride. She starts walking out and...I still don't have a clue! She's a beautiful bride and my friend looks extremely happy and proud. The ceremony ends and we are shuffled downstairs for appetizers while they take pictures and get the upstairs ready for dinner. After a bit, the bride and groom come down to mingle and we go up to them to offer our congratulations. Here is the moment that I was looking forward to and fearing at the same time. I was afraid she was going to see that I had no clue who she was. Nat and I go up and say hi and now her voice sounds familiar...but still nothing. Now, I'm standing there like an idiot because I can't remember her.

Dinner begins and they have a Polynesian floor show, which was lots of fun. After that, the bride and groom do their first dance. They dance to swing music and it was a nice change of tradition. For some reason, now is the time that I remember who Sherry is! Luckily I didn't scream out my revelation.

My Ears! My Ears!

Time for a vote people - which one of these is most painful to watch and to hear?

Candidate #1
Premise: A garage band gets their big chance to perform in front of a live audience. They should have practiced a bit more.


Just...just...speechless. I mean - didn't anyone bother to tell them that they suck? Doesn't it look like the lead singer is walking around with his hand in his pocket like he's THAT good he doesn't even have to try. Didn't they audition for goodness sake? Is someone actually paying them? So many questions!

Candidate #2
Premise: A group of Pop Idol losers are asked to be the halftime show at a Futbol/Soccer match. Don't people know not to screw with soccer fans?!?!


The guy in the white shirt has to be my favorite - such enthusiasm! Let's not mention the audience reaction. The waving of the white flags are classic!

I think we all know who I'm voting for.

Christmas Day Movie Marathon

Christmas has come and gone - thank goodness! I think I've started an internal clock as to when to take down the tree. I would have done it today but nooo - I had to watch these movies and eat all...day...long.

So here we go with what was seen.

The Way We Were
Amazingly enough, I had never seen this Redford/Streisand classic about a couple's love story. I knew the story, but had not sat through a viewing of the film. Recently, I saw an episode of Sex and The City where the girls are talking about the movie and it piqued my interest to actually make the effort to watch it. Thank the lords for Netflix and their Watch Instantly program. I liked the movie a lot and I'm short of saying that I loved it.

Stranger Than Fiction
What an entertaining movie this is. Will Farrell plays Harold Crick, an IRS auditor, who starts hearing a voice in his head narrating his actions. The voice, as it turns out, is Emma Thompson who is writing a book about Farrell's character. Things get kicked into high gear when Harold hears the author say that his death is imminent and starts trying to figure out who the author is to try to prevent his doom. The movie is really good and is cute when it comes to the love story between Harold and the baker. I was surprised with the talent on this cast (Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah, and Maggie Gyllenhaal) and the witty writing. Highly recommended.

Notes On A Scandal
First of all, the acting of the two leading ladies in this film is superb. The story moves along rather well and gives enough suspense to make you nervous for the characters of the film. Its amazing how some movies can pick up on the nuances of human behavior. I swear, Dame Judi Dench has really really scared me. And that scene where she's trying to force Cate Blanchett's character to choose between her and Cate's family was just amazing. They both do a good job of conveying their sides of the friendship and you feel sorry for Dench's character but you also know better since you know she's pulling all these puppet strings.

Amazingly enough, I got three good movies in! Now I have to hit the theaters and catch up on some flicks on the big screen.

Things to see:
National Treasure 2 - yes, I know, I heard it sucked but I hate to admit I really liked the first one so I have to see this one.
Juno - Seems like its the Miss Little Sunshine of this year.
Charlie Wilson's War - I'm such a sucker for Aaron Sorkin's writing.
Walk Hard - Its John C. Reilly for goodness sake!
The Savages - looks good, its all I got.
P.S. I Love You - I know it doesn't look good, but I can't help it! I should just read the book instead.

Happy Festivus!

Well Christmas if finally upon us and I'd like to send out a little holiday how-do-you-do to all my friends, family, and strangers who read this blog. Hope Santa brings you all your heart's desire and that you are able to spend time with the ones you love.

Freakin' Holiday Spirit

About an hour ago, my mom and I started hearing major sirens around my neighborhood. It sounded like they were driving all over the place and they just wouldn't stop. At first it was just another one of those things, but after about 10 minutes, I was seriously getting concerned. We looked out to see if there was a fire, there was nothing. But still, the fire trucks seemed to be getting closer and closer.

Finally it sounded like it was down the street. I ventured out because my curiousity knows no bounds and then, it was revealed to me.

The reason for all the noise for the past 30 minutes: SANTA CLAUS.

Yup, Santa Claus was riding on a fire engine waving at children on the various streets of my neighborhood. I'm sure this tradition is played out in cities all over so it shouldn't be that huge of a shock. But, I always feel like I get blindsided by this. Last year, I was at a stop sign a block away from my apartment when the little caravan of police cars and fire engines passed in front of me. The one thing that gets me is that I never know when it happens. Is it the 23rd? Is it the Sunday before? It would obviously make more sense that its the 23rd though.

Anyways, figured I'd share how on this Sunday evening I thought that we were being attacked, when in reality Santa was going for a joy ride.

A Great Saturday Night

1) Wrap Presents
2) Finally cleaning/organizing Jake's room
3) Finish decorating for Christmas
4) Play Super Mario Party 8.
5) Realize that my son likes Usher and has some smooth moves
6) Finally uploaded a video on Youtube!

Yay! Everyone Hates Jessica Simpson!

In case you hadn't heard, Tony Romo from the Dallas Cowboys had the worst game of his career on Sunday. Most, if not all, Dallas fans have chosen to blame Jessica Simpson, Romo's new girlfriend, for the bad performance. Romo's teammate, the illustrious Terrell Owens joined the bandwagon in blaming Simpson - then backing off later in the day saying that he was joking (which he probably was, everyone likes a story).

So - there are 2 games left in the regular season. This Saturday the Cowboys play against Carolina and next week, they play against my beloved Redskins. There is a new website up and running that is helping the anti-Dallas fans: Ruin Romo.

There are a few steps to follow:
1) Buy Tickets to the next Dallas Game.
2) Print out this picture in Full Color.
3) Cut out eyes and head.
4) Paste or tape to a heavy piece of paper or cardboard.
5) Paste popsicle stick to bottom for easy handling.
6) Bring it to the game and let Tony know Jessica is there for him!
7) Celebrate after your team wins!

I can't believe that I actually agree with the people of Dallas on something! On a side note, at last night's Pub Quiz - the winning team's name was "If we lose, we are fucking Jessica Simpson." Obviously, they weren't fucking her because they won.

I wonder how effective it would be if I make one of these signs and wave it around in my apartment on Saturday.

Being An Idiot

I've had two instances in the span of 3 days that have made me feel like an idiot. And apparently, I find enough humor it in to post it out into the internet.

Idiot Instance #1
I mentioned my cable being an issue a few blog posts ago. Since I've already done what I can do by exchanging my cable box, the cable man came by on Saturday to check out what the problem was. The cable man was nice enough to tell me that the wrong cable was used to hook up to the cable box.
Where I Fess Up: A few months ago, in preparation of setting up my living room for the "new television", I bought some cable. The purpose was to set up my TV from the north wall of the apartment (where the cable came out of the wall) and move it to the southeast corner of the apartment (where it would would look awesome). I actually pulled up the carpet, stuck the cable under the wall, and replaced the carpet all the way to the new area from the wall connection. Apparently, I bought the wrong type of cord and now I have to buy the correct type of cord and redo the whole thing to fix the picture.
Reason Why This Makes Me An Idiot: I could have paid the cable guy $35 to fix it and I didn't because "I could do it myself".

Idiot Instance #2
Yesterday, I tried putting my (automatic) car into gear and I couldn't. I would push the button on the gear shift and try to put it into reverse and nothing. Try again - NOTHING! The damn thing didn't work. Finally after pressing and unpressing the break it finally went. I figured it was a one time thing until it happened again tonight, twice.
Where I Fess Up: All my cars (in the past) were manual transmissions. My dad would often laugh at me if I was driving his car and I couldn't get the key out after turning off the car because I would forget to put the car in park. Yes, I have my blonde moments. I'm just not used to the automatic cars! I've learned all of the tricks with the sticks (no pun intented, but kind of funny now that I point it out) and when something goes wrong with an automatic it feels like I can't do anything about it because its not a manual transmission. I ended up calling the ex-husband and calling to play his mechanical skills and he told me to push a button near the base of the gear shift while pressing the button on the gear shift and that should make it work...and it did!
Reason Why This Makes Me An Idiot: I have fiddled with that button over and over again wondering what it does but never really figured it out because I thought it had something to do with the overdrive. In reality it says "Gear Shift Lock Override".

Introducing The Youngin' To Great Comedy

Today, I bought myself a great early Christmas present.

I honestly feel that The Muppet Show (and Mel Brooks) contributed to my (and my brother's) sense of humor. So when I saw this sucker on sale, I had to get it. When I was unwrapping it, Jake asked me who the Muppets were. I had to double check that this was indeed my child but then I realized that I was a basically given a lump of life and I have to mold him into what I think he should be. God help me if he turns into Alex P. Keaton, but thats a story for another post.

Back to the molding...so we've managed to squeeze in about 9 episodes tonight since we started relatively early. Can you venture a guess who his favorite character has turned out to be? The Swedish Chef!

Here is a little taste of what my kid has fallen in love with:



OK - what kind of sensitive wimps are we putting out in the world if this is the stuff WE grew up on and everything else is so watered down? The man has a gun to make donuts! Let's not mention the Chinese cake he tries to beat with a bat, the Mexican lobster he tries to kill and the bandidos come to save him, and the chicken he treatens with a butcher's knife. So already we know much of this wouldn't fly with the current censors...but look at this treasure I actually saw as I was typing this.



Quotable line:
"Of course it's a female! You don't expect me dancing with a male, do you? That'd be weird!"

Seriously, are we fucked up? Because I find that line funny and not offensive at all and yet, it wouldn't fly this day in age on any of the kids shows. Are we better rounded adults than our kids will be or have we evolved into tolerant beings because of how open we have to be to accept the changes that our world is going through?

There is no point in getting into any discussion about this because I know you guys just really want to sing the song...so go at it:

Cursed!

See what happens when you give bad customer service? Karma always gets its revenge...

Being Left Behind

At this very moment, the Jakeman is on the phone with his classmate hooking up the Wii's so that they can play Pokemon Battle Revolution together over the Wi-Fi.

Damn, I'm getting so old!

Oh, Marimo!

I'm just sitting on my couch and surfing the net, trying to recover from this cold that has basically bitch-slapped me into submission. I come across Dooce and Heather posted a link to this video. Its a 10 minute Japanese short film about a girl, Mika and her dog, Marimo.

Let me state for the gals that I didn't expect to cry but I did. And it was Steel Magnolias/Beaches-worthy crying but without the sobbing. Thank goodness for that!

Fighting The Evil Cable Company

I have been having issues with my cable box for a while now and everything seemed to come to a head today.

For the past few weeks, a few channels have slowly gotten worse in terms of quality (think snow). I called the customer service line and they suggested I go exchange my cable box to try and fix the problem. I was finally able to head out this morning to do that. So I had the address in my head and Jake and I started our errands. Before heading to the cable office, I had to stop at the bank and I had promised Jake a stop at Starbucks for a hot chocolate. I knew from the map that a particular Starbucks in a strip mall was around the cable office so I opted to take him there. We get back in the car and start driving. Going back and forth on the road for about 10 minutes, I couldn't seem to find this cable office. I finally call the cable company to ask them where it was. "They say "oh its behind the Wells Fargo Bank." Um, that Wells Fargo bank is about 20 yards away from the Starbucks we were just at. I seriously didn't believe the representative, but sure enough - thats where the cable office was. And yes, I felt like an idiot.

So I get my cable box and head home to get it hooked up since I had invited my uncle and cousins over for the Mayweather/Hatton fight. I hook it up and I can't see any On Demand channels or the Pay Per View option to order the fight. I figure its because I just changed the box, so I call the customer service line. They tell me that I have a past due balance that I have to pay in order to get the fight. Um, ok - so I pay the balance and they said that everything would be ready to go in about 2 hours while they process the payment. This was at 1pm.

I was busy getting ready for the family to come over and at about 5pm, I call the cable company to order the fight. I finally speak to a human being at 5:15pm. This was our conversation:

Me: Hi I'm interested in order the Mayweather/Hatton fight and I can't do it through my cable box for some reason.
CSR: Yes, I see here that you have a balance.
Me: Well, I took care of the past due balance this afternoon and they said to call back a couple of hours to wait for it to post to my account.
CSR: Maybe you have to wait 24 hours.
Me: What? Thats not what they told me earlier. They said that its all resolved and I just had to wait a couple hours.
CSR: Well, you have to take care of this balance.
Me: But that balance is my December bill. I'm current on the account.
CSR: I don't know what to tell you ma'am. You have to pay this amount to get the Pay Per View to work.
Me: That doesnt make any sense, the account isnt due until the end of December.
CSR: Yes and after you pay it, I will process the payment and have the fight turned on. That will take 1-2 hours.
Me: No! I already waited my 1-2 hours for the payment to post. I want you to turn on the fight right now. Are you guarantee me that the fight will be on in 1-2 hours?
CSR: Yes
Me: Then why can't you just turn on the fight now? It makes no sense.
CSR: What? You can't wait 2 hours?
Me: Excuse me?
CSR: Its what the process is ma'am (and in a sarcastic tone). I'm sorry.
Me: I'd like to talk to your supervisor please.
CSR: Fine, please hold. God bless you.

I'm put on hold for about 5 minutes and nothing. So I hang up and call again.

Me: Hi, I'm having trouble ordering the fight and I was wondering if you could help me.
New CSR: Sure, let me double check your account.
Me: Thanks
New CSR: Ok - the price of the event is $54.99. Can you check channel 802 please.
Me: Um, ok
New CSR: Let me process your request. Please hold a moment.

The undercard fights comes on the television

New CSR: Well that should do it - anything else I can do for you.
Me: Uh, you have been great. Thank you!
New CSR: Thank you and enjoy the fight!

So the family and I are cooking our hot dogs and hamburgers and watching the fight. At around 7:30pm, the picture gets all wonky; cutting out, freezing, and only hearing the audio at times. At 7:45pm, the picture goes out completely and I'm left with a black screen. We turn off the cable box a few times and wait it out in case its a temporary thing. At 8:15pm, I call the cable company (again). And after being on hold for 20 minutes, I get this conversation going:

Me: Hi, I ordered the Mayweather/Hatton fight and it went out about 30 minutes ago.
CSR: Ok, let me check your area for outages.
Me: Thank you.
CSR: I can't see any problems in your area. Do you have any other problems with other channels?
Me: Nope, everything is fine. Its just that one channel.
CSR: Are you sure you are on the right channel?
Me: Uh, yes. We were watching it and it just went out.
CSR: I just sent a signal to your box, did anything happen?
Me: Nope, nothing. Still out.
CSR: Ok, I really don't know what to tell you. Let me send out another signal and if nothing happens in 10 minutes, please call us back.
Me: You know, can I just stay on the phone for 10 minutes because if hang up, its going to be another 20 minutes being on hold.
CSR: Sorry, ma'am. Just call back in 10 minutes if you have any issue.

Now, during this call my cousins and I were joking that it was probably that first CSR that helped me getting her revenge on me for wanting to talk to her supervisor. That she turned off my access to the fight to have the last laugh. After 10 minutes, still staring at the black screen so I call the cable company AGAIN.

Me: Hi...(yes, I sounded defeated). I was watching the Mayweather/Hatton fight and the screen went blank. Can you please help me?
CSR: I can try! Lets see - let me first send a test signal.
Me: Yeah, I already went through all this with another representative and she told me to call back in 10 minutes if I didn't get the picture back and thats where I'm at.
CSR: Ok - let me check if there are any outages in your area.
Me: Sigh -ok. I was already told that there weren't. Almost made me feel like I was making it up.
CSR: Well, well...it looks like there are some outages in California.
Me: Great - is there any luck that they will be fixed before the main event? I mean it would suck if this actually came back on only for us to hear "That was the best fight ever!" and I'm charged for looking at a black screen for most of the night.
CSR: Don't worry about that. I'm going to credit your account right now to make sure that you dont get charged for it since you did call with your issues.
Me: Thank you very much!
CSR: Keep checking the channel, you never know - it might come back on and you'll get to see it for free.
Me: Ha! Thanks - we'll keep checking.
CSR: Have a good night.

Time at the end of call: 9:20pm

While all this was happening, we were basically watching the Kings/Coyotes game and surfing the net for entertainment. I found this round by round coverage of the fight. So every couple of minutes, I would read out the recap. We finally decided that maybe we should vote who would be Mayweather and who would be Hatton in a re-enactment while I read out the play by play. But, unfortunately, that didn't fly.

Best Inmate Escape Story Ever!

Going through Fark, I found this little diddy that caught my eye. Someone needs to turn this into a movie starring Martin Lawrence.

Inmate escapes by clogging toilet to create distraction
CHARLESTOWN, Ind. (AP) - An inmate escaped from a work-release crew after he created a distraction with an overflowing toilet, authorities said.

Wayne Mitchell, 24, was in the Clark County Jail for a probation-violation warrant, but had been working with a crew clearing roadside trash. When the crew stopped at the Clark County Fraternal Order of Police lodge to eat lunch, Mitchell went into a restroom and clogged a toilet, causing it to overflow, police said. He then came out saying he needed some towels from the jail's van to sop up the mess."The toilet overflowed and the rest of the inmates were trying to clean it up," said Maj. Chuck Adams of the Clark County Sheriff's Department. Instead of going to the van, Mitchell walked to nearby G&R Auto Sales, where an employee gave him the keys to a car he said he wanted to look over, police said. Police said he then stole a red 1995 Chevrolet Camaro convertible.

Officers later found Mitchell's jail-issued clothes at the dealership, about 15 miles north of Louisville, Ky.

First of all, this guy deserves an award other than his freedom for outsmarting everyone in this situation. Let make a few assumptions and observations:

1) He is on a roadside trash pick up detail. A group of about 20 people that are doing community service probably have about 2 people overseeing them. These guys are PRISONERS so you'd think they'd have more people supervising them. Plus they stopped at the Clark County Fraternal Order of Police lodge. How many people do you think were sitting around in there with a law enforcement background? If the amount of people who used to hang out at the VA in Ridgecrest were any indication, this is getting more and more embarassing for the Department of Corrections in Indiana.
2) Isn't the toilet clogged one of the oldest distractions? Oh look, its the Easter bunny!!!
3) OK - how many people does it take to clean up a clogged toilet?
4) I'll ask - how did he clog it up? I'm going down THAT route because I live with a 6 yr old.
5) Didn't the car salesman get a driver's license from escapee? Don't they collect those items when you, um, check into prison?
6) My favorite part of this is that they haven't caught him.

Vote For The Foos!

The 50th Grammy Award nominations were announced this morning with Kanye West leading the pack and Amy Winehouse a close second. But, not too far behind are my boys - The Foo Fighters. The Foos are nominated for 5 awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for their song "The Pretender".

Now, I'm not going to lie, I LOVE "The Pretender". Anytime I'm alone in my car, I put Echos, Patience, Silence, and Grace in my cd player and just rock out to that song. Let me put it to you this way, I would buy the Rockband accessory for my Wii just so I could sing this song in my apartment. I haven't had this much love for a rocker since Lenny Kravitz stole my heart when I first heard "Are You Gonna Go My Way?"

Curious to see what my hype is all about? Here is their video for "The Pretender". And yes Derry, I've already made up a karaoke routine to this...I PROUDLY ADMIT IT!



Now - the Grammys need to make this up to me and have the Foos win (even though I think that either Rhianna or Amy Winehouse are going to take it). Why you ask? Did you get a chance to watch the My Night at the Grammys special on CBS last weekend? They counted down the top 25 moments in Grammy history.

In the spot #25, Aretha Franklin steps in for Luciano Pavarotti to sing Nessun Dorma, a famous Italian aria. Now...you all know my love for Aretha so being that she's #25 was already irking me. But, she was asked to sing for Pavarotti one hour before he was to take the stage. ONE HOUR. OPERA. ITALIAN. How can this not be higher on the list? How? Here is the audio from the Grammys.



When I first heard this performance, I cried. To this day, I'm still moved by the pure emotion that she conveys. She is the best and I'm now even more excited about seeing her in February.

Some other memorable performances on the Grammy flashback show were:

Melissa Etheridge and Joss Stone with their homage to Janis Joplin:

Why I think this video is awesome: Joss Stone (wacky as she is) has one of the best soul voices out there and Melissa - well Melissa rules. She ranks right up there, not as high as Aretha but as high as Annie Lennox. And not only did she rock the performance but she did it after fighting her battle with breast cancer.

Michael Jackson proving why he was a great performer:

Why I think this performance is awesome: Not only does he combine two of my all time favorite MJ songs but ITS MICHAEL! And the Michael that we would refer to in the present tense, not the past tense.

Ricky Martin launching the Latin music scene onto America:

Why I think this performance is awesome: There are moments in life that for one reason or another, you remember vividly. For me, this is one of them. I remember being in my friend's apartment helping him put together his tv stand or something and watching this unfold on the tv before me. I remember thinking "this is when he becomes a full blown star in America". Lets not mention that he was in Menudo, star on General Hospital and was already known world wide considering that the song he was singing was the anthem to the World Cup. But you know those pesky white people! And you know they were all dancing in their seats but they were too embarassed to get up and get their groove on...

So the Grammy Night thing - gave the #1 spot to Green Day singing American Idiot. I actually love Green Day and American Idiot is one of my favorite songs from them - but #1!?!?! Did I mention Aretha was #25 and she sang Opera? And trust me, I didn't even go into my rant about Alan Jackson and Celine Dion being ranked higher than the videos I posted.

This is why the Foos need to win this year. It can't be this HUGE shock that rockers can have the best album and record of the year in music that they get voted the #1 moment in Grammy history. At least American Idiot was bashing the Bush Admnistration, so I'll cut them some slack on that one.

An Angry Worded Response To A Customer Service Survey

This is an actual response that I sent to Levitz. The reason I was asked for my feedback was that I had ordered a couch and I finally had it delivered this past Sunday. Lets not mention that I had ordered it at the end of October. After getting the delivery moved around because of a back order issue, the couch was in my sights when I received an email a week ago that I was receiving the couch on Sunday. I got a call on Wednesday confirming my delivery date and that I was going to get a call on Saturday to firm up the 3 hour window for the actual delivery. Around 4:30pm on Saturday, I realized I never got a call and luckily, I had the phone number in my cell to be able to call and find out what time they were coming.

Here is my response in the "Do you have any comments or issues regarding this delivery?" portion of the survey that I was sent on Monday night.

First of all, I never got a call about my delivery window. I had to call the warehouse to get that information. Additionally, I received an email on Monday regarding my delivery time on Sunday. What good is that going to do me when the delivery supposedly already happened? Secondly, my delivery time was for 1-4pm. At 4:15pm, I called the customer service line to find out why my couch had not been delivered. They told me that I would receive a call in no more than 15 minutes to get an update on my delivery. At 4:45pm, I called again because I had not heard anything from the warehouse. In about 5 minutes, I did receive a call from a very nice young lady (I'm sorry, I dont know her name) who told me that I had to wait 45 more minutes for my couch to be delivered. I was very upset that my whole Sunday had to be put to waiting around for my couch to be delivered. Whoever called me that last time (well, actually only time) was extremely polite and apologetic. She offered to waive the delivery price for the next day but I was not going to wait yet another day for a couch that I had received about 4 emails changing the delivery date. She also offered to refund my delivery charge, but I had received free delivery at the time of my purchase.

I can understand that delays happen - but 2 hours past my 3 hour window is completely unacceptible. As a customer, I would have truly appreciated a phone call from the warehouse telling me that the driver was delayed and given me a more detailed time of arrival. I was told that you offer the option of getting a phone call 30 minutes - 1 hour before the arrival of the delivery truck. However, your company failed to complete your end of the bargain by arriving during the window that you gave me. As soon as a delivery driver can see that they are not going to be able to fulfill their promise, then someone in the warehouse should call the customer and let them know in case they have a prior engagement after the time window given.

I figured I had gotten all of my anger out and then they asked me if I had any additional comments...well I guess I did.

I'm just very frustrated that I had to basically waste an entire Sunday to receive my couch. The driver never really apologized for being late. They just came in, saw where it needed to be set up, dropped it off, and left after I signed for the item. I wasnt treated with disrespect, but I was really upset and didn't want to take my anger out on the driver because I don't specifically know the reasons for him being late.

I understand that your company makes hundreds of deliveries a day and I'm sure the horrible experience of one customer may not amount to much. But as of right now, I will not be shopping at Levitz again and encouranging my friends and family to do the same because of this experience.

And yes, I realize now that I misspelled unacceptable and encouraging.

And in case you are curious, this is the reason for all the hooplah:


Isn't it pretty?!?!?!

Best Widget Ever!

Hmm, if I could only figure out how to put it in my sidebar without screwing up anything I have on there now.

My Ghetto Cars

When you sit in your car - you love your car. It doesn't embarass you. It takes care of you by taking you from point a to point b without leaving you stranded somewhere. It protects you from the elements.

In my life, all my cars have failed me in these examples - one way or another.

Car #1 - 1980 Mazda RX-7
Yes, I had a race car. I loved this car. It made me feel pretty badass driving around in this thing. True, the bucketseats were so deep that I had have a pillow to sit on. True, the defroster didn't work at all so when it got cold, I had to roll the window down a bit and put the heater on full blast to create some sort of El Nino effect in my car so I was able to see out the windows as I drove. I could actually live with all these things - but the one thing I couldn't live with were the backfires.

Sometimes, when I would turn my car off, my car would backfire. And not just a POP backfire, I'm talking about a BOOM! backfire. This was when I worked at Universal and employees would park in this parking structure. On the weekends, I had an early shift and would park on the first level. Being that I'm a person of routine, I would park in the same area every weekend. The EMT's would change shifts in the same area as I would park and I would see them those mornings. I got so in tune with my car, that I knew when a backfire was coming on. Most times, it was in some mall parking lot where I could pretend I owned another another car. But, when it happened those weekend mornings....I had nowhere to hide since it was usually the only the EMT's and me. So I would do what any self respecting girl would do if I knew it was coming - I'd run. Certain EMT's finally figured out it was me - oh the memories.

Car #2 - 1999 Nissan 200sx
Another racecar - sensing a pattern here? This blog has detailed many adventures with my devil car. Most notably, it breaking down in Montclair when we were on our way to my friend's son's baptism party and the constant oil leaks. But what I will always remember this car, is for the fact that the driver side window didnt work. It was an automatic window and one day it just stopped working. I tried over and over to get it fixed and if it was the correct motor, then it was the wrong switch - I was destined to not have this window work ever again. I was so embarassed by the window thing that I really cut down on my fast food eating because I couldn't go through the drive-thru. Having to open the door to open, pay, and receive the food was just too much humiliation!

The best story of this window was when I was driving home in the carpool lane with Jake and a cop forced me out thinking that I was alone. He was yelling at me to roll in the window down and I was just screaming "THE WINDOW DOESNT WORK!". I was so close to opening the sun roof and just standing up and telling him that I did have someone else in the car. And yes, I did do the sun roof thing once in a drive thru.

Car #3 1996 Nissan Sentra
This is an interim car until I find something I really like - whether its a new car or a newer used car. This car isn't pretty but it works. Sure, it has some sort of tiny oil leak, but I'm used to living with that. What I can't live with, is that fact that it leaks. And I mean, I realized it leaks when it was raining and the water was coming into my car! I was driving to work Friday morning and it was raining. I got to a stop sign and all of sudden I felt water coming in. At first, I brushed it off because I was in the car. But then it happened again. I looked up and I saw the water gathering near the visor and then dripping down....into my lap. I cleaned it up thinking (hoping) maybe it was a one time thing but nope, it wasn't. I grabbed a napkin and wiped it, then saw the water gather enough for another drop to fall again, into my lap.

Now I notice that there is another section under the visor of the passenger side that is doing the same thing. TWO LEAKS! I make my left turn and I guess a lot of water has gathered wherever its gathering and a some water falls into my lap. Great, I now look like I have peed in my pants and I'm on my way to work. I make a right turn and some water is starting to fall into my passenger seat/floor area. Because I can be lazy, I happen to have a couple of sweaters in my car. I grab them and I put one where the water is falling in my lap and the other in the passenger seat. And thats how I drove to work. When I get there (and find a spot on the 2nd floor so I wouldnt have to park on the roof), I look on the roof of the car. I notice that there are two tiny rusted holes near the top of the windshield. Fabulous.

The funny thing about this, is that I've already made this whole scenario up that if I have to park on the street and I'd have to put a big plastic trash back held down with bricks to prevent water from getting into the car. At least I have trashbags and I can always swipe a couple of bricks from my little garden in front of my apartment. Plan B is set!