When it rains (or leaks), it pours.....

Howdy everyone, some of you noticed right away that I didn't send my Wednesday night update this week.

Well, there's a pretty good reason for that.

Lets just pick up from last update.  The weekend was the normal routine, not much exciting, though Bob and I did try a German restaurant in town, and had their "giant pig knuckle" which was great.  They also had a nice coffee machine inside, so we ordered a cup of joe.  It was the nicest cup of coffee I've had in a long time.  Afterwards I did my usual shopping. Check out the picture of this HUGE durian.  You could smell it from a mile away!

This week has been very busy workwise, deadlines and big management meetings coming up have stretched me pretty thin.  Between work, home, and Kody, there wasnt much time to punch out an update.  I also finally did join the Gym by the house and went to my first spin class there.  I dont know if it was me being out of shape,  no fans in the classroom, or the lack of AC, but I only lasted about 30 minutes.  The room is dark like US spin classes, but has LED strobes all over the place like a trance club.  That, combined with EuroTrash Techno exhausted me.  I decided to leave before I had seizures from the lights.

This Wednesday evening, I went to bed, and for some reason forgot to power off my Houston cell phone.  I always power it off. About 12:30 midnight, phone rang, it was my neighbor.  I answered, completely incoherent, and he was paitent enough to let me get my bearings, and to tell me I had a major water leak in the house.  Nick has been checking on the house regularly, along with my Mom and stepdad, and Dayna, so the house usually doesn't go for extended amounts of time without people looking in.  Well, the water leak started at the water heater (defective rubber hose), and leaked all over, caving the ceiling in at the guest room, and leaking down the hall, to the office, dining room, living room, and kitchen.  I'm so fortunate that my Mom and Step Dad , and Nick and my contractor friend Mark, all stepped up to the plate.  I called my insurance agent, and the same day, Mom, Darrell, Nick and Mark, and the insurance company had come out, done estimates, brought in fans and dehumidifiers and were starting the cleanup process.  Felt really nice to know I'm in good hands. The damage is pretty extensive, floors, sheetrock and plumbing repair. Still waiting for the final estimate.  Thank goodness for insurance.

To top that off, Friday morning, Kody and I went for our usual 5AM walk.  Except this guy, walked out the door without his house keys.  So here I am, sitting outside the door of the apartment,  flip flops, shorts and a Tshirt with Kody. I had my wallet but no cell phone.  And knew nobodys phone number here.   I hadnt shaved, showered or even brushed my teeth.  I was going to walk down the street to the Holiday inn and wake up bob, and have him call my admin who has a key, but it would take two hours to get her to the office, get the key and then come unlock the door.  On top of that, they probably dont allow dogs into holiday inn.  So option 2 was to take Kody in a Cab and head to work, and twiddle my thumbs still 8am when people came to work to get a key, but most cabs dont allow dogs.   So the last and final option, was to bother a neighbor.  I had met two neighbors, the one on the first floor, who is VERY nice,but not sure how nice anyones going to be at 5:30 in the morning.  The second neighbor lives above me, we met once, but the important part is, since he lives above me, I know what time he gets moving.  Which was about 5:30.  I knocked on his door, and asked him to lock kody up while I went for keys, and he said that he and his wife go to work at 7.  So that wasnt an option. Then he remembered that there was a flyer for a locksmith at our West entrance to the compound.  He ran down with me, we got the number, and 15 minutes later, the locksmith arrived, wearing cutoffs, no shirt and carrying with him a hammer and a metal rod.  Using  the hammer and his scooter key, he punched out the peep hole, and the metal rod was shaped exactly like the door handle.  It took him less than 5 minutes to get in.  Total cost? 100 RMB= 16 dollars.   I was back inside by 6:15 AM.

So, here I sit writing this email on Saturday at 2pm from work (deadlines due!) and looking back, thinking about how very fortunate I am to have so many great people around me.  People that I can not express how grateful I am, people that have stepped up, offered help, and responded when called on.  So for those of you that have offered help on the house, thanks so much, but its under control so far.

This weekends plans are to look for a microwave, and go to the used furniture market (the renter grade furniture just isnt cutting it), I'm deal hunting!

In other news, SiriusXM.com works in China, so I can listen to Satellite Radio from my desk, and get a taste of US music.  I'm working out regularly and just finished the first season of Arrested Development.  Presently watching the current season of Hell's Kitchen too.  So I'm able to keep sane.  Kody is doing good, he's enjoying sharing my after dinner popsicle (Chinese sweet green bean).

Weather here is nice, mid to upper 80s but its stays very humid!

I miss everyone, and I hope this note finds you very well.

peace and love,
W

Time flies....

Has it been a week already? Time has seemed to have flown by since the last update.

So, since last week, I've been just settling in and exploring more.

I'm still pretty homesick, but being able to facetime with family and friends helps a lot.

On Friday afternoon, I got the windows tinted in the car, and Friday night, I had dinner with a colleague at his hotel.  Saturday the A-yi was supposed to come and clean but did not show up.  I later found out that shes scared of Kody, but supposedly will be back Saturday as long as he's crated.  So Saturday, I cleaned the floors and the bathrooms, and did laundry, and watched it rain outside. In the evening, I went out for a little drive and then stopped at a street food vendor outside my neighborhood for some meat skewers (see pictures).  They were good, but eating from a street vendor does have risks.

Sunday, Bob, my colleague and I went into Qingdao for our 'day in town'.  He was looking for a hotel that had a nice brunch, but he couldn't remember the name or street it was on, so after 2 hours of aimlessly wandering, I made the decision that we would stop by "Sunshine Center" which is another high end shopping mall downtown.  Inside they had a very upscale buffet, which we were lucky to get a table without a reservation.  The food was great, international choices and fresh seafood.  In the afternoon, I took Bob back to his hotel and went by the farmers market to get fresh fruits and vegetables.  I ended up with 4 bags of stuff for about 12 dollars. I went home to meet the AC Repair man (on a sunday!) who misdiagnosed my AC unit, and would be back "later in the week" with the new part.   Kody and I went for a little walk, and I headed off to find a place to get a haircut.  There was a place close by the house, and I walked in, and it seemed pretty fancy.  I got a little nervous because I figured it would be pricey, but the staff told me the haircuts were 38 RMB, a little over 6 dollars, and included shampoo and blowdry,  however, If I bought their "preferred customer card", for 200 RMB, (32 dollars), I could get TEN haircuts, which is what I did.  And they dont accept tips.  I later told a local chinese colleague about the 20 RMB haircut and he told me that it was too expensive, and he pays 10-15 RMB. Go figure.  Afterwards, I did some shopping at another Walmart/Target type store, and this one was the nicest one yet. 

This week at work, I have decided to leave the office for lunch, as I'm getting a little tired of the cafeteria food.  Its been nice to get away for an hour, and also helpful to learn the local area around work.  Customer emails have been flying back and forth but it appears that as fires are being put out, people are beginning to mellow out quite a bit.

As far as preventing myself from going insane, this weeks entertainment includes more CHiPs from Itunes, and Hells Kitchen (latest season).  There is an expat meetup tonight, but its in town and I'm seriously considering going and taking a cab (police like to do sobriety checks at night, and I dont have an official Chinese license yet).   I'll be joining the gym in my neighborhood, but access to cash is not easy right now because china employers pay salary once a month.  So I dont get a July paycheck till August.  So I go to a bank that actually accepts Visa Logo ATM cards and I pull out the equivalent of 300 USD at a time. Fortunately, I finally got a gasoline card, so that helps with the amount of cash I need to lay out for gas.

Yesterday, I went to a steak place for lunch,  Steaks in China are different.  Where in the US, we're used to nice, thick cut steaks, with a nice pink center, (rare or medium rare), the Chinese steakhouses serve steaks like Pork Chop thin, on a sizzling plate, well done.  I ended up ordering some chinese food they had instead.  If I do want a steak, there's a place downtown called "Wang Steak House" , which is a franchise all over Asia, and they're as close as you can get to a western steak dining experience.

Thats all for now everyone, I hope you are all well!

Goodbye to Forrest.....

This is an update to the Vestibular post from July.

Many of you that read or follow know that I have a dog, Forrest.

Forrest had very few health problems in his life. He had a hip replacement, Glaucoma in 2007, which took his vision, and he adjusted very well to it. Then Vestibular Disease (like vertigo) in July of this year. In Late September, things started to decline. Forrest started wandering the house in the middle of the night, confused, and slipping on the kitchen floor, unable to get up. The vet diagnosed it as a combination of arthritis pains and doggie dementia. We got medication to help for both, and Forrest got upgraded to share my king sized bed with me. This arrangement actually worked really well, no alarm clock needed. 5 am dog panting in your face

Things seemed to return to normal (or the new normal), he even was able to walk fairly normally again. Last Monday, in the middle of the night, Forrest fell out of bed. I picked him up and put him back in with me, not thinking anything was wrong, but when I woke up, I realized that he had suffered another vestibular episode like this summer. This time, it didn't seem as severe, as he was drinking and eating, so I figured he would bounce back and be fine. Christmas morning, I picked him up and put him in the back yard, and he started crying for me to bring him in. So I did, and put him on his dog bed on the floor, and within a few minutes, he was whining again. Finally I put him in bed with me, and he seemed happy. We spent our last Christmas day together snuggled up in bed, watching old Christmas movie re-runs and eating junk food. At one point, he rolled over and laid his head on my chest and "gazed" at me with his blind eyes, and I knew, he was telling me that it was ok, and he was ready to go. In true Forrest fashion, to reinforce that he was ready, he let me know again that night by leaving a "present" in the bed for me.

So yesterday morning, I took him to VERGI, the local vet ER, and had him put down. It was a very peaceful and calm event, but it doesn't make it any easier. They laid him on a comforter on the floor and let us have all the time that we wanted before the process was done. Forrest went very peacefully and quietly. Thanks to my friends that showed up at the ER with me. The only comfort I have is knowing that he's no longer suffering. It was the right thing to do, and the ultimate responsibility of a pet owner.

For those of you that knew Forrest, you already know what a smart, kind and funny dog he was. He was well trained and had me well trained too. He knew how to open the screen door, and bark to come back in. He knew how to wake me up by breathing hard, then sneezing in my face, and ultimately bumping the bed with his butt, so I could let him out. When I was outside in the yard or the garage, he wanted to be out there supervising. He knew many tricks, and loved to perform for treats. Forrest lived the life of a college student throughout my Journey at A&M. He had many kind roommates that loved on him as much as I did, and he loved them equally. Forrest also got to stay with my sister and her roommates and my mom for some time too, being doted on by girls, and spoiled by my mom.

Forrest like me, loved cars, and loved riding in them, head stuck out the window and smelling all the scents that the world had to offer, many times to our trips to the dog park. He kept guard of my truck when we went to home depot, hopping in the driver seat like he was driving, taking in the cool A/C in his face and listening to the radio. He loved chewing ice. When he was younger and had his vision, he loved catching ice and chewing it up. He spent many summers terrorizing the squirrels in my mothers neighborhood, and actually plucked one off the tree that had frozen in fear, killed it, and left it on the side door of the house.

Forrest was a loyal and loving dog, and lived almost 15 years. Born 15 March 1997, Passed 26 December 2011. I'll never forget you my friend.

If you are interested, here's a brief poem that was written for those who have lost pets.
http://www.petloss.com/rainbowbridge.htm

Thanks to everyone for your kind support and prayers.

New Years resolutions

Okay so its been a while since I updated my blog and I have been meaning to but really have had nothing to blog about.

Well, for those of you who keep up with me, many know that I had a buddy move in earlier this year, he rented a room in the house and kept his dog in the back yard. Well, I got along with "Tom" just fine, but his dog, who is a 1 year old 100 lb bloodhound, was a different story. Totally unsocialized and crazy. I didn't want that dog coming inside, so a pen was built in the back yard, which the dog promptly dug up and destroyed the grass. I turned the other cheek, since Tom was indeed paying rent. I told Tom that the dog could come in during inclement weather (really cold, rainstorm etc) as long as he was given a bath first. Tom has quite a social schedule and was never really home in the evenings. So the dog stayed in his pen for probably 23 hours a day. On the nights Tom came home late, he would toss dog food out the back door and go to bed.

Now, where am I going with this? Well, last weekend, Tom moved out on Sunday, mysteriously. No Goodbye, no GFY, no see you later. Just gone. I got home and went and looked out the back porch, and the 'dog pen'/mud hole was missing all the cattle panel fencing. The T-Posts were still there (thanks Jackass), and the wood was still there. Missing was the dog house, and rubber mat and his BBQ Pit. This is strange, I went to his bedroom. Everything that was his was missing. Then into the bathroom. Totally cleaned out. I called three times, no answer from him.

Immediately, I started thinking "What did I do?" but I caught myself. I made phone calls to friends from church, and in my support network. They all had the same answer. "Its not you. Its about Tom. You did nothing, This is all about him." So after calming down about the situation, I went to bed, and the next day, arrived at the office to find a "Dear John" letter in my email. Basically stating that he wanted to move out because It wasnt fair to me because I didnt want the dog inside, and wasnt fair to the dog because he was in the mud. Well, Good luck with that buddy. So I know, this was Toms way of avoiding any kind of confrontation or situation that would have arisen. Personally I couldn't see the situation getting out of control, but who knows.

So, I talked to a good friend that night, who usually calls me out on my thinking patterns/errors. I was really upset and agitated at him because I told him that I planned on "letting go" of the situation. He pointed out to me (much to my chagrin), that I way too often let people take advantage of me. And I was thinking to myself, "What the hell is this guy talking about? I dont let people take advantage of me!" Well, less than 24 hours later, this statement would fufill itself.

To be continued.....

Netflix...whats going on?

This may be a well known occurrence in the world, but this is the first time I saw this.

Last night I put a netflix envelope next to my front door so I would remember to take it to work today to drop in the mailbox.

Thats when I noticed, the return address is to Austin....All of my movies have come from the Houston center, since thats close to where I live.

Check it out:


So I have heard of Netflix throttling the DVD rentals, and they also got in trouble for it a while back.

Is this another sneaky way of getting around that?

We'll see.

Garage Door Opener Issues

Well, as most things go with time, they tend to fail. One case is my Craftsman garage door opener.

Its been getting noisy over time but I didn't realize how much until it completely failed Monday morning. If I didn't look in the rearview mirror and saw darkness. Got out and I hear the motor running, but the door had only moved about 3".

Well, looks like I have problems, but I'm on the way to work, so lets open and close manually and have a look later.

Well, this is what I found when I got home.



The gear that is driven by the worm gear has eaten itself alive. Upon further research, this gear needs to be lubricated regularly, which it obviously has not been. I've lived here almost 4 years and I've only greased the rollers and lubed the chain.

So off to Sears service center I go. Well, guess what, Sears cannot help unless you have the model and serial number. This happened to me about 12 years ago at this same place. Why should it be different now? I get online on ebay, theres a seller there that has the gears. I call his #. He asks "Do you have the optical eye at the bottom of the door?" yes, I do. Then tells me "its the same gear from 1984 to today". Why can't sears figure that out?


I ordered the kit, it arrived in 3 days. My next post will illustrate replacement and chain adjustment.

Forgot to Remind all you readers! (DST Time again!)

Once again, we have DST!
This is a good time to remember other things that need to be taken care of, specifically on your car, and at your home!

I like to remind folks that really aren't into car care, that at least twice a year, (a good reminder is around the time change) you should:

• Change the oil (more than 2x per year but if you can't remember do it now)
• Rotate your tires, correct air pressure
• Inspect/Replace your air filter
• Wash the car really well (including the wheel wells and rails/drains).
• Remove the garbage inside the car
• Inspect all your exterior lights

House:

• Fertilize the lawn (Fall Fertilizer, and Spring Time too)
• Change the Ice maker Filter
• Change the A/C Furnace Filter
• Open the windows and let some fresh air in!
• Drain that hot water heater
• Check/Replace any light bulbs that burned out

Hurricane Ike Fence Repair...Continued

So after Ike, the fence behind and to one side of my back yard was knocked down.

The guys on the side of me said "Don't worry, we're gonna let insurance handle it." As did the people behind.

No problem. Now its the middle of March, six months later. Still not a peep. The guy next door finally fixed the fence that faces the street, before that, you could drive by and look straight into my back yard. Several times, I have approached him and offered to split the cost and help him repair the fence between us. He gets all gung ho about it, and we set a time and date, and when the times up to do it, he's nowhere in sight.

The folks behind me have propped the fence up pretty well, but it still is an eyesore. I'll have to work on them next.

So a few weeks ago, I set out and picked up some 4x4 posts and 2x4 posts, to lay the framework out. I thought about being a jerk and fixing the damage only to where the 'pretty side' was facing me, but I'm not repairing the entire fence, just the fallen part. I went ahead and flip flopped each section.

With my Craftsman circular saw, level, sharpie, demo bars, shovels and Quikrete, I was able to start the project in a timely manner. This is really the first time I've done any kind of construction project of any significance, and it sure is satisfying. Still not done yet, but its better every day. Don't have to look at their neighbors trashed out back yard.

I've been cutting the old fence/debris into smaller pieces for the garbage men to take away, hopefully the back yard will start looking decent soon enough.

Heres the frame work, new 4x4 and 2x4 rails. I was hoping the builder didn't use concrete for the posts but they did


First section up and running, second section started.


Second section completed. Third starting (gotta go buy more pickets)



I'd like to end this entry with a Robert Frost Poem....

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
The work of hunters is another thing:
I have come after them and made repair
Where they have left not one stone on a stone,
But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,
To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,
No one has seen them made or heard them made,
But at spring mending-time we find them there.
I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;
And on a day we meet to walk the line
And set the wall between us once again.
We keep the wall between us as we go.
To each the boulders that have fallen to each.
And some are loaves and some so nearly balls
We have to use a spell to make them balance:
'Stay where you are until our backs are turned!'
We wear our fingers rough with handling them.
Oh, just another kind of out-door game,
One on a side. It comes to little more:
There where it is we do not need the wall:
He is all pine and I am apple orchard.
My apple trees will never get across
And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.
He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'.
Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder
If I could put a notion in his head:
'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows?
But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.' I could say 'Elves' to him,
But it's not elves exactly, and I'd rather
He said it for himself. I see him there
Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top
In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.
He moves in darkness as it seems to me~
Not of woods only and the shade of trees.
He will not go behind his father's saying,
And he likes having thought of it so well
He says again, "Good fences make good neighbors."

DirecTV is in the house

Well, after waiting for the satellite guy to come in, I'm officially no longer a Comcast customer. I went to the local Comcast office on Thursday, where I, with 2 dozen other people waited in line at lunch hour while TWO people worked the counter, processing folks through. Over half the people there were canceling service.

DirectTV is now in, but it's still taking a little getting used to with the new Channel line up. I also found out, according to the DirecTV installer, that a bunch of cabling was hooked up incorrectly in the attic. Go figure.

Anyway, back to the world of having 3000 channels and nothing to watch.

Actually, 2 weeks with no cable TV was an interesting thing. I really didn't miss it too terribly, with Netflix and all.

An Update to Goodbye Comcast

Well, an update to my post in February about "Goodbye Comcast"
http://redassaggie00.blogspot.com/2009/02/goodbye-comcast.html

After getting a comment from "Comcast Cares", Mark Casem, whose job is to scour the net for Comcast comments, I sent a letter and got a call from his 'team members' reassuring me that they would be contacting their 'team members' in Houston.

Guess what Mark Casem?? The Cable was turned off March the 2nd, as requested, and NOBODY has contacted me regarding ANY promotions that comcast has/had whatsoever.

Comcast does not care, and comcast fails miserably in my eyes. Did I expect anything more or less from Comcast? I shouldn't have.

Goodbye Comcast

Some of you that follow my blog remember a while back my issues with Comcast.

Comcast did make it right, after a call to their billing center by crediting my account. However, when I got my bill this month, the rate had gone from a reasonable 56 dollars a month to 81 dollars!!!

I usually do whatever provider is giving for promotions for a year, and when it ends, I leave. Last year, when I called to leave Comcast and go somewhere else, after my promotion ended, the rep on the phone asked what it would take to get me to stay. We talked it out and I eventually agreed to a lower bill, 1 more year of free DVR (That I dont use), and a secondary HD box in my bedroom.

Imagine my surprise, has it been a year already? That my promotion is over. Easy enough. I'll call comcast.

A call to their call center leads me to "bubba" who is telling me "Ya see son, its like you go to Sams club, and you buy a case of soda water, you get a better deal than if'n you go to Randalls or Krogers and buy 2 six packs." Then goes on to explain that my "Problem" is that I'm not buying enough goods and services from Comcast, and if I did, they may be able to do something about my bill. I asked why they couldn't extend it to keep me as a customer, and he said,

"Let me tell you, I used to live in Galveston County, and i had to pay 125 a month for a phone line! Just a metro line to get in and get a 281 phone number!" I'm sitting here at this point thinking, "why is this guy giving me his life story??".

I politely mention that I would be signing up for another cable tv provider and I'd be calling back to cancel. He said "ok" and hung up. Go figure. They sure aren't working very hard to keep me as a customer.

So Mar 1, 2009, at Casa de Redassaggie, DirectTV is coming in and Comcast is going out. Honestly, I even considered doing what my friend, Network Geek did, and get rid of Cable all together, but I like having Food Network.

I have a 1 year promo with DirecTV, and after that year, I'll probably switch again. Yeah its annoying to learn all the channels again, but hey, if its going to save me 30 bucks a month vs staying with comcast, I'll do it.

I called comcast back to cancel, and talked to their 'retention' department, where they told me that my bill was 81 for march, but would be going to 95 in April, because my other promotions expired. If I wanted, I could lock it in for a year at 78. I said no. Then she said 'you can switch your service from Plus to starter'. I said no, I dont want to change the service, I just want to keep the rate, why can't you do that? She said that my rate is the lowest she's ever seen.

So, Thanks a Lot comcast. I'm sorry to see our relationship go, but your folks did nothing to keep me.

Call Centers

So last week, I get a text message saying "Good News, T-Mobile has added a new tower near your home for better call quailty! T-Mobile, stick together!"

This is great, because every day, on my drive home, I always drop the call when I drive through one particular intersection. Two days before I got that text, I noticed that the calls weren't being dropped. This was a nice surprise.

So Friday afternoon, I'm sitting at home and the phone dings, I look down to see that I have a voice mail. Funny, I don't remember the phone ringing. I look again, no bars, and the "X" above the bars and "No Service" on the screen. HUH? I rebooted the phone and had signal, 5 seconds later, the X again. Weird.

I called Tmobile Tech Support, where I was on hold for less than one minute, and immediately had an ENGLISH SPEAKING representative on the line, that spoke with no accents (well maybe a little southern drawl). He was concise, clear, and understood my issues, and his directions to try to help solve the problems were easy to follow. This was GREAT. Anyway, its temporarily band-aided, his guess is there's something not plugged in or configured right at the new tower. Regardless, I have signal (2G Network). I thanked him and told him that I appreciated T-mobile keeping some of their call centers in the USA with good english speaking folks working there. He laughed and thanked me.

So T-Mobile, Thank You for having good, understandable, competent and friendly folks staffing your call centers in the USA.

Comcast: Its our mistake, but you Pay.

So back after Thanksgiving, I get home, and turn the tube on while I make supper.

Nothing, just a blank screen. There's a channel guide, but no picture. So I use Comcast chat and they tell me someone will be out there on Friday afternoon. Friday rolls around, Comcast shows up, come to find out, when they installed my cable, they didnt 'tag' my line as a paid customer, 2 years ago. So earlier that week, Comcasts auditors were in the area checking the lines, and seeing my line wasn't tagged, they disconnected it. No problem. The tech reconnects it and leaves, not checking anything inside.

So, 30 minutes after he goes, I sit down to have a bite to eat in front of the TV. Guess what? The Channels work fine except for the HD channels. Everyone on HD has tourettes and stuttering. I check the bedroom TV, all channels fine. Guest room TV, all channels have snow and ghosting. Great. So Christmas comes and goes, and I get back on Comcast Chat to talk to a person, telling them that this was not like this before they ever messed with the cable. She told me there is a problem, so they'd come out Saturday.

The tech comes out Saturday, checks the drop and the signal, and says that a Booster needs to be put in, and usually "we need to do it because so many new houses are being put in around here". No problem. Guy puts it in, checks a few channels and says I'm ready to go. He leaves, and its 95% better, but still does it a little, but I can live with it.

Low and behold, the next cable bill comes, and its got a charge of $24.95 on it for a service call!!! I was never told anything about charges that I would have to pay for something that was working FINE until they turned it off because they didn't tag it correctly. Un-BELIEVABLE. The chat line rep said nothing, the Tech said nothing. The bill says $24.95.

Maybe its time to switch to U-Verse.

Citrus Marinated Grilled Shrimp and Spicy Rice

My mom, the Gardening Queen, has given me a few lemons, and with some of the Oranges on my tree, I made a marinade tonight and grilled some shrimp, and made some spicy taco meat rice.

I just took the shrimp, de-vined and marinated in lemon juice, orange juice, and fajita seasoning, covered with saran wrap and refrigerated for about an hour. Afterwards, I skewered the shrimp and grilled them, using a brush and some olive oil to keep the shrimp nice and oiled.

Next, I just took a pound of ground turkey, and taco seasoning, browned it and seasoned per instructions, and I made spanish rice (using the chinese rice cooker) with Tomato Sauce, Cumin, a can of Rotel Stewed Tomatoes, and chicken stock, then I mixed it all together.

The end result?

Christmas Tree

Ever since I bought my house, every year I buy a live tree. Remember when you were a kid? Didn't the tree seem like it was 10-20 feet tall?

According to my mom, our trees were always about 6-7 feet, no more.

Heres a pic of the Noble Fir that I bought this year.




and in the dark...


Merry Christmas to all of my Friends!

More Cookin

I love Sunday nights. My mom used to make a big deal out of Sunday night supper. So now a days, living on my own, I still like to make a nice home cooked meal on Sunday nights.

Heres one I tried a week ago. Home Made Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes (from Scratch not a box you lazy guys!), Creamed Corn and a Salad. Really? There wasn't a lot of prep involved. This was an easy meal to make.

Heres the meal in progress....



And the finished product......





Probably not the healthiest choice with the Fried Chicken, but a nice home cooked meal really feels good on a Sunday night!

Houstons (and possibly the Worlds) Nastiest Apartment!

This is from a Forum that I check out now and then....Man I thought we were messy in college....

This has nothing to do with the Hurricane. We had a resident who had an outstanding balance for over a month and no one could get ahold of her. The Bookkeeper went inside after so many tries to leave a note and this is what we found.

The pictures do NO justice. There is suppose to be 2 cats living here but we cant find them (we think they’re dead somewhere inside the apartment-we contacted the SPCA). The place REEKS to say the least, i gagged non stop.

Why I dont shop at Wal Mart

Howdy All,
Been a while since I posted, been meaning to log in and make a post, just been busy, hurricane and all!

Well, most of you know that I dont like Wal Mart, for many reasons, Most of the stuff there is made in China, the employees just need a pulse to work there, and they squeeze out the local small businessman/woman.

Well, last night I needed some supplies, I was tired, and Super WalMart is closer than the HEB that I usually go to, so I made a quick run to get groceries and some cleaning supplies.

I go to the check out line, where the employee doesn't know ANY of the produce codes, and rings my lettuce up as cabbage, then my Celery as green onions.

When I make large purchases, I pay by check, so I can keep track of it easier than just swiping my Debit card. Back in 2005, when I became very aware of ID theft and cleaning my credit, I started printing my checks with my Initials and Last name, address, and nothing else. No License number, phone number etc, to make it harder for someone to steal my checks and go on a spree.

When she gives me my total, I hand her my check and license. At Wal Mart, when you write a check, they scan it, take your Routing number and account number and do an EFT as your payment and you get your check back. She looks at the check, looks at my license, then at me. "Your name does not match your license." I raise an eyebrow....huh?

"Your drivers license says XXX XXX, but the name on your check is Wells Fargo."

At this point, I'm looking around for Candid Camera's Peter Funt to come out and say "SURPRISE!" but nope. I point out to her my name is on the top of the check.

"Your name is XXX XXX, but your check only says "X. X. XXX".

By this time, the woman behind me is looking at me and looking at the cashier like shes crazy.

I calmly explain, "Those are my initials." She keeps studying the check.

"Your address is 17,600 Katy Freeway, Suite 100?"

Now, at This time I'm losing my cool.

"No, thats the Banks address." My address is below my name up here, and I show her my address, as well as the one on my drivers license. "See? They match."

At this point, she looks at me, like shes getting agitated.

Have you never seen a freakin check before lady? She finally scans my check, it goes through fine and she gives me my reciept.

Once again boys and girls, this is my annual trip to Wal-mart, until I get crazy and decide to go again.

Did you know....

That an AC adapter or battery charger continues to use electricity even when it is not plugged into the device? Recently, manufacturers have reported that most adapters or chargers continue to consume as much as 40% of the electricity that it normally does during usage or charging of the device... such as mobile phones, power tool chargers, laptop computers and the like.

In these times of increasing energy costs, higher prices of everything, we need to minimize use of things, right? Unplug that alarm clock in the guest room! Unplug the phone charger when its not in use, your laptop charger? unplug it if its not being used!

You may notice that when these chargers are plugged into a wall outlet, they're a little warm even though they are not plugged into the device they are designed to power up or charge. This heat can only be created by the consumption of electricity. The transformer in these adapters continue to draw electricity and produce the heat at anytime it is plugged into an electrical outlet.

So, unplug all of your unused chargers and adapter when not in use... you will save some electricity, and although it may not be noticeable on your electric bill, it may be saving you a couple of bucks per month.

Shaving down the excess....

So these days, I have been trying to shed the economic drag thats on me, and that includes things that I pay for that I dont necessarily require to exist.

One thing was selling my Ford Diesel truck. I miss it, but I couldn't justify the cost of diesel fuel and insuring such a vehicle that gets used for weekend projects. The extra cash was nice too.

So I've been paring down on excess, and using it to pay off more of my credit card debt, which is looking better every day. My score is up and I feel better knowing that financial freedom is near!

For example. I have a Napster account, so I can listen to what I want to while at work....its 15 bucks a month. Well, Youtube has 99% of the songs I want to listen to, and its free! Okay, so we're 86ing the napster account.

Lunch? I honestly spend 8-10 bucks a day on lunch, eating out. So, now, 2-3 times a week, I pack my lunch. A sandwich, leftovers from what I cooked the night before, a Can of Soup, etc. Saves a few bucks too.

Of course you all know I clip coupons.

Anyway, just a post to check in, I'm still alive and kickin!